Blog

Every day I get quite a few e-mails from people who have visited Delirious.org.uk. These e-mails usually fall into one of three categories. To demonstrate this, I'll show you a few e-mails I received on one typical day recently.

1. Mistaken Identity
Despite the fact that at the bottom of every single page on D.org.uk is a disclaimer stating that this is an 'unofficial fan site', I get many e-mails from people who mistakenly believe that it is the official site for the band. I take this as a compliment of course, but it does result in some e-mails that I can't really help with. Take the following e-mail for example. (I have removed certain details to maintain the privacy of the sender)
"This is [person] from [radio station], a full time praise & worship FM station out of [place in the US]. I noticed a new cd on your website that we are interested in playing on our station. Could we receive a complimentary copy...". I get e-mails everyday from someone asking something like this, or wanting to book the band for a concert. As tempting as it is to have some fun and write back saying something like "Hi, this is Martin Smith, sure I'll send you 100 CDs right away", I usually just point the person in the direction of Furious? Records who must spend their entire day answering similar questions.

2. Question about Delirious?
Many of the e-mails are genuine fans asking a genuine question that they think I might be able to answer. Often its just something like "when will Delirious? being playing in my city?" or "where can I buy the DVD?". Fair enough, I'm happy to answer questions like those and I always try to respond with something helpful. But sometimes I get some very curious questions, like this one:
"Hi, we are planning a trip to Germany and would like to see Delirious in concert. Do you know when they will be at Wembley?".
Hmm, how do you respond to an e-mail like that? I replied politely (I hope!) that: a) Wembley Stadium is actually in London, England - not Germany!, b) Wembley no longer exists as it's been knocked down, c) Delirious? only ever played at Wembley once, back in 1997 so it's not like they regularly play there. Funny how people can get completely the wrong end of the stick isn't it?

3. Junk
Yes, we all get it. Bucket loads of it. Spam. Junk. Unsolicited e-mails. Call it what you like. Just like everyone else, I get a ton of it, not helped by the fact that the website's e-mail address is included on every page of the site. But sometimes I get a 'junk e-mail' that is quite bizzare. I don't know if this really counts as junk, or just some kind of weird mistake, but on this occasion I got an e-mail from Arnie. Yep, "I'll Be Back", The Terminator, Mr Schwarzenegger himself. Well, ok, maybe not the man himself, but his office anyway. Now, before I share the contents of this e-mail, let me just point out that I have never actually written to this guy, or any American politican for that matter. Here are some extracts from what I assume is an automated response e-mail:
"Thank you for your email to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor appreciates hearing from concerned and involved Californians, as well as from individuals all over the world who have an interest in California." Ok, nice to be thanked, even if I didn't send the guy an e-mail in the first place. But fair enough, I have some remote kind of interest in California. After all, Delirious? play concerts there several times a year and I have a few friends who live there. "Governor Schwarzenegger is committed to restoring your confidence in state government. As the Governor has said, with hard work and your help, California will once again be the 'Golden Dream by the Sea'" How reassuring!
"Please know that the Governor's office is making every effort to respond to your inquiry and will ensure that your voice is heard by the Governor. Again, thank you for your email. Governor Schwarzenegger is proud to serve you and all Californians." So there you go, Governor Arnie is grateful for the e-mail I didn't send him and he's proud to serve me. I guess even the The Terminator is a d: fan.