The ShadowMusic Web Community

Hello everyone

This must have been covered a lot in the past but why isn't there an active official Shadows website?

I know there was an official site in the mid 2000s - and there are a lot of excellent fan sites.

But there can't be many bands of that stature without an official site!

There must be tons of rare pics, video footage, stories someone could upload - all of which would drive sales and interest in the band and its music as a permanent record.

Brian Bennet does have a site - but that's not up to date anymore.

Official sites are usually run by record companies who have an active artist to promote (or by fans who have the official seal of approval, and who put a *lot* of hard work in). That's what the site you were referring to from the early 2000s was. I know it's not necessarily a popular point of view around here but these days, as a retired band, there's no significant return on investment for a record company to put money into a Shadows web site, especially with a lot of the material starting to fall out of copyright so any Tom, Dick or Harriet can release it under their own steam.

Matt

If my memory serves me correctly an official site did suddenly "appear" around the time of the 2004 Tour .... and promptly disappeared after it. Which was just as well as Bruce's name was spelt wrongly on it.

Alan Prudhoe wrote:If my memory serves me correctly an official site did suddenly "appear" around the time of the 2004 Tour .... and promptly disappeared after it. Which was just as well as Bruce's name was spelt wrongly on it.

I remember it too. It gave the list of concerts for 2004, but was never updated for the second part of the Final Tour in 2005...

Didier

I must say, I found the official website less informative than this forum or for instance Dave Dixon or Malcolm Campbell's websites. Why shouldn't there be an official website for a retired band? The Beatles have been retired for 43 years now and Led Zeppelin officially for 33 years, although they have performed together in 1985, 1988, 1995 and 2007. These two bands do each have an official website, which is kept up to date.

iefje wrote:These two bands do each have an official website, which is kept up to date.

Those two bands still have back catalogue sales and occasional new products which generate a phenomenal amount of money for their record/publishing companies. The Shadows don't.

I can't envisage any content for an 'official' website that isn't covered elsewhere. The Shadows only now exist in name - and presumably in a business sense - unless the three members decide otherwise. Re-releases are diffused through a variety of companies. News is sparse and only surfaces rarely.

George

In the mid 1960s, The Shadows actually had an official Fan Club. But....after a short while, The Shadows themselves decided to discontinue it. They took a unilateral decision, for all manner of reasons, not to have an official fan club. Following their post - 1977 resurgence on a big scale, they once again firmly reiterated that they did not wish to have & nor would they directly support any kind of 'Official Fan Club'. However, they were more than happy with Ian Kershaw's splendid SCOFA and later fantastic efforts such as Tony Hoffman's "Shadsfax", the many and various Shadows Clubs (started in great style by Pat Terrett's UB Hank idea - a mantle taken up & developed by so many others since those early days) and, of course our very own (take a bow founder David Martin) Shadow Music Web Community. There have been many, many, many other people who have contributed an enormous amount to 'The Shadows Family'. Although most of it has been with the Shads' knowledge / 'blessing' - they have always stressed that they haven't wanted an 'Official Fan Club' etc., etc.

Bests....Rob

Arpeggio wrote:they once again firmly reiterated that they did not wish to have & nor would they directly support any kind of 'Official Fan Club'.

Yet I know at least one Fan Club claiming that they are "official" !

Didier

Thank you - that adds a different perspective. I know websites cakes along when the Shads were fairly inactive as a band in the 90s but I hadn't realised the no website policy was by design not accident. There are all the elements of a website in different places with Shadow Music, other sites, and Leo's Den, so we are lucky really. I think an official site could still have added something but I suppose they want to be the Shads as and when with no pressure to re-form.