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Mike Randle

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Two Choices
August 2, 2005

MIKE AND GLENN ENJOY A BEER

So, with the Spain gig under our belt and 10,000+ fans enjoying a really wonderful and heartfelt concert, we had one day off (as there were no flights out) and decided to take in the small town near San Santiago where we had played. For his part, Glenn had kept the Titanic from sinking after hitting a huge f*ckoff iceberg! And everyone was in on this for the FUTURE, as there was no money to be made on this one (can’t state that enough) but the absolute character of the fans, the love they showed us and, funny but, the fact that it was the MUSIC that had brought them all together..that was not lost on anyone. So Glenn and I just sat around and took in a quite overcast day and after awhile.

The band (Fraser included) signed a poster from that Spain Festival and I posted off to Torben, who has been a sweetheart through all this. Both him and the Freedom man have helped with the success and resurgence of the band, Love. Of course, few can stop the destruction that seems to happen about 3 years after each resurgence. however, I believe the music just may be strong enough to rise about the celebrity, just maybe, this time. i know that shows like Spaceland last year, where i was subjected to vulgarities of the worst taste, are history. that’s not gonna happen anymore. the band, we talked things over and we know it’s gonna take some time to rebuild this. see, touring the USA has never been a money maker for this group. but we’ve tried to break the market but it’s tough to go beyond the cult fans. we appreciate the cult fans but when a guy refuses to do interviews and photo sessions (hey, he wanted to get PAID to do interviews! LOL!), it makes it THAT much harder to tour the states. now we have to sell these same people – people who felt slighted – on the music w/o the main creative force the group is known for. Of course, that creative force hasn’t shown it’s head (except for a 5 String Serenade) since the early 70’s so it’s pretty much been a ‘greatest hits’ show since the 80’s one would think.

But Glenn and me sat round thinking about a lot of that stuff…thinking about cool stuff that we could do and have fans involved and make this really fun and also, really take the music to another level, like bringing a trumpet fulltime, me on keys (i learned Old Man but also learned the harpsichord for Stephanie, which would have Johnny doing the lead and stuff) on some songs and also a flutist. that way we could keep costs down but still give people a complete show of F.C. (with trumpet) and the whole of DA CAPO (incl. The Castle, which would knock Housden down!). i think that would be a great starting point. adding strings would be too expensive and we don’t want high ticket prices. but if you, YOU, the LOVE fan want even more good shows and wanna here even more stuff you never heard (liek the first album even…shit, why not do all three albums????)…YOU may need to speak out…more than likely, in the USA. See, by us doing the UK/EURO shows, we earned some respect and admiration even from the bookers and venues there. ****** even left em a message saying,”who do you think you are, touring without me?” it’s all completely lost on the geezer, innit? i think it’s perfectly fine to have 2 choices. Because what you’ll get with the LOVE BAND isnt what you’ll get with ****** ***.

****** is, or WAS an amazing performer, who, i felt couldn’t be touched by anyone. and having a band that CARED made it even that much more apparent that you were watching something brill. those days are gone, sadly. i wish i was wrong but if he does another show you’ll see what i mean. you can only give ol’ father time a run for his money for so long; sooner or later the piper must get paid. but, as i mentioned, that leaves one with 2 choices. a nd i think, for people who want to hear those records played live with atleast one original member (maybe more, watch this space…), and hear em played really well, with passion and beautiful singing by Rusty (in his work clothes), then hey, it’s all about choice. and i won’t even say one is better than the other. i know people who have seen ****** *** completely f*cked on stage and they swear it was the best time they ever had. But it kinda makes you think about your mate getting pissed at a pub and making a fool of himself and embarrassing you but everyone else swearing they had a good time. it all depends on where you stand. me, i liek to hear music sound good and i liek to hear it played well. i love the stones. love em. but if mick was too f*cked to perform and was making the stones sound and look bad, i’d pray for keith to kick him right into the first row so those fans can have him. then i’d listen to keith sing in his ‘keith voice’ and i’d be happy that he had the conscience to make my concert worth it’s dosh. but that’s my opinion. and so, whilst drinking cervesas we thought about alot of stuff, namely that. We are determined to crack the USA once and for all. we may have to be patient though, as we may need to decide who best to work with us to accomplish that. Glenn is putting that together and so my job is to write songs. and diaries.

all the best,

Mike Randle

Love


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