IED0DXM@UCLAMVS.BITNET (11/18/86)
IED thanks Doug for his sudden barrage of fascinating inside news, and admits to a pang of jealousy that Doug is privy to such revelations so early on. But at least IED had the new single before Doug did!!!!!! Now, then, although most of what Doug said is fair, IED has several points to contest. >I'd like to remind everyone that Kate's compilation album, *The Whole >Story*, was released in the U.S. on Friday, and should appear in the >stores sometime in next week or so. The single, "Experiment IV" is >being released in the U.S. on the 26th in both seven inch and twelve >inch. These are the dates IED was given, also, but he'll believe them when he sees the records in the stores. Such faith you have, Doug! >For those who haven't yet heard X4 (I just managed to get a copy a >couple days ago -- these new import bans are horrible!), it is quite a >nice song. It's not as Andy maintains the greatest natural phenomenon >in the history of the universe, because that's "Get Out Of My House". IED has, L-Hs will note, amended his earlier statement. It now reads simply: "'Experiment IV' is the universe, and everything else besides." So relax, there is no conflict between us on this issue, Doug. >I'm not so sure about this Bananarama bit (Hey, I like "Cruel >Summer" as much as the next guy, but...). Speak for yourself. IED LOATHES Bananarama and thinks their music -- "Cruel Summer" or any other track, since they are about as unvaried in style as any pop entity in the history of the business -- is AWFUL. Needless to say, the comparison to "Experiment IV" is horribly, grossly, hideously inapt. >The 12-inch single version is better than the normal version. >It sort of sounds like Kate meets Klaus Schulze and Windham Hill (and >Bananarama?). There is a nice and moody violin on the 12-inch that >isn't on the normal mix. This is ridiculous. The seven-inch version is the whole, the twelve-inch is like an inspired rhapsody on the original. But one is not "better" than the other. But then, how is one to make such a fact clear to a listener who likens the universe to Klaus Schulze, Windham Hill and Bananarama? At least listen to it long enough to get your facts straight, Doug: the "nice and moody violin" on the 12-inch IS on the normal mix -- it appears in the last section of the 7-inch mix. "Nice"? An absurdly frivolous choice of modifier to describe one of the most profound and important passages in the history of twentieth century music! >I have to disagree with Mark Kat(e)souros about the picture sleeve for >"Experiment IV". It looks like Kate's trying to look like a sex >kitten again. This is unfair. Although actually IED agrees with Doug that this cover is not a great success, his reasons are entirely different. Kate herself has NEVER tried to look like a "sex kitten". This particular photo, in fact, is less likely to be interpreted in that way than almost any of her early covers, since her expression is rather antiseptic, and the gauzy soft-focus photograph bland. But in all cases where the "sex kitten" has been seen, the interpretation has revealed far more about the viewer than about the subject. >And there are better glamour photographers than >John Carter Bush (like the one who took the Japanese cover for *The >Kick Inside*!). When JC Bush tries to do something artistically >interesting, his photography is often really neat (though ultimately >Kate looks silly with "If I only could -- I'd be running up that hill" >scrawled across her back), but I really am not wild about the front >cover of the HoL album or X4 single. IED assumes that Doug is referring to John Carder Bush? Actually, John's front cover for Hounds of Love is an extremely masterful piece of work. The Japanese cover for The Kick Inside!? This is Doug's idea of "glamour"? You are using the term "glamour photography" in its lowest, contemporary sense, as a sleazy pseudonym for girlie photography, apparently. IED is thinking of the _real_ "glamour" photography, i.e. the works of Karsch, Horst, etc. (Names spelled right?) In other words, highly filtered, sometimes touched-up portraits of ca. 1940, designed to flatter as much as possible and to distance the subject from the mundane plane of existence to which he/she is in fact inseparably linked. With this definition in mind, the portraits by Lord Lichfield and Gerald Mankowicz (again spelling?) come far closer to that vintage standard than the "pink leotard" shot. And as for the Hounds of Love cover -- it IS one of JCB's symbolic, artistic images, and it conveys several intriguing connotations. It has the same kind of multiplicity of meaning that his shots for Lionheart, and "Babooshka", and "Sat In Your Lap" and "Running Up That Hill" have. And Kate does NOT "look silly" in the body calligraphy shots. They are a brilliant and extremely ambiguous group of photographs, one of the best and most intriguing of all the cover photographs released to date. >There are no >con T-shirts left over; someone swiped the remaining shirts. THIS IS TERRIBLE! IED shipped Peter a boatload of cash over there for one of those damn shirts. Now what'll he do? >Kate Bush won the CMJ New Music award >for best female artist and Peter Gabriel won it for best male artist. >(Oh boy, oh boy!) Well what do you think IED and the giraffes were talking about all last week???? This is the awards show that was shown on the USA Network twice last week. Check your TV Guides to see if it will be repeated again, as Kate makes a B.B.P.S. (Brief But Profound Speech) with the help of S.S.I.L. (Some Silly Imaginary Livestock). >Kate did show up >for the KB video party in London, after all. She stayed for an hour >an a half or so, talking to people and signing stuff. Did you go to London, Doug????? IED had assumed that you just talked with Peter or Dave over the phone, but this looks as though you were there. >Other random news: Kate is doing the title song for a movie called >"Castaways", which will be released early next year. Could you please give any further information that you might have about this unexpected and exciting development? Thanks. -- Andrew Marvick
Love-Hounds-request.UUCP@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU (11/20/86)
Really-From: nessus (Doug Alan) > These are the dates IED was given, also, but he'll believe them > when he sees the records in the stores. Such faith you have, Doug! U.S. release dates are different that British release dates. In England the release date is when you can find it in the stores. In the U.S., it's when it goes to the distributers, so you basically have to add about a week until you can actually get it. >> The 12-inch single version is better than the normal version. It >> sort of sounds like Kate meets Klaus Schulze and Windham Hill (and >> Bananarama?). There is a nice and moody violin on the 12-inch that >> isn't on the normal mix. > This is ridiculous. The seven-inch version is the whole, the > twelve-inch is like an inspired rhapsody on the original. Well sometimes inspired rhapsodies are better than the original. The 12-inch version is more varied and less commercial. The 12-inch single provides an oportunity for Kate do something more interesting than she might otherwise be able to considering the limitations placed on her by the expectations of the public and her record company for a 7-inch single. > But one is not "better" than the other. But then, how is one to make > such a fact clear to a listener who likens the universe to Klaus > Schulze, Windham Hill and Bananarama? And what's wrong with Klaus Schulze! Klaus Schulze has made a couple of |>oug's very favorite albums. And Kate herself has said that when she listens to albums these days, it's mostly ECM or Windom Hill. > At least listen to it long enough to get your facts straight, Doug: > the "nice and moody violin" on the 12-inch IS on the normal mix -- > it appears in the last section of the 7-inch mix. > "Nice"? An absurdly frivolous choice of modifier to describe one of > the most profound and important passages in the history of twentieth > century music! Well, Andy, |>oug was actually quite aware that the violin is on the 7-inch mix. Sorry for being so imprecise. What |>oug meant to say is that on the twelve-inch, the most prominetly featured instrument is a violin -- a violin which scintilates with passion, effervesces with the sputum of lost loves and painful cries of mothers, catapults Cupid's arrow, flamed in the very kilns of Hades at the seam stitching the Cosmos to Philistia. The 7-inch version, however has relegated this magnificent beam of unearthly radience to a mere 3-second bit part buried in the mix. >> I have to disagree with Mark Kat(e)souros about the picture sleeve >> for "Experiment IV". It looks like Kate's trying to look like a >> sex kitten again. > This is unfair. Although actually IED agrees with Doug that > this cover is not a great success, his reasons are entirely different. > Kate herself has NEVER tried to look like a "sex kitten". |>oug never said that Kate tries to look like a sex kitten. He said that the cover makes it look like Kate is trying to look like a sex kitten. Such a characteristic, however, can just as often be the statement of the photographer rather than the subject. |>oug thinks, though, that it is unarguable that at times Kate tries to appear erotic. And there's nothing wrong with that as long as the eroticism is a vehicle for an artistic message. The cover of X4 certainly seems to be trying to make Kate look glamorous, but |>oug finds little of artistic worth in the photograph. > But in all cases where the "sex kitten" has been seen, the > interpretation has revealed far more about the viewer than about the > subject. Yeah. That |>oug thinks Kate can do better than try to sell her records on sex-appeal. > The Japanese cover for The Kick Inside!? This is Doug's idea of > "glamour"? You are using the term "glamour photography" in its > lowest, contemporary sense, as a sleazy girlie photography, > apparently. Is IED saying that there are photos of Kate that look like sleazy girlie photos? |>oug thinks that such interpretations say far more about the viewer than about the subject. > And as for the Hounds of Love cover -- it IS one of JCB's symbolic, > artistic images, and it conveys several intriguing connotations. |>oug agrees that it has its merits. The dogs, hinting at bestiality, are nice, but if they weren't there, admit it, it would look like a cosmetics ad. The "Ninth Wave" cover is far far superior. > And Kate does NOT "look silly" in the body calligraphy shots. They > are a brilliant and extremely ambiguous group of photographs, one of > the best and most intriguing of all the cover photographs released > to date. |>oug has seen much more inspiring body calligraphy type photographs elsewhere. The RutH body calligrpahy photographs are okay, but they seem kind of pretentious and |>oug thinks they would work better if the calligraphy were just removed. > THIS IS TERRIBLE! IED shipped Peter a boatload of cash over there > for one of those damn shirts. Now what'll he do? Doug supposes he will have to ship IED's boat back. > Did you go to London, Doug????? IED had assumed that you just talked > with Peter or Dave over the phone, but this looks as though you were > there. No, Doug wasn't. His vocal patterns just made a brief appearance via the miracle of modern technology. >> Other random news: Kate is doing the title song for a movie called >> "Castaways", which will be released early next year. > Could you please give any further information that you might have > about this unexpected and exciting development? Thanks. IED knows as much as |>oug.