SOUNDTRACK: KATE BUSH-Hounds of Love (1985).
I have a very specific memory of the first time I heard the song “Hounds of Love.” I was in high school and the Wilderness Adventure Club was heading towards whatever destination we were going to (funny I can’t remember the destination, but I recall the car trip there). The head of the club (who was a teacher, but not one I had) was driving a bunch of us in his station wagon and this song came on. My friend Brad and I howled with laughter at the “barking” that Kate does. “Roo Roo Roo Roo.”
It only occurred to me recently that the driver probably enjoyed the music or else he wouldn’t have had it on, so that wasn’t very nice of us. It also occurs to me that he must have had the disc (actually the tape, as there were no discs then) because I don’t imagine the song was ever on the radio. (Although I also think there may have been a DJ talking about the songs, so my memory is shaky). I just remember laughing and laughing and quite likely Roo Rooing for much of the trip.
So, it’s funny now how much I love this disc (my high school self was a metal head, my college self expanded his musical mind rather a lot).
Kate’s previous two records were a wonderful precursor to this monumental disc. The big hits come at the top: “Hounds of Love” is indeed an amazing song, as is “Running Up That Hill.” But they’re familiar enough that I don’t have to say anything. “The Big Sky” is a rollicking romp of fun. And “Cloudbusting” is just simply amazing. (Look for the video with Donald Sutherland!). It’s five minutes of intense storytelling.
But for me, the second side of the album (starting with track 6 on the disc) is the real selling point. It’s something of a story called The Ninth Wave. And what I love about it (in addition to the awesome music) are the amazing effects and sounds and voices that are all over the tracks.
It begins simply with a delicate piece, “And Dream of Sheep,” a beautiful piano ballad. It’s followed by the mesmerizing “Under Ice.” The opening string sounds evoke someone skating on an ice (which is what the song is about). As the tension grows (is someone under the ice?) voices far back in the distance compete with Kate singing “Its me!”
The next track, “Waking the Witch” begins with some awesome headphone voice work. Voices from various family members implore her to wake up. Left, right, middle, back. Then, a voices asks “Can you not see that light over there?” With a far off voice whispering “over here.” When the song finally bursts forth, her voice is manipulated in a creepy disjointed way. Followed by different musical sections with cathedral bells. All through the track a male authority figure condemns the girl for being a witch. And as the song ends (with a sample of the helicopter from Pink Floyd’s The Wall she is found guilty. It’s quite intense.
The intensity slackens somewhat with the mellow “Watching Me Without You.” But it builds again with the manic intensity of “The Jig of Life” a traditional jig with uilleann pipes in the background and Kate’s vocals over the top. The song breaks into a very traditional sounding step dance seisiun until Kate starts whispering “I put this moment here” (more of that cool headphone stuff) and the song takes of again.
“Hello Earth” starts as a simple ballad reminiscent of “And Dream of Sheep” but it grows in intensity only to break for a choir passage. It then returns to the intensity of Kate’s voice which fades and ends with Kate’s whispered: “Tiefer, tiefer. Irgendwo in der Tiefe. Gibt es ein licht.” (Roughly: Deeper Deeper, Somewhere in the depths there is a light.)
The disc ends with “The Morning Fog” a respite from the intensity of the music and the contents. It’s a light ballad (with amazing fretless bass work) that seems like it could have been used in a John Hughes film. Especially for the “I tell my mother/father/loved ones/brother how much I love them” lyrics.
The Ninth Wave is one of my favorite suites to listen to. It not only demands attention, it usually gets it.
Hounds of Love is, simply put, fantastic.
[READ: November 15, 2009] Gemini & The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie
When I was a kid, watching cartoons on Channel 11, WPIX, there was a frequent, (in my memory it was incessant) commercial for a Broadway play. And the only things I remember about the commercial were two snippets: In the first, a young boy is gorging himself on food and his mother yells “TAKE HUMAN BITES!” The second shows a woman who says “I’m not hungry, I’ll just pick” who then grabs a handful of spaghetti from someone else’s plate.
This commercial was such a part of our culture, that my friends used to shout “TAKE HUMAN BITES” at each other all the time. And yet, after all these years, I couldn’t remember what the play was. So, out of curiosity, I did some searching to see if I could find this mysterious play (and, more importantly find the commercial).
So, thank you, internet, for helping me discover the play is Albert Innaurato’s Gemini. No commercials have been forthcoming, sadly.
Well, I thought it would be fun to read this play and see if it was as funny as the commercial seemed. Who could have guessed that the play would have turned out like this?
The play is set in a poor section of Philadelphia. The cast is: Fran Geminiani, his son Francis, and his lady friend Lucille Pompi. Their next door neighbors are Bunny Weinberger and her son Herschel. The entire play is set in the yard that separates the two houses. The two newcomers that set the play in motion are Randy & Judith Hastings. They are brother and sister and go to Harvard with Francis.
Francis is a somewhat overweight, very insecure, very Italian kid. Fran, his dad, is pretty close to an Italian working-class stereotype, with the pasta making and the boisterousness. The basic plot is that Judith, a beautiful WASP, has fallen in love with Francis. She and Randy hitchhike to Philly complete with camping gear. They plan to sleep in Francis’ yard for a couple days (you know, crazy college kids).
