[kj] "you really are not a real KJ fan"

[Alex Smith]

Yeah, I'm not proud of my Marillion album, but I shan't part with it. Oddly enough, inspired by the latest ish of Q, I started compiling a master list of "guilty pleasure" albums for my entirely needless weblog. Among that list are names that would surely get me booted through the uprights by even your average strident Marillion fan.

The most tragic, ridicule-worthy album I own by miles and miles: PICTURE BOOK by Simply Red. As abjectly indefensible as it is, I own it because back in the Summer `86, I worked as a surly, underpaid dishwasher at a snobby place out in the `Hamptons called THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA. To be fair, the place had a relaxed vibe. There was a stereo in the front of store with speakers the played in the kitchen. At first, the management were pretty liberal about it. We could all bring in tapes (remember them?) and play whatever we wanted (within reason). This worked well enough for a while. I stupidly pushed the envelope a bit too hard one day, though, when I brought in SNAP!, the compilation of tracks by the Jam (pretty harmless, I thought). Well, during the middle of -- either "Eton Rifles" or "Funeral Pyre" -- the manager came scrambling back in a frothy-rage (no love for Mr. Weller, I guess). In any case, from that day forward, only *two* tapes (count'em: 2) were allowed to be played. Those two tapes: the soundtrack to "Annie" and PICTURE BOOK by Simply Red. Adding insult to injury, the tape deck out front was set to auto-replay, so after a tape had played both its sides, it would START OVER AGAIN. The meant that we'd be treated to seemingly endless rotations. After a day or two, someone actually STOLE the "Annie" soundtrack tape -- honest, it wasn't me -- and invariably snapped it in half and buried it out back. That left us with PICTURE BOOK by Simpy Red -- over and over and over and over and over again. After a week or so, my fellow-dishdog Bill evidently reached the end of his teather and climbed up ontop of one of the freezers to disconnect the spearker wires that fed back into the kitchen, liberating us from Mick Hucknal's sickly whine. After that, we brought in our own boom box and subjected the kitcen staff to a steady diet of Iron Maiden and Black Flag. Good times.

At the end of the summer, I went back to school and found myself missing my summer at the Barefoot Contessa. And nothing brought back the memories of my friends and experiences there like hearing PICTURE BOOK by Simply Red. So that's why I bought it and that's why I still own it. Plus -- I hate to say it -- the wife quite likes it.

Still, try to tell me I'm not a real Killing Joke fan, and you can expect pugilism!

BEAT THAT, SCORPIONS FANS!!

Alex in NYC

-----Original Message-----
>From: Paula Cook <cook_paula at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Aug 24, 2006 9:31 AM
>To: gathering at misera.net
>Subject: RE: [kj] "you really are not a real KJ fan"
>
>Hear, hear, Alex, absolutely!
>
>Isn't it a fact that what makes KJ so special is that they've fused so many 
>differenct types of music - punk, funk, dub, disco, early metal, arabic folk 
>and yes, though I'm pained to admit it, prog rock, and came out with a 
>completely new and unique sound and style? And isn't it this unique sound 
>and style the very thing that has attracts people with very different 
>musical tastes?
>
>I'm still appalled you own a Marillion LP though! ;-)
>
>Regards,
>
>Nuclear Girl
>
>
>>Message: 6
>>Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:50:16 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
>>From: Alex Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net>
>>Subject: [kj] "you really are not a real KJ fan"
>>To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)"
>>	<gathering at misera.net>, 	"A list about all things Killing Joke (the
>>	band!)" <gathering at misera.net>
>
>>
>>"you really are not a real KJ fan"
>>
>>
>>I really hate this fucking comment.
>>
>>
>>Killing Joke fans come in all shapes, sizes, creeds, colors, nationalities 
>>and can all entirely disparate sensibilities and tastes while still being 
>>bona fide Killing Joke fans. In much the same way that THE BAND MEMBERS 
>>THEMSELVES claim to like such arguably dubiously-credible artists as 
>>SLIPKNOT (Raven), Van Halen (Geordie), AC/DC (Geordie), Adam & the Antz 
>>(Jaz), Yes (Big Paul Ferguson), King Crimson (Big Paul Ferguson), so too 
>>are their fans "allowed" to like other artists, regardless of their 
>>affiliation with genre.
>>
>>Moreover, all this fucking whining about talking about other bands other 
>>than the `Joke -- imagine being invited to a party at a friend's house and 
>>then being informed upon your arrival that you and the rest of the guests 
>>were ONLY ALLOWED TO DISCUSS ONE SINGLE TOPIC. It's ridiculous. You'd get 
>>bored and leave.
>>
>>At least people are bringing other names to the table. I can't speak for 
>>the rest of the list, but from discussing bands OTHER than Killing Joke all 
>>the time, I've found out about a lot of artists I may never have gotten to 
>>hear before, based on the testaments by my fellow `Jokers. If you don't 
>>like the artist being discussed, fine. Hell, you can even say so. But to 
>>tell people to stop talking about it is fucking stupid and dictatorial.
>>
>>And at least it's music we're discussing and not fucking sports.
>>
>>Alex in NYC
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Gathering mailing list
>Gathering at misera.net
>http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering