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 #273 ecto, Number 273 Tuesday, 23 June 1992 Today's Topics: *-----------------* FAQ (big!) Cranes FAQ's FAQs fax ? ! The Story ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 16:46:48 -0400 From: gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert) Subject: FAQ (big!) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: This is the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions post) for the Ecto mailing list "Words weren't made for cowards" -- Happy Rhodes :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Hello! Welcome all newcomers to Happy Rhodes and Ecto -- the fuzzy blue mailing list. You are now officially an Ectophile! Ecto is a mailing list for the discussion of Happy Rhodes and her music; other frequent topics include female vocalists/musicians, "alternative" music, the weather (snow, in particular), and whatever else seems interesting (and ectophiles have a *wide* range of interests). The name "Ecto" comes from the title of Happy's fourth album. Ecto was founded and is maintained by jessica. The list is also available in "digest" form, upon request. The Internet address for Ecto is: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu Subscription requests, requests for digests, etc., go to: ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Useful Info :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: HR = Happy Rhodes (also H, HTR) KB = Kevin Bartlett (or Kate Bush...) H&K = Happy & Kevin (personal partners and co-producers) B\R = Bartlett\Rhodes (a professional duo in 1988 and part of 1989) AG = Aural Gratification 1st4 = Happy's 1st 4 albums VI = Volume I album (also V1, Vol. I or 1) VII = Volume II album (also V2, Vol. II or 2) Rearm = Rearmament album WP = Warpaint album Her full name is Happy Tyler Rhodes. She was born Kimberly Tyler Rhodes but has always been called Happy by family and friends. When she was 16 she had her name legally changed to Happy. She was born August 9, 1965 in Poughkeepsie, NY. The address to order Happy's music or write to her is: Happy Rhodes c/o Aural Gratification P.O. Box 8658 Academy Station Albany, NY 12208 USA Phone: (518) 482-7413 (plus any necessary international codes for the USA) The discography: 1) Rhodes Vol. I (1986) 2) Rhodes Vol. II (1986) 3) Rearmament (1986) 4) Ecto (1987) 5) Warpaint (1991) the albums are available on CD and cassette. CDs of the first four albums will be available mid-May, 1992, at which times the tapes will probably be discontinued. Preorders will be accepted. Only 1000 CDs of each album are being pressed, and, while that sounds like a lot, Happy's popularity is growing daily and they could very well sell out within a couple of months. Though more might then be pressed, anyone in "collector" mode might want to get in on the first pressing. Bonus tracks (at least 2 per album) will be on the 1st4 CDs. If you ask Happy to autograph the tapes and/or CD, she will! Also available are official AG tee shirts: "50% cotton and 50% chemical, one size XL fits all. The front is a drawing by HAPPY of a dove with the wings of a bat (i.e, light and dark) hovering over the lovely fuscia colored name "HAPPY RHODES". the back sports lyric from a new work, a diptych called "He Will Come" and "The Flight". This will be certain to appeal to the vampire in you. On the left sleeve is our cool-i-o Aural Gratification logo, again designed by Happy St. Rhodes of Paris." Prices *without* postage and handling: CDs are US$13.99 each Tapes are US$9.99 each Tee Shirts are $13.99 each Postage & Handling within the US: One CD is US$2.00 One tape is US$1.50 Each additional tape or CD is US$0.35 apiece Tee Shirts are US$2.00 International postage is a bit complex. AG founder Kevin Bartlett weighed 4 CDs and a new mailer (which itself costs US$0.65) and got prices (in US dollars) to: Europe/UK: $7.63 + $0.65 = $8.28 Canada: $3.72 + $0.65 = $4.37 Australia: $16.80 + $0.65 = $17.45 Tee shirts are $4.00 to anywhere outside of the US. Ectophiles from other countries who have not yet ordered anything from Happy but wish to do so should enquire through this list (perhaps there are others who have ordered from the same country and know the prices of postage) or write directly to Happy & Kevin. Whenever you write to them, and you want an answer to postage or other questions, please consider enclosing an IRC (International Reply Coupon) for their convenience. Americans and Canadians might consider a self-addressed stamped envelope. As to which album(s) to get? That's a toughie, because they're all excellent. There's a huge difference between 1 and 5, and the progression is evident in the middle three. If you asked the people here on Ecto, you'd get lots of different answers. If you already have Warpaint, one suggestion would be to start with 1 and 4, and if you like them, you will almost certainly like the middle two. Of course, it's just about impossible to know what different people will like. Our stock answer is "get them all!" :-) because they're all worth getting. Finally, special Ecto tee shirts are available, designed by jessica from Happy's original Ecto album cover. The shirts are blue with a version of the Ecto face in brown, blue, and grey, and Happy's name. On the