From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V4 #88 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 Tuesday, April 13 1999 Volume 04 : Number 088 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Part 2 of 3: Where we went wrong, thought smoe was so strong [Ray Navarra] Part 1 of 3: Smoe sie budzi [Ray Navarra ] Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from [Ray Navarra ] Re: Part 1 of 3: Smoe sie budzi ["Leslie Brown" ] Re: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from ["Leslie Br] Re: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from ["Thelma Gu] Re: One more, one more perfect mother ["Leslie Brown" Subject: Part 2 of 3: Where we went wrong, thought smoe was so strong OK, it's me again. On Saturday, April 10th Basia was the host for Polish Music Industry awards, Fryderyki. The awards were given by the group of over 700 people working in the industry, including the workers of record companies, managers, producers and others. The awards themselves - well, one thing has improved - last year, when I watched the awards, the moment the nominations were read I already knew who'll win. This year I didn't have any ideas, because 1) the nominations were more, I don't know, equal and 2) the winners seemed to be chosen randomly. The only award I could predict was the award that I would give myself - for Foreign Album Of The Year, where nominees were Madonna "Ray of Light", Eric Clapton "Pilgrim", Massive Attack "Mezzanine", Goran Bregovic "Ederlezi" and Lenny Kravitz "5". Of course Maddie got the award and I agreed, because it was my own number 2 of 1998 - after wonderful Air. Basia was dressed in dark, long skirt and the - what do they call these? Blouse? I've got no idea whether her clothes were black or, for example, blue because (ashamed) I watched the awards on a small black'n'white TV, because we're now renovating our house and the colour TV is covered with newspapers not to be stained with paint. Basia looked like the clothes had been prepared for her before she's found food. She looked like she was pregnant, to be honest. Don't ask me if she is, but she looked like this. She couldn't handle the task too well, as I predicted, but I was really surprised with how good her Polish actually is! She didn't look nervous, and only has troubles with some really hard words. BTW, she came to host the show straight from her home in Jaworzno, where she's spent the Easter with her family. Isn't it cute? Oh, and the show would DEFINITELY be better if she didn't have to repeat every 10 minutes that there's a paid phone number (you know, one of those 79p/sec) where you can vote for your favourite song. That's all for today, I hope. (-) Ray [::: come.to/raynavarra ::: www.mp3.com/ray_navarra ::: www.mp3.com/bard :::] Soon back online: Quite Pet Shop Boys website! Watch this space... [::: Number one this week: Phats & Small "Turn around" :::] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 13:46:01 +0200 (CEST) From: Ray Navarra Subject: Part 1 of 3: Smoe sie budzi Hi all! I hope you've had a fabulous Easter... well, mine wasn't that bad. As I'm writing this, Yearning plays on my hi-fi... and my neighbours are cooking something that smells like burning plastic. Basia will host the 1999 Fryderyk awards - the Polish music industry awards. Hmm... it's a rather poor show, at least it was poor the first 4 times - now with the fifth edition (is it fourth?) they might have got better. I can't find the paper where I have the nominations printed, but every awards show that doesn't list Air "Moon Safari" in its 1998 Best Albums category is not worth watching. I'm also wondering why was Basia chosen to host the show. In previous years it was done by the Polish vocalist Kora (which was a _very very very_ stupid thing when you realise that she was also nominated for some awards. What if she won? Thank God she didn't.) and the famous radio DJ Marek Niedzwiecki. Now there's our sweetie... but can she speak Polish good enough to be understood? I'm not sure. There's a review of Clear Horizon in the April issue of Machina: (yes, they're really quick.) BASIA Clear Horizon - the best of Epic Our beloved Basia released the compilation after three studio albums and one live. Except for the hits we know from the radio we're given the concert version of Matt Bianco's hit "Half a Minute" and four new songs. "Clear Horizon" includes the electronic drumloop, "The Waters of March" is the tribute to the Brasilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Angel Blush" was created with Christmas in the mind and "Go For You" simply is there. Together there's 17 songs that nobody minds. You can have or no. (score: 3 out of 5) For comparison: in the same issue of Machina Blur "13" get 3.5/5, Dusty Springfield "The Very Best Of" gets 4/5, Depeche Mode "Remixes 86>98" get 2.5/5. New Texas album is out soon (there _was_ someone asking 'bout Texas, wasn't there?) and is called The Hush; the new single is called In Our Lifetime and I think it's going to be a huge hit - at least on my chart. Plus, the very personal advert: you can listen to two songs of mine at www.mp3.com/raynavarra - enjoy! That's more or less everything I've thought about during last week... (-) Ray [::: come.to/raynavarra ::: www.mp3.com/ray_navarra ::: www.mp3.com/bard :::] Soon back online: Quite Pet Shop Boys