Let Us Now Praise David Jacobs

 I recently finished reading Darryl H. Bullock's entertaining book The Velvet Mafia.  The subtitle pretty much explains the whole premise: The Gay Men Who Made The Swinging Sixties.  The book  presents a detailed portrait of some people I know a lot about – Larry Parnes, Brian Epstein, Sir Joseph Lockwood, Joe Orton and Joe Meek as well as people I knew a little bit about including Robert Stigwood, Lionel Bart and the infamous Lord Boothby.  All of these players were instrumental in the British entertainment industry of the 1960s and, coincidentally, they were all gay.

 

The character who fascinated me the most is David Jacobs, the solicitor to the stars.  At one point he had offices in both London and Hollywood.  He had both The Beatles and Brian Epstein as clients as well as Winston Churchill's daughter, Judy Garland, Diana Dors, Shirley Bassey and John Profumo.  At one point he sued the Daily Mirror for libel on behalf of Liberace, for implying that Liberace was homosexual – and won!  He apparently was known to appear in court in full makeup.

 

Tragically, Jacobs died a sad death  – found hanging in his garage.  The book questions whether his death was a drug induced suicide or something far more sinister.

 

I found the story of David Jacobs positively inspiring in some ways.  One doesn't hear about entertainment lawyers being as interesting as their clients.  The idea that Jacobs could be negotiating major deals for Brian Epstein one minute and getting a famous politician’s daughter out of the jail the next makes most contemporary law practices  seem positively dull. 

 

It’s a fascinating book and gives a lot of deep background into the entertainment business in London before and during the British Invasion. I have only one criticism. In an otherwise well written work, I came across  the worst sentence I think I've ever read:  "According to the inquiry, Halliwell used a hammer to strike Orton, whom he had met at RADA,  on his head at least nine times."

The Go-Go's Documentary

 I watched  the Go-Go's documentary on Showtime a month or so ago and I have been thinking about it ever since.   I know anecdotally that the film left out a lot.  I have even written about the group's dysfunction before https://tinyurl.com/y4e3p7f4.

Nonetheless this is an intensely watchable film and the early punk footage of the band is fascinating.

 

Ultimately the Go-Go's documentary serves as an unpleasant reminder of the music business as it existed in the 1980s.  I have very little nostalgia for those days.

 

The film is pretty honest in recounting the group’s history.  They ruthlessly fired two early members.  In one case they made their manager fire the bass player (reminiscent of the Beatles making Brian Epstein fire Pete Best).  They the forced their  manager, Ginger Canzoneri (who had shepherded them from the L.A. punk clubs to a No. 1 album) to seek more "experienced" managers to the point where she just resigned.  Finally, original member Jane Wiedlin quit the band rather than being forced to share her publishing with the non-writing members of the group.  Plus, there are drug problems, health problems and three really great albums.

 

I bring all of this up to make a point.  The issue with songwriting is serious and it can break up even the sturdiest group. Wiedlin says in the documentary the  new managers came to the group after they had completed their third album and tried to force them to sign an agreement to split publishing.  This was a huge mistake.  The time to discuss these type of issues is before a band records their first album.  Of course, this is easier said than done.  No group wants to sit in a room and discuss partnership agreements and music publishing splits, but I think it is really critical.  You can trace so many band breakups  back to music publishing disputes.  Lennon and McCartney were wise to cut their bandmates in on the publishing (albeit with minority shares) but songwriting and publishing were among the myriad of issues which helped break up that band.

 

I am glad that the Go-Go’s got past all of that and continue to perform today and I hope that this documentary can serve not only as a testament to a groundbreaking rock band but also serve as a lesson in band dynamics, loyalty and  diplomacy.