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Post by curiousgirl on Jan 11, 2020 9:39:56 GMT
I bought a copy when it came out. Enjoyed what I read but life got busy and I never finished it. Funnily enough, I stopped around the time I stopped following the band avidly, in the 1980s.
I had time over the festive season and I wanted a 'right riveting read' - I think that's Rick quote from promoting one of their earlier books. And I started again from the beginning. Just finished it now.
So glad I did. I'm not surprised by anything he said and he is clearly trying to be fair but honest about all the other band members. Makes me realise how much tabloids edit their copy to make a sensation. But he said one thing which was a real surprise about the 2 reunion tours.
p287 "The important thing was that Quo fans enjoyed seeing the old band back together. I'm glad we did it for that reason."
I can accept that he didn't enjoy playing the gigs as much, but this fan is glad that he finally has accepted how much this meant to us.
I was also pleased how fair he was about Rick and gracious about what happened. His account felt real and was a glimpse at how it was between them.
I enjoyed his company in the book. Made me laugh a lot and I understood why I got hooked on him in the band as a teenager. No longer feel that way now which is a relief to finally grow up. Instead, fond memories of happy times in my life.
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Post by 4th Chord on Jan 11, 2020 10:50:50 GMT
I bought a copy when it came out. Enjoyed what I read but life got busy and I never finished it. Funnily enough, I stopped around the time I stopped following the band avidly, in the 1980s. I had time over the festive season and I wanted a 'right riveting read' - I think that's Rick quote from promoting one of their earlier books. And I started again from the beginning. Just finished it now. So glad I did. I'm not surprised by anything he said and he is clearly trying to be fair but honest about all the other band members. Makes me realise how much tabloids edit their copy to make a sensation. But he said one thing which was a real surprise about the 2 reunion tours. p287 " The important thing was that Quo fans enjoyed seeing the old band back together. I'm glad we did it for that reason." I can accept that he didn't enjoy playing the gigs as much, but this fan is glad that he finally has accepted how much this meant to us. I was also pleased how fair he was about Rick and gracious about what happened. His account felt real and was a glimpse at how it was between them. I enjoyed his company in the book. Made me laugh a lot and I understood why I got hooked on him in the band as a teenager. No longer feel that way now which is a relief to finally grow up. Instead, fond memories of happy times in my life. I did it on audiobook before Xmas and enjoyed it. Shame it wasn't Frame reading it but someone with generic 'Guy Ritchie film' London accent!
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Jan 11, 2020 11:46:20 GMT
They always seem to do that. I like watching US cop shows (some) and the English guy always either sounds like that. Wherever he comes from. Unless he's a Toff.
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Jan 11, 2020 11:57:50 GMT
... p287 " The important thing was that Quo fans enjoyed seeing the old band back together. I'm glad we did it for that reason." I can accept that he didn't enjoy playing the gigs as much, but this fan is glad that he finally has accepted how much this meant to us. I guess finally he felt relaxed and confident enough to give the hardcore a break. I wonder if his speaking tour helped him there. I know people have been enjoying it. It really did. He was able to tell at much greater length, and to people who were interested (US). But I think the truest thing he said (somewhere) was that no one else will ever understand their relationship. It's a relationship of work colleagues who were close friends when they were young, but things went wrong. Rick was devastatingly charming, but also a difficult person in lots of ways, and I don't think Francis was comfortable with either personality. But they could joke together in public. He couldn't really do this with anyone else. I said that once and just as I was feeling really grown up and sensible I became an Iron Maiden fan It's like malaria, once you've got it, it never really goes away
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Post by curiousgirl on Jan 11, 2020 11:58:28 GMT
I would have loved to have listened to Francis reading 4th Chord. I felt like he was talking to me as I read it. But I think you mentioned that its wasn't him, so I didn't bother. I'm glad you enjoyed it though even if they couldn't find a genuine Sarf Londoner to read play him.
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Post by curiousgirl on Jan 11, 2020 12:03:56 GMT
Excellent points Mrs FlittersnoopYep, he is in a good place now and able to cut us some slack. And he definitely repeats the point in the book that only he and Rick really knew what their relationship was like. But its very important one for us to accept. Great! I love the idea of being an infatuated teenager again. I wonder what that will be.
