Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 8
Date: Thursday, 5 October 1995
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 8
Thursday, 5 October 1995
Today's Topics:
Accept No Substitutes
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7
Newell's "Greatest Living..."
Re: Beautiful South "Best"
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7
p. hux
The best place to buy XTC CD's
Dear God and the Evil Virgin
"Change My World" and XTC
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7
Blurry Choco Chips
Info about the Verve Pipe
The "sins" of Virgin
Videos & audios
Ack! I missed Dinner!!!
Top Ten Excuses...
Hatemail to Virgin ...
Miscellaneous stuff
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The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.
My faith in human nature's getting pretty thin.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 11:31:12 -0700
From: relph (John Relph)
Subject: Accept No Substitutes
Gene "Sp00n" Yoon <st004422@brownvm.brown.edu> writes:
>
>So a new release from XTC is out of the question this year. In the
>meantime, you can chew on [...]
* Dodgy's album _Homegrown_. Excellent psychedelic pop, loads
of wah-wah guitar and other fun stuff.
* David Yazbek's excellent album _The Laughing Man_. Power pop,
featuring Andy Partridge on a couple of tracks.
* Boo Radleys _Wake Up!_.
* Portishead: _Dummy_. Seriously magnificent smoky late night
hip-hop.
* Radiohead: _The Bends_. Produced by John Leckie, noisy,
swirling, powerful. Reminds me of everything from King
Crimson to XTC to Nirvana to ...
* That Dog: _Totally Crushed Out_. A dark take on teen love.
"Christopher R. Coolidge" <ccoolidg@moose.uvm.edu>
>
> I probably still have the tape somewhere. Any plans
>to compile a tribute tape of Chalkhills subscribers?
Ian Stewart attempted to get Chalkhills subscribers to contribute to his
tribute tapes. As John Neil <BugRoom@aol.com> mentioned, his latest
effort is _Skylacking_, a tribute to the entire _Skylarking_ album.
Chalkhills subscribers may yet have time to contribute tracks for
_Skylacking_. As John said:
> Contact
> Ian C. Stewart c/o
> Bizarre Depiction
> PO Box 151378
> Columbus, OH 43215
*** NOTE! *** I fucked up. Bad. Here's a correction:
>If you wish to subscribe to Jangly, send mail to:
<jangly-request@mando.engr.sgi.com>
-- John
--
You're telling me there are these people who live in round felt huts,
they are called Kurds, they live in yurts, they milk yaks, and they
make youghurt? Naaahhh...
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 13:35:51 -0700 From: rimshot3@ix.netcom.com (ERIC ROSEN ) Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7 In response to the following 3 reposts I humbly suggest the following: (i.) we get the true story regarding XTC's forfeiture of back catalogue rights; i.e., what corporate entity are we dealing with? EMI, Virgin, Geffen? How exactly as the band affected? (ii.) once we have a clear understanding of (i.) above, then determine the present value of those rights in Pounds Sterling or US Dollars. (I figure if Michael "King of Pedophilia" Jackson purchased the Beatles' back catalogue several years ago for $48,000,000 US, then XTC's catalogue is worth 1/48th or so, or, $1,000,000 US.) (iii.) organize a collection from fans worldwide that would cover this cost and buy out the corporate entity. The greater the number of contributors, the smaller the individual outlay, hence, the greater the willingness of the membership to turn over the rights to XTC --or-- make an arrangement whereby sales of future albums go to covering the cost of the buyout with members subsequently reimbursed and rights thereby turned over to XTC. (iv.) Collecting such an amount should not be as daunting as it may seem at first blush if all XTC related organizations worldwide would work together. This includes Chalkhills, Beatown, The Little Express, The Fan Club in Japan, Limelight in the UK (I now they're defunct but presumably they still have lists of subscribers stored away) and others unbeknownst to yours truly. Surely there are other people that have the ability to reach many (former organizers of the various XTC conventions, etc.) others. If 100,000 people could contribute $10 each, $1,000,000 could be raised. If the organization were non-profit, the contributions would be tax deductible. The toughest part is not the money but the organizing. I know that with the cooperation of a few key individuals, I would be willing to dig my heels in and make a stand. Again, this all depends on (i.) above. Before all else, the truth of the matter must be unambiguous to all. >Subject: CD's >From: jd.mack@neteast.com (JD MACK) >Organization: Online Technologies, Inc. - Modem: 301-738-0000 > >Some advice to all you folks. If the rumor is true, and Geffen IS >deleting all of the XTC back catalog, DO NOT run out to fill the gaps in >your collection. History shows that SOMEONE will pick up the rights to >the back catalog, and when they do, they will release digitally >remastered CD's from the original master tapes of all the XTC product. >The back catalog of Emerson Lake & Palmer is a good example of this, >and now I hear a THIRD company will be remastering their catalog. >Patience will be rewarded!! >From: "Louis Barfe's IbMePdErRoIoAmL" <L.Barfe@lancaster.ac.uk> >Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-6 > >Is this serious about XTC giving up all rights to their back catalogue? >Dear God. Why should my favourite band have to give up their birthright >to keep the corporate scum happy? >From: "Bernhardt, Todd" <tbernhardt@aga.com> >Subject: Death to Virgin/EMI!! > > ZITTEL@aol.com wrote in #2, Vol. 6 that Virgin/EMI are trying to claim > ownership of the new demos that Andy has written, since they were > written while under contract!! It is time, fellow Chalkholios, to unite > against the twisted, insidious evil mentality that is driving these > buttholes! Why must they torment the world's greatest pop band in > this manner?? What did XTC ever do to them except make them money? I > refuse to believe that they ever LOST money on an XTC album -- even if > they did, I'm sure the catalog overall has been profitable. > > THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. Check the Chalkhills Discography, "Windowbox". It has an ending much like Stones' Dandelion as well. >From: ChrisMezzo@aol.com >Subject: Re: Chocolate Fireball > >In reading #2-5 and someone's synopsis of the Dukes influences, I saw this: > >>12. It's Snowing Angels-- Lovin' Spoonful, What a Day for a Daydream, >Donovan, Mellow Yellow. As derivative as it may be, it's still a >masterpiece!!
------------------------------ Date: 4 Oct 1995 16:33:20 -0500 From: "Ken Salaets" <ksalaets@itic.nw.dc.us> Subject: Newell's "Greatest Living..." Dear Eric, Personally, I think the album is fab and gear. Sincerely, Mr. Kite
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 16:50:05 -0700
From: chrikas@burntas1.frco.com (Christopher Kasic)
Subject: Re: Beautiful South "Best"
Back in Chalkhills #2-7, M Wilson responded:
>Beautiful South has a new "Best" album coming
Must be a blank disc then!
Hardly now. While they probably are shy of a "Best" album, especially
considering the "Miaow" release, they certainly have many good ones
from Welcome To... and Choke "I Love You...But You're Boring" and
"Carousel" come to mind. I remain hopeful for new material.
Give it a listen...
chris
------------------------------ From: 7IHd <ee92pmh@brunel.ac.uk> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7 Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 23:20:06 +0100 (BST) # From: terry kroetsch f <tkroetsc@mach1.wlu.ca> # Subject: Re: Shriekback # # Sorry if this has been dealt with already but... # # I read a review of the new Schriekback CD (or was it just a concert) - a # rather unplugged world-music affair. Does anything exist? Is there a # contact address for Barry and Shriekback? I REALLY need to know. HELP. It must have just been a concert, they're playing this stuff at the moment but the album is a way off (still awaiting a record deal). The nearest you're going to get to any new Shriekback stuff in the immediate future is the next Fluke single "Tosh", which will feature a version re-played (as opposed to remixed) by Shriekback. I have Barry's phone number but you're not getting it :-) ttfn, Phil _ |_)|_ *| | | )|| http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~ee92pmh/ ========
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 18:49:53 -0400 From: beach house tiki god <woj@remus.rutgers.edu> Subject: p. hux martucci@ix.netcom.com (Dean Martucci) sez: >Does anyone know anything about P. Hux, Verve Pipe, or Space Hog? as someone else correctly surmised a digest or two back, p. hux is the latest project that parthenon huxley is involved in. i picked up a four track sampler promo a month or so ago. it's unclear if parthenon is in the band or not - he just has production credits on the promo and band members are not listed. i would assume that he is though. the reason i picked it up (aside from the 99 cent price tag) was of a dave gregory blurb on the back, which reads, "great singing and guitar playing and an especially good bass sound. i like the in-your-face attack...." far be it for me to disagree with dave, but i found the four tracks quite boring and haven't listened to it since. woj
------------------------------
From: Ben Gott <BENG@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us>
Subject: The best place to buy XTC CD's
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 95 16:51:00 PDT
[This is a shameless plug, but I don't work for CDnow!] CDnow! is the
Internet company for all your CD needs...I've ordered "The Big Express,"
"White Music," and "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball" from them; the
CD's take a week to arrive at my school in Connecticut. Their interface
is friendly, and they have a great XTC selection ("great" is, of course,
a relative term...There aren't enough XTC's out there...) The address is
http://cdnow.com
Also, I reiterate: whoever has the demo, please pass it 'round! I'm
losing sleep over this thing! I've been rotating through my entire XTC
collection (15 albums in a year...not too shabby for a high school
junior), and I need new music! Please! Aaaaahhhh!
