Sharee Carton, an Australian fan, left a copy of her latest fanzine with Avedon. Right Up There #2, published 20 years after #1. Sharee had never met Avedon but a Letter of Comment (LOC) from Avedon on #1 had a big influence on the next issue. Avedon suggested that a fanzine should have staples. (Evidently #1 was a one sheet.) Given the current state of the fanzine world and Ansible, I don’t think that is a truism any more. Although it may be argued that Dave is just distributing a very thick fanzine one page at a time just to avoid stapling.
I read RUT#2 and Sharee covered her fannish life and what she has been doing for the past 20 years. Working trawlers out of Cairns; not for me.
Sharee and I knew a lot of fans in common from long ago but never met. We even didn’t meet at the 1984 LACON. She went to Corflu #1 and #2; I went to #3. She was a West Coast, Canadian fan; I hung out on the East Coast, until she had gone back to Australia.
Music was a big influence on her life and for RUT #2 she asked a number of correspondents to give a “Desert Island Disks” compilation of what music they would want to have on a desert island. 10 Disks. And, to some extent, how have the choices changed in 20 years.
This got me to thinking of my own musical influences and what my DID would be. I was traveling with my entire record/CD collection on an iRiver device. What would I take if I had to pare down the 3900 songs (450+ albums) already on the player?
I grew up in a household with Irish and folk type music going most of the time. Lots of instrumentals and acoustic work: Simon and Garfunckle, The Kingston Trio, Peter Paul and Mary, Tommy Makem and The Clancy Brothers.
The British invasion started and I didn’t really care for the Beatles. The Dave Clark Five was a much better group at the time. The Beatles got good and interesting around 1967. I still think Dave Clark could have had an excellent career if he had made the transition. The Airplane, The Doors, The Stones; a lot of good music was coming out then. But I was mainly following the mainstream stations, until I moved to DC.
Through the 70’s and 80’s my major music sources were WGTB in DC and WHFS in Maryland. I’m not really sure how to describe what they played, alternative is too tame, whatever it was I enjoyed the variety. I never/seldom went to live gigs and I didn’t know the names of the bands or the songs, but I did enjoy the music. Eventually Georgetown University sold GTB to Howard U because the station wouldn’t stop promoting Planned Parenthood clinics. WHFS got sold out to a commercial chain and didn’t stay on the cutting edge anymore. And I had to start finding my own music.
I think Horslips was the first group that really grabbed my attention for what they did to rock the Celtic music tradition. They influenced U2, the Pogues, and just about every musician that has come out of Ireland since 1980. Celtic Symphony definitely goes to the Island.
I think I would have to take some Mozart and Bach as well. We need to make sure the stereo has a good woofer.
Seven Nations just rock. – The Factory – They have convinced me that every band needs a set of bagpipes.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Best of… will stop you from getting too carried away.
Chris Rea’s – Road to Hell- really had a big influence as we moved to Texas.
Phil Ochs Greatest Hits will surely inspire.
Leahy – Narada- will get you moving
The Slickee Boys a DC garage band I really like.
One more to go, who to chose? The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin? No, I know,
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, just for fond memories.
So My DID is:
Horslips – Celtic Symphony
Mozart – Eine Klein Nachtmusik
Bach – Great Organ Works
Seven Nations – The Factory
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Best Of
Chris Rea – Road to Hell
Phil Ochs – Greatest Hits
Leahy – Narada
Slickee Boys – CD of Pi
King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King.
Now I shall post this in my Blog as a letter of comment (hence BLOC) for Sharee and try to get the link to her.