478 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
478 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 22:18:06 PST
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Reply-To: <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>
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Return-Path: <cocot@osc.versant.com>
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Message-ID: <surfpunk-0030@SURFPUNK.Technical.Journal>
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Mime-Version: 1.0
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Content-Type: text/plain
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From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (qverpgbe bs pvephyngvba nppbhagvat)
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To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal)
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Subject: [surfpunk-0030] NOIZIK: THE LETTER U AND THE NUMERAL 2
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Keywords: surfpunk, negativland, SST, Island, U2
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| Dear Subscriber,
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| Your satisfaction as a customer is of paramount
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| importance to us, and we make continuing efforts
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| to improve our service to you. . . . As always,
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| we welcome your questions, comments or any
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| suggestions that will help us provide you with
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| the best of service. Thank you for being our
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| customer.
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| Sincerely, Paul G Ingels
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| Director of Circulation Accounting
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| San Francisco Newspaper Agency
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|________________________________________________
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Someone took me up on my request for portions of THE LETTER U AND
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THE NUMERAL 2, the limited edition booklet by Negativland. I copied
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the previous Negativland stuff to both FutureCulture and Subgenious
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lists. Someone on FutureCulture typed all this in, in anti-violation
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of its anti-copyright.
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The interview with U2's Edge by R U Serious of Mondo2000 and Mark
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Hosler & Don Joyce of Negativland is the most interesting thing in the
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lot. Unfortunately there is only a summary of it here. You can
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probably find this fall's issue of Mondo2000, which has a good portion
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of it.
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Notice this takes a small step backwards -- the Christmas Letter in
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surfpunk-0025 is more recent than any of this.
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--strick
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________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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Source: FutureCulture
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Date: Sat, 16 Jan 93 23:34:16 -0800
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From: Brian Willoughby <sounds!brianw@nwnexus.wa.com>
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Subject: U2 Negativland - The Event Synopsis
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Re: The "U2" single from the band called Negativland
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I wish I had a scanner so I could send the entire contents of
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Negativland's magazine/press release collection. Apparently the
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publishers have an anti-copyright on its contents to encourage copying
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and distribution. It is titled:
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NEGATIVLAND
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THE LETTER U AND THE NUMERAL 2
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You probably won't be able to find it - at least I had a great deal of
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trouble. There were a limited number printed. You might be able to
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order a copy from:
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Negativmailorderland
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109 Minna #391
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San Francisco, CA 94105
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Write them for more information.
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Since it is unlikely that you will find a copy, I will summarize its
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contents below (the first three items are from a different source, but
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are included to flesh out the early history of the single). This
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summary is far from the complete story, which could only be told by the
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original documents in their entirety, but it is the shortest synopsis I
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could manage and still cover the full scope of the events. Feel free
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to distribute this (without editing).
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HISTORY:
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After a Negativland concert in Portland, Oregon, a fan hands the band a
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tape of outtakes from Casey Kasem's American Top 40.
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Mark Hosler finds an ad in the back of a music magazine offering
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presequenced MIDI arrangements of top-40 songs including a disk with
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U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
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"I have the /Joshua Tree/ album," Hosler says. "I like the record ...
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there's a lot of /feel/ to the way they play their rock and roll, and
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I figured it would translate into a computer really badly ... probably
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badly in a way that's good, you know -- that we would like, and that
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would be funny. Then I was /also/ realizing that if we got
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[bandmember] David [Wills], otherwise known as The Weatherman, to do
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the vocals ... if I gave him a version of the lyrics and I wrote it
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kind of illegibly, I bet he would really mess them up, and I bet he
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would butcher them in a really nice way."
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Aug. 20, 1991:
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SST Records releases Negativland's single titled "U2"
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CONTENTS of Single:
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Cover: (From largest to smallest)
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The text "U2".
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Photo of a U-2 spy plane.
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The group's name: "NEGATIVLAND"
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Two tracks.
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Audio mix:
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Casey Kasem outtakes from The American Top 40 Radio Show:
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- TRACK ONE -
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"This is American Top 40"
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"Here's the first top 40 hit ..."
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"... for the Irish band from Dublin who call themselves 'U2'."
