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It's April 2007, and that
means that www.uriah-heep.com is celebrating 10 years on the
Internet.
From our 'umble beginnings in Singapore with "The Uriah Heep Home
Page" run by Hani So, we continue to this day with the same credo -
to bring all things Heep to you via the Internet !
It's been a wild ride the last 10 years - there isn't a day that we
don't relish in the fact that we are able to provide you with
everything and anything we can to keep you informed and up-to-date
on what's happening with the Best Band on the Planet!
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www.uriah-heep.com is the Heep flagship website administered by 5
people that truly love the legacy, the music, and the members of our
favorite band.
We seem to never run out of things to do, and we feel that it's truly a
privilege to be able to run the website for you.
There are literally 100's of websites devoted to the band, both past and
present.
As Uriah Heep has evolved, so has the website. Our most recent version has
been online for 3 years. We’ve completely redone the look and feel of the
site 3 times over the years - surely there will be another when we see fit.
The website attracts people from every corner of the world. We receive mail
from fans of all walks of life. Fans just like us that have felt the magic
that is Uriah Heep!
Many e-mails very are very personal, citing that the music of Uriah Heep has had a
tremendous affect on their lives. The music has guided them throughout their
life - allowed them to deal with times of stress or tragedy. We've all been
involved with fans the worldwide who we now know well - dealing with their
lives as well as best as we can through the power of the net.
In 1997, the "official" domain name www.uriah-heep.com was
purchased by 10 of you that wanted to present the band with an official
space on the net.
Some place that we would be able to officially proclaim was our space... thus,
in April, www.uriah-heep.com was born.
The “Heepsters On The Web” followed immediately!
From Answers.com
Uriah Heep was one of the first bands to recognize the power of the
Internet, and maintain a very active web presence, with the band and
Heepsters from all over the world actively participating. Such fans with
online activity are called the "Heepsters On The Web".
A celebratory plaque was prepared and sent to Mick Box.
We were all terribly excited to be able to do this! It still hangs on the
wall of the Uriah Heep Offices in England.
We've seen many milestones since that day - we used to have a counter on the
opening webpage that would only count the hits to that page. The 1st 100,000
was a huge milestone... quicker than the 1st milestone, the 2nd 100,000
appeared, and so forth up until we celebrated 1,000,000 web hits!
Remember that was just the home page -
When we changed the website over - we kept the counter and when it was at
about 1,500,000 we dropped it. But the hits just kept on coming faster and
faster.
Sitewide, we currently receive over 1,600,000 webpage hits a month.
We and the Uriah Heep fanzine UHAS joined forces for a while and we went
into the minds of the authors to fetter out even more insight about Uriah Heep.
Early on, when the web was new, and every time we did something it was for
the 1st time it seemed, we launched HeepChats. :-) People would join weekly
Internet chats and gab about everything. One of us was the host, and if his
or her computer went down during the chat it would knock everybody out - and
it DID happen!
In the early days there was no broadband.
Everyone was using dial-up modems, and we tried to do some of the "new
things" all the time, things that now are commonplace, but with dial-up
connections it was just too hard.
We launched Heep TV… now there’s YouTube.
We launched Heep Radio - we were one of the very 1st sites to offer MP3
(then they were .RA files) files of music and recordings of concerts
recorded from fans in the audience.
Now there’s millions of Internet radio stations.
It is so easy now to provide that sort of content, but back then it was
taxing for 10's of thousands of fans - but we soldiered on.
We found all sorts of different ways to link out to the many, many Heepsites
that were springing up all over the globe.
We became friends through e-mail (and later in person) with many ex-members
of the band, and we did help to re-launch more than a few careers!
The webmasters have been able to meet from around the globe a number of
times.
There have been Gatherings of Friends, Heepventions, and Sheep Markets.
Babies have been born, and we've also lost some dear friends along the way.
