Y Kant Tori Read

[nrc@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us (N. Richard Caldwell)]

I've been busy hacking on The Big Sky recently and haven't
kept up with my posting duties. I had started a detailed
rave review of _Little Earthquakes_ but obviously the word
is out about Tori Amos so I'll skip that for now.

Some have drawn comparisons between the recent Tori Amos
buzz and the Happy Rhodes push of days gone by.  I think the
differences are obvious but if anyone who cares doesn't see
them, drop me a line and we'll discuss them.  One important
and unmistakable difference is that I have already
encouraged anyone who feels that the Tori Amos discussion is
becoming intrusive to speak up so that we can make
arrangements to move the discussion elsewhere.

Options for moving the discussion include creating a mailing
list and moving the discussion to rec.music.misc.  I would
gladly set up a Tori Amos mailing list right now but as it
stands, The Big Sky is less than optimum for that sort of
endeavor.  We would only be able to provide digests and there
would be no FTP accessible archives.  Still, if Love-Hounds
find the discussion obtrusive and want it out of the group
before any other arrangements can be made we _will_ start a
mailing list from The Big Sky.

At this point, I personally do not think the discussion so
far has been intrusive (again, I will provide specific
reasons for anyone who cares).  If you disagree, please say
so.  

Vickie, I'm happy to see you talk about how you appreciate
Tori Amos as a talented artist even though you're not as
enamored of her work as many here are.  I have tried to
explain exactly that feeling about Happy Rhodes and Jane
Siberry many times and I'm not sure it was ever clear.  I'm
also glad that you see how silly it would be to begrudge an
extremely talented artist like Tori Amos whatever attention
she can manage to gain for herself just because there are
other talented artists who are not gaining as much
attention.

I don't think the video airplay and one hour "special" that Tori
Amos has gotten is any more than someone of her talent deserves.
And while I would certainly say that Kate deserves much more
attention than any other artist, I would disagree that she has
only received a fraction of the attention of Tori Amos.  In fact,
I would say that the most limiting factor in Kate's exposure
these days has been her own unwillingness to actively promote
herself, particularly in the states.  I think MTV would jump at
the chance to have Kate perform live as Tori did for MTV.

Vickie writes:
> I pulled out my LP copy of Tori's first album (_Y Kant Tori Read_) and
> made a dub of it (Melissa, it's for you and Richard, send me your
> address and I'll get it in the mail to you) and while I was writing

That's very nice of you.  We set out the dragnet for a copy of
this and since it appears to be out of print we'll gladly accept
a dub for now (unless you can be talked out of the original :-)
).  It's worth noting that while you don't care for this first
album, I suspect Missy and my tastes extend quite a bit further
into the hard, sharp end of the musical spectrum than yours. 

Interestingly, a search of the archives reveals two widely
ignored highly positive reviews of the first LP.  Kudos to Ken
Woodruff <femto@ucscb.ucsc.edu> and jester@crash.cts.com, both of
whom spotted the considerable talents of Tori Amos long before
the current "buzz" took off.

In any case, yes, please send it to:

Richard & Missy Caldwell
2785 Stavely Ct.
Columbus, Ohio 43232

We'll send you back a tape and postage at the very least.

> The difference between the 2 albums is *so* startling that now I'm
> beginning to doubt that they're the same person! Can someone verify
> for me that Tori's first album was indeed called _Y Kant Tori Read_? 

Did you miss the MTV appearance?  The earlier album was mentioned
briefly.  Tori said she was in her "hair spray phase" at that
time and that she had and impressive collection of hair sprays.
She said that she wasn't comfortable writing at the piano at that
time since it was "too close to home" and that she made almost a 
conscious effort not to write about the "monsters" that have come 
out on _Little Earthquakes_.  

If you didn't see this we could send a copy of it.  We may not be
the best place to get a copy, though.  Our cable company was
creating some creative interference in the form of a fine line
rolling slowly through the picture that evening and our extra VCR
is not a stereo unit.

If you didn't see this performance, I highly recommend it.
It was quite impressive.

Finally, Vickie writes:

> I think most long-timers,
> if they're into Happy's mucis or not, know that I deeply, truly and    
> sincerely love Happy and her music. 

Ick.  I hope that's a typo and not a misspelling.

"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  {n8emr|nstar}!bluemoon!bsbbs!nrc
                                  nrc@bsbbs.Columbus.OH.US