06-13-01

Best viewed with COURIER NEW size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: We are the salt of the earth. If we're not salty, what are we worth? Words to live by... -From Rejoice and be Happy (2000) -Submitted by SCPGAMEDIA ************************************************************************ TOUR DATES (** means new tourdate): T=Ticketmaster O=Official homepage P=Pollstar Sun 06/24/01 - 7:00PM, Taste Of Randolph, Chicago, IL (P,O) Thu 06/28/01 - 6:00PM, First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN (P,T,O) 21+ show (NOTE THE TIME CHANGE) Fri 06/29/01 - 10:00PM, Summerfest Miller Oasis, Milwaukee, WI (P,O) Sat 6/30/01 - Summerfest 2001, Austin, TX (O) Fri 07/13/01 - AT&T LoDo Music Festival, Denver, CO (P,O) ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE If any of you are going to any upcoming shows, and would like to meet fellow subscribers who are also going, send your name and what show you will be attending, and I will put it here. Milwaukee, WI ------------------------- iddybiddydiddy (Patty) Austin, TX ------------------------- rockinaustin (Alicia) Denver, CO ------------------------- lmjacobs (Laurie) ************************************************************************ WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://members.fortunecity.com/planetblue http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Show/6806/ -aka- http://www.geocities.com/thefemmeking/ http://www.violentfemmes.net http://www.homestead.com/lucylittleland/vf.html http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/bates/377/ Yahoo Chat: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/newtimesviolentfemmesclub Discussion Group: http://www.egroups.com/invite/vf2000 and click the "JOIN" button Past Tour Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes/femmes.html Guitar: http://therapy.lost.net.au/femmes http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes Glenn Gano's Page: http://www.alaska.net/~ggano Victor DeLorenzo's Page: http://victordelorenzo.com *********************************************************************** ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC *********************************************************************** In Today's Issue: First Avenue Time Change Lust For Life RE: emusic and BMW RE: Sell Out RE: Sell Out With Me Tonight The Violent Femmes Movement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First Avenue Time Change ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 6/28 show at First Avenue has been changed to 6pm. Braseth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lust For Life ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Josh wrote: <> Ha! I thought I was the only person who thought that was SO weird... I don't know what I think about the BMW commercial. At first I hated the idea and then I read something someone else wrote on another Femmes list about how perfectly ironic the use of that song was. I guess maybe it's not so bad and it is exposure. If you haven't seen the commercial keep an eye on http://www.adcritic.com It's not there yet but there are 4 other BMW commercials so we might get lucky! Agree completely about the alternate version of All I Want too. Very nice. I'm also groovin' on the Werewolf track. I think that one was recorded at the Pabst theatre Halloween '98 (Wisconsin Tour). John and Kathryn what do you guys think? The 12 Steps and Rules of Success tunes are something else altogether. I still haven't figured out exactly what the 4 rules are though. Has anybody else? Deana ddearry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: emusic and BMW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First off...go to emusic and get theViolent Femmes new cd. It is Awesome!!! Trust me. I am now 31 yrs old, have followed the Femmes since day 1 and this cd is GREAT! Also, does anyone know how I can get the art work for the cd??? I'm new to emusic. Second. Be happy the Femmes are making some money on a commercial for Mercedes! They deserve it! Heck, I wish they had a more. This band has been around for along time and radio and all the other mainstream media outlets have ignored them for the most part. These guys are the best band that ever recorded and have given so much to their fans, I hope they get more offers from more companies. Maybe Hollywood Video can use "Hollywood is High", Viagra (Pfizer) can use the "Yes oh Yes" tag, Firestone can use "Something's Wrong"(bad joke - you're supposed to laugh). Okay, who knows. The point is..."rejoice and be happy" they are still around and making a living. If you aren't happy for them then, go "out the window" or "kiss off"...you pick. I love the Violent Femmes and I just want to thank them for all of their incredible music. Be positive.................. rmw17 (Rob) P.S. It was neat to notice that my 87 year old grandmother has the same b-day as Gordon! She's a Christian(as am I) so I played her the Christian songs by the Femmes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Sell Out ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Selling out? I hate that term! This is in response to Eric's (wisconsinsane) posting. The term "selling out" has got to be the most ridiculous thing any real fan of groups music can say. As fans we have to realize that music is the Violent Femmes job, their pay check, their food, shelter, and college education for their kids. To anyone out their who doesn't want to see the Femmes or any other band out there "sell out", here's a question for you...At your job, if someone offers you a promotion or bonus because they like your work, would you turn it down in order to remain obscure and "closer to your roots"? No, I woudn't, and no really sane person would either. This car commercial might actually get more people interested in the Violent Femmes, which would lead to higher album