BuffettNews.com

Found this article......

Below the article is my response...thought I would share....

The Music Sucks, but We Still Need Jimmy Buffet
by Derrick Philips

It’s hard to argue with success. Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band has been around for what seems like centuries. They’ve put out countless records, that sometimes sound like country music, folk music, island music or just pop music. Mr. Buffet certainly won’t get that honorary doctorate from Juliard or anything like that, but he could certainly be awarded an honorary degree for Business. He richer than your wildest dreams, and it’s certainly not because he makes good music. He’s discovered a formula for success in his industry that has little to do with being musically talented, and now he has more money than he’ll ever know what to do with.

What is this magic formula? Why does someone whose songs can be described as drunken/stoned nursery rhymes for adults experience so much success? What the hell makes normal, middle to upper-middle class, mild-mannered adults into Hawaiian-shirt wearing, parrot-on-the-shoulder toting, drunken, stoned Buffet spendaholics? Escapism, my friends. Escapism.

When record companies map out a marketing plan to sell records, merchandise and concert tickets, they must advertise to whatever demographic is most apt to like the music. Well, Buffet hit the jackpot with the slice of society he went after: the average, white, suburban, straight-laced boring family man/woman with tons of expendable income and an incredible urge to do jump out of their boring lives to do something “wild” once a year. They don the wacky, colorful clothes, they drink more beer the day of the concert than they will all year, and middle-aged women are moved to expose their breasts to the crowd, something they wouldn’t have done in the middle of Mardi Gras when they were 20. They rent pickup trucks and line the beds with plastic to make redneck swimming pools. To them, this is the epitome of wild and crazy, and in their eyes, justifies the rest of their boring, pathetic suburban lives the rest of the year.

Buffet makes the majority of his dough off touring. Let’s be honest, people. After the crowd sobers up, most of them probably realize the next day that the music, in essence, sucks. How many of them bother to play, or even buy a Jimmy Buffet CD to play the other 364 days of the year? I’ve never gone to any party or social gathering where people were “jamming Buffet”. The only public place you will hear Buffet’s music is in redneck bars (rednecks think Buffet IS a country artist, mostly because of “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw). The vast majority of the population is not susceptible to the Buffet Virus. It’s just that the ones that are, spend, spend, spend around that magical day of the year when Buffet is in town. These psychotics will pay any amount of money that JB decides to charge for tickets, and often shell out even more on Buffet merchandise while they are there. If Jimmy could figure out how to sell his own brand of beer at the shows, he’d probably double his fortune.

God bless Jimmy Buffet and his small, but loyal and semi-wealthy, minions of worshippers. These people probably desperately need this yearly release. Imagine how more pathetic your accountant would be if he wasn’t a ParrotHead? Imagine how much more high-strung your boss would be if he didn’t get to send the kids to Grandma’s for the weekend and use the $300 tickets to Buffet he bought from a ticket agency? Your proctologist wouldn’t be quite as gentle, and your investment banker would probably be ruder. So all of you normal folks out there: don’t be playa’ haters. Be thankful for Parrotheads, Jimmy Buffet and what the phenomenon does for society, even if the music does s***.
__________

Derrick is an accomplished glass-blower and weasel trainer. He can also fit 4 hard-boiled eggs simultaneously in his mouth while humming the William Tell Overture. When not blowing the little free time he actually has working on this web site for free, Derrick can be found getting paid for doing the same type of stuff for WORKNET Inc. in Naperville, IL. ParrotHeads can send all hate mail to BuffetSucks@KevHead.Com.

***Response***
First of all, who is Jimmy Buffet? You talk about parrotheads, I don't know one parrothead who knows who Jimmy Buffet is....is he a culinary gourmet chef who offers great Buffets at the local casino for $9.95?

I do know who Jimmy Buffett is.....obviously if it meant that much to waste time criticizing a legend that thousands of people admire, his business sense is doing its job.

You are wasting your time criticizing Buffett or parrotheads because we don't care! Buffett and Parrotheads are a state of mind.....that one concert a year you talk about is not a one day event....the spirit and state of mind is with us daily...did you ever stop to think that it isn't the successful, rich people who flock to Jimmy Buffett, but it is average people who are inspired by Buffett and create a loving, positive atmosphere which MAKE them successful?

No matter, we don't want your kind in the mix anyway, so in a word, Thank you.....now keep your group of pessimistic, overanalyzing, and selfish people away from the true crowd who will share anything with anyone and create lifelong friendships in a world called Margaritaville.

By the way, the true ones do listen to Buffett religiously and we are proud of it...say what you want....

Not sure where you found this, but it may be a prank of some sort, just based on the Kevhead.com... Kevheads listen to Kevin Mathews on the radio in Chicago... his show is basically stupid, but calls itself comedy. I do know Kev plays Buffett music, and some of the staff (probably this Derrick) make fun of another staff member who claims to be a tried and true parrothead, and supposedly sees a bunch of shows per year.

