Insider Column 3

Townsend Insider Column 3

A few tidbits about Chapter One…Todd told me that he wanted the guys to review the "column" and get their approval prior to its posting. They reviewed it. Well, without exaggerating, I can honestly say that they didn’t like it. After ignoring most of what Todd said that they said, I made a few minor changes. Then I had to decide if I should post it right away or wait and give the guys another chance to review it. My dilemma was: if I let them review it they would want to make editorial changes. If they made editorial changes to the point where the content was changed, my Insiders Column would be a sham, a canard, a prevarication!!! Oh contraire, no can do. Think about it, I must maintain my writer’s integrity!!! I have a duty to my readers to say it as I see it. Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead! Let the chips fall as they may!!

The prior ranting was TIC (tongue in cheek).

I bet your wondering if I caved at let the guys read my reworked version of the first Insider’s Column. Well, I’m afraid that that question will have to remain unanswered.

I assume that you’ve read the message from each of the guys to their fans. It’s rather amazing that they have so much in common. All five guys excelled in sports. What’s the probability of that? I wonder if the other four guys were like Todd in that he didn’t have time for girls until he went off to college.

Wendy thinks a racy picture of the guys should be posted on the site. The twins and Ryan are shirtless. We are debating the wisdom of posting it. I oppose it. What do you think? Sometimes I have a different opinion than anyone else as to what should be posted. Actually, I received lots of dissenting opinions on posting the Insider columns. Gee, I wonder why? You’d think that I had beady eyes or something. I mean….well, look at me. Have you ever seen anyone with a more honest and sincere face?

Ops, sorry about that, I’m suppose to be writing about the guys. Anyway, athletic ability is not the only think that they have in common. They’re articulate, gregarious, confident and charming (well, most of the time). Have you noticed that when the group is together Dom and Todd do most of the talking about Townsend and how Todd tends to clam up when he’s not talking about Townsend? About the time Todd clams up, Nick speaks up. Ryan is another matter, he never speaks out. Though I do seem to recall a situation several months ago where I believe that Ryan shared his opinion on why the guys should not eat anything with onions in it prior to meeting with the public. Personally, I felt that that was a very important comment. I think that was at dinner the night before the Radio Disney Concert in Sacramento.

What’s remarkable is that these guys have come this far with very little external support. It was rather serendipitous that they even got together in the first place. Three years ago the guys had yet to meet each other. It was about a year ago that the guys decided to form Townsend. In the last six months they’ve produced three high quality songs. I’m not trying to imply that it was easy. I have four versions of Understand This? and two versions of Just Say Goodbye. I’m sure that before all is said and done I’ll have more than one version of Tonight is for you. Now that I think about it, I do have two versions of Tonight is for you. Ya know, I probably shouldn’t have told you that. From my perspective it’s a very positive statement. The Townsend guys are driven to perfection.

So, what do you think about Tonight is for you? I few days ago I noticed in the website chat room that one of the fans referred to Todd’s rappin’ as flowin’. Only a true insider would know that Todd uses the word flowin’ to represent his "version" of Rap. I originally suggested that he should consider referring to it as rip rather than rap. He mumbled something about bad connotation, gave me his normal "you got to be kidding look" and then left my office shaking his head. So what am I missing here? I don’t get it. Rap refers to a music style that is characterized by rhyming vocals that are frequently spoken in conjunction with a looped electronic beat in the background. Rip is a strongly "flowing" current of agitated water. Seems to me that rap is very similar to strongly flowing agitated water. In a nice way J.

The way Matt is getting along with the guys you would think that they’ve known each other for years rather than months. Great chemistry between the guys. Sometimes I kid myself into thinking that, in a small way, I’m the catalyst in the group chemistry. Work with me on this for a moment. To refresh your memory, a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without undergoing any change or becoming part of the new substance. In other words, I want to facilitate (help) the rapid development of the group’s career without being an integral part of group or changing the group’s chemistry. Let me try this a different way. As a catalyst, I can help the group without being a member of the group. (Wendy, did I make it simple enough? It is not my intent to offend anyone, but Wendy tells me that I need to dumb down a little when I’m not talking to my peers at work. Go figure!)

Okay, here’s the deal. I’ll send an unpublished 8x10 autographed photo of Townsend to the first person that can tell me what the purpose of the above paragraph is. I had an ulterior motive. Post your response in the chat room. The first person that gets it right wins.

Wendy and I review the stats for the website every day or so. The new home page cover picture is getting lots of hits. In one day alone 175 people made copies of it. I wonder if the one that Wendy wants to post will do as well? Da!! Warning, warning Will Robinson!! If it is posted I will be reading what is said in the chat room!

One more thing, Matt’s getting a tan, and he starting to lose his Oregon pallor. He looks more like a California surfing dude now. Maybe I can get the guys to resurrect a few old Beach Boy songs. Actually, maybe we should do a photo shoot on the beach. That would be good because the guys would have a socially acceptable reason for having their picture taken with their shirts off. Have any of you ever seen a picture of the guys wearing shorts? I think not. I think they must have skinny legs.



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