This Board's Future

[DazedOblivion]

Dear Folks,

The friendships I have here are treasured. Still, I cannot fail to observe that this board is slowing to a crawl for obvious reasons.

I have been thinking of what to do for some time. Everything has its time to begin and a time to end. Is it time to start thinking of closing the Corrs Fan Base? Maybe the time has come.

Sad to say, there is nothing visible on the horizon for fans of the Corrs. I saw this time coming, so it hasn't taken me by surprise. Andrea's solo album is history. It was a brave act for her to go it alone, and she gave us much to anticipate and celebrate.

The Corrs have chosen - or have found it necessary - to give us nothing but silence. As a fan, this has disappointed me, but I respect their right to live a completely private life if that is what they choose. They indeed have good lives for themselves, which is as it should be.

It is rightly said that many a band has made a final exit without an announcement of "We're done! Thanks for the memories." Many bands have taken a "break" that, in the end, turned out to be permanent. The truth is that the vast majority of bands break up without ever having had their first taste of success. The Corrs had tremendous success. At one time, they had the both the #1 and #2 album in the UK. They can be very proud of what they've accomplished and, even if they walk away forever, their phenomenal body of work remains for the ages, and could be something that will keep fanboards talking for a long time.

I don't here rule out a return, because we know that music runs through the veins of the Corrs, even if right now they only sing lullabies to their young children. When will that be? I am convinced that if the return of the Corrs were anytime soon, then we would have heard about it by now. Instead, the Corrs have left us clues, such as some of the quotes in the All The Way Home DVD; that video they created for "Goodbye 2006"; or naming their last studio album Home, with all the connotations that title carries. We may not have wanted to accept these clues, but time has brought these clues into clearer focus.

I joined this board in early 2005, so full of enthusiasm for this band; I still feel the same. They are amazing songwriters, musicians, and performers. I was really happy the day Swantje asked me to be a global moderator. I never imagined that I would one day carry on with this board without all those people who were here back then. I certainly have missed everyone who has left. Our current members are some of the best people I know. This board never was very big; that never mattered that much to me.

What does matter to me is that the posting has come down to just a few people posting primarily in the 'games' category, because it seems that there is apparently little else of interest here. THAT, to me, may be the sign that it's time to close the doors to our little pub of Corrs fans, unless we want to make this a nostalgia board for fans. And yet, I feel that the time hasn't arrived for THAT yet.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

For now, if anyone has anything to say about this, I will be glad to listen.

~Steve

[DazedOblivion]

Ironically, after posting this I read an article at Independent.ie currently found HERE. The article covers an interview with Jim Corr (a few excerpts):

He's still passionate about music -- happily listing the Keane song, "She Has No Time", as his favourite song -- and he's hoping to put a band together soon.

...During our interview, he recalled concerts in Germany that were attended by 100,000 people, and also magnificent Irish gigs.

"There were momentous occasions. Lansdowne Road when we came back -- played to 50,000 people. That was a wonderful homecoming. Playing with the Rolling Stones. We did six gigs with them," he recalled.

There were dinners with Nelson Mandela and, perhaps most ironically of all, several appearances at the White House for both President Clinton and President Bush.

He also spoke of the madness of touring with three of his siblings for all those years: "It is difficult. We were lucky, we generally had a good relationship. We all certainly had our moments. What kept us together doing this was the love of music and the love of performing."

The years of touring and recording were very intense and then it all ended, three years ago. With more time on his hands, his truth-seeking began.

...The various members of the band have also been busy with their own lives over the past three years.

"Unfortunately, we've all got different families so it's Christmas and birthdays that we're all together. We haven't seen much of each other in the past few years," said Jim.

It certainly sounds all so "past-tense" when he speaks of the Corrs.

[Nyoman]

Yes, Steve..

I completely understand about what you concerned about the band's future and this board future. It's kinda hard to keep this board alive without anything goes on at Corrs base. Yes, I'm also very fustrating about waiting, without any corrs news come to surface, so there's no we could talk about anymore (except for Jim's news at Irish Independent at CC, but that's not about Corrs music, I guess).

All I can say is I really really enjoyed your board and I'm very grateful for you and Swantje who created this great place for us, corrs fans all over the world. I got many friends here and my english is getting better by talking to you guys.
My forum is so dead too and nobody post there anymore, coz maybe now they are too busy or there's just a very little Corrs news but of course as a big fan, I respect their private life and just wait and see what happened next. I want if The Corrs ever back someday, they do it because they want to not just because please the fans.

Well, I'm still optimist about them and would lurking around here (if this board still here), post corrs news as much as I can (since now I'm a bit busy with my works so I'm not online on the net so often, not just here but in the other website too ), but believe me, I would still go to this forum everyday(although I'm not post everyday) and also to other Corrs forums, until I find it's completely empty and then maybe we all could talk about "the nostalgia of the band". ;D

But 'til that time is arrived, I'm still optimist and waiting for them, anyway.... ;D

~ Nyoman

[Nyoman]

Yes, I've just read that article too.

He also spoke of the madness of touring with three of his siblings for all those years: "It is difficult. We were lucky, we generally had a good relationship. We all certainly had our moments. What kept us together doing this was the love of music and the love of performing."

It makes me believe that there's a chance someday that the band would comeback anytime, since what makes them keep together doing it, is their love of music and performing.

"Unfortunately, we've all got different families so it's Christmas and birthdays that we're all together. We haven't seen much of each other in the past few years," said Jim.

Yes, this part is a bit worriying but it maybe coz they still need take time out with their own famiy so they haven't had a chance to see each other.

[Stephanie]

Hey Steve,

Yeah I think that's a tough question..whether to close the board someday or not.

