| October 21st, 2005 01:20 PM |
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| CaptainFuck |
Some years ago one IORR forum subscriber named Dandelion has asked me what a diehard fan is. These are some of my thoughts of what a diehard fan may be. The term is used for a diehard Rolling Stones fan. Of course there are different grades, even of diehard fans. I have left out some more unpleasant features that diehard fans may develop.
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The diehard fan KNOWS there is no better band than the Rolling Stones. Being a diehard fan may well be a life-long addiction. There is no serious discussion about that - that's why the diehard is called a fan ("fanatic"). Flaws in the bands career are interpreted as a chance for the better. This, of course, means there are no real flaws, just phases and stages to overcome. The diehards feeling towards "normal" fans is a mixture between sympathy, pity and disgust - and more of the latter if the fan is part of the despised "general public". But a diehard will support the newcomer fan in his enthusiasm for the Rolling Stones.
The diehard fan will say that the Rolling Stones have changed his life. That is no minor matter. He listens to their music quite a lot and all his friends, colleagues, neighbors will sooner but not later know that he loves the Rolling Stones. Occasionally he will play their records loud (because they "should be played loud") like in a kind of purgatory act. Also he is sure and proud of the bands enormous effect on rock music, society and generally the world. Many non-diehard fan have the desire to personally meet the members of the band. To touch them. To get an autograph. To be photographed with any of them. To look through the window and watch them eat. A diehard will rather want to BE like any old Rolling Stone. For example, they will try to move like Keith Richards or cut their hair like Keith Richards or drink Jack Daniel's like Keith Richards or play their Fender Telecaster in Open G tuning like Keith Richards, etc.
Of course a fan has or wants to have a rather complete collection of the Rolling Stones music so he can anytime listen to every of their songs he wants to. The diehard will search the Stones section in every record store he passes by. He is constantly assuming and searching for rare or unreleased gems that might reveal a different side of his favorite band. Good songs are well-received, bad songs don't diminish the hope for upcoming or still-to-be-found better songs. He can stand listening to noisy audience recordings without a problem. He needs to hear cover versions, original versions, unreleased versions and alternate versions to keep himself happy. He may also develop a need for solo recordings, guest recordings, stereo or mono versions, etc. If the diehard fan plays music himself, he will probably try to play some covers of the Rolling Stones.
In constant search for information the diehard fan has to read a lot about the Rolling Stones past, present and future, may it be in books, magazines, or in the internet. He has to hear lots of records that have influenced the Rolling Stones (these are called "roots") and to hear lots of records that were influenced by the Rolling Stones. He will have to listen to musical styles as different as blues, rock'n'roll, country, soul, folk, funk, reggae, hard rock, and appreciate all of them for what's their worth. This will eventually lead to a profound knowledge about music in general (and hopefully a good taste) but especially in published Rolling Stones details and quotations. In fact the well-informed diehards sometimes resemble the guys who always have their verse from the bible ready.
But besides of having a complete collection of their music, the diehard has also an elaborate opinion about what is good for the band and what not. The diehard is not completely uncritical. He will always be happy to hear about the Rolling Stones and he will defend them against presumptuous fans of other bands anytime. But like any true believer he is full of doubts and in fact he knows very well there is no excuse for his excesses. He just can't help them.
Some of the side-effects of being a diehard Rolling Stones fan may be:
The recording carrier becomes associated with the music. This leads to the urgent need to possess a so-called "complete collection" which may consist of at least one copy of every sound carrier that was ever released in a certain country, such a collection will include carriers like vinyl albums, tape cassettes, compact discs from every available source, may it be legal or not. More important than the music on the carrier is the piece of material that holds the recording. Completists run for greatest hits albums as well as for special editions or "new editions" without any regard of their musical content. They may want to own colored vinyl discs, promotional records, bootleg records, and they will buy such pieces even if they know they contain absolutely nothing they didn't hear before. Such things are considered as "collectors items" and thus their possession is desirable. All this can become quite expensive. To avoid personal insolvency some diehard fans have published massive works like "The Rolling Stones 1962-2002 : the ultimate guide" (by Felix Aeppli), or the "Basement News - Schwarzbuch" (by Dieter Hoffmann), listing thousands of records in every detail.
The picture of the band becomes associated with the band. So the image based fan is mainly looking for objects with the portrait, name or logo of the band on them. This kind of fan will want to attend concerts mainly to just LOOK at the band. Books, magazines, posters, video tapes are mainly bought to LOOK at the faces and bodies of the band members. Some will buy and even wear clothes (T-shirts, caps, hats, buttons, jackets, shawls) or jewelry with the logo, name or portrait of the band on them. Geoffrey Giuliano has published the book "Not fade away" showing hundreds of fan collectables, including fanzines, jigsaw puzzles, bubblegum cards, photoramas, mobiles, stickers, concert tickets, tongue-shaped telephones, pinball machines, watches, shop displays, matchboxes, etc
I'm not trying to explain the inner reasons for all this strange behavior here but one thing for sure: If you don't know what a diehard fan is or should be you probably ain't no diehard fan.
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I wonder if new forms of diehard fans or new opinions about them have surfaced? |
| October 21st, 2005 01:21 PM |
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| voodoopug |
Very well written article.
for my baby joey:
Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kleppner
Daniel Levitin
Daniel Libeskind
Daniel M. Lewin
Daniel Miller
Daniel Nathans
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Rona Israeli
Daniel S. Goldin
Daniel Schorr
Daniel Sleator
Daniel Stern
Daniel Suher
Daniel Wildenstein
Daniel Yanofsky
Danielle Steel
Danielle Steele
Dankmar Adler
Danny Abse
Danny Elfman
Danny Goldberg
Danny Kaye
Danny Klein
Danny Schayes
Dara Torres
Darin Howard Pontell
Darius Milhaud
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Star
Daryl Sabara
Daryn Kagan
Dave Attell
Dave Berg
Dave Frishberg
Dave Nazworthy
Dave Osborne
Dave Winer
David
David "Mickey" Marcus
David Abramovich Dragunsky
David Amram
David Arquette
David Avidan
David Baddiel
David Baltimore
David Beckham
David Belasco
David Ben-Gurion
David Berkowitz
David Blaine
David Bluthenthal
David Bohm
David Brenner
David Brin
David Bronstein
David Brooks
David Brudnoy
David Bryan
David Camden DeLeon
David Charvet
David Copperfield
David Cross
David Diamond
David Dubinsky
David Duchovny
David Einhorn
David Erik Nelson
David Finkelstein
David Freiberg
David Frum
David Geffen
David Gelernter
David Goodis
David Greenglass |
| October 21st, 2005 02:27 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
OMG.
I am such a geek. |
| October 21st, 2005 02:28 PM |
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| voodoopug |
quote:
Sir Stonesalot wrote:
OMG.
I am such a geek.
we have all been humiliated and humbled! |
| October 21st, 2005 02:32 PM |
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| Joey |
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| October 21st, 2005 02:33 PM |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
>we have all been humiliated and humbled!<
WTF?
I am proud of my Stonesian geekiness. It's what makes me just a little bit superior to the bland normal humans.
My dog just broke my glasses. And ate the car charger for my iPod.
I'll be right back...gotta make a delivery to the local Chinese Grocery.
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| October 21st, 2005 02:35 PM |
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| voodoopug |
quote:
Joey wrote:
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