[rec.music.gaffa] misKellaneous sTuff

Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/16/89)

Really-From: Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>

Subject: The Legendary Peter Swales Interview

Michael Mendelson asks where he can get the legendary Peter Swales
interview.  I don't know why all of the episodes are not in the
Love-Hounds Archives, however, there is good news.  The interview is
available via anonymous FTP from gaffa.mit.edu in the files
/love-hounds/kb/kate-says/swales-85.[1-5] .  Enjoy!

Subject: Kashka

A long time ago I too wondered whether or not "Kashka from Baghdad" is
about two male lovers or a more traditional affair.  I thought that
the name "Kashka" is a female name, so my predilection was in favor of
a heterosexual affair.  I don't know why I thought the name Kashka is
a female name -- it just sounded female to me.  In any case, I went to
the library and searched high and low for any reference to the name
Kashka in any book and could not find a single one.  Later, I asked
John Carder Bush in person whether Kashka is male or female, and he
said that Kashka is male.  There you have it.  From the horse's
brother's mouth itself.

Subject: "The Dreaming" and "Hammerheads"

Well, I wish people wouldn't make definitive statements (Jon!) without
knowing the Whole Story.  "The Dreaming" rips off its beat from the
song "Sun Arise" by Rolf Harris, who is the author of "Tie Me Kangaroo
Down", by the way.  Rolf Harris even appears on the song "The
Dreaming" playing the digerido.  Rolf Harris, in turn, stole the
rhythm from the Aborigines, who use this rhythm quite extensively.
Kate was quite aware of the origins of the rhythm when she borrowed it
from Rolf Harris.

Who does Danielle Dax borrow the rhythm from?  Well, I don't know for
sure.  I would think she has almost definitely heard "The Dreaming".
However, I would be very surprized if she hasn't also heard "Sun
Arise" and know of the Aboriginal nature of the beat's origin.
Danielle has speed up the beat way out of proportion to its originally
intended tempo, however.

I haven't been able to find a record containing Rolf Harris performing
"Sun Arise" but I do own an Alice Cooper record where he covers "Sun
Arise".  (I also have a very poor recording of Rolf Harris's original
version from the radio -- the beat is exactly the same as on "The
Dreaming".)

Subject: Kick Kovers

Mark Anderson writes that he wants to get *The Kick Inside* but
doesn't want the "Tammy Wynette" cover.  I find it strange that Mark
is worried about this since he is from Canada.  The Canadian cover of
*The Kick Inside* is not the "Tammy Wynette" cover, which is the U.S.
cover, but rather the "Vogue" or "Oh my aching hairdo" cover.  Have
they changed the cover in Canada recently to match the U.S. cover?  Or
perhaps they don't manufacture any *Kick Inside* CD's in Canada?  In
any case, indeed it is better to get the real cover, which is the
"Kite" cover.

In the U.S., British import CD's often go for as much as $20.  $25
seems a bit high.  You might see if some other store can special order
it for you for cheaper, but it's probably not worth the trouble.

Subject: Weird Test Pressings of "The Dreaming"

I have never heard of these colored test pressings before, so they
must be pretty rare if they are legit.  Nor have I ever seen or heard
of *The Dreaming* on colored vinyl, at all.

> From: brianw@microsoft.UUCP (Brian Willoughby)

> I'm waiting for DAT to settle down, so I don't have to waste any
> money on over-priced Read Only CD's.

Why do you think that waiting for DAT's will help you any?  First of
all, erasable, recordable CD's will probably be here before DAT's get
cheap.  Secondly, it's going to take a long time, if it ever happens
at all, for pre-recorded DAT's to be ramped up as a typical form for
music purchase.  CD players can now be gotten for as low as $50!  And
you can purchase CD players that will output the digital information
and let you record it on a DAT recorder.  If you wait long enough to
buy CD's, the government may muck their fingers in things and madate
that CD players look for a certain code on the CD, and if it exists,
not output the digital information.  Of course, CD's already
manufactured do not have this code on the them.  Then again, CD's will
almost certainly come down in price someday...  Then yet again, maybe
not.

