OK this is pure indulgence, and I’m quite happy if this ‘happy in the haze of a drunken hour’ post drops like a stone through the front page of the blog, shunned by all and sun-dried.
It may be Maudlin College, Oxbridge, but sauntering in on this site of an evening and seeing name tags familiar from more than a DECADE, I feel a real sense of warmth and connection.
11 years, guys! (and locust (obligatory, meta, sub-bracketed sexist self-put-down)).
It nay be no more than thousands of other, parallel, blog communities have achieved since 2012 or earlier, all fed by daily, weekly taps on keyboards/swipes on screens, but that’s (It’s) Immaterial!
We, we, let me say again we (because it sounds good) have made a space of endurance, a cloud of old-gittery, a spectacle of rock’n’roll’n”in-joketastic spewing of joyful, fretful commentaries that amount to a stupendous hill’o’beans. Or just another drupal viral rout. Take your pick.
It don’t matter. We rose again. Those splendiferous lost threads – Roxy vs Talking Heads, Jimi vs Cream, Steeleye vs Fairport vs Pentangle, and so many more – are arcane folk memory, treasured by the febrile and the feeble, and mulching down to feed the further growth of ever-evolving future silicon chip paper.
I just want to mark this non-occasion and say thank you to all you dedicated folks, addicted (or not) to good music and to posting your celebrations of that and other cultural/philosophical content in the good tradition of the Word (Praise the Word).
Let us be, if only for a moment, the scene that celebrates itself.
What a mean-spirited comment.
I love you mostly, Herbert. Can I call you Herbert? Herbie babes. My little Herbert Dip.
Seriously though but, “Afterword Friendly” music – and it is a thing – has always left me feeling clammy and nauseous. I can think of only two albums recommended by ‘worders that I’ve liked – Rhythm Sound And Movement by Pitch Black (I think Poppy Succeeds) and, er, some French instrumental suggested by Tigger I now find I can’t find.
So I come here for the bantz (and the site has weathered the anti-bantz storm amongst many others) and the astonishingly informed and entertaining sports coverage, much more enjoyable than the actual sports, which I couldn’t care less about. I like any technical expertise (being sadly bereft thereof), and have had some very useful advice (and inappropriate suggestions) from some very useful people I wouldn’t otherwise have met. I met a couple of you who turned up to my Grand Giveaway prior to evacuation to the Mystic East, and of course I know dear, dear Mike Petty from way back when he used to give me money. I’ve enjoyed years-long e-relationships with Archie Valparaiso and Stuart Penney, both diamond geezers, established right here, before they got too irritated/bored/intimidated/whatevs to post any more. And I’m pretty sure I’d like nearly everyone if I met them, except Lodestone, who strikes me as a wrong’un. And of course Chiz, who is hateful. I’ve also learned to love Baron Harkonnen, in spite of being savaged by him back in the past.
Strictly speaking I used to give you money in return for services rendered.
I don’t think we need to go into that here. We’re different people, now.
What is “Afterword Friendly” music? I’m genuinely asking, not trying to start an argument. I’m actually never sure. I feel as if it’s the kind of heritage rock you get in Mojo magazine, which actually suits me fine, but maybe I just notice that more because that’s what I’m most interested in.
I quite like how there are many pockets of more fringe tastes. Plenty of people on here who will wax lyrical about 80s pop, or free jazz or hip hop or modern classical.
I think on the whole we’re quite diverse?
Agreed. I don’t think it really works as a descriptor anymore – if it ever did.
I think the ur-AW genre, or at least the centre of the most Venn diagrams, is what used to be referred to as “Americana”, isn’t it? Followed by rock music released in the 70s?
Yebbut, plenty of “love” being expressed for 80s, 90s and current music lately – have the plates shifted?
Add ’80s and onward jangle & other Pop to that Venn diagram. A bit more guitar-oriented here than the general popular taste, I think.
Not to kill the buzz and good vibes, but you can stick the Americana up your arse. I’ll be in an upstairs bedroom listening to Hatfield and the North, and feeling superior. Yes, we’re a lovely bunch, and my favourite music analysis comes from you guys.
This is what I’m talking about – the church is too broad to isolate one type of “Afterword-friendly” music…
…and if anyone’s in need of me,
I’m drowning in the bathroom…
I’ll be in the kitchen.
@Vincent ah Hatfield and the North. Saw them once at a quarter full Birmingham Town Hall. One of the most boring gigs I ever went to. Suspect I would quite like them if I listened yo them again now.
I saw Steve Earle and it was alright. We are all catholic in tastes, here, but tease one another. It’s the rules. The Hatfield ATN albums are better than the live recordings from that time I’ve heard.
“Afterword friendly” = can be posted on the blog without someone popping up to let you know they don’t like it.
To give an example; you can safely post about Fairport Convention to your heart’s content, but if you were to review (say) a record by Taylor Swift you could be assured that you would shortly receive at least one response to the effect “I don’t like this”.
It is a powerful and persistent blog reflex, triggered by certain artists/genres, and to which the response is, was and must always be: “And?”.
I don’t like this expressed as this is no good as if it were a fact.
Bonus marks when it’s a person whose personality is 50% comprised of pronouncing endlessly that they do not like modern music beaming down to reassure you that they do not enjoy this particular example of modern music. You, sir, are fascinating to me – please do go on🥱
50%?
I have no beef with expressing distaste for what doesn’t please you, as long as you aren’t hammering the blog with your opinions or being abusive.
