LA Promoter writes open letter to rock bands.

Julian Douglas with his wife Nicole and KISS.

 


I stand by what I said in that interview, I do however regret some of those I hurt by some of my words.
Posted By: Metal Sludge

Hollywood, CA -- Last week Metal Sludge ran a feature interview with local Southern California promoter Julian "Mr. 80's" Douglas. The interview found HERE was conducted by Metal Sludge contributor and Los Angeles based career journalist Gerry Gittelson.

It seems that Douglas has come under fire for some of the things he talked about in his candid Sludge interview. With that said, Julian has come to us and asked to print his open letter to those (bands) who seem to have been hurt or offended by some of what he said.

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It is quite an honor to not only be interviewed by Metal sludge, but to have that interview because of acknowledgment of my on going quest to keep the music of the 80's alive and well. Of course if I ever get that interview honor again, I will be more aware of what I say, lol.

I stand by what I said in that interview, but it's a shame that hours of interview talk, when whittled down to the size of the article became, of course some things didn't make it in, or might of come across certain ways.

I'm very humbled by the huge amount of people coming out I don't know and praising me for such insight on the business being said, let alone all the rockers I know that also supported me for having the huevos to say what I did. I do however regret some of those I hurt by some of my words. I should of never disclosed money information for example, as that is info I'm privy to and not something the public needs to know about. I also feel bad that I said certain bands by name and not just said "national act" act.

The main point of my interview was to show that these days it's not easy for the 80's to keep as exciting as it once was, and I work hard to do that. What does stink and what I was trying to show, that so many in our business just make it so much harder to love the decade and the bands that came from it. Wether it's bands with inter turmoil that are spread through the gossip boards for the public to see, to the bands that have split into 2 different versions, confusing the fans even more, to bands forgetting where they are now compared to where they were before, maybe not near as big so to speak, losing gigs because of that too because they demand such high dollar amounts.

In other words, these actions are what put the fans back from wanting to go and see them, to spend their hard earned money reliving the past and so on. Maybe I do still live in the fantasy that the 80's should be as big now as it was, and again, I work hard to at least try to have that be, it just hurts me to see so many work just as hard to tarnish that image. So what if it's a business, it's a great business. So what if you take a little less to play, but you get fans to hear your music then. So what if you have to get along on stage for a 75 minutes every so often so that you're actually playing as opposed to not. So what if you're not as big now as you once were. At least if bands took these things to heart, maybe, just maybe, the more fans would come back, more people would love the decade and more people would then in turn start coming back a supporting them. Then they would make more money, they would have more fans and they would be that big once again.

Thanks again to Metal Sludge, my partner in keeping the Decade Of Decadence still relevant one way or another. After all, entertainment is entertainment.

P.S. To clarify back in my singing days, I sang for a few unknown bands, including Sacred Cow and Ali Raja... I never was the singer on any level for Silent Rage. When asked about singing for anyone famous, I had to throw in that I got to jam with some of my good friends in Silent Rage. :)

Julian "Mr. 80's" Douglas

Metal Sludge
Open Sludge