Tori Amos news from Billboard

[ed@wente.llnl.gov (Ed Suranyi)]

Melinda Newman writes a column in Billboard about video music called "The
Eye".  In the latest issue (Mar. 21), she writes the following:

     Speaking of buzz:  There's a real video buzz on Tori Amos.  For the
uninitiated, the singer sounds like a cross between Kate Bush and Joni
Mitchell.  Even those who find her debut album a little melodramatic were
totally captivated during her performance at a recent Atlantic party on
her behalf.  It's amazingly refreshing to see an artist who actually lives
up to the hype.
     To our ears, her music doesn't fit easily into any radio genre, which
is one reason why we applaud Atlantic for starting the story at video
outlets that are often much more receptive to new artists.
     The video of "Silent All These Years" was released three weeks ago
and instantly added to MTV, VH-1, VJN, and lots of locals and regionals.
"We released the video a few weeks before the single went to radio to get
the ball rolling because the clip's visuals are so strong," says Linda
Ferrando, Atlantic's director of national music video promotion.
     Just as the label doesn't want to pigeonhole Amos at radio, it's not
limiting her at video either.  "We're not putting it in any genre, we're
just sending it to everybody," Ferrando says.  She adds that a lot of the
outlets that would not normally consider Amos as part of their format are
playing the clip.
     Because Atlantic is eager for feedback on Amos, whom people are either
going to love or hate, Ferrando has instituted an essay contest of sorts
at outlets.  Instead of offering CD giveaways to the first five callers or
something similar, Ferrando asked shows to play the video and solicit
written responses from the viewers, who would get a CD for their comments.
     Additionally, Amos recorded three songs live for MTV March 4 and
plans are to create a special featuring the live footage and the videos
for "Silent" and "China," which was a single in England.  No air date has
been announced.

Ed
ed@wente.llnl.gov