Why is this man laughing?

[Ted O. Jackson]

>
> I may' ve mentioned this before but at the New Years show in San Juan
> Capistrano, Ca., I spoke (in the dark!) to the guitar tech and he told me
> that a new album had actually been recorded and was 'ready to go' but had
> not been released yet due to (he didn't say.. label search? Your guess is as
> good as mine..) I don't know how close the guy was to the band, I assumed he
> was their regular guitar guy but who knows.. Maybe he was either feeding me
> a line or was just plain full of sh*t.. You decide.
>
He may have been full of shit, but even so, the band's been playing
several 'new' songs live for quite some time now.  Even if they're
not completely CD-ready, they doubtless exist in an advanced demo
form and need only be polished.  Even if not, they've been playing
these songs for so long, it wouldn't be much of a project to get them
ready for release.  They could even throw in the stuff from 'Bad
Channels,' which is already completed.

>
> >reasons, I'm also afraid].  I've said it again and again:  they need
> >to forget the possibility of radio airplay.  The few BOC songs that
> >made it as popular hits, did so in spite of themselves.  Rather than
> >lukewarm tunes that pander to radio-land, the BOC would be better off
> >in releasing some real bone-crushing heavy stuff.  Roll the dice and
> >take their chances on fan loyalty from the old guard.  There's still
>
> Amen brother.. and if the new stuff was up to snuff, it would eventually
> take off given half a chance. I believe the talent is still there.. The
> creativity may be another story.
>
>
> >anyway!] just to see them back on their feet.   The ironic thing is,
> >if todays young headbangers could be transported bgack to the 70s to
> >a BOC concert, they'd be instant lifelong converts.  Dudes, be true
> >to your heritage.  Give US what we want, forsake the radio/MTV
> >wasteland.  Play it, and they will come...
>
> I don't think they should try to pander to the young metal crowd either. I
> mean, their main audience has got to be over thirty.. Besides, I find the
> though of 40+ year olds playing to a bunch of screaming teenagers rather
> pathetic (witness one Ozzy Osbourn). I think the best bet would be for them

Right.  That's not what I meant.  I Think that the youngsters would
like old-style BOC stuff. [Hey I (we) was (were) young when I first
heard BOC and was blown away by them].  First and foremost, they
should play the stuff that endeared them to their original fans.  I
believe, with a really strong record, they would acquire many new
converts.  'Course, the problem is that much of that dynamite old
material resulted from Albert's creativity.  They desperately need
some transfusion of new creative blood.  I think there's a problem of
1) Denial of Albert's contribution.  It's a lot easier to rip someone
off if you deny his talents/contributions to the band.  Minimize his
role in BOC and it's more palatable to abuse the guy.  2) Maybe they
think they can do it on their own, that they posess enough creativity
to mount such a production.  Good luck there!  The musicianship
certainly isn't lacking.  There isn't a guitarist out there who can
evoke the emotion of a Buck Dharma.  But he needs good material to
accompany his amazing playing.  Playing/singing ability aside, the
band needs SONGS to play.


> to make music that THEY like and that they enjoy playing (not forgetting
> their roots of course). Any craft, be it music, fiction, stand up comedy..
> is always best when its created by the artist FOR the artist and not with
> dollar signs in mind.
>
Right on there!  Once you start 'going through the motions' it's all
over.  A feeling one gets after listening to 'Club Ninja.'  Hey,
maybe they're just burned out, and creatively dry.  These dudes have
been doing this for 25 years.  Anyone's entitled to loose their edge
after all these years of constatnt touring.  Maybe Jeff Beck's got
the right idea:  make a record every once in a while, tour every five
years whether you want to or not, keep the fans' sense of
anticipation up, and don't burn yourself up.  'Course you'll drive a
lot of people nuts in the procsess...


> If they did this and it turned out good, it would most likely be succesful,
> if it wasn't good then maybe they've had it after all...
>      _

Quite right indeed!
theo

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