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"That's the letter /U/ - and the numeral /two/!"
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"That's the /letter/ U - and the /numeral/ two!"
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"What the hell's going on here?"
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"Good Golly Miss Molly"
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"Let the god-damn jingle ID this show. I ID the show whenever
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there isn't a jingle, don't I? Don't I do it between every
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god-damn record that we play?"
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"That's the letter U - and the numeral two.
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The four man band features Adam Clayton on bass, Larry Mullen on
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drums, Dave Evans, nicknamed The Edge on ...
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This is bullshit. Nobody cares. These guys are from England
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and who /gives/ a shit?"
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"Just a lot of wasted names that don't mean diddley shit!"
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- TRACK TWO -
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"Oh Fuck!"
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"OK. I want a god-damn concerted effort to come out of a record
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that isn't a /fucking/ up-tempo record every time I do a
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god-damn /death/ dedication!"
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"I want somebody to use his fucking brains to not to come out of
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a god-damn record that is ... uh .. that's, that's up-tempo and
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I've gotta talk about a fucking dog dying!"
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"This is fuckin' ponderous, man."
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"This is American Top 40, right here on the radio station you
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grew up with, Music Radio 1 3 8 Oh Fuck!"
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David Wills a.k.a. The Weatherman:
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narration and an ad-libbed spoken rendition of U2's lyrics
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Bono: excerpt from recorded (MTV?) interview:
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"uh ... uh, the /last/ thing we wanted to do was sound like
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anybody else."
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"So with U2 ... got a challenge, musically speaking."
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"You know, you've gotta find new sounds on guitar, you gotta
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find a new way of approaching the four/four beat. y' y' you
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know, rock-n-roll still needs innovation, you know, and there's
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a lot, there's, there's a lot out there."
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MIDI sequence of "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", legally
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purchased and instrumented with various noises for the
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percussion and kazoo for the melody.
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Various live Ham Radio broadcasts
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Various sampled sounds and voices and quotes from undetermined sources
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... nearly exactly two weeks later ...
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Sept. 3, 1991:
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Island Records and Warner/Chappell Music publishers sue
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SST Records and Negativland.
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Sept. 5, 1991:
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A 180 page legal document, Case #: CV 91-4735AAH (GHKX), is
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filed at the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. District Court which
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cost Island approximately $10,000 to produce.
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Sept. 23, 1991:
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Article in _San_Francisco_Chronicle_, page E4,
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"U2's Label Stops Sales of Parody"
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Sept. 24, 1991:
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Article in _Village_Voice_, Rockbeat, "Reproduction or What?"
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Oct. 8, 1991:
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SST Records agrees, on Negativland's and their own behalf, to
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enter into a settlement agreement to pay damages to Island and
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Warner/Chappell. SST Records then proceeds to try to trick
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Negativland into signing a separate agreement which will lay the
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entire blame and costs upon Negativland, including any and all
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costs incurred by SST Records, without any requirement for
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SST Records to show accounting of these costs and without any
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restriction that SST Records will not further sue Negativland.
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Oct. 15, 1991:
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Originally scheduled preliminary injunction hearing
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Oct. 31, 1991:
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Negativland responds to SST Records, refusing their demands but
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offering to pay half the costs while sharing responsibility
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(SST Records makes $6 for every $1 that Negativland makes on
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sales of their records). Negativland further asks that
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SST Records show accounting records as proof of their costs, and
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that Negativland will not be held responsible if SST Records
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does not fulfill their obligations under the release agreement
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with Island and Warner/Chappell.
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Nov. 10, 1991:
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Negativland's First Press Release:
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"U2 Negativland: The Case From Our Side"
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Nov. 19, 1991:
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Chris Blackwell, President of Island Records, sends a fax to
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Negativland admitting that the members of U2 have given him a
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huge amount of hastle (sic) not to press for payment. But Chris
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still wants to be reimbursed for US$55,000 in legal fees.
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Nov. 20, 1991:
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Negativland responds to Chris Blackwell.
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They point out that Island could have politely asked for a cover
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change instead of instigating an expensive legal battle, and
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also that SST Records is currently dumping all costs upon
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Negativland. They further suggest that Island could:
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1) release the single with their own cover, take their legal
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fees from the profits, and then share the remaining profits with
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Negativland under standard royalties.
