Chalkhills, Number 10

                    Monday, 1 May 1989

Today's Topics:
                         The Dukes
                        RE: Remixes
                       RE: Remixes 
            King for a Day and the album review
                         EIEI Owen
                         A review

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Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1989 21:38:29 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: The Dukes

Brian sez:
>Here's hoping there is a NEW Dukes album in the near future.....

Here's some replies to that question from various interviews.
	-- John

----

      So when will the next Dukes album appear?
      "Oh, we really mustn't do anymore," says Partridge.
    "Because we've said thanks to every band going, the Beatles
    several times over."
      [from Tower Records Pulse]

      (The Dukes, says Moulding, "are looking pretty much as if
    the joke's been told, and everybody laughed and that's it.)
      [from Rolling Stone]

      Partridge hits darkly that he may have to "do in" the
    Dukes, perhaps "in a bizarre kitchen accident."
      [Musician]

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Date: Mon, 1 May 89 14:13:10 EDT
From: lee%liberty@cs.umass.edu (Peter Lee)
Subject: RE: Remixes

>From: Mitch@umass.bitnet
>Subject: XTC remixes

>Actually, Peter, there's a couple of times when XTC had a short and long 
>version of a song. Case in point: 'Heaven is Paved with Broken Glass', 
>'This World Over' come to mind. Plus, there're two versions of 'This Is Pop' 
>and 'Ten Feet Tall'. 

I am distinguishing here between remixes and alternative versions - a remix
takes the same set of original tapes and manipulates them - maybe adds a few
effects, repeats parts of the original, or includes parts that were left out of
the first version.  Alternative versions are versions that were partly or
completely re-recorded.  "This is Pop" sounds like an alternative version.  I
forgot about "Heaven" (the 12" mix of which I actually like).  I don't know of
two versions of "This World Over" (the 12" is the "Full Length Version", a
sleazy marketing ploy on the part of Virgin UK to sell you the LP version).
The alternative mix of 'Ten Feet Tall' is not a 12" (read "extended") mix,
which is what I was (and still am) complaining about.

In any case, the other XTC "remixes" were at least interesting in some way -
the remix of "King for a Day" is cliche-ridden and pointless.  I reiterate-
Yech!

							-Peter Lee
lee@cs.umass.edu or Fuligin@UMass.bitnet

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Date: Mon, 1 May 1989 11:19:32 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: RE: Remixes 

Fuligin sez:
>I don't know of
>two versions of "This World Over" (the 12" is the "Full Length Version", a
>sleazy marketing ploy on the part of Virgin UK to sell you the LP version)

There are actually two versions of "This World Over", but the only
difference I've been able to figure out is that the "short" version
fades out faster.  The two versions do have different times.

>In any case, the other XTC "remixes" were at least interesting in some way -
>the remix of "King for a Day" is cliche-ridden and pointless.

This may be the case, but I think it's no different (from a marketing
point of view) than releasing 7" versions of songs, so called "radio
edits".  Many XTC songs have been released in abbreviated format,
because of a marketing theory that songs being played on radio must
fall within a certain time limit, and must not use silence, and other
interesting musical ideas.  For example, "Sgt. Rock" was edited to take
out bits of the refrain, "Senses Working Overtime" was edited to take
out part of the "do do do do" refrain just before the last couple of
choruses, and "No Thugs in Our House" was edited to end after Andy
sings "No thugs in our house / Dear", just where it pauses for a
second before coming back in the with the final chorus.

So marketing now sees a different type of demand because of changes in
the market: instead of a "radio edit", they see the need for a "dance
party dub mega mix" version.

Whether or not it's musically interesting is partly beside the point.
I don't think XTC had a lot of input into the editing of their songs
in the past, and I wonder how much input they had into the remix of
"King for a Day".

	-- John

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Date: Mon,  1 May 89 17:29:45 CDT
From: GJJ5315@star.tamu.edu
Subject: King for a Day and the album review

I really don't care about King for a Day's single status.  I mean if that's
what it takes to bring them to the publics attention, well so what.  It worked
for Peter CGabriel with "Sledgehammer".  I m not thrilled, but I'm not pissed
either,

I liked that review at the beginning of Chalkhills #9. I was shocked that I
agreed wholeheartedly with it when I'm not known to agree with critics that
much.

Gary Jedlicka
GJJ5315@Star.tamu.edu

Why is the syntax above stink? I can't backspace.

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From: sco!stewarte@ucscc.ucsc.edu
Subject: EIEI Owen
Date: Mon May  1 15:41:35 1989

As our beloved coordinator John Relph pointed out, EIEI Owen is the
alter ego of Ian Gregory, Dave's brother.  You may have seen him in
his non-psychedelic state if you've seen any recent XTC videos in
which the band appears to have a drummer.  Since they don't shoot 
the videos at the same time they record the songs, there's generally
noone around to mime the drumming, so Ian often sits in.  Not having
seen any of the recent videos myself, I can't tell you exactly
which he appears in ("The Meeting Place" springs to mind, however).

	["beloved"??  -- John]

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Date: Mon, 1 May 1989 17:03:40 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: A review

Brent Milano writes, in the latest _Tower Records Pulse!_ magazine:

      By now you've doubtlessly read stacks of raves on XTC's
    new double album, _Oranges and Lemons_.  Here's some more:
    This is simply a record that we can't imagine anyone not
    liking, unless you've got a real problem with brilliant
    songwriting, personal-yet-universal lyrics, great singing
    and nifty guitar sounds.  XTC can absorb '60s tricks as well
    as anyone -- who else writes convincing peace-and-love songs
    in this cynical year? -- but it doesn't stop there.  There
    weren't many '60s bands who worked tributes to King Sunny
    Ade and Ladysmith Black Mambazo into a straightahead pop
    song, as XTC does on "Hold Me My Daddy."  Side two is the
    best (especially "Poor Skeleton Steps Out"), but there's
    nary a dull spot among these 60-odd minutes -- and this
    ain't bandwagon-jumping, since we were nearly as ecstatic
    over 1986's _Skylarking_.

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