Now for a big joke. Compilation tapes. Yes, I can almost hear the sniggering. Want to know what all the laughter is about? Well, many people seem to think that all compilation tapes have at least a few duff songs on that no-one especially likes, just so that the tape can be released as soon as possible, and the tracks that aren't particularly duff are ones that were either recorded years ago and the band have since disowned, or ones that no "proper" labels will release. As for the sound quality - well, no comment.

Unfortunately, this is true in many cases. Because of this, people surely tar Bliss with the same brush. It's a known fact that many people tend to avoid compilation tapes - even if they do feature bands that they like - because there are so many shoddy ones about. I like the idea of compilation tapes - they're a great way to discover new bands. Even if there's a few songs on the tape which are a definite reason to press the fast forward button, the good songs are generally worth the two quid or so. And that's not an excessive price to pay for a tape, considering "proper" tapes sold in the shops cost far more. All this is why I started Bliss. My tapes consist only of songs I like, that I want other people to hear as well. If you actually took time out to listen to a Bliss compilation tape, you may be pleasantly surprised to find a lack of inexpert drivel and appalling improvisations which could have been done by five year olds.

Now for another big joke. Fanzines. Lots of people are aware of the fact that there are too many fanzines consisting of badly typed and badly stuck together strips of paper presenting badly written ideas. Fanzines don't seem complete without the obligatory spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Yes, I understand that many fanzine writers don't have the money for expensive presentation, but surely some of them think that's what a fanzine should look like! You might argue that it's what's in the fanzine that's important, not the presentation, but exactly! If you want to write a fanzine, at least be able to type, spell and put sentences together correctly.

I'm not getting at anyone in particular here, and I'm certainly not saying that all cheaply produced fanzines are a bit iffy - some are actually very good because they aren't scruffy looking and the writers seem intelligent enough.

I just want people to be as pleased with Bliss as I am, and not just lump it in with all the second-rate tapes and fanzines that are going around.

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