It's Only Rock'n Roll
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It's Only Rock'n Roll |
Season greetings to you all!
I would like to personally thank each and every one of you - thousands of Rolling Stones fans who have been of great help and assistance through the year, by supplying feelings, thoughts, news, rumours, or sharing some great concert experiences.
Through this Xmas page I hope to be able to reply to a lot of the questions I never got time to reply to. IORR is not a big profit organization. It's an international fan club, a group of hard core Stones fans from more than 40 countries across the world. The IORR web site is done by me, through intellegent evaluation and triple checking of all sorts of rumours and information available related to the Rolling Stones.
As I get 50-100 personal email per day, 365 days per year, it is very hard to reply to all of those. If I spent 15 minutes on each email, I would need 25 hours per day. I hope you understand that I can't reply to all the mail I get, but still each and every email, telefax , telephone and letter is of vital importance in order to run this fan club.
Some of you believe the IORR fan club is some sort of profession. It's not. The magazine is paid for by subscription. I get the equivalent of $30 from those who want to receive the IORR magazine quarterly, and that money is spent on printing and mailing. What's left, a few bucks, I spend on photos. Usually I pick the best photos in the world - and they are expensive - so I use to throw in some extra cash out of my own pocket in order to IORR the best there is.
I go to a lot of Stones shows. That's my life, apart from my family. How can I afford it? Well, the truth is, I can't. But I work hard, drink little, don't party, and spend all my saved up cash on shows and travel. Even if I am out of cash, I will find a way to see the shows in 1999 as well. And I hope to meet a lot of you as well during the tour, in USA, Canada and Europe. Also hopefully in Argentina 2000, the best place in the world to see the Stones.
I get lots of questions about backstage passes and tickets. I am sorry that I can't get you any passes or tickets. I am just an ordinary fan, and if I spent too much time backstage, I would miss all the great time being a fan. So if you really need those passes, please try some other ways. As for tickets, there are plenty of information on the IORR web pages about how to get tickets, buy/sell/trade etc.
Club shows - the dream of every Stones fan! Again, all I can say is, you have to work hard to get in. There are no easy solutions. Just be there, and it helps a lot. Where? Well, if you hang around the IORR pages, and talk to people, then you will be a lot closer than if you stay home, that's all I can say.
Lots and lots of you have mailed me links to your pages, or reviews. If I did not post those, then it's not because I am lazy or ignorant, but simply because your email arrived at a time when I had to much email coming, or I was on tour with my portable computer. The best advice is to give it another try. If I don't have time to publish your review right away, then please send it one more time a couple of days later on, if it doesn't show up. As for links to your pages on the Connection page - right now I do not add any links at all, but I am working on a system that will make it easy to do an update on all links!
The Stones Shop is something I used to do a lot in the past, before the Stones went on "permanent" tour. The concept is to offer rare Stones collectibles to IORR members at non-profit prices. The problem is it takes so much time, as it is free labour from my side, I can't do it when I am not home much. But for IORR 35, coming out in three weeks tome from now, I will do a small and exclusive Stones shop, that's for sure. You will find rare items not found any other place in Stonesland, and it will be open in January only, for IORR members!
I am dreaming of going to many shows in USA, and I hope to meet up with you some place during my travel. California, Charlotte, Boston, Hartford, and many other places are on my wish list. I just hope Santa Claus will be nice to me when it comes to my travel budget. If you have any news or interesting items related to the Stones and their touring, please let me know. I will make it available to all other Stones fans on the IORR web pages and the IORR magazine. And if you have a great story to tell, please let me know, so that we can meet up some place.
About the Stones news pages. My intention is not to feed you with as many news as possible, but more to supply the vital info, the one that you would need to live a good life in Stonesland. I don't worry too much about the private lives of the Stones. Unless it is directly related to their public life, like when Mick's son appear live on stage in Istanbul, I don't write about it. But all the info about new books, shows, ticket sales, great photos, stories and rare CD releases - anything that makes a Stones fan smile or cry - that's the kind of news I think is important.
Some people think it is important to be big or famous or the best or something. I believe in the variety - in many different fan clubs, fan magazines, news pages and groups. There is no point in being big or famous, but it's more important to be honest. These days the IORR pages are visited by thousands of readers every day, so I guess the information you find here is of some use. If you want more or less of some parts, please let me know. Also, if you can help in some way, please let me know. Remember, I am only a single human being. I do the IORR stuff in addition to my normal 9 to 5 job who pays for my living.
Cool down and relax during the remaining parts of the great 1998 Stones year. You need a lot of energy in 1999, as it seems the Rolling Stones will continue touring all the way into the next millenium. If something of great importance is happening, I will let you know. And if you see or hear anything important to other Stones fans, be sure to tell it by email to IORR, so that I can tell the rest of us in Stonesland!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, and see you next year!
It's Only Rock'n Roll 1998 -
© The Rolling Stones Fan Club Of Europe