LETTER OF THE MONTH

Having read your excellent RC 389 (the Iron Maiden cover was sufficient enticement) it was good to see Ian Anderson’s comments re festivals – ie, he hates the things. I couldn’t agree more. Call me a grumpy old bastard but I avoid them like the plague. I’ve been to one (High Voltage) in the last five years, because I won my ticket! I don’t like the bottle throwing, mud, and worst of all (this applies to other gigs) the morons who arrive 30 seconds before their must-see band is due on and HAVE to shove their way to the front or in front of me. I find a rake of the ankles can work…

Moving along… bearing in mind the success of Record Store Day I’m amazed that record companies can’t do these things like, oh, I don’t know, ALL the time. After all, it would seem people DO want to buy physical releases and many don’t consider Amazon/ Play/supermarkets as actual record shops, and for an industry that needs a kick up the pants, it has to be worth a go. The singles market is a joke; releases seem to get into the Top 40 (whatever that means these days) without being “singles” at all. I was contacted by a Facebook campaign to get Clare Maguire’s single into the Top 40 – good song, already got it on download with the album. When I asked where I could buy it, I was given a list of download sites, with not a sniff of a CD or vinyl release. To which I said that I’m just buying a file which I already have. Sorry Clare, love you to bits but meet me halfway!

Great mag. Now I’ve dumped NME (not aimed at the mature reader any more), I may even subscribe…

Thanks Jamie, glad we pleased you. And you raise a great point about singles the biz should take note of. After all, if we don’t know what a single is meant to be any more, how can we be expected to buy it?

by Jamie Crampton
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