Re: A Critic Looks at Kate's Videos ...

[nrc@cbema.att.com (Neal R Caldwell, Ii)]

> Really-From: neff@hp-vcd.vcd.hp.com (Dave Neff)
> 
> Recently there have been some postings about some of Kate's videos being
> re-released.  About a year ago I bought a book called "The Laser Video Disc
> Companion" by Douglas Pratt (author of "The Laser Disc Newsletter).  It
> turns out that a couple of Kate Bush discs were/are available as Japanese
...
> Kate Bush -- The Single File (Import)
> Kate Bush Live at Hammersmith Odeon (Import)
> 
> Kate Bush sings as if someone had just dropped an ice cube down the back
> of her dress and she didn't want anyone to know.  Two hour-long Kate Bush
> laser discs are available in Japan, "Kate Bush Live at Hammersmith Odeon"
> and "Kate Bush -- The Single File".

Not an unusual view for someone who is not yet  "touched" (in any sense
you care to take it) by Kate and even some who are.  It sounds as
though the author is trying to review the video with little previous
exposure to the music.  I have known people who have initially reacted 
to the music and video in exactly the same way who have become devote
fans.
 
> "The Single File" is supposedly a collection of 'music videos' though you
> have to get through half the disc before the numbers become more than just
> Kate Bush standing in front of a gauzy lens in a weirdo outfit, singing.

Obviously this Pratt (isn't Pratt used in derogatory manner in some English
comedy bit?) doesn't understand the state of music video such as it
was around 1978.  Besides, "standing" is hardly accurate.

> There is one satisfying video, "Babooshka", in which she dances with a bass
> fiddle, but, other than that, there aren't enough to fill a poor 8-inch
> let alone a decent 12.  

Hmm, I wonder if the costume had anything to do with it...

> On one, the recording is "live" (there's clapping)
> while the video is of Bush alone in a room.  Dishonest.

This is a hoot.  _Them Heavy People_ is a video done to promote the
Live EP.  Thus, the music really _is_ live while the video was done in
a studio.  This is the exact opposite of todays common practice of 
producing "live" videos (and even performances) using studio
recordings.

> "Live at the Hamersmith Odeon" is even less satisfying, since she
> doesn't do "Babooshka" (the discs only share three numbers) and there
> are no pieces which stand out.  Bush has a microphone suspended in front
> of her mouth like an orthodontal retainer and generally goes through the
> same costume changes and exaggerated movements ('choreography') that
> she did on her videos.

Evidently he'd rather see those wondrous videos where the "artist"
performs "live" without the benefit of a mike or sometimes even a band.

> Anyway, I got a kick out of the review and thought a few people might
> like to know that there might be a possibility of getting some of Kate's
> videos on laser disc with some effort.  

Thanks, it's always interesting to see things from "outside" now and
then.

Jeff Burka asks:
> 
> >let alone a decent 12.  On one, the recording is "live" (there's
> clapping)
> >while the video is of Bush alone in a room.  Dishonest.
> 
> Just of curiosity, does this refer to the "Wow" video?  The only "Wow"
> I've seen is the one made for "TWS."

I think he's talking about _THP_ as explained above.  There is another
_Wow_ video.  The original is much like the routine performed during
the Hammersmith show, with Kate alone on a stage in a blue dress.

> On the other hands, her dance routines have a lot more feeling, meaning, and
> all around artistic quality then say, oh, gee, I dunno, something by Vanilla
> Ice.  It comes down the difference between dancing to look cool and dancing
> as a means to interpret emotion into motion.  
> 

I agree completely.  I can't wait to see what sort of dancing she comes 
up with to express her new direction.


"Don't drive too slowly."                 Richard Caldwell
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