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Post by Quoincidence on Jan 11, 2020 12:23:33 GMT
"Right Riveting Read" Promoting the Bella Magazine, for their 5th Anniversary during the studio session in Amsterdam, 30th Sept 1992
However, going back to the book... I enjoyed reading it as well, much more than I expected to tbh
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Post by vivfromcov on Jan 11, 2020 15:31:00 GMT
Glad you enjoyed the book cg. I too bought a copy and read some but like you, didn’t finish it. This thread may prompt me to go back to it. I also enjoyed the Talk Too Much show I attended and felt relieved that Francis seemed to be talking about Rick honestly and fairly. Also the comments in the book about how much the fans appreciated the reunion tours was well appreciated but I do wonder if the comments were tempered to sell more books and tour tickets. I was dismayed to read his comments in the more recent Record Collector magazine which I fear show his true feelings.
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Post by curiousgirl on Jan 11, 2020 15:57:04 GMT
Glad you enjoyed the book cg. I too bought a copy and read some but like you, didn’t finish it. This thread may prompt me to go back to it. I also enjoyed the Talk Too Much show I attended and felt relieved that Francis seemed to be talking about Rick honestly and fairly. Also the comments in the book about how much the fans appreciated the reunion tours was well appreciated but I do wonder if the comments were tempered to sell more books and tour tickets. I was dismayed to read his comments in the more recent Record Collector magazine which I fear show his true feelings. Maybe I'm a softie Viv but reading those final chapters today, when he has space to talk more in depth and openly about his feelings, which are complex, I do think this is genuine. He comes over as someone who gets angry when backed into a corner but when he has space to speak calmly, he is very fair. And that was the case just after the reunion. We were all desperate for more gigs but he didn't want to do them. And he lashed out. His love for Rick, even at the end and post his passing, feels very real to me and my own experiences of loss. I was also surprised at how hard he is on those albums that get slagged off on here, made in the David Walker era. I know the more cynical of our community, and I'm not counting you as one of them, would say that he's covering up. And that's your right. But haven't we've all lashed out at times and then regretted what we said. And that is another reason why I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Post by Victor on Jan 11, 2020 16:18:17 GMT
Glad you enjoyed the book cg. I too bought a copy and read some but like you, didn’t finish it. This thread may prompt me to go back to it. I also enjoyed the Talk Too Much show I attended and felt relieved that Francis seemed to be talking about Rick honestly and fairly. Also the comments in the book about how much the fans appreciated the reunion tours was well appreciated but I do wonder if the comments were tempered to sell more books and tour tickets. I was dismayed to read his comments in the more recent Record Collector magazine which I fear show his true feelings. Maybe I'm a softie Viv but reading those final chapters today, when he has space to talk more in depth and openly about his feelings, which are complex, I do think this is genuine. He comes over as someone who gets angry when backed into a corner but when he has pace to speak calmly, he is very fair. And that was the case just after the reunion. We were all desperate for more gigs but he didn't want to do them. And he lashed out. His love for Rick, even at the end and post his passing feels very real to me and my own experiences of loss. I was also surprised at how hard he is on those albums that get slagged off on here, made in the David Walker era. I know the more cynical of our community, and I'm not counting you as one of them, would say that he's covering up. And that's your right. But haven't we've all lashed out at times and then regretted what we said. And that is another reason why I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for your posts in this thread CG Now I really want to read the book myself as well and I will get a copy of it
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Post by paradiseflats on Jan 11, 2020 18:06:39 GMT
Maybe I'm a softie Viv but reading those final chapters today, when he has space to talk more in depth and openly about his feelings, which are complex, I do think this is genuine. He comes over as someone who gets angry when backed into a corner but when he has pace to speak calmly, he is very fair. And that was the case just after the reunion. We were all desperate for more gigs but he didn't want to do them. And he lashed out. His love for Rick, even at the end and post his passing feels very real to me and my own experiences of loss. I was also surprised at how hard he is on those albums that get slagged off on here, made in the David Walker era. I know the more cynical of our community, and I'm not counting you as one of them, would say that he's covering up. And that's your right. But haven't we've all lashed out at times and then regretted what we said. And that is another reason why I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for your posts in this thread CG Now I really want to read the book myself as well and I will get a copy of it I have no interest in reading it. He is in many ways my ying and yang. He ruined my favourite band but also wrote some of my favourite songs. I think at this point, I don’t want to read what he has to say. The past can’t be changed nor how I feel about it from afar. I don’t drink his koolaid.
