From: owner-ecto-digest To: ecto-digest@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: ecto-digest V2 #286 Reply-To: ecto@nsmx.rutgers.edu Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Friday, 17 November 1995 Volume 02 : Number 286 The Ecto digest is now being generated automatically. Please send problems and questions to: ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Xenu's Sister" Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 19:29:11 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: DCD and Oksana On 16 Nov 1995, MJM wrote: > The other day I was reviewing some video and it seems I caught some > skating competition that happened recently. It was a teams competition, > countries competing against each other. Anyways, a long time ago Vickie > posted a list of music she'd love to see people ice skate to. On the top > of the list was Dead Can Dance. I'm pretty sure, that the music Oksana > Bayul (the champion from the 94 olympic, right?) skated to a DCD > composition. I'm not 100% certain. She was dressed as a member of a > harum. Vickie, or anyone, can you verify this? I think it was on Friday > night on CBS a couple weeks ago. Actually, it was from Peter Gabriel's album _Passion_. The other number was an Enigma piece. The Gabriel routine seems to be her main number from this season (as opposed to Enigma, which was from last year) so people will probably have other chances to see her do it. AAMOF, a competition is starting right now (Skates Of Gold III) and Oksana will probably use it. Hooray for Oksana! Something rare...a skater with GOOD taste in music! I've always wanted to see someone skate to the Cocteau Twins. I've never seen it. I'd love to see fast, fancy foot work to the instrumental part of Kate's "Jig of Life." I can't understand why no one has ever skated to Sheila Chandra. It goes without saying that I'd love to see anyone skate to Happy, Jane, Tori, Milla & Sarah. Some of my favorite musical skating moments: Rosalyn Sumners - Kate Bush ("This Woman's Work") Gia Godat - Najama Misketunik & Demitreiv - Yma Sumac Blumberg & Siebert - Malcolm McLaren ("Madame Butterfly") Alan Schramm - Peter Gabriel's "Rhythm Of The Heat" Lots of people have skated to music from _Passion_, including the ice dancers Engi and Toth, and Christopher Dean's new wife Jill Trenary. Lots of people have skated to Peter's version of "Summertime" from _The Glory of Gershwin_, including Katarina Witt, who's using it this season. My spelling of some of the skaters is almost certainly wrong, and I know I'm forgetting some important routines, but all my skating archives are on my Amiga hard drive, and I now have a PC. I haven't yet gotten my files transferred over. Vickie (who tapes all the skating events she knows about) - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Vickie Mapes ectoMUSH irc/#ecto "My ears are lucky to hear vickie@wwa.com alt.music.ecto these glorious songs" HR _________ "Imagination sets in, then |_ _ | _ The Happy Rhodes mailing list all the voices begin" KB |__|_ ||_| ecto-request@nsmx.rutgers.edu - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Searching for Happy Rhodes reviews, articles, interviews, mentions - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ From: *kittywaaaaaail* Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 18:11:39 +1300 (NZDT) Subject: Ahhh... :) Hi folkses! :) Well, this has been a very ecto few days... I'm sitting here wearing my new Happy T-shirt, with a Sarah ticket in my hot little hand, and I had my first (and hopefully not my last) listen to "The Keep" and "RhodeSongs" yesterday. :) :) :) First off - The Keep: I love it! Absolutely wonderful. Standouts for me were the acoustic "Temporary and Eternal" (I like the original, but this surpasses it no end! :), the Yes medley (shiver shiver :), "Save Our Souls"... the list goes on and on and on... :) I think I prefer the original "Summer" to the one on TK though... oh, and the "buggy track" on RhodeSongs had me giggling for ages :) :) :) Plus, I couldn't stop whooping hysterically during the "tribute" bit of Feed the Fire... I think the ecto t-shirt is absolutely wonderful... it goes well with what I'm wearing, and I'll be showing it off at a party I'm going to tonight. (I've been Happyvangelising quite a bit to some of my friends, one of whom I managed to get into Loreena's music... I've sent him a fair number of Happy's lyrics, and played a few songs at previous parties... the signs bode well for a possible convert... :) Oh, and I also have "Ecto", but I haven't