Dylan vs. Donovan
Thursday, May 24th, 2007 by Mark | Posted in Business, Entrepreneur, Management, Marketing, Small Business, Unconventional Thinking | Comments
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UZzEEaQcsw 200 133]Everyone has someone who does what they do better. Orders of magnitude better. Scary better. Like two different planets.
In ‘65, Bob Dylan emerged from Fourth Street obscurity to a global comet the Beatles felt compelled to hear in person. And just as Dylan was actually changing the world – how many people have done that – the British media was equating him to Donovan. Mellow Yellow man. Vanilla ice cream man. 60’s bubble gum man. So Dylan gets pissed. Tsunami pissed. This wedding singer is being compared to me! To Mr. Rolling Stone. To the Bard Redux. I will humiliate the musical crumb!
And the time comes. The King is in his hotel room a few days before he is to command Royal Albert Hall and the Yellow flake shows up to sing for the Dylan entourage. And he actually croons what sounds like a gem. A really good song. With the glow of pride still on his face, Dylan – the alpha male – is ready to crush Donovan. Flatten the fairy. So he commandeers the guitar from Mellow and a second after the former sings his syrup, Dylan rolls in to Baby Blue. Case closed. There is one songwriter in the room and one forgettable prop for the history books. A footnote.It’s the same in business. You think you have a great coffee shop and then you see Starbucks. You believe you have a cool hotel and then you stay at a W. You think making cars is enough and then you examine a Toyota.
Life is short. Business is unforgiving.
Dylan had no patience. Donovan had no talent. Is your business Dylan or Donovan? Are you Dylan or Donovan? If you don’t insist on greatness (and I don’t mean dime a dozen goodness) the angry bastard next to you will grab the Fender out of your hands and show you how mediocre you are. Ready?
And Today May 24 is Bob Dylan’s 66th Birthday!
Happy Birthday to the man who changed the world!
Mark Stevens
CEO
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May 24th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
This is sure a wake up call, but let’s celebrate what we do have! The little Canal Roasters Coffee House has lots of charm missing at Starbucks. The personal touches make a lot of difference!
June 8th, 2007 at 2:36 am
Gotta be Dylan – happy Belated Birthday!
April 15th, 2012 at 11:39 am
Building Window Tint…
[...]Dylan vs. Donovan | Unconventional Thinking[...]…
December 24th, 2012 at 6:47 am
This is a pile of fawning nonsense. Watch the film clip carefully and you’ll see that its Donovan himself that asks Dylan to play Its all over baby blue. There was nothing sinister going on – you’re just reading too much into it.
And if you really think that Starbucks is a barometer of good coffee, that is just incredibly sad (and ample reason why your opinions are best ignored)
March 25th, 2013 at 9:28 pm
This is a bunch of drivel. I hope you are being tongue and cheeck. Donovan was more abstract and sand about emotion. Dylan was less abstract and mostly politcal. Donovan could actually sing.
Scotland lives on forever while the American folk of Dylan proved to be nothing but a flash in the pan. I appreciate the 60’s but a lot of that music, politically, has no sway for me now. Donovan is timeless. Peace and love too all god bless america.