back, they read "I'll be here/I'll be ecto" Price is US$10, plus $2.90 postage ($5.50 for priority mail overseas). Send orders to: Ecto PO Box 11291 New Brunswick, NJ 08906 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: History :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy has never had a major-label recording contract. All her music has been released so far on Aural Gratification, a private label started and owned by Kevin Bartlett. Kevin started the label to release his own music (he's quite well-known as a musician in the Albany area), then added Happy after they met. The first 4 albums were recorded by Happy, all alone in the studio. She played acoustic guitar and keyboards and used lots of overdubs. She produced them all herself and even engineered quite a few of the songs. Happy started out working as an apprentice engineer at Cathedral Sound Studios and learned the equipment by recording her own songs. Pat Tessitore, Cathedral's owner, was impressed by Happy's talent and encouraged her, even giving her free studio time to play around with the equipment and record her songs. When Happy met Kevin in 1986 and he encouraged her to let him release her music on AG, she had amassed enough songs for 2 albums. They gathered together all the tapes of the various songs and VI and VII were born. Later that year, Happy released Rearmament and Ecto came in 1987. Between Ecto and Warpaint, Happy and Kevin joined forces professionally as Bartlett\Rhodes. They never released any music but did play live in the Albany area quite often. In mid-1989 they decided to continue as they had started, as separate artists. Happy then began work on Warpaint. WP is more professionally recorded (she and Kevin took out a bank loan to make sure it was as high-quality they could possibly make it) and uses more musicians, though it's mainly just her and Kevin. They also co-produced the album. (H&K are still personal partners, BTW). Kevin is also working very hard on the promotional side of Happy's career while keeping a full schedule with his own career. Happy has been working on the 6th album. The songs have been written, but not yet completely arranged or recorded. Fans who saw Happy perform live in Albany, NY (March 18, 1992) or Philadelphia, PA (March 21, 1992) were treated to a preview of the next album. Three new songs (Mother Sea, He Will Come and The Flight) were performed, and they will definitely be on the next album, which is due to be recorded starting July, 1992. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy in Concert :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy has played live in and around the Albany, NY area for many years. On March 18, 1992 Happy played live for the first time in years and it was the first time with a full backup band. >From the pages of Ecto: "Happy has surrounded herself with a group of very talented musicians, all of whom have a deep respect for her talent. Kevin Bartlett turned out to be very dynamic on stage, playing a variety of instruments (keyboards, steinberger electric guitar, 12 string electric guitar, and 12 string acoustic, and electronic drum pads). Mark Foster played acoustic and electronic drums, and was quite impressive. It was nice to see that the electronc drums were manually triggered instead of sequenced. In fact, I don't know if anything was sequenced in the entire show; if there was any, it was minimal. Fretted and fretless bass was played by Ray Jung ("We love you, Ray!"), who has had experience with a wider range of musicians, having played with people such as Bill Bruford (of Yes and King Crimson). The second set of keyboards, as well as BVs, were handled by Martha Waterman. You may recognize her name--she played piano on the studio version of "In Hiding." And finally, BVs were handled quite admirably by Kelly Bird. She was able to blend beautifully with Happy's voice so that at times it actually sounded like Happy was multitracked." Jeff Burka A few days later, on March 21, 1992, Happy sold out the 800-seat University Museum Auditorium at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. >From the pages of Ecto: "Incredible." "Mindblowing." "Astounding." "Spellbinding." "Magical." Full details of these concerts via Ectophile impressions can be found in the Ecto archives beginning with Digest 187. These concerts provided the very first opportunity for a "Happy Gathering of Ectophiles." May there be many, many more! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Background :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: She was a very lonely child and has always been a loner. She suffered from depression as an adolescent and teenager and sought solace and help in the music she listened to (Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Bach) and in writing songs herself. She "wrote out" the demons in her mind, never guessing that the songs would someday end up on albums that would be cherished by other people. Happy is an interesting, intelligent, singer/songwriter/musician who cares deeply about her music and makes music to last, music that matters. Happy's lyrics can sear your heart and soul in its intensity and introspectiveness. Her lyrics are very often dark and are nearly all autobiographical, but they are almost all about emotions. Human emotions are universal, so many of her songs touch nerves in other people too. Many of her songs are about depression, some are about suicidal feelings and some are cynical, but there are also songs about hope and light, with a "you must love yourself before anyone else can love you" point of view. She does have a sense of humor, and it comes out in a few songs, but most of her songs are very serious. Not that they are all slow, dirge-like ballads. Many songs are fast-paced and very melodic. You could enjoy the music and Happy's voice(s) without ever paying attention to the lyrics. The lyrics add another layer to be fascinated by if you choose to delve further, though. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Fans :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy's fan base is small but growing and we here in Ecto think it's exciting to see how she's progressing and to "be with her" at each step of her career from now on. Vickie Mapes says: Happy Rhodes fans are very passionate about promoting her music. Record companies have ignored her (and, so far, continue to) I think because they don't really know what to do with her. She can't be easily put into a box and labled. We all think that it's extremely unfair and wrong that she's unknown and obscure. We want to change that :-) It's only at a small grass-roots level at the moment, but will grow as more people become aware of Happy, fall in love with her music, and care enough to spread the word about her. H&K are *very* aware of Ecto and are kept informed of its topics of conversation. They are deeply appreciative of everyone's interest and have great affection for Ecto. This affection manifested itself after the Philadelphia concert when Happy and Kevin made it a point to invite Ectophiles to a post-concert "Schmooze-With-Philly-Bigwigs" party at the Penn Towers Hotel. They didn't *have* to invite us, they *wanted* to. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: History of Ecto :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Semi-regular postings about Happy Rhodes have appeared in rec.music.gaffa (Love-Hounds) since January 1989 via Vickie Mapes, who "found" Happy in 1988 and played her regularly on her radio show called Suspended In Gaffa. The release of Warpaint in April 1991 prompted many gaffa readers to try her music for the first time. Many of those people liked what they heard and went on to complete their collection with the early tapes. As discussion grew to deafening levels, it was pointed out to the Happy Rhodes fans that, no, not *every* Kate Bush fan will like Happy's music, and could we please start talking about Kate again? As many gaffians wanted to continue to talk about Happy, but wanted to respect the wishes of those who had no interest, on June 11, 1991 Jessica Dembski created the mailing list Ecto. The list has been *very* active, and topics on any subject of interest to Ectophiles are welcome. GIFs, lyrics to all the albums, articles, interviews, reviews, other tidbits and Ecto Archives are available from: hardees.rutgers.edu by anonymous ftp, in pub/hr (Internet address is: 128.6.18.2.) For those without FTP capability, jessica will send anything in the archives to you via e-mail. An Index is available. (Mail to ecto-request@hardees.rutgers.edu). If you are getting Ecto as loose mail, and find yourself swamped, you might consider receiving it in a Digest form. Write jessica at ecto-request@ns1.rutgers.edu for details. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy as Artist :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The artwork on the First 4 is all by Happy. We have been told that her paintings are all over the place at home - as you'll see by the covers, that must be almost a scary sight! Happy also designed the ectozine logo for us! It is a pen and ink version of the ecto cover, with the hair of ghost becoming entwined with the letters "ecto". Happy will soon (if everything works out) be painting her first book cover, a science fiction novel by Michael D. Weaver (who wrote _Mercedes Nights_ and _My Father Immortal_, among others) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ecto Projects :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The current Ecto Projects are (for blue fuzzy newbies): *** Please note! Vickie Mapes is on a sabbatical from the Net and Ecto. We hope she returns soon! In the meanwhile, the many projects she has started are being handled by a variety of volunteers, as noted below... *** 1) The Ecto-zine (The Official Happy Rhodes Fan Club) :::::::::::::::::::::: $10/year includes 8 issues of a print fanzine lovingly provided by jessica and Greg Bossert for Ectophiles and those not on the net. 8 pages and an ever-expanding number of colours. Subscribers will have their first issue autographed by Happy. The first issue has been delayed, but you should subscribe ASAP anyway. Membership in the club will also include postcards and buttons! Also, Official Fan Club Tshirts will only be available to members. Address to join: Ecto PO Box 11291 New Brunswick, NJ 08906 Donations above the subscription cost are welcomed - all money goes to bringing you better issues! A special issue is being put together focusing on the Albany and Philly concerts. If you have any special memories, comments, or PHOTOS(!) of the concerts and surrounding festivities, please send them to gb10@gte.com or by US mail to the address above. 