listened to it so I won't comment yet... except that I'm looking forward to hearing it :) :) My take on the "forgive me" thing... I confess I am not a PJ Harvey fan. "Crunchy" music in general leaves me cold. Mind you, I have heard "You Oughtta Know" a fair few times on the radio recently, and I do have a sneaking liking for it.. :) Oh yes, I detest almost all the songs on the Cranberries' latest album, except for (perhaps) the title track, "No Need To Argue"... Nor do I particularly like Bjork. And it took me a while to get into Victoria Williams and Dead Can Dance... But I love Happy, Sarah, Jane, Jules, Loreena, KaTe, Tori (well, somewhat), Margot Smith, Holly Cole... the list goes on and on... :) Anyway, back to trivialities... :) I now have short(-ish) hair, having got a haircut just over a week ago! And it feels wonderful *evil grin* :) I'm hoping to get a few poems of mine made up into a little book... I've been pretty prolific lately, and I want to be able to give selected people *something* special for christmas... And now for the deep philosophical bit. Hold on to your hats, people! As I'm going through a few major lifestyle changes, it's good to have a patch of serenity where I can just breathe and listen to beautiful music by people I admire... Urs (wearing sunglasses indoors, and scaring people by grinning *really* wide... :) - -- Urs Stafford (stafford_u@ix.wcc.govt.nz, whiskers@mu.sans.vuw.ac.nz) Mail all replies to stafford_u@ix.wcc.govt.nz please! [qlc] ------------------------------ From: ariel_b@pipeline.com (Ariel Brennan) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 02:08:06 -0500 Subject: Re: hmmmm.... On Nov 16, 1995 18:47:47, 'pink ' wrote: > i found ani's album "as i like" incredibly annoying. ...Ani doesn't have an album called "As I Like". :) Could you be thinking of "Like I Said"? Maybe not; Like I said isn't exactly full of strumming in the first couple of songs (or the ones after it, for that matter). Anyway, for the record, I'd personally recommend against writing off an artist based on the first few songs of one album. I mean, at least listen to the whole thing before you declare them annoying. ;> > AND finally. a friend compiled all of KATE BUSH's videos (and >some interviews-which weren't on the lovehounds tapes) on one tape for me >!!!! thank you thank you thank you!!!!! i have been looking all over for >them, but everyplace i went said they couldn't order them (though i know >that is a lie as they shoudl still be in print, but that is okay, i am poor >and i will search them out >when i get filthy rich and successful so i don't feel at all guilty that >i didn't really really buy them, but had them dubbed). Actually, Kate's videos ARE out of print. :/ - -Ariel ------------------------------ From: ariel_b@pipeline.com (Ariel Brennan) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 02:38:24 -0500 Subject: Re: Ani CD recommendations? (sorry! I lost the original post!) Okay. Ya wanna know which Ani CD to start with? That depends mostly on what your general tastes are. Ani's CD's can range from straight, quiet folk, to basically rock. Her first CD, Ani DiFranco, is your basic (albeit far better than average) "girl with a guitar" folk music. No vocal layerings, no instruments other than one guitar and one woman's voice. There are some wonderful songs there, and some "please press the skip button now" songs. She covers politics and personal stuff, like usual. There's also a poem, recited straight with no music at all. Lyrical excerpt: Undressing for the fan like it was a man Wondering about all the things that I'll never understand There are some things that you can't know unless you've been there But oh, how far we could go if we started to share. Her second CD, "Not So Soft", is kinda like her first, but with drums and some (sometimes distracting) vocal layering added. This is my least favorite of her CD's, but there's some great stuff on there too, including... one of my favorite spoken poems of hers, and her first attack on the record industry! Hahah! Hello, it's me I'm returning your call, it's Monday, Wednesday, Friday between noon and three And he says, "I usually just let the phone ring, "But I always have a minute of time for the next big thing." And I think, how can he see where he's going with those dollar signs in his eyes? I say, "Thank you for your interest, but my thing is already just the right size." Her third is "Imperfectly", which gets more aggressive, and adds a couple of guest musicians, including Andy Stochansky, who is still with her on