Of course I am still hoping that one day the Corrs might decide to make a new album or anything..but it seems very unlikely.
And because there isn't much news about the Corrs this board is nowadays more used to play at the gamesection etc.

And from my own experience I know that when I am busy I don't have much time to post and I guess that counts for everyone...but still it is nice to check in here and play some games with each other...but I can understand that you might be thinking of closing the board..but I can't advice what would be the best thing to do.

~ Steph

[Andypandy]

I understand what you are thinking steve-I have the same dilemma over at Andrea Corr Heaven. Until I hear if Andrea will do another album I will put my decision on hold for now. The recent comments by Jim are truly disheartening and strange. I feel the band has totally disrespected the fans on this.

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.

Simone also shared her thoughts with me via Yahoo.

I appreciate hearing what everyone has to say.

[Andypandy]

Maybe you can change the title of the board and make this a site about different music that way we can keep our posts. Maybe streamline the categories and leave one section for the Corrs. Just an idea.

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm considering your idea.

I wouldn't do something like that, though, without getting Swantje's permission, since this board is her creation.

[SingleTunePoet]

Hey all,

it´s me... being quite honest with you I´ve often felt like closing the board down, maybe, because A.) no Corrs news and B.) little time on my hands. I´ve been very thankful for Steve´s help over the past months. He´s been carrying on with the board while university and my private life keep me from posting here much. In a way that took the hard decision from me. I didn´t have to think about closing the board or not because I knew that the board´d be in good hands with Steve. And it is! As it seems the lack of Corrs activity and with that the lack of postings has also made you think about closing the board, Steve.
It´s so hard to decide. For, as you say, there´s history here. The good old days are still presented on screen and what´s more, some of the fans that became friends still login every once in a while to get in touch with others, even if it´s just by posting in the games section. For those fans it´s just fair to keep the board alive... and what happens if one month after closing it, the Corrs suddenly reapear... it doesn´t seem like that´s going to happen, though.
Changing the board name would be an option to think of! We´d have to debate about a proper name though. But all members could come up with thoughts and ideas which will most likely lead to a good titel and future for the board.
I´d say it´s up to you though, Steve...whatever you want to decide...what I try to say is...if you feel that you´re tired of administrating the board or if your time for doing that is limited, it´s your right to say that you want to close the board or find someone who carries on with it. I certainly don´t have the time and energy for it anymore though it still hurts to see the board go. But if you say that you want to go on with the board, maybe with a new name and more categories of music, maybe irish music, or with any other ideas, you may do that as well...I´d be glad if you´d contact me via email if any serioius decisions have to be made.
You´ve been doing a wonderful job here and I am very thankful!

[DazedOblivion]

Swanny!!

It's nice to see your post and I hope all is going well. I can just guess how busy you are, so thanks so much stopping by to give us your thoughts as the person who got this board started. You can be sure that I would certainly email you about any proposed changes. However, I don't have any plans to change the board drastically.

You're very right when you say that this board captures a lot of history. It stands as a reference for those who desire to know what fans were thinking and saying about the Corrs from 2004-2008! It's a historical document! Hihi. ;D

Even if this board may slow down considerably, still it can be a place for friends to get together (if they want) to discuss things. It's not exactly like this is a board that requires much in the way of moderation; we have great people here. It's never been THAT much work, so maybe I can just leave the board as it is for a while longer. Besides, this is where Steph and I communicate regularly by PM. And we can still keep the name, because most of us are uncurable fans of the Corrs even with disappointing news recently about the lack of a reunion, and their music is our common ground.

For now, we'll just "leave the light on here" if you want to stop by.

Thanks again, Swanny.

[snookyjojo]

Hi everybody,
steve, i remember you telling me about your thoughts in a mail during my summer vacation, and i´m sorry i didn´t reply to that very much.
Today´s a rainy day and i felt like having a look at the good ol´times here at the board. It shocked me to read all this in this thread and i felt like, if we close the board a big part of history of friendships which were created here would be gone. I would feel really sorry about that, because it just happened too much. too many people met.

and yes, as you all mentioned let´s just change the name or...whatever ..spread the field a little wider (ouch, is that corr-ect?) and just keep the memories. Keep the memories we shared with our favourite band, the memories we created with new friends here, and just create new memories.
As for the lack of corrs news, just with other music then. there´s sooooo much good music out there at the moment (at least i think so) and so many people know about bands i never heard of. i think closing it all down would be a mistake. yes. Because as said in MURPHY`S LAW: IF we close it down, THEN we´ll definitely get news and no one will be able to share them....(ok...maybe we should really close it down then...i mean...news...NEWS...AHH..word of the day).
But why not keep this all on hold? Talk about other music, events, whatever. and keep the corrs on hold. so IF they ever decide to come back...or even if it´s just one of them...then we´ll still be here, or the people of this board will know where to go! where to find the newest interviews, opinions, scandals...aaand so on.
as for a new name...i think we should probably keep it general...you know...? a place for music, probably especially irish music.

that´s what i think.

[DazedOblivion]

Hey Caro!

Thanks very much for your thoughts. I am really glad to hear what you had to say about it. I think we have decided to keep the board going and just share what we may while the Corrs are away. There will be times when the board may be slow but it's still a good place to meet people and share a love of music.

(If you want to REALLY relive the old times, I tried to recreate the look and colours of the board as Swanny had them in the first years. It is available as a "skin" called "CFB Retro: - and you can change it at your Modify Profile area. It's really funny to see those colours again. Wiku always liked them a lot! )

[snookyjojo]

(oh oh oh ...no! hahaha, i remember them well enough haha, no need to change it!)

You said: "There will be times when the board may be slow but it's still a good place to meet people and share a love of music."

And above all that: it´s always great to come back, when you´ve bee away for a while!

[Andypandy]

I changed my skin to retro-it does bring back memories.