THE RIGHTEOUS READER
your eponymous guide to the green world of ani difranco brought to you by the shiny happy people at
Righteous Babe Records The Gratuitous REM Tribute Issue
#20 * May 16, 1997
WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY, KENNETH?
"In or Out" is definitely IN this week at MTV's "120 Minutes," so stand in the place where you live and glue
yourself to the set Sunday May 18 at 12 EST. The DiFranco-directed video is also airing twice a day on
M2, and hefty chunks of it appeared as part of the CBS Morning Show's recent profile of Ani. Among the
many regional adds of note: JBTV (Chicago), Rage (UPN Network, 12:30 a.m. Friday nights), Power Play
Video, and Austin Music Network (Austin, TX). Don't go back to Rockville till you see this tape!
RADIO FREE EUROPE (OR AMERICA, AT LEAST)
As of today there are 37 Triple A and 8 Commercial Alternative stations around the country playing the
single "In or Out" and other tracks from Living in Clip, plus the nationally syndicated Acoustic Cafe and
satellite outfits Dish Television and Music Choice. And let's not forget the more than 400 college stations
who have been playing the heck out of the album. On the subject of radio, net-surfers can find Ani
interviews and live sessions at KCRW's site (www.kcrw.org/g/live.html). Oh, and this one goes out to the
one we loved: farewell to Kalamazoo's WNTX. The last song heard before this fine station signed off for the
last time was the live version of "Letter to a John." Bye, guys: you will be missed.
RECKONING (A LITTLE UPDATE ON CHART ACTION)
Biggest news in this department, which you've surely already heard, is Clip's breathtaking debut at #59 on
Billboard's Top 200. And for the first time ever, Ani has made the Gavin charts: Clip debuts on their
Combined chart at #46. Speaking of which, she made the cover of (and contributed a story to) the April 18
issue of Gavin, and a few weeks later the mag saluted stations"spinnin' it because they wanna, not 'cause
they hafta." Then there's CMJ, where the album has been camped out for weeks, catapulting to #4 on their
Retail chart,
#10 AAA, and #13 College. Well, fall on me!
SHE'S MY CRUSH ... WITH EYELINER
Didja see the lead review in the May 15 Rolling Stone? Four stars, and the comment that Clip "puts the
oldies in a context in which both initiates and nonbelievers can understand why DiFranco is rightly regarded
by many as one of the decade's defining voices. ... She gives us the big picture, a wide-screen portrait of the
artist in peak form." Other recent raves can be found in Elle, U, the consumer CMJ (plus a funny letter to the
editor), and our very own Buffalo News, plus lotsa online stuff: CDNow (www.cdnow.com), Mr. Showbiz
(www.mrshowbiz.com), MTV Online (www.mtv.com), and E! Online (www.eonline.com). Dave Marsh's
current column in the e-zine Addicted to Noise (www.addict.com) is mostly about Ani (and Jackie
Robinson and Allen Ginsberg and novelist Michael Dorris, in ways which are not easy to paraphrase). Plus
there's that monster 4-pager with the wacky Restroom Ani Action Figure in the May 2 Entertainment
Weekly, and a long AP story by David Bauder which got picked up all across the land. Next up: that August
Spin cover, on the stands July 4.
(THE ROAD IS HER) MAP, (THE WORLD IS HER) LEGEND
(Maps and Legends, get it? Okay, that one's kinda forced. But we're milkin' this REM thing for all it's worth,
for no apparent reason.) Where is the artist behind Pollstar's 19th Top Grossing U.S. Tour of the last 3
months heading next? June and July will be occupied with a European sojourn, then August brings a month
of dates with Bob Dylan. In between: Vancouver (7/19), Seattle (7/20), Boise (7/22), and St. Paul, OR
(7/23). NYC's Central Park is 9/19, then the fall tour begins in Chicago (10/18), Ann Arbor (10/19), and
Madison (10/20). Driver 8, take a break!
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Back soon with fresh new adventures in hi-fi,
Ron Ehmke
RBR Minister of Communications
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