Pseudonym

In baseball, great players sometimes have their numbers retired. (Jack Robinson's number -- 42 -- is retired throughout the Major League.) Perhaps, in future, guitar shops might take a similar approach. "Oi! None of that -- that riff's retired! Show some respect!"

Well, not everyone can multitask as well as Keith Richards. On balance, music is probably healthier, though not necessarily cheaper. My longest friendship is with someone I met in primary school more than 40 years ago. In the 6th form, we would bunk off and hang around music shops, or hang around his house listening to his outstanding record collection. A couple of years ago, we started working on a few tracks that we eventually released online. He lives in England, I live on the west coast of the US. It was great putting something together with modern technology, including the capacity to emulate equipment and effects that we could only dream of tinkering with when we were feckless, potless teenagers. That friend introduced me to New York new wave, which he loved. At the time, it seemed remote and exotic, a great scene that had already faded and which we could only envy. Thirty years later, I'm writing for the same publications as Patti Smith and Richard Hell, and it tickles my adolescent ghost every time it happens. My old friend has released a few solo albums on a net label, and I'm overjoyed that a friendship with music at its heart has endured so well -- especially given that it took me 25 years to repay him for the Television tickets.

The underlying problem is that the amount of confusion, ambiguity and doubt makes a transatlantic purchase too annoying to complete, for me at least. Too many things in flux, too much scope for nasty surprises for reasons beyond one's control. Life's too short. A lot of this will probably settle down, but in the meantime it does discourage international custom. I have suspended all purchases from the UK for the time being. I'm buying German and Italian instead. I feel sorry for British businesses trying to deal with all this, and for anyone trying to execute ostensibly straightforward transactions. I would buy British, but I'm neither a charity nor a masochist.

The mercantile aspects will change, I expect. Economies of scale won't operate the way they did even a few years ago. But, as @Woodwind points out above, media and venues keep changing. Glastonbury two years ago was very different from 1990, when I last attended. In those days, I mostly went to the kinds of free festivals that might euphemistically be called "unregulated". I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see a proliferation of countercultural live settings a few years from now, nor to see bands gaining traction through performing in those settings. To be brutal, however, I think it will be a case of phoenix and ashes. Few live venues can realistically get through 2020 and 2021 unscathed, and hardly any would be able to return to status quo ante. So, "not as we once knew it?" I think that's overstating things -- but "as we once knew it" includes a lot of stuff that happened on the margins and in the cracks of mainstream and established commerce.

"Congratulations on purchase. You make wise decision. You are now in our power."

From Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father, the NME's 1988 compilation:

This explains why I have only owned two basses in my life. (For the record: a US Fender Precision that I sold in 1989, and the Warwick Thumb I bought last year.)

It seems that Daltrey has become the person who is trying to put us down and stop us getting around. Given the lyrics of "Substitute", of course, geography wasn't really his thing. I don't want to see noted vocalists getting into questions of government they don't understand, for the same reason I don't want to watch senior politicians trying to dance. It's always clumsy, their timing always stinks, you always respect them less, and it's always a moment that haunts them forever.

It appears that he won't get to get what he's after.

I just listened to it. At this point, it strikes me as a very promising, rather too abbreviated foundation that could be developed very nicely. I wonder what would happen if he listened to this with the ears of a producer? A bit like seeing a good sketch or maquette in an artist's studio: pleasing on its own merits, but also intriguing in its possibilities. As with any work that has potential, going further does involve some regrouping, but I'd say this is worth the effort. You're a good chap, Stew.

Precision.

I have a Rickenbacker 12-string on the way. I am a traitor to the Basschat camp in so many ways: 1. I own just one bass, and that's all I need; 2. I use an Axe-FX and a Helix Stomp, both without any Ampeg products or speaker wardrobes; and 3. I know what John Hall can be like but bought a Rickenbacker anyway.

Perhaps Basschat needs to establish a micronation along the lines of Sealand or the Hutt River Province. I'd be happy to trade with the regime of Crown Prince Ped and the Council of Mods (aka the Style Council). In all seriousness, things will change in all kinds of known and unknown ways. There are problems, opportunities, and imaginative solutions on the horizon. It is definitely worth paying close attention to this evolving situation.