> From: nbc@informatics.rutherford.ac.uk

> So Ruth [Archer] listening to RUTH.  Is that significant, or IS that
> significant. 

Not to mention that the cover of the RUTH single has Kate decked out
in archery regalia!  Pretty keen!

> [Duncan Smith:] [...] Some of the genre are now regarded as
> classics, e.g. 'Night of the Daemons.'

> The voiceover at the start of HoL is actually a line from one of
> these films (Maybe the one I mentioned.)

Indeed it is, Duncan!

> From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries)

> it's okay to like madonna, jon.  really.

No, it isn't!!!

Honky With an Attitude,

|>oug

Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/16/89)

Really-From: jsd@gaffa.mit.edu (Jon Drukman)


>Really-From: Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>
>Well, I wish people wouldn't make definitive statements (Jon!) without
>knowing the Whole Story.

But |>ouglas, I _do_ know the Whole Story because (I have tried to
avoid mentioning this) I am a genuine omniscient!

>Who does Danielle Dax borrow the rhythm from?  Well, I don't know for
>sure.  I would think she has almost definitely heard "The Dreaming".

Look, I hate to repeat myself, so I think I'm going to repeat myself.
TRY THIS FUN EXPERIMENT AT HOME: sample the opening riff from "The
Dreaming."  Speed the bastard up.  Play "Hammerheads" alongside it.
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE - the digeridu becomes an annoying insect buzz,
and the formerly thudding drums become much smaller sounding.  Unless
"Sun Arise" has digeridu and the identical drum sounds in the identical
pattern that "The Dreaming" has, there will be a noticeable difference.
Why don't you come over to my electronic lair with that Rolf Harris tape
and we'll find out whether or not it sounds like "Hammerheads" when you
jack the tempo up!

>> From: tracyr@uunet.uu.net (jane smallberries)
>
>> it's okay to like madonna, jon.  really.
>
>No, it isn't!!!

You're just jealous cos Madonna like me better than she likes you.

>Honky With an Attitude,
>
>|>oug

Angst-Ridden Suburban White Boy With Attitude,

+---------------------- Is there any ESCAPE from NOISE? --------------------+
|  |   |\        | jsd@gaffa.mit.edu | "I think quotes are very dangerous   |
| \|on |/rukman  | jsd@umass.bitnet  |  things."  -- Kate Bush              |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/22/89)

Really-From: Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>

Subject: Rub a Dub Dub

> From: Lazlo Nibble <csbrkaac@ariel.unm.edu>

> And distributing copies of privately-recorded demo tapes that she has
> EXPRESSLY STATED THAT SHE DOES NOT WANT DISTRIBUTED *isn't* stealing
> from her?  If not, then what the hell *is* stealing from her?  There's
> no moral high ground here, Doug . . .

I didn't say it wasn't stealing.  I just said that it isn't stealing
"money".  Look, we've already covered every point that is going to be
made on this topic.  No one is saying anything new.  Why don't we give
it a rest.  But at least if you are going to accuse someone of
something, please accuse them of the crime they have done or are
likely to do.  IED has not considered here distributing copyrighted
material that is widely available commercially.  So don't say that he
is likely to.  This is slander, and is also a crime.

What IED was considering may or may not be wrong, but it is
*different* in many ways, and you do not do intelligent discussion any
service by refusing to acknowledge the difference.

Subject: The Ninth Drug Trip

There was an interviewer (*Hot Press*, 1985) who really thought that
the "The Ninth Wave" was about a drug trip.  He too mentioned "racing
white horses" and "cutting out little lines in the ice".