tour and the like. She starts her trademark guitar beating here, and catches a little more of her famous attitude. This is a great CD, with another poem, performed with overlapping vocals, one acapella song and one of her best songs, In Or Out, as well as a great song about activism and standing up for your beliefs, called "What If No One's Watching". I always feel I have to take a stand And there's always someone on hand to hate me for standing there I always feel I have to open my mouth And everytime I do, I offend someone, somewhere Then comes "Puddle Dive", which adds yet more instruments. This is one of my favorites. More aggressive folk, more great lyrics and personal-political talk, including a gorgeous ballad called "Anyday", the subject jumping "Pick Yer Nose", one of her most well-known (comparitively speaking) songs, "Blood In The Boardroom", and the "pulled over by the cops" folk tune, "God's Country" I should've recognized that fierce look in his eyes I've seen it in my mirror so many times He's gonna put his two cents in 'cause he's got a gun But I'm gonna put in three 'cause history owes me one Next, there's "Out Of Range", which is varied from the ballad lament of "You Had Time" to the rock electric version of the title track, to the folky "Overlap", "Hell Yeah", and one of my favorites, "If He Tries Anything". It's a long long road It's a big big world We are wise wise women We are giggling girls We both carry a smile to show when we're pleased We both carry a switchblade in our sleeves And, finally, my personal favorite, "Not A Pretty Girl", which is a darker, thicker album. Again, varying in style, NAPG is more personal than other albums, while still being more political (go figure). The first song to hook me on this album was "32 Flavors", but I ended up falling in love with the sweetly folky "Got a crush" song "This Bouquet" See the little songbird unable to make a sound Never know she follows her words from town to town We both got gardens of songs, so maybe it's okay That I am speechless, cause I picked you this bouquet Yup, I sure am speechless, but I picked you this bouquet. Final analysis: it depends on your tastes. The surest bet is probably "Out Of Range", if only because the styles vary so greatly, but the best of them, IMO, is Not A Pretty Girl. - -Ariel, the die-hard Ani fan/ranter ------------------------------ From: Jason Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 00:12:13 -0800 (PST) Subject: October Project at the Troubadour and the Coach House (a review) Hello everyone! I attended both shows in Southern California, so my views presented here are a conglomerate of the overall experience. First off, I don't know how strongly I can stress this, but October Project is one of those bands that really perform to thrill -- they are one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Although their albums are great, they don't mean as much without the insight from seeing the band live. It's difficult to appreciate the complexity of the harmonics behind their instrumentation without a super trained ear (which I do not possess) because all of its intricate little elements are so intimately woven together. If anyone's been to Loreena McKennitt's concert and have seen how her guitarist and fiddler work together, I'm sure you can relate. Another analogy would be to relate October Project's work to a classical orchestra piece in which the various instruments are masterfully conducted to create a perfectly flowing piece of art. DEFINITELY go see them if you can! Mary is probably the most talented vocalist I have ever seen. She has a dramatic range that stays consistent and strong through the entirety of the performance. After the first couple lines of the initial song, her voice stays at its optimal best and does not falter for a single note. She sings with passion and has incredible stage presence which demands attention from listeners and draws them near to a world that can only be described as sanctimonious. Marina's sweet voice is the perfect complement to the strong and forceful voice of Mary. Marina's contribution adds another lulling quality to the sensual nature of the songs. Mr. Urbano Sanchez, as always, has the knack of rhythm and complete mastery of the percussions. Each passing note is perfectly drummed and well presented in the overall Project. With the addition of three additional players, October Project has added more depth to their live performance. An extra guitarist, Julian, seems to work extremely well to emphasize the melodious qualities of October Project. The new drummer, Craig, takes a little pressure and hustle off of Mr. Sanchez and adds strength and intensity to their songs. Whereas October Project's performance last year was very good, it is now excellent and incomparable to anything I've yet experienced. Looking back, I think that the Coach House concert was the better of the two. October Poject seemed to radiate even more in intensity with the presence of the extremely large and warm audience. The sound system was also better at the Coach House and the place wasn't as stuffy as the Troubadour. The Troubadour concert was in itself a phenomenal event to witness. As it turns out, the Troubadour gig was their last of the current tour. The whole band seemed to be enjoying themselvess very much. The guitarist, especially, was outrageously entertaining. He caused Urbano, David, Craig, Mr. Richardson, the new bassist, and even Emil to smile and laugh. I guess their ablility to have fun on stage is a good showing of how comfortable they were on stage. Certainly, they were one of the most exciting bands to watch. Now, I have seen them live three times. I wonder how many more times I'll get to see them before they become too big to do small venues.... As a final note, after a few days have passed since their concerts, I should add that October Project's performance can be considered haunting in the sense that their live performance leaves an impression that lasts and is immediately recalled whenever their album is played. Furthermore, I've come to appreciate their albums more as a result of attending their concerts. The songs now come alive as if Mary was actually here to sing them to me..... I hope I've created interest in some of you that have not yet considered October Project..... Yours truly, Jason ------------------------------ From: gzverev@RPC.glas.apc.org (Russian Privatization Center) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 95 14:34:46 Subject: Re[2]: sTuff > The same is true for other countries, I guess the Swedes have this devious > plot: they dump all the bad music abroad and keep all the good stuff to > themselves! Luckily some of the good music (like Eva Dahlgren or > Hedningarna) escapes their border controls :-) > -- > Markku Kolkka > mk59200@cc.tut.fi Any site where I can grab their discography along with Vaartina? Gleb ------------------------------ From: joels@sd.cts.com (Joel Siegfried) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 04:43:01 -0800 Subject: Jane Siberry at the Coach House - Review Dear Ectophiles, Here's my review on last Tuesday's Siberry concert. Enjoy! Joel joels@cts.com Sweet Jane and Her Amazing Coat of Many Covers On Tuesday, November 14th, between concerts of Sky Cries Mary, Jewel and Dar Williams I went see Jane Siberry perform at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. The sun was low in the sky as we drove north on I-5, and there was a chill in air which caused me to pull over to put up the convertible top. I thought back to a more perfect October afternoon last year when I made the same trip to catch Sara Hickman perform. Dreamy images of what it was like to drive the Coast Highway in the '30s went through my mind then, as I watched the palm trees stream by in a blur. This time I was thinking about synchronicity. At a Milla concert downtown at the Hahn Theater, the person in the seat in front of me had turned and asked if I had ever heard of Jane Siberry. I had to admit that I wasn't familiar with her music. "Go and buy When I Was a Boy", he said. "You won't regret it." He was right. That album, and her other CDs, created in me that mystical bond between artist and fan. Now we would get to hear her magic performed live! We were starting to feel mellow and at peace with the world already. Soon we arrived at The Coach House (where Tori had played on September 5th, 1992). It is right behind the San Juan Tire Company, hidden from the road. If you didn't have directions, you'd never find it. But it is perhaps the premier venue for talent in Orange County, and arguably all of Southern California, situated half-way between L.A., San Diego and Riverside, no more than an hour's drive for 14 million people. After collecting our tickets from will-call, we had a chance to explore the facility. A long bar runs the length of the back wall, opposite a large, elevated stage at the front of the room. There are narrow balconies to the left and rear, decorated with a drum set, a bunch of old speakers, and a red roadster -- perhaps a 1953 Austin Healey. Long tables radiated