AwayWeGo
Group: Members
Posts: 49
Joined: Feb. 2015 |
|
Posted: Aug. 06 2015, 20:32 |
|
Hi all. At the risk of sounding like a complete nutter and losing any respect I may have gained in these forums, I want to ask a question. What do we call ourselves? Not just as Mike Oldfield fans, but those of us who take albums like Hergest Ridge and Incantations to be something special, something that added some memories or even some perspective to our lives? Those who throw on Ommadawn when taking a detour on a road that runs through a forest, or summon the grand piano and glockenspiel at night before we drift to sleep. What do we call ourselves as people who put on the bagpipe guitars as a way of escaping, the listeners who, for reasons we can't explain, always keep our Mike Oldfield records separate from all the others, because nothing could ever be meaningful in quite the same way?
Here comes the nuttery part.
In my own land of the oft mainstream musically-dead United States, we have an underground rap group called the Insane Clown Posse (often associated with criminal/gang culture I might add). They make music that handfuls of people enjoy of course, as is true with any "hardcore" extreme music group, but I have observed a strange phenomenon of hardcore fans who call themselves the "juggalos." They are devoted to the group, but they also say that the Insane Clown Posse albums mean a lot to them. They take them seriously and always share their experiences first hearing them. They meet in groups and have festivals. I actually find it kind of frightening, but in a way thought-provoking.
All of the craziness aside, I bring this up just to make a point. We may not be part of a hardcore rap fandom, but Mike Oldfield's music is uniquely special to us in much the same way, and I think that, especially in America, we are a very little-known group who follows music most people have probably heard of, but don't appreciate all that is out there from this musician. So I got to thinking. Why don't WE have something like that? Why don't we have sayings, or even a name, or groups who meet, or more sharing of stories about when we first heard the albums? Celtic Woman has meeting groups of fans, and I'm sure other artist fans do too, so why don't we? It may sound strange, but I think we can use even groups with music we don't like as a way to think about how we as fans share and appreciate Mike's music.
So, what are we? Surely "fans" is a highly common and misleading word. Tubularists? Ridge runners? I think of myself as a person who can appreciate this lesser-known brilliant music, as I think we all can.
I may not be a typical crazy fanboy when it comes to bands, but I have found meaning in my own music collection, as have probably most of us here. I think that us listeners and concert-goers can develop our comradery.
I will start by saying to you what I have often said to many of my friends.
Peace, love, and Tubular Bells.
Thoughts?
|