Errors-To: ecto-owner@ns1.rutgers.edu Reply-To: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Sender: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu From: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu To: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu Bcc: ecto-digest-outbound@ns1.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto #692 ecto, Number 692 Monday, 9 August 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Production (was Re: Happy Rhodes!) HR^5 happytorikate singer out there? Get those Aimee tix now Weekend at Vickie's 2 and other stories klausing on a saturday .... er, monday night brni was in an accident... Keeper of the Radio Stations ======================================================================== Subject: Production (was Re: Happy Rhodes!) From: Tim Breitkreutz Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 10:55:54 -0600 I thought someone would bite on that message! :) Thanks! > > production. Now, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but does > > anyone else think that she might do better with a different producer? > > No, not at all. One of my first comments to someone on the net upon hearing > "Warpaint" and "Equipoise" was that they are two of the best produced and > mixed albums I had heard for a long time. Ok, fair enough. > > Personally I think it is kind of rare for a musician to also be a good > > producer (Kate is of course an prime example of this rarity!). I say > > Not at all. Name a list of ten famous producers, I'll bet you that 9 out of > the 10 are musicians. They may be musicians but they are not always good song-writers, performers, etc. > > this with great hesitation, also, because I think she would need an > > exceptional producer, and I know AG probably can't afford a huge name. > > But why would Happy want a huge name producer? All that would achieve would > be to force that producer's sound and idiosyncrasies on the music. > > When I first put on the tape of Happy that Ilka made for me all those months > ago, I expected a low-budget recording of a talented artist, but instead I > heard a professionally produced album that sounded vastly superior in terms > of production, engineering and mixing to the last few Kate Bush albums and > just about everything else in the genre. A producer's role is to guide the > artist through the recording process, offering a separate viewpoint on the > music being recorded, and to do this the producer should have as great an > understanding of the artist as possible. Yes. I agree with your definition of the producer's role, and I think great ones are those that don't impose their own idiosyncrasies (I find Eno very bad for this). Technically I think the production is excellent, but I guess it's just I feel it's missing some ``soul'' for lack of a better word. Which is even worse considering how great the songs are! (Please remember, I'm referring only to Equipoise and future releases here. I *love* Warpaint exactly the way it is!) I guess I feel like many of my favourite artists either don't or shouldn't produce their own music. XTC for example, despite having produced others (Andy producing Lilac Time, etc.) have never produced themselves. I used to be a big George Harrison fan, but he sucked as a producer. The key I think was when you said the producer offers a ``separate viewpoint'' on the recording process. I think this includes keeping the musician from being self-indulgent (which is my worst-case scenario for a self-produced XTC album, and was certainly the case for George Harrison). > > So to sum up I think a big label (preferably one with respect for > > their artists) needs to pick up Happy *NOW* and spend lots of money on > > finding a producer and perfecting her sound. (Of course I would be > > No, no, absolutely no - what this would mean is the record company adopting a > "we know best" approach in regard to her music. Who are they going to stick > Happy in a studio with? Whoever they'd choose, you can bet the objective > would be to create, or mould, a sound which is homogenous enough to be > acceptable to radio, and to appeal to whatever market they've decided to put > her in. Probably "AOR". Trouble is, the big labels have no respect for their Hm... excuse my ignorance but what is AOR? I've heard the term but I don't think we use it up here in Canada. Anyway, that's why I put the caveat in, for a label that respects their