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 #490 ecto, Number 490 Wednesday, 17 March 1993 Today's Topics: *-----------------* Re: Lots of things Re: Snow Story Plings and things I'm baaaack Re: What a weekend _Days_of_Open_Hand_ Disastrous? Favorite Tracks from Equipoise Re: Happy on KBOO!! Re: Two new FAQ's sent :) ======================================================================== From: robert@lemuria@deepspace.nj00802.sai.com Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 20:11 EST Hello Ecto! Little by little we are clearing out of the storm. The temperature in the Philly area got up to about 48 F today, and more snow removal equipment got through. However the forecast is for more bad weather tomorrow, a possible mix of rain and snow that could give our ice a fresh coat of ice. Ah, but spring is upon us soon! Re: CD singles - I tend to shy away from them myself. If I'm curious, I'll go ahead and get the cassette single, and if I like that, I'll get the CD. I wish there were stores near here with audition policies! Mitch: Wow, Jade Warrior was one of my favorites too! (Not Power of Tower!) I'd almost forgotten them, as I lost a lot of albums in a flood a few years ago. Your quote bought back some pleasant memories! Thanks... By the way, your latest epistle to the New York Office has been promptly forwarded! Drewcifer: Happy's vocal range is four and a half octaves! And How! WRT the HappyQuote (TM) contest, how about this: "I'm very touched by people reaching out..." - HR, in an interview by Vickie Mapes. I just copied that for Chris in Australia and that phrase stood out. She was talking about her support of groups such as Amnesty International. Anyway, there are lots of great quotes, Graham! Maybe you could print out Vickie's list and throw a dart at it...!:) Chris Down Under, the tapes are in the mail! By the way, please forgive my ignorance, but what was the GST controversy you were describing WRT John Hewson? Sorry to say I've been missing the Radio Australia broadcasts of late as I now tend to gravitate to the computer each morning to fetch my Ecto Digest! Only a week and a half 'til Happy and the gang grace Philly once more! Local ectophiles, is there a gathering of sorts in the works? Jessica, I know we were both at 21st Century sound last year at the same time, before I was on the net. This time we can introduce ourselves! Take care, everybody! Hope all goes well for you, and that the radio tour hits your town! Bobbo the Hutt  ======================================================================== From: boek@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au (Christopher Boek) Subject: Re: Lots of things Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 11:46:05 +1000 (EST) Hi all!! This post wasn't originally meant to be the first of my WOMAD experiences but it has turned out to be just that. I never diarised this at the time, so the following long bit is good for me to remember the time. Graham says ... > > Mitch sez... > >Any of our Australian friends have a prediction on the election? NPR says > it's > >a horse race. > > No matter how you voted on Saturday it was going to be a donkey vote! ;-) > BTW did any of you other Oz ectophiles see the "Santa Claus" and "Lord Rollo" > candidates!! > No, I didn't !! Where were they from ... ? > > 17/3/93 > This is one of the longest messages (time-wise) I've written! I started it > on the 16/3/93 and now I've just got back to work after seeing Billy Connolly > in concert at the State Theater in Sydney last night. Bloody funny show, I was > laughing so much it hurt. > Wow, you like him too ... I saw his show in Melbourne on 13/2. I had the same experience ("laughing so much it hurt"). The guy is an absolute genius, and I was very happy I decided to go and see him. (it was a first for me). Speaking of Billy Connolly, did I mention (read name-drop) that I met him when I was at WOMAD ... ? It was a bizarre circumstance. Me and my friends had arrived early, so we thought we'd try and sneak into the grounds in case we bumped into anybody (read PG). And, very hesitantly, 'coz we were scared of being kicked out *:} we wandered in, and as we approached this stage we'd seen we saw this guy with long greying hair, making very pointed Scottish sort of gestures hanging around the sound tent in front of the stage. "Oh, gosh," I said to myself, "That looks like Billy Connolly." I looked at my brother, who was there too, but I suppose you already realised that given that I could look at him ..., and the flicker of recognition was intensified. So we wandered up. He was talking