Face Off 01.16.09: Wherein Mike and Randy Discuss PEACE AND LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Michael Adler on 01.16.2009
Who the hell is sending fan mail to Ringo these days?
Mike verbs:Let's talk about Ringo Starr this week. Reports are he's continuing to get some bad reaction to his little tirade over fan mail he posted on his website last October.
Alright, so this happened in October, and might be ancient history, but seeing as how it's still having fall out, and I've had some thoughts on it we'll cover it today and get some dialogue going. A brief history. Probably anyone who has the ability to read this column will know that Ringo Starr was not the original drummer for the Beatles. Their original drummer was in fact Pete Best, who was fired for being weird. Next Dave Mustaine joined the group for a very brief period before being canned for excessive drug use. (If you watch HELP carefully, he's just visible crying at the 45:09 mark in the back ground.) Finally Ringo Starr was hired, thus making him the luckiest man in the history of music, EVER. Needless to say while Ringo has his adherents, he's widely seen as not the best drummer in the world...basically Meg White with male genitalia and a much larger nose.
Which brings us back to the video. Does he really have any right to be demanding that people stop sending him fan mail to be signed? Who the hell does he think he is? Lars Ulrich? He has too much to do? What is he doing exactly? Touring with the Ringo All-Star Band. Really? He should be grateful for every fan he has, and more than happy to sign autographs. The fact is since I began writing face-off I get 1-2 thousand pieces of fan mail a week-and I respond to each and every one of them. And I have a full time job! And why was he such a dick about it? If he really does have that much to do, couldn't he have just politely said I might not be able to sign everything sent to me these days instead of demanding it in the most dickhead way possible and loading it down with those "peace and loves" that might be dripping with sarcasm. Hey, Ringo I have a demand! I demand someone go into a time machine, go back to the 60's and install a better drummer in the Beatles.
Also, the Beatles we're overrated and had only about enough really good material to fill half the number of albums they put out. Randy reverbs: Wow, lots of stuff to discuss here.
My initial reaction to the Ringo Youtube video was that I was so impressed that he was actually able to USE Youtube that I gave him a free pass on the actual content of the video. Then, sure, he was being a dick, but he DID say "Peace and love" before and after the actual message. But yeah, I guess he's being a dick.
I don't really have a problem if he can't sign autographs anymore. Fans can't expect that they'll always get a response when writing to a star. Yet, there's something innately dickish about outright ordering fans not to send fan mail anymore. Moreover, I don't really care for the tone of the video suggesting that you're a dick for even wanting an autograph from Ringo.
I mean, he WAS a Beatle, and he's still alive, and everyone knows they ain't getting shit back from McCartney, so he probably gets the bulk of Beatles' fan mail.
Now, on to the history lesson. Everyone knows that Dave Mustaine was briefly the drummer for the Beatles in the early 60's, and that he was the person Paul was singing to on "Your Mother Should Know." However, most people don't realize that the story doesn't end there. Mustaine was kicked out for not only doing drugs, but posting long, incoherent updates on the Beatles newsletter letting all the fans know that the next Beatles' album was going to sound just like "A Hard Day's Night". Though kicked out of the group, his history with them doesn't end there. He played the guitar solo on "As My Guitar Gently Weeps". Later, he played the deer head on George Harrison's "Set On You" video. Of course, Harrison later returned the favor by playing all the guitar solos on Mustaine's The System Has Failed album, which was the last thing he recorded before he died. Mike re-reverbs:Well, surprisingly little disagreement this week, so I guess I'll just elaborate on a few things.
Let's just reinforce that Ringo was a huge dick, although I do say that with peace and love. And, that being said, here's my claim and promise to you, our loyal 411mania readers. I promise, no, I vow, here and now, to sign every piece of Michael Adler memorabilia sent to me. But that's not it! I don't know what Randy wants to do, but if you send me Ringo Starr memorabilia, I'll sign that also! With peace and love, but no complaints.
And at this point, I ask again, who is sending Ringo stuff to sign? So, the Beatles were the biggest band on the planet at one point, bigger than Jesus, even, but that was 40 years ago. Do people still have Ringo paraphernalia piling up in their house...and they just come to the realization, holy crap! I need to have this sent to Mr. Starr (if that's his real name) to be signed? Maybe there's a huge demand for Ringo's All Star tour souvenirs to be signed? Who are these people?!?
As for Paul-I don't see why he can't sign some of his fan mail also. It's not like he's doing that much per se. What's his schedule? Go into autopilot to make a new album once every two or three years, and do chicks in the Hamptons. Believe me, Paul has plenty of time to sign stuff if he so choose. Maybe Randy'd like to handle signing Paul's stuff.
Your history lesson was impressive, but didn't Alanis Morrisette sing "Your mother should know?" Final comments? Randy Re-re-reverbs: Alanis didn't sing "Your Mother Should Know", but (little known fact) "You Oughta Know" is about former Beatle Dave Mustaine. In return, Mustaine's Cryptic Writings album is an entire album full of songs about how Alanis dumped him.
I maintain that Ringo probably gets a lot of crap, peace and love. Regardless, 411 readers should feel free to send the merchandise they want signed by Ringo or Paul to us and we'll take care of it. I saw a guy that looked like Chris Martin in Au Bon Pain last week, so maybe I'll get him to sign it too. Let's leave Ringo alone so he can get back to making live albums with the exact same track list.
Alright, that wraps up another week of little known factoids and hidden history. Join us next week when we debut part one of our 28 part series on Asians in contemporary rock music: Are there too many of them?
Mike verbs:Let's talk about Ringo Starr this week. Reports are he's continuing to get some bad reaction to his little tirade over fan mail he posted on his website last October.
Randy reverbs: Wow, lots of stuff to discuss here.