artists. Granted, that may be an oxymoron. > artists until their artists start making money. One possible exception might > be Sire, though they're no strangers to the manipulation game either. Hmmm, maybe I'm leading a sheltered life here and am not as cynical as I should be about the music biz? :) Haven't they learned that categories don't make sense any more? I thought that was what Nirvana was all about. Actually Sire was who came to mind immediately, although I still think she'd do well on Nettwerk (now affiliated with Crapitol [who are now carrying the Butthole Surfers!]). > > very happy if this also included the use of more real instruments and > > musicians, too.) > > A keyboard instrument is a real instrument. So is a sequencer. So is the > human voice. So is a sampler. If we want to talk about "real" instruments, > let's go back to banging on logs - every instrument has its origins in human > invention, and electronic instrumentation is no different. In the case of > Happy, she's got enough of an understanding of the technology to draw emotion > from instruments commonly used for cold soundscapes. Sorry, bad wording. I have to admit I have a completely arbitrary personal preference in most cases for acoustic instruments (plus electric guitars I suppose). I didn't meant to imply any musical snobbery. There is some electronic minimalist music that I rather enjoy, too. Tim ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 8 Aug 93 18:34 MET DST From: uli@zoodle.robin.de (Ulrich Grepel) Subject: HR^5 Hi, Seems like noone here has looked through all the credits on HR^5. What has Kate Bush Music ltd. to do with the acoustic version of Feed The Fire?!?!? Wondering, Uli ======================================================================== From: brianb@lobby.ti.com (Brian Bloom) Subject: Re: HR^5 Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 13:37:55 CDT Uli asked: > Seems like noone here has looked through all the credits on HR^5. What has > Kate Bush Music ltd. to do with the acoustic version of Feed The Fire?!?!? I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly sure that it's due to the line from RUTH that was used (and sounding hauntingly like KaTe herself!) Okay, what to I have to do to get Happy to do a 'Don't Give Up' cover, dammit? :) br?an -- __ ____ __ ____ __ __ (__==__) /\ \ / \_\ / /\ / \ \ / |\ / /\ (oo) ( moo.) / \_\ / /\ |_| / / /| /\ \ \ / ||/ / / /-------\/ -' / /\ | |\ \/ /_/_ / / / \ \/ \ \ / |/ / / / | U.T.|| / \/ |_| \ __ \_\ /_/ / \ /\ \_\ / /| / / * ||----|| / /\ ./_/ \ \ \/_/_\_\/ \ \ \/_// / | / / ^^ ^^ \ \/ |_| \ \_\ /_/\ \ \_\ /_/ /|_/ / Br!an Bloom \__/_/ \/_/ \_\/ \/_/ \_\/ \_\/ brianb@lobby.ti.com .. but music hides me so well, ..and reveals me.. oh well - HR ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 16:07:03 EDT From: mpower@jpmorgan.com (Marc Power) Subject: happytorikate singer out there? Hi all you wonderful people out in ectopia. Maybe some of you know of an aspiring singer in the HappyToriKateJaneLizAnnie vein? Well, I am a songwriter/musician, writing 'that' kind of stuff and I would dearly love to work with a female vocalist, with good range to get The Project really going. I made this request once before but geographic distance really stopped it from working out (Hiya Julianne!) I have a studio in Brooklyn so any potential collaborator should be in striking distance of that locale. Is there anybody out there? Do *you* know anybody out there who might fill the bill? I have noticed that the collective knowledge and resources on this group seem boundless, so: Help! (please) Thankx, Marc Power mpower@jpmorgan.com Thank ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 13:50:20 PDT From: Neal R. Copperman Subject: Get those Aimee tix now Just a warning to Jeffy and maybe all the other Aimee fans in the Baltimore region... I've seen her at Max's four times, and three of them were sold out, so get those tickets in advance (despite my usual claims that you can always buy tickets at the show). The Aimee/til tuesday shows I have seen had been eratic, but sometimes incredible. In fact, the first show was so poor that I lost interest, until someone introduced me to "Everythings Different Now". Next time she came through, I saw her 3 times at Max's and once at the Bayou, all in one week!! All shows were truly amazing. I'll probably be at the Kinks show here, and it's pretty tough seeing all the club dates being flaunted in