Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (09/13/89)
Really-From: IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu
To: Love-Hounds
From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
Subject: Special Notice
This is a pitch to all Love-Hounds who value Kate Bush's music, and
their own souls.
When the new single, _Love_and_Anger_, comes out on CBS Alternatives
Records on October 1, EVERYBODY PLEASE GO OUT AND _BUY_10_COPIES_ of it
immediately!
IED doesn't know if everybody reading this forum fully appreciates
this, but Kate's future plans in America, as well as her new U.S.
record label's future promotional plans regarding her new record and
subsequent singles, AND all possibilities of a Tour of Life II, will
LARGELY DEPEND upon RECORD SALES VOLUME.
The Love-Hounds, collectively and individually, are in a
unique position, due to their extremely broad national demographic
distribution, to HELP PROMOTE THE NEW RECORD! If every one of us
Love-Hounds makes even a small effort to SPREAD THE WORD and
BUILD MARKET INTEREST, Kate's American career could take off at
last. So please, everyone, let's get out there and do a little
grass-roots work on Kate's behalf, okay? Give it some thought,
please, people.
A couple of specific suggestions: you could visit your nearest
major chain record outlet--you know, the big boring Top-40 retail
stores like Music Plus, Sam Goody, Wherehouse, etc.: the names
change from state to state, but they're always exactly the same
whichever town you're in, and more and more they seem to be owned
by the same conglomerate--and repeatedly drop a word in the store's
main buyer's ear about how important it is that Kate be well stocked
and displayed. Give them any ideas you might have about how they might
display the promotional artwork for the album, and try to communicate
your enthusiasm to them, somehow or other.
Also, consider writing a letter to your local newspaper, alerting
them to the imminent release of Kate's new album, and how great it
would be if they had an early, full-length feature review in their
arts section on Kate's career and the latest work.
You could also suggest that they try to get a telephone interview
with Kate, and do a real feature based on the interview.
And what about dropping a postcard to Kurt Loder at MTV, asking
him to push Kate's video for airtime. You could mention that you
remember and appreciate his excellent review of _The_Dreaming_ for
_Musician_ magazine back in 1983. Someone who seemed to understand
Kate's talent as well as he did in that review might be persuaded
to do some good for her at MTV, providing her fans let him know
that they're interested.
Naturally, you could also do a lot of good by soliciting the
various rock radio stations on Kate's behalf. But you can _also_ make
a mark by _writing_ the station manager a letter. It's amazing
what effect a nicely typed letter can have sometimes, even when a
bunch of phone calls seem to fall on deaf ears.
And speaking of writing letters, one place that could _really_
benefit from written reminders of the size and involvement of Kate's
fans in America is CBS Records itself. Unfortunately, CBS is a huge
conglomerate, and not all signs of their plans for Kate have been
auspicious ones. Some of their reps seem to be almost totally ignorant
of Kate Bush, even though she's been signed with them for more than
a year and a half now. Call them up! Write them letters! Send them
cards! LET THEM KNOW YOU CARE!
IED apologizes for his domineering tone in this posting (and
in many others which have preceded it), but he hopes you will be
able to consider the content and ignore the language. Please,
everyone, remember Kate this October--it's the only hope any of
us have of getting to see a second Tour, and that should be
motivation enough.
