Subject: Re: a thought

["Williams, Chris (RSCH)" <Chris_Williams@xxxxxx>]

Scott S wrote:
	> this thought of
	> mine was challenged when I read that "Wearing and tearing" was
written
	> specifically to boost the bands profile when they were losing
fans in the
	> wake of the oncoming "punk" trend. ...just be nice to hear
some feedback
	> on this... are there other instances where they have sold out
or am I
	> being naiive???

Larry Burnett replied:

	I don't think it was them selling out, trying to sell records.
More 
	of an answer to the harsh critisism they were getting from the
punk 
	rockers, "Oh, were old and dead? Well, try some of THIS!" And it

	works, W&T rocks. 

I couldn't agree more. However, you also wrote:

	They definitely 
	weren't losing fans. 

I think this needs to be qualified. In the UK at least, LZ and all
"dinosaur" rock bands lost tons of fans to Punk. There, Punk became
mainstream in a way that is hard for North Americans to fathom. In the
late-70s and early-80s American rock radio was dominated by Zeppelin
while, during the same period, it was hard to find them on the dial in
the UK. The fact that Punk was rejected in the US is one of the many
reasons that LZ --and classic rock in general-- has a degree of mass
popularity here that it doesn't have in the UK. Lucky us, we had Disco
instead.

	I do believe that In Through The Out Door was a 
	major seller, at least in the US, and probably elsewhere as
well.

I believe ITTOD was credited with reviving album sales in what was an
otherwise dismal year for record retailers.

Cheers,

Chris Williams
chris_williams@xxxxxx

"Tapes will get you through.... blah, blah, blah
- --The Fabulous Furry Zep Brothers