ecto. Thanks for the "kissing the frog" info (jon?). That sounds like what may have been going on. Other than receiving a free pass, I never heard another thing about it, so I'll have to call that one a missed opportunity. They've started playing the Cranberries on our local "alternative" station, and I think I must be overdue at the cd store for picking that and the new Jane up. neal ======================================================================== Date: Sun, 8 Aug 93 18:34 MET DST From: uli@zoodle.robin.de (Ulrich Grepel) Subject: HR^5 Uli caused to be written: >Seems like noone here has looked through all the credits on HR^5. What has >Kate Bush Music ltd. to do with the acoustic version of Feed The Fire?!?!? I saw this immediately, but as soon as I heard track #5 I knew exactly why it was there -- RUTH. ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 09 Aug 93 15:29:45 CDT From: "Writes in mellifluous tones :-)" Subject: Weekend at Vickie's 2 and other stories At the Gaffectori event Saturday, Chip asked me what sort of essay I was going to write about the whole thing, or words to that effect. Until that moment, I hadn't given any thought to writing an essay about it, but it immediately soun- ded like a good idea. And the rest is history :-). I actually missed out on the first 4.5 hours or so, like it or lump it. I kicked off the afternoon by catching the limited run of Jackie Chan in _Police Story_ (recommended) at the Art Institute's film center, followed by a trip to the public library to track down a foreign newspaper item that I'd run across in passing the day before. Naturally, I missed it on the first pass through the tall stack, only to finally locate it near the top of the stack on the second go. That accomplished, I proceeded to the subway for the journey up to Gaffa Central. Naturally, my joining the ongoing celebration was not without its glitches. When I arrived in front of Vickie's building, there was a sign on the buzzer panel that her buzzer was broken, to buzz the manager instead. I did, repeat- edly, and got no response. I played with the idea of finding a payphone and calling to inform Vickie what was up, but remembered that I'd tried to call from the subway downtown and gotten a busy signal, presumably indicating that they were logged onto the net. At this point a neighbor arrived home, but refused to admit me. I was subsequently able to follow another neighbor on in, and was pleased to finally be able to participate in the festivities. Chip, Chris, Dave and a bunch of others were using relatively larger baloons to bat a relatively smaller one around, keeping it in the air as long as poss- ible. I was handed a balloon, and happily joined in the fun. Two thoughts repeatedly crossed my mind: that when I was a kid, I was frequently assigned to play right field, and I didn't recall what percent of the time I actually caught anything out there; and that in volleyball, a side gets three chances to bat the ball back across the net before it's considered a catch. _Mirabile dictu_, I actually did manage to hit the baloon a modicum of the time. I broke away for a moment to get a beer out of the fridge, finally opting for Augsburger over Point. As I returned, I made a mental note to try and remember to include "Right Field" by Peter, Paul and Mary in my submissions to the 1994 Happy Birthday Project, in commemoration of how the assembled were celebrating Happy's birthday the prior year. With my left hand wrapped around my beer bottle, I was reduced to holding my baloon in my right hand. To my surprise, I found that I batted nearly as well right-handed as left. Ultimately, I found the gumption to ask where Vickie was (she was conspicuously absent from all this). Chip explained that she was in the bedroom, on the phone to her son. Finally, she came out, and attention turned to looking at videotapes of Kate. Having already tried the Augsburger, I resolved to have a Point for the second round, and headed for the refrigerator. I noted that Vickie's cat, who looks very like my own, was sprawled on a chair in a very similar position to one frequented by mine, and that Vickie's fan was also the same model as mine--two things that would make my cat feel right at home there. I grabbed a handful of popcorn, pulled a bottle of Point out of the fridge, and settled in to watch the tape of Kate on the Aspel show. She was actually sandwiched between two comedians with whom I