HW: Official Post From Hawkwind

[DRider]

Dave & Kris and everyone,

This topic is one that is VERY important to MANY of us Hawkfans.
I have taken a great deal of my time to draft this. It will take much
less time to read it........

Theo and Paul make very valid points, as usual.

We have another list member who might be able to shed some light on record
labels etc...

In the mid-1970's, Peter Frampton's solo career just was not taking off.
Even
though his first 2 solo records were pretty good. Then he put out a live
album called 'Frampton Comes Alive'. Our own Bob Mayo plays on this record.

If I remember correctly, at the time this album was the best selling record
of all time. If that's not quite true, I DO know that it sold like hotcakes.

This event changed the entire record industry. From that point on, greed
became more and more of the main motive driving record label's definitions.

It was ridiculous to think that Frampton could follow-up 'Frampton Comes
Alive' w/ a record that sold as much. But the label did. Unfortunately, it
seems as though Frampton listened to someone a little too much and actually
posed for the photo that would become the cover of his next record. He lost
alot of his hard rockin fans w/ this Leif Garret like photo and the soft
sounds of 'I'm In You'. Sales were way down for that release and it was not
long
and his label dropped him. Unfortunately, his career never rebounded. In a
way, the massive sales for 'Frampton Comes Alive' ruined his career. It was
just too tough to live up to the record label's newfound and unrealistically
high financial expectations.

All the record labels could see was $$$. They never knew that someone could
sell so many records and make so much money off of one album. So all of a
sudden there were corporations that were jumping in the picture. These
corporate big wigs did not know anything about music or making records. All
they knew was that they wanted to make money. Lots of money!!

There are all kinds of bands w/ major record label deals that allow open
taping at their shows. Dave Matthews Band is a prime example. They just keep
getting bigger and bigger. They went from playing small venues to selling
out
Giants Stadium in record time. They allow tapers w/ mic stands to tape
openly
right from their seat. This band has had many successful singles and videos.
They are making money from record sales and from concerts. They also have
put
out a number of live releases. These are shows that audience taping was
allowed w/ no problem. They have also made long playing concert videos of
live performances that w/ also captured by quality audience recordings.

People snapped up all these live OFFICIAL releases put out by the record
label. Sales are still brisk for all of DMB's OFFICIAL live releases. Their
fans
bought them even though they may have already had a really nice audience
recording of the very same show.

You don't have to like Peter Frampton or Dave Matthews Band to understand
what I am saying.

Some folks on the list have bashed a band I love called moe. Funny thing is
though..... moe. invited BOC to the Jammy's at NYC's Roseland Ballroom
earlier this year to jam a few of their classics on stage to a very eclectic
crowd. This gave BOC alot of exposure to many new fans. A big Thanx should
be
given to moe. No one else has said it. So I am!

But I digress - too much fun reading Lemmy's book, I guess.....

You don't have to like moe. to understand my next point either.

They had been playing for a few years before they got signed by Electra
Records. Yeah, the same label as Phish and those "artists" Metallica
(groan).
The guys in moe. were ecstatic to make it to the major label, as most up and
coming bands are......

There was only one problem that became apparent after some time. Electra
Records did absolutely nothing to promote it's new band. Nothing! The band
carried on touring relentlessly, as they did before they were signed. When
it
became obvious that Electra Records just wanted to make money off of moe.
and
capitalize on the so-called "jamband" scene, moe. said screw Electra
Records,
we'll do it on our own. And that's just what they did. They continued to put
all
their revenue back into the band. They bought their own SBD and their own
PA.
They started making their own records again and releasing them on their own
label.

Some time back, they started releasing their live performances OFFICIALLY
on their own label. They call the series, "Warts & All". The latest show
they
released is from Atlanta back in February. I was there and I taped it too!
They sent out a post asking us fans to vote for our favorite show of the
tour
and we all voted for that show. Most of the people that were voting already
had an audience recording of the show. That's how they knew how good it was.
When it was OFFICIALLY released, I bought it!

I no longer copy my audience recording for anyone. If they want it, they can
buy it straight from the band. Support the band - that's the motto!

I could be on the guest list for any moe. show that I wanna see.
But I still buy my tix like everyone else.

The bands that are having the most success these days are the bands that are
allowing taping at their shows and doing everything in a grassroots style
based on concepts gleaned from the Grateful Dead.

No - Britney Spears (and the like) does not EVEN factor into this scenario!!

There's not such thing as "live" recording of Britney Spears. LOL!!

> I guess they are doing this because they are going to get a major contract
> for the new album.

If this is the thinking that is driving Dave & Kris's decision, they need to
get out of the house a little more!!!

> Let's support them.

Support them???

Hello!

The fans that are taping Hawkwind shows and the fans that are trading
Hawkwind shows are the most loyal fans of the band itself!!

Give me a break!

You saw my post of "How, When & How Many" - right?

Did you see any of the others?

Most Hawkfans that are trading live shows, own multiple copies of every
release and they scour the record stores all over to find more. Most of us
are obsessive and compulsive when it comes to buying Hawkwind releases. I
have Zones on black vinyl, on picture disc, the Flicknife CD and the Griffin
CD. How much money did I spend on just this one release?? And it's not even
one of my favorites.

I traded a fellow Hawkfan for an audience recording of the show that ended
up
being released as Yule Ritual, long before it was released officially. When
us fellow Hawkfans found out that the show was going to be released
officially, we all agreed that we would no longer trade the audience
recording of this show and that we would ALL buy the official release to
support the band.

One by one, the emails came in - "Just bought Yule Ritual -love it!"

