Ed Bicknell Interview

[Matchstickman]

Very glad to have another entertaining and enlightening post from Ed.

Glad to hear about John's playing on BIA. It seems hard to understand why they would go with another player for BIA rather than YLT, but there it is. Hard to guess. And Neil Jason's comments on playing on other songs turn out to be misleading ultimately.

As for WOL, I have come across the idea of the band overruling the producer to include it many times, so that was an old established myth. Glad to learn the facts.

Chris, not sure that Twisting was a hit, but it was the single from the EP. Two Young Lovers remained a staple live though (BIA and your tour of course), and was definitely the better choice.

[quizzaciously]

It's just sad when guess work is used to lambast people....often quite abusively.
If you weren't there, it's not a crime to post positive guesses and positive thoughts.

Chris, you have to understand that what you would read in a fan forum is a mix of opinions and "facts" that we've read or listen in articles or interviews, and most of that opinions are influenced by those articles and interviews, and many times is needed more than one side of the story to know what are accurate facts and what not.

I understand that you still feel hurt by some of our opinions about your time in the band, and you're right as we knew very little or almost nothing about your time in the band until you came here and enlighten us with everything regarding your period in the band, and we're thankful about it. Fans we are always looking for facts so when we discuss in the future we can base on that more than about rumours and opinions based on false facts.

Again, thanks for help us to understand better your period in the band, and everything related about you, with the band, before and after. We can be more positive now as we know facts we didn't when we only related to our opinions. We own you gratitude.

There's a million things all of us we would like to ask Ed specially after John Illsley's book that have a lot of facts quite contrary to things we've read in articles or interviews during all this years, most of them probably for the past of time that mix memories. Specially about Terry Williams not being in the OES record, only at the beginning of it, and not being considered for the tour, being known for being a great rock drummer for the band, and also all that happened between MK and Jack after the BIA tour, that we know from Jack Sonni podcast and made us feel so sad about how MK treated him. I'm sure someone could point to that podcast, I can't now as I'm on my phone and it's hard to have multiple tabs at the time, lol

I must confess I do have a bias towards some people or things, and all of them have provided reasons for me to have a bias which I can always elaborate on, rarely do they do something to get rid of this bias, as people generally do not change much, and I feel happy each time this bias gets destroyed when it seldomly happens. I do not feel good about having a bias in the first place, but I can't stop it from appearing either. Most importantly, I realise I'm an easy target for biased attacks myself just because I'm so straightforward and active, so I do my best to address any complaints and clear out any misconceptions about me.

Getting a bit philosophical here, my point is there's always a person behind ones and zeros and forum posts, a person behind a tribute band, a person behind legendary hits and classic lines, and people aren't perfect. Far from perfect, in fact. It's important to call people out when they are wrong and praise them when they are right, it's something the AMIT forum has gotten very good at lately thanks to all of us, CW and EB included. Ed's message is nothing but calling us all out, and there's nothing better than a healthy doze of quality, just-what-the-doctor-ordered criticism, everybody's happy about that.

[jbaent]

Sometimes I don't understand a single word that I read.

[KnopfleRick]

Wow, it's pretty hard for me to keep up with all the new information.
Thanks Ed and Chris for all your contributions that keep me on my toes. 

[quizzaciously]

Sometimes I don't understand a single word that I read.

I'm not sure it's an answer to my post, as it doesn't contain any quotes and names, just in case here's a simplified (haha) map of my thinking for you (I'm truly sorry):

Chris said he's upset when people guess stuff and "quite abusively" lambast somebody they never knew and commit a crime (apparently) by writing negative thoughts about them if you "weren't there" —> You (jbaent) wrote a polite answer explaining it's not about offending people but expressing opinions —> My addition to that is I do sometimes tend to criticise a person based on what they said, did or never did, their ACTIONS affect my attitude, it's not guessing. Actions speak louder than words.

Actions speak louder than words even when Chris and Ed find time to write messages on this forum, work on clearing misconceptions, getting facts straight. They care about Dire Straits, they care about fans, they care about truth, they care about legacy. You can't take this away from them just like you can't take away the fact Mark was able to pull off an entire 1.5-year world tour without a flinch while being in probably the shittiest place in his life since becoming famous. It's an ACTION.

I wonder what I need to guess if a misleading name of a tribute band misleads fans into thinking it's the real deal. They did this action, they got a response. Where guessing is involved here? Where exactly guessing is involved in any of the "controversial" topics for that matter? People do bad things, people get bad responses. People do good things, people get good responses. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's third law. It's not rocket science!