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Post by Victor on Jan 11, 2020 18:08:27 GMT
Thanks for your posts in this thread CG Now I really want to read the book myself as well and I will get a copy of it I have no interest in reading it. He is in many ways my ying and yang. He ruined my favourite band but also wrote some of my favourite songs. I think at this point, I don’t want to read what he has to say. The past can’t be changed nor how I feel about it from afar. I don’t drink his koolaid. That's up to you of course PF. I have not forgotten certain things Rossi said and did. But I AM interested in reading it and for me it has nothing to do with "drinking his koolaid at all !
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Jan 12, 2020 12:36:00 GMT
Glad you enjoyed the book cg. I too bought a copy and read some but like you, didn’t finish it. This thread may prompt me to go back to it. I also enjoyed the Talk Too Much show I attended and felt relieved that Francis seemed to be talking about Rick honestly and fairly. Also the comments in the book about how much the fans appreciated the reunion tours was well appreciated but I do wonder if the comments were tempered to sell more books and tour tickets. I was dismayed to read his comments in the more recent Record Collector magazine which I fear show his true feelings. Maybe I'm a softie Viv but reading those final chapters today, when he has space to talk more in depth and openly about his feelings, which are complex, I do think this is genuine. He comes over as someone who gets angry when backed into a corner but when he has pace to speak calmly, he is very fair. And that was the case just after the reunion. We were all desperate for more gigs but he didn't want to do them. And he lashed out. His love for Rick, even at the end and post his passing feels very real to me and my own experiences of loss. I was also surprised at how hard he is on those albums that get slagged off on here, made in the David Walker era. I know the more cynical of our community, and I'm not counting you as one of them, would say that he's covering up. And that's your right. But haven't we've all lashed out at times and then regretted what we said. And that is another reason why I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I've long thought he was reacting ( and possibly over-reacting ) to how he was treated by some fans particularly on the old official message board. He said he stopped reading it just because of that, and I think that was before the Reunion. One of my earliest memories of the Rossi Personality, long before I became a true fan, was John Peel saying something nice about Paper Plane, and Rossi retaliating in an interview (as an aside) that it was just a pose, or something of that kind. (I think he learned better later as Peel was a true supporter.) This was Francis over reacting to someone being nice about them. I think he has fragile nerves, and (unlike some artists but not all) has never been able to separate public reactions/critics from his personal feelings. They say it is a really bad idea to take what critics or fans say, seriously, and I think he does. Carrying the weight of other people's expectations and desires arising from the deep past is not a very healthy situation, I think. He was chasing people away when he maybe "should" have been making "positive" noises while ignoring them.
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Post by wolfman on Jan 12, 2020 14:17:34 GMT
If only rick had one out..wishful thinking.
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Post by jaynieeee on Jan 12, 2020 18:32:06 GMT
Maybe I'm a softie Viv but reading those final chapters today, when he has space to talk more in depth and openly about his feelings, which are complex, I do think this is genuine. He comes over as someone who gets angry when backed into a corner but when he has pace to speak calmly, he is very fair. And that was the case just after the reunion. We were all desperate for more gigs but he didn't want to do them. And he lashed out. His love for Rick, even at the end and post his passing feels very real to me and my own experiences of loss. I was also surprised at how hard he is on those albums that get slagged off on here, made in the David Walker era. I know the more cynical of our community, and I'm not counting you as one of them, would say that he's covering up. And that's your right. But haven't we've all lashed out at times and then regretted what we said. And that is another reason why I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for your posts in this thread CG Now I really want to read the book myself as well and I will get a copy of it I bought it from The Works for £6, looked at their website just now and it's not there - could still be some in their shops
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