BOC-L: slavering sycophants vs. harsh critics

[Albert T Bouchard]

Ted A opines:

>rumors only make things worse, and stories about "I heard from so-and-so
>who heard
>from someone else that this happened" really don't make things any better.
>I would
>think if everyone was such big fans they'd be a little more supportive.
>I'm not saying

Ted, I'm not really a fan of 3OC, OK? I've come to believe that most people
on this list are into the truth. In that regard, I posted what I had heard
and where I heard it from. It may not come from that "bastion of truth" EB
;-P but most of them are pretty close to the source and are in no way fans.
I know Steve Schenck and EB to be straight-up liars. They have both been
caught in boldface lies by yours truly. OTOH, Don Roeser, David Roter, my
brother Joe and Andy Schernoff have never lied to my knowledge. So maybe
Schenck was lying to Andy about loosing the record deal to get his sympathy
so he'd take pity on him and let him book the Dictators now. Who knows? The
studio never got paid beyond the deposit as of last week. Is this a
surprise to anyone other than Ted A?

I hope they do get their record out. I hope it's a great record. I wish at
least AL and DR all the success they want and deserve. I'm sorry if this
post seems downbeat but I really believe that that there's hardly anything
that anyone can do to help 3OC right now. Neither slavering sycophants nor
harsh critics will make a difference.

I have to share a little story with y'all. In 87- 88 just before Imaginos
came out I was doing oldies shows with various groups (Peter Noone, Billy J
Kramer, Lou Christie, Mammas & Pappas, Spencer Davis etc.). Peter and
Spencer were  the oldies I got closest to and they would always be talking
about how they were going to put out new albums. I actually recorded some
new material with Peter and then it just sat there. After about a year of
this nonsense I began to nudge each of them and made a startling discovery.
They were both afraid to release new stuff. They had gotten comfortable
doing the oldies thing and were resistant to rocking (pun intended) the
boat. It was too scary a thought that they might release new material and
it would not be well received. Incidentally all the oldies acts that I saw
or worked with put on dynamite live shows. It's easy once you have
sure-fire material, reconition and years of experience honing these songs
in a live context. By 1989 I realized the oldies shows were a creative dead
end, grateful, nostalgic fans notwithstanding, and got out. Of course it
was probably easier for me to give it up because I was not playing my own
oldies but I feel fortunate for being able to have seen it from more of an
outsider view.

By those who see with their eyes closed you'll know me by my black telescope.
Al