The Tenth Post : What Would Moe Berg Say. Part Three.

In my attempt to meet one of my guitar heros, Mr Moe Berg from The Pursuit of Happiness I sent off my weird little letters to all sorts of places including all of his previous record labels. I didn't hold out much hope of actually getting a response from anyone, let alone the great man himself, and genuinely thought the closest I would get to my rock idol was this out of office auto reply from the maplemusic website. Mind you, you should have seen my face when this bounced back back to me ... well excited !!!

Hi there!

Thanks for getting in touch with MapleMusic.com's customer support! Our office will be closed Monday, May 20th for Victoria Day. Orders can still be placed during this time, but packages WILL NOT be shipped out until Tuesday, May 21st. We will do our best to respond to any inquires you might have as soon possible once we return on May 21st. Thank you for your continued support!

I regarded it as a form of success and at least I would have something to tell for my efforts rather than just a lot of dead air.

So, imagine my surprise and delight when I recieved this in my inbox the very next day from the lady who runs the bands website ...

Hi, Adam.

I've forwarded your email to Moe, and hopefully he'll have a chance to respond. All the best for your trip!

Peace,

V...),

Webmaster, tpoh.net

I honestly felt like I had won the jackpot and at least I knew that Moe was actually going to get a copy of the email I had written to him in his own personal email box. Whether he read it or ignored it (or read it then ignored it) was something else altogether.

I was over the moon. I quickly replied to her in my most charming manner I could manage, thanking her for even considering passing on my message and proceeded to offer her the most pathetic of bribes imaginable (some free tickets for the theatre where I work if, and only if, she ever found herself in Edinburgh, Scotland,  while there was a show being performed (in house productions only, not Friday and not Saturday night, pending availability and management approval.) How could she resist !!!

A few weeks passed and then, before I knew it, I was actually out in Canada enjoying a fabulous holiday with my Mother (who was out there on a year long teacher exchange) but there was still no reply from Moe.

I decided to send one last cheeky message to remind him that I still existed, was still interested in interviewing him and was only in Canada for a limited amount of time. so I sent the following email to all the possible contact address I could find ...

Dear Moe Berg,

My name is Adam Brook and I have previously written to you to request an interview with you while I am on holiday in your fine country of Canada for a few weeks June.

I have been in the Toronto area for about a week already and so far on my trip I  have seen Niagara Falls (an impressive amount/volume of water and an impressive waterfall), a baseball game (my favourite team (the Toronto Blue Jays) score an impressive 6-1 victory over  the Texas Rangers) and spent a lot of time with one of the most impressive ladies I have ever known in my entire life,  my Mother.

The only way this trip could get any better is if I could actually land an interview with one of the most impressive bands and singer/songwriter/lyricists of all time ever, Mr Moe Berg from The Pursuit of Happiness!!!

I understand and appreciate that you are extremely busy with all sorts of projects so any time you could spare  for a nice chat would be greatly appreciated and valued.

Please let me reassert my genuine request for an interview with your good self with the utmost respect and reprise you of the details as follows ... This summer, up until the date of ...) I will find myself in Canada, Whitby, just outside Toronto, and it would give me great pleasure to be able to meet you in person and have a polite conversation in an interview format about all sorts of things but focusing on your life in music.

We could meet over a lunch or a coffee & cake or even a drink or two. Your choice, my treat.*

I would like to record the interview and transcribe it onto my blog “Adamski Loves Cricket” (it’s a (mostly) sports blog I have recently started as I look to change professions). I would, of course, offer you first copy to correct any errors I might make before publication on the web.

Please be assured that this is a genuine request from a genuine person who has genuine respect for you and your work.

Yours sincerely

Adam ‘Adamski’ Brook

*pending partner price approval. (I.e. the wife says it’s not too expensive!!!)

After I pressed send I realised that I had forgotten to attach my contact details and phone numbers. I kicked myself in the ass for about 20 minutes before I decided to bite the bullet and ran the risk of being labeled a spammer and re-sent the entire message with this little disclaimer at the top ...

Please forgive the duplicate nature of this e-mail, but this one does contain my contact details while in Canada ... you know, ... Just in case !!!

Thank you

I pressed send again and thought that I had kissed my last chance of meeting a personal rock legend goodbye by being a dunderhead and forgetting to attach contact details.

Still, perhaps he will think its charming.

I wonder what he will say.

Don't know who Moe berg is ... check out this classic from their third album ‘The Downward Road’  

‘Pressing Lips’ showcases the thoughtful and intelligent lyrics seen all too infrequently in any form of music, all set behind a beautiful melody and wonderful harmony.

(sigh) Being in love with a goddess is hard when you're only a mortal !!!