Amanda Palmer's label refuses to promote album because of "fat belly"

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Beautiful, talented Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls fame) is looking for a new recording label because hers (Roadrunner) has refused to promote her new album. Apparently they came to a breaking point when she refused to cut shots of her "fat belly" from the video of "Leeds United." Please note my dripping-with-sarcasm tone when I use the word "fat" and "belly" in this context.

Story, video, and links to the fan campaign (reBELLYon) are here (http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2008/11/female_artists_1).

Really, Roadrunner? THAT is fat? Well. You should come visit me sometime.

[Sohrshah]

I'm... appalled. Just freaking apalled.

If that's fat, what do you call the Statue of liberty, or Michelangelo's Pieta, or Raphael's Virgins, or Marilyn Monroe for Cripe's sake!

[Morrigoon]

I'd kill for a "belly" like hers. Okay, not really, but I'd feel very sexy if I were that thin.

[Gemini Cricket]

Wow.
I'm like... what belly?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Hell, I feel sexy at my size. I just think it's crazy to pretend that people actually look airbrushed in real life!

[Alex]

Her belly looks fine, but it would hardly be the first time a record label balked at normal bodies. However, I'd hold back promotion until she agreed to stop committing eyebrow atrocities.

More seriously, though, I can't find any direct evidence that she and her label have parted ways. Her blog post about it says simply they asked for the cuts, she refused to budge, and the video stayed as is.

Some other searching just finds secondary blogs saying she is looking for a new label without pointing to any primary sources.

[Not Afraid]

Having seen Amanda Palmer live several times, i thought she had new song called "Fat Belly" that RR didn't want on her to record. I went that route in my thinking because she isn't what I'd call "fat" in the least. She's not super thin, she's just normal weight size.

Cue Magenta:
I'm fat. You're fat. We're ALL fat!

[Andrew]

Cue Magenta:
I'm fat. You're fat. We're ALL fat!
The bannister's fat! (er, happy!)

[alphabassettgrrl]

LSPE, you are more beautiful than she is. There's more to "sexy" than just being thin.

And I'm with Alex on the eyebrow atrocities.... :)

[Morrigoon]

LSPE, you are more beautiful than she is. There's more to "sexy" than just being thin.

And I'm with Alex on the eyebrow atrocities.... :)
I have to agree with this statement, especially the first sentence.

[Gn2Dlnd]

I like the two boys making out at 3:40. :D

[bewitched]

Didn't notice the belly at all. Her eyebrows kinda scare me though.

[alphabassettgrrl]

In looking for it, yes, I could see a little bit of belly over her pants. Whatever. Not exactly offensive. Wouldn't have noticed at all if I wasn't specifically looking.

[Gemini Cricket]

I keep reading this thread title and thinking 'Wait, Arnold Palmer always had a fat belly, didn't he?'
Ha.

[Alex]

Did Arnold Palmer (since he was mentioned and it reminds me) in some way
raise a stink? I've noticed recently several restaurants serving Arnold Palmers on their drink menus but not calling them that any more (and in one I know that they used to).

[Ghoulish Delight]

I keep reading this thread title and thinking 'Wait, Arnold Palmer always had a fat belly, didn't he?'
Ha.
And my mind goes to, "She's dead. Wrapped in plastic."

[Andrew]

And my mind goes to, "She's dead. Wrapped in plastic."
There was a fish in the percolator.

[lashbear]

The bannister's fat! (er, happy!)
VAM !! :snap:

I MUST get to the Queen Mary for a showing.

...and on a related note, Ms Eyebrows would make a great Columbia !

[Chernabog]

GIT IN MAH BELLY!

[Not Afraid]

Cherry pie!

[Morrigoon]

Cherry pie!
Cherry Pie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdDxz2bkfhE)

[Not Afraid]

Who (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4meALbfpfY) knew there were so many Twin Peaks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQNOixDLXM)and Cherry Pie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Eh7CJamGE)clips out there? However, I think what I really need is some coffee.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PcoMrwEa5o&feature=related)

[Strangler Lewis]

I think it depends on the job description. If the job is to be the runway model kind of fake woman or the Britney Spears dance video kind of fake woman, then you need to look the part.

