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Post by bambooflute on Aug 14, 2014 14:57:26 GMT
I'm not trying to be negative, but I am curious because I missed Tull's heyday of popularity by only a few years! (The first album I bought when it was released was "A")
So...when did Tull's commercial bubble burst? I have read many places that the "Songs from the Wood" album did very well for them, but then "Heavy Horses" didn't do so well a year later, and yet I have also read that 1978 saw them selling out Madison Square Garden on multiple nights, etc (with the infamous satellite broadcast originating from there). I always been led to believe that "Stormwatch," an album I love, was a poor seller. And then came "A," and I know what happened from that point onwards...
This is why it's great to have so many people who were active fans during that era - I'd like to know your perspectives on what was going on at that time!
David
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Post by Quizz Kid on Aug 15, 2014 16:58:03 GMT
I'm not trying to be negative, but I am curious because I missed Tull's heyday of popularity by only a few years! (The first album I bought when it was released was "A")
So...when did Tull's commercial bubble burst? I have read many places that the "Songs from the Wood" album did very well for them, but then "Heavy Horses" didn't do so well a year later, and yet I have also read that 1978 saw them selling out Madison Square Garden on multiple nights, etc (with the infamous satellite broadcast originating from there). I always been led to believe that "Stormwatch," an album I love, was a poor seller. And then came "A," and I know what happened from that point onwards...
This is why it's great to have so many people who were active fans during that era - I'd like to know your perspectives on what was going on at that time!
David Hi David I think that's a toughie, I remember a few years back there was a post about 'when did tull jump the shark' [as a Brit, it was not a phrase I fully understood at the time]. For me the waning in their commercial appeal in the UK seemed to follow the APP fiasco, when the band opted for smaller venues again. However they seemed to cope with demand on an ad hoc basis taking the option of adding dates to accommodate demand, I suppose to avoid one large venue sitting half empty. I much prefered more dates at smaller more intimate venues [although it did hit my bank balance as I opted to attend all shows in my area!]. That approach carried on for a few years around Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses which seemed pretty well attended tours. I think in the UK during the punk years there was a second press backlash post-APP and that impacted on the public appeal of the band. That continued on for a few years and by the time of BatB the shows were less well attended. I went to see the BatB show in Birmingham at the NEC, a venue that can only be described as an aircraft hanger with no appeal at all, where the back half the venue was screened off by curtains. After that it was back to smaller and smaller venues albeit with more regional dates.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2014 21:33:47 GMT
I'm not trying to be negative, but I am curious because I missed Tull's heyday of popularity by only a few years! (The first album I bought when it was released was "A")
So...when did Tull's commercial bubble burst? I have read many places that the "Songs from the Wood" album did very well for them, but then "Heavy Horses" didn't do so well a year later, and yet I have also read that 1978 saw them selling out Madison Square Garden on multiple nights, etc (with the infamous satellite broadcast originating from there). I always been led to believe that "Stormwatch," an album I love, was a poor seller. And then came "A," and I know what happened from that point onwards...
This is why it's great to have so many people who were active fans during that era - I'd like to know your perspectives on what was going on at that time!
David Hi David That was a good question and caused me to go back a consult the venerable Ministry of Information which is usually pretty reliable. Im probably not the most neutral opinion on it as I attended no matter what from 71 on. All of these are shows I attended in the Los Angeles area. In 1970 Tull was on their first headlining tour in LA area with one night Anaheim Convention Center (7,500) (and I wanted to be there so bad! I was just 14) 1971 after Aqualung was released they did one night at Anaheim and one night at the Forum (19,000) 1972 TAAB tour was at the Forum (19,000) for 2 nights 1973 APP was played at the LA Forum (19,000) across a 4 night engagement. After that was a storm of bad press…… 1975 The band went on to break attendance records at that venue selling out 5 nights at the Forum after releasing Warchild. Thinking that might be a fluke? 1976 The next year after releasing MITG and TOTRR they filled the LA Colosium, a football stadium….somewhere around 90,000. 1977 SFTW tour in LA did 4 nights at 3 venues that averaged 7-13,000. They did not return to the Forum on this tour. This was probably a response to the "poor" sales of TOTRR….. 1978 Heavy Horses (that you heard was a dip in sales) played 2 nights at the Forum (19,000) and 3 nights at the Long Beach Arena (13,500) 1979 Stormwatch tour in LA filled the Long Beach Arena 3 times followed by a benefit concert at Santa Moncia civic (4,000) That was the end of the classic line up and I myself believe that this was a huge hit to the band in terms of possible audience. It must be said that punk and new wave had taken over by now and Tull was the enemy…….But Tull continued 1980 The A tour stopped in LA at the Sports Arena (17,000) for 2 nights….yes it was dwindling…… 1982 Broadsword show was 1 night at the Sports arena and 1 night at The Swing Auditorium (10,000) 1983 Now a year went by and "Walk into light" came out……..People were starting to forget who Tull was….. 1984 was Underwraps, the album with out a drummer…..They sold out 2 nights at The Universal Amphitheatre (6,100) They only played 1 night though as after a horrible first show Ian cancelled the second because he lost his voice. Someone still owes me 35.00 for that ticket! That was the big nail for a majority of Tulls seventies audience, the music wasn't allll that hot and the buzz and mystique that used to surround the band and drive attendance was ….all but gone. 1987 After that Id say that Crest was huge for the band and myself I think you may know the rest of the story. I'd say for me, the last really good Tull show was 1993, great energy and Ians voice was in pretty good shape. Since has been …gravy. BUT I'll ALWAYS go Darin Cody Hope that helps :-)
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Post by Tulltapes on Aug 17, 2014 23:55:07 GMT
They were still a major touring act through all the 70's.. I think the punk movement around 1976 had an effect on the attention they received and bands like a tull started to be looked at by some younger music fans as dinosaur rock..ha! However with SFTW they kind of reinvented themselves. While they had ups and downs they were consistently a big draw. After the band split up in 1980 it was never quite the same.
