BOC: Give 'em a break?

[Carl E. Anderson]

> BTW, I have another "theory" on the "critical" attitude of BOC.  I
> think that alot of the people on this list, and this is probably
> especially true for the "old timers", also happen to like bands that
> have in recent years continued to give them new music to listen to.
> Not being a Hawkwind fan myself, I can't speak for them, but it seems
> that Hawkwind has produced a fair amount of new material in recent
> years.  Of course, I've already mentioned the Brain Surgeons.  It's
> somewhat frustrating for this type of person to continue to be a fan
> of a band that doesn't produce alot of new stuff (and the empty
> promises don't help) while their other favorite bands continue to
> crank out new stuff to listen to.  Alot of the folks on BOC-L seem
> to not be of the type to want to spend alot of their time reminiscing
> about seeing BOC back in the 70's and 80's - but want BOC to give them
> a reason to continue to support them in the 90's.


        I could have clipped some of that except it all hits it right on
the head for me!  I'm not an "old timer" by any definition, having not
quite been born in time for the first BOC album I think :) but I like
plenty of bands from "back then" (including HW) and many of them are still
putting out material which if not absolutely top notch is still good
enough to command my respect.

        Which is why I get pissed off at 3OC.  Maybe I should give them
"a break" but I don't really feel like it.  Maybe they're happy doing
what they're doing, but I can't really say I care--maybe it's selfish
but *I*want*new*BOC* and I'm gonna whinge when I don't get it! :)

        Hell, I've gone to see 3OC a few times and liked it, heard some
of the new tunes and liked them ... I even liked the Bad Channels tracks
which generally take a lot of abuse here!  And I don't see why it should
be so hard for them to come up with an album!?  Other bands have been
doing it.  John says it for me: I would like BOC to give me a reason to
continue to care about the band _now_.  I know they used to be able to
do it and don't see any reason why they couldn't do it again.  I don't
expect them to chart seriously or sell out stadiums, but it'd be nice
to go to a show and not see exactly the same thing you saw the last 4 times.

        So, yeah, I _am_ critical of the band--not because I hate them
or something, but because as a fan I (rightly or wrongly) expect support
from the band in terms of new releases in return for my support seeing
them live and buying their albums.  I feel somewhat let down by BOC in
that they are not doing what I feel they could or even should be doing.
That is the source of my displeasure.  No one will be happier than I
if they actually manage to get a new album out!

Cheers,
Carl

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Carl Edlund Anderson                            * "Lever vi inte i ett
cea20 at cus.cam.ac.uk                             *  fritt land kanske?"
http://wjh-www.harvard.edu/~canders/hem.html    *
Dept. of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, Cambridge *  -- Pippi Langstrump
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