now I just listen to music I like. I like some bands more than other bands.

One definition of a fan is buying all recordings of a favourite band and religiously going to see them whenever they tour. Sometimes regardless of how bad the particular recording might be.

I finally got off the Tori Amos merry-go-round when I thought she was simply going through the motions. Ditto Runrig...but it was really my daughter who was the fan. Stackridge? Guilty as charged.

Now I am concentrating on being a fan of proper beer.

I love the majority of David Sylvian's recordings and have seen him several times in concert. The last time I saw him was on the Nine Horses tour. I walked out before the end.
Why? To tell the truth I was a little creeped out by the middle-aged men feverishly (but politely) queueing for Sylvian merchandise. The same goes for the gig. I have seen Sylvian dance on stage with the sheer joy of performance (Nottingham, if you ask), but this Manchester gig was so po faced..so serious..so worthy and there were so many bloody cameraphones going off it was ridiculous. I suddenly thought.. I can't ally myself with this and walked. I won't go and see him again. I'm no longer a fan. I've seen where that road leads.

I beleive a fan is someone who loves everything a particular artist has ever produced. Since no artist has ever managed to go an entire career without producing at least some rubbish that means fans are all deluded. If you delude yourself about someone to make them look better than they are then that's obsession.
I'm with Hepworth, I don't think I'm a fan of anyone.

You can't define it but you know it when you see it. There's a certain "cut off" point in my pantheon of artists where I'm a "fan" of their work vs. just liking some of their song. I don't think I have to follow them around the world or know every single song by heart to be a "fan." Like most everything regarding music it's subjective and if you think you're a "fan" you are. I am an ABBA fan...I like some songs by ABC...

I used to feel that I am a 'fan' when I have paid to see someone live. In fact I felt twitchy when I didn't see a band's London tour date, as though someone would somehow judge me. Thankfully that feeling has now passed.

But it has been replaced by the insistence that I buy the back catalogue of a newish discovery. Sometimes this works very well - The Shins - other times it doesn't - Band of Horses.

I consider a standard issue fan (ie. not someone who attends fifty Tori Amos gigs with a rape kit) as someone who likes a band enough to own about 70% of the studio albums, one or two live albums and maybe one or two books. And the albums get heard on a semi-regular basis.

I consider myself a fan of Pink Floyd (every official CD & a bunch of books), Iron Maiden (all albums, most live CDs and one book), Suzanne Vega (all albums, never released a live CD, and no books) etc. Bands and people I listen to a lot and own a lot of their output.

I like Rush, I listen to them a lot and I own most their CDs, but I can't really consider myself a fan as I don't think they're that great.

Didn't know you had to have a Rape Kit to see Tori Amos.

I call myself a TMBG fan because I've loved their music ever since I heard "Birdhouse in your soul" for the first time (age 14, over the radio on the bus into school).

20 years and 20+ albums later, I still love them. and their side projects. and their podcasts. and their gigs. and the personalised plectrum their bassist handed me back in the early 90s.

(possibly I cross the line from the area marked "fan" into the territory marked "crazed").

(BTW Mr Beard I'm female, not that you're the first person to assume I'm a bloke, don't think you'll be the last either, I am very aware of being in a minority!!)

...but so are we. The only TMBG I have in my collection are 2 copies of the Disney "Here Comes The ABC's". Darned if I can ever find them though. A quick glance over at Amazon sees a 2008 release of "Here Comes The 123's". Thank you for helping me find that out. That's Christmas sorted out!