BOC/Covers debate

[Ted O. Jackson]

>
>         Oh, well, imitation _is_ the sincerest form of flattery, but if
> you are brilliantly original, then you don't need to flatter (unless you
> want to).  Even if I was a brilliantly original and famous musician, I
> might well occasionally do a "piece in the style of" simply because it
> was fun, though.
>
>         But it would be much too dangerous to haul up the old thread:
> "Are BOC imitating themselves, thesedays?" .... ;)
>
> Cheers,
> Carl

Carl,
I wonder how much pressure we, as fans, put upon bands to repeat
themselves.  Look how we whine when groups don't do a favorite song
of ours when we see them live.  Sometimes bands repeat themselves
because we demand it of them.  I was disappointed at first, when
'Agents' was released, because it was such a departure for the group.
 In time, I came to appreciate the record, and those which followed,
even when the band strayed from its earlier path.  I haven't seen BOC
live in a few years, but I would wholeheartedly want to see 'new'
songs in their set nowadays, rather than 'Born to be Wild' for the
thirtieth time.  I've seen the group so many times (though not often
lately) that I would welcome such experimentation.  Besides, how much
new ground can a band break before they wind up back where they
started.  That happens whenever a band keeps trying to re-invent
itself...