Sinister: Tigermilk ... oooh, what else?

[Katrina House]

Dear people,

well, i never thought i'd experience the day when someone says "oh
bollocks, why ARE they re-releasing tigermilk ... what a drag" ...

... you've made me angry and i need to explain ...

tigermilk was never released with the intention to become a rare or
valuable record. the stow college music project which released the
record did so as part of a music course designed to give people
experience and an insight into the workings of the music industry.

run by alan rankine (from the associates) the project releases a limited
single yearly to help promote local talent whilst providing hands-on
experience to the students of how to go about releasing a record.

the record is limited to 1000 copies, as this helps it to stay within a
college budget, and helps ensures that the cost of production can be met
and recouped.

in the case of belle and sebastian, the college were willing to release
an album in light of the amount of material that the band had and the
band's willingness to part fund the cost of recording, but still the
record was limited to help ensure that the release didn't over-stretch
itself and had a chance of selling and, in doing so, making back the
money that was outlaid on it's production.

as a result the record was released and it took nearly 8 months to sell
the thousand that were produced (actually 200 or so probably went on
promotion of the album and to the band and people that worked on it, so
probably only 800 were sold over the 8 months).

now, the band have always said that it would be re-released when the
time was right. thankfully that time has come, and the record now stands
a chance of finally making the band a few pence. and in spite of this
and the thousands of e-mails, letters and phonecalls that we've received
over the past two/three years begging for it's re-release, that someone
would be so selfish and greedy as to suggest that it's re-release
threatens their potential to sell an original vinyl copy for a huge
amount!!! well, it's unbelievable!

isn't it best for it to be out there, able to be listened to, for people
to be able to hear it. it's beautiful, why should it only reside in the
hands of the precious few?  why shouldn't EVERYONE have the right to own
a copy and to fall in love with it?  isn't the point of belle and
sebastian (and also this list!) that it should be a shared feeling of
love and identity, a link between people, strangers throughout the
world?  doesn't everyone/anyone have the right to join in that feeling?

what i'm saying, is that tigermilk is much more than just a collectors
item, it was created by a band that are more than just 'a band'. and to
devalue that with greed and selfishness is not only directly clashing
with all of the b&s philosophies, but it's also very offensive to the
people that love the band and their music.

the music was written to be heard, and now it is time again for it to be
heard.  if you're not happy with that, well, i'm sorry, but you're
talking to the wrong people and may possibly, in being here, be keeping
the wrong company.

thanks for listening! ;)

cheers,
Katrina & David

-- 
                                 -=-

 Jeepster Recordings Ltd, 217 Canalot, 222 Kensal Road, London W10 5BN

                      http://www.jeepster.co.uk/
                   work - mailto:a-and-r at jeepster.co.uk

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
      +---+  Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list  +---+
 To send to the list please mail "sinister at majordomo.net". To unsubscribe
   send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to
 "majordomo at majordomo.net".  For list archives and searching, list rules,
   FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister
          +---+   "legion of bedroom saddo devotees"  +---+
 +-+  "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list"  +-+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+