Why does Geldof HATE his fans?

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Why does Geldof HATE his fans?

franna · V Deep

At the moment, I'm too angry to care.

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

I like the 'new' forum...

I don't get the resentment either. Why is he so friendly and warm after a gig? Then just shoves us aside when it suits? If it wasn't for us he would be NOWHERE...

-- Edited by Jules at 18:04, 2006-06-14

Joke · The Dutch One

I don't believe that Bob personally is behind the anti-forum actions. I'm sure he doesn't hate us at all. Actually I met him last week in Germany after the gig (

) and experienced the friendliness and warmth that Jules mentioned. We even talked about the cancelled gigs in England, and he said "I just can't sell any tickets in England".

franna · V Deep

Joke, you're wrong. It was specifically approved by Bob.

MrsRatSinger · Dave

uhhh. I haven't been here for 5 hours and everything's changed.

Scottie · Loudmouth

I sent a message to Tina, regarding this and about my link going missing. To give her her due, she replied almost immediately. Seemingly one Pete Birquette has been reading this forum and has not been happy about the threads on Bob's personal life, (e.g. his sex life and religion etc- my thoughts, not her words). They also of course dont like the criticism of the website. She said they have been removed "for a while" and I am under the impression that everything is being reconsidered at the moment. She hinted that some things may be reinstated, but I think it would be with conditions, about certain subjects to stay clear of, for example. Let you know if I hear any more.

-- Edited by Scottie at 23:15, 2006-06-12

franna · V Deep

Mrs. RatSinger - yes and no. There are a bunch of us who have been hanging around this site for a VERY long time. We had this site (or a variation of it) waaaay before there was a .info. Info wanted to include us, we thought that was a great sign. All we ever wanted to do was to increase Bob's (musical) fanbase.

In any case, there have been several behind the scenes discussions with the .info webmasters. Discussions which some of us on the site, call us an "inner circle", a "clique", call us what you will - have been privy to. We kept those conversations secret in order to try to maintain the connection with .info.

The constant threat to cut the links has been going on for ... about a year now? This is not news, it's just that the shoe has finally dropped.

rekamakovics · In the Long Grass

They didn't even replied to my invitation. My home town will be the cultural capitol in 2010 and I thought it would be a good idea if Bob were there too. I know it was a ridicolous idea, but atl east they could just write back: Sorry, but NO. He probably only accepts invitations if he gets money.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Joke wrote:

I don't believe that Bob personally is behind the anti-forum actions. I'm sure he doesn't hate us at all.

He is personally behind it. He never wanted a forum and wasn't happy with some of the opinions voiced here. Two examples.

i) Someone posted a question about whether the Rats got a cut of the mechandise. The thread was removed at Geldof's request (not by me, I hasten to add).

ii) The threads about the cancelled concerts were removed at Geldof's request (again not by me, I was writing them).

In recent days, there has been a thread which has questioned the purpose of the site, focusing on a news section that was just a list of things to buy. Actual news such as appearances and awards only started to appear after this thread started.

Hate is a strong word, but I think there are fans he doesn't care too much for. I am probably one of them..

franna · V Deep

Scottie wrote:

I sent a message to Tina, regarding this and about my link going missing. To give her her due, she replied almost immediately. Seemingly one Pete Birquette has been reading this forum and has not been happy about the threads on Bob's personal life, e.g. his sex life and religion etc. They also of course dont like the criticism of the website. She said they have been removed "for a while" and I am under the impression that everything is being reconsidered at the moment. She hinted that some things may be reinstated, but I think it would be with conditions, about certain subjects to stay clear of, for example. Let you know if I hear any more.

Interesting. I'd always heard that Pete was on "our" side (such as it is). I've no idea who to trust anymore.

rekamakovics · In the Long Grass

It is normal that there are not just positiv but negativ criticism about a person . He shouldn't have to be so sensitiv.
Just face it Bob it would be unnatural if everybody would love you and wouldn't say a bad word about you. Maybe in a fairytale.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Scottie wrote:

Seemingly one Pete Briquette has been reading this forum and has not been happy about the threads on Bob's personal life, e.g. his sex life and religion etc.

