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| RINGO STARR....RUDE BEHAVIOR!
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Ringo Starr: No more fan mail
LONDON - Ringo Starr doesn't want to hear from you. If you do write, your letter will end up in the trash. That's the message from Richard Starkey, aka Ringo Starr. After 45 years of stardom, he doesn't want to spend any more time answering mail or sending signed photos back to fans.
The fan fatigue led the former Beatles drummer to post a sometimes angry sounding short video clip on his Web site telling fans that any mail sent to him after Oct. 20 will not be read or answered. British television stations broadcast the video on Tuesday.
``It's going to be tossed,'' he says on the video. ``I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love.''
The drummer and singer did not elaborate on the reason behind his decision to cut off a major point of contact with his many fans.
Starr, 68, has maintained a very active touring and recording schedule in recent years, drawing large crowds for performances with his All-Starr band.
The band plays a mix of old Beatles hits, Starr's many solo offerings, and other classics from the 1960s and 1970s. Starr usually serves as front man, though he sometimes plays the drums.
But he has angered longtime fans in Liverpool by telling interviewers that he does not miss his native city. Vandals there beheaded a topiary sculpture of Starr earlier this year - he was the only one of the four Beatles whose likeness was desecrated.
The good-natured drummer, who also enjoyed a brief acting career after star turns in Beatles' films ``A Hard Day's Night'' and ``Help!,'' guest starred on a 1991 episode of ``The Simpsons'' in which he is shown scrupulously answering every piece of fan mail that comes his way.
``They took the time to write to me, and I don't care if it takes 20 years, I'm going to answer every one of them,'' Starr says on the show.
In his mail, he finds a package from Marge Simpson that contains a portrait she painted of him back in the Beatles heyday. He puts it on his wall and writes back to tell her - a few decades late - how much he likes her painting.
I got online this morning and with coffee in hand started reading the news. I came to this article and thought....'How rude!'....I can understand ppl wanting to be left alone, I can. But couldn't he hire someone to answer his 'fan' mail (not that he'll have to worry about it after this). When he was a 'nobody' who in sam hill listened to his music, bought is albums, and made him the star he is? Ummmmmm.....THE FANS.....and now he's too 'busy' to answer his fan mail....I feel so sorry for him. God, some ppl need to get a life and stop bitching (all but me of course). This man who has millions and millions of dollars made from the very ppl he now won't give the time of day to makes me ill. I was a fan....not anymore.
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Posted by lastblastkl on 2008-10-14 09:55:35 | Rating: | Views: 140
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Hi K, he did an interview on BBC and really angered people by showing a lot of disrespect for Liverpool, his home town. I'm afraid he has moved on with his life and doesn't want reminders of the people who put him in the position he is in today. Sad but nonetheless true. I'm glad there are still really nice celebrities around who do put a value on fans. Without them, where would they be? E x
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Posted by overthehillandfar...
on 2008-10-14 10:20:05
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E
I read that and saw a clip from it. I just sat there and couldn't believe his whole demeanor. I will never understand the rich and famous...I guess I'll burn my records now...:( Thank you!! *hugs*
K
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Posted by lastblastkl
on 2008-10-14 10:32:57
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Do all famous people really answer all the mail they receive? I bet many ignore
Do all famous people really answer all the mail they receive? How many ignore at least some of it and don't say anything?
Ringo is beng honest so people don't waste their time and money.
I've always seen him as a normal bloke who was a good drummer. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the main songwriters, and George Harrison was a great guitarist.
I think it's a relief when someone famous tells the truth about how they feel, unlike so many stars.
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Posted by Rollomart49
on 2008-10-14 11:13:26
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Look, the dude is 68 and wants a break. I can't blame him. He is a musician who, along with his bandmates, created and played music that the world loved. He enjoyed a great career and his fans enjoyed that career as well.
It's not outrageous to want to have his life and time to himself.
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Posted by SmoothOperator
on 2008-10-14 11:34:07
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Roll and SO
I understand the wanting a break...what I didn't understand was why he had to be so nasty. He could have simply said.. 'Thank you and goodbye'.. Being rude certainly isn't the way to go either. Just my opinion...
K
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Posted by lastblastkl
on 2008-10-14 11:45:52
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Well I agree on that part.
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Posted by SmoothOperator
on 2008-10-14 12:51:26
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As a mega-Beatles fan, I couldn't help but weigh in on this. It seems Ringo wasn't as tactful as he could be about this subject. I'm sure there is a better way of saying what he said. Perhaps he should've said nothing at all and continued to let fans waste their time, paper and postage sending him stuff.
