The Avenue: Issue Sixteen

The sixteenth issue of The Avenue was released on March 1, 2000. Contents included:

Current News:

The biggest news of course was the new year, and Alan let the fans know how he rang in the year 2000.

The band had just come off a series of tour dates and Alan explained how they made changes to ensure that the band didn't lose money on this tour. Alan also looked back at the idea of having Tony Hadley as a guest vocalist and said, "On a commercial basis, it was quite successful. I think we sold tickets to a market that might not otherwise have come to see us. In a way I miss having two singers. Not that Neil doesn't do a great job, but I think to a degree monotony sets in. Tony was a nice way of breaking it up. His reappearance at the end reinforced the fact there wasn't only one vocalist on stage. I like it because it's a rearrangement of the stage, like in the days when I used to come down to play keyboards on 'Days Are Numbers'.”

The news section also took a look at early plans for working on a musical with Michael Ernst. As well, Alan also spoke about his recent work with Abbey Road.

Of Note:

In this issue, the "Of Note:" section looks at the upcoming album by Al Stewart, the new books by Storm Thorgerson, updates about Chris Rainbow and David Paton, and a look back at the year-end Billboard music charts.

Your Thoughts On "The Time Machine" (Part 1):

In a past issue, the fans were asked to let Alan know what they thought of the new album. In addition to a ranking of the favourite tracks ("Time Machine" Part One was voted tops), there were also comments from numerous fans.

Tales Of...:

Part sixteen of this section brings our continuing history story up to 1980, where we take a look back at "The Turn Of A Friendly Card". Alan gave many insights into the album, including this comment, "An interesting aside is that the sound effect for 'Snake Eyes' was actually recorded in a Monte Carlo casino".

The Future Of Music

With Alan's long history in the music industry, and his keen grasp on music technology, who better to comment on the future of music? In this article, Alan comments on Internet downloads, MP3 files, DTS surround, DVD audio, and more.

"Let's Talk About...":

The question and answer section looked at the meanings behind songs, album covers, and more....

Who is the child appearing in a photo in the "Tales" booklet (1987 version)?

"It really is Eric. The reason he used that one was because he couldn't find a current picture that he liked. It was the only photo he liked at the time."

What are the words sung by the chorus in "Chinese Whispers"?

On the "video postcard" (EPK) that promotes the album "Try Anything Once", the review of Alan’s work with "The Project" only takes into consideration the albums from "I Robot" to "Ammonia Avenue". Why does it exclude "Tales", "Vulture Culture", "Stereotomy", and "Gaudi"?

What does the design on the "Stereotomy" cover represent? What is its meaning?

Given that “Vulture Culture” is (at least partially) about greed, why was the instrumental called "Hawkeye"? Why was that particular quote chosen for the middle of the track?

Contest prizes in this issue include: the chance to win a "No Gamble Sampler" (a rare promotional record for TTOAFC). Plus, more items autographed by Alan Parsons!

In this issue, one insert page is the discography section's look at 12" singles, the other is the sheet music for the track "Games People Play".

This, and much more happened in Issue Sixteen of The Avenue!

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