SteveK

Funnily enough, I got an email this morning informing me that someone had contributed to a 6 year old thread on the Warwick forum, started (by a 'gearstalker'?) in honour of one of my basses. [url="http://forum.warwick.de/showthread.php/3312-Vintage-Streamer-Stage-I-in-concert"]'ave a butchers[/url]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1360714091' post='1975459'] In the first instance a good deal of luck and right place and right time about it, just like pretty much every other band that gets a really good break. After that they made the absolute most of their opportunity and ran with it. [/quote] Maybe it was luck that L&M hooked up and went on to great things, but it's equally possible that L&M hooked up, wrote a couple of songs, decided they were crap, and knocked it on the head, never to be heard of again. As far as 'right place and right time' is concerned, it's just possible that they created the right place and right time, maybe the right place and right time followed them around. There were many other bands around at the same place and at the same time. I note you use the word 'opprtunity', come on, you are allowed to use the words 'talent' or 'ability'...or did they stick in your throat . Another Fab Factlet: The Beatles and Paul McCartney were the catalyst that prompted Chris Squire to consider a career in music and take up the bass guitar.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1360689550' post='1974767'] From the point of view of the pop song's evolution,[b] the real innovation was the studio usage and technology they had an almost unique level of access to at the time,[/b] the songs were just songs. They were helped no end in the arrangements of those songs by GM, who can be considered to be in the same league as Quincy Jones when it comes to musical ability. [/quote] And why did they have a 'unique level of access' to technology and 'studio usage'? Because very quickly they had proved to the 'powers that be' at Parlophone that they were worth the investment. Initially they were treated no differently to any other bands of the day. It wasn't until they started selling shed loads of records that all that changed - basically, they had [i]earned[/i] their right to more studio time - and that's how it works to this very day. Oh, and no one would be foolish enough to say that George Martin wasn't a major factor in their success.

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1360684274' post='1974609'] I apologise in advance for the pedantry, but... [size=4][b]Factoid[/b] [color=#333333][b]A.[/b][/color][color=#333333] [/color][color=#333333][i]n.[/i][/color] [color=#333333][b] Something that becomes accepted as a fact, although it is not (or may not be) true; [i]spec.[/i] an assumption or speculation reported and repeated so often that it is popularly considered true; a simulated or imagined fact.[/b][/color][/size] [/quote] Upon further investigation (frantic Googling), I stand corrected. I hereby wish it to be known that my 'factoids' will forthwith be known as 'Factlets' Fab factlet (doesn't have the same ring, does it?): In 1964 Manfred Mann tried to sting Paul Macca ('cause he was a Beatle) by selling him a harmonium, which was worth £8, [b]for £12[/b]... Macca said , "No ta, wack!"

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1360682093' post='1974536'] Isn't that the version off the White album, ie The Beatles rather than solo John? The YT description is quite misleading Agreed though, fantastic song [/quote] At that point they were not happy Fabs. Many of the tracks could be considered to be solo efforts. Oooh, another factoid: The opening spanish guitar phrase on Bungalow Bill, was in fact, a Mellotron... didn't influnce prog? - pah! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwby-XvzpH8[/media]

Another factoid: 'I am the Walrus' has more than a dozen different chords (including 7ths, sus4, maj7, ?/?)... yet, not one single minor chord... all major. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG73Pk1yUj8[/media]

As it happens (are you allowed to say that any more?), it was your post that made me 'disassociate' myself from that thread. Well done for manning up and apologising - maybe I'll head back over there... I feel a factoid coming on

[quote name='niceguyhomer' timestamp='1360604939' post='1973218'] That confirms to me what a complete f***wit you are [/quote] Oh dear! I was going to say that this thread has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, but I think now is the time to disassociate myself from this thread

