Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 91
Date: Thursday, 28 March 1996
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 91
Thursday, 28 March 1996
Today's Topics:
Demos
Va Va Va dideo
versions of buster out there??
Re: The Good Things.
Studio Noise
Strange Trip
The All Music Guide/Jon Brion/Unpredictable
Verve Pipe Live
Travels In Nihilon
re: Viddy This, Little Droogies
Re: the xtc-mtv connection / missing goodies
Just purging my mind.
Re: Video killed the radio star
New TMBG song!
The Lost Trax
Right-O
Life Begins With This Tape
Godley/Creme
Various Stuff
HELIUM KIDS lyrics
Stuff
Sacrificial Bonfire made with creaking chairs
Administrivia:
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to
<chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command:
unsubscribe chalkhills
For all other administrative issues, send a message to:
<chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org>
Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to:
<chalkhills@chalkhills.org>
World Wide Web: "http://chalkhills.org/"
The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.
So burn my letters and you'd better leave.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 23:18:00 -0500 (EST) From: "Jennifer L. Geese" <jlg@tardis.svsu.edu> Subject: Demos Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960324231328.6299D-100000@tardis.svsu.edu> Hi all - I recently got a copy of _Jules Verne's Sketchbook/ The Bull with the Golden Guts_ from a friend and can't stop listening to it! I love it. I just had a few thoughts. First, I can't believe some of these songs never made it onto an album. I love "Young Cleopatra", "Broomstick Rhythm" and "Goodbye Humanosaurus" (just to name a few). Secondly, does anyone know when _...Sketchbook_ dates from. I was wondering if maybe "Work" had been intended as a B-side for "Leisure". Wouldn't that have been interesting?? Jen
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 00:46:42 -0500 Message-Id: <199603250546.AAA03342@dcez.dcez.com> From: "J. D. Mack" <jdmack@nicom.com> Subject: Va Va Va dideo >From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher) >Subject: video killed the radiostar > >Am I the only one whose heart has sunk at reading the synopses of imagined >XTC videos that a couple of Chalkies have suggested? Maybe it's my lack of >imagination at interpreting them, but they sound to me like a >million-and-one pop videos that fill up MTV every day. O.K., let me try one. Let's see. . . we'll pick the song "Travels In Nihilon." As the opening drumbeat starts, we see a closeup of someone playing a completely unrelated rhythm on a guitar. Then, we switch to a close up of a plate of nachos spinning in a microwave oven. A housewife takes them out, and as she enters the living room to serve them, we see a room full of trashcans. Smiling all the while, she dumps the nachos down her dress, and then begins reading a comic book that was sitting on one of the trash cans. The scene suddenly swithces to 3 people playing Trivial Pursuit. Then, just as abrubtly, the scene changes to Andy sitting in a chair facing a wall, doing absolutly nothing. The camera VERY slowly zooms in until we see an extreme close up of Andy's ear hairs. An animated scorpion crawls out of Andy's ear, and then it smiles and waves at the camera. Quick cut to a young policeman knocking on a door, and two parent types opening the door. The policeman shoots them. As he turns to the camera and smiles, there is a very slow disolve to Colin cutting the grass. He stops to wipe his brow, and then runs away from the camera as fast as he can. Dave suddenly sticks his head in the scene, and stares unsmiling at the camera for 30 seconds. Then he sprays the lens with spray paint. Someone then tries to wipe the paint from the lens, which of course, only smears it. This image of paint being smeared in endless patterns takes up the rest of the video. Is this what you had in mind?
