Re: Tori, Kate and other natural flavors

[as010b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Tree of Schnopia)]

In <01GWB7RUKAM08Y50KX@delphi.com> METH@delphi.com (Suspended In Duct Tape) writes:


>}What's so attractive about brooding about the past?  That's all
>}Tori seems able to do. 

This is a teensy bit judgmental.  I think most open-minded people would
agree that writing about past experiences and inventing fictional situations
are equally valid forms of art and/or literature.  Both Kate and Tori create
highly imaginative art, regardless of basis.  BTW, was Tori dead in the
past?  If not, I doubt "Happy Phantom" is entirely autobiographical....

>I can't claim to know the reasons why Kate doesn't sing about
>herself in a direct, personal manner.  My own theory is that she
>has lived a very sheltered, cushy life, growing up in a
>reasonably well-off doctor's home in a family of artists, so if
>she sang about her own experiences they'd probably be pretty
>boring.  Instead she brilliantly takes things she sees in the

That's why MY writing tends not to be very autobiographical.  I simply don't
have much interesting history to write about.


>}No, Robyn Hitchcock is a self-admitted Syd Barrett wannabe.  
> 
>Really?  woj, is that right?  (He runs the Robyn mailing list and
>is one of his hugest fans, Jason, so I'm sure he can confirm or
>deny this for sure...)

Two things: first, Robyn Hitchcock is a brilliant artist in his own right. 
I missed the first part of this discussion, but if the purpose of the above
statement is to belittle Hitchcock as derivative, I'm afraid you've got a
flamewar on your hands.  Robyn Hitchcock is an INCREDIBLE songwriter and an
excellent guitarist (and not the WORST singer in the world), and no artist
works in a vacuum; they've all got influences.

Second, how do I get on this mailing list?  RH is my favorite male artist,
and I'm a RABID fan waiting to discuss the new CD, Respect.

> 
>}It is quite obvious that Kate greatly influenced Tori Amos.  If
>}you can't see that, there's no point in trying to explain it to
>}you.
> 

Not only is this irrelevant to...well, anything, really, it's also sort of
authoritarian.  Sounds like the kind of arrogant, elitist, rude, numbskulled
remark I might have made on soc.motss prior to this week and my
"reformation"....


>}I have no problem with Tori stealing some ideas from Kate's
>}early years.  
> 
>What?  If you are implying that Tori "stole" her themes of sexual
>oppression and religious guilt from  _The Kick Inside_, then
>you'd best get your medication adjusted.

I'll second that.

>As for originality, please send me a list of all the artists
>she's exactly like- I'd love to hear them sometime.

I'll second THAT as well.


>Comparing Tori Amos to Kate Bush is like comparing apples and
>oranges.  As woj said, they are both females who sing in the
>upper registers and play and compose on the piano, but the
>similarity ends there.  End of story.

Meredith, you've said it all for me, and quite eloquently as well.

My work here is finished before it's begun!

Drewcifer
-- 
----bi    Andrew D. Simchik					SCHNOPIA!
\ ----    as010b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu				TreeWater
 \\  /    
   \/     "Words Weren't Made For Cowards"--Happy Rhodes