[kj] YEAR END POLL FOR `03

[gathering@misera.net]

>1) Your Name:
JAMIE

>2) Your Age:
37

>3) Are you married and have you any children?
NOT MARRIED.
2 KIDS (14 YEARS AND 20 MONTHS)


>
>4) I live here:
LONDON

>
>5) I've been a member of the Gathering since:
97 OR 98

>6) What do you want for X-mas?
FANTASY: A LANDROVER 101
REALITY: USUAL STUFF - BOOKS, CD'S, ETC

>7) Your biggest extravagance of the year?
JOKE STUFF, PROBABLY.

>8) Your biggest hopes for 2004?
WORLD PEACE, FAILING THAT, DOMESTIC PEACE!

>9) What was the last album you bought,why, and how is it?:
POSSIBLY JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS "STREETCORE" - PATCHY BUT GOOD. BROUGHT A LUMP TO MY THROAT HEARING HIM SING "I GOT TO HURRY UP BEFORE I GROW TOO OLD".

>10) Not including the new Killing Joke album, what were your top five favorite releases of the year?
MOST STUFF HAS PASSED ME BY - BUT STREETCORE IS GOOD. ALSO DON LETTS' BEST OF TROJAN RECORDS DOUBLE CD.

>11) What live bands have you seen recently. Did they rate?
PRIMAL SCREAM WERE GOOD AT READING FESTIVAL - EVERYTHING ELSE WAS NU-METAL / SO-CALLED PUNK E.G. SUM 41, LINKIN PARK, BETTER THAN JAKE.


>12) Worst music you heard all year:
SEE ABOVE

>13) If I find out that the person I'm talking to is a big fan of ________, I lose all interest in talking to them (note: your answer need not be restricted to music)
CAN'T GENERALISE ABOUT THIS.

>14) Band(s) most in need of reforming/touring/releasing new material:
I WAS SORRY TO SEE LEFTFIELD SPLIT.

>15) Band(s) most in need of hanging it up and calling it a day:
THIS WOULD BE A *VERY* LONG LIST.

>16) Albums most in need of re-mastering and re-release deluxe stylee:
MY PERSONAL CHOICE WOULD BE BRIGHTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS - SOME STUNNING MUSIC IN THIS ALBUM, OFTEN OBSCURED BY EIGHTIES SYNTH-POP EFFECTS.

>17) Most overrated music of the year:
AGAIN, HOW LONG HAVE YOU GOT?

>18) Most underrated music of the year:
KILLING JOKE... BUT THAT'S BEEN TRUE FOR A *LONG* TIME.

>19) Next to Killing Joke, my top five favorite bands/artists are:
THIS CHANGES FREQUENTLY. I LISTEN TO A LOT OF OLD JAMAICAN SKA THESE DAYS. LESS AND LESS PUNK ROCK, TO BE HONEST, THOUGH THE STRANGLERS, THE CLASH, AND THE DEAD KENNEDYS ARE STILL FIRM FAVOURITES.


>20) Express your views on Killing Joke's presence on the Internet
THE OFFICIAL SITE WASN'T VERY IMPRESSIVE, WAS IT? AFTER THE DEMISE OF THE LAST LAUGH, MADANI AND JESTER HAVE DONE A FINE JOB OF PICKING UP THE TORCH...

>22) Regarding the Joke, despite all the rumormongering, I'd really like the following to happen:
OFFICIAL RADIO SESSIONS CD. OTHER STUFF THAT COLESY HAS TALKED ABOUT. GEORDIE TO RE-DISCOVER THE INVENTIVENESS THAT CHARACTERISED MID-EIGHTIES JOKE. KJ TO DO THE NEXT ALBUM IN THE SAME STUDIO AT THE SAME TIME. THE LINE-UP TO BE THE SAME IN THE STUDIO AND LIVE. SAY GOODBYE TO GROHL. (GREAT DRUMMER, BUT A DISTRACTION, I FEEL - KJ IS A SIDE PROJECT FOR HIM. KJ NEED A DRUMMER WHO IS PREPARED TO GIVE EVERYTHING. FERGUSON WAS PERFECT IN THAT RESPECT; TED SEEMS A GOOD CANDIDATE.) DITTO YOUTH. I HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR YOUTH AND HIS EARLY CONTRIBUTION TO KJ, AND I'M NOT MUSCIALLY TALENTED SO I CAN'T COMMENT ON HIS SKILL / LACK OF SKILL. BUT THESE DAYS HE HAS OTHER THINGS ON HIS MIND, WHEREAS RAVEN IS THE TRUE BELIEVER.