outward from the stage, in parallel rows. The back of the room had smaller tables, and as best as I could reckon, seating capacity was about 440. Photographs of talent who have appeared here line the walls; I only wished for more time to examine all of them. Instead we took seats at the very back, and with the kind permissison of the house staff, we were able to listen to Siberry and her band do their sound checks. As she walked past, I nodded "hello". She smiled back. How tiny she looked. Perhaps just under a hundred pounds, blond hair pulled back into a bunched knob at the nape of her neck, delicate child-like hands, her fair skin contrasted with her black pullover and slacks. She could have been a model for those fragile China dolls that people collect. But Jane is anything but fragile. Graceful, elegant, waif-like, her voice is clear as crystal, her stage presence riveting and commanding. At the moment she was playfully chatting with her side men, which included Tim Ray on piano, formerly with a Boston ensemble called Orange Then Blue, trumpeter David Travers-Smith, bassist Christopher Thomas who looked to me like a big teddy bear in long dreadlocks, and drummer Brian Blade who had played in Joshua Redman's band. Jane opened her practice with snatches of Moon River segwaying into In America and Maria. Her sound check lasted about 45 minutes. She fluttered about the stage belting out cuts from several of her nine albums, but favored her most recent CD, "Maria", with the majority of rehersal songs, including Oh, My My, which turned out to be a rare treat as she did not perform it later in concert. A number of covers of other artist's music were interwoven. Near the end, she picked up her holly-strapped guitar from its stand at stage left, and strummed a few bars. When she was done, she stopped to chat with someone at the soundboard, then disappeared upstairs. My friend and I waited outside by the ticket window, talking with the woman inside the booth about memorable performances she had seen, and favorite female vocalists. Kate Bush and Mazzy Star were high on her list. Soon we were ushered inside and seated at a table to the right of center, just an arm's length away from where Jane would be performing. Our binoculars would be useless that night! A waitress appreared, told us her name was Renee, and took our orders. White Zinfandel, sauteed mushrooms, house salads, teriyaki chicken, veggie plate with baked potato. The food was excellent, but the wine had no chance of winning any medals, except maybe the Purple Heart, so I opted for a Drambuie when it came time for a refill. My friend recognized several people at nearby tables. One was Paul Mallet from Queens University in Canada, who maintains a World Wide Web page on the Internet with a wealth of information about Jane and her music. At about 8:00 pm, an acoustic guitarist named Paul Bernadou took the stage. Despite an auto accident on Pico Boulevard in L.A., which caused him to miss his soundcheck, he seemed at ease and mellow. Dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers, he mixed comments and chatter with ballads about relationships, love gone awry, changes and loss. The dinner audience was polite and appreciative. His set ended about 40 minutes later. We had time for coffee and dessert before Jane walked on. When she was finally announced around 9:15 pm, the audience of about 260 broke into applause and spirited cheers. Jane was wearing a wireless microphone, a black short-sleeved blouse with fourteen snaps down the front, midnight blue velour pants, black 2-inch pumps, and no jewelry except for a gold Star of David pendant with a circle of rhinestones or diamond chips at its center, hanging from a very thin gold chain. A tiny gold stud was pierced through her right nostril, midway down her nose and barely visible. The strap of a lavender half-slip could be seen occasionally falling off to the right. To my disappointment, her blond hair was still pinned up in a knot at the back of her neck. Her nails were painted pink, but there was little makeup on her face. She nodded to the crowd. Then the magic began. As in rehersal, she opened with Moon River and the medley I had heard earlier. Immediately, I was enchanted by her pure voice and graceful body movements. Her tiny fingers caressed the air playfully. She seemed languid, wistful, totally relaxed, mischievous and impish, feminine yet also androgenous. There was an immediate contact between us when I applauded wildly and she nodded back. But everyone in the audience must have felt