Your reaction to Lou Gramm interview

[squirt1]

I thought it may have been Lou with the brain surgery and meds that caused the split. Lou sure took a long time to point out how he was treated. Singers and their guitarists are so jealous in many cases. I'll bet you can name many from the 80's. Thanks Andrew for putting that on your site !

[StoneCold]

I thought it may have been Lou with the brain surgery and meds that caused the split. Lou sure took a long time to point out how he was treated. Singers and their guitarists are so jealous in many cases. I'll bet you can name many from the 80's. Thanks Andrew for putting that on your site !

http://www.ourprattville.com/entertainm ... d-straight

[JRNYFan]

I respect Lou for continuing to do what he loves to do despite the hardships he's faced, but in this interview he comes across as a very bitter man who feels like he's been left out to dry. It doesn't seem he has one good thing to say about Mick and goes out of his way to bash him and Kelly for "copying" him. Strange behavior for a self-proclaimed Christian.

[StoneCold]

I respect Lou for continuing to do what he loves to do despite the hardships he's faced, but in this interview he comes across as a very bitter man who feels like he's been left out to dry. It doesn't seem he has one good thing to say about Mick and goes out of his way to bash him and Kelly for "copying" him. Strange behavior for a self-proclaimed Christian.

Maybe he's telling the truth? From this excerpt, sounds like Mick's a prick.


(excerpt removed per Melissa Parker's request.)

interview link:

http://www.ourprattville.com/entertainm ... d-straight

[JRNYFan]

I respect Lou for continuing to do what he loves to do despite the hardships he's faced, but in this interview he comes across as a very bitter man who feels like he's been left out to dry. It doesn't seem he has one good thing to say about Mick and goes out of his way to bash him and Kelly for "copying" him. Strange behavior for a self-proclaimed Christian.

Maybe he's telling the truth? From this excerpt, sounds like Mick's a prick.

Mick wrote “I Want to Know What Love is,” right?

Well, you know what, I spent about eighteen hours a day for about two weeks with him writing…we were writing “I Want to Know What Love is.” And after it was all recorded and Mick and I got together and started to figure out…you know, at the end of the album sessions when you’re done recording, you sit down with the person who wrote with you and you figure out what the percentage is of each song and that gets sent in and that’s how you collect your royalties, etc.

So, all of this time, with all of my ideas and all of my melodies and everything that I helped him with on that song he presented me a piece of paper that said he thought he should get 95% and me 5%. I had it 60% to Mick and 40% to myself…and he laughed at me when he saw that. When I saw his I couldn’t believe it and he said, either that or nothing. I said, I don’t want anything Mick.

Obviously that song became huge and I know for a fact that he’s made millions of dollars off of it and people re-record it and re-record it again and again. That’s one of the times that Mick showed his true colors and pulled rank. We could have sat down in front of a mediator and talked about who did what on that song, but the reality of it is he wanted that song to be his signature song and was determined to cut me out of any piece of it.

Yes, it does, but that's just one side of the story though.

[Don]

You know what? I'm tired of the spin on being too classy, and never telling their side of the story. Lay it out there. Mick can tell his side if he wants.
Why should people be silent if they don't feel they did anything wrong? We grew up listening to these guys, we're entitled to know what happened if they want to tell us.
I don't think he was dogging on Kelly at all. He was talking about Mick making Kelly try to emulate him.
We can see what Mick has to say now. If he doesn't address it, that won't necessarily mean he's being classy, it could just as well mean he can't refute what Lou has said.

I wanted know what happened. This band has had a career on par with Journey if not more so. I'd like to know why it had to end the way it did.

[stevew2]

Everytime I click on the link, it says 'error' and have to delete the whole link plus the MR link i was on

[G.I.Jim]

You know what? I'm tired of the spin on being too classy, and never telling their side of the story. Lay it out there. Mick can tell his side if he wants.
Why should people be silent if they don't feel they did anything wrong? We grew up listening to these guys, we're entitled to know what happened if they want to tell us.
I don't think he was dogging on Kelly at all. He was talking about Mick making Kelly try to emulate him.
We can see what Mick has to say now. If he doesn't address it, that won't necessarily mean he's being classy, it could just as well mean he can't refute what Lou has said.

