Well, you were right and I was very wrong...... Having
borrowed the wife's copy of Testify, and listened
to "The Least You Can Do" then compared
it to the Love Songs version.... there has been a
massive thingy up !!! What is on the Love Songs CD
is the original version recorded in 2000 in LA for
a previous incarnation of Love Songs.
At that time I recorded "Can't Stop Loving You"
and "Tears Of A Clown" as well as "Least.....".
It was the first time outside Tarzan that I'd worked
with Rob Cavallo, and we were seeing whether we liked
working together on something more personal. This
was the notorious week where, the day I did the vocals
for the above, I lost my hearing in one ear, a situation
which, as you know, exists today. Anyway the song
was mixed at the end of that period, along with the
other 2, to
be put on the Love Songs CD, then, we thought, soon
to be released.
However the album got put back and the mixes stored.
When we came to do Testify, the songs were brought
out of storage and put against what we had for Testify
and I made the decision to remix all of them, and
replace Daryl's drum machine with some real sounds,
edit the pipes, other bits and pieces, and edit the
track. This was then used as the Master for Testify.
As was the new mix of "Can't Stop...."
How the original version from 2000 got used for Love
Songs 2004, is anybodies guess !!! I asked for the
Testify version, and what with being on the road,
I only checked things that I considered could be "Accident
Black Spots"....never again will I do THAT !!!
Rest assured I will have those responsible shot, and
gory photos posted on the site as a warning to others.
The good news is though that you're not all mad !!!
If I may, while I'm here just add my two penny worth
to a couple of subjects.
Ticket Prices.... I insisted to Tony Smith (manager)
that if I were to do these dates, that I did not want
to charge what some people were out there charging.
He assured me that we would keep the prices down to
what was average for the kind of show we were putting
on.
Some places like the Uncasville Casino, kind of did
their own thing as well I think, and unknown to me
at the time.
So it was not completely consistent....but I did try...
The cost of a day off on this tour was close to $250,000....
so there's a lot of economics involved. My musicians
are not the cheapest and there's a lot of them!!!
I don't have to be reminded that I don't need to get
richer....I'm already completely aware of that.
The Alternative Columbus review someone posted, was
soooo wonderfully awfully bad, that it was great.
Let's leave it there.
Josh seems very well read and articulate and I'm sorry
to have dragged him in by name to something which
amounts to nothing in the end. I only read the one
post he wrote. I went back to try to find others but
couldn't. Water under the bridge now, and I hope he
forgives me for embarrassing him.
Jonathan Ross and I have kissed and made up and agreed
to differ, so all sorted there too.
I thought Kiwi Dave was a real mench too, in the way
he reacted to my small critique of his post....thanks
for your reaction.
Regarding my over reacting to the Phil Bashers on
the Genesis site...
there may well only be a few, but unfortunately the
day I looked, I saw a heading "NOT ANOTHER 3
PIECE ERA PLEASE" and there seemed quite a lot
of it, anyway I'm surprised and flattered by the positive
response, so thanks for that.
I reiterate that it is imperative that you all pitch
in with your true feelings, even if it does pull me
up and make me fire off something !!
Sarah Jane seems to be losing her rag at the thought
of you all policing yourselves in case I'm reading
what you write, and I agree.
You have to be aware that I may well be on from time
to time, something I thought you wanted anyway....
me to be a little more involved, and If I think someone
is going up the wrong tree, you have to allow me to
say so without everyone getting upset that I'm "just
being negative". You all criticise/agree/inter-react
with each other all the time....I'm only doing the
same.
Finally.... Now the tours are over, I have to say
that we truly loved every night. In Europe and in
the States...there wasn't a bad show as far as we
were concerned. The audiences everywhere we're so
generous from the beginning.
The DVD was recorded in Paris of course, but it would
have been great to have done it all again later as
well as the band kept on inventing stuff every night.
When it finally comes out ( and I've checked it through
for EVERYTHING !!! ) you'll see a lot of extras. The
CBS special from the 90's, the Tour Documentary, a
comedy piece where I interview the crew, plus all
the video clips related to the set list. Plus a few
alternative versions of songs. Loads of stuff, a kind
of career retrospective.
The Genesis DVD Collection should be good as well,
as it includes ALL the clips from the past through
the to the recent stuff.
I think that's about all from me at this time. Thanks
for all your great reviews of the shows, when the
"real" ones were iffy, I looked to yours
to see if we were doing it right or not !!!...and
it seems we were.
There is a possibility that we'll go to other places
to say goodbye....but it all depends on the birth
of the next Collins. It is something that hopefully
will happen but impossible to promise at this stage.
I hope you understand.
I'll be back on sometime soon when I've got something
to say.
Meanwhile....Love to you all
