From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V9 #226 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Thursday, September 9 2004 Volume 09 : Number 226 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [AVALON] a new sensation [Daniel Atterbom ] Re: [AVALON] a new sensation [KWil632057@aol.com] Re: [AVALON] a new sensation ["Tracy Connell" ] Re: RE: [AVALON] You Decide. [robert@rwhiteford.freeserve.co.uk] Re: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation [robert@rwhiteford.freeserve.co.uk] Re: [AVALON] You Decide/Bank stripped bare/ Bryans demise etc.... [KWil63] Re: [AVALON] a new sensation [Heather Marie Buch ] Re: [AVALON] a new sensation [LeeSullivanart@aol.com] [AVALON] Mercury Prize winners mention Roxy Music as their no. 1 [Joel Hu] [AVALON] Re: New Sensation [AMeyersLD@aol.com] [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime ["Carien Overdijk" ] Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime [Colleen Matan Subject: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation At 09.04 +0200 04-09-08, Heather Marie Buch wrote: >I think that Mamouma was an example of him doing this. There was nothing >sensational about it. The most amazing thing was Ferry working with Eno after 20 some years. >Yet its tawdry, faded beauty worked with Ferry's >persona of the man who's seen it all in a world where we've all seen too >much. I hope he can find the Mamouma spirit again...otherwise perhaps he >should concentrate on planting a nice rose (and potato) garden like he >once promised to do. Mamouma was, in Ferry's words, a "mysterious" cd and there imho lies the alleur of it. It is a great cd. - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 04:29:21 EDT From: KWil632057@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation In a message dated 08/09/2004 09:15:00 GMT Daylight Time, daniel.atterbom@odata.se writes: Mamouma was, in Ferry's words, a "mysterious" cd and there imho lies the alleur of it. It is a great cd. The main mystery was who forgot to add his vocals into the mix. Mamouna is ok, as Stuart Maconie said it misses out on greatness but not by much. Wildcat Days is, of course, the worst thing he has ever recorded. The sad thing being that Eno and MacKay were involved. J ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:34:51 +0000 From: "Tracy Connell" Subject: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation I love Mamouna too, but I also think Frantic is his best album since Boys and Girls, despite it only being half original material. It's the only album I've ever listened to, and immediatley liked all of the songs. I still think he should have released 'I thought' as a single. We need more songs like that. I think Bryan spoilt us wthl that and has left us wanting more! I thought he was supposed to be going into the studio at the end of this year?? Think I'lll be getting another compilation album for xmas! Tracy _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 12:49:22 +0200 (CEST) From: robert@rwhiteford.freeserve.co.uk Subject: Re: RE: [AVALON] You Decide. Indeed. And an added advantage is that it will be reduced to #5.99 by Christmas. > > Or you could ask for it for xmas - that way someone else spends their money > on it! lol! :) > > Tracy :) > > _________________________________________________________________ > Express yourself with cool new emoticons http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/myemo > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon > > - -- Whatever you Wanadoo: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/ This email has been checked for most known viruses - find out more at: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/help/id/7098.htm ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 13:05:23 +0200 (CEST) From: robert@rwhiteford.freeserve.co.uk Subject: Re: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation He is going into the studio at the end of the year - to collect a suit he left there a few years ago. Mamouna - some good songs - desperately poor mix. It didn;t exactly sell well either. Overall another disappointment and the accompanying tour confirmed the going thru the motions approach. Perhaps some hope (not a glimmer) is that he will get so poor he will have to make songs using a piano and harmonica. And i would bet my mortgage they would be far better than the over processed stuff on Bete Noire and Mamouna. Your Painted Smile and Mamouna strike me as other tracks that would have been better with just the piano and him - like the only face was. > Message date : Sep 08 2004, 10:39 AM > From : "Tracy Connell" > To : avalon@smoe.org > Copy to : > Subject : Re: [AVALON] a new sensation > I love Mamouna too, but I also think Frantic is his best album since Boys > and Girls, despite it only being half original material. It's the only > album I've ever listened to, and immediatley liked all of the songs. I > still think he should have released 'I thought' as a single. We need more > songs like that. I think Bryan spoilt us wthl that and has left us wanting > more! I