sales, which would then lead to more concert dates. Not to mention, it probably helped Brian take a trip with his wife, Gordon buy a new guitar, or Guy buy some exotic soup. (We all know he loves soup, right?) Think about the term "selling out." I've never understood why fans don't want to see their favorite bands succeed just so they can say, "Hey, I know of this great band you've never heard of." More power to the femmes, and I wish them continued success and media attention, hopefully more outlets to reach out to potential fans will open up for them...It's really long overdue. I would love to see the day when every music store in the country is having record release parties for the femmes new album, and I'm sure they'd like that too. mmilligan15 -Pat. Says: OK. I'll put my tuppence in. As far as I'm concerned, the term "selling out" applies to a band which consciously changes its style of music or the message it wants to convey (if any) in order to appeal to a broader audience. That doesn't apply here. Aside from "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", which I know from past interviews is a song they were pressured to do in an attempt to sell records, and possibly a few others I can't think of at 4 a.m., the band has pretty much done what they wanted, and in their own way. That's one of the biggest reasons why they have had so many problems with record labels. They didn't write some mindless little ditty for BMW or whatever car ad this is; somebody took a good solid song and asked to use it. It's clean money, and the band should be glad to have it. While I have your attention, if you haven't already done so, check out the June/July news on the official homepage. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Sell Out With Me Tonight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As far as record sales go for the femmes, I feel as long they have been around they shouldn't feel compelled by the amount of records sold. The Femmes have been around for over 20 years and they had their prime back in '83 when their debut album was released & since then have released numerous albums, yet more than 1/2 of the population has never heard of them for one reason or another but most likely knows who they are after you sing blister in the sun for them. The femmes only actual catch up was their Platinum album Add it up but I beleive this was due to the fact it was highly promoted by BMG, columbia House, Ect. Since then they have been dropped from the largest Record label (Interscope) like many other's (most notably Nine Inch Nails). Fred Durst(lead singer of Limp Dickshit)doesn't like their music so he won't promote it. We're seeing many bands like Disturbed, Stained, Linkin Park, Prrfect Circle and so on, get so well promoted and popular. That's his type of music. By the way,if you didnt know, Fred Durst is at the top of Interscope! So The Violent Femmes go with a very small record company who hardly promoted that album worth Crap! If people don't see that a new album has come out they're not going to look for it. And the Femmes require a little time to like since they really dont have many "catchy Songs" & you only hear maybe 3 or 4 songs of theirs on the radio. The Femmes are also "college music" & thrive in college towns. If you come to the city I live in in Oregon nobody knows who the Femmes are even though they play at least once a year. So it all adds up: catchy songs, good promotion, well known - sell records. The Femmes don't have much of that. But there are fans like me who own over 60 of their actual records and who are always looking for something new. I think in the 20 years if the femmes felt compelled to give it up after no album sales they would have given up on the album "3". But hopefully they will stick through this and release another album & hope for change. Unfortunately, with as good as they are, they haven't became a legend that will always be rememberd by everyone (such as Pink FLoyd, Rolling Stones, The Beatles So-on). P.S. If the Femmes felt bad about the last album no matter how many people buy the album it won't make a difference. They have made up their mind and have seen the charts. Hopefully change will happen & another platinum album will be released. Until then... [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Violent Femmes Movement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Is the album being downloaded on emusic just the band emptying their garage full of music or is it that they had enough songs for another album that no one wants to put out? Does the band have a label right now or after the poor sales of Freak Magnet are they "In Search of" again. Freak Magnet was such a good Femmes album and it was frustrating to get no support from radio. I go back now and listen to it and see how "Rejoice and be Happy", "Sleepwalkin" and "Freak Magnet" can fit with the other alt-punk bands that get air-play. It's crazy. There seems to be so many Violent Femmes fans out their, but not enough with the initiative to pick up the phone and request a new song from their local radio station. Are Femmes fans not passionate enough about their music? I'd like to see the entire Femmes community get behind one of the songs on this downloadable album and request the hell out of it. Force the radio station to download it and play it on the air. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what that song should be? We should start with a trend setting station like KROQ here in Los Angeles and get them on board and see if that could jump start the Femmes wildfire across the country. If freakin Gwen Stefani can call the radio station ad nasium to get her own song played, then all the Femmes fans can band together to bring the Femmes back to the forefront as one of the leaders of todays music. What are your thoughts? [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~