Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - DISCUSSION THREAD

[Robson]

Really, pop music can't be art? And, for example, progressive music can be art? Who decides that? For me, pop music can be and is art. Brothers In Arms album from the 1980s was pop music. And for me, the BIA album is art.

[quizzaciously]

Really, pop music can't be art? And, for example, progressive music can be art? Who decides that? For me, pop music can be and is art. Brothers In Arms album from the 1980s was pop music. And for me, the BIA album is art.

I think you were right when you talked about music and the music business. I can go as far as to say that music is... Sport. Yeah, because it's a very physical activity. You bang shit, strum shit, sing until you're completely exhausted and you can't find an artist without a picture of them sweating all over the place on stage, even many classical musicians.

However, there's a physical element to the music, the muscle memory element, and a much more important element is the other part, where what you are doing is actually making people react, cry or dance. The first part is in sports, the second part is in art, it's as simple as that. It's yin and yang, stuff that's known since the beginning of time.

[erjan]

There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.

Wow, this was such a highlight. The guy definitely doesn't look amicable at all, I can't totally imagine the bad vibes.

I'd go for Alan if I would be asked to give a wild guess.

LE

Yeah, other than Mark himself that seems to be the only option

[wayaman]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

[dustyvalentino]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

[erjan]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious

[dustyvalentino]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious

Not sure if you are being serious or not?

We know from Ed's answers and the podcast that he didn't take commission for organising tours, which would have been a huge sum no doubt.

He also negotiated industry leading deals with the record company for the band where possible.

[erjan]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious

Not sure if you are being serious or not?

We know from Ed's answers and the podcast that he didn't take commission for organising tours, which would have been a huge sum no doubt.

He also negotiated industry leading deals with the record company for the band where possible.

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory Of course I'm not serious.

[erjan]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious

Not sure if you are being serious or not?

We know from Ed's answers and the podcast that he didn't take commission for organising tours, which would have been a huge sum no doubt.

He also negotiated industry leading deals with the record company for the band where possible.

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory Of course I'm not serious.

To elaborate a bit, from the answers Ed has given it is my impression that he is very considerate person. I understand it is his point of view, but it seems Mark (and John) have not always been very considerate with their 'staff', as is apparent from the treatment that Terry Williams, Jack Sonni and others got for example. Now, you could argue that they were only hired for the tour, so basically Mark and John didn't have to explain why they didn't hire them again, but I guess the decent thing to do would be to at least give that explanation. Then again, it is Ed's point of view, I was not there, so for all I know Mark and John did give that explanation and Ed is just not aware, but from all of the different situations with different ex-dire straits members I do get the impression that this sensitivity has not always been a priority. The only thing that does surprise me is that it seems it was very difficult to just say 'hey Mark, your being a dick!' given that people also tolerated some of these situations to exists in the first place.

[dustyvalentino]

About the real reason for doing the OES tour that when Ed found out being in Down Under he says he should had resigned, only thing that comes to mind is what MK had said in recent interviews, that he was running away from home as he was getting divorced and it was being quite bad, I know Ed doesn't get into that details but if it's that, as long as MK himself has mentioned it, maybe he can confirm?

Ed has already said that he can't go into the exact details on that point, so come on AMITers, do what you do best - speculate!

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory.

It is all pretty obvious. They were all always in it for the money. Ed had always assumed Mark had to come up with money for his divorce, but in Australia Mark revealed to Ed that his ex wife wanted no money at all and that Mark was doing the whole album and tour purely for artistic reasons. Two albums later Mark said in their final meeting that he really wanted to stay on the artistic path. He also revealed to Ed that this time he wanted to properly compensate the musicians involved. This was of course deeply insulting to Ed (we know from his answers that he doesn't have any consideration for people and only wants money).
But this is hardly a conspiracy theory as I'm obviously stating the obvious

Not sure if you are being serious or not?

We know from Ed's answers and the podcast that he didn't take commission for organising tours, which would have been a huge sum no doubt.

He also negotiated industry leading deals with the record company for the band where possible.

Special prize for the wildest conspiracy theory Of course I'm not serious.

