RE: Marrianne-Sat. Night

["Francine R. Cohen" <fc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Call me insensitive, but I thought her ravaged voice and her desparation
added poignancy to her performance...she lived what she portrayed in her
art...her broken voice...Broken English indeed.

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From:   Schinden@aol.com[SMTP:Schinden@aol.com]
Sent:   Sunday, December 20, 1998 4:33 AM
To:     babel-list@postmodern.com
Subject:        Re: Marrianne-Sat. Night

sorry to post this so after-the-fact...........YES, I saw Marianne on SNL
in '
79........I have truly never been SO embarassed for anyone in my entire
life!!!!     she stood there, tapping her feet....nodding her head , as the
first techno-beats of " Broken English " come thumping out..........then,
she
opens her mouth & .....NOTHING COMES OUT!!!!....actually, it sounded
somewhere
between a hoarse whisper or a cat hissing.....really sad. her second song
was
no better ( I can't remember which one it was)  This puzzled me for years,
&
being a really big fan of MF, it broke my heart. After reading her
autobiography a few years ago, she explains what happened.
It seems she had a grinding tour going and, this being her first major US
appearance in some 20 years, she sent one of her roadies to fetch some
cocaine
( this was the ' 70's !! ) Seems someone ripped her off & brought her some
procaine instead. ( some fake shit ) turns out one of the side effects of
procaine, besides not getting you high, is to constrict the vocal chords -
not
exactly what one would want, being a singer & so forth........anyways, I
hope
everyone sees the inherent danger in abusing drugs.........especially drugs
from unreliable sources!!!  Her autobiography is an excellent
read........she
has a great memory from all the groovy times in swinging London from the
mid
60's.......lot's of ups & downs in her life!!!!.....my favorite recording
of
hers is " Strange Weather"........the title being written for her by Tom
Waites....& includes a song with Dr John ( a fellow New Orleanian) on
piano...& a remake of " As Tears Go By"  slowed down to a nice pace....a
cover
of Billie Holidays' " Yesterdays", a  spirited spiritual of Leadbelly's, &
other great songs.
I have seen her perform numerous times locally, & she is a wonderfull
songstress. Can't wait for her new album.............steve in new orleans