[Trash-talk] none

matt ifeelintoxicated at yahoo.com
Sat Mar 5 12:06:06 PST 2005


Before I start this message, I just want to say that
some of you may disagree with me.  I hope that none of
you take this personally, though.


As most of you know by now, a few newspapers will be
reporting tomorrow about the breakup of Shirley's
marriage.  It has also recently become known that
Garbage almost broke up during the recording of this
album, when Butch decided to leave the band for a few
months.

Now, I had some thought on this whole thing, and I'll
give you all warning that this may be a long e-mail.


We're all Garbage fans here.  Some of us have been
fans longer than others.  Some of us have large
collections, some have small collections, while others
may just have the albums.  Most of us have seen
Garbage in concert, but some of us haven't.  But we're
all on this mailing list because we all love Shirley,
Butch, Duke, and Steve.

There was a period during the recording of this album
where there was no news.  The studio diaries had
stopped for a period of a few months, and nobody knew
what was going on.  (I realize that some of you knew
what was going on, but you're in the minority here). 
It was during this time that, I'm assuming, Butch left
the band, and possibly when Shirley's marriage was
crumbling.  But none of the fans knew about it, and
there's something about that that bothers me.

Before I go on, I'll say this: I know that the band
members have private lives, and want to keep their
lives private.  But they are public figures, and they
have sinced talked about the issues I'm discussing.

As Garbage fans, we are essentially their employers. 
We buy their albums, we buy their singles, we go to
their concerts.  We're the ones paying their bills. 
We are paying them to entertain us.  And in all
honesty, I feel betrayed as a fan that there was so
much going on during the recording of Bleed Like Me
that I didn't know about.  I didn't know that Butch
left the band until I read the press release.  And now
Shirley has decided to talk to a newspaper about her
breakup (possibly divorce, I'm not sure).

It seems like they're talking about all this to
promote the album.  They left their fans in the dark
about all this, but now that the album's coming out, I
guess it's time to let the whole world know that Butch
threw a hissy fit, and that Shirley and Eddie are no
longer together.  And while I feel awful about what
happened, I really and truly do, it just seems unfair
that this stuff is reported to the press first.

After listening to their music, seeing them in
concert, and reading all about them in magazines and
on the internet, I feel that I know the band.  But it
seems like their concern for their fans has dwindled. 
They nearly broke up and nobody knew about it.  If
they had broken up, there probably would have just
been a press release that said "Sorry" and that
would've been it.

And now they're charging their fans to belong to a fan
club, and that just makes this whole thing seem so
much more betraying.  Now I have to PAY them even MORE
money???  I have every one of their commercial US and
UK releases.  (I won't get into promotional releases,
since they don't get royalties form those).  I've seen
them in concert three times.  We're the reason they're
all millionaires, and now they want us to pay them
even more money.  I just don't understand this.  I
know I've used this word a lot, but I feel betrayed. 
What the hell's the point anymore?

Now to get the full Garbage experience, I'll have to:
-buy the album (around $15)
-join the "fan" club ($20)
-import all the UK releases, so I can have all the
b-sides, since no single has been released in the US
since Push It (around $50 for the whole album's
singles)
-see them in concert (around $40 per ticket, with
fees)

Whatever.  I feel like I'm done with this band.  I
know that most of you will disagree with me, and I'll
probably become hated on this list, but I really don't
care.  I'm sure I'll still buy the new album, but I'll
probably sell the concert tickets I bought.  Or maybe
I'll just download the album and all the b-sides
without buying anything.  They already have enough of
my money.

-Matt


	
		
__________________________________ 
Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday! 
Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web 
http://birthday.yahoo.com/netrospective/


More information about the Trash-talk mailing list