(TV) Good Thurs. Christ / Who the Hell Are Television's Fans?

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

>Christ, you make it sound like no one in the world 
>has heard of Tom Verlaine >except for the people 
>on this list

I agree with Dennis---why I bet there's probably more 
listeners in Oslo alone, than on the List. :>)

But I think that the number of the "old crowd" of 
Television/TV listeners (the grey-beards and female 
baby-boomers) has declined considerably from its  
height in the 1970's early 80's.  Why? Because, in 
general, they don't listen to much music anymore 
because of demands of their families, jobs, etc.---
plus a fair number are dead (although I guess you can 
be dead and still listen to Television's/TV's music).

Did the 1992 record and tour (and 2001-2004 tours and 
re-releases) generate a substantial new, younger fan base  
(or was the exponential increase due the band's massive 
radio air-play and radio interviews)?  

Who are these freakin' listeners--young or old? 
I don't think the members of either of the Lists are 
a truly random sample from which one could draw valid 
conclusions. Although I'd be very interested in knowing 
the average age, and other demographics of members of the 
Lists. In fact, I probably shouldn't reveal this here, but 
the wily Mr. Obbard and a few other administrators have sold 
this very data, for quite a tidy sum, to mass marketers (ever 
wonder why you get all those Viagra ads). 

During his solo acoustic tour(s), TV remarked in an interview 
that he wasn't very enthusiastic (I'm paraphrasing in all that 
follows) about his fans, and that what he actually really 
liked---even preferred---was when someone 'new' attended one of 
his shows. Then, he went on to remark that at one of his acoustic 
shows a young woman came up to him afterwards and told him she 
hadn't known anything about him, but decided attend the show. 
TV told the interviewer that he took great pleasure in this.   

In another interview [early 1980s?], he was asked who his ideal 
fan might/would be. He answered that they would be someone who 
didn't listen to much music. (I guess that means everyone on our 
2 Lists would qualify as one of his ideal fans :> )  ).

But to add some context, I think this was quite a long time ago 
when he was **sick to death** of dealing with people, who, by 
and large, just wanted to dwell on his past role in Television 
and that band's songs. Also, it was obviously way before any of 
the re-unions or even before rare shows such as the Viper Club gig 
during which he cheerfully comments on the old faithfuls' requests.  
And most of all--even though his 'ideal' fan stuff seemed commercially 
counter productive----his career has never it's never been about 
the money.

	Leo

-----Original Message-----
From: tv-owner@obbard.com On Behalf Of Dennis D
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 2:53 AM
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: (TV) Tom Verlaine's great but unavailable songs -- The
Miller's Tale 2?


>Christ, you make it sound like no one in the world 
>has heard of Tom Verlaine except for the people on 
>this list. He has made a living from music for at
>least the last 25 years. I'm sure we people on the list 
>were  not the only >ones supporting him.


>>Tom's other efforts are some of the best 
>>pop songs of the last 20 years but unfortunately, 
>>we're the only folks who know it.
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