Hey there, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Meghan Markle and Prince Harry haven't explained exactly why they're hoping to move out of the U.K. part-time and cut down on their roles within the British Royal Family. But that hasn't stopped the entire world from speculating. Is it the cranky in-laws? The drafty old castles? Nobody knows for sure. But one of the biggest talking points has been the press's treatment of Meghan Markle since she and Harry first started dating. While Meghan and Harry have enjoyed cheerful fluff pieces and applause from the press, they've also been the subjects of plenty of negative spin. And it becomes even more obvious when you compare some of Meghan's press coverage with her sister-in-law Kate Middleton's. Yes, Kate had a rough time with the press and critics for years, from her own embarrassing family members to deal with to the Queen reportedly putting her in her place once or twice. She was even subjected to a topless photo scandal. But these days negative stories about Kate are rare. And even compared to when Kate was getting it bad, negative coverage of Meghan has a distinctly harsher and often racist tone. Twitter user Eve Cornwell posted screenshots of two headlines about the duchesses' love of avocados (yes, even this is controversial) proving the different tenor of their coverage.
In the story about Kate, the headline gushes over Prince William giving her avocados to deal with morning sickness. But in the story about Meghan, her love of the snack is affiliated with "human rights abuses, drought and murder" and, perhaps most damning of all, "millennials." So, yeah. Pretty different.
Soccer player Kealia Ohai, who was traded to the Chicago Red Stars from the Houston Dash, recently received the crappy headline treatment when ABC13 Houston called her “J.J. Watt’s fiancée” instead of, you know, her own name. I know a little about sports, but I do know that when you write a story about a person, you name that person. Social media reacted quickly to the bad headline, including Watt, who plays for the Houston Texans. “This headline is trash,” Watt tweeted. “Kealia Ohai (which is her name by the way, since you didn’t even bother to mention it) is incredible entirely on her own merit and deserves to be treated as such. Be better than this.” Folks agreed, wondering why women are still treated like possessions and appendages of their male partners instead of being identified as whole individuals. ABC 13 Houston eventually apologized, tweeting to Watt...
A fine apology, but a savvy Twitter user pointed out that ABC13 Houston was essentially apologizing to Watt instead of to Ohai... again, like he is the authority who speaks for them both. Keep trying, I guess?
Abortion is always going to be one of those topics that people will passionately ague about. They’ll argue about whether it should be done, talked about, normalized, whether religion takes precedent over medical expertise, etc. Apparently they’ll also argue about whether or not there should be abortion themed party favors. Nope. You didn’t mis-read that. I'm about to talk about abortion themed party favors. The story starts with a Texas-based nonprofit and their annual holiday party. Texas Equal Access (TEA) throws a party every holiday season to honor the hard work volunteers do in helping low-income people in north Texas access safe abortions. Whether or not you agree with what they do, I'm sure we can all agree that having your hard work recognized and being given time to unwind is pretty great. So having a holiday party wasn’t the problem. The problem was these...
The organization decided to hand out white pillar candles emblazoned with a unicorn silhouette and the phrase “Abortions are magical!” as party favors. This rubbed some people the wrong way... and not just on one level. Firstly, let’s talk about the item itself. White pillar candles of this type are sometimes called prayer candles... and many traditions specifically use them as memorial candles. To some people, the idea of using memorial candles to “celebrate” abortions is distasteful, to put it lightly. Then there’s the wording itself. Abortion is a medical procedure that requires extensive skill and training to perform safely. There are no magic wands involved and some feel that equating it to a fictional magic spell could end up doing more harm than good because it de-legitimizes the medical procedure. It also trivializes the decision process. Getting an abortion is not a whim or a bit of whimsy for the women and children who find themselves needing an abortion for a wide variety of reasons including crimes committed against them. There is nothing fun and magical about these situations. On Twitter things got “intense.” Twitter may have gone off about abortions for young people (without questioning the situations that saw children that young getting pregnant in the first place), human sacrifice and black magic... but the post found an entirely different reception on Facebook. TEA saw lots of support on Facebook, if not for the party favors then at least for the work that they do. Users hit the comments section to thank them for helping people access safe abortion, to discuss abortions as healthcare, and even to share stories of how their abortions improved their lives. Some even asked where they could get candles. As far as responding to the backlash, TEA kept it simple by releasing the following, “Abortions are magical for most people who have them and refuting that just increases stigma around abortion. They are health care, self-care, and community care.”
