At the brit's

BobGeldof · She's So Modern

At the brit's

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

He'll do "Do They Know it's Christmas?"

I suspect he will do a Rats song as all the albums have just come out and he'll want to push them.

Given he will have just done Diamond Smiles on Parky, he will probably choose something from Tonic or the First Album. Rat Trap? It'll get him most air time!

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

Given that (according to the press) the other Rats are complaining about not being included in the award, maybe he'll do a solo...

Jodie · Banana Republic

i thought he was doing a medley???

reevo · Banana Republic

I JUST HOPE ITS ! I CAN MAKE IT (IF YOU CAN) I ALWAYS ASK FOR IT AT HIS GIGS ABOUT EVERY 5 HE GIVES IN . JUST TO SHUT ME UP I THINK!! KEEP IT UP GANG

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1401939,00.html (thanks to Tina)

'The world is falling apart and you want to talk about Gerry Cott?'

The key is it is the Outstanding Contribution to Music award.

I agree with Pete Briquette, as much as I love the Boomtown Rats, I can't honestly say that in their own right they'd deserve an award like this. Band Aid/Live Aid is the outstanding contribution which the Rats paved Geldof's path to.

And as for the gripes regarding individual winners, Sting and Freddie Mercury obtained it as individuals (and strangely for their groups as well) http://brits.co.uk/static/pages/shows/winners/

Only three members of Queen were there when Freddie won it.....

Two very interesting links on the Guardian page...

GCSE music: a, Oasis, b, Blur, c, Pulp

The kings of Britpop have earned a place in the latest GCSE music syllabus! Note how they listed the bands in reverse order of brilliance!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1403072,00.html

Interview stokes Razorlight split rumours

Nice to see band members getting along so well. What will they be like in twenty years time?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1402756,00.html

-- Edited by ArrGee at 11:54, 2005-02-01

MMbullybuddyGP · Drag Me Down

Thanks for posting that first article link, ArrGee. An interesting read...

Makes me wonder though. On the one hand, Geldof seems very bitter toward constantly, never-ending-ly, being associated as the "Band Aid" or "Live Aid guy." Not only has he verbally expressed this exact point, but you can see and hear that almost infuriation seep out in various video and audio interviews/shows. When he tells everyone of the 70 bins of letters he received from depressed single fathers and grandparents, he vehemently goes on that nothing else in his career - not live aid, not band aid, etc. - has resulted in so many letters as those 70 bins. When he told one interviewer of how Jeanne Marie first laid eyes on him, he noticed that she liked him - (and again, that defensive tone) "not because I did Live Aid or Band Aid - none of that - she liked me!"

The reason why he wrote the "Do They Know..." song was not to show how musically talented he was - it was to make a pop song for famous pop singers to sing in order to raise awareness of, and money for, the starving Ethiopians. Their condition was one he found apalling and absurd, and wanted to change that. And all he cared about was that people would buy the CDs for the money - not the music. He said he didn't care if people threw the CDs away after buying them, or if they hated the song- he didn't care!, as long as they bought the darn thing.

So now, he's using the Band Aid/Live Aid defense for himself in order to justify why, in one major aspect, he's getting this award. The very 'creations' he would seem to be happier not being associated with are the ones he's throwing back in the Rats' faces.

I'm not trying to bash Geldof, this still doesn't change my being a fan of his...I just wouldn't think he'd be combining his Aid work with his musical talents. He wants to be considered a musician first and foremost, and getting an award which supports his Aid contributions will only further strengthen the Geldof-Band/Live Aid tie in the public's minds.

I mean...I know he was using the talent he had - being a musician - to raise Ethiopian awareness, and obviously Band Aid was his idea, without the other Rats. I guess it just surprised me to read about him using Band/Live Aid in his defense for getting a music award like I said already so I'll stop rambling now lol.

What do you all think?

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

quote:

Originally posted by: MMbullybuddyGP
Geldof seems very bitter toward constantly, never-ending-ly, being associated as the "Band Aid" or "Live Aid guy." Not only has he verbally expressed this exact point, but you can see and hear that almost infuriation seep out in various video and audio interviews/shows. When he tells everyone of the 70 bins of letters he received from depressed single fathers and grandparents, he vehemently goes on that nothing else in his career has resulted in so many letters as those 70 bins.