>23) Did you get to see Killing Joke on this tour? If so, briefly explain your reaction
YES, CAMDEN, BRISTOL, ASTORIA. FANTASTIC. I THINK CAMDEN MAY WELL HAVE BEEN MY BEST JOKE GIG EVER - THAT INCLUDES THE SUBTERRANIA!


>24) What would you have rather seen on the album cover, other than the red Krusty Clown?
ANYTHING, REALLY. IT WAS CRAP. AND TO THINK WE COULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING BY COLES... WHAT A WASTE.


>25) Favorite track on the new album:
LOOSE CANNON, HAHAHA FOOLED YOU. SEEING RED, UNQUESTIONABLY.

>26) Least favorite track on the new album:
THERE ARE SEVERAL THAT DON'T REALLY FIRE ME UP. PROBABLY TOTAL INVASION.


>27) Were it up to you to have chosen the first single, it would have been:
YES FOLKS, SEEING RED.

>28) Have you managed to see "the Year of the Devil" as yet? Your thoughts?
NO

>29) Outside of Andy Gill, who would you like to see produce the next Killing Joke record?
CONNIE PLANK!

>30) Killing Joke track that best sums up the world today:
BUTCHER. ALWAYS


>31) Have you bought anything from Malicious Damage yet? If not, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
T-SHIRTS, BADGES.

>32) Goods you'd like to see made available on Mike Coles estimable site?
AN ALTERNATIVE CD COVER FOR THE LAST ALBUM

>33) Following the 2004 Elections, I'd like to see this man in the White House:
PETER WEST

>34) Do you feel 'safer' now that Saddam Hussein has been apprehended?
NO

>35) Now that he's in custody, I would handle Saddam this way:
SAME AS ANYONE ELSE, BUT ONCE CONVICTED HE SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOREVER.


>36) Where is Osama Bin Laden:
REALLY? PROBABLY THE AFGHAN/PAKISTAN BORDER REGION.

>37) Have we seen the last of terrorism courtesy of Islamists on the homefront (US/UK/EUR)?
OF COURSE NOT

>38) Do you feel prepared for another such instance?
I SUSPECT THAT THE MET AND MI5 ETC ARE BETTER PREPARED THAN THEY LET ON, BUT CHANCES ARE THAT SOMETHING BLOODY WILL HAPPEN IN LONDON. IF THE TERRORISTS ARE SUFFICIENTLY DETERMINED, THEY ONLY HAVE TO GET LUCKY ONCE (AS THE IRA SAID).


>39) Do you think Iraq had anything to do with the events of September 11, 2001?
DUH.

>40) Where were you/what were you doing on that day?
WORKING AND THEN WATCHING TV AND TRYING TO GET THROUGH TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN NYC.


>41) Were you the next American president, your first act in office would be:
APPOINT JAZ COLEMAN AS VICE-PRESIDENT.
SERIOUSLY, ALL SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLES AGAINST GUERRILLAS HAVE BEEN TWO-TRACK: GO AFTER THE HARD-CORE WITH NO COMPROMISE, WHILST ADDRESSING THE (USUALLY ECONOMIC) PROBLEMS THAT PROVIDE THEM WITH RECRUITS. PLUS I'D SPEND SOME OF THE VAST DEFENCE BUDGET PROVIDING PROPER EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICA'S POOR.


>42) Tony Blair is: _________.  SURPRISINGLY FOOLISH GIVEN HOW INTELLIGENT HE IS.

>43) They want replace Franklin Delano Roosevelt's face on the American Dime with the face of Ronald Reagan. What is your reaction:
THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE STATE OF THE NATION. FDR BEGAN THE PROCESS OF HAULING AMERICA OUT OF THE DEPRESSION. HE ALSO SAW THAT THE ISOLATIONISTS / APPEASERS WERE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, AND THAT IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE USA WAS IN A SHOOTIN' WAR WITH GERMANY AND JAPAN.

>44) George W. Bush is an idiot: True or False. Explain your feeling why you feel this way. Support your argument:
HE HAS PROBLEMS WITH WORDS, DOESN'T HE? BUT IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT HE'S ACTUALLY AN IDIOT. BUT THEN IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT HE ISN'T.

>45) Under which American administration was the world/your own situation better off: Bush's or Clinton's?
THE WORLD: CLINTON'S
ME: BUSH'S (FOR REASONS THAT ARE ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL).