J. Geils died at the age of 71. I remember seeing him at MSU for $5 bucks. 71 is awfully young for a rock and roll star and come to think of it, Jimmy Buffett just turned 70. Yet he is partying and building an empire like he is a pirate at 40. Margaritaville is now worth more than just about any brand name in music history. Even the mighty Rolling Stones never figured out how to merchandise themselves. No one does it like JImmy. And I hope he keeps doing it for another 20 years.
Which brings me to the Chicago beauty show. So many companies elected to skip the show once again this year yet the show keeps going on. So you have to ask yourself the question, “Why?” The answer in part lies in the fact that the old timers remember beauty shows in their glory days and they keep waiting for those days to come back. But with public companies now controlling the pro beauty business, it ain’t going to happen. It appears the few beauty shows left (Long Beach, Vegas rep show, IBS NY, Chicago and Premier) still attract the reps and most importantly, Mike Nave. Sitting in the Conair booth was JB who is now into his 70’s and asked why he was there, he simply replied, “What else am I going to do?” So people like JB come, see, get more and more disappointed at what they see, but come back year after year anyway.
So I’m thinking at the next PBA Cosmoprof show, we should honor all the 70 plus reps and others that still cling to the pro beauty business. Let’s bring them all on stage, give them a standing “O” and a bag of free beauty samples. And the last person that needs to be called on stage has to be Mike Nave. Here is a guy that is not only at every beauty show on earth, but still has the energy to deal with the bullshit. No one smoozes like Mike and even though he charges $49 for his newsletter that comes out 2-3 weeks late each month and $2500 for an inside story, Mike is having fun like no one else and the money is secondary. Mike reminds me of Bob Oppenheimer back in the day although Bob had quite a presence in the industry. Mike is a hustler who feasts on Gibson’s garbage salads whenever he can while keeping fit and trim. Yep, Mike needs to be the last one on stage especially while he can still walk on the stage.
We took our five year old to Orlando and Animal Kingdom. Forget the crowds and strollers, that is a given. What is shocking now are the amount of adults on scooters. I have never seen so many adult scooters in my life. It appears that it is now a privilege to be obese, out of shape and damn everyone else. Heck the scooters get you on the rides quickly and Disney makes a ton of money renting them out. You know those trams in the parking lot that take you to the entrance? At this rate, soon Disney will need trams inside their parks.
Tesla is now the most valuable U.S. automaker. Although GM makes more than 10 million vehicles a year compared to less than 100,000 to Tesla, investors have put their bets on Elon Musk to lead the way for the next century of transportation. By 2025 most cars will be electric and self-driving. The Model T was the first production line car built in the USA from 1908 to 1927. It cost about $300 and commanded 40% of the market. Look how much has changed in less than 100 years.
But one thing never changes: Rock and roll. Thanks J. Geils. What was your favorite song?
Happy Wednesday!
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