Music opinion/question of the week...

[WestwayKid]

Oh yeah, I helped the lead singer of REO Speedwagon move furniture once.

I've heard he's a super nice dude from more than one person.

[Dr. Medulla]

Oh yeah, I helped the lead singer of REO Speedwagon move furniture once.

Which is fantastic because of (a) the weirdness of the event and (b) the "hey, you're that guy from that thing" quality of the person.

I think I've told the story before, but he lived in the same town as me and a friend was neighbors with him. Me and Matt Patrol were trying to get things going with our band and the friend offered to get us in touch with him to give us "career advice." He basically told us to do a three song demo, not a four song demo and then we moved his couch.

Did he explain the rationale behind the superiority of the three-song demo/inferiority of the four-song demo? I can appreciate it from a "time is valuable" perspective and if you can't sell yourself in your three best songs, it ain't gonna happen in four, but I'm curious whether there's some kind of unspoken industry standard that with destroy the ignorant.

[matedog]

Oh yeah, I helped the lead singer of REO Speedwagon move furniture once.

Which is fantastic because of (a) the weirdness of the event and (b) the "hey, you're that guy from that thing" quality of the person.

I think I've told the story before, but he lived in the same town as me and a friend was neighbors with him. Me and Matt Patrol were trying to get things going with our band and the friend offered to get us in touch with him to give us "career advice." He basically told us to do a three song demo, not a four song demo and then we moved his couch.

Did he explain the rationale behind the superiority of the three-song demo/inferiority of the four-song demo? I can appreciate it from a "time is valuable" perspective and if you can't sell yourself in your three best songs, it ain't gonna happen in four, but I'm curious whether there's some kind of unspoken industry standard that with destroy the ignorant.

I think it was just "keep it snappy."

[Dr. Medulla]

Oh yeah, I helped the lead singer of REO Speedwagon move furniture once.

Which is fantastic because of (a) the weirdness of the event and (b) the "hey, you're that guy from that thing" quality of the person.

I think I've told the story before, but he lived in the same town as me and a friend was neighbors with him. Me and Matt Patrol were trying to get things going with our band and the friend offered to get us in touch with him to give us "career advice." He basically told us to do a three song demo, not a four song demo and then we moved his couch.

Did he explain the rationale behind the superiority of the three-song demo/inferiority of the four-song demo? I can appreciate it from a "time is valuable" perspective and if you can't sell yourself in your three best songs, it ain't gonna happen in four, but I'm curious whether there's some kind of unspoken industry standard that with destroy the ignorant.

I think it was just "keep it snappy."

Could it have been "keep it sappy"?

[WestwayKid]

Which is fantastic because of (a) the weirdness of the event and (b) the "hey, you're that guy from that thing" quality of the person.

I think I've told the story before, but he lived in the same town as me and a friend was neighbors with him. Me and Matt Patrol were trying to get things going with our band and the friend offered to get us in touch with him to give us "career advice." He basically told us to do a three song demo, not a four song demo and then we moved his couch.

Did he explain the rationale behind the superiority of the three-song demo/inferiority of the four-song demo? I can appreciate it from a "time is valuable" perspective and if you can't sell yourself in your three best songs, it ain't gonna happen in four, but I'm curious whether there's some kind of unspoken industry standard that with destroy the ignorant.

I think it was just "keep it snappy."

Could it have been "keep it sappy"?

They might be the wimpiest looking band ever.

[Low Down Low]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I also managed to raise the hackles of the Proclaimers by insisting I was a big fan (quite true at the time) and then ruining it by either referring to Charlie as Craig or to Craig as Charlie, forget which, and which did not impress them very much.

On a happier note I once shared a pot of tea with Keith Duffy from Boyzone and found him to be a top bloke.

[Dr. Medulla]

They might be the wimpiest looking band ever.

It was the early 80s. All pop bands were wimpy looking and shitty sounding. That was our thing back then.

[Heston]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I suppose you can just catch someone on a bad day. My mate asked Rick Buckler for his drumsticks and he replied, "You could at least wait until the end of the show, we haven't fucking started yet mate."

[Low Down Low]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I suppose you can just catch someone on a bad day. My mate asked Rick Buckler for his drumsticks and he replied, "You could at least wait until the end of the show, we haven't fucking started yet mate."