Which threads?

The only recent ones relating to his sex life are the Claire King threads (with a realtively small number of posts)

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=48603&subForumID=116247&action=viewTopic&commentID=6700305

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=48603&subForumID=136863&action=viewTopic&commentID=7269962

which have been edited to remove anything personal that is not in the public domian. In fact if anything, the posters seem to dimiss a lot of it as nonsense.

And the only one I remember on religon http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=48603&subForumID=116247&action=viewTopic&commentID=3766254 (last posted to in November) was hardly personal.

If Pete, Bob or anyone finds these threads offensive, they could let us know, and we can moderate and edit/remove as appropriate. I have no intention of offending them, and have removed a lot of threads that are offensive and some users that were as well. I don't spend my time reading through all the posts, and those headed Claire King or Religion are very unlikely to get read by me.

99%+ of the posts are as inoffensive as you can get. I am surprised Pete/Bob are that concerned by the odd obscure post.

-- Edited by ArrGee at 17:19, 2006-06-12

Joke · The Dutch One

I was always positively surprised how almost all the negative or personal news items stayed off this forum. Whenever was a thread like the Claire King one, it got very little or no replies.

I think we're all here with the same purpose: share the (good) news, pictures and our thoughts about Bob. I don't think any of us ever intended to offend Bob. I started a thread about a cancelled gig myself, but that was just intended to ventilate my personal disappointment, certainly not to offend anyone. As I said, I talked a little to Bob about this last week and he was not at all offended or anything.

Hope everything turns out OK...

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Joke wrote:

I was always positively surprised how almost all the negative or personal news items stayed off this forum. Whenever was a thread like the Claire King one, it got very little or no replies. I think we're all here with the same purpose: share the (good) news, pictures and our thoughts about Bob. I don't think any of us ever intended to offend Bob. I started a thread about a cancelled gig myself, but that was just intended to ventilate my personal disappointment, certainly not to offend anyone.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Don't be too surprised, as the moderators have removed a number of threads that would have been very personal.

And I think many posters have similar aims, though perhaps more related to the Boomtown Rats, than Geldof himself in my case.

Cazzy · Tonight

MrsRatSinger wrote:

uhhh. I haven't been here for 5 hours and everything's changed.

bloody hell!!! sacre bleu!

i can't believe all this has happened in the last couple of hours! i was on this forum last night and everything was wonderfully normal. i've only been to school and back how could this have happened

i'm confused, very upset and in a state of shock. what the hell is going on

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

ArrGee wrote:

Joke wrote:
I was always positively surprised how almost all the negative or personal news items stayed off this forum. Whenever was a thread like the Claire King one, it got very little or no replies. I think we're all here with the same purpose: share the (good) news, pictures and our thoughts about Bob. I don't think any of us ever intended to offend Bob. I started a thread about a cancelled gig myself, but that was just intended to ventilate my personal disappointment, certainly not to offend anyone.

I couldn't agree with you more.
Don't be too surprised, as the moderators have removed a number of threads that would have been very personal.
And I think many posters have similar aims, though perhaps more related to the Boomtown Rats, than Geldof himself in my case.

I think most people have been very respectful. We realise Bob guards his and his family's privacy aggressively and didn't pursue such topics. We also realise it is gossip/taken out of context and may well not have much or any truth in it. Those who did post probably did so innocently because they'd seen it in the papers and just brought it up to discuss. It either wasn't replied to and died a death or was deleted by the moderators. Those who posted innocently cottoned on and, in most cases haven't done it again. there was always a culture on the old forum not to discuss personal matters about anyone and for those of us who moved over followed this through.

Tango · In the Long Grass

i am sat here seething quietly in the heat now.its all so pathetic.WHY BOB WHY?!?!and i always thought pete was the level headed one.come on we all expect bob to blow his top now and again but whats pete got to complain about

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Tango wrote:

but whats pete got to complain about

Pete is innocent. He knows nothing about any of this. Just want to set the record straight. It's all down to Geldof or Bob's Management as he calls himself these days.