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2) release the less offensive track (#1) as a B-side of a U2
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single, as suggested by Paul McGuiness, U2's manager, to avoid
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any stigma of censorship attached to U2.
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3) call off the settlement and allow SST to continue selling the
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record, paying royalties to Island instead of Negativland, on
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the condition that Island is free to design a sticker appearing
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on the cover: "This Is Not A U2 Record" or whatever.
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- Negativland further invites Island to suggest their own
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variation for a solution.
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Nov. 21, 1991:
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Court delivers final judgement ordering SST Records and
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Negativland to stop production, recall all copies from stores
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and radio stations, and deliver absolutely everything to Island
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for destruction - monitoring of the entire process to be under
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the jurisdiction of the court.
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Dec. 5, 1991:
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Negativland sends a fax to Dermott Hayes, Irish Music Writer and
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Friend of U2, upon his request, including copies of
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Chris Blackwell's fax. They ask for help from Mr. Hayes with
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both Island and the members of U2.
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Dec. 11, 1991:
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Negativland sends a severance letter to SST Records.
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Dec. 19, 1991:
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Negativland sends a fax to Island President: Chris Blackwell,
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Island Vice President of Business Affairs: Eric Levine,
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U2 Manager: Paul McGuiness, and U2 saying that they had no
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involvement in SST Records' `Kill Bono' t-shirt and promotional
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campaign. They also ask for mercy considering that SST Records
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is holding Negativland responsible for all legal costs, and they
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also bug Chris Blackwell to respond to their earlier fax.
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Dec. 20, 1991:
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SST Records makes their first press release, mixing fact with
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fanciful fiction. They detail the case and costs, but unfairly
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state that Negativland has paid no legal or other expenses (SST
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is keeping 100% of Negativland's royalties from all of their
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releases, which is a significant monetary loss), and they also
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wrongly accuse Negativland of remaining silent (despite their
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many faxes and press releases).
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Jan. 21, 1992:
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Negativland's Second Press Release, through Universal Media
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Netweb, details the story so far and even includes copies of the
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various faxes and press releases to date. It is pointed out
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that SST Records owns most of Negativland's back catalog,
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including a final EP, /Guns/, to be released in Feb. '92,
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revealing to the thoughtful reader that SST has a significant
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source of income at the expense of Negativland's right to their
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contractual royalties.
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Jan. 28, 1992:
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Paul McGuinness, U2's Manager, sends Negativland a confused,
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hand-written, and rather lame fax which seems to attempt to turn
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the focus away from U2 and Island.
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Feb. 1, 1992:
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Article in _Rolling_Stone_, Random Notes, showing the single's
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cover and quoting Paul McGuiness and Mark Hosler.
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Feb. 3, 1992:
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SST Records makes their second press release, accusing
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Negativland of spreading misinformation. They state that their
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legal costs would not be recouped until 2257 AD based upon
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Negativland's current sales. The press release includes
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language from Greg Ginn, the owner of SST, saying "I contend
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that Mark Hosler is a lying motherfucker", and suggests a lie
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detector test between the two. (Although Greg states that
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Negativland previously agreed to take full responsibility for
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their releases, he describes situations which should have
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alerted SST to the potential problem such that they could have
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easily avoided the situation) Greg goes on to tell a sob story
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about how poor SST Records is compared to the members of
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Negativland with their "cushy" corporate jobs which allow them
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to treat music as a hobby. Greg repeatedly uses the terms
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"cushy" and "motherfucker" throughout the four page press
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release. His edited history conveniently omits the first
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Negativland press release to support his earlier claim that they
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had remained silent.
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Feb. 12, 1992:
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Negativland responds to Paul McGuinness regarding his strange
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fax, but they keep their usual businesslike, to-the-point style.
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Negativland calmly reminds him of the situation and makes a few
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reasonable requests and observations. They also point out that,
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despite U2's highly visible good public relations with
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Greenpeace and Amnesty International endorsements, how Island
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Records is owned by Polygram, and Polygram is owned by Philips,
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and that Philips, besides manufacturing audio equipment, is
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ranked 66th out of 100 defense contractors, is in the top 50
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contractors in the U.S. Department of Defense, and has a
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significant presence in South Africa (about 4000 employees).
