Dear Roxy/Ferry/Manzo etc. fans,

in a few day I will turn 66. That's an age a lot of the forum members presently are, some younger, some older, naturally. Our heroes are in a 70 plus age and we all are more or less healthy.

What I want to say is that it is high time to release all music or video material that is however meant to be released. The video of Roxy Music's last world tour in 2011, the long-awaited FYP SDE, the outtakes of Ferry's As Time Goes By or what else.

If we can't buy that any more who will? Perhaps nobody. My long time partner is 55 and she has been to some Ferry shows with me. But will she ever purchase a new CD set published in 2030 if I can't for whatever reason - maybe only because I don't remember who this guy called Bryan is?

Her children are in their mid-twenties and eventually remember the name Bryan Ferry but haven't bought a CD (set) since many years.

So the Rock 'n' Roll clock is ticking and ticking ... and if Team Roxy/Ferry think they have all the time in the world they are absolutely mistaken (IMHO).

Loose Talk 2 maybe an interesting vision for some of us here, but I'd like to listen to what I have mentioned before.

Enjoy this summer, dear friends of all that started long ago (with Virginia Plain in 1972 ... ),

- Peter -

You're SO right, Peter. I've said much the same before - BF/RM have an audience right now but it's overwhelmingly 'of a certain age' and none of us are getting any younger. When we're gone, that's pretty much it!

We've debated here before the BF/RM legacy - it's unquestionably big and will be remembered by music journalists and luminaries for a long time. But for some reason that doesn't translate into a prominent place in the public's conscience in the same way as many of their peers. And it doesn't/won't be reflected in significant sales/streaming in the years and decades ahead once the core fan base is gone. It's hard to pin down the reasons because it most certainly wasn't always thus. I'm sure it's down to missed opportunity after missed opportunity by both BF and RM, long gaps in outputs and tours (despite the prolific live work from 1999-2022), poor communications and an almost wilful reluctance to give fans the archive material they've been seeking for years.

It would be unfair to lay all this at BF and RM's door - management and record companies have to shoulder some of the blame too, and there's undoubtedly licensing issues from time to time. But the point is other artists / lesser artists not only manage to get their archive material out there, but they do it far more methodically, comprehensively and cheaply than our heroes have managed so far.

The only conclusion I can draw, is the will simply is not there. The occasional carrot is dangled but even then it's years (if ever) before anything materialises. It saddens me to say that I think the BF / RM fan base is invariably treated with a degree of contempt. It's a measure of our dedication that we're all still here, awaiting whatever crumbs might be tossed our way. And just to reinforce the point, it won't be long before team BF/RM will have to consider a pureed version of those crumbs!