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Archie
Works
To
the Editor:
I
have trouble with one paragraph in Chet Hardin’s article about
this year’s mayoral election [“The Contender,” Sept. 3]—as
have many of us who worked in Goodbee’s campaign—which begins,
“Take a closer look: Goodbee ran an anemic campaign.” If Mr.
Hardin had looked at all, or completed even the most basic
research, he would have learned that Goodbee wasn’t retired
then nor is he retired now. If Mr. Hardin had visited his
campaign headquarters, he would have found two full time workers
and a few part timers. His office was open every day.
However, the most obtuse error is contained in the statement
that “Goodbee did little in the way of door-to-door campaigning,
never setting foot in the upper wards.” Please know this:
no candidate worth his or her salt fighting against Albany’s
political machine will capture 33 percent of the primary vote
without an intelligent, focused, energetic, dedicated and
passionate team (especially without official help from Citizens’
Action, the Working Family Party or the trade unions). To
run an effective campaign (without sufficient money), one
has to use a tremendous amount of shoe leather, good will,
excellent credit and cannot leave any stones unturned—he,
in fact, campaigned in each of the 15 wards receiving votes
from each of their 150 election districts. Lastly, Goodbee
worked hard enough to earn the endorsement of your weekly
magazine for which he is still grateful.
I have been reading Metroland since its inception and
expect better, even in this austere economy.
Shirley
A.Foskey
Common Council Member, 1993-2006
Albany
Chet Hardin replies:
At the time of his candidacy, Archie Goodbee was widely reported
to be a retiree, in this newspaper as well as others. I am
sorry to have continued this misinformation. As for my portrayal
of Goodbee’s campaign, this was, in fact, based on the most
basic of research: multiple interviews with long-standing
members of the political community.
And
I Love Them
To
the Editor:
While
I don’t give a whole lot of credence to rock album reviews,
John Brodeur’s review of the new Beatle mixes [Recordings,
Sept. 3] actually made me want to buy those albums for the
fourth or fifth time.
I bought: The original poorly pres sed Capital releases which
were scratchy right out of the case; some stereo vinyl albums
which were often totally different takes than the mono cuts
and had extra little oddities that made those recordings even
more fascinating; a box set of all 14 of the the European
vinyl albums which, it turns out didn’t include the singles,
but they were a lot less noisy; the original Capital CDs in
which George Martin returned some of the original albums back
to mono because “they were never meant to be in stereo.” While
the stereo imaging might not have been correct by today’s
standards it was fascinating to hear John, Paul, George or
even Ringo singing in one ear and all the music in the other.
Also interesting is the fact that the voices were almost always
doubled on the early cuts, common studio practice back then.
This involved the artist actually singing the tune twice over
the original vocal track, rather than the modern effects used
today. Did Phil Spector actually consider George Martin “not
in his league”? That overrated piece of shit deserves to rot
in jail just for that statement. Brodeur’s statement about
all other groups “playing catch-up” at the time was right
on the mark. In a Rolling Stone interview Keith Richards
said as much.The advent of the six or seven song album with
a lot of pointless noodling and redundant live tracks occurred
around 1970 when the Beatles broke up and the bar was lowered
(Low Spark by Traffic, Goodbye by the Cream,
etc.).
The great Eagles and Steely Dan could barely squeak out an
album of more than a handful of good tunes every three to
five years with some real loser cuts mixed in.
John, your sentiments about the greatest band ever are totally
like my own. They were the soundtrack of my youth.
Ralph
Spillenger
Albany
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