[dustyvalentino]

"Dusty Springfield’s comment"

Ed, if I die out of laughter, it will be your fault.

I only wanna be with you Quizzy

[TJ]

WOL.
I had been travelling and when I got back to NY I popped into the Power Station where Neil and Mark were recording his vocals ( no, not together! )
They had just put up WOL which I'd not heard before.
“ What’s this?” I said.
“ Ah, nothing, it's just a B side “ responded M. I don't recall Neil saying anything and I’ve no idea where this idea that he ‘hated” it came from ( maybe he does, he’s 99% deaf anyway…that’s good in his line of work ).
“ But that’s a hit song” …I squeaked which led to a 5 minute debate about whether it should be included on the album or not.
“ So it's good enough to be a B side but it's NOT good enough to go on the record?” I asked.
Sheer brilliance on my part, I mean COME ON …...M rarely if ever took a commercial view of his music so just as well I was around. Ha!  ( The band weren’t there so not involved ).
So it went on the album and the single A side version sold more Worldwide than MFN.

Sorry Ed.  I will stop posting stuff like this, as I obviously misremember or conflate stories I heard 25-40 years ago. 

[Mossguitar]

Thanks again, Chris and Ed! Second best post in the history of AMIT. May we get a third best?

[Pottel]

That's why I'm so offended when I get told I live in fantasy. If anything, I steer AWAY from fantasy as much as possible.

I think Ed's first message was to clear up a lot of discussion on the forum that was wide of the mark regarding the facts.
I feel I have corrected a lot of misinformation in my time at the forum, from the perspective of someone who was there for 1.5 years.
I think you can celebrate Ed's contributions this week without seeking to gloss over some past missteps.
Fact is, fans do a lot of guess work, especially when there is a dearth of fact available.

i keep hoping you stay on and not get demotivated too much by the little amount of negativism that pops up every now and then (some may interpret this as a grave understatement, up to you)
the insight you keep delivering is like being on a treasure hunt for us fans.

[Knut]

The problem is when you treat public forums like you're walking in the forest with your buddies, talking nonsense you think will never reach who you talk nonsense about (or someome close to them). Suddenly, someone with actual first hand experience enters the chat and if you used big words on just guessing, you will often look (and feel?) like an idiot.

[quizzaciously]

The problem is when you treat public forums like you're walking in the forest with your buddies, talking nonsense you think will never reach who you talk nonsense about (or someome close to them). Suddenly, someone with actual first hand experience enters the chat and if you used big words on just guessing, you will often look (and feel?) like an idiot.

Ed is polite, very in-depth, extremely mindful, very funny and smart in his responses. He notices and understands everything, almost shockingly so. I noticed that the most "big words" and nonsense on this forum come from people being offended, usually in response to an even harsher attack or misunderstanding. If the discussion stays within polite borders and is properly carried out, surprise, surprise, nobody gets offended. It's not a miracle that I haven't seen a single negative comment about Ed or Ed's thoughts yet.

And who said this magical someone who enters the chat never talks nonsense, never uses big words, is never wrong, never misinterprets words, and is always right? Ed in a 2012 interview said something along the lines that The Rolling Stones will stop playing live in the next 10 years. Was he wrong? Technically, maybe, but he meant a completely different thing. Another ball game is when you (not you personally) think that everything that anyone besides you thinks is nonsense and guesses by default.

What you mean by "big words" is a big question as well. I said "Having a pizza delivery guy in your lineup" and for some reason, I was accused of offending Alan. I wasn't talking about Alan at all, I meant that a lot of acts/companies/people in general use the fact of having sometimes not crucial part of something bigger on hand as an exaggerated advantage. Do I say it about Alan precisely? No, I never meant that. People get to their conclusions themselves. A lot of lessons to learn here.

[Rail King]

That was an entertaining read. Ed clearly has balls (or at least he likes to mention them).

My all-time favorite posts on the matter, however, remain the ones called "Let's See You" and "Terminal of Tribute to". I'm hoping for more of those!

[hunter v2.0]

"Skid Marks" 

This is truly amazing. Thanks again, Ed, for taking the time. (And thanks so much to Chris and Julio.) And as for audio book: I'd buy it even if the voice belonged to someone with a heavy Indian accent, released on Betamax and had to be ordered from North Korea. Though a printed version will do just fine 

[Knut]

The problem is when you treat public forums like you're walking in the forest with your buddies, talking nonsense you think will never reach who you talk nonsense about (or someome close to them). Suddenly, someone with actual first hand experience enters the chat and if you used big words on just guessing, you will often look (and feel?) like an idiot.

