America

wonder toy · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 7:53 am

Bill... When you and Be Bop Deluxe first came to America, what did you think?

Other Dreamsvillians who came to America can chime in too, if you like.

johnofdeath · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 9:03 am

A few things from me:

Service is an art from in the USA - it was good to be treated so well and generously. By the time I'd finished tasting the free samples I was too full to order a meal!!!

People were friendly. Stand in a queue in many parts of the UK and its total silence. In USA I knew someone's life story within 10 minutes

but

there are a lot of very large people in the USA - can't be healthy

John

PS at a couple of diners the waiters said they knew instantly that my family were Brits because our two young kids were well-behaved. Wow - if they thought our kids were good there must be some real monsters in the USA

Mr Magnetism Himself · **Joined:** Tue May 10, 2005 8:56 pm **Posts:** 2506

wonder toy wrote:

Bill... When you and Be Bop Deluxe first came to America, what did you think?

Have a listen to the Modern Music suite... :wink:

One of the first things I realised was that despite the UK and the USA largely sharing a common language, the cultures are very different. The UK is culturally (as well physically) much closer to Europe than to the USA. Thousands of years of shared history does count for a lot.

wonder toy · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 1:12 pm

johnofdeath wrote:

People were friendly.
PS at a couple of diners the waiters said they knew instantly that my family were Brits because our two young kids were well-behaved.

Cool kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9573kGBtuE

You have great kids which only means great moms and dads.

Douglas Barry · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 1:27 pm

johnofdeath wrote:

...

Service is an art from in the USA - it was good to be treated so well and generously...

Agree totally. On my first visit to the USA (California) in 1994, the restaurant service, indeed the fast-food service, was exceptional (it still is, by the way).

For me also, the culture of the car was something else. (I could not believe the size of some vehicles and the pick-up trucks were from another universe.)

And finally, television was just incredible. You have to remember that in the early 90s, multi-channel Sky TV was only just making inroads into the UK consciousness and it had only been 12 years or so since we had just three channels on TV, to increase to four with the launch of Channel Four in 1982. I know that much of what was on these countless US TV channels was dross, but it was fascinating dross nevertheless.

Douglas Barry · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 1:32 pm

johnofdeath wrote:

People were friendly. Stand in a queue in many parts of the UK and its total silence. In USA I knew someone's life story within 10 minutes

Oh yes, totally agree again, John. It might have been the British accent, but so many Americans I spoke to were so incredibly friendly. So much so, I married a lovely Southern Californian lady and we're still together 18 years later.

wonder toy · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 2:29 pm

Land of the weird and the home of the strange.

Congrats, DB. Here's to a liftime of marital bliss.

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 8548

My impressions of America were captured on Be Bop Deluxe's 'Modern Music Suite.' Of course, we never really saw America, just the music biz end of it, ie: Planes, airports, hotels, motels, radio stations, gigs and record company people. And a ripe selection of 'ladies of the road.' :wink:

Touring was kind of weird...it could be educational, dumb, exciting, boring, funny and depressing all at the same time. But I met some lovely people, and one or two complete assholes... :lol:

I recall the first visit to New York...I checked into my hotel room and switched on the tv. The picture was grainy and indistinct, slipping frames every few seconds. I called down to the lobby to complain that there was something wrong with the tv set. A concierge came up to my room, took one look at the tv screen and said, "what's the problem, buddy? That's a great picture!" :lol:

There's a lot to like about America though...I particularly love San Francisco with it's excelent seafood and beat generation history.

wonder toy · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 2:54 pm

Bill Nelson wrote:

But I met some lovely people, and one or two complete assholes... :lol:

Thank you, Bill.

:lol:

Planes, airports, hotels, motels, radio stations, gigs and record company people.

Then you saw the best of America in the 70s. :wink:

dougmon · **Joined:** Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:34 am **Posts:** 37

Douglas Barry wrote:

johnofdeath wrote:

...

Service is an art from in the USA - it was good to be treated so well and generously...

For me also, the culture of the car was something else. (I could not believe the size of some vehicles and the pick-up trucks were from another universe.)

I was born in America and have lived in America all my life, and I can't believe the size of some of the cars. I fell in love with small cars when I took a vacation in Italy, and it's a sore point with me that we can't have small cars; the number of huge cars on the road just make it too dangerous for small-car drivers.

www.billnelson.com

America

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