We've been there collectively for each other during hard times and good
times. From 1,000's of miles away e-mails permeate the night and have
provided needed encouragement or a simple reminder that "you are not alone -
we are all here for you".
Too many times to remember we've all been able to help each other and it all
started because of our love of the music of Uriah Heep.
As so many of the fans are musicians, we've over the years given due credit
to their talents by spreading the word of their tribute bands and
recordings. A few of these bands have opened in concert with Uriah Heep and
gone on to have careers most worthy of the music styles they attribute to
Uriah Heep.
As the years moved on, we've grown with the technology.
We've had a ball bring it all to you in many ways and forms.
E-Heep has become a mainstay of information regarding "all things Heep" and
Heep Related. It's a one-stop shop for what's happening right now.
We've had various bulletin boards and chat rooms. We've been able to keep
you up to speed with changes in news within minutes of it actually
happening, and we've tried as hard as we can to abide by the wishes of Uriah
Heep to hold back information (as tough as that is sometimes) until things
are "just the way they want it".
Each day, the webteam is immersed in the Heep experience. Each day there are
literally 100's of e-mails floating around in cyberspace landing on in our
machines that are responded to. |
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We do our best to do what we all can to keep up with you the fans - and at
times it's not all fun and games but our desire to bring you Uriah Heep from
the Internet has always remained first and foremost in our lives.
From Brazil, the Netherlands, England, Finland, and the United States, we
cover all aspects of the very dynamic nature of Uriah Heep.
100's of you have your own Heepsites, and we know that they are as important
to the overall presence of Uriah Heep on the net as www.uriah-heep.com is... and for your perseverance and dedication, we humbly thank you!
We've tried many things, and done everything many different ways, but it's
all boiled down to our original intention - Uriah Heep - Provide a place for
fans to come to that is all things Heep.
Now, with Uriah Heep in the studio again and the next CD forthcoming it's
obviously a very exciting time for us all.
Keeping that Heep Flag flying is the unified goal of the webteam.
We'll do whatever it takes to keep you as excited as we are about the
present and future of Uriah Heep, while never loosing sight of their
beginnings and the legacy that IS Uriah heep.
From Mick Box:
"How wonderful it is to be celebrating 10 years of heep.com and the
continued success in bringing Uriah Heep to the world of the internet.
The band is so proud of our webmaster team Dave White, Louis Rentrop,
Rodrigo Werneck, Tapio Minkkinen and Peter Jovanovic for all the hard work
that they do to keep the site fresh and interesting so that the hits just
keep coming. The website has really given the band a new lease of life as so
many things are now immediate and information really gets put up on the site
as it happens. As always there is always a tip of the hat to the past
glories but most importantly there is a freshness that is always there with
the events of the band as it stands today.
Going back to the 14th April 1997 we have to thank the Heepsters on the Web
for presenting the band with www.uriah-heep.com and a plaque that sits
proudly on the office wall. Their names are as follows: Alex Gitlin, Alan
Keetley, Jesse Lowe, Hani So, Mac Steagall, Richard Wagner, Rodrigo Werneck,
Dave White, Lynn Wientge & Bob Winward. From these humble beginnings the
website is something that they and we can be proud of. As a new leaf is
turned in the Heep book with the unfortunate departure of Lee and arrival of
Russell, I hope that we can continue to build on everything we have thus far
so that everyone including the fans can bask in the success that everybody
so richly deserves.
Onwards and Upwards!
‘Appy days!
Mick Box
URIAH HEEP"
And so - thank you from all of us on the Uriah Heep Webteam.
Hopefully in the months and years to come we'll all be able to continue to
enjoy the association with Uriah Heep that has changed all our lives.
Our commitment to you now is as it’s been from the first day - to provide
the website, news and features and to continue to make it somewhere that
you know you can come to for all things Heep.
We hope we've succeeded and hope to continue to in the future.
www.uriah-heep.com - 10 years
so far and the future beckons...
‘Appy days indeed!
The Webteam |
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