On 18 Apr, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Any one recall Shania Twain re-recording or remixing "Still the One"
for pop airplay? Something about deleting the fiddles or so?
[The writer obviously isn't much into country from her citing of LeAnn
Rimes as an artist who has enjoyed a "lengthy career"!.
Whilst spellchecking my OCR output, the checker suggested "Celibate
Dijon" for "Celine Dion".]
COUNTRY STAR ENTERS FRESH CONSTELLATION. ALICE RAWSTHORN SAMPLES AN
AMBITIOUS US REMIX.
Financial Times. 16/2/98
Any US country music lover who enjoys humming along to Come On Over,
the latest Shania Twain album, may feel rather bewildered if they buy
another copy in Europe when it goes on sale today.
The songs have the same titles as those on the US album, but they
sound completely different. Ms Twain and Mutt Lange, her record
producer husband, have remixed the original album by softening the
country style that has made her a star in the US into a more melodic
sound.
In next few weeks, Mercury Records, a subsidiary of PolyGram, the
Dutch entertainment group, will launch a lavish promotional campaign
for the new version of Come On Over throughout Europe and Asia in an
attempt to turn Ms Twain into a global superstar.
Country music is big business in the US, worth roughly $1.8bn
(UKP1.07bn) last year, or 14.4 per cent of record sales, according to
the Recording Industry Association of America.
At a time when consumer taste in rock and pop is increasingly
unpredictable, and even superstars can no longer expect to churn out
hit after hit, country stars, such as EMI's Garth Brooks and Warner
Music's LeAnn Rimes, are among the few artists who still enjoy lengthy
careers and sell millions of albums.
Yet very few country acts have sold well internationally. The Woman
In Me, Shania Twain's 1995 album, sold 11.5m copies in north America,
and only 500,000 elsewhere. Before releasing Come On Over, Ms Twain
appointed a new manager, Jon Landau, who made his name working with
rock stars such as Bruce Springsteen, to take her into the
international market.
In the US, Ms Twain is regarded as a crossover star, whose fans
include general record buyers as well as country enthusiasts. Even
so, Mercury decided Come On Over was too countrified for a foreign
audience, and Ms Twain and Mr Lange remixed it.
"Shania's music has never been hat and boots country, but it needed a
poppier approach to sell outside the States," said David Munns, senior
vice president of pop marketing for PolyGram International.
Mercury also changed the album cover. The raunchy pose and red
velveteen donned by Ms Twain for the North American version, was
changed to a sultry smile and silvery grey outfit for the
international One.
Ms Twain is now being presented to the media in Europe and Asia as a
US star with a broad appeal similar to that of Celine Dion, the Sony
Music singer who is the most successful vocalist of recent years.
According to Mr Munns, PolyGram is making a similar marketing
expenditure and management resource investment in promoting Ms Twain
internationally as in an established star such as Bryan Adams or Jon
Bon Jovi.
If its investment pays off, PolyGram may add a steadily selling
superstar to its roster of edgier, but possibly more ephemeral, acts
such as All Saints and Hanson. If it fails, Ms Twain can return to
her loyal North American fans who have already bought more than 4m
copies of the original Come On Over since November.
--
Brian Debenham
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work)
StrongARMed and dangerous !
Chelmsford CAMRA: http://homepages.enterprise.net/briandebenham/camra.html