actually was kind of bored, thought that may have been two bottles of beer slamming into my brain more than anything else. I enjoyed her actual appearance pretty well. There was a clip of her "This Woman's Work" video, with Kate performing at the piano in a tux, which I immediately conclu- ded refuted the sentiment that a sign in a transit interior attributed either to George Burns or to Aunt Linda (I forget which), that "Man is the only animal that wears bow ties"--woman, of course, being the other. Finally, she perform- ed a song from the new album, which sounds like it'll be a pretty good album. Then there were the closing credits from a movie or TV show, with Kate singing a Christmas song; I made a mental note that it would be a good song for a future Happy Gift Project. One of the actors credited on the crawl was one Paul Bartel; I immediately wondered if it was the same one that was in _Eating Raoul_. They eventually turned to Kate and Rowan Atkinson doing their duet of "Does a Bear [watch this space--my choice of words, not theirs] in the Woods?" Now _that_ was worth waiting for. I thought to myself that it belonged on the soundtrack of any documentary a Chicago TV station contemplated doing on Dave Wannstedt, Mike Ditka's successor as head coach of the Chicago Bears. The next item on the program was _GLC_, with music by Kate on the soundtrack of a fable about Ken Livingstone's victory over Margaret Thatcher (alas, it went the oppo- site way in the real world). At that point, the rental came due on the beer. When I returned, they were rewinding through a performance by Tori, which I thought I'd stay for, but they watched something else instead, so given the lateness of the hour I reluctantly pried myself loose from all the remaining fun and headed home. As they used to say around Ebbetts Field, wait'll next year :-). In other news: Personal to Meredith: The weather and sports crawls are the closest things _World News Now_ has to NPR's inimitable buttons and zippers. The same logic should, in the best case, work on both news organizations WRT why they should play Happy's music in these situations. WRT Geoff Parks' comments: Is the HMV record-store chain which carries Happy's records in Harvard Square connected to the chain of the same name in England? And if so, would the English branch be worth trying to massage to carry said product? Is 10KM really breaking up? The way I heard it Natalie was going out on her own, but the others were staying together. If a palindrome is a symmetrical word, what is a symmetrical phrase called? In any event, the phrase "Happy Birthday Happy" is one of them, so it must be a pretty good type of phrase. Off to see if Tower has the new Homeground yet, if it isn't raining too hard. Mitch ======================================================================== Subject: klausing on a saturday .... er, monday night From: klaus@inphobos.wupper.de (Cosmic Vagabond) Date: Mon, 09 Aug 93 19:23:42 GMT Right now, the one modem line to my feed is busy, so instead of getting new mail and digests I have the chance to read old ones. So, fasten your seatbelts and here we gooooooooooooo ... [please note: when you read "a couple of days ago", it could actually mean "a couple of weeks ago", as long as it took me to read the digests] A couple of days ago, we saw a tourist report about Iceland, and guess which music they selected for the introduction of the islands beautiful scenery? No, not Bjork and/or the Sugarcubes, but Mari Boine. Nice surprise. >Angelos> Why do days have only 24 hours? :-) So that you don't have to work even more. :) >Vickie> SWEET RELIEF is *OUT*! Everybody should pick up a copy just on > general principals :-). And it's also available in Germany! I got my copy a couple of days ago. On the very few chances I had to listen to it, nothing jumped out and grabbed me immediately. Only time will tell if I'm going to like it. >Uli> I have to admit that Mari Boine Persen life is a completely different > experience than on the album. That's true and unfortunately in this case completely different doesn't mean better. > And, Klaus, how did you recognize her FACE? .From the "One world, one voice" video, as you probably guessed by now. :) >Juha> know if it's supposed to contain the lyrics or not. Anyone? > I feel kind of silly having bought both the cd and the record though... No lyrics and no pictures (except for the cover) on my copy. I'm actually tempted