So now, he's using the Band Aid/Live Aid defense for himself in order to justify why, in one major aspect, he's getting this award. The very 'creations' he would seem to be happier not being associated with are the ones he's throwing back in the Rats' faces.

What do you all think?"

I think it's difficult being Bob Geldof! Unlike Sting or Bono he is not fondly remembered for his music because his causes are bigger. Yet it is the music that got him to where he is today.

Geldof dominated the Rats. He wrote the songs, he did the interviews, and he was the gossip. To have had this career of six albums with two number one singles ignored must rankle.

But the causes are the important thing. Do you remember who played at Live Aid? I was amazed when I watched it to see Howard Jones and Nik Kershaw there! Two bargain bin acts! And the antics of the Fathers 4 Justice are also well known.

Now there are some of us who see the Boomtown Rats as pretty important. Without the Rats I'd have never learnt the guitar, discovered Dr. Feelgood, nor gained a musical appreciation I have now (a lot of people do think I have great musical taste!).

I must confess that people are amazed that I rate the Rats higher than all of their peers, but I do. And some when pushed do admit to liking them a lot!

Anyway, I should end this drunken waffle. Suffice to say, Live Aid/Band Aid is the MOST important thing rock 'n' roll ever did, and though Geldof would love to be loved for his music, the event trancends it. (I should have just said that at the start!)

MMbullybuddyGP · Drag Me Down

I don't mind your 'drunken waffle,' I'm curious to hear the opinions from you all at any length

"Yet it is the music that got him to where he is today." That statement of yours is indeed my only reason why Geldof using his Aid formations as a defense would be justified in my mind...and it is a big one, too. Like I said, Band/Live Aid was his idea, and his alone. Band Aid was founded on a song he wrote, and Live Aid brought many musical talents together, under his direction. Both of these things are great services to the music industry, and I think Geldof is completley deserving of that award for all the music he's been involved with ever since the Rats days.

Still, though, I just think it would be annoying to Geldof to be highly publicly recognized for his Aid work.

But now I just thought of something, while writing this. Maybe he would be honored to recieve a music services award, meaning that he is deserving of the award because of that - his services to the music industry. If that includes his Aid work, so much the better, right? Because that would separate, perhaps, his "Brother Teresa" attatchment to Live/Band Aid, and focus more on his musical contributions rather than the awareness/ethical/charitable side to that work.

So, now after receiving the award, he can tell the public - look, the ethical cause behind my Aid work was great and everything, but it was my contributions to the music services behind it all that got me this award.

Maybe. or maybe not. I really wish I could see the show because I'd love to hear his acceptance speech of the award (if he gives one), to see how he himself feels about the whole thing, and what he found important about receiving that award.

-- Edited by MMbullybuddyGP at 15:56, 2005-02-02

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

You will see the show! If I can record it that is.

I miss my DVD recorder Hopefully it will be repaired before next week

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

But seriously would he have received the award without the Band Aid/Live Aid stuff? The Rats alone, although fantastic, probably wouldn't have done and no-one's (apart from us die-hards and our families and friends who are forced to endure it whether they like it or not

) heard of Bob's solo stuff. He's got the award for the whole package, including the Rats so he just has to deal with the Live Aid/Band Aid Brother Teresa thing. I follow him for everything he does. it is all of it I admire.

I'm sure he will be his usual brutally honest self in his acceptance speech. I'll be taping it.

