From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V4 #55 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 Monday, March 1 1999 Volume 04 : Number 055 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Basia songs we love to hate... or hate to admit we love ["Brian Cundi] Word to the idol singers..among other things ["Leslie Brown" Subject: Re: Basia songs we love to hate... or hate to admit we love From: Leslie Brown Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 03:36 >Eeek, Basia an idol singer? Gosh, I hope not...wait, she can actually >sing! Hah! I'm no expert on Japan, but my experiences here, backed up by the observations of others have led me to conclude that Japanese like to fit new things into already established categories. Just a few examples: 1). Foreign words are written in katakana, a Japanese syllabary consisting of some 150 sounds (Joe?). What this means is that the original words are modified to fit into this scheme. If I want a hamburger, I'd better ask for a "hanbaagaa" or I'm going to stay hungry. 2). This one's a constant thorn in my side. Whenever I make my chili for the locals, they insist on calling it "curry." "Kareraisu" (curry rice) is apparently the closest thing they have, so they group my world famous 8-alarm Texas chili, food of the gods, with it. Absurd, isn't it? ;-) Likewise, 3). young, beautiful female vocalists who don't play instruments are (or at least were) classified as idols. Along comes Basia--beautiful, (relatively) young, and a great voice to boot, singing songs about love and loss. So Japan says, "Basia! Idol!" I don't remember where, but I read something about Basia being described as an idol singer here. If any of our Japanese list members disagree, please set me straight. >Interesting little nuggets here and there in that song. The intriguing >thing is that it was written by the guy that actually knew English well! Oh yeah, Peter Ross. Oops. That is strange, isn't it. Funny thing is I actually like his Time and Tide songs better than his TSI songs (which are also great). >Yeah, it was charming in a way tho'. But TSI is just so kick butt. Not >to mention entirely underrrated. Their loss!!!! I just totally don't get that. Even the smooth jazz station in Dallas never played TSI. Well, they did play "Yearning" once, before the album came out. >DON'T WE WISH!!! I thought she was *this close* to hitting the >perfect (for her) sound. She almost nailed it right on. I KNOW!!!!! There's this... confidence in her voice on that album, in songs like "The Sweetest Illusion" and "More Fire than Flame," that I just didn't feel with Time and Tide or LWNY. >Yeah, interesting how Celine et al. suddenly qualify as 'jazz' (smooth >or otherwise). Basia, Spyro et al. pushed that pretty far in the '80s as >it was, and they sure got flack for it (witness Basia's "I never said I >was jazz!" diatribe in Jazziz in 1990) Some of Basia's more Latin-sounding songs were easy enough to defend. I could easily fit her in with something by Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, or the Gilberto of your choice. But trying to fit Mariah Carey or Michael Bolton into anything even remotely calling itself "jazz" in any way, shape, or form is like whiplash. - -Brian* ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 15:44:49 PST From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Word to the idol singers..among other things >If I want a hamburger, I'd better ask for >a "hanbaagaa" or I'm going to stay hungry. Wow! Thanks for the tidbit of info! :) I always wondered what was up with the half-English words. Such a knowledge-bank this ML can be! >"Kareraisu" (curry rice) is apparently the closest thing they >have, so they group my world famous 8-alarm Texas chili, food of the gods, >with it. Absurd, isn't it? ;-) The nerve!! ;) >Along comes Basia--beautiful, (relatively) young, and a great voice >to boot, singing songs about love and loss. So Japan says, "Basia! Idol!" I >don't remember where, but I read something about Basia being described as an >idol singer here. If any of our Japanese list members disagree, please set >me straight. Yeah, if anyone else has any light to shed on this, it would be cool to hear about. The funny thing is that (and forgive me for probably getting any Japan stuff wacked out; all I know is from books) aren't the majority of idols, like, 15 or maybe 20 or something? Ha! I have to admit, though, seeing that one pic online (from a Japanese fan) was pretty wild- she was in that idol-looking mode. I never considered that possibility before! But then, they have commercials by Incognito, so it must be an alternate universe! >I just totally don't get that. Even the smooth jazz station in Dallas never >played TSI. Well, they did play "Yearning" once, before the album came out. 'Smooth jazz' *cringe* radio are traitors. If you read any articles on the founding of the format (back when they called it 'Wave'), Basia is often credited as one of the founding artists. Then she leaves for a little while and she suddenly doesn't exist? Where's the love, maaaaan? Even if Yearning wasn't the world's most radio-friendly song in the world (and that's of course debatable) there were plenty of other songs off the album they could've played. Dummies! >I KNOW!!!!! There's this... confidence in her voice on that album, in songs >like "The Sweetest Illusion" and "More Fire than Flame," that I just didn't >feel with Time and Tide or LWNY. Everything is so well put together. All I gotta say is, someday, maybe 10 years from now, maybe even 30 years from now, there's gonna be some potentate of music that's going to go back and check out Basia and conclude that she and Danny did some fine music and then cover a song or hunt her down and collaborate, something, then people are going to realize what we've been saying in 1999 was true all along. Hey, it happened to Astrud Gilberto -sort of- recently. Friggin' PSB samples her, for goodness sakes (that was just for you, Ray! Where are you!). Plus, I don't know, seems like lots of formerly underrrated folks are getting re-discovered now. So it could happen. Archivists, mark my words! >Some of Basia's more Latin-sounding songs were easy enough to defend. I >could easily fit her in with something by Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, or >the Gilberto of your choice. 'The Gilberto of your choice?' Cute :) Very true. Or hey, if you got it, listen to the Chicago 1988 live tracks. That sure sounds jazzy to me. (Except for Time and Tide which I don't care for- Danny and his synth again. But the '80s weren't quite dead yet, so...) But trying to fit Mariah Carey or Michael >Bolton into anything even remotely calling itself "jazz" in any way, shape, >or form is like whiplash. Or food poisoning. *ow!* - --Leslie :) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V4 #55 **************************