Excuse Me, But Ringo Is Back

You may recall back in early October of 2008, Ringo Starr announced on his website that as of October 20, he would no longer be signing and returning items sent to him by fans. The most newsworthy part of that announcement was the fact that prior to October of 2008, Ringo Starr had been signing and returning items sent to him by fans.

As a result of his historic announcement, I immediately sprang into two courses of action. I packaged and sent him a piece of Ringo memorabilia postmarked before October 20 and produced a video that I will never live down. If I were a smarter person, I would have removed the video as soon as I sobered up, but I left it up just to remind myself that humility is a virtue. It also serves as a constant reminder that I should not take myself too seriously and neither should you. I must say that I have warm feelings not only toward those who suggested that they could hear what I thought I heard in the background of Ringo's video, but also those who took great effort to break it to me gently that I might have been out of my mind. It humbles me that a cyber-identity could be the recipient of that kind of love.

But a bigger mystery than the Paul Is Dead rumor is why hasn't the press and public given Ringo Starr that kind of love? Ringo has always been gracious to his fans. Particularly through his website, he has offered fans glimpses of his personality and inside information about his activities in such a relaxed and unassuming manner, that regular viewers could feel an intimacy that is rare for a recording artist of his stature. Paul has followed his lead in recent years, but Ringo was the real internet pioneer.

It was that feeling of intimacy that caused people like me to think something was terribly wrong when he made his "no more signing items" statement. I remember some people at the time suggesting that he must have been making the statement under duress. To make matters worse, the press coverage of his public relations faux pas prompted a rash of YouTube videos from people who had never purchased any of his albums announcing that they would continue their policy of never purchasing any of his albums. It was even disheartening to see some of Ringo's defenders saying things like, "He's retired--leave him alone," when in fact he had been one of the most prolific recording artists of the last two years.

The press was even worse. Ringo never said he wouldn't ever sign an autograph again. He just said he wouldn't return items sent to him. That's all. He apparently was sick of taking the time to sign and mail back items that ended up on Ebay within a week. Who can blame him for that? On top of that, he even gave fans a warning with a window of opportunity to get things signed. That is above and beyond the call or duty.

Now, Ringo has resumed his video updates on his website. He has been nominated for a Grammy award. He may even be working on a new album. But the press still appears to be clueless as evidenced by the examples below:







Fortunately thanks to YouTube and Steve Marinucci of the Examiner, we are learning that Ringo is making good on his promise to sign items that arrived by his deadline of October 20, 2008.



As I indicated earlier, I sent Ringo Starr an item with an autograph request before the October 20 deadline. I used an address that I got from an Iamphoney video.



Imagine my excitement when my self addressed stamped envelope showed up in my mailbox today. Inside I found my item complete with the addition of Ringo's signature. I am incredibly happy, but not at all surprised. I knew that he would make good on his promise to his fans, no matter how bad the press had treated him. As Bonnie Jo Mason said many years ago, "Ringo, I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah." I now possess an autographed item from the greatest rock and roll drummer of all time and it ain't ever gonna be on Ebay during my lifetime! Thank you, Ringo.



Some new Iamaphoney-inspired videos have appeared on YouTube.

Just a good, uh replica by S3ANL3NN0N

Paul is dead 4 - Foot size tells all by WilliamShearsCampbel

Paul is Sleepy - 3 - Iamaphoney share the kookies! by iamafunny