to somebody and there seemed to be this video camera pointing at him, so we didn't disturb him just then, but thought we'd come back after we'd checked the rest of the place out. We heard some interesting rhythmic noises coming from this other stage "a bit over there" and wandered over in our infinite curiosity. Suddenly I stopped. there was this guy hanging over the end of the stage in dark glasses signing some pieces of paper. "I know that figure," I said to myself as my blood freezed and a sudden realisation dawned on me. But before I could get there, he started to back away - it was like slow motion - could I get there in time for the man himself to scrawl illegibly on the piece of paper I'd managed to scrounge out of my bumbag ? No, I couldn't. Bugger. Oh well, I thought. At least I'm one of very few people who've actually seen him here, rehearsing for his big show later on. It gave me a thrill anyway. As we wandered off to see if Billy was free, I turned to look at the stage. He was looking in our direction. I kept looking that way, and he didn't turn away - I couldn't figure out waht he was thinking, whether it was "I wish those bloody fans would piss off," or "I wonder why they're going away" or anything else, but it was very pleasant have been the subject of his attention for a few seconds. (gee that sound really fan-ny doesn't it!!) Anyway, that experience alone justified the coming early that I did. So we wandered back to the tent where we saw Billy and luckily he was still there. We cautiously approached, and waited - he was talking to somebody, and we didn't want to interrupt, so we just sort of hung around (and felt a little uncomfortable doing so - thinking that famous people must hate that). Then we saw who he was talking to ... none other than Sheila Chandra herself. At the end of their conversation, Billy wandered over to us, obviously realising why we were there, and said, "Hello." in his accent which is enough to make you laugh. I've often wondered if That's why Scots are such successful comedians. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean laughing _at_ the accent, but it sort of puts you in a jolly mood. Interesting really. AAnyway, we talked for about ten minutes about all sorts of things. Apparently he happened to be performing in Adelaide that same weekend and thought he'd wander over and "meet the stars" as he quaintly put it. He graciously agreed to an autograph and a photo, and bid his farewell to check out PG on the other stage. ("What a really nice person" was his description of him). It was a really nice experience talking to him. A very nice person indeed. And he's funny in person too. You really get the idea that it's just him up on stage when you see him. It's so true!! Then I wandered over to say hello to Sheila Chandra and got her autograph too, and then went back to PG on stage, before we eventually were asked to leave the park. What an afternoon. More WOMAD stuff will appear eventually. I'm sorry I haven't told you all about it sooner!! > Chris sez... > >Well, John Hewson gambled too much with his controversial GST. The next > >few weeks will be very interesting politically. > > I don't think it was JUST the GST that killed him. Did you ever look deeply > at his work place "reforms". He was trying to re-introduce the Master-Servent > policy which was finally killed off (or so we thought) 150 years ago. > That's true. Thinking about it later, I realised that for most people GST was not the issue. It wasn't for me really, tax is tax as far as I'm concerned, but I thought it may have been for many people. Perhaps they underestimate the electorate too often. Perhaps I did. In any case, I have a positive feeling about the next few years. We'll see what happens. Chris. -- | ||| ||| | ||| ||| ||| | ||Christopher Boek - boek@mullian.ee.mu.oz.au | ||| ||| | ||| ||| ||| | || Dept Elec Eng Univ of Melbourne Australia | | | | | | | | | / "Anybody remotely interesting is mad in |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| \_/\_/\_/\_/\__/(:*- some way or another" ======================================================================== From: Scorpii Subject: Re: Snow Story Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 20:45:12 EST > > But as pretentious music goes, I think that The Story is definitely not as > bad (if pretentious music is a "bad" trait to have, which is also > debatable, considering most of my favorite music just oozes with > pretiousness - Happy Rhodes for one, and Legendary Pink Dots as another > example), as say, the Indigo Girls, who I find hard to enjoy because of > their pretentiousness. This word "pretentious" has been bandied about quite a bit lately, and I'd like to set the record straight, if I can. Please don't take this personally. Webster the Ninth tells us that to be pretentious is to make unjustified or excessive claims, or to make demands on one's skill. Vague, but the examples and the synonym (showy) tell us more. A pretentious person pretends to know more than s/he knows, or to be able to do more than s/he can do. It is, strictly speaking, a lie, exaggeration, or ostentation. Happy is not pretentious. She does not drop inappropriate intellectualisms into her songs; she does not attempt projects beyond her ability. She is not showy; she is honest and quite straightforward. The Indigo Girls are quite pretentious. They drop those ii's all the time; I just want to vomit at some of their lyrics. They attempt to be folksy, twangy, and brainy at the same time and fail embarrassingly, IMHO. Of course, the main reason I dislike them is because I find their music indescribably irritating and obnoxious. I speak not from inexperience, I might add; anyone interested in buying a copy of "Nomads Indians Saints" on cassette, played maybe 3 times and only once all the way through, should E-mail me. My point here is that addressing philosophical or weighty topics does not make one pretentious. Addressing them from a position of ignorance or inadequacy does. Sorry for the flame, and again, nothing personal. It's just time the record was set straight. Drewcifer ======================================================================== From: Kjetil Torgrim Homme Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 03:40:26 +0100 Subject: Plings and things [[ I started to write the following on the 20th of February ]] I was going to ask what VI and VII means, seeing that those albums are referred to so often, but having just typed in the first paragraph, it dawned upon me... I'm so thick; I was so caught up in V meaning 5, not that it is very likely a _7TH_ album would go unnoticed on this list 8-) Anyway, I got Happy's RI - RIV and Warpaint nearly 6 months ago, and all this talk of Equipoise has prompted me to listen to them again. I've been conspicuously quiet on what I think of her albums; being thrown out of this list would be too much to bear. Please let me stay? But let's get it over with: I'm not (really) a Happy-fanatic. I'm listening to Rhodes I now, and must all those cheap-sounding synth sounds (not as bad as Elton John, though) detract from my listening enjoyment. One example: "Step Inside", which is has a good melody, great vocals, but heaps of tinny synthesizer sounds. [ It's funny I say this, because I love Martin Galway and Rob Hubbard's music on the Commodore 64... Evidently I would have adored Rhodes I if it had been released in some very lo-fi medium. Hmm, a pity I didn't get it on cassette! 8-) ] Then I have to remind myself this was recorded in 1984, which is easily forgotten, because it does not really sound mid-80's like. That is in many ways a good thing; not that there wasn't good bands and artists then, but the scene was dominated by Italo-pop and hideousness like Modern Talking *yech*. "The wretches gone awry" is a fabulous song, though. It makes the whole album worthwhile. (slow typist, aren't I? :-) It is not surprising then, that my favourite Happy album is Warpaint since its sound is by far the most intricate and pleasing to the ear (subjectively speaking, of course). I find sparse arrangements work well in concerts, but not on record, or the song and artist will have to be truly spectacular. I recently acquired my first Lene Lovich album (flex...plus), and that is quite the opposite of Rhodes I, ie., it is very typical of its era. (What happened to that style? I saw a Nina Hagen single some time ago, it was a techno tune - nothing special. Sad, really. What's Lene Lovich' more recent work like?) My sentences and not least thought patterns are so jumbled up, please bear with me. And I don't want false reassurance of the opposite :-) (See what I mean? I don't understand what I write myself) [[ I never got it completely done for posting, I'm as good a procrastinator as anyone else :-) So this is the current situation ]] I had a real eye-opener last night when I made a sampler tape for a friend. It was only when I had to sit down and think through "What songs should I pick?" I realized how consistently good her material is. I could have easily included half of RI, RII and Rearmament, and all of Ecto and Warpaint. Equipoise? Do you remember the P-word I mentioned in my editorial remark? I