Well, it is of course entirely your decision. I don't have a horse in this race; I stopped buying anything from the UK more than two years ago precisely because of the chronic uncertainty and vagueness of likely regulations. (Were it otherwise, I'd own a Status instead of a Warwick!) It is worth bearing in mind, perhaps, that this is a large world in which not everyone has been preoccupied with internecine disagreements within or involving the UK. Alerting potential buyers to the simple fact that things are changing might be in the interests of Basschat (which hosts the marketplace). I'd want to cover myself, but then I'm a ghastly American these days. Happy new year, Dad and others. Let's hope this nonsense gets settled for once and for all during our lifetimes.

The Basschat proscription against discussions of issues related to the UK-EU schism might make a modicum of sense for reasons of etiquette, but it is surely reasonable to put in place some basic notification that conditions are changing. Part of Basschat is devoted to commercial activities. Discussion of related changes -- and blanket notification that there will be changes, so caveat emptor -- is not only legitimate but also helpful. It doesn't have to be set in stone.

And the costs escalate drastically once research for a case gets under way. Not only that, but a lot depends on who is paying the bill. I write for a living, so I maintain healthy liability insurance that covers relevant risks. I think I'm insured for about $5 million or something like that. If someone were to bring an unjustified defamation action against me, for example, my insurance company would underwite the costs of my case. It would be in their interests to shut down any frivolous claims very firmly, not least as a deterrent. Insurers sometimes settle nuisance suits out of expediency, but woe betide the plaintiff who brings a weak case against a defendent with a robust backline of professionals. People who play games with defamation law very often regret it. Remember David Irving? His libel action ended up costing him his Mayfair flat and bankrupting him. And the 2013 Defamation Act has changed conditions in the UK a great deal. I also wonder if issuing repeated threats to sue might be construed as harrassment in some circumstances, such as a situation where an action would constitute abuse of process? I wouldn't like to take my chances with that possible vulnerability. At £250 an hour, or even £25 an hour, answering these questions gets very expensive very quickly. Even the least disciplined gambler might conclude that the odds are well and truly against him in this complex area of civil law.

What I find particularly amusing is that he thinks his penny-ante sense of money will scare people. It mostly indicates that he is utterly out of his depth where legal costs are concerned. It doesn't seem to occur to this chappie that legal action would invite reciprocal civil action. As things stand, he and anyone covering for him have a certain amount of legal exposure should they initiate proceedings against anyone here, or against anyone with a legitimate claim related to deception. And he (and possibly any of his friends or associates who have aided him in any way) would find it hard to avoid giving evidence under oath in a civil matter. Also, he simply doesn't have the means to prevent his identity and criminal history becoming very public indeed should he initiate court proceedings. He would find himself fully exposed in public reporting by facts that he would be unable to suppress. Sometimes, people who are desperate think they have nothing to lose, but that is seldom the case. (I agree with others that his brave words about visiting people "for a chat" are so much noise. That said, any such "suggestion" from him in the future should perhaps be passed onto the local constabulary, just in case there is a pattern of behaviour that warrants police attention. I'm 5000 miles away and very well protected, so he certainly doesn't intimidate me -- but desperate and inept people are inherently unpredictable, and can pose risks to public order and the safety of others. I would hope that anyone reading this would take any possible threats seriously, even though they might be hogwash.) Ped, please let me know if he does ever follow through on his threats of legal action. I might be able to help in some way.

I suppose everyone needs a hobby. Perhaps it is worth noting at this juncture that "Jason Lear" might be aggravating any offences that might have been committed. Should any of this get to court, that might bode ill for a defendant. This is becoming very serious indeed. It is well past time to stop playing games with people online, or by any other means, if the purpose of doing so could in any way be construed as intimidation of potential witnesses. Also, I recall from my days as a snot-nosed legal lackey in Britain that judges and magistrates really dislike people who hurl around nonsense threats about libel, especially when those threats appear to be designed to conceal culpable behaviour. Still, tant pis.

