| Minutes of the Meeting held 29th February 2000 |
| ACTION | |
| APOLOGIES | |
| There were no apologies. | |
| MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING | |
| Accepted as TRUE, but for the Gentleman of Ilkeston wishing to put out Johnny Domino material being a LADY. The meeting blushed. | |
| MATTERS ARISING | |
| Reports were heard on the following items: | |
| MCPS/PPL | |
| Mr Hibbett had taken over management of this from Mr Whitaker, and in honour of him was also PENDing it for a bit. | MH |
| AAS GOLD DISC | |
| Humour levels for this item were diminishing again, and Mr Fleay would get it in before all hilarity dissolved forever. He said he was waiting for it to turn platinum, honest. | RF |
| DOMAIN NAME PLACE | |
| This had been looked into by Mr Fleay, who reported that it was a bit rum, insofar as changes could only be made to any webpage using the company’s own dial-up service. Fair enough, it’s how they make their money, but it would not be hugely convenient for the Board. Instead, Mr Fleay would look into other possibilities, such as just registering a name ourselves. | RF |
| ACCOUNTANT | |
| This had been thought about, and it was decided we could wait to worry about it until we actually made any money. Still, Mr Hibbett would ring the Musician’s Accountancy Service thing, to see if they had any advice free. | MH |
| NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST | |
| Mr Fleay had intended to post details of this shortly before the meeting, but had been unable so to do due to other commitments. He would ACTION it soon though. | RF |
| JOB DESCRIPTIONS | |
| Job Descriptions had not been completed because no statement had yet been received from Prime, and so Mr Fleay’s responsibilities in this direction were still unclear. Thus it would PEND, while Mr Whitaker FACTed them for a statement. | MW |
| BARCODES | |
| Getting barcodes had been a living Nightmare in 3D with realistic HorroSniff effects. In the dark. With a full moon. And spiders. It was agreed that, for the next release, the manufacturers would be hassled further for info. For now, they were not being used – it was recognised that this might damage chances of Top 10 hits for the Massive Promotional Campaign, but that was just something we would have to live with. | |
| INTERNET MUSIC TYPES | |
| Mr Hibbett forwarded DATs to Mr Fleay, for making into CDs which he would then send on to Wellcut. Mr Whitaker reported that he and the former Great Satan Mr Price would be writing to PeopleSound about the issue of Sound Recordings, which Peoplesound were selling, without the permission of Messrs Whitaker and Price, the owners. We shall see what we shall see. | |
| ORGANISATIONAL ISSUES | |
| The following label-based issues were discussed: | |
| WEBPAGES | |
| We had now been entered onto Yahoo, and should come up in the record labels section. The newsletter section had not yet been updated, but would be, and the AAS Lazer Guided page would be erased, instead going straight to their own pages. | MH MH |
| WEB CONSULTANCY | |
| Messrs Hibbett and Fleay had that very evening been checking on the GRATEness of the Reveal system, finding it to be indeed GRATE. Mr Rose required some training on the system, and it was hoped that some form of payment would follow this. | |
| NEWSLETTER | |
| Bobby Denver had been contacted for Board Member Focus, and it was agreed that the next issue should go out as part of the Players with Words Massive Promotional Campaign. | MH |
| PLUGGERS | |
| Mr Whitaker would report on this as part of the Massive Promotional Campaign. | |
| DISTRIBUTION | |
| A release date of 27th March had now been definitely set for the two albums. Paul had promised to harass his accounts department for the statement we required for Frankie Machine and Wandrin’ Allstars releases. It was noted that tomorrow was the deadline for Shellshock to send us back all our stock, after which we would be asking for payment. Nothing had been heard from them, and Mr Whitaker would write to them. The meeting got Quite Excited about the idea of the Board going to London en masse to help out with any difficulties. | MW |
| FINANCE | |
| With Shellshock unresolved and no statement from Prime, there was little to report. Due to Web Consultancy Mr Fleay had been unable to pick up the chequebook, but would forward a cheque to Mr Whitaker at the earliest opportunity. | RF |
| AWAY DAY | |
| Mr Hibbett had not booked this yet, but would SORT IT. | MH |
| ABBEY PARK | |
