From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V5 #442 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Friday, December 8 2000 Volume 05 : Number 442 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe from this digest, send an email to * jewel-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY the word * unsubscribe in the BODY of the email * . * For the latest news on what Jewel is up to, go to * the OFFICIAL Jewel web site at http://www.jeweljk.com * and click on "what's new" * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V5 #xxx or the like gives fellow list readers * no clue as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- NJC Re: [EDA] Re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing [Raymond Wong ] Re: [EDA] Who sings this???? [EastAngelEDA@aol.com] Re: [EDA] re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing [EastAngelEDA@aol.com] Re: [EDA] Who sings this???? [EastAngelEDA@aol.com] [EDA] Setlist [Shannon Mackie ] [EDA] Setlist?? No.....Greatest Hits ["Nick Wong" ] Re: [EDA] Re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing religion time again ["Devin Starr] [EDA] my perfect album set list [ChrissyPf1@aol.com] [EDA] remastering ["Allan Ray" ] Re: [EDA] Perfect Tracklist for Jewel's Next Album ["Matt Sullivan" ] [EDA] my setlist ["Mirjam Seidler" ] [EDA] re:christmas vs birth of jesus [TrixyEDA Webmaster ] [EDA] The disappearing popular songwriter [Mike Connell Subject: NJC Re: [EDA] Re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing Actually, for many years Christ's birth was celebrated on what works out to March 25, a perfectly reasonable time for a shepherd to be watching his sheep. It marked the beginning a week long celebration for the beginning of the spiritual calendar (new year). Later, when the calendars were revamped, the event was moved to to indeed coincide with the Winter Solstice celebration. The months were also reset such that the new year again began 7 days later. Some people kept on observing the old holidays, but eventually people starting making fun of anyone still celebrating the new year by then, as just an April Fool... :) I might also note that the year "0" would indeed exist for Christians, but it would simply be referred to as Anno Domini. The whole point of counting 1AD, 2AD, etc was to mark the counting since the original Christian "year of the Lord." BC (or BCE) was a convenience created later to avoid using negative signs. (we can ignore the probable 4 year error. lots of people are bad at math. :) :) Ray ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 20:24:28 +1300 From: "Stace" Subject: [EDA] my setlist for the cd.. Hey Edas, This is what i'd personally like to see on the cd - i'm a sucker for her country songs and love ballads :) 1. Sometimes it be that way 2. Chime Bells 3. 1,000 miles away 4. Summertime - a version like the Jewelstock one with only the bass. 5. too darn hot 6. Nicotine love 7. Last Dance Rodeo 8. I thought i saw you last night (w/poltz) 9. Race Car driver 10. Down 11. Jessica or Emily 12. If this is what love is 13. Have a little Faith in me 14. Sweet Sweet Angel (cowboy waltz) 15. grey matter 16. Break Me 17. Stephenville 18. Rosy and Mick Okay... i might be pushing it with 18 tracks... but ya never know - it *could* be done! Stace xxoo ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 02:45:01 EST From: EastAngelEDA@aol.com Subject: Re: [EDA] Who sings this???? Yes! It's the Sundays! The name has been sitting there, and it's also on teh "Fear" soundtrack. I should've known it was them, cuz when that song came out in the movie, my friend went nuts for them and bought all their CDs LoL Okay, I'm done now! Gina ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 02:56:59 EST From: EastAngelEDA@aol.com Subject: Re: [EDA] re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing Actually, a lot of scientific historians believe that the start of the new millenium was anywhere from 3 to 7 years ago, because of errors in the calendar keeping of early centuries, also the fact that it used to be a 10 month calendar, and when they switched it, time could've been lost or gained. So we all could be living in the past LoL Just thought I'd throw that little tidbit out there, not trying to start or continue the debate! LoL Gina EastAngel ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 03:03:26 EST From: EastAngelEDA@aol.com Subject: Re: [EDA] Who sings this???? LoL...."the song has been sitting there" on the tip of my tongue is what I meant to say, I kinda cut it off short, but gimme a break, it's 3am LoL Gina ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 02:37:46 -0500 From: Shannon Mackie Subject: [EDA] Setlist My set list (in no particular order) 1. Sometimes It Be That Way 2. Too Darn Hot 3. Rocker Girl 4. Don't Care 5. Money 6. Love Me Just Leave Me Alone 7. Marital Carnival 8. When I Was With You 9. Ohio 10. Who Will Save Your Soul (jazzy version) 11. Chime Bells 12. A Very Big Girl 13. God's Gift to Women 14. Jitterbug Thanks, hopefully this one will actually go through! Shannon - -- ~*~*~*~*~ "Give me my Romeo, and when I shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun." - Juliet Act 3. Sc. 2 http://gurlpages.com/malenkydevotchka AIM: devotchka12 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 19:23:15 +1300 From: "Nick Wong" Subject: [EDA] Setlist?? No.....Greatest Hits In the tradition of commerical music, Jewel should put out a greatest hits album where she has like remastered selected tracks from POY and spirit. And maybe, just maybe, a couple of bonus tracks that have never found themselves in the "commercial" scene could also be included. That is what I think a "commercial" would do. who knows. Nick. One of many Kiwiangels. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 08:07:38 -0500 From: "Devin Starr" Subject: Re: [EDA] Re: NJC/NTC -- less confusing religion time again ok.... I am really good at this subject and i warn you, i tend to get a little conspiracy theory-y about it. The pagan holiday of Yule falls on Winter Solstice, to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun God (he died on Samhien, aka halloween) The Birth of Christ technically was in the spring time, as James mentioned. All this James has already said, and from what i see its all correct, and if there are a lot of people in here who take their bible Literally (when even clergy says to take a lot of it metaphorical), they aren't going to like me. The 8 Major Pagan holidays, tend to fall right around the christian holidays, even though Paganism predates Christianity by several... centuries, and can be traced back to cro-magnon days. The christians when recording their holidays had to deal with the truth, but they also had to deal with overtaking the worshippers of paganism. So, they place their holidays close to the pagan ones, and get some funding to advertise it around (unlike the pagans who just had tradition since the begining of time) Things change in life, but one thing that has never changed is that people always want the new.. if the old one isnt performing miracles at all hours for them and if they are promised eternity with something new, they are going to go with the new... So advertising, and kick ass holidays were planned to over take paganism... so.. that is my religious history lesson. class dismissed Merry Christmas Happy Yule Happy Chanukah happy snow times (to the athiests) Merry Ramadan and any other i missed~Happy Holidays all Jess angel with broken wings ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 08:32:17 EST From: ChrissyPf1@aol.com Subject: [EDA] my perfect album set list Hey to all the people who already wrote their perfect set list-- what would be the first single released off of your perfect album??? My set list: Boy needs a bike Carnivore 1000 miles away last dance rodeo break me stephenville violet eyes flower Rosy and mick Does anyone believe in love? Nikos Bonus track: LMJLMA The first single would be Last Dance Rodeo - -- Chrissy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 08:15:44 -0500 From: "Allan Ray" Subject: [EDA] remastering >album where she has like remastered selected tracks from POY and spirit. >And >maybe, I think people sometimes misunderstand exactly what remastering is. In the case of Jewel, there's really no need to remaster, as her recordings are so new, and were mastered digitally (likely)etc. Mastering means to take from a set of master mixdown tapes to your final source. (I'm skipping the part about compression and stuff to get to your mixdown tape) In the old days your final source was records. (Which DO sound better) At any rate, "remasterings" are often done today because of a poor master used on original cd pressings, like versions of old albums that came out in the 80s on CD. (i.e. high generation master tapes) This was the case with Led Zeppelin. The remastered CDs that came out in 1990 were a vast improvement over the previous CD releases. Just due to the generation of tapes used and the process itself. As time goes on you see more and more remastered old stuff, like Pink Floyd, Jimi, 24 bit mastering of jazz recordings, etc. There would really be nothing to gain from remastering jewel albums, they've already been "mastered" well enough, with digital media in mind. Just a crappy lesson, Allan ____________________________________________________________________________ _________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 13:53:10 From: "Matt Sullivan" Subject: Re: [EDA] Perfect Tracklist for Jewel's Next Album My List for the CD , which would be called "Break Me..." 1. Carnivore (radio remix, to the effect of Foolish Games, single) 2. Serve the Ego 3. Break Me (single) 4. Race Car Driver 5. Down (single) 6. LMJLMA (single) 7. Stevensville, Tx 8. Does Anyone Belive in Love 9. Sometimes It Be That Way 10. Emily 11. Shawdows Play Bonus: Hands Live _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 10:56:27 EST From: EquusJes@aol.com Subject: [EDA] Perfect track listing Here are my choices: 1. Love Me Just Leave Me Alone 2. Down 3. Grey Matter 4. Does Anyone Believe in Love 5. Here When Gone 6. 1000 Miles Away 7. Chime Bells 8. Race Car Driver 9. Summer Home in Your Arms 10. Boy Needs a Bike 11. Ain't No Lookin' Back 12. Last Dance Rodeo 13. Violet Eyes 14. Break Me Jessica the nature angel ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 10:06:34 -0600 From: "Kristie Biggs" Subject: Re: [EDA] Perfect track listing Ohhhhhhh! I forgot about Summer Home in Your Arms!!!! I would add that one for sure!!!! Anyway MY perfect set list: 1. Stephenville (of course!) 2. Rocker Girl (it's just so cute) 3. Race Car Driver 4. A Very Big Girl 5. Sometimes It Be That Way 6. Grey Matter 7. Fragile Heart 8. Cold Song (super fast version) 9. Angel (Cowboy Waltz) 10. Break Me 11. Silver Lining (w/Steve Poltz) 12. V-12 Cadillac 13. Where Have You Gone Jimmy Dean 14. 501 Beauty Queen ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 11:29:55 -0600 From: "Karacostas, Derrick W." Subject: [EDA] THE Perfect Jewel Setlist! :-) Stairway to Heaven No Excuses Cherub Rock Enter Sandman Creep Drown What If? I'm Too Sexy Paranoid Beautiful People and for the encore... Race Car Driver. :-) (has any said these HAD to be Jewel songs?) Afterall, she hasn't done a cover album yet...hehe. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 11:32:57 -0600 From: "Karacostas, Derrick W." Subject: [EDA] NJC....the real deal For all you who've been going on about the millenium stuff....if you all really think about it...every single second is the beginning of a new decade, century, AND millenium. Since it's really only a 1000 year "time span". Period. Pick any 1000 years. That's a millenium. hehe. But at least I know people are still alive around here anyway. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 18:32:16 +0100 From: "Mirjam Seidler" Subject: [EDA] my setlist my setlist for Jewels new cd? ah, thats easy! I choose every song I dont know. And belive me, this is really easy! caus unfortunately I only know the songs form POY, SPIRIT, her singles and oh, ya, the mtv unplugged concert... *sigh* I know, Im such a poor thing. [IMAGE] the medic angel - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 09:59:05 -0500 (EST) From: TrixyEDA Webmaster Subject: [EDA] re:christmas vs birth of jesus i once was told Jesus exact birthdate was unknown, but because of the "brightest" star in the sky the night he was born they pegged his exact month to be february, i dont know if this is real but its just what i heard from church a long time ago... unless we are going to change the name of this list to Jesus can we drop the subject? not everyone wants to scroll through 40 messages arguing about the abreviations... BC...AD, OD, PS, BM (bite me hehe) ect.... :) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 16:33:00 +0100 From: "Tom Hall" Subject: [EDA] setlists, singles and greatest hits Wow, a lot of people actually responded to my post! I'm just glad you did, but... Mike, did I get enough replies to beat Derrick and win the 'rare jewel cd'? Just kiddin... Anyway, my first single from my perfect album would be God's Gift To Women. I think it'd make people sit up and listen, as it's really different to what most people think of Jewel. After that, I think she should release a Foolish Games/YWMFM kind of Radio Mix of either Satellite or Carnivore (or both), and I'd love to see her release Serve The Ego just to see what kind of people would buy it, as it appeals to so many different genres. Since you're all picking bonus tracks I'd pick Chime Bells or Last Dance Rodeo. Simply because I forgot to put them on my first list! <> Greatest Hits? Why? She's only had a handful of singles out. Lets see - Who Will Save Your Soul, You Were Meant For Me, Foolish Games, maybe Morning Song... Then there's Hands, Down So Long, Jupiter, What's Simple Is True and maybe Life Uncommon... She's supposed to put a Greatest Hits out with 9 singles? I get your point though - maybe after the next album she'll start to think about her Greatest Hits :) Tom ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 11:22:27 -0500 From: "cymbaline" Subject: Re: [EDA] Setlist?? No.....Greatest Hits A "Greatest Hits" album is something an artist with alot more than 2 CDs would release..... You can not do a Greatest Hits CD with 2 CDs out.... (Greates Hits are usually the singles anyway), plus most greatest hits albums are just compilations of the originals... not rerecorded. No offense to your idea.... but Jewel should not do a "Greatest Hits" album until she's released at least 4 - 5 more albums (maybe more) cymbie tree hugger - -- when night falls it's dawn one must reach for. - -a. camus - ----- Original Message ----- From: Nick Wong To: Jewel EDA Mailing List Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 1:23 AM Subject: [EDA] Setlist?? No.....Greatest Hits > In the tradition of commerical music, Jewel should put out a greatest hits > album where she has like remastered selected tracks from POY and spirit. And > maybe, just maybe, a couple of bonus tracks that have never found themselves > in the "commercial" scene could also be included. > > That is what I think a "commercial" would do. > > who knows. > > Nick. One of many Kiwiangels. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 12:58:17 -0500 From: "cymbaline" Subject: Re: [EDA] THE Perfect Jewel Setlist! :-) LOL..... in that case.... (thinking of songs where i might die laughing if Jewel sang them) 1) Paranoid Andriod 2) Got The Life 3) Hit Me Baby, One More Time 4) My Own Prison 5) Another Brick in the Wall 6) Tubthumping 7) Barbie Girl 8) Gotta Jibboo 9) Last Kiss 10) The Chanakah Song and then there would be an enhanced video included on the disk, of Jewel's famous rendition of "Free Bird" lol cymbie tree hugger - -- when night falls it's dawn one must reach for. - -a. camus ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 10:09:00 -0800 From: Gerrit Subject: Re: [EDA] my setlist That'd be a cool.. a 200 song CD.. ;P Gerrit Mirjam Seidler wrote: > > my setlist for Jewels new cd? ah, thats easy! I choose every song I > dont know. And belive me, this is really easy! caus unfortunately I > only know the songs form POY, SPIRIT, her singles and oh, ya, the mtv > unplugged concert... > > *sigh* I know, Im such a poor thing. [IMAGE] > > the medic angel > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : > http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 13:27:59 -0500 From: Mike Connell Subject: [EDA] The disappearing popular songwriter Hi people. This article does have a little Jewel content (one small mention), but I feel it fits in with the general genre of this list. Mike :-) From http://www.usatoday.com/life/lphoto.htm Title: The disappearing popular songwriter By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY NEW YORK It's after 3 o'clock on a late-summer afternoon in downtown Manhattan, and Joan Osborne is finally ordering lunch. Osborne has been busily promoting her new album, Righteous Love, the long-awaited follow-up to her 1995 major-label debut, the multiplatinum Relish. The delay, she explains, was because of a number of factors, including Mercury Records' decision to drop her in 1999 only three years after she garnered seven Grammy nominations and graced the cover of Rolling Stone. Joni Mitchell 'Big Yellow Taxi' 'The Circle Game' James Taylor 'You've Got a Friend' Osborne muses that label executives "might have lumped me in with a Lilith Fair moment that they thought was over," alluding to the concert tour that became a media metaphor for the critical and commercial success of young female singer/songwriters in the mid-to-late '90s. "But I don't think my time has passed because I'm a woman who sings and writes songs." Fast-forward about four months, to the present. Righteous Love, which arrived in stores Sept. 12, has sold fewer than 80,000 copies, despite glowing notices and numerous high-profile television appearances. Certainly, it's too early to proclaim the album a dud, or to issue a postmortem on Osborne's career. The singer notes, "An artist can have loyal fans and a legitimate career without being on the cover of every magazine at a given moment." Still, it could be argued that the relatively slow progress of Osborne's latest CD highlights a trend that has affected similar artists, both male and female, in recent years. As bubblegum pop and more aggressive forms of rock and hip-hop have gained commercial clout, the singer/songwriter that folk-based breed whose stock in trade is the ability to craft and deliver songs is becoming less prominent on magazine covers and, more significantly, radio playlists. Prefab and image-driven acts have, of course, always played a key part in rock 'n' roll. But since the '60s, the singer/songwriter has, in various guises, also managed to remain a forceful presence in rock music and culture. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and others shared the public's fascination along with The Monkees and Alice Cooper. Creatively autonomous stars as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello, Prince and Tracy Chapman, Sinead O'Connor and Sheryl Crow followed. But radio is seemingly less friendly for many of those artists and their would-be successors today. Even contemporary stations that have traditionally embraced singer/songwriters are relying more on boy bands and baby divas. Sean Ross, editor of radio magazine Airplay Monitor, points to the cyclical nature of pop charts and playlists. "Eventually, radio turns on anything that it plays a lot of," he says. "I guess the cycle turns on what (programmers) get sick of." Over the past two years, Ross says, that has led to a backlash against some female singer/songwriters who came to the fore in the Lilith era. "When the last Jewel album came out, there was only one hit. The last Alanis Morissette album didn't have many hits, either." Ross also identifies "a generational split that has affected some older rock artists. You have 26-year-old (program directors) who don't want to play Billy Joel or Don Henley." Actually, Henley's current album, the platinum Inside Job, is one of the few CDs released by baby-boomer singer/songwriters recently Sting's double-platinum 1999 effort, Brand New Day, is another that has shown tenacity on the commercial airwaves. But Henley remains concerned about the state of radio and about what the declining profiles of singer/songwriters artists who often develop careers more slowly than other pop sensations, and who are valued for injecting thoughtfulness and social commentary into pop music may reflect about the music business and society at large. Overfed and undernourished "I don't begrudge the kids their teeny-bopper music," Henley says. "But I have a concern about the balance on radio and in the marketplace. There should be a wide spectrum out there. But it seems we're not living in a very philosophical or introspective time. There are a lot of young people who are socially minded, but many of them are laboring in relative obscurity. The emphasis is now on exhibitionism. That's always been true to a certain degree in rock 'n' roll, but I've never quite seen things reach this level of form over content. "I think we're living in an age of unbridled capitalism. And as we're seeing the (music) industry become more and more caught up in the global corporate machinery, we're seeing less support for art and more support for artifice." Paul Simon, who also recently released an album, the widely praised You're the One, perceives a similar dynamic. "There's no dearth of people who are producing beautiful and satisfying music for every taste," he says. "But that diversity of talent is not reflected in the corporate culture. "The problem is that what radio lays out isn't broad enough. That's because radio owners are concerned about revenue, and revenue is decided by creating demographic groups and serving those groups a certain menu, repeatedly, so that they end up overfed and undernourished." For James Taylor, this problem is exacerbated by the "merger mania" that has seen record companies folding into conglomerates. "When I was coming up, the business was more whimsical and friendlier to the artists," Taylor says. "But there are about five record companies now, and if you're an executive at one of those companies, you have to show a corporate overlord a bottom line. So the businessmen are sweating bullets, too." Michael Penn, a critically respected singer/songwriter who had one hit single, No Myth, a decade ago, concurs. "There's no longer a system where record company executives feel like they can establish tenure and dedicate their time to developing an artist," he says. "They're always looking over their shoulder, waiting for the ax to fall. So it's 'What's on the radio? What's selling now? Get me something like that, fast.' And I think that's devalued music." Adds Rickie Lee Jones, "Ninety percent of people in the record industry wouldn't know a good song if it called them on their cellphones. I don't think anyone has anything against singer/songwriters personally; there's just a general malaise, a decline in things artistic." The obvious question, then, is where the next generation of influential singer/songwriters will come from, and how or if they will be nurtured. This is an especially significant issue for Billy Joel, who is focusing on writing classical music but whose 14-year-old daughter, Alexa Ray Joel, is a budding singer/songwriter. "She writes extremely interesting chord progressions -- very different, very unorthodox," the elder Joel says proudly. "But when I try to encourage this individual voice, she says, 'Dad, I can't be a pop singer if I write that way.' That may be indicative of how a lot of young people feel now. All the radio formats seem very strict, and it's probably very intimidating for a young person with a unique, original approach." Another fledgling singer/songwriter whom Joel admires, Shawn Mullins, has additional worries about the current pop climate's influence on young people. Resurgence in storytelling Mullins, whose 1998 breakthrough hit, Lullaby, made him one of the few new singer/songwriters to crack the top 10 in the past couple of years, says: he shares Henley's ambivalence about the abundance of apathetic or, sometimes, violent lyrics and imagery in today's flashier and frothier pop. "I'm all for people expressing themselves however they want to. But some of the stuff I'm hearing, from people like Eminem I think, man, we need to take a look at this. The singer/songwriters I've loved would talk about important stuff in a constructive way. I'm hoping there's a resurgence of real storytelling. I think there will be, because younger people are starting to think politically again." For longtime cult favorite Aimee Mann, the lack of substance and sensitivity in songwriting is a reflection of "the cynicism of the record industry. If all people hear is music written by people who don't care what they're writing about, that's what they'll buy." Another esteemed veteran, John Hiatt, is more optimistic. Hiatt sees the singer/songwriter tradition being adapted and revitalized in a contemporary vein by stars such as Macy Gray, whom he praises as "a great example of the boat being shaken up." Indeed, Sade, a forerunner of Gray's, recently entered the Billboard album chart at No. 3 above Ricky Martin with the album Lovers Rock, a collection of spare acoustic songs that she wrote and produced herself. VH1 executive Bill Flanagan, creator of the singer/songwriter-driven series Storytellers, adds that many of today's more rock-oriented singer/songwriters, particularly men, are fronting bands. "There were a lot of openings for female singer/songwriters on the pop charts in recent years, but very few for men," Flanagan says. "I think the male singer/songwriter has very much gone into rock bands." Flanagan won't get an argument from Lilith founder Sarah McLachlan. "There were great male singer/songwriters like David Gray and Ron Sexsmith who couldn't get played on the radio a few years ago if it killed them," McLachlan says. "At one point, there were certain stations that played nothing but women. It was like, 'Women are hot, so we're not going to bother with men.' "I just wish there was more of a sense of balance. I don't think that when Lilith ended, Limp Bizkit suddenly took over, but the industry makes it seem that way. The bands making that kind of harder, slightly misogynistic music are now the ones getting the covers of Rolling Stone and the record sales and the MTV play. But I think people still listen to me and Tracy Chapman and Sheryl Crow. And I think there's the same frustration over radio that existed when we were getting tons of airplay and David Gray couldn't get any." Perhaps McLachlan can take heart in Gray's progress in recent months. Flanagan identifies him as one of several artists who have emerged from England as a "great, classic singer/songwriter." Pop fans are beginning to agree: Gray is one of a pair of young British minstrels the other, Dido, is a woman who have enjoyed steadily rising album sales in recent months. Notably, both artists use modern technology to update their approach. "I think songwriting has to move into the next century," says Gray, whose fans also include Hiatt and Henley. "It's going to look more and more ridiculous to emulate things that happened in the '60s and '70s. There have been some massive characters in the singer/songwriter field that have cast huge shadows, and that's been a bit daunting for those coming after them. But maybe there's enough of a gap now that it can be done differently." Former artist manager and major-label executive Danny Goldberg, now CEO of the independent Artemis Records, agrees. "There's always been a lot of competition in music, because the public only has an appetite for so many heroes," he says. "But I still think there's an environment in which people making personal, idiosyncratic statements can reach an audience." "There's a tremendous underground swell of songwriters and players who have no interest in who or what the latest pop sensation is," Paul Simon says. "The whole concept of stars is bogus, anyway. What's a star compared to a song that lasts 100 years? Nothing. Absolutely nothing." ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V5 #442 ***************************