On Inspiring Others.....

["David" <davidp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good day to the Led Zeppelin list:

I just want to express my sincere appreciation to Brett McElheny and Paul
Holdren for their private emails to me in which they expressed their
appreciation for the 7/25/69 review I posted to the list on Wednesday.  I
have said it before, and I'll say it again:  If my reviews can have an
affect on just one person, then it makes the effort all worthwhile.   Since
I had an affect on two individuals on a list of over 400,  I am more than
satisfied that the effort was worth it.

With that in mind, I have decided to take my reviews to a more global
audience.  I am currently in the process of putting together a Web page of
all the reviews I have written and those I will be writing in the future. 
It is my hope that I will be able to reach a larger audience and be a
serious contributor to the many Led Zeppelin tape traders out there and the
many casual listeners of Zeppelin who I hope to influence into becoming
bootleg collectors and tape traders.  Perhaps the "real" audience for my
reviews are those who are not as passionate and knowledgeable a fan as
those included on this list, who would enjoy an entertaining and
informative look into the live concert world of Led Zeppelin that they were
unaware of existed in bootleg tapes.

I've discovered that although I sincerely enjoy writing these reviews, what
really motivates me is the hope that I can inspire the reader to explore on
his/her own the wonders of Led Zeppelin and their music.  That exploration
can take on many faces, whether it be a desire to acquire the show in
question or the inspiration just to talk about it.  On a list of folks who
know the music of Led Zeppelin so well, it's understandable that that kind
of "inspiration" is simply not generated.  I feel there is a serious
purpose to my review work and perhaps a presence on the Web is where that
purpose will be sowed.  I'll post the URL when things are ready to go.

As for the list name:  Thor, I am not whining, bitching or complaining in
hopes of motivating the list into a vote that would never take place
anyway.  I just think the name stinks.  I, for one, don't like my love of
Led Zeppelin to be somehow affiliated with the police and the law.  Good
luck to anyone on the list who has to explain to the casual Zeppelin fan
about the origin of the "Badgeholders" name and what the hell it has to do
with Led Zeppelin.  In comparison, "Light and Shade" and "Night Flight"
could be easily related to the music of Led Zeppelin to any casual fan and
even an individual who may not be a fan of Zeppelin.  I had hoped that the
membership would have wanted a list name that actually proclaimed our
special love of this great rock and roll band.  An outsider will take a
look at the list name and immediately, and rightfully, resolve that we are
a mailing list "for police officers only".  And this "secret society" idea?
 Come on.  I don't want us to be a secret society.  I want us to cry out to
the world about the music of Led Zeppelin.  I don't want us to be so damn
arrogant about it.  I mean, our purpose is to bring members in, not "scare"
them away with talk about a "secret society".  Our purpose should be to
bring the musical world of Led Zeppelin "to the world", and anyone who is
not on this list.  That is the greater purpose of a mailing list devoted to
the music of Led Zeppelin--not to any damn "Badgeholder".

I'm sure I'll hear it from all of you--fire away.  Negativity seems to be
the only way to inspire this list anyway....

David