| Mr Hibbett reported that he had been invited to an Abbey Park meeting between Teri Wyncoll and various promoters, to discuss this year’s festival. AAS were invited to do a stage, and everyone was informed that the cost this year would be FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS!!! Stumbling, dazedly, from this, Mr Hibbett had then attended another meeting with Club O and Bathysphere, who had turned out to be Jolly Decent Chaps, where the prospect of a Joint Bid to the Arts Council was discussed. They had thought up a PLAN for a separate “tented zone” of marquees, sharing resources and skills but maintaining artistic autonomy, as a distinct and separate part of the festival. Next they had attended a meeting with the Festival Board and members of the Arts Council, which had been “enlightening”. Finally they had had ANOTHER meeting to write a joint bid, which would then be going on to the chap at Abbey Park who knew about such things, for completion and sending. | |
| The meeting agreed that these actions had been VALID, but also that if it was going to be an enormous amount of hassle, there was no point in doing it. Mr Hibbett stated his PLAN to see how all this went, and if it meant we could get on and have a stage, then all was well, but if it didn’t he had no intention of seeking sponsorship or anything. We are a LABEL, not a concert promoter, and the Meeting agreed that this was GOOD and RIGHT. | |
| FOOTBALL | |
| There was a bitter dogfight ahead between Bradford and Derby, and the meeting hoped against hope that both Mr Whitaker and Mr Fleay would be celebrating at the end of the season. Thank Goodness there’s no chance of Posh getting anywhere near the Premiership. | |
| A&R | |
| Bands and Ting were talked of, as follows: | |
| FRANKIE MACHINE | |
| Mr Fleay had BOOKED a studio for next week, to commence work on his next single. ZANG! He had also arranged with Steve Domino to go and do some recording for his album, provisionally entitled “Frankie Machine and friends”, and the meeting THRILLED to the idea of having live bits in between songs, like Sinatra at the Sands. Meanwhile Mr Hibbett continued to continue to harass the 12 bar. | MH |
| MJ HIBBETT & THE VALIDATORS | |
| The Payday is The Best Day single had come out yesterday, if a little quietly, and copies of the album had finally arrived the day before. He also reported that he had played the Pop-A-Go-Go festival, engendering numerous humorous incidents, and a couple of raised eyebrows vis a vis his “state” at the end from the other side of the table. | |
| JOHNNY DOMINO | |
| Almost freakily, the Mex single had been released at EXACTLY the same time as Payday – weird huh? In other news, there was a lack of clarity re. the release of the Shithouse Masters, and nobody was sure if they were joking about insisting it be released as a 10 CD box set. Those crazy dominoes! | |
| LAZER GUIDED | |
| Mr Fleay reported that they had recorded their next single, which would be coming out on 12” (ooh!) on Amberley. The band were all very pleased with it. On a sadder not, Joanne would be leaving for Antipodean shores in April, before going to University, so the future of the band was Uncertain. However, Ollie did intend to regroup the band in Manchester, with himself, Will and The Original Phil plus a drummer, when they were all there getting educated up in the winter, so the Guided may live anew. | |
| SALOON | |
| No news had been received, though Mr Hibbett had asked Adam for his address, that the promised t-shirt might be sent. | |
| THE WANDRIN’ ALLSTARS | |
| Mr Whitaker reported that the 8 track was now plugged into the desk, using wires. The meeting jiggled at the idea that, by next time, they could even have switched it on! Meanwhile, they had made an appearance on the TV show for which they had written the theme, and had thoroughly enjoyed themselves. No songs were forthcoming yet, and Mr Whitaker stated that they were considering changing their name. | |
| STUMBLE | |
| It was agreed that, with their immensely increased profile, there was little likelihood that we would be able to provide The Stumble Boys with the quantities of CASH and DRUGS and WOMEN which they would require. With this in mind the meeting agreed, regretfully, to stop reporting on their deeds, and to wish them all the very best fortune in their future. | |
| COMPILATION ALBUM | |
| Nothing much had occurred, though as usual it was inching nearer and nearer, not unlike a mortally wounded pigeon struggling heroically towards a pavement, but with less blood, and more songs. | |
| ANY OTHER A&R | |
| THE FIGHTING COCKS | |
| Mr Hibbett reported that they had sent him a package containing a Mini Disc of their version of “Bands From London (are shit}” and A HUNDRED POUNDS, to make up for last year’s non-album harassment. Blimey eh? This would be going towards the compilation album fund. As for RCA – apparently the Cocks had signed THEM, but as with all things Fighting Cocks-related, it was a little unclear. | |
| PALA | |