To elaborate a bit, from the answers Ed has given it is my impression that he is very considerate person. I understand it is his point of view, but it seems Mark (and John) have not always been very considerate with their 'staff', as is apparent from the treatment that Terry Williams, Jack Sonni and others got for example. Now, you could argue that they were only hired for the tour, so basically Mark and John didn't have to explain why they didn't hire them again, but I guess the decent thing to do would be to at least give that explanation. Then again, it is Ed's point of view, I was not there, so for all I know Mark and John did give that explanation and Ed is just not aware, but from all of the different situations with different ex-dire straits members I do get the impression that this sensitivity has not always been a priority. The only thing that does surprise me is that it seems it was very difficult to just say 'hey Mark, your being a dick!' given that people also tolerated some of these situations to exists in the first place.

Yes, always two sides to every story. But when multiple people starting telling a similar story...

[the visitor]

Very grateful to Ed for my answer. Very interesting the Wembley 85 and Final Oz 86 shows were band / management initiated.  Leaves me with hope that they were multitrack recorded and one day we may have some kind of official release.  Then again I might be kidding myself !  Great stuff thanks Dusty for facilitating all of this and Ed for his generous participation.

[dustyvalentino]

Can someone please elaborate on this sentence?

A part of one of Ed´s answers.
 
"The DSE are almost as good as the real thing, really tremendous and MK gets the bloody PRS!"

Does he mean DSL (Dire Straits Legends) and that it annoys MK so much he has sort of bleeding

From Ed:

I said I wouldn’t respond to comments but to clarify DSE is the Dire Straits Experience with Chris White and Terence Reis.

[Pottel]

Thanks, Ed for answering my stupefyingly long question and it's actually a perfect answer, I expected nothing less from you. You've left no stone unturned, bravo!

The upbringing, growing together and life experience is exactly what I wanted to see in your answer. But I also have to comment on one thing...

The thing MOST people are getting wrong about me is that I think of MK as some kind of a living God. That's simply not true. I believe in the presumption of innocence, and every man or woman is equally smart and important to me UNLESS they prove me otherwise.

And I actually praise Ed left and right, I praise everybody, and yes, I praise Mark left and right because I strive to see only the good in people. It's obvious everybody has their skeleton in the closet, everybody goes to the toilet, and as we say in Russia, "everybody masturbates how he wants".

I'm not interested in the dark side of people, I'm only interested in their good side. That's why I do my best to be "Mark's advocate" here and sometimes seem like a brainwashed fanboy.

where is my praise damnit?

[Pottel]

There was one person who I and quite a number of the others would have been happy to see the back of but unfortunately he was saved by his talent.

Wow, this was such a highlight. The guy definitely doesn't look amicable at all, I can't totally imagine the bad vibes.

I'd go for Alan if I would be asked to give a wild guess.

LE

Alan seems like the same kind of megalomaniac, but at the same time, talented asswipe that Jon Carin seems to be (dayum that one is bonkers btw,...)

[quizzaciously]

Thanks, Ed for answering my stupefyingly long question and it's actually a perfect answer, I expected nothing less from you. You've left no stone unturned, bravo!

The upbringing, growing together and life experience is exactly what I wanted to see in your answer. But I also have to comment on one thing...

The thing MOST people are getting wrong about me is that I think of MK as some kind of a living God. That's simply not true. I believe in the presumption of innocence, and every man or woman is equally smart and important to me UNLESS they prove me otherwise.

And I actually praise Ed left and right, I praise everybody, and yes, I praise Mark left and right because I strive to see only the good in people. It's obvious everybody has their skeleton in the closet, everybody goes to the toilet, and as we say in Russia, "everybody masturbates how he wants".

I'm not interested in the dark side of people, I'm only interested in their good side. That's why I do my best to be "Mark's advocate" here and sometimes seem like a brainwashed fanboy.

where is my praise damnit?

Pottel has to be the most adequate AMIT member. His post are short and precise unlike mine, he's always funny and calm as a tank (as we say in Russia), never joins into arguments and fights, but rather trying his best to resolve them and avoid them. He never quits, never threaten, never ban, never insult anyone, overall a top bloke I'd be happy to share a drink together should the world be less fucked up and travel was possible for me. Pottel is the Rick Blaine of AMIT. And he's a co-founder of the damn thing. Amen!