Various KaTe relaTed sTuff

[derek%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford)]

CD sound quality:

It has already been mentioned that some of the boxed set CD booklets are 
printed on thinner paper than the non-box import CD booklets (LH and TD are 
most noticeable).  Has anyone tried to make a concerted effort to determine if 
there are sound quality differences as well?  I sometimes wonder if I search 
too hard for such differences :) but I want to make sure I keep the best 
sounding KaTe CDs.  I do not believe that discs of the same album always sound 
the same.  It depends on which company pressed them.  That is why I specialize 
in import discs for anything I get thus flouting these parallel importation 
"rules". Aren't I wicked :) If you have any comments about the discs please 
let me know what you have deduced or noticed.  Personally, I suspect that the 
box LH and NFE are slighlty inferior to my other import pressings.

Prices for the box set:

I have noticed that prices for the boxed set vary all over creation.  Some 
places are probably profiting very little, others a lot.  What bothers me most 
is that the price in Canada and now New Zealand are half that in the UK - and 
they are identical sets!.  Did EMI really mean this to happen?  I would like 
to collate a table of how much Love-hounds have seen the set for, and at what 
locations. I am not interested in who paid what just what stores are asking 
for it and where the stores are.  If you have posted such info before please 
could you email me with it again (especially those incredible Canadian prices 
unless I have them listed below).  I will tabulate and post the findings at a 
later date.  Please send it in the following form :
price in your currency, sales tax rate if not included in price, store, city, 
country

e.g. So far I have

$US 174.99, 7.25%, CDSounds, San Diego CA, USA  
$US 199.99, 7.25%, Off the Record, San Diego CA, USA
$US 169.99, 7.25%, Lou's Records, Encinitas CA, USA
$US 152.00, ? , Midnight Records, New York, NY, USA
$NZ 140, ? , ? , Wellington, New Zealand (would poster please fill in gaps)
$CDN 83.94, ? , A&B Sounds, Vancouver BC, Canada (ditto) 

It would be nice to get info from around the world.  I wish to write to EMI 
asking why UK and US fans are paying much higher prices and whether they are 
conscious of these extreme price differentials. 


A separate 2 disc release of TWW:

I disagree with Jon Drukman regarding a separate CBS release of the boxed 
set's extra track discs.  I don't think they should do it even if they could 
(don't forget CBS own the rights to only 5 of the 29 tracks - but then again I 
see there is a new Stranglers' Greatest Hits CD import with a selection of EMI 
and CBS songs ;-|).  I am not sure they would pay the necessary amount to EMI 
America/Manhattan to get the rights to those rather 
obscure-to-the-average-American-music-buyer material.  Myself I would be very 
angry if they did appear having bought the full box and already owning the 
import CDs.  I am not so interested in the set as a collector's item rather 
than just having the music on CD.   Even worse would be a separate EMI release 
of the two discs in the UK.  It would be such an insult to her fans who have 
already purchased the sets.  I would expect EMI to get a lot of VERY angry 
letters if they did.  I would certainly send one.

Please send info you have to offer to me at the address below. Thanks  

Derek
derek@sunstroke.sdsu.edu