Guest Howard
GuestForum Replies Created
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And an excellent opinion too Jung. I think they have such a loyal supporter base already because of the reasons you have identified and they, and us too (supporters), would lose so much if they strayed off course into the world of instant fame. My apologies for sounding all biblical here but what’s that saying about ‘gaining the whole world but losing your own soul’?
But as you also state, ‘It’s always healthy to have an open mind and look at new options after you’ve executed the current plan through to completion.’
Suggestions like Lior’s keep the options open and the discussion continuing about what’s the best way to promote the MLT vision. I’ve got a reasonable idea what their response might be but you can never be sure of course!
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Once again you have put forward a very cogent proposal IMHO. As you suggest, they do not need to win but only need to be accepted and participate to gain valuable world wide exposure. Even here in my own country, half a world away from Europe, Eurovision is big and over the last few years, Australia has had participated in the event and done very well.
The big challenge for MLT would be to get the local support to make such a proposal viable for them. I don’t know what the current situation is for them in the UK but imagine they have built a considerable supporter base, and along with help from their North American supporters and the Germanic countries of Europe, should be able to mount a considerable case for acceptance. It will be interesting to hear from them as to whether such a proposal fits their vision and goals.
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Hi Mike. I also like the Paul and George songs you refer to. However, commercial success isn’t the only determinant of quality and remember too that Lennon only had around a five year period where he was actively working on music during the period you are assessing.
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Good question Mike. You have a good ear, unlike hearing impaired me. I couldn’t pick anything up in that video. However, I believe Mona makes the type of sound you may be referring to in their 2007 concert recording of ‘I Will’, about 27 seconds in.
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That was a well thought out proposal of yours Lior and on paper it looks fine. However, similar scenarios have already been discussed within this forum and the consensus is that MLT have undertaken the career direction they have for a reason and prefer to maintain their artistic integrity and independence through total control of their work.
So far this approach seems to be working out well enough for them and hopefully they can continue to grow their support base without the need for external involvement (except of course when appropriate and in their best interests as in the John Sebastian and Steve Harley collaborations etcetera). I’m sure that members of this club would not want the Twins’ vision and goals being in any way compromised as we love them just the way they are. You can’t beat perfection.
I endorse what the lovely Jacki says. The best way we can help is by being active in this club, buying their music and other products from their online store, spreading the word with family and friends and contacting local radio stations to request their records be played.
I have never rung a radio station in my life but I intend to make an exception with a local station that plays only sixties and seventies music on Saturday nights.
The music industry was totally different in the seventies and for ABBA at the time, Eurovision was perhaps an understandable option as they didn’t have today’s multi social connections via the internet, and were consequently heavily dependent on record companies.
Yes, your proposal was interesting to read and I hope I haven’t deterred you from further contributions as I truly understand where you are coming from with your well researched presentation. It will be enlightening to hear the Twins’ response.
For more discussion on MLTs career path, may I suggest you do a ‘Search Forums’ on Topics like: Howard 1, Tim 0- MLT Management.
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Welcome to the club Hubert. Lots to do and see here. Have you seen the Twin’s new Christmas carol video? Very special!
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Well you’ve done well with those three Jung. I’d also like to make room for ‘If I Fell’, but what to leave out??
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I love this song too Yung. To me it has a bitter/sweet feel with lyrics to match. Other than that I think that you have covered it off pretty well!
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I agree. I’d also support them solo but can’t imagine that happening without their father’s involvement. I’m sitting in the dark as we’re currently experiencing a blackout. Been a couple of hours now. Why am I thinking of ‘Count On Me’!
Fortunately, thanks yo my wifi, I’m still able to communicate. I’m listening to the Twins ‘Little Drummer Boy’ on repeat on headphones at the moment. Never get sick of it!
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Hi Seattle Bob.
There is a post on this forum where I asked if while they were attending High School in Australia, did they have any time for sport? Mona’s response was: ‘Does carrying a guitar from and to school each day count?’ She also explained what they did on their week-ends. The Topic is: MLT Adelaide Visit Downunder 2009.
We have also seen them riding horses in the ‘California Dreaming’ video and riding their dirt bikes in another one (if you can call that exercise).
It will be interesting to hear what their response is to your question. I hope Lisa has managed to keep up her running sessions on those cold Liverpool winter mornings!
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Now Tim, my suggestion that Paul, George and Ringo had some decent songs during their solo careers was meant in comparison to what they produced while with the Beatles. Personal preferences again here as I always preferred John’s Beatles contribution to Paul’s after their collaboration ended. John was the only one whose solo career I really followed, brief as it was, cut short by his five year hiatus and his untimely death.
I would never have bothered with a Wings concert in the past, but if I was offered a ticket to a Paul McCartney concert today I’d take it as the recent live shows of his I’ve seen on YouTube have been nothing short of brilliant and he has always had excellent backing musicians. By the way Tim, Paul and Ringo wouldn’t be the least bit concerned with what I thought of their solo careers – ‘Howard who?’
