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Swedish TV Show "Sen kväll med Luuk"
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Swedish TV Show "Sen kväll med Luuk"
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On Thursday, November 18, 1999, Tori appeared on the Swedish TV program "Sen kväll med Luuk" (Late Night With Luuk). She played 1000 Oceans solo at the piano and did an interesting interview. Tori taped the program on Thursday, November 11. You can read a transcript of this interview below from Daniel Bergquist. I would also like to thank Rustfork, who also posted a transcript in my online forum.
Tonight's show of Late Night with Luuk just ended on swedish TV4, and the interview with
---Show introduction---
Tori: Two men were working for Cruella. Their names were Horse and Jasper. Horse was short, fat and dumb. Jasper was tall, thin and dumb. 'I want those puppies', she told them. 'Get them tonight'. [closes the book] Kristian: No don't stop!
---Kristian Luuk announcing the show's guests (in swedish, my translation)---
---Kristian Luuk introducing Tori (in swedish, my translation)--- She's an artist who's been singing both about rape and about masturbating in church. But she also has some of the most dedicated fans, and has sold several millions and millions of records. On a flying visit in Sweden, just for you, here is Tori Amos...
---The interview---
[audience applauds]
K: Your new album is out - I have to go directly to a question that I've been thinking of, I've been listening to this all week. K: On one of the songs, "Datura", you whisper the names of different herbs. K: Like Natal plum, mexican bush sage, gumbo limbo, golden shrimp, belize shrimp, weeping sabicu.
K: This is an interesting album that has come out. It's a double CD. One CD with live tracks and one with new material. K: The live tracks are like, your hits.
K: You seem to have a very devoted fan base. You don't like the word fan, do you?
K: I've heard that you sometimes sit before a concert and read ten fan letters before you go on stage.
K: An interesting thing is that when you were thirteen, you started playing in gay bars.
K: We're so glad you came here, we're going to hear you in a few minutes. K: But before I let you go, we have a little tradition that we play the angry game before the guests go.
[Kristian and Tori make angry, stern and funny faces at each others. Kristian finally cracks up and laughs, Tori wins :-)]
K: Tori Amos!
---Tori plays "1000 oceans"---
[Tori playing]
K: (in swedish) A thousand oceans. Without a cucumber this time. Tori Amos. Wonderful. A beautiful ending to a beautiful night...
Tori was very good (and a bit surprising in parts, at least to me). Here's a description of Tori's appearances and a transcript that I wrote of the interview.
[The host, Kristian Luuk, and tonight's other guest, swedish director Kjell Sundvall, are laying in a bed like little boys who're about to go to sleep. Tori's sitting on the edge of the bed reading them a bed-time story.]
Kjell: No, don't stop.
Kristian: Read the end of the story...
Tori:It's way past your bedtime [leaving] Kjell: Come on, we want to hear more.
Kristian: No, read the end of the story, what happens with the puppies? Kjell: Do you think they get the puppies? Kristian: No, he was dumb.
Kjell: They're gonna kill the puppies...
...and the very controversial american artist , who among other things has nurse-fed a pig; Tori Amos will be here. Yes, it's true. She'll both be talking and singing...
[Tori entering the stage. She's wearing a black dress with a crochet shawl, and red shoes]
Kristian: I love those shoes.
Tori: Thank you.
K: Beautiful red shoes.
K: It's great to have you here on our show. We're glad you had time to stop by.
[audience applauds]
T: Clitoria blue pea.
K: Okay, blue pea, allright. And why do you do this, what herbs are they? T: They're all in my garden.
K: Are they, because that's what I was thinking. T: Yeah. But that's before the hurricane. And now they're not in my garden. K: But the hurricane... Was it in your garden in England, or in... T: In the tropics.
K: In the tropics??
T: In Florida, yeah. Are you kidding, I couldn't live in England all the time, I'd shoot those
people.
[audience laughing]
K: Okey, why?
T: They drive me nuts. I mean, I'm married to one. K: Yeah
[audience laughing]
K: You're an american artist, and your married to a british man, and you're living in Cromwell. When you don't shoot them T: When I'm not flying out. I mean it's good, but sometime it's just a bit depressing.
K: Living in England?
T: Yeah
K: Yea, I can understand. It's a like living in Stockholm. It's very gray and rainy.
T: Yeah, but sometimes I think the people... There's a side to the brits that I adore. I mean I married one.
T: It's good he's not watching this
K: Oh, he's never gonna see this,
T: No, he's not gonna see this
K: And do you really love him?
[Tori and audience laughing]
T: Yeah, I do. But you know, he's hounry
K: Honorary?
