Ringo Starr No Longer Accepting Fan Mail

[Mrs Henley]

What a lovely idea, FP! You should definitely send it.

Some ideas:

You can tell him why you appreciate his music so much, why you find it affecting, why you love to listen to it. If there's been occasions when it's especially helped you through a tough time or even helped make a great time better, you can talk about that. If there are certain songs that especially move you, you can mention those as well. You can tell him how you saw him in concert way back in 1988, and how wonderful it was to get to see such a rare appearance. You can tell him that you got to be at the filming of Farewell 1, and how magical that was. You can express hopes of one day going to another solo show - perhaps put in a plug for Oz. You can tell him how much you love Long Road Out of Eden and that you hope he puts out another solo album.

Just some suggestions!

Love those ideas Soda!

[Brooke]

I think it's a great idea, Fp! Of course you should send it. Soda's suggestions were wonderful and I really can't come up with more.

I wrote to Timothy recently, too, and believe me, once you get started, the words will come.

[Mrs Henley]

I wrote to Timothy recently, too, and believe me, once you get started, the words will come.

I'm so agreed with you Brooke!
I wrote Timothy also recently and I'm not a really big fan of Timothy, But I wrote him everything I could think of him (of course all the positive things) and it's a long letter

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I think you should go for it too, FP. And I think everyone is right, once you get started putting pen to paper, the words will come.

I'm so agreed with you Brooke!
I wrote Timothy also recently and I'm not a really big fan of Timothy, But I wrote him everything I could think of him (of course all the positive things) and it's a long letter

Now I have to admit that this confused me. Why exactly would you bother writing a long letter to Tim if you aren't really a big fan of his?

[Mrs Frey]

I know this is an old thread, but it was posted at a time when I was rarely on The Border, so I only got the chance to go through it yesterday. I needed a bit of time to gather my thoughts, as I found Ringo's video very disappointing, considering that I've been a Beatles, and therefore a Ringo, fan for 20 years.

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of it. I've always thought that Ringo loved his fans. Indeed, this is evident in all the interviews I've ever seen of him. Even when the other three Beatles began feeling the pressure of the constant madness surrounding them, he is on record as saying that he loved all of it, with the exception of a few incidences.

I wonder what drove him to make such a video. Did something happen, related to a fan or fans, that upset him to such a degree that he decided he no longer wanted to receive anymore fan mail? Ringo has never struck me as the sort of person to resort to such measures - therefore, I feel that there must be more to this story.

It's strange, but the media in this country, as far as I know, never made a peep about Ringo's actions. I wonder what Paul McCartney made of it.

I'm willing to give Ringo the benefit of the doubt, but the video still came across as very harsh, and since I've written fan letters in my time, I feel that he should have taken much more care in addressing his fans with such a request.

A certain Belgian singer once broke my heart after having tossed my fan letter away, which I gave to him in his hand after a concert he gave in Cape Town. The caretaker at the venue actually took the time to return the letter to me, after he found it lying on the floor backstage. He assumed that the performer had dropped it, but I found that unlikely since I saw him put the letter in his pocket. To say that the incident hurt me would be a gross understatement.

[sodascouts]

I remember you mentioning that incident before, MF, and I have to agree that if it happened to me I too would be disappointed, to say the least.

If indeed Ringo experienced something that triggered his outburst, he would have been well-advised to explain himself a bit and treat his fans with more respect and less like bothersome encumbrances he is forced to endure.

[Mrs Frey]

You have a good memory, Soda, and I agree with you about your thoughts regarding Ringo's actions.

I still feel somewhat blank when I think of his video. I just find it so strange. All his "peace and love" mentions didn't do anything to blunt his obvious irritation with his fans.

I never got around to writing to Ringo because I never had an address for him, but if I had, I would just have written to tell him how much I admire him as a musician as well as a person - I would not have expected him to write back or sign anything for me. Most artists don't.

I wrote to Paul McCartney twice, and his fan club responded to the letters. They thanked me for my "charming" letters, and it was very pleasing to read, but at the same time I was wondering if the letters ever reached Paul. I would rather not receive a reply, but know that Paul had read them. That is the point of writing to a star, after all. I also wrote a letter to Linda, which I thought that Paul would have appreciated. I doubt that Paul and Ringo receive the van loads of mail that they received as Beatles. They are, after all, well into their 60s, and the majority of young people who write fan letters have young musical heroes.

No one can expect musicians to answer all their mail or even read all of it, considering the sort of schedules that musicians have, not to mention commitments to their families. However, they should respect their fans, since it's the fans who put them on their pedastals in the first place, and the mere suggestion of Ringo throwing his fan letters away upsets me.

Ringo Starr, I am very disappointed in you. I expected so much more from you.