Tango · In the Long Grass

Someone posted that pete and bob didn't want it

Scottie · Loudmouth

That was me, that is what I was told.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Yes, scottie did. See the sixth reply in this thread.

BUT another forum member who knows Pete, contacted him, and he knew nothing of it.

-- Edited by ArrGee at 17:55, 2006-06-14

Tango · In the Long Grass

Mouse wrote:

u guys know how much i looked up to him. Im gutted this has turned out how it did

aww

dam9191 · House on Fire

I am also on some Cars-related forums/e-mail lists and recently (2 weeks ago in fact) there had been quite a few people posting on how disappointed they are in that band's former lead singer/songwriter. Some of the folks there believed that that lead singer "owes it to the fans" to go back out on tour (with former band members) and to quit wasting time producing "worthless bands".

You know, I can't imagine that touring would be a lot of fun if you are raising a family. To be away from them and especially if the ticket sales are not there - why would it be something one should pursue.

I think this is a great discussion topic, by the way.  People should not be blindly following anyone's party line; we should pick and choose what we want to discuss as a group of people. Censorship of any kind is not good. As a group, it seems like you guys have a healthy mix going on; nothing too negative, but you are all honest, respectful and forthright in your comments.

I would like to share my e-mail response to those discussions, as I think my thoughts really apply to some of what has been said here as well:

"Hello:

You have the right to your opinion and respect that. However, there was something said in this message that seemed very negative and I need to comment on it. No offense, but the last paragraph of this message seemed very insulting (to everyone).

[NOTE his last paragraph is:
"Ocasek continuously producing all of these worthless
bands (and ignoring the Cars in the studio, even since
1987 - and nearly 6 years since even the faint,
Unlocked promise) is a far bigger kiss-off of the Cars
legacy than what Easton did / is doing with the New
Cars. As least Elliot and Greg are smart enough to
realize what an incredible band / sound they had."]

MY RESPONSE CONT:
I just need to give my opinion on those comments in general.

Some people work jobs and don't necessarily like what they do, but they do it to support their families---just existing and getting by. Some of us lucky, and have jobs that are rewarding and fulfilling.

Everyone makes the choices they need to. It appears to me that Ric has choosen to be doing something that he finds engaging and rewarding (producing new bands).

Isn't that what we all should do?  Finding something in our lives that is rewarding, challenging and fun - and finding someone to pay us to do that.

Just because the new music out there isn't something you like, doesn't mean it doesn't have value to someone else. [I find some of the new music out there good and interesting and am happy to get to discover something new. For example, I caught a local band called Romantica a couple of weeks ago & bought their CD. It is good, thoughtful, fun pop music.]

I hope everyone is finding something in their lives that truly makes them fulfilled, happy and enjoying life.

peace,
debm"

Mark Boyle · House on Fire

Guys...please chill on this!

I've seen this sort of thing happen a hundred times before...

...Mike Scott having one of his "moments" and acting like a megalomaniac on the Waterboys forum (especially if anyone dares slag off Steve Wickham or mentions Karl Wallinger)...

...Michael "Olga" Algar of the Toy Dolls pulling the plug on the entire fan forum he'd begged us all to join in the first place the second the band's final gig on their last tour had been played without warning, so all the band's fans were suddenly left adrift, many of whom completely lost touch with one another at a stroke...

...and a certain band called the Stranglers censoring anyone DARING to suggest that lead singer Paul Roberts was forced out of the band ("we're not doing any songs you wrote, or co-wrote, for the new album, so all you'll get is the pitiful percentage points from sales given) in order to let Hugh "I am an Artist!" Cornwell back in to keep EMI's execs happy ("hey Hugh, nice new logo you've got on your website Buddy - wow, looks just like the Stranglers one in fact!")...

...par for the course guys.

ArrGee, Franna, Jules, Joke, Scottie, Cazzy, Tango, etc, and especially you Mouse

DON'T LET THIS GET YOU DOWN - IT IS NOT WORTH IT!

DON'T WASTE £100 OF YOUR PRECIOUS FEELINGS ON A TUPPENCE WORTH OF OTHER PEOPLES BAD BEHAVIOUR.

