My Little Vent Thread
 

Earlier today, I found myself in an odd sort of situation.

I was browsing through my Photobucket gallery, and saying things to myself like "I'm really getting frustrated with you" and "you know, I think somebody ought to have a word with you about this whole business."

Okay, now that I've creeped everyone out, I need to get some words out. Yeah, I could have just posted this on the St. Louis thread, but I'm just a thread-starting fool.

I'm really frustrated with Stevie right now. Not really pissed off, but my poor insignificant mind can't really begin to fathom some of the things she's said lately. Every time I gain some respect for her, she says something that makes me lose respect, and the cycle repeats in an endless loop. What irritates me the most is that I have a hard time saying what I should be saying, for a really shallow reason: Stevie is one of the few singers whose songs have ever had an emotional impact on me. Christ, the first time I heard BATB, I just hid in my room and cried for 20 minutes. Really embarrassing...but why would I want to put down someone whose songs have touched me deeply?

Well, perhaps I should be thinking about that. Here's a laundry list of things that are frustrating me right now:

1. In all the years I've been actively interested in music, I've never seen a singer or musician as creatively stagnant as her, or one so complacent about their state of stagnation and so stubborn in their unwillingness to change it. I wouldn't even consider myself a "hardcore" fan, but I can think up a dozen songs that could be added to her set list, perhaps enough to temporarily offset the fact that she's probably never going to make a new album.

2. How hard is it to get an album made these years? I'm sure there are a hundred producers who'd be willing to provide their services to Stevie, and since so many of her songs are actually more interesting in stripped-down demo form, it's not like it'd take months to hammer out the production process.

3. If her songs are so damned personal, why won't she perform them in a more personal setting? For example, it's kind of hard to take EO17 as being a really private, intense song when it's being belted out to a stadium with 15,000 people in it.

4. She really needs to take some kind of personal responsibility. We've all come to expect Stevie and Lindsey to blame each other for the same things and put on the "it's all your fault!" act, but Stevie is starting to come across as a Carol Ann Harris type. "I didn't know cocaine was bad for me, I didn't know Klonopin was addictive, I didn't know that the fans want to hear new songs, it's all their fault that I'm doing greatest hits and covers, and I'm just a poor girl from a poor family, spare me my life from this monstrosity!"

5. Her voice is in the best shape it's been in years, but she refuses to take advantage of the opportunity to record anything new. Or maybe that just goes with Point 1.

6. The Lindsey/Stevie thing is getting old. Yes, it was a traumatizing breakup...which happened during the second year of the Ford administration. One wonders what Chris and John, who actually managed to remain as professional music partners without letting their past relationship get in the way, are thinking right now about those two irritating Yanks and their endless fights.

7. A brief retirement/extended vacation to some exotic locale or meditating place in late 2004/early 2005 would have giving an opportunity for her to take some time to think about the future, perhaps giving us some new material instead of an endless mobious strip of nearly-identical GH tours. But the time to strike is long past, unfortunately. She should try doing this after the current tour is over. There's a reason why many musicians take long periods of semi-retirement; continuous touring just saps the mind the soul!

Okay, I'll just shut up for now.

You know, I'm not really frustrated about this last interview. I think it's funny. But Stevie has gotten on my nerves pretty constantly since the SYW tour ended and I think it's almost more frustration with myself, rather than her, because I thought she had changed and she hasn't.

Really, she seemed to have matured so much from 1997-2004. She was so rational and objective in interviews, able to see things in perspective and laugh at herself and I really thought the whole band had grown. I guess I drank the Dance koolaid. They were all running around saying how much they'd mellowed and changed and I believed them. It seemed to be true from what we saw on the surface.

But then, starting with the interviews she began doing for the Vegas show about 3 years ago, it seems like Stevie has reverted since that Dance Evolution. It's like she's taken 2 steps backward (or 10 years backwards). She sounds the same self-centered way she used to sound in the eighties. I mean, she's not self-centered horrible. She can be self-centered funny and cute, but it's a girlish, tunnel-visioned, shallow personna that I thought had been shed. I feel like I dreamed that I had gotten over the hump and then I woke up to find that tired, thirsty, and wild-eyed, I was still climbing the hill. The change was all a mirage.

I mean, think of the woman on Destiny Rules calmly explaining that people aren't sitting around smoking drugs anymore. They have house notes to pay. They can't spend their money on a double album. She sounds so rational and like she sympathizes with the hard-working fan. Contrast it with the latest fan comments that sound delusional and accusatory.

