Mistakes, politics and such

[katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)]

Vickie here. I get a second chance at responding to a drucker pastpost.


 In article <what's all this junk for anyway?> billy@briarpatch.UUCP (Billy Green) writes:
 >>2) No one's said anything about the fact that "Be Kind To My Mistakes" is now
 >>available on CD (as one of the B-sides of "This Woman's Work").
 >>
 >>and 
 >>
 >>3) No one has said one word about "I'm Still Waiting".It kind of marks a new
 >>era for CD fans--Kate's first B-side-only song that is available on CD.  It
 >>also proves that Kate is part of the Rhythm Nation . . .  :-)

Then Sir Druk replies:

 >Au contraire, mon frere.  If you had been paying attention, you would
 >have noticed that some time in early December, the following posting
 >materialized...

 >---Enter Time Warp Mode---
 >From jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU  Sun Dec  3 19:38:47 1989
 >Date: Sun, 3 Dec 89 19:38:47 EST
 >From: Jon Drukman <jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU>
 >Subject: This Woman's Work

--Stuffiche deleted--
 >Next we move on to "Be Kind To My Mistakes" which sounds absolutely
 >gorgeous on CD, and is still Kate's finest moment post-Hounds Of Love.
 >My complaint with THIS track is that they have cut it in length rather
 >severely by abbreviating the fade out after the bridge, and altering
 >the ending as well.  I am not amused.  Stupid EMI cretins. 

Believe or not, Chris & I agree with you. As a matter of fact, we'll
go even further and do something you very kindly didn't do-blame Kate.
Let it be known that this is one of our all time favorite Kate songs.
On the Castaway soundtrack, it's THE perfect pop song. On the Castaway
soundtrack, it's one of the most perfect songs ever written by anybody,
anytime, anywhere. On the Castaway soundtrack, it rates as THE MOST
UNDERRATED SONG OF THE MILLEMIUM. On the Castaway soundtrack, this
song deserved to be a number one hit in every country in the known
universe for, oh, at least a year (if not longer).

              What the world needed:

     ** A 20 MINUTE SUPER-DUPER EXTRA-LONG EXTENDED MIX **

              What the world got:

           -- a shortened version --

  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't even BEGIN to imagine what Kate was thinking of when she
butchered it the way she did. Yeah, it's nice to have the song on
CD, but the changes she made hurt us to the core of our being so
it's certainly no fun to listen to therefore we've only listened
to it twice. I guess I really envy people who've never heard the
original. To them, it must sound fine. Don't anybody point out 
that she only cut out a few seconds. I don't care if she cut out
two seconds or twenty or one hundred & twenty. The point is, the
song didn't deserve any sort of axe job at all!!  For Hounds she
gave us lots of extended mixes, now she's shortening songs-what??
For us (and no one should for a second doubt our high level of
"worship"), it's THE most disappointing thing she's ever done in
her entire career. 


{{{ Chris here;

   The major problem with the shortened version of _Be Kind to My Mistakes_,
IMHO, is that the best part of the song is cut out. Kate has complete control  
over her music and generally this is good, but her control, combined with
her working pace, keeps the musicians from being able to explore "a groove"
in the time honered fashion. Rarely does more than one musician at a time
play at Kate's sessions. This assures us of getting Kate's vision (slo-o-wly)
but prevents us from hearing the sort of magic that can happen when great
players can work out a melodic and rhythmic "groove". _Be Kind to My Mistakes_
(the long version) is one of the few examples of this in Kate's work. Others
that spring quickly to mind are the Irish musicians in _Night of the Swallow_
and _Jig of Life_; I can't imagine that _The Chieftains_ could work at their
best ability in a multi-track format, or that the _Trio Bulgarka_ could sing
their parts separately. This disembowling of _Be Kind to My Mistakes_ is 
nothing short of heartbreaking. This is a good example of why Kate _MUST_
tour. In a tour situation the players can stretch out and play to their full
ability (not to say that there isn't some brilliant players and playing on
Kate's records, just that such things take a back seat to Kate's vision).}}}

--Exit Time Warp Mode--

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Vickie again.

 JROSSI@AAMRL.AF.MIL writes:
> both of you seem to share some pretty middle of the road politics.

Surely you jest
You think I'm wimpy politically just because I can't stand
separatism & bad music? Please explain.
 
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From: nbc%INF.RL.AC.UK@mitvma.mit.edu (Neil Calton)

>>From: chris@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)
>>Subject: Ladyslipper catalog listing.
>>MARY COUGHLIN-Tired & Emotional
>>A thoroughly unusual debut album from an Irish woman who has developed
>>quite a buzz, even a cult following, among music fans.
>>I only have the LP but I think it's available on CD now.

>It's good to hear someone promoting Mary Coughlin. I strongly urge
>Love-hounds to check her out. Great for late night listening. There
>is a second album called "Under the Influence" which includes a great
>version of "Ride On". Both albums highly recommended. Both are also
>available on CD - at least over here. It has been a long time since
>the second album came out so maybe there is another one due.

I can't let this go by. Neil, you ruined my day. You know that don't
you? MARY HAS A SECOND ALBUM?????? I had no idea. I'm even more upset
to know that it's been out for quite a while and I didn't know. I
guess it hasn't been released in the US. Green Linnet carries "Tired
and Emotional" but not "Under the Influence", because I just got
the most recent catalog (thanks Ed!). I grovel on my knees for a tape.
(Vickie Mapes, 3815 Walnut, #2south, Kansas City, MO 64111, just in
case! You'll be famous, really. Just like Andy Worhol said. Your name
will be broadcast to all 5 listeners in the tri-state area!)


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More to come later

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