think my problem is that I got all five CD's at once. Consequently I listened a little to each, and never got much of a relationship to the songs. I did consider listening to them one by one, opening a new CD each week or something, but I couldn't resist the temptation. Some people might be interested to see my selection for the tape. I'm no DJ, so I don't really know how to make good segues. However, as Vickie can testify with using shuffle-play mode, this doesn't really matter :-) Feed the fire [Warpaint] (4:33) I'm not awake, I'm not asleep [Rhodes I] (3:19) If so [Ecto] (3:36) The issue is [Rearmament] (3:21) Words weren't made for cowards [Warpaint] (5:20) Ecto [Ecto] (4:40) I'll let you go [Rhodes I] (3:56) Step inside [Rhodes I] (3:43) Off from out from under me [Ecto] (3:53) Under and over the brink [Rhodes II] (2:36) To live in your world [Warpaint] (3:30) The wretches gone awry [Rhodes I] (2:32) In hiding [Warpaint] (3:10) My favourite Happy songs are probably "To live in your world" and "Ecto". And "Off from out from under me". And "Terra Incognita". And I mustn't forget the great vocals from the chorus of "Murder"! And ... Kjetil T. -Shall we cut out his tongue? -Yes, that will teach him. (Happy Rhodes) PS. See, Graham, I beat your longest-time-in-writing record easily. PPS. When I was little, I used to do a lot of post post ... scriptums. PPPS. I guess that's why I find them childish now. PPPPS. But, hey, what's wrong with being childish? :-) ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 21:41:24 EST From: mojzes@monet.ucis (tyrone slothrop) hello, all, i think that y'all are fergetting the most important winter song there is: "under ice," by Kate Herself. and another snowy song is XTC's "snowman." just my humble input. hope you don't mind. -->insert: kate also has "december will be christmas again", and, if you really want to stretch it a bit, "james and the cold gun." :> 'fraid i can't help much on the happy quote contest; i've only had my first happy disk for a little over a week now. haven't quite memorized the whole thing yet (got distracted by work and school and SO's housemate problems and shovelling, and shovelling, and shovelling...) today i was actually able to get my car out of the driveway. we cleared the driveway on sunday, but the road itself has been impassable; seems that the city of philadelphia observes strict class (read race) lines when it comes to which roads to plow or salt. ours got neither. now there is still a 4 inch thick layer of ice over the road surface, but thats better than the 14 inches we had earlier... in response to various threads: 1) my band has a song called "kevin costner." 2) Alan: i don't find the indigo girls pretentious, but then again, i listen to king crimson, peter gabriel, kate, skinny puppy, igor stravinsky, that sort of thing. i just find the indigo girls sorta boring... 3) saw suzanne vega a number of years ago (before that tragic third album :( ), and she and the band were wonderful. you could tell that they were all capable of playing more than just rock music, and used this skill to create a really great sound. 4) you mean people outside the usa have political struggles? was this GST guy a republican or a democrat? (warning: sarcasm) 5) anyone have any helpful hints for setting up and using a sigfile (its an ornery unix machine)? 6) when did you say that happy was gonna be at 21st century sound in philly? tyrone slothrop ======================================================================== Subject: I'm baaaack Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 23:10:34 -0500 From: jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu Well, the snows finally thawed enough around the University of Maryland for someone to go in and reset the things that unsetted last Saturday. Wondrously, I'm back online. A few things: DC really wasn't hit _that_ bad. People just complain a lot here (now, admittedly, NW of the city, things were a bit different...;-) Another great winter/snow song that I don't think anyone mentioned though I could be wrong 'cause I really read through the ecto backlog (~60 messages) far too quickly is Jane's "Hockey" from _BbtB_. "this stick was signed by Jean Belliveau so don't fuckin' tell me where to fuckin' go" Someone mentioned "Look for the Child" in the context of 'earlier Happy songs in which the Aliens come to save us.' It's possible I misread their comment (again, I wasn't going _that_ fast, and I deleted some stuff I'd meant to save), but basically, that's completely wrong. The point of "Look for the Child" is that *if* the aliens come, it's