The Mellotron Group

In a message dated 9/28/2009 2:04:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
andy.thompson@virgin.net writes:


Doubtless, but as someone else  said (Mark?), how many people REALLY care a
bout tape-replay instruments? I'm  pleased she's made the film, but I'm not 
sure how many people are going to  be interested in the 'outside world'. I 
have no problem with the  contemporary musicians angle - the footage of 
Patrick Warren (?) 'playing'  his Chamby's drive-wheel was fab.











Seriously, does/did anyone on this list suffer from the delusion  that our 
fixation on this wonderful mechanical beast would ever translate  to the 
masses?  Both Nick Awde and I knew that our respective books on the  Mellotron 
were for a niche market, would just be a curiosity to the rest of the  world 
(e.g., the dude in the M4000 L.A. video), and would never be candidates  
for the NYT Best Seller list.  Likewise, Dianna's film appeals to the same  
niche market, and I'm sure she's not losing any sleep over not being nominated 
 for a Palm d'Or or a Golden Globe.  As great as I hear the M4000 is, does  
anyone really think that sales numbers, in the long run, are going to dwarf 
that  of any and all previous models?  One can hope otherwise, but the 
practical  reality is that anything regarding the Mellotron is destined for the 
aforesaid  niche market (even within the general music community).  While I 
can't  speak for either Nick or Dianna on the following, I know that my 
experience  in writing The Mellotron Book brought me in contact with a publisher 
 that, while enthusiastic about the project, still fell outside the niche 
market  and saw it as a novelty, hence the publisher's (not my) reference to 
the  farcical description of the Mellotron as a "tape loop organ".  I didn't 
 lose sleep over that, assuming that those "in the know" already  
understand.
 
F.