Hi friends!
Welcome back to Divulgence with Jordan Vezeau (that’s me!) and sit back, relax, and enjoy the greatness that is Donald Jeffries!
I welcome back the author, researcher, and radio host to speak on his brand-new book, ‘On Borrowed Fame’, as well as his book ‘Survival of the Richest’.
We have a fun talk on so many great things, including his dreams of being a Rockstar like Jackson Browne, timelines of changes in wealth distribution in various entertainment areas (and how the Eagles hit the timeline perfectly), how the world and its markets are both rigged against and unfair for the poor, the rookies, and the non-mainstream, and the lack of any meaning formula or process for determining dispersing wealth in Hollywood and other areas of entertainment such as music.
We also discuss low royalty rates, entertainer shelf-lives, old musicians needing to find new work, one-hit wonders with large million dollar fortunes, huge successes and legends living and dying broke, classic music studio dictators, Eddie Mannix, sharing/dividing the wealth, systems where the rich stay rich and get richer, the rise and fall of the Three Stooges, what it means now and used to mean for a musical act to ‘pack the house’, as well as why popular culture is so interesting and… popular!
We explore the parallels shared by the worlds of politics and entertainment, as entertainment mirrors politics and its figures in so many ways, including mysterious murders, deaths, and suicides that are never explained, as well as the sometimes ridiculously confusing flow of money.
With a rapidly changing world, we analyze the significances of the emergence of online content creators, popular social media and entertainment apps, entertainment expos (such as Comic-Con and Fan Expo), and the re-emergence of vinyl records, old sitcoms, and general vintage and retro styles.
Don speaks on his experience being a successful author, the hurdles and difficulties he has faced to be successful, and why he always pulls for the ones who actually shed the blood, sweat, and tears.
During his extensive research processes for his books, as he will share with us, Don speaks with all sorts of interesting characters that are celebrities and musicians, and does such extensive research, as he always does, to put out so much great work.
We bone up on the classics, talking old movies and our shared passions for film noirs, classic B-movies, and the lighting, writing, and production values you just don’t see anymore.
This was such a fun talk and got me so excited to read more of Don’s books, as should you!
Enjoy and be well my friends!
*NOTE* YouTube pulled Episode 18 so check out my other channels to watch it!