We love the music, we've had great times, & we will continue to have a million more.

Just as I will continue to have them courtesy of Mssrs Scott, Algar, Burnel, Black, etc.

As Marty Yule put it to me last year, "The music business is a crazy place, and it makes people act crazy. You've gotta remember that." As a guy that put up with Olga for longer than any other Toy Dolls band member, I know what he meant - and anyone that's read the umpteen apologies from Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke & Julianne Regan of All About Eve for all the people they've hurt down the years from rashness will realise that in the end the only people they hurt is themselves.

(And heck, they've still left the ArrGee blog link up on geldof.info!)

As for Claire "Suction Cheeks" King, congratulations on her autobiography already finding its way to the "Reduced To Clear" sections of the Bargain Books chain - the fate reserved for books that are mega-stiffs.

And as for Simon Crowe - the guy that said he had copies of the Gung Ho album for sale for £10, then fobbed me off with a PC copied CD with a badly photocopied booklet, don't start me! I thought the only shyster in Ashburton was Howling Lord Hope at the Mucky Mog (the Golden Lion)!

Cazzy · Tonight

aw thankyou mark :D

yeah i'm just about over it now tho it was upsetting at the time but oh well allswell that ends well

Cazzy · Tonight

Mouse wrote:

Ooo... and another thing..... does anyone else here feel let down...? Coz i bloody well am...! You guys have been so good to geldof.. ooo...[sorry, i supose we should call him Sir.Geldof right? He might get offended. well anyway... u guys know how much i looked up to him. Im gutted this has turned out how it did..! so... thanx anyway guys.. x

yeah i did feel let down what he thought meant so much to me , and it still does

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

Mark Boyle wrote:

Guys...please chill on this! I've seen this sort of thing happen a hundred times before...

ArrGee, Franna, Jules, Joke, Scottie, Cazzy, Tango, etc, and especially you Mouse DON'T LET THIS GET YOU DOWN - IT IS NOT WORTH IT! DON'T WASTE £100 OF YOUR PRECIOUS FEELINGS ON A TUPPENCE WORTH OF OTHER PEOPLES BAD BEHAVIOUR.

(And heck, they've still left the ArrGee blog link up on geldof.info!)

The thing is that some forum members got this less than pleasant PM from Willo (whoever he is), despite our best efforts over time. I don't think it has got anyone down on here. Ultimately, it's a very very small part of my life.

But I will defend forum members who make comments on cancelled concerts, the distribution of the profits from the Rats mechandise, and comment on the lack of information on the website (particularly in PRIVATE forums). Especially me!

Why is my blog is still there? I don't know!

-- Edited by ArrGee at 08:55, 2006-07-04

rekamakovics · In the Long Grass

I asked Bob Loveday about what happanned. He said there were arguments about the forum, because it touched too personal subjects.

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

I wonder which threads they were? We mostly avoided personal stuff? Even so you can't blame people for natural curiosity. Human nature!

Cazzy · Tonight

but thats gonna end up happening in the other forum

even if tina and ian are in charge! it all happened when they were charge last time

oshora · CRAZY

HUH? What's up with the site? I get busy and go away for a while, come back to find all hell has broken loose...

I don't know what all the inside "crap" is, but the bottom line: I enjoy coming onto this website and chatting with all of you. Never liked the catty stuff, but felt it interesting to talk about Sir Bob and the Rats as it appears most of us have a common thread - we like the music and the man in some form or another. So, what's the problem?

Bob, if you are listening - get a grip, dude! You are in the limelight and people are gonna talk. And about all of the concerts you have cancelled in the past year - get real, fire your current manager ('cause he doesn't understand that you are no Madonna), and play small intimate concerts - this is where you shine. Also, get off your ass, write some new material, quit brow- beating world leaders to give money to Africa - enough already, because Bono, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie have stolen your thunder on this issue, so move on. Go do some yoga with Sting and Trudie and chill out!

Who's in favor of starting up a new website called ****OFFBOBGELDOF.COM?

O'Shora

-- Edited by oshora at 07:19, 2006-07-28