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Thursday, March 25, 2004 |
Welcome to the Level 42 Digest! Founded in 1993, this is a community of 523 fans of the band Level 42 and its music. The community interacts here via email, through many related web sites, and at periodic "Levelfest" gatherings held around the world. All subscribers are encouraged to participate and contribute new dialogue about their common interests. Sponsored by SiteSpect - web conversion optimization, a/b testing, split-run testing and multifactor testing system. |
| Topics for Thursday, March 25, 2004 1. Here Comes the Flood - jt 2. Welcome, and extra bits.... - Michael Payne 3. bg.com closing - Lars-Ove Larsson |
| 1. Here Comes the Flood |
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| From: | jt <jtraci @ yahoo.com> |
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| Date: | Wed, 24 Mar 2004 05:01:16 -0800 (PST) |
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| -AG > Ah, we were all 16 once. (I'm guessing.) 23 I believe was the stated age. > Again, accepted. Such uncharacteristic humility. Not > before time mind. The coming of Spring does odd things to me. >answer me this: why continue to contribute so much to a Digest dedicated > to a band that at worst you appear to loathe and at > best you deem OK? As I’ve stated various times. At this point it’s really more so for the surreal (bad) business end of it. The “ok” was a slant of sarcasm, but on a Lozian level (as he was the one proclaiming I “don’t like” Level42) it is certainly just “ok”, for I would/could never say I “love” them. My usage of the Delfonics “la-la means I love you” was simply stating that “ok” (or anything) can mean a lot more/less to me than it does to some/most other people. [some rehashed needless biography info, feel free to skip:] Pre-_Running in the Family_ I was pretty ‘into’ the band (although ˝ of _World Machine_ had me say, “uh oh”) , I was then still playing bass and thought what MK was doing, aside from his actual tone (bass tone, that is) was pretty nifty. Bla bla bla, really bad few albums…and then at some point we had this here list, way back when a 486 computer was top-notch. I joined in (under a professor of Northwestern’s name, as I used a spare account of his, as the hospital I worked at had more a of a ‘internal’ email system), member number 76 (or right around there; so yes, Loz, I _was_ around (and as adults are we _really_ gonna play “I was here first”?) for your original religious spoutings). I recall being one of the few saying _Forever Now_ was a disappointment and that there was really little use in Phil Gould returning if all he was going to do was offer up some loops. For this, of course, I was told I’m not a “true” fan and etc. and etc. Not much has changed in the way of partisan thinking. So I eventually drifted off, I was terribly unimpressed with MK’s Bryan Adams impersonation called _One Man_ and _Trash_ was nothing special. The other members were pretty silent. Just as I thought Sting’s first 2 solo albums were “ok” I stopped following him and don’t feel the need to go on any Sting boards and say things like, “now that Vinnie Colaiuta has left the band is there _anything_ redeeming about your music?” Sting’s doing his thing and that’s not going to change. However, and especially after the worst concert I have ever attended, the “Level42” 2002 GH Tour, the over-all...weirdness that is/was Level42 is fascinating to me. Right from the beginning, we are dealing with a band that can’t even get the fact of the origin of their bloody name straight. Pretty basic stuff. Onward to the colossal mismanagements of Paul Crockford to the recent sinister, pathological behavior of MK. I wanted to like Mike’s new album, but couldn’t. I planned on seeing what this Da Lata stuff was all about, saw that the were playing the local jazz club next week (posted on the www.moods.ch site and posters around the city) only to now see (days later) that the gig is mysteriously no more (Bilal, any word on this?). And now Boon’s closure of his site. It’s all so bizarre. Really, as I’ve said before, stranger that the fiction of Spinal Tap. As for 'level42 knowledge' (which some may think of as “true” fandom) (whatever that means) I think I could easily go toe to toe with anyone in basics about the band. Here I am NOT talking about the weirdness of catalogue numbers, variant pressings, limited editions and other such things that take a certain mind. > I think you, I and many nameless others would > conclude that one of each of us is more than enough. No doubt! >Since you mention it, I don't understand why you >squander your > writing talent on belittling people; I really don’t see it as “belittling”, if anything the original post(er) is far too ‘little’ already. I don’t have a miniaturising ray-gun, nor need one. I guess I do get lost on the concept in this email and SMS (sorry if that’s a Swiss acronym, I actually have no idea (or desire to know) what it means, essentially it’s email on mobile phones) world that actual CONVERSATION instead of statements or ‘sound bites’ is no longer a desired form of activity. Stating one’s belief or worse yet “opinions” (however uninformed) is now the common place. While I may occasionally repeat myself, I do try to provide insight and background to my thoughts and ideas. If anyone ever asked me “why?” I felt a certain way I believe I could give a proper answer. When I ask a question toward someone’s beliefs or “opinions” I get outright ignored or the answer stands as a lonely “why not?” [easy examples could be in DonZ’s relentless believing that secretly Cover42, having been together for 6+ years already, could produce something worthwhile (I find this especially strange thinking from someone that I know plays an