Midnight Oil

Subject: Re: [powderworks] 10-1 re-issue, demos, live stuff
From: bawolski@aol.com
Date: 23/05/2008, 2:46 am
To: powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au

How about Neil Young's announcement recently to finally start releasing his massive Archives series - on Blu-ray? only!? A lot of Neil fans are ticked off about that (me included).? 
?

Mike in LA



-----Original Message-----
From: Terry Johnson <tenacious@cyberback.com>
To: powderworks@yahoogroups.com.au
Sent: Thu, 22 May 2008 2:17 am
Subject: RE: [powderworks] 10-1 re-issue, demos, live stuff






Good points, Kev. But...

Have you noticed the huge amount of material being included in box sets from
bands hailing from the same era? I got The Police Box Set over a year ago
and haven't made my way through all of it yet! I look at that band, who
wasn't together for half as long as the Oils and didn't produce half the
albums they did, and wonder why the Oils couldn't do the same. REM, Jethro
Tull, Genesis, even They Might Be Giants have dumped a ton of commercial
goodies on their die-hard fans. Metallica released that huge Binge & Purge
collection years ago which included a ton of video from only a select 2.5
years of touring. I'm sure you can think of many more.

Would it be a commercial success for them? Probably not. And the argument
that most of the bands I listed are still together or re-united for a tour
means little. They've each had their moments of unpopularity, hiatus, and
member changes--just like our boys.

<warning...personal reference ahead!>
I once had a song in which my bass player said it "didn't sound pretty in
the solo" and wanted to change his part. I told him it was the way I heard
it in my head and wanted him to try it through one evening's practice and if
he still didn't like it we'd change it. He didn't even want to do that.
Our guitarist asked him, "Why do we make music? Do we do it just because it
sounds pretty or do we make it because it's what we're driven to do? If a
song needs a part to sound ugly, that's how we'll play it." We never argued
about it again. The song sounded awesome. The crowds loved it.

I listen to the Oils and I feel the passion in their music. It wasn't
created to give me a warm fuzzy. It was true to the spirit of music. Their
side projects still are. I know every musician wants their new material to
be better than the last. It's the desire to move forward without always
being remembered for something that happened last year, or last decade, or a
concert named after an island you played on 20+ years ago.

Any box set they could concoct for the masses would most likely not wind up
on a best-sellers' list, but offering never released material would be a
cool thing to do, and would be in line with the purpose for which they first
wrote it. It's a tough decision for them--an easy one for us. :o) 

Here's hoping they see things my way!
--Terry

-----Original Message-----

I'm finding a presumptuous tone in many recent posts about what we 'ought to
get' with any reissues that may be released.

<snip>
It's very probable that the group are interested in what their supporters
want - they've always looked after their supporters. I'm also certain that
they care about their craft and their music and will publish it in the best
way they see fit. There are likely to be numerous issues we are far from
aware of involved in releasing music from the 10-1 etc era.

<snip>
Kev



 


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