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Post by bambooflute on Aug 18, 2014 23:37:16 GMT
Thanks for the detailed and insightful responses everybody!! From my perspective, first seeing them in 1984 at an arena in Worcester, Mass, the place was about two-thirds full. The next show, in 1987, was full, and the outdoor gig in Mansfield, Massachusetts in 1988 was sold-out, with a wildly enthusiastic crowd, people playing flutes in impromptu jams in the parking lot beforehand, etc... That, to me, was the "peak" of their popularity that I was able to view firsthand. Since then, it has been a slow, but very noticeable, slide into obscurity.
Not that popularity makes music any better - I saw Fairport Convention in 1995 in a pub with 50 people, and it was GREAT! But, as a Tull fan, it is a little disheartening to see the audience ebb away to virtual nothingness.
Speaking of 1995, that was my favorite year for Ian/Tull - both "Divinities" and (you'll be sick of hearing me praise this) "Roots to Branches" were brilliant albums and the live shows blew me away. They were playing 2600 (ish) capacity theatres in my area at that time. Too bad such places seem almost like huge arenas compared to many of the venues IA is playing now...
I guess nothing lasts forever.
- David
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Post by Tulltapes on Aug 19, 2014 1:33:30 GMT
Thanks for the detailed and insightful responses everybody!! From my perspective, first seeing them in 1984 at an arena in Worcester, Mass, the place was about two-thirds full. The next show, in 1987, was full, and the outdoor gig in Mansfield, Massachusetts in 1988 was sold-out, with a wildly enthusiastic crowd, people playing flutes in impromptu jams in the parking lot beforehand, etc... That, to me, was the "peak" of their popularity that I was able to view firsthand. Since then, it has been a slow, but very noticeable, slide into obscurity. Not that popularity makes music any better - I saw Fairport Convention in 1995 in a pub with 50 people, and it was GREAT! But, as a Tull fan, it is a little disheartening to see the audience ebb away to virtual nothingness. Speaking of 1995, that was my favorite year for Ian/Tull - both "Divinities" and (you'll be sick of hearing me praise this) "Roots to Branches" were brilliant albums and the live shows blew me away. They were playing 2600 (ish) capacity theatres in my area at that time. Too bad such places seem almost like huge arenas compared to many of the venues IA is playing now... I guess nothing lasts forever. - David I agree David that 95 was a good year for Tull. The 93-94 25th anniversary shows a year prior were good shows and Divinities album + show was superb. Totally different from what I would expect from Ian. Top that off with a great new album "Roots to Branches" including new influences and instrumentation, good songs & great playing by Martin. The only problem was that Dave Pegg who I considered an integral part of Tull was gone. The tours that followed became more and more repetitive and straightforward. "Dot Com" was not a bad break, but not up to par with Roots and the material quickly abandoned.. and the tours that followed dot com ... well we know how this story goes.