Okay, this is something I'm sooo excited for... One of the highly-anticipated films for Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 is The Eternals. Set for release in November this year, production is well underway. Fans already got their first look at Gemma Chan’s Sersi months ago, but new set photos offers fans a first look at Kit Harington’s Black Knight filming with the actress. The set photos were recently shared by Evening Standard which shows Harington and Chan taking a stroll around Hampstead Heath. Why am I excited? When I was a kid in England I lived right by, Hampstead Heath!! The two aren’t in their costumes yet and were seen wearing some modern clothing. The next set photos then reveal Chan’s Sersi performing a stunt where she was suspended in midair while wind machines are blowing leaves around her. Here's one of the pics...
In addition, a video was also shared from the set which gives a better look at the said scene. The people around Sersi were sent flying whilst she gets hoisted up. There’s no telling of what’s actually happening in this scene or what Black Knight is doing while Sersi is in mid-air, but this could possibly be the biggest reveal from the set photos and clips yet.
Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...
Maybe not. So, journalists sometimes make mistakes and then editorial mistakes are undeniably hilarious. Like this one...
Or receive one like that. Girls, did you ever read the Fabulous 5 books? I never heard of them myself but I they sure had an odd title on one of them...
If you're thinking on cheating on your loved one you might wanna think twice after seeing this...
Wow! If I had a TARDIS I would probably end up in Chicago in 1948 and come across a mother who hides her face in shame after putting her children up for sale.
Breaking news... Houston Texans unveiled a new logo after blowing a 24-0 lead.
Hahahaha. I mentioned at the top of the Phile how the press handle Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton differently. Here's another example...
Remember how people freaked out every time Meghan Markle touched her baby bump on camera? Well, when Kate did the same thing, it was considered cute. That's crazy, right? Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York, here is...
Top Phive Things Overheard About The Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Drama
5. Excuse me, did Meghan Markle just direct gender-swapped Hallmark movie where the prince gives up his crown for love?
4. I'm seeing a lot of #Megxit but no #Harryverderci.
3. Meghan and Harry to the Royal family: night imma head out.
2. Do you know what we are, babe? Fucking crown destroyers.
And the number one thing overheard about the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drama was...
1. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are willingly about to move out of a Royal fucking palace and I'm still here hoping my parents don't kick me off the family phone plan.
Ummm... if you spot the Mindphuck let me know. So, there's this girl who still thinks it's the 90s. She wanted to come on and give some advice or tell us something. I really don't know. Anyway, please welcome to the Phile...
Me: Jessica? Where's Emily? Who are you?
Jessica: I'm Emily's sister. Emily went off to college or something. I'm so excited that someone from 10,000 Maniacs are here. Natalie Merchant is such a great singer. I love the song "These Are the Days."
Me: Ummmm... okay. So, what do you have to tell us?
Jessica: Don't get this game...
Me: Why not?
Jessica: It set me up thinking I'd be going on shopping sprees everyday and I can't even afford a hair tie.
Me: Awe. Haha.
Jessica: Yeah, I'm being played. Well, gotta go back to school. Bye.
Me: Ummm... bye. Jessica Enistink, the girl who still thinks it's the 90s, kids.
