katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris Williams) (04/26/91)
Vickie here. We're using a borrowed phone to post these. We'll get our mail (i.e. digests), but won't be reading them until after this is posted. Forgive me if I sound a bit out-of-date. Re: Happy Rhodes I just can't keep quiet about this woman. I'm glad to see other Love-Hounds singing her praises too. I can rave about Happy until I'm blue in the face but seeing raves reinforced by other KB fans will let people know that I'm not just making it all up! In case questions like these are going through anyone's mind: Why should Kate Bush fans be interested in Happy Rhodes? Why should Kate Bush fans spend money on Happy Rhodes? 1) Because Happy is herself a Kate Bush fan. Kate has had a deep and profound infuence on Happy. The vocal influence is there, though Happy was born with the voice she has. Her high voices do often sound like Kate's, but it's usually not intentional. She can't help it. I say "usually" because there are a couple of songs where Happy tried _on purpose_ to sound exactly like Kate. This was done as a homage, though. I never thought I'd ever hear anyone imitate Kate's high voice successfully, but on the songs "Would That I Could" and "Don't Want To Hear It" from _Ecto_ she gives new meaning to the word "uncanny" and I've played them for people who swore they were unreleased Kate tracks! Happy's low voice is nothing whatsoever like Kate's, though many people have likened it to Annie Lennox's. Anyway, Happy truly loves Kate's music and she has a deep respect for the woman behind the music. Much more can be written about this subject at another time. Mainly what I wanted to say here is that Happy is a true Katefan and we should do all we can to support and encourage her. Happy is talented enough to become a major artist and we can be there every step of the way. Which leads me to: 2) The music is EXCELLENT!! Katefan or not, I wouldn't be pushing her so hard on people if I didn't believe in her music. She's not an uneven artist with a few great songs, a few good songs and um, lots of potential. No, Happy is consistently great. She has released 5 albums, all amazing. That's 75 songs, none of which I could do without, though there are a couple on the early albums I'd love to see re-recorded with different instruments. The first four albums were recorded on shoestring budgets. She was so strapped for money that she couldn't afford to hire any other musicians. Everything you hear is Happy. She plays guitar, keyboards and synths, sings and even engineered some of the songs herself. It's all done so well that you'd never know. She played, recorded and mixed so brilliantly and cleverly that I had no idea that she was all alone until Kevin told me. Happy and Kevin saved and borrowed money to make _Warpaint_ as high quality an album as they possibly could. She still wrote, arranged, played keyboards & percussion and sang nearly all the voices for all of the songs, but this time she was able to hire a few other musicians to play on some of the tracks. They knew it would cost them a lot of money to put out CDs, but they thought it was worth it and were able to raise enough money to hire Dr. Toby Mountain to do the digital master- ing at Northeastern Digital Recording outside of Boston. The CD sounds great because they scrimped and worked (a couple of Happy's most recent jobs were working in a gift shop and waitressing at an Italian restau- rant!) and saved and borrowed to be able to make it so. Those of you who bought Happy's tapes in the last year and a half can be proud in knowing that you had a part in paying for _Warpaint_. Happy is 25 years old. She has already made 5 musically valuable albums. Think about it... Happy's Dreaming/Walking/Security album has yet to be made. She's only just begun. If _Warpaint_ dies, she wouldn't give up music, but she'd have to waste precious creative time paying off debts, struggling to pay common bills (rent, car payments etc.) and then saving money again to make her next album. It would be tragic! It would be our loss. Do I want Happy to have a hit? Hmmmmm. Actually, YES! I can't see it happening, because I don't think any of the songs on _Warpaint_ are "commercial" enough to get anywhere near the Top 40, but I have to say that I hope I'm wrong. Anyone who might sniff and sneer at the thought of having a hit song would do well to remember that... Kate was able to make _The Dreaming_ because she had a hit with "Wuthering Heights"....Jane was able to make _The Walking_ because she had a hit with "Mimi On the Beach"....Peter Gabriel was able to make _Security_ because he had a hit with "Games Without Frontiers".... These hits generated enough money and power to enable K/J/P to do things their own way without interference in their creative visions. Poverty and obscurity make great song subjects but don't help artists. Happy is the kind of artist who, if she did have a hit, would pour the money back into her work (charities too--she's a big supporter of Amnesty International) and would hire and help other musicians. "I took a little back road to fame. I'm still traveling now, but I'm free of shame" from "All Things" by Happy Rhodes We can help her get there and be proud of the artist we're supporting. Buy her tapes. Buy her CD. Write publications and ask them to review _Warpaint_. Call radio stations and request Happy. Right, they'll never have heard of her but it will get her name circulating. Make sample tapes of various songs and pass them out to friends (if they like what they hear and want more they'll have to buy them.) Call record stores and ask if they have Happy in stock. Again, they'll never have heard of her but a moment's puzzlement will make more of an impression than never hearing her name at all. Perhaps you could even get some record stores to carry at least her CD. We can start a grass roots movement to get the name Happy Rhodes out to people who've never heard of her. We do have power in numbers and we're nationwide and international. We can't have much of an impact on actual sales until Happy gets a distribution deal and _Warpaint_ is fairly easily available, but we can spread her name around. Hey, look what word-of-mouth did for _Dances With Wolves_! *** Until you've heard the music for yourselves, you have no incentive to support Happy *** To get Happy's tapes and the new CD, write: Aural Gratification P.O. Box 8658 Academy Station Albany, NY 12208 Tapes are $9.99 + $1.50 p&h The CD is $13.99 + $2.00 p&h Sure, this is an ongoing (I'll never stop :-) "commercial" plug, but I'll say it again.... I'd never do this if I didn't believe in Happy's music. The music is what counts...it's really what's important here. Supporting Happy gives you lots of great music to listen to now and enables Happy to continue to make great music for us to listen to and enjoy in the future! I know her well enough to know that she'd never "sell out" and get boring. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons Happy has had so much trouble getting a record contract is that she won't compromise her terms. They include releasing _Warpaint_ as is. In other words, she wouldn't re-record it to please a record company. She demands full creative control on all future recordings too and she wouldn't add or cut something from an album just because a record company told her to. Happy would prefer to remain obscure than to jerk around her art at the whim of a record company suit. Why am I pushing Happy so hard when there are so many musicians out there who deserve help? Sure it's a personal thing--I'll admit it. I confess....I'm a Happyholic! I can't get enough of her music. I listen to her over and over and over again. Each listen is better than the last. One of the most amazing things about Happy's music is that it may seem very simple upon casual listening, but the songs grow on you. Then, no matter how many times you hear them, you'll never burn out or get tired of them. You're always discovering something new. Not in a complex, technological way (though there's plenty to be discovered in Happy's guitar and synth arrangements), but rather, emotions and textures. Songs will affect you in different ways at different times. Such reasons are why Happy has earned an honored place beside Kate and Jane in my esteem! Let's see, if Kate=God and Jane=Jesus then I guess that makes Happy the Holy Ghost!! It fits--in terms of "obscurity," Happy makes Kate look like Madonna and Jane look like Sinead O'Connor in popularity. This is why I'm fervently dedicated to shouting her praises and getting more people to give her a chance. It's so hard when her music is only available via mail order. A lot of people (myself included) are allergic to mail order. Apathy sets in. It's so much easier to peruse the racks of the local record stores and pick up albums than to send off for something. All I can say is that, if you will take the time and effort to send off for Happy's tapes and CD-not to mention spending the money, you will not regret it. You will be rewarded with music that will last a lifetime. Larry said it best...timeless and priceless. I couldn't have picked any better words to describe Happy's songs. Remember too...she's a fellow Katefan! To be continued... Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris) "And my mind, it screams to be free and to find the structure. My mind, it screams to be free of what's possessing me" Happy Rhodes
evan@castle.ed.ac.UK (E Welsh) (04/29/91)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Vickie Mapes) writes: >[Lots of enthusiastic stuff about Happy Rhodes deleted...] >To get Happy's tapes and the new CD, write: >Aural Gratification >P.O. Box 8658 >Academy Station >Albany, NY 12208 >Tapes are $9.99 + $1.50 p&h >The CD is $13.99 + $2.00 p&h Nobody ever seems to post overseas details. Until then I'm afraid I'll just have to remain ignorant. I suppose I could write to Happy and ask but if somebody already knew and could post... remember a fair proportion of regular posters here are outwith the U.S. Nice to communicate with you again Vickie. Hope you're able to respond... -- / __ /\ evan@castle.ed.ac.uk /\ Are you selling your \ \ |_ \ / \/ rew@lfcs.ed.ac.uk \/ soul to a cold gun ? / / |__VAN \/\/ELSH /\ evan@tardis.cs.ed.ac.uk/\ \ \ ================ \/ ecwu86@ercvax.ed.ac.uk \/ Kate Bush. /
py64725@cs.tut.fi (Yli-Krekola Perttu Jaakko) (05/07/91)
In article <9918@castle.ed.ac.uk> evan@castle.ed.ac.UK (E Welsh) writes: > >>Tapes are $9.99 + $1.50 p&h >>The CD is $13.99 + $2.00 p&h > >Nobody ever seems to post overseas details. >Until then I'm afraid I'll just have to remain ignorant. I suppose I >could write to Happy and ask but if somebody already knew and could >post... remember a fair proportion of regular posters here are outwith >the U.S. A month ago I sent $41 for two tapes (vol I & Ecto) and Warpaint CD. This leaves $7 for the airmail postage to Europe and handling. They arrived today and after listenig them through several times I must agree Vickie Mapes, Charlotte Stern, Jeffrey Burka and other people who have told here how good she is. The tapes were better than I expected. At the moment I like them more than the Warpaint CD. I'm going to send $25 tomorrow for the two remaining tapes. Perttu Yli-Krekola | LIKE: Mary Black, Kate Bush, Clannad, Cocteau Twins, | Cowboy Junkies, Eva Dahlgren, Dead Can Dance, Dylan, py64725@cs.tut.fi | Enya, Lush, Morrisey, The Rainbirds, Jane Siberry, | The Smiths, The The, Tanita Tikaram, Suzanne Vega.