My 2p

[Mark Beale <beale@hdshq.com>]

O.K., I'm almost a lurker, but the time has come for me to add my
opinions to the flood. I've been a Kate fan since about '79, when my
close friend Tadashi Hasagawa (are you out there somewhere, old pal?)
played me TKI & LH (and the live EP).

INTERESTING TIDBIT: I've been compiling a list of people born in the
year 1958. That was my birth year, and (are you ready for this... and,
no, I'm not making this up), also born that year were:

Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince AND Kate! (Not to metion Ron Reagan Jr.
and Annette Bening).

Top FIVE???  IMPOSSIBLE!

1. Moving - Falls into the category of unbelievably potent nostalgia.
Couldn't possibly ever hear it objectively... this started it all.

1. Oh To Be In Love - Ditto from above (a tie?). I think this song
epitomizes the playful, intelligent, emotional Kate of the era.

1. Symphony In Blue - (I know, I'm cheating) Double ditto.

1. Them Heavy People, Live - (I'm a scoundrel) The live version isn't as
sing-songy as the album version. I think I've appreciated all of Kate's
periods and styles quite deeply being almost EXACTLY THE SAME AGE (she's
3 or 4 months younger than me).

2. The Morning Fog - Take that you TSW bashers! Rather than seeing TSW
as a failure with good moments, I see it as a masterpiece with a few
"pretentious, self-indulgent" moments. "And Dream Of Sheep" is gorgeous
(how can you deny that?). "Under Ice" is a bit silly (too short, and
"It's me" is too Twilight Zone kooky to be taken seriously). The rest is
brilliant, though. I see her falling into an emotionally painful sleep
(sort of like coping sleep, trying to escape the world), and she emerges
from her catharsis with this most hopeful, life affirming song ever.

2. Hello Earth - Tied with above because the 2 go together perfectly.

3. This Woman's Work - Brilliant. The video she directed herself for
this (thank GOD she stopped using Keef <is that his name?>) is my
personal vote for the best "rock" video ever. She borrowed from Alfred
Hitchcock (my other favorite artist, any one know of a list for him?),
when she did the 360 degree pan shifting from table to car to hospital
(check out VERTIGO). She ingeniously used this technique to tell a story
effectively in a tiny amount of time, and it was so perfectly suited to
the story, and so elegantly executed... I can't watch this without
tearing up, not only from the content but in appreciation of such
film-making perfection!).

4. Running Up That Hill - (You know why)

5. Moments of Pleasure - (You know why!)

5. Under the Ivy - (YOU KNOW WHY!!)

I found it impossible to pick a bottom 5, though I DID try. I don't
detest anything she's ever done, EXCEPT FOR ONE.

1. Candle In The Wind - What on EARTH possessed her to arrange this
lovely song in THAT way?

Oh, why name other favorite artists separated into male and female
categories? That's sexist! Here's some of mine:

Brian Eno
Laurie Anderson
The Residents
Joan Armatrading
k.d. lang
Annie Lennox
David Sylvian (and Japan)

and...

Conrad Schnitzler (BIG BUCKS paid to anyone who can find me his early
stuff!!! Like the one with B&W cover with photos of him on the back
doint odd things with technololgy).

That's it, I'm outa here.