Jon Bon Jovi - Master Class

Last night I was catching up on all the tv I have neglected over the last few weeks and I was able to catch up on one of my favorite shows. Oprah's Master Class. She gives an hour of tv time to someone who just knows their craft. It could be Jay-Z, it could be Grant Hill, it could be Chris Rock. Last night I watched Jon Bon Jovi and while at first I thought that I was only interested to hear some of his old NJ stories it quickly turned into one of the more interesting hours of television I've watched in a while. This man knows his craft. Take a moment and read one of more powerful quotes I have heard about the music industry in quite a while. So inspirational that I actually stopped and wrote the whole thing down. I certainly had a whole new appreciation for this man after the program was finished. Bravo sir. 

"I got to be around Paul McCartney and Paul Simon a couple of days ago... they had their heads together and I was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Paul Simon asked what I was smiling at I said "look at you two". Paul Simon turned to Paul and said "we have a few copyrights". I said "you guys should be on Mt. Rushmore--you are gods!" I think that continuum is so important because god knows the world wouldn't be the same without Dylan, Simon, McCartney and I want those guys to come back again, I do. In this disposable age and era I was fearful that the next generation was going to lose touch because the music was going away as everything is out of a reality show or formatted radio that wasn't going to allow a croaky voiced singer that was cranky half the time to change the world. There was a dry spell in the last decade where it seemed the fuel had run out. Radio stations are so fragmented, the opportunity we had as young men to purchase a record by looking at the sleeve, making a judgement call by looking at the artwork, the song titles, the credits, the pictures, your imagination. Now radio stations play 15 songs that sound the same with disposable artists because radio stations only caters to this audience. The voice of the DJ- who created my being- isn't as influential as he once was. The concept of touring and having an opportunity of doing 3 albums before you break has changed. But I think, I hope, that there is an opportunity for some rebounding through things like YouTube and that a kid doesn't need a record deal like I did to get his music out. He could start it on a viral kind of plane. I'm seeing some sparks leading back to that. My hope is that it will happen."