I wanted know what happened. This band has had a career on par with Journey if not more so. I'd like to know why it had to end the way it did.

+1. I agree 100%, and I was glad to hear from Lou on what happened. I think what he said about Mick's alcohol and drug use pretty much sum up why he left! I don't think I'd need any more reason than that alone...Not even counting the whole royalties thing.

I once wrote a song and had a "Friend" come over and help me finish it...He wrote 2 1/2 lines in the song, and I wrote the rest (as well as the entire melody, music, chorus hook, etc... I then found out that he (before I had a chance to) registered the song! He gave himself something like 80% of the lyrics, and 50% of the music. I had to call and have all of that shit changed, and had to do a bunch of paperwork to dispute what he had done! I did have witnesses which helped.

I saw that fucker in a restaurant about 2 months later, and after he saw me sitting there, he took his family and left...I don't think I've EVER wanted to beat someones ass so bad, but I just let it go. What a piece of shit! You go Lou!!!

[StoneCold]

Everytime I click on the link, it says 'error' and have to delete the whole link plus the MR link i was on

interview removed per Melissa Parker's request.

interview link:

http://www.ourprattville.com/entertainm ... d-straight

[Vladan]

EDIT. How do I delete my own posts?

Hmmm, must of missed my chance.

[bionic]

I would imagine with Lou's illness and vocal problems this must have been one of the reasons why they parted ways

[lissap53]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

[NealIsGod]

From what I've heard, Perry's problems with Journey back when he left the band after ROR (not after TBF) pale in comparison to Lou's problems with Mick. Anyone disagree?

[froy]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Come on Melissa no harm here

[Jana]

From what I've heard, Perry's problems with Journey back when he left the band after ROR (not after TBF) pale in comparison to Lou's problems with Mick. Anyone disagree?

I disagree. If Perry and Schon and Jonathan ever no holds barred, with the gloves off, told everything they felt about each other during the making of ROR and Perry leaving the band and the reunion and then implosion it would not be pretty. Riveting but not pretty.

[Red13JoePa]

From what I've heard, Perry's problems with Journey back when he left the band after ROR (not after TBF) pale in comparison to Lou's problems with Mick. Anyone disagree?

It's weird.
I'd love to hear Mick weigh in on this, but unless my recall is off, this story from Lou about the final straw in '02 being Mick's alcoholism is COMPLETELY different than the one he gave in an interview a few years back with Cara's Basement or somethinng?

At THAT point he said the final straw was a writing session in Belgium at that Night Of The Proms thing (Excerpted as a bonus feature on their All Access Tonight dvd of that tour), when Mick changed the first lyrics Lou was able to conjure up since the surgery.

Then I thought it odd that he leapt in with the 711 story totally out of nowhere with no real point or place within the context of the other stuff in the interview....

I seriously wonder of if these erratic musings are byproducts of the tumor.

I STILL predict Lou's back in Foreigner at some point, think he would be now if it were up to Mick but Mick doesn't talk...AJM didn't you have a Mick interview scheduled last year?


How about the part where Lou claims Mick came to his parents' funeral but said nothing at all to Lou?

[Glenn]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Melissa - StoneCold posted the direct link to your site/interview.....Just as you did in the Foreigner section of the MR Forums : http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... hp?t=41726

stevew2 was having trouble with your link so StoneCold copy and pasted it in here.

You are new here so let me bring you up to speed....Many links to interviews are posted in here...Some work, some don't...And when they don't, someone usually posts the transcript.

So I guess no one should be able to read your interviews unless they go to your site?

Had stevew2 PMed you, telling you that he can't access your site for whatever reason, are you going to tell him tough shit ?


If in the future you demand some one to ask you first before putting it here, fine...But to ask for it to be removed when the link to the site is posted twice in 2 different forums is very ..... I dunno, the word seems to escape me.


My 2 cents of course.

Great interview, btw.