going to be the _children_ who save us--because only the children are (to use Equipoisian terms) 'innocent and fearless' enough to communicate with the aliens without getting our collective asses blown off. In fact, I might go so far as to say that "SOS" is a sequel to the song-- one in which Happy has realized that it doesn't matter if the aliens come or not, we're in danger of blowing our collective asses off all by our lonesome. And we'd better start *doing* something about it. "SOS" isn't about calling to aliens to come save us--it's a call to arms, a wake-up call. And it's brilliant. Vickie: a brief Hamlet plot summary: Hamlet's a prince. Hamlet's mother and uncle (her brother-in-law) conspired to kill Hamlet's father, the king. Brother-in-law and mother then get immediately married (raising a few eyebrows, particularly Hamlet's). Dad's ghost comes back, spills the beans to Hamlet, and Hamlet spends the rest of the play figuring out how to kill his mother and step-father/uncle in revenge. Then he dies too. A good chunk of the play is spent on Hamlet's indecision about what to do and how to do it and there's lot of grief-induced mental illness thrown around too. Not the most fun you can have at a night at the theater, but a brilliant drama. (fwiw, I thought the Mel Gibson _Hamlet_ was moderately good; I'm not crazy about the man, but he can act at times, and Glenn Close was great, as was what's-her-name-who-played-Ophelia (wasn't she in a bunch of Ivory-Merchant films?). Hmmm. Thought there was something else. But it's bedtime. Jeff |Jeffrey C. Burka | "Fairies are the perfect people to do this | |(suffering Bad Grammar) | sort of work. Biologically, their upper | |jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu | bodies are strong enough to wield a pickaxe...." | ======================================================================== Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 23:51:24 EST From: jessica Subject: Re: What a weekend Hmmm, So "closer" is inspired by "hamlet"! Neat! I liked the Mel Gibson version a *lot*. I've been meaning to post what Closer means to *me*, but i've managed to keep putting it off. I tihnk becuase i haven't been following the posts as closely as I want to, and I'm worried it's already been discussed, and I'll seem silly for having this interpretation, but it occurs to me that that's pretty silly, one of the things i *love* is songs that have different interpretations and meaning for different people. another reason I might have hesitated to say what it means for me is that, contrary to my normal self, it's a subject I'm having a truly difficult time with right now. I'm usually pretty free and open with my past and my current. Anyway, to me, the song Closer is about alcoholism. I suppose I really mean it is about any addiction, or mental illness; in a parent or other very influential respected person. But for me, alcoholism. *every* single line in this song rings completely true and accurate for me, with regard to my experiences with alcoholism. I was born with a penchant for sadness/Now I can finally speak of the madness Oh you took from me my safety net/Killed my hopes and made me your pet I believed it could only get better/But your ignorance loomed like the weather Oh you made breathing a nasty chore/I ate your malice for ten years more I was crushed in the vice of your sickness/Took the blows for your every weakness Oh you forbade me to love my mom/Daddy begged me to keep things calm All the fears of the babes lay upon me/Every word volunteered for my army Oh sticks and stones thrown Shattered my bones/I glued them back with rhythms and tones Reaching out for the ones who could save me/Nervous pats on the head's all they gave me Oh where were you all when I was jailed/I cried and pleaded, to no avail --jessica || jessica || It is this that || Don't try to tell me there's no reason for || || lawrence || brings us || any moment in time, every memory of mine. || || koeppel || together. || Those years are lines of color on my face, || || dembski || --Kate || the past is warpaint. --Happy Rhodes || ======================================================================== From: Scorpii Subject: _Days_of_Open_Hand_ Disastrous? Date: Tue, 16 Mar 93 23:54:55 EST As the subject line says: DAYS OF OPEN HAND disastrous? Well, financially, maybe. Artistically, a bit weak in places, but so were the other two, and so is 99.9F. I see Suzanne Vega's albums in terms of the four ancient elements: Air = SUZANNE VEGA Earth = SOLITUDE STANDING Water = DAYS OF OPEN HAND Fire = 99.9F Being a Scorpio, and being