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Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches



aye, well, obviously its just my taste !

Off topic, but I remember a few folk on this list praising interpol a while back - theyre playing here in a couple of months - anyone got an opinion - worth seeing, or DULL !! (in capitals with two exclamation marks!!) ?

From: Jesse Hochstadt <Jesse_Hochstadt@brown.edu>
Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 13:41:03 -0400

From: "Murray Ramone" <murrayramone@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches

Excellent observations

thats why Tom Verlaine is cool and Richard Thompson is in the worthy but
DULL category

I like the fact that Verlaine still makes music and doesnt really give a
flying  f u c k  whether it sells or not and he doesnt do it for his fans
but for himself - thats the mark of a great artist
Whoa, whoa, WHOA. You go to see RT live, or listen to, say, the live 
version of "Can't Win" from "Watching the Dark," and then tell me he's 
"DULL" (in caps, yet!). I don't know how much RT cares whether his music 
sells or not - in most of the interviews I can recall, he's said he long 
ago realized that he's never going to be widely popular and is content with 
having a core of devoted fans. So I guess he cares whether it sells enough 
for him to make a living doing what he loves (unlike Tom, he's got a family 
to support), but not enough to contort himself in an attempt to be 
"popular." There's a big difference between writing material that appeals 
both to you and to your fans and pandering to tastes that are not your own.
Having said that, I know that, at least until recently, a good number of 
RT's fans would have quibbled with the claim that he is "very devoted to 
his fans." He doesn't condone audience taping, and has resisted releasing 
older material (especially live) fans would love to get their hands on. 
This is, after all, the man who said of his fans: "They're worse than 
critics - they're _amateur_ critics" - though I think that represents more 
an attempt to humorously distance himself than any real scorn. The attitude 
does seem to have changed recently, as he's released "More Guitar," a 
recording of a legendary live show from 1988  ( 
http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=116 ).
RT's also one of the only "aging" rock musicians I know who has continued 
to work on his craft, so that in his 50s he's still getting better as a 
guitarist and a singer. (Admittedly, I don't find his songwriting quite as 
inspired as when he was younger, but I don't think that's from any lack of 
integrity.)
My guess, Murray, is that you find RT "DULL" because some of the more 
traditional song forms (from folk to Tin Pan Alley) that he's genuinely 
devoted to, and reworks with such skill, aren't your cuppa. But that's a 
matter of your taste, not his integrity or creativity.
>From: Jeffrey Germaine <jpg55@attbi.com>
>Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
>To: <tv@obbard.com>
>Subject: Re: (TV) Beware of Sales Pitches
>Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 10:03:57 -0700
>
>Excellent observations.
>R. Thompson is a far far different personality than T.V.
>R.T. is the complete artist. He also has a very clever sense of humor.
>I know that he is very committed to his fans. I have never gotten that
>sense
>from T.V. in the over twenty-five years of following him.
>The only thing I have always wondered about T.V. is what does he do with
>all
>his time? His body of work is small and he really doesn't tour very much. >When I first met him I sensed he was completely detached and insecure. I
>suppose that first impressions are sometimes right.
>There is an old saying that says the older you get the harder you have to
>work because the less time there is. With R.T. I see a passionate artist
>who
>is out in the midst of the world  and is aware of time.  With Verlaine I
>see
>a man who is completely removed from the world and out of time.
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