They never really understood her...

[IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU]

>So no one seems to be excited about the new version of Wuthering
>Heights. I'll admit it, I listen to The Kick Inside as much as I listen
>to the sacred Dreaming and the blessed Hounds of Love.  Since Kate's
>voice has deepened and matured I have been wondering if this was a shift
>down in her vocal range or if she could still hit those high
>"Heathcliff"'s with ease. I was glad (and amazed) to see (hear) that she
>can still do it with ease (except one "Heathcliff" seems a bit
>strained).  But now she can sing those low "wuthering"'s with ease, too.
>I think this latest version is far superior vocally to the TKI version
>and shows just how amazing and unique Kate is in the pop (gasp!) music
>world.  She also showed her satisfaction with her interpretation of the
>original version by not changing the phrasing and inflection.
>
>{decvax, seismo}!mcnc!duke!evs
>Ed Simpson, P.O.Box 3140, Duke Univ. Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710

Ed Simpson's remarks have prompted an unexpected flood of
heated responses, most of which are riddled with errors of
fact and transgressions of good taste, as usual. IED will,
again as usual, set the record straight, no doubt heaping
upon himself further bitter personal abuse from less disciplined thinkers
among the L-Hs ranks. (Witness the mindless and foul-mouthed slurs from
Mr. Wicinski, directed with spectacular ineptitude at
IED's presumed sexual orientation.)
Checking through his L-H files IED was surprised to discover that
Ed is right -- scarcely a word had been contributed to the Digest
in reference to the new "Wuthering Heights". This, however, does not,
let Ed be assured, indicate that little is thought of it. In fact, IED
agrees that the new version is extremely fine and, although perhaps
less poignantly wistful in tone (the original was a remarkably
effective match of a tragic adolescent love story with a
uniquely pre-adolescent-seeming vocal style), it shows greater vocal
power and more assured performance style. And Ed is absolutely correct
that it "shows just how amazing and unique Kate is". Bravo, Ed!

Doug's comment that Kate actually "misses" some of the notes is
laughably inaccurate. There are two points at which she has
CHANGED the notes, but there can be no serious question that her
vocal range is as wide as or wider than it ever was, that she has
far more control over her voice -- and more power to communicate
emotion with it -- than she did in 1977/78, and that her new
vocal version of "Wuthering Heights" is both a technical and
an artistic advance over the original. The idea that Kate
"misses" notes in the new vocal is so patently, obscenely
false that it boggles the mind.

>I'll admit it, I listen to The Kick Inside as much as I listen
>to the sacred Dreaming and the blessed Hounds of Love.

Does IED detect a trace of bitter sarcasm in the use of the
above adjectives? It is hoped that Ed was simply unaware that such
implied disrespect is a sacrelige and a blasphemy...
Anyway, just because the most recent music is more completely
Kate's doesn't mean that those who prefer it dislike the earlier
stuff. IED still reveres and listens to The Kick Inside and Lionheart,
and challenges anyone to find fault with such an attitude.

>She also showed her satisfaction with her interpretation of the
>original version by not changing the phrasing and inflection.

Although the basic sound is similar, there are, at the very
least, three significant changes in phrasing. As for changes in
inflection, virtually every word has been altered in some degree from
its parallel in the original version. Incorporated are several new
decorative turns in Kate's latest interpretation that reflect her recent
resurgence of interest in Celtic musical styles.
The best sign that Kate still approves of the earlier version
(in a general sense) is that she has retained the same instrumental
recording, merely allowing a more epic sound-area to be introduced
in the re-mixing stage. Ian Bairnson's beautiful guitar solo is still
highlighted and left essentially intact. Nancy Everson is, of course,
entitled to her opinion, but it is difficult for IED to see any sense
in denigrating Bairnson's solo. It is highly inventive, richly melodic,
diverse in texture and tone, expertly performed and solidly rooted to
the chord progression of the song's coda. In its new, slightly enhanced
mix, and in conjunction with Kate's new final vocal additions, it
stands up exceptionally well. IED urges Nancy to listen again.

Incidentally, those to whom the song's rhythmic
intricacies have always been dear are urged to listen carefully to
the remixed drum track in the last minute of the new
version. Not only has the coda/fade-out been extended
by a full thirty seconds (presumably to allow for Kate's
new ad lib vocals), but a three-measure passage from the
original coda, wherein the drummer loses his count and misses his
snare upbeat, has been corrected through splicing. Seeing as
how virtually no-one has ever noticed the original mistake,
this careful correction stands as still further proof of the
unparalleled level of Kate's perfectionism.

>I was glad (and amazed) to see (hear) that she can still do it
>{sing the high notes} with ease (except one "Heathcliff" seems a bit
>strained).

The strained "Heathcliff" is an interpretive touch, and not in any way
indicative of a decline in vocal range. Kate has many times said
that during the period 1977/1979 she had a "whim" to use her
"falsetto", or to sing in her "highest range". The strain you
hear is a result of her wish to communicate stronger drama to
the music. Prior to the recording of The Kick Inside Kate sang
in her natural, more or less mezzo-soprano register. "Maybe"
and "Passing Through Air" demonstrate well that her original
vocal range was quite the same as the range she uses in, for
example, "Experiment IV". There is no indication that her
physical vocal make-up has narrowed in any way, only that
her taste has changed.
Conversely, there are many places in Hounds of Love where she
sings notes as high as any in The Kick Inside.

>But now she can sing those low "wuthering"'s with ease, too.

Unfortunately this observation implies another slight misconception.
Of course Ed is right to say that Kate _could_ sing as
low as she did in the original version. In point of fact, however, in
the new version she _doesn't_. If you compare the two again, you'll
notice that in the original version the two syllables 'wu-'
and '-ther-' are sung as a rising fifth,
whereas in the new version both notes are the same --
_higher_ in pitch than the 'wu-' syllable in the original.
The _impression_ produced by the new vocal is, however, certainly that
of a deeper vocal range. This is, again, the result of Kate's
interpretive decisions, but not actually of lower notes.