dnews
10der
does it rock? yea baby, yea!
**** Contents
****
It's OK - Press Release
Martin's d:vine Letter
Top 10 Q & A
Questions For Delirious?
d:brief
Spurious? Developments
An Invitation To Goatee
Another Tribute
deliRINGous votes
It's OK Cover Idea
Favourite Lyric
d:end?
****
It's OK - Press Release ****
Dear d:friends
It's a strange
thing to address someone you've never personally met as a
friend. Of course, we have met a lot of you guys in person, at d:gigs, HMV
appearances and even the odd shopping trip around Sainsburys! Even so, you
all still fell like comrades in the Delirious? team. Many of you have
written saying "it feels like when you're in the Top 20, we're there too",
and we can certainly say that it feels the same for us. In many ways, we
were hoping for a bigger breakthrough this year but we are still thankful
for the way it is building and we are passionately involved in finishing
what we started. This year truly has been the 'Mezzanine Floor' for us as we
are still discovering how, where and if we fit into this crazy business
called pop music. We can't go back because the cloud is moving forward and
we have to follow.
So, what do Delirious?
do at this point in our lives? Slip down into third
gear and take it easy for a bit, maybe move to American and become Christian
'pop stars', learn to dance and become a middle-aged boy band? (don't even
think about it). NO, we are still pressing forward into the visions and
dreams that we have talked of since the very start, to play music that makes
God smile, and to know the God that makes us smile.
In March, 'See
The Star' was released and entered the charts at number 16,
our highest position to date thanks to you guys. We were very proud of what
we achieved together. Our follow up was the song "Gravity" which we
took to
Radio 1 in the hope they would playlist it, only to find the door very
firmly shut. We felt it inappropriate to release the song knowing we had
little radio support, and not wanting to be a disappointment to everyone.
BUT, HERE IS THE
BIG NEWS, on February 21st, 2000 we will be releasing 'It's
OK' as our next official UK single. In conjunction with this, we are
planning to play some live gigs that week in different high street record
stores around the country, hopefully kicking it off with an in-store
performance at London's HMV in Oxford Street, which together we can pack
out, creating a good buzz. We have had such a great reaction from 'It's OK'
live, and feel it timely to release what has been dubbed 'the gem of
Mezzamorphis'. We know it's time to keep going and we're not backing down -
we know that you won't either. So, stay tuned for more info in the coming
months and keep believing it's 'louder than the radio'....check out the 'hot
off the press' gig dates in the UK before Christmas. We are more excited
about these dates than we can put into words and can't wait to see everybody
again. We're thinking the vibe of the gigs will be a lot more laid back,
friendly pre-Morphis type experience, so anything can happen.
So, from Stu G, Martin, Stew, Jon and Tim, au revoir, 'faith is for living'.
~ from the 'Mezzamania'
mail from Furious? Records. (C)
Furious? Records,
used with kind permission.
> top
****
Martin's d:vine letter ****
Good day to you d:people, friends, family, loved ones and cyber nerds.
There is always
a day in a person's life when the evenings begin
to get darker, the frost begins to thicken, you turn your central
heating on (unless you're reading this in the southern hemisphere)
and you contemplate what an amazing summer it has been and,
to top it all off, Christmas is coming soon. It's the sort of time
that the d:camp sits down in its tiny office in Littlehampton and
decides what the next six months will hold. But, before we move
on, here's a brief update on our last trip to the US in September.
Usually we are
very honest men, but this time performing four
gigs at Florida's Disney World meant we had to completely
keep it hush hush to prevent World War III happening with our
children. It was a tough couple of days and we felt quite drained
when using our complimentary passes around the theme park
(pics to follow). We also had the incredible privilege of being
invited into Mickey Mouse's private house and having our photo
taken with him. There are some times in your life when you meet
someone who deeply touches you and encourages you for the
future. We believe this was one of those times.
We then headed
up the east coast to North Carolina with big
hurricane Floyd hot on our heels. In every city we visited it was
always one day behind, which was amazing. We had some
incredible times playing in various churches and equally in some
clubs in the cities. We also performed a showcase for college
radio people in a small club in New York City with two other
bands, Feeder and Muse, both from the UK. We still find a
combination of these two environments very exciting and still feel
very passionate about encouraging the church as well as
breaking into the mainstream scene with the music that we have.