He's played all over the world, has he? Well, thanks in part to the prominence of this thread (and the inflammatory behaviour by Mason that seems to have led to it), he is much more likely to be barred from entry into the United States than he was even two weeks ago if he is indeed the individual identified in the Leicester Mercury article. Convicted fraudsters and their ilk are inadmissible (we have plenty of our own), and US authorities welcome information about anyone planning to enter improperly. Worthless threats of defamation action are even more worthless if the supposed defamation has legitimate law enforcement value. Happy Christmas Mick. Happy Christmas everyone.

Sooner rather than later, I expect, Everything Changes are going to need a replacement bassist as their current bassist might be temporarily unavailable. I hope as many Basschatters as possible will schedule auditions for that coveted showbiz role, and then mess the band around endlessly with tranparently worthless excuses before failing utterly to turn up.

There is a great deal of discussion these days in rarefied creative circles about how best to preserve an artistic legacy. That can involve astonishingly complex questions of intellectual property, considerable wealth in various forms, long-term revenue, the integrity of a body of work, locations of archives, and philanthropic choices that can be set out during the lifetime of the artist. There have been too many episodes of heirs and trustees arguing over estates, and particularly over assumptions regarding the wishes of the deceased. Dylan's decision settles a lot of questions and frees up a great deal of wealth than can be used effectively. For example, the amount involved could establish a slew of programmes geared towards emerging musicians, or performance venues. Perhaps Dylan has something like that in mind, perhaps not -- but it would certainly be easier to devise such programmes using the proceeds of selling intellectual property than it would be to rely on royalties for funding. I know that Dad and others are philosophically opposed to extreme accumulation of surplus wealth. Fair enough, but that wealth exists and does not simply disappear unless it is truly based on a bubble. It matters a great deal, therefore, what arrangements wealthy individuals make. Perhaps it would be reasonable to wait until we see what arrangement Dylan makes before passing judgment.

Advice from 2020 might fall on deaf ears. The OP might need less anachronistic persuasion: I reckon they're alright with you getting a Ric as long as you get it from the right people. Don't be a fool to yourself.

Most Christmas songs shred my nerves because I only hear them in supermarkets. Three exceptions: 1. The version of Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" that the Cure played on the final night of the Kissing tour in 1987. Well worth missing the last train home for. 2. Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas". As a small child, I loved the Prokofiev passages, and the song always reminded me of mid-'70s Christmas mornings with my elder brother as we compared our pre-breakfast cocoa-related swag. Not long after he drank himself to death about fifteen years ago, I flew from Washington DC to England for my mother's 70th birthday. She was terminally ill and at the time I did not really expect to see her again. "I believe in Father Christmas" was playing in the terminal at Heathrow while I was buying Bittermints to take back to the US. There's a plangent quality to the song and the sound engineering that sets it apart from the usual run of Christmas-related emotional manipulation. It certainly got to me that day. 3. "Last Christmas" by Wham! I didn't care for the song in the slightest. It's a favourite, however, because the video induced my mother to make a very ill-advised wager with me regarding which member of the duo had had a nose job. My mother's grasp of pop-culture trivia was not as solid as was her insistence on honouring bets. That one paid for my first car.

Possibly the witless and superficial BBC report fails to convey the nature of the composition, the project, the site, the rationale, the technical construction, the historical semiotics, the aesthetic precepts, the metaphysical allusions, or the implications for numerous modes of ambient or experimental music. I went to a gig once. Won't do that again. Eight quid spent, and it was over in no time with nothing to show for it. What a con.

I got a new Thumb 4-string two days ago. First bass I have owned since the late 1980s. Today is my first anniversary as a Basschat member, and it took me that long to settle on the right thing to buy. It was absolutely worth the wait. It chimes like churchbells unplugged and loses nothing when amplified. I didn't expect such smooth, resonant warmth or harmonic complexity. A fitting way to mark a year since I joined this truly remarkable site. (And many thanks to @Ricky 4000 for pointing me towards this thread.)