Raychel
Taurus' musical career spanned all of fourteen months. If I were
Lance, I might be moved to tears and hyperbole by this fact. I
might say that despite the brevity of her career, the wake she left
would last for generations. I might also compare Raychel's career
to an asteroid crashing into the earth: a sudden impact by a brilliant
object leaving a scar only hinting at the violence and wonder of that
single moment. However, I am not Lance and I am not given to
hyperbole. I speak in plain truths. Raychel has left barely
a
trace of her existence in the music business. While I might wish
it were otherwise, Raychel's contribution to the music business is
limited to a single song. The rest of the material compiled during
that time will be either hidden or
ignored.
I don't say
these things to be cruel to Raychel or her memory. I say them to be
honest about her legacy, which I believe she would appreciate more than
a fawning tribute of lies. Regardless of Lance and Laura's beliefs,
Raychel will not be remembered for her poetry or lyrics. What made Raychel
special was her personality. This personality can best be
illuminated by a more structured and comprehensive explanation of
Raychel's life than the current effort has allowed.
To begin
this new endeavor, my first contribution is to give a brief outline of the fourteen months of
Raychel's career in the music business. In the future I will
re-visit these events to provide more detailed descriptions. I
believe it is more important that you be allowed to see the whole
structure of Raychel's life before delving into the specifics.
Without
further ado, I present to you a brief chronology of Raychel's fourteen
months in the music business:
June 26,
1999
Laura Douglass called me earlier in the week to see a musical act at her
bar, Safehaven. While I traditionally stay far away from these
types of invitations, Laura was insistent. I was unaware that
Laura and Lance were hoping to use me to end what she viewed as a
detrimental relationship between Raychel and Kyle McAllister.
Their omission was crucial. Blown away by Raychel's performance, I
signed both Raychel and Kyle to the same recording contract.
July -
October 30, 1999
Pre-production time for Raychel Taurus' debut album. I asked that they
have 10 songs ready to go before they entered the studio. I hoped
the rush of being in a real studio would get another five songs out of them
so we could have a full album (with maybe a "previously
unreleased" track or two in reserve). I made arrangements for
my best producer and a number of session musicians to assist in the
recording. However, Kyle insisted that no "outsiders" be
attached to their project. After realizing how supportive Raychel
was of Kyle's request, I allowed him the initial freedom with a single
catch: the first three songs had to be reviewed by me before
any further unsupervised recording could proceed.
October
31, 1999
With Raychel and Kyle ready to enter the studio, I set up a one-off show
on October 31 at The Bone Yard, a small club where a number of Terror
Trax acts played. I frequently used The Bone Yard as a launching
pad for bands recording their first albums. I felt they
needed to kill a new crowd with their music, then go into the studio on
November 1st with a full head of steam. That turned out to be an
error in judgment on my part. In retrospect, I should have brought
them back to The Bleeders and Safehaven. Raychel wasn't
comfortable with her material yet, and she suffered a panic attack
onstage because of it. The night went from a coming out party to a
full-blown disaster.
November
1999
On the verge of
corporate and personal bankruptcy, I sold controlling interest in the
company to Cain International. Even in my professionally weakened
position, I was able to negotiate to continue as CEO of Terror
Trax. The added muscle of Cain International allowed me greater
access to higher-priced production talent, and I was itching to use it.
|
"Even
in my professionally weakened position, I was able to negotiate to
continue as CEO of Terror Trax." |
I would not
be able to use that muscle with Raychel's album. Raychel, stung
from the Halloween performance, had become reclusive and skeptical about
her talent. Kyle told me that their plans to record needed to be
put on hold indefinitely. Despite my best efforts, Kyle said that
Raychel was in no condition to record.
December
1999 - January 2000
I don't know how it happened, but somehow during this time Raychel became acquainted with
Geoffrey MacIntyre, a music producer who I had been trying to work with
for some time. Raychel got him interested in her lyrics and
apparently he heard something in her music that he just had to get down
on tape. I first found out about it when Geoffrey came into my
office and asked to produce Raychel's sessions. He said that he
thought he could make her music commercial without losing its
edge. While I was all for it, Kyle McAllister was adamant that our
original agreement against "outsiders" was still in
effect. Eventually, Raychel and Geoffrey's collective wills
prevailed and Kyle agreed to let MacIntyre produce their sessions.