[Michigan Girl]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Melissa - StoneCold posted the direct link to your site/interview.....Just as you did in the Foreigner section of the MR Forums : http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... hp?t=41726

stevew2 was having trouble with your link so StoneCold copy and pasted it in here.

You are new here so let me bring you up to speed....Many links to interviews are posted in here...Some work, some don't...And when they don't, someone usually posts the transcript.

So I guess no one should be able to read your interviews unless they go to your site?

Had stevew2 PMed you, telling you that he can't access your site for whatever reason, are you going to tell him tough shit ?


If in the future you demand some one to ask you first before putting it here, fine...But to ask for it to be removed when the link to the site is posted twice in 2 different forums is very ..... I dunno, the word seems to escape me.


My 2 cents of course.

Great interview, btw.

I am LMAO!!! Nice, JSS Rocks!!!

[StoneCold]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Hi Melissa, no harm intended. As for the copyright being left off, also not intentional. I never even read it. Who reads the fine print on stuff like this?

Anyway, it's all removed per your request. Good interview.

What prompted you to contact Gramm? It doesn't sound like he's touring very close to your city.

Also, is the interview complete or was it edited down?

[Ehwmatt]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Well, I know one site I won't ever read again, thanks.

[StoneCold]

From what I've heard, Perry's problems with Journey back when he left the band after ROR (not after TBF) pale in comparison to Lou's problems with Mick. Anyone disagree?

If what Gramm says about Jones on IWTKWLI is accurate, then I completely agree. Gramm must've been a complete saint to continue even being in the same room with him.

Even before this I questioned how Jones got sole writing credit. Gramm's performance didn't sprout out of thin air in one take. I knew there was more to it and am glad to hear at least Gramm's side.

[StoneCold]

From what I've heard, Perry's problems with Journey back when he left the band after ROR (not after TBF) pale in comparison to Lou's problems with Mick. Anyone disagree?

It's weird.
I'd love to hear Mick weigh in on this, but unless my recall is off, this story from Lou about the final straw in '02 being Mick's alcoholism is COMPLETELY different than the one he gave in an interview a few years back with Cara's Basement or somethinng?

Same here, but would Jones be truthful. Surprising to see Gramm being this candid about it all but maybe he's reached a point where it doesn't matter. I believe he's written off Foreigner for good.

Then I thought it odd that he leapt in with the 711 story totally out of nowhere with no real point or place within the context of the other stuff in the interview....

Hell of a funny story though. Mick Jones standing around in a 7/11 getting pointed out every time someone walks in. "Hey, that's the guy from Foreigner!"

How about the part where Lou claims Mick came to his parents' funeral but said nothing at all to Lou?

Maybe Jones had a lot of resentment after the 2002 rehab standoff. So why show at the funeral at all? Keeping up face?

[stevew2]

Hello Stonecold,

I am Melissa Parker author of this Lou Gramm interview and publisher of "Our Prattville - News Magazine." You do not have nor did you seek my permission to reprint this interview and have interestingly enough left off this portion:


© 2009 Our Prattville. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written consent of the publisher.


You are in violation of my copyrights and I am asking you nicely to remove or have it removed please. You may excerpt certain quotes under fair use but NOT the entire piece.

Thank you,
Melissa Parker
Publisher
Our Prattville

Melissa - StoneCold posted the direct link to your site/interview.....Just as you did in the Foreigner section of the MR Forums : http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... hp?t=41726

stevew2 was having trouble with your link so StoneCold copy and pasted it in here.

You are new here so let me bring you up to speed....Many links to interviews are posted in here...Some work, some don't...And when they don't, someone usually posts the transcript.

So I guess no one should be able to read your interviews unless they go to your site?

Had stevew2 PMed you, telling you that he can't access your site for whatever reason, are you going to tell him tough shit ?


If in the future you demand some one to ask you first before putting it here, fine...But to ask for it to be removed when the link to the site is posted twice in 2 different forums is very ..... I dunno, the word seems to escape me.


My 2 cents of course.

Great interview, btw.

