On a positive note the Corona Virus has eliminated the cacophony of the marionettes/marvinettes, for human consumption at least temporarily. Someone sent me a bio of Nicks sister's passing, with extensive photos of the Reynolds fam, complete and extended. Josh is seated on his dad's lap and is unmistakably Josh. I didn't recognize MM in the photos of said Reynolds Fam. The truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. Since the present tools are not getting the standing o's so often mentioned by themselves perhaps they are in the studio "tooling up!"
Poor tribute from a poor tribute band.
I have been waiting for someone to bring this up here but also holding back on doing it myself as I wasn't sure a bunch of "Marvinettes suck" posts were really what we all needed but if we can't complain about the Marvinettes, who can we complain about?
So, this video produced under the KT name showed up on You Tube...It's set to the tune of a cover of Dreamers on the Rise and supposed to be a tribute to the history of The Kingston Trio...
Several points to make...
1. The video starts out with touristy shots of Hawaii..likely stolen from a tourism website and then commits the sin of using red font on a blue background.
This bothers me more than words can say. Anyone with any experience in mass media or marketing should know that red fonts are hard to read in general and it only works on a white background. Marvin did movies so he should know what makes a good title sequence. Also, it might help him to remember that people of a certain age already have iffy eyesight so a font like that is killer and could turn off people.
2. The song is a John Stewart classic..a solo song...and although John did it was a duet a few times, it is NOT a KT song. John Stewart covers should be left to those who can put passion and verve into them. Mike has none of that. Don is the one who saves the performance..although the overall song presentation is tolerable. Mike better stay away from any future JS covers especially "Some Lonesome Picker" as that belongs to Chuck McDermott now.
3.The first images of the video would have had more impact if they used older images and not current ones, plus what was the deal with the girl in the bikini standing next to The Kingston Trio name? Everyone knows banjo players always get the girls!!!! (Well, I know ONE but that's not why you called) I will say, for personal reasons, I smiled at the shot of Coit Tower in San Francisco.
4. The images are cool but they went by way too fast. I know we all have grown to have the attention span of the gnat but having images zip by faster than the beat of the song is a bit distracting.
5. I am pleased that George Grove made the cut in several images...as a publicity still with George, Bill and Rick but Haworth, Gambil, Connor and Horine were left out. The video had plenty of shots of Nick and Mike..where was Josh? Also, it seemed that again Nick takes the main focus away from Shane and the others.
6. However, they edited George out of the group pic that I adore with Bob, George, Nick,John and Dave. That is a true shame as it really captures the essence of all those that made the Trio up to that point.
7. I find it interesting that the date of 11/22/63 is flashed across the screen. As anyone knows, that date echoes in a lot of John's songs and the lost dreams of the Kennedy era. It also feeds into the reason that Dreamers on the Rise was written. So, the song is a sad ode to lost dreams, so to use this video to promote the KT, is Mike saying that the KT is a lost dream? I'm not sure he meant that but that gave me a farewell vibe....if only it were true.
8. I find it hilarious that Mighty Mike has turned off the comments for this video on You Tube. Apparently, he's afraid of trolls...I'm not sure why as he's the living embodiment of a toolish troll if there ever was one.
There. that's my take...what's yours?
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