From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V9 #143 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Monday, June 7 2004 Volume 09 : Number 143 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] Immortal O'Brien ["Mandy" ] Re: [AVALON] Kiss and Tell girl [KWil632057@aol.com] [AVALON] Smooth Operator ["Tracy Connell" ] To leave the list, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon-digest ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 09:49:13 +0100 From: "Mandy" Subject: [AVALON] Immortal O'Brien First it was teletext, now it's this. Congratulations JO'B - very well deserved as we all know. I'm sure this is going to increase the sales also. How many of us are going to buy the platinum collection so we can now refer to the sleeve and say "I knew him before he was famous.............."?. 15 mins fame, 15 years? Ha! Forever I should say. My Roxy/Ferry collection is already promised to someone whom I know will treasure it. So come on John, give us the details. Don't be shy. How did it happen? Who asked you? Does Lawn know about it? Was he involved...........as if!!!!!!! Mandy - smiling all the way................... PS Thanks too to Colleen and Chris for teletext. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 06:32:45 EDT From: JohnOBrien001@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] The Platinum Collection In a message dated 06/06/04 10:06:01 GMT Daylight Time, richard@richard-mandy.freeserve.co.uk writes: So come on John, give us the details. Don't be shy. How did it happen? Who asked you? Does Lawn know about it? Was he involved...........as if!!!!!!! I am not sure about immortal...... rather red in the cheeks after 10 minutes in the gym. I was contacted back in January by Bryan's management to see if I would be interested in several projects they were planning, The Platinum Collection being the first one to appear publicly. I was of course happy to be involved. I asked how they knew of me and they said one of Bryan's son's had mentioned the site a lot. The main thing that changed things was that a journalist was doing an interview with BF and Spedding at his office who had told them about the site and that she had thought it was the official site and she had done all her research for the interview on it. This made them have a closer look and it was the first time in the 3 years of the site that Bryan had actually had a proper look. Jim Lawn was no longer working for Bryan at that time. They realised that a lot of the records and memorabilia etc there may come in use for some projects they had in mind. They later asked me if I had any picture sleeves of Roxy/Ferry and laughed when I told him I have around 300 Roxy & solo singles from around the world many of them with picture sleeves. They then got the designer (Bogdan Zarkowski) to contact me. I told him I could do all the scanning etc for him. He was pleased at that and gave me the technical information on resolution etc for the scans. I did that and cleaned up all the sleeves digitally to remove any signs of a crease or blemish on the sleeves. As I had in some cases 8 different sleeves for some singles (mainly the singles up to 1978 had different sleeves in different countries). I literaly got my kids to pick some and lay them all on the floor and seen how they all looked together. I chose to use the Virginia Plain, Pyjamarama, Do The Strand, Street Life, All I Want Is You Love Is The Drug & Both Ends Burning because these particular ones were not use in The Thrill Of It All. I used the Japanese versions of Do The Strand & Both Ends Burning because of their rarity value and I think I paid a lot for them when I got them. I also used the Japanese version of Tokyo Joe simply because of the Japanese connection. As there never was a sleeve for Carrickfergus I scanned the record label so there was at least some sort of image for that track. I also gave them I'ts All Over Now Baby Blue but they didn't use that as it was the same as Goddess Of Love and there were no alternative sleeves to choose from so they used the CD label instead. I spent hours digitally cleaning up the images removing where possible any speckles, creases, folds made by the single inside etc. One of the singles had a tear where a sticker had been and I had to rebuild one of the letters to make it look as new as possible (The second R in Ferry on Smoke Gets In Your Eyes) The album was originaly to be called The Singles Collection and was planned for an April release but in true Ferry style these things change. This image is something I made with all the sleeves after I had scanned them in: _http://archive.digitalroutes.co.uk/roxy/largeimages/thesinglescollection.JPG_ (http://archive.digitalroutes.co.uk/roxy/largeimages/thesinglescollection.JPG) One of the first things I suggested was that to make a Singles Collection historicaly correct the track listing was not chronologicaly correct. They knew that but wanted to start disc 2 with Sign Of The Times & Disc 3 with Slave To Love. I also told them that many singles had different versions on the single release, some of these versions have never been released on CD before like: Both Ends Burning, Take A chance With Me, Slave To Love, Don't Stop The Dance, Limbo and having these not only would make it more accurate it would make it more attractive to buy for people who already have all the albums. I also intimated that there were other songs used in other countries as singles, Thrill Of It All USA (different to album version) In The Midnight Hour (Potrugal & USA), I Love How You Love Me (France) One Way Love (Germany) Sensation (Australia) Heart On My Sleeve (USA), Dance With Life (Germany) Help Me (USA) I was told that the mastereing etc had already been done and that it was too far down the line to incorporate any of my suggestions and that they might not be able to get a hold of the masters for these versions that quick. My personal involvement aside, I find that this release is dissapointing not to have some of those versions on CD. I would have liked to have seen more photos in the booklet even a 2004 one taken with Bryan, Phil, Andy & Paul. This compilation is well priced and dare I say it nicely packaged and is great value for money and should do well on that score but like most fans, I would rather see some new material. J.O'B. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 13:12:27 +0200 From: Daniel Atterbom Subject: Re: [AVALON] The Platinum Collection John, I hope that they involve your at an earlier point before the next collection. Good work! A footnote, who is the cover girl on the Kiss and tell single (I can not access http://moo.vivaroxymusic.com/roxy/single_list?who=BF) - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 07:45:56 EDT From: JohnOBrien001@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Kiss And Tell In a message dated 06/06/04 12:18:07 GMT Daylight Time, daniel.atterbom@odata.se writes: A footnote, who is the cover girl on the Kiss and tell single (I can not access http://moo.vivaroxymusic.com/roxy/single_list?who=BF) The girls name is not credited on the sleeve so I am not sure, any body else know? There is a technical problem with vivaroxymusic.com which is being sorted by the host/designer company. Something I forgot to say about The Platinum Collection about the sleeve notes. I was asked to send many facts that I knew about each track and they took some direct from the site too. There was also some written by an uncredited list member too. All the information was put together and summarised by Michael Bracewell for the sleeve. Michael Bracewell is the guy whoe is writing the book Roxyism due for release later this year. J.O'B. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 14:57:32 +0200 From: Daniel Atterbom Subject: [AVALON] Roxyism At 07.45 -0400 04-06-06, JohnOBrien001@aol.com wrote: > Michael Bracewell is the guy whoe is writing the >book Roxyism due for release later this year. A book I am looking forward to. - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004 11:41:15 EDT From: KWil632057@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] Kiss and Tell girl I think her name was Denise Lewis? J In a message dated 06/06/2004 12:17:54 GMT Standard Time, daniel.atterbom@odata.se writes: A footnote, who is the cover girl on the Kiss and tell single (I can not access http://moo.vivaroxymusic.com/roxy/single_list?who=BF) - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 07:01:29 +0000 From: "Tracy Connell" Subject: [AVALON] Smooth Operator Take a look at the age this guy thinks Bryan is.. Who's trying to butter up our Bry then? - or so I thought, until I read the comment about 'Jealous Guy' - a bit stong in my opinion! Tracy :) P.S. Anyone going to York and Derby? ************************************************ Smooth operator: 1970s Roxy Music king opens Byblos International Festival with a touch of glamor By Ramsay Short Daily Star staff Monday, June 07, 2004 BEIRUT: With long legs and pink, glittering showgirl costumes and a plume of feathers attached to their bottoms, two smiling models dance their way onto the stage centering in on a tall middle-aged Englishman in a sparkling gray suit. The scene is one of decades-old glam, the Englishman singing and dancing in a gangling, unselfconscious way, and punch-clapping his way through the mid 1970s and early 1980s sound that is his trademark. Bryan Ferry, one-time lead singer of British glam rock band Roxy Music, partner to Brian Eno in the early days and precursor of punk, crooned his way though a bevy of classic songs - "Slave To Love," "Avalon" and "Jealous Guy" to name but a few - on Saturday's opening night of the Byblos International Festival. For an hour and a half - a short concert on the whole - an older crowd filled the Byblos open-air auditorium (situated in the picturesque old quarter next to the ancient citadel), and showed their love for this 55-year-old hero of a short-lived UK scene who has managed to outlive it with grace. Crunchy guitar rock led by Ferry's silky voice (that has barely aged in a quarter century) motivated the initially staid crowd to get on their feet and sing along to the singer's old favorites, songs that anyone over the age of 20 would vaguely recognize even if they weren't sure they knew them. Sliding on to the stage, after an initial introduction from the lithe fingers of blonde-haired siren Julia Thornton (playing a harp just as big as her), Ferry sat at the piano and delivered a slow, catchy ballad of love, his voice lifting and falling with ease and emotion. Having arrived in Lebanon on the back of two gigs in Dubai and Bahrain, as part of a regional tour, Ferry seemed anything but tired, and took great pleasure in hearing an audience respond to his songs with knowledge - something he clearly wasn't expecting. Joined by a 10-strong band - two guitarists, a bassist, a violinist, saxophonist, keyboard player, percussionist, drummer and two powerfully voiced female singers - Ferry cut a dapper figure, if somewhat awkward. He is all legs and arms, stomping and clapping. One of the guitarists present, who pleased diehard fans to no end, was Chris Spedding, a Roxy Music stalwart and accomplished musician who took the crowd apart in a number of blistering solos. But Bryan Ferry is all about Bryan Ferry, and try as he might to appear an English lordling gone left-field into the pop world instead of the church, he is the simple son of a coal miner from County Durham who's done good. And there is nothing wrong with that. Ferry is a pioneer of pop, and pop, as we all know, is about a world of fantasy, of being anything you want to be. Today's smooth-talking crooner is just a different sort of fantasy Ferry to the glam-dressed, glitzy camp popster (a la David Bowie) of the 70s. Then, he looked more like a Star Trek extra crossed with a Cambridge University dandy going punting down the river. Roxy Music's 1972 debut album (dressed in the first of a series of archly sexy covers) is continually hailed as one of the greatest debut albums of all time. A provocative, potent brew of pop-art and sci-fi, of imagination and nostalgia, it was matched by the sleek, sinister 1973 follow-up "For Your Pleasure." Though Ferry's popular version of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" was a massive hit with Saturday's happily grooving crowd, to a critic it is a painfully cheesy and almost blasphemous cover of the original. But to be fair, and for an excited Byblos audience, to see Ferry splash out "Slave To Love," a bubblegum slice of romantic pleading, and songs like "Love Is The Drug" with a decadent ease, as he was sandwiched between his sexy and supremely peacock-like dancers, was an albeit cheesy treat. _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. 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