katefans@world.std.COM (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City) (03/05/90)
Susan writes this about new vocal "Wuthering Heights": > It started out okay, but the impression I got, the longer it went on, was > that Kate was singing through the motions, so to speak. Parts of it were > very good, yes, but the part that nearly made me throw the CD case across > the room was "You know it's me, Cathy." The first syllable of "Cathy" > was a miss. She didn't hit it. She overshot it by a mile. Now, this > may seem like nitpicking to some, but I have this image of Kate as a > perfectionist-- a well-deserved image, and not one I consider an insult. > Furthermore, the strident voice of the original recording seems much > more appropriate to the little virago that I've perceived Kate's > Cathy to be. IED responds: > Kate does _not_ sing a "wrong" note here! She has simply > embellished--very deliberately--the F-natural of the earlier > "Cath-" syllable so that it begins with a grace note of G-flat. > There is _no_ question that she did this deliberately. Not only > does it _sound_ good (_not_ "wrong"); but she has actually sung the Sorry IED. Susan, I agree with you wholeheartedly!! It sounded "wrong" to me the first time I heard it and I winced. It still sounds wrong to me and I still wince. Even if it's *supposed* to be right, who can tell? IED can. Good for him. Even if it's *supposed* to be right, I still find that note embarrassing and it completely ruins the song for me, even though, up till then, I really like what she does with that version. Otherwise, I really do love the song. 30 seconds into the original (the first time I ever heard Kate in 1981) and I knew I had begun a love affair that would last me the rest of my life! I don't want to fan any flame war flames, I just wanted to let Susan know that she isn't the only one who feels that way about that note. Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris) katefans@world.std.com
jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (How Gren Is My Toupee) (03/05/90)
In article <9003050924.AA23932@world.std.com> katefans@world.std.COM (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City) writes: >Susan writes this about new vocal "Wuthering Heights": >> Furthermore, the strident voice of the original recording seems much >> more appropriate to the little virago that I've perceived Kate's >> Cathy to be. I think that whether or not people like the "new" vocal or the "classic coke" vocal take depends on whether or not they've read the book/seen the film or something. Unfortunately, I've done neither, thus for me the song is merely a piece of music, and I infinitely prefer the new one because it is a vastly superior production job. Those drums go BOOM! People who know the story know that Cathy is a ghost at this point, and thus they like that annoying banshee-screech little girl voice that Kate used on the first version. And, I find myself in the very strange position of agreeing with IED, for once! >IED responds: > >> Kate does _not_ sing a "wrong" note here! She has simply >> embellished--very deliberately--the F-natural of the earlier >> "Cath-" syllable so that it begins with a grace note of G-flat. >> There is _no_ question that she did this deliberately. Not only >> does it _sound_ good (_not_ "wrong"); but she has actually sung the I don't know how well trained the people are who are listening to this new version and hearing gaffes. I'm not the world's greatest musician, but I have a pretty good ear and it sounds fine to me. Better than fine. Perfect! IT is in no way, shape or form a wrong note. >Sorry IED. Susan, I agree with you wholeheartedly!! It sounded "wrong" >to me the first time I heard it and I winced. It still sounds wrong to >me and I still wince. Even if it's *supposed* to be right, who can tell? >IED can. Good for him. Even if it's *supposed* to be right, I still find >that note embarrassing and it completely ruins the song for me, even >though, up till then, I really like what she does with that version. Well, Vickie, you're crazy! Why wouldn't someone be able to tell whether or not a sung note is "right"? Are you saying there is no objective standard for whether or not a note is appropriate? Certainly in the pop form that Kate has chosen to work in, there is a bit of right and wrong! Maybe if Kate were just free-jazz scatting all over the place then we'd allow her a bit more leeway, but she's doing a pop tune. There are right notes and wrong notes. Nothing wrong with the one she's hit in Wuthering Heights... +---------------------- Is there any ESCAPE from NOISE? ----------------------+ | | |\ | jsd@gaffa.mit.edu | ZIK ZAK - We make everything you need, | | \|on |/rukman | jsd@umass.bitnet | and you need everything we make. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
nessus@MIT.EDU (Doug Alan) (03/06/90)
I agree with every word of Susan's criticism of the new version of
"Wuthering Heights". It seemed like it might be a good idea, but now
we know that Kate shouldn't muck with the past! As far as I'm
concerned, the new version isn't worth listening to.
|>oug
"P is for PETER whose studio failed"jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) (03/06/90)
Vickie writes that she agrees with Susan, and I figgered it was time to toss in my 2 bits (I've been trying not to...) I heard the TWS version before I heard/got TKI, and thought it was a neat song. I then got TKI and fell in love with the song (I still don't have a copy of TWS!). At first it seemed like I only liked the TKI version better because I was more familliar with it. However, when I finally read _Wuthering Heights_, I was able to truly say that the earlier version captures Cathy the way I saw her in the book (although, of course, that was influenced by the songs!). In discussing the versions of the songs with friends, we finally decided that I liked the TKI version because it captures the child-Cathy that comes back at the beginning of the book, while my friends like the TWS version because it's more ghostly--there's what sounds like a little extra re-verb on KaTe's voice that makes it haunting/ghostly...and it's obviously much older Cathy being portrayed... Just a few thoughts.... |Jeffrey C. Burka | "On the outskirts of nowhere | |jburka@silver.ucs.indiana.edu | on the ringroad to somewhere, | |jburka@amber.ucs.indiana.edu | on the verge of indecision..." --Fish |