Jeremy Loder posted:So you don't consider Mark Hart a proper CH member or a key ingredient of the CH sound from at least 93 onward? Yes with Neil and Nick TOE has two original members and I never disputed that. But as Mark rejoined the reunited band I was disappointed as a fan that he didn't get to play on the whole album or at least more than four tagged on tracks. I think he deserved better and the fans did too.
If the original intention had been to reform the band, Mark would have and should have been there from day one, certainly. But it worked out in a more complicated way than that. It happened how it happened and I’m sure nobody had anything against Mark. And don’t forget, the recording is only part of the TOE story, they toured extensively on that album with Mark and Matt In the band, so all things considered Mark was a major player in that part of the band’s career — not to mention literally everything they’ve done since then. So I think seeing TOE as slighting Mark is taking a pretty narrow view of things. I’m pretty confident that if someone asked Mark about it (please don’t) he’d say he’s just happy to be a part of it in any way, he understands he’s in the band at Neil’s pleasure and he holds no resentment whatsoever. And I find the assertion that fans “deserve” anything pretty gross, honestly...I don’t personally think fans should feel entitled to *anything* except possibly a bit of appreciation, which Neil and the band show amply.