-- Andrew Marvick (IED)
"It hadn't _started_ yet! No!"ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi) (09/14/89)
Andrew Marvick (IED) writes: > > This is a pitch to all Love-Hounds who value Kate Bush's music, and >their own souls. > When the new single, _Love_and_Anger_, comes out on CBS Alternatives >Records on October 1, EVERYBODY PLEASE GO OUT AND _BUY_10_COPIES_ of it >immediately! That's an interesting idea that I'd never thought of. Actually, it sounds like a good one. Ten singles should set one back about $20, which is considerably less than many KT items. > A couple of specific suggestions: you could visit your nearest >major chain record outlet--you know, the big boring Top-40 retail >stores like Music Plus, Sam Goody, Wherehouse, etc.: the names >change from state to state, but they're always exactly the same >whichever town you're in, and more and more they seem to be owned >by the same conglomerate--and repeatedly drop a word in the store's >main buyer's ear about how important it is that Kate be well stocked >and displayed. Give them any ideas you might have about how they might >display the promotional artwork for the album, and try to communicate >your enthusiasm to them, somehow or other. Believe me, I plan to do exactly that. When _The Whole Story_ came out, I went to the nearest Tower Records (at that time it was the one in Mountain View) nearly every day to see how that album was doing. In that store, at least, it did reasonably well. The album was displayed in a visible location, and eventually got onto their "Top 25" rack, peaking at number five (!) for one week. I also took note of promotions at other record stores, so I know that nice posters were displayed at the Tower in Campbell, the Licorice Pizza (now Sam Goody) in North Hollywood, and the student store at the University of California, Irvine. Also, Tower featured a prominent ad for the album in the December 1986 issue of _Pulse!_ magazine, and Rainbow Records (a large Bay Area chain) also advertised her once. This time, I plan to see as many Bay Area stores as I can, to check up on what's doing. > Also, consider writing a letter to your local newspaper, alerting >them to the imminent release of Kate's new album, and how great it >would be if they had an early, full-length feature review in their >arts section on Kate's career and the latest work. I've done this, too! In January, 1987, Mick LaSalle wrote a nice article about _TWS_ in the _San Francisco Chronicle_. In fact, it's one of my favoritesof all the articles about Kate that I have because it's from the point of view of someone coming across Kate's music for the first time. It starts by saying, "I've just bought Kate Bush's new album, and now I've gone back and picked up the rest of her albums." I wrote a letter back to him, part of which was actually published (along with someone else's letter about how great Kate is). I got some feedback from this from a radio station (which no longer exists, unfortunately), telling me how much they agreed, and that they play Kate sometimes. Maybe it would be a good idea to write another letter to Mr. LaSalle telling him about the imminent release of the new album. I think I'll do that! > And what about dropping a postcard to Kurt Loder at MTV, asking >him to push Kate's video for airtime. You could mention that you I'd love to do this if somebody could get me the address. > Naturally, you could also do a lot of good by soliciting the >various rock radio stations on Kate's behalf. But you can _also_ make >a mark by _writing_ the station manager a letter. It's amazing >what effect a nicely typed letter can have sometimes, even when a >bunch of phone calls seem to fall on deaf ears. I've written so many letters of this sort that I can hardly count them. I consider it my *duty* to show my appreciation whenever anyone plays Kate in public -- whether over the radio, at a store, or any other situation. Currently, I've been occupied telling the stations that do play Kate sometimes about the new album. They at least seem interested. For example, Audio-Vidya of KITS has used the information I've given her twice on her "Modern Rock Report". If anybody has some ideas about other Bay Area radio stations that might be persuaded, let me know! > And speaking of writing letters, one place that could _really_ >benefit from written reminders of the size and involvement of Kate's >fans in America is CBS Records itself. Unfortunately, CBS is a huge >conglomerate, and not all signs of their plans for Kate have been >auspicious ones. Some of their reps seem to be almost totally ignorant >of Kate Bush, even though she's been signed with them for more than >a year and a half now. Call them up! Write them letters! Send them >cards! LET THEM KNOW YOU CARE! Another excellent idea, which I plan to do. I once wrote a letter to EMI-America about Kate, but never received a response. I think that perhaps this was right about the time she switched to CBS Records. Ed ed@das.llnl.gov
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (09/15/89)
Really-From: munnari!uowcsa.oz.au!u8530671%uowcsa.cs.uow.oz.OZ@uunet.UU.NET (Scunge) In article <8909130519.AA04156@GAFFA.MIT.EDU>, IED writes: > When the new single, _Love_and_Anger_, comes out on CBS Alternatives > Records on October 1, EVERYBODY PLEASE GO OUT AND _BUY_10_COPIES_ of it > immediately! > IED doesn't know if everybody reading this forum fully appreciates > this, but Kate's future plans in America, as well as her new U.S. > record label's future promotional plans regarding her new record and > subsequent singles, AND all possibilities of a Tour of Life II, will > LARGELY DEPEND upon RECORD SALES VOLUME. Bad idea, guys. For a start, buying 10 copies each, you are, in a sense, lying to the record producers and Kate about the popularity of her albumn. One person liking it a lot isn't the same as ten people liking it a fair bit. Secondly, if the plan did work and they decided that Kate would do a tour, it might be a financial flop because only a tenth of the people they expected would turn up. It reminds me of a story that a bloke at work told me the other day. Apparently, according to "The Bare-Faced Messiah" (which I personally haven't read), L.Ron Hubbard commanded all his little Scientologist to go out and buy three copies each of his "Invasion Earth" series in one week, just to ensure that the book reached the best sellers list. Something to think about, eh? Mark "Scunge" Wann u8530671@uowcsa "I like kitties. Particularly with a white wine sauce." - An ogre.
