The Remasters Question...
 

I've been wondering about the fact that whenever fans have an opportunity to speak with a Mac band member, the moment is often wasted on congratulatory gushing and star-struck paralysis. Instead of asking John what size bra he wears, if Mick still donates a third of his income to charity, whether Stevie uses frangers or if Lindsey enjoys volunteering as a Lifeline counsellor, why not ask something practical and relevant? During a meet and greet with Mick, rather than fixate on sleeping with him, perhaps consider that a direct link exists within your midst... Why not ask about the outstanding remasters?
Whilst many of us have recently been salivating over the possibility of a new band album (that could possibly include Christine), we all know that even if it does eventuate, we're in for a lengthy wait. However, in the meantime, a remastered back catalogue is easily achievable - relatively cheap and quick. If this idea can be planted in Mick's ear and reiterated at every available opportunity, he might just get to thinking it's a worthwhile proposition. Remastered versions of Kiln House, Future Games, Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery To Me, Heroes Are Hard To Find, Live (1980), Mirage, Tango In The Night and Behind The Mask (in the style of the 2004 2-cd issues) are long overdue and could possibly sell extremely well, even in this current climate. The cost would be minimal and they could be promoted whilst the upcoming tour sags on. (The Very Best Of cd from 2002 would suggest that the Mirage, Tango In The Night and Behind The Mask albums have already been revisited in this regard.)
Who knows, the subject of releasing all the promo videos on dvd could arise? Even remastered editions of the various solo albums. The world could be our oyster. Give it some thought.
Oh and if you do get to spend the night with Mick, you may choose to raise the remaster issue during pillow talk... don't waste the opportunity under any circumstances.

while i think that anybody who pays for a m&g has a right to waste it or talk about anything they want (as opposed to what YOU want lol), in general i do agree with your idea that these are great opportunity to throw out some ideas we may like for them to do.

here's a thread describing some of the questions and responses from last year's m&gs with Lindsey (unfortunately not too many people shared here even though i witnessed many good questions and discussions) - http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=50370

I remember that Lawrence Kasdan came to my school and I really was trying to ask him if he felt more fulfilled doing something provoking like the Big Chill over fluff like Body Heat, but I was trying to put it in a diplomatic way so that it wouldn't sound like I was calling Body Heat trash (I mean, I loved it, but it was kind of frivolous). So, because I was trying to find kind phrasing, he just took what I said as a compliment and was like, "thank you very much" and it so frustrated me. I was absolutely trying NOT to gush, but he interpreted it as a gush anyway.

Michele

Haha Elle, point taken! I guess it just frustrates me that these "meet & greet" opportunities are out there and yet we don't necessarily take full advantage of them. Many of us moan and groan about the band not releasing new stuff or having too many retrospectives or not remastering the entire back catalogue and yet if this kind of feedback was relayed when possible, it could have a positive impact.
What astounds me about the lack of remasters is that it presents the perfect opportunity to make a fast buck - how could Mick refuse? For virtually no outlay, money could be made and the FM legacy would be further promoted, untarnished. It just mystifies me...

Yeah Michele, I agree, this type of undertaking is easier said than done. Maybe we just need to start screaming out our wishlist at shows, in between songs?

^Well, you're on the right track. When different fans in different cities say the same things to them, they do start to take notice. So, if everyone at the meet and greet did say that to Mick, I'm sure something would click in his head. It's just hard to coalesce.

Michele

GREAT IDEA !!!! During MY scheduled meet and greet with Mick, while I'm trying to get him to sleep with me, I will demand a remastered version of "Mystery to Me".
I'm sorry, but I just can't ask for a remastered/double disc version of "Behind the Mask"......THAT is where I DRAW THE LINE !!!:nod:

That worked to get Rock Away Blind played several times on Lindsey's last tour. Group effort really is the key. :nod:

But, individually, it's definitely another story, and I'm guilty as charged on at least one meeting with Lindsey. :p