Hahahaha. We often hear tales about bridesmaids struggling to find the right dress for the wedding, or brides who demand concessions from their friends when it comes to hair or outfits. But the monstrous and invasive wedding demands aren't limited to bridesmaids, there are groomsmen who also face surprising dress code requirements and power struggles ahead of the ceremony. In a recent email to the Phile, a groomsman asked if he's wrong for not wanting to shave his beard or wear glasses at the wedding. He kicked off the email by sharing that his sister is getting married soon, and he's been asked to grow his beard long, shave it, or wear glasses to the wedding.
"So, a close family member is getting married soon. I have been told to either grow my beard out a lot, or shave it completely for the wedding. Or the option of wearing glasses that I only use while looking at classroom boards from far away, while sitting. The moment before I stand to walk around, I remove my glasses. I only use them in the classroom while sitting." He went on to share that the reason behind this request is that he apparently resembles the groom, so slightly altering his appearance would count as a "wedding present" to the couple. "I have been told to do this as their 'wedding present.' Also because a very old family member recently mistook the groom for myself. I have not seen this family member for a long time. I live several hours away from most of the family anyway. I don't see them too often, but will during the wedding. I am a member of the groomsmen. I don't feel it is okay to strongly request this, to the point of being overly upset if I choose to not follow their request." However, to him, the request feels selfish and strange. Why should he change his appearance so the groom can shine, when they are completely different men? "A request can be denied, and I am choosing to have a cleanly shaped beard, and not wear glasses that will make me nearly blind while walking around. I don't think I look too similar to the soon to be married groom. We look similar, but its quite easy to tell us apart. I don't feel it's my issue to change my appearance for the wedding just because of a similarity. I find it upsetting that I am told to change my appearance because of their choice to marry a person that may look similar and not my choice that we do have a slight resemblance." One of his parents thinks he's being selfish, and should just do his sister and her fiancé this solid, while the other parents agrees that it's a weird request. "Edit: The close family member is my sister by the way. Also one parent seems quite upset that I am not going to follow their request, saying its a simple thing to do for them. Which yea, it is simple to do, yet I may be stubborn in my decision, but feels wrong to change my looks and fake on my part. And the other parent seems to completely agree with my decision. What should I do? Am I wrong?" I think you should get petty and dye your beard an ostentatious color. You should also ask her what's up with your sister marrying a man who can be easily confused with you. There are other ways to address this issue. For instance, they could have the groomsmen wear different suits than the groom, a different boutonnière, a different tie, etc. Asking you to change your entire look is absurd. If it’s something they’re truly concerned about they can address it themselves and find a way to set you apart from the groom. It's pretty clear that this is a bonkers request, particularly since it was only one elderly family member who has confused the two men. Hopefully, his sister and future brother-in-law are able to relax enough to realize this isn't a pressing issue. If you have a problem and you want me to help email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com.
The 112th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...
Joe will be on the Phile in a few weeks.
Phact 1. The patent for fire hydrant was destroyed when the patent office in Washington D.C. caught on fire in 1836.
Phact 2. There is a service in Las Vegas that will come to you and cure a hangover with IV fluids and IV vitamins.
Phact 3. In 1991, a 5.5 ft. tall “super-slasher” Raptor skeleton was discovered in Utah.
Phact 4. In the debut of Hulk, Stan Lee chose gray for the Hulk because he wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group. Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, had problems with the gray coloring, resulting in different shades of grey, and even green, in the issue. After seeing the first published issue, Lee chose to change the skin color to green.
Phact 5. The Russians defending Osowiec Fortress in WWI, were attacked by Germans using poisoned gases. The Russians that survived, counter-attacked (covered in blood)... shocking the Germans, and making them flee. This was later dubbed “the attack of the dead men."
Neil Peart
September 12th, 1952 — January 7th, 2020
In no rush. At all.
Me: Hey, Dennis, welcome to the Phile. How are you, sir?
Dennis: I'm good, Jason, how are you?
Me: I'm good. So, I have a funny story to tell you before we start. I saw you guys play in Orlando at the Bob Carr Auditorium on the "Our Time In Eden" tour and after the show I met Natalie Merchant backstage and got my t-shirt signed. I told her if I had a daughter I'd name her "Natalie" and I asked her out for drinks, which she kindly declined. I had the biggest crush on her back then. Anyway, now that I said that... when you guys formed you were all young musicians from all different bands, right?
