Errors-To: owner-ecto@athos.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu From: ecto@athos.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@athos.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@athos.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #193 ecto, Number 193 Wednesday, 25 March 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Be careful what you say Philly! Cool Praise for Happy (from Philly) Happy in Billboard !! Tapes, concert and stuff. Iiiiiiiiiii'm Baaaaaaaaaack!!!!! um... NIRVANAMOS Fluff (tm) Albany More Trivia ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 10:19:28 PST From: barry@gnu.ai.mit.edu Reminder, Sarah McLachlan is appearing on David Letterman tonight for all you Sarah McLachlan fans. God I hope Letterman interviews her and doesn't just introduce her before a performance. Barry ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 19:26:59 MET From: Albert Philipsen Subject: Be careful what you say Hi! I think I should clarify what I said in my last message. I have no intention whatsoever of starting a flame war on gaffa. :-) I love Ectophiles because they know how to use their minds, talk carefully about important issues and love good music. :-) Thanks for organising the party, Klaus! Katoozazai! Albert Philipsen -- There is a secret formula in life that makes big things tiny and small It is that same magic formula that makes the small among us grow strong and tall (Nadieh) ======================================================================== From: golden@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Stephen "Jokey" Golden) Subject: Philly! Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 13:53:32 EST > Steven, *how* did you get her shoe size out of > her, anyway??? Doug informed me that she had revealed it, and Steven warned > me that she had said she was going to make fun of me about it later (don't > worry, she did :). Everyone has their secrets. For Happy, it was her shoe size. For me, it's how to get Happy to reveal her shoe size! Here comes my thoughts on Martha and Kelly(keyboardist and bg vocal): Like Meredith, I was impressed with how much they seem to respect Happy. I was talking to Kelly about how she joined the band. She said she is/was with a band called (something) and the Kryptonites (I think) and Happy had heard of her. Happy didn't even listen to her sing. She just hired her straight off, not even a note! But, surprisingly enough, Kelly's vocal were outstanding. But did anyone else notice her while she wasn't singing. Sometimes she just looked bored out her mind! I guess I'll never understand musicians. Martha told me that she teaches keyboards and occasionally plays in various bands. She didn't mention how she met Happy, but others have noted that she did play on a song in Warpaint. The one thing about Martha that disturbed me was that she reminded of me a bad keyboard player at some Bar Mitzvah's I went to when I was younger. I mean, her music was right on target. However, she was always using her left hand and sort of over dramatizing the music with her right (by waving it, making a fist, etc.) Her bg vocals didn't start off too good (I think it was the sound man's fault however), but once the band started getting into it, she sounded good! Incidentally, I wear a size 9 (sometimes a 9 1/2) -- -------------- "Won't you take me to, Funkytown? Stephen Golden Won't you take me to, Funkytown? golden@eniac.seas.upenn.edu Won't you take me to, Funkytown? (215) 573-8734 Won't you take me to, Funkytown?" ======================================================================== From: kIrI Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1992 16:21:15 EST Subject: Cool Praise for Happy (from Philly) I heard this during intermission from some unknown person in the audience: "I'm going to play the CD for my voice teacher and tell her that's exactly how I want to sing." anonymous female voice :) I thought that was just about the coolest thing someone could say about Happy's music (not to mention her voice :) ). kIrI -- I-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-I I _ hargieka@craft.camp.clarkson.edu I I |/ . |_) . iamecto@chinet.chi.il.us I I |\ | | \ | "Standing on ledges, clinging to the edges I I The Worlds a hard place to land on" C.A. I I-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-I ======================================================================== Date: 24 Mar 92 21:33:30 EST From: Bob Brown <74756.1557@compuserve.com> Subject: Happy in Billboard !! I spoke with Bob Leonard this afternoon and he told me that Happy, Kevin and company are on cloud 9 because they were alerted today about a review of Warpaint that appears in this weeks Billboard magazine (the March 28 issue). Here is the text of the review -- * HAPPY RHODES Warpaint PRODUCERS: Kevin Bartlett, Happy Rhodes Aural Gratification 0017 On this unique and thoroughly satisfying debut, Rhodes sounds like a cross between Laura Nyro and an African poetess. She deftly balances intense, orchestral confessionals with tribal tone-poems, rendering this of equal interest to alternative and adventurous AC radio programmers. Despite its limited commercial appeal, songs like "Waking Up" and "Words Weren't Made For Cowards" are honest--and ultimately universal--appraisals of human nature. The legend on the bottom of the page describes the * as -- CRITIC'S CHOICE (*): New releases, regardless of potential chart action, which the reviewer highly recommends because of their musical merit. Bob said that Kevin was jumping up and down with glee and hugging each other....Happy was only mildly excited...perhaps it hasn't hit her yet. Yippeeeee!!!! Bob Brown - The Radio Boy ======================================================================== From: xenox!inphobos!klaus@horga.ruhr.de Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 23:37 MEZ Subject: good & bad news From: klaus@inphobos.w.open.de (Cosmic Vagabond) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 22:23:48 GMT Organization: Ectophiles Unlimited, Wuppertal, Germany The last days I'm starting work quite late. The reason is that I get such a lot of Ecto digests with wonderful concert reviews and additional stories, which I have to read before I start with breakfast. But I still haven't read enough. :) Keep them coming! Stephen of Philly: > One last non-Happy question, I want to pick up a Dead Can Dance album. > Throw your suggestions my way. Thanks. I started with their 1991 compilation, called "A passage in time". 16 Tracks summing up to 64 minutes. It's a great compilation which contains all of my favourite tunes. The only problem with it I've found, is that if you go and buy their other albums, there isn't that much more left. You already have all the good ones. News about the Ecto-Party (what was that? meety?): A couple of hours ago Chip called. They arrived safely in Duesseldorf. Just an hour later Albert was on the phone to talk about his arrival time. These were the good news. The bad news are, that the tapes with the Albany show from Woj didn't make it to Chip's mailbox in time. :( They will be forwarded to us as soon as possible, but we need to have our fingers crossed that they make it 'til saturday. Otherwise we have to do the concert ourselves. We take our guitars and sing the songs. :) Anyone want's a copy of that? ;^) So, let's hope that the european-ectophile-AAAUGH-we-could-not-see-the- -concerts-consolation-party doesn't become the european-ectophile-AAAUGH- we-could-not-see-nor-hear-the-concerts-consolation-party. :) More later ... ... Klaus. ___________________________________________________________________________ ) klaus@inphobos.w.open.de ( write to the European Ectophile Party at ( ( Klaus "cosmic vagabond" Kluge ) ectoparty@inphobos.w.open.de ) ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 01:28:57 PST From: barry@gnu.ai.mit.edu Just saw Sarah McLachlan on David Letterman, she performed Into the Fire! :) Unfortunately, all she did was perform that one number, he didn't interview her :( Hey, anyone going to describe the Ecto Mobile to Klaus and other ectophiles who haven't seen it? Since I wasn't riding in it, I figure the priviledge should go to the Happy Rhodies :) Hey, I hope someone is keeping track of all the shoe sizes :) Barry ======================================================================== From: Martin Dougiamas Subject: Tapes, concert and stuff. Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 15:00:13 WST Hootah, Martin here. Jeff writes: > [ about the little microphone stand sign...] Wow, what a cool thing to do! No wonder I like her. :) Re: foot sizes Well, my feet are exectly 1 foot long each, if that means anything to anybody. Woj writes: > okay...here's the deal on getting copies of the albany show. send two (2) > 90 minute cassettes to me and i'll eventually get them sent back to you > containing the albany show. Sure thing, Woj... my money will be on the way. Is it OK if I send money for tapes rather than physical tapes? How much are good quality tapes there in any case? Will $10 cover the lot, do you think? Postage to Australia will be about $3.50 or so... It'd be fantastic if Woj and Greg could get together and pick the best cuts from each of their recordings and make a proper compilation, sort of a "The Living Best of Happy Rhodes - VOLUME 1" album. :) :| > the groove that they had cooking was incredible... I'm jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous! JEALOUS, ya hear? :) > is playful ("happy phantom"), serious and touching. check it out (if you > haven't already - i feel like the last kid on the block with this one...). Well don't... I still haven't heard it. (but it's