Support Vinyl Japan

The reissue of "Scandal in Bohemia" and the other old titles is a minor miracle, and we should all be thanking the good folks at Vinyl Japan and buying multiple copies for ourselves, family, friends, and total strangers.

Instead, people on this list gripe about the fact that Sex & Travel is not included, or "I'll only buy it if there are sixteen bonus tracks," or that it might cost more than $10 to get one. Unbelievable.

It's like the "Gold Circle" tour package last year... "gosh, why should I pay $100 to get two songs on a burned CD... can anyone post MP3 files?" instead of "isn't it a bloody miracle that Pat and Max and the guys have reunited and are busting their butts to tour America where they'll be lucky to break even. How can I support them and make them feel like it was worth the effort so they might come back again sometime."

Or even the offer to video the Troubador show. We were all so worried about whether we were getting it cheap enough that we're left with nothing at all.

I'm all for "fighting the power" and "sticking it to the man" whenever possible. Go ahead, sneak in to the theatre to see "Planet of the Apes" or burn copies of the new Backstreet Boys CD and litter your local junior high school with them.

But we're not talking pop culture trash here... we're talking about supporting an artist whom we all love and respect, who most of us have had the pleasure of at least meeting, who has brought us huge amounts of enjoyment over the years. Granted, he is a "professional" musician and hopefully makes at least a living from his music, but he also must love doing it to endure all the headaches and neglect and industry torment that he has faced over the years.

So, now that we have something of a chance to correct history, to allow Pat to finally collect decent royalties on the songs we've already enjoyed for years, as fans we should jump at the chance to pony up and pay our fair share. Vinyl Japan has obviously made a substantial investment in issuing these discs (because the owners are apparently huge JBC fans themselves) so we should do our part to support this decision so that it is feasible for them to do other JBC reissues as well as new material like "Rotten Soul." And who knows, maybe there will be a "rarities" collection if we support the current releases and "Cake City." (Yes, another compilation... his stuff is just that good!)

I guess it comes down to this. If WE don't support these releases, who will?

Then this group will be right back to the old chants of "why doesn't someone reissue the Glass stuff? I've looked everywhere and can't find it except on eBay for $80."

</rant>

By the way, the new Ass Ponys record "Lohio" is spectacular...get it at
http://www.checkeredpast.com/shop-bin/sb/order.cgi?storeid=checkered&dbname=products&itemnum=73&function=add

Check it out,
Gary Received on Fri, 24 Aug 2001 10:18:06 -0400