Dennis: Well, sort of. We actually started around college radio, Steve Gustafson and I. Steve's our bass player and we met in high school which would be 1972, which is kind of a long time ago. We were in homeroom together and there was no A, B, C, D for Drew, I guess there was not E, F's because he was right behind me. We met there and just became friends and then we did different things and bummed around and then we ended up at a local community college then started a radio station there. Then when Jimmy Carter opened up the air waves. It was really the heyday of college radio in the late 70s and stuff. So we started a college radio station which attracted all the young hipsters and all the fun people. We were playing the Gang of Four, the Talking Heads, and all kinds of new wave and punk rock music, whatever you want to call it mixed with Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead. Through that we met Rob Buck, who had a band. His drummer went to jail so he was looking for other people in a band to join a band. Then there was a young lady, a 16-year-old who was enrolled in college because she graduated early and she came down with an armful of David Bowie and Roxy Music records, and that was Natalie. We met her at the college radio station. It happened all around college radio where a bunch of people liked cool music. We started the band Still Life in 1981.
Me: Who was in the first band?
Dennis: Me, Steve, Rob and Natalie where in Still Life. We had another drummer then.
Me: What was Still Life like?
Dennis: Still Life was a messy hippy band. We'd be all messed up until we met John Lombardo who was in a new wave cover band and really did songs. John was the guy who helped us form songs and become songwriters. He was really Natalie's biggest editor and collaborator.
Me: When you first met Natalie what did you guys think?
Dennis: Well, it was kind of like holy cow. This is a little power house and a brilliant person. Natalie was in this indecipherable poet.
Me: When you first met Rob Buck what did you think?
Dennis: When I was in a room with Rob I was like "what are you playing?" He was a combination of Robert Fripp and Robert Klein and all these weird new wave guitar players. Steve and I who were regular guys, but kid of the business guys in the group said, "Holy cow, we can't eat this go, this is something great here. These two are unbelievable. We have to figure out how to make this work." I don't mean to be mercenary about it but it didn't take a genius to figure out these geniuses. We just tried to keep it together with them.
Me: You and Natalie wrote together as well. Didn't you both write "Planned Obsolescence"?
Dennis: Yeah, I wrote the music and Natalie wrote the words. But John would actually work with her on lyrics. He was about nine years older than Natalie and he had a masters degree in art from the University of Buffalo by the time he joined the band. He was a mentor quite a bit for all if us, especially lyrically for Natalie and working on the lyric part of it. For us forming the songs to have more parts to them.
Me: When you guys first got together and were touring were you proactive of Natalie being she was so young? Were you guys like big brothers to her?
Dennis: Yeah, there was a lot of that big brotherness to her because first of all she's about 5'2 and she was a bit younger than us, but she's a tough girl and smart girl. I don't know, we might've protected her and been afraid of her. Ha ha ha.
Me: I totally forgot you guys covered "Peace Train," by Phile Alum Cat Stevens. How did you decide what cover songs you were going to do?
Dennis: You know decisions are made some time in the moment. What happened with the story with "Peace Train" is we were going down to Ithaca to play a bar called the Haunt. In the fall of '86 we go down there to play and we were just looking at some fun things to do and I don't know how it came up, we all liked Cat Stevens and "Peace Train" came up and we all thought it was like a reggae song. We thought it'll be fun to play because we loved the message of the song. This was the age of Reagan, and we all hated Ronald Reagan and we hated what was going on with Reagansim and the whole thing and anything that sounded like a protest was good for us. We thought "Peace Train" was a protest song. It's not really hard of a song except there's 35 verses to it so that made it tough. We played it once at the Haunt and it was really messy and more of a reggae jam and groove thing that we did. We maybe did three or four verses and it was terrible. In classic record company fashion we made the album "In My Tribe" with Peter Asher and we give it to the record company and... guess what they said? They said we don't hear a hit. You probably heard this from every fucking band that's been around. They said come up with a cover and Peter Asher goes, "Have you done any covers lately?" We said, "Well, about three months ago we did 'Peace Train' at the Haunt." He goes, "'Peace Train'! That's it!" So we did it and that's basically what happened.