You have raised again the issue of a potential Mona and Lisa solo career. I personally can’t see this happening for reasons unique to them. Unlike other singing/playing/songwriting collaborations of the past, MLT are a very special operation. They are twins who have learned their harmonies together with their father from a very young age. They attended the same guitar and drumming music classes from their second year at high school.
They both collaborate with their father whenever they get stuck writing new compositions, they travelled half way around the world together to a city where no one spoke German, to improve their English. They have travelled to both California and Ireland together to improve their public performing opportunities and finally, they moved to Liverpool from where things have taken off for them.
Watching Lisa’s performance on ‘Still a Friend of Mine’, I could imagine her undertaking a solo career, but to do that successfully she would need to become part of the music industry she has so strongly avoided. She would need a record contract and all that comes with it, thereby surrendering the artistic freedom she now has. The obvious question is, if you were Lisa, why would you do that? Fame and fortune isn’t as important to Lisa as her musical and personal integrity. How do I know this? By researching her life from the start of MLTs musical career, watching/listening to all their video and radio interviews and from her participation in the MLT Club.
Also, when the very question of a possible solo career was put to Lisa in the Rodriguez radio interview, without a moments hesitation she said something to the effect of ‘I couldn’t imagine working without Mona’!
The final consideration is, without the musical collaboration of Mona and Papa Rudi, Lisa’s song writing would become that much more difficult for her. Did I say final? Well not quite final. Finally, I could not imagine Rudolf considering collaborating with Lisa without Mona being involved.
The only possible negative intrusion on the MLT juggernaut I can foresee is if some Hollywood movie mogul discovers Mona’s acting talent, makes her an offer she can’t refuse and steals her away from us! I think we need to hide MLTs videos of ‘Bus Stop’, ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ and ‘Won’t You Listen Now’ at least!
And a final final! ‘Finally’, I hear you all saying. For anyone who had the musical talent, integrity, moral strength, passion and genuineness of Lisa Wagner, along with the support of a loving talented family, why would you even contemplate going over to the dark side. Mona and Lisa together are worth much, much more than the sum of their parts.
I don’t think we are going to lose the MLT experience anytime soon!
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Didn’t know about this one until now Tim, but I know about the ‘Six degrees of separation’ idea.
“Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 and popularized in an eponymous 1990 play written by John Guare. It is sometimes generalized to the average social distance being logarithmic in the size of the population.”
As for “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, this is a parlor game based on the “six degrees of separation” concept, Movie buffs challenge each other to find the shortest path between an arbitrary actor and prolific actor Kevin Bacon. It rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to Bacon within six steps. In 2007, Bacon started a charitable organization called SixDegrees.org.
In 1994 a lengthy newsgroup thread which was headed “Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe” appeared. The Bacon number of an actor is the number of degrees of separation he or she has from Bacon, as defined by the game. This is an application of the Erdős number concept to the Hollywood movie industry. The higher the Bacon number, the greater the separation from Kevin Bacon the actor is.
The computation of a Bacon number for actor X is a “shortest path” algorithm, applied to the co-stardom network:
Kevin Bacon himself has a Bacon number of 0. Those actors who have worked directly with Kevin Bacon have a Bacon number of 1. If the lowest Bacon number of any actor with whom X has appeared in any movie is N, X’s Bacon number is N+1.
For example: Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was in Change of Habit (1969) with Edward Asner. Edward Asner was in JFK (1991) with Kevin Bacon Therefore, Asner has a Bacon number of 1, and Presley (who never appeared in a film with Bacon) has a Bacon number of 2.
So in Tim’s example, MLT would have a MLT number of 0 (centre of the universe) and John Sebastian would have a MLT number of 1. Anyone who worked wit Sebastian, but not MLT would have a MLT number of 2.
I hope this helps!
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I’m with Lisa in the food department. I like all cuisines, but some more than others. I love food a little too much actually and have to work hard to keep my weight down. My favourites are probably Asian, Indian, Mediterranean, French, Italian and Spanish but I also like Mexican and some South American cuisine. Not quite so keen on the heavily meat centred food of Brazil and Argentina though. Nearly forgot, I also like Japanese food too.
I guess Lisa’s sticky toffee pudding is similar to the sticky date pudding which is quite popular where I come from and which I also quite like. My other favourite dessert is fried bananas with ice cream and caramel sauce!
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I’m with the Twins on this one Jung. While Paul, George and Ringo had a few decent songs during their solo careers, John Lennon is the only one I was really interested in. To Tim’s Lennon selection, I’d add the following:
‘Working Class Hero’, ‘Whatever Gets You thru the Night’, ‘#9 Dream’, ‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’ and especially ‘Gimme Some Truth’.
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Yes, you’ve done it again Jacki!