2) Available Ecto-related tapes A number of cassette tapes of potential interest to Ectophiles are available, featuring Happy Rhodes music and interviews unavailable elsewhere. The tapes currently available are: * 1991 Happy Gift Project: A two-tape collection of songs selected by Ectophiles and presented to Happy as a winter holiday gift. * Ecto SiG: A special Suspended in Gaffa show put together by Vickie for specifically for Ectophiles, including five Barlett/Rhodes demos, and "When the Rain Came Down", a song given to Vickie by Happy for this tape specifically! * Miscellaneous Happy: World Cafe interview of Happy, including live versions of "Feed the Fire", "Words Weren't Made For Cowards", and "Given In". The songs are included as originally recorded and in the context of the interview. The tape also includes two songs by Kevin Bartlett on which Happy singing ethereal backing vocals, and the five Bartlett/Rhodes demos. * Six volumes of "Femme Music Collection" put together by Vickie based on music and artists she has played on her Suspended in Gaffa radio show, made especially for Ectophiles. [List of contents is available.] * A recording of the Albany QE2 concert -- the first live appearance by Happy's band! note that Happy and Kevin have asked that the distribution of these concert tapes be discreetly limited to active ectophiles -- please don't make extra copies for friends! Other compilation tapes of general interest to Ectophiles may be added to this list. (If you yourself have a tape you think may interest most Ectophiles, let Doug know). The tapes are available in a number of ways, from establishing a "cassette account" with Doug to sending actual tapes for dubbing. Please contact Doug before ordering though. His physical, telephonic, and electronic addresses are: Doug Burks 2036 West Plum St C7 Fort Collins CO 80521 home phone: 303/224-2480 email: dbx@olympic.atmos.colostate.edu *Many* thanks to Doug for offering this service! 3) The Happy Gift Project ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: HGP-Happy Gift Project (for the Winter Holiday season) HBP-Happy Birthday Project (for Happy's Birthday...natch!) This is (going to be) a twice a year tradition, a gift to Happy from Ectophiles for Happy's Birthday and the Winter Holidays. The idea (which came from our cosmic vagabond, Klaus Kluge) is to assemble a tape with possibly a spoken message from everyone and ONE song she/he would like Happy to hear. We will create a tape with all the songs and messages and will send it to Albany. There are no restrictions about what song to select, except not to take one from Happy :). Homemade music is definitely welcome :) The deadline for the next such project, the HBP, will be June 1, 1992. To participate, send a cassette tape with your song and spoken message to the Ecto PO Box (address given above), and send email to Klaus Kluge at klaus@inphobos.w.open.de listing your choice of music. If you include money for return postage and packaging, you will receive a copy of what gets sent to Happy. The first HGP spilled onto two tapes; to guarantee that you get back the whole thing, include an extra tape or some more money. A complete listing of the songs on HGP-1991 are available from the archives via ftp. Note: The HGP tapes are available to anyone, even if you did not participate. See item (2) above for information on how to get duplicates of these projects... 4) The Personal Database Project :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Post to Ecto with all your particulars. Which particulars? We're not particular. Birthdays and physical characteristics (shoe size, in particular) are a good start, along with addresses and telephone numbers. Post all details to the list, where Klaus and Martin, amongst others, others will record and analyze it. Also let us know how you found out about Happy and what you have and what you think about what you have. Vickie Mapes has been keeping a list of Ectophiles for Aural Gratification. Though Vickie is temporarily off-line, H&K are still in regular contact with jessica and other Ectopians... To make sure that you are on the Aural Gratification list, write AG and mention in big letters that you are an ECTOPHILE! :) 5) The Ecto\Homeground Interview :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Over the summer of 1991, Ectophiles sent questions to Happy via Vickie. Happy answered the questions and the interview was posted to Ecto. It will eventually be edited down and sent to Homeground (the Kate Bush fanzine) for inclusion there. The interview is available via ftp from the Ecto archives. We will eventually have an Ecto Interview Pt.II, so if you have any questions you'd like to ask Happy directly, post them to Ecto! 6) The Kevin Bartlett interview ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: This is Greg 'footah' Bossert's project, for eventual use in the Ectozine. If you have any questions directed specifically to Kevin, about his own work or his collaborations with Happy, please post them to Ecto or send them to greg (gb10@gte.com). 