Re: 'My head was spinning. My oh my!' / RE: (TV) Tom interview from 2006

[DavMarRnR <davmarrnr@aol.com>]

To clarify some things:

A. It's a phone interview - "The following is the long, unmixed, raw feed of the Tom Verlaine phone interview I did"

B. it WAS recorded - "(Tape flips)"

C. Regarding "jimmy" and the a&r man - I think it's all SARCASM!  Earlier in the interview Tom rants about (the interviewer) getting misinformation off the Internet:

 "TV: My only experience with Laswell was that I hired him to play bass for two hours.
DNL: Really?
TV: Yeah. I don
ft know if you
fre getting stuff off of the internet, I
fve noticed. Well, I haven
ft done interviews in almost twenty years and I
fve noticed this year in doing interviews that people ask me a lot of questions and it
fs really funny because the internet is filled with misinformation. And people reference it all the time and they print things all of the time. Someone steered me to some site called 
equotes
f the other day and it has anywhere from thirty to three hundred quotes from anybody that you
fve heard of, so I looked up my quotes and they
fre all wrong. They
fre either out of context and even when they
fre correct they
fre not word for word correct. They
fre from some journalist who possibly was half drunk or on speed writing something down in a bar or something, so it
fs so packed with crap that you
fve gotta
f think, I
fve actually talked with someone about making them take it down, because it actually is fraud.
DNL: Especially if they put quotation marks on it because if they reference what they think you mean that
fs one thing. I
fm more of a facts person, I go by what
fs on the records.
TV: Well, anyway, Laswell played bass on that so that
fs all I know of Bill. I actually don
ft like his production at all. I actually can
ft think of an album that he
fs done that I liked. I did like his bass playing from some record back in there, so it was like 
gwhy don
ft you call him up?
h

So when Tom is asked about Jimmy Ripp playing on Flash Light he starts to play with the interviewer: 

"DNL: That one, as far as I
fm aware, has the most Jimmy Ripp playing on it.
TV: Actually, Ripp didn
ft play on it at all! (Laughs) The idiot A&R man insisted that I use another guitarist, I said okay, because I had done a record in Europe and he refused to put it out and I said 
gwell, what do you want from me? Just throw me off the label if you
fre not going to put the records out
h and he said 
gWell maybe we
fll put it out but go do another record. So I said 
gOkay, sure
h and I went to NY and in three months did a record, came back, and he said 
gwhere
fd you get the guitarist
h and I said 
git
fs all live, I did it with this other guy Jimmy and he said 
goh yeah, I know him from your tour
h and says 
gwell this record
fs much better
h and he hands it to some bozo clubby kid to remix in the studio and it
fs a horribly mixed record, I can
ft listen to that record, it
fs so shrieky bright with the snare samples banging in you head. 

For a clearer sense of what's going on in Tom's head and who's on Flash Light just go over to The Wonder web site on look for his 1987 interviews - like the Musician Magazine interview in which Tom states "the press doesn't deserve anything but lies".

IT'S SARCASM PEOPLE!

(and yes, jimmy Ripp plays on flash light)

Dave


Sent from my HAL 9000

On Sep 28, 2012, at 9:22 PM, leif joley <leifjoley@hotmail.com> wrote:

> It's 3.15 in the morning here and I can't get any sleep because of this. We
> have to solve the mystery. Once and for all.
> 
> Within the same paragraph about "Flash Light" -- if it even IS about
> "Flashlight" -- Verlaine is cited as saying first:
> 
> "The idiot A&R man insisted that I use another guitarist"
> 
> And then:
> 
> "[The A&R] man said 'whered you get the guitarist' and I said its all live,
> I
> did it with this other guy Jimmy and he said 44oh yeah, I know him from
> your tour4"
> 
> So the A&R man didn't wanted Rip, for reasons not explained, and then Verlaine
> hands over a new recording which the A&R man thinks is fine, actually "much
> better" than the rejected one, and he wants to know the name of the guitarist
> -- and it's Jimmy! It's Jimmy again! The A&R man KNOWS about Jimmy because
> Jimmy's been playing live with Verlaine! He has seen Rip with his own eyes!
> The A&R man now fully accepts Jimmy -- the same worthless Jimmy who was the
> reason for giving thumbs-down to Verlaine's first effort to make a record for
> Fontana.
> 
> Actually, this A&R man was interviewed somewhere about all this -- I don't
> remember where, and I don't remember his name, but anyway: as far as I
> remember, his view on it all was that Fontana had ambitions with Verlaine and
> they thought Verlaine could do better than "The Lost Album" -- and who could
> say anything else than that he was right there? I often listen to "Flash
> Light" but rarely to the drum-machine heavy second-rate material that's "The
> Lost Album".
> 
> The interviewer uses the Q&A form, which, for a journalist, in one way is
> easier and in another way is harder to do than writing in an ordinary style.
> Anyone who's been making interviews and publishing them know this. Easier,
> because then you just write down the transcript; you are allowed to be lazy.
> Harder, because you DEFINITELY must be word-by-word accurate -- which means
> that the interview must be recorded. I think this reporter has messed up badly
> here -- it's a long interview, he may have recorded it but then left out parts
> that are crucial to make the conversation understandable -- but he may also
> not have recorded it. The gaps could be the result of a reporter without
> recording device, with the phone in one hand and the pencil in the other,
> trying to make notes while he's speaking and then, when it's time to write, he
> does not remember every word that has been said. And this is the mind-boggling
> result.
> 
> And then, Leo Casey appears out of nowhere, adding insult to injury by
> writing:
> 
> "Again I think the interviewer talking about the B-sides he bought (e.g.,
> Shimmer')"
> 
> 1. "Shimmer" was NOT a B-side!
> 
> 2. "Shimmer" was NOT off "The Lost Album"!
> 
> This is serious business, Leo. Get your facts right!
> 
> Leif J, Sweden
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> From: LeoCasey@comcast.net
>> To: tv@obbard.com
>> Subject: 'My head was spinning. My oh my!' / RE: (TV) Tom interview from
> 2006
>> Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:21:03 -0400
>> 
>> I totally agree with Leif. I really appreciate Deb tracking this down, but
>> the interview itself was one of the most confusing ones with Tom I have
> ever
>> read. I also agree his lack of follow-up Qs (or asking poor ones) was
>> criminal.
>> 
>> There's also some mistakes and silliness. E.g.,
>> Interviewer: "...noticed in looking over your solo albums that Jimmy only
>> makes a sporadic appearance here and there.   well, that's what I picked up
>> on and that's why I wondered why there wasn't more of that in the studio
>> context. Might I suggest that for someday? It's something a lot of people
>> don't know about."
>> 
>> Not true Rip's all over 4 of TV 's 8 solo albums!
>> Also, despite the interviewer love of it, IMHO "Words From The Front" was
>> the 2nd worst solo album he ever did.
>> 
>> Leo's initial analysis and possible solution to interview's strange
>> references/comment on Flashlight:
>> Maybe either the Interviewer mangled his tape or his notes and left out the
>> part where TV mentions songs from The Lost Album aka The B-Sides Album aka
>> The London/Bascombe Sessions.  And it's that album that TV is responding to
>> when TV says: Actually, Ripp didn't play on it at all! (Laughs) The idiot
>> A&R man insisted that I use another guitarist.
>> 
>> Ditto for TV's comment on the horrible mix done by some young fool; TV's
> not
>> talking about Flashlight's mix.  But the stupid interviewer thinks Tom is
