It feels as though it's all over............

[fitzy]

Maybe Jem can allow Russel to take the good bits of the Derby filming to release a goodbye Frosties video

I'd be happy to sync some kazoo parts to that...that just leaves spoons, washboard, jews harp and digeridoo. Any takers?

I'll take up the washboard, been practicing Washing LIne Machine all day

G,day,i,ll happily filch my neighbours(..well used!!)didgeriwhatsit,from his travels in Oz if theres a chance of a spot in the ethnic,world music,band of chancers choir thingy! i have to admit previous attempts at banging out a tune on the infernal thing,brought on sinus problems and ridicule,but me likes a challenge!yours hopefully,Rolf Harris :twisted:

[keithd]

Fair point.   8-) However, I was only going on Jem's own words:-
"Anyway, I found out why I was so unhappy through a process of elimination. Turns out it was Frost*."

The confusing part for me is that, through all the youtube videos and live gigs, Jem seemed to be happy and genuinely having fun. Having said that, if he feels Frost* needs to be consigned to the past, then that's his prerogative to do so. As for "franchising Frost*" so that someone else could take it over, that's like Yes without Jon Anderson.

It's all so sad  :cry:

[Pedro]

Well, yes, it is possible to view it as being sad...but I can't see as being *only* sad.
I want to think of it as "just another good stop along the good king's highway".

Had I encounterd Jem via a YouTube about writing Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again", I doubt I would have engaged at all. It was only the music of Frost* that made me interested in the other stuff he did/does...but he was just as brilliant and taleneted before Frost* as he no doubt will continue to be from now on.

So, it's an evolution/re-incarnation thing in my eyes - the caterpillar was very fun and very pretty...the butterfly could/should be even more interesting and exciting.

BTW If I had the Photoshop skills and I could find a suitable image, there would be a picture on the website homepage of a tortoise, with "FROST*" painted on its shell, disappearing into a cardboard box full of hay/straw for a good long hibernation in a nice warm airing cupboard.  

[keithd]

Well, yes, it is possible to view it as being sad...but I can't see as being *only* sad.
I want to think of it as "just another good stop along the good king's highway".

Had I encounterd Jem via a YouTube about writing Atomic Kitten's "Whole Again", I doubt I would have engaged at all. It was only the music of Frost* that made me interested in the other stuff he did/does...but he was just as brilliant and taleneted before Frost* as he no doubt will continue to be from now on.

So, it's an evolution/re-incarnation thing in my eyes - the caterpillar was very fun and very pretty...the butterfly could/should be even more interesting and exciting.

BTW If I had the Photoshop skills and I could find a suitable image, there would be a picture on the website homepage of a tortoise, with "FROST*" painted on its shell, disappearing into a cardboard box full of hay/straw for a good long hibernation in a nice warm airing cupboard.  

Let's hope it is a hibernation Pedro. Nice quote from "Our Song" by the way  

[Trapezium Artist]

While I agree with your general sentiments here, Keith, I'd go as far as to say that a Frost* without Jem is far less sustainable than a Yes without Jon Anderson. After all, as much of a fan of everything up to Tormato as I am, I actually have quite a bit of time for Drama, and even if I'm much less a fan of Rabin-era 90125 and beyond, the track "Cinema" which was recorded without Anderson, is top notch stuff (even if not particularly Yes, I'll admit).

But I digress: IMHO, Frost* is so intimately dependent on Jem that a Frost* without him makes no sense whatsoever. I know that he means well by suggesting that others take over Frost* in order to keep open the possibility of Milliontown and EIMA being played live and perhaps even write new material, but it strikes me that by doing so, strangely enough, he's almost denying the whole point of his utterly central role in Frost*. To me, there can be no meaningful Frost* without Jem.

So, rather than spin out an ersatz Frost*, I'd rather see it iced (sorry): giving others ownership is a pretty irrevocable move and precludes any possible future reconsiderations, even if that seems like wishful thinking at this point.

As I've said before: the Frost* is dead; long live the Frost* (even if the new Frost* resides in suspended animation in a deep, dark pool of liquid nitrogen  8-) )

On a more positive note, like almost everyone else hereabouts, I shall await Jem's next musical moves regardless ...

[Paul]

Pedro. . . . .  will this do?

[Pedro]

Ah Paul, as reliable as beaming a bat-signal into the clouds.
Nice work.

[Paul]

Cheers Pedro. . . . . .  I hope you're right about the hibernation. Jem and JM seemed to get on so well together I can't see them not working together again in the near future.

[rogerg]

Cheers Pedro. . . . . .  I hope you're right about the hibernation. Jem and JM seemed to get on so well together I can't see them not working together again in the near future.

hear, hear.

[Trapezium Artist]

Apropos of very little at all (apart from a continued need to "share"  during these difficult times ), I was scanning through my Freesat / hard drive recorder box last night looking for things to delete, as it's getting full and Doctor Who is about to start up again.  

