Mailbag

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

 To: Love-Hounds
 From: Andrew Marvick (IED)
 Subject: Mailbag

   IED is relieved to hear that his information re "Buzz Bin" was not
accurate, and that the video is indeed getting some airtime on MTV.

 >I'veonly bought one bootleg; it was the one with Kate in Japanese-like armour
 >on the front, and a willowy white dress on the back; a two-record set.  The
 >cost was something like $30.
 >Now, the bad part:  It was unlistenable.  I was all excited (the album had, I
 >believe, one or two songs I hadn't heard) about it, but the sound quality was
 >MISERABLE.  My friend and I listened to it for about 30 minutes, and then,
 >afterone song (I forget which) was over, he put in the official CD version of
 >the same song.  The difference was amazing.

    You are probably referring to the _Live_in_Bristol,_England_
bootleg two-record set. The two photos you describe share the front
cover, however--the back is a close-up portrait shot of Kate. As to
the sound quality, you are certainly right--it is poor. The advantage
of the Bristol set (and the London Palladium set, which is also
available) over the original studio versions is obvious--the performances
are live! Consequently there are hundreds of changes, extensions and
interpretive nuances to be found in the live bootleg recordings that
do not exist in the official releases. The only CD of live Kate Bush
material is an edited transfer from the Hammersmith-Odeon film. The
advantage of the poor-quality bootlegs over _it_ is that only the 2-LP
sets--such as the Bristol and Palladium bootlegs (and the Manchester
bootleg, another widely available album)--contain all or most of the
original live concerts' programme: some twenty-five songs, as well
as the equally fascinating poetry/prose readings by John Carder Bush
and the bits of incidental music played by the KT Bush Band in between
Kate's songs. The bootlegs are fans' only access to these obscure gems.

 >So, my conclusions:  Bootleg albums aren't worth it; if you're a completist
 >Katefan, there are so many of them that you'll never get them all, (I bet IED
 >doesn't have EVERY one, though perhaps he has many), and if you're not, then
 >why bother?

     You have a valid point. Most of these bootlegs of various KT
Tour of Life dates have miserable audio, and since Kate's programme
didn't really change throughout the Tour proper (there were several
changes for the Bill Duffield concert of May 12, 1979), any one of
the unedited LP-sets will do. But the Hammersmith Odeon CD is _not_
a complete record of the concert, and as such should not be considered
an adequate substitute for the bootlegs, despite its vastly superior
sound quality.
     As for there being too many to collect, that's all relative. IED
understands that there is a bootleg (either on vinyl or tape) for
virtually _every_ Grateful Dead concert ever given, and that there are
some Deadheads who have all of them! In comparison, the number of
Kate Bush live-concert bootlegs is small indeed. IED knows of only
the following:

 1. _Wow_: a two-record set containing a poor stereo dub of the H-O
film's audio-track on one disk, and a mono dub of the TV special _Kate_
on the other. This is, so far as IED knows, the earliest KT bootleg; it
came out in 1982 or early 1983.

 2. _Live_in_Paris_: a single LP containing excerpts from the Paris
concert.

 3. _A_Bird_in_the_Hand_: a single LP containing excerpts (note: only
nine of the original 12 tracks) from the H-O film's audio-track, in
very poor stereo.

 4. _Live_in_Europe_'79-'80_: a re-packaged three-LP set containing
the same three LPs that were originally released as _Wow_ and _Live_
_in_Paris_.

 5. _Moving_: a beautiful re-packaging of _Wow_. Audio quality equally
poor, however.

 6. _Temple_of_Truth_: a single LP of excerpts from an unidentified
date from the Tour of Life.

 7. _Under_the_Ivy_Bush_: a collection of dubs from TV performances
and a few excerpts from the Mannheim and Hamburg dates of the Tour of
Life. One LP.

 8. _Dreamtime_: a two-record set containing a complete record of
one of the London Palladium dates. Probably has the best audio of any
of the bootlegs (barring the Hammersmith dubs). Best known, however,
for the nude photos of a Penthouse model named Kate Simmons on the
back cover. Note: These are _not_ photos of Kate Bush.

 9. _Passing_Through_Air_: A 2-LP set containing b-sides and re-mixes,
all of which are dubbed straight off of the official EMI singles and
12-inches. It also contains a dub of _Let_It_Be_ as Kate originally
performed it with Steve Harley and Peter Gabriel at the Bill Duffield
concert in 1979.