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996 22:55:56 -0800 From: becki diGregorio <ziglain@cruzio.com> Subject: versions of buster out there?? Message-ID: <9603242255.aa05545@bbs.cruzio.com> greetings!! a note of thanks to the person who mentioned the "thanks to andy" line on the latest offering from toad the wet sprocket. i'd just gotten this cd a few days prior, and immediately after reading your quote i listened to their song "hobbit on the rocks." indeed, the sound is somewhat reminiscent of xtc, and very cool of toad to write..."Thanks to Andy Partridge for the inspiration" inside the cd jacket. and a reply to *stewart evans* who transcribed part of an interview w/ andy about his beach boys influence for psonic psunspot: >Incidentally, this is from an interview that I did with Andy for a radio >special on KFJC, back in 1987 or 88. I've only just now finished transcribing >the whole thing, and I'm sending it to John separately for adding to the >archives. hey, stewart, i do believe i have a copy of this tape. kfjc, the same radio station here in the bay area, cupertino, california?? i have three tapes of an xtc radio special from november 10th, 1987. are you the cat who did this?? i'm going to give it another listen sometime this week, time permitting, since it's been years. my friend, john wedemeyer, turned me on to this tape many years ago. 'twould be cool if it's indeed yours (how many kfjc's are there??). btw: to john relph; you are indeed thanked for all that you do to keep this xtc line going. we who subscribe to chalkhills are grateful for your hard work. and your web page is quite cool, too. it's great to have the lyrics posted in one convenient location. it's wild, but there are actually lyrics to xtc songs that i have yet to hear. damn, and i thought i had nearly all of them!! and is there anyone out there who has a copy of the "buster" tune, and might also have a copy (photo-copy ok) of the comic strip that accompanied it?? i've yet to hear this song, and would love to. thanks!!! becki "sometimes we're attached to our bodies for very good reasons." --william s. burroughs
------------------------------ From: DAMIAN FOULGER <SPXDLF@cardiff.ac.uk> Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 10:32:51 GMT Subject: Re: The Good Things. Message-ID: <1E23FDB5CE5@nrd2s.cf.ac.uk> Rogier wrote: >Terry & the Lovemen take this to the extreme. They introduce an XTC >archive gem called "The Good Things" that sounds like it's being >performed by the Fab Three themselves. You don't suppose that... Nah! ;-)) I think that it's pretty well accepted that T&TLM are infact XTC. It was recorded near Swindon, T&TLM were loaned by Virgin (but Virgin don't have anyone _called_ T&TLM) and the singer sounds exactly _like_ Colin. Dames TWD (Life is good in the greenhouse:XTC) (You told me you saw Jesus, but I could only see a tree: Amber) (If people lived in Heaven, God would break their windows: Damian)
------------------------------ From: AMANION@rex.smumn.edu Organization: Saint Mary's University Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 11:33:51 GMT-6 Subject: Studio Noise Message-ID: <32A770A02B7@rex.smumn.edu> Beloved Hillsters, Following the studio noise thread, I have often wondered whether the drum stick dropping at the end of Poor Skeleton was originally an accident that they decided to leave in. I can't see Andy saying, "...and then we'll do this bit at the end where we drop a drum stick on the cement floor to sound like bones spilling out..." It does work, though. Come to think of it, now that I've written it out, I CAN see Andy saying that. (First time I heard a stick drop on a recording was on a Scott Joplin album.) Also, I've often wondered what the number one and two takes of Towersr of London sound like. Merely, Amanion
------------------------------ From: Chris Spillios <cspillio@env.gov.ab.ca> Subject: Strange Trip Message-ID: <SIMEON.9603250925.A@oxp102.env.gov.ab.ca> Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 09:15:25 -0500 (EST) From: relph (John Relph) >> >> I think the lyrics tend to support "stand clear" a lot better than >>they do "straight to ya". > >The funny thing is that I always thought it was "strange trip". >Must've been the neo-psychedelic flavour of the song (or maybe it was >the drugs 8^) Yes, yes, yes! But no drugs. I thought I was too far out in left field on this one. But if it's good enough for John ... Chris (unable to accept his individuality) Spillios
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 09:37:56 -0500
Message-ID: <156be1a0@cinsycfs.rcc.org>
From: David.Criddle@cinsycfs.rcc.org (David Criddle)
Subject: The All Music Guide/Jon Brion/Unpredictable
Hello All!
I really enjoy the chat we get going here. Thanks a million John R.!!
This is the only newsletter/thing I have held on to over the years.
High on content, low (usually) on pap.
Sorry I go so long here. I have been reading but have not written in
about a year. I've been saving it up. I put headings so you can wade
to points of interest!
All Music
For all you record guide readers out there, I must agree that the Spin
guide is a waste of a sapling. The bands they do like are so obscure
(For good reason!) that you could never get your hands on their
records anyway. They write volumes about some bands that were very ho
hum to me. They are so fair weather. They just seem to like
obscurity, not music. If some other critics like XTC, they sure as
hell can't like them. "We like the Zippos, much better than XTC but
you can only buy the album in the West Indies!" Puh!
