in the email today... >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 09:56:46 EST > >very Fluxus...wish i had thought of it! > >chris butler > >Your CD's in the fridge > >by John Hooper >Friday February 25, 2000 >The Guardian (UK) > >The titles of the tracks are not exactly in the David Bowie class. One >is called A Shirt Ironed Hastily; another, Finally, the Freezer is >Full Again. > >Neverthless, the producers of Nie Mehr Allein (Alone No More) are >hoping that their new CD can win a place in the hearts and collections >of a lucrative section of the record-buying public. It is the ultimate >in singleton listening: more than an hour of background noise >simulating the presence of a non-existent partner. > >"It has the advantage over a real partner that, if you are bothered, >you can switch it off. This is difficult to do with real partners," >said Bernd Klosterfelde, whose inspiration it was. > >The album is due to reach the shelves of record stores in Germany next >week. Mr Klosterfelde, who works for a Hamburg publishing house, said >negotiations were in progress with distributors in other countries, >including Britain. > >The German version, promising "62 minutes of togetherness", comes in a >case bearing the vacuously smiling face of a shop window mannequin. > >"You feel cared for. But you don't feel disturbed at all," says one >advert. "Alone No More sweetens the solitude and lightens the >loneliness." > >Mr Klosterfelde, a 56-year-old divorcee, got the idea three years ago >shortly after he began to live by himself. "I was speaking on the >telephone to a friend on a Sunday morning which is when you tend to >think most about being alone." > >It was not until last December, however, that he got around to turning >his idea into a CD. The recording was simplicity itself. > >"A young colleague of mine followed his girlfriend through the flat >with a microphone," Mr Klosterfelde said. > >An initial run of 3,000 copies was produced for marketing exclusively >on the internet. A spokesman for the distributors said returns showed >that the highest sales so far had been in Switzerland. > >"Maybe it's because of the mountains," Mr Klosterfelde ventured. > >The webpage advertising Alone No More could serve as a manifesto for >Singleton Pride. > >"Only the single tree in an open field is a desirable subject for a >photograph," it enthuses. "If the same tree were to stand in the >middle of a forest no one would notice it." > >The distributor's spokesman said the response had been promising, with >300 copies sold since the CD went on sale in January. "We are pretty >confident we will sell out," he added. > >Mr Klosterfelde said a deal had been signed to make Alone No More >available through conventional outlets in much bigger numbers. >"Hopefully, tens of thousands." > >He is confident it can be marketed internationally. "After all, there >is very little to translate." > >http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,140490,00.ht >ml