Anyway...looking forward to Oct. 17th!
Ben Gott
The Hotchkiss School
Lakeville, CT
P.S. Another good, but more expensive CD company is telnet:
cdeurope.com. To get a weekly list of their world releases via e-mail,
send a message to "dutch@gate.net", typing "weekly list" in the subject
box, and "subscribe" in the text area. I found out that "White Music" has
just been re-released in Belgium!
------------------------------ From: Gene_Yoon@Brown.edu Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 19:22:51 -0500 Subject: Dear God and the Evil Virgin >From: DAMIAN FOULGER <SPXDLF@cardiff.ac.uk> > >Ben Gott wrote: > >> Does anyone have any ideas of how I can turn members of my high >> school community on to XTC? > >Alas, if they are cloth-eared nincompoops then there is nothing that >you can do. Too bad Ben goes to a prep school, because otherwise he could hold the secretary at knife point and blast 'Dear God' over the PA system. Already been proven that it's very effective in at least making an impression. As far as XTC's alimony matters with their estranged ex-record label, if we inundate the company with raging emails and letters, we'd only be convincing them that there's a strong, loyal following (and there certainly is; pat ourselves on the back) which translates into potentially more $$ for Virgin, thus making their hold on the new demos even more valuable. Virgin would have to consider XTC as positively, truly dead (in the commercial sense) before they'd drop everything. That's what I think, anyway. :) Gene
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 21:22:02 -0400
From: nmcgrath@world.std.com (Nancy McGrath)
Subject: "Change My World" and XTC
In Chalkhills Digest #2-7, staylor@sky.net (Scott Taylor) wrote:
> >As I was listening to rag and bone buffet last night it occurred to me
> >how much of xtc's music could broadly be considered childrens music, and
> >how much of it relates to children.
>
> Witness "Cherry In Your Tree" from the Carmen San Diego album --
> ostensibly a kids' collection, after all -- or, better yet, "Change My
> World" from the same. (Billy Nexdor and his Neighbors -- yeah, right.
> Who else can this be?)
Actually, "Johnny [not Billy] Nexdor & His Neighbors" is not XTC. It is
Sean Altman in multiple roles, with a few friends thrown in for good
measure. For those of you not familiar with him, Sean is one of the lead
singers of the amazing rock/pop/R&B a cappella group, Rockapella. Sean
co-wrote "Change My World" with his friend and collaborator Billy Straus;
the song is their tribute to XTC's style.
There are lots of threads connecting XTC, Altman, Straus and David Yazbek
(who, as we all know, is putting together the XTC tribute album,
"Testimonial Dinner"). Altman has been friends with both Yazbek and
Straus since he was in high school. The three of them co-produced the
two "Carmen Sandiego" albums ("Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"
and "Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World"). Altman and Yazbek sing
back-up and Yazbek plays keyboards on XTC's "Cherry in Your Tree"; Altman
sings back-up and Straus plays guitar on Yazbek's album, "The Laughing
Man."
XTC has long been one of Sean's favorite groups, a fact that is evident
from their influence on his song-writing style. In addition, a number of
the songs Rockapella performs were written by or co-written with Yazbek
or Straus, including the "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" theme
song and "My Home," which Rockapella performs on the first "Carmen" album
with the Persuasions.
Oh, and one last connection: Sean Altman introduced me to the music of
both XTC and David Yazbek, and converted me into a lifetime fan of both
[thanks, Sean!]. (I started out as -- and still am -- a major fan of
Rockapella.... but I guess that's obvious.)
BTW, Carmen Sandiego notwithstanding, Rockapella is *NOT* a children's
group. Yes, kids love them, but so do people of all ages. This has
never been more clear than on their current cross-country tour; they've
been winning the hearts of folks from pre-birth to eighty (and probably
older). Their new independently produced album, "Primer," is selling
like crazy on the tour.
