From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V5 #75 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Thursday, April 20 2000 Volume 05 : Number 075 HARBINGER DIGEST To post, mail harbinger@smoe.org To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger-digest To get list info file, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info harbinger-digest Today's Subjects: ---------------- (harbinger) Is "Be Somebody" ever going to be ANYTHING?? ["K.C." Subject: (harbinger) Is "Be Somebody" ever going to be ANYTHING?? Has Amen. suffered an untimely death much like it's older sister, Harbinger, did after its release back in '94? It seems so to me. Look at the non-events of the past several months.... First, "I Believe In Love" takes a powder on the radio and on the video channels. VH1 runs the video less than five times. (I'm wondering... how many of you actually ever saw the video for "IBIL" on VH1 or MTV? I saw it one time only.) By the beginning of the year, "IBIL" is nowhere to be found other than at the dance clubs when the promo 12" remix (which was never released) hit the underground market. Radio and TV have abandoned it. Shortly thereafter, promotional copies of the single for "Amen" start popping up on ebay. The CDs are DJ promos that feature "Amen - Clean Radio Edit." The song is never officially released to radio. Just before Christmas, Paula fires John Carter due, at least in part, to his mismanagement of the promotion of the new album and the related tour. On February 11th, Paulacole.com announced that the next single from Amen. was going to be "Be Somebody" and that the video was being directed by Earle Sebastian. Then, in March, it was reported by Kara and Tina that Paula had told them that there was a delay in the release of the video because she was unhappy with some of the scenes. Refilming and/or additional editing was in the works, last I knew, and release of the video was imminent. The Amen. tour runs for less than two months (including only 22 US venues and 3 Japanese venues) and then comes to a halt. Another 10 shows are scheduled between July 3rd and August 7th (3 of which are festival appearances rather than headliner shows). Finally, this afternoon I called to speak with a rep from the video department at WB Records. That person told me that there is no scheduled release date for the video for "Be Somebody" because it is still unclear as to what the status is on the single. From what I could gather, even though the Bonfires CD has been released to radio (this is the DJ promo for "Be Somebody"), approval has not been given for the stations to put it into rotation. As such, the release of the video is stalled indefinitely. Can't release the video if it hasn't been released to radio. With this being the state of affairs surrounding Amen., I am glad I have hung in there throughout this album, despite my misgivings. I say that because I think that the next album could be something really special, especially when I consider that Paula is going to be writing new songs during this period when so much heavy-duty shit is coming at her at once. The way I see it, the Amen. promotional machine is imploding. The album will likely go down as her least profitable and least appreciated release. She's probably still wincing from the end of her last romantic involvement (with Seyi Sonuga) and trying to work out the particulars of a new one (with Hassan Hakmoun). She has experienced another mass exodus from her once-established fan base. She's being categorized in the press as a casualty of Lilith Fair. In short, the professional and domestic aspects of her life are in a state of serious flux. So, Paula must have some heavy emotions building up inside of her because of all of these goings-on --- standing on the edge of another precipice in life, so to speak. My impression of Amen. is that most of the songs didn't speak as honestly as her past songs have done. When held to the light of her other work, there is a stagey self-awareness about the lyrics and subject matter. Maybe with the next album she'll tap into that spring of honest emotion again that gave her universally appreciated songs like "Ordinary" and "Carmen" and "Nietszche's Eyes" and steer clear of the brand of heavy-handed message music that comprised Amen. The Amen songs might have made Paula feel better about herself for putting the well-intended messages out there for the world to hear (and she should be applauded for taking the risk), but ultimately they also alienated much of her audience (both realized and potential). I think it's over for her for now. Even if "Be Somebody" was released today, no momentum was ever built up behind this album. The song would be released only to give way to more silence within a matter of weeks. And there's no tour to speak of that could help in promotion. It's just over. My guess is that she'll finish out her tour obligations and start work on the next album. I also won't be suprised if "Be Somebody" is never released to video or as an official single. What are you folks thinking/feeling about the situation? Kenn - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V5 #75 ******************************