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1360589548' post='1972794'] But give me and 3 of my musically inclined friends virtually unlimited studio time in a state of the art facility. Give us a sympathetic producer and a team of engineers ready to pander to our every sonic whim. Feed us a diet of previously unheard music and the occasional mind-altering drugs, and then outside of the studio surround us with the cream of innovative artists spanning the whole spectrum of creative endeavour, and I'm sure that we could come up with a series of albums every bit as varied and interesting as anything the Beatles did. [/quote] Sorry, but I think that post is almost on a par with:[i] I could play "Stairway To Heaven" when I was 12. Jimmy Page didn't actually write it until he was 22. I think that says quite a lot.[/i]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1360581515' post='1972533'] There seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding here. No one can argue that the Beatles were the biggest and most important band ever (in terms of social & cultural significance). There will never be another Beatles! No matter how big U2 were a few years ago and even if you thought that their music was the best ever recorded, they still will not be looked back in retrospect as being as important as the Fab 4. However, it is perfectly reasonable to question if the MUSIC lives up to this hype? To use my example above,[b] is Yesterday the greatest song to emerge from the rock and roll era[/b], or is it merely a bog standard Tin Pan Alley type tune! Does the use of both major and minor tonality in A Day In The Life evidence of genius at work, or is it a reasonable imaginative 60s pop song? We're they really better songwriters than the Beach Boys? All these questions are valid and should not answered by cries of 'but they were the Beatles, the biggest pop group of all time'! [/quote] No! and whoever said that is clearly an idiot. Beach Boys were great too... just not [i]quite[/i] as great .

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1360578383' post='1972457'] I like The Beatles, but I've never quite understood the fuss over the Abbey Road record. It has some genius moments but some absolutely stinking ones too---"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" demonstrates perfectly why the Beatles were doomed. [/quote] For me, Maxwell's Silver Hammer comes second to Octopus's Garden. IMO the mark of a 'great' album is the number of 'great' tracks, and Abbey Road does have quite a few 'great' tracks. Oddly, the White Album has a lesser percentage of 'great' tracks, yet it is probably my favourite.

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1360577392' post='1972434'] Yep, that people have very little to do these days. Really? Take reverential photos of a house? Gracelands i can understand as it is a completely mental house, [b]but not some nondescript terrace in Liverpool with a blue plaque on the wall. Crazy....[/b] [/quote]May be it's the 'non descript' nature of the house that is its attraction - from 'humble beginings' 'n all that. Another couple of Fab factoids: The Beatles have sold 177,000,000 albums in the USA alone. The Beatles/Lennon & McCartney have won 8 Grammy awards and 15 Ivor Novellos (judged by their peers).

I'm sorry bramleyapple if you felt my post was unhelpful - it was intended to be helpful. I certainly don't have an 'issue' with your post. My mistake is probably assuming that you haven't played too many gigs - again I apologise! [quote] As for the foh guy spending more time on the main act that's rubbish we are there to do a job just like the next bloke I've done many gigs as a support act and a sound check is a must just because he felt he was running late [b]we got the poo end of the stick!![/b] [/quote] If things are running late it will [i]inevitably[/i] be the support act that gets 'the poo end of the stick'. That has always [i]been[/i] the case and always [i]will[/i] be. As far as monitor levels goes, my advice was perfectly good - particularly if the guy in control of your monitors can't monitor what you are hearing.

Unfortunately, these days the industry doesn't really allow for the nurturing of talent. An artist is dropped unless they can shift the required number of units on their first release. Music is suffering as a result. Many of the bands that were successful in the past didn't achieve their success until maybe their third or fourth albums.

First off: If the FOH guy is working for you and the main act, it's quite reasonable for him to be 'worrying more about the main act' - perfectly normal and understandable. Secondly: I would never have 'signalled to the sound guy to [b]pump it up[/b]'. Just signal for a [i]tad more[/i], and then a [i]tad more[/i] etc. 'Pump it up' implies, well, what you got. Thirdly: Why didn't you just ask for it to be turned down?

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1360506052' post='1971328'] Who's to say that One Direction, once they've finished with their cr*ppy little songs for 9 year old girls, won't become the next innovators in music? After all, they've had huge success and are known all over the world... [/quote]I know nothing of One Direction other than they sold their souls to Simon Cowell and are very successful. Are they song writers? .