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Post by bambooflute on Aug 19, 2014 17:25:08 GMT
Thanks for the detailed and insightful responses everybody!! From my perspective, first seeing them in 1984 at an arena in Worcester, Mass, the place was about two-thirds full. The next show, in 1987, was full, and the outdoor gig in Mansfield, Massachusetts in 1988 was sold-out, with a wildly enthusiastic crowd, people playing flutes in impromptu jams in the parking lot beforehand, etc... That, to me, was the "peak" of their popularity that I was able to view firsthand. Since then, it has been a slow, but very noticeable, slide into obscurity. Not that popularity makes music any better - I saw Fairport Convention in 1995 in a pub with 50 people, and it was GREAT! But, as a Tull fan, it is a little disheartening to see the audience ebb away to virtual nothingness. Speaking of 1995, that was my favorite year for Ian/Tull - both "Divinities" and (you'll be sick of hearing me praise this) "Roots to Branches" were brilliant albums and the live shows blew me away. They were playing 2600 (ish) capacity theatres in my area at that time. Too bad such places seem almost like huge arenas compared to many of the venues IA is playing now... I guess nothing lasts forever. - David I agree David that 95 was a good year for Tull. The 93-94 25th anniversary shows a year prior were good shows and Divinities album + show was superb. Totally different from what I would expect from Ian. Top that off with a great new album "Roots to Branches" including new influences and instrumentation, good songs & great playing by Martin. The only problem was that Dave Pegg who I considered an integral part of Tull was gone. The tours that followed became more and more repetitive and straightforward. "Dot Com" was not a bad break, but not up to par with Roots and the material quickly abandoned.. and the tours that followed dot com ... well we know how this story goes. Good points! The 1995 material highlighted what a unique talent IA is an what a unique band JT were; at the time, I thought it was the beginning of a new "golden age," if you will. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end of all new material. Well, until now...which is a controversial subject for another day! -David
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Post by Quizz Kid on Aug 20, 2014 13:40:03 GMT
Good points! The 1995 material highlighted what a unique talent IA is an what a unique band JT were; at the time, I thought it was the beginning of a new "golden age," if you will. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end of all new material. Well, until now...which is a controversial subject for another day! -David With the exception of Dot.Com, the post '95 period may not have seen much activity in terms of new music, but it did spawn the opportunity for Tull fans to get together on this web-thing and share their interests. So, whilst the home team were sticking to a life on the road, with a touch of the same old, same old, the fans were in the most part trying to keep the flag flying by running chat borads and keeping the name going other than in the odd venue on an odd tour here or there around the more remaote parts of the world. Love it or loathe it, the recent bout of activity is to be welcomed and in the main lauded but I wonder whether it would have happened if those anal fans hadn't kept the name of Tull going through the lean years.
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Post by bambooflute on Aug 20, 2014 15:08:12 GMT
Good points! The 1995 material highlighted what a unique talent IA is an what a unique band JT were; at the time, I thought it was the beginning of a new "golden age," if you will. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end of all new material. Well, until now...which is a controversial subject for another day! -David With the exception of Dot.Com, the post '95 period may not have seen much activity in terms of new music, but it did spawn the opportunity for Tull fans to get together on this web-thing and share their interests. So, whilst the home team were sticking to a life on the road, with a touch of the same old, same old, the fans were in the most part trying to keep the flag flying by running chat borads and keeping the name going other than in the odd venue on an odd tour here or there around the more remaote parts of the world. Love it or loathe it, the recent bout of activity is to be welcomed and in the main lauded but I wonder whether it would have happened if those anal fans hadn't kept the name of Tull going through the lean years. Very well said! I don't want to give the wrong impression; while I was disappointed in the lack of new music for all those years, I still went to the concerts and enjoyed most of them. I never felt like I was getting poor product. Regarding the new material, I love "TAAB2' and, while I'm disappointed in "Homo Erraticus," I am glad IA got back into the studio rather than just fizzle out playing the oldies. Plus, you are right: we did keep Tull alive through buying concert tickets and keeping the discussion going! David
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Post by Tulltapes on Aug 20, 2014 19:31:37 GMT
Good points! The 1995 material highlighted what a unique talent IA is an what a unique band JT were; at the time, I thought it was the beginning of a new "golden age," if you will. Sadly, it was the beginning of the end of all new material. Well, until now...which is a controversial subject for another day! -David With the exception of Dot.Com, the post '95 period may not have seen much activity in terms of new music, but it did spawn the opportunity for Tull fans to get together on this web-thing and share their interests. So, whilst the home team were sticking to a life on the road, with a touch of the same old, same old, the fans were in the most part trying to keep the flag flying by running chat borads and keeping the name going other than in the odd venue on an odd tour here or there around the more remaote parts of the world. Love it or loathe it, the recent bout of activity is to be welcomed and in the main lauded but I wonder whether it would have happened if those anal fans hadn't kept the name of Tull going through the lean years. Right Quizz. That reminds me of the first time I was online and used to read the ol' St Cleve Chronicle. Then around 95 I was part of The AOL Tull message board. That's where I read that Pegg had left. I think the internet helped immensely with carrying the Tull torch through the lean years. Even the one album they produced during that time was named "DOT COM". It actually probably renewed my interest in the band being able to talk with other fans and share things that not other friends couldn't appreciate. And David I feel the same about the shows. I enjoyed every one of them but I did take notice that the setlists and jokes/banter was very similar for years and Noyce was a great player but looked like he was asleep most of the time. Peggy was missed!
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