From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V3 #89 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Thursday, May 14 1998 Volume 03 : Number 089 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Basia and Japanese recordings. ["John Joseph Palcher" ] RE: What gives? ["Dennis J. Majewicz" ] Re: basia-digest V3 #88 [Ed Cidade ] THIS is what gives... [Jeff Hamilton ] Wishing... ["George Woods" ] Re: What gives? ["Phil Hall" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 17:02:14 +0900 From: "John Joseph Palcher" Subject: Re: Basia and Japanese recordings. In response to BobR's question about their being a record shop in the Tokyo-Narita airport, I seriously doubt it. I've been through that airport maybe ten times and I've never seen one. The Tokyo airport isn't as good for shopping as some other airports are. Sorry! joe ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 12:32:39 -0500 From: Meg Evans Subject: RE: What gives? Dennis, I'm compelled to take a bit of a "devil's advocate" stance in response to your "What's Up?" e-mail, so I may sound cruel and sarcastic. Nothing personal, I just hope to prompt you and anyone else into looking at this issue a little differently. (Or perhaps you cleverly phrased your questions to PROVOKE responses ... ?) Warning: this is another long one. My first reaction is: why are Basia and Danny White at all obliged to produce ANY music? Perhaps they are both busy LIVING right now. Basia is a mother (no easy task, whatever the age of your children), a sister, a daughter, a friend, a businesswoman and above all a PERSON with hobbies to pursue, books to read, gardens to tend, a house to clean, laundry to wash, etc. (don't assume she has someone else do those things for her). Danny White is a newlywed AND a new father, for heavens sake. He'll be sleep-deprived for the next six years. He's also a brother, son, friend, businessman, etc. You get the picture. The two of them have got plenty on their plates. With regard to your "big question:" it seems that Danny White is a "background person." His talents lie not in entertaining at the front of the stage, but writing, playing, collaborating and laying low to let Basia shine. "So why hasn't he done anything on his own? Or at least on someone else's recordings?" you ask. Maybe he doesn't WANT to. Maybe he's most comfortable working with Basia rather than leading his own efforts. You make it sound as if he should do it just to get SOMETHING new into your CD collection! As for speculating on their financial success: what in the world would YOU know about their income from what "little they did in recording and touring?" (Reminder: I'm working for the devil right now.) I'm curious: are you a professional musician? Do you have special knowledge of how much they should have made from their albums and tours, not to mention other merchandise, royalties, special appearances, videos, etc.? From here in the U.S. (where we can't see them because -- bless them! -- they seem to be extremely private people), neither Basia nor the White Brothers are standing in any bread lines. Another thing: not every entertainer wants/needs to live on millions and millions. You compare yourself as a father to Danny, and wonder how he can afford to take so much time off. Were your circumstances truly similar -- again, are you a musician in a band with a couple of successful CDs and several world tours to your credit? It's funny -- my questions have usually been quite the opposite of yours: why WOULDN'T they take time off, especially when they have the financial luxury? Why would successful musicians leave their families behind for weeks, even months, at a time to endure grueling tour schedules, when they really didn't need the money or exposure? You sound so genuinely puzzled about how Danny is supporting himself -- almost like a nosy neighbor! I will dare to speculate that Basia's popularity here in the states is small compared to Europe and the rest of the world. We shouldn't be tricked into thinking they are not immensely popular (and financially successful) simply because their photos are not splashed across cheap grocery store tabloids beneath falsely scandalous headlines. The pair may be bigger than you think and, therefore, wealthier than you think. For my short involvement with the Basia list, I've inferred that the fans are genuine in their appreciation and forgiving of any perceived shortcomings -- quite simply grateful for Basia's and Danny's gifts. At worst I hope we are suffering only from acute impatience for the next album (if there is one), and not afflicted with selfish expectations that our artistic favorites somehow "owe" us something new. Again, I would contend that Basia and Danny have PRIVATE lives to lead -- having nothing to do with what they do musically. They've touched and entertained us, but our appreciation turns into something ugly when we DEMAND that they serve us. Thanks for "listening." Now I'm taking off my devil's horns and I'm ready for your response! Meg - ----------------------------------------- "First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others." --Thomas a Kempis ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 15:52:17 -0500 From: "Dennis J. Majewicz" Subject: RE: What gives? Hi Meg, Well, it looks like I struck a nerve. I DID write to get something going here. We haven't had any interesting discussions in a loooong time. I will say one or two things in response, however. I don't think I was wrong in asking questions or speculating about their situation. My God, that's all we've done for several years on this list since none of the principals is a member. There's no one here to set the record straight. Yeah, I agree that they don't have to perform or record if they don't want to, but wouldn't you agree that people with special talents should be encouraged to share them with humanity? If I had all the money in the world, I would still want to contribute something. No. I'm not a musician. But I have to believe that recording several CD's did not make them independently wealthy. Finally, I did not "demand" more from them. I'm merely asking some questions. Regards, Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 18:24:48 -0400 From: Ed Cidade Subject: Re: basia-digest V3 #88 Basia: If you read this, I am a fan of yours (like many others in this world). It has been so long since we have heard anything from you, that I am prompted to paraphrase Admiral Nimitz's famous message: "Where is Basia? The world wonders." Come back to