For me, the guide to have is the All Music Guide. It may not have
everything, but if you are into going back and exploring some older
releases it is the greatest. It lists most of a band's albums and has
a fair rating system. They also have a purely Rock version. Just
recently, because of Chalkhills, I went back to look for some Kinks
albums to buy. All Music is great for avoiding, or at least preparing
you for, the dud albums. I got the Village Green Preservation Society
(Amazing album. Thanks Chalkhills) and wanted some more. This book
runs down all of the albums with a good description. I highly
recommend it!!! It may not have everything, but what it does have is
well written and very helpful. They actually have an on-line version
on the internet too. There is one way to keep it current!
Jon Brion
I have just finished listening to Amiee Mann's I'm With Stupid!
Another Chalkhills find. Very good album. Plus the Squeeze help is a
perfect match for her. Jon Brion does some nice production work.
What about him for XTC? He gets some nice vintage sounds that I think
would really mesh well with XTC. I think XTC's albums have been from
average to slick on the production side lately. The Dukes stuff was a
little more rough. Jon Brion does a good job of making things kind of
vintage (sorry, what a buzz word!) without being too rough. Dave G.
would have some fun with guitar sounds too. Jon loves to get those
thick crunchin' guitar sounds. Brion in '97!
What else has Jon Brion been on? I know the Grays, Jellyfish thing. I
know I have seen him somewhere before. It seems like it was Elvis C.
or something.
Unpredictable
The Beach Boys have grown on me like a lovely, harmonious fungus.
Give them a chance to get into your life. Pet Sounds didn't strike me
at first, but it sure has become one of my favorites. I like them for
the same reason I liked XTC. They are both very unpredictable. I
hate an album that where I anticipate every chord change. Some bands
put in weird chords just to be weird. XTC and Brian Wilson both do a
good job of putting in chords that mesh well with each other and flow
very musically but do not necessarily come to mind right away. There
is nothing more refreshing that hearing a brilliant chord change! You
just go, "Wow! I never would have thought to do that!" I have spent
many hours hitting rewind on my CD and trying to figure out chords for
XTC and the Beach Boys. "Now the bass is playing G but the chord is a
F6th?" Try to figure out the chords on "God Only Knows" some rainy
day. That is just as tough as "Then She Appeared".
See ya,
Dave Criddle
------------------------------
Message-Id: <s1566f13.027@DICTAPHONE.COM>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 09:49:11 -0500
From: Tim Kendrick <TKEN@DICTAPHONE.COM>
Subject: Verve Pipe Live
Hi !
This past Friday night I saw the VERVE PIPE
at a club in Port Chester, New York. The drummer
Donny spotted me in my NONSUCH t-shirt and came
up to talk to me. He's a real nice guy and actually
apologized to me because they weren't going to be
covering any XTC songs in that nights show !
Along with their own CD's and t-shirts to sell, they
had copies of TESTIMONIAL DINNER for sale as well.
The show itself was great ! They're one of those
bands that actually sound better live than they do on
their CD's. Alot of energy ! (And the bass player is
really hot !)
Donny said he heard Andy's contribution to the new
Talking Heads CD ("Paper Snow", I think he said the
song is called ???).
He said it's AWESOME!!!!
Verve Pipes new major label release comes out
on Tuesday (March 26).
