The Laugh, the LOVE. We love you KaTe!

[Wieland Willker <willker@chemie.uni-bremen.de>]

Remember THE BIG DISCUSSION? Does it belong to "L&A" or "The Fog"? 
It's obvious to anyone who isn't an inane idiot that it belongs at the end
of "L&A". (WIE in a slight variation of a |>oug-quote)

But all this discussion is irrelevant, since the truth was cleared up by
Mike Mendelson: Enjoy!

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Date: Sun, 12 Nov 89 21:59:23 -0600  
From: Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu>  
Subject: a survey? 

Obviously, the laugh is on the wrong album entirely! I suggest it is the
result of a long, often fruitless fight between Kate and the record
companies. For years, Kate has wanted to insert a laugh between tracks, and
for years the record execs have nayed the proposition.

Originally, the laugh was to go between Strange Phenomena and Kite on TKI.
When this plan was nixed, Kate decided to place the laugh after Peter Pan
on Lionheart. And after that on NFE at the very end of the album. Again, to
no avail, but this time the execs met Kate half way and let her add a
little extra bass at the end of Breathing instead.

Despite the first three rejections, Kate endeavoured once more to include
the laugh on TD just after Suspended in Gaffa. The execs dismissed this
demand as unreasonably antagonistic towards the general public who would
have a hard enough time figuring out just what Gaffa was (not to mention
the "WLTWI" at the culmination of the very next track) without the added
intimidation of a mocking laugh.

So it was HoL where Kate was first able to sneak in the laugh, cleverly
mixed *backwards* into the secret message in WYWM, the forward contents of
which were discovered by fans only recently. Luckily, the record execs
never discovered this laugh, although its effect is all but lost in the
mix. But Kate was still unsatisfied, since she knew most people would
probably never know the laugh was even there.

TWS was the next candidate for the laugh, but since it had never charted as
a single, the execs refused. Kate even volunteered to redo the laugh as a
"new vocal" cut, but alas, no go.

Finally, Kate had had enough. "Look," she said, "no more albums unless I
get a full, uncut, forward, undistorted laugh on the next one." British
execs gave in, but Kate had to change labels in America to have her demand
met.

But still, it wasn't easy... a full year of bickering about where the laugh
should go on the new album ensued and caused unprecedented delays in
release. And now we see the fruits of Kate's effort: the laugh, in full, is
indeed a part of TSW. But in attaching the laugh to different songs on the
two pressings of the CD, and omitting it entirely from the single and the
video, it looks like in the final analysis the bigwigs still had the last
laugh. :-)

-----------------

All clear?
I put this laugh...........--here
I put this laugh.................--here
I put this laugh.........................--Over here!

"If this laugh is a game, I win." (KaTe Bush)

Best wishes
    Wieland