I don't think she really thinks that albums are not selling because we're downloading songs. I know she knows it's more complex than that. I think she was just talking off the top of her head. So, it's not that I really care that she said that. I just thought for awhile there that she had changed and she hasn't. She's still Stevie of 25 years ago -- and that's not a bad thing. It can be quite a charming thing. It's just that I had been lulled into thinking there was something different there for a few years and I see I was wrong. Michele

She's clearly back on the pills. I keep telling this to everyone, and no one believes me.
Well, it will all come out in a few years.

"Nobody told me that Valium was bad for me. I thought it was only Klonopin that was bad. It's the doctor's fault. When he said take two, he should have said take TWO and not winked his eye. I thought he was kidding. Ohhh, Tom can you write this for me?"

I also suspect that was just a cover. And as long as she is not telling us the real reason for the lack of new music, minds will wander trying to find an explanation that is not so bogus. Self-doubt? Laziness? Writer's block?

odd you say that, because i was thinking maybe that was the case in biloxi. she kept squinting and giving theses odd wry grins...but i hope its not the case!

I don't know if this could be added on, but I did seem to notice that when she talked and sang, in Alpharetta, she seemed more nasal.....I don't know if that means anything or not....I mean, I LOVED the show, but I did notice this~


But I mean, i do agree with you guys to a point. It would be very nice if Stevie would do a new album, then tour for that album, with a couple of the new songs on it, then do a new album and tour.... yadda yadda. If I were ever a famous musician, I mean, in a rock and roll band, this is how I would be, because I am always writing, and hearing my stuff recorded if always exciting, and that first playback never gets old. Granted, I haven't been doing it for 40 years, but if she wants to stop, I think she should just....stop, I guess.

can i add to your vent?~

what the hell does stevie have against the midwest?!?!?!?!?~ she never has any dates here~ oooowwww she played here in lincoln, nebraska in'86 & the mac was here for the tusk tour & say you will, but...wtf?!?!?!?!?~

i have a kid now & it is not as easy as it was to just pick up on a whim to do a road trip & follow stevie~
we took our son to see he mac in vegas when he was 4~

alot of people don't like the setlist, she's playing the same things, but people out here in the heartland would love to see/hear it~

i mean i love the woman, i have been to many shows over the years, but 98% of them i've had to travel & i'm not talking an hour away travel either~ & happily i did~

she has fans here, tons of them~ out local head shop/record store worships her & always has stevie music, t-shirts, posters & of the like, they carried crystal visions on vinyl~ our biggest dj on our biggest radio station worships her too, he met her when fm came here for syw~ fm & stevie are the band of the month all the time on this station~ my hubby listens to it in his shop at wrk & they play stevie multiple times a day~

i mean i live in omaha, it's not peanuts, we have a new arena that fm helped break in during 2003~ we have a smaller venue which fm played in during the tusk tour~ we have outside venues, a performing arts venue & right across the missouri river like 5 miles away council bluffs, iowa has many places she can play, even casinos~ so as i said wtf?!?!?!?!?~

she hates me:laugh:~

Stevie concert locations
 

Well for those of you that feel she never comes near to where you live, she hasn't been to the UK for a very very long time!! Every year her fans in the uK just keep hoping that this will be the year she comes back.:(

Maybe so, but there's artists in Europe that don't come to the USA either. Have you seen this dude:
http://canecorso.com/lorenzo.htm


No unicorns, either. ;)

Yes I expect there are artists in the UK who don't come to the US - you only realise when it's the artist that you are crazy about. And yes I have seen that - really fantastic!

Just out of curiosity...how do they decide what cities she plays in?

:laugh: LOL.. No she doesn't hate you Jill! LOL.. I do have to say that I SOOO feel what you and Savage are saying.. and have to agree on some of this.. I also feel that musically, I guess I just don't understand WHY she hasn't released some of her demo's, or her other stuff, and instead, we keep getting "The Best Of" or "Greatest Hits Packages" instead of new- or old un-released demos?? And why do other people's covers? Yes.. I understand, musically, they sound good with her voice, but won't her OWN songs sound good too, and have more meaning?? I don't know.. I guess I feel that maybe she is thinking along the lines of pleasing the "masses" - as she knows she already has us hooked.. but she ALSO needs to know, somehow- that we- the fans who got her where she is today- would ALSO like to hear "HER" own stuff! :wavey:

That frustrates me as well. I'd love to see her perform.

My only real gripe with her, is that she is very narcissistic and, I feel, she still lives in the past and can still be quite angry. I can't recall much material of her's where she isn't hurting or bitching or promising to haunt someone or feeling haunted herself. She's 60 now for godsakes, can't she do an album, if she's willing to, or do concerts that include some positive material? I get she had a tough deal with coke and Klonopin and Lindsey and whoever else, but can't she look forward instead of backward? I presume she lives in a beautiful beach house now, did/does the whole US soldiers iPod thing, she's still as popular as ever, she should feel, as a poet, inspired everyday, and I feel she'd much rather lament and bitch about the past than write positively about the here and now.

And I don't know how the covers please the masses, because no one expects her to do them. Well, I guess they would if she put out an album of covers and became known for that -- thankfully she's not to that point yet.

Of course, when she sings someone else's songs, whoever is reviewing the show that night usually notices, especially when it's Seger or Zeppelin (as opposed to Bonnie Raitt). So, I wonder if she likes the publicity slant the covers bring her. Whatever, it's frustrating. Michele

I think her decision to add some covers to the set stems from her longtime personality. She's always been a cool cover cat. She sang covers in Fritz, in Buckingham Nicks, in Fleetwood Mac, & throughout her solo career. Some of her favorite songs have "inspired" her to record songs by the same writers as well as to write songs of her own in that style. We have studio tapes of her kicking back in a great mood, belting out covers of this or that. She has a history of popping up onstage at clubs as a guest, just to sing a bunch of someone else's songs (from Todd Rundgren to John Stewart to Tom Petty to Walter Egan).

Stevie's a cover girl.

How funny is this? Almost exactly the same comments that Stevie made. Maybe they've been chatting...

'Fans have killed the record industry'

Gene Simmons says band won't release new songs until downloading stops

Jun 17, 2008

Download festival headliners Kiss, who played the top spot at the festival last Friday (June 13), have declared that the record industry is "dead".

Bassist Gene Simmonds explained that his band were refusing to record new material until illegal downloading ceases, calling the act of downloading "uncivilised".

"The record industry is dead," the Daily Star reported the singer saying. "It's six feet underground and unfortunately the fans have done this.

"They've decided to download and file-share. There is no record industry around so we're going to wait until everybody settles down and becomes civilised. As soon as the record industry pops its head up we'll record new material."

Singer Paul Stanley went on to defend the band's policy of only playing old hits live. "With any classic band that hits the road, the last thing you want to hear is their new songs," he said. "Trends come, fashion comes. But we don't go away. We're like herpes."

http://www.nme.com/news/kiss/37419

I suspect this will be the title of Stevie's next solo album, Cover Girl. And will be comprised of, yup, cover songs.

I must say after seeing the Chicago and Detroit shows the last few days, I'm definitelty not feeling Crash. I mean, it's not like I wanna go take a 20 minute dump when she does that song, but it seems out of place to me.

Shawn Colvin's already released a covers album called Cover Girl :cool:

Personally I'd prefer an album of covers than nothing at all.

What was the Police song she had on Cover Girl?

Amen Michele... I guess basically the "masses" don't know the difference from her old material, new material or the covers, anyway.. so maybe she feels it's something that would be nice for everyone:rolleyes: LOL.. Shhhhh.. don't say anything too loud about her putting out a album of covers.. LOL. What I'd LOVE to see is her old un-released demos.. and you are SOOO right about it all being frustrating.. It is to say the least.. LOL:laugh:

Well, the politicians have talking points. They distribute them to everyone in their campaign, administration or party, so that everyone who gives an interview will say the same thing. Maybe the rock stars have them too. They're more organized than I thought!

Michele

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, if I remember correctly.

I totally agree about doing her own music.....I just don't understand why she won't sing her OWN songs!!!! She has so many wonderful songs off every solo lp....and even movie songs she could sing....just think of hearing Violet & Blue or Blue Lamp...I still don't understand why during Enchanted...the shirt picture with the BL and she doesn't sing the song on tour......it would've been wonderful.....or One More Big Time...or heck any song from any solo LP and it doesn't have to be a single either....like Ooh My Love or Long Way to Go....or what Listen To The Rain.....or Real Tears or.....Nightbird....TTM or ROF or heck Bella Donna....I'm not crazy about the covers....I was at DTE Sunday night....don't care for Crash period...but I'm not a DMB fan either.....I didn't mind Bob's song but still if I had a choice it would be her own music...that's what I paid for to me.......and it makes me sad really........IMO that is......:confused::distress:

I'm totally understanding how your feeling.......the frustration is there for me as well.........Stevie is a much better artist than this........its not the fact of her owe us anything.....just as an artist she could be much better than 'this'.....this is not her best to me.....she could have done much more in the last 11 yrs or so.....could've released so much and it doesn't even have to be music wise either.......posters/shirts/books........of course demos/extended versions......the list is endless really....various dvds.......the world is her oyster but she choose's not to do anything...........maybe retiring is the best option now....and I don't like saying that but well.....if you don't use your gift you will lose it someday.....how sad really. I know she tours....but well she's needed a break from that anyway yrs now......she's needed a break. I feel what your saying.....but I'm not sure it will change......I'm still frusted about what she said about us hard core fans thing....I'll get over it but it takes time.....but I know I've learned something......that I won't forget anytime soon............:shrug::distress:

Hey Sue..

I hear you all the way around.. I'd SOOO LOVE to hear her sing "BL" or Nightbird, or any of those songs you mentioned.. and I'm with you on Crash.. I'm not a bit DMB fan either.. as I can think of SOOO many other songs she could sing, but I guess that's her choice on that call.. I just don't understand it tho.. :shrug:

My Stevie Situation and Confusion
 

My boyfriend at the concert told me she should've sang "rooms On Fire". He likes that song, and he also told me that "She's complaining about people getting up and walking to the bathroom and stuff on some of her songs that some people don't know...well if that bothers her so much then why won't she play **** that people know and they will stay and listen." Sometimes some celebrities are not who you think they are. It's a tough competitive business that you need a backbone and you have to be hard headed and stubborn all at the same time. What I think is funny is that everyone's bringing up the drugs thing....and when my boyfriend saw this little clip thing on VH1 classic I believe, it showed stevie saying, "No one told us they were bad, no one...", my boyfriend hit the ground like a safe laughing his ass off. I asked him what was so funny and he said. " She is such a liar! What did you think you were shoving up your nose, sugar?! That's why they call it a drug!" And in some ways I can agree with him. I mean at the age of 27, you are with a great band, and they ask you "Do you want some?" You look at it, and ask, "What is it?" They tell you, "Cocaine." And you do what they are doing. You stuff the **** up your nose. NO you don't know why you are doing it, maybe you are doing it so you can be the rock star you've dreamed to be. And this is what rock stars do and they way they live....
Anyway, alot of the mistakes that Stevie has made over the years with her life, I question about them. Her sleeping with a married Mick Fleetwood, breaking up with Lindsey for Don Henley, (yes that is what happened because Don Henley said so), cocaine and other drugs, rumours that I don't believe are true that she had an abortion and the unborn child's name was Sara. There are somethings about this woman that I wouldn't dare believe that she did. She has this innocent face, and seems so sincere. But the whole time she was wearing a mask, and now that she's got that mask off, there are still some problems with her actions to this day. I was disapointed that she didn't get my letter to dedicate "Edge of 17" to me the night of the show. She has a crabby, bitchy, and over controlling assistant who behind her back treats her fans like ****. Stevie won't read my letter until the tour is over with, so I hope that when she does read it, she looks Karen in the face and says, "Why didn't I get this sooner?" Why does she want someone like Karen to work for her anyway. If Karen was my assistant and I ever found out that she did those things to my fans, and to my friends, I would fire her ass! But you know what, Stevie does know that she does those things and Stevie lets it happen. So don't let celebrities fool you. The music and entertainment buisness turns people into assholes. I know. My friend just got done making an album and w never hear from him anymore, and when we do talk to him, he's being an asshole, stuck up...This buisness changes you as a person. Stevie knows what's happening, she knows what's going on, and she doesn't care. She has to do what she's told, by managers and etc. I will always be a fan, and I will always treasure her songs and music and her style, but I am confused on alot of issues in her life, and those issues will never be resolved because it's no ones buisness. People make choices and do things for a reason, what ever the reason is they are the only ones who know and there was a reason why they did it. I love Stevie with all my heart but I'm tired now. She is on this tour and she's probably exausted herself. She may have some answers after it's over with. So be patient, and maybe in a couple of months you will know her future plans for a studio album, a Mac reunion, a Mac album and blah, blah, blah.....Just let it go, sit back and enjoy the music, and be patient. I believe there's another album comming our way, just not right away, but soon.