connected with her. She fed off of this energy, generously returning it many times over. Between songs, she would stop and chat, asking if people knew what to expect from her, saying that she tried to make every show unique. It was like the "Happenings" of Alan Kaprow I had attended while in college. She played off the crowd as well as to it, improvising, walking the line between spontaneity and ready-to-wear. Influenced perhaps by performance artists like Laurie Anderson, it was also Jane's form of Symmetry -- from her tongue-in-cheek song about a perfect universal balance. And it was the essence of jazz, where performers challenged each other to reach new heights. Taken from her set list and my notes, here is what she sang: Moon River America Maria Caravan Ooh, Child Lovin' Cup My Mother Abraham, Martin & John Sticks 'n Stones Chelsea Morning Girl From Ipenema See the Child Honey Bee Nature Boy Would You Go? Mary Had A Little Lamb (medley) Begat Begat 1st Encore: ---------- My Favorite Things Love Is Everything Oh, Shanendoah Moon River 2nd Encore ---------- Questions Calling All Angels Several of the numbers, including Girl From Ipanema and the nursery rhyme medley showcased the talents of individual band members, from Tim Ray's elegant piano backings and breath-taking break-outs, David Travers-Smith's soulful trumpet riffs, Chris Thomas's mellow bass, and the wonderously subtle artistry of Brian Blade on drums. In "Ipanema" each musician tried to entice Jane with his instrument; only Brian commented that he didn't find her attractive as he brushed his cymbals in a muted whisper! With each one, Jane was generous and loving. And she was the same with her audiance. At the start of her second encore, she asked if anyone had any questions? Someone asked what was her favorite color, more profound than it sounded because colors are mentioned throughout her lyrics. She thought a moment, then said looking towards a bouquet of roses in a vase off to her left, "Tonight it must be yellow." Then a question tumbled from my mouth. "What performer would you most like to meet?" She mused aloud that meeting Neil Young had been so exciting, then said to me, "Sorry, I can't think of anyone. How about you?" I pondered, then said, "After you, Joni Mitchell." She said that she had smiled for a long time after meeting Joni. A man asked her where had she been all his life? "Not on the radio.", was her playful reply. Then she said that she could not take any more from her audience - they had given her enough! With that she sang "Calling All Angels." Maybe it was the way she did it, with such intensity and beauty, or the fact that the incantation of angel's names is so powerful and moving, and her line "walk me through this one don't leave me alone" resonates deeply within me, but I started to cry softly, grateful for the darkness, moved beyond all expectations, and so very happy. Then it was over. She had performed for over two hours. She would not be returning to the stage. Drained, satified, and basking in a warm afterglow we sat there talking softly, not wanting to leave. When we finally gathered enough energy to will ourselves toward the exit, there stood Jane like a beautiful apparition. She had changed into an elegant black evening dress. As I approached, her assistant Kathleen unpinned her hair and let it tumble over her shoulders. I blurted out that I hoped her hair would come down all evening. Then introducing myself, thanked her, and said that I was almost at a loss for words because her performance had just blown me away. She thanked me for radiating all that energy toward her when she was on stage. I knew that she had noticed! Almost desparate to give her something tangible to take away with her, I reached into my concert pouch, and next to the binoculars found a miniature bottle of Drambuie which I handed to her with a question, "Will you let me give you a night cap?" She smiled and answered. "I won't drink this, but would you mind if I gave it to a friend who would enjoy it?" I told her I would be honored. Then after my friend had said some words of appreciation also, it was time to leave. Once I had asked a friend, who is a scientist, if she thought we were made of electrons. Borrowing on a quote of Muriel Rukeyser, she replied "No, we are made of stories, not electrons." Well, I just hope my life is filled with more stories like this one. -=END=- - --------- For those with World Wide Web access, the address of Paul Mallet's page on Jane Siberry is: http://malletp.psyc.queensu.ca/siberry/siberry.htm There