a water fan from way back, my favorite songs from Days (the first three, and sometimes Big Space) are my favorites overall. I'm partial to "Queen and Soldier" (not full title, of course) and "Neighborhood Girls", as well as the first two from the Air album, and from Earth I like the title track best, along with several others ("Night Vision", "Language"). The Fire album is probably my least favorite after having listened to it a lot...the songs are just too lightweight and sparse for my liking (unlike the Water songs). I prefer "Blood Makes Noise," "In Liverpool," "When Heroes Go Down," and "Song of Sand." The point? I've always considered Suzanne a bit uneven on each album, but as much as I love her guitarwork on the first two albums, the first three songs from "Days" are still my favorites. Does anyone else see that element thing? Drewcifer ======================================================================== From: Scorpii Subject: Favorite Tracks from Equipoise Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 0:00:03 EST I've just realized, interestingly, that my favorite tracks from Equipoise are NOT the "vampire tracks." They are: Runners Mother Sea Cohabitants In that order. Go figure. And I just LOVE the beginning of Out Like A Lamb, which of course recurs in the song: that kind of percussive riff. That's really fantastic. Sorry to drop my usually-decent English. I'm tired. Drewcifer ======================================================================== From: Scorpii Subject: Favorite Tracks from Equipoise Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 0:27:15 EST Forwarded message: > From as010b Wed Mar 17 00:00:16 1993 > From: Scorpii > Message-Id: <9303170500.AA02621@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> > Subject: Favorite Tracks from Equipoise > To: as010b (Scorpii) > Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 0:00:03 EST > Cc: ecto@ns1.rutgers.edu > X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] > > I've just realized, interestingly, that my favorite tracks from Equipoise > are NOT the "vampire tracks." They are: > > Runners > Mother Sea > Cohabitants > > In that order. Go figure. > > And I just LOVE the beginning of Out Like A Lamb, which of course recurs in > the song: that kind of percussive riff. That's really fantastic. > > Sorry to drop my usually-decent English. I'm tired. > > Drewcifer > How in the UNIVERSE could I have forgotten "Save Our Souls"? Place it on a level with Cohabitants, and place Mother Sea with Runners. Or put them all together. I'm too Schnopic to continue this tonight. Drewid ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 0:33:35 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: What a weekend > > EQP. She *loved* _Bram Stoker's Dracula_ which I wasn't suprised to > > hear. She thought it had some problems, but still saw it a zillion times.) > > I've seen it three times. I went to the opening night in gothwear and > fangs, and walked out stunned. I took a close female friend the second time > I saw it, liked it but laughed a lot. The third time I saw it was on campus > and I was no longer impressed by anything except Hopkins (and Oldman, > occasionally). Happy is now a *huge* fan of Gary Oldham. > I hope (and yes, I missed this discussion) you're not going to tell me that > "He Will Come" and "The Flight" were inspired by BS's D...now that I think > about it they fit Dracula better than they fit the Vamp Chronicles. Nope, the songs weren't based on (or even inspired by :-)) either thing. It was just a story Happy thought up. You missed my post about it Andrew, but I had said that Happy was *floored* when I told her that one of the main characters in IWAV was named Gabrielle. She had no idea, because she'd never read any of them. (She plans to though.) Thank you Jeff-with-the-long-black-hair, for the synopsis of Hamlet. So where does Ophelia fit into it? Are there 3 witches somewhere, or is that Macbeth? (Which I know nothing about too. I feel so culturally deprived.) (Watched _Educating Rita_ the other night. I loved her line after seeing Macbeth..."Wasn't his wife a *COW*!!" I'm about where Rita was at the beginning of the film. Except that I've never read any Rita Mae Browne. Thank goodness, I think. What a wonderful film!) Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 0:41:45 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Happy on KBOO!! JohnZ wrote: > Oh God, THIS IS FANTASTIC!! I'm listening to Instant Breakfast right > now, and they're playing WWMFC! Sylvia played 'All Things' a couple > songs ago (both from the tape I sent her), so of course I had to call. > I thanked her for playing Happy and was glad she got the tape, and *she* > thanked me for it and said I was right on the money where her musical > tastes were concerned. She'd already picked up Equipoise herself since > then, but preferred Warpaint from the stuff I sent her. Unfortunately > she said she's leaving the station officially at the end of March, but > would still be around after that on a volunteer basis. So Vickie, what > do I need to do to get KBOO on the list for Happy's radio tour? The > phone numbers are (503) 231-8032 & (503) 231-8187, and I can get the > address if needed. > > Have I mentioned how cool this is?! :) I realized that I hadn't answered this. Yeah, it's *great*! Thanks for telling us. Bob Lovejoy is the official Keeper of the Radio Stations now, so he can pass it on to Susanne. (Bob, you're probably reading this, but I'll append it onto the list I'm sending you anyway) If anyone else has suggestions for radio stations, send it to Bob, who will pass it on to Susanne, while keeping a master list for himself. Thanks again John! Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 1:01:14 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Two new FAQ's sent :) Yngve writes: > I love it when I get someone interested in Happy Rhodes. Not norwegians > this time but one from Finland and one at Univerity of Durham. BTW I > talked to one with contacts in the student-radio at University Of Oslo. > I'll send him a tape and some info about Happy Rhodes and The Ecto. Good for you! Do you have the most recent FAQ? Since I added Equipoise? > Since someone borrowed my copy of Warpaint before the weekend, I've > mostly listened to old Genesis. I really love their Trespass album. > Hmmm, I got a question about John Mayhew.....he was the drummer > until 1973 as Phil Collins replaced him. What happened to him? > I got a live-recording from 1973 where he is pictured at the > back of the cover - And the text under the pictures says - In > memory of John Mayhew or something like that ( I haven't got the > album up her in Tromsoe). As far as I come is that he died that year > but how? I just love his style of playing! "Visions of angels all around, dance in the sky" I love Trespass too! I don't know what happened to John Mayhew, sorry. Btw, John Silver played drums on their first album _From Genesis to Revelation_. Mayhew only played on _Trespass_ and Collins joined for _Nursery Cryme_. "Steep rose the ridge, ghostly peaks climed the sky" God I love the imagry on that album! (Well, all the early albums actually.) I hear lots of Trespass-era vocals on _US_. Interesting. Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 1:32:00 EST From: WretchAwry Subject: Re: Plings and things Kjetil writes: > I was going to ask what VI and VII means, seeing that those albums are > referred to so often, but having just typed in the first paragraph, it > dawned upon me... I'm so thick; I was so caught up in V meaning 5, not > that it is very likely a _7TH_ album would go unnoticed on this list > 8-) When the 1st4 CDs were only cassettes, they were called Rhodes Vol. I & Rhodes Vol. II, so I just got into the habit of calling them VI & VII. For some reason she changed their names for the CDs. > Then I have to remind myself this was recorded in 1984, which is > easily forgotten, because it does not really sound mid-80's like. That > is in many ways a good thing; not that there wasn't good bands and > artists then, but the scene was dominated by Italo-pop and hideousness > like Modern Talking *yech*. And another thing to remember is that when she recorded those songs, they weren't recorded to go on an *album*. She just wanted to learn the equipment at the studio, learn the different recording techniques, and just to get the songs down on tape. Making an album was the last thing on her mind, and it was only when Kevin came along and encouraged her to gather up all the songs and put them onto cassettes (that he'd release on AG) did they become Vol. I & Vol. II. Knowing that won't change someone's mind if they don't like the songs, music or Happy's voice, but it's interesting, and might prompt a different perspective while listening to the songs. (Just for me personally, that perspective is pure, unbridled *awe* :-)) > "The wretches gone awry" is a fabulous song, though. It makes the > whole album worthwhile. (slow typist, aren't I? :-) I can't believe I didn't used to like that song! I don't know where my ears were at! I actually think i started to appreciate that song more once I knew the lyrics. "...and quickly broken