It took me a while to get a copy of Yule Ritual. Mainly, because I just
could
not find it anywhere. I am one of these old geezers that still likes the
thrill of finding a release in the store. I was in Denver over Labor Day to
see the TAPING FRIENDLY Phil & Friends and Government Mule (Aspen).
Yep, I live in Florida and I flew to Colorado, just to see these bands. On
my day
off, I called around to all the record stores looking for Hawkwind, as I do
whenever I am traveling. A store had a copy of Yule Ritual and they just got
it in that day. What luck!! This was the same store that had a copy of Space
Bandits on vinyl the year before. Yes, I have Space Bandits on CD already,
but I love the artwork on the cover and it's on display in my home. I
guarded
it w/ my life on the plane ride back.

Dave & Kris - are you getting the picture yet??

I am not the only Hawkfan that goes to these lengths to collect Hawkwind
releases. I have been a fan for 22 years!

YOUR Hawkfans that are trading live audience recordings are honorable
people.
We are the ones that have Hawkwind license plates on our car. We are the
ones
that turn new people on to your music all the time. We spread the word.
Believe it or not, after 30 years, there are still ALOT of people that have
NEVER heard of Hawkwind!

People see my email address and ask me, "what is Hawkwind?" and if that
person has any sense at all - you gain a new fan.

The term "bootleg" is a bad word. We treat that word as if it were the word
fuck or cunt. Two words I personally hate. Sorry to use them, but I am
trying
to make a point.

We treat the concept of bootlegging the same way. People that record
concerts
and sell them are the scum of the earth!! This is the belief of ALL Hawkfans
that trade live recordings. Our trading is based on an unwritten code of
ethics and honor. We do not trade official releases of ANY kind! No money
EVER changes hands!! We trade CD-R's on a disc for disc basis. If someone is
sending me 2 discs, I send them 2 discs in return. The postage cancels
itself
out.

>From time to time in the past we have exposed people selling bootlegs on
eBay
to help put a stop to this disgusting activity.

Some folks have even done what we call "liberate" bootlegs. By that, we mean
that this person makes copies of a known bootleg and trades another person
for another disc. No money changes hands. This has proven an to be an
effective way of beating the bootleggers at their own game. A person is not
going to buy a bootleg, if they can trade a blank CD-R for it. This sends
the
bootlegger the message that trying to sell live recordings of Hawkwind is
not
a profitable business and they go away.

If you take this uptight approach to telling us that no taping and trading
of
live recordings is permitted, the bootleggers will come back. And people
will
start paying money for bad recordings. In the end this just makes Hawkwind
look bad, because there is this bad recording - similar in sound quality or
worse than Bring Me The Head Of Yuri Gagarin
(technically an official release, no less) that they play once
and never again. This in effect can sour a potential new Hawkfan right off
the bat and that person goes on through life having the wrong opinion about
Hawkwind and Hawkwind's music.

Doesn't make more sense to go after Dave Anderson than us?

Sure, if you are going to start Officially releasing live recordings from
the
past, present and future similar to the Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks
releases
- we would all understand your rationale alot more.

Is this the case??

If so, will I be able to find these releases?

Where??

Or will it be some elitist - "For Passport Holders Only" type of thing??

There are some releases that I have been looking for most of my life and
still have never found. And finding your releases - old and new in ANY store
is getting more and more difficult.

It was not until Sonic Attack and Choose Your Masques were released on CD by
Griffin that I was able to get them. Yeah, there was a record store in
Cleveland, Ohio that had a copy of Choose Your Masques on vinyl one time.
But
the guy wanted $50 for it and it was not in good shape.

There are many new and old fans that don't have Warrior On The Edge Of Time
on CD. They would snap that up so fast that your head would spin!!

Wouldn't seem to be better to focus your energies on these topics, then to
single out your own loyal fans??

People that trade live recordings of your performances are the ones paying
for the tix, they are the ones buying your merchandise. They are your
supporters!!

These people are trading live recordings that can NOT compare in quality to
what you can release OFFICIALLY. The recordings that are being traded come
from cassettes that have changed hands over the years. Your fans take the
time to find the best sounding and most complete cassette and may even piece
together several sources to come up w/ the complete performance. Then they
convert it to disc. The more recent recordings are made w/ tiny microphones
tucked away under clothing and patched into a minidisc recorder. They are
documents of your performance, but they could never be considered HIGH
FIDELITY.

This activity takes alot of loyalty and alot of dedication!

Have you come to this decision because you are going to start playing new
material
in concert and you don't want that material to be circulated until the next
album
is released??

I can understand that to some extent. But if this is the case and the songs
are good
it will be all the talk amongst fans:

"Hawkwind played 2 new songs tonight. They were great!
Dave said that they will be on the new record...."

Say a live audience recording was made of that particular show. Everyone
that was not there will want to get a copy of the show, so they can hear
the new songs. Especially, if it was the first time they were played. That
has
major historical significance to a fan. People that weren't at the show and
get a copy will be saying, "Man, I love both the new songs!!  I can not wait
to buy
the new record when it comes out!!"

A fellow Hawkfan that will be attending your show this Friday was kind
enough
to offer to pick me up a T-shirt as a token from this tour. He will be
shelling out his hard earned cash for a shirt for himself and for me. He
will
be taking the time to wrap it up and mail it across the Atlantic to me. It's
going to cost me even more than he paid and he will have to convert my
American currency when it arrives. This is how close we Hawkfans have
become.
We help each other out. We are a network that extends across this entire
planet. Many of us have never met each other in person because of this fact.

Do you really want to fly in the face of your most loyal supporters??

Remember The Future,

D-Rider