Re: Not a Top 5

[Richard Bensam <rabensam@earthlink.net>]

Stev0 wrote:

>I thought I'd do something a bit different (of course), and name
>not my top faves, or even least faves, but rather
>
>TOP FIVE UNDER-RATED KATE MOMENTS (of pleasure):
>
>These are things that do anything from make me smile to send
>shivers down my back, but for some reason no one ever talks about.
>
>5.  Kate's wonderful Marlene Dietrich (sp?) impersonation in
>    "Coffee Homeground".
>4.  In "The Big Sky" when she says, "tell 'em, sisters!"
>3.  That ominous gong at the very end of "Hammer Horror"
>2.  The "Yeah!" in the title cut of "The Red Shoes"
>1.  Those very final bass notes in "Breathing" - probably the
>    most chilling notes ever recorded.
>
>- Stev0 the over-rated

Not in my book, chum!

I agree with all your choices.  But you did goof on one point:  the singer
being paid tribute in "Coffee Homeground" is Lotte Lenya, not Marlene
Dietrich.  They are very different, and a listen to the great Lotte Lenya
will show that Kate has gotten a not-insignificant amount of inspiration
from her.

If I did things like "top five" lists, my Top Underrated Kate Moments --
great concept! -- would be somewhere in the gorgeously multi-layered
backing vocals of the song "Burning Bridge" and the slithery way her voice
wraps itself around the lead part.  But the absolute top moment is at the
end of the song, when she roars out "It's you and me...against THE WORLD!"
I can't listen to that without getting these weird burning chills.

I also love the way her voice gets all growly as she sings that "Never
never never never" in "Jig of Life."  I can't listen to that without
getting these weird burning chills.

How about the moaning chorus in "Egypt"?  The engineer got so frightened by
it that he had to leave the room during playback.  I know how he feels.
Plus the keyboard solo which closes the song...

I'd also mention the dreamlike middle of "Watching You Without Me" but it
hardly counts as underrated since everyone mentions it, usually asking
"What is she saying here, anyway?"  If I knew, I would go around saying it
to myself all the time.

Not a list, you see, because they are all equal, and not ranked in
numerical order.


RAB
("You'll find me in Steve Berlin's bar, in a corner brooding...")

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