"Songwriting and being a musician is about stepping outside yourself and seeing things in a different way....being about to interpret things you couldn't just by standing there. That's what's so great about music, and that's why it's so glorified and that's why it rules the world-because you can't say everything you want to say sometimes by saying it...a song can say so much. There's magic in it. I don't know where the heck it comes from, but I'm glad it comes."

~Taylor, "The Boys Are Back In Town", by Sara Havens for the Louisville Eccentric Observer, October 11, 2000

What seperates these boys from "boy bands" is talent-more specifically, talent beyond their voices. And don't expect to find them any time in the next decade or so on VH1's "Where Are They Now?" because they're in it for life.

"The Boys Are Back In Town", by Sara Havens, Louisville Eccentric Observer, October 11, 2000

A very, very happy birthday to my buddy TC! :)

And, to all of our Chilean TAD members who will be in Santiago tonight to see Hanson....have a great time! We know you will!

"I've been searching for you I heard a cry within my soul I never had a yearning quite like this before... A sacred gift of Heaven For better, worse, wherever And I would never let somebody break you down... I've searched through time I've always known... I've longed for you my love forever All of my life Where have you been I wonder if I'll ever see you again"

~"Again", Lenny Kravitz

"I believe in miracles Where you from You sexy thing I believe in miracles Since you came along You sexy thing Miracles right before my eyes You sexy thing got me hypnotised Don't stop what ya' doing What ya' doing to me"

~"You Sexy Thing", Hot Chocolate

Okay, everyone in Buenos Aires.....enjoy Taylor, Isaac, and Zac tonight. Muy caliente! >;-)

The grand finale was "In The City," the chorus of which asked the musical question "Do you love me?"--and judging from the audience's response, it was fairly obvious the answer to that one was "Well, duh." ~Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, concert review by Lyndsey Parker for Launch, August 15, 2000

Rock on Buenos Aries!

***special thanks to Wonderly for the use of her delectable picture of Taylor***

Let me preface this review by posing a question that's been nagging me ever since I attended this concert: Is it, well, wrong for me, a woman in her (ahem) late twenties, to lust after 17-year-old Taylor Hanson? ~Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, concert review by Lyndsey Parker for Launch, August 15, 2000

It's okay Lyndsey...we can relate. ;)

***thank you for the use of your HOT picture, Teri!!!***

JEFF WAFUL: I know you've collaborated with Hanson in the past, which I thought was interesting.

BOB WEIR: Well, I'm not entirely sure it amounts to collaboration. They sat in with Rob and me and Jay Lane a while back and then on this Other Ones tour they came and sat in with us. They're gonna be giants in American music if they continue their trajectory. They have a couple of advantages that almost no one ever gets. They've been playing together since they were tots and they have a sibling vocal blend that's just so tight and so great-sounding that it's just a joy to listen to . They have a great deal of respect for American musical tradition and they ask all the right questions. The last couple times I've met them, you know, they're all over me about this tune and that tune and where did it come from? Who is Rev. Gary Davis That kind of stuff, They remind me of me when I was a kid.

JEFF WAFUL: That was going to be my next question. Have you sort of taken them under your wing, because they're around the age that you were when you began playing with the Grateful Dead?

BOB WEIR: They don't need anyone to take them under their wing. They're gonna find out what they need to find out because they're curious (laughs). If they want any advice or any direction from me, they've got my number.

~"Chasing the Music Where It Wants To Go: Bob Weir's Evening Moods", by Jeff Waful for jambands.com, October 2000

"It would be an honor to have a band come up in the future and say, 'I was influenced by Hanson.' Just like I am influenced by music I enjoy, I would hope that (we) are putting out music that somebody is enjoying and somebody might actually start a band and who knows? That would be really cool." ~Taylor, Kansas City Star, October 19, 2000

The pinup-perfect Taylor (looking prettier than the blondest, poutiest 16-year-old girl in the theater) was very much the rock-star-in-training, flipping his golden lion-cub mane, strutting the stage in his fitted jeans and thrift-store shirt (which he later shed to reveal his tight tank top, much to the female fans' delight), banging away at his keyboard and bongo drums, and enthusiastically repeating such rock-concert mantras as "I wanna see some hands in the air!," "You guys rock so hard!," and the rhetorical question "Are you ready to rock?"

~Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, concert review by Lyndsey Parker for Launch, August 15, 2000

All you Sao Paulo area TAD members have a great time at the shows!

Yes, at the moment there are plenty of boy bands burning up the charts, not to mention steaming up the windows of many a pastel-pink prepubescent bedroom. But I'm sorry, I just don't get it. I take one look at Justin Timberlake's nappy Raggedy Andy hairdo or those bizarre curlicues in A.J. McLean's facial hair, and I just don't understand their neutered appeal. But then get an eyeful of Taylor, with his adorably rumpled ringlets and peaches-'n'-cream complexion that looks as if it's never been blighted by a single solitary blemish in all of its 17 years, and I think to myself, "Okay, now this guy is genuinely foxy, this one I understand."

~Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, concert review by Lyndsey Parker for Launch, August 15, 2000

Bless you, Lyndsey Parker. :)

"I totally like to refrain from talking about my love life," he said. "I've always felt like it's between me and whoever that other person is." ~Taylor, Kansas City Star, October 19, 2000

Oookay... ;)

***thanks to Stacy for the use of her divine picture of Taylor!!!***

Although the brothers cannot point to an appointed leader in the band, Taylor is regarded by most industry watchers as the star. With his soulful vocals and star quality, Taylor is often compared to a young Gregg Allman, sans drug use and marriage to Cher. ~"Hanson Keeps Faith In New Pop Landscape", by George Lang for Oklahoman Online, October 20, 2000

To our TAD members in the Porto Alegre area, have a great time at the show!

For someone who is not yet able to cast a ballot, Taylor Hanson has a worldly view of the industry that took them to the top and now appears to be letting them dangle. His next comments sounded like a passage from Fredric Dannen's "Hit Men," the 1990 book about payola and independent promotion in the record industry.

"So much of this industry is luck -- that moment that you write that song that comes together at a time to work with the right producer, to connect with the right guy to hand the money to the right person at the radio station to play it," he said.

"A lot of it's luck, and the rest of it is hard work and devotion to doing something you love. All we need is the luck."

~"Hanson Keeps Faith In New Pop Landscape", by George Lang for Oklahoman Online, October 20, 2000

"Some of it is a little shocking," he said. "Some of it is hilarious. Some of it is disturbing. But overall it's at least interesting." ~Taylor, on fan-fiction, Kansas City Star, October 19, 2000

***special thanks to popgoddess for the use of her mouth-watering picture of the Babe!***

"Life is just a lonely highway I'm out here on the open road I'm old enough to see behind me But young enough to feel my soul I don't wanna lose you baby And I don't wanna be alone Don't wanna live my days without you But for now I've got to be without you I've got a pocket full of money And pocket full of keys that have no bounds But then I think of lovin' And I just can't get you off of my mind Babe can't you see That this is killing me I don't want to push you baby And I don't want you to be told It's just that I can't breathe without you Feel like I'm gonna lose control I've got a pocket full of money oh yes I do And a pocket full of keys that have no bounds But when it comes to lovin' I just can't get you off of my mind, yeaaah Am I a fool to think that there's a little hope Yeah yeahhhhhheee yeah Tell me baby, yeah What are the rules the reasons and the do's and don'ts Yeah yeahhhhhheee yeah Tell me baby tell me baby, yeah What do you feel inside? I've got a pocket full of money And a pocket full of keys that have no bounds Oh yeah But when it comes down to lovin' I just can't get you off of my mind, yeah I just can't get you off of my mind, yeah.

~Lenny Kravitz, "Can't Get You Off My Mind"

::sigh::

Rock on, RIO! :)

"We played some Stones last night too. That music is so good. Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding...We rock out with Cream. We love it all."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly, Christmas 2000

Thanks to Amy for today's pic!

"Strength. Taylor had strength. She could use some herself. Perhaps she could draw from him; borrow a little bit of his power and energy for life."

~"Every Time I Stand For You", by J. Robinson. http://www.oocities.org/sweetjazzylicks/index.html

Okay, Brazil fans....have a blast at the final South American show! :)

"I'll plead the fifth, thank you very much."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly

Q: Do you ever get sick of the "pop star" experience and just want to go shoot hoops?

Taylor: No, because music is a passion. I mean, we do get to shoot hoops but we also get to travel the world and do things that a lot of people don't.

~Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly, Christmas Issue 2000

"Without using any qualifying language, Hanson is a skilled rock band. Its lead singer, Taylor, is a fine showman who alternately can evoke Steve Winwood or Gregg Allman in either man's prime, playing Hammond B-3-style keyboard and letting loose with naturally soulful vocals."

~"Hanson Teaches Lesson", by George Lang for The Oklahoman, 10/25/00

"It's great to be on the road. But there are times where you just want to slow down and chill out."

~Taylor, Hanson.net chat, October 29, 2000

We certainly hope that Taylor and his brothers will have a little bit of time to chill out, relax, and enjoy the holidays after they worked so hard to give us all a GREAT time this summer and fall! :)

Thanks for today's pic, Ang! :)

"We could blab on forever about songs."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly, Christmas Issue 2000

And we could *listen* forever! :)

"Back then, we seemed to be singing a capella everywhere. I mean, at the dinner table, someone might kick into song, but music is what we do, whether it's in a car, at home, or on the road."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly

Happy Thanksgiving, all of you guys!! Hope you have a wonderful day! Love, TLS and TC :)

"If it were a Rock 'n' Roll 101 course, Hanson was definitely aiming at the gifted students."

~George Lang for The Oklahoman, "Hanson Teaches Lesson" October 25, 2000

"It's like being a playwright or something: You're creating a storyline and it connects to a feeling but you're thinking about it and you find ways to express them in song."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly

Q: What's the funniest thing a fan ever said to Taylor?

Taylor: 'Hi, how's it going, I love you, can I marry you?' That's always kind of shocking. It's like, 'Yeah, why don't we get to know each other a little better first?'

~ by Brittany Draffen for Teenstar, Kansas City, October 19, 2000

"Making the record is about being creative and work, but you're having fun as well. But it is long hours. And the creative juices are flowing the whole time."

~Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly

Thanks, Erica, for today's pic! :)

"If there was one flaw it was that he was almost too pretty, and when he played most women could not take their eyes off him."

~from "Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!", by Fannie Flagg

**This quote is from an EXCELLENT book TLS just finished reading. It might seem to be an odd place to get a TAD quote from since it has nothing whatsoever to do with Hanson, but it seemed DESTINED to become one. Hmmm....actually, there were several potential TAD quotes in the book. Check it out if you like to read. :)

Zac: Did you know redwoods live about a half-

Taylor: Three thousand years.

Zac: Three thousand years.

Taylor: Three thousand years.

~Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere 1997

********

Isaac: I saw an interesting poll in USA Today which said only fifty percent of the country votes-

Taylor: Fifty-four.

Isaac: Fifty four percent of the country votes.

~99.5 ZPL Interview, Indianapolis, IN, October 7, 2000

LOL! Some things never change. But isn't Taylor adorable when he is the Oh Great Knowledgeable One? :)

And today's pic...a blast from the past! :)

"Sweet temptation rush all over me And I think about it all the time Passion desire so intense I can't take anymore because I feel the magic all around you It's bringing me to my knees Like a wannabe I've got to be chained to you And when you looked into my eyes felt a sudden sense of urgency Fascination casts a spell and you beame more than just a mystery And I think about you all the time Is this fate is it my destiny That I think about you all the time I no longer pretend to have my hand on the wheel because I feel the magic all around you It's bringing me to my knees Like a wannabe I've got to be chained to you"

~"Chained To You", Savage Garden

Thanks to Diane for today's lovely picture! :)