PÅL
The greatest thing about the last Savoy tour was to see men in the halls. That was a real kick for me!Wasn’t there men at the a-ha concerts?
PÅL
Yes, but they stood at the back. At the front was always a wave of a sea of girls. It was depressing when you saw that they loved us and other bands we couldn’t be compared with. It was a kind of compliment that didn’t count.
The trouble with Pål Waaktaar is that since he changed his name to Paul Savoy, he has become one of the more arrogant members of the music world and his attitude is starting to piss me off. I guess it all started by the slanderous remarks about the injustice Morten Harket did to the a-ha tracks, quickly followed by the comment that he wanted Morten in a-ha for his looks and if all that wasn’t bad enough, he finally brought it all too close to home with the quote above.
Scornful, Prejudicial and a good indication of the gratefulness he has for those who have kept him in business.
It’s like this.. bands struggle to get a break, get picked up and carried by a following and once successful scorn those who made it possible in the first place. But they and Pål must think again!! After all, it is the fans that give them their living as no record Company will finance a band for many a year if the product does not have buyers. Pål for instance lives in to homes, drives a car and lives a comfortable life on ‘fans’ money and the plain truth is that at the end of the day, he needs a following more than they need him. a-ha/Savoy and his music are his living, are his whole life and what pays the bills, for fans on the other hand though - it is merely a pleasureable outlet to make life that little more entertaining and fulfilling.
Pål earned his respect by his genius, but rudeness, a lack of respect and arrogance can only lose him that because in all fairness, there is nothing more rueful than a brilliantly talented, once normal and everyday person gaining success, an over inflated ego and subsequently living life up their own anal orifice and thus blaming a vast majority for the misgivings of the few.
Naturally I have tried to look at this from Pål’s side and must confess that having spent time on a few front rows - there are indeed a minority of mindless fans whose whole inspiration for a front row is the idea of seeing their idols up close and personal, but as I say it is just a minority and must defend that the bulk of concert goers are there to live the music, to watch it played, to watch the reactions from those who made it and to hopefully pick up a vibe from them to bring the gig alive. I know that people like a-ha because of some false philosophy, who preach their love for a-ha’s qualities and then rush out and buy the latest chart hyped group who have no credibility and depth equivalent of a barbie doll, but what hurts is Pål’s blatant accusation that if you are a woman at an a-ha concert, then that description is you. After all, I know male a-ha fans who have been as fickle, men at a-ha gigs who have broken into a scream, a lot to gain the attention of Morten Harket and behaved just as inappropriately as some of the girls.
I guess if Pål were here now he would have only one answer to my feelings of anger and unappreciation, simply that he didn’t ask me - or indeed any of us to be a supporter of his musical endeavours. But how many talented bands and artists are there out there in the world, who have never played to attract a following and are never abled to make it as they deserve? Too many! and if every woman had decided neverto see an a-ha or Savoy show or if we all decided to leave Pål’s music to be bought by the blokes he loves so much to have bowing down to his genius - well he too would still be a very deserving musician and yet still a nobody with the name Pål Gamst.
“You’re perfect yes it’s true.. ..but without me you’re only you.”
“Midlife crisis” Faith No More.