website! Watch this space... [::: Number one this week: Phats & Small "Turn around" :::] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 13:47:39 +0200 (CEST) From: Ray Navarra Subject: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from Hey! BTW, I wrote those mails at home and now I see I've sent them in wrong order. Leslie wrote: > Basia and Danny on actually having two albums under the same name: Oh great, I'm lost. What albums? Which name? > Basia explaining to we American radio listeners on life after Communism > in Poland: > > "Obviously I'm very excited about it because all my friends and family > live there and I visit them often, and for the first time in nine years > (remember this was 1990-L.) I see them smiling and looking a bit more > optimistic. The change is obvious in their eyes- people don't feel that > scared anymore, sort of supressed, where now they feel much more > positive, they think more hopefully, they find the energy to try some > things they were afraid to even think of before. They support very much > the government they chose themselves, and it's just a lot of wonderful > atmosphere that I've never seen before." The thing is, I remember when communism was still "on and working" we had the public holiday - May 1st - called The Worker's Day. And there were thousands of people who would go through the streets, you know, demonstrating how much they agree with the government. The trouble was, I was about 6 years old, I remember, when my mum was ordered to go with these people and she was quite ill in this time. I knew she shouldn't go on and I said "Mom, please stay at home" to which she replied "I can't honey, I have to go." And then I was watching the parade in the TV and heard the speaker saying "Look at all those people who are expressing their feelings, joining us in this parade" and I said to my dad "Why do they say the people express their feelings? Mum didn't want to go there!" And that's what communism was about for me personally - one big contradiction. You've been saying something, then doing something totally different. No wonder it ended. And - I don't think you're surprised with the things Basia says about smiling - now people can actually do and think the same thing; what's more, they're allowed to talk about more or less everything and not wondering who might call the police to tell them you're doing something... unlawful. When the communism fell, I was 12, so don't expect I'd be an expert. > "My father was quite an autocratic person I would say (laughs). We all > had to do what he wanted us to do, and I had to, you know, when I > finished high school I had to go to university and all that but after a > year of studying mathematics (laughs) I know there's no way I'm going to > do that for the rest of my life, I just...the love for music was to big. Ahh ahh ahh!!!!!!! Oh my GOD!!! Small quiz: 1: guess, what's Ray studying now. 2: guess, what Ray thinks about it. So in some years I'm going to find myself moving to USA, yep? > (thank the stars for rebellious kids! Otherwise a Dr. Barbara > Trzetrzelewska may have been known for astrophysics or something, and we > would all be sitting around talking about Celine Dion instead (big ) Oh no, Leslie, for example _I_ would never be here. My feelings for Celine Dion are too strong. ;) > London Warsaw New York got to #11 on the pop album chart, I'm not sure > about Time and Tide. However, T&T got pretty high on the Contemporary > Jazz album chart (a category that apparently has forgotten our hero) at > #2! Yeah! TSI was at #27 peak position on the pop album chart, and then > plunged due to the ignorance of the American record buying public. LOL. How many album charts are there in US? Is there any album chart that has all albums on it? Based only on sales? Gosh. > The live album, Brave New Hope, and the best of did not chart (altho' > for a little EP Brave New Hope did pretty well, from what I understand) > Oh, and the remix(es) for Drunk on Love were number 1 for club airplay > in 1994. The remix of Cruising for Bruising was also on that chart but > it's beyond me as to where. And I still didn't hear DOL remixes... > Now, the Promises/New Day for You curiousity was on the Radio and > Records chart. New Day for You was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, > while Promises hit a whopping #4. Their charts are based on airplay, not > sales. So apparently those songs were played a lot. On the countdown I > have, Cruising for Bruising was at #9 that week, but had been at #5 the > week before. I think that UK charts are much more... healthy - you know - everything's fully based on the sales and nothing else. There's UK singles chart and UK albums chart which only excludes the compilations (otherwise the chart would always be topped by stuff like Now Music 52 and similar things) > Whew! Although on Ray's charts, I think everything makes more sense! ;) Hehe, on my charts everything is based on my taste, which means it's the best chart in the world. ;) > - --Leslie "Charts Really Suck, You Know That?" Brown Charts start sucking when there are charts for everything, like in US you say, the pop chart/jazz chart/r&b chart/blah blah chart. One day we might find that there's the Official Puff Daddy Songs Chart and Official Madonna's Albums Chart and this will be the end of the world I