Re: Ethics Regarding "Demos"

[chrisw@miso.wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

In article <1.5.4b11.32.19960208130709.006bc4bc@mail.interpac.be>, 
lombaeg@donald.interpac.be (Emmy May Lombaerts) wrote:
>happy@ix.hell.com (barnstormer) wrote:
>  
>>If I remembered correctly, the "demos" were stolen from a vault
>>and were never meant for us to hear.  I'm guilty as hell of acquiring
>>copies of the bootlegs--they helped with the wait from TSW to 
>>TRS.  All these years, I've never heard Kate's position on these
>>pirated releases.  Does any of you know how she felt?  (I need to
>>know since I've felt so guilty for so long.)

   That has not been proven. Kate herself has stated that many copies
of early demos were mailed to various record companies. Who's to
say if the original source for "Cathy's Album" wasn't one of these
tapes?

   Yes, I'm aware that the finger has been pointed at "a former EMI
employee." I, for one doubt that a large amount of pre-EMI Kate
material was even *in* EMI's vaults.

   Novercia owns the tapes. Always has. According to one report,
EMI never hears Kate's albums before a final stereo mixdown. As
the scratched messages on some of the LPs and 45s appear to
be in Kate's handwriting, I'd say that she may well carry the master
tapes to the mastering session herself. IMO, (based on no
particular evidence) all of Kate's master tapes are in her
personal possession. The famous mixup with _December Will
Be Magic Again_ (Bongo version) might have been due to EMI
not having the original version.

>       As far as I know, she wasn't very pleased with the demos appearing..
>As we all know Kate is a perfectionist when it comes to her work, so I'm
>sure it couldn't have been very pleasant for her to have songs of hers
>released that weren't quite finished and not (yet?) meant for the public..

   Yes, the person she is *now* doesn't want people to hear them. The
person she is *now* is embarrassed by them. Fine.

   On the other hand, the person she is *now* is apparently embarrassed
by the original vocal of _Wuthering Heights_ (arguably her best song -
thus the best song in existance.)

   The person she is *now* is embarrassed by the original video of _Wow_.
She replaced it with (again IMO) a fairly dull assemblage of scenes from
the Hammersmith Odean videotape. As she no longer likes the original
version, should I not watch the original?

   The important thing to me is: what did the person she was *then*, the 
one who wrote the songs, think of them? She obviously though well enough 
of the songs to send copies of them to various record companies. They were 
obviously good enough to catch Dave Gilmour's ear. If the teenage Catharine, 
the creator of these songs, hadn't thought enough of them..."Kate Bush"
might never have happened. 

   They are good songs. Kate is welcome to disagree. I honestly feel that if 
Kate had her way, a lot more than just these songs would disappear.
Would we like that?

   Look, most perfectionist musicians have a different view of their work than
their fans. I've pointed this out before, but it bears repeating; Kate Bush
is NOT a "Kate Bush Fan." She is not likely to see things from a fan's
perspective. The tracks left off of _This Woman's Work_ are ample evidence
of this. A fan would have never *dreamed* of not asking Peter Gabriel for
rights to _Another Day_ (and the completely unheard _Ibiza_.)

>     I know how you feel, though, barnstormer.. Although I didn't feel very
>guilty about getting the demos, sometimes when I listen to them I do feel
>like I'm looking through Kate's personal diary, and that I really shouldn't
>be doing that.. 
thirty-ish woman gets a bit wistful. She wonders what would have happened
    I'm imagining a parallel universe. In it, somewhere in Kent, an attractive
thirty-ish woman gets a bit wistful. She wonders what would have happened
if she had sent those tapes out, if she had been a bit more assertive. Would
she be famous now? 


--
Chris Williams of
Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
chrisw@miso.wwa.com
"How perfectly goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure." - C. Crumb