RTH Mailbag, 8/18/10

Those of you not interested in the behind-the-scenes drama of Rock Town Hall are advised to steer clear of the following jump. Because I’ve been on the road for most of the last 2 weeks and therefore a little behind in clearing up some offlist issues, I’ll take care of your concerns and off-topic comments here, in public.

What’s the deal with 2000 Man’s long-promised history of rock ‘n roll through the prism of the Stones? I don’t even care about most of the other shit you guys talk about here, but I check in daily in hopes of catching the debut of this series. Is it available on another section of Rock Town Hall or something? I went as far as checking with Amazon to see if I could pre-order a book version, but they had no knowledge of it. Let me know if I should hold out hope, OK? Otherwise, there’s some new site for old people who love rock ‘n roll and who haven’t been laid in 12 years that I may have to check out. Thanks.

– Still Waiting

Still Waiting,

I could tell you that 2K has been delivering his treatise in shorts bursts through his regular comments and management of Team USA in our recent RTH World Cup of Rock ‘n Roll, but that may be skirting the issue. 2K is one of our favorite contributors on any topic; however, we share your anticipation of his full-fledged serial on the history of rock ‘n roll through the prism of the Stones. Perhaps your interest will be all the push this busy man needs to put aside more practical responsibilities and develop the 6-part series that we all envisioned when 2000 Man first pitched this idea.

What’s the deal with all this talk about German true stereo? So much of what is labeled German true stereo is actually Dutch true stereo! While we’re on the subject, why doesn’t alexmagic claim more time on the Main Stage. No offense, Mod, but more of alexmagic and less of you would go a long way toward convincing me not to switch over to that new site where old dudes trade “favorite” lists and try to meet the 17 women in the world who attend power pop shows.

– The Dutchman

Dutchman,

You raise an important point about the confusion over the terms German and Dutch true stereo. The term German true stereo is in fact accurate; the Dutch have yet to perfect the technology of true stereo recordings. Your confusion is understandable. It seems that German audiophiles who settled in Central Pennsylvania in the early ’70s referred to themselves as being of Deutsch origin. Stereo shop owners and clerks understood their enthusiastic new clientele to have settled from the Netherlands, going so far as to set up illegal hash bars in the back rooms of their shops, where their new “Dutch” customers could check out the latest Triumvirat releases on the latest gear. As for your thoughts on alexmagic, I agree completely!

What’s the deal with E. Pluribus Gergely showing up after a year away and then hogging the spotlight with his pompous, self-righteous views on Herman’s Hermits? Also, it’s curious that he finally shows up while you’re away, Mod. I don’t think I’m alone in suspecting you’re one and the same!

– Pop Trifles

Pop Trifles,

As much as anyone around here – even alexmagic – E. Pluribus has the right to show up whenever he wants and add to the party. So long as he’s not being antisocial in his occasional disrespect for me and others, the man is more than welcome. Talk about Townspeople who should be regularly crafting threads for The Main Stage! Here’s a guy who’s got the nerve to call bullshit on 2K for running behind schedule on his history of rock ‘n roll through the prism of the Stones series while sitting out 99% of our discussions, only chiming in once or twice a year to bitch and moan about the fact that RTH hasn’t been the same since Links Linkerson regularly regularly sent in links to Billboard pieces from his Commodore 64! A mind like E. Pluribus Gergely’s is a terrible thing to waste on nothing but flea markets and some networking site where old, overweight, balding guys do little more than post lists of their 68 Top 10 Shoes songs and try to convince like-minded folks to check out their own band’s next Tuesday night show. I’m confident Plurbie will return to putting his fingers where his mouth belongs. As for your suspicion that EPG and I are one and the same, there are some telltale differences in our writing styles and perspectives, the main one being that I never have to feel sorry for once having a newfound friend see this album in his record collection.