Darlene · Lookin' After Number 1

Although a new release of The boomtown rats is being released shortly, I would imagine that if he does not play with "The Rats" he will play one of his own. I would love to hear him perform something off his "Happy Club" cd. Any selection would do, I just love that cd, especially "Like down on me", "The Soft Soil" or "Too Late God". Maybe something off his sex, age and death cd like "Mind in Pocket" or - although I really like 10:15, that was beautiful & brilliant. If it's the Rats it should be "I don't like mondays" or "Looking after #1" or "Someones Looking At You". But I am sure whatever selection he choses will be perfrect and apres po < Cheers

-- Edited by Darlene at 21:26, 2005-02-02

MMbullybuddyGP · Drag Me Down

yeah, I agree with you Jules. He probably wouldn't have received the award just from being with the Rats and his solo material. It was just that my first reaction after reading that article ArrGee posted a link for was one of confusion, since usually Geldof seems so against being associated with Band/Live Aid, yet now he's backing himself up using those same two events.

But, as you said, maybe he should just 'get over it' lol. or, like I said, maybe he'll be happy for finally having someone who thinks those Aid events were great services to music (not just ethics), as they indeed were.

Mark Boyle · House on Fire

The whole Brits thing is a bloody joke.

Bob's getting it because he's getting his & the Boomtown Rats back catalogue, CDs, videos, the works reissued & what better plug than making the whole shebang "award winning".

That's what the whole "Lifetime Contribution To Music" bollo was all about. It was created specifically as a way of plugging an artist needing the plug!

Next year you can bet your bottom dollar it will be Kate Bush, or Gary Numan, or someone else needing the sentence "Look, This Artist Did Some Great Records, Really!" to be made Official.

The one good thing about is that it make make some people give the old Geldof/Rats stuff a chance.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

quote:
Originally posted by: Mark Boyle
"The whole Brits thing is a bloody joke. Bob's getting it because he's getting his & the Boomtown Rats back catalogue, CDs, videos, the works reissued & what better plug than making the whole shebang "award winning". The one good thing about is that it make make some people give the old Geldof/Rats stuff a chance."

Exactly!

Worked for Duran Duran last year. Let's hope the Rats get some kudos out of it.

Mark Boyle · House on Fire

quote:
Originally posted by: ArrGee
" Exactly! Worked for Duran Duran last year. Let's hope the Rats get some kudos out of it."

If it doesn't, it won't be for want of trying, or of having the wrong product - apart from Tonic For The Troops, no one's been able to get the other albums for donkey's years for reasons best known to the record companies - despite the first album getting a silver disc & The Fine Art Of Surfacing getting a gold one, as well as having a platinum selling single on it (back in the days you had to sell a lot more product to get the discs than you do nowadays!

(uh oh...showing my age here...can hear Dvorak's Largo from the New World Symphony being played....that's the Hovis tune to you lot!)

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

quote:
Originally posted by: Mark Boyle
" If it doesn't, it won't be for want of trying, or of having the wrong product - apart from Tonic For The Troops, no one's been able to get the other albums for donkey's years for reasons best known to the record companies - despite the first album getting a silver disc & The Fine Art Of Surfacing getting a gold one, as well as having a platinum selling single on it (back in the days you had to sell a lot more product to get the discs than you do nowadays! (uh oh...showing my age here...can hear Dvorak's Largo from the New World Symphony being played....that's the Hovis tune to you lot!) "

Tonic isn't that easy to get, though they still have the old one @ HMV in Trocadero (London).

Duran re-released all their early albums last year (to coincide with the Brits), along with a singles box, a hits DVD and a new album. They were a little cuter in that all the CDs were enhanced with videos on them and all mid-price. I was even tempted to get the Rio CD, and the singles box.

The first two albums are really good re-releases (good extras with old demos & good b-sides). The other four are not as good as you'd hope, as the running order has been messed about with, and the odd track removed or swapped with an alternate version! I guess most people won't notice, and even if they do probably won't return them!

Not sure how well they will sell. Surfacing has a Sales Rank of 105 on Amazon.co.uk ; I guess it is the one most people remember.

others
Debut Sales Rank: 162
Long Grass Sales Rank: 187
Mondo Sales Rank: 238
Tonic Sales Rank: 239
V Deep Sales Rank: 246

Interesting to see if they move much in the next week or so. Would be a good time for Geldof to have released a single

Jules · The biggest Geldof fan in the world, bar none!

I agree it would have been an ideal time for a new Geldof single. I will be very interested to see how they sell, it could go either way.