thought he was supposed to be going into the studio at the end of > this year?? > > Think I'lll be getting another compilation album for xmas! > > Tracy > > _________________________________________________________________ > Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger > http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon > > - -- Whatever you Wanadoo: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/ This email has been checked for most known viruses - find out more at: http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/help/id/7098.htm ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 07:16:36 EDT From: KWil632057@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] You Decide/Bank stripped bare/ Bryans demise etc.... Amazingly the only thing that hasn't seemed to occur to Ferry is that the best way to sell the back catalogue which he seems so keen on foisting on us yet again is by releasing high quality NEW material, that commercially and critically performs well. That way he's back in the game and can perhaps win a new audience who would actually be new ears to listen to the classic material. I was amazed that Frantic got all the good reviews it did and while it perhaps didn't do as well in the commercial arena, it set the scene for a quick (within a year) follow up that cemented critical response and reached a commercial audience. But he was too busy touring. The wally. I think much of the problem is Roxy Music started off as 'the music of the future(tm)' and now all we are being given are repeats of the past. Balls to that. J Jesus Christ, I'm a proper journalist unlike some smelly people I can mention. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 13:58:45 +0200 (METDST) From: Heather Marie Buch Subject: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation On Wed, 8 Sep 2004, Daniel Atterbom wrote: > At 09.04 +0200 04-09-08, Heather Marie Buch wrote: > >I think that Mamouma was an example of him doing this. There was nothing > >sensational about it. > > The most amazing thing was Ferry working with Eno after 20 some years. I agree it was an amazing album. I love it. The concert was great too. My word choice was probably confusing here. When I said there was "nothing sensational", I basically meant it wasn't trendy or faddish... Heather ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 08:17:23 EDT From: LeeSullivanart@aol.com Subject: Re: [AVALON] a new sensation In a message dated 08/09/2004 09:54:46 GMT Standard Time, KWil632057@aol.com writes: > The main mystery was who forgot to add his vocals into the mix. > > Mamouna is ok, as Stuart Maconie said it misses out on greatness but not by > > much. > Wildcat Days is, of course, the worst thing he has ever recorded. The sad > thing being that Eno and MacKay were involved. > > Yeah, but you can't hear them either! Maconie's current book 'Cider with Roadies' is a fab read, BTW. Lee S ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 05:21:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Joel Hurd Subject: [AVALON] Mercury Prize winners mention Roxy Music as their no. 1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3636400.stm Franz Ferdinand, quite a good rock band, have just won the Mercury music prize. This prize is given based on artistic merit, rather than sales. After their victory, which band did they mention as their favorites? Roxy Music. ( You know, the one headed by a mister Bryan Ferry that used to often write great original songs. ) :-P __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 10:14:55 EDT From: AMeyersLD@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Re: New Sensation Heather wrote: > Maybe Ferry should just forget about creating vanguard styles and > concentrate on creating good music, like Manzanera or Bill Nelson do. > I have always felt that it would be the right thing for Bryan to strike out in a wholly new, wholly uncommercial direction for a month or two-- if only for himself. I have always suspected that he is a closet folky ( and the Meltdown Festival bootleg surely backed me up on this). Perhaps he needs to do a "Trad/Arr" album; or even sit by the river singing Nick Drake tunes to himself. Either it will open him up to a whole new field, or he will reeturn to familiar ground refreshed. Or maybe we should just buy him a pack of "Oblique Strategies" cards. My two cents. - -Andrew in Chicago ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 17:34:59 +0200 From: "Carien Overdijk" Subject: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime Why should Ferry communicate with his fans? He is an artist. The less an artist is concerned with his public, the better. And if this particular artist keeps trying to milk his old cash-cows, that's up to him. Why should he oblige us? We supplied his fortune wholly voluntarily :) Judy is probably right, Ferry's muse has abadoned him. Most people's creative peak lies in their twenties or thirties, so this would only be natural. Like Heather, I too am mainly interested in the Roxy-stuff (and the odd extraordinary