us oh siren of the airwaves. We miss you. Ed ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 19:38:02 -0400 From: Jeff Hamilton Subject: THIS is what gives... At 06:24 PM 5/13/98 -0400, Ed Cidade wrote: >Come back to us oh siren of the airwaves. We miss you. I think is a great summary of what Dennis (with two Ns) was trying to say, as opposed to him believing it is his place to "demand" music from anyone. Basia and Danny are wonderfully talented people and of course, we all "wish" they'd put out three albums a year. At least I do. I don't think Dennis meant to sound as evil as he has been misinterpreted as sounding. (English majors - feel free to suggest to me how I could've better worded that last sentence.) Jeff Hamilton - the capitalist http://www.mindspring.com/~jeffhamilton/ to join the 461 (network), send a message to four.six.one@mindspring.com and hope for the best ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 19:35:53 -0500 From: "George Woods" Subject: Wishing... To me it doesn't matter if Peter and Basia have private lives or not. They choose to go public with their talents, and they have to take the bad along with the good. Don't get me wrong, I respect their right to privacy just as I do everyone's. But with the unbelievably beautiful music that they put out, we have a right to demand more. Of course, it's still their choice isn't it... George ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 22:22:40 -0000 From: "Phil Hall" Subject: Re: What gives? Meg's points sound like they are emanating from Basia's fat manager, who can't for the life of him understand why his clients won't get off their lazy butts and generate some income, for crying out loud, but who has to come up with some kind of an excuse otherwise he's not worth the retainer he obtains annually for making up excuses, etc. etc. etc. Devil be damned, there is no good reason why the market should not be satisfied - except that it is taken for granted. Basia understands this, and we might as well understand her. Phil - -----Original Message----- From: Meg Evans To: the Basia list Date: Wednesday, May 13, 1998 6:14 PM Subject: RE: What gives? > >Dennis, I'm compelled to take a bit of a "devil's advocate" stance in >response to your "What's Up?" e-mail, so I may sound cruel and sarcastic. >Nothing personal, I just hope to prompt you and anyone else into looking at >this issue a little differently. (Or perhaps you cleverly phrased your >questions to PROVOKE responses ... ?) Warning: this is another long one. > >My first reaction is: why are Basia and Danny White at all obliged to >produce ANY music? Perhaps they are both busy LIVING right now. Basia is >a mother (no easy task, whatever the age of your children), a sister, a >daughter, a friend, a businesswoman and above all a PERSON with hobbies to >pursue, books to read, gardens to tend, a house to clean, laundry to wash, >etc. (don't assume she has someone else do those things for her). Danny >White is a newlywed AND a new father, for heavens sake. He'll be >sleep-deprived for the next six years. He's also a brother, son, friend, >businessman, etc. You get the picture. The two of them have got plenty on >their plates. > >With regard to your "big question:" it seems that Danny White is a >"background person." His talents lie not in entertaining at the front of >the stage, but writing, playing, collaborating and laying low to let Basia >shine. "So why hasn't he done anything on his own? Or at least on someone >else's recordings?" you ask. Maybe he doesn't WANT to. Maybe he's most >comfortable working with Basia rather than leading his own efforts. You >make it sound as if he should do it just to get SOMETHING new into your CD >collection! > >As for speculating on their financial success: what in the world would YOU >know about their income from what "little they did in recording and >touring?" (Reminder: I'm working for the devil right now.) I'm curious: >are you a professional musician? Do you have special knowledge of how much >they should have made from their albums and tours, not to mention other >merchandise, royalties, special appearances, videos, etc.? From here in >the U.S. (where we can't see them because -- bless them! -- they seem to be >extremely private people), neither Basia nor the White Brothers are >standing in any bread lines. Another thing: not every entertainer >wants/needs to live on millions and millions. > >You compare yourself as a father to Danny, and wonder how he can afford to >take so much time off. Were your circumstances truly similar -- again, are >you a musician in a band with a couple of successful CDs and several world >tours to your credit? It's funny -- my questions have usually been quite >the opposite of yours: why WOULDN'T they take time off, especially when >they have the financial luxury? Why would successful musicians leave >their families behind for weeks, even months, at a time to endure grueling >tour schedules, when they really didn't need the money or exposure? > >You sound so genuinely puzzled about how Danny is supporting himself -- >almost like a nosy neighbor! I will dare to speculate that Basia's >popularity here in the states is small compared to Europe and the rest of >the world. We shouldn't be tricked into thinking they are not immensely >popular (and financially successful) simply because their photos are not >splashed across cheap grocery store tabloids beneath falsely scandalous >headlines. The pair may be bigger than you think and, therefore, wealthier >than you think. > >For my short involvement with the Basia list, I've inferred that the fans >are genuine in their appreciation and forgiving of any perceived >shortcomings -- quite simply grateful for Basia's and Danny's gifts. At >worst I hope we are suffering only from acute impatience for the next album >(if there is one), and not afflicted with selfish expectations that our >artistic favorites somehow "owe" us something new. Again, I would contend >that Basia and Danny have PRIVATE lives to lead -- having nothing to do >with what they do musically. They've touched and entertained us, but our >appreciation turns into something ugly when we DEMAND that they serve us. > >Thanks for "listening." Now I'm taking off my devil's horns and I'm ready >for your response! > >Meg > >----------------------------------------- >"First keep the peace within yourself, > then you can also bring peace to others." > --Thomas a Kempis > > > ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V3 #89 **************************