is also a mailing list on the Internet for Siberry fans called Siblings. To subscribe send an e-mail message to: siblings-request@smoe.org with the word subscribe in the body of your message. - -- +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Joel Siegfried San Diego, California - USA Voice (619) 222-9236 | | Internet addresses: joels@cts.com ei955@cleveland.freenet.edu | | "But I haven't seen Barbados so I must get out of this." - Tori Amos | | "It's easy when you're blessed with money, love and sex." - Heather Nova | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ From: Markku Kolkka Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 15:54:18 +0200 Subject: Re[3]: sTuff At 14.34 17.11.95, you wrote: >> The same is true for other countries, I guess the Swedes have this devious >> plot: they dump all the bad music abroad and keep all the good stuff to >> themselves! Luckily some of the good music (like Eva Dahlgren or >> Hedningarna) escapes their border controls :-) >> -- >> Markku Kolkka >> mk59200@cc.tut.fi > >Any site where I can grab their discography along with Vaartina? Hedningarna: http://www.iuma.com/MNW/Xource/html/Hedningarna.html Värttinä: http://personal.eunet.fi/pp/dighoe/vartbio.html I haven't been able to find any Eva Dahlgren WWW pages :-( Her latest album is called "Jag vill se min älskade komma från det vilda", it's recorded with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. - -- Markku Kolkka mk59200@cc.tut.fi ------------------------------ From: Tamar Boursalian Date: Fri, 17 Nov 95 09:58:35 EST Subject: Happy and the Yes list Hey all, As far as I know, nothing has been done about the faux Happy post on the Yes list. I think it's time for me to stick my big Armenian nose where it doesn't (or maybe does) belong. The problem is that the list is heavily moderated and edited (by the weiner who wrote the fake message) so my comments may never make it to the list. But I'd like to get him to do something, so I guess I'll send him a private email and tell him what an idiot he is. I went to see the Steve Morse Band last night. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it erased the horribly sad mood I was in yesterday. :) I'm going to see King Crimson Saturday night, so things can only get better! Have a good weekend! --Tamar ------------------------------ From: mfgr@bart.nl (Marcel Rijs) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 22:12:28 -0100 Subject: Black Hi, In a series of additions to the Ectophiles Guide, here's my, again extensive, information on Black. You guessed it, I'm going for my favorite artists first. And for the marginally interested people: you don't have to read this, just take note of the fact that I am searching for a U.S. version of Black's "Comedy" CD. Despite many times trying to find this I haven't so far, and it's getting to be one of my biggest record collection frustrations. If anyone on the list can help me, I'd be very grateful. I'll fill you in on details off-list. I guess Marion Kippers could be the best person to provide detailed information on most Black info, but since she always experiences an enormous lack of time, I'll write all this down, and maybe she can fill in the blank spots. Note also that I hope to erect a WWW-page on Black in the near future! Okay, so here we go again: Artist: BLACK Country of origin: UNITED KINGDOM (England) Type of music: male singer/songwriter Covers/own material: The albums contain original material only. Tracks have been (co-)written by the performer. See also: Sam Brown, Robert Palmer, Distant Cousins. Comparisons: [Marion?] General comments: [Marion?] Recommended first album: I would say "Are we having fun yet?", since it's Black's most ecto-ish, most experimental and most quirky album, but it's probably hard to find in the US part of the world. "Wonderful life" should still be available everywhere, though. Recordings: 1. Wonderful life 2. At the Tokyo Power Station 3. Black 4. Comedy 5. Black 6. Are we having fun yet? Labels: 1. A&M Records 2. A&M Records 3. WEA Records (Warner) 4. A&M Records 5. A&M Records 6. Chaos Reins; distr. by Polygram (Europe) Nero Schwartz (UK) Cat. no.'s (All Europe & UK): 1. 395165-2 2. D15Y 3249 (Japan release only) 3. Never released on CD. 4. 395222-2 5. 397126-2 6. 