Ferry-album), and I would love to discuss that here. Therefore, a late reaction to Heather's remark on Nightingale, which lingered with me. Nice, Heather, how Denmark provided you with that new angle (no pun intended). Whether intended by Ferry or not, your Andersen-association with Nightingale proves once more how inspirational the Roxy albums are. The richness of the imagery keeps surprising me. (Dutch co-fan Eduard and I spent some time translating Strictly Confidential into Dutch. It brought up more questions and suggestions than we could ever have expected. Project accomplished, now, to the best of our abilities, and reasonably satisfactory. Though nothing can beat the original.) Carien ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:50:37 +0100 From: philip77@tiscali.co.uk Subject: Re: [AVALON] Mamouna Great to have some constructive comments on Avalon rather that whinging on about a compilations and lack of new material. 10 years on Mamouna sounds great . I listened to it the other week after a heavy club night and it was superb chill out music. quality , not quantity , is the key Philip __________________________________________________________________ Get Tiscali Broadband From #15:99 http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadbandhome/ ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 12:42:05 -0400 From: Jocelynfiske@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Apathy - who cares? As already mentioned, ironic that the one topic that stirs us from our inertia is a discussion on apathy. Resisting the temptation (just) to post saying I couldn't be bothered to join the debate, John's initial post got me thinking. Certainly I am bored rigid with the pointless regurgitation of old material repackaged as a best of best of best of and won't even be putting the latest nopus on my shopping list to Santa. Yes, I am personally affronted by the unfathomable last minute cancellations debacle that was the laughable Summer tour. And don't tell me Bryan Ferry owes us nothing - petrol aside, he owes me #165.40 in unused hotel bills. The problem seems to be quite simple. His perception of us has changed from sheep to cash cows. We have been bled dry. Our udders are barren. There is no milk left in the old cows and bulls (yes I know bulls don't produce milk, it's a metaphore). Our juices will only flow once more when stimulated by new material. Unfortunately, simultaneously, someone left a catalogue lying around Studio One that one day a bored Ferry flicked through. Eureka cries Wor Bry!! The title of the mag? "Corporate". The answer to a divorcee's prayers. Fast cash, short sets, no moaning fans and kerching! Bob's yer shilling and florin's yer aunt. I wouldn't even bother worrying about whether Ferry will tour again. There are a lot of pissed off promoters and insurers who wouldn't touch him with someone else's so I think he would find another full blown (how ironic is that?) tour hard to put together until memories fade. The answer meanwhile my friends? Corporate. And you know Bry, when he finds a new obsession, there's no moving him. Best of luck to Phil M (who's heart is always in the right place) but I think he has one hell of a fight on his hands to try and persuade an otherwise distracted Ferry to write, record or fan-tour Roxy until it suits him. Maybe when he's run out of big corporate Christmas parties. Jocelyn PS: And as for secrets, in the immortal words of Plato or was it Sir Bobby Robson "Secrets serve no purpose but to make the small man feel big". ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 13:33:41 -0400 From: "Caledonia Controls Inc." Subject: [AVALON] Changing Times! Well, well....How times have changed! I can recall emailing the Avalon site a couple of years ago and voicing my opinion about how Ferry has sunk to the depravity of re-recording other peoples songs (not that he's not done that before!). I was lambasted by most on the site saying that he was an artist re-creating other people's music to his style. What a load of s..t. He's just a lazy bastard who has so much talent and doesn't know how to express it. Or is he a talented genious who has made his millions and is trying to pacify us mere mortals! Come on Ferry, give us something new and original, my Dad can sing the old standards better than you! John Gray N/P The Birdie Song...... ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 19:47:01 +0200 From: Daniel Atterbom Subject: Re: [AVALON] Mamouna I like Mamouna a lot, even Wildcat Days. I listen to it more then I listen to any other Ferry solo work. The big topic of the day in Sweden is the TV show Pop Idol 2004 where amateurs try out for the finals. Some people have absolutely no self criticism nor self respect. The jury are type casted and are looking for young talent (the foreman is an ex-porno director, now Swedish singer Robyn's manager) but, as a journalist wrote, some of the best performers in rock and pop are now in their 50's -- and his particular Swedish called Magnus Lindberg example would not have stood a chance. Substitute Bryan Ferry and you get the picture. - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 13:13:27 -0400 From: Colleen Matan Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime Quoting Carien Overdijk : > Judy is probably right, Ferry's muse has abadoned him. Most people's > creative peak lies in their twenties or thirties, so this would only > be natural. > Like Heather, I too am mainly interested in the Roxy-stuff (and the > odd extraordinary Ferry-album), and I would love to discuss that here. Please do! ;-) Just because as of late the list has focused on Ferry solo doesn't mean it has to. Colleen ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:53:54 +0200 (METDST) From: Heather Marie Buch Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime Tak skal du have! (that means thanks). Yeah, there's a lot of imagery and depth in those roxy lyrics. I'm always game for discussing them. Ferry may never reach the "Siren" heights again, but I think he's already done more than his share for the arts. Frankly, I find the compilations easy to ignore. If I wanted to hear all the roxy songs rearranged, I would just burn a cd with a different combination of tracks. Heather On Wed, 8 Sep 2004, Carien Overdijk wrote: > Therefore, a late reaction to Heather's remark on Nightingale, which lingered > with me. > Nice, Heather, how Denmark provided you with that new angle (no pun > intended). > Whether intended by Ferry or not, your Andersen-association with Nightingale > proves once more how inspirational the Roxy albums are. The richness of the > imagery keeps surprising me. > > (Dutch co-fan Eduard and I spent some time translating Strictly Confidential > into Dutch. It brought up more questions and suggestions than we could ever > have expected. Project accomplished, now, to the best of our abilities, and > reasonably satisfactory. Though nothing can beat the original.) > > Carien > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 22:26:06 +0100 (BST) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Mandy?= Subject: [AVALON] Roxy Night - 8th October Sorry folks. In true very style - it's been cancelled. Mandy ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 23:44:44 +0200 From: Daniel Atterbom Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime At 13.13 -0400 04-09-08, Colleen Matan wrote: >Please do! ;-) Just because as of late the list has focused on Ferry >solo doesn't mean it has to. The influence of Roxy Music can not be underestimated. Of the British bands that started in the 70's, few have been as influential under such a long time. - -- Daniel ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 23:38:25 +0100 From: "Rob Whiteford" Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime Well yes, but that was 30 years ago. Now he's boring and he's still too good to be boring. I have loads of Bryan videos - here's as good a recollection of an interview with Richard Skinner in 1985 as I can remember without actually finding it. Q "Why didn't you do these songs as Roxy Music?" (He means the B&G songs) A - after some prevarication "I felt the roxy thing had gone as far as it could go. Some bands carry on and on for all the wrong reasons like old dinosaurs and it becomes a sort of product really and I don;t think you should make music or any kind of art really under those conditions" Unless of course you are skint. Hmmmmn. I guess there is no point having standards unless you can double them. You can be as sure as there is sh*T in a dog that, had Ferry's recent solo career been a commercial shooting star, Roxy would never have reformed - not even for Manifesto never mind the 2001 tour. I can always respect him because he was good - it would be nice to respect him because he still is. And I did during ATGB - uncommercial - different - brilliant - he even learned to sing as well as be cool - but as ever safe bet boring bad mix no ideas little effort low profile bad marketing poor single choice, another compilation. SORT IT OUT BRYAN. YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO LOSE YOUR CREDIBILITY. AND YOU HAVE DONE SOME DAMAGE RECENTLY TO YOUR LOYAL FAN BASE YOU NEED TO REPAIR. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Daniel Atterbom" To: Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 10:44 PM Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime > At 13.13 -0400 04-09-08, Colleen Matan wrote: > >Please do! ;-) Just because as of late the list has focused on Ferry > >solo doesn't mean it has to. > > The influence of Roxy Music can not be underestimated. Of the British > bands that started in the 70's, few have been as influential under > such a long time. > -- > > Daniel > > > ___________________________________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:55:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Joel Hurd Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime > I can always respect him because he was good - it would be nice to > respect him because he still is. And I did during ATGB - uncommercial > - different - brilliant - he even learned to sing as well as be cool > - but as