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Feb. 17, 1992:
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Negativland's Third Press Release is again through Universal
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Media Netweb. and they have now taken on a tongue-in-cheek
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approach. Apparently, their press releases have entered into
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the realm of creative art.
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Feb. 26, 1992:
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SST Records Hires Expensive Corporate Entertainment Lawyer to
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Sue Negativland. Although the layer's letter contains
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convincing legalese, it appears to mostly be a threat to settle
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out of court within ten days - or else. In addition to
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insinuations with respect to a previous legal agreement which is
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not actually quoted, there is also mention that SST Records
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expects Negativland to deliver two new releases which "belong"
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to SST Records.
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Mar. 4, 1992:
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Negativland's Fourth Press Release continues the style of
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humorous media art creations characteristic of their other
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Universal Media Netweb press releases.
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Mar. 5, 1992:
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Negativland sends a well-constructed response to SST Records'
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Expensive Corporate Entertainment Lawyer. They basically refuse
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to be steamrollered by threats, but are willing to act
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responsibly and legally and maintain their original offer of a
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50/50 split. They also (again) review the course of events so
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far.
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Mar. 10, 1992:
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Negativland sends an appeal directly to U2, during their
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/Zoo TV/ tour, that the members ask Island to return the single
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so that Negativland can change the cover and re-release it to
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pay off the mounting legal fees.
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Mar. 24, 1992:
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Eric Levine of Island sends a fax to Paul McGuiness, U2's
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Manager, stating that the single cannot be returned to
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Negativland under threat from the lawyers of Casey Kasem that
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Island will be sued as a result of any kind of release or
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transfer of rights of said recording.
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Apr. 1992:
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Casey Kasem (interviewed outside Las Vegas, Nevada, by KUNV and
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KAOS radio stations regarding Negativland's use of the recording
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of his voice): "I'm against censorship of any kind. Even
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Casey Kasem. If they want to censor me, fine. But that's not
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fine, You can't censor me because I believe in the First
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Amendment. Nobody should be censored"
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Apr. 14, 1992:
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Negativland writes a 'Letter to the Editor' of BAM Magazine
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responding to their publication of the SST Records' press
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release, which had curiously been edited to remove obscenities
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and was in other ways not a fair representation of the facts.
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Apr. 21, 1992:
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Negativland procures a credit report on SST Records which proves
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that the company is worth a cool $1.205 million, expects
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annual sales of $5 million, and has enjoyed a net annual income
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of $821,956.
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Apr. 29, 1992:
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Casey Kasem's Attorneys, Armbruster, Adler, Briskin & Glushon,
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respond to Negativland's Apr. 21, 1992 letter to Mr. Kasem
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requesting permission to release the U2 Negativland single. The
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letter states that Mr. Kasem will _not_ grant such permission
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and will pursue all legal remedies in the event of release of
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the single or any other use of the outtakes of Mr. Kasem from
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the American Top 40 Radio Show. The lawyers copied Chris
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Blackwell, Eric Levine, Paul McGuinness and Casey Kasem to make
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sure that there can be no mistake about the matter.
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June, 1992:
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U2's publicist in L.A. contacts /Mondo 2000/ magazine on behalf
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of the group's guitarist. The Edge, with the idea of doing a
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rare interview concerning the group's /Zoo TV/ tour and its use
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of technology. /Mondo/ editor R. U. Serius then, without
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The Edge's knowledge, contacts his friends Don Joyce and Mark
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Hosler of Negativland with an invitation to participate in the
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interview.
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June 20, 1992:
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Negativland's Fifth and Final Press Release through Universal
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Media Netweb. The humor of mass media as art is at its highest
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and most creative.
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June 25, 1992:
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Negativland joins R. U. Serius to await the interview call from
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The Edge in Dublin.
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INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
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The Edge: "Well, I just like the magazine. I've seen a few
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issues. And its just so boring, the usual magazine kind of
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angles, so well-trodden. I just thought you might have an
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interesting angle on what we're doing which would be a little
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bit more imaginative."