I strongly recommend that all XTC fans check out Rockapella. For
starters, stop by the group's new web site at
http://www.umich.edu/~bparnes/Rockapella. If you like what you see and
hear, you can subscribe to their concert announcement mailing list by
sending an email containing only the word "subscribe" (no quotes) to
rockapella-cyberspace-request@world.std.com. And feel free to address
any Rockapella-related questions to Rockapella@world.std.com.
[End of shameless plug]
>Does anyone know anything about P. Hux, Verve Pipe, or Space Hog? Never
>heard of them, but they must be over the hill '70s glam rock outfits
Don't know about the other two, but Space Hogs are a New York City-based
British group who were recently signed to Elektra Records. (They are
also one of Sean Altman's favorite bands.)
Nancy McGrath
nmcgrath@world.std.com
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Oct 95 02:58:28 UT From: "Kristan Fackler" <KristanF@msn.com> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-7 First off, to tbernhardt@aga.com: I totally agree. I am sick of corporate capitalist pigs taking advantage of my favorite musicians. I like the potato sack idea, but perhaps it is going too easy on them...? Seriously, though, I agree something must be done. But as far as Andy being so grateful that he'd agree to tour... we wish. To pgm2@cornell.edu: XTC music is great for pregnancy, labor, and delivery--better than Lamaze! My daughter was born to Yacht Dance, and I swear she has a special appreciation for XTC because of how much she was exposed to it in utero. XTC's music is great for children and adults, in my humble opinion. To BURGESSC@nela1.lighting.light.ge.com: "Pain Makes You Beautiful" is definately one of the best songs (and albums) I have ever heard. Never thought of it in connection with XTC before, though. Too bad about them breaking up. One final thing: staylor@sky.net insinuated that Billy Nexdor and his Neighbors' song "Change My World" was actually done by XTC. After reading this, I listened to it multiple times and was not convinced. The voice is somewhat reminicent of A.Partridge, but is different somehow. Is there any truth to this? Just wondering. Kristan
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 22:43:34 -0500 From: wjcohen@students.wisc.edu (William J. Cohen) Subject: Blurry Choco Chips Ok, first I have to say that I do indeed like the new Blur cd. Listening to it has made me go back and listen to their last two and I think the new one is on par with Parklife. What boggles my mind is how Blur (a good band) is a super success in England whereas we have such super successes as, well who's BIG right now?, the point is its mostly crap. The UK top 20 is sometimes very weird in comparison to the lame-o American top 40 with Casey the dork. I know Dukes is not technically xTc, but it is one of my favorites. Everybody has mentioned the Beatles, but nobody (that I've seen) has mentioned "Rubber Soul" - their first truly psychedelic album. Say did anybody catch the five night Rock and Roll documentary on PBS? I thought it was pretty cool. Back to Dukes...somebody mentioned Love's "Forever Changes" - a great album to be sure. I also hear a lot of the early Yardbirds stuff which has already been commented on. I wish they would do another Dukes thing sometime; does anyone think they will?
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Oct 95 14:31:23 PDT From: "Khoi Huynh" <khoi@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Info about the Verve Pipe On September 29th, Dean Martucci wrote requesting information about the Verve Pipe who will be covering "Wake Up" for the tribute album. The Verve Pipe are not in fact washed up 70's glam artists- they are relatively new 90's glam rock artists who are quite popular in Michigan and other parts of the midwest these days. Their Debut album on Columbia records should be released sometime next year- and their two independent CD's are available by mail- They're both very good. I've seen them live several times, and they do pretty faithful covers of "Earn Enough For Us" and "Peter Pumpkinhead". For more information write to "vervepipe@eworld.com"
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 08:44:18 GMT From: Nick.BROWN@DCT.coe.fr (Nick BROWN) (Tel (+33)88.41.26.74) Subject: The "sins" of Virgin Just hold on a cotton-pickin' minute there, pardners, before you burn down the nearest branch of the Virgin organisation. A few years ago, Virgin sold their WHOLE catalogue to EMI. At the time it was widely considered that Virgin's boss Richard Branson, who is kind of a folk hero in Britain for taking on bigger businesses (eg British Airways), winning, coming up smelling of roses, and never being seen wearing a jacket or tie, had done a GREAT deal, in that he had sold the business for about twice what it was worth. I believe he also sold the rights to the Virgin name on the record labels as well. Branson's Virgin empire got started with records (the very name Virgin Records was meant to indicate he was a total newbie, not that he expected to get f***ed); the very first release was Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells", which was not a bad start (even if you hate the music, you have to admit it sold and sold and sold). A lot of people were sad to see him selling out to the suits at EMI, which is part of a megacorp. So, if the above is right (could of course be Branson bought the stuff all back without me noticing; he bought the whole Virgin company back off the stock market, after all), the fault (if there is fault) is with EMI and not with the world's wackiest company (how many other airline presidents go round economy class performing magic tricks ?). Nick Brown, Traenheim, France "Next stop, Tower of Babel !"