Subject: We are living in a digital world and I am a digital guy

> From: "Andy Gough, x4-2906, pager 513, CH2-59" <AGOUGH%FAB6@sc.intel.com>

> Hey wait a second.  If the CD contains the code, the CD player would 
> certainly have to still output digital information--what else are CD
> players good for?

Why would the CD player have to output the digital information?  The
vast majority of CD payers don't have any digital outputs at all --
only analog.

Subject: Singing in the rain

> From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu>

> I do not know the details, and this is second-hand information, but
> apparently, sometime last week, the Canadian news show "As It
> Happens" did a piece on a scientist (I don't know from where or who)
> who, using Reichian Cloudbusting-based methods, has achieved a
> rain-inducing machine which (he claims) works with 80% reliability.
> Did anyone else hear about this?  I'm sure we'd all be interested in
> details given the recent revival of interest in the Organon
> discussion.

If this machine truly uses Reichian cloudbusting methods, then it
works no better than sacrificing a virgin and praying to the great god
Omlagagol.  The latter method is much more fun, however.

Subject: *Castaways*

The soundtrack to the movie *Castaways* was definitely released -- I
own it -- but whether or not it is still in print, I cannot say.

Subject: Grammar

> From: adams%bosco.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Jeffrey P. Adams)

> I must admit, though, that it bothers me greatly to see professional
> users of English, Kate included, make fundamental mistakes of
> grammar and usage.  It also bothers me that so many people want to
> justify the perversion of formal rules of language.

It appears that you ignored my previous message on the topic.  What
bothers me is that so many silly grammarians want to pervert the
naturally evolved English language into something else for their own
whims.

> If you pay close attention, you'll notice that lots of people you
> know speak properly and it doesn't sound unnatural.

You don't appear to understand the notion of "dialect".  There is no
one "proper" dialect.  There are currently many dialects of English,
"Standard Written English" is only one of these dialects, and it is an
artificial one (i.e. invented, rather than evolved).

> It amuses me that many of these same people complain about exceptions
> to the rules of grammar, yet advocate creating many more such
> exceptions by making "street English" acceptable.

Colloquial English was acceptible long before "Standard Written
English" ever existed.  It's not a matter of "making 'street English'
acceptable", but more a matter of returning to sanity.

Honky with an attitude,

|>oug

Love-Hounds-request@GAFFA.MIT.EDU (08/22/89)

Really-From: tim@toad.com (Tim Maroney)

Quoted-From: Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>
>But at least if you are going to accuse someone of
>something, please accuse them of the crime they have done or are
>likely to do.  IED has not considered here distributing copyrighted
>material that is widely available commercially.  So don't say that he
>is likely to.  This is slander, and is also a crime.

Don't be an idiot.  Parody is a protected activity under the first
amendment and has been since day 1.  But then, you've already shown
more than once that you can't even recognize parody, much less
understand it.

>What IED was considering may or may not be wrong, but it is
>*different* in many ways, and you do not do intelligent discussion any
>service by refusing to acknowledge the difference.

Yes, of course it's wrong.  I think under any reasonable system of
ethics, it's far worse to knowingly invade someone's privacy and
disseminate private materials which they do not want distributed, than
it is to deprive an already wealthy individual of a few dollars of
profits.  That is, the crime Andrew Marvick actually committed is worse
than the crime I alluded to in my satirical posting.  They're both
wrong, but the invasion of privacy is far more serious than the theft
of a few bucks from a multimillionaire.

Since this is miscellany, I should also note here that there's a Giger
folio I forgot to mention.  It's from 1988, and is from Edition C in
Zurich.  The copy I've seen is available at COMIC RELIEF in Berkeley CA
for $94.  The title is H.R. GIGER'S BIOMECHANOIDS.  Despite the title,
it is a fairly eclectic selection of Giger's more recent work.  He is
continuing to improve, hard as that may be to believe; the prints show
few of the muddied greens and browns of his earlier work, and he uses a
wider range of high-level compositions.  It's probably the best Giger
folio to date.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com

"Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." -- Patti Smith