I don’t agree that this is a blog reflex – I think it’s confined to certain posters.
Yes, that’s fair 👍🏼
Hmmm interesting.
I’m definitely not against slagging off music you don’t like – I would hate it if people had to avoid that and had to keep their mouths shut. It would be a very calm, but boring place, and I quite like the friction a lot of the times. Although I think personally tend to be more of a bystander.
I do agree there is a bit of a knee jerk reaction to Taylor Swift though. And I need to put my hand up and admit I’m one of the jerks. Whenever someone posts about Taylor Swift (like, say, that current post about her ticket prices) I honestly have to fight the urge NOT to (as you say) chip in with the fact I don’t like her and I don’t really understand why she’s so popular.
Why is that? I don’t know. There might be some kind of inbuilt sense of protectionism in people who care deeply about music? Does a love of certain brands of music foster a corresponding lack of understanding and sensitivity for other peoples’ differing opinions? It might, I don’t know. Is there a certain strand of music appreciation that has similarities to the autistic spectrum? Possibly, although maybe I’m starting to get a bit speculative and borderline offensive (!).
I think I’m better than many at curbing my natural instincts on here and refraining from slagging off music I don’t get (although I’m only human, so you know…) but I do find the positive and negative aspects of music appreciation (the arguments and tribalism) quite fascinating and engaging. And I don’t mind being challenged or mocked when I profess my love of the music I put on a pedestal. Anyone who wants to tell me Tubular Bells is rubbish is welcome to do it to my face – and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong!
I think my major complaint would be that the standard “I don’t like this” is deeply tedious.
If you want to pen a witty and biting critique, then have at it, but so often it’s just a bare statement of dislike, as if the author’s tastes carry some sort of mysterious weight about which we are all obliged to care deeply. See also: “I’m sorry but I just don’t get it” – thank heavens the apology is there to cushion the hammer blow of that withheld approval.
I don’t think it’s a reflection of a surplus love of music, more a deficit of personality. Frankly, I’d say the same if someone invaded every Taylor Swift thread to make the statement “I like Taylor Swift”, although at least that would have the benefit of enthusiasm.
Regardless of all that, my point was really that if you want to know what Afterword-Friendly music is, it’s the stuff that doesn’t get those responses, which are in some ways the white blood cells of the blog at large.
Ah okay, so it’s the lack of substance to the interjections that you don’t like. Yes, I would agree I think. Although personally I would take “I just don’t get it” to have an implied request, “Tell me what it is I’m missing”, and I would see that as a challenge!
Nah, dude – you do you and I’ll do me. Life is too short to talk people into liking things, if you know you know.
Even silver-tongued Bing would have a hard time talking me into listening to more than 00:31 seconds of this. Not because “it’s bad” (how would I know?), nor because “I don’t like it” (I’m always prepared to listen beyond the surface), but because I’ve heard it before. So many times. I’ve seen the video before. So many times. Maybe I’m not equipped to appreciate the nuance that marks this out as being somehow the work of an artist with an individual voice. Could be. Or maybe it’s today’s equivalent of generic library music. Could be.
Congrats on making it as far as 31 seconds, HP.
Thank you for your disdain for my personality, or lack thereof. It’s very much appreciated.
I find it irritating that the same handful of artists are lauded in thread after thread after thread, with nothing of importance being imparted, as far as I can tell.
Why the fuck should I be obliged to skip through them all without comment, or compile a well-thought-out treatise (footnotes optional) just to please the likes of you?
I’m afraid I don’t find anything of merit in this comment.
Basically, Bing, you’re saying you don’t have/need/want to explain why you like something (see above), but that any negative response to your posting has to be backed up by a reasoned argument for why it’s “no good.”
“Love it, love it, love it!” = perfectly okay.
“Hate it, hate it, hate it!” = very not okay.
No, I’m saying that if you want to understand what music is “Afterword-Friendly”, it’s the stuff that doesn’t typically attract the bare “I don’t like this” comments, and that I don’t personally find any real value in such comments.
The above two dislikes are broadly equivalent, in that just as everyone is entitled to share their view of music however they choose, I must also be entitled to share my view of said view, but in point of practice only the former regularly finds written expression here.
I tend to find the AW-friendly music reflected in the excellent end-of-year poll that is a frequent occurrence…democracy in action.
“I don’t like this is” a better response than “It’s no good” in my book. And that’s all I have to say on the subject.
As others have said, there are posters on here who amaze me with their articulation and wordsmithery. You Bingo are certainly one (you should be a music journalist…meant as a compliment) and there are notable others.
Seconded. The joy that others get from artists that leave me totally unmoved – which frankly, is most of the AWs frequent flyers – just leaves me regretful that I don’t have the same experience. It takes absolutely no effort at all to not type “they are shit” about each one, and saves me huge amounts of time. The only criticism that interests me is from someone who clearly loves an artist but finds something they love a bit less.
I’ve found that I can connect more with people who enjoy music the same way I do than the same music in a different way. That moment, but it in the lyric of the arrangement, that lifts the song from the good to the truly memorable, that live show when the whole room felt part of the experience. Those things matter to me more than a technical knowledge of tunings and the names of session musicians, even on the records I’ve loved for decades.
Far too kind, as ever 😘
A passing observation – I’ve tried but mostly failed to like Tubular Bells. But the glorious review you wrote of the live show a few months back made me play it again just in case I’d missed something. I wasn’t any more enamored than previous times but you really had me wishing otherwise. I still don’t really “get it” but I think knocking it would speak far more to my lack of breadth of taste than anything else.