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 08:13:49 -0400 (EDT) From: glancaster@mecn.mass.edu Subject: Videos & audios Anybody else notice that on the "Generals and Majors" video, one of the "Generals" is none other than Richard Branson, then-owner of Virgin Records? As for tape trees, as I've said in the past, I'm more than willing to organize one for the demos & cassettes circulating. No offense, but this is quite a selfish list compared to others (Hitchcock, Floyd, etc.) when it comes to sharing rare materials for tape trees: why is this?
------------------------------
From: Gene_Yoon@brown.edu
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 08:50:08 -0500
Subject: Ack! I missed Dinner!!!
FLASH!
WBRU in Providence has a promo copy Testimonial Dinner and *played* it two
nights ago on their new-music show, "Vinyl Frontier", and I MISSED IT!!!
My radio alarm went off almost exactly on time with the intro to Senses
WOT, and finally there was a song worth getting out of bed for! So I
called the station to congratulate the DJ, who, it turns out, happens to
live next door to me, and he told me that Dinner has been served to most
alternative stations in the U.S.! Everyone send in your requests!!! It
seems Sarah McLachlan's Dear God is the favoured track.
I plan to break in to the BRU studios tonight and steal their promo. Once
and for all I must find out who Terry and the Lovemen *really* is. Some
things just must be done.
Gene
== ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
||'m gonna shake my bones, gonna shed my skin
|| Shake out what's mine, shake out this thing
== I've been here too long, now I'm up --Siouxsie & the Banshees
Skyward up this song, devour the sun...Now! 'Got to Get Up'
------------------------------
Date: 5 Oct 1995 09:38:52 -0500
From: "Wesley Wilson" <Wesley_Wilson@iegate.mitre.org>
Subject: Top Ten Excuses...
XTC's top ten excuses for no new album:
10. Couldn't find recording studio
9. General depression over having to buy first pair of size 38 pants
8. Giant, mutant squirrels ate demo tapes
7. Watched O.J. trial instead
6. "Write songs? I though YOU said you'd write the songs!"
5. Still trying to get Ringo as drummer
4. Did release album, but no one noticed
3. We overslept
2. Colin going back to lucrative milkman career
1. Can't give real reason; let's just say it involves a flashlight and
several hand puppets
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 95 14:47:57 CDT
From: "Bernhardt, Todd" <tbernhardt@aga.com>
Subject: Hatemail to Virgin ...
A couple people have contacted me on my previous posting, so I thought
I'd let y'all know that I posted a little diatribe on the Virgin
section of CompuServe's "Rock Music" forum, telling them to let the
band go...
But it does seem like there's more we can do. Does anyone know -- or
could anyone get -- Virgin/EMI's various email addresses so we could
fill up their mailboxes with hatemail until they released the boys just
to be rid of us all? Letter-writing campaigns have worked before, and
it would be even easier to do electronically, if we had the addresses!
If you find out this info, please post it!
------------------------------ From: Ben Gott <BENG@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> Subject: Miscellaneous stuff Date: Thu, 05 Oct 95 14:08:00 PDT >Browsing through CDnow, the on-line CD store, >I found myself in the Paul McCartney section. >Under "Similar Artists" was this simple listing: >Elvis Costello, Michael Jackson, XTC, Wings >He's worked with Elvis and Michael.... Can a >collaboration with Andy Partridge be in the future? I find that CDnow!, although it is a great store (my post saying so might be coming up in a Chalkhills soon), has some difficulty with their "Similar Artists" section...This was witnessed to me when they compared one of my favorite artists (Mike Oldfield) to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (another great band, although the two are like oil & water...) I'm going to join the Virgin attack, as long as I'm here. Let's write to Richard Branson via e-mail, and tell him that if he drops the XTC catalogue, that we won't buy Virgin releases anymore! That should make him sweat!... On another note: Mike Oldfield (see above) has also been screwed by Virgin, although not to as great an extent (they actually made a 4-disc retrospective...and Mike's been treated even worse by Warner Brothers, who haven't released his latest "Songs of Distant Earth" in the US yet!) Help me get through these cynical days... b e n g o t t student, the hotchkiss school lakeville, ct 06039 e-mail beng@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-8 *****************************
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