Mailbag: KaTechism XIX.3.xxiv

[IED0DXM%OAC.UCLA.EDU@mitvma.mit.edu]

 To: Love-Hounds
 From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
 Subject: Mailbag: KaTechism XIX.3.xxiv

 >> According to IED,
 >> this is a totally false report; Boyd may have only helped with
 >> the Trio Bulgarka's section.  Total supposition on IED's part, but I
 >> tend to agree.

  > Total supposition?  There's not a chance in the world that Kate's
  > album will be produced by anyone other than Kate.  Not a chance.

     Why is IED absurdly pleased to find himself siding with Doug?
Although he had no absolute proof, IED did present considerable
support for his "total" supposition, which would be better described
as an informed estimate. He would be happy to make a wager on the
question.

 >> And I still say she dies at the end of "The Ninth Wave".

  >  She does not, you cretinous phlegm-eating slug scabbie!

     Ugh! IED would never go that far, but again he must agree with
Doug (on the substantive issue of this dispute). Kate's own comments
on the subject of _The_Ninth_Wave_, as well as dozens of details in
the lyrics themselves, leave little doubt that the heroine survives
the night. The most obvious of these, however, is the basic metaphor
of the final section. The woman _returns_ to the Earth like the fog--an
image which Kate has explained has a completely positive and life-
affirming connotation for her. Also, of course, the character's final
determination to express openly her love for her family and lover makes
sense only if she has survived. For Kate has said that _The_Ninth_
Wave_ ends "positively" and "with hope". There is therefore no real
possibility that the heroine dies, since her death would make her
final decision to _communicate_ with her loved ones nothing but an
ironic and cynical commentary on the _futility_ of life--an attitude
which Kate would _never_ assume.

 > Did I hear someone say "...on Her new album"?  I fear I'm a bit out
 >of touch with things these days.  Will Kate be putting out a new album
 >soon?  What do people know about this (people reading this, I mean)?
 >What can people who are reading this who are in the know _tell_ me
 >about a new Kate Bush album?  Desperate minds want to know.
 >-- Peter

     As mentioned here on _several_ occasions already, KBVI was (and
theoretically still is) slated for release "in the spring of 1989".
This comes from the most reliable source we have at present (which is
not to say it's particularly reliable), namely Peter FitzGerald-Morris's
_Homeground_ #33. A _rumour_ is circulating that the album has now been
put back till November, but IED will remain optimistic about the earlier
date until he hears otherwise from Peter in the next _HG_, or from the
KBC, or from an official press announcement.
     Kate's signing to CBS Records--also mentioned in Love-Hounds
on _several_ occasions already--is well known. It applies only to
her future U.S. releases. She remains with EMI elsewhere. IED would
appreciate learning where the rumour about a Sire contract comes from,
since he has seen no report of such a signing in _Billboard_ or any
other trade publications so far. (The CBS signing was fully reported
in both the _L.A._Times_ and _Billboard_.)
     IED assumes that the "new single" that Kate made with someone else
is a reference to _Sister_and_Brother_, the Midge Ure song. So far
IED has seen no word on what his third _Answers_to_Nothing_ single
will be. Up until the totally unexpected commercial success of _Dear_God_
in the U.S., Midge's second solo album had been a dead loss worldwide--
which was odd, since his first solo album, _The_Gift_, had had a
phenomenal success in Europe. Until _Dear_God_ took off here (and its
video was picked up by VH-1, etc.) there probably wasn't even going to
_be_ a third single. Now, however, there is a good chance that _Sister_
and_Brother_ will be released shortly, though if it does Kate's fans
should start worrying that KBVI really won't come out till November--she
wouldn't want _Sister_and_Brother_ to steal KBVI's fire, IED would guess.
     (Now _that's_ "total supposition on IED's part".)

 >   Any comments on this: One review I read of _Answers to Nothing_ said
 >that Midge Ure was trying to emulate (without success) Peter Gabriel
 >-- going as far as also doing a duet with Kate.
 >   I guess I find Midge's work solid enough to stand on its own and
 >don't agree.

     Well, yes and no. IED personally felt that _Answers_to_Nothing_
was a definite and embarassing step down from the level of _The_Gift_
(which itself was by no means great art...). The lyrics are the
antithesis of Kate's: overtly proselytizing where Kate's are nearly
always covertly ideoligical; one-dimensional where Kate's are
invariably multivalent; first-person-confessional and self-involved
where Kate's are always carefully distanced and self-_aware_; etc., etc.
     As for the music, comparison would just be cruel. For all this, IED
didn't think the album was really _bad_. The session playing was--as
on _The_Gift_--bright and committed (although the sound suffered from
from the fatal mistake of placing the rather thin and monotonous tenor
of Ure at the extreme forefront of the mix), and there was at least
one attractive, though typically simplistic (on both musical and lyrical
terms), track: _Sister_and_Brother_. (Surprised IED liked this one?)
     Yet he doesn't hear any more than a passing resemblance to anything
Gabriel has ever recorded. The fact that Kate sings a part on both
_So_ and _Answers_ is not a valid reason for comparing the two artists'
work. _So_, for all its weaknesses, has many fine and sophisticated
song-constructions, a few moments of stunning, meaningful production, and
lyrics that offer at least something to reflect on. The two men's
vocal timbres are as dissimilar as they could be; even their ranges
are quite far apart. And most of Gabriel's recent work is keyboard-based
whereas Ure's solo work is most easily distinguishable from Ultravox's in
its obvious guitar foundation (no doubt the result of his separation from
the professional composing skills of Chris Cross and Billy Currie).

 >   Phew!  I finally got a VCR AND found a place where I could rent _The
 >Whole Story_ video.  I found that I liked the videos that Kate
 >produced better than the others.  These were typically the ones
 >without Kate singing in them.  I really liked: Cloudbursting.
 >Experiment IV. HoL.  They were creative, have excellent
 >cinematography, and compelling.
 >
 >-- C.J.

     Well, C.J., IED shares your preference. For the record, though,
_Cloudbusting_ (note correct spelling) was not actually directed
by Kate, but by Julian Doyle (although Kate did spend many weeks
storyboarding the video in collaboration with Terry Gilliam).

-- Andrew Marvick