Me: I have that CD, and I looked up "In My Tribe" on iTunes and that song isn't there. What happened?
Dennis: It was a Salman Rushdie thing. And the fact that we weren't that married to that song. That song was kind of forced upon us. So it wasn't like it was a staple of our repertoire. And the fact this guy was out there and the whole situation with Salman Rushdie and all this censorcism and Jihad and fatwa. Let's stop fatwa, let's all stop this. Done.
Me: I got to interview Salman on the Phile but we didn't talk about any of this. Do you know what Cat Stevens thought of the song?
Dennis: He wrote us a letter through his manager. They called us and stuff and he said he really wasn't advocating for anybody's murder, he was just trying to be faithful to his people he respected tor the faith and stuff. He gave us an explanation. We said whatever man, you're a great artist but we're taking the record off, we are done with this song. He was cool with us, as long he wasn't calling for anybody's murder, we believed it when he said that and that's cool. Anyway, it was a weird situation.
Me: Yeesh. I didn't realize any of that. I love the song "Trouble Me." That song is about her father who was ill at the time, am I right?
Dennis: Yeah, I believe so. She never said that but he had some heart issues very recently before we wrote that song.
Me: What I love about 10,000 Maniacs is that every song and album sounds different. It's hard to put the band in a genre. What would you say?
Dennis: Yeah, we fall into certain channels.
Me: So, how did you guys write the songs? What came first? Music or lyrics?
Dennis: We just played. Every song we ever did we just played completely instrumentality, the complete arrangement and we would record it on a boom box and she would take it home and write lyrics to it. Then we would never hear it until we went into the studio. A lot of the songs we would do live before we ever recorded them. We would do the songs live without real lyrics. We did "These Are the Days" two months before we had any lyrics to it. She would babble over it as we did different arrangements. She never really sang in rehearsal. She sat in the corner, listened to the music and wrote lyrics that way.
Me: Did you think that was strange?
Dennis: I didn't know anything else. One of the things that were our demise was was the fact that we were a bunch of guys with wives, drinking whiskey and beers and were sitting around playing and she sat in the corner writing lyrics. That's basically the way it was. It worked out. She would say, "Do that again, do the chorus again." Or "we need a better bridge." So we'd sit around and think of a better bridge. But mostly the music was the music and she put the lyrics on later. Then we would massage it often when we were touring.
Me: Did she ever give you an resistance when you were "massaging" the songs?
Dennis: No. I mean we are not stupid. When we got to a point where it's basally the song then it's the singers song and it has to be comfortable for the singer to sing. We learned a long time ago drummers drum, singers sing, guitar players play the guitar and we never tell the other players what to do. In the beginning we could say, "Do this beat." or "kind of go this way with the rhythm or something." As it happens it takes on a life of its own. From that point for us we gave to Natalie, we gave it to the singer, we give it to Mary and they'll take it. If they say to double this then we better fucking double that. If they say cut it in half then we cut it in half. Maybe we'll try it and we'll try it live and it just doesn't work and they know it too. Everybody knows it really. As long as we're honest with each other it's not that hard.
Me: When Natalie announced she was leaving the band did that catch you guys by surprise?
Dennis: No, She told us long before that. It wasn't a surprise but I think it was always, always, always her plan on going her own way because that's who she is and that's how she is and that's how she's been ever since then. She produces her own records, she fires managers, she does everything. She's a very strong person and a very smart person. She knows exactly what she wants to do and she does it.
Me: Was there any tension in the band, Dennis?