Nah, its shite 😉 😉 😉
I love it love it love it. 🙂
And of course you’ve missed something. But I’ll just take comfort in my superior taste. 😀
I don’t like Fairport Convention.
Goddammit Tigger. A beautiful point now lies in ruins.
Your point was eloquently put, as always, but sacrificed accuracy for artistic impression. 😀
Fringe tastes like 80s pop. Haha. Only on The Afterword. Or did you mean 1580s?
I’ve noticed that progressive music has become a fringe taste over the last decade. Not many of us left and we always get slagged for it. Big deal – if I’m going to post about it, then I have to take the responses.
Mind you, I don’t slag off Taylor Swift, etc.
Aha? Was there a better 80s pop band? You’ll be hunting high and low.
I meant funny haha but I’m in favour of Aha the band. Was there a better 80s pop band? The Smiths or REM perhaps.
Point taken! Ha ha, I actually re-wrote that comment about three or four times and kind of lost a bit in what I was trying to say. I actually planned on saying I thought the default AW music genre of choice was Americana, but I forgot the word until Hedgepig said it up there!
I know what I mean when I say 80s pop is a fringe taste though – while carefully trying to tiptoe around offending anyone here, I STILL think 80s pop (rightly or wrongly) is not taken entirely seriously, at least among muso types? So when I say fringe taste I mean you have to have a bit of a thick skin to stand up and declare the genius of SAW or Bucks Fizz or Japanese Boy. Certain more cerebral acts like New Order and Pet Shop Boys get a free pass I think.
I’m digging a hole here for myself and I’m not really confident of my premise… so I’ll stop!
I think you are probably right, more or less. There’s a bit of support for SAW I would say. Not from me so much. There’s so much better in that decade.
I remember a friend of mine getting tied up in knots in some debate or other and ending it by saying – decisively – “and that’s EXACTLY where my argument falls down”.
When I first came here it was strongly 60s/70s fixated, especially prog, blues rock and some old school soul. At that time the blog was more conservative than the magazine, which covered a wider range. Nowadays the 80s and 90s get covered here too and some new. Dance and hiphop even. It’s a better mix. Seems to be less ego raising it’s big ugly head too. Also thumbs up. Just the odd person who I ought to avoid probably. Otherwise a bunch of witty and wise old heads. Brains that could be put to better use than punning and ranting about something somebody wrote or said 50 years ago that no one else outside this forum cares about or even knew about. Keep up the good work!
Actually, the reason progressive music got such an outing here was because it felt like a “safe space”, to share one’s love for the music which couldn’t be named since 1976. In that, it was rare at the time – prog was both underground and a fringe interest. There were some like-minded souls and, if prog got a kicking, it was usually good humoured.
Things have changed a little since then – I’m back in the minority. That’s not a problem – site evolves and all that – and I’m probably investigating more new music as a consequence of this site than via any other route. Which is great!
Nooo don’t succumb… Music was better in 1973, you know it and I know it 🙂
Well, yes – of course…
You poor persecuted proggers. Afraid to discuss time signatures and mellotrons for fear of mockery.
I’ll get me cape.
Arf!
Not afraid of mockery – and still discussing!
And I LOVE a Mellotron, me.
Favourite Mellotron sound? It’s a tough one, and the Strawberry Fields flute sound is rather iconic – but I think my overall preference is that heavenly choir sound used by Genesis a lot in their prog days (then subsequently by Bowie a bit on the ambient side of Heroes, and by Radiohead on OK Computer).
Jump to a minute or so of this clip – isolated keyboard track from Genesis – gorgeous!
https://youtu.be/LUR8LHlX1EA
Favourite Mellotron sound you say, Arthur? Well, I guess it’s got to be the entire debut album by King Crimson. I’ll stick Epitaph on here, but it could have been any track on that album, really…
“Hate-filled” not “hateful,” I think you’ll find.
Edit: I think I’ve just set the record for the furthest distance between a comment on a thread and a reply to it. It’s about three foot six of scrolling, which makes it pretty much impossible to establish context, not that there was much, anyway.
Within the context of an AW love-in thread, there’s always space to fill with hate, with maybe Chrissie Hynde’s thin line to separate them.
I think Junior Well’s clip of a Doors song was more baffling, though. In context.
Ha!
Well it’s 6:30am and I’m not drunk, but I heartily endorse this message nevertheless. I may have flounced once or twice, and I’ve still only met 5 of us face to face, but it’s been a blast.
Should we update the map of where we all are?
Cheers Sal est les autres
Anglais comme tuppence, changeant mais immuable comme l’eau du canal, niché dans un vert nulle part, blindé et efféminé, porte-drapeau audacieux, opsimath, ermite, féodal, toujours réactionnaire : Rawlinson End.
Been here since the old days and love it here.
Been reprimanded recently for stupid behaviour which was well deserved.
Long live prog and NWOBHM threads!
You mean someone valued cream over JIMI – eh?
You mean someone valued Fairport Convention/Steeleye Span over The Pentangle – eh?
You mean anyone gave two shites about roxy music or talking heads?
Strewth, who knew? Quite worrying. I trust we’ve all now moved on.
We had a thread on the good music from the 80s and it was a long list. Apparently your head exploded.
I am glad for your presence though. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of this odd gathering. Keep on keeping on.
