Blog41 (01/01/03 - 01/12/03)
Please note that, as time goes by, some of these links may no longer work - sorry!

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01/12/03
18.00 - Apparently Kasim met up with Paul Reed Smith this week according to the official Paul Crook website. Click here for a direct link to the photo of Kasim.
15.30 - The News section of the site has been updated.
13.30 - Although it's an old post, Kasim Sulton has received a mention on the Steely Dan newsgroup. It was written around the time that Kasim broke his foot on the Power Trio Tour and is amusing to read.
11.45 - To save space on my server, the rtf versions of the posters for both Fort Atkinson and Valparaiso will be removed on Tuesday (as they are 10 times the size of the Word format posters).
11.30 - There are currently two Kasim albums available on E-Bay.com. Click here to purchase Lights On (the auction ends today and the opening bid of $9.99 has not yet been met) and here for a copy of Quid Pro Quo (ends 01/19, ten copies available at $16 each with the highest bidder getting a signed copy).

01/11/03
08.15 - The Gigs section of the site has been updated.
07.00 - The Watershed Festival concert that was booked for Meat Loaf on 31st August has now been cancelled.
06.45 - A very limited number of tickets will be going on sale today for the promotional concert in Cologne, Germany that Kasim will be playing with Meat Loaf on Monday 27th January. This concert is mainly for the media and record companies but they have made a few tickets available to fans. Telephone Germany 01805-570000 to purchase.
06.30 - Around the same time yesterday, the first part of Kasim's CD promotion journal (called "Making the CD - The Rehearsal Phase") was added to the front page of his official website KasimSulton.com or click here for the direct link. Unlike comments that have been posted on various Meat Loaf lists, there is more than one page (on dial-up you may need to load it a few times until its in your cache to run fully) and Sacrifice is the first track on Quid Pro Quo not Meat Loaf's album, Couldn't Have Said It Better!
06.15 - Yesterday Kasim Sulton posted the following message (called "I Wish ..." to his message board:
"...I didn't have to write this.
I've had to cancel the February shows. I'm so sorry. Meat Loaf has accepted an offer to play at the NBA All Star game halftime show, nationally televised here.
I can't tell you the dissapointment I felt when I said to Management, "I have 2 solo shows THAT weekend".
I tried moving both shows to a later date and while Ft. Atkinson was available, Valparaiso was not. Rather than run the risk of the same thing happening again I decided not to try and play Russian Roulette again.
I hope that anyone who was planning on coming to these shows understands it's not something I wanted to do (canceling them), but the choice was more or less made for me.
I wish I could say more but I'd only be repeating myself. "
06.00 - Again ysterday there were problems accessing the server so I was unable to update the site as much as I wanted. The KasimSulton Mailing List was kept informed of the news.

01/10/03
06.00 - There's a new review of Quid Pro Quo on the Barnes and Noble website. Click here to read it but, in case it disappears at some point, it says:
"Review by Phyllis, a Kasim- Aholic!,
Kasim Sulton's Masterpiece!
This is Kasim's masterpiece! Tunefull, intellegent pop, tear-jerking ballads, and THAT VOICE! If your a Todd Rundgren/ Utopia fan, this is the CD for you! Also, check out that mind-blowing guitar solo by Isle Of Q's Doug Kennedy on track four: "We The People"! That guy's got style!"
I wonder who wrote the review?!
02.00 - The Kasim who? mailing list has designed some posters to promote Kasim Sulton's upcoming solo gigs next month. The links are:
Fort Atkinson poster in Word format
Fort Atkinson poster in rtf format
Valparaiso poster in Word format
Valparaiso poster in rtf format
Right click on each link to download to your computer. The idea is that people in the Midwest print off the posters and put them up on walls, in music stores, in bars, in their cars etc (all with permission of course) in order to get the word out even more about Kasim's gigs. The Kasim who? mailing list was set up at the end of last year to promote Kasim as much as fans are able. As his fans are aware, Kasim is currently playing his best solo music ever and yet, due to the fact that he is being so badly promoted, he is not receiving either the recognition or the audiences he deserves. Already the mailing list has had some success with newspaper calender listings being promised and another radio interview being discussed with Kasim!

01/09/03
15.30 - Another television show has been announced for Kasim in Germany called VIVA interaktiv. The Gigs section of the site has been updated with the details.
09.15 - There are some great photos of Kasim Sulton that were taken yesterday at a Neverland Express rehearsal (apparently their second rehearsal). Click here for the link (they are on Paul Crook's official website) and the individual photos that feature Kasim are:
Tuning his guitar
With John Miceli
The band in action
The musicians
09.00 - Unfortunately during the past 48 hours there have been several problems with accessing this site, the e-mail and updating the site. The host company say that it is due to a script that another user on the server is using and will be resolved soon. Sorry!

01/08/03
11.30 - Kasim Sulton posted a message on his messageboard this morning. Click here to view it but, as it will disappear eventually, it says:
"Hey all,
(((((((((((((((((yawn)))))))))))))))))
6 AM!
I just did a radio interview with RTHK Radio 3 in Hong Kong.
The show is called The PM Sessions and is hosted by Nathalie. Don't ask me her last name, at this hour I can hardly remember mine.
We talked about everything from Utopia to Meat Loaf, my address book and QPQ.
She'll be playing a couple of traks from QPQ when the interview airs next week.
Anyone in or near the Hong Kong area, please listen!
I'm thinking of driving over with Doug for it. Or maybe I'll just go to Philly and drive over Doug.
Wow, can you tell I'm not used to this hour?
K
Click here for the radio station's website.
11.15 - Another day of a late start to the updates. My host company said that it was due to "server problems" and thanked me for my patience (if they only knew!).

01/07/03
12.00 - Barnes and Noble have added a review of Quid Pro Quo on their site. Click here to read it but it says:
"The Sulton of Swing, ballads and pop
Singer / songwriter Kasim Sulton's album Quid Pro Quo shows how varied his musical styles are from the do wop of Over For Now to the upbeat pop style of Sacrifice to the mature haunting lyrics of Before She Was Gone. Throw in a couple of covers (The Finn Brothers' Where Is My Soul and Neilson's Remember) plus a Meat Loaf reject We The People (a movingly poignant song since 9/11) and Kasim steps out of Todd Rundgren's shadow once and for all."
10.45 - Kasim Sulton receives a couple of mentions on Paul Crook's official website. (Paul will be playing lead guitar in Meat Loaf's band.) Click here to read them but (in case is disappears in the future) it says:
"Kasim and the rest are amazing musicians."
and
"According to Meat Loaf’s Musical Director/ Bassist Kasim Sulton “ We’re doing European Promotion first as that's where the record will be released initially. We have at least 3 separate TV shows in Germany including one called Wetten Das. We've done this show before and it's a real event. That show only appears six times a year and when it does, most of the country tunes in to watch. Sort of a two-hour variety show.” There will be an extensive World Tour in support of the CD to follow."
10.15 - Jeff Gauss announced that Kasim will be interviewed live (via telephone) on WORT radio in the Madison area on 5th February. Click here for more details. Apparently Jeff has played on stage with Casey Fox (who will be doing the interview). Congratulations to Jeff for knowing the right people!
10.00 - Sorry about the late start to the updates today but there was a technical hitch (I forgot to take the laptop power cord with me!).

01/06/03
13.00 - There's a very thorough recent interview with Todd Rundgren by Robert Silverstein on the MWE3 website. Kasim only receives a very brief mention in it but in an interesting context as Todd is discussing that the remake of Love Of The Common Man (the only track that features Kasim on One Long Year) was originally recorded for the With A Twist album. The Kasim mention is:
"And that was the band that I had and when I got the opportunity to do this bossa nova album I called them all up and had them come out to Hawaii and we recorded the album together and then toured subsequent to that. And the only personnel change there was Kasim Sultan playing bass. Previous to that it was Larry Tagg."
Many thanks to Jeff Gauss for forwarding this link.
01.00 - Sadly it appears that nobody wanted a signed copy of Quid Pro Quo for just $16!

01/05/03
14.45 - According to the transcript of the online chat with Todd Rundgren yesterday, he was asked a couple of times about any plans of him playing with Kasim but sadly he didn't respond.
08.45 - A new group at Yahoo has been set up to try to get more publicity for Kasim by his fans. Called the Kasim who? group, it's looking for more members, especially in the Midwest at the moment. Click here for more details.

Part of the Kasim Sulton flyer for his gig in Valparaiso next month.
Click here for more details

01/04/03
19.00 - Click here to very likely purchase a SIGNED (I assume by Kasim!) copy of Quid Pro Quo for just $16, including shipping. It's a dutch auction but so far there are no bids on it with 16 hours left to run. The description of Kasim is improving as it says:
"The legendary recording session musician, bassist and vocalist for Todd Rundgren's Utopia AND Meat Loaf's Music Director, has released a powerful and beautiful 10 song compact disc. "
15.15 - The News section of the site has been updated.
10.30 - Loads of Meat Loaf fans have been asking about when they will be touring in Europe and when in US. It appears that the question is now answered as the first concert has been found on the Internet for 31st August in Canada. The Gigs section of the site has been updated with the details.
10.15 - This is what is called promotion! Jeff Gauss (aka Weavil) has posted about opening for Kasim Sulton at Cafe Carpe, Fort Atkinson on the following boards (several have had some feedback too):
Todd Rundgren Connection Board
Hall and Oates.com board
Buck Dharma board
Blue Oyster Cult board
Todd Rundgren newsgroup
It was also posted to several mailing lists too.
02.30 - Could anybody explain this E-Bay auction? Why is a photo of Kasim Sulton included in a Jellyfish press release?

01/03/03
12.15 - Some photos and the set list of Kasim's appearance at Borders in Chicago have been added to the Quid Pro Quo Appearances section of the site.
07.45 - The website of Kasim's former webmistress has some great photos of Kasim at the Rock Art Auction where Kasim's handwritten lyrics to Set Me Free raised $200 for an AIDS organization. Click here to see Kasim singing Sacrifice, here to see Kasim singing Set Me Free (with headphones on) and here to see Kasim being interviewed.
03.45 - Just some clarification over the news from Germany. The bad news is that the 27th January Meat Loaf promotional concert isn't an official concert so tickets can NOT be just bought after all. The good news is that Top Of The Pops (which is due to be screened in Germany on 7th February) is a recorded show. Apparently it is recorded on the outskirts of Cologne so it seems highly likely that it will be recorded around 25th / 27th January so it will not affect Kasim Sulton's two planned solo gigs in the Midwest at all!

01/02/03
15.00 - The website of the Official Meat Loaf Fan Club finally has some concert reviews on the site. Click here to view them. Several mention Kasim (all favorably) and the main comments are:
"Kasim Sulton took the stage promptly at 8 o’clock (he may even have started a minute or two early). After introducing himself and explaining what the night was all about, he proceeded to play 3 songs off his new CD. We bought the CD on the way out and listened to it on the drive home. While I don’t expect any of these songs to crack the Billboard Charts, the CD was very good. Kasim is quite talented, and has a great voice."
"At the stroke of 7:28 p.m. the lights dimmed and Kasim Sulton took the stage. We cheered with pure excitement. I was thrilled about hearing Kasim perform some of his own material! Kasim was amazing he was joined by members of Utopia for a song and it was a wonderful performance. (You Rock Kasim!) Kasim explained the agenda for the evening the performance would be Kasim, Patti, a short break and then Meat."
"By now during the concert Janet and I had made friends with the women sitting behind us and we would stand, dance, and make “eyes” at sexy Kasim (Once he even waved in our direction. It was Great! He is so hot!) "
There is also one photo of Kasim on the site. Click here to view it.
13.15 - The News section of the site has been updated.
01.45 - There's a great fan review from New Zealand of Quid Pro Quo on the Amazon / CDNow website. Click here to view it, but as it may disappear, it says:
"This is one multi-talented guy!!
Kasim proves that he is one very multi-talented guy! He wrote (and co-wrote) nearly all the songs on the album, and played nearly all the instruments. After years of recording with a "who's who" of artists (Celine Dion, Meat Loaf, Joan Jett and Todd Rundgren just to name a few) and touring with Meat Loaf and being his musical director, Kasim devoted some of his time to his own work, and this is the result! This is an album of finely-written and arranged songs, and will be one of those albums that continuously sits in your CD player. I found it to be a VERY worthwhile purchase and have played it over and over. "
01.30 - Incredibly for New Years Day, KasimInfo.com had over 800 page hits yesterday!

01/01/03
16.15 - Kasim sent a "Happy New Year" message to his mailing list.
13.15 - Barnes and Noble list a staggering 38 albums that they sell that feature Kasim Sulton on them! Click here to view the list. The latest release is Quid Pro Quo which is now also available via Barnes and Noble. Click here for the page, complete with sound clips of all the listed tracks.
10.15 - Kasim Sulton's 2002:
1 (brilliant!) CD released
34 Kasim Sulton solo gigs *
4 Borders appearances
57 Meat Loaf gigs
11 Tommy James gigs
7 online chats with his fans
* using Kasim's own definition of "solo gigs".
09.45 - A new section has been added to KasimInfo.com. It is the return of the Diary section of the site but this time around it is a retrospective view. Currently only January to July 2002 are open but the remainder of 2002 and earlier years will be added soon. In the future each month will be added around the 15th of the following month (partly to give some time for reviews to filter through and partly because I have several paying websites that have to be updated at the beginning of each month).
09.30 - A "promotional" Meat Loaf concert has been booked for 27th January in Cologne, Germany. This has been added to the Gigs section of the site. Tickets are apparently already on sale (details will be added later).
09.00 - KasimInfo.com has now been open for two years! (Previous to that the site Kasim Sulton - A Fan's View was open for almost another two years.) Please check back later today for loads of updates (and a new section).

One of my personal favorite photos of Kasim from 2002

Previous Blogs - [7th to 31st Dec] [27th Nov to 6th Dec] [8th to 26th Nov] [22nd Oct to 7th Nov] [7th to 21st Oct] [24th Sept to 6th Oct] [10th to 23rd Sept] [22nd Aug to 9th Sept] [3rd to 21st Aug] [19th July to 2nd Aug] [4th to 18th July] [20th June to 3rd July] [1st to 19th June] [10th to 31st May] [21st Apr to 9th May] [4th to 20th April] [15th Mar to 3rd Apr] [2nd to 14th Mar] [21st Feb to 1st Mar] [13th to 20th Feb] [5th to 12th Feb] [26th Dec to 4th Feb]
2001 - [8th to 25th Dec] [21st Nov to 7th Dec] [5th to 20th Nov] [30th Sept to 4th Nov] [13th to 29th Sept] [28th Aug to 12th Sept] [4th to 27th Aug] [27th July to 3rd Aug] [13th to 26th July] [27th June to 12th July] [30th May to 26th June] [3rd to 29th May] [13th April to 2nd May] [1st to 12th April] [12th to 31st March] [18th Feb to 11th March] [2nd to 17th Feb] [1st Jan to 1st Feb]