The Wildhearts

Just wanted to let you UKers know how lucky you are. Not only for the rampant opportunities to see Ginger and his various musical incarnations in concert, but for the ease with which you can buy Wildhearts material. We have to pay out the ass in the States for even the most official releases. Downloading for free is always an option, but when I like a band this much, I'm plagued with guilt if I don't provide some sort of remuneration. It also sucks that even when bands do jump the puddle to play for us here, people refuse to show up. I saw the Wildhearts in Atlanta, GA a couple of years ago and there were a grand total of thirty kids out. At first I was happy to be a part of such a cult phenomenon, but after a while I just got sick to my stomach that these guys don't get any recognition outside of a few diehards. Whatever. Just ranting.

i guess it's easy to take for granted that I've seen The Wildhearts 25 times now over the years not to mention the acoustic performances and SG5 etc.

It's sad that such an amazing band never really cracked the US.

Dollvain wrote:Just wanted to let you UKers know how lucky you are. Not only for the rampant opportunities to see Ginger and his various musical incarnations in concert, but for the ease with which you can buy Wildhearts material. We have to pay out the ass in the States for even the most official releases. Downloading for free is always an option, but when I like a band this much, I'm plagued with guilt if I don't provide some sort of remuneration. It also sucks that even when bands do jump the puddle to play for us here, people refuse to show up. I saw the Wildhearts in Atlanta, GA a couple of years ago and there were a grand total of thirty kids out. At first I was happy to be a part of such a cult phenomenon, but after a while I just got sick to my stomach that these guys don't get any recognition outside of a few diehards. Whatever. Just ranting.

do like i do mate,buy all the releases and download all the bootlegs for free that way everyones a winner.

Amen Dollvain...AMEN!

Greetings from America.

Having lived in England for the first thirty-odd years of my life, I have seen The Wildhearts numerous times (as well as Ginger when he was in The Quireboys), although I too find it strange how they have never cracked the States. Although a lack of a decent support slot, no airplay, no press or TV (although Metal Edge magazine did do a feature on them while they were busy making mincemeat out of the godawful Darkness in the USA last year) & the fact you can never find any of their albums anywhere might have something to do with it.

There is a cult following for this amazing band over here though. Whilst attending a Black Crowes show last year a guy noticed my Wildhearts shirt & mentioned what a great band they are. It seems strange that Ginger decided to go off & do something else just when The Wildhearts were starting to attract a (small, but growing) fanbase. Most Americans I know who like them think they are a new band & a lot of my son's friends are now onto the latest here-today-gone-later-today band.

Still that is Ginger for you. It's infuriating that sometimes he clutches defeat from the jaws of victory.

Nah, the Wildhearts have always had a good fanbase and thankfully their one of those bands that just keeps making new fans even if there's no new album! They just seem to be a band that everyone knows and likes!
I was 15 when I got into them and in 12 years I've only ever managed to catch them live 5 times. It sucks cos alot of their gigs seem to up north or around London, both of which are pretty crap for me to get to. Especially with work, uni, etc it makes travelling for gigs harder!
As for the merch, it's not that much easier to get some of the good stuff! Granted, the main releases are ok, but we usually pay through the nose for them. I think the only one I've managed to get for less than a tenner apart from VDC was Live at the 12 bar. And thats only cos it was in the closing down sale for the music shop where the old fella works!!!!
As for the good or rare stuff, I usually have to buy most of what I find from Japan! It's a hell of alot cheaper there and like most Western rock bands, there's always a few releases especially for the Japanese market that you can't get anyway else with any ease! I ended up paying about £70 at one point for the Live in Tokyo album when it didn't have the bonus disk. Yeah it was a rip off and I probably could have got it cheaper now than I did then, but it's like most the rare stuff, you have to grab it where you can and where you can. Sadly it seems to be a crappy price we've all gotta pay for something worse listening to....

I was lucky enough to get the 'Tokyo Suits Me' album off ebay for around $25.00 (about 15 quid) with the bonus disc. Most of my Wildhearts stuff is actually on vinyl. The only albums so far released officially in America are 'Earth Vs.', 'Must Be Destroyed' & 'Riff After Riff'. Everything else I had to buy on import.

The fanbase I was referring to is the growing one in America. I know they have a loyal fanbase elsewhere, I mean I went to enough shows back in England. Over here though no-one can check them out because nobody has ever heard of them. Once again it goes back to the lack of coverage they actually get over here. It really is a shame because to my eyes (& ears) they are the best British band to come out since Motorhead!

Living in the US as I now do, I've even scheduled my trips home to coincide with a Wildhearts date. Also caught the Almighty in January this year, cool as they were the band the Wildhearts were supporting the first time I saw them.

Still, I'm trying to summon enough enthusiasm to go see Ginger in New York tomorrow night.