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[Love & Anger]
[Gaffaweb]
KT News:
^^^^^^^
The 26th issue of venerable old KT 'zine Homeground has arrived,
and it is a model of 'zine-hood. Number 27 will commemorate
HG's FIFTH year in print. Those L-Hs who still don't subscribe
should seriously consider it. The HG KT media-logues are the most
comprehensive anywhere, and there are always several edifying
articles; plus their production values have shot up in the past
year. (Btw, the first part of IED's "Venturing Into the Garden" makes
its appearance in this issue, but that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS
SHAMELESS PLUG!!)
Now, for the mail-bag:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>By the way, I like the $20/week record suggestion. Perhaps we can
>do it on a semi-regular basis.
>
>-- Fu-Sheng
Good to hear from Fu-Sheng after a considerable silence. As for
the $20.00 per week on records, here's IED's suggestion for this week:
$ 8.50 -- 2 copies of Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" 12", U.S. edition;
$ 5.29 -- 3 copies of Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" 7", U.S. edition;
$ 3.43 -- 2 copies of Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush "Don't Give Up" 7", U.S.;
$ 1.76 -- 1 (more) copy of Kate Bush "Experiment IV" 7", U.S. edition;
------
$18.98 -- total for swappable copies of Kate Bush records;
------
$ 1.02 -- money you still have left over for other music besides Kate's!
>And so, |>oug, I will try to prepare a set of commonly asked questions
>(yeah, answers too, I guess) based on the many scholarly and erudite
>writings to be found in the archives. (brief pause for a cough) Sorry,
>I meant sKripTures. Which took about 2300 pages to print, in response to
>your earlier question.
This sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Dave!
>Oh yeah, one more thing: where EXACTLY is the KT logo on the Ninth Wave
>cover? That's the problem with CD's...you only get 1/5 the cover
>surface.
Wait a minute, folks! Don't TELL him!! You're supposed to work for it,
Dave. And it's right there on the CD version of the cover, too --
though it is harder to see, because of the smaller size and lower
resolution. So, now you have a good reason to buy a copy of the album!!
>From: Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>
>Date: Wed, 1 Apr 87 16:37:48 -0100
>According to the music press, Kate appeared at the Amnesty gig(s) with
>a band which included Dave Gilmour. She played 'Running up that Hill' and
>a version of 'Let it be'. The latter was not well received by either the guy
>from Malady Mawker or No Music Express. Apparently it was an attempt to get
>the audience to sing along (and probably earn a bit more money for the Ferry
>Aid single) which fell a bit flat (in the reporters' opinion at least).
You are indispensible, Neil! Does this mean the "Let It Be" performance
will be edited out of the future video and LP?? Oh, no! (Although, to
be honest, Kate's version of the song with Peter Gabriel and Steve
Harley about six years ago in the concert for Bill Duffey is probably
the most dubious musical asset to her oeuvre to date...)
>From: (Jonathan S. Drukman)
>Subject: Suspended In Gaffa / Experiment IV
>> Aren't you people anxious to get back to the old nasty war of
>> insults with IED?
>Not really. There's a lot more interesting material emerging from this
>discussion. Imagine: people debating things Kate-like in an intellectual
>fashion! Valid arguments, carefully constructed and imaginatively rebutted.
>Ah, a debater's dream...
It's just that it seems too good to be true...
>> Your idea that it may have been a trysting place as well is by no means
> invalid [...] Except that the romantic experiences themselves seem to be
>> imaginary, fictional.
>Well, why shouldn't they be? Kate has written constantly about experiences
>that she hasn't had personally! I'm sure she never robbed a bank ("There
>Goes A Tenner") or shot the murderer of her groom ("The Wedding List").
You're right, of course. IED didn't mean to imply that its
fictionality was a point against your hypothesis.
>I must admit, however, that I am quite unable to find anything in
>"Suspended In Gaffa" that only fits in with my interpretation. I don't
>expect anyone to embrace it unconditionally until I *do* find something
>either. The quote you printed a while ago from an interview with
>Kate was a good rebuttal, but I too found her vagueness about "the experience"
>disconcerting, and I wholeheartedly agree that Kate is not one to avoid
>talking about sex explicitly!
As with just about every Katian issue, there can never be a
completely certain solution. Whenever she sounds especially
down-to-earth and factual in her interviews, that's when you
can usually find her slipping in some strange, apparently
meaningless reference to "that energy", or "the Experience",
or something equally vague.
>Alas, I decided to try again this week, and the cable company dropps all
>satelite feeds that night.. I even tried to record their International
>hour on thursdays but that got fouled..
>
>-- Victor O'Rear {hplabs!hp-sdd, akgua, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!victoro
Well, don't worry, Victor. As mentioned the other day, it wasn't
on the New Video Hour anyway -- for the second week in a row.
Don't hold your breath next week, either.
>From: nessus (Doug Alan)
>Subject: Re: HOT NEWS FLASH!!!
>What a cruel trick to play on poor |>oug! (Not to mention Del...)
>
> "We all have a dream, maybe..."
>
>-- |>oug
Don't be so dejeKTed, |>oug. She's certain to see the mistake
she made with Del eventually, and when she does, expeKT to hear
her pounding on your door, begging your forgiveness and pledging
her life-long devotion to you. And thanks for the reminder about
that line from "Suspended". Take note of the correct wording,
interested Love-Hounds.
>>Ironically, her
>>contribution on Gabriel's "Don't Give Up", now a U.S. single,
>>will probably only alienate many American listeners, since it
>>emphasizes the European "precious" side to her voice -- not a good thing
>>in any case with U.S. listeners -- in a song which was clearly
>>designed to reflect and appeal to American culture (or lack thereof).
>What? You *are* kidding, aren't you? Clearly? Reflect? Appeal?