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1360486998' post='1970982'] For that reason. It s perfectly possible to 'know' about The Fab Four and their ubiquitousness without knowing every tune. I know about Dickens and Shakespeare but have only read 2 works by each of them. [b]There is an argument that ALL superstars are overrated.[/b] [/quote] I guess that would be the kind of argument that academics might have to argue [i]black is white[/i] or that[i] water is not wet[/i]. First of all, of course we would have to define 'superstars' and 'overrated' - that would occupy at least 12 pages on BC. Just a little factoid for the younger BCers regarding the Fabs: In 1964 The Beatles held the top 5 positions in the Billbord 100 chart, [b]and[/b] they had 7 other records in that same chart.

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1360436308' post='1970510'] I completely agree! Some of their stuff was great but much of it was anything but. However even the cr*p has somehow been elevated to greatness because…. well, it was by the Beatles! The Beatles were more a cultural phenomenon rather than a musical one – they were in the right place at the right time and [b]happened[/b] to come to symbolise the 60s and the emerging pop / counter cultures, the massive post war economic growth, the teenage years of the baby boomers, etc. If it wasn’t them it would have been someone else and their case was helped by them [b]happening[/b] to have a world class personality in John Lennon, who somehow personified a period of great social change and growth…. [/quote]And I guess they just [i]'happened'[/i] to write all those great songs. [quote] [b]they were in the right place at the right time[/b] and happened to come to symbolise the 60s and the emerging pop / counter cultures, [/quote] What about The Dave Clarke 5, The Kinks, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddy and the Dreamers, Manfred Mann etc? They were all around at the same time.They never quite reached the same dizzy heights as The Beatles... don't suppose it had something to do with the quality of their songs(?) My guess is that those that claim that The Fabs were over-rated and not that influential were firmly in The Stones camp. You had to like one or the other... apparently, it was illegal to like both.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1360435208' post='1970471'] Give me The Rubettes any day [/quote] Oooooh... you cut me to the quick!

Whether you like The Beatles or not, the simple fact is that Lennon & McCartney wrote songs covered by more artists than any other writers. Songs that have been covered by artists in: Jazz, Rock, Folk, Classical, Pop, Country, Reggae... in fact, you name the genre, and you can bet a 'superstar' of that genre will have done a Beatles song. There's no law that says that you have to like The Beatles, but... [size=5]over-rated?... my ar*e![/size]

[quote name='2pods' timestamp='1360362791' post='1969534'] [b]I thought SteveK played with MM's Earthband[/b]....or was this previously ? [/quote] You're correct - Started with MMEB in '85. From '87-'91 Manfred locked himself in the studio, and for those 4 years I found myself with The Rubettes. The Earth Band resumed in '91 and continues to this day.

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1360356874' post='1969414'] So reading between the lines SteveK was in The Rubettes? Respect!! with no piss taking. I seem to remember they were all proper session musos and the harmonies were the Poodles Privates. [/quote]From about '87-'91 so not an original.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1360354089' post='1969317'] What band? You've lost me. [/quote]Reread my post...[size=2]cough cough![/size] [b][size=2]the quoted text in bold[/size][/b] [size=2]cough cough![/size] I'm not going to spell it out any clearer... I'm too embarrassed

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1360353053' post='1969287'] The problem with practising in your head , although very worthwhile in certain ways , is that it only improves the parts of your playing that are in your head . To get your basslines out to the general public you need to translate any improvements in your understanding into your hands and onto your bass . Being able to recognise and visualise what you hear being played is a big step , but you have to practise with a bass in your hands to turn it into real improvement in your own playing . [/quote] I think it goes without saying that it's not an alternative to actually picking up your instrument and practising in a proper fashion.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1360350274' post='1969219'] Am I weird or should I consult a doctor? [/quote]Not weird and asolutely no need for a doctor. I assume that what you see in your head is correct. It goes with being adept at interval recognition.