From: owner-basia-digest To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V1 #44 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org basia-digest Tuesday, 27 February 1996 Volume 01 : Number 044 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Hmmmm... Re: Vinyl! (Forward) Sony - not much good.... Re: Vinyl! Re: Sony - not much good.... Basia not really remix material? Re: Basia not really remix material? Re: Basia not really remix material? Re: Basia not really remix material? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "J.S. Lohr" Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 01:51:54 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Hmmmm... On Sun, 25 Feb 1996 ExcusezMoi@aol.com wrote: > Peter White is due back here for a few days starting on March 9th, I'll see > if I can ask him about this little "not a bootleg" thingie. Give me the > scoop, I missed the beginning of this, what exactly is it we're talking > about? Ok, to catch Diane up (assuming someone hasn't already done so privately): About a week ago, I was doing my routine check of the online CD places that sell mostly import CDs...while at this rip off joint called "CD Banzai" I tripped over the title "Water of March" on the list of Basia imports. It had a list price of $32 which, while outrageously high, was a little too pricey just to be a CD single. It had a Sony Japan serial number on it so, its something that apparently unavailable here in the States. A few days later, Carolina John (king of the psycho typewriter :D), called up Sony US and asked them if they knew anything about it and their response was that they'd heard a "rumor about 'Water of March'" and that it was probably a bootleg. Now, seeing as how it has a Sony Japan serial ## on it rules out the chance that it might be a bootleg. Hence, Sony US was of little help in this predicament - actually, they accomplished very little with the exception of the fact that they made themselves look completely and inexcusably stupid. So, John and Dennis and myself (and now Ben, I think) have gone ahead and ordered this little mystery with our hard earned moolah. According to John's "goober" statement, the staff at CD Banzai claim that this "ESCA-6352" is an EP and not a bootleg. My prediction since this whole sordid affair started has been that this "Water of March" CD is, indeed, an EP, most likely containing the post-BOB studio tracks ("Angels Blush," "Half a Minute (Ben's Phone Mix)," and "Water of March" (whatever the hell that is)) which have yet to see any sort of official release here in the States, along with maybe some leftover live unreleased tracks from BOB ("Astrud," "An Olive Tree," etc.) or who knows what. Plus, this CD's possible existence isn't exactly a good thing (at least, in my opinion) because it could be a sign that Sony/Basia/Dee Anthony are willing to turn their backs on all the non-Japanese fans and that Basia could be in the starting stages of entering a sort of Matt Bianco (sorry Dirk!) type obscurity (aka "Gran Via" Syndrome), that is, if she even does any more albums. Does that just about sum it all up? Whew, seven minutes...that's a new record! > Thanks, JS, glad to be back! We need ya, Diane! You're our only way out of this life of ignorance as fans (seeing as how Sony themselves can't even be relied upon for vital info). Plus, now I can start getting the PW newsletter! Keep the faith. Toodles! This is... ============================================================================= Like ohmigod! Roach has a homepage! Find him at the Internet Roach Motel!!!!! ============================================================================= "http://zeus.towson.edu/~jlohr1" Dig up all the dirt on Agitprop's Finest Son, the Net's most famous Roach, and Wal-Mart's Biggest Pain-in-the-ass. ============================================================================= note: the page is unfinished - please excuse some of the cruddy links! -Roach ============================================================================= ...the end. ------------------------------ From: George Davson Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 07:50:13 +0000 Subject: Re: Vinyl! (Forward) There I was... all excited about finding those "Drunk on love" remixes... But now that I've played them, I have to admit, Roach was right. >Ungh, Roger's mixes...just thinking about them makes me nauseous. > george ------------------------------ From: George Davson Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 07:55:20 +0000 Subject: Sony - not much good.... Roach asked: >So BOB was never released in the UK? Geez, Sony's screwing everyone over >(except the Japanese), aren't they...though it looks like you UK fans >have gotten the shortest part of the short end of the stick, what with >the delayed release of TSI and never even getting BOB. And I'm sure >you're probably in the same boat with the US fans over this "Water of >March" (it AIN'T a bootleg!!) thing. We should change the name of