I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!! Can you believe it?? Some of you can - I got quite a few
emails saying some of you knew I'd come back! Well, I'd like to say a Big H E
L L O to all the new members that have surfaced since the announcement that I
was returning was made. In fact, in just over a week I have over 240 members
returned. A very special THANK YOU to [email protected] for organizing ads to
go around the net to promote the return of the SGer! Wow...there's tons of
stuff that I want to talk about, and some of it has nothing to do with Savage
Garden! But first things first...I am so glad to be back. I missed doing the
SGer so much! The 5 month break did me good though - made me realize how much
I loved doing this :) In fact, I love doing this so much that I've decided to
aim towards being a publicist. It's the closest thing I can think of to what
I'm doing now. I'd love to sit down with Leonie Messer (you know, Daz and
Dan's former Roadshow publicist who quit her job to be their personal
assistant) and ask her what it's like! I definitely think I made the right
decision in stopping when I did, and I think I made the right decision in
coming back, too. It feels right to be doing this, for now at least! And I
think [email protected] was right..."Again, I'm ever so happy you're home,
Lauren!!" I am home!!!

Anyway (there is so much stuff to talk about!), I have a bunch of non-related
SG things to complain (or just talk) about! I'll list them and then get to
the Savage stuff. I feel like Rosie O'Donnell, you know how she always talks
about different stuff on her show before having the guests on? That's me!
Here we go:

1) Krispy Kreme donuts - you east coasters have kept a GEM from us poor west
coasters!! These are the most DELICIOUS things I have ever eaten in my entire
life! People here sometimes have to wait in line for hours, and everyone on
the east coast of the US can get them in the grocery store! A new one just
opened up close to my house (I'll bow down to the junk food gods tonight),
although the line was a mile long at 5am the opening morning! They are
soooooooo soooooo good! They're so light and they melt in your mouth...ahh,
I'm drooling just thinking about them! Wouldn't Homer Simpson go insane for
those donuts?!?

2) I'm really mad at FOX, the dumb TV station here in the States. Yes, it
airs my favorite TV show in the whole world (The X-Files) BUT those dumb
execs CANCELLED a show I was really getting into - Harsh Realm. After 3
showings, they cancelled it! It took X-Files until mid second season before
it caught on, and look what happened! Global phenomenon. FOX has shows like
"When Good Pets Go Bad", "Busted on the Job 6" and all that junk, but a nice
show that makes you think and is intriguing...stupid FOX. When I take over
the world they're going down.

3) Sadly, it is likely The X-Files' last season. Sigh. What am I going to do
without my KRYCEK? (Note to those who don't watch the show: Alex Krycek  aka
Nicholas Lea is the most beautiful TV character/actor I have ever seen. He's
a baaaad evil character! Well, so we think!). If Krycek is killed off this
season, I'm going to do something drastic to someone. How about those FOX
execs?! You see, even though X-Files is ending and I won't see The Beautiful
Mr. Lea as much, I just won't be able to suffer through seeing that
beautiful, beautiful man being killed!

4) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - the most addictive TV show in recent
history. How much fun is this show ("Is that your final answer?")?! If
someone doesn't win a million I'll be very upset because it's actually
getting kinda boring now. And look at this, FOX has a total rip-off of the
mega-successful show called Greed. FOX is pathetic. As you can tell, I have
some serious problems with FOX.

5) I'm such an idiot. My parents let me pre-order the Aussie AFFIRMATION for
my birthday, and when it came (I got it about 4 days before it was released
here in America!), I DROPPED the dumb thing while taking it out the computer!
"Gunning Down Romance" is all scratched up on some CD players but fine on
others, but luckily the CD-ROM part wasn't hurt at all (which is the whole
reason I wanted the Aussie CD). Luckily I have my American CD now!

6) Alright, so 95% of all this was complaining (about FOX). Well, I have some
AWESOME news (for me, anyway) that I'm so excited about! All you returning
subscribers remember Sarah, of course. New subscribers, Sarah does the Savage
Gardener's website and is a very dear friend of mine. She lives in Brisbane
(that's right!) and she's coming to visit me in December (ok, ok, she's
coming to visit Los Angeles...I just happen to live here!)! We're going to
spend New Year's at Disneyland and wreaking havoc all over southern Cali.
Just a month and a half left, Sarah! I still have to tell you all the
dangerous places to not go while you're here. Which technically means you'll
have just one square foot of space to move around in! And also, if you don't
get killed by a gang member, you'll probably choke to death on the smog. Or
maybe get run over by one of our horrible California drivers that are so
infamous. Dang...Sarah, are you and your brother SURE you want to come?!?! I
think I'll move away!

You know what the best thing (no pun intended!) about having Savage Garden
back with a new CD is? I have a whole new batch of songs to use for my
section dividers!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

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                                             SaVaGe NeWs

CHART POSITIONS ARE BACK!!!!

**"I Knew I Loved You" is at #19 on the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 chart, and is
at #13 on the Billboard chart (also is one of the greatest gainers in airplay
this past week!)!!! The song is climbing up so fast and is doing very well in
the US, anyway! There's a good chance this song will have at least half of
the same response "Truly" got so long ago! Ok, 2 years, but still! Oh wow,
has it REALLY been 2 years since "Truly" was released...???

**Speaking of Billboard, here is the GLOWING review they gave AFFIRMATION!

Savage Garden has filed its teeth on this sophomore effort, an elegant
collection that gracefully walks the delicate line between accessibility and
intelligence. Produced by pop artisan Walter Afansieff "Affirmation" truly,
deeply strides past the Aussie duo's fine first effort, no shabby debut with
11 million copies sold worldwide but in a quickly evolving top 40 world, it
takes newly modelled ideas and resourceful melodies to again ring the bell.
Here, we bear witness to a deeply introspective spread of emotional missives
via the lyrics of lead Darren Hayes and craftily seductive tunes from partner
Daniel Jones - we're talking one hot cache of illuminated steps toward the
millennium. There's nary a non-hitworthy track here. The songs range from the
frenetic beats of the title track, a sumptuous list of 20 life lessons, to
the therapeutic "Crash and Burn" and current smash "I Knew I Loved You". This
is one garden destined to grow more colourful with every successive play.

How about that?!?! Considering Billboard is the most prestigious musical
magazine/chart positions in the world, this is an incredible review! Go
Savage Garden!!

**Billboard again! AFFIRMATION debuts on the Billboard charts at #6!!! The
album sold over 150,000 copies in the first week. Congratulations, guys!
Here's hoping for #1!!!!

**But that's not all! AFFIRMATION is currently #1 in Sweden and Canada as
well as Australia, and in the top 10 in most countries! "I Knew I Loved You"
is doing extremely well all over the world. Go Savage Garden!

Note! The only chart positions I put up are the Rick Dees countdown,
Billboard, and any major NATIONAL charts in every other country (such as the
ARIA chart in Australia). The only reason I put Rick Dees' countdown on is
because it's the most famous one and is aired around the world. However, if
your radio station has something special and Savage G's on it, feel free to
let everyone know! For example, "I Want You" was chosen as SONG OF THE
DECADE(!!!!) for a radio station in Canada. Now that is cool!

**AFFIRMATION is still at #1 in Australia, and has gone double platinum!

**Check this out, even more great news! Savage Garden will be performing at
the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney. This has been confirmed by magazines,
etc., although there's no word on what event they'll be performing at. Here's
hoping it's the opening ceremonies, with billions of people watching! This is
a huge huge honor!! Congratulations, Darren and Daniel!

No TV appearances this week that I know of yet, so I'll use space to talk
about last week's appearances in America!

First of all, can I just say that I MISS DANIEL!!  I completely understand
and support his decision, but that doesn't mean I won't miss seeing him! For
those who don't keep up with Savage Garden as much as others, Daniel decided
to let Darren handle the majority of media interviews and such, which is why
he wasn't interviewed with Darren on Rosie O'Donnell's show. Like I said, I
respect his decision, but I miss him so much!

Speaking of Rosie's show, was that not the most adorable interview Darren has
ever given in the US? Such a beautiful person who does a killer Dr. Evil
impersonation! And how cool was hearing the song he sang at his rehearsal for
Daniel's band so long ago?? What a voice!

The Rosie appearance was also the first time most Americans got to see the
(semi) new band. The new backup singer, Angie (who kinda looks scary to me!)
has the perfect voice to match Anna's strength. Nicole, the old backup
singer, seemed to be drowned out by Anna most of the time. Don't know much
about Jennifer, the keyboard player, but I'm sure she's great too!

Alright, I love seeing the guys on TV performing again and everything, but I
just have to say that the performance of "I Knew I Loved You" is definitely
not their best! Darren sings it pretty differently, and I adore Darren and
all, but the Texas accent on "I think I dreamed you into life" is weird! This
is what it sounds like..."Ah thaink ah draimed you into laaaaaife". They are
Savage Garden no more...make way for Savage Ranchers!!! Cowboy hats and
banjos all around, please!

**Supposedly the Spanish release of AFFIRMATION (I don't know if this is for
Spain or Mexico) might have two extra tracks - "I Don't Care" and "My World
Is (or It's, I'm not sure) Yours". This isn't confirmed yet, though. I've
heard "I Don't Know", and some of you probably did before Sony cracked down
and took Grant's AWESOME site off! The song is different, but lyrically, it's
just another haunting look into the soul of Mr. Hayes. And that says it all.

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                        SaVaGe CoMmEnTs

No comments this week, for obvious reasons! So I thought I'd take this
opportunity to share with all of you my feelings about AFFIRMATION. I'd like
your opinions too, so feel free to send them!

Alrighty, I have to admit this. At first I wasn't sure if I liked
AFFIRMATION. I was stunned at how different from the debut album it was, and
while there were a few songs I liked right off the bat, most of the others I
wasn't sure about. I know Sarah and some other people had the same reaction,
actually! After listening to them a few times (I cheated and downloaded the
entire CD off the internet), I absolutely fell in love with them and was
reminded of why I'm a Savage Garden fan in the first place. The album is
definitely deeper, more emotional, and more mature than the first, and
although it's not as varied as the debut, it has a definite theme/motif (hey
Kimmy! Found an example for that term!). I couldn't possibly pick a favorite,
I couldn't even pick a least favorite because I love them all so much. I find
a few of the songs ("I Don't Know You Anymore" and "The Lover After Me") very
sad because of what/who they're about, but I won't elaborate any more on that
:) Those of you who were subscribed to the SGer the first time around
probably remember my saying how it sounded like the guys were getting into
too much electronics, losing the real music, etc. Well, after hearing
AFFIRMATION I'm relieved to know that they didn't lose the real music at all.
The electronics are there, but they didn't make it sound weird like I thought
it would, although on "I Don't Care" it does sound a little different. But in
regards to the song itself, I think it's really sweet because it's obvious
how much of himself Darren put into the song, even more so than any other,
maybe (check out Daniel's thank you to Darren in the AFFIRMATION booklet.
That says it all). Anyway, Darren did a beautiful job with the lyrics, and
Daniel's music is gorgeous (especially "Two Beds..."!!!).

