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Love-Hounds Digest			Saturday, June 7, 1986, 19:43 EDT

Today's Topics:

		       Frankenchrist sales boost
			     Cadbury bars?
			   Oh, forchrissake!
		 Re:  Concert review  (of Depeche Mode)

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Via:      UK.AC.SUSX.VAX2;  4 JUN 86 13:49:44 BST
Date:     4-JUN-1986 13:48:44
From: SSUD3%UK.AC.SUSSEX.VAX2@AC.UK


 "SOUNDS" Does a total Hatchet Job on Kate - newsflash from Britain....

I just picked up the latest copy of "Sounds" (June 7 issue) which
just came out today (Wednesday, June 4).  At first, I was really
excited when I saw that Kate was on the cover, although I was
puzzled by the use of one of the most commonly available record
company promo-photo of her (the one with her head resting with her
palms on her temples). Then my heart sank when I saw who wrote the
"article" - the Infamous Richard Cook, who interviewed her after
the release of "The Dreaming" in '82, and filled the article with
sarcastic and petty sniping at her (then why bother to interview her?).

Anyway, despite the "front cover status", this "article" is nothing
more than an enxtended forum for his criticisms of Kate, with no
input whatsoever from her. Although it is too long to completely
transcribe (and I have a paper due tomorrow) here are the low-lights...


"Kate Bush, a teenager from a wealthy middle-class family, had art-rock
waiting for her like a gift from the tooth fairy. The dinosaurs of her
listening youth weren't monsters for her. Pink Floyd, the most miserable group
that ever existed (Doug's gonna LOVE this!) and the skeleton in many a
pioneer's closet, provided her first archangel in the form of David Gilmour,
who produced that first studio work. She would later admit her fascination
with `The Wall.' It's not hard to perceive the echoes of Floyd's weary
symphonies in the Bush catalogue."

On "The Kick Inside":

"The tunes sounded like the fussy little melodies one associates with musical
sewing boxes. The record is a folly..."

"One can toil through Bush's work making flip comparisons all the time, but
it's a search that turns over no personal vision on all these bits and
pieces."

"This grain-by-grain pursuit, a quintessence of art-rock, reached overload
with `The Dreaming.'  IT'S A THUNDEROUSLY AWFUL LP. AFTER THE OPENING `SAT IN
YOUR LAP', AN ENERGETIC HOWL ABOUT THE GETTING OF WISDOM, THE RECORD COLLAPSES
INTO A SLUGGISH, ELEPHANTINE BLOW-OUT OF WORDS AND MUSIC IN SEARCH OF MEANING
AND STRUCTURE. EVEN BUSH'S FAITHFUL WERE FOXED BY IT." !!!!!!

"The second side (of Hounds of Love) is a dream sequence that's about as
substantial as cotton wool"

"Bush can't create anything more than a mood, a nostalgia for the resonance of
art. She's like someone who flicks through the pages of a book, impatient for
the pictures to come up. It has always been the way of art-rock" "Bush, like
Peter Gabriel and Jim Kerr, is a mere translator. A simple soul. A show woman.
She is really NO MORE PROFOUND THAN SHEENA EASTON, and you can't imagine Bush
making a record that's as much fun (or vapid -ed) as "SUGAR WALLS" (this is
getting funny...) or "Like a Virgin". When asked if she might be a bit
strange, she says yes, she might be. I think not."

"After all, we all know `Kate', don't we? She's not strange, or barmy, or
anything that's very far out of line. She just passes on her dreams; she sets
art to rock.

"And somehow, we find it all fascinating. Then we knock; but she does not let
us in-a-her window."



Well, that's "it" - anyone who wants to send letters, the address is

Sounds - Letters dept.
Greater London House
Hampstead Road
London, NW1 7QZ
ENGLAND      tel:  01-387 6611

(Once again, the article was by Richard Cook, in the June 7 issue of Sounds.
(And the article was called "The Girl [sic] With the Stars in Her Eyes")

Happy Writing!

Hugh Maher

Brighton, England




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Date:  Wed, 4 Jun 86 08:53 MST
From: "James J. Lippard" <Lippard@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA>
Subject:  Frankenchrist sales boost
Reply-To:  Lippard@MULTICS.MIT.EDU

 Album poster prompts pornography charges

(UPI) LOS ANGELES--Pornography charges have been filed against five
people in the distribution of an allegedly obscene poster packaged with
an album by the San Francisco punk rock group Dead Kennedys, prosecutors
said Tuesday.
   Among those charged in the misdemeanor complaint stemming from the
Frankenchrist album is the group's lead singer, Eric Boucher, 27, of San
Francisco, who uses the stage name Jello Biafra and who once ran for
mayor of that city.
  "The poster depicts a close-up montage of 10 explicit sex acts," said
City Attorney James Hahn.  "It's hard to imagine a more sexually
explicit poster, and it was the height of irresponsibility for it to be
packaged with an album distributed to minors."
   Hahn said the investigation began last December when a woman wrote
the state attorney general's office complaining about the poster after
her teen-age daughter bought the album from the Wherehouse, a record
store that is part of a chain, as a gift for her 11-year-old brother.
   Wherehouse officials later voluntarily pulled the albums off their
shelves, authorities said.
   The letter was forwarded in January to Hahn, who ordered an investigation.
   Charged with one count each of violating a penal code section that
prohibits distribution of harmful matter to minors were Boucher and
record distribution executives Michael Bonanno, 25, of Alternative
Tentacles Records; Debra Schwartz, 26, of Mordam Records; and Steve
Boudreau, 38, of Greenworld Distributors.  Also charged was Salvatore
Alberti, 66, of Huntington Beach, Calif., whose company was accused of
inserting the posters into the album covers and applying stickers on the
outside stating the poster is a "work of art".
   The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned in Municipal Court July
3.  They face maximum penalties of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if
convicted.


