OCTOBER NEWS

[Sandra]

Thanks for the so so busy update Michele.Good luck also to to Max with his Masters DegreeYou will know at least by now where you have been and maybe where you are going on your mystery cruise.Do hope it is going well.

We had the pleasure of meeting Matt Jnr and his lovely wife at Chesterfield the other night. It was a lovely put together show and John was lucky enough to have the mike pointed at him when he came down in the audience singing My Kind Of Girl.He was that good that Matt let him sing the rest of the song through .His claim to fame.

[maureen & harry]

Good to read the October news and hope that you are enjoying your mystery cruise Michele.
Hope you get some cruise dates for 2019 and that Matt's music will be brought by you to some more new audiences.

[john]

Thanks for the October news Michele.

[maureen & harry]

Thanks Richard for letting us know that when Michele is away it is not always possible for her to write the newsletter.

It's a shame that the new CD release date has been delayed but think it's a good idea that Capitol Records will release it in 2020 to celebrate Matt's Anniversaries.

[karl]

Didn't they realise the anniversary next year before they set the date of November 1st?

[mike]

Apparently Capitol didn’t know in advance that November is close to the festive season either. I’d have thought that might increase sales. It seems very odd to make this choice after releasing the tracklist.

I was hoping Matt’s anniversary might be celebrated by another release.

[john]

I would have thought too that being released in November would have made ideal Christmas presents.

[Rmoore]

Note STRICTLY for this forum. Not to be posted anywhere else please.

What's on the website is Capitol's official statement. Truth is - and this is not their fault - that retailers weren't prepared to get behind the release with so many other things going on at Christmas. So they've had no choice but to move the release to next year to a time when retailers WILL give support. Capitol are taking the flack for this, but it's the retailers, not them that have caused this. If you don't have the support of the retailers then you are sunk. The Anniversary is not what this release is about. We don't really want to commemorate 35 years since Matt passed away, but do want to celebrate what would have been his 90th Birthday and the 60th Anniversary of Portrait. The new CD will be out way before then and hopefully we can celebrate properly in some way at the end of the year. As soon as we have an updated release date, we'll let you know.

Believe me, everything you have said here has been said by us, it's a pain for us all. Promotion had already started. Interviews booked etc......... Not ideal for anyone especially Capitol.

Sorry for any disappointment - Nobody is as disappointed as Michele.

[mike]

Thanks Richard for that information. When you say retailers won't give support, do you mean they won't stock it?

I get the sinking feeling that it might have been more interesting to them if it was billed as a Greatest Hits. Amazon is awash with 3CD sets of "Gold". This is probably what retailers are supporting.

Well I admire your efforts to bring something different to the market.

[ROBERT M.]

Such a shame the release has been delayed ...…..but we don't mind waiting a bit longer ………….as long as it's not delayed in the new year too

[john]

It will at least be something to look forward to in the New Year.

[Sandra]

So disappointing but hey ,how great to still be getting new material because of the dedication from Michele and Richard.We thank you

[Rmoore]

Thanks Richard for that information. When you say retailers won't give support, do you mean they won't stock it?

I get the sinking feeling that it might have been more interesting to them if it was billed as a Greatest Hits. Amazon is awash with 3CD sets of "Gold". This is probably what retailers are supporting.

Well I admire your efforts to bring something different to the market.

A Greatest Hits, whilst popular, is even less likely to be supported by retailers at the moment - just because there are so many artists doing the same. Matt has had two 'Hits' collections issued since 2005 anyway (Ultimate & Greatest). You need something to stand out. Support of retailers means they will push your product as a 'must buy' rather than just another catalogue release that gets no help. Matt hasn't had a high profile release since Greatest in 2010, all the rest were treated as general catalogue. Capitol want to make a big thing out of this. Show the world again how brilliant Matt was and hopefully make people want more - basically put him back in the public eye. If all goes well perhaps we can do something else for Matt's birthday. - We are pushing things behind the scenes (None of which we can currently talk about) but maybe - and it's just a maybe - Matt's 90th can be a real celebration of the man and his talent (and that fact that he is probably the best Male vocalist of his genre ever to come out of the UK).

[ROBERT M.]

Let's hope it will be more good news when Matts 90th approaches .......for Matts most ardent fans like us this new release The Lost New York Sessions is one of Matts most anticipated release's for a long time as it will give us something different from Matt …..no wonder Capitol want to make a big thing of the release ……..Richard will TV advertising be forthcoming to help advertise the release ……...when the Matt live in concert DVD release was advertised on TV I don't think I had ever been so excited about anything for a long long time (seeing Matt on those adverts live on TV so to speak was mind blowing, never mind being excited, which I obviously was, and I'm not exaggerating) ………..your final statement in brackets is 100 per cent true Richard but maybe you could said the world instead of the UK

[Christine Hampshire]

Yes Robert it would have been best saying the WORLD instead of the UK