Guest Timothy Connelly
GuestForum Replies Created
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6 years old and already a fan? Good work, Steve!
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Do you have a favorite poet who moves you or has influenced your writing style the most? I see plenty of Dickenson in the way you jump around and use rhyme in totally unpredictable ways. But I’m betting you are into poets much more modern than dear Emily.
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Thank you so very much, Mona!
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Hey Howard,
I thought the post was fine. I just asked for clarification on this from the MLT team. You should go over to Support and Suggestions and look at my post. and make sure I framed the question properly and fairly. I’ll abide by their decision either way…
One thing I want to mention is I don’t know what you’re talking about in saying that I’m picking a fight. I think intelligent, open people can disagree in a friendly, respectful manner and I’ve never written anything here contrary to that. I find complete agreement a little boring- I enjoy the spice of discussion and debate.
I loved the Halloween beheading. It could easily offend somebody or at the least, make somebody uncomfortable. But it was thoughtful, incredibly well executed and spicy in the same way another band placed butchered baby’s on the Yesterday and Today album.
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Jung,
There is a fantastic book called Tune In: All Those Years Ago and it covers Pete Best as a drummer and member of The Beatles better than anywhere else. This post isn’t meant to disparage Pete in any way. He seems to be a wonderful person on a number of different levels but he was a mechanical drummer who didn’t keep good time and didn’t fit in or ever hang out with the other band members.
Pete was probably fine for the Hamburg clubs where a sober person in the audience would have been a rarity. He was even fine for the Cavern Club shows because he was good looking and the fans were reacting to the power of the sound- not the precision. George Martin gave one listen and told them he wasn’t good enough to play on studio recordings.
Tune In reveals they thought he sucked at Decca and on previous recordings in Germany with Tony Sheridan. There is a recording of Love Me Do recorded at Abbey Road with Pete on Anthology 1- it’s very early but he is hopelessly out of rhythm with the song. If you listen to demo recordings with Ringo- that’s simply never the case. -
And yet their versions have their own feel- a sense of not simply trying to duplicate the Beatles version note for note. Lennon can have a nastiness (a roughness that rips into the song) to his voice that neither Twin can usually match- but aside from that- The Twins vocals stand up very well with the Beatles. In fact, Mona sings Revolution even better than John does (in my opinion) and I like their vocal harmonies better on If I Fell. If you haven’t noticed, I think these ladies rule!
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Great research, Howard. It just didn’t sound authentic so I appreciate your proof of that.
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I’m with you, Claude. I was surprised they specifically mentioned In It For Love as their favorite track on Orange. It made me listen to it with more care and while it isn’t my favorite track, it’s pretty darn good1
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Great insights, Jung! It took me a while to come around on all this but I agree completely.
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Jung,
That was a great YouTube video. I do think it’s important to note that an incredible amount of 60’s music was garbage. Have you ever listened to a Gerry and the Pacemakers album? Herman’s Hermits? Gary Lewis and the Playboys? The Seekers? Peter and Gordon? The British Invasion bands put out a number of very catchy singles but by and large, these were not great bands who made exceptional albums.
If the MonaLisa Twins have one weakness it’s that they’ve yet to record an original as good as the great songs they cover. With that said, they have made 2 albums that are better than any of the albums by The Kinks, The Zombies, Donovan or Peter and Gordon. They aren’t a singles band as much as they are an album band. Of course, these are just my opinions and they’re no better than anybody else’s.With all that said, I agree with about 98% of the video- great find!
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MaxHouse- Welcome to the Forum!
I think you’re making the same mistake I was making. I was thinking that good management and the right record company would give the Twins a kind of exposure they’re not getting now. They would get played on the radio, go on world tours and be interviewed on Jimmy Fallon. I was thinking a record deal could do for them what it did for The Beatles or at the very least, what it did for The Zombies.
In the interview I saw, Mona said they had chosen not to go that route. Lisa talked about the importance of trust and someone having your back. They felt like the chances were roughly the same as winning the lottery as having the industry get excited about what they were doing with their 60’s style music. To get signed, to get financial backing, to move toward the goal of “making it” in the traditional way would mean a series of compromises they simply aren’t willing to make.
As to your concern about the finances: they know but we don’t. They know how many CDs they’re selling. They know whether their bottom line is being met. They know if they’re doing well enough financially to keep doing this.
Most popular musicians lose their popularity after about a 4 year run. The Mamas and the Papas were yesterday’s news after their 4 year run. The Zombies- The Kinks- the same thing, though The Kinks were able to keep resurfacing. . The real successful acts are able to milk 10 years out of their talent.
The MonaLisa Twins have recorded more than 90 songs and although only about 24 of those are original, they’ve already got a 10 year history with no sign of slowing down.
They have chosen this path and if it doesn’t make them the kind of money all of us would like to see them make, just remember that multitudes of pop/rock musicians wind up with financial difficulties. From Willie Nelson to Leon Russell- there are countless stories of musicians who wound up with tax miseries and huge debts.
I have no doubt that when this part of their life ends- they will be able to look back on what they accomplished with pride, satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. And if anybody can land on their feet, it’s those 2 ladies! -
Richard:
I just informed him and he was very pleased!
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Lisa,
That’s an extraordinary answer! It goes into a kind of detail that really answers the question. I can’t speak for everybody but I’d rather see you give those kinds of answers to questions that call out to you than give hurried answers in trying to answer every question. You haven’t answered a number of questions I’ve asked– that’s more than all right when I see this kind of response.
God only gives us 24 and I can how much you guys are doing to enrich our experience here. Thank you very much for that!!
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Rudolf,
I’ve had a problem with my login on the Firefox browser (Windows) but not on Internet Explorer. Firefox has been pretty consistent at not allowing me to login the first time but when I checked a moment ago, I had no problems.
I’m using at old version of Windows (7) so I thought that might be causing my problem. I have an Android phone and tablet that I use and haven’t had any login problems with either. I don’t know if this info is useful to you.
All things considered, everything has been amazing.
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Received mine today, also. Ditto to everything you said!