Love Shack
July 4, 2005
Well, we played a great and fun show in Liverpool last night. John Head from Shack, came up and sang on “House is not a motel” and “Your Mind and We”. We want to thank the 60-70% of people who stayed (at a discounted tix rate) and not only saw a great show, but saw Johnny Echols really cut loose on Revelation. Also, Dave Chapple aint chopped liver on the harmonica. And we are hoping many of you make it down to the Darlington show at the Forum Tuesday. I know it’s short notice but it’s the best we can do under the circumstances. This is a lot like being jilted at the alter.
See, we have no choice but to do this tour, as the band is running quite a defecit due to the discounted tickets and some refunds. And although i understand someone’s frustration about this whole thing, you must understand that WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS IN ALL OF THIS. It totally saddened me to read that someone thought it was not right that we are doing this tour. And that they hope Arthur Lee apologizes. Man, pop musicians, religeous leaders and politicians really do my head in. But what we really appreciate are the fans that come to hear the music and not just see Arthur drunk and acting like a clown. I’ve played music with Arthur since 1993 and it broke my heart to be sat there at the airport only to find out he decided not to go. Dave Green took a leave from his job, as did Dave Chapple, who has a wife and newborn at home. Both Kose and Frazer left better paying projects to do this tour because they love us and Arthur. Rusty and I turned down a project to do this tour. Glenn (our Manager) paid for some of the airfare tickets out of his own pocket. And Glenn also had to pay for the bus in advance. These are all costs that will most likely not even come close to getting covered because we’ve insisted that people know exactly what the deal is and they have the choice to not come hear the music or they can hear it at a discount. that sounds fair to me. the group is called LOVE with Arthur Lee.
I have worked just as hard a sany past member and have sacrficed just as much, if not more. So you can imagine how i would be in a bit of shock to think someone could suggest i have no right to work under the name LOVE, even though we aren’t. Neither Johnny nor Arthur own the logo, by the way. If Michael Stuar wanted to use the logo tomorrow he could. (speaking of Michael Stuar, don’t be surprised if you see him onstage with us in the future!) As people and musicians, man, we do are damndest to be the best we can be. We take it VERY seriously and we have nothing but the utmost respect for LOVE fans, whom we think are the smartest. most creatively sensitive people on this big blue rock we ride round the sun every year. WE LOVE YOU and we NEED you. ESPECIALLY now. And many of you have been unbelievably helpful and supportive. THANK YOU!!!! 1 million times over, thank you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and i don’t want to put Arthur down at all. I have very good reasons to be upset with him and as a fan of his music, you may not understand that. But if you’ve ever been frustrated with a co-worker then you may have an idea of what i mean. See the biggest misconception since 2001 has ben that we work FOR Arthur. Nothing could be further from the truth. We work WITH Arthur. And to answer teh question almost everyone seems to ask me, which is “Why isn’t Arthur here?”, i’ll let his words speak for themself. He rang my house the other day and chatted with Hannah, my girlfriend. She posed that very question and his answer was “God told me not to go.” I hope that clears everything up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, i have to change my guitar strings, as i have a show to do tomorrow. See, God told me that you people were too special for me to let you down. And i was brought up to be a man of my word.
all the best,
Mike Randle

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