Ha, i did at least wait till the end of the show alright and did sense all might not be well when I heard joe snap at somebody in the backstage area, something to do with not being able to find his favourite pair of jeans or something, and there'd also being a bit of toing and froing with the stadium security about the final encore which may have contributed to his bad mood as well. Not that there was any bother in signing my Global copy or posing for the obligatory photo and, at a guess, I'd say I was probably the 20th schmuck to have approached him that night. Could easily have told me to fuck off and it wouldnt have bothered me, but he didn't. He was totally professional about it.

There is a small coda to the story in that, through a fairly distant acquaintance of mine who was friendly with Shane MacGowan, I was later ushered into the VIP area of a nearby nightclub owned by a famous rock star who would not exactly be flavour of the month around these parts, and there watched over by a group of five or six guys sat Joe and Shane having a quiet drink and a chat. Not really having anything to say and just standing there like a prize tool for probably no more than 1 or 2 minutes, I made my humble apologies and headed for the exit.

[WestwayKid]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I suppose you can just catch someone on a bad day. My mate asked Rick Buckler for his drumsticks and he replied, "You could at least wait until the end of the show, we haven't fucking started yet mate."

Yup, like any job - sometimes you just have a bad day. I've seen The Church several times and once watched Marty Willson-Piper storm off the stage during the encore. The rest of the band finished the song and then Steve Kilbey walked to the side and chatted with Marty and then came back and said he wouldn't be rejoining because he "was just done with club's worthless PA".

[Marky Dread]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I suppose you can just catch someone on a bad day. My mate asked Rick Buckler for his drumsticks and he replied, "You could at least wait until the end of the show, we haven't fucking started yet mate."

Yup, like any job - sometimes you just have a bad day. I've seen The Church several times and once watched Marty Willson-Piper storm off the stage during the encore. The rest of the band finished the song and then Steve Kilbey walked to the side and chatted with Marty and then came back and said he wouldn't be rejoining because he "was just done with club's worthless PA".

I know in a live situation people think differently but why sulk about the P.A. being shit. Why not give the fans something special instead like staying on stage and getting out acoustic guitars. I've seen bands do this before. Those people paid hard earned money to see you so respect it.

[WestwayKid]

This is not something I am particularly proud of but I think I may be unique in the annals of Clash fandom by being the only fan to meet Joe Strummer and instead of an invitation to a raucous all night drinking session, I found him a little bit cranky and uncommunicative. Not that I held it against him in any way. I think he was just in a foul mood that night for some reason. Or maybe that's just the effect I have on famous people!

I suppose you can just catch someone on a bad day. My mate asked Rick Buckler for his drumsticks and he replied, "You could at least wait until the end of the show, we haven't fucking started yet mate."

Yup, like any job - sometimes you just have a bad day. I've seen The Church several times and once watched Marty Willson-Piper storm off the stage during the encore. The rest of the band finished the song and then Steve Kilbey walked to the side and chatted with Marty and then came back and said he wouldn't be rejoining because he "was just done with club's worthless PA".

I know in a live situation people think differently but why sulk about the P.A. being shit. Why not give the fans something special instead like staying on stage and getting out acoustic guitars. I've seen bands do this before. Those people paid hard earned money to see you so respect it.

Good question, but then again Willson-Piper is the same guy who basically quit the band by just no longer replying to phone calls, emails, and so on.

The rest of the band finished the encore and did a great job. Peter Koppes did a FANTASTIC job of merging both guitar parts on an absolutely stunning version of Tantalized.

[WestwayKid]

Great British Invasion LP's NOT released by the Beatles. I'm willing to toss the Stones into the mix. This topic definitely inspired by the Small Faces thread. Their 1967 self-titled LP for Immediate is fantastic and one of my favorites. I'll also throw The Animals on Tour out there - great record. Really gritty.

[Dr. Medulla]

Pre-Tommy Who—fuckin' dynamite. In many ways, I'd prefer it if they'd broken up over Pete's demands to go high concept and their legacy being those first three records and singles.

[Marky Dread]

Pre-Tommy Who—fuckin' dynamite. In many ways, I'd prefer it if they'd broken up over Pete's demands to go high concept and their legacy being those first three records and singles.

Dr. Medulla...he won't get fooled again!