Its all my fault, I should have stuck to my Friga jokes .Hey Melissa,do you want to interveiw me about Jon Friga?One condition, you ll have to allow it to be posted here with no whining

[Red13JoePa]

I am asking you nicely

You are

[lissap53]

Thank you Stonecold, I appreciate your understanding. I absolutely in no way meant to be petty or mean about this, sorry if I came across like that. There is usually only one reason that a link of ours doesn't work and that's if we went down for a second - usually if you try again within five or ten minutes, the link will work. I'd love for everyone to enjoy the interview and certainly welcome anyone to post a link to it.

A copyright is in place not only to protect the author but to protect the artist as well. Anyone could take it and go in and cut and paste whatever they wanted to. Call me selfish if you like, but we are fairly new and I'm trying very hard to gain national recognition with my "local" news magazine and if my interviews are reprinted in other places, that takes my hits and ecognition away. Just trying to be honest here folks. Someone reprinted my entire Dennis DeYoung interview in one of these forums without giving us credit for it just recently and we lost a lot of traffic because of it. I suppose I made the mistake then and didn't say anything about it.

It takes many hours for me to prepare for an interview because when I actually talk to the person I don't want to sound like an idiot. I want to be as prepared as I can be. That's just me. Then, after I have talked to them, it takes many hours to transcribe the audio, to make grammatical changes, to edit, etc. Thie entire thing is a painstaking process and one that can just about take a week out of my life for each interview. These interviews cost money and time. Not complaining, just further explaining myself.

As to your questions about Lou, you are right, he is not even touring in Alabama right now. Number one reason I wanted to interview him was that I'm a lifelong fan of Foreigner - I'm an old woman so I remember exactly where I was when Feels like the First Time came out in the 70s. The other reason was that I was curious about his release of a Christian album (due out June 2). As a writer/interviewer you are always well pleased when an answer to a question turns out to be so much more than you had hoped it would be.

The transcribed interview is basically unedited. We spoke for about thirty minutes. During that time, Lou was very deliberate with his words, chose them carefully, and generally came across as an especially articulate individual. His voice was filled with concern and even some sadness when he was discussing Mick's alcohol problems.

I hope this answers your questions, again I'm sorry if anyone was upset by my first post...

Melissa Parker

[Red13JoePa]

Appreciate that Lissap and it was a damn good read.

[Ehwmatt]

Thank you Stonecold, I appreciate your understanding. I absolutely in no way meant to be petty or mean about this, sorry if I came across like that. There is usually only one reason that a link of ours doesn't work and that's if we went down for a second - usually if you try again within five or ten minutes, the link will work. I'd love for everyone to enjoy the interview and certainly welcome anyone to post a link to it.

Melissa Parker

Look, first of all, since you're writing about music, learn from the record industry's mistakes. Sitting here and crucifying potential fans and consumers for copyright violations and whining and moaning about the very free flow of information on the Internet will not get you anywhere. But I'll come back to that.

Also, you came off pretty bad in your original "request," especially with the whole "OMG That's interesting you left off the copyright fine print at the end" bit, somehow insinuating that SC was trying to take credit for your work or at least not acknowledge you (anyone with half a brain could easily trace the story's origin). When I print from a site with a buncha crap and it doesn't have a print-friendly button, naturally, I select up to the end of the story and print the selection. I'm sure SC did the same in pasting here.

Finally, going back to the first point - maybe a few people didn't click through to your interview if it's posted here, but many more people will return to your site in the future looking for new content. I found ALL of the music media sites I frequent that way. I'm sure many here are the same way. You could have just come in here and kindly reiterated your authorship of the interview and given another link to the site instead of rolling in here all fired up and lawyered up.

It's the Internet, nobody gives a damn about copyright. Ask Lars. Learn from the mistakes of the musicians and the industry you have followed all your life.

I understand your frustration at potentially lost hits, but for your own sake, handle it better and with more grace. Don't bite the hand that feeds you like the buffoons in the industry have been doing for the last 10+ years.

