Lurkers & Stuff

[Robert Kohl]

Ok, a sidebar (long) just to make this post BOC-related:  For a long time
I've been disturbed by the lack of "in-stock" BOC works (along with some
other groups I like) in record stores.  Among these stores is "The Wall,"
which I checked out some weeks ago.

So, last night I meet the son of an older middle-aged couple who are friends
of ours.  Just shooting the breeze while waiting for someone when, lo and
behold, we start talking about what we do for a living.

(Can anyone guess what comes next in this story?....That's OK, I'll
wait...... hum dee dum ...................nope, that's not it.......la da da
dee do.........no, that's not it either, try again..... .............you're
getting warmer....... BZZZZZ...time's up.)

As luck might have it, this guy (about my age, which made me sick) was the
head buyer for the east coast "The Wall" stores.  Of course the doctor's
(that's me) ears perked up.  "My good man, we need to talk," I said (putting
my arm around his shoulder in a mentoring way).

Well, you can probably guess the rest of the conversation, so no boring
details here.  Suffice to say that the doctor made a few points well, and was
dismayed to find out that this guy was not on-line yet.

To just give an example, though, about how I argued my views (hopefully
successfully), we were debating about the buying power of teeny boppers who
bum money off their parents and buy current top 40 crap vs. the buying power
of more mature folks who have developed an appreciation for true rock n' roll
and spend their hard-earned money on stuff that has held its own through the
years.  (Can someone guess the side he took and the side that the doctor
(that's me) took?  Ok, that was too easy.) This part of the conversation, as
best as I can remember it, went like this:

"Answer this," I queried, "who did you listen to in high school, and I mean
beyond the pop stuff on the radio?"  <crossing my fingers here hoping he'd
mention some of my faves> "Well," he said, "there was Yes, REO Speedwagon..."
"no, no, no," I interrupted, "the REAL stuff.... you know.... the REAL music
that drove your parents nuts and got you detention when the teacher saw the
doodles on your notebooks."  "Oh," he said [as a grin appeared on his face as
if the doctor put him in touch with some long-supressed memories of old],
"there was, let's see, AC/DC, uh, Zeppelin, hmm, Aerosmith...."  I
interrupted again "the notebook, son, remember the notebook."  "Of course,"
he said, "Blue Oyster Cult."  "You know, you never hear much about them these
days, Bob, when's the last time they had a song on the radio?" he said.
Alas, the doctor knew that his work  here was almost done.

"You know, Jeff [real name withheld at his request because I told him I'd be
chatting on the net], you need to be more true to your roots" I said.  "Look
at me, who do you think has more disposable income, me or some gum-chewing
Hootie fan?"  "But Bob," he said, "what do you know about the record charts
and marketing?"  "Well," I retorted, "what does a pubescent, boot-wearing,
pants down below their ass, boxers showing, head-shaven, wool baseball cap-
wearing dropout know about good music?  Not much in either case, don't you
think?"  "Look Jeff," I continued "I'm not trying to be nasty here, I just
think you ought to step back a moment, think about the untapped market of 30
somethings with hard-earned $$$ to spend, and give them something that they
can buy.  Let them go back to their roots, only this time on CD instead of
vinyl or undigitized cassettes. I'll bet that there would be a blip on your
marketing charts if you did, and the holiday season is upon us.  What about
it, Jeff?" "You know, Bob, you make a decent point."  Seeing my opportunity
here, I added "just think about it, Jeff, and, when in doubt, just use
yourself as an example.  Don't forget to let some past memories bubble up
when you're thinking about what to buy.  There's a market out there, people
like you and me, that you haven't reached yet."

So the conversation continued.  Like I said, this is an example of just one
of many points that I tried to make to this guy.  As we were leaving, I did
manage to get in a few plugs in about the internet, wanting to see more BOC
CDs on the rack and a plug for the Brain Surgeons.

Now I remind you that this guy was from out-of-town and was just visiting his
parents, who are friends of ours (me and the wife).  I may not ever see him
again, but at least I got to plant a few seeds in his head.  Who knows?
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Now that the post is relevant to BOC, I wanted to make some general comments
about lurkers.  Since I'm confined to digest mode, I learned that others have
already stated my points.  But the doctor can always add a thought or two.

As a lurker on another list myself, I can relate.  I think that lurkers can
fall into one or more of 3 general categories:

1. Those that think that more than 50% of the stuff is garbage and whose main
interest is in reading the occasional posts from the "famous" people on the
list.

2. Those who don't want the hassle of flame wars with the politically correct
crowd but are still interested in the subject.

3. Those, as someone else stated, that just want to be in touch with the
subject of interest but see themselves as removed and unable to contribute
much because of things beyond their control (e.g.-geograpy, as someone
mentioned)

Since this is my only post of the day (and I won't see it again until I get
my digest tomorrow), I might as well ramble on....

I need to get this political correctness thing off my chest.  Why is it that
folks on some lists (NOT THIS ONE, JUST OTHER LISTS) feel the need to couch
everything in disclaimers?  For example, on another list, I saw something to
the effect "I don't want to piss anyone off, but if you'll just allow me to
sneak in my opinion here, I think that blah, blah........It's just my humble
opinion, blah, blah......."  Cut me a friggin' break, here.

One of the attractions to BOC-L for me was that people seemed confident
enough to post what they thought. Period.  (Hey AB, now there's a category or
two to add to your directory-1."how you learned about BOC-L" and 2."what made
you stay"-I'm sure the listowner would appreciate these additions.)  Sure,
there's always going to be someone flaming a person who states what they
believe.  But I'm glad to see that there's not alot of "IMO" or "IMHO" crap
here.  Political correctness is for wussies. (Notice the lack of IMO or IMHO)
Just the fact that I'm typing this makes it my opinion, and I don't have to
pull the IMHO routine.

So, that's about it for today.  The sugar buzz has worn off.  Maybe I ought
to try some of AB's coffee :-)  <------NOT a politically correct smiley face,
just a colon, dash, and closed parentheses.

-Dr. Bob
rkohl at state.de.us