I don't know for sure, but I bet the mis-spellings and bs were all intended to incite a riot, just for kicks so to say. Gee, I don't know why I don't listen anymore!

How could someone even write an article about a person without knowing their correct name? He went to the Buffet Table 16 times!

Great response Fins! GREAT AVATAR TOO!! LMAO!!!

There will always be morons who just "don't get it" and have to prove their ignorance by ranting about it...

Two things

1) Who cares what this guy thinks

2) Great response

I think you are in a "Screw Buffett" stage or even worse are a GOP. Suggest you go straight to Wrigley Field and sing Go Cubs Go.

Seriously, whether you are a prank or 4 real, I'm a fan of JB since 1977 for good or bad. I don't always enjoy what JB does or the behavior of his fans but I take comfort in the music. Granted most of it predates the birth of most of his fans but what the hell?

JB has said himself he's not the greatest singer, musician or songwriter yet he is successful beyond all that.

Give me A White Sportcoat, LAD3/4 A1A, Havana, CILCIA, SOASOAS and pieces here and there of everything else and I'll be fine.

Old Boy Derrick Phillips summed up in one word: J-E-A-L-O-U-S

Sounds like poor little Derrick may have tried and failed at a music career. Maybe Jimmy has been successful at the things Derrick dreamed of doing, but ended up failing to do. Or maybe his girlfriend "got drunk and screwed" the neighbor.

Either way, I can't believe I spent 2 minutes of my life talking about this guy. That's two minutes of my life I'll NEVER get back!

Have a great winter my Parrothead Phriends!

There are so many things blatantly stupid about this that it's not worth it to spend too much time on it, but I have to point out that the very premise of it is absurd. To say that Jimmy gets most of his money from touring is ridiculous. He only plays (much to our disappointment) about 30 shows a year. And most of the money that people spend on the tickets go to scalpers, not him. Besides, how does he explain the popularity of Margaritaville Cafes, or the fact that Jimmy's CDs usually go platinum?
No, Jimmy does not make MOST of his money from touring. I don't think he makes most of his money from any one type of business; I think all the little things add up. If that's true, then it means that his phans are gleefully contributing to Jimmy's wealth in small amounts, all year long.

My two cents -- I know it's not really worth debating this b/c it's so stupid.

nycparrothead wrote:Great response Fins! GREAT AVATAR TOO!! LMAO!!!

There will always be morons who just "don't get it" and have to prove their ignorance by ranting about it...

Thanks NYP! That avator is my 2-year-old son, he knows more than this dude already!

I think us phruits should be proud of this ranting! It obviously gets to him enough to put himself out there...glad we have a different state of mind though

By the way, next to the anti-Buffett article above, this pro-Buffett article was on the same website....bravo Frank! (sorry for another long one, but it is good)

Fins To The Left, Fins To The Right
And Your Vacation’s Come To Town
by Frank Salvato

It happens every summer and for some it is called “the annual rights of summer”. When Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band come to Tinley Park, Illinois and Alpine Valley, Wisconsin it is essentially the Caribbean coming to the Midwest.

People from all over the Midwest, weary from the winter past and hoping to leave the grit and grime of the city while forgetting about their jobs for a while put on their worst Hawaiian shirts, gaudy costumes and a devil-may-care attitude and flock, like the Parrotheads that they are to escape the realities of their daily lives for an evening, and sometimes an afternoon if they tailgate, to travel, if only in their minds to the Caribbean and a simpler, easier, more relaxing style of life.

Being a Parrothead, having lived in the islands in the Buffett-esque lifestyle and a veteran of over 50 concerts around the country I can testify that the transformation that takes place when you arrive at the concert venue. CEO’s, construction workers, lawyers, firefighters, doctors, police officers, you name it, people from just about every walk of life transform from who they are in their actual lives to the Caribbean counter-part they wish they could be. Cars, trucks and buses adorned with palm trees, fins and more than a few pools arrive hours early to set-up tailgate parties. As one walks among the parked cars listening to music both Buffett and Caribbean, the sounds of blenders whirring, bottles opening and the smell of cheeseburgers in paradise fill the air. It is a calm crowd, almost a celebratory crowd, as complete strangers meet each other for the first time with the same warmth that they would have seeing an old friend for the first time in years. Of course, the difference between what you may be thinking is a “Dead Head” type of crowd and Parrotheads is that Parrotheads don’t shower in the yards of people who live next to the venue using bottles of Joy dishwashing liquid for shampoo. There is a unique sophistication to a Buffett concert crowd that escapes description. Like the show itself, it needs to be experienced to understand what the allure is.

Once in the venue the festivities continue. Margarita’s, rum drinks Corona and other beverages abound as Junkanoo bands and Buffett cover bands fill the air with a Caribbean feel. And if you are lucky enough to have attained a Corona Tent pass you can eat and drink free while listening to The Tom Carey Band, a Caribbean/Blues type band that has become a staple in the Corona Tent over the years. But even this isn’t anything to what happens when the lights come down, the curtain drops and “The Man” takes the stage.