like the will to live for a mind in pain" Yow! > I had a real eye-opener last night when I made a sampler tape for a > friend. It was only when I had to sit down and think through "What > songs should I pick?" I realized how consistently good her material > is. I could have easily included half of RI, RII and Rearmament, and > all of Ecto and Warpaint. Equipoise? Do you remember the P-word I > mentioned in my editorial remark? P-word? > I think my problem is that I got all five CD's at once. Consequently I > listened a little to each, and never got much of a relationship to the > songs. I did consider listening to them one by one, opening a new CD > each week or something, but I couldn't resist the temptation. Yes, I can understand this completely. That's a *lot* of music to absorb at one time. I got _Ecto_ first, and knew it well by the time I got the 1st3 at one time. For *ages* many of the songs blurred together, I didn't know titles, or even what albums they were on (a particular problem with VI & VII). I got to know certain songs best when I'd play them on my show, then listen to a tape of the show. As much as a Happy fan as I was, it really wasn't until Warpaint was released and gaffians actually started talking about Happy (without my prompting, or even paying them money!) that I became a *serious* student of the albums, and my fandom level shot up to the point it is now. Once again, I have to point to Jeff Burka and his lyrics project. I'd never made a serious effort to figure out all the lyrics and so many songs were just "lalalas" in my mind. The lyrics project really was responsible for me finally becoming the fan I am. Listening to the songs over and over, trying to get the lyrics as complete as possible before sending them to Happy for her final corrections, is what did it. I learned every single song by heart, by name, by album. Still, without a project like that, learning every single song is quite a commitment, and I'm the first to understand that it's hard, and that not everyone has the time or complete interest. > Some people might be interested to see my selection for the tape. I'm > no DJ, so I don't really know how to make good segues. However, as > Vickie can testify with using shuffle-play mode, this doesn't really > matter :-) Thank you. I've been enjoying, and keeping in a file, all of the lists Ectophiles have posted. > PS. See, Graham, I beat your longest-time-in-writing record easily. > PPS. When I was little, I used to do a lot of post post ... scriptums. > PPPS. I guess that's why I find them childish now. > PPPPS. But, hey, what's wrong with being childish? :-) Not a darn thing! :-) Vickie ======================================================================== Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 01:19:40 EST From: mojzes@monet.ucis (tyrone slothrop) Subject: _Days_of_Open_Hand_ Disastrous? To: as010b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Scorpii) As the subject line says: DAYS OF OPEN HAND disastrous? Well, financially, maybe. Artistically, a bit weak in places, but so were the other two, and so is 99.9F. I see Suzanne Vega's albums in terms of the four ancient elements: Air = SUZANNE VEGA Earth = SOLITUDE STANDING Water = DAYS OF OPEN HAND Fire = 99.9F {stuff deleted to save bandwidth} Does anyone else see that element thing? uh, no. sorry. :( "Tom's diner" is what first attracted me to sv (the real version, not the dance mix), and i got hold of both her albums. at first i liked solitude standing better, but i grew into the 1st one fairly quickly. i think its a stronger album, in general. when i got hold of days of open hand i listened to it and had no desire to listen to it again. so i listened to it again, figuring that i'd missed something. same result. i tried it a few more times with no better impression. that, imho, is disasterous for someone as talented as suzanne vega; the album not only did not leave a good impresion, it didn't leave a bad impression either; it left no impression whatsoever. the image i get of solitude standing is not earth. it is light and shadow (sorry joni), and the spaces where they meet. i can go with fire for 99.9... i don't get a dominant image from the debut album, but lots of little images. i don't get any image from days... Drewcifer ty ps if she's doing elements she's gonna have to quit music and become a real estate agent, so i *hope* she's not! well, i guess she could still do "ether" before she's out of material... ======================================================================== 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)