| Alex passed on his THANKS to AAS for our being GRATE in aiding manufacture and ting for their new single, “Cat Like Creatures”, which was out on REPEAT really soon. All sorts of people were getting excited about it, they’d really gone for promotion this time, and it looked to do really well. The meeting passed on their very sincerest best wishes and that, and hoped it really did go like a ROCKET. | |
| SONGS IN THE KEY OF SEA | |
| There had been discussion about the possibility of recording a Tribute EP to a specific genre. Rather than going for the easy or the fashionable, it had been suggesting that homage be paid to the traditional working songs of a beleaguered working minority i.e. Sea Shanties. The meeting got Quite Excited about this, and agreed that we could probably do an EP with each of, say, 4 bands paying around Ł125 towards it. Each board member would contact their respective A&R responsibilities, and see if they fancied having a go. | ALL |
| HELTER SKELTER | |
| On one of his regular jaunts to the new band night at the Princess Charlotte, Mr Hibbett had amazingly seen a Good Band, called Helter Skelter. He would have a look at their website, with the possibility of following this up, and pass on their CD to the rest of the board. | MH |
| CHEAP KOJAK | |
| Following on from discussion of these in earlier time, it was noted that they had something coming out on Pickled Egg – and Good For Them! | |
| JIMMY POSSESSION | |
| Mr Fleay had received a tape from The Esteemed Jimmy Possession, not wanting a DEAL or anything, rather to see what we thought. Mr Fleay would duly circulate the tape. | RF |
| THE “PLAYERS WITH WORDS” MASSIVE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN | |
| Mr Whitaker had been a-negotiating, and had SORTED a deal with the wonderful Overground. They would send out 80 copies of the album, with 30 copies of the single going out 2 weeks beforehand, for Ł700. Mr Hibbett would send 100 copies of his album (20 copies autographed for competitions!) along with the singles – to allow this to occur, he had been and bought these while in Derby. He would include his “half”, being Ł375, the remaining to be sent by Johnny Domino when their albums arrived. | MH |
| Due to the various delays in getting “Say It With Words” it was agreed that all should be Action Packed with regards to the Domino. Mr Fleay would get the transparencies tomorrow and send them straight off, while Mr Hibbett would ask them to send the Master CD too. There was some discussion about the delays experienced in receiving the CD’s, with Mr Hibbett stating he believed that Voyager, and especially Alex, were GRATE in person, though there were a few worries about the length of time taken on this one. Hopefully, if we were to continue utilising them, this album would go through much quicker. He promised to stay in constant contact with them, to ensure there were no delays this time. | RF MH MH |
| Publicity was discussed. Everyone was getting address lists together, and it was agreed that on the Away Day the Board would sit and put packages together and getting them posted. Mr Whitaker revealed his Grand Plan, that the list should be Divvied up, so that everyone had a list of contacts, who would be rung on the day the CD’s were sent, to ALERT them, and again a few days later in order to pester them for reviews and stuff. Who knows, we might even get some RESULTS from all this? The Board then danced to the joys of Possibility. | ALL |
| CORRESPONDENCE | |
| There hadn’t really been any, but for a few emails. The meeting discussed the possibility of getting a new PO Box to call our own, which led onto the next item. | |
| ANY OTHER BUSINESS | |
| GLASS ONION | |
| Mr Hibbett had been spoken to by Sorted Supremo Dave Dixey about the possibility of a new venture. Adverts and stuff would be sent out asking for bands who wanted to be on a Compilation CD. Each band would contribute a track of their own choosing, and pay Ł55. Once 20 bands had joined up, 1,000 copies would be pressed up. Each band would received 25 copies, with the rest being sold for the cost of a single. Bands would retain ownership and copyright of recordings, the label using them ONLY for this release. The benefits were many – bands got exposure and had something to use to a) sell at gigs b) give to venues to get gigs and c) show off a bit, while Glass Onion would make a tiny profit. Mr Hibbett would be involved, but the meeting warned him that it might be a bit of a lot to take on at the moment, and also to be careful about what happened, as a misunderstanding of the plan and it’s links to AAS could set off the arsewits of last year accusing us of ripping people off. Mr Hibbett stated that at all times bands would know exactly what the deal was, but saw his colleague’s point, and agreed that AAS might want to be kept in the background. | |
| DATE OF NEXT MEETING | |
| The next meeting would be on the Away Day on March 18th. | |
 |