   Jim (Lippard at MULTICS.MIT.EDU)

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Via:      UK.AC.SUSX.VAX2;  4 JUN 86 17:37:00 BST
Date:     4-JUN-1986 17:09:23
From: SSUD3%UK.AC.SUSSEX.VAX2@AC.UK


RE: "the Big (Budgie) Sky Video" (Sorry, the system over here
     can't afford an extra prompt for inserting a subject...)

Well, I really doubt that she purposely planned it to be random
and somewhat incomprehensible, since she said in the last KBC newsletter
that the thing she hates most about rock videos is how unstructured
they are. I totally agree with this - unless the song is really
unstructured and stream-of-consciousness to begin with. For me,
at least, if the visual images are totally unrelated from the music,
they tend to distract my attention from the music (maybe that's the point...)
since I'm trying so hard to figure out what the f*ck is going on
on the screen.

One thing about Kate's videos (especially her earlier ones) is that
they tend(ed) to be fairly simple, with just her dancing around
a stage, but moving her body and facial expressions in ways that
complemented and illuminated parts of the song. This technique was
employed effectively throughout ALL her videos (with the possible
exception of "Army Dreamers", which to me totally kills the song -
why is the mother of the dead soldier dressed up in army fatigues
running around a forest with a plastic gun? - it was a bit too
literal, i.e. "It's about the army, so lets dress her up as a soldier"
I like the German TV version better, where she's dressed up as the
mother in cleaning rags, doing a little waltz with her broom) Boy,
I sort of got off the subject there. Anyway, as I was saying, this
simple movement/music technique worked in all her videos, reaching
its pinnicle in the original (non-mtv) video for "Running up that Hill".
In this one, it looks like she had a lot of time to think of the
choreography and exactly match it to what was being said in the music
(example: the "christ on the cross" imagry during the lines about
"You don't want to hurt me, but see how deep the bullet lies")

"Cloudbusting" presented a problem in that it couldn't be easily set
to a dance routine, and a "storyline" format probably worked better,
although the idea of using the music as a "soundtrack" in the back
of independent action on the screen is again very distracting.
Still one of her best, though.

OK, "Hounds of Love" totally bit the dust in my eyes, although I
really have to watch it a few more times to look out for all the
little things Doug Alan told me about. Basically, the propulsive
rhythm of the song totally clashed with the visual images. I'm not
sure how much I can really pick out what I didn't like about it...
I guess I just didn't like it as much.

Finally, with "the Big Sky," I saw somewhat of an improvement, but
was put off by the ultra MTV fast-cutting manic action of it all.
Once again, I probably have to see it a few more times to absorb
all the visual layers. I think this would have been a really good
video for mixing live action with animation, but I guess there
wasn't time for it. On the other hand, she looks really endearingly
cute and playful, and as someone else pointed out, that reynolds
wrap jumpsuit she's wearing on the chimmney is to die for....it'll
probably show up on Alexis in the next segment of Dynasty.
Her dancing is somewhat dorky (maybe intentionally? - How easy
is it to dance around on the top of a chimmney?), and those pants
don't seem as baggy as they should....is she trying to cover up
eating too many cadbury's bars?

OK, I'll keep to artistic criticism here....Basically, I think that
it's a pretty good video, but missed it's chance at being a GREAT one
due to lack of time (if not neccessarily budget). It's interesting
seen some really good videos being done these days that are a return
to the "minimalist" (ha!) school, in which the band just performs the
song. However, it takes a lot of creativity and personality to make
this type of video work, and a good example of this would probably
be the video of "Would I lie to You?" by Eurythmics.

Oh well, let's see what comments this stirs up.....

Hugh


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Date: Wed, 4 Jun 86 13:40:56 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Cadbury bars?

No, no....

Too many Kit Kats....


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Date:    Wed, 04 Jun 86 16:14 PDT
From: IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: Oh, forchrissake!

KATE BUSH...remember?


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Date: Thu, 5 Jun 86 04:05:46 EDT
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Re:  Concert review  (of Depeche Mode)

I wouldn't be so sure David Gahan of Depeche mode doesn't like women!
In one of those *Star Hits* star polls, he voted for Kate Bush as
"Most desirable human being" (he also voted for her for best song and
best female singer....).

				-Doug

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-- 
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under.

Greg Skinner (gregbo)
{decvax!genrad, allegra, gatech, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
gds@eddie.mit.edu