I blocked out studio time for them from February until the end of April.
February
- June 2000
Raychel and Kyle
began working on the album with Geoffrey MacIntyre at the
controls. MacIntyre's production, famous for plodding and
painstaking perfectionism, is further hampered by Kyle's backseat
producing. They hadn't been recording for a week before I first
heard that the two men were having trouble getting along.
Raychel, stuck between the two, attempted to
mediate between them. By the end of April, the anticipated date of
completion, production has only begun on five songs. Of those
five, only one song was completed ("No More Dreams No More"). After
an extended discussion with
Raychel, I called both men into my office to get production
rolling. However, it became obvious that the two were each trying
to get the other thrown off the project. I put my foot down and
struck a tentative working peace between them. Worried about her
well-being, Raychel and I agree to keep in touch.
June
- Early July 2000
Work on the album abruptly stopped with no notice or reason given.
Apparently the buildup of tension between
MacIntyre and McAllister had finally crashed the recording process.
Raychel went into hiding. She could not be found by Kyle,
Geoffrey, or myself. When cornered, Raychel's bodyguard, Sharon
Wolfe, refused to disclose Raychel's whereabouts. I have since
learned that she was living with Laura Douglass at the time.
Late
July - August 16, 2000
Raychel and Kyle discreetly re-entered the studio, this time without Geoffrey
MacIntyre. I was informed immediately that they were trying to
block out studio time through one of my assistants. While I was insulted that they chose not to inform me of their intentions, I
allowed them their low profile. While Geoffrey MacIntyre
eventually found out about their re-entry into the studio, I effectively
kept him out of the studio and away from Raychel and Kyle.
Personally, I would have preferred to have kept MacIntyre and canned
Kyle. However, having signed Raychel and Kyle to the same
recording contract prevented that. If I released Kyle from his
contract, I would also be releasing Raychel. I was unwilling to do
that.
August
17, 2000
Raychel Taurus dies, leaving behind her a half-finished (at best)
album.
|
"Raychel
had two producers and only one finished-sounding song came out of
it. It was a terrible waste of Raychel's talent and time." |
The
combination of Kyle McAllister and Geoffrey MacIntyre wasted time and
effectively killed the album. If I had a recording of the night of
June 26, 1999, I would have been happy to offer it as an EP, but that's
not what I have. What I have is one song with great
production value, six songs with rough and underdone lyrics and two
songs (alternative takes by Kyle) that sound like they were done in
single takes (vocals embedded in the guitar on a single track).
Raychel had two producers and only one finished-sounding song came
out of it. It was a terrible waste of Raychel's talent and
time. So that is why Raychel's music career has died with
her. While
she had promise, she left a great deal of unfinished business.
*
* * *
Raychel
isn't the only person with unfinished business. I think all of us
who knew her have unfinished business. Laura Douglass was
right: Raychel's memory cannot be truly celebrated until the
person responsible for that crime has been found, charged, and
convicted.
Therefore,
Lance Wagner, I call on you to use your web site as an opportunity for
the discovery of Raychel Taurus' murderer. I ask that you allow
EVERYONE who knew Raychel to contribute to this site whenever they
ask. That means EVERYONE! Including Kyle McAllister,
Geoffrey MacIntyre, and Sharon Wolfe. I admit I have problems with
some of the people who would be contributing to the site, but Raychel's
memory deserves more than what you have currently given her.
I understand
this sacrifice on your part deserves a reward. In return for your
full cooperation I offer the web site the opportunity to publish all
lyrics to Raychel's unreleased album. In addition, I will withdraw
my current injunction against your web site's publication of Raychel's
poetry (the rights for which we both know truly belongs to Cain
International). This will allow you first rights to publish all of
Raychel's work with the limitation that it be used on your web site
alone (and not in any outside works which I have recently heard
about). I have negotiated this offer with the appropriate parties
within Cain International.
This is my
offer to you: complete and unlimited access to this web site for all
friends and acquaintances of Raychel Taurus in exchange for first
publication rights to Raychel's poetry and lyrics. This offer is
not negotiable as it is already fair. If you care for Raychel as
you profess to, this is a win-win situation for you. You get a
virtually limitless supply of people who knew Raychel to eulogize her
and first publication rights to her entire library of material.
The decision
is yours, Lance, and I'm waiting.