XTC SONG OF THE DAY: Ladybird
(definitely a Spring-time song)
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Mar 96 19:19:53 GMT Message-Id: <9603251919.AA002lz@prime.demon.co.uk> Message-Id: <224ab2d6.88d4c-Deckard@prime.demon.co.uk> From: Steve Dawe <Deckard@prime.demon.co.uk> Subject: Travels In Nihilon In Chalkhills 2-80 Mark Mello asks about Travels in Nihilon and states that he remembered seeing it on a book somewhere - he's right - it is by Alan Sillitoe , angry young man etc of the 60's - read the book and the song becomes crystal clear! Terry & The Lovemen - are they "the fab 3"?According to Q magazine,an English monthly music magazine,XTC have been busy in the studio finishing material under the moniker of Terry and the Lovemen.When my eyes fell on this stunning information I immediately began to call all record stores to be met with blank voices stating "dunno,never heard of them". If this is Andy and co.-come on chaps,tell us when your next album is out!! On the subject of favourite XTC tracks to make into video,how about 'beating of hearts'?A few years ago a few friends and myself began to mess around making our own videos,using snippets of news footages/documentaries etc.Once we were happy with the final cut we would dub music over the footage - I recall a truly nightmarish version of "Beating of Hearts" that contained gulf war footage,film of local westcountry mayday celebrations and everything and anything that appeared on TV over a 24hour period - and this was all BEFORE U2 ZOOTV!!!! Somehow,it all seemed to gell and worked out fine (but you didn't want to see the mistakes!) It seems a shame that a band whose lyrics contain such rich imagery and are open to such wide interpretation are not having stunning videos made that would really place them to the fore.Perhaps Columbia can slip some cash that way - after bankrolling a tour!! * -------------------------------------------------------------------------. !Email Deckard@prime.demon.co.uk !Mail Sent Via Demon Internet Services ! !Full Internet Conection For 10/Month Fixed. Tel: 0181 371 1234 ! `-------------------------------------------------------------------------'
------------------------------ Date: 25 MAR 96 15:28:30 EDT From: PCulnane@dca.gov.au Subject: re: Viddy This, Little Droogies Message-ID: <0000ftbjbdvr.0000ecyksguw@dca.gov.au> I've just been look-looking at "Look Look" (XTC video) again (mainly to get inspiration for my own video scenario as per the current game some Chalkies have been playing) - and noticed a couple of curiosities: 1) In the clip for "Generals and Majors", none other than Mr Richard Branson, the virginal balloonist himself, appears as a General (or at least he has four pips on his eppaulette). Anyone else identified his appearance? 2) In "Ball and Chain" there is a courtroom scene which features a "seductress" who looks uncannily like Donna Summer! Can anyone confirm or deny conclusively that it's her? 3) "Dear God video clip (not on Look Look, by the way) - could it be Colin's son, Lee Moulding, who mimes the child's voice at the start of the clip?. This kid resembles Lee as pictured in the biography "Chalkhills and Children" and he'd be about the right age vis-a-vis the age of the clip. Anyone care to venture an opinion? Paul
------------------------------ Message-ID: <315725DE.6048@knoware.nl> Date: Mon, 25 Mar 1996 15:01:50 -0800 From: Mark Mello <mmello@knoware.nl> Subject: Re: the xtc-mtv connection / missing goodies Regarding the XTC-MTV connection, here's a quote from an interview with Andy that appeared in Dutch magazine OOR in june 1992: ---quote--- AP: I'm afraid MTV Unplugged was created by us. MTV wanted us to do an electric show on their soundstage, but we wanted to do it with three acoustic guitars. They've used us as guinea pigs and it turned out well so now they make _everybody_ play acoustic. ---unquote--- ( translated from english into dutch into english ) I recall other interviews where Andy has made similar statements. And now for something completely different: how about a thread about the most treasured/valuable XTC goodie lost or stolen by you? When my ex and I broke up a couple of years ago, i left my record collection at her apartment for a couple of weeks. Some months later i noticed that my first edition, multi-coloured vinyl pressing copy of _Psonic Psunspot_ was missing. If she had taken all my CD's i could have replaced them and would never have shed a tear, but now... She really broke my hart that day. BTW: many thanx to all Chalkies who replied to my questions about the book Travel In Nihilon by Alan Sillitoe. bye 4 now, Mark Mello -- Decorate the inside of your heads <XTC>
------------------------------ Message-Id: <ad7d25ea00021004405a@[204.168.71.177]> Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 15:06:32 +1005 From: comlit2@pppmail.nyser.net (Computer Center Lab) Subject: Just purging my mind. Hello all. First: >From Chalkhills 2-90 >Dern tootin'. Considering how peniscentric his lyrics can be, this may >explain why--it's in his last name as well as in his pants and hormones! Patty- that's great, I laughed so hard. Seriously, Andy's not that "peniscentric".(:>) Saying that Andy is not "peniscentric" is a "phall-ic"y. Second, >someone who works for Spin wouldn't recognize criticism >directed at himself... >a corporate-sanctioned arbiter of taste for the toiling masses. >The objects of satire can never see their own reflection. Well said. Next, my perfect video: How about for "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" using the drawings that Gustave Dore did for Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?. As the song plays, the pictures fade from one to another. Well, maybe not good enough for MTV. Next, >It's time for a bit of a walk down memory lane, when Barry the >Car and Terry the Fish were still in the band. I know this reference is from the "Mayor of Simpleton" video, as well as Ian Absentia. I understand why Ian [Reid] is "absent", but why is Terry a fish and Barry a car? Is there some hidden meaning besides the video showing a car and a fish? Just something I've always wondered about. Finally, >if you play the track LOUD, is the noise of a chair creaking during >Sacrificial Bonfire. Towards the end when Colin sings "Burn up the old, >bring in the new" (for the last time) he holds the note >neeeeeeewww. There's a moments silence before the instruments kick in >again and if you're listening real carefully you'll hear that ol' chair >a-creakin'. I thought that it waas two people talking. I know this occurs on Mummer or TBE but I cannot remember where. It sounds to me like there is a conversation occuring and was recorded on the master tape and when the other tracks were added, it became unnoticable until the sound levels drop so low that something can be hear. On this song, the "bonfire" is that crackling throughout. Well, that's my 25 cents. Nothing new to add. All the best, Chuck.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 15:09:22 +0900 (JST)
Message-Id: <199603260609.PAA27834@gol1.gol.com>
From: mwicks@gol.com (Michael Wicks)
Subject: Re: Video killed the radio star
In Chalkhills #2-90, Mark Fisher wrote:
>Am I the only one whose heart has sunk at reading the synopses of imagined
>XTC videos that a couple of Chalkies have suggested?
