Re: Billboards

[Len Bullard <cbullard@HiWAAY.net>]

[Len Bullard]

>That's the start.  Julian offered if someone could come up 
>with her home address.  East Wickham farm would be one place,
>although she doesn't live there.  They say she has purchased
>a house in Reading.

[Julian Shaw]

(*Who* says?)

Persons unremembered who subscribe to the list and who posted 
it as news from a Reading newspaper several months back. 

> Well, actually, Len, I thought you and Stev0 were joking! In any case it
> doesn't matter. I can't help because Reading isn't in Kent, it's in
> ...er... Berkshire, I think. (Yeah, I know I live in the UK but
> geography never was one of my strong points!)

We were joking.  Some picked it up and thought it a grand 
spoof to do.  It seems a fun topic if frivolous, in fact 
fun because it is frivolous.   Serious bunch around here.
Mad they say.   I believe 'em.  Take life this seriously 
and mad ye be and mad ye deserve.

Some acts are like that;  just fun.  Collect a few pounds, put up a
billboard, 
express the madness and move on.  Another year in Kate fandom:  waiting.

> OK, given that this idea appears to be serious here is my opinion for
> what it's worth: please don't do it, folks. 

:-)

> Any major recording star can safely take it for granted that their fans
> want to see them. Have you ever heard of a campaign by fans demanding
> that their idol *doesn't* tour?

I can think of some who have made that statement AFTER seeing a 
tour.  Steppenwolf and the Turtles just came to town.  After seeing 
their shows, I must admit, I would rather listen to the records.  There
are songs and acts that don't work past a certain age.  Sure, it's good 
to see them, but all in all, the performances were weak.

> Kate must be well aware that all her fans worldwide would give just
> about anything to see her "live". She must therefore have very strong
> reasons for *not* touring. Whatever they are, we should respect them. 

Sources say she almost did it after Red Shoes but was offered the 
chance to make TLTCTC.  Such chances being rare, I guess she 
took the offer that was most challenging.   My suspicion is that the
notion 
of a tour is seldom far from her ambitions.

> Do you *honestly* think that putting a billboard up outside her house is
> going to have any effect on her decision? 

No, but let's take the post from the fellow who worked for Prince 
and spoke to her on the phone.  When he asked would she come 
to America, she is reported to have said, "I'm not wanted over there.."
or something like that.  Maybe American fans SHOULD say, "ya got it 
all wrong."  On the other hand, maybe Kate couldn't fill an average town 
hall in America, so perhaps it is best.  On the other other hand, who 
were all those people lined up around the block in New York?

But both hands aside, don't expect me to care.  I'm a diehard Kate Bush 
fan.   Seeing her is a dream, and I shall not part with it lightly.  I
may be
*utterly mad* but "wear your love like heaven".  ;-)  A little madness 
is too important to lose for the likes of the ProtectHerSheIsGod
committee.

> The only thing it's likely to
> achieve is to cause her considerable embarrassment and invade her
> privacy. (This is particularly true if she is a very private person,
> which by all indications and accounts she is.) Ask yourself if you
> really want to be responsible for that?

I guess that your mindreading is about as good as mine.  We could 
speculate endlessly, but I think the result might be a bit of press and 
perhaps a chagrined but well complimented Kate Bush, all in a day of
fun.
She has been quoted as saying that the letters and encouragement 
she receives from fans help her through rough spots.  She has them too.
She has lost some very important people in her life of late.  She has 
taken some heavy emotional shocks, and her family is just now 
coming around to a life without its best buoy.  Perhaps a big show 
of affection would be a positive thing.  I can't say;  I can just try.

Who knows what the current state of her life is?  Who knows that 
about any of us?  Does a sign that says, "yeah, we love you.  Come
out and play for us, please." constitute an assault on her privacy?
I don't think so.  I think it is yet another diversion for us, but we 
are talking theory here.  I doubt we would do it simply because one, 
it would be expensive, two, most of us couldn't be there for the fun of
it.

If it gave her a laugh, or made us feel a little better, it might be 
worth it.  I do not care to live life as a chickenshit.  It is just
"fun" but it is loving fun.

> If you really want to try and persuade her to do something she clearly
> doesn't want to do, then you could try writing to her or perhaps take
> out advertising space in the music press. At least try that first.

I am not so confident about what she wants to do.  I 
can't read Kate's mind.  I think as Neal said, it is better than 
rolling her lawn.

Frankly, I think she will tour.  Why?  Fun.  One wakes up in middle
age and finds that  fun is out there, not in the house, not just in 
the studio, not just at the beach.  Out there:  doing it, being it,
loving it, 
with others who just love the way you do it.  We'll wait and hope.

Age will come, and all those we love will die.  Carpe diem,
or in American, "... while the sun shines, my darlin', and the 
dog can still run."  Fun is for the having.  Fear never has.

Hmmm ... an ad.   Not showy enough.  Skywriting.... now that's
an idea.  Big billowy letters tossed lazy like pillows across the
English 
skies... man... beautiful!

len