Re: Implorings ..., new kid

[stewarte@ucscc.UCSC.EDU (The Man Who Invented Himself)]

Was I only dreaming, or did Brian Patrick Arnold <ba0k+@andrew.cmu.edu>
actually say:

>I'll fight against my own previous argument with reason since nobody
>else will: it *is* wise for admirers of Kate to pontificate her music to
>the unenlightened, unwashed masses.  There's enough crap being played on
>the radio and the media  have a very tremendous effect in affecting
>people.  I know many people fail to appreciate entire spectra of music
>simply because it's not accessible by the various media.  

Well, heck, if you're going to abandon your position, I'll take it over
for you.  There is so much crap being played on radio that people who
are really interested in music have abandoned it entirely (with the
exception of some college & public stations).  Therefore, the only 
audience that'll be affected by pushing KaTe on radio is the same 
one that will buy _anything_ pushed at them hard enough and often
enough.

Further, I question whether Kate's fans should even _want_ her to be a
multiplatinum superstar.  Major commercial success is inevitably followed
by record company pressure to repeat that success.  I doubt that Kate
would actually succumb to such pressure, but it is possible.  More likely,
I think, is simply that having such pressures affects her work indirectly.
As long as she remains a respectably-selling "cult artist", record 
companies are going to leave her alone for the most part.  

I can't help thinking of _The Battle of Brazil_, the book on the making of
Terry Gilliam's "Brazil"; the author says that the worst thing that happened
to Brazil was when Universal head Sid Sheinberg decided that the film 
could be a big hit -- with the right changes made.  Everyone else at the
studio expected an art-house picture, and were willing to release the film
as is on that basis.  Gilliam's version of the film was eventually released
(Sheinberg's butchered version later appeared on TV).

Can you imagine the head of CBS Records deciding that Kate Bush could be
as big as Madonna, with the right changes to her "image"?  I can.

Your devilish advocate,
			Stewart


-- 
"They call me crazy, but my
 name is Clifton Chenier."
				-- Clifton Chenier
/*  uunet!sco!stewarte  -or-  stewarte@sco.COM  -or-  Stewart Evans  */