"Phantom" + "West" + John Wetton

Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,

I hope you had a great time tonight, seeing "Phantom Of The Opera"! That is a beautiful theater, the Overture. How nice to have such a venue fairly close to home. I am glad you got to go, and I'll bet you will now want to go to more shows in the future. Musicals, opera and live theater are very addictive, as I have found out myself. Tickets usually aren't cheap, but it's fun to splurge once in a while and go.  :)

I also saw the teaser video for "West", posted by your collaborator Kate. Wow - that is some very expressive dancing with camerawork by you to match. It's like "talking with the body" and I will use a word I've used before to describe the overall effect of your camera and editing : kinetic. Every image of motion leads directly to and connects into the next one. I guess the project is completed or near completion, and I look forward to seeing the whole thing.  :) And, I expect you and Kate will be trying to get it placed in festivals and screenings, etc.

It was sad today to hear about the passing of John Wetton, though not entirely unexpected because he had been ill for some time and had just pulled out of the Asia tour that was scheduled this month.

He wasn't as well known, by name, as a guy like Greg Lake, but like Greg, he was an integral part of some of the greatest records ever made, including "Red" by King Crimson, which many consider to be their best album, and which is without a doubt the progenitor of all progressive metal. I would count it in the 25 Greatest Records Ever Made, and a big part of that reason is the vocal and bass of John Wetton. He was actually on more Crimson records then Greg Lake, and was the only guy who could have replaced him. He sang in a choirboy tenor not far removed from that of Greg, although a bit higher in register. I have always wanted to sing like Greg Lake, and if I had to pick another singer to try for, it would be John Wetton. His voice had so much feeling in it, and so much Englishness, and on top of that he wrote great lyrics too.

I was fortunate to see him play live with UK, a band I mentioned in a recent blog, when I compared an arpeggio Sarah played in the HeadRush video to a line that might have fit in to the music of UK.

I also saw John Wetton on the first Asia tour in 1982. That band had Steve Howe from Yes, and Carl Palmer, and we had expected it to be ultra-progressive, but it was actually a calculated commercial group, and I didn't like it as much, except for a few songs. But it still showed what Wetton could do : he could excel in the most progressive of bands and help create some of the greatest albums of all-time, and he could also write and play a "pop" version of the same style of music and have a Number One Record. Asia was huge in the early 80s, and in 1982 they had the biggest selling album of the year. So he could do it all.

These rock n' rollers, at least the ones from the "old days", they all smoked and drank a lot. Many took a lot of drugs, too. That's why they don't live real long. But man, do they ever give of themselves. When I think of the music these people have given, and the dedication it took to do so, and to tour and tour......

All I can do is say thanks. Because the music has meant so much to me, much more than I could ever describe in words.

That's all for tonight, SB. Everything else is usual, reading about LBJ and this very, very, extremely obtuse Schwaller book. Listening to Lipatti and the new Van Der Graaf Generator album which just came in the mail and sounds great after one listen. Now there are some guys in their late 60s who are still going strong and hopefully won't die anytime soon.  :)

See you in the morning. I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)