As a result, I found myself rewatching (but not deleting) "Synth Britannia at the BBC", a compilation of performances by various well-known synth  bands in the late 70s and early 80s. Some very good stuff in there (Japan playing "Ghosts" on The Old Grey Whistle Test with Ryuichi Sakamoto of the legendary Yellow Magic Orchestra) and some equally dire (whatever did anyone ever see in Sparks?), but in the present context, I was struck by one of the sub-titles shown during OMD's performance of "Messages".

Namely that Andy McCluskey of OMD was subsequently responsible for putting together the original line-up of Atomic Kitten: I had somehow missed that weird connection. A quick google later, and I then knew that he co-wrote their number 1 song (and his first ever, apparently; did OMD never have a number 1?) "Whole Again" with our Jemster.

Of course, I knew of Jem's AK connection, but a further revelation (of the admittedly extremely minor variety) was that although Chipshop Katona sang on the original version of "Whole Again", she was replaced for the subsequent video filming by none other than Jenny, err, Frost  

Which left me in the couch at midnight last night, slightly slack-jawed, considering how Jem may have come up with the name for his (ex-)band and pondering possible connections between "Dear Dead Days" and "Snog, Marry, Avoid"  :shock:

I need to get a life.

[catherine]

...Which left me in the couch at midnight last night...

Like this?

[Trapezium Artist]

...Which left me in the couch at midnight last night...

Like this?

Touché. I'd be tempted to go back and edit my post, but where'd the fun be on that?  

[fitzy]

...Which left me in the couch at midnight last night...

Like this?

Ha!ha!cannibalized by the upholstery I,m hoping the hibernation theory has legs myself,but the wonderful thing about Frost*is the interest its given me in the music of the individual musicians who,ve played in the band Curiousity in the Frost*reports(..and much laughter!)and Andy,s drumming,led me to the music,and then the craft in the songs made me a fan!I,m now listening to D.A.M,explored all the stuff that JJ and JM have been involved in,..and love it,and i c,ant say enough about Andy and Craigs drumming For me,its all good,...it continues,i travelled to the Peel on my ownsome last Dec.to see DOTR,(..could,nt get to the Frost*gigs)and just felt...great!..odd that! Anyhoo,so ends my noobie gush,..must go,..baking a cake!! :roll:

[vocalnick]

This seems as good-an opportunity as any to sidle back in to the forum.

I had been keeping away from twitter for the last month, so when I popped back on to report on the Imogen Heap gig in Melbourne (very very cool btw) I was thrilled to see that Jem was active again. It occurred to me that perhaps if he was on twitter he might be on his blog as well, and lo and behold there was a new post!

I join the rest of the community (well... the VAST majority at least) in congratulating Jem on having the courage to make a difficult decision, and in wishing him the best in the future. I am going to miss the hell out of Frost*, but I'm no prog-hardliner, and I'm thrilled to hear what he's got up his sleeve, whether it's in 31/32 or 4/4.

I'm going to break ranks on one point though, and suggest that I think a Frost*-franchise could actually work pretty well. I think the Yes comparisons are appropriate - Nu-Frost* might be different (perhaps VERY different), but then as somebody said (and it's too late and too many wines in to check who it was), most if not all of us found Frost* through the music rather than through the personality. Jem's remarkably entertaining fan-interaction was a bonus - and quite a delightful one - but who's to say that the next guy (or girl?!) might not be able to bring something equally valuable to the table? To be honest I'm thinking less of Trevor Rabin, more of Trevor Horn. Of course Yes made only one album with him, but I still happen to think that it was a pretty cool album

And of course the best part is, as music fans, we'd get to listen to nu-Frost* AND whatever Jem is doing. And I'm sure the door would always be open for Jem to step back into the fold and either contribute to or re-take control of the whole deal.

Of course none of my enthusiasm is in any way linked with the idea that I might quite like the gig  :?  :shock:

At any rate, I'm really pleased to see Jem alive and posting. Good times

[Pedro]

Welcome back Nick.
How's things with you, the band and the next album?
I hear what you're saying but I can't help thinking that a franchised Frost* could be like the likes of Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais and Michael McIntyre trying to remake Monty Python.
Having said that, I'd give anyone attempting it every chance to make a go of it.

I still prefer to think of Frost* as one of the cars in Jem's garage. He can't drive them all and it's time to drive some of the others for as long as he wants. Dust-sheeted and looked after, it should be good for a spin sometime far in the future. I'm not talking in terms of a Frost*-free year with gigs just a few months in to it ....I'm talking a proper break....even a Transatlantic-style outage. If I'm wrong I'll be happy to be wrong, there'll be no bitterness, but if I'm right....it will be glo-o-o-orious!