Post by Ted on Nov 1, 2009 11:47:12 GMT -5
Well, I guess finding things like this can make "clean up time--get to the way back of that old desk" worthwhile. It was not really anything that out of the ordinary, but I still get a chuckle out of it, even if I wrote it. This Kinks newsgroup post from 1997, when I was first learning how to use the internet, struck a chord with some Kinks fans at the time. I even got me a half a dozen or so letters in response--call it fan-fan mail, thanking me. Well, back in 1997 there were some Kinks fans who were genuinely worried that "the most underrated band in history", might be overlooked by the generations to follow.
I wrote this little true story and added just a very little spin to respond to this concern of the worried. My kids--all of them--loved the Kinks. In fact, they showed me just how fresh their music still sounded after being put away for awhile. For reasons that are probably well understood by many in your parents childrens generation, stories like this were/are all over the world--a wave that is still moving.
Where now, after 12 years? Let's save that story. Below is the little post to an earlier day newsgroup that got me, of all people, some fan-fan mail. Thought some of you might still enjoy.
Subject: Re: Word of Mouth (Was Re: That Nation Of Fans)
From: tedstar44@aol.com (Tedstar44)
Date: 19 May 1997 09:14:39 GMT Message-ID: <19970519131401.JAA25002@ladder02.news.aol.com>
Don't worry, the Kinks have plenty of fans, and there’s plenty more where we came from. Besides, it's more fun being a Kinks fan when they are not huge playing in large arenas.
And Kinks fans come to be in unpredictable ways. For example, almost two years ago I was singing some bedtime songs to my then 8 year old. I forget what the songs were, something like Mary Had a Little Lamb, or London Bridges, (or maybe even a tune that I made up), when he said, " Dad these are boring,- can't you sing me something — more interesting or fun".
At first I was at 1 loss for what to do, but suddenly I launched into " Scum of the Earth", even though I hadn't played it for some years. (Believe me, I played it many times years ago, and was at the music store on the day of it's release.) Well, upon hearing it my sons eyes lit up, he burst into laughter, and said " that’s what I mean, that’s the kind of song I like".
He soon went to sleep, and I went to the basement to search my boxes of old records, pulled out Preservation I and II and put it all (almost) on a 90 minute tape. He proceeded to play them about every day for the next few months.
Later, when I went to see him perform at a children’s improvisational theater workshop (very informal), the kids were supposed to perform something/anything, something they knew or something they wanted to make up. He began something, then immediately launched into a children’s rap version of "Demolition" (there were no musical instruments), remembering every word.
When he finally tired of " Preservation (nothing lasts forever), I made him tapes of VGPS and Muswell Hillbillies, which are his current favorites. When he tires of these I will probably select something else, or perhaps Arthur, or Soap Opera. His older brother has now started to listen to the Kinks Greatest Hits and Phobia, preferring the more “standard” rock to the more off-beat stuff.
So don't worry... Be happy. Cheers
I wrote this little true story and added just a very little spin to respond to this concern of the worried. My kids--all of them--loved the Kinks. In fact, they showed me just how fresh their music still sounded after being put away for awhile. For reasons that are probably well understood by many in your parents childrens generation, stories like this were/are all over the world--a wave that is still moving.
Where now, after 12 years? Let's save that story. Below is the little post to an earlier day newsgroup that got me, of all people, some fan-fan mail. Thought some of you might still enjoy.
Subject: Re: Word of Mouth (Was Re: That Nation Of Fans)
From: tedstar44@aol.com (Tedstar44)
Date: 19 May 1997 09:14:39 GMT Message-ID: <19970519131401.JAA25002@ladder02.news.aol.com>
Don't worry, the Kinks have plenty of fans, and there’s plenty more where we came from. Besides, it's more fun being a Kinks fan when they are not huge playing in large arenas.
And Kinks fans come to be in unpredictable ways. For example, almost two years ago I was singing some bedtime songs to my then 8 year old. I forget what the songs were, something like Mary Had a Little Lamb, or London Bridges, (or maybe even a tune that I made up), when he said, " Dad these are boring,- can't you sing me something — more interesting or fun".
At first I was at 1 loss for what to do, but suddenly I launched into " Scum of the Earth", even though I hadn't played it for some years. (Believe me, I played it many times years ago, and was at the music store on the day of it's release.) Well, upon hearing it my sons eyes lit up, he burst into laughter, and said " that’s what I mean, that’s the kind of song I like".
He soon went to sleep, and I went to the basement to search my boxes of old records, pulled out Preservation I and II and put it all (almost) on a 90 minute tape. He proceeded to play them about every day for the next few months.
Later, when I went to see him perform at a children’s improvisational theater workshop (very informal), the kids were supposed to perform something/anything, something they knew or something they wanted to make up. He began something, then immediately launched into a children’s rap version of "Demolition" (there were no musical instruments), remembering every word.
When he finally tired of " Preservation (nothing lasts forever), I made him tapes of VGPS and Muswell Hillbillies, which are his current favorites. When he tires of these I will probably select something else, or perhaps Arthur, or Soap Opera. His older brother has now started to listen to the Kinks Greatest Hits and Phobia, preferring the more “standard” rock to the more off-beat stuff.
So don't worry... Be happy. Cheers
Excellent story, Ted -- thanks for posting!