>None of the above. It struck me as reflecting British depression over
>high unemployment in Brittain. Not in the US. I didn't think about its
>style at the time (I was in Brittain on business when the single was
>released there last Nov or Dec), but as I recall it doesn't sound the
>least bit designed to *either* reflect or appeal to us Amurikans. (Nor
>to offend, for that matter). Just a quaint ballad on a topical subject,
>remarkably gentle considering the topic.
Woah, there, compadre. Don't get so defensive. IED likes the song
(more or less), too. But it is definitely flavoured with American
country-folk musical touches. The piano style is unquestionably
country-western (in fact, it was Gabriel himself who pointed that
out in an interview some time back), and Kate's vocal is undoubtedly
modelled after American country phrasing. Her phrasing for the line
"Don't give up -- Please, do-o-on't give up!" for example, is
undeniably an "Amurikan" invention. Gabriel has also said that
the song was partially inspired by accounts of the dust bowl crisis.
If it sounds English to you, that's not surprising, since PG and KT
are English! But that doesn't eliminate the American musical
references in the recording itself.
>Perhaps it is more that DP appealed to him as a motherly (yes, despite
>all the jokes about her figure's affect on males, I'm refering to her
>personality) character to sing counterpoint to his character's lament;
>KT sounds more like the lamenter's sister or wife, but still fits the
>context of the song: fragile, sharing the humiliation of her brother/
>lover/friend, but bravely keeping a stiff upper lip in the uniquely British
>way. And trying to say that people are more important than things ("You
>still have us....")
IED agrees totally with all of the above (you're right on the money
with the motherly vs. sisterly interpretation), except the idea that
indomitable strength and devotion from the female character is
a "uniquely British" quality. There is nothing exclusively British
about it. And although Parton probably did appeal to him for her
motherly persona, there are plenty of British counterparts to choose
from; his reasons for choosing the reigning "queen" of American country
must have been more substantial than that.
>Is it just possible that he didn't write the song to appeal to purchasers,
>but to affect listeners? Perhaps even literally what the title (and the
>female lyrics) say? Nahhhh.... couldn't be. Idealism is passe' in
>1987, especially in this netgroup.
Wait! IED accepts your point. He didn't mean to make it sound as
though the song had been written with exploitive motives in mind,
not at all: only that its inspiration seemed to be
aspects of American history and musical culture. IED may not be
an idealist, but he doesn't disrespect those who are; the only way
things like Live Aid and the Secret Policeman's Third Ball and
Ferry Aid get accomplished is through the power of optimism and
idealism. Best of luck to them. Too bad they can't get the same kind
of support for the Animal-Aid movement -- easily as worthwhile a
cause as the former three.
>By the way, I was shocked that KT would play 2nd fiddle to anyone, until
>I realized that she carries the message in that duet, not he. Has she
>collaborated with anyone else I should know about?
Probably no one as attractive (musically) as Gabriel; but Kate has
worked with several other people as a session musician, yes. And
IED would wager that the fact that Kate's character in "Don't Give
Up" carries the message was pretty much co-incidental. Kate's
attitude toward session work is relatively casual: she agreed to help
out on Big Country's "The Seer" simply because she liked the
"Celtic influence" on a few tracks that she had heard briefly.
And it's very likely that she agreed to do the theme song for
"Castaway" simply because she knew it was directed by Nicholas Roeg,
whom she admires. Anyway, here's a complete list of her collaboratees:
Peter Gabriel, on "Another Day" (1979 Xmas TV special);
Peter Gabriel, Steve Harley on "Let It Be" (1980? benefit concert);
Peter Gabriel, on "No Self Control" and "Games Without Frontiers", PG3;
Leslie Duncan, on "Sing, Children, Sing" (1979 charity single);
Zaine Griff, on "Flowers" (dedicated to Lindsay Kemp), 1981 LP Figures;
Maurice Jarre, on theme from 1981(?) movie "The Magician from Lublin";
Michael Kamen, on theme from 1985 movie "Brazil";
Peter Gabriel, on "Don't Give Up", from 1986 LP So;
Big Country, on "The Seer", from 1986 LP The Seer;
Rowan Atkinson, on "Do Bears Sh... in the Woods?", from 1986 Comic Relief;
Go West, on "The King is Dead", from forthcoming LP;
Boy George et. al., on "Let It Be" for 1987 Ferry Aid project.
>...anyone else of similar caliber? (no, I'm not interested in musical
>terrorists and intentionally offensive superpunks, thanks. Don't they
>deserve a seperate mod group for their equally offensive fans to hang
>out in???? I'm tired of them trying to slamdance my sensibilities).
>-- Phil prs@oliveb.UUCP (Phil Stephens) {really oliven}
Sorry, this is where IED gets off, Phil. He doesn't share your
antagonism for "superpunks", or for things counter-culture, alternative
or subversive in general; quite the opposite, if anything.
Though at times he may seem cantankerous about the statements of
Hofmann, Wicinski, Alfke and the rest of the gang, he'll defend to
the death their right to make them (figuratively speaking, of course); and
his opposition to prejudicial sentiments such as yours above is stronger
than his distaste for some of their musical/cultural preferences.
Frankly, your comments sound a bit superior..sort of like IED's usual
tone, only with an inordinate respect for established musical restaurateurs
like Peter Gabriel, whose latest dishes have put him in serious
jeopardy of losing a star or two in the "guIED michelin".
>Thanks again for typing in another long interview (my hands would hurt if
>I did that much typing, so I appreciate the effort involved).
Well, ahem! <flushing with gratification at the kind remarks>,
you're very welcome, Phil. IED shamelessly retracts his above criticisms!
David Oskard is welcome, as well.
-- Andrew