not from want of trying). Actually, the only album I've bought for WEEKS has been the new Chic album. And boy is THAT seriously funky. Albert writes: > [A whole lot of stuff about being an ecto-maniac] It's frightening, isn't it? But a hell of a lot of fun. > I'm appalled by the idea that a Meeting Of Ectophiles will be called a > party -- a four dimensional body of time and space in which people > numb their minds with drugs, talk loudly about cynical nonsense and > listen to ridiculous "music". Moreover, the word party stresses the > aspect of parting too much. I think the meeting is more important. > Let's call it a meety. Don't be surprised if I won't be able to > produce one coherent sentence in English at the... meety. Ha ha ha ha heh heh... good one. Although I'm sure the occasional vegetarians that inhabit this group might be a bit uncomfortable with that. On a literary note, I just purchased the entire "Book of the New Sun" series by Gene Wolfe at a bargain second-hand price, entirely on ecto recommendations. I've only got 11 chapters or so into the first one, so if you have any recommendations on things I should look out for in my journey through these tomes, now would be a good time to present them. I also just got the biography of P.D.Q.Bach from the library. Has anyone else read this? Yours wishing-I-could-afford-to-fly-to-the-US-and-see-you-all, Martin (feeling very isolated :( ) -- ,--------------------------+-------------------------------. _ . | Feel the searing heat of | Martin Dougiamas. | ~ _r' Ll\ ~ | heightened conciousness. | martin@marsh.cs.curtin.edu.au | | \ ~ | Feel the yearning for | Curtin University | ~ \ ._ / ~ | peace and happiness. | Perth, Western Australia | -->X~ `-' ~ `======= * Happy Rhodes * =+===============================' V ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 00:02:03 PST From: stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) Subject: Tapes, concert and stuff. Martin Dougiamas writes: > On a literary note, I just purchased the entire "Book of the New Sun" series > by Gene Wolfe at a bargain second-hand price, entirely on ecto recommendations. > I've only got 11 chapters or so into the first one, so if you have any > recommendations on things I should look out for in my journey through > these tomes, now would be a good time to present them. The wonders are too numerous to mention. (I hope you're enjoying everything so far.) It's been a few months since my last rereading so my memory has faded a bit (alas, it is not as powerful as Severian's). What I would say is that if you get through them all and like them enough, re-read the entire series later. It makes more and more sense the more times you read it, especially when all the little hints that Wolfe drops are more obvious once you know how things worked out the first time. Severian does have this bad habit of leaking details that he covers in more depth later on in the narrative. This is one series that has helped me overcome my habit of naturally-evolved speed reading. If you really pay attention and don't just let the words drift by, you will be rewarded. Perhaps only Doug and I will get this, but I think to properly appreciate "The Book of the New Sun" you would need alzabo extract and a taste of Severian's brain. Except you're a vegetarian, so that would probably be even more distasteful for you than it would be for me. > I also just got the biography of P.D.Q.Bach from the library. > Has anyone else read this? _The Definitive Biography of PDQ Bach_, by Peter Schickele? It is hilarious. I found it in the free book bin at my hometown library, although I have since misplaced my copy. If you get a chance to see Peter Schickele conducting the works of PDQ Back, that is worth seeing. > Yours wishing-I-could-afford-to-fly-to-the-US-and-see-you-all, > Martin > (feeling very isolated :( ) And yours-wishing-I-had-flown-to-Philly-to-see-some-of-you-and-most- importantly-the-amazing-Hapster-herself, stevev ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 16:49 CST From: katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris n Vickie) Subject: Iiiiiiiiiii'm Baaaaaaaaaack!!!!! Vickie here!!! Yes, I'm back among the living...Chris came and picked me up at the bus station and helped me drag all my stuff home. It was an extremely nice suprise to see the computer back, up and running, and with a new hard drive that Chris was given in a non-working state and he managed to get working. Wow! Our mail on Chinet was *well* over half a meg and it will take a while to plow through. Chris was up all night last night making soap bubbles! (Computer-graphics bubbles for Helene-Curtis. He says he's been busy making cosmic shampoo bottles zooming silently through space.) It's late in the afternoon and we're both nodding off (I hardly got any sleep at all on the train back) so we're going to go crash. When I get up (Goddess knows when that will be) I have to record my Kansas City and Chicago radio shows. So basically it will be a wait before I can seriously write up my story of the last week. Knowing me, it will be *long* :-) so be prepared. Then I have to go back through and check out what's been going on in Ecto for the past month and get all caught up there. I'm psyched...I missed you all so much and being in Albany and Philly (**THANKS** to Happy and Kevin!!! *swoon*) made such a big difference in my mental state. There's so much to tell....now if I can only remember a fraction of it! *HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY*HAPPY* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'nuff said (for now...) Hello to all the new 'philes in town!!! (Jessica, please send me the latest members list, thanks a bunch in advance) Happy belated birthday wishes to Geoff Carre and Bob Brown. I'll be digging out the birthday list later this evening to see who's coming up. Goodbyes to anyone in Philly I missed saying goodbye to, I know there were a bunch :-( and I was running around frazzled, delirously happy and excited, but oblivious to a lot of things I should have been keeping track of, like people leaving...I'm so sorry if you didn't get a g'bye hug from me. (*HUG*) Big bunchy thanks to Doug for putting up with my back seat driving :-). I *very much* enjoyed your company and I'm so glad we got to spend so much time together. Jose and The Supermarket wouldn't have been anywhere near as fun without you! I owe you more than words could possibly convey! Super special thanks to Jessica and Joe for putting Doug and I up Friday night. To any who might be wondering...yes, Jessica is as wonderful and special as you might imagine. "Ecto Goddess Lady" indeed!! Stephen Golden....I can't thank you enough!! Down to my last $10.00 and worried about where in the world I would stay Sunday night...you erased the visions of me having to sleep in the train station with your kind offer of a warm cozy couch. You were an excellent host and your roommates were a lot of fun. Thanks for everything!! To all I met in Albany and Philly...I'm just overwhelmed with the joy of it. I'll be writing more later but it will be hard to describe my feelings toward you all. Overwhelming love and affection only scratches the surface. And Happy? Oh LORD! Everything I imagined and much, much more. Personally and Professionally, she is amazing. Again, more will come later when I've had a chance to get organized. I'll be walking on air for months though. I taped both the Albany and Philly shows. Neither came out great so I'd love to have copies of woj's Albany show and Greg's Philly show. Also, my camera kept jamming up and I don't know if *any* of the photos I took will come out. I would love to have copies of other's photos. Anyone with photos please e-mail me with details on how I can get copies. Thanks!! btw, did anyone happen to accidentally get a photo of Happy and I together? I know we never actually posed for a photo (darn!) but was wondering if anyone happened to catch us standing near each other. John Wheeler, your tapes arrived for the HGP. I'll try to get them done this weekend. Beth, I got the tape of Loreena you sent, thanks *SO* much! I'll listen to it and probably play some of it on my shows. Thanks also to Geoff, who originally taped it. Alan from Zimbabwe way, I got your check for the HGP tapes. No problem! That's it for now, but this is just a tiny "Vickie" so look for the real thing (uh, maybe a few of them!) coming up within the next week. Everyone else...keep the stories coming, I'll get caught up soon and I want to hear what everyone has to say!! *Whew!* Vickie (tired, but still frazzled, deliriously happy, excited and overwhelmed by it all) ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 07:07:17 EST From: woj@remus.rutgers.edu Subject: um... g'morning all...this is a note for anyone who was at the albany concert. i seem to be missing a cd that i brought up with jessica's stack of discs. the cd is _wings of joy_ by the cranes. i'm sure that i gave it to jess when we left from my house and it's no where to be found here now. jess doesn't have it either. did anyone take it out of her bag? did it manage to get into someone else's stuff? i seem to remember someone asking about it, but i don't remember who or when. if you can help, i'd appreciate it... thanks. woj ======================================================================== Subject: NIRVANAMOS Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 08:20:50 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu WOW WOW WOW I WANT IT!!!!! What a shock. Things you simply never expect to hear. Tori Amos covering Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," solo-piano. According to the DJ, it's on a British import; dunno which one. The DJ also said she'd be playing the Birchmere (local venue generally catering to a folk/jazz crowd) in May. Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Show what you are / Be strong, be true | | | Time for you to / Be who you are." | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | --Happy Rhodes | ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 07:56:25 MST From: dbx@ventana.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Fluff (tm) Greetings, Whew! Now that I'm fully caught up on Ecto, I am overdue for putting in my own four cents worth. Warm fuzzy HAPPY blue BIRTHDAYs to JOHN (one day late, sorry!) and VALERIE! Gee, we'll have to get Happy to write a birthday song someday! Mitch used as a subject: Today I have more to say than yesterday ... but not as much as tomorrow. The Spiral Staircase. Do I win? >From David Lubkin's Albany review (Did Part II ever show up?) * Happy thanked [Mitch Elrod] for opening, and then put him down. It was hard to tell how serious she was. * [Ray Jung] wore a neat hat, which Happy gave him a hard time over. Happy didn't mean anything mean by these comments. Her sense of humor is bone dry and razor sharp, which makes her comments sometimes very hard to interpret. Even Vickie admits to being confused at times. Angelos wrote: Thanks to Doug for the Buzz articles!! Credit should go where it's due. Vickie gets the full thanks here. That will be in Part II of my story! Also thanks for the official set list. Angelos noted "Happy stall 2" Happy sat on the stool, and said:'Ok time to answer any questions, let me start with the front row, [chuckle] 'Where is the next song from?', My first album, Rhodes Volume 1". Did anyone catch the _real_ question asked by the man she addressed this to? He asked something like, "How do you do all of this?" A number of people complained about the cold while waiting for the Philly show doors to open. Sorry! Albany was MUCH colder. Philly was a tropical paradise in comparison!! Vickie didn't even wear the coat that Jose loved so much in Albany. :) Finally, after all this discussion of shoe sizes, we have Kevin's and Ray's shoe sizes, but no one mentioned Happy's. For the final record: 9-1/2. (The boots were size 10). By the way, Steve G got her size by simply asking her, point blank. Harry asked: Does this mean we should start asking new ectophiles their shoe size, in addition to their birthday? What a strange group! :) :) :) Sorry! I'm way ahead of you. My shoe size was given in Ecto long, long ago. Dig through the archives, if you're curious! It's really there! Finally, I was ecstatic to see an old familiar e-mail address, when I logged in this morning: $ $ $$$$$ $ $$$$ $$$ $ $ $$$$$ $$$$ $$$ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$ $$$$ $$$$$ $ $$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$ $$$ $ $ $$$$$ $$$$ $ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $$$ $$$$ $ $ $$$ $$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$ $$$$ $ $ $$$ $$$$$ $ $ [OK, so I over-did it a bit, but I finally got to meet her and Vickie is tres cool! I've also been listening to her SiG compilation tapes, which have to be heard to be believed!] By the way, huge post warning. The first installment of my Happy trip will hit your mailboxes momentarily! Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 08:20:36 MST From: dbx@ventana.atmos.colostate.edu (Doug Burks) Subject: Albany Greetings, I started my Happy odyssey by flying into Philadelphia that Monday night. However, I doubt anyone is interested in my search for my old homesites in New Jersey over the next two days, so I'll fast forward to Wednesday in Albany to an event that I wasn't even involved in. Vickie arrived in Albany via Amtrak Wednesday morning. The very first thing she did was hail a cab and head straight to Cathedral Studios, an ex-church where Happy recorded all of her albums. The owner, Pat Tessatore, let Happy use the studio for free when it was free, during which time she put together her 1st4 (to use a Vickie-ism, since it's her own story). He even donated the studio time which she used to record _Warpaint_. He owned some Happy memorabilia, and it should surprise no one here that Vickie walked out with a small handful of it: a black and white copy of a color Happy portrait which Vickie drooled over, a monster caricature of her keyboards, a monster caricature of Mitch Elrod, and even a sweatshirt version of the T-shirts sold at both concerts. Vickie was quite surprised how welcomed she was in her impulsive pilgrimage. I entered the picture about 5:45pm, when I walked to the QE2. As people have already noted, I knew Vickie was coming, since she called to ask if I could drive her from Albany to Philadelphia. I agreed, and we set up a 6pm meeting at the QE2. Thus I was not surprised to see a well-bundled short stout woman, waiting in front. My suspicions that it was Vickie were confirmed by Happy music pouring from her boom box. So we settled down in the cold Albany evening air, waiting at least for Kiri to join us for dinner. Of course, I had left before the plans about meeting in David's hotel room were posted. So after a while we began to wonder where people were. We maintained our vigil, except for eating a bit in the pizzeria across the street, the warm pizzeria! We stayed there a while, watching the QE2 and street life. During our stay, a heavily accented black man and the heavily accented Indian counterman had an unintentionally funny conversation, trying to establish the price of a slice of pizza. Yet that was the most trivial story from a very eventful wait. The highlight started when I spotted two women walking down the sidewalk. (Vickie's back was turned to them). One looked vaguely familiar, and I soon realized that it could be Happy. Since I wasn't sure, (I only had the "Ecto Era" picture and _Warpaint_ cover to go by), I didn't tell Vickie. However, when the woman started staring at Vickie, I was a bit more certain. The woman stopped and asked Vickie, "Are you who I think you are? Say something." Vickie shyly said, "Hello, Happy." With a big hug, Vickie and Happy met each other for the first time after over three years of phone conversations. I wasn't forgotten, as Happy asked me, "Am I supposed to care who you are?". I introduced myself, and the whole conversation didn't last more than a minute, as Happy and the other woman (who we later realized was backup singer Kelly Bird) had to get things ready. During the course of our wait, we also saw Martha Waterman and Mitch Elrod arrive. Later in the cold evening, we watched a police van stop right in front of us. The driver thumbed through some papers, got out, and placed a Denver boot on a small car. I had never seen this done before. The owner eventually returned, accepting the boot with a single profanity, before resuming conversation with her friends. A number of street people wandered the area, but only two approached us, the two noted by David in his post. One man was a straightforward homeless man, panhandling, though he had an interesting rap, promising to give any leftover meal money to the church. The pest of the night was the other man, who called himself Jose. He was dressed well, down to a tie and a bag which wouldn't have been out of place with a lawyer. He talked about his car parked just over there (pointing to about five different places) and how he was going to law school. However, he was obviously lying, and hung around us for well over an hour (It seemed like forever). He kept exclaiming to the bundled Vickie, "Just look at you! Just look at you! You look like a bear/Eskimo", complimenting Vickie's boom box and my camera. Three times he entered the QE2. Three times he was thrown out. The last time, the two bouncers brought him out and threatened him with arrest, if he didn't stay away. Jose got more than a little angry ("Don't mess with my bag!") with the bouncers, and Vickie and I were getting more than a little scared. Fortunately, the posse arrived to the rescue right then. I knew I would be happy to meet other Ectophiles, but I didn't quite expect to be glad in the way I was. Jose and the other man pestered our greetings, but at least we hugely out-numbered them. We shook them by entering the QE2, only to practially run into a harried (and nervous) Happy scurrying out. We stood around and waited for the back room to open, during which Jessica and Greg snuck in and set up the recording equipment. The back room was a very simple affair. A U-shaped bar was set up in the back, and a small stage was set up in the front. The chain link fence bordering the stage has been mentioned before, but it's so odd, that it deserves to be mentioned again. Very few stools were around, so most people stood during the evening's activities. The atmosphere was seedy bar all the way. Cigarette (and other) smoke hung thickly in the air with the din of conversation constant, even through the show. The weird lighting, including black light and colored spots transformed every color. The silver colors on my Ecto T-shirt turned a wonderfully strange iridescent brick red. Jessica should try to capture it! As mentioned by others, Mitch Elrod opened the show, a singer-songwriter accompanied only by his guitar. I liked a couple of his songs, and he had a number of interesting musical and lyrical ideas. However, he completely lacked the talent or imagination to pull them off. I do give him credit for performing as well as he did in spite of a nasty cold. Yet watching someone like him only increases your appreciation for the awesome talent of the act he preceded. After Mitch Elrod's act, the music blared over the sound system was obviously chosen by Happy, selections from the list of Happy's influences that have graced this newsgroup over the years (actually, months, though it seems like years (in the best sense)!). However, the sound was cranked up so high that distortion made it difficult (at least for me) to identify the songs. Happy's band was cramped on the small stage. Mark Foster (a surprisingly normal looking :) be-spectacled man with a green turtleneck) was practically hidden behind his drum set in the back left corner. He drummed with energetic enthusiam when called on, and sat impassively when not. Ray Jung (with his weird hat and bright red shoes) had more room to Mark's right, armed with just two basses and an amp. He held the classic bassist pose of eyes closed ignorance of the rest of the world, nodding to the beat. Ray had quite a fan club, taking over the start of the second set with their cries of "We love you, Ray!", causing his face to match the color of his shoes. Martha Waterman (with a red jacket, short black dress, and red hair (real red, not the natural orange red) operated behind three keyboards (apparently including an electric bass) and filled in some holes in the vocal harmonies. She bopped behind her instruments, whether playing or not. I thought she was trying a little too hard and obviously to do something on stage. Kevin (dressed in black with his unruly head of hair) operated on the left side behind a keyboard, a pile of electronics and a number of guitars. He usually played with serious concentration, continually switching instruments, fiddling with adjustments, and playing. His occasional smiles (and he's got quite a nice one) and interactions with the band were a bit surprising and genuine when they popped up. Kelly Bird, a large short woman, dressed nicely with a black top and skirt, sang backup at a microphone to the left. She usually mildly rocked to the music, though occasionally danced and interacted with Happy. Vocally, she could match Happy note for note, power for power, though, as Jeff Burka noted, her voice lacks a personality. Center stage, of course, belonged to Happy. She either sang at a microphone stand which held the odd sign "Open/Come In", strummed acoustic guitar while sitting on a stool, or roamed/danced around the stage. When she did the latter, she added another dimension of meaning to her songs, a complement to them, not just empty performance. Happy is a surprisingly short woman, probably not over five foot tall, thin (though I wouldn't agree with David's "emaciated"), and sexier than her pictures. Her blonde hair was gorgeous and lustrous in the light, extending well down her back. She wore a low cut tank top (purple, I think, though tough to tell in that strange light), tight black pants, over knee high velvet black boots that Meredith drooled over, and practically no jewelry. Of course, the main thing I traveled so far for was the music. To sum up, $$$ $ $ $$$ $$$$$ $$$ $ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $$ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$ $ $ $ $$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$ $$$ $ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $ $$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ I doubt anyone knew what to expect, but I didn't quite expect the high quality and energy of the concert. I was thoroughly engrossed throughout the two sets, carried away as much by Happy's music live as I am by her records. Pure enchantment, which I can't put into words, but will never forget. That magic was produced by a band which delivered in full. I couldn't believe how tight they played, especially since they haven't been together that long. The Warpaint songs were arranged very similarly to the album, though "Murder", a song that never has impressed me, was a revelation with the energy and acting Happy put into it. The vocal duel (yes, "duel", not "duet") between Happy and Kelly during the choruses was mind-blowing. The songs from the first four albums showed very well in their new settings. I had trouble following the three new songs she played, mainly due to the hubbub around the bar, but they certainly had Happy's indelible stamp all over them, and I look forward to giving them the hearing they're due. The whole concert was fantastic, and I wish I could put it into words, but I'll just have to leave it to this one paragraph. Unfortunately, besides the noise in the bar, the concert was marred by the sound system. A persistent loud buzz infected many of the songs. At one point, a bass note swelled in some odd resonance, threatening to take over the room. At the start, Happy's vocals were buried too deeply in the mix. Happy herself made a few gaffes. Apparently catching Jessica singing along caused Happy to forget her chords. (After the show, Happy asked her to show up in Philadelphia in disguise, so she wouldn't