With the backdrop of all those privileged elite people playing those games with everybody’s lives, it just felt like the right choice. The dark tone that gets at the heart of the corruption of the United States is so palpable on that song, even though he’s talking about a different era. With this one, even though it’s on a bootleg album, we’ve listened to it for years. Levien: We had a Dylan song in a big spot in every season - “Visions of Johanna,” and “Like a Rolling Stone” ending a season. Because it’s not as well known, does that make it less expensive, or easier to clear the rights? “Blind Willie McTell,” used in episode 8, when several main characters are at a shady, ritualistic meeting of political donors, is my favorite Bob Dylan song. Linda Ronstadt Won’t Make a Dime From ‘Last of Us' Synch But Is 'Very Glad' for… If it weren’t for the strike, I would have engaged with Paul and Gene in some public forum encouraging KISS to talk about the song. If they would tweet at us or write on Instagram, we had to let it go. Normally, when that episode hit, would have been on social media talking about the song and interacting with KISS people. Koppelman: Because we were on strike, we couldn’t promote the show, and it was important to us to keep fealty with our guild. We didn’t get any personal anecdotes that it meant anything to anybody. Levien: We don’t know exactly what their response was outside of the approval. But there are a couple of real gems on that record. “A World Without Heroes,” off their album Music From “The Elder” - often that album is looked at as this moment in KISS’ career where they took a risk that backfired. It’s co-written by Lou Reed, and his songs, both with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, have been in the show in meaningful ways. Koppelman: That song has always meant a lot to me. What made you choose it, and what was the band’s reaction? In episode 3, you use KISS’ “A World Without Heroes” - not the best-known KISS song. Early on, we couldn’t get a Zeppelin song, but then, the next season, we did. That process has been incredibly smooth for us the entire run. We had many conversations with some folks in Billy Joel’s camp. The fact that Dave and I have a deep well of relationships in the business has been helpful a few times along the way, if there happens to be something that is tricky. ![]() Koppelman: Jim Black is the person who goes out and gets the clearances. How challenging is it to get the rights for well-known songs, like Billy Joel’s “I Love These Days”? Hollywood Is Cutting Back - Is a Synch Slowdown Inevitable? ![]() For us guys who know “Nebraska” by heart and spent countless hours at his concerts, that just meant the world to us. We heard he was on vacation somewhere and read the scene outside and personally approved it. Koppelman: One of the absolute highlights for us, in an earlier season, is a moment where a character sings a line from “Atlantic City,” in an episode called “Chicken Town.” We needed to get Bruce Springsteen’s permission. Levien: Early on, we got a few notes to the effect of, “Why are there so many pop-culture references? I don’t think people really talk that way.” We were saddened by that, because we do think people talk that way. If you’re a serious music fan, you’re not just listening to it, you’re thinking about it and talking about it and arguing about it. We’ve probably been on every side of the conversations these artists that are referenced in the show. Koppelman: David and I have been best friends since we were 14 or 15. How much of that sort of thing in Billions is based on real conversations about music? ![]() In episode 10 of this season, two characters quote Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” and debate the song’s meaning. That’s what engaged me, so I can’t even speak to what the economics were like. When I was an A&R executive, my attention was with the artists and the songwriters and the people making the records. Even when I went off on my own and started finding my own enthusiasm, I would never forget the way he would look and sway to music when he was listening to it. The thing that mattered to him was the music and I grew up listening to music through that prism. Koppelman: My father’s love of music was something that, despite his success and his business-side accomplishments, he would always default to. What do you recall about working at labels at that time? ![]() ‘The Bear’ Season 2: The Hardest (And Easiest) Songs to Clear, From Taylor Swift…īrian, I’ve spoken with your father, the late record executive Charles Koppelman, a couple of times, including once about how rich the business had become during the CD boom in the ’80s and ’90s.
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