Incredible String Site

Subject: Incredible String Site
From: john c
Date: 05 Aug 00 - 03:25 AM

Lately it seems like there might be quite a few more Incredible String Band freaks about (hi, Margaret - more soon on the PPs!)than I thought. For those with more than a passing interest in the most wonderful band of all time - click here for a nice surprise!!
aw ra best
J.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: Margaret V
Date: 05 Aug 00 - 10:28 PM

Well, that WAS a nice surprise, John. I had seen the "Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending" website, but this list was new to me. Haven't yet read all 2700+ messages just yet, but. . . here's something that struck me when I came across the "Be Glad. . ." postings and now again after perusing the messages in the above link: why are 98% of the postings from guys? Is it possible that the ISB had or has a much bigger following among males than females, or is it perhaps a factor of guys feeling the need to express themselves in posts? Down-right unnerving -- because I've spent most of my life never meeting people who have even heard of them, and now I find via the net that there are all these folks out there who love them, but virtually all of them are men! Very strange. Any perspectives, anyone? Baffled. . . Margaret

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: Margaret V
Date: 05 Aug 00 - 10:40 PM

I forgot to mention that I checked the mudcat forum for threads on ISB and discovered the Appreciation thread which included appreciation from a nice mixed crowd; which just served to baffle me some more. On the other hand, "if you answer this riddle, you'll never begin. . ." Margaret

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: john c
Date: 06 Aug 00 - 01:39 PM

You know, I went to my very first Increds concert ....way back in the 1960´s.... with a whole bunch of friends. To a man, all the guys were blown away. And all the girls did nothing but complain about Rose and Likky´s wailing on This Moment and the general lack of anything resembling a "tune" - and went back to their Cat Stevens records. Could there be a connection somewhere??
Aw ra best
J.

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: Margaret V
Date: 06 Aug 00 - 11:59 PM

Well, yeah, I guess there might be, and I suppose that's my question. I was a young girl back in the 1960s, and didn't discover ISB until, say, 1977 or thereabouts. As a result, I don't know about the original fan base or who was present at the concerts, so I find your memory of that concert interesting. I just know that there were no gender distinctions when it came to trying to win converts among my friends; males and females alike typically ran screaming from the room (back to their Cat Stevens, perhaps, or maybe to the Human League or something). I did actually know two women who liked them a lot, and three men, but that's about it. I suspect there have always been singers or groups that were heavily more popular with one gender or another; I'm just surprised that ISB may have been one of them. Cheers, Margaret

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: GMT
Date: 07 Aug 00 - 05:37 AM

I first heard ISB on John Peels radio prog, must have been 1966. We'd just returned from a 3 year posting in Singapore and I was 12 yo. I think it was This Moment Peel played and the sound was so new to me I was transfixed.
I only saw them once, the Lincoln Folk Festival in 1972 or 3. Tim Hardin was on and Tom Paxton as well.
The ISB albums sit quite happily with Cat Stevens.
The only other track I remember from that John Peel show was by a chap called Wild Man Fischer. I young Cliff Richard fan had been changed forever by just one radio programme !!!
Cheers
Gary

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: Peg
Date: 07 Aug 00 - 02:14 PM

well I was not a fan "back in the day" but was turned on to them by a long-time fan (a man, naturally); does that count?

peg

erstwhile back-up singer with Green Crown, who is named after the ISB's song "Three is a Green Crown"...

Subject: RE: Incredible String Site
From: Margaret V
Date: 07 Aug 00 - 03:19 PM

Sure, Peg, that counts; in fact, I think you get to count twice because of your band's name (and the fact that you actually perform the song)! Cheers, Margaret