With a stage set that literally is equaled by no one, you are instantaneously transported to the island of your choice. His stage sets are so virtually realistic that the ocean almost bathes the beach-like stage as the stars shine, the moon wanes and the palm trees move with the breeze that seems to reach them from the Gulf Stream itself. As the concert progresses and the mood changes so does the stage transforming itself from arrival to departure not unlike the way one’s mood changes when they visit the islands of the Caribbean.

As the songs go by, songs that have now become cherished fixtures that emote a welcome memory for those who understand and that summon a benign response from those who Parrotheads know don’t have a clue, it stops being about the songs being heard, although the quality of the live performance is second to none sans a million dollar Paul McCartney Concert and most definitely better than a Rolling Stones concert (both of which I have seen several times), and starts being about the experience.

The experience of a Buffett concert is one that can transform. As one walks through the sea of people who are just genuinely happy it is almost impossible not to be affected by it. Invariably, you find yourself smiling and in one of the better moods that you have been in for quite some time. That is the magic of a Jimmy Buffett concert, its ability to make you stop worrying about the turmoil of everyday life, the bills, the job, the court date, the IRS audit, and simply relax. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need to lighten up a little bit. It’s like grapefruit and Juicyfruit, it’s good for the soul.

For those that believe a Jimmy Buffett concert is three hours of old songs that people who are living in the past embrace I say you don’t have a clue what it is all about until you experience it. I didn’t until I was enlightened all those many years ago. I have only known one person who didn’t like the experience and she turned out to be a mistress of Saddam Hussein…go figure.

So, kick back, change your attitude at a different latitude, waste away with a margarita and a cheeseburger in paradise that is that one particular harbor and believe that a little love and luck will help you get by…la je nomai!!__________

Frank Salvato is a devout Parrothead, a Kevhead, a coordinator for The Kevin Matthews’ Clause Foundation, a media consultant and a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch. His pieces can be read at www.TheRant.us

Let’s be honest, people. After the crowd sobers up, most of them probably realize the next day that the music, in essence, sucks. How many of them bother to play, or even buy a Jimmy Buffet CD to play the other 364 days of the year? I’ve never gone to any party or social gathering where people were “jamming Buffet”.

What an airhead. The day I am at the concert is generally the one day I dont buy a Buffett CD because I am to busy tailgating. And every party I go to I make sure some Buffett is put on whether people like it or not.

I hope he gets more people to agree and more people think Buffett sucks. Maybe tickets will be easier to get for those of us that know how to spell it, live it, love it and buy into it! YES, buy.. I just wish it was me who had come up with a way to get all of YOUR money.

thanks for posting the article... what a moron. Sorry to admit i live in the same town as him. Hey... maybe we can get his adresss and do a little parrothead revenge?!?! haha... This joker obviously has no clue... Some get it... some don't.. we do.... he obviously doesnt!


Mindy

Well I personally Jam to Jimmy 365 days a year, dont know about the rest of you Parrotheads! Guess that just makes us weird.

I cast my lot with Goodman on this dude and add only this: some people get it and some never will!

The whole thing isn't even written well enough to warrant a response...

Did someone post the source yet?

Key Lime Lee wrote:The whole thing isn't even written well enough to warrant a response...

Did someone post the source yet?

but ya know what Lee...it got you to post

i just sent a very mean email to the buffett hater. maybe i should have waited until the morning for that........yes ive been drinking tonight

I usually dont send emails to people bad mouthing Buffett. Like on the other thread, I think that the topic is beaten to the ground. But this time it got me to say somthing, here is my email regarding the first article on the page...

Hi! I am a 14 year old die-hard parrothead. I found your article regarding parrotheads on one of my favorite Buffett websites. First I must say, thank you for complimenting Buffett on his success, he has worked incredibly hard non-stop for over 30 years to get it. Secondly, I feel I must disagree with you on many of your statements. I live in Ohio, and saw him 2 times in Chicago this year, and that weekend is one of the best times of my life. I am well below drinking age, and not 1 drop of alchol hit these lips there, and still I went and had an awsome time.
Also, I currently have 41 Buffett CD's that I regularly listen too, actully, I try to listen to Buffett 2 times as much as anyone else, and usually I exceed that. Believe me when I say that there are over a million Parrotheads, most of which like Buffett even more than me! And Parrotheads are not a drunken group of people! True, they do get drunk a few times a year. But saying that would not be fair, without including the millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of hours of labor they donate to chairty each and every year. You may believe that all we are are a bunch of fools and drunks, but I have never been drunk, nor ever been called a fool, but still I prouldly wear the badge of Parrotheadism. I understand that your mailbox is filled with mail from Parrotheads, so now I will leave you to read what these other freinds of mine have to say.
PHinz up!,
matt

Very nice Matt!!!