Dennis: Well, there was always tension. We never knew when she was going to leave. She always said basically she was going to leave. Every big wig in the record company and every manager type person wanted her to be a solo artist. We knew that so we knew it was going to happen. She basically left when she was 30 and that seemed pretty much what her plan was. We knew that before "Our Time In Eden," so hence the title. And "These Are the Days," if you listen to that record that's what that record is about.
Me: "These Are the Days" is one of my favorite songs ever. When she was leaving or after she left how did that affect the band?
Dennis: Artistically we were a cohesive piece of unit but as I said we were different personalities. We were four men that partied a lot more than Natalie did and she got pretty tired of that. We were on the road a lot and we partied a lot harder than Natalie ever partied. We'd be up in front of the bus smoking joints and she'd be in the back teaching herself German. She's different breed and the tension was there. Not artistically when we worked on records but more so when it did with the touring and stuff. Being around each other all the time and being such different personalities. When our wives were going to come out on tour with us we had to tell Natalie and Natalie would fly to the next gig and not be on the bus and hang out. So she just kind of drifted away from us and our lifestyle and the way we were. I get that. We did drink too much, we did party too much.
Me: Do you talk to her now?
Dennis: We have a great business relationship. She's very good to us as far as our businesses for all these years ever since then. There's no complaints, she's been very generous too. But she did what she always wanted to do and doesn't look back. Never.
Me: What's the last time you talked to her?
Dennis: I haven't had a personal conversation with her since 1993. We do business together but we don't do the other stuff. I sent her some notes on things and we did business and she's very good about that. It's weird, but that's the way she is. We're regular guys but she's a genius.
Me: How did you guys get involved with doing the "Unplugged" show?
Dennis: Well, our management told them we were going to break up and that was it. That was the end of the Maniacs and they said oh fuck, we better do "Unplugged." We did the first "Unplugged," we did one of the first ones ever. They went to them and said we have this new record coming out and it's going to be big and they should have us do "Unplugged." They could put out "Our Time In Eden" and they could put out "Unplugged." It'll be our swan song, blah blah blah.
Me: What was it like doing that show then?
Dennis: It was a big project, we bought a lot of other musicians in. We had a lot of fun, I met David Byrne and hung out with him. He's on the "Unplugged" thing and we did a bunch of songs. It was funny, he came in and wanted to do a Graham Parsons song. Natalie said no, we're going to "Dallas" by Jimmy Dale Gilmore which was another country song. Dave was into country music at the time so we did that and we did Dolly Parton. I remember her saying no to "Las Vegas" or something and she was not in the room at the time and we said, "Sorry, David, but she's in charge." And he goes, "Yeah, I know how that is." Hahahahahahahaha.
Me: That's funny. David Byrne is going to be on the Phile in a few weeks. I love the version of "Because the Night" on that record. Was that Natalie's idea?
Dennis: Yeah. She was a Patti Smith fan for sure, not sure if she was a Springsteen fan. What rock and roll girl doesn't want to be Patti Smith?
Me: Was it a fun song to do?
Dennis: It was a good fucking song so it wasn't hard ruining that one. We tried but we couldn't do it. It's a little out of tune but Natalie was very passionate about it. The trouble was we didn't get to rock it, we didn't get to play electric guitar on it which is why we did it again on "Playing Favorites." I wish we had chance of Rob doing electric. We picked some good covers in our lives.
Me: I heard the cover of "More Than This" a number of times but didn't know it was you guys with Mary singing it. After Rob passed you guys took a break, right?
