Why It Matters

2. School’s Out Forever

Not all of the flotsam from my father’s childhood drifted into my grandfather’s fireplace. When he was a boy growing up in his small mountain town, he struck a deal with the owner of the local bar’s jukebox. Each time the owner changed the music, he sold my father the old records for a dime…
1. The Mamas, The Papas, and The Grandpas

My grandfather participated in the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp. I don’t know much more about this than what I’ve gleaned from a briefcase full of faded photographs that surfaced after he died, and the lone comment he made one evening. “The smoke from the chimneys was so sweet it made you sick,” he said.
The End of Music

I have been turning this question over in my mind for years: How can the music industry be dead? I don’t want to bother with the details — there are Google-a-plenty details available — but the gist is that the major labels are the new Rust Belt. Only established acts make money, and even they…

2. School’s Out Forever