to buy the vinyl as well. I've seen a small version of the Bjork with boat picture! :) >Vickie> Bad news though: the tour thing is stalled for now. I have no more > details but if it gets back on track you'll be the first to know. OH NOOOOO! Now that I've nearly conviced Claudia that we just can't miss a Happy concert again. >Mitch> Than again, those long waits for the Belmont bus do buy one time to > browse at Stars Our Destination. Nice bookstop. We still haven read all of the book we found there. Ilka wrote: (welcome back :) > sorry, I'm a little late with my comments, but I'm on the "digest" version... I wouldn't call that late. :) >mjm> HR5 *alot* though. I justed pulled out Ziggy Stardust (Highly > recommended Ryko CD with 5 awesome bonus tracks) since hearing Thanks for that info! Ziggy Stardust was always my favourite Bowie album, and I was thinking of getting it on CD. 5 bonus tracks should be able convince me to get it again. Does someone know if those tracks are only on the Ryko release? I doubt that I will find that specific release over here. > If you have a piano, go get it tuned! No piano, but we got our guitars tuned again. They didn't like that break of about 2 years though. Two strings tore almost immediately. Hah, now _we_ are waking up the neighbours again. :) Hmm, maybe I should add that I can't play guitar. I barely manage to get some sounds out of it. Oh, you were all _so_ lucky that I didn't put something of it on the HBP. ;) >David> P.S. Does anyone else besides me think that H&K should come up with > a better title for the best-of than "Rhodes Songs"? Everything is better than "Happy Songs". >Vickie> I just talked to my friend Charley and he's very interested in this > song because he thinks it *might* be based on a book called "Cosmicomics" > by Italo Calvino. Claudia confirmed that. > I finally got around to asking Kevin if he preferred people to buy from > stores or directly from them, and he encouraged store buying whenever > possible, My test to buy "Warpaint" from the local CD chain JPC who had the album as an import in their newsletter, so far was not encouraging. I've ordered it in mid-April, but they still weren't able to send me one. They still list it as a back-order on the bills they send me. Maybe I should help them to stock up. :) Meredith> ... so here's a Klaus for you all. Thank you, we already have one. ;) Bob> Are those GIFs recently sent special unix Gifs? I could not get them to > read on my clone... Nope, they came out fine on mine. >Vickie> I'm supposed to sweep while he's out there having fun???? :-) That's the way life is. >Uli> .. but D"usseldorf is not that far away from Wuppertal. > Sounds like a good idea! Klaus? Perttu? MEET! ;-) Just about 40km. We are trying hard to meet. :) Neal> ... signs saying "Emergency Pull-Off Ahead" I came up with "Emergency Pull-Off A Head". :) Neal also asked about PGs Mindblender. There is an ad (with the frog) for it on the back of the titlepage of "The Box #2". Sorry for the late response, but I only managed to read your request today. Here is what the ad says: Peter Gabriel's Mindblender Rock Motion Theatre What is it? Imagine strapping yourself into your seat in a small, darkened room, in front of a 16 foot high definition screen, surrounded by digital sounds. The aural space expands and you begin to move (or be moved?) irresistibly in response to the music, and the images on screen. Peter Gabriel will be programming state of the art simulation technology to enable you, for the first time, to ride a music video. You can Kiss That Frog in 60 cities across North America from this summer. Now what's that? A frog simulator? Sounds good, doesn't it? Aaaah, that's a good feeling. I'm up to date with ecto digests. It doesn't mean anything though. As soon as I post this, I surely get back four new digests. ___________________________________________________________ . * | "Tell me all the plans you have for the great beyond. | _ . * .