instrument; most know that either there is ‘something there’ when playing with others or there isn’t. Common knowledge also points to most bands being quite productive (if there is ‘something there’) in the early years; in sound checks and tour buses and then it (probably) starts to demise)…another is someone (this is on the web-thing) stating they don’t “understand” how anyone could not like EVERY song by Level42. I tired to explain that the behavior of liking 100% (and that’s around 100 tunes) of anything over such a long period of time seems more like programming than “loving” or being objective…to this I get no response. I do get the impression that sometimes people think I really spend a lot of time doing these posts. Honestly, most are just quick reflex typing. This, however, is taking more time, as do some of the more general (rare) conversations. The image of a jay hunched over his computer, slamming down the keys with violence and infelicity is really kind of silly. I _do_ have a general curiosity toward why some people think the way they do. And for as abominable as it seems I may act toward, say, Loz, I think he, as most people, have a bag of the proverbial salt by their computer for when they read just about anything written anywhere by anyone. If someone, myself included, writes something in a public forum I truly believe they should be/could be called on it. Isn’t that really one of the points? Do the lot of you really just want to wait for something you agree with so you can type up the ever repetitive “me too!!” Are your beliefs only established when others agree with you? I would hope not, but I fear so. I know my methodology offends some people, or scares some off from replying or posting, I am aware I have lost some of the audience and that these folks just bypass my posts altogether. That doesn’t bother me from the point of “I want as large a reading group as can be,” more so it is only sad because these people may have something insightful to add or may be able to point out some flaws or contradictions [insert Emerson quote] in my theories/beliefs/cuttings. Thankfully some of the few that _do_ seem to have something to say I’ve had the pleasure to have occasional, if not frequent email ping-pongs with. In essence, under all the fire and brimstone-like writing you’ll merely find an enormous lack of character. My apologies to swiping a direct line from Oscar Levant (_An American in Paris_). And sorry for the typos and non-linear thinking, I am so totally not up to rereading this... Tschüss, j(ay) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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| 2. Welcome, and extra bits.... |
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| From: | Michael Payne <michael @ journeyhouse.com> |
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| Date: | Wed, 24 Mar 2004 09:21:45 -0600 |
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First, I would like to welcome to Oklahoma City, USA - Andy Smith and his brother Stephen - they are here on holiday and New Orleans beware - we will be there in 5 days! Boon Gould's website closing, very sad indeed, but I guess all good things do come to an end, as that is the way of the force Luke! I hope that the site (as some have already mentioned) stay open as a fan site though! Hall-n-Oates "I Can't Go For That" - awesome track - I have always been a fan of H-n-O - I recently heard (and bought) Simply Red's new album, which has a track called "Sunrise" that samples that track, very good IMHO! Level 42 reunion (from what I heard) was in jeopardy when Mark offered some songs that he had written in advance to Phil, Mike, and Boon for this "new" album. Apparently Phil was not pleased as he wanted this new album from "scratch" - he wanted each track to represent the collective effort, not the same 1980's formula that MK had become accustomed to. I also know certain band members from the original L42 were not happy with the idea of MK's L42 taking the album on the road and touring. There is more to this story I am sure, but I wish for the sake of the fans, they can put their pride aside, get inspired and write that album that they were really never given the chance to make! MIKEY
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| 3. bg.com closing |
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| From: | Lars-Ove Larsson <lazlar @ home.se> |
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| Date: | Wed, 24 Mar 2004 22:29:09 +0100 |
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Dear all
Thanks for the kind words about
the site.
I haven't decided what to do
with the domain name. I won't get rid of it, but someone said to point it
towards l42.com or fn.com and someone thought I should start a fan-site which
was how it all got started a few years ago before it became official.
With respect for Boon I would
never let it point to l42.com or fn.com since I feel this would belittle his
contributions as a solo artist.
As for starting a fan-site
there are obvious problems there as well, since I now have very little material
that isn't submitted by Boon, and therefore can't be used. He also asked me to
remove some things from the original site since he felt embarrased by them and
again out of respect for him I can't use those things, so it would be a small
and crippled fan-site that would do no-one any good. There are other l42 tribute
sites with nice sections for Boon and I think they will have to do for the time
being (fn.com is one, richard maybury's is another, Glyn W's, etc.).
Maybe I will just make a small
link page linking to other resources on the net?
Boon and I will keep in touch
and whenever he feels like it bg.com will be an official site
again.
Lars |
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