Billboard gave "I Knew I Loved You" the best review they've ever gotten, and
you just read the review for AFFIRMATION. I have, unfortunately, seen a
number of negative reviews, mostly from people sending them back and forth on
the internet. Bad reviews don't usually get to me much. I mean, critics for
anything - movies, music, etc. - usually just like to show off their
"musical/theatrical knowledge" by putting down what they're reviewing. There
were 2 reviews that I was absolutely furious at reading. One was downright
unfair, pegging not only the album itself, but Darren and Daniel too. The
funny thing is, I don't understand why they have critics who very obviously
like rock/alt music review pop music? Why aren't there critics who like all
types of music? I know I'd make a terrible music critic, I admit it, because
there's a lot of styles that I don't like, such as rap, heavy metal, country,
hip-hop, etc. The critics of the two reviews that really got to me are making
it sound like if you're not an angry suicidal rock star, you don't have
talent. So I have to ask you this: Are you sorry that Savage Garden aren't
angry girls who hate the world? Are you sorry they're not "pretty boys" who
dance and get made fun of in Jack-in-the-Box commercials? Are you sorry
they're not teenage diva wannabes who attempt to sing but really can't and
give girls a bad name? Are you sorry they're not drugged-out rockers who will
likely commit suicide before they reach the age of 30, and if they somehow
don't manage to kill themselves, end up on a VH1 Behind the Music special
where they talk about how heroin and cocaine ruined their lives? I don't know
about you, but I'M NOT! I'm PROUD of Darren and Daniel for being who they
are, for being about the music and not image, for writing songs that normal,
everyday people identify with, not trash about how many people you can "hook
up" with or how many different drugs you can try before dying (although,
sadly, these scenarios are all too common now). How is they manage to write
gorgeous love songs that don't convey a sense of teenage puppy love? Fan of
Savage Garden or not, people absolutely fell in love with "Truly", and
everyone has to admit that. "I Knew I Loved You" is in the process of
actually repeating what "Truly" did, and I honestly didn't think that could
happen! I don't know of any recent teen pop songs that did that. I know it's
not just Savage Garden that are sometimes "tossed aside". I can think of a
newer artist who has a PHENOMENAL album and I've never seen him on TV or
anything. I'm talking about Tal Bachman. Another guy who's all about pop, and
I fell in love with the CD before I found out his story was very similar to
Savage Garden's (he wrote pop music in the midst of the grunge obsession
because it's the type of music he wanted to hear). Yet Tal is almost
completely ignored by the media and everyone else. Yeah, his song was a big
hit, but so was "I Want You". People can say "Oh, you're just saying this
because you're a fan" (whether about SG or Tal), but I'll always respond
"Yeah, but there's a REASON I'm a fan!". I'm sorry about babbling on about
this, but after nearly 6 months of zero contact with a large group of people,
I needed to vent!

So basically, let me know what your thoughts are on AFFIRMATION and anything
else you need to vent about :)

But wait! I ask more of you! I know this is totally premature, but what are
your votes on what you think the next single should be, or what single it
will likely be? Myself, I'm going for "Hold Me". It just seems like an
especially radio-friendly song. And excuse me, but when is the U.S. going to
see the "I Knew I Loved You" single (I think we won't get it - they want to
concentrate on album sales rather than single sales)??? I'm going to have to
import Australia's single because I love the acoustic version, and also the
UK single because I *have* to hear Daniel's remix of it!!!

Note: I don't put every single comment I get in the SGer, but if you'd like
your email to remain private, then just say so :)
 
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**Don't forget to visit the newly re-vamped Savage Gardener website, done by
my dear friend Sarah! It features all the old stuff before (newsletter
backcopies, pics of us [EEEK!], and more), with a totally new design. Thanks
ALWAYS to Sarah for doing this, and for having such skill with HTML!

**As before, this section is for websites you want to advertise, etc. Just
give me the addy of your site and it'll be posted here. Also, this is for
anything else random I need to say.

**Also also! My dear friend Tammy ([email protected]) has suggested a GREAT
idea for the SGer, taking place of the former trivia section. We'll have the
Savage Classifieds, a section where you can buy/sell/trade anything Savage
Garden. This won't get started until the SGer is settled in, which'll
probably be in a couple weeks.

That's it for the Savage Gardener's return issue! Hopefully you subscribers
will actually be more involved now than you were in the last months before
the SGer (and I!) took a rest <insert stern look at all former subscribers
here>.  Stay Savage, and I'll catch ya next week!

Peace, love, and Savage Garden!
Lauren ( <A HREF="mailto: [email protected]">[email protected]</A> )

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Darren Hayes and/or Daniel Jones. I wish I did, but
since slavery isn't legal in the U.S. anymore, I'm outta luck. I make no
money for the "publication" of this newsletter, so if you're a nasty big
company like that dumb Hit Records, don't waste your time suing me
(especially since you're probably trying to get a chunk of Savage's earnings,
anyway). My family gets a big laugh everytime my bank statement arrives.
Besides, my life savings consist of $2.54. The program you have just watched
contains real-life stories. The names have been changed to protect the
innocent.

~*~Visit the Savage Gardener on the web~*~
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/suede/263/