By Haddon Libby
Who says the second weekend of Coachellafest can’t be as good as the first? If you have attended multiple festivals, you can certainly think of festivals that you enjoyed as much or more than the first festival that you attended.
To prove my point, let’s look at some great sequels to the first efforts at something.
Kurt Cobain and Nirvana changed music with “Nevermind” in 1991. The success of this recording ushered in the Seattle grunge scene that helped to end the hair band era. “Nevermind” was the second album from the band. “Bleach” in 1989 was their effort.
How about this year’s headliner – Harry Styles. Was his first self-titled album better than “Fine Line” or “Harry’s House”? The same can be said for Billie Eilish and Doja Cat.
Did you ever hear of a band named The Normal? Their only hit was in 1979 with “Warm Leatherette”. The song sounds like some of Devo’s odder early work. Grace Jones covered the song in 1980 with success.
How about movies? The reboot of Frank Hebert’s sci-fi novel “Dune” in 2021 is dramatically better than the 1984 effort. If we look at “Dune: Part Two”, it once again improves on the prior efforte.
Not all sequels can match the success of the first iteration. In fact, many sequels are just bad.
The 1977 blockbuster “Saturday Night Fever” became one of the most popular movies of all time. The film and its soundtrack helped bring disco music to the mainstream while reviving the career of the Bee Gees. John Travolta moved from the television show “Welcome Back, Kotter” to international stardom and a film career. The movie was made for $3.5 million and grossed over $250 million in sales. Due to the massive success, there was a sequel six years later.
“Stay Alive” was released in 1983 with John Travolta reprising his role as Tony Manero with Sylvester Stallone directing. Panned by critics, magazine Entertainment Weekly named this movie the worst sequel ever made. The movie did okay financially. With a budget of $20 million, the film grossed $127 million. Sly’s brother, Frank Stallone, had the biggest musical hit from the movie – “Far From Over”.
Moving away from the performer’s stage and to the political stage, we have a sequel coming following this year’s Presidential elections.
This year we get to choose between an 81-year-old kind of flat Pepsi and a 77-year-old Coca-Cola with a twist of orange. We also have third party candidate Moxie in the race although this is an acquired taste that most find gross. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer a pure glass of water.
One of these carbonated beverages will have a second term as President that at least have of Americans will feel is worse than the worst second term in the history of our nation.
Most scholars feel that tricky Dick Nixon had the worst second term. As a reminder, he resigned from office two years into his second term due to his knowledge and approval of a break-in to the offices of the Democratic National Party.
If the 77-year-old Coca-Cola with an orange twist wins, it will be only the second President to serve twice but in terms that were not consecutive. The only President with this distinction currently is Grover Cleveland. In Cleveland’s first campaign, his rival was embroiled in numerous financial scandals while Cleveland’s scandal was child support to a woman he had been with as a bachelor. Cleveland won the second time over then President Benjamin Harrison in 1892 as the United States was struggling through its worst depression to that point in history.
Have fun this weekend!
Haddon Libby is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information, please visit www.WinslowDrake.com.
