An idea and the background behind it…

One of the Towies doesn't have unmetered net access so I offered to download one of the songwriters' tracks, burn it to CD and post it to her. Of course this meant there was almost a whole empty disk so I thought I'd fill it up with some music selected from the perspective of a Suzanne Vega fan.

On another forum I have taken part in what's called a tape tree – in fact I've been in three of them and was administrator for the first one I was in.

When I was making Annika's CD, I thought, "well, why not try out the tree idea over here?"

Here's how it works.

A group of people make a compilation tape or CD. Each compilation gets sent around the group until the originator eventually gets his/her own compilation back again. Each participant gives each compilation enough listens to get to know it and then writes a review on the appropriate thread. For my money the review process is important as it ensures that I give each compilation the attention it deserves and that way I get the most out of it. I've discovered a lot of music through the tape trees that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise, and I've bought a fair few CDs on the back of it too!

Our music tastes have a big crossover point with Suzanne Vega so it would be really interesting to hear what other artists the towies are listening to. What d'you think?

Anyone interested, let me know. I'll put myself forward to organise the first Towie Tree and see if we can get things off the ground. I've done it before so I'm familiar with the running and pitfalls.

And to any board moderators out there: if this idea bears fruit, could we have a separate sub-forum for the Towie Trees? I could put together an FAQ if it turns out to be successful. The other forum I've done this on works really well, and so far there have been 8 trees.

Cheers,
Cams

Hi Cams,

Sounds like a great idea! I'm not sure whether I really understand the procedure - but I guess once it's started it will be easier to follow!

Cheers,
Annika

"Sounds like a great idea! I'm not sure whether I really understand the procedure - but I guess once it's started it will be easier to follow!"

Yep, couldn't really be easier. All you need to do is make a tape of CD of your favourite tunes, and send it to the address the administrator, i.e. ME!! gives you. You'll receive a someone else's compliation through the post, keep it for a month (or two, depending on what we decide) and then send it on to the same address you sent the last one. You will only ever have one address to worry about.

Simple.

So can I count you in as a participant? Go on, you know you want to!

Cheers,
Cams

"Go on, you know you want to!"

No need to persuade me, Cams, I'm on!

Cheers,
Annika

Great idea, Cams ... sign me up!

- Lauren

I'll volunteer to be part of this too.

The famous ex-towie Bluey organized a tape tree several years ago that unfortunately fell apart after a few members prematurely dropped out and stopped forwarding the cassettes. But this was before the days of widespread CD burning, and of course it's a lot more cumbersome and time-consuming to make a compilation on tape. (For the benefit of younger towies, a "cassette" is a rectangular plastic box with a narrow spoolly ribbon inside it, whose typical function is to be shredded into tiny bits by the tape player in your car.) But it was a lot of fun to see what everyone else was listening to.

So sign me up.

-- Bob

Count me in!

Mike

That sounds brilliant!
But how about...(Just as an alternate procedure for those who find the other method difficult),
each person types out a list of around 12 favourite non-SV songs, and anybody who's intrigued can then download those songs from the internet.
(You know, using Kazaa, winmx or whatever is most convenient for the person).
And then, as you said, we could perhaps post our reviews of those compilations here.
Does that make sense? sorry, i'm not in the most coherent of mind-frames right now.

That sounds like a dangerous idea, considering that anybody who uses Kazaa etc. these days could end up facing a $150,000-a-song lawsuit from the recording industry. Also, there's no guarantee that a particularly obscure song or musician will even be available on the peer-to-peer networks.

Plus, I think part of the idea of a compilation is that it requires some thought and effort on the part of the compiler, not only to gather the music but to decide on sequence, pacing and such. That makes it more meaningful, almost a labor of love. Any lazy shmoe can simply say "hey, here's a bunch of songs you should download."

"But this was before the days of widespread CD burning"

Hm - I still don't have access to a CD burner and would therefore prefer to record a 60 Minute tape of my favourite music. Is that o.k. with you?

"But how about...(Just as an alternate procedure for those who find the other method difficult),
each person types out a list of around 12 favourite non-SV songs, and anybody who's intrigued can then download those songs from the internet."

First - I don't have the possibility to download many MB's. Second - I think it's more personal if we send CD's/tapes.

Cheers,
Annika

Tapes are fine. Mainly I was thinking of me; it would always take me hours to compile a whole tape, especially since I was always finicky about making sure there wasn't excessive noise or too much silence between the songs. I also used to end up miscalculating my time and cutting some song off in the middle at the end of the side.

I LOOOOVE making compilation CDs. I'll send you my best one :o) This is going to be great!

What's ribbon? ;)

I'm in! I'm in!

Hi folks

What a great response!! The list as it stands is as follows:

1. Cams
2. Annika (Troubadesse)
3. Daniel
4. Lauren Colvin (Lauren)
5. Bob King (Bobking)
6. Mike Gray (Mikeg)
7. Georgia B (Loreleibansidhe)
8. Csémy András (Csandras)

If you could all confirm your participation by sending me an email with your postal address (email address in my profile) then we can get the ball rolling. (I've already got yours Annika!)

I think we should limit the number to 10 for the first one to keep things manageable and reduce the likelihood of bottlenecks.

Tapes or CDs are absolutely fine. Of the three tape trees I've been in so far, I would say it was about 70% tapes so not quite the thing of the past that you think Bob! Not yet, at least. But Annika, I think that once you start your planning, you'll find that 90 minutes isn't enough, let alone 60!

For holding period, it's fairly simple if we say one month and have the first working day of the month as the posting date, however since this will be an international tree, it may well be that one month won't be enough. Any thoughts?

I've emailed the Undertow Powers-that-be and we should be getting a dedicated sub-forum set up for the Towie Trees next week. Once we've got the details ironed out, I'll put an FAQ together and we'll take it from there.

For the first one, I propose a start date of 1 September. That gives everyone plenty of time to plan and compile their tapes/CDs - it can take longer than you think! If you're anything like me, you'll find yourself going through your music collection again with a more discerning eye and will end up listening and appreciating stuff you've not listened to for ages - it's great fun, honest!

Just one caveat: please only sign-up if you really think you can go the distance. I've seen tape trees grind to a halt because people didn't take it seriously after signing up. I know that none of the Towies would let that happen, but I had to say.

Cheers,
Cams