MisK. (mailbag)

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

 To: Love-Hounds
 From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
 Subject: MisK. (mailbag)

     For the record: Kate said once, after finishing _The_Dreaming_, that
she had decided that the character of digital sound was less satisfactory
to her than that of analog sound. She said something to the effect that
she _liked_ the slight tape-hiss one got with analog tape. So the
fact that _The_Sensual_World_ is an AAD CD could have been predicted.
     Despite the fact that |>oug's only reason for raising the subject
was (apparently) to try to make another low swipe at IED, IED agrees
with |>oug that Kate does seem to have been quite deceitful in her
recent interviews. This does not mean that she was deceitful in the
past, of course--it is the contrast from her earlier (general) policy
that makes this development interesting. But it does make it more
difficult to rely on her testimony, at least when the source is a
major commercial organ like _NME_ or _MM_.
     Someone asked what "Novercia" might mean. IED does not know.
Could it be a contraction of "Nova veritas" (new truth) or something?
This sounds very flimsy to IED.

 >I remember about a year and a half ago there was much discussion about the
 >new Kate album that was supposed to be released in November (1988) and
 >would have a "Dr. Who" theme.
 >What ever happened to that album? Was it just a flase rumor? I thought that
 >the source was either IED or Homeground, both of which seem to be pretty
 >reliable.
 >
 >-- Timo Bruck

     No, no, no. No-one ever said that at all, least of all IED!!
What you are (mis-)remembering is a joke report that appeared in
the April 1st, 1988 (i.e. April Fool's Day) edition of _The_Guardian_,
in which it was said that Kate had accepted a role for the next
season of _Dr._Who_. This was _obviously_ false, as IED and at least
one other Love-Hound hastened to point out.
     At about the same time there were naively optimistic reports
that Kate's new album was ready. These reports were also pooh-poohed
by IED at the time.
     Please, people, try to have a little sense, and make some attempt
to comprehend and retain at least a small amount of what you read.
IED resents being associated with silly rumours about Kate simply because
of dysfunction in other Love-Hounds' minds.
     Someone asked where the "KT" sign is hidden in _The_Whole_Story_
and _The_Sensual_World_. You'll need the original vinyl UK edition of
_TWS_ to find that one: it's located only on the run-out groove of
the record itself--not in the cover artwork. As for the new album,
IED believes it is found in the (apparently) natural formation of
the flower's petals, more or less upside down, in the center of the
flower. IED will not swear to this, however, as other fans have already
shown him two other possible "natural" KT formations in the flower.
IED believes that this was Kate's intention: not to put any "KT" sign
on the album at all, then just wait to see where people "see" one anyway.
Big joke, huh? Sort of like the double-groove hoax.
     Frank notes that "top-40" radio is annoying for its fear of
anything out of the norm. Absolutely true, of course. In this case, however,
Mark Nagel was reporting about a DJ for _KROQ_, which _used_
to be Los Angeles's one good rock radio station. It once played all
the stuff that no other station would ever dare play. In recent years,
however, cupidity has transformed the station into another mindless
pabulum-monger for the unwashed masses; and their program director
has announced that it will soon be incorporating standard '80s pseudo-metal
into the mix, as well. IED was relieved to see Mark's report, because
he, too, had not heard a single broadcast of any of Kate's new recordings
on L.A. radio, and was worried lest some more fortunate upstate fans
might have begun to doubt him about this. The fact is that, aside
from "Morning Becomes Eclectic", there is _no_ (read "zero") adventurous
contemporary-music radio in the Southern California area at this time.
     By contrast, here is Vickie Mapes's latest play-list for _her_ radio
program, "Suspended in Gaffa", which can be heard from 10 p.m. to midnight
(or later, sometimes), on Kansas City's KKFI, 90.1 FM. The following was
her Halloween show (which explains the common theme of the songs):

 Kate Bush                         "Suspended in Gaffa" (theme-song)
 Siouxsie and the Banshees         "Halloween"
 Toyah                             "The Creepy Room"
 Happy Rhodes                      "Asylum Master"
 Jane Siberry                      "The Strange Well"
 Hugo Largo                        "Scream Tall"
 Nina Simone                       "I Put a Spell on You"
 Carla Bley                        "Musique Mechanique III"
 Danielle Dax                      "The Passing of the Third Floor Back"
 Dead Can Dance                    "De Profundis"
 Diamanda Galas/John Zorn          "Metamorfosi"
 Kate Bush                         "Carmilla"*
   *N.B.: This is the demo song usually referred to as "Camilla". Vickie
   hears the name as "Carmilla", which was the title of a Victorian
   ghost story by Joseph Sheridan Lefanu. IED hasn't reached an opinion
   on this point yet, but notes that "Camilla" is the title of a well-
   known novel by Fanny Burney, and that "Camille" is the title of the
   classic by Alexandre Dumas (the younger), and Kate might conceivably
   have been using an Anglicized form of that name in her song. More
   research is needed.*
 Kate Bush                         "The Infant Kiss"
 Happy Rhodes                      "Ecto"
 Toyah                             "Angel and Me"
 Mary Kelley                       "Ghostriders in the Sky"
 Kate Bush                         "Get Out of My House"
 Annabel Lamb                      "Things That I Fear"
 Fibonaccis                        "Old Mean Ed Gein"
 Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia  "Fear of Spiders"
 The World of Skin                 "Blood On Your Hands"
 Kate Bush                         "Mother Stands for Comfort"
 Fibonaccis                        "Leroy"
 Nico                              "Janitor of Lunacy"
 Siouxsie and the Banshees         "Trust in Me"
 Happy Rhodes                      "I'm Going Back"
 Kate Bush                         "Waking the Witch"
 Dead Can Dance                    "Mesmerism"
 Diamanda Galas                    "Wild Women With Steak Knives"
 Valaida                           "You Bring Out the Savage in Me"
 Lene Lovich                       "You Can't Kill Me"
 Kate Bush                         "Hammer Horror"
 Santra                            "Mein!"
 Santra                            "As a Mirror"
 Buffy St. Marie                   "The Vampire"
 The Lemon Kittens (Danielle Dax)  --title unknown--
 Siouxsie and the Banshees         "Head Cut"
 Siouxsie and the Banshees         "Voodoo Dolly"
 The Shaggs                        "It's Halloween"

-- Andrew Marvick