know. OK, only one more mail, with the short account of Basia's hosting of Polish Music Industry awards. (-) Ray [::: come.to/raynavarra ::: www.mp3.com/ray_navarra ::: www.mp3.com/bard :::] Soon back online: Quite Pet Shop Boys website! Watch this space... [::: Number one this week: Phats & Small "Turn around" :::] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 15:03:47 +0200 (CEST) From: Ray Navarra Subject: One more, one more perfect mother Hey all, hey Meg, you didn't make it up, Perfect is the horrible Polish rock band and Basia did start there. Perfect still keep on recording. The Polish bands are even worse than Rolling Stones in this case; there're loads of the bands who started in 70s or even before (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating) and still didn't realise it's time for them to die. (Imagine Tina Turner, still making music in 20 years time. Not so bad? Now imagine that the songs are actually hits. And they sound 200 times worse than Celine Dion. And they're played in the radio 10 times a day. And your mother loves the songs and she keeps playing them until you become deaf!) *phew* Feeling better now. :) (-) Ray [::: come.to/raynavarra ::: www.mp3.com/ray_navarra ::: www.mp3.com/bard :::] Soon back online: Quite Pet Shop Boys website! Watch this space... [::: Number one this week: Phats & Small "Turn around" :::] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 07:50:54 PDT From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Re: Part 1 of 3: Smoe sie budzi YES! Somebody has something to write about! Finally we can discuss somehting! Hey, all of you who use the free email services: which ones are good in your opiniion? I'm about to tell MSN where they can go today (LOL) I've had it with Hotmail. Yahoo I don't care for much either. Any other suggestions? Hi Ray!: >I'm also wondering why was Basia chosen to host the show. In previous years it >was done by the Polish vocalist Kora (which was a _very very very_ stupid thing >when you realise that she was also nominated for some awards. Hmmmm, in the US it's always by annoying comedians. And you have rap artists presenting the country awards. Now there's >our sweetie... but can she speak Polish good enough to be understood? I'm not>sure. This I don't get: she can't be easily understod in her home country, speaking her own language? Weird... >Christmas in the mind and "Go For You" simply is there. Wait a minute! 'Go For You' isn't "simply there!" It's the better of the new songs, anyday. Together there's 17 >songs that nobody minds. You can have or no. (score: 3 out of 5) Is Basia now "the harmless music"? - --Leslie...the poster nobody minds (I hope!) _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 08:17:11 PDT From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Re: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from >Oh great, I'm lost. What albums? Which name? What she meant was that they had never had a project they had done togther last longer than one album, apart from this weird 'Basia' thing (LOL) So they were refering to the first two albums. >want to go there!" And that's what communism was about for me personally - one >big contradiction. You've been saying something, then doing something totally >different. No wonder it ended Gosh, great story. Thanks for telling it. Ain't it the truth. And - I don't think you're surprised with the >things Basia says about smiling - now people can actually do and think the >same thing; what's more, they're allowed to talk about more or less everything >and not wondering who might call the police to tell them you're doing >something... unlawful. Gosh, things we over hee take for granted every day. *pondering* >Ahh ahh ahh!!!!!!! Oh my GOD!!! Small quiz: 1: guess, what's Ray studying now. >2: guess, what Ray thinks about it. So in some years I'm going to find myself >moving to USA, yep? Hey, explain this. Are you studying mathematics right now? Do you want to study music instead? (okay- dumb question ) Is your mom an autocrat? (LOL) Well, if you switch majors, you can then look back and mention your former studies with a laugh, the way Basia always seems too. I guess she finds it funny or something- I've never heard her mention it wthout laughing at it. >Oh no, Leslie, for example _I_ would never be here. My feelings for Celine >Dion are too strong. ;) LOL! I have to admit though that I was sad to hear about her husband. Not good. Her music still irks me, tho'. ;) >How many album charts are there in US? Is there any album chart that has all >albums on it? Based only on sales? Gosh. Yeah, I believe all the Billboard Alubum charts are based on sales. Oh, and I screwed up on T&T: it was number one on the Contemporary Jazz album chart for several weeks. Oops. Funny how a former number one artist gets completely shafted from that same format. I don't think she is classified in that category anymore by Bilboard. I think she got too challenging for that format anyway- they seem to just be interested in drivel these days. ;) >And I still didn't hear DOL remixes... I know...I'm still trying to catch up with the lady in charge. I think today I can grab her. See, the only day she's around is the day I'm at work, but I have to go to school today so I will try to track her down. I'm sorry! :) >I think that UK charts are much more... healthy - you know - everything's >fully based on the sales and nothing else. There's UK singles chart and UK >albums chart which only excludes the compilations (otherwise the chart would >always be topped by stuff like Now Music 52 and similar things) Radio is too bland to have a chart made of it. >Charts start sucking when there are charts for everything, like in US you say, >the pop chart/jazz chart/r&b chart/blah blah chart. One day we might find that >there's the Official Puff Daddy Songs Chart and Official Madonna's Albums Chart >and this will be the end of the world I know. We are almost there, my friend. (LOL) - --Leslie _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 12:02:21 -0400 From: "Thelma Gunter" Subject: Re: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from Wow, Thanks Ray. Some e-mails are worth printing and sharing with the family. This was one indeed! Thelma of South Carolina - -----Original Message----- From: Ray Navarra To: basia@smoe.org Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 7:48 AM Subject: Part 3 of 3: This is the smoe about the place I come from > >Hey! > >BTW, I wrote those mails at home and now I see I've sent them in wrong >order. > >Leslie wrote: > >> Basia and Danny on actually having two albums under the same name: >Oh great, I'm lost. What albums? Which name? > >> Basia explaining to we American radio listeners on life after Communism >> in Poland: >> >> "Obviously I'm very excited about it because all my friends and family >> live there and I visit them often, and for the first time in nine years >> (remember this was 1990-L.) I see them smiling and looking a bit more >> optimistic. The change is obvious in their eyes- people don't feel that >> scared anymore, sort of supressed, where now they feel much more >> positive, they think more hopefully, they find the energy to try some >> things they were afraid to even think of before. They support very much >> the government they chose themselves, and it's just a lot of wonderful >> atmosphere that I've never seen before." >The thing is, I remember when communism was still "on and working" we had >the public holiday - May 1st - called The Worker's Day. And there were >thousands of people who would go through the streets, you know, demonstrating >how much they agree with the government. The trouble was, I was about 6 years >old, I remember, when my mum was ordered to go with these people and she was >quite ill in this time. I knew she shouldn't go on and I said "Mom, please stay >at home" to which she replied "I can't honey, I have to go." And then I was >watching the parade in the TV and heard the speaker saying "Look at all those >people who are expressing their feelings, joining us in this parade" and I >said to my dad "Why do they say the people express their feelings? Mum didn't >want to go there!" And that's what communism was about for me personally - one >big contradiction. You've been saying something, then doing something totally >different. No wonder it ended. And - I don't think you're surprised with the >things Basia says about smiling - now people can actually do and think the >same thing; what's more, they're allowed to talk about more or less everything >and not wondering who might call the police to tell them you're doing >something... unlawful. > >When the communism fell, I was 12, so don't expect I'd be an expert. > >> "My father was quite an autocratic person I would say (laughs). We all >> had to do what he wanted us to do, and I had to, you know, when I >> finished high school I had to go to university and all that but after a >> year of studying mathematics (laughs) I know there's no way I'm going to >> do that for the rest of my life, I just...the love for music was to big. >Ahh ahh ahh!!!!!!! Oh my GOD!!! Small quiz: 1: guess, what's Ray studying now. >2: guess, what Ray thinks about it. So in some years I'm going to find myself >moving to USA, yep? > >> (thank the stars for rebellious kids! Otherwise a Dr. Barbara >> Trzetrzelewska may have been known for astrophysics or something, and we >> would all be sitting around talking about Celine Dion instead (big ) >Oh no, Leslie, for example _I_ would never be here. My feelings for Celine >Dion are too strong. ;) > >> London Warsaw New York got to #11 on the pop album chart, I'm not sure >> about Time and Tide. However, T&T got pretty high on the Contemporary >> Jazz album chart (a category that apparently has forgotten our hero) at >> #2! Yeah! TSI was at #27 peak position on the pop album chart, and then >> plunged due to the ignorance of the American record buying public. LOL. >How many album charts are there in US? Is there any album chart that has all >albums on it? Based only on sales? Gosh. > >> The live album, Brave New Hope, and the best of did not chart (altho' >> for a little EP Brave New Hope did pretty well, from what I understand) >> Oh, and the remix(es) for Drunk on Love were number 1 for club airplay >> in 1994. The remix of Cruising for Bruising was also on that chart but >> it's beyond me as to where. >And I still didn't hear DOL remixes... > >> Now, the Promises/New Day for You curiousity was on the Radio and >> Records chart. New Day for You was #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, >> while Promises hit a whopping #4. Their charts are based on airplay, not >> sales. So apparently