Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx 2008 - a disappointing year for Foxx fans?

Indeed! 2008 was one of the worst years I've ever endured for other reasons, so I'm all for '09!!

Happy New Year Rob, by the way; and thank you for keeping us all up to date and your continued hard work on all things Foxx.

My personal gripes aside, I do appreciate that John has done a lot more (and much needed) work outside the UK this year and that must have been such a pleasure for the fans, especially those who had waited decades to finally see him live - for them I guess there could be no greater thrill.

I'm certainly looking forward to what John may produce this year, since most of the back catalogue stuff was dealt with last year, clearing the way for new and exciting things.....

Rodney,
I wish Zaine Griff had had a year half as disappointing with regards to releases, don't you agree?
Paul

As a Foxxhead I can't decided whether the glass is half full or half empty Having got to see John in Genoa I have now seen Dennis in his various phases Singer with the exclamation mark appendaged Ultravox back in 78 , never to be surpassed , twice with Louis Gordon and last June as pianist/performance artist All sterling performances What I really like about Mr Leigh is his quality coupled to elusiveness almost aloofness I have not bothered getting Glimmer or any other of the 2008 releases . IMHO 2007 was his "Annus mirabilis" with the various releases
Even though I can't stand the drink ,John could be compared to a fine whiskey He should never be diluted Much as I love music and I place JF at the top of the pile ,I've got too many other interests to waste time obsessing over whether one particular version or mix is better than another.Life's too short basically . Please feel free to agree , disagree with or disregard my point of view

G'day, Paul! It's nice to see you still contributing to the forums.

Yes, it certainly would be nice to see something done about Zaine's catalogue. Where would the master tapes be ... who has all of the Polydor stuff these days? Perhaps Zaine has his own copies? But, at any rate, surely they must be nearing the end of their 'use by' dates as far as remastering goes? It would be nice to see something happen in this regard, but given the last run of interest in his material, it might as well be handed over to the likes of Cherry Pop!

What I'd really like to see, though, is another Messengers album!

Cheers, Paul. All the best for the new year.

Rod.

Ok well I'll add my voice and confirm that 2008 was in no way disappointing for me as a JF fan. Apart from all the various releases which may not have been new material but were well worth the money spent and I finally manged to appreciate those 'difficult' 80s albums. Yes I was also one of the priveleged ones to have seen him live and meet him once more afterwards.
Plus of course The Quiet Man project finally taking shape and all the web activity which for someone living abroad is so essential, not least this excellent and intelligent forum which is indeed a surprising rarity.

Disappointed? Try being a Human League fan!

Just to confirm that I'm in the "extremely positive 2008" camp.

Looking forward to more of the same (or even better) in 2009.

Alex: You are too young to be a "Grumpy".

Yeah, I've only been a fan for nearly thirty years, and John's only 60 or so now, no rush getting over here before he retires.

Quote:

To suggest its been a disappointing year is selfish b*llocks and risks upsetting and offending those who have worked so hard to continue the renaissance.

Ah. I didn't realize it was selfish of me to hope for something that most of the people here on the forum have experienced often enough that they can take it for granted. Something that was finally raised as a possibility a couple of years ago only to go unmentioned again since. I hope my wanting to see John Foxx perform live some day hasn't offended him unnecessarily.

I think the only thing I would take issue with in Herbert's well-argued, reasonable and perfectly justified comments is the use of that one word: 'disappointing'. If anyone can be disappointed or satisfied with the year's work, it's John; he knows where he wants his career to go, and only he can say whether this year's output genuinely furthered that direction. The rest of us can say what we like - and, lest we forget, that's exactly what this forum's for - but ultimately, whether or not we were happy with this year depended solely on our personal preferences. I don't see how anyone on this thread, whatever 'side' they were on, could be described as talking 'bollocks', however you choose to spell it; quite apart from the totally unjustifiable level of offence words like that give, what gives any of us the right to dismiss an inoffensive and mature post like that? I don't happen to share Herbert's opinion of this year's events, but I completely respect his views and his right to air them.

To address the question, I'm personally very happy with what we got in 2008. Several great gigs, with the sole personal disappointment of missing CO at Durham (nobody's fault but my own), very satisfying reissues and an excellent compilation, plus something which, for me, made this year very special indeed - the ongoing development of the Quiet Man project. I don't share the cynicism over the 'repurposing' of this year's material. None of us has to buy anything John releases, and for all the disapproval surrounding Cinemascope in particular, it certainly seems to have delighted those who did choose to go for it - job done, then.

Missing out on seeing John play live is obviously a shame, and I don't think any of us could fail to accept how annoying the situation is for overseas fans, Steve. UK fans know exactly what it feels like to go without gigs for a long time; in the early '90s, a tour looked like a distant dream. I've never seen or heard any comment from John that suggested he *didn't* want to play in North America. Surely that decision is dependent to a large extent upon finding promoters/venues? John's played in Australia, Japan and Europe recently, in addition to his UK shows; fairly impressive, I think, for someone who has another career that presumably places demands on his time. I hope you do get to see John live soon - I know lots of other people in Canada who would love that to happen.

Problem 1: Many North Americans are disappointed that they can't easily see John Live.

Problem 2: Some people don't like buying CDs which are primarily reissues or alternate versions.

Problem 3: John needs income to fund future recordings.

Solution to 1-3: Release a different kind of product in 2009, a Foxx/Gordon Live DVD.

Or a Kraftwerk fan ...