Ed is polite, very in-depth, extremely mindful, very funny and smart in his responses. He notices and understands everything, almost shockingly so. I noticed that the most "big words" and nonsense on this forum come from people being offended, usually in response to an even harsher attack or misunderstanding. If the discussion stays within polite borders and is properly carried out, surprise, surprise, nobody gets offended. It's not a miracle that I haven't seen a single negative comment about Ed or Ed's thoughts yet.

And who said this magical someone who enters the chat never talks nonsense, never uses big words, is never wrong, never misinterprets words, and is always right? Ed in a 2012 interview said something along the lines that The Rolling Stones will stop playing live in the next 10 years. Was he wrong? Technically, maybe, but he meant a completely different thing. Another ball game is when you (not you personally) think that everything that anyone besides you thinks is nonsense and guesses by default.

What you mean by "big words" is a big question as well. I said "Having a pizza delivery guy in your lineup" and for some reason, I was accused of offending Alan. I wasn't talking about Alan at all, I meant that a lot of acts/companies/people in general use the fact of having sometimes not crucial part of something bigger on hand as an exaggerated advantage. Do I say it about Alan precisely? No, I never meant that. People get to their conclusions themselves. A lot of lessons to learn here.

It's more in the sense of downplaying people's contribution in DS, making "bold" (as in ridiculous) statements about people's carreer choices, accusing them of things without solid evidence  and so on. We don't know who will read and interact with this chat/forum. Like, there were people who obviously never thought Chris W would enter this forum when they commented on his contribution the OES tour. Critiquing someone who is not here will always be something else than doing the same to someone who is around to defend themselves and to actually read what someone writes. And then it's really easy to look like a fool when the big words come back at the author.

I think the biggest lesson is to be precise, so people won't have to guess what you actually mean.

[quizzaciously]

The problem is when you treat public forums like you're walking in the forest with your buddies, talking nonsense you think will never reach who you talk nonsense about (or someome close to them). Suddenly, someone with actual first hand experience enters the chat and if you used big words on just guessing, you will often look (and feel?) like an idiot.

Ed is polite, very in-depth, extremely mindful, very funny and smart in his responses. He notices and understands everything, almost shockingly so. I noticed that the most "big words" and nonsense on this forum come from people being offended, usually in response to an even harsher attack or misunderstanding. If the discussion stays within polite borders and is properly carried out, surprise, surprise, nobody gets offended. It's not a miracle that I haven't seen a single negative comment about Ed or Ed's thoughts yet.

And who said this magical someone who enters the chat never talks nonsense, never uses big words, is never wrong, never misinterprets words, and is always right? Ed in a 2012 interview said something along the lines that The Rolling Stones will stop playing live in the next 10 years. Was he wrong? Technically, maybe, but he meant a completely different thing. Another ball game is when you (not you personally) think that everything that anyone besides you thinks is nonsense and guesses by default.

What you mean by "big words" is a big question as well. I said "Having a pizza delivery guy in your lineup" and for some reason, I was accused of offending Alan. I wasn't talking about Alan at all, I meant that a lot of acts/companies/people in general use the fact of having sometimes not crucial part of something bigger on hand as an exaggerated advantage. Do I say it about Alan precisely? No, I never meant that. People get to their conclusions themselves. A lot of lessons to learn here.

It's more in the sense of downplaying people's contribution in DS, making "bold" (as in ridiculous) statements about people's carreer choices, accusing them of things without solid evidence  and so on. We don't know who will read and interact with this chat/forum. Like, there were people who obviously never thought Chris W would enter this forum when they commented on his contribution the OES tour. Critiquing someone who is not here will always be something else than doing the same to someone who is around to defend themselves and to actually read what someone writes. And then it's really easy to look like a fool when the big words come back at the author.

I think the biggest lesson is to be precise, so people won't have to guess what you actually mean.

That's very well articulated, Knut. I can say for myself I feel really bad discussing someone behind their backs, that's awful. I literally feel physical pain, and honestly, I should probably stay away from social media and discussions as I'm extremely, desperately inclined to fight for truth all the time even in 1-1 discussions, and as you can witness here, can do it forever, often using exaggeration, proof by contradiction and other logic tricks to get somewhere. And when I clash with people who take it too seriously, it turns into a nuclear explosion and a negative loop.

I just love Mark's music, the history around it and truth, and like everybody else, that's why I'm here. It's a good place, and I'm happy that even such important people as you-all-know-who-by-now chimed in and spoke, that's awesome. Getting to the truth without people in question is impossible anyway, and if anybody else drops by to clear misconceptions or say that I'm an a-hole, that would make us all happy.