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (09/15/89)
Really-From: koeppel@aramis.rutgers.edu In article <1098@uowcsa.cs.uow.oz> Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes: > Really-From: munnari!uowcsa.oz.au!u8530671%uowcsa.cs.uow.oz.OZ@uunet.UU.NET (Scunge) > > In article <8909130519.AA04156@GAFFA.MIT.EDU>, IED writes: > > When the new single, _Love_and_Anger_, comes out on CBS Alternatives > > Records on October 1, EVERYBODY PLEASE GO OUT AND _BUY_10_COPIES_ of it > > immediately! > Bad idea, guys. For a start, buying 10 copies each, you are, > in a sense, lying to the record producers and Kate about the popularity > of her albumn. One person liking it a lot isn't the same as ten people > liking it a fair bit. > > Secondly, if the plan did work and they decided that Kate would > do a tour, it might be a financial flop because only a tenth of the people > they expected would turn up. > > Mark "Scunge" Wann > u8530671@uowcsa Well, not really. There are at _least_ twenty people I know, really, many more than that, who would go to see Kate if she came here. However, I think there are only three or so of us, who would buy the single. So if we each buy a bunch of copies, it works out about evenly. I know a lot of people who will go to see Kate, just because they know people (me, for one) who practically worship her. I know my whole family will go, all of my best friends, and even some not-as-good friends that i can comvince to see her in concert. But not even one-tenth of them would go out and buy the single. So I don't think we're fooling anybody. jessica
Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (09/15/89)
Really-From: koeppel@athos.rutgers.edu (jessica) In article <1098@uowcsa.cs.uow.oz> Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes: > Really-From: munnari!uowcsa.oz.au!u8530671%uowcsa.cs.uow.oz.OZ@uunet.UU.NET (Scunge) > > In article <8909130519.AA04156@GAFFA.MIT.EDU>, IED writes: > > When the new single, _Love_and_Anger_, comes out on CBS Alternatives > > Records on October 1, EVERYBODY PLEASE GO OUT AND _BUY_10_COPIES_ of it > > immediately! > Bad idea, guys. For a start, buying 10 copies each, you are, > in a sense, lying to the record producers and Kate about the popularity > of her albumn. One person liking it a lot isn't the same as ten people > liking it a fair bit. > > Secondly, if the plan did work and they decided that Kate would > do a tour, it might be a financial flop because only a tenth of the people > they expected would turn up. > > Mark "Scunge" Wann > u8530671@uowcsa Well, not really. There are at _least_ twenty people I know, really, many more than that, who would go to see Kate if she came here. However, I think there are only three or so of us, who would buy the single. So if we each buy a bunch of copies, it works out about evenly. I know a lot of people who will go to see Kate, just because they know people (me, for one) who practically worship her. I know my whole family will go, all of my best friends, and even some not-as-good friends that i can comvince to see her in concert. But not even one-tenth of them would go out and buy the single. So I don't think we're fooling anybody. jessica