But Ringo owes the fans nothing beyond what he has given over decades! George Harrison had a great quote in the Anthology about what it was like to be a Beatle: "They (the fans) gave their money and they gave their screams,but the Beatles gave their nervous systems. They used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did, and then blamed it on us."
When they were at the height of their popularity, the Beatles faced death threats, could go nowhere in public without being mobbed. A "diplomat" at the British Embassy in America once snipped off -- without permission -- a lock of Ringo's hair while at a party. George was punched in the face once because Pete Best was replaced by Ringo. Oddballs used to bring handicapped ppl backstage at Beatles shows, and were asked to touch them as if they had healing power (at least that's how the Beatles saw it.) They gave the world the best rock n' roll that ever has been or ever will be made. I don't think they owe us a thing more.
Cheers to Ringo. Go live your golden years as you see fit.
Super K, you should've let me post this. :)
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Posted by sean_barr
on 2008-10-14 13:49:28
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SO
Now thats better...:)
Sean
They don't now nor did they ever 'owe' me a thing...nor did I 'owe' them a thing. They made millions and millions from the very ppl they complain about. I would let someone snip a lock of my hair for one tenth of what these men have....Most fans are just enjoyed them...they weren't the weird ones, but its the weird and strange that you hear about. I am not in awe of these men....If they didn't want the fame then maybe they should have stayed small.
And if you want to do this post let me know...I'll delete mine and you go at it...or do one better. I'm not a huge beatles fan...obviously you are!
K
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Posted by lastblastkl
on 2008-10-14 16:50:31
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I remember the Beatles doing there first ever TV performance. It was on Scene at 6-30 a news programme for Granada Television in Manchester. The Beatles were introduced by Bill Grundy who pioneered a more informal news programme. The Beatles were filmed piling out of a Morris Minor van at the back of the studios. I had never seen them before. They all had very bright blue eyes and just looked strange to me. The hairs of my body were tingling and I was thinking they would be really really famous. When they played they were more than good they were just brilliant. Two years later they were playing at Shea Stadium and had but all conquered the world with there meteoric rise to fame.
I do not think myself, they would have believed at Granada Studios there enormous success, that was awaiting for them.
This fame came at a price and could not be escaped. John shot dead by a nutter because as the gunman said; he thought john was a fake. George attacked in his home a few years before he died of cancer, again by a man who thought George was in league with the devil.
I thought I should say something in defence of Ringo for the simple reason of his age and success. Stars do get tired sometimes. But maybe Ringo should get some help with his fan club. Ringo was always the blunt one. He left the Maharishi camp soon after he arrived and was asked why; he said he was bored with it and wanted to get some egg and chips.
Congratulation on winning the competition, pity you cannot go.
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Posted by geoffreyalan
on 2008-10-15 03:23:30
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Super K:
I don't think any of the Beatles would say they wished they had never become some of the most famous ppl on the planet. Even George who came to resent being a Beatle toward the end of their run, years later, could look back on it fondly. I think Paul loves being a Beatle and wishes he still were one.
Everything in life is a trade-off. Fame and fortune come at a price. I've never been famous so I wouldn't know about all the negatives that come with it. But just read a biography about just about any major pop star out there. It's almost universal that losing all their privacy, and all the other trappings of fame, become too much to bear at a certain point.
Ringo isn't saying he doesn't care about the fans anymore. He's saying he doesn't have time to sit down and respond to thousands of letters so folks should save their time and stop asking.
He could hire someone to take care of his fan mail for him, but then that wouldn't really be him talking to his fans. I'd rather get nothing at all than something that is passed off as being from one of my heroes when, in reality, it was written by some secretary and signed with a stamp.
That's just me. I think Ringo's been a Beatle long enough and deserves whatever break he needs to take. He's almost 70 years old and is touring. Fans want to see him they can go see one of his shows.
I hope you know I respect your opinion. :) Just giving a different perspective.
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Posted by sean_barr
on 2008-10-15 09:09:54
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GA
I remember seeing them on the Ed Sullivan show...The girls were jumping all over the place and screaming and crying. Guess I didn't appreciate them then or now. Thanks for the insight...:) and thanks for the congrats too!
SB
I agree with you about hiring someone to take care of things for him. I get that. This morning I saw the interview he made and do not understand why he thought he had to be so nasty. Does having money afford you that right? That is my problem with this thing, not the fact that he wants to retire his pen from fan mail. He can do what he wants....but for all that fans have given him, couldn't he had been a little more gracious about the situation? He deserves a break but the fans deserve a bit of respect too.
K
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Posted by lastblastkl
on 2008-10-15 19:01:01
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