It’s all an act. Deramdaze is really twenty-something dancefloor filler DJDaze. Cruise ship residencies, raves, private parties. Wears dreadlock extensions, peel-off Maori tatts, mystic jewelry, coloured contacts. Has never even heard anything recorded before 1980.
Are you finally going to admit that you are a spoof account after 11 years?
It’s really Bri.
I’ve been here since the mists of time, 2003 I think, is it really only 20 years and 6 months? Seems a lot longer. Made friends with a few people at various mingles and through these err pages.
And of course I really love everybody.
I was chatting to another old timer recently, and it certainly were 2003 when I first heard the Word. . One elongated absence c 2008, then the shock of the dissolution of the moaning stories and the revival, via the drupal incident and the semi-permeable curtain separating the AWs on FB from the tap room. Twenty years of bollocks and 20 years of old chums.
What was that Len line that involved 20 years? (Laughing Len, not the onanising dentist, may he tweet in peace.)
“The Word and the Afterword – celebrating 20 years of boredom”
Yup, that’ll do as a strapline.
That’s the one!
Jeez. 11 years. And at least 4 years prior to that on the original Word blog.
I’ve never flounced. I’ve gone into hibernation a few times. I don’t think I’ve had a row with anyone. Someone might have thought they were rowing with me but I’ve never noticed.
What a tedious twat. I think I’ll flounce and have a row with myself.
Lurked towards the end of the Word site, but signed up here from the beginning. Not been prolific but I’ve always checked in over those eleven years. We have gained some new friends along the way and lost many too, but we’re still here – we few, we happy few. And, apart from anything else, I’ve probably picked up more fantastic music recommendations here than from Mojo, Songlines et al put together.
And, hey, let’s hear for the Mods. You’ve all done very well.
Yes indeed! Three cheers for the Mods!
When this site started they were all enthusiastic teenagers.
In 2023, they are now all doting grandparents. Doesn’t time fly!
Don’t forget the Rockers!
Hip hip hooray! I love this place. I’ve been here since the old days (under a different name back the I think). I still fondly remember my very first post: it was about Dire Straits and Mr Hepworth was (thrillingly) the first to comment.
Go on, Arthur – what were you formerly known as?
rosbif
My real name! I don’t really share stuff much on the internet so I won’t tell you outright, but first name is the same as Morrissey and surname is the same as the Elephant man.
Mozza Jumbo?
Patrick Elephant?
Neil Hannibal?
African or Indian?
Well said @salwarpe. And thank you x 100 to the mods.
We have 100 Mods?
Another lifer here. I’d like to thank my employer before I retired for funding my participation for many years.
Never flounced, just cracked the shits a couple of times. Try to get on with everyone as best I can.
Comments are well down on what they used to be but I am always surprised by the number of views that posts get.
Junior’s Morning Post. It’s a thing.
I was actually referring to the blog in general but happy to provide something for you to read over your cereal AH.
Do you want me to explain that joke to you, Junes?
No.
Hear hear. Been here since prehistoric times and always enjoying poking my head in
And yeah on ya Mods!
Hooray!
(Just kidding – I’ve been a bloke all along!)
(Sorry, just checked: nope, I am woman, hear me phwoar!)
A very enjoyable place that I have less and less time to contribute to (“Hooray!”) but I lurk a little most days. It’s Britcentric, and elevates lots of music that leaves me cold, but the enthusiasm, debates and banter make me enjoy most threads anyway.
Long may it continue, until deafness and arthritis get us all!
Only eleven years and we’ve achieved all this.
Who know how far we can take it in the future?
Look at these guys – plugging away for fifty years and now finally making it on to Tiny Desk:
(Sparks – NPR Tiny Desk Concert)
Great find, Sewer!
This desk ain’t big enough for both of us!
AFM.
I am indeed a wrong ‘un (who can’t believe his luck in finding this place)
Have lurked since about the mid noughties and contributed a little bit more of late. Would like the chance to change my user name so I can contribute more without it being Google-able. Is that possible? Oh, and I love it here despite being a bit intimidated by the wit and sharpness of most of you.
Did you put in that ‘t’ to disguise yourself, Bono?
Don’t push me ‘cos I’m close to The Edge.
Arf!
I remember on the old site there was one big post where Fraser invited everyone to change their name if they wanted to. That’s when I changed mine! I know what you mean – you become google-able when you use your real name in places.
That’s how i came to be JW. There was a time limit of imposed by Saint Fraser, I was under pressure and Junior Wells was the first one that came to mind.
Been around since the end of the Word and pre-drupal, but I wasn’t shaking my bones back then. I’ve never posted that often, and even then only in fits and starts, but there aren’t many days when I don’t drop in for a nose. Sometimes the banter doesn’t seem as funny as it used to be, but it’s still undoubtedly one of the nicest places to be on the interweb. Thanks be to everyone involved for making it so.
I’ve been around for a long long time…
…and it don’t seem a day too much…
I was a Word reader from issue one and made a natural swap to the internet club that we now, er, sit in. I don’t think I’ve ever changed my username in that time (I MAY have changed my little picture). It’s the best and friendliest place on the internet and I’ve learned a lot, found lots of new music and had much support when I needed it. Long may this place continue – where else could I ramble on about “that weird music” and not get actual threats of violence?
Three cheers for the Mods (oh – and don’t forget to donate something, if you are able)!