[JeremyP]

I respect Lou for continuing to do what he loves to do despite the hardships he's faced, but in this interview he comes across as a very bitter man who feels like he's been left out to dry. It doesn't seem he has one good thing to say about Mick and goes out of his way to bash him and Kelly for "copying" him. Strange behavior for a self-proclaimed Christian.

*shrugs*

Perry called Steve A. "a sound-alike or whatever he was" in an interview. No matter where these guys are in their lives now, it must sting a little to see someone doing their old jobs.

[Jana]

Thank you Stonecold, I appreciate your understanding. I absolutely in no way meant to be petty or mean about this, sorry if I came across like that. There is usually only one reason that a link of ours doesn't work and that's if we went down for a second - usually if you try again within five or ten minutes, the link will work. I'd love for everyone to enjoy the interview and certainly welcome anyone to post a link to it.

Melissa Parker

Look, first of all, since you're writing about music, learn from the record industry's mistakes. Sitting here and crucifying potential fans and consumers for copyright violations and whining and moaning about the very free flow of information on the Internet will not get you anywhere. But I'll come back to that.

Also, you came off pretty bad in your original "request," especially with the whole "OMG That's interesting you left off the copyright fine print at the end" bit, somehow insinuating that SC was trying to take credit for your work or at least not acknowledge you (anyone with half a brain could easily trace the story's origin). When I print from a site with a buncha crap and it doesn't have a print-friendly button, naturally, I select up to the end of the story and print the selection. I'm sure SC did the same in pasting here.

Finally, going back to the first point - maybe a few people didn't click through to your interview if it's posted here, but many more people will return to your site in the future looking for new content. I found ALL of the music media sites I frequent that way. I'm sure many here are the same way. You could have just come in here and kindly reiterated your authorship of the interview and given another link to the site instead of rolling in here all fired up and lawyered up.

It's the Internet, nobody gives a damn about copyright. Ask Lars. Learn from the mistakes of the musicians and the industry you have followed all your life.

I understand your frustration at potentially lost hits, but for your own sake, handle it better and with more grace. Don't bite the hand that feeds you like the buffoons in the industry have been doing for the last 10+ years.

Great post, Ehwmatt.

[Glenn]

Thank you Stonecold, I appreciate your understanding. I absolutely in no way meant to be petty or mean about this, sorry if I came across like that. There is usually only one reason that a link of ours doesn't work and that's if we went down for a second - usually if you try again within five or ten minutes, the link will work. I'd love for everyone to enjoy the interview and certainly welcome anyone to post a link to it.

Melissa Parker

Look, first of all, since you're writing about music, learn from the record industry's mistakes. Sitting here and crucifying potential fans and consumers for copyright violations and whining and moaning about the very free flow of information on the Internet will not get you anywhere. But I'll come back to that.

Also, you came off pretty bad in your original "request," especially with the whole "OMG That's interesting you left off the copyright fine print at the end" bit, somehow insinuating that SC was trying to take credit for your work or at least not acknowledge you (anyone with half a brain could easily trace the story's origin). When I print from a site with a buncha crap and it doesn't have a print-friendly button, naturally, I select up to the end of the story and print the selection. I'm sure SC did the same in pasting here.

Finally, going back to the first point - maybe a few people didn't click through to your interview if it's posted here, but many more people will return to your site in the future looking for new content. I found ALL of the music media sites I frequent that way. I'm sure many here are the same way. You could have just come in here and kindly reiterated your authorship of the interview and given another link to the site instead of rolling in here all fired up and lawyered up.

It's the Internet, nobody gives a damn about copyright. Ask Lars. Learn from the mistakes of the musicians and the industry you have followed all your life.

I understand your frustration at potentially lost hits, but for your own sake, handle it better and with more grace. Don't bite the hand that feeds you like the buffoons in the industry have been doing for the last 10+ years.

+1


Also...Melissa, what really would have been cool is if you included info to your site..."Read more great interviews here", etc....

I do understand where you are coming from but am in full agreement with Ehwmatt on this....Your original post came across as very self important.


On the other hand, I did browse your site and think it's pretty cool. Keep up the great interviews!



did you send this to Andrew to post on the main MR page ?