Errors-To: owner-ecto@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 #392 ecto, Number 392 Friday, 8 January 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Eddi Reader Re: Hi! Hey Vishal! HaPpY Birthday Happy CD sightings! Equipoise happy resurgence Is Benno on ecto? Happy (what a surprise) Talked to Kevin Today's your birthday friend... Re: Psycho stuff Morose and Confused (aka About Alaska) ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 02:35:30 GMT From: brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk (Jens P. Brage) Subject: Eddi Reader Hi! Vickie wrote: > Another apostle has been welcomed into the fold. Eddi Reader! > Jens, your turn...tell these fine folks about this truly > wonderful woman, if you please. Well, I'll try my best, even though I don't actually know very much about her! Let's go back to the fall of '89 (I was working on my masters thesis back then): Everything was chugging along as usual, the pop-charts looked like pop-charts should (I can't remember who was in back then, but it was the usual unremarkable stuff). And then suddenly, a totally unheard-of band, Fairground Attraction (FA) from England, entered the charts, everybody was singing the chorus of the song "Perfect" and there was a singer with a voice on the radio! Well, I have a sound suspicion of too popular music, so I generally ignored the phenomenon. I did see the video of "Perfect", and it was sufficiently interesting that I put FA's album "The First of a Million Kisses" on my list of wishes for Christmas. My brother gave me the CD, and I was hooked instantly: It turned out that "Perfect" was perhaps the weakest song on the album which contained pearls such as "A Smile in a Whisper", "The Wind Knows my Name", "Allelujah" and many other great songs. About the same time, FA won an international award (the Grammy?) as, I think, best new band. Well lets move on to February: I had finished my masters thesis and, according to tradition, I had to invite my friends from the university out for dinner. As my sister was working at one of the best clubs in Copenhagen at the time, we had agreed on a change of tradition: My friends would pay for their own dinner, and I would buy tickets for some concert at the club. So I called my sister and asked her to send me a list of upcoming arrangements. *Fairground Attraction was playing* (ok, so you guessed it! ;-)). I immediately called her back, and reserved ten tickets... The concert was extremely impressive: The band played almost entirely acoustic (except for "Perfect", which they left for the audience to sing :-)), and was extremely skillful. Eddi Reader performed the vocals even better than on the CD and charmed everyone in the audience. At least one other, in the group I was with, admitted to falling in love with Eddi... Not being trained in the Ecto ways, I didn't attempt to see the band after the show. :-( Well, more time passed and everybody was waiting for a new FA release. Unfortunately, FA only made one more CD "Ay Fond Kiss" in 1990, just before breaking up, and it was clearly a compilation of odds and ends. Eddi's vocals are still impressive, but the album was unfocussed. The album ends appropriately with the title song: "Ay fond kiss, and then we sever...". That seemed to be the end of Eddi Reader, I didn't expect to hear of her again (FA was the kind of band you'd expect to hear playing in the streets or in small pubs, not on the international stage. Excellent musicians, but little commercial appeal). The one night last spring, I heard a voice on the radio and thought: "That just has to be Eddi Reader!". It was, and it turns out that she now sings with a band called the Patron Saints of Imperfection. She had just released a new album called "Mirmama" with lots of good music which shows off her voice very well. It contains mellow, jazzy tunes such as "Honeychild", folk songs "The Blacksmith" and wild, joyful songs such as "All or Nothing". So what does she sound like? Augh! ;-) I think the closest comparison I can come up with is this: Imagine Cyndi Lauper singing the kind of songs Mary Black (that's another superb singer!) sings, then you may have an idea... Eddi Reader has the same kind of intimate, a little raspy(?) voice Cyndi Lauper has, but she uses it in a very different way: Softly, caressing and smiling. The music is generally a little folk, a little jazzy and fits hers voice very well. Finally, you can hear Eddi on these CDs: Fairground Attraction: "The First of a Million Kisses", BMG, PD71696. Fairground Attraction: "Ay fond Kiss", BMG, PD74596. Eddi Reader: "Mirmama", BMG, PD75156. (BMG Records seems to be affiliated with RCA, that may be easier to locate) Eddi Reader is definitely one of my most favorite singers, and I strongly recommend her to the rest of this fine assembly. And if any of you has any further info (some of the British Ectophiles?), I'd be delighted to hear of it... Enjoy! Jens P. Brage | Dance the circle dance of dreaming, brage@sphere.home.id.dth.dk | lonely by the crystal sea. /\ | Spin the web of mist and moonlight, \SphereSoft | come, beloved, and follow me. ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 00:39:19 -0500 From: meth@aol.com Subject: Re: Hi! Hi! Hey Scott, it's about time you got yourself over here! :> Yes, Kevin does write music for Sesame Street- and wasn't he also responsible for the theme to the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown as well? As for his being related to one of the actresses on Sesame Street, that's a new one on me... anyone else have a clue? Meredith Tarr meth@aol.com (redefining snailmail) ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 1:35:41 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Hey Vishal! HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY! Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 08:33:56 +0000 From: Terry Partis Subject: HaPpY Birthday Here's wishing a very Happy Birthday to Greg Bossert on January 9th Hope you're still lurking around Greg. Peace Terry =============================================================================== _ __ Jolly Hockeysticks _ __ / `-' ( ,,, / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' Terry (Tel Boy) Partis \_.-._( ''' _ __ (tgp@ukc.ac.uk) _ __ / `-' ( ,,, With a smile and a song / `-' ( ,,, | I I ||||||[:::] I'm HaPpY | I I ||||||[:::] \_.-._( ''' \_.-._( ''' YYUR - YYUB - ICURYY4ME =============================================================================== ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 14:31:57 -0600 From: kennel@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Chris Kennel) Subject: Happy CD sightings! Hey all, Christine (from Iowa City) here. Today during lunch hour I wandered into one of our record stores, the Record Collector. They had 1 cassette of Warpaint, 1 cd each of Rhodes I, Rhodes II, Rearmament, Ecto, and Warpaint. A couple of months ago I wrote Vickie and told her I had found Warpaint (_very_ much to my surprise) and had gotten the CD. (Vickie, did you ever get that email?) At that time, they only had 1 Warpaint cassette and 1 Warpaint cd, but I see they're moving up in the world! Our Camelot Records has 1 Warpaint CD, sonst nichts. Anyhow, that's my reportage from Iowa City. --christine kennel ======================================================================== Subject: Equipoise Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 15:41:24 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, All the reports of Happy CD sightings are *very* good news in view of the release of Equipoise. Which is the subject of this post. Does anybody know when (date) the CD will be released? Track listings? Will it be released simultaneously to all stores that carry Happy, i.e. are they aware of its release? Will we have to order directly from AG? [Interpret: Which is the fastest way to get this once it's out?] February is so close, but *so* far away! Angelos +==========================================+ |'My ears can't wait for new parasites'- me| +==========================================+ ======================================================================== Date: 07 Jan 93 15:54:04 EST From: Mike Mendelson Subject: happy resurgence Has anyone else noticed the general *resurgence* of Happy as a topic of conversation and interest on gaffa? I find this all very interesting. My guess: A couple of people inquire, sparking yet more inquiries from others, particularly newcomers who missed the ecto-creating flap. Oh, what fun. So far no flames about, but it's inevitable... -mjm ======================================================================== Subject: Is Benno on ecto? Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 19:04:02 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis Hi, Just received a package from AG, with the wrong CDs :(. THey are autographed to Benno, so I assume Benno is an ectophile, or a love-hound. If Benno reads this, pleace contact me at kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu. And now back to your regularly scheduled posts. Angelos PS. Called AG to let them know of the mistake. I *hope* they call back!! ;) ======================================================================== Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 22:42:04 -0500 From: meth@aol.com Subject: Happy (what a surprise) Hi! _Warpaint_ can be found in CAMELOT RECORDS in IOWA????? Wow. I'm stunned speechless. This is amazing. Today I finally got to listen to the tape of the Helen Leicht interview I was sent earlier in the week. I don't remember the general consensus when this interview took place, but it seems to me that Ms. Leicht is a gushing fool, and it was a painfully horrible interview. Happy could hardly get a word in edgewise! I mean, it's nice that Helen is a rabid Happy fan and all that, but the least she could have done was tone the homage down just a tad. The questions, when she did ask them, were without structure and the whole thing just didn't make all that much sense. Happy did manage to say some funny things, though... (IMHO, of course.) Good question, Angelos... should we be sending AG money now, or is there actually a chance that the local Strawberries will be carrying Equipoise? Just what kind of a distribution deal have they struck, anyway? Hm, I suppose Suzanne White is putting promotional plans together by now. I should send her a letter requesting a WESU interview soon... Meredith Tarr meth@aol.com (redefining snailmail) ======================================================================== Subject: Talked to Kevin Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 23:47:17 EST From: Angelos Kyrlidis :) Hi, Hmmm, maybe some higher force managed to mix up my order, and gave me the chance to talk to Kevin!! Well, here's the scoop on Equipoise. Its official release date is February 9th and this means that it should hit the stores then. YES, the *stores*, that are covered by the limited distribution deal they got. Whoever wants to pre-order can do so, after Feb. 1. Update: They have one more song they want to mix, and possibly re-do one, and hopefully the mastering will be done next week. I hinted for info about the songs (like titles) but Kevin didn't tell :( I asked about the possibility of a tour, and he was *quite* cryptic. He mentioned something about some possibility Happy is exploring, and should know in a week or so that would keep her busy for the next year, but he wouldn't go into further detail. [All this has *realy* set my imagination going...was this a record deal, and an extended tour he was talking about, or something *totally* different? I wonder...I guess we'll know when the time comes...] He sounded *very* excited about the new album, called it a *new step* for them and if before I couldn;t wait to hear it, now I am considering going to Albany to return the CDs so I can sneak into the studio and listen to Equipoise :) ;) angelos PS. I also put forward the suggestion of using Colossus as the title of the Greatest Hits CD... ;) I *think (hope)* Kevin was amused. PPS. Benno is from Germany. I guess he's a love-hound...I'll let him know about the mix up there! ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 2:00:15 EST From: WretchAwry > Subject: Happy (what a surprise) Meredith says: > _Warpaint_ can be found in CAMELOT RECORDS in IOWA????? > > Wow. I'm stunned speechless. This is amazing. I agree, absolutely. > Today I finally got to listen to the tape of the Helen Leicht interview > I was sent earlier in the week. :-( :-( :-( This is one of my black marks. Doug has been waiting for this for a *long* time. My deepest apologies to everyone. I have no excuse. :-( > I don't remember the general consensus when this > interview took place, but it seems to me that Ms. Leicht is a gushing fool, > and it was a painfully horrible interview. Opinions like this are why I will *never* interview Happy again, and why no one will *ever* hear the original, uncut, interview. :-) The reason (oop, here comes an excuse) why I haven't sent Doug the tape with the interviews on it is because I wanted to put the Helen Leicht (I thought it was Light, btw. Are you sure Meredith?) interview, the ECHOES feature, and to fill up the tape, bits from my own interview. Well, I went on a tangent. I wanted it to be really good, I wanted it to sound really good, and I wanted Happy to shine. The first thing I did was to edit Happy's talking and cut out all of mine. Then I worked and worked to "fit" the talking over songs. I mean, if Happy was talking about "No One Here" then I would start that song, then fade down and bring up Happy's talking about it. I wanted it to be ....um...I don't know, "professional" or something. After quite a bit of working, I finally got it about 98% the way I wanted it. My plans were to re-do it one more time, then add it onto to tape. I wanted it to be something I could be proud of. I don't remember what the circumstances were, but things were happening, I was depressed, we had company...I don't remember, except that a lot of things happened in a short space of time and I had to put away the tapes and not do the final edit right away. Then when I went back to finish it, I couldn't find the various parts of it. I couldn't stand the thought, then, of starting from scratch and doing it all over again, so I was just going to say to hell with it, and not include it. Sometimes though...sometimes I do have an ego, and I didn't *want* to send it without my interview. That meant that I *would* have to start from scratch. That thought sent me scurrying for Alaska and it never got done. Sorry... Back to Meredith & Helen: > Happy could hardly get a word in > edgewise! I mean, it's nice that Helen is a rabid Happy fan and all that, > but the least she could have done was tone the homage down just a tad. The > questions, when she did ask them, were without structure and the whole thing > just didn't make all that much sense. Happy did manage to say some funny > things, though... Oh yeah, the transcript that I was supposed to do... :-( Half of it is done, but I remembered how much I *detest* transcribing interviews and kind of petered out on it. Oh boy, I could go into an anti-Vickie tirade here, because I deserve it, but I won't (on-line, anyway) except to say that no excuse is good enough, and I'm sorry that I've let my depression feed my procrastination habit. I have to work overtime on Saturday, but Sunday I'm going to try to find my near-finished edit. If I can't find it, to heck with it, I'll send Doug the Helen Leicht and the Echoes. I really do want to get all my obligations taken care of. I will, I will, I really (probably) will! :-) -v- ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 2:07:14 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Today's your birthday friend... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Greg Bossert! London...November, 1990...KaTe KonvenTion. *Very* nice to meet you! -v- ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 2:13:51 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Psycho stuff Keith asked: > I recall that a while ago there were people on Ecto asking about the delays > in the deliveries of their Pschowelders _Inertia_ CDs. Rather than clutter > Ecto with another "me too", I decided to bide my time. When somebody had > mentioned that they had finally gotten theirs, I thought that my wait was > over and for the next week, anxiously scanned my mail box. Now that I still > haven't received the CD, and seeing as how the check was cashed over a month > ago, hope has again faded. Has anybody else who ordered Psychowelders CDs > not received them? Chris called and left a message on Rhondda's answering machine. We haven't heard back yet. I just wanted to let you know that I am working on this. No one else popped up and said that they haven't received a Psychowelder CD, so if anyone else is in this spot, please let me know. I need to make Rhondda aware of it. Barry, did you get yours? -v- ======================================================================== Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 3:48:28 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Morose and Confused (aka About Alaska) Though I've had nothing but support for my Step Inside post, I think that my Alaska post stepped on some toes. I shouldn't have posted it, I think. Hmmm, I guess what was in my mind was that, if I used the phrase "go Alaska" in any future posts, you would know where it came from. I think that I think that this wasn't a very good idea. "Coming Out" as a sexual abuse survivor was a very powerful thing for me. Every time I've done it (first to Happy, then to asar, then some other friends, etc.) my reactions hve been the same. I'm scared to do it...I do it, it's scary...I feel *great* immediately afterwards if the support was there for me (a couple of times it wasn't-I did have friends who just couldn't/wouldn't/didn't want to understand or even hear it-and I panicked at those times)...I breathe easier for a while and feel very strong...then I lose that feeling and start to feel that it was a mistake and that I never should have told anyone and kept it all a secret...that's when I start to feel really bad ("vague and spacy and teary") and I start kicking myself for being such an ass. As of yet, there's no middle ground anywhere in there. That's one indication that I do have a *long* way to go. Maybe the day will come when I can tell people and just be matter-of-fact about it, and not let it cause such wild flunctuations of emotions. Maybe. I'm not groping for more support, I've gotten tons already and I wouldn't want anyone to think I don't appreciate it or believe it. This is a problem that is *my* problem and is something I have to get a handle on. Told'ya I wasn't very good at this :-). One last thought/insight about the Alaska post. My reaction to posting it, that is. In the time between the release of Warpaint and the start of the HappyGaffa wars, I wrote a lot about Happy's depression and "mental illness." These posts appeared in gaffa and Happy got print-outs of the posts. I found out that Happy was very upset with me. She didn't like my saying that she had a mental illness. I had never thought anything about it. To me, depression *was* a form of mental illness and there's nothing to be ashamed of in having a mental illness. That's what I thought, but I was thoughtless, and hadn't talked to Happy about it *before* I started spouting off in gaffa. I found out that Happy, like a lot of people, is very wary of the "stigma" of mental illness. I never even thought of that, I didn't realize that some people might read my posts and come away with impressions like ....unusual name...indie...lots of albums...crazy... and I think that's how Happy saw it. She didn't mind me using the word "depression" but was uncomfortable with me using "mental illness" when writing about her. I didn't see anything wrong with it, but I didn't want to upset Happy so I quit saying that. Now I understand it *completely* because of my own depression. When I post something like the Step Inside story, people feel sorry for me, because of what I went through. But when i post something like the Alaska story, I feel that I've exposed some of my "mental illness" and that bothers me, because I don't want people to think I'm "crazy." That's one reason why I'm so upset, and, even though I *know* that I shouldn't be, I can't help myself. It's hard to explain and I'm not articulate enough to do a proper job of it. All I know is that I'm in a very bad/sad/depressed mood and it directly stems from posting that Alaska thing. What I know to be true intellectually is not the same as what I *feel* emotionally. It's a bitch. The most immediate effect is that I won't be posting any more things like the Alaska post. Even if I'm way off base, and my reactions are blown out of porportion, I still can't stand the feeling that I've made a *HUGE* mistake, which places a much heavier burden on my shoulders than "simply" admitting that I was sexually abused and raped. I'm even thinking that this post in itself is total overkill, but if Alaska told about how I don't always feel "real" then this one will tell you how my confusion can rage out-of-control at times. :-/ I just wish this were all over with. It would be so much easier to write "that's how I felt" instead of "this is how I feel" and I'd be distanced from it all. The mind...what a strange thing it is. So Mitch, does this all get psychology or sociology credit points at Boom-didi-wanna High? :-) G'night -v- ======================================================================== 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)