So many first times...

[Mimi]

Noel was asking for cover songs we would like to hear sung by Janis and I remembered that it were coversongs of Janis' songs that led me my way to finally discover Janis. Weird but true.

So I was just thinking about the things I did for the very first time since I started to listen to Janis:

- Janis is the first musician whose music I discovered after listening to songs covered by other singers.
- Janis is the first who made me order more than three cds at a time.
- Janis is the one and only who let me join an internet forum... and post there regularly.
- Janis is the first singer who made me buy tickets for two shows at once.
- Janis is the reason I got a credit card of my own one year ago.
- Janis and the forum convinced me that it's possible to make friends online and meet them in real live.
- Janis is the reason that I make intercontinental phone calls and log in for a chat to talk to my Rudie friends for the first in my life.

That's quite a lot, I'm amazed!

MIMI:)

Thank you, Janis, it's fun being a Rudie! And thank you all for being here!

[suzanne]

If I had wings I would fly to the top of mountain and look down at the clouds.

I would make sure it was an Easton ,Pa hill and I would pick up Randy, Betty, Dawn, Carol and Timmy and we would glide to Nashville and bring Janis a bunch of beautiful get well flowers mixed with fall folage.

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Mimi..

Like you Janis brought on a number of firsts for us as well... Though Janis was the second (and third) concerts that Betty and I attended together...She set us on a path that has altered our lives for the better in as much as since those early days of Janis's amazing return to the living (May 2002) (I really thought she was dead before seeing her name on the Marquee downtown) we have averaged attending in excess of 20 concerts a year by various classic rock,folk, and even disco artists... We have seen Janis to date 12 times since May, 2002...For certain we have traveled farther to see Janis then I would even consider for any other artist... We traveled as far as Pittsburgh 292 miles...Chicago 736 miles... Green Lake and Cedarburg Wisconsin and as far as Cedar Rapids Iowa 976 miles... Janis is the first (and only) artist to ever motivate us to attend 4 concerts in 4 days in a row... I guess the feeling of friendship has something to do with that... Prior to 2002 we had 2 Janis Ian CD's... "STARS" and "BETWEEN THE LINES" Now we have 18 commercially available CD's and two Limited release not for distribution CD's... Most of which are autographed... Through Janis we've met so many really special rudies...I won't list them all but they are quite literally from all over the world and some even carried some really nasty tasting stuff to us from a certain Gisli that shall remain nameless... We've met a PERSON from Pittsburgh who is usually around to be blamed... So many very special people... and we still have so many more we want to meet... Yes, I think not only does Janis get credit for a long list of firsts in our lives (all positive) but also for adding more and more culture and musical history seeing so many of the acts that I really wanted to see in the 60's & 70's but always found an excuse not to go...

As to Suzzzzz's Post I have to agree that we'd love to be birds and fly from concert to concert unbothered by Homeland security.... I think Betty would be a wonderful Dove... and I of course would be an old diarhetic buzzard looking for the right person to drop buzzard goodies on...:rolleyes:

WATCH THE SKIES!!!!!

We thank you Janis for offering us the opportunity to know so many of these really great people!!! Rudies just make the world a better place....

Best to you all

R. from Pa

PS... Special thanks from Betty and I for the Bracelet that Janis gave her, and all the other really classy things that she has done for us that sure makes us feel like more then "just" fans...

[aabram]

Janis is the first person I've come back to (and enjoyed every minute of every day since :rolleyes: ) after .....um.... 35 years and stuck with.....
The (only)Janis concert I went to stuck in my mind as the best of any concert I've ever been to....
Janis is the reason I want to travel round the world before my life comes to an end.
And if I haven't got all of Janis's CDs/DVDs by now I'd love to know why, how and when I can remedy that situation :D

Sure counts for something. And since talking to my rudie friends is what I do best :p I wonder who I'll meet first (apart from Janis, that is :D )

[Darlene]

Wow Janis firsts for me. When I "first" heard "At Seventeen" back when it first came out, It was the "first" time I learned that I would be loving some other music besides that beautiful mind altering acid rock. Don't get me wrong I still love that "old" acid rock, but Janis is the "first" on my list of loved music. I had an eight track of "Between the Lines" but it melted in my car. I tried to get another one but in that old hick town that I live in didn't have a following for that kind of music.

I thought she was gone and I was very sad! But she was the "first" and only performer that I rediscovered. when I was setting up myspace that my daughter started for me. I was looking for a picture to steal from the Internet and she was the "first" picture that I stole from the Internet. But what I found was (I don't know a word to describe how I felt) when I saw her sitting there with white hair, staring at me. She wasn't gone, and she was the "first" performer that I found and thought was lost. She had been performing all the time that I had lost her.

She was the "first" performer that got, I really got, an autographed CD or vinyl or eight track or cassette. She was the "first" performer that I thought really cared about her fans. She was the "first" performer I that I joined a fan forum.

She was the "first" performer that I have seen live since 1973. She was the "first" performer to shake my hand and "first" who knew who I was. Wow!
Because of her it was the "first" time I knew people from all over the United States and World. (OK it is on line, but I feel like I know a lot of people).
It is the "first" time I have talked to people in Europe on the phone. Because of Janis and this board it is the "first" time I can really be me and not worry whether or not I would be excepted.

There are more "firsts" but I think you all have got the picture!

Thank you Janis and this board for all the "firsts" in my life.

Peace, Darlene

[Dee]

Janis Ian first times for me:

- finding in 1999 the (then) Janis Ian Message Board and seeing someone whose work I’d admired for 24 years participating on it with her fans (unheard of)

- finding that she took in good humour the send-up parodies I would write of her songs (admirable)

- participating in a holiday card design contest and receiving gifts for mine being one of the chosen designs besides

- making connections with other fans from around the world and striking up a friendship with one who lived in my own city (bonus)

- having some of them be so generous to me that they sent CDs, DVDs, books and even a DVD player my way, no question or payback required

- getting an e-mail in 2004 from Janis’ assistant telling me Janis wanted me to have two free tickets to her show in Toronto and that she wanted to meet me (unimaginable)

When I first joined these forums, I would often refer to Janis as kind & lovely. I meant It then and I still do.

[DaveM]

I remember getting a similar e-mail offering me a full scholarship to JanisMania. Not only a first, but a life-changing event!

Janis is also the first professional musician to hug the stuffing out of me unsolicited, and the first to let me play with (I just cannot bring myself to say "play") her guitar.

She's also the first recording artist I know of who actually posts on her own web site, and even shows up in her own chat room from time to time.

[hoops]

firsts...hmmm.
Janis was the first musician i ever who's words and music i just knew would always effect me in a profound way. the first to suprise me in wonderful ways with every new piece she released. the first to actully convince me to even look at a message board, much less find a place there i could call home. the first celebrity who ever actually took the time to answer my questions personally. the first musician i ever felt sure enough about to share thru gifts of her music with the people in my life. the first and last musician who's logo i had tattooed on my own body. the first celebrity i ever felt lived up to the standard of a role model, someone i admire without reserve.
lot's more i'm sure
peace
hoops