Talk:Laurie Anderson

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I think NASA must have clobbered the original Anderson article, becuase that link isn't correct, though you can still read it in Google's cache. Shoehorn

I updated the external link to a new(er) article about Anderson. Which is probably temporary too; it would be better to incorporate more of the bio info from the NASA article into the Wiki Anderson article... Harris7 10:56, 17 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Dutch Boy Paint?

Can anyone provide a source for the information recently added that Anderson is an heir to the Dutch Boy Paint fortune? I'm not necessarily doubting the information, but in 20 years as a fan I've never seen any reference to this. 23skidoo 15:05, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Followup: I have been unable to find any confirmation of this information from any of my sources. I have removed the following from the article until it can be verified. If someone can cite a source (as in adding the phrase "According to *name of source* ...." to the start of the paragraph), they're welcome to put this back.

"Although she is one of the heirs of the Dutch Boy Paint fortune. and therefore independently wealthy, Anderson has funded many of her productions through the use of government grants."

23skidoo 15:15, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

According to Dutch Boy, this is bogus. So unless the original editor can provide proof to contradict the company, I recommend the paragraph stay out. 23skidoo 20:05, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Living people category

I reverted the addition of the Living People category because it honestly looked to me like a ridiculous listcruft category that serves no real purpose. I was about to CFD it until I found out that, for some reason, Jimbo Wales wants the category. So if someone can really explain what value a category that could in theory have 6 billion names on it, I'd appreciate it. However I do not support the existence of the category so I will not revert my deletion of it on general principles. If someone else wishes to do the revert, I won't argue. 23skidoo 20:57, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] As professor of art history

In addition to studying art history, Anderson is said to have taught it at points 1971-1974 (http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~jimmyd/laurie-anderson/biography/wb.html). I was also told that she made up false art history for an entire semester, and was fired. Does anyone have sources on this? 67.110.214.131 08:58, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Edit-- "You know I taught history for a while at night school at various colleges around New York City. And it was art history, Egyptian architecture and Assyrian sculpture and I wasn't really a professional art historian so I wasn't exactly keeping up with the Egyptological journals and the facts were just starting to fade so I would be talking to the class and a slide would come up on the screen of some pyramid or ziggurat and I would look up at the screen and I would draw a complete blank. I couldn't remember a single thing about it. So, I would just make things up. You know, a story about this or that Pharaoh and the students would write it down and I would test them on it. Now eventually this sorta caught up with me , you know the students would mention these stories a year later and so on. And also I did feel some guilt about just making up history. So, I finally quit. Not before I was fired but it was very, very close." (http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~jimmyd/laurie-anderson/work/books/stories.html) This is interesting. I wonder if it should go in the article. 67.110.214.131 09:01, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Walk The Dog

Is the studio version of this piece (as released on the B-Side of O Superman) available on CD at all? Thanks Martyn Smith 21:05, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Not that I'm aware of. I keep hoping someone puts out an extended version of Big Science with it but so far, nothing. I was rather disappointed it wasn't included in the Talk Normal compilation. 23skidoo 21:51, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
Likewise. There is a live version on that (excellent) compilation, but it just doesn't have the same wacky appeal as the studio recording. I did notice that some of the leitmotifs from the studio recording appear during the live section on disc 1 on other tracks. Martyn Smith 21:21, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
Apparently Anderson herself chose the tracks for Talk Normal, so it's possible she wasn't fond of the original recording. There is at least a small box set's worth of recordings Anderson made between 1977-1980 that have either never been released in any commercial form, or if they have they were included on now-extremely-obscure vinyl releases. For example there's all the songs she did for a jukebox installation, a number of early versions of Big Science songs like Let X=X, and her very first recording, "It's Not the Bullet That Kills You", which I have heard and which would have fit perfectly into Strange Angels or Bright Red. Sadly, we are just as likely to see a DVD release of Home of the Brave (as in, not very likely) than we are to see a compilation like this. 23skidoo 03:54, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 2005 exhibition

Have edited to include her fall 2005 exhibition, relying heavily on her own website and notes. Would love to have an entry from someone who actually experienced the exhibition live. 31 Jul 2006 User:Sharonbs

[edit] Peter Gordon

Please note for future reference that the Peter Gordon who has appeared on some of Anderson's albums is not Peter Gordon (hornist); it's Peter Gordon (composer), who isn't the same person. Bearcat 00:17, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Album articles created

I've now created articles for the remaining albums except for Talk Normal which I don't have. They're ready for expansion. 23skidoo 01:06, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is it really you?

I saw a TV programme where Laurie Anderson was chatting (on IRC IIRC) in some channel where her work was being discussed, and (almost?) no-one believed it was her. A very resonant moment, given the content of some of her work.

So, Laurie, are you listening? (cue 200 genuine Laurie Anderson clones...) --Slashme 08:33, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Additions to article

I've added a bunch of new information to the article, some taken from Storie from the Nerve Bible which is now listed as a reference. A few citations would be helpful if anyone can provide them, such as the fact Anderson took singing lessons for Strange Angels (true, but I cannot find an online source for this; I know about the singing lessons because of a TV interview she gave at the time of the album's release 17 years ago). Also, although her relationship with Reed is common knowledge -- she even talks about it in End of the Moon -- if anyone can toss in a citation to any article that makes reference to it, that would be helpful as well. 23skidoo 22:17, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rose and the Stone?

Doubt I'll ever see it in print but a mid-80s UCLA exhibit of her work mentioned a self-published book called "The Rose and the Stone," supposedly about a hitchhiking trip she made to the North Pole. Would love to know more about it. (egomet_bonmot)

[edit] Married to Lou? Since when?

Someone added an unsourced statement to the article that Laurie is now married to Lou Reed. I can find no online source to verify this. Their relationship is no secret, but there has been no mention of her actually marrying the guy. Can anyone provide a source? (PS. For some reason I've been logged out; although an IP is coming up, I'm 23skidoo.) 68.145.238.33 15:03, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

  • As it happens, European media is now reporting they wed in April 2008. I'll post a link once I find an English-language source. 23skidoo (talk) 13:15, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Green Room

Her website The Green Room is gone, but it was much talked about for a while. I think it should be mentioned in the article. // habj (talk) 08:23, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Horrible photo

Yet another example of why Wikipedia Commons images are often stereotyped as awful, the current image used in the infobox makes her look like she's in her 70s. Surely there's got to be a better "free" image of her out there. (This comment applies to the image present on this page as of my timestamp and may not apply to images posted after this timestamp) 23skidoo (talk) 13:17, 6 May 2008 (UTC)