TWS for the WSI

[IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu]

Early impressions of The Whole Story NTSC video-cassette:

Not only is the resolution extremely low, but the
Beta Hi-Fi sound is miserable compared to laser-disk digital
audio; on top of that, IED's copy has several
annoying video glitches in it -- two of them during "Experiment IV".

BTW, that video WAS butchered by MTV -- they never showed either the
beginning or the ending, the bastards! The video actually
begins with Dr. Jerry Coe walking down the street in the rain,
then entering the Music For Pleasure shop, and being directed
to the back curtain by a man at the desk. There's even a
brief view of a large collection of instruments, including
at least one that looks like one of Paddy's own construction.
(It was supposedly such a realistic set that several passersby
wanted to buy some of the merchandise.)

The ending is even more crucial. At the very end, the mini-van
stops to pick up a hitch-hiker, who turns out to be the
musical weapon herself -- Kate, who turns and winks at the
camera before stepping into the van.

Although several descriptions of the new Wow video have been
posted, none made it clear that the clips taken from the Hammersmith
film are taken from many different songs, not just the live version
of Wow. There is no attempt to lip-synch at all, since the
clips even show Kate singing different songs. And the editing
was done by someone other than Kate, though Kate seems to have
had something to do with it. The clips do not, except with one
or two exceptions, have any apparent narrative relationship
with the specific lyrics of the song. And Kate's original
choreography for the song is completely eschewed in favour of
what amounts to a kind of nostalgic montage of "great moments"
from the show. Overall, the new video is superfluous for those
who have seen the Hammersmith film, and inferior from an artistic
point of view from any of the earlier versions of Wow, including
the official promotional clip, the Hammersmith version and the
(at least) two television lip-synch performances.

To answer Ranjit's question about the value of the marbleized
Hounds of Love: No, they're not really "worth" much money.
Neither the cassette nor the LP is actually "rare" at all,
so they shouldn't bring high prices. But outside of the U.S.,
fans seem to get very interested in acquiring things like
these marbleized records and tapes. So you might be able
to hoodwink some poor sucker into shelling out a bundle for
one. But, as Nixon said, "it would be wrong." They are
great for trading purposes, however.

-- Andrew