The Renaissance Zone

They were never on the OGWT from what I know. Or were they?

rogerthat wrote: SteveG wrote: I'd like to add to the discussion that Warner Bros, who bought Sire Records, to whom Ren were contracted to in the States, gave the band a big push with the ASFAS and Asure D'or albums. Marketing wise, taking out full page adds in the Village Voice and NYT to promote ASFAS and sent the band on a promotional tour doing TV shows in the States like the Merv Griffith Show. So, at a time when punk/new wave was going ballistic, the band were as big as they were going to be, given the times. Oh wow, didn't know they made it to the Merv Griffith Show too. I do know they were on Don Kirschner in the pre Warner days, then Midnight Special and Mike Douglas. They also appeared in 81 on a Canadian TV channel to promote Camera Camera.

It probably was the Mike Douglas Show, not Merv. All those white middle aged late afternoon talk show hosts look alike to me. As you can see.   I don't recall them ever being on the OGWT but the BBC loved them and they did a lot of BBC Radio broadcasts even from the earlier days.

Edited by SteveG - March 03 2021 at 06:00

rogerthat wrote: SteveG wrote: I'd like to add to the discussion that Warner Bros, who bought Sire Records, to whom Ren were contracted to in the States, gave the band a big push with the ASFAS and Asure D'or albums. Marketing wise, taking out full page adds in the Village Voice and NYT to promote ASFAS and sent the band on a promotional tour doing TV shows in the States like the Merv Griffith Show. So, at a time when punk/new wave was going ballistic, the band were as big as they were going to be, given the times. Oh wow, didn't know they made it to the Merv Griffith Show too. I do know they were on Don Kirschner in the pre Warner days, then Midnight Special and Mike Douglas. They also appeared in 81 on a Canadian TV channel to promote Camera Camera.

kenethlevine wrote: rogerthat wrote: SteveG wrote: I'd like to add to the discussion that Warner Bros, who bought Sire Records, to whom Ren were contracted to in the States, gave the band a big push with the ASFAS and Asure D'or albums. Marketing wise, taking out full page adds in the Village Voice and NYT to promote ASFAS and sent the band on a promotional tour doing TV shows in the States like the Merv Griffith Show. So, at a time when punk/new wave was going ballistic, the band were as big as they were going to be, given the times. Oh wow, didn't know they made it to the Merv Griffith Show too. I do know they were on Don Kirschner in the pre Warner days, then Midnight Special and Mike Douglas. They also appeared in 81 on a Canadian TV channel to promote Camera Camera. oh cool is there any video of the Canadian TV appearance?  As I mentioned before, the local FM station in Ottawa completely embraced Camera Camera at the time and so did a bunch of guys in my dorm, though I suspect they were drawn to Annie for more reasons than her voice! As a side note only tangentially related, another gay friend and I who are into folk music and the folkier side of prog like Strawbs and Renaissance, love to joke about how if went on a gay cruise, we would want the requisite diva to be Annie or Maddy Prior rather than Cher or whoever is the current gal with chutzpah.  There is a fantastic moment in a Steeleye Span video that we love in which Maddy dances merrily across the stage in a polka dotted dress.  Yeah that's the stuff.

She does laugh these days while posting pics of herself from the 80s. Said once that she preferred the 70s. I agree with you that success would have wiped away these complaints. The Wilson sisters got themselves the same makeover in the 80s but had their biggest success in the 80s. That being said, it was always a mistake to go in a very commercial, synth pop kind of direction. What they needed was the quirkiness of the title track of Camera Camera or Okichi San but mixing it with Fairies or Running Away muddled the picture and then they doubled down on THOSE kind of songs with Timeline.

If you look the context of the times, new wave was more about catchy songs than songs with strong hooks. (I'll Stop The World and) And Melt With You is more of what they were aimimg for with some songs on Camera Camera.

Got my copy of the CD/DVD/Bluray set.  The package is beautiful and the DVD looks great and sounds amazing. The best of the DVDs yet (sadly might be the last, by the looks of it).  Bluray doesn't work on my CD drive so will have to look for an external Bluray drive.  That is, if I can find one.  Funny how quickly the CD format has become like vintage/classic cars.  And yet, it sounds better, by far, than compressed digital formats (where modern cars do actually perform better than the oldies).  Funny are the ways of the music world where we are asked to accept an inferior product as 'contemporary' and told that the best format for listening to music is outdated.

esa wrote: rogerthat wrote: Got my copy of the CD/DVD/Bluray set. This release is currently not in retail distribution in North and South America where it is only sold directly by the band

Annie has good words for both Okichi San and Ukraine Ways in this interview. 

Not necessarily the best performance of the song (though it's very good for what it is and not flawed in any way as such), but this is exceedingly rare.  Apparently, Renaissance performed three songs - Prologue, Can You Understand and Ashes Are Burning - for a TV program in Luxembourg in 1974. 

Edited by rogerthat - May 26 2021 at 07:05