Circus Magazine Articles

[fatherofseven]

Having read that "review" of Live , I do feel violated. I can't imagine how Frank must have felt. What kind of person can write that stuff? Apparently someone who has no ears and has an axe to grind, or is being paid by someone with an axe to grind.

I thought the first article was not too bad however.

Did you send the letter Willy?

[JaminJim]

Got your dander up did he, big guy?
You rock, my brother :headbanger

[ToddF]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!...I don't have my copy of that magazine anymore, but I remember those articles like it was yesterday.

[CRR Scribe]

What an absolute wast of paper and to think I used to read that mag at one point. I wonder if Mr. Swenson will respond to Willy's rant? What can you say to that :headbanger

[Atreyu]

LMMFAO!!! Remind me to never get on Willy's bad side.

[mike b]

Willy, someone piss in your cornflakes this morning LOL.......

[fatherofseven]

What an absolute wast of paper and to think I used to read that mag at one point. I wonder if Mr. Swenson will respond to Willy's rant? What can you say to that :headbanger

I am curious. Is this guy, Swineson, still around? Is he still "writing'?

[David Lee]

Hi Willy , you kind of have to expect that crap sometimes ....

I never quite understood the "Music Critic' thing/role/job . They get payed (!!!) to draw conclusions about something as subjective as taste in music ? No big suprise , given the MASSIVE amount of "talent" we have on the radio these days ......
Or the fact that the media here in the states "trains" us what to think about what's going on in the world .

All I can say is thank God for Frank Marino - somebody that stuck to their guns and NEVER compromised in a business that is so full of BULLSHIT -

Thanks Willy , for givin' him a taste . David

[HoopaJoob]

That John Swenson rip has to be the most rediculous, vitriolic crap ever written about anyone, I mean, how stupid can a guy be? That story was invented out of whole cloth. Can anyone blame Frank for being wounded as a young artist doing everything he could to dispell the fallout from that lie? Utterly rediculous. I hope the dick who wrote it really DOES recieve Wild Willy Parson's letter. It's tame by comparison.

The first article I remember, and I have a bunch of B&W 8x10's somewhere from that period that Paul Levesque gave me once, including that one.

It was that rag alone that perpetuated all the bullshit about Frank, and without it, Frank Marino would have galvanized fans as well as critics in the light he so richly deserved back then. 21, 22, 23? Unbelievable. Prodigious, to say the least.

[richieratt]

I still have some old rock magazines from the late 70's and early 80's. Circus magazine definitely had their "favorites," that's for sure. About the time this bullshit on Mahogany Rush was published, those stupid-assed s.o.b.'s should'a been calling the mag "CirKISS." The term "grave-robber," as applied to Frank always did get my chili pepper a little red. It's one thing to be critical of somebody's music, but that type of commentary starts getting a little personal. It's a tactless, distasteful, and totally unprofessional approach to objective journalism.

As a rule, I've never bothered to keep up with the names of the music critics. As far as giving a fair shake to the bands I like, most of them have their head stuck so far up their ass, they'd have to schedule a colonoscopy just to get their photo taken for their drivers license renewal. If Frank could buy these music critic sons of bitches for what they're worth, and then sell them for what they think they're worth, he could purchase the rights to all of his music back from the record companies, and then tell them AND the critics to go pound sand up their sorry butts.

I've never bothered to worry what anyone thought about the music I listened to anyway, critic and non-critic alike. If it gets me through my day in a healthy way, then it's "good music," as far as I'm concerned. Obviously, this John Swenson guy has been around awhile and has written books, and done record guides for Rolling Stone, etc, etc, etc....and ya' know what?...I don't give a shit. Some of these high-brow music critics remind me of sportswriters who dog athletes out in the press, but couldn't find their ass with both hands as far as actually playing a sport themselves. John Swenson may have written a lot of books about music, but his concept of rock and roll seems to only exist from the neck up. Real rock and roll comes from the neck down. Just because someone writes a book about sex, it doesn't mean they're good in bed...and so it goes for limp d**k "clever" bastards like Swenson, who never seem to fail in their quest to miss the point of Frank's music.

As far as Circus magazine, it always was a bit of a joke, as far as presenting anything substantial about real bands that were out of the mainstream. The same superficial 6th grade level kiddieland crap was their norm...just a bunch of color pictures and not much more. Creem was always a bit better, especially when guys like Lester Bangs were writing for them. I'm not saying they were the best, but compared to Circus, they were much better. Record Review magazine (with Jon Sutherland) was always a cut above the rest as far as doing an objective writeup of a band's music. Does anyone know if Mahogany Rush ever appeared in that mag? Just curious.

"People, always puttin' me down,
They're screamin' that I'm walkin' on sacred ground"

As Frank would say: "and so it goes...."