7) The Ecto-band Project :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Not sure where this is but it IS somewhere. :-) We may become a real performing band at some point, but for now, this is an open ended project. jessica and greg have recorded several covers of Happy and KaTe songs, as well as some original material -- if you would like to participate in *any way*, from recording to submitting songs to just coming to new jersey and sitting in on a session, email greg (gb10@gte.com). :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: About this FAQ :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Various people have contributed to the information in this FAQ. This version was substatially modified by greg bossert, with much help from jessica, Doug Burks, and Vickie Mapes. Address comments and questions to greg (gb10@gte.com) or to Ecto! Last modified 6/23/92 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Any questions? Feel free to ask. Welcome to Ecto! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 16:32:02 EDT From: Laura Clifford Subject: Cranes >From Vickie: >Has there been any discussion about the group Cranes while I was gone? >I discovered their album _Wings of Joy_ a few weeks ago and I really love >it (well, not every song, but most of them) and Allison Shaw's voice is >*so* cool. (but very weird, kind of like a cross between Virginia Astley >and Val Martino from Grace Darling...it's high and sweet and child-like >and ethereal) Vickie - did you know the Cranes are the opening act for the current Cure tour, although they were held back by customs and didn't catch up with the Cure until a few weeks into the tour? This is mostly an excuse :-) to bring up the fact that I've been in Cure heaven having seen 3 shows (and a 4th coming up), attended and videotaped their kick-off press conference in NYC, AND had Robert Smith sign the back of my leather jacket. I'm transcribing the 45 minute press conference for the Cure list, so if anyone here's interested, let me know. In case it's not obvious, I love this band even more than Kate.... Sorry folks - back to Happy news... Laura ======================================================================== From: kyrlidis@athena.mit.edu Subject: FAQ's FAQs fax ? ! Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:49:11 EDT This was meant to be posted on ecto by Greg, but found its way to me, so instead of being selfish and keeping it, I am forwarding it :) ------- Forwarded Message Received: from ATHENA.MIT.EDU by po7.MIT.EDU (5.61/4.7) id AA15383; Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:12:18 -0400 Received: from bunny.gte.com by Athena.MIT.EDU with SMTP id AA29378; Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:12:01 EDT Received: by bunny.gte.com (5.61/GTEL2.19) id AA22190; Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:11:53 -0400 Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:11:49 EDT From: Gregory Bossert To: kyrlidis@Athena.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: FAQ (big!) In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 23 Jun 92 16:59:55 EDT Message-Id: eep! the FAQ wasn't entirely FAQual, as Angelos as informed me: >Hi Greg, > >There are several things you did not change: > >>the albums are available on CD and cassette. CDs of the first four >>albums will be available mid-May, 1992, at which times the tapes will >>probably be discontinued. Preorders will be accepted. Only 1000 CDs >a) The CDs are out already!! >>*** Please note! Vickie Mapes is on a sabbatical from the Net and >>Ecto. We hope she returns soon! In the meanwhile, the many projects >>she has started are being handled by a variety of volunteers, as noted >>below... *** >b) Vickie is not on sabbatical anymore >>The deadline for the next such project, the HBP, will be June 1, 1992. >c) The deadline for the HBP is July 1st not June 1st. >I hate to be picky picky but thought you'd like to know :) Don't want to >confuse any newbie ectophiles! :) :) what d'ya mean, newbie ectophiles! this oldie ectophile was clearly pretty confused ;) 'pologies and footahs... - -greg -- gb10@gte.com -- "this is where life begins" -- HR ------- End of Forwarded Message Angelos ======================================================================== Subject: The Story Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 18:16:43 -0400 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu What can any of you (especially Greg and anyone else in/from Boston) about this band? I heard the title track of their "Grace in Gravity" yesterday and really liked it. No money to buy it, though. However...my stepmother and I were discussing the fact that neither of us had been to a concert in ages, and I remembered a Tower employee mentioning that The Story would be at the Birchemere on the 30th. So...are they good? Is their stuff generally in line with "Grace in Gravity" or is that something of an abnormal song (It would be dangerous, for instance, to make a judgement on Bob Mould based solely on the song "Sunspots")? Are they good live? Don't let me down! 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 | ======================================================================== 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@ns1.rutgers.edu)