As we have said before, we want to make music that makes
God smile and to know the God who makes us smile. We felt it
was a great 12 days and have two more similar trips before
Christmas leaving on October 15th for Ontario, Canada for the
first of these two. In between these trips we are very excited
about doing some UK dates, including Shepherds Bush Empire
on Monday 20th December - see UK tours section. We are
really excited about getting on the road here again and meeting a
lot of you. We are thinking the vibe of the gigs will be a
Pre-Morphis style experience, so we are getting ready to fasten
our seat belts. So, if you are around when we are playing, we
would love to see you. It means a lot to us that you are out there
routing for us.
Here's to the next d:update. Faith is for the hungry.
Martin
Delirious?
~ taken directly
from the official delirious? website d:vine
(www.delirious.co.uk)
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****
Top 10 Q & A ****
001: Why do you do singles?
~ Singles are simply a promotional tool for the band. Having hit singles is
both a fast and an effective means of reaching many people with your music -
something that's very important to us. The main thing is that it points
people to the album which tells the whole story.
002: Why have
all your singles gone out of the charts quickly?
~ Unfortunately, up till now we have not had the radio and TV support we
would need for the single to remain in the Top 40 for longer periods of
time. Our chart position has solely come from the support of you guys that
buy the records - thanks
003: How do the
charts work?
~ Chart positions are related solely to the number of singles sold in any
one week - and each week the chart starts completely from scratch again
regardless of the previous week's chart position. Therefore, the more
singles that are sold in the first week of release - the higher the single
will first chart.
004: Why should
I buy a single if I already have the track on an album?
~ For the last 7 years we've been singing 'Open up the doors and let the
music play.....' Releasing singles is starting to do this and, the harder we
bang on the door, the more likely we are to be heard. Also, it gives fans a
great opportunity to get hold of other tracks previously unreleased - anyone
remember the 'Pursuit Of Happiness' track from the encore on the
Mezzamorphis Tour?
005: Why do you
release 2 CDs?
~ Each CD sold counts towards the chart position. Two CDs are a standard
marketing tool - but we try our hardest to make both great value for money.
006: How many
singles do you need to go top 20?
~ Every week is different - but on average about 15,000. For example with
'See The Star', only 8,000 people bought the single in Week 1 and from our
research nearly all of those bought both CDs. If, however, all 31,000
people who receive this mail-out buy both CDs then our next single would
almost certainly go top 5.
007: Aren't you
just releasing singles to make money?
~ Most definitely not - each single we release loses tens of thousands of
pounds but it is an investment we want to make because this is where we
believe our music should be.
008: Why have
Radio 1 not given you much airtime and does it matter anyway?
~ To many people in the music industry, Radio 1 is still the benchmark for
what music is, or should become, popular. Each week there are on average
200 singles released of which Radio 1 has to chose a handful for its
playlist. Therefore, the competition is tough but we are not to be deterred
from this - we're not backing down!
009: Should I
e-mail or write to the TV and radio stations?
~ It helps there people to know three is a genuine following for the band -
but sometimes the use of 'religious' language which they may not understand
can create unnecessary walls.
010: What can
we do to make a difference?
~ Buy both singles during the week of 21st February 2000 and encourage other
d:fans to do the same. Let's put the single in the Top 10 and not give
anyone the chance to ignore us this time.
~ taken directly
from the 'Mezzamania' mail-out from Furious? Records, who
hold the copyright, but we use it with kind permission.
> top
with CRAIG BORLASE
WITH new gigs
back home and the announcement of the next UK single, it's
like the old days back in d:land. More on that later, but first the all
important insider dealings from the band they call d.
First up are the
offices -- not the most exciting subject, admittedly -- but
we're not just talking floor space and long leases. It seems that Furious?
have outgrown their current habitat and are making plans for an end of year
move. Meanwhile, however, they are renting space next to their currently
cramped office. What's the story? Well, a bit of sneaky conversion has
helped transform a glorified underground broom cupboard into a pleasant --
if small -- studio. That means Martin and Stu G are currently holing
themselves up down there, coming up with fresh ideas for the next Delirious?
album.
These are early
days -- one-line lyrics and half-hummed melodies -- but
already properties of the material are beginning to emerge. According to Jon
Thatcher: "Stu G's turning out quirky stuff and Martin's coming up with
more
anthemic material. Both are a progression of the Delirious? sound." Keep
scanning CH for more developments.
Talking of Mr
Thatcher, he and drummer Stew and Stu G have sent in
applications for next year's Flora London Marathon. Assuming their
applications are successful, the trio will be spending the next few months
in a flood of training sessions; the living embodiment of See The Star's "So
we run, never stop" chorus!
