No Subject

It's salad dressing _and_ a floor wax! 

> I have a dozen or so
> Japanese-issue records and CDs by assorted artists (Art of Noise, a-ha,
> Kate, Berlin, Dead or Alive...) and without exception *every one of
> them* includes full lyrics as well as a biography, recording notes, and
> sometimes discographic information on the artist.

If what you're saying is, "that's the way they do things," that's fine
but that doesn't address my point.  Kate has never put biographical
information or interviews in her albums as they were released with her
direct input.  Everything she has ever said indicates that she
considers all of that to be secondary to the music and I doubt that
she would even find it particularly appropriate to put in an album.  
I don't know all the contract details between EMI, EMI America (and 
now Columbia) and her label in Japan but I do know that it is not at 
all uncommon for the overseas labels to release things in a form that 
is not what Kate has specifically identified as her vision for the
work.

> My one Japanese Kate disc (THE KICK INSIDE, with the "pouty-pink-tanktop"
> cover) has a twenty-page booklet not counting covers: page one has the
> full track listing and timings in English and Japanese, followed by a
> six-page bio in Japanese, and thirteen pages of full lyrics and
> credits, again in English and Japanese.  It also sounds *glorious*.

You've made my point for me.  Kate specifically identified the cover she
wanted for _The Kick Inside_, the cover that is found in the UK set (the 
so call oriental cover).  Any other cover was someone else's idea, not 
hers.  Except for the gross oversight of the B-sides the lyrics are not 
an issue and the sound of the UK disks (the good ones) are actually 
preferred by some.  They are certainly much better than the EMI America 
releases. 

> So: the "extra information" in the Japanese THIS WOMAN'S WORK box isn't
> a fan-perk, it's just their way of doing business.  

But I don't want their way of doing business.  I want the work as
close as possible to what Kate envisioned.  I don't want packaging as
produced by record companies, I want packaging as produced by
artists.  Others are welcome to choose what works best for them.

In fact, if fans complain about the missing lyrics to the B-sides and
cry out for more content perhaps the record company will encourage
Kate to be more extravagent in her ideas of how her music should
be packaged.  Still, I hope it never gets to the point where EMI is
throwing in odds and ends that Kate doesn't approve for the release.


"Don't drive too slowly."                 Richard Caldwell
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