Tatiana Azundris

I don't even know where to start,
so I suppose I'll just start in the beginning,
like Alice.

I still remember the first time I listened to LQ. I was a kid with a five mile walk ahead of her — and these songs a friend had given her ...

Two albums: "Modern times." "Mick & Caroline."
I will not attempt (and fail) to describe how I felt when listening to them -- you are here, so you probably know. Pop with a trace of funk, a trace of reggae, the sleeve notes would say and then go on to promise us thoughtful, well-informed lyrics -- suffice it to say that I was a believer, right there and then.
I have all the albums (incl. the re-release of Modern Times^$, Radio Africa, the works). I went to the concerts. I was a believer back when.

Today?

Bands have come and gone.
I still play LQ every now and then. But whenever I mention them to someone, the inevitable answer is of course "Latin who?" "Radio Africa" works sometimes, less often than not. But when I play the old songs, people like them. Enough to buy the records? I'm not sure.

Me?

I still buy the records. When I heard Steve Skaith had a new album, it was obvious I'd buy it. I was going to support my childhood heros! : ) If the album turned out to be great on top of that, fine. If not, well, I had gotten much more than my money's worth out of the early offerings, so the worst that could happen was for me to break even. I had the choice between offering thanks and a vote of confidence in a really awkward way, or not at all.

I bought "Mexile."

It bombed with my friends. "It's the same songs all over, sans the groove," they would say, noticing the new versions of three old songs. (I was very reluctant to even mention that bit, but if it registered in the sales, Steve already knows, and otherwise, it really doesn't matter what some naysayers might say.) I'd expected songs more along the lines of "Bitter to the South" (from "Long pig"), I suppose, but I appreciated certain features of the new album. "Believer" easily bears being put on repeat. "Love didn't get there first", with the innumerable things that could go wrong with a song like that, actually works. Things like that.

So, where's the rub?

It's not like there hadn't been thoughts and regrets over the years, us all being human and all. It saddens me that the funkiness that shone through ever so slightly on "Mick & Caroline" (and much more in songs like "See him" or "Snow blind", which sadly we still have no decent versions of) was never developed further. I'm still disappointed LQ doesn't sell better than it does. I believe Mike Jones ascribed this to the fact that LQ didn't exactly have carebears lyrics, but then, neither do bands like the Beautiful South or Chumbawamba. (Beautiful South also had three singers by the way.) Some later LQ songs would even sound almost cheerful, like "Bitter to the South", which entirely didn't get enough airplay.

I must admit that I felt somewhat alarmed when Mike Jones said (about "Bringing Rosa Home", I should think) that songs about love affairs were in the cards, as well as a more personal feel. Not exactly what the LQ "brand" had come to mean to me. We'd still have Steve's music to set the band apart from a million others, but even with that, it would be awkward if we ended up feeling we'd lost something along the way.

The future?

I for one welcome the more political theme for "Empires" that Steve Skaith mentioned. I don't need to hear about love, I have enough of that in my life, thank you. : ) Political updates, though? LQ gave me summaries and vignettes, and it was much more than just a singing history book. Mike's lyrics made me know, and Steve's songs made me care. (Yes, that's a gross simplification.) Latin Quarter wasn't only a great band for the politically aware; it also was the perfect band for the politically semi-conscious. It reminded me that there was something out there, and it kept some of my youthful convictions alive that otherwise might just have dried up in the corporate treadmill. Ten years without success is far too long, Mike Jones writes, and I can agree with that. I would like to point out however that here in my head, you guys were quite the success. And for whatever it's worth, I stopped going to pop concerts about seven years ago, but I expect to be buying tickets soon.

The past.

And isn't it amazing how these things take you back in time -- check out those maudlin words, I've shed 2o years. It took me two hours to bleed this letter, and it's still badly-written melodramatic crap. I hate when that happens! : )