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Post by tangerinesun on Dec 9, 2014 15:57:09 GMT -5
I had a ridiculous dream of running into Michie in a cafe on Newbury Street, in Boston's Back Bay. Means nothing, it was a dream. I guess I am frustrated about that. It's one thing to walk away from a career and admiring fans. Hiding completely is something else again. There's no need for it! To me, something happened between Naoko and Michie... if I had to make a guess, it may be that Michie was upset that about Naoko getting pregnant, while her marriage, was falling apart. But, I'm only speculating here. (Remember what happened to Etsuko when she got pregnant?) Yes, it could be. A tragedy if so. Etsuko's getting axed from the lineup would have to do with Naoko's unwillingness to let any wind out of SK's sail at such a time. Plus, other things we'll never know about. Naoko has said she and her sister tried to persuade Michie to stay on, which makes sense. Perhaps M felt that dropping out was her only chance at salvaging a normal life. That's not so different from the decision Atsuko would make later. I just hate that echoing silence...
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 24, 2015 1:16:49 GMT -5
It may be linked someplace else already... but I haven't seen it: this rambling appreciation of Michie's work with SK. Jim Haku's Top 10 Michie SongsSome of the comments, interpretations and speculations are just noise, but worth a look, I thought.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Feb 26, 2015 22:07:14 GMT -5
I definitely didn't agree with several of his statements, but, interesting to read
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Post by tangerinesun on Feb 26, 2015 23:15:11 GMT -5
I definitely didn't agree with several of his statements, but, interesting to read Yeah, Jim H shoots from the hip. But he's also seen a few things. I am not too sure about the "dark" readings of Michie's lyrics. "Banana Fish" owes something to JD Salinger? Robert Christgau thought the same thing. I don't entirely know what it says, I guess now I have a research project. I wouldn't take Bob C's word for anything to do with SK. Not after the contemptuous dismissal of them in that pontifical book of his. "Devil House" is a retelling of Rocky Horror? More like they have common source material. Even Abbott & Costello used the haunted mansion trope. "Catnip Dream" alludes to pot smoking? "Puff The Magic Dragon" is a *much* more sly, and also a druggier song. Who doesn't know about cats and catnip? "Fish Eyes" refers to Westernizing double-eyelid surgery? Hmmm. I guess that could be. It's not merely *about* plastic surgery, though. If that's all you see in it, you're flattening the most disquieting — and original — thing of Michie's I can think of right now. That song really does have a chilly undertone.
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Post by tangerinesun on Mar 4, 2015 6:13:17 GMT -5
Just to date this up, the lyrics of "Banana Fish" do tell the same children's fable as Seymour Glass does in the Salinger story. You knew it, but I forgot that bit of it. How could I forget? Easy, they had me read Salinger in school and I disliked it.
So it's kind of an expropriation, probably. With changes for a Japanese audience.
Nothing wrong with that. That's completely legit. Maybe J. D. copped the idea from somewhere else himself.
It seems there are fishes all over this world actually called banana fish. In the waters around Florida, a couple of species of bonefish, as I read. Not yellow, though, and not fond of bananas either.
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Mar 4, 2015 15:07:21 GMT -5
Personally, I think "Fish-eyes" is about Michie becoming enlightened about things, is it a coincidence that Michie left SK after the Happy Hours tour, the same album this song came out of?
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Post by tangerinesun on Mar 5, 2015 3:24:15 GMT -5
Personally, I think "Fish-eyes" is about Michie becoming enlightened about things, is it a coincidence that Michie left SK after the Happy Hours tour, the same album this song came out of? Agree, the singer wakes up a monster with a strange perspective no one else can share. And on the brighter side from the same release, there's the encouraging "Catch Your Bus," about getting on down life's road. Not the sorts of things that necessarily occur to somebody who feels comfortable. But on the other hand, I once knew of a guy who would watch TV intently all day long to detect and decipher coded messages from the Cloud People. He called it monitoring the scope. I call it pitfalls of textual interpretation.
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Post by tangerinesun on Jun 24, 2015 15:05:06 GMT -5
Just linking for your interest to a preserved Usenet message thread started by George "Ojisan" Handlon. For most people, here's where the news finally broke that Michie had drifted away from the band. "Michie" thread from alt.music.shone-knifeFans were stunned and downcast. It was like a death. That was June 1999 – 16 years ago this month!
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 29, 2015 0:22:23 GMT -5
Just linking for your interest to a preserved Usenet message thread started by George "Ojisan" Handlon. For most people, here's where the news finally broke that Michie had drifted away from the band. "Michie" thread from alt.music.shone-knifeFans were stunned and downcast. It was like a death. That was June 1999 – 16 years ago this month! That was an interesting read and echos much of what I said when Emi made her announcement!