In the next few
months, however, fans can catch up with the band at a
handful of gigs around the country. Laid-back, friendly and ready for
anything, the gigs will be a chance to go over some of the old favourites
and chew over a few of the new. Playing back in England is a decidedly
pleasant experience for the boys: after all, there's no place like home.
And what about
the single? This week the band announced that on 21 February
2000 they will be releasing It's OK as their next official UK single.
Alongside will be some live gigs, appearances in high street record stores
around the country and a campaign to help deliver on the potential of the
track they call ‘the gem of Mezzamorphis'.
~ taken directly
from www.christianherald.org.uk. d:brief
is, of course, the
Christian Herald's excellent monthly column keeping it's finger on the
d:pulse. Used with kind permission.
> top
**** Questions For Delirious? ****
Mike Rimmer, of Cross Rhythms fame and sense of humour, has this to say:
To coincide with
the February release of It's OK, there will be a feature in
Cross Rhythms magazine and I am arranging to meet up with the band in
November.
The idea is that
the band are going to answer questions from fans so all I
want to do is gather together a pile of questions you'd like to ask them
about their music, life, thoughts etc - basically ask away!
The best questions
and their answers will be published in issue 55 of the
mag.
Can you please
email YOUR QUESTION direct to my address given below. And
remember to include your name and where you're from.
Thanks,
Mike Rimmer -
mrimmer@cmbc.u-net.com
Assistant Editor Cross Rhythms magazine
~ Spurious? says: get cracking! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
> top
****
Spurious? Developments ****
It's been all go at Spurious? recently. The relaunch of the only delirious?
webring, deliRINGous, at http://www.spurious.org/dring
has meant the
undeniably useful page now looks smooth, sleek and sexy. Subscribing to
dnews also couldn't be easier (but I guess most of you here have managed it)
but should you want to unsubscribe (which you don't, do you) that is also
simple to do at http://www.spurious.org.
The killer addition to the site
comes in the form of our latest Feature, an interview with Martin and Jon in
Real Audio. Part 1 is up now; keep checking back for more instalments.
And all this is
just the start of what Spurious? has to offer. dnews is
becoming more and more verbose while getting out to more and more people;
the t-shirt ideas are beginning to approach levels of tepidness and there
are several unbelievably cool things planned for the site that even I can't
wait for.
> top
****
An Invitation to Goatee ****
The Cambridge gig on November 5th will be populated by the Spurious? crew.
Mike Jones, Scooby and myself (Adam) will all be there. Unfortunately,
Scooby won't be taking his six-foot tall fluffy question mark because the
security guards wouldn't let him in with it (apparently it's an 'offensive
weapon'...we know it's degrading, but offensive? no....) so the entire crew
will be sporting fake ginger goatees. Feel free to pop along for chat if
you're coming along.
> top
****
Another Tribute ****
In today's hectic world great achievements get sweeped under the carpet. At
Spurious?, we're determined to have a memory longer than the British media
and we'd like to give Anne Leonard a warm round of applause. Why? Simply
because her delirious? website (at http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d6062y/d5.html)
was
one of the first but she's now decided to call it a day. Anne's site will be
well missed, it provided the platform for other websites to grow, leading to
the conglomerate that now exist.
The sad departing
of Anne's website now means that Dave Wood's Delirious?
Website is the longest running delirious? website, with Mezzamorphine
second.
> top
****
deliRINGous votes ****
The final, and most important, deliRINGous vote results will now be
revealed:
Best Overall Website
1 ~ d:heaven
2 ~ Spurious?
3 ~ Dave Wood's Delirious? Website
~ d:brief
~ Mezzamorphine
Most Awards Won
~ d:heaven
Most Number Of
Close Runners Awards:
~ Mezzamorphine
So congratulations all round!
> top
****
It's OK cover idea ****
Normally I don't do plugs like this but Sam from d:graphix has come up with
his own idea for what the It's OK cover should look like. Visit it in all
it's glory at http://angelfire.com/mo2/dgraphix/itsokay.html
> top
****
Favourite Lyric ****
"Will you dance with me?"
~ You Split The Earth, d:
~ submitted by Parkers, "I love that line it is so personal and it makes
me
want to cry"
> top
****
d:end? ****
This isn't the d:end, after all there's only 119 days to go until 'It's OK'
is released.
[signed]
Adam, Adrian,
Mike, Mike,
Scooby
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