Re: The Two Faces of Melody Maker

[Doug Alan <nessus>]

>> What was I saying...  Oh yeah, strangely, after the initial wave of bad
>> reviews for RUTH, there have been nothing but rave reviews:  Melody
>> Maker changed its mind (via changing reviewers) apparently and drooled.

> This is not so strange at all.  You have to bear in mind that music
> critics are part of the "liberal press".  Obviously, since Kate Bush's
> album is selling so well, it wouldn't be good for a reviewer's
> reputation to continue to say she's "no good", so they change and say
> how great she is.

I truly doubt if Helen Fitzgerald changed her mind after that diatribe!
The person who wrote the long article in Melody Maker clearly really
likes Kate Bush and has for a while.  I think the thing is that the
magazines in England aren't so big on editorial continuity.  They let
the writers say whatever the hell they want to, without worrying about
offensiveness or anything.  Articles in these magazines often use all
sorts of words too you wouldn't be likely to find a respected US
magazine.

Melody Maker may have gotten a Kate Bush fan to write an article as a
form of appology to Kate Bush fans.  Since half the letter column was
devoted to the response to a one paragraph article in a 60 page
magazine, they must have gotten lots and lots of hate mail!  (I was
going to write them a letter saying in the future I wouldn't use their
magazine for toilet paper, but never got around to it....)

Melody Maker is actually one of the few British magazines that liked the
"The Dreaming" when it was released.  (Zig Zag (Kris Needs, the
interviewer for Zig Zag, is a Kate Bush fanatic) being another.)
Strangely enough, a lot of other British magazines started liking it,
but only after it had been out for more than a year (after it had proven
to be a relative commercial disaster compared to Kate's other albums).

Clearly most of the good reviews to RUTH were not just a reaction to
success, since I've seen all sorts of bad reviews for very popular
stuff.  Also, many of these reviews were in monthlies, which come out a
little later than weeklies, but they wouldn't have had time to know how
successful the single was by press date.

What's also pretty strange is that I've seen writers insult other
writers for the same magazine.  Someone just sent me a xerox of an
article in the NME a couple years back, where the article was about how
the NME itself was being very unfair in its treatment of Kate Bush, and
that she is really good and deserves a lot more respect.

It's all very confusing, and I'm still not sure how the British music
press (it seems more like fashion press actually) works.  It is an
interesting phenomenon, though....

> It means their opinions ARE worthless; they just try to predict the success
> of an album, to preserve their jobs.

Well, I agree that seems to be true of some of the U.S. press, but
certainly not all of it.  For example, nearly everybody in the U.S.
press that reviewed "The Dreaming" loved it.  Even People magazine!
Things like Rolling Stone didn't even bother to review it, though.

The people in the U.K. press don't seem to care much about how popular
something is, but they do seem to care about whether or not it falls
into the trendy stylish click that they hang out in.

>> Unless you're Helen Fitzgerald!

> My impression was that Helen Fitzgerald was just merely jealous
> because some male-type person she knew liked Kate Bush a lot.

It sure sounded that way!  I can't believe that she can believe that
such an inane review can increase her credibility.  

>> Does anyone know who Breugal is?

> I thought his name was Breugel... isn't he an artist similar to Hieronymus
> Bosch, who drew demented-looking paintings?

I think I'm going to check up on Breugal in the library sometime.  I
haven't seen any Hieronymous Bosch (that I remember), so I'm not sure
what he's like.  I wish you'd stop calling things I like "demented"
though!

>> So feel free to mail to love-hounds whatever you want to about anything at
>> all.

> You mean we can talk about Yes in here?  (No, I wouldn't do that...)

Hey, it's fine with me!  But I wouldn't have much to say, and couldn't
convincingly argue about which line-up existed when....

Now if people started talking about how great Madonna and Lionel Richie
are, I might get upset!

			-Doug