Having had some experience in video production, I know just how hard it is
to come up with a fresh, artistic idea. I mean, look at this year's Academy
Awards. ;-)
As to the videos mentioned (though not directly) above, all of them have
the uniqueness of being the artists humble and honest interpretation. As
Andy Partridge himself said in an MTV interview, "videos are the sole
interpretation of the director....and if you really want to enjoy the
music, go to your TV set and turn the contrast/brightness all the way
down..." or something like that.
> Maybe it's my lack of imagination at interpreting them, but they sound to me
>like a
>million-and-one pop videos that fill up MTV every day.
Sorry, but any idea(s) that our three lads from Swindon inspire are a HELL
of a lot better that the million (and one) "pieces of trash" that are out
there, and believe me, I've seen my share of them.
> it just seems to me that the pop video has become a terribly cliched medium
>and - call me old fashioned but - few people have found an appropriate visual
>accompaniment to the pop song since Dick Lester's Beatle-flicks.
Quite agreed, very much so, and isn't it a shame?
>I don't claim to have the visual imagination to think up an alternative,
>but I have a suspicion that it would not have images of the band (playing
>instruments, staring meaningfully into the camera, anything), just as it
>wouldn't have images of old people walking past in slow motion (which every
>video I ever see seems to have). The problem, I guess, is that most videos
>are designed as adverts (hence pictures of the 'product', ie the band) and
>that does not make for interesting art.
What are your feelings, Mr. Fisher, on videos such as "The Ballad of Peter
Pumpkinhead" , "The Mayor of Simpleton", "SWO", or any other number of XTC
videos that are shown annually at the Friends of XTC Music Convention and
other private home showings?
>The second problem is that visual images tend to make concrete the things
>that music leaves abstract and - at the risk of contradicting my earlier
>postings about song meanings - denies the listener a lot of interpretive
>pleasure.
Not if they're done in such a way as to BE abstract, and many art
films/videos leave so much room for interpretation for the viewer that it
is just as pleasing to watch the video as to listen to the music.
Two quick examples (from around '89/'90): The Sunday's "Here's Where The
Story Ends" and Cocteau Twins' "Heaven or Las Vegas".
>I still believe that a good music video should be possible, I just don't
>think that anyone, in the mainstream at least, knows what it would look
>like.
Are you saying that we Chalkhillians are "in the mainstream?" : - )
>Maybe someone out there does . . .
Therefore, may I respond to this by proposing something: I am currently
scripting (i.e. jotting ideas down on paper) an idea to video/film some of
the lyrical/musical feelings/thoughts I get every damn time I listen to
'Skylarking'. At first, I was planning on making this highly personal, but
now I'd like to send out a formal invitation to anyone out there that has
some ideas (visual, no band members in it, please!) for some/any/all of the
songs on 'Skylarking'. Mr. Fisher, a Pear Tree branch goes out to you,
first, even though you stated that you "...don't have the imagination to
offer an alternative", any idea(s) will suffice. Would like to start
filming this in July/August, so just drop me an e-mail line at
mwicks@gol.com and we'll go from there.
Sorry so bloody long, please forgive me!
All the Best in xTc,
Michael (osaka, japan)
------------------------------ From: Tdg2000@aol.com Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 11:04:45 -0500 Message-ID: <960326110444_362264517@emout04.mail.aol.com> Subject: New TMBG song! I don't