519354-2 (Europe) Availability: (1) and (4) were world-wide releases, and should still be available world-wide. (2) was only released in Japan, but also imported at least to the UK, and possibly to other territories as well. (3) was only released on LP (and MC?) years ago. The album is deleted for a long time now. I don't know whether A&M released (5) in a big way. I would appreciate any info if someone does know. (6) was a so-called "independent" release. In the UK, Australia and Europe this CD is still available. It was not released in the US. Ecto priority: Should be high, as far as I'm concerned Group members: Colin Vearncombe (or Colin Black, as he seems to call himself lately so as to "avoid confusion", or so he says) is the only member left of this 'group'. They started out as a duo in early eighties. Dave Dickie left the group in 1985 but stayed on as a producer/co-writer for a few years. Colin has formed several different bands around him for live performances through the years. Colin is responsible for most song-writing, guitar and vocals. Guest artists: On his third A&M album "Black", Colin sang duets with Robert Palmer and Sam Brown, respectively. The duet with Sam Brown was, incidentally, released on single. A year before releasing the album, Colin married Camilla Griehsel, frontwoman of the short-lived Scandinavian pop-group One 2 Many. She is now a well-known opera singer, and shows her vocal abilities in a few Black tracks on "Black" and "Are we having fun yet?". On the latter album, Doreen Edwards sings backing vocals on one track. She's the front woman of Distant Cousins, a UK-based group. Martin Green, finally, plays some saxes and flutes. He can also be heard on records by the English group China Crisis. Producer: Dave Dickie (or Dix) on (1), (3), (4) Robin Millar on (1), (4), (5) Mike Hedges & Colin (6) Comments: After a few years of relative obscurity, when Black mainly achieved critical acclaim in the music press, and releasing some independent singles, Black signs to WEA in 1984. He releases two singles in one year, then experiences a bad year in 1985 after leaving WEA. In this period he writes the song Wonderful life, a lyrically ironic song. It is released independently in 1986 with some success. It leads to Colin's contract with A&M. In 1987 they release his most successful album to-date, the critically and commercially acclaimed "Wonderful life". It's a busy year for Colin from then on, with a world tour, endless promotional work and the process of coughing up a second album. A&M Japan releases a four-track mini-album to testify to the world tour with very nice live versions of tracks from "Wonderful life". WEA smells money and releases the album "Black" with all tracks he recorded for WEA, including the remarkable singles "Hey presto" and "More than the sun" and the accompanying extra tracks. "Comedy" is a beautiful album with warm, glowing sounds and filled with nearly bombastic, symphonic sounds, but also silent guitar-based ballads like "Let me watch you make love". "Comedy" was less commercially attractive, but certainly superior to "Wonderful life". "Black" could theoretically have been another multiple platinum album, but failed to attract enough attention. Colin leaves A&M, displeased with the way they treat him and not quite happy about the lack of promotion of his work. 1993 sees the return of a new, independent Black, with strange sounds and more experimental tracks on "Are we having fun yet?". Combinations of accordeons and electric guitars, drumbeats and flutes are made, making this album the least accessible, but the most interesting work of Black to date. His live shows in Germany and Holland in December 1993 are for hard-core fan audiences, and were probably a disappointment for Colin. Despite this he releases "Are we having fun yet?" in the UK and disappears. By now, Colin is probably working on a new CD. Black is an original talent, lyrically very gifted, musically a melody-wizard. His songs are well-crafted and his entire catalogue of songs is filled with magical moments. I have yet to meet anyone who dislikes his music upon hearing it. Most people only know the track "Wonderful life". True, it was a big hit, but judging Black by this one track only would be cruel and injust. It's a beautiful, timeless track, but it's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Greetings, ** Marcel F G Rijs - "Conan the librarian" ** mfgr@bart.nl ** 100276.2176@compuserve.com ****************************************************************************** ** Zoveel uren minuten seconden gaat het noodlot al tekeer ** De tijd heelt alle wonden maar slaat er nog veel meer. ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V2 #286 ************************** ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to ecto-owner@nsmx.rutgers.edu