RE. PLAGARISM IN SPAIN - NOT!

["ILL Dept. Camden Libraries" <fm113@viscount.org.uk>]

      I'm referring back to Sacha Lobenstein's mailing from the 9th
      of November on Virjinia Gluck's album 'Entre Animas'. Having
      bought (and listened copiously) to Virjinia's album myself, I
      would urge anyone reading to do the same before taking Sacha's
      advice too much to heart...
                 To be sure, Ms. Gluck's vocals DO resemble KaTe's
      early style at times, but I don't think that qualifies the entire
      'Entre Animas' album to be "full of melodies and harmonies
      written by KaTe". The title track of the album (also released
      as a CD single) DOES have much of the 'game plan' of 'Wuthering
      Heights': Highly pitched vocal in the chorus and a ride out on
      similarly extrovert guitar & C. The other track that strongly
      reminded me of vocal motifs used by KaTe was 'El cielo queda atras'.
      On the other hand, the string quartet arrangement on said track  
      was quite unlike anything I've heard on Kate's albums. In fact,
      as I ventured into the album, I was quite impressed by the diversity
      of Ms. Gluck's work. In tracks such as 'El Aerostata', 'Mar Adentro' 
      and 'Brindis en Blanco' Virjinia is very much her woman.
                  I think the real problem here is how much we pick up
      on surface similiarities; the current crop (and some quite excellent)
      of 'Britpop' bands have been accused of copying old Beatles/Stones/
      Who material. Even major league players have not been immune to 
      using an existing strong voice to follow - The Beach Boys used a
      certain Chuck Berry number to 'help' with their hit "Surfin' USA".
                  Rather than get into a long debate about the boundaries
      between 'influence' and 'plagiarism', I would urge anyone interested
      out there to get a copy of 'Entre Animas', and make up their own
      minds! Who knows, the fact that KaTe's influence IS apparent in
      contemporary singer/songwriters might be thought a very good thing
      by some...
                 Only one problem for U.K. people (and maybe U.S.) is the
      difficulty in obtaining 'Entre Animas'. I first of all used the 
      'Customer order' counters at Tower and HMV in central London - to 
      no avail. BUT by way of a Spanish advertiser in the 'Record Mirror'
      I was able to get my copy - and I would be quite willing to post 
      their address and FAX number up if there are interested parties!
                                    
                 Regards, Richard Wheatley.   
      P.S. this e-mail address is a shared work account, so PLEASE any
      personal brickbats or flames to be marked up F.A.O. Richard
      Wheatley - thankyou!