That she didn't get your letter is hardly a surprise. She gets many letters at concerts and she hardly has time to read them all. Asking for a dedication of a song... why not ask if she would dedicate the whole show to you?! If she would dedicate a song to you than she has to do that to others as well. I can see it now:"OK, this is Edge of Seventeen and I'd like to dedicate this to.... Karen, where's my list? And bring me my glasses too. OK, here we go...". About 2 hours later she'll be ready to do Edge. It doesn't work like that. And if she does get your letter after the tour, she's not gonna yell at Karen. Why would she? Karen isn't there to handle the mail. If you're lucky you might get a thank you note but don't count on it.
As for Stevie wearing a mask, I don't think so. And just because Don Henley said she broke up with Lindsey to be with him doesn't make it true.

mosttimes I just wish peeps would cut her some slack. :shrug:

Amen baby!!!!!!!:angel:

The letter thing, if you must know was written with a bunch of other letters several weeks ago to a member of the Ledge. I am not going to reveal her identity, but she has her own yahoo group and everyone in the group was to write Stevie a letter and she gathered all the letters put them into a box and gave them to a special someone who was to attend Stevie's birthday party. She was to open the box on her birthday and read the letters and a card for her as well. Karen took the box away and said that she will read them at the end of the tour or at another time. I had written in my letter thank you's and appreciation towards Stevie, and asked her to dedicate a song to me. I am sure that you would've done the same thing. I am sorry that me complaining about a song dedication pissed you off in a way, but if it can happen for some people say for instance the "Chicago Dedication Post", here on the Ledge, then it could happen for anyone. So that is what happened. I didn't give her a letter at the show, it was weeks before the show. And yes, Karen did take the letters away from that person. I am not going to reveal who, because I don't know if I am supposed to. But a certain Ledgie on here knows what I am talking about, because she handled the letters. There now I spelled out for you, so now the story is straight. Yeah, right, I expect to have a whole show dedicated to me.....I am sorry that the truth hurts when I talk about celebrities and about what they are and who they are and what and who they become. Believe it or not, that's the way showbusiness is. Sorry if you don't agree with me on anything, but I do love Stevie, please don't get me wrong with saying that. But this is a "thread" where everyone is complaining about something, why not share my complaints as well?

I am having a hard time understanding this story. Am I right that there are three people involved?

1)Someone from this forum who collected a bunch of letters from people
2)Someone who was going to be attending Stevie's birthday celebration
3)Karen, assistant to Stevie

And person two agreed to pass the box of letters on to Stevie at her birthday, but Karen intercepted and has the box now? Was this act by itself what revealed her bitchiness and crabbiness? Or was she extra rude or something.




As for Stevie breaking up with Lindsey so she could be with Don Henley, I don't immediately dismiss the idea. Stevie herself has said there wasn't much time between the two men. But I have never read where Don said that before.

Forget About It!
 

good grief!!!:confused: Cant everybody just take a valium and relax?:laugh:

Uh. :confused:

I'm not going to add fuel to the flame here (though I am in a bit of a fiesty mood today). Lets just agree that Stevie has offended some folks with her recent comments and has always bugged fans with her setlists.

Jan that post in huge blue bold capitals was really ugly and hurt my eyes and ears. Can that be...addressed?

Uh-Oh, its never a good thing when the mod's are unhappy.:p

I'd like to talk about your enormous signature & banner. Whenever I upload a photo for my sig, the GUI always requires me to shrink it to ridiculously small proportions. Yours is about 6 feet deep. How do you do that?

Hmmmm, I think people expect a little too much sometimes (I'm including myself in this statement as well so don't flame me) I've always wanted her to release another solo album and wondered why she hasn't. She's been doing this for over 30 years though...maybe she'd rather rest on her laurels?? :shrug: Will I buy a ticket to every greatest hits show she takes on the road? No. But she's freaking Stevie Nicks and many people will. :) Keeping the status quo (with set lists etc...) might be all she cares to do right now.

She doesnt decide. Promoters decide this. They will call her management and say , "hey, we've got an open date in Chicago at the Charter One Pavillion" Mgmt will say, great, we'll get back to you. They then set up a schedule with the $$ to be earned and who is paying what and where they will stay and then Stevie and her mgmt will say, OK, these look good, the looks good, lets do it. Nothing against Nebraska but promoters look solely at the $$ to be made and pull the trigger or don't. When you see the crowds getting smaller, the venues will get smaller too until the point where they are no longer booked. I doubt that Stevie has much to do with the bookings etc other than to say yeah or nay.