T: Grumpy. Sometimes they've a good sense of humour, but it's like... K: That's a bit like Swedes as well. They're very serious. K: But what do you mean, you have two houses, you have one in Florida... T: No, I have three
K: Where's the third one?
T: I like odd numbers. I don't believe in two of anything K: Cromwell, Florida...
T: ...And Ireland
K: And Ireland as well. Well
T: I'm rich
[audience laughing]
K: How many records have you sold?
T: I don't tell.
K: But these herbs you had in your garden in Florida... T: Including datura, which is a wonderful hallucinogen K: Isn't it. That was what I was going to come to. (in swedish:) Don't try this at home.
[audience laughing]
K: How do you prepare it?
T: Well, this is one that I haven't tried. If you have too much of the elixir, when you put the stem i water, you... die... K: Definately don't try this at home.
[laughing]
K: But the others are just regular herbs? And spices? T: Yes, and flowers.
K: So you're a gardener?
T: Nono, I _have_ gardeners.
K: Yes, you're rich...
[everyone laughing]
T: Yes, kind of, you know...
T: Well, no, actually, I haven't had any hits. K: Oh, you have. Cornflake girl...
T: Oh, kind of, yea...
T: But mostly, they're just songs that I thought really worked live on my last tour.
T: Cause I always make albums, never just a single. So I put together what tould've been like a live show.
K: I understand that playing live is very important to you. That's why you're in the business, or?
T: Well I think it's passion. Because you can't lie when you're playing live. You can have great sound guys, you can have fantastic lights, but the bottom line is, if you fall off your stool you fall off your stool, and everybody sees it.
K: That's true.
T: No...
K: Why not?
T: I think it's kind of degrading.
K: Towards them?
T: Yea I do.
K: So what do you call them?
T: The people who come to the shows...
K: Okey. Have you met the people who come to my show? No, these are probably people who come to your show.
K: And I heard this crazy stuff. There's one lady who makes dolls and sells them.
T: Yeah
K: Have you met her?
T: Yeah.
K: How is she?
T: She's fine. She does very well, making dolls. She's very successful. T: But II think what excites me is that, you see a lot of people that, I don't know, they leave school, they're trying to find their own creativity. And their parents wanted them to be something, and they don't want to be that anymore. They're like, you know, 'I really don't want to be this lawyer. That's not what I want'.
K: So you're more of an inspiration?
T: I don't know what I am. Sometimes I think I'm just sort of a nice distraction. While they figure out what they're doing.
T: Yeah, sure, we have a lot of letters, and I think it gets you aware of what your audience is that night. I write my set lite like ten minutes before the show.
K: So if someone drew you a letter, that they wanted to hear Cornflake girl, you might add that.
T: Not necessarily...
K: You might take it away? 'She's not going to get this...' T: Usually you here things from people... I don't know, people have unique stories, it always surprises me, just when you think you've heard everything... People have fascinating - you all have fascinating lives. K: Give me a sample of an interesting story. T: Well unfortunately some of them are very tragic. K: So you read this actually before you go on stage. And maybe there's a really tragic story.
T: Sure.
K: And you still go out there and perform. T: Well, and you try to play fit the song the want in.
T: Yeah.
K: Why gay bars?
T: Because they were the only people who would have me. [audience laughing]
K: And what did you play?
T: Showtunes...
K: 'Put another nickel in...'
T: No, 'Hello Dolly...' you know
T: Just great showtunes. Cole Porter
K: I mean thirteen years old in gay bars, playing piano, late at night. T: Fantastic. Yeah, I mean they taught me how to give head. K: Okay... How did they teach you that?
T: On a pickle... on a cucumber. When I was fifteen though. K: Okey, well that's better then. What did your father say about that? T: He didn't, he doesn't know about that. And he won't see this show either. K: What's the trick to giving head, is my question. T: Well if you learn on a pickle. I could show you. [audience laughing]
T: If we get you a pickle, and if you leave teethmarks, that's not okay. K: We're not gonna do that here.
[audience laughing]
K: Have you heard about the angry game?
T: No.
K: It's like a child's game, you look into eachothers eyes, and the first one who starts laughing loses.
T: Oh no.
K: And there's absolutely no touching.
T: No touching.
K: Are you ready. Tori Amos, the angry game starts now!
[audience applauds]
K: (in swedish) Now you'll hear here playing live, what she likes doing the most. Here's Tori Amos, "1000 oceans".
Well, that was Tori's appearances on the show. Tori and Kristian seemed very comfortable with each other throughout the entire interview, and everyone was having quite much fun with the pickle story (as was I :-). Hope you've enjoyed reading my transcript of the show...
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