Actually, I know several people, myself included, who made lists of things we wanted to ask Lindsey at our m&gs. But then you remember you only have maybe 1 minute, and so you narrow it down to the things that are most important to you, personally, and then to the ones you think he might actually answer, without too much awkwardness! Then, you hope you can rememeber the question, since you don't want to pull out an index card or write on your palm. And if you've made it that far, all you have to do is take his hand (shake it), stand a few inches away from him, and hope you still remember the question, and that it comes out of your mouth right (If your m&g is at a winery, it's almost impossible :woohoo: )! If you make eye contact that's a bonus - or it may reduce you to "congratulatory gushing and star-struck paralysis" :D

I most wanted to talk about his SWS album, because it means a lot to me, so that's what I was compelled to ask about. We discussed his songwriting, and I told him the things I liked in his current set, and how he was playing certain songs. The thing is, it's kind of nice to try to just have a conversation, as opposed to throwing a question at them. I also stressed (several times) how much fans wanted to hear more Tusk songs on the upcoming FM tour, and I asked about the instrumantals played before his shows (I practically begged him to make them available to us). But sometimes, I did what you said, and just told him how great he is, and thanked him about a hundred times for his beautiful music.

LMAO!
But hey...get in line w/ asking Mick if I can spoon with him....how'll inquire bout a remastered Zoo or the Time outtakes. :blob2:

I have a feeling they'd just say "it's up to Warners/Rhino, not us" but Rhino told me when they readied the white album/Rumours/Tusk remasters that they wanted (needed?) to get the band's OK on the releases (presumably the then unreleased tracks). So if you were to challenge them on this, you'd probably be pulled away by security and branded a troublemaker etc. I guess it's worth a try, but I bet people will come to that predicament in the conversation where they know they are being lied to but can't take that next step since it leaves you no where else to probe. Good luck to anyone that tries though. :)

John

I wouldn't want a remastered Mirage or Tango unless they got the deluxe treatment. Break out the b sides and outtakes!

I cannot agree with you more about remastering the other albums. For some reason, Rhino/Warner just won't do it. I did read somewhere that back in 2003/04 (when those three remasters came out), the original plan was to remaster all the albums from 1969's Then Play On to 1995's Time. For some reason this never happened (apart from Fleetwood Mac, Rumours & Tusk). Warner Music Group have never been a good record company for remastering older albums. If the FM back-catalogue was owned by Sony Music or a division of Universal, the whole back-catalogue would've been remastered & expanded about 10 years ago or so. The FM back-catalogue has been severely neglected, and I believe that this is Warner Music Group's fault and not the band themselves.

Yeah, Sony does own the pre-Then Play On material and in a sense they already have done this with the "Complete Blue Horizon Sessions" box set. So it's all on Warner/Rhino now... :)

John

Not only at M&G, just the Ask Stevie at her website was also full of (with all respect) silly questions. I used to look for interesting questions but were hard to find. Of course the most ultra super interesting question was mine, but never published. If you are curious my question to Stevie was: Do you think that after a nuclear bomb would it survive only cockroaches and Cher?

ps. Thanks for the info about John. I never knew he wears bras. I would love to see his collection, I'm sure he has some bras with penguin figures.

Exactly, and it's all been remastered & expanded in that box set. There's no doubt in my mind that if Fleetwood Mac had stuck with CBS (who are now Sony Music), the whole catalogue would've been given similar treatment, proberly up to Behind The Mask (1990).

when was Fleetwood Mac with CBS/Sony? i think they've been on Warner since at least the white album

They've been with Warner/Reprise since 1969's Then Play On, but the previous recordings under Blue Horizon were/are owned by Sony since they had the distribution deal with Blue Horizon. Having said this, I think Warners could get around this since they had dibbs on those recordings to some extent in the 70s when they were able to release some compilation albums of pre-69 material to try and cash in on the white album/Rumours success when the legal lines got blurred throught their Sire Records branch, and I bet that's the loophole they used in '92 when they put some of those recordings on the chain box (an ICE story at the time reported how they baked the tapes for Sire's 1977's Vintage Years LP to ready those BH tracks for the Chain box). I often wondered why, if they wanted to put out a comp of older staff it would've been easier and more relevant if they had released an anthology of 69-74 material since it sounded closer to the current Mac at that time (if not this + Blue Horizon stuff). I used to think it was due to maybe not being able to transfer WB/Reprise material to Sire but going by the box set issue above, maybe that wasn't an issue? Wish I understood all of this. :)

John