OFF: Re: wow.....

[Paul Mather]

On Tue, 26 Oct 1999, Robert C. Mayo wrote:

=> well...now i know why (i guess). my point was: some people here have chosen
=> sides; hopefully both sides can be passionate about their bands and
=> understand that neither side is 'right/wrong'. i hope i'll not be reading
=> this 'my band is better than your band' type-stuff very often.  is this
=> combination under one tent just not workable?

You'd be surprised how workable the combination is.  In fact, for
quite a few people, this is the one list that they just seem to stick
with for some reason.  I guess it's doing something right.

=> this list is about what these bands have in common, and it's more than merely
=> lyrics; not about why one is better than the other (what the %$#@ does that
=> mean, anyway?).

Actually, the *real* raison d'etre behind this list is far too crass
to see the light of day.  But inquiring posts such as yours sometimes
force its origins to be revealed. :-)

Prepare to be dismayed...

The reason behind the Hawkwind/BOC combo of this list lies in the fact
that the orginal list founder, Steve Swann, wanted an e-mail list away
from the noise of Usenet where he could discuss two of his favourite
bands: Hawkwind and BOC.  It got called "BOC-L" because, at that time,
BITNET LISTSERV software only allowed up to 8 characters for e-mail
mailing lists (the length of an IBM VM/CMS user id, right??).  The
name stuck.

The "similar lyrical themes, etc." bit was fudged up by him afterwards
as a convenient cover story.

All this goes to explain the unofficial motto of this list: "Blame
Steve Swann!"  (It was discovered that, like the "six degrees of
separation" theory, ultimately Steve Swann is to blame for anything.;)

I told you you'd be dismayed. :-)

Anyway, quite a few of the regular posters to this list are
old-timers, and so "been there, discussed that" applies so much it's
not funny any more to those people.  It takes a seismic event in the
BOC world to get them excited.

Actually, in all my time on this list, I can't remember any BOC vs.
Hawkwind (or vice versa) "my band is better than yours" bashing.  The
only "bashing" that goes on (if you can call it that), is the general
lament that BOC generally hasn't done much in the last couple of years
in the way of new material and/or releases, unlike Hawkwind.  That's
not to say that fans of each band don't give their respective bands a
hard time.

Cheers,

Paul.

NP: Mekong Delta, _Dances of Death_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I don't live today; maybe tomorrow..."
        --- James Marshall Hendrix