10. _If_You_Could_See_Me_Fly_: a single LP containing excerpts from
the Bill Duffield benefit concert which Kate organized and gave with
guests Steve Harley and Peter Gabriel.

11. _Live_in_Manchester_: a 2-LP set containing virtually the entire
Manchester concert, albeit in poor audio quality.

12. _What_Katie_Did..._: a 7-inch single containing one of Kate's
live performances of _Let_It_Be_ and _Running_Up_That_Hill_ from
the 1987 Secret Policeman's Third Ball (Amnesty International) concerts.

13. _Live_1979-1987_: the only live Kate Bush CD to date, containing
a first-rate transfer from the digitally-remixed Japanese laser-disk
of the Hammersmith-Odeon film, plus Kate's live solo performance of
_Breathing_ from the 1987 Comic Relief (UK) shows (dubbed from the
UK home video), her performance of _Running_Up_That_Hill_ (from the
official CD release), and the film-soundtrack mix of _This_Woman's_
_Work_.

14. _Moving_: no relation to no. 5 on this list, this is a seven-inch
EP containing the audio-track from Kate's live performance of _Moving_
at the Seventh Tokyo Song Festival, June 1978, and her partially
pre-recorded, partially live performance of The Beatles' _She's_Leaving_
_Home_ and _The_Long_and_Winding_Road_, taken off of Japanese TV, 1978.

15. _Live_in_Amsterdam_: the only one of these records which IED has
not seen himself, though he knows that it exists. A single LP containing
most of the brief Amsterdam concert (curtailed due to Kate's flu).

 >The exception to this, of course, is ObsKuriTies II, which can be found quite
 >cheaply and is one of the few bootlegs with mostly never-before-heard songs.
 >But this is the exception that proves the rule.
 >
 >-- Randy Smith

     You've definitely got something wrong here, Randy! "ObsKuriTies"
(both I and II) is a title which IED himself gave to two homemade
compilations of obscure Kate Bush tracks culled from all kinds of
sources, only some of which were bootleg records. IED suspects that
you are thinking of no. 9 on the above list: _Passing_Through_Air_.
That 2-LP set contained most of Kate's b-sides and re-mixes up till
late 1986. It has _never_ become available under the title "ObsKuriTies",
however--so far as IED is aware. Both _ObsKuriTies_ tapes were never made
available except through Love-Hounds, and there was never any charge
for the tapes. (Incidentally, neither tape is available any longer,
at least not through IED, so _don't_ ask!)

     Thanks, Ed Suranyi, for the bit from the Nigel Kennedy interview.
High praise indeed, of Del Palmer's engineering ability, Kennedy's remark
that Del had got the best sound from Nigel's violin ever--considering
the kind of engineering expertise that has been put to the service of
Kennedy's playing in the classical end of the business.
     Finally, Ray Radlein asks about Kate's Kats. Here's the story:
Kate had lived with two cats for many years--she'd already had both since
before the Kate Bush Club had even formed. They were named Zoodle
and Pyewackit, and Kate used to contribute a comic-strip featuring
Zoo and Pye in practically every issue of the old Club Newsletter.
However, in 1987 Zoodle died, aged 11, and the comic strip ceased.
Kate tells the story:

     "I used to have two cats--Zoodle and Pyewackit--but I'm afraid that
Zoodle died earlier this year. I was very upset, but she was
eleven and had a good life. She was a beautiful cat. Pyewackit is
absolutely fine, although she missed Zoodle at first. A few months
ago we adopted a stray, feeding her and letting her live in the
garage, and she had three kittens. We now have the 3 kittens. They are
called Rocket, Sparky and Torchy. And although Pye didn't like them
all at first, they all get on really well now, and we find them
cuddled up on a chair together when we get in. They're such good
company for her, and they all have such different personalities.
It's so entertaining just sitting watching them play. It's bringing
out the kitten in Pye: I've noticed her springing across the floor
and leaping onto ledges that are far too small for her. She does
things she hasn't tried for years and seems to be enjoying it all.
I guess we're all young at heart, but sometimes it takes something
to rediscover it!"

-- Andrew Marvick
   P.S.: Thanks to all those who wished IED a happy birthday today--you
cheered him up!