Never send an amateur ....

[andy-hughes]

to do a professional's job!

http://www.gear-revie...ul_carrack/index.html

I'm off to Derby tonight to interview Paul, and to review his show for Acoustic Magazine

Must listen out for that Ace Frehley classic .....!!!!!

[NOX]

Uncharacteristically bitchy for you andy...who kicked your kennel today?

[andy-hughes]

My attitude dervies from the fact that with the rise of the interent, everyone thinks they can be a critic, and do it 'for the love of the music'. I know of at least three national music magazines staffed entirely by unpaid freelances - a precident which affects professional writers like me, because it fosters the idea that editors don't need to pay for journalists to do the work.

Of course they don't - but in the finest example of a peanuts / monkeys interface - this is what you get.

I am paid for what I write because I know what I am doing, and I don't make basic errors like this.

OK - rant over!!!

[andy-hughes]

Interent? i am so cross I am tripping over my letters!!!

Just in case anyone wonders, I do proof-read all my copy twice before it goes in to any of my Editors - so my typos only crop up on here!

[NOX]

No andy everyone doesn't ' think' they can be a critic, everyone is and already was long before the internet, what you object to is that this has a financial effect upon you because the internet has freed these people to voice their opinions. Because you are a 'professional' doesn't make your writing any better than the next 16 year old music fan's, in fact a lot of old journo hacks are so boring to read I could go into a coma with a lot of music magazines tbh. Cheer up mate and do something more profitable if it's getting you down, because this rant just looks nasty and bitter.

[murraymints]

music journo Andy ?

[andy-hughes]

NOX - "...Because you are a 'professional' doesn't make your writing any better than the next 16 year old music fan's, ..." - er actually it does, I assure you. Why else do the majority of national papers require journalists to be NCTJ trained?

Writing for payment is about accuracy first and foremost, which is why I drew attention to this review - in what was i assure you a light-hearted swipe at the gentleman concerned.

I promise I am not in the least precious about what I do - or about my opinion. To be accurate - my opinion about music is no more valid than a sixteen-year-old music fan's - but my ability to express it certainly is.

I am not bitter, it does not get me down - perhaos i have come over as more curmudgeonly than I intended - which is a standard problem with writing on a site like this.

I was being light-hearted about the review - but the point i make about 'free' writers is a valid one. i am fortunate enough to enjoy writing as a part-time occupation, but plenty of my friends make they living as writers, and using free labour not only undermines our craft, it takes money out of their pockets, so i do have an issue with that.

Hope i have cleared up my position. Thanks for posting.

[andy-hughes]

murraymints - yes - thirty-five years' experience and published in nearly seventy natiional and international publications around the world.

[murraymints]

I bow before you !..must have seen some sights !!

[andy-hughes]

Indeed I have - some not printable on a family site like this one!

Now, i write regularly for Drummer, Acoustic, and Bass Guitar Magazine, which are titles for the pro player and keen amateur. i interview musicians and write live reviews - like the one tonight when I will be engaging with Paul Carrack about his acoustic guitar collection.

All mags are available in WH Smiths - do check them oiut and feel free to let me know what you think - as NOX advises - and I entirely agree - everyone is a critic!

[RevArkwright]

I have read the review linked to. Seems fine to me. What is wrong with it.

[murraymints]

ever interview my friend Terry..drummer in the Ants ?

[andy-hughes]

Hi Rev,

The reviewer confuses Ace - Paul Carrack's earlier band who had a hit with How Long, with Ace Frehley, former lead guitarist with American ubber-rock metal titans Kiss.

The idea of Ace Frehley recording How Long is about as likely as me playing lead guitar for U2 at the Hollywood Bowl.

It's a simple mistake, and quite amusing really given the juxtaposition of the artists involved - similar to confusing Elvis Costello with Elvis Presley!

[RevArkwright]

I understand, thank you.

[andy-hughes]

murraymints - sadly not, no.

There are so many amazing musicians I would love to meet - still waiting to talk to the god on earth that is Charlie Watts.

[ludwig]

There was a good documentary on Paul Carrack the other night - for some reason I wasn't sure of it was Squeeze night on BBC4.

What a talented, modest, and thoroughly nice bloke.

[murraymints]

I agree on that one..Stones rool ok !..knoppfler another one I adore. saw his solo gig and was in heaven !

[andy-hughes]

I watched is last night ludwig, and my impression of him is identical.

Likewise Squeeze, who remain criminally underrated as writers and musicians.

[NOX]

'Hope i have cleared up my position. Thanks for posting.'

I'll ST FU and leave ya to it then...lol, I just hate to see people mocked publicly which is what you were doing.

[andy-hughes]

Sorry - what is 'ST FU' please - I don;t do text-speak, too old!

I am sorry if you thought I was mocking the gentleman - it was intended as a gentle dig, nothing more. If I wanted to mock, I would have dismantled his review phrase by phrase, but as you said in your original post, I am not given to attacking people with out good reason, and only in the spirit of debate.

[NOX]

ST FU stands for 'shut the f3ck up'. I'm quite old too at 52- sorry I thought it was such a common one that nearly anyone would understand it.
I'm sure if the chap concerned reads your post, which would be pretty easy to do if he's prone to ego surfing, then he really wouldn't feel it was a gentle dig, he'd feel demoralised, attacked and and generally ridiculed- still I'm sure you know how you meant it even if you didn't convey it that well. Imagine how you would feel if I found one of your reviews and made an idiot out of you, I still stand by it not being a very nice thread, sorry.