* . | Will you be physical again, or be a cosmic vagabond." | (_) . | --- Happy Rhodes --- | . . o | Klaus "cosmic vagabond" Kluge klaus@inphobos.wupper.de | <== ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 19:51 EDT From: robert@deepspace.nj00802.sai.com (Robert Lovejoy) Subject: brni was in an accident... Hello, I got a call today from brni. First off, he's OK. His left arm is broken near the shoulder, there's a few bruises, but otherwise he is all right. On his way to vacation in North Carolina, while driving along Rt. 13 in Maryland, a light turned red, and suspecting a cop, he stopped. The semi behind him decided to run the light. He remembered a crunching sound, and noticing that his car was moving. He was plowed through the intersection. His car looked like an accordion, he notes, and doesn't think they will have to compress it any more. It is a miracle he is still alive! After he noticed his arm was broken, he saw the truck driver and a cop at his window. (Sure enough, there WAS a cop there!). They had to use the jaws of life to extricate him from his vehicle. The truck driver waited for him at the Emergency Room. The truck driver was charged for the accident. brni is now staying with his parents in West Chester, PA. He asked me to unsubscibe him for a while as he is without net.access. Cards may be sent to him at 603 Gages Lane West Chester, PA 19382 or you can call him at (215)696-2425. His deepest sadness is that he is now unable to play bass. This has not exactly been a good year for him. He'll be back on line in a few weeks with the whole story. Sorry for the sad content of this post. The next one has some better news. Best wishes, Bob Lovejoy ======================================================================== Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 20:40 EDT From: robert@deepspace.nj00802.sai.com (Robert Lovejoy) Subject: Keeper of the Radio Stations Hi There once again, Got a call from Susanne today. Seems "Ashes to Ashes" has charted in the Hard Report, so she asked me to send you all an up-to-date list of the stations which are playing Happy, and ask you all to call whichever station might serve you and request A2A. Here is the official List of Radio Stations: NORTHEAST CENTRAL MIDWEST WCLZ Brunswick, ME WCBE Columbus, OH KUNI Cedar Falls, IA WDST Woodstock, NY WDET Detroit, MI KCFE Minneapolis, MN WFUV Bronx. NY WYEP Pittsburgh, PA KBIA Columbia, MO WKXE White River, VT WONB Ada, OH KFMG Des Moines, IA WXPN Philadelphia, PA WAPS Akron, OH WEFT Champaign, IL WVAY W. Dover, VT WAMX Ann Arbor, MI KKFI Kansas City, WBJB Lincroft, NJ WMKY Morehead, KY KZRD Chicago, IL WHRL Albany, NY WWCD Columbus, OH WFXB St. Louis, MO WESU Middletown, CT WPKN Bridgeport, CT WKVT Brattleboro, VT WRSI Greenfield, MA WNWK New York, NY WERU Blue Hills, ME WVBR Ithaca, NY SOUTHEAST SOUTHWEST NORTHWEST WMNF Tampa, FL KTAO Taos, NM KMMS Boseman, MT WNCW Spindale, NC KXCI Tucson, AZ KUWR Laramie, WY WUTC Chattanooga, TN KUCA Conway, AZ KING Ketchum, ID KIOT Santa Fe, NM KECH Ketchum, ID SOUTH WEST KERA Dallas, TX KOTR Cambria, CA KGSR Austin, TX KPFA Berkeley, CA KWVS Corpus Christi, TX KVNF Paonia, CO KRTX Galveston, TX KOUR Redlands, CA KFAN Fredericksburg, TX KTHO S. Lake Tahoe, CA KUT Austin, TX KCSU Ft. Collins, CO KSPN Aspen, CO KCRW Los Angeles, CA KZYR Avon, CO KRCL Salt Lake City, UT Please, if you live near one of these station, call and request Happy, esp. Ashes to Ashes. If you know someone who lives near one of these stations, please call them and ask them to request! BTW, Susanne noted that sales of Warpaint was about 20,000 units, while Equipoise has sold 6000 at this time. She feels this is because EQP is less radio friendly with its longer cuts. However the CD5, and hopefully the new Best Of album due in stores the week of Aug. 23 will increase exposure and cause more sales. Susanne agrees that the monsters are not commercial and can mislead people, but these decisions are Happy's and Happy has complete control of her art. This is why she is happy to be on an independent label, unrestricted by the corporate mindset. As she says, "I took a back door to fame / I'm still travelling now, but I'm free of shame." The new album is going to be great! I can tell you there will be no monsters on the cover, but I'm sworn to secrecy about it otherwise. Please try to get it from your local record store, as distribution for this will be more extensive than EQP. If they don't have it, make them order it! Once more into the breach, dear friends, and cry God for Happy, Kevin, and Susanne! It is time once again for Happy's Army to mobilize. Talk to you all soon! Sgt. Bob ======================================================================== The ecto archives are on hardees.rutgers.edu in ~ftp/pub/hr. There is an INDEX file explaining what is where. Feel free to send me things you'd like to have added. -- jessica (jessica@ns1.rutgers.edu)