this >list to the "mutually miserable about CD prospects society." > Sony are getting a bit famous for this sort of thing - I'm also keen on Gloria Estefan and they are equally weak at marketing her stuff over here, also announcing singles that never actually appear etc. The only one they do any justice to is Mariah Carey. Seems you have to marry the boss to get decent marketing... george ------------------------------ From: "J.S. Lohr" Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 03:47:35 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Vinyl! On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, George Davson wrote: > There I was... all excited about finding those "Drunk on love" remixes... > But now that I've played them, I have to admit, Roach was right. That's nothing! Have you listened to the "Third Time Lucky" mixes yet? That "Vokal Mix" is the most atrocious "thing" that I've ever heard in my life...makes an otherwise pleasant Basia song sound like an anthem for techno-loving Satanists. You could probably play it backwards and hear things like "Kill your family...worship Satan...work for Sony...listen to Kajagoogoo records at the wrong speed..." - just an all around yuckie mix. Heh, I almost said Milli Vanilli instead of Kajagoogoo but I actually liked some of their stuff. BTW, who's going to watch the Grammy's this year? I haven't watched since the year Basia and Ruben Blades gave the "Best Mexican Performance" award to none other than...Linda Ronstadt (I bet you thought I was going to say some Spanish or Mexican name, right?). I think that's the same year that Jethro Tull won for Best Heavy Metal Band or something like that...what a sham that show is. Its too bad that the music industry is still running this popularity contest as opposed to judging new recordings on quality and merit...I mean, you KNOW that Elton John (and yes, I do like Elton John) will win at least one award and they'll come up with SOME excuse to give Quincy Jones (and yes, I do like Quincy Jones) his 489,234th award (maybe the Super Duper Ultra Boffo Lifetime Achievement award, seeing as how they've probably already given him the normal Lifetime Achievement thingie). Yawn. I'll stick to excrusiatingly painful brain surgery that night, thank you very much. At least they're kind enough to list off at the beginning of the show everyone who's going to be presenting that night, that way you know if its worth staying tuned in. Do-Wiedzenia. This is... ============================================================================= Like ohmigod! Roach has a homepage! Find him at the Internet Roach Motel!!!!! ============================================================================= "http://zeus.towson.edu/~jlohr1" Dig up all the dirt on Agitprop's Finest Son, the Net's most famous Roach, and Wal-Mart's Biggest Pain-in-the-ass. ============================================================================= note: the page is unfinished - please excuse some of the cruddy links! -Roach ============================================================================= ...the end. ...ooooh blame it on the rain laaaalaala di da... :D ------------------------------ From: "J.S. Lohr" Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 03:55:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Sony - not much good.... On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, George Davson wrote: > The only one they do any justice to is Mariah Carey. Seems you have to marry > the boss to get decent marketing... Grmph...:D...no comment. Actually, if the Japanese have their way, Tommy Mottola may not be "the boss" much longer. Hehehehehehe . Frankly, I think Dave Glew (prez of Epic Records (or at least, he was)) would probably do a much better job running the show over here in the U.S. Or I could be wrong. Certainly wouldn't be the first time. Anyway... JSL. ------------------------------ From: George Davson Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 13:01:32 +0000 Subject: Basia not really remix material? Folks, Agreeing with Roach that the "Out of my brain on E" remix of Drunk on Love was not much good... I started thinking, are there ANY good Basia remixes? I don't think many of her songs really lend themself to being remixed. Not the way Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" did. Or several of Gloria Estefan's e.g. "Everlasting Love", "Live for Loving You", "Dr Beat". Maybe the album tracks are pretty good the way they are. I find the same is often true of Swing out Sister tracks - they relased the version that they got right, and anything else is a mess. What do people think? george George Davson gdavson@brookes.ac.uk Computer Services, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, U.K. Phone +44 1865 483317 Fax +44 1865 483073 ------------------------------ From: combee@techwood.org (Ben Combee) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 10:42:17 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: Basia not