HW: Promoting space rock

[K Henderson]

Paul opines...

>> OK - this is going to be a plug but I have to nip this in the bud before CD
>> pirates start to zoom up.
>> The CD-R is  a limited edition of 50 copies only and the remaining 47 are
>> being sold by CD Services Mail Order. They are hand-painted original artwork
>> by Richard, autographed by the group, and won't be repressed once they have
>> gone. They were only manufactured for the USA dates, but Jerry told me today
>> that they have been cancelled.
>
>With all the recent talk of "supporting the space rock scene," and how
>we should do everything to widen its audience and help it grow, is it
>just me, or does limiting a release to only 50 CD-Rs do *ANYTHING*
>towards that end?  How does this bring space rock to the masses?

Um, a good point I suppose.  But I doubt that Richard and Jerry are really
thinking that way, i.e., intentionally limiting the run.  What I imagine is
that since they planned to offer them at gigs only, it was probably a way
for them to thank the fans that showed up with a rare item and also to make
a few $ to pay for some of the travel expenses.  (50 is way too few though,
even for 7 or 8 shows!  I hope they were planning to make more.)

Given that something has come up (?) to put the project on indefinite
hiatus, I don't imagine they're in any hurry to take the tracks to Doug/EBS
or whatever and fight for an official release just now.  So what would you
do with the CD-Rs?  Throw them away?

I have no problem with this...and I doubt that they care that much about
whether they're eventually booted by a bunch of people.  Perhaps until (or
unless) the project is revived and the tracks are reintroduced.  The problem
I have is if they bagged the whole project and left Jim out on a limb
without a legitimate reason.  (And I haven't heard anything yet, so don't
read into that.)

>Sure, the people who happen to be subscribed to and reading this group
>who happen to see the announcement of this material for sale (or who are
>CDS subscribers now) may get a chance to get one of the remaining 47
>copies, and will probably enjoy them very much, but the rest (including
>space rock fans yet-to-be) are pretty much SOL.
>
>IMHO, this kind of thing smacks of elitism, and plays right into the
>hands of the pirates.  I can understand making the hand-painted, signed
>edition a very limited run, but not making the music available in a
>"normal" form (assuming there is a demand) is not going to encourage it
>to be heard beyond a tiny clique.
>
>Is this about the music, or about Kollecting?

I don't think it's about the music, elitism or kollecting....I think it's
about salvaging something while 'bailing'.  (Again, Sgt. Schulz says..."I
know nut-ting!")  I assume they had to pay for some overseas flights to
write/rehearse/record in Ohio, so a little cash is probably needed.

Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  What do they do with all those hats/shirts they make up for the sports
teams that lose in the championships?  Surely, somebody keeps those as 'odd
collectables.'  I know my brother has a Cleveland Indians' World Series
ticket from the year they didn't make it to the World Series.  The printing
company gave them away to their employees I think.  I think that's what
we're looking at, in a twisted way.  In the 70's, this probably happened all
the time, but now that we have CD-R technology, the stuff actually gets out
into the public so much easier.  Where's that Amon Din CD-R I've been
looking for all these years!! :)