Tommy M and Brian have parted ways?

On a recent eBay auction Tommy writes "I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO WORK FOR MR. SETZER..."

Could this be why briansetzer.com has been stagnant for the last several weeks?

Wazzup?

Although the thread "bs.com" has been derailed many times over, there is some insight into the situation on that thread. Although I think the eBay listing had it wrong. It should have said "Mr. Setzer was lucky enough to have Mr. Maguire work for him..."

In short, the answer to your main question is, "yes." Brian no longer has the considerable talents of Tommy Maguire at his disposal.


"Stagnant." How true.




Not over Macho Grande-billy

It should have said "Mr. Setzer was lucky enough to have Mr. Maguire work for him..."

I agree 100%. Although a fan of Brian's enormous musical talent & range, this
is not the first time he has dumped "a friend" who disagreed with him. Remember
when he fired his guitar tech who'd been with him 20 years?
Real friends are the ones who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
I think" the Brian" is a bit clueless when it comes to this. (jmo)

Rickabilly wrote:

Although the thread "bs.com" has been derailed many times over, there is some insight into the situation on that thread. Although I think the eBay listing had it wrong. It should have said "Mr. Setzer was lucky enough to have Mr. Maguire work for him..."

In short, the answer to your main question is, "yes." Brian no longer has the considerable talents of Tommy Maguire at his disposal.


"Stagnant." How true.




Not over Macho Grande-billy

Very sad for all the fans, Mr Maquire has been fantastic with his work for the webpage

Well, now at least I know what happened. Sad, that's for sure.

Friends are not to be taken for granted.

Quote :

Real friends are the ones who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
I think" the Brian" is a bit clueless when it comes to this. (jmo)

Well we don't know what happend, and if anything happend at all, it's a thing betwin Setzer and Maguire, and I'm pretty sure they are not going to tell us.
But sad for the fans, that's for sure

Badkitty pretty much summed it up. Unless there is a formal type statement, I will say I'm tired of walking on eggshells and pretending nothing "may have happened" or whatever.... If *nothing* happened, why the statements????

It's pretty clear now from what I've read on these threads.

I know you guys are here for the music....I am, too....but when things like this happen, they affect all of us. We are curious. I am a fan and used to post on the original BS.com board way back when, but I am, again, tired of things being "sugar coated or shoved under the rug."

We are all human and we make mistakes. Hopefully we learn from them.
This is between B and T, BUT...when you bring it to this forum, we can't help but wonder what the hell happened?

That's all I'm gonna say on the subject, but I do wish both Tommy and Brian all the best.

gretschkat57 wrote:

Well, now at least I know what happened.

Really? From what? Oddly enough, with all the discussion being bandied about, there have been no discussions about what happened in any sort of detail. Nor should there be. Badkitty's throwing out a theory, waiting for someone to confirm or deny it. I would caution people against taking badkitty's theory and running with it. The only similarity between the departure of Rich Modica and Tommy Maguire is the end result - two very talented individuals no longer work for Brian.

I can't blame anyone for being curious about the particulars in this TMZ/gossip-fueled society in which we live. While Tommy was forced to come forward in response to an avalanche of emails and posts, his public statements were delivered with all the class we've come to expect over the years. Both parties involved seem to be trying to move on. Perhaps we should put our curiosities aside and let them.



Movin' Right Along-a-billy

Rick, I have enjoyed reading many of your posts over the years, and while I
respect your right to your opinion, you do not seem to want to extend that
same courtesy to me. I agree with Gretschkat57, tired of walking on eggshells.
I was not "throwing out a theory waiting for someone to confirm or deny it."
We know that's not gonna happen. I just think Brian's behavior over the years
has shown a pattern. I also stated that it's jmo. I don't think people here are so
naive or uninformed that they need you to "caution" them against "taking badkitty's
theory and running with it." While I do not approve of vilifying anyone, this "hands
off" mentality is pretty silly too. He's a very talented musician with the same flaws
and foibles as the rest of us. Everyone has a not so pretty side to their nature, Rick.
EVERYONE.

badkitty wrote:

It should have said "Mr. Setzer was lucky enough to have Mr. Maguire work for him..."

I agree 100%. Although a fan of Brian's enormous musical talent & range, this
is not the first time he has dumped "a friend" who disagreed with him. Remember
when he fired his guitar tech who'd been with him 20 years?
Real friends are the ones who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
I think" the Brian" is a bit clueless when it comes to this. (jmo)

My apologies, badkitty. Your sentence "this is not the first time he has dumped a friend who disagreed with him" reads as though it is supposed to be an accurate statement regarding the situation with Brian and Tommy. It appears you were passing it off as a statement of fact, as opposed to your last sentence, which you did identify as an opinion. Then Sue follows your "real friends tell you the truth" statement with ""Well, at least now I know what happened." If she's basing her epiphany on your "Brian dumped a friend who disagreed with him" statement, then I feel that's a bit hasty on her part, which is why I would caution others against making the same leap.

You're entitled to your opinion, and even if it isn't complimentary toward Brian, it can be expressed here. It will likely be countered by differing opinions - that's not denying you the right to an opinion. I was simply addressing what others late to the story might take from an opinion masquerading as fact, regardless of whether or not the masquerade was intentional.

By the way, I am by no means supporting Brian in his decision. In fact, it has angered me more than most people around here. I still admire Brian's incredible musicianship, but am very disillusioned by recent events. As I have stated before, I dislike personality traits of many of my musical idols, from Bobby Darin to James Brown. I still love their music. It's just that I've never been part of an extended fan community like I have with Brian Setzer, and so these flaws that only make him more human are a larger disappointment to me than those same flaws in other talented people.

It isn't easy being the voice of dissent. From what I remember, you have usually handled it pretty well over the years. I look forward to more civil discourse in the future.

Point/Counterpoint-a-billy

Then Sue follows your "real friends tell you the truth" statement with ""Well, at least now I know what happened." If she's basing her epiphany on your "Brian dumped a friend who disagreed with him" statement, then I feel that's a bit hasty on her part, which is why I would caution others against making the same leap. .

**************************************************


*sigh*....... First off, I don't enjoy gossip NOR do I watch TMZ..or whatever the hell it's called. And I'm not a gossip....far from it. Hasty? I think not. I just stated I was curious and I kind of figured out the basics from what has been said in the threads....but it's all speculation since I have no facts. So no... That didn't mean I was out to spread hasty rumors. I shouldn't have said I understood what happened....I didn't....it was just speculation. But it was MY speculation only.

I've been a member of this board a long time but I've been gone for awhile due to a chronic auto-immune illness. Therefore, I was shocked and surprised to come back and read these threads. I'm sorry it all happened...whatever it was that happened. I'm not concerned about it anymore....BUT.. It's all about respecting others' opinions and not warning them or others about what NOT to do....or making them feel like they are going to be talked down to for stating their opinion.

lol rick, you know a badkitty like me will get her dander up and her claws
sharpened this close to Halloween! The jmo applied to the whole piece, and
I didn't realize it posted with a blank line in between the last sentence and
the rest of the paragraph; I must have hit the return. It is hard when our
musical idols disapoint us, which is why I always bear in mind they are just
regular people in their hearts and minds with an extraordinary gift. I try not
to expect any more from them than I would from anyone else. Celebs get
to deal with divorce, child custody issues, addiction, broken friendships,
jealousy, betrayal, you name it, just like the rest of us. It's how they deal
with it that tends to form an opinion on character, at least for me. Again,
jmo.

It seems the misunderstandings are going both ways - or three ways? All three of us are making general statements that are being taken the wrong way. One of the suggested board guidelines says something like "If a post can be misunderstood, it will." Ain't it the truth.

If Sue can retreat from "At least now I know what happened" back to "it's all speculation since I have no facts" and badkitty can identify "this is not the first time..." as an opinion, then I will retract my assessment of her views as being "hasty." I apologize for singling you both out and putting you on the defensive. I agree with Sue. That's not what this forum is about.

I'm not trying to tell people what their opinions should be, I just was hoping people wouldn't read the two sentences "this is not the first time Brian dumped a friend who disagreed with him" and "at least now I know what happened" and presume to have an accurate depiction of the events, especially if this is the first and only thread they read about it.

Ack! This whole topic is like a rotten brown spot taking over an apple. I'm gonna cut it out. My apologies, ladies.

Conciliatory-billy

I saw Tommy M outside the Brixton Academy before the Stray Cat show.
I said to my wife ,"Hey thats the guy who does Brians website" . I went over to him and introduced myself (as Irishguy ,my previous user name). And he smiled and said a few words. It was a highlight of my evening and my trip to London ( 1 plane,2 trains ,1 taxi ). I enjoyed logging in several times a week for whatever items he put on Brians site. I imagine everyone enjoyed the same thing. You aint gonna hear or read much on Brian or Stray Cats anywhere else, thats for sure. Prior to the Tommys good work ,I would only hear of a new Setzer record or show by pure accident.
I never hear nothing of him here in Ireland at all, I lived in New York in 1985/86 and again 1989 to 1995 and I certainly didnt see much Setzer items/press then ,except for the odd bootleg in Goldmine. Tommy M did a wonderful job. You knew he was a fan not just a press agent . A fan like us who was also a friend of Brians. That is why I and everyone else are speculating/wondering/probing/guessing as to what happened. I'd love to know even though I know it's none of my buisness really. Guess thats how we all feel.
And while I'm at it , I always wondered what happened to Rich Modica ?
What's the story there ?

Rick, as an (rare) African fan, I can tell you that I often appreciate your (long) posts. Of course, I want to say too that Tommy M has done a fantastic job on bs.com. and the site is dying without his class & talent.
This said, I'm not necessarily disappointed by Brian's attitude for what I know and I'd like to tell you that, sometimes, your "lecturing" side is a little annoying. It seems you really don't want to talk about what happened and I can understand it BUT... We can want to talk about it and we can think that it's probably better talking about problems than absolutely wanting to repress them.

No-Hard-Feelings (I hope it)-Billy

Just to throw a couple of observations in re Brian - I remember when he had a Q&A on his website years ago one of the people expressed some disappointment at not getting a chance to take a pic with Brian after a gig - in the UK actually. Brian's response seemed a bit off to me - not an exact quote but near enough, he said 'where does it say on your ticket that you get to meet/hang out with me -you paid for a top class show and that's what you got'. Now obviously this is true but in the spirit of appreciation for the fans that put you there it seems a bit abrupt.

Further to that I had a couple of friends who tried to take some pics with Brian at a London gig a few years ago and he was apparently less than charming with them. Armed with this knowledge another friend of mine had the opportunity to get me backstage at the last Cats gig in Manchester but I declined cos if I didn't want to have a negative experience taint my liking for pretty much all of Brian's work.
One last point -when it was Brian's birthday earlier this year there were reams of good wishes etc posted on the BS forum - would it have hurt to even acknowledge all those people's good wishes?

I talk with Tommy maybe every coupla weeks and he's a great guy, shit's happened in my life, like his and everybody else's.... BUT this guy IS a perfect gentleman.
I was/am looking more forward to meeting him than the Cats if/when he comes to Oz. I don't know when or where, but it will happen.... he's got first shout!!
What am I trying to say? Maybe, who really gives a toss what happened? If he decides he wants to talk about it, then he'll say so. The guy still posts on here and with people all over the world, aint that enough?
Cheers Pete.
P.S. Yes, Budgie I still love you too!!

Pistol Pete wrote:

IThe guy still posts on here and with people all over the world, aint that enough?
Cheers Pete.

yep, that`s a good point of view.

Pistol Pete wrote:

I was/am looking more forward to meeting him than the Cats if/when he comes to Oz.

Believe it or not I was VERY excited about the possibility of meeting T-bag in Aus next year.. maybe even moreso than the possibility of meeting Brian... maybe

I just wish we'd all stop talking about this. There won't be answers, and really we don't deserve any.


Kid.

Kid Setzer wrote:

I just wish we'd all stop talking about this. There won't be answers, and really we don't deserve any.

well said

Soooo.... anybody heard any great bands lately?

I've been listening to loads of Richard Hawley lately and Boz Boorer's new CD, "Miss Pearl" is a cracker!



-Tommy M

Tommy Maguire wrote:

I've been listening to loads of Richard Hawley lately and Boz Boorer's new CD, "Miss Pearl" is a cracker!



-Tommy M

What is the Adam Ant track like Tommy?