Insider Column 28

An insider's look at Townsend...
Chapter Twenty-eight


February 2, 2002

Recently I posted a couple of messages on the message board. They were kinda important so I’m going to repeat them for those of you that didn't get to read them. I met with Robert Hayes (Spunout Records) this week (Thursday the 31st) and got the straight scoop on when the CDs will be shipped. According to Robert the CDs will ship on February 19th. Spunout apologizes for the delay. They felt that it was better to release a quality product than to meet the previously announced schedule. The CD is far too important to Townsend’s success to allow a less than perfect product to be released.

Robert gave me a copy of the CD. I know that you will find this hard to believe, but - the new versions of the songs are substantially better. All the songs have been reworked. On the way back from Spunout Records I popped the CD in the CD player. I was blown away. As my good friend Ryan would say, "it was off the hook". As many consider me a macho jerk, it isn’t likely that you will believe this next comment, but it’s true: I heard Close Your Eyes for the first time, and it made me cry!!! I didn’t cry alligator tears or anything. It was more like when you get a little dust in your eye. Nonetheless, it did cause a momentary expression of emotion. If you haven’t ordered your CD, ya better do it soon.

By the way, some of you have sent in cash. That’s not the best thing to do but it’s okay.

There has been a rumor circulating that Townsend is going to perform at the same concert as Kyniption. Not the case. No, not going to happen.

It is true that the school tour may be extended. It’s also true that there is a chance that the guys may do a meet and greet at the NSYNC concert in San Jose. I’ll let ya know for sure when I know for sure.

A message was posted on the message board from Chantelle, expressing her feelings and opinion that many of the Townsend fans seem to form cliques very easily and that those cliques don’t associate w/ other fans and think they are better than all the fans. While I do not agree with how she said it, nor do I fully agree with her observations, I do have to say that her perception has merit. If Chantelle has that perception, we should assume that others have it as well. I am sure that many of the fans would say that Wendy and I are part of the clique. Yeah, I guess that that is the case. Let me share with all of you a version of what I posted in response to Chantelle’s note.

That was one of the first things that I noticed about the Townsend fans. For the most part Townsend is one great big giant Clique that is composed of many smaller cliques. As you know, a clique is a close group of friends or colleagues having similar interests and goals. The down side is that most 'outsiders' regard the clique as exclusionary. When I first became involved with the Townsend fans I was concerned that the cliques that I perceived would be harmful to Townsend. I was wrong. I was way wrong. There may be a clique but it is not exclusionary. We will not tolerate that. There are many Townsend fans that I have never met that I consider to be part of the Townsend family. There’s Aimee from Reno and Justine from Long Island, Sarita, Laurita, Heather, Holly, Kristin from San Jose, Katie from Sacramento, Sarah, and many, many more. I get emails all the time, almost daily, from Townsend fans that I’ve never met or had even heard of before.

A lot of the fans that may be perceived by others to be part of the clique constantly post messages to encourage the new fans to joint one of the many Townsend Fan clubs. That doesn’t sound exclusionary to me. I make it a point to try and welcome as many new fans to the site as I can. As do many of the long time Townsend fans. New members to the site can easily become overwhelmed with the sense of cliquieness, especially when we do things like the Wu-family. It’s silly stuff and the fans are just having fun. But, we do not exclude anyone. I love getting to know all of the new fans and I know for a fact that all of the fans that I know well also like meeting and getting to know the new fans.

None the less, if Chantelle feels that way others may also feel that way. We need to correct that. I’m not sure what we can do to knock down the barriers of false perception. I will have to give this serious consideration. Let me make this perfectly clear, I do not want the Townsend fans to behave differently. Having fun with friends is not the problem. Having fun on the message board with friends is not immature as Chactelle implied, that is truly what Townsend is all about. Townsend is about friends and family. Just read about the meaning of the Townsend logo and read what the guys wrote in their messages to the fans.

New topic: Wendy was telling me about some of the Townsend fan fiction that she read. OMG!! You got to be kidding. I absolutely refused to read it. But, it got me thinking. Remember how I pulled one of my columns off of the site because I felt that maybe it was a little too "mature" for the delicate sensitivities of the average Townsend fan? You know, the Townsend Halloween story. Yeah, that one. Who was I kidding? Compared to what Wendy told me, and what I’ve "overheard" in our chat room, my story was tame. At least I didn’t mention the guy’s booties. Anyway, I was thinking that maybe I will finish the Halloween story. What do you think?

I’ve decided that Townsend has the same attributes as a bunch of cats! I am sure that you want to why I feel this way. I have my reasons and it seems that the Townsend fans have their reasons. They just don’t know it. Let me give you a few of the reasons why I believe this to be the case.
1. A litter of kittens are "so cute and adorable". Townsend fans believe that the guys are cute and adorable. Gag me with a spoon.
2. Keeping all five Townsend guys together at an event is like trying to herd cats. It’s impossible to keep one or more of them from wandering off somewhere.
3. Cats, like Townsend, only pay attention when they want to.
4. Townsend, like cats, can be very sweet and affectionate when they want to be. Or not.
5. Cats like to sleep during the day and play at night. So does Townsend.
7. There is always a tomcat in any large group of cats.
8. The fans think that Townsend is the "cat’s pajamas"! Note: Cat’s pajamas refer to an excellent or special person or thing.

I’m thinking about having a few hundred post cards made up with Z 95.7’s address on it. The card will be addressed to the program manager and it will say, "We want Townsend". It will have a place for the fan to sign. I will send them to the Fan Clubs to distribute. Maybe you could give them out to your friends, ask each of them to sign the card and send it in. What do you think? The guys are at a crucial stage in their career and they need all of the help that they can get. As each day goes by I am learning that talent isn’t enough if you’re going to be successful in this business.

It’s time for me to check out the message board; then I’m of to bed. Oh, guess what? I accidentally stabbed myself in my hand with my mondo macho rescue knife two nights ago. I had to get seven stitches and my right hand is all bandaged up so I can barely type. Nothing new there. Now I’m gonna have to come up with a great story to go with it. Ya know, something like, "T Rex wrestled an alligator with his bare hands and came out of it with only seven stitches. You should see the alligator".

I’ll tell you what. If you can come up with a better story for how I cut my hand, I will give you one of Todd’s kid shirts. Maybe I’ll even get him to sign it. Actually, I have another prize that I will also include and I guarantee that you will like this one. For the contest, I’ll ask Wu-Pam and Wu-Kris to be the judges. Wendy will post all of the responses on the site. Email Wendy or me (webmaster1@townsendboys.com or trex@townsendboys.com) your brief story on how I stupidly cut my hand. It would be good to include the 5 Townsend guys in the story. Please remember that I am very conservative, as in prudish!! Oh yeah, that reminds me. I have a new rule for myself. I will not enter the chat room using a bogus name. I cause way too much embarrassment to the fans - not to mention myself - when I declare who I am.
Bob

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