Chalkhills, Number 112

                 Friday, 19 October 1990
Today's Topics:
                   Re:  Chalkhills #110
                    Sources for _Go +_
                   Rag 'n' Bone Buffet
             Ye Olde Mailbagge (Thanks, IED)

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Date: Fri, 12 Oct 90 13:54:22 -0700
From: Robert Dagnall <dagnall@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re:  Chalkhills #110

	OK, I'm convinced: I'd like to get the Virgin UK
CD of Skylarking.  Barring an extensive prowl through the
nether realms of Berkeley's hole-in-the-wall record stores,
how can I procure a copy of a CD marketed in the United
Kingdom?  Is there an address I can write to for a catalog,
say perhaps the address of a British distributor?

	Thank you in advance,

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Date: Mon, 15 Oct 90 22:46:53 EDT
From: Eric Wilson Muhlheim <muhlheim@phoenix.princeton.edu>
Subject: Sources for _Go +_

After a couple close listens to _Explode Together_, I've come to the
conclusion that the tracks on _Go +_ are relatively "straight" remixes
of the _Go 2_ songs suggested by their titles.  Thus,

	Dance With Me, Germany		is	Meccanik Dancing
	Beat the Bible			is	Jumping in Gommorah
	A Dictionary of Modern Marriage	is	Battery Brides
	Clap Clap Clap			is	I Am The Audience
	We Kill The Beast		is	The Rhythm

I don't think there's too much complicated interweaving going on (somebody
prove me wrong!).  In the context of the _Explode Together_ CD, I see
_Go +_ as a study in the techniques--changing tape speed, stripping away
detail, drastically re-equalizing instruments--that will become _really_
interesting on _Take Away/The Lure of Salvage_.  Dance With Me, Germany,
for instance, makes great effect by cutting out most of the lyrics--"Alcohol
helps you unwind...dance with me, Germany."  (Thus my beef with "Cockpit
Dance Mixture"--I don't think the remix makes me look at "Donw[spasm]
"Down in the Cockpit" with any new perspective.  Does anybody else
feel this way?)

Two footnotes that are on the topic but kind of tangential:  (1)  I think I
hear a bit of harmonica from All Along the Watchtower on New Broom.  Am I
going nuts, or is it there?  (2)  While listening to I Sit In The Snow
really late one night in a state of excessive fatigue, I became convinced that
if I listened to Roads Girdle the Globe and concentrated hard enough and
got time to slow down I would hear this quiet little voice chanting in the
interstices...

--Eric Wilson Muhlheim (muhlheim@phoenix)

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From: stewarte@sco.com (The Man Who Invented Himself)
Subject: Rag 'n' Bone Buffet
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 90 17:36:47 PDT

    From: Captain Kamikaze and Lemming! <jsd@gaffa.mit.edu>

[ re: Happy Families ]

    Well, my keen ear tells me that it's the "original" (ie: XTC-mixed)
    version which was on the B-side of the XTC Wants To Be Tears For Fears
    For A Day single.  You can tell by the absence of string sections and
    prominent cheesiness of the drum machine.  You may call me a heretic
    but I actually prefer the version on the She's Having A Baby
    soundtrack - hides the cheesiness better.  Good song either way
    though.

I haven't heard the soundtrack version, but now that I've heard the
RBB version I think I prefer the ultra-cheesy version on "Jules
Verne's Sketchbook".

    >BUT: are you sure this is the SAME version as on _Skylarking_?
    >This would be the only track on _R&BB_ that is already available on CD. Looks
    >to me that they could just as well have included Dear God instead (as it's
    >not on the UK _Skylarking_).
    >After all, this IS a UK release, isn't it?

    It's not the ONLY song that is already available on CD that is
    duplicated on R&BB actually -- Tissue Tigers and Blame The Weather are
    available on a UK CD-3 for "Senses Working Overtime."  And "Dear God"
    is also available on a UK CD single.  I do agree that it seems odd,
    almost as if they were thinking about us poor Yanks, [...]

I'll bet they were indeed thinking about us Yanks.  I'll bet RBB
will easily sell more copies in the US as an import than in the UK.
Seems like Virgin was smart enought to realize that...

Shame about the lack of liner notes, but at least we got some cool
cover art (nice likeness of Andy there, but I can't figure out which
of the others is which!).  Not to mention someone clearly gave some
thought to the sequencing -- "Extrovert" is a great opener, and
"History of Rock 'n' Roll" is perfect to "sum up what we've learned
so far".

I'm especially pleased by the inclusion of the BBC version of
"Another Satellite", which I like even better than the original
"Skylarking" version...

Now all we need is an album of XTC live material!

-- Stewart

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Date: Fri, 19 Oct 1990 13:44:51 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Ye Olde Mailbagge (Thanks, IED)

Kevin J Martin <sigma@rpi.edu> asks:

>I've just joined up, so I have but one curious question:  *Why* is _Dear_God_
>not on most copies of _Skylarking_?  Was it there and then removed, or just
>added on some versions as a bonus track, or...?

I don't know about you, but where I come from "Dear God" is on every
copy of _Skylarking_ that I run into.  Originally the album was
released in the U.S. with "Mermaid Smiled", but before it came out on
CD "Dear God" started getting a lot of radio airplay, so the album was
resequenced (same catalog number) with "Dear God" but omitting
"Mermaid Smiled".  The U.S. CD has "Dear God" on it, as do the current
releases on LP and cassette.

"Dear God" could also be found on a U.S. 12" single, with "Extrovert",
"Earn Enough for Us" and "Grass".

				. . .

Captain Kamikaze and Lemming! <jsd@gaffa.mit.edu> sez:

>>More quotes from "X-plaining XTC Part 2" by Steve Kolanjian and David
>>Dasch, from some issue of _Aware_ Magazine from 1983:
>
>Hey, John, would you be by any chance compiling all these great
>articles into one mega file that we could ftp?

Well, I have not really entered all of the information from this
article.  I have been selectively choosing the interesting bits.
Sometimes there is a lot of detail that just doesn't seem relevant, or
it's duplicated elsewhere.  The original article includes all the
catalog numbers of the original releases, a picture of the cover art,
information about the same songs on different singles, etc.  But I
suppose I could put all the parts together when I'm done, even though
it is all excerpted.

				. . .

Ben Zimmer <ZIMBENG@yalevm.bitnet> says:

>>From "X-plaining XTC Part 2":
>>several hours of cover versions (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin)
>>recorded during the _English Settlement_ days.  A tape of
>>these covers is known to be in circulation.
>
>No kidding?  Anyone know of this tape's existence, or of anything else from
>the _ES_ sessions?

Yes, it does exist, and I have heard a few songs from this tape.  Most
of the songs I've heard have been horrible remote copies with terrible
sound quality.  The only really good copy I've heard is of the song
"Community Worker Breakdown", XTC's cover of "Communication Breakdown"
and "Whole Lotta Love".  Pretty funny, but I know there's more where
that came from.

				. . .

Chap Godbey <cg47+@andrew.cmu.edu> says:

>I just found in this latest issue of _Goldmine_ a two-7" set of acoustic
>Oranges and Lemons songs off LA radio.  Anyone know what gives with that?

Yes, it's a bootleg double 7" set of the acoustic performance at
KROQ-FM 106.7 Pasadena, CA.  Apparently it's very professionally done
with color cover art.  You can find additional information in the
Discography.

>The (extremely) Little Express just bounced into my hands.  Seems that
>they forgot to do the summer issue, but a big one's coming.

Has anybody else seen this?  My copy has not arrived yet.  Darn.

See y'all.

	-- John

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