[ribman@manthey.com.au]

On 1 Jun 2003 at 14:00, powderworks-request@cs.colorado.edu wrote:
>  I must admit
> I'm very surprised to hear people ... saying they got into the
> oils not because of peters voice. 
> Take care,
> Sebastian

Reflection time ... Why did I get into Oils?
1983 ... 18 years old ... 10to1
A downtrodden-type friend gave me a taped copy of 10to1 with strooooong 
recommendations and explanations regarding the lyrics.  My most vivid 
memory is of him saying at pretinent moments in his troubled down-
troddenness phrases like "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your 
knees".  I think that (though I was not at all down-trodden politically) I had a 
very strong socialistic bent and the hook for me was "Only the Strong" ... 
the imagery of the prisoner against social oppression ( ... when I'm locked 
in my room ... I just want to scream ... ).  Pink Floyds "The Wall" was a big 
thing for me at the time too.  
So what got me in?
1/  I was evangelised by a convert!
2/  The lyrics hooked my own psychological struggles and issues.
3/  The associated tunes kicked huge bum.
Nothing's changed in 20 years.  Favourite Oils song now?  Redneck 
Wonderland for reasons 2 and 3.

Pete's voice unusual?  Maybe that's a non-Aussie impression.  Being a 
North-Queenslander, my accent is very thick - even more so when I was 
18.  Pete actually had a veeeeery normal voice to me !!!  (Actually he 
gained credibility to me by being non-posh.)  Being a Sydneysider, he was  
cultured if anything - he actually pronounced words without ferocious 
dipthongs and didn't say "AY" at the end of every phrase.
Also I'm listening to Mark Seymour of Hunters & Collectors (same genre 
as Oils) on the pc-juke-box, at present belting out the Slab on "The Way to 
Go Out", and it is bizarre to think of people picking on Pete's voice and not 
poking a stick at assorted other Oz rockers ... like James Reyne !!!!!!!!

lurk ya later
Manthey
PS: two submissions in one month ... overcommitment alert!!!!