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The interview begins with the un-introduced Mark and Don
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discussing issues with The Edge such as U2's initial discomfort
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with the idea of being a big band, their concept of Zoo TV as a
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live remix of the satellite video airwaves during concert, their
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attempts to remain an "irreverent" influence, and the issues of
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re-broadcasting copyrighted TV broadcasts in a live venue where
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people paid for a ticket. The Edge maintains that fragmentary
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use is acceptable, and even cites a case where dance records
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have sampled a U2 drum loop. It is at this point that
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R. U. Serius interjects to announce that Mark and Don, aside
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from being occasional contributors to Mondo 2000, are members of
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a band called Negativland.
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A big "Ahhhhhh!" from The Edge.
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As the discussion continues, The Edge admits limited knowledge
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of the events, but seems to think that Island's actions were
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understandable, if not in agreement with U2's wishes after the
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fact. As Mark and Don tell the full story, The Edge exudes
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surprised exclamations which seem to indicate that he was not
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aware of the full story. They discuss how unfair Island's
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economic sledgehammer was against such a small band, they
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discuss the two-faced Casey Kasem, they discuss the lack of
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willingness of the other parties to accept Negativland's
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reasonable compromises, they discuss the public domain and new
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ideas for the extent of copyrights, they discuss the future of
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folk art. Negativland even admits that the cover art was their
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own design.
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The Edge seems to think his band powerless to control Island,
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but Negativland argue that they should have a lot of pull as the
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largest moneymaker with Island (14 million copies of "The Joshua
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Tree", the first CD to sell in such numbers). Negativland also
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states that U2's management insulates them from the real world
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and that U2 cannot claim to be uninterested in legal concerns
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since they are hooked up with legality in a big way.
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Just as they are discussing how Negativland was dealing with
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bureaucratic company business, the phone disconnects.
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The Edge earns good points by immediately phoning again.
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The discussion continues with what happened versus what the
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group could have done regarding this and future copyright
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issues. Negativland asks The Edge if he has heard of the book
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called /Hit Men/ by Frederick Dannen, which he admits he owns
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but has not read, and then urges him to read it. They go on to
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discuss how U2 had been sued because Bono made some live quotes
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of only one or two phrases of copyrighted material. When the
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'Kill Bono' t-shirt from SST Records comes up, The Edge says he
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wants one!
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The interview ends with Negativland touching upon the negative
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press which U2 has received, how Island must have anticipated
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this, and then Mark finally asks The Edge for a $15 to $20
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thousand dollar loan, repayable with 10% interest after 9
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months, in order to fund their own record company - and also to
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allow U2 some great publicity.
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July 31, 1992:
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Negativland writes to Casey Kasem alerting him to the impending
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publication of this U2 interview and asks him to reconsider
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permitting Island to release the single to Negativland since it
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would probably result in a better public image for Mr. Kasem.
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Negativland includes a copy of the interview, their Final Press
|
|
Release, the transcript of Kasem's interview with radio stations
|
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KUNV and KAOS, and the letter from Kasem's lawyers Armbruster,
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|
et. al.
|
|
Aug. 20, 1992:
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|
The magazine, NEGATIVLAND THE LETTER U AND THE NUMERAL 2, goes
|
|
to press and so far: The Edge never lent Negativland the money,
|
|
Casey Kasem has not responded, and SST is still threatening to
|
|
sue Negativland.
|
|
Fall, 1992:
|
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Mondo 2000 publishes a large excerpt from the U2 interview,
|
|
circulation 100,000.
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---
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Brian Willoughby Software Design Engineer, BSEE NCSU
|
|
BrianW@SoundS.WA.com Sound Consulting: Software Design & Development
|
|
NeXTmail welcome
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[ To subscribe to FutureCulture, send a "Subject: help" to
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<future-request@nyx.cs.du.edu>. Warning: this is a high-volume list!
|
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--strick ]
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The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine
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originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern
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California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states,
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spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither.
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Send postings to <surfpunk@osc.versant.com>, subscription requests
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to <surfpunk-request@osc.versant.com>. MIME encouraged.
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Xanalogical archive access soon. Thank your for being our customer.
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