those songs were played a lot. On the countdown I >> have, Cruising for Bruising was at #9 that week, but had been at #5 the >> week before. >I think that UK charts are much more... healthy - you know - everything's >fully based on the sales and nothing else. There's UK singles chart and UK >albums chart which only excludes the compilations (otherwise the chart would >always be topped by stuff like Now Music 52 and similar things) > >> Whew! Although on Ray's charts, I think everything makes more sense! ;) >Hehe, on my charts everything is based on my taste, which means it's the best >chart in the world. ;) > >> - --Leslie "Charts Really Suck, You Know That?" Brown >Charts start sucking when there are charts for everything, like in US you say, >the pop chart/jazz chart/r&b chart/blah blah chart. One day we might find that >there's the Official Puff Daddy Songs Chart and Official Madonna's Albums Chart >and this will be the end of the world I know. > >OK, only one more mail, with the short account of Basia's hosting of Polish >Music Industry awards. > > (-) Ray >[::: come.to/raynavarra ::: www.mp3.com/ray_navarra ::: www.mp3.com/bard :::] > Soon back online: Quite Pet Shop Boys website! Watch this space... >[::: Number one this week: Phats & Small "Turn around" :::] > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 10:17:48 PDT From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Re: One more, one more perfect mother > (Imagine Tina Turner, still making music in 20 >years time. Not so bad? Now imagine that the songs are actually hits. And >they sound 200 times worse than Celine Dion. And they're played in the >radio 10 times a day. And your mother loves the songs and she keeps >playing them until you become deaf!) Noooooooooooooooooooo! Gosh, I knew I needed more sleep, but I didn't think the hallucinations would be this bad! (LOL) - --Leslie (and the ultimate irony is that this band is called 'Perfect') _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 10:59:15 PDT From: "Leslie Brown" Subject: Re: Part 2 of 3: Where we went wrong, thought smoe was so strong >On Saturday, April 10th Basia was the host for Polish Music Industry awards, >Fryderyki. The awards were given by the group of over 700 people working in the >industry, including the workers of record companies, managers, producers and >others. So this is a sort-of Polish Grammies! Cool! >The awards themselves - well, one thing has improved - last year, when I >watched the awards, the moment the nominations were read I already knew who'll >win. This year I didn't have any ideas, because 1) the nominations were more, >I don't know, equal and 2) the winners seemed to be chosen randomly. it is also very easy, for those who track this sort of thing, to pick Grammy winners. They stick to a sort of pattern. One year I guessed the most correct and actually won CD's. The thing was, that year it was unbelieveably easy to pick 'em. >and Lenny Kravitz "5". Of course Maddie got the award and I agreed, because >it was my own number 2 of 1998 - after wonderful Air. That's it, I've got to get the Air thing going. I'm just glad Lenny wan't awarded. He bugs me. No reason why, but mostly I suppose related to how many times a day I hear him croaking. (Sheesh, I need sleep! A little cranky here.....) >Basia was dressed in dark, long skirt and the - what do they call these? Blouse? Sure, or the good all-purpose 'shirt' would work, too. :) Depends I'm sure on how fashion-concious one is. Not me! I've got no idea whether her clothes were black or, for example, blue >because (ashamed) I watched the awards on a small black'n'white If it makes you feel any less embarassed, I only get two stations. Rare in America! >Basia looked like the clothes had been prepared >for her before she's found food. Hey there! I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it doesn't sound too nice! ;) She looked like she was pregnant, to be >honest. Don't ask me if she is, but she looked like this. Wow, cool if she is. I mean, since she's been hoping for it. She couldn't handle >the task too well, as I predicted, but I was really surprised with how good >her Polish actually is! She didn't look nervous, and only has troubles with >some really hard words. So you insult once again! (I'm only kidding) So I take it she should stick to singing? (LOL) >BTW, she came to host the show straight from her home in Jaworzno, where she's >spent the Easter with her family. Isn't it cute? Yeah, awwww. Well, you know, Kevin is supposed to be touring with Simply Red (theres a band I never hear anymore). (Oh, slightly related, according to an email posted by Maysa on the Incognito ML, Inner Shade will be touring this summer, with Maysa. Yay!) >Oh, and the show would DEFINITELY be better if she didn't have to repeat every >10 minutes that there's a paid phone number (you know, one of those 79p/sec) >where you can vote for your favourite song. ...fighting the urge to roll her eyes in the back of her head with disgust each time! Oh, hey, speking of Polish music, I went to the Virgin Megastore in Chicago last week and they had Edyta's CD. I was tempted, but the words "mariah carey" kept ringing through my head (LOL). Too bad they don't have listening stations. - --Leslie the cautious consumer _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V4 #88 **************************