John Beaudin - Hey Holly, nice to talk to you again. Congratulations on the release of "The Holly Cole Collection Vol. 1."

John - I got an early copy from your label Alert and I have to tell you that your face looks damn good blown up!

Holly - (laughing)

John - That's one big blown up head shot. (laughing)

Holly - (laughing) It certainly is and I'm glad you like it because I picked that shot. I worked really hard on the art work for the album. People sometimes call these albums a "Greatest Hits" album or "Super Hits" or whatever and certainly the hits I've had are included on there but it really wasn't a "Greatest Hits" package to me. Often when I see these packages they are done by the record company or several record companies and they are contractual obligations and they're not really nicely packaged. You don't get any extra information or photos or interesting things about the artist. I worked so hard on this one and I included 3-4 songs that have never been released in Canada before. We have the songs that people really love plus a few that may not be as well known. I really wanted something that was very listenable and tells a story from start to finish.

John - There are also 9 tunes on this new collection that were not on "The Best of Holly Cole."

Holly - Absolutely and "The Best of Holly Cole" is an import anyway.

John - Is it still available?

Holly - It is but it's harder to get since it's an import. It was never released here in Canada. The new one is very different, it's called a collection because that's exactly what it is.

John - I swear I played "Hum Drum Blues" twelve times today at home and in the car. I love your singing in that one.

Holly - (laughing) Yeah, it's a cool song and it's called "Hum Drum Blues" but it has a bit of a wink in it. There's a bit of irony in it and as you know irony is something I love to play with on stage and in recording as well.

John - So the new tracks are "The Question of You," Shiver Me Timbres" and "Hum Drum Blues," right?

Holly - Yes and of course "The Question of You" is a Prince song and I'm a long time fan of his. I was approached to be part of this project of all Prince tunes for release in Japan and they asked me to do "Purple Rain" which is my least favorite Prince Tune. So, I made a deal with them that I'd do "Purple Rain" if they let me also do "The Question of You."

John - So which one is on the Japanese release?

Holly - (laughing) They used "Purple Rain."

John - Well, I'd like to hear you do "Purple Rain."

Holly - Well, it's an interesting version and like I said I wasn't excited about doing it. I didn't do the arrangements and I usually do my own arrangements with Aaron Davis and people that I work with and it's a big part of the creativity but with "Purple Rain" and "Question of You" I just went in and sang it. There were background singers and all kinds of interesting things arranged for it. It was a completely different arrangement and attitude for the tune and I actually ended up really liking it a lot. So, you have to watch what your preconceptions are I guess.

John - No kidding. Was there any red tape in getting Sting's "Fragile" your duet with Jesse Cook on the "Collection?"

Holly - No, there wasn't at all basically because Jesse's such a cool guy and that's another example of a tune where I didn't arrange it, it's on someone else's album and I just walked in and did it. I love his playing and I like him, I've known him for quite a while.

John - He lives pretty close to you, right?

Holly - Yeah, he lives very close to me. You know when that album of his went gold I thought I should go over and congratulate him but instead I decided to call him and his machine said, "This message tape is full" (laughing) So I guess a lot of people were congratulating him that day.

John - I really like what he did to it but it's also appropriate to have that on your collection because I've always considered that your song as well even though it's a Sting song and a popular Sting song at that.

Holly - I do too and like I said it is an album that's a cross section of fifteen years of time. It was interesting for me to actually stop and look back, there are a number of different periods and phases that I've gone through and it was interesting for me to look back at all the things that I'd done. I tend to be the kind of person that only concentrates on what's happening right now. I like to bulldoze through whatever is happening now, get it done and move on so I'm a bit of a workaholic too.

John - So you really don't reflect a lot?

Holly - Not really, no. I had to go back with this album and listen to a lot of old stuff and I was saying, "Oh I can't believe I did this or that." (laughing) So I learned a lot of things about myself.

John - To have a body or work where you can chose what you still like or the best of the bunch in your eyes must be satisfying though?

Holly - Most certainly and that's one thing that I'm happy about with my career right now. It would be awful to be like a lot of new artists are today where the record companies are controlling careers. With the "Collection" I was the person who selected the songs on the record, I was the person who chose who wrote the liner notes. I made the decisions on everything. What a lot of people don't know is often these decisions are made without the artists consent.

John - What I hear from artists all the time is centered around song selection on not only "Greatest Hits' albums but regular albums as well. Of course most of these people don't go on record with this stuff because they can't.

Holly - Oh yeah, you can imagine I've heard that one too from other artists.

John - So tell me how's the drumming coming along?

Holly - (laughing) Oh, you know about that, that's right.

John - Yeah, we talked about it last time we chatted. You still have two kits?

Holly - Yeah, I have and one of them are the DW's. I have one on the main floor and one in the basement. The drumming is coming along great and now I've been playing for two years, so yeah, I can hold it together. (laughing)

John - Do you drum in concert now?

Holly - Yeah I have, I can play a groove for a little while and sometimes people have requested it. It's hard for me to do period pieces but let me tell you its really hard to do in high heels. (laughing) We're just at the end of building a studio in our basement and we'll be able to record whenever we want.

John - The first Presidential Debate is on tonight. Are you political at all?

Holly - Less than you might guess but I didn't know the first debate was tonight so I guess I answered your question. I've been so busy working on the renovations I tell you I wouldn't know what life would be like without a cordless drill anymore. I just bought a miter saw and that excites me.

John - Holly Cole the handy gal?

Holly - Let me tell you I am tool belt girl! (laughing) I am now but two years ago I thought a screwdriver was just a drink. Now I've installed light fixtures and yeah I'm all over it. I enjoy it a lot because this is all stuff you do at home and I don't spend a lot of time at home. Anything that's novelty is like a vacation so for me cleaning out the lint filter in the dryer is very exciting. (laughing)

John - I was a carpenter's helper in building my parents house in 1977 when I was seventeen years old but hadn't done that much until this summer when I built my first fence and it was so gratifying to do and do right!

Holly - Absolutely, that's true and once you start learning your appetite gets into it.