ever safe bet boring bad mix no ideas little effort low > profile bad marketing poor single choice, another compilation. > > SORT IT OUT BRYAN. YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO LOSE YOUR CREDIBILITY. AND YOU > HAVE DONE SOME DAMAGE RECENTLY TO YOUR LOYAL FAN BASE YOU NEED TO > REPAIR. I echo your sentiments. Pardon my naivety, but how does this message get across to the Isle of Ferry? I'd hope that it would get there somehow. from a foolish fan, :) - ---joel __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 20:09:07 EDT From: Jocelynfiske@aol.com Subject: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime I agree with Robert, Ferry as the helmsman of Roxy was a man we looked to for our next fix of originality. Unlike many here, and I have voiced this publicly, I remember all too well sitting in the audience of the Mamouna tour and thinking, my God, this is it for me, it's all over, I won't come and see Ferry again (as Roxy still didn't exist then and it was always ROXY over Ferry any day for me) I was, for the first time (but not the last) totally unmoved by the theatre, the music - everything. I remember I went home and cried. For decades I'd considered myself a Roxy girl - an ethic, not an attendance, and now, I felt those standards weren't being met. It took the ATGB tour (out of the blue), for me to be invigorated again, mainly because of the surprise of the product. I had a running gag that if Roxy was ever a sax down I could stand in if they did Three Blind Mice or As Time Goes By - the only two songs I'd mastered (and of course only if Mr Lee Sullivan had the lip equivalent of conjunctivitis). That was an invigorating eye-opening tour. And then, after 18 years to be topped by a Roxy reunion tour - boy! OK I see the use of the Frantic tour, and there was new material, albeit material most of us had heard in another guise as Alphaville, but it just about got by. But come on - the rest is, as Ferry said in the Richard Skinner interview "carrying on for the sake of it". Ferry is a hugely talented man. No doubt. A hugely passionate man. Granted. A man not really living on planet earth but on planet Ferry, where everything is done for you to a degree where you find functioning in the real world a chore and one you'd rather avoid at all costs. Without doubt. The choice between staying home and dealing with all the shit that comes with real life/relationships/kids/and cleaning cookers and life on the road where all that is expected of you is to turn up and sing, there' no lottery prize in guessing which one he'd prefer. The key with Ferry is focus. He's not focussed on recording at the moment - and quite possibly his record label will lose interest in him if he doesn't get his finger out soon. His hard core fan base is running a thread on his and our apathy that is the most lively thing that has happened to this list in at least a year, and that must ring some alarm bells in the Ferry camp if not for financial reasons alone, and he' s privately talking about jacking it in. Mr F. How dare you sit in West Sussex piddling Chopsticks on your keyboards,. You have a wealth of betrayed loved, unrequited love, would be love, and pensionable love at your fingertips to draw on. Distil your passion and create new material like Love War (which albeit an obvious bitter unsweet rendition to Lucy you can surely release now) and reignite what drew us to the Roxy "thing" in the first place. The only thing, for me, that cannot be won back, is your enigma. Jocelyn ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 19:25:19 -0400 (EDT) From: Colleen Matan Subject: Re: [AVALON] Our nightingale is past his prime On Wed, 8 Sep 2004, Joel Hurd wrote: > > I can always respect him because he was good - it would be nice to > > respect him because he still is. And I did during ATGB - uncommercial > > - different - brilliant - he even learned to sing as well as be cool > > - but as ever safe bet boring bad mix no ideas little effort low > > profile bad marketing poor single choice, another compilation. > > > > SORT IT OUT BRYAN. YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO LOSE YOUR CREDIBILITY. AND YOU > > HAVE DONE SOME DAMAGE RECENTLY TO YOUR LOYAL FAN BASE YOU NEED TO > > REPAIR. > > I echo your sentiments. Pardon my naivety, but how does this message > get across to the Isle of Ferry? I'd hope that it would get there > somehow. > > from a foolish fan, :) > ---joel You're not foolish. Mr. Ferry is the foolish one for resisting available, thoughtful, useful commentary. Colleen ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 20:01:18 -0500 From: "Jeff Turner" Subject: [AVALON] RE: avalon-digest V9 #225 Well, we've certainly got a lot of opinions about what Bryan's doing wrong, and/or what he should do instead. But hey, it makes the list interesting to read! Here are my two (or more) cents worth, in no particular order. Bryan is, or is almost, 60. It's been my observation that as rock star types age, the wellsprings of creativity dry up. I don't think Bryan's too lazy to write new material; I just think he doesn't have much left inside any more. But even his paltry output is greater than, say, Peter Gabriel's. Gabriel went 10 years between albums, and when he finally put one out 2 years ago, it was just ok. It sounded a bit like it was stuck in time, musically. Gabriel used to be such an innovator, so it was disappointing on that score. Obviously, there are some exceptions to the decreasing output with increasing age trend. Van Morrison comes to mind; he puts out about an album per year. But his stuff pretty much all sounds alike anymore, at least to me. Yes, Bryan and/or his label have cranked out a lot of compilations over the years. They probably figure it's better to put something in the public eye, however briefly, even if it is recycled, to keep the memory of his name alive. But nobody puts a gun to our heads to make us buy them. (Well, ok, I kinda feel a compulsion, but maybe that's just me.) Even if Bryan did put out something new, what would be its fate commercially? To sink with barely a ripple, probably. A few years back, Yes did a really good album called Magnification, the best they'd done since the 70s, and it didn't sell squat. Some of the guys think they should do a new album soon, but Jon Anderson has said he thinks albums are dead and has no interest in flogging that horse. And Yes has a much bigger fan base than Roxy/Ferry. The music scene has changed too much, and I'm not just talking about falling out of style. These days, unless you're Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera, it's hard to sell enough albums to make money, considering how many potential sales are lost to people who download the music or burn a bit-perfect copy off a friend's CD (when friends want to copy one of my CDs, I tell them that if they like that artist, they should go buy it). Last but not least, as for a 1972-lineup Roxy reunion album, do we really want to take the chance? George Lucas came back to Star Wars after an absence of 17 years, and has pretty much destroyed it, in my opinion. I can never feel threatened by Darth Vader again, knowing that under that helmet, he's just a whiny, bratty, pouty-lipped pretty boy. If Roxy reformed, it might be great, but it might also be really bad. I'd much rather have Avalon as their swan song than the music equivalent of "The Phantom Menace." So given all the foregoing, what's a guy like Bryan to do? Carry on his tour far longer than his health and vocal cords will allow, and get back with Roxy for the occasional one-off gig. (I'm really trying hard not to think about that Discover Card commercial a few years ago featuring fictitious glam band "Danger Kitty" reuniting and playing somebody's bar mitzvah.) Gosh, all that sounded much more negative than I meant it to be. Go put on "Stranded" or "Country Life" and relive the glory days. We can all be glad we had Roxy, even if we don't get new stuff in the future. Regards, Jeff _________________________________________________________________ Check out Election 2004 for up-to-date election news, plus voter tools and more! http://special.msn.com/msn/election2004.armx ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 09:25:13 +0200 (METDST) From: Heather Marie Buch Subject: Re: [AVALON] RE: avalon-digest V9 #225 On Wed, 8 Sep 2004, Jeff Turner wrote: > > Gosh, all that sounded much more negative than I meant it to be. Go put on > "Stranded" or "Country Life" and relive the glory days. We can all be glad > we had Roxy, even if we don't get new stuff in the future. My sentiments exactly. Not all artists can have the stamina of say, Johnny Cash, putting out great songs until his last dying breath. Even Nick Cave has gotten weak and boring, especially with Blixa gone. My favorite "Frantic" song was actually "Cruel". But I think that is because I misinterpreted the lyrics: (true lyrics) When I turn to the east I can see no dawn But iron horse come--buffalo gone Like blades of grass they cut us all down (my misinterpretation) When I turn to the east I can see no dawn But iron horse come--buffalo gone the goddess of love they cut us all down while I thought it was redundant that he should use "goddess of love" in 2 songs, I liked the imagery as I imagined it to be in "Cruel". It made me think of Shakti, the female Indian life-giving goddess, in her avatars as Durga or Kaali: "As Durga, she rides the tiger, and bears weaponry. In the angry and terrifying form of Kaali, she destroys and devours all forms of evil. As Kaali, she is also the personification of time, her dark form being symbolic of future which is beyond our knowledge." I pictured Ferry "Looking to the east" - meaning the future which is beyond our knowledge and seeing this beautiful voluptuous green goddess riding up on a iron horse to destroy all evil. Perhaps Bryan should spend a couple of years in India. Heather ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V9 #226 **************************** ======================================================================== For further info, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info avalon-digest