Little Criminals

I'm a Little Criminal. No, this does not mean that I'm a shoplifter, but rather that I'm a member of the online Randy Newman fan club. I am told that we have just reached one thousand in number, but as is common with such online lists, 90% of that number are lurkers and have probably never posted. Whilst the list is very active, most of the postings are completely off-topic, so if such things are not to your liking, don't investigate further.

One thing which is special about the Randylist is that we have created three cds (one single and two doubles). The first was called "Mama told me not to sing" and the second "Maybe we're singing it wrong". Both of these contained versions of Randy's songs by listmembers, and both contained contributions from me. The third and brand new double cd is called "Crime doesn't pay", which is available here; unlike its predecessors, this one features listmembers performing their own material, and two of my songs are included. Unfortunately, these discs take a very long time to put together (around two years), so my contributions are now three and a half years old and sound like it.

Being a member of such a list is great if you go on holiday; my family were recently in the United States, and there we had the pleasure of meeting some listmembers in the flesh. It always amazes me that people who are shy in public and would never dream of talking to strangers (I am a good example of such a person) suddenly become voluble and talk as if to long lost friends. Of course, there are well defined topics of discussion (in this case, Randy Newman and music), but it's surprising what else comes up.

I went to an earlier list meeting in February 2004 when Randy did a short European tour. Whilst I could have chosen any of the European capitals in which he appeared. it became clear that his London concert would be the focal point for all the British LCs, as well as a few American interlopers. Someone booked a restaurant, I had t-shirts made commemorating the event and 20 of us had the time of our lives. Being well-connected also meant that we had the pleasure of going backstage and meeting Randy after the concert. That is an event which I won't forget for a long time.