really remix material? > Agreeing with Roach that the "Out of my brain on E" remix of Drunk > on Love was not much good... I started thinking, are there ANY good > Basia remixes? The best remixes (loosely) have been the reworks of songs by Basia and company. Specifically, From Now On (Band Version) and Baby You're Mine (Street Mix). The Promises and Run For Cover mixes from the first album were pretty lame, and I could not tell any difference between the two versions of Brave New Hope (a song I never cared much for anyway). - -- Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) that public-access-TV-making, video-game-collecting, cryptography-pushing, World-Wide-Web-explaining, fem-music-loving, bad-pun-creating guy in Austin ------------------------------ From: Mark Lipawen Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 10:27:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Basia not really remix material? On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, George Davson wrote: > Maybe the album tracks are pretty good the way they are. I find the same > is often true of Swing out Sister tracks - they relased the version that > they got right, and anything else is a mess. What do people think? Well, I haven't had the exposure to the different remix sources that everyone else has...only the Brave New Hope EP. And maybe I just really like that EP in general, but I've always liked the "Cruising for Bruising" remix. Don't have it handy, so I don't know if it was her own doing or some other producer. Mark Lipawen, Yahoo of the Surfing variety Snail mail: `-------------------->adbivium@yahoo.com 635 Vaqueros Ave (formerly tspinlob@leland.stanford.edu) Sunnyvale, CA 94086 ------------------------------ From: "J.S. Lohr" Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 18:36:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Basia not really remix material? On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, Mark Lipawen wrote: > On Mon, 26 Feb 1996, George Davson wrote: > > > Maybe the album tracks are pretty good the way they are. I find the same > > is often true of Swing out Sister tracks - they relased the version that > > they got right, and anything else is a mess. What do people think? > > Well, I haven't had the exposure to the different remix sources that > everyone else has...only the Brave New Hope EP. And maybe I just really > like that EP in general, but I've always liked the "Cruising for > Bruising" remix. Don't have it handy, so I don't know if it was her own > doing or some other producer. Well, let's be fair here...first of all, the horrible remixes which came out of the singles from TSI (most notably "Drunk on Love" and "Third Time Lucky") weren't meant for our ears. That is to say, they weren't remixed with the fans' preferences in mind, they WERE however, revamped to appeal to the dance club sub-cultures of NYC, London, what have you. Sony's little plan apparently worked, too, on the "Drunk on Love" single because it (as someone mentioned on this list previously, though I find it difficult to believe) subsequently went to the top of Billboard's Dance charts back in `94. Still, I have friends who frequent the dance clubs here in Baltimore and DC (mostly in DC) and I can't imagine them ever willingly dancing to ANYTHING that Basia has ever done...that's the sort of stuff that nightmares are made of. Anyway, when it comes to other remixes of Basia songs, I thought that the Phil Harding remixes from LWNY were very well done, ala the "Cruising for Bruising" 12" extended mix, the slower "Until You Come Back to Me" 12" remix... also, I've always been fond of the extended mixes from the T&T singles (a lot of which appeared on the "Best Remixes" CDs). But (and I think I'm in the minority here with this one), I've never been too happy with the drastic remixes, like the band version of "From Now On" (I've always enjoyed the subtle misery of the original stripped version) and the Berimbau Mix of "Baby You're Mine" (thanks to BJ for exposing me to that one) which made it sound like a ratty Matt Bianco song. Oh, and the Justin Strauss remixes of "Promises" (12" white sleeve promo) were also pretty yuckie overall. Just my $.02 worth...gotta buzz, class awaits! Toodles! This is... ============================================================================= Like ohmigod! Roach has a homepage! Find him at the Internet Roach Motel!!!!! ============================================================================= "http://zeus.towson.edu/~jlohr1" Dig up all the dirt on Agitprop's Finest Son, the Net's most famous Roach, and Wal-Mart's Biggest Pain-in-the-ass. ============================================================================= note: the page is unfinished - please excuse some of the cruddy links! -Roach ============================================================================= ...the end. P.S. - It AIN'T a bootleg! ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V1 #44 **************************