Farewell to Be Bop Wino

It lasted almost 2 years and got nearly 890,000 hits. On the 18th September, 2009, the Bebopwino blog was taken down by Blogger on receipt of a complaint. This was, I think, the third complaint received about the blog content. The takedown notification did not specify which post or posts were the subject of the complaint, so we'll never know what provoked Blogger to deliver the coup de grace.

I would like to thank all those who dropped by, and especially those who took the trouble to comment on the posts. Sometimes the comments were far more interesting than my semi-literate ramblings.

Of course I must give a huge thank you to those who contributed sights and sounds to the blog. Thank you for the effort and care you put into bringing rare and forgotten music to the rockin' nation. A very, very special thank you goes to Joan whose "Joan Selects" series of vinyl rips was such a sensational hit with you blogsters. Joan's support and encouragement was simply beyond value in keeping the blog going and in taking it to a level which I never anticipated when I started out back in 2007.

On looking back over the history of the blog, I would probably have done things a bit differently if I had known back then what I know now. I would probably have stuck to a strictly vinyl policy and perhaps put a time bar on the links. Towards the end I was getting a bit worried about the sheer accumulation of material that was available on the blog. The revival of formerly out of print CDs as mp3 downloads from the likes of Amazon also made monitoring the "no in-print albums" policy harder and there were definitely a few things which had become commercially available again lurking way back in the blog.

The purpose of the blog was to help promote interest in a kind of music which simply doesn't receive the kind of media coverage it deserves. I believe that responsible music blogs can be an effective way of promoting "niche" music. It's interesting that among the supporters of Be Bop Wino were musicians, deejays and music retailers. For me that's a strong indication that responsible music blogs can increase sales of CDs, mp3s and concert tickets.

As for a possible return of Be Bop Wino - well, you never know! But for now I'm gonna have a rest from blogging. Keep tuning in to Uncle Gil, Red Neckerson, The Hound, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Rocker Stomp, and the many others who promote the cause of real rhythm 'n' blues and rock 'n' roll. When you download don't forget to say "thank you", you naughty kids!