recognize her). A few times during the show, Happy wandered into the shadows stage right, where I noted the extreme nervousness that she didn't show a hint of under the lights. About a hundred people gathered in the room, but only about a quarter of them gave their full attention to the band. Of course, ten of those were we Ectophiles in one corner right against the raised stage. Vickie sat right at the stage end, neck craned to stare at Happy practically right on top of her. When Vickie raised her arms to hold onto a bar on the fence, she looked like a supplicant to her personal deity. Other Ectophiles responded in their own styles, dancing or rocking to the beat, singing along, cheering, sitting quietly, taking pictures, etc. No one went away disappointed! A few odd notes: As the last notes faded from the last song of the first set, Happy took the sign off the microphone stand, fiddled with the other side, and re-hung it. It was a clock, set to the time that the band would return for the second set, 1am! This sign also showed up in Philadelphia, (winning me a point over Vickie!), though the second set started there at a much more reasonable 9pm.... The concert was also videotaped, apparently to be used for publicity purposes.... Happy taped (gaffa? :) ) the set list on the floor near her microphone stand, which some of us couldn't resist studying, while others preferred to be surprised. Anyway, it ended up in Vickie's hands. "If I didn't take it, someone else would have", she rationalized. It sounds like Angelos nabbed the Philadelphia version.... After the concert, we hung around, and were rewarded by Happy showing up not long after the show was over. She stopped for just a moment to say 'hi' and get our names, as she was mainly looking for Vickie, who was out front. After she left, we talked with Kevin and a few others of the band (at least, Martha), in spite of the staff's attempts to shoo us out. (They eventually gave up, apparently realizing that Happy and Kevin didn't mind our being there). Happy rejoined the group, and we talked with her for about twenty minutes, in a conversation that turned weird thanks to our and her combined strange senses of humor. The shoe size question has been discussed, but does anyone remember how Willie Nelson popped up in the conversation? We re-grouped outside the QE2 (which once was a White Castle hamburger joint), where Happy and Kelly ran into us again for a final good-bye. Our next destination was David's hotel room (the same hotel where Vickie coincidentally had her room). We talked about the concert. Vickie showed the pictures and items she brought along. In other words, we talked about subjects that wouldn't surprise anyone who's read Ecto for any length of time. At 5am, we called it quits. David Lubkin stayed "overnight" in his room. Kiri joined Vickie, and I stayed overnight at a hotel on the edge of town. Everyone else braved the snow (which had just started) and their own fatigue to drive home. Thankfully everyone made it! By the way, I don't think anyone has given the list of Ectophiles at Albany yet, so here it is: Vickie, Kiri, Angelos, Greg, Jessica, Dave Steiner, David Lubkin, Woj, Meredith, and me. Someone mentioned that Tracy may have been there. Anyone know for sure? To be continued .... Doug Burks _O_ dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu |< She really is!! ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: More Trivia Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 12:12:07 EST Hi! Hope you can handle some more trivia. [Happy quotes are from memory] Concert promoter ---------------- Happy:'This was a FOLK promoter! I am NOT FOLK! I hope everybody saw that. We were plugged in, electric, and I tossed my hair around'. Later the promoter went to Happy thanked her and said that he would LOVE to work with her again in the future. Happy entrance -------------- When happy entered the Penn Towers room where the post-concert party happened everybody applauded. Happy left her coat, took a tray, walked around and cheerfully said: 'What can I get you?'. :-) Her days waiting tables are LONG GONE! Happy video ----------- When asked about the filming of the Albany concert, Happy made a reference to Entertainment Tonight, hummed the theme, and said 'it's for promotion'. :-) Happy TV, and the press ----------------------- According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Happy watches Oprah, and talks to the TV! Kevin and MTV ------------- According to Buzz, Kevin has written the theme to the MTV top-20 countdown!! And music for some VH-1 spots!!! Angelos ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is a README file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me (or leave in the incoming directory, just let me know) things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@athos.rutgers.edu)