Dennis: Yeah, we had to, it was devastating stuff. It was a difficult period of time leading up to that. When that happened we made some mistakes after that but with survivors guilt we had young families. Rob dies and my daughters 8 and my son's 5, it wasn't hard to say fuck, let's take three years and be a family man and spend a lot of time writing in the basement with Jeff and Steve and stuff but mostly staying home which is something I hadn't done for a very, very long time. So it was good. It wasn't good that Rob dies but good I got to be hime for a while. I tried to sing about it and write about it. I did. I got to write lyrics for the first time and to me "Music from the Motion Picture" was the "motion picture" of my life and our lives. That's why I wanted to call it that and the songs about what we experienced from Natalie leaving and Rob dying through our own fights with alcohol and food. I went up to 340 pounds. Now I weigh 220 but life happens and it's not always good things that happen. "Music from the Motion Picture" talks about a lot of that stuff. I'm proud of that record more than any record we've ever done because it was very special for me because I wrote most of the lyrics on that record. It means a lot to me because of that.
Me: On that about what song is about Rob?
Dennis: "Gold." We wrote that almost immediately after he died and before he died. Jeff and I went down to the hospital to see him and we went back to my basement and basically wrote that song in two days. It's as honest and pure and emotional the way we felt.
Me: How did Mary Ramsey get to be the new singer replacing Natalie? Was that hard?
Dennis: Yeah, sure it was. It's a family so our older "brother" gets pissed at us and quits the band and he goes off and finds Mary and starts his own duo. We invite them back and they open for us and went on tour with us to England and toured around the country with us. Mary is on "Unplugged," she's the violin player and is the back up singer on "Trouble Me" on "Unplugged." So they just came in and it was family stuff. John got pissed and so he left but he wasn't that pissed so he came back to play. It was very natural for Mary to come in and play.
Me: I think she's great. Was there any nerves for Mary?
Dennis: Oh, yeah. It was really hard on Mary. People still, STILL yell "I love you, Natalie." People after the show still say, "I love you, Natalie." She laughs it off. Also it was harder at the beginning that pressure was really intense, very intense for all of us. The record "Love Among the Ruins" killed Rob and "Earth Pressed Flat," and trying to overcome the legacy of Natalie and nobody giving us any fucking credit. It was really tough on Rob and tough on Mary and John. Me and Steve mainly drank it off and survived. Rob drank it off and didn't survive. That's some great music there but a dark chapter at the same time.
Me: Foghat went through the same thing the Charlie Huhn after my dad passed away. Okay, so, how would you compare the record industry now to what it was back in the day?
Dennis: The record industry is a nightmare. People in it are nightmares. It's a better thing now how many people have better control over what they do and there's a direct liaison to the fans. We went through a lot of shit with those people. It pays a lot less. It is better, especially if we can get over the hump. Let's face it in the end record companies were marketing companies who tried to tell us what to do artistically which always almost backfired. They didn't tell us to do "Because the Night," we figured out to do "Because the Night" and then, etc, etc. They told us to do "Peace Train" which we had taken off the record anyway. The only trouble is I want to be an artist, not a business man. I don't do it, Steve does it for us. I don't want to be a Facebook master, or a Twitter master or an Instagram master. We were our own record label in 1982 when we put out our first record and in 1983. It's hard fucking work. It's not the same thing as being an artist. it's not what I want to do but it's a better link and we are allowed to do the music we want. We don't just make as much money. It's nice to have a billion dollar record to help us sell records.
Me: You guys still do a lot of touring, Do you enjoy it as much as you did before?
Dennis: More. We're playing really, really well, playing the best we played in a couple of decades. We're a lot more sober, we've grown up. We've got in ear monitors, we could hear better, which was amazing when we got in ear monitors. It was getting rough, there's a physical reality to what we do. It's been a lot of fun because it's a luxury. We're not trying to be the next big thing. We're not trying to squeeze every dime out of it that we can. If we can take a tour bus for the weekend to be more comfortable then that's what we do.
Me: Dennis, it's so good to have you here on the Phile. I wonder if I'll ever get Natalie on the Phile. I doubt it. Haha. I hope this was fun, sir.
Dennis: Thank you, Jason.
That about does to for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Dennis Drew for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Thursday with Céline Dion! Yep. Her. Crazy, right? Is it a big deal she's on the Phile? Some say yes, others say no. Hahaha. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
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