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Post by Broccoli Man on Dec 31, 2015 10:42:47 GMT -5
OK, big question here... Why does Michie look so sad and depressed all the time? It is quite obvious from the MTV behind the scenes "Tomato Head" video that she isn't happy. And here's something I've been wanting to comment on since May and haven't - in the "Blast Off" video, towards the end, the band had just finished a show somewhere, and the gal filming asks Naoko "What are you doing?" And Naoko replies something about "I am writing in my diary" and the camera gal asks Atsuko the same question, and Atsuko gives pretty much the same answer. In the background we see Michie sitting on a couch or a bed or whatever, all hunched over, looking like a blob. Sad, lonely, depressed, in a stupor, etc... She looks like she did three bong hits and is zoning out. Michie's "Catnip Dreams" sure sounds pot related, and George DID make a comment about when the girls opened their trailer door when they were touring with Nirvana that a huge cloud of pot smoke came out. I'm wondering, rightly or wrongly (that's why I'm bringing this up), was there a lot of drinking and possible drug use going on by Michie, and the other girls in the group? Michie was/is so talented, it's sad to see her looking so sad.
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Post by Broccoli Man on Dec 31, 2015 11:05:56 GMT -5
Now the question is, who was Michie's husband? (I heard they divorced, but, I haven't been able to confirm anything.) This brings up something interesting. Remember I posted on Dec 7th(?) that I had worked with Robert Hecker from Redd Kross that Sunday night in Palos Verdes, that he was our soundman? And he said his "friend married the original bass player", and I'm thinking he was talking about Atsuko, because she lives here in LA, and she played drums AND bass, and Robert must have been mistaken? Maybe Roberts friend married Michie? Who is/was Michie's husband? Is he a white guy from LA or Boston? Maybe Roberts friend lived in Boston at the time this article was written. I think it was Pete who replied that Atsuko married Jerry. Not a lot of info there, but it's something. I will ask Robert when I get the chance, he doesn't seem to be on Facebook very much, and out of privacy concerns he might not want to say too much, but at some point I'll try to work it into a conversation. It sure is interesting how all the dots are sort of connecting, and if there are local (to me) people involved, even more interesting.
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Post by skswede on Dec 31, 2015 12:30:23 GMT -5
It's Michie who is behind the camera and filming and asking the questions
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Post by Broccoli Man on Dec 31, 2015 22:11:07 GMT -5
It's Michie who is behind the camera and filming and asking the questions Yes, you are absolutely right. I just re-watched that portion of the video, and Michie is not the gal that looks overdosed on the bed. Michie is indeed recording the film. So, who is the girl that's comatose? So , again, why did Michie leave the group? She was such an integral part of the Knife, and such a talented woman in her arts. She really is my favorite song writer of the group; her songs are so soothing and the lyrics logical. I love Michie. What a brain she has. Kisses for Michie, wherever you are!
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Post by skswede on Jan 1, 2016 4:46:16 GMT -5
But isn´t that a man
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Post by tangerinesun on Jan 1, 2016 7:19:06 GMT -5
But isn´t that a man Yes a man, and not on a bed. When the camera pans, it looks like they are inside a tour bus fitted out for living in. That, or the worst formica-and-naugahyde furnished motel in the Western world. When Michie says goodnight, it doesn't feel like she's going more than a few feet. The Yamano sisters are humoring the Girl Video Journalist, but observably a little irritated by the intrusion on the last precious moments of personal time in the day. Naoko is better with it than "writing in diary, buzz off" Atsuko. The dude in the striped jacket seems to be gazing at something on the counter or in his left hand. It's not an iPhone, what could it be? Perhaps he has a tethered iguana. Wait, OMG. Shonen Knife have kidnapped and drugged Johnny Ramone, and made him their tour slave. This explains everything. UPDATEAs you'd hope, there is a much better explanation for "everything". A listener writes in that the person wearing Ramones hair and a thrift-shop nightmare of a sport jacket is Tomato Head manager and Naoko's man around the house, Roman Yumeno a.k.a Atsushi Shibata. You don't see much of Atsushi, but every so often he's in the frame for band photography, like here. Rashinban in 2002. Mana N. is left-center, Atsushi is at far right.At this point in time, the bowl cut is up off his neck, but it's the same faintly, well, morose aspect. Atsushi and Mana together were the rhythm section of Rashinban for a short while. Shibata-san has been along on other overseas trips. He subbed on bass once in Australia when Michie wasn't fit, and showed up in Bangkok with Naoko, Ritsuko and Emi when they made a promotional video at the top of an elevator shaft. But this time if he's really on the tour, it could mean he's also on the bus. That seems like it would suck for everybody. And normal protocol says Naoko's husband is not allowed to exist, so if he's acting like a piece of furniture while Michie tries to get the band to show enthusiasm for male strippers, it might be because he's trying to sink through the floor.
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