Francis is very uncomfortable about their arrival. He tells them that his dad is a Mafia guy and kills WASPs on sight. (This freaks out Randy but not Judith, who is his intended target). When that doesn’t work, he ultimately rebuffs her advances by telling her that he’s queer. She doesn’t believe him after what they did at school before the summer started (and she is even more disbelieving when he reveals who he’s got a crush on).
The rest of the story, and arguably the real heart of the story, focuses on the interactions in the neighborhood. Fran and Bunny have lived next to each other for many years. Bunny is a loud, obnoxious Irish woman who married a Jew (there’s a lengthy monologue about that). Her son Herschel is an overweight, asthmatic loser who she says is a genius, even though at 16 he rides a tricycle around the yard making trolley sounds, and collects Public Transportation paraphernalia.
Bunny is abusive to everyone, including her son (one stage direction states that she “beats the shit out of Herschel”). She sings songs loudly on an out of tune piano and flirts aggressively with Fran and then Randy (a stage direction states that she grabs his crotch). She is also due for a court date because she assaulted a woman who caught her (Bunny) in bed with the woman’s husband (in the woman’s house).
The action of the play takes place over a 24 hour period. In in that short span of time we are treated to attempted suicide, drug use, homosexuality, train schedules, and a near-crushing by a piano. It’s quite a feat.
The story is pretty funny (although I must say that the commercial was much funnier than reading the lines in print). But the strange thing about the play is that there are absolutely no likable characters (except maybe Randy, as he seems an innocent victim). Fran and Bunny are loud and boorish. Lucille is lazy. Francis is insecure. Herschel is an annoying hanger-on. Even Judith gets into the mean-spirited act when Francis turns her down.
And yet, there is something starnegly endearing about the whole group of them. And as a slice of life play, it’s very entertaining. The characters are (despite the stereotypical ideas) well rounded and amusing. And the scenes have the potential (when performed) to be over the top hilarious. The play itself is only about 70 pages, and it’s a brisk read. But as with most plays, I’m sure seeing it is better than reading it.
I just wish I could see the commercial again. If anyone knows where it might be available, do pass it on!
The other play that comes with the book is The Transformation of Benno Blimpie. It’s only 30 pages (it’s a one act play). If you thought the characters in Gemini were unpleasant, you have seen nothing yet. The set-up of this play is that Benno, a very fat twenty-year old, has locked himself in a room and plans to eat himself to death.
The entirety of the play is Benno’s (biased) memory of events. And the play is set up so that he never physically leaves his room, but he interacts with the other characters as if he were in the room with them. (Which I’ll bet is a very cool device on stage).
Benno’s flashbacks concern his parents and his grandfather. His father is a former athlete and is something of a non-entity in the house. His mother is a mean, horrible woman who never fails to insult Benno about his weight or his complexion or about how miserable her life has been since she had him. (Her very first scene is quite shocking!). The only charterer who is at all nice to him is his grandfather.
And yet, as Benno flashes back, his grandfather becoming sexually involved with a 13 year-old Catholic school girl. (She encourages him to do things to her, and tries to get money out of him). And, when she turns him down when he tries to do “more” with her, he takes his frustrations out on Benno just like everyone else.
Benno basically went through life being mocked and abused by everyone. His only joy was in art. But the art he made wasn’t appreciated by anyone. So his only love has also let him down. His last recourse is to simply to eat himself to death.
This play is shocking on many levels. And all of the characters are reprehensible. I’m not even entirely sure that I would want to see it performed (it lacks even the grim humor of Gemini).
I didn’t know a thing about Innaurato, so I looked him up and discovered that Gemini ran on Broadway for 1,819 performances and earned him an Obie Award. It was also made into the film Happy Birthday, Gemini. starring Madeline Kahn and Rita Moreno. Benno Blimpie also earned him an Obie. Wow.
While looking around I found some clips from the movie Happy Birthday, Gemini. And I have to admit that watching the clips leads me to think that if done well, both of the plays would be quite funny despite how disturbing they are. I also wonder, if I find these stories shocking now, how shocking they must have been in 1978! Francis’ homosexuality is accepted without any dismay, as is the drug use (there’s some very funny sequences about the pot smoing). Even Benno’s grandfather’s pedophilia is sort of dismissed (although I think that, awful as it sounds, pedophilia was seen as less horrible in the 70s…can that be right? I mean the whole Jodie Foster/Taxi Driver thing.)
Anyhow, these plays are not for the weak-hearted. And I wonder if a revival of Gemini would be viable now. (Although, interestingly, there is now Gemini The Musical. I can’t wait to see what that’s all about! Actually, I want to hear the music!)
The two movie clips are shared below. Madeline Kahn is Bunny and she is hilarious (although she is cast completely against what Bunny looks like in theplay). And, I think Francis is also a good looking athletic guy in the movie, too (Innaurato didn’t have anything to do with the movie). The clips are quite funny. Sadly neither one features my favorite lines. The movie is available only on VHS as far as I can tell.
Here’s one of the pot smoking scenes:
This is the suicide scene:
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