Since the job description here seems to call for the kind of fake woman who plays a man dressed as a lesbian impersonating a man or some such tired cabaret shtick, she looks fine.

[JWBear]

new shoes...

[Not Afraid]

:spit:

[Kevy Baby]

Did Arnold Palmer (since he was mentioned and it reminds me) in some way raise a stink? I've noticed recently several restaurants serving Arnold Palmers on their drink menus but not calling them that any more (and in one I know that they used to).That's interesting; I had not noticed that. Although I rarely look at the menu for drinks. I usually just order what I want and I've never had any feedback when ordering (except one neophyte who had never heard of one).

Quick research shows that there is a product called The Original Arnold Palmer Tee. (http://www.arnoldpalmertee.com/news.asp) It might be because of that product that restaurants can't put it on their menu.

[€uroMeinke]

Love Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls and have been enjoyin this tale unfold in her blog. Love the latest Composite Belly pic

http://www.bratmarketing.com/AFP/bellies.jpg

[Strangler Lewis]

Funny collage, but I submit it proves the record company's point. Fully cognizant that my own belly is not ready for prime time, I must ask how many of the above bellies would you want to see dancing to that sexy song she was singing?

I think there's a torso in the group, too.

[€uroMeinke]

I must ask how many of the above bellies would you want to see dancing to that sexy song she was singing?


one of my favorite dance moments was in Reza Abdoh's The Hip-Hop Waltz of Eurydice - it featured at one point a naked fat man dancing in such a way that his belly seemed to move independently to the rhythm of the music. It was simply mesmerizing to watch even if it sounds horrific in description - So I'd say I'd watch any of them dance if they could own their belly's in their dancing.

Then again, I'm also a big Peter Greenaway fan, who also loves to show the body in all it's manifestations.

[Strangler Lewis]

You're talking about art. I'm talking about pop culture, show business and the sex that gets sold. Among all the discussions on this board of who is hot-as a fantasy object of desire-I have yet to see any bellies like that posted. Certainly not from the bachelors here and not from anybody else. (There were no fat vampires in "Twilight.")

[Not Afraid]

Interesting. This may be completely my biased take on things, but I view Amanda Palmer more as art than as pop culture although I do admit my reasoning probably wouldn't hold up in court.

[€uroMeinke]

You're talking about art. I'm talking about pop culture

I don't think the two as necessarily mutually exclusive. But I agree that certain images are regularly packaged and sold as beauty. I still think Amanda's hot - but I have a Cabaret bias.

What do you think of Nastassija Kinski's famed belly shot?

http://uk.geocities.com/uncrusty2000/snake/far.jpg

[Strangler Lewis]

Not bad. What else ya got?

And I didn't say anything against Amanda Palmer. She looks fine to me. Better bellywise than almost all the pictures in the collage. I just think it's silly to be shocked that a record company that uses videos to sell its soap would be unhealthily concerned about appearances.

[mousepod]

Back to the OP for a minute - I have some experience in the record biz, and I'm reading this story a little differently. I absolutely believe that the A&R guy might be a pig who made comments that were offensive. I absolutely believe that the label won't release her from the contract. But I don't think that they're not promoting the record because she won't edit her belly. No way. The label has an investment in an artist, and the industry is hurting right now. They won't let her go because they want to recoup their investment. I imagine that the record isn't what the label expected (the original plan was to do a quickie record in one week - voice and minimal instrumentation) - and they have no idea how to sell it. Times are tough. A part of me thinks that the belly story is an attempt at viral marketing, when standard promotions and marketing are failing. If that turns out to be true, it's funny that the one LoT member who does viral web marketing for a living is the one who introduced the topic here...

[alphabassettgrrl]

What do you think of Nastassija Kinski's famed belly shot?

http://uk.geocities.com/uncrusty2000/snake/far.jpg

Though I'm not a huge fan of snakes, I like that shot. Artistically interesting, nothing "R rated" showing, and I kind of wonder how long it took to get the snake to stay put.