caldrail's Blog

"Heck, I still believed I could be a rock star back then. That's how optimistic we were. Of course we didn't have Simon Cowell to puncture our dreams back then. I therefore deduce that Mr Cowell is single-handedly responsible for destroying music as we know it. He is the anti-christ (Sorry Ozzy, love the music, but you're only the Prince of Medium Greyness)"

 

Whilst i do agree with your comments on how good the music was, am sorry to disappoint you, but Mr Cowel was very much a part of the music scene even then. He may have had a shared office up twisting back stairs at the end of old bond street, but, he had just stopped going out with Sinitta and produced 'so macho', she ran off with David Essex as she was doing a musical with him and he (simon) ran off with my flat mate, a nice leggy model called Lisa. His tastes have never changed, he goes for the same type of women and i have to say his personality has never changed. Simon was the same in the 80's pushing his career and record label.

I always found him charming and honest, so, i see no difference in him now. Yes he can be a wee bit too honest, but seriously, he has always been the same way, its not an act. Yes he does have an inflated ego, but he is nice with it too. I promise you he was just the same and just as involved in many of the 80's hits am afraid as he is today. So, you'll have to find someone else to blame for the brutal sounds on the radio today lol.

 

with love, suz

"Heck, I still believed I could be a rock star back then. That's how optimistic we were. Of course we didn't have Simon Cowell to puncture our dreams back then. I therefore deduce that Mr Cowell is single-handedly responsible for destroying music as we know it. He is the anti-christ (Sorry Ozzy, love the music, but you're only the Prince of Medium Greyness)"

 

Whilst i do agree with your comments on how good the music was, am sorry to disappoint you, but Mr Cowel was very much a part of the music scene even then. He may have had a shared office up twisting back stairs at the end of old bond street, but, he had just stopped going out with Sinitta and produced 'so macho', she ran off with David Essex as she was doing a musical with him and he (simon) ran off with my flat mate, a nice leggy model called Lisa. His tastes have never changed, he goes for the same type of women and i have to say his personality has never changed. Simon was the same in the 80's pushing his career and record label.

I always found him charming and honest, so, i see no difference in him now. Yes he can be a wee bit too honest, but seriously, he has always been the same way, its not an act. Yes he does have an inflated ego, but he is nice with it too. I promise you he was just the same and just as involved in many of the 80's hits am afraid as he is today. So, you'll have to find someone else to blame for the brutal sounds on the radio today lol.

 

with love, suz

 

Did he still used to wears his pants under his armpits back in the 80's too?

"Heck, I still believed I could be a rock star back then. That's how optimistic we

Whilst i do agree with your comments on how good the music was, am sorry to disappoint you, but Mr Cowel was very much a part of the music scene even then.

 

So the High Priest of Pop Idol destoryed my career too did he? Cheers Suz, now I know

 

I always found him charming and honest,

Noooooo! Suz has been turned into a Pop-Idol Worshipper by the Evil Codpiece! Repent, sinner!

 

Seriously though if thats your impression of him then thats cool. I've only got his tv appearances to go by, and whilst his 'honesty' is no different from the cruel opinions of the entertainment business as a whole (believe me, I knew what people thought of our band!), I find it hard to like the mans personality.

 

So, you'll have to find someone else to blame for the brutal sounds on the radio today lol

Well at least it wasn't me!

Well, clearly you didn't make the right offerings to the proper authorities. Maybe you should have sent your demos and a case of Bolli, or something, to Mr. Cowell instead

 

I find it interesting and yet horrifying how bands are picked up. Some are so damned good, yet never seem to get past local greatness. Others seem to be mediocre, yet must have slept with someone to get national exposure. It's confounding.

It's simple. but challenging. It's all about business skills. A&R men aren't interested in whether you're the greatest act ever born, only if they can sell you.

 

They used to receive infinite numbers of cassettes in my day (its internet exposure too these days). One A&R man I spoke to had a big sack in his office full of the things - none were going to get heard. One band I know of packaged their demo in a custom made polystyrene brick (hand-painted) and it was all a waste of effort.

 

The trick is to sell your band before the A&R man actually hears it. That first phone call is everything, and it helps to have friends in influential places. Other than that, you simply have to get lucky.

 

For instance... Tony and I were heading for a gig in Bristol. The previous night we'd done a support slot at the Mean Fiddler in London. Over the radio, the DJ mentioned he'd been to a gig yesterday at that very venue. Both Tony and I leaned forward with baited breath, no longer interested in the direction the car was travelling. "Saw a Great Band" The DJ said. Yes... Go on... Please... We want exposure.... But it was not to be. He simply said the headline band were brilliant. Putdowns don't come any harder than that

If you don't mind me asking, Caldrail, What was your band called and what kind of music did you play?

I'd started a whole load of local bands, most of whom I really can't remember the names of at all. Bardiche was a typical period melodic rock/soft metal band I joined in the mid-eighties and eventually managed for a year or so but after Pete Farrar got the hump because I wasn't making enough profit to pay him an expected fee for his services, I kind of got disillusioned with running bands and looked for something worth joining.

 

Then I found Red Jasper, a quirky sort of contemporary folk band. After a series of embarrasing gigs I pushed the band into rocking it up a little, thinking (correctly) that we'd get more attention. It was a strange circumstance really. In truth, Jasper was an uncomfortable mix and the members were all pulling it their own way. I got blamed for most of that but in all honesty we were all guilty. On the plus side, we played some high profile venues, got rave reviews in Kerrang, and were described as 'Jethro Tull on speed'.