>> discussing Flashlight so the interviewer answers, "Paul Duffy was the
>> mixer", and TV doesn't know or remember who Duffy was [it was 20 yrs
>> earlier]. Fact I just verified: Paul Duffy mixed Flashlight but that's moot
>> since TV's talking about The Lost Album not Flashlight.
>> 
>> Interviewer: It [the mix] just makes it sound so '80s, it's so unnecessary
>> because it was music that transcended time and now it just sounds so dated.
>> 
>> IMHO, there was never anything wrong with Flashlight's mix and it doesn't
>> sound dated.  Again I think the interviewer talking about the B-
>> sides he bought (e.g., Shimmer')
>> 
>> On the other hand we have this which totally blows my mind and my initial
>> analysis and solution to the confusion:
>> Interviewer: It would be really nice if, well I don't what the
> possibilities
>> of getting them back in your possession and fixing them would be. TV: No,
>> you can't really do that. Sometimes, if you pay for it yourself, you can
>> remix it, but ****Collectors Choice****, who knows what their game is.
>> 
>> Collectors Choice did TV's re-release Tom's eponymous solo album,
> Dreamtime.
>> WFTE, and Flashlight! So maybe Tom is talking about Flashlight afrerall.
> Or
>> maybe Collector's Choice around 2006 purchased the rights to The Lost Album
>> and TV wonders whether they will improve the mix of The Lost Album?!?
>> 
>> Independent to all of the above: I think it was Joe Thorton who 2 years ago
>> posted to the MM List about how he had met Jimmy Rip in Spain and Rip told
>> Joe he did not play on The Wonder.
>> 
>> But I say Rip absolutely plays on Flashlight!
>> 
>> On the other hand there's this which that totally messes with my head:
>> 
>> Interviewer: So, in a way there's kind of like, in terms of a pure Tom
>> Verlaine album, you have to jump from 'Cover' to 'Warm & Cool.'
>> TV: In terms of mixes, yeah. In terms of a sound thing, maybe half of 'the
>> Wonder' *****isn't as bad in terms of a mix as 'Flashlight' is.*** I still
>> like those songs and he couldn't screw it up too much because what's on
> tape
>> is what's on tape but certainly putting in all of these drum samples
> doesn't
>> help it.
>> 
>> Could the interviewer have edited the transcript [he claims not] , or was
>> Tom using Flashlight as 'short-hand' to refer to the Lost Album that has a
>> small direct connection to Flashlight? Or was Tom losing his mind/memory?
>> 
>> My head hurts! "My head is spinning. My oh my!"
>> 
>> Philip! Keith! Anyone! Please come to the rescue.  Offer an explanation or
>> theory that will make this claim that the mix of Flashlight is horrible all
>> go away.
>> 
>> Leo
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: tv-owner@obbard.com [mailto:tv-owner@obbard.com] On Behalf Of leif
>> joley
>> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2012 6:40 AM
>> To: tv@obbard.com
>> Subject: RE: (TV) Tom interview from 2006
>> 
>> I have to disagree. The only fabulous thing with this interview must be
> that
>> fans are delighted by the sight of a lenghty conversation with Verlaine,
>> since
>> there are rather few of them. But to me it's sloppy, un-edited, without
>> necessary follow-up questions, and it tries to cover too much ground. Many
>> times nothing of real value comes out of the Q&A. I also sometimes read
>> Verlaine's answers like he's becoming a little tired of the interviewer and
>> doesn't want to give proper responses to the questions. The funniest thing
>> in it is the comments about Bill Laswell's appearance on "Miss Emily" (a
>> particular fave of mine) off "Cover".
>> 
>> Downright confusing is the part about Jimmy Rip's input on "Flash Light".
>> Did
>> or did not Rip played on it? I might be a little dumb but can't understand
>> the
>> reasoning there.
>> 
>> The complications about the follow-up to "Cover" is well-known, with all
> the
>> recordings that were later used as B-sides, but I wasn't aware that
> Verlaine
>> didn't approve of the mix. That said: Personally, I've never had any
>> problems
>> with the "Flash Light" sound. To me, it's not especially "80's", and if it
>> is,
>> then I think the production (and mixing) makes full justice to these songs.
>> Big, loud, blaring, with many guitar playing things going on throughout. To
>> me, it makes for a LP that's in my personal grading is tied on a second
>> place
>> (together with "Dreamtime") if we're talking about his solo catalogue --
> but
>> none can challenge the first one as being the best one.
>> 
>> Leif J, Sweden
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