I’ve been here since the original Word blog and love it, although I only comment occasionally because I also feel intimidated by the wit and sharpness of the others. I remember a competion on the original Word blog where the prize was a copy of Ronnie Woods autobiography. I entered and couldn’t believe my luck when I actually won. I never read it and gave it away but what a thrill! I also remember David Hepworth chastising me in a comment, because I said I didn’t think much of the Rolling Stones track “Tell Me”, after it had popped up once on my selections for the ipod randomiser game. Great memories.
Still here. I was at the old place for a few years too. I miss some of the contributors who drifted away, others not so much and I’ve learned to stay away from certain topics and certain people, much like real life.
Wholly endorse all of this. I dip in & out of the contributing side of things (have been doing a lot recently) but always love visiting. When Word went I was delighted that the online forum continued in this way. Not all threads are for me & I tend to drop off for a after some of the more feisty ones. For the main though, i think this is one of the better places to visit on this internet thing.
Hats duly doffed to all Mods & anyone involved in the running of this site. I have discovered some great songs/films/books from this so a million thank yous
Still paying my subs. Haven’t had as much fun and frolics in any other online place since I had a ten digit Compuserve ID and a 14.4 modem. This humane little club of fools is a profound example of summat no dumb Machine Learning algorithm could ever conjure up.
This comment is worthy of attention. It poses many interesting questions and should lead to a lively debate.
3.5 or 4?
Coming here makes me feel like Boot in The Perishers checking out the crab pool. I’m like the Eyeballs In The Sky.
Arf!
I love the crab pool episodes.
Oh, that makes me yearn for a ketchup sandwich!
Golden September, I always say…
Have an ‘Up’ !
Another long-timer here, from way back in the day when you used to have to submit an idea for the message board to David or Fraser before it was published. I like it here. It’s so much more diverting than work.
Read issue 1 of The Word in WH Smiths (a friend had a review published), bought issue 2, subscribed shortly afterwards. Joined the old place probably not long before it folded and check in here every day (thanks be to my employer) since.
Currently considering quitting, having been accused of being a “b*ll*cks-spouting smarmy public schoolboy” one too many times recently. I really don’t need this sh*t. Well done!
@fentonsteve
Really? That seems unfortunate and poor show – must be on threads that I haven’t read.
I hope you reconsider – who else on here would understand the term “ flat-earther” and allow me to good-naturedly josh them about it? 🙂
Sadly, so. There’s a difference between joshing and bullying, and I seem to be the current unlucky recipient. I’ve asked politely for the offender to stop, I’ve put it more bluntly, yet every night there’s another “b*ll*cks”, which every morning I read over my Cornflakes and sigh. It’s beginning to feel like trolling, and it’s beginning to make me think it would be easier if I just left him to pick on someone else.
I’ve made one final “please don’t reply, tag or PM me” this morning, so let’s see how it goes. If there’s any more, I will be reporting it to (all praise be to) The Mods and wishing you all un bon voyage. I’ll be sorry to go.
Why should you suffer for the sake of one misguided individual? You are much valued as a long time regular.
Agreed – yes, indeed.
Fuck me, I’m gonna research this.
Well well.
Colour me shocked.
Whilst I sympathise with the plight of The Baron and other Tinnitus sufferers, I don’t see how he can justify an attack on the appreciation of silence (as a commonly-accepted euphemism for everyday ambient sound) because he’s unable to enjoy it and is obliged to find relief from his condition in music.
Well he picks on other people or other people’s views as well, if he doesn’t like a particular band then they are completely useless and ‘bollocks”.
That doesn’t make it alright, though. I can’t even offer to do his Physics homework* for him in order to get some respite.
(*) I did this once and deliberately got it wrong. I wasn’t asked again.
No it doesn’t, just saying it’s not only you
Don’t let him get to you, Fent. If you do, you’re not only letting yourself down, you’re letting the Afterword down. Here’s a little secret – one of the reasons another much-valued commenter left this place was the same. The blog – wupes – *forum* – is diminished by his absence, as it would be by yours. It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel about it – as I said, I was subject to a few of his keyboard muggings myself, and I know it’s upsetting. I think of him now as a fundamentally decent bloke with Keyboard Tourette’s. He’s massively insecure (“bollocks! fuck off, HP!”) and basically just wants to be liked and accepted. Just has no fucking clue how to go about it.
Long story short – you are one of the handful of ‘Worders here who exemplify all that is good and helpful and reasonable about the place. Yes, as you say, you’re a little dull, but nobody’s perfect.
And, um, constipated is probably the last thing you might ever be accused of being. Apart from in your dreams. 😉
Tramadol once had that effect, circa 1994.
@retropath – do you get those dreams as well? It’s either that or diarrhoea.
Are you sure you’ve got the hang of this, Junes?
Well i have got cricket to monitor as wel.
Please @fentonsteve!! Do not even think about leaving!
H.P. and many others have argued the case far more convincingly than I can. Listen to their words of advice and wisdom.
You are an interesting, lively, popular and much appreciated contributor to this place. I sincerely hope you will continue to be so!
“interesting”? Are you sure you’ve got the right person?
You used the word “anechoic”. That’s more than interesting – that’s sexually stimulating. You know that, you tease. Behave.
Careful, HP. You know what anechoic chambers are.
@fentonsteve – hang on in there. Or here. And as I said before, I’ve forgiven you for the physics homework stitch up.
I hope you decide to stay @fentonsteve. You always come across as a thoroughly decent bloke who I’d get chatting to in a pub.
Steve, you’re one of the good’uns. Would be a real shame if you left. I actually think HP’s advice further down is sound but you need to do whats right for you. DMs open etc….
Wow – I must have missed that comment. Please don’t take it personally! I would miss your contributions.
Me too. Plus I won’t know what MP3 player to get when my iPod eventually conks out.
That’s the big question. I don’t think Fenton has ever really been clear on his answer to that, has he?
Yep, you can’t go. No one else understands the majesty of the A14.
Do please consider staying @fentonsteve ( hope you don’t mind being tagged there.) I really value what you have to say and I think you’re probably one of the contributors I probably have the most in musical common with. Def one of the good guys.
As ever, all praise be to The Mods.
I am afraid I’m staying here to bore you all for a while longer.
Calloo callay!
Been here since the old place, think I always had same login name.
Time to come clean, am sure many look forward to the daily Welsh-Canadian slant on things, but now I can finally admit that I am a vastly overweight 60 yr old called Norman still living with my mother in Doncaster, I have never been to a gig and own 2 records, but I love you all, sorry for the deception ….
Seriously, I like this place a lot (most of the time), thanks go to those who built this life raft when the magazine sadly shut down and kept it going. Here’s to the next 11 years
Do you mean Catford?
A cat, rain, Vim under the sink, and both bars on. But old now, old. There can be no true beauty without decay
A toast to Norman 🍻
Dinsdale? Dinsdale!
You know, usually in the summer there are the”there’s not much happening on the AW” posts.
Blimey! It’s a bit lively.
If all this sexual tension doesn’t find a release soon it’s going to be total mess in here. Record Store Day can’t come soon enough.
I am constantly in awe of the writing on here – far more knowledgeable and witty than anything I ever conjure up, so it is a privilege to ‘know’ you all.
My observation would be that the scope of discussions has widened considerably over the years, which I don’t mind at all – politics, sport…er…Wordle!…as well as music, which has also broadened out to include all sorts.
Thanks everyone!
I’m rarely here anymore but delighted that this ‘space’ still exists. It obviously means a great deal to a good many of you and provides a service that you all value.
Sadly some time ago I got into a silly spat with a well regarded member and I have never felt comfortable here since. I sincerely regret this as I always enjoyed this community but it is what it is.
I do look in quite frequently pressing my nose to an outside window to glance at proceedings but reconciled that none of it has anything to do with me anymore. However I couldn’t help noticing that there is a bit of a schism occurring between a couple of you and I would like to mention that life really is too short for fussin’ and fighting so shake hands or have a quick snog and make up.
🙏✌️
I could have written the exact same post.
When you do grace the site with a comment, you certainly lift the discourse. That goes for both of you.
I could have written the exact same post.
Stephen King could have written the exact same post.
Ouch
I sent his agent outlines of my other two books, suggesting he might find “inspiration”. Didn’t hear back.
another long timer here. My participation is at bit of a low ebb these days, but it’s all cyclical, innit? I still check in pretty often, and I’d miss you all if you weren’t here.
11 years? I had teeth then. Always checking in and making the same bad jokes or fatuous comments.
I wholly blame Word Magazine and The Afterword for emptying my wallet and arguing over why I need more storage space
I regard this place as one of the most civilised outposts I frequent on the Internet. I’m here for the music but often it’s the non-musical threads that make it worthwhile to regularly check in – from the very serious to the trivial. People come across as if they’re themselves and not some pumped up keyboard warriors pushing agendas. There are frank exchanges of opinion and sometimes offence is taken even though I feel it is not necessarily intended. Posters on here seem to be a broad church with generally positive intentions. Remember the Covid lockdowns when it was nice to visit this community where its own normality remained intact.
Without this site I would never have tried old-school shaving equipment, a third speaker (Eno style), good Scotch whisky and I’d struggle to know what to stream online when I finish my current run of Deadloch.
I wish I posted more than I do and it’s been a good while since I started a thread. I’d miss this place if it was gone. Here’s to the next 11 years.
It is of course a great source for new music and those Afterword playlists that are compiled from threads are often gateways to stuff I’d never encounter otherwise. Ditto the CD swaps.
Been here from the start of everything I think. Always been Freddy Steady though it’s not actually my real name unbelievably.
It is generally a fab place and I’ve learnt loads, not just about music and laughed a lot too. I really like the fact we don’t just waffle on about music but just about anything.
Some people are a bit combative at times but I tend to ignore them and imagine they’re having a bad day. Aren’t I nice?
You are Norfolk’n’Good.
Like Me.
Normal for Norfolk, Uncle?
😉
Probably not.
I left at 18 as a wet behind the ears chap and went to study at Bradford University with a wide range of people from different backgrounds in my hall of residence.
I learnt a lot and suddenly became not Normal For Norfolk!
In my part of the world, TTR was used instead of NfN. A low Teeth to Tattoo Ratio spelt trouble.
I’ve commented on many of these threads since 2008. I’ve nothing more to add right now other than I’m going through a down cycle struggling to come up with anything new to say. I’m constantly lurking, looking out for something I can contribute to. Look out soon for a new post. A 20 Cliff Richard Song Playlist You Didn’t Know You Needed.
Huzzah!
Now, now, “the least we can do is wave at each other”. I try to remain good humoured as the fur flies here, mindful you never know what crap is going on in our respective backgrounds. None of us are mono-listeners, even if we have our specialities. I listen to ska and Andre Williams more than Focus, but we have our correspondents desks. Remember The Big Lebowski: “yeah, well that’s just your opinion, man”.
Though as the Dude himself was known to observe, ‘I hate the fuckin’ Eagles, man.’
I like the Eagles a lot!
And the Big Lebowski was right. But see what happened to him when he was insensitive to the other.
I have been here and the previous version since the start. I’m here most days but don’t offer up much … unfortunately I’m shit at typing and expressing myself as well as a lot of you chaps. And I’m a grumpy git in the corner of any gathering!
Well done all and carry on 👍
I was a member of the original site and made the leap to the new one when it closed. I went AWOL for several years (life getting in the way), but returned a couple of years ago. I’ve said this before, but this is the only forum I’ve joined and where I feel comfortable enough to contribute.
Here’s to the next eleven years!
It is great when “ absentees” return even if just popping back in for a cuppa.
Please don’t put your miniature bread sandwiches on my Pink Floyd album cover.
This could develop into a 2 person running gag.
From your timezone locations, it’s likely to be an early doors phenomenon.
Junes – sal’s use of “early doors” here is a kind of play on words – referencing the popular beat combo The Doors.
Well hasn’t time flown. I came across The Word mag fairly late on I think. Started reading then following the blog. I suggested we meet up near The Word offices for a pint and a few of us did. We had a copy of The Word mag sitting on a table at a Weatherspoons pub near The Angel(gone now I believe) and a great night was had. I went to a few mingles in town and a couple of Word events at The islington pub Venue(also gone)too.
I missed The Word and indeed the Word ‘people’ when the magazine folded and we moved to our new habitat but unfortunately that’s how it was. I’ve noticed that there is less content/contributions than there used to be(or it may be me imagining this) but I think this may be down to the fact that over the years we’ve all become a lot more careful of what we comment/write on the internet as without ‘tone’ our comments can me misconstrued and humour gets missed. I try to stop myself chipping in with a whitty reply when drink has been had for fear of reading what I’ve said the next morning. In a pub context it is banter and is not generally remembered the next day, online it is!
So if I upset any of you it’s unintentional.
I think it’s a special little place we have here and long may it continue.
PS I would never have bought another Frey Bentos pie(Vegetable Balti as it happened) had it not been for The Afterword – hurrah!
I’ve been around one iteration or another since 2006, when the podcast helped the long ass commute.
It’s seen me through a separation, a divorce, remarriage, health issues, and moves abroad. I’ve picked up some of my favourite bands either directly or indirectly from here.
It’s the first site I come to when I have breakfast by myself. I would be immeasurably upset if this place closed down.
*raises ice cold tin of Leo*
Sending a virtual hamper (;
The thing is, I was really never that into music. What brought me here in 2008 was clever, funny writing, lists of daft puns, and sprawling, vaguely incoherent discussions which could get a bit robust at times, in the way that a chat with your mates in a pub might. It all got a bit sensorious for a while, and then there was the era of inane lists and commercial reviews, but we’ve come through that and now it’s just nice. Dull, but nice.
*no results for sensorious – searching for sensuous
What do I mean then? ‘Eager to criticise in order to establish one’s superior morality’
Censorious?
Oh yeah! That.
And what’s wrong with “Dull but nice”, might I ask?
I already have that tattooed on my forehead, but an Afterword t-shirt with the slogan could help when I’m wearing a hat.
I’ve been around since the original Word site. Tend to read more than post but have always enjoyed being around even if doing the equivalent of being sat in a quiet corner of the bar with a pint and a book.
Don’t think we haven’t noticed. It’s your round.
Lol
Became aware of the blog just before The Word folded and immediately signed up here for some form of continuity.
More of a lurker these days but I still regard The Afterword as a great place to drop in and see what old virtual friends are banging on about.
May you (and the wonderful mods) all keep banging on for a long time to come.
And thank you all for the music – I’ve discovered more here through your recommendations than the entire music press combined, including Smash Hits.
Many nice words written here, many true words. I don’t really have much to add. Been here since the beginning (old blog) and can confirm it’s been a great and lively little community since forever. A nice home, if you will.
I don’t post much mainly because English is not my first language, but I do visit every day. I love the discussion and banter, love the seriousness and silliness. One thing I noticed through the years is, that I don’t really read or notice the name tags, fully expecting each post and comment to be considerate, thoughtful and witty. There are bumps on the road sometimes, but where they are not? The level of communication remains high and there is constant interest in play.
Many thanks to the moderators and posting members. Although we never met in person, each of you individually, is a friend.
Reinstate the Thumbs Up icon, NOW!
I’ve been around since 2007 on the old site then here, with one 6 month break when someone was irritating the flip out of me. Still around though, still enjoying the old place.
As befits my powerfully homoerotic relationship with the users of this site, my best summing-up would be this: I wish I knew how to quit you.
I don’t post that much because even if I did want to talk about music very much, and I don’t , my tastes don’t necessarily Venn very often with the AW. However, Word etc has been a part of my life for an embarrassingly long time, and the seeing the names here is generally a fond experience. I remember Colin once saying that I’m much jollier IRL than I am on here, and that’s true – I think I often go for amusedly dry and end up being received as needling or trollish, and that’s my bad, because I am very fond of most of you.
So I’m generally here for a politics or Ideas discussion, but much less for a music one, and since those can often get a bit spiky, I don’t indulge as often as I used to.
Anyway, I’ve made real friends here, and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Here’s to yer.
And you love ABBA! You’re ok with me, kiddo. 😊
I do, I do, I do 😊
You do? You do!
I wish I could remember my superbly reductionist description of the Fernando hitmakers, mainly as it so fired up your spleen, @hedgepig
I played a TDC album the other night, on my way to The Dawn Chorus, which is what I was originally after. Still flipping great. You and Katy can still be justly proud of that.
Dawn Chorus! That’s the ones, bought after an @fentonsteve gush, with 45 minutes I won’t see again….. 😉
I can’t win ’em all.
Aw thank you Steve – too kind!
That pretty good christmas track. @hedgepig. Pretty good and I liked the sentiment in the title. They come around every year, its a ritual, there is usually some sort of shit going down with someone in the clan so pretty good is often what you can hope for.
I bought the magazine from the first issue to the last (subscriber for most). Listened to every issue of the podcast too I reckon. Still do. Used to post intermittently on the original site under a different name. Slightly concerned that I have been doing similar for at least some of the last 11 years.
Have I left a mark? Nope. But it’s a very pleasant place full of interesting stuff and ive discovered and learnt plenty and it’s there when the mood fits. So for that I’m very grateful. And you mostly seem like very decent folk at a distance, probably would up close too.
Nobody claims that they’ve “left a mark” – but I suspect that everybody has…
I think maybe I left a mark but not in a good way. The wrong kind. 😳
The Skids are still making a mark
That’s one valley one definitely doesn’t want to go into!
Been here a fair while on and off.
I enjoy the arguments on here, always entertaining, although not if it makes people leave. It’s good to argue in a civilised way. We haven’t had a good political discussion in ages, people do seem to take it personally.
Still a gap in the market where Word magazine resided, which I still valiantly hope someone fills.
Bloody hate wordle though but I just ignore those threads
Yes. Though you should check out Wordiply on the @Gary’s WordTHINGY thread. “A far more educational and less irritating thread” as opinion would have it.
Have you tried doing those crosswords where the clues are pictures, Gar? They provide mild satisfaction.
I feel like a prisoner on that thread as I am Hubert’s bitch most days. But I get stressed about missing a day, so it’s Stockholm syndrome ahoy.
There are people, ok by people I mean Gary, who would love to be Hubes’ bitch
Gary is a Genial Harry Grout-type character. Impeccable taste, cultured and polite. But if cross him…
*you
I’ve been here forever it seems. From the old Word blog to here…could it be 20 years? If not, it’s not much short of that. I come every day, at least twice. In the past I used to read every thread, and contribute to some too. Nowadays I pick and choose what I read and I rarely post anything, simply because it takes so long for me to type it out on my tablet, and if someone replies, then I don’t have the time to carry out a discussion.
Anyway, it’s like an alternative newswire in here for me, so I like to come and soak up all the information. Music, politics, sport, hats, jokes, elastic waistband trousers, whisky, wine, perfect poached eggs etc. etc. Thanks to all the contributers and the mods. Keep it coming please.
Not forgetting trays and toast.
Another Word mag subscriber and poster on the old old forum, then the old one that disappeared and now the new one which is itself oldish now. One of my daily half-dozen sites, and though I’ve only met a couple of people IRL for gigs have enjoyed it all. Do steer away from the political discussions on the whole. Again, thanks for all the fun and frolics.
Nice to hear from you, MM.
I for one miss your fiction recommendations (& particularly your SF insights) & would love to see them revived if you were inclined.
All the best.
Thank you everyone for a snapshot of Afterwordlife, even drawing, nay enticing, lurkers to commit to the digital record. As somebody who has no great claim to musical journalism, nor knowledge, as others have, but yet doggedly throws out comments and semi-frequent posts of my own, I would encourage you to take courage in your hands and add a few more comments as you daily or weekly peramble through the blog posts. What’s the worst that can happen?
We truly have a great culture here, a supportive, sometimes sniping, but more often cradling space to fill with whatever. Anything you say, any passion you communicate will find a fellow follower here, or at least somebody who recognizes, who chimes with the feelings you express, even if it’s prog (joke for fitterstoke).
Some favourite quotes snatched from above:
I quite like how there are many pockets of more fringe tastes. Plenty of people on here who will wax lyrical about 80s pop, or free jazz or hip hop or modern classical.
You can stick the Americana up your arse. I’ll be in an upstairs bedroom listening to Hatfield and the North, and feeling superior
Is there a certain strand of music appreciation that has similarities to the autistic spectrum?
the excellent end-of-year poll that is a frequent occurrence…democracy in action.
I’ll just take comfort in my superior taste. 😀
Was there a better 80s pop band? The Smiths or REM perhaps.
niché dans un vert nulle part
I’ve found that I can connect more with people who enjoy music the same way I do than the same music in a different way.
If all this sexual tension doesn’t find a release soon it’s going to be total mess in here.
Have a quick snog and make up.
People come across as if they’re themselves and not some pumped up keyboard warriors pushing agendas.
I would be immeasurably upset if this place closed down.
now it’s just nice. Dull, but nice.
Arf!
Only available in XXXL
Goes nicely with the pants!
Would those pants be from getting up from the sofa too quickly?
All the years of taking about AW t-shirts. I wonder if it’s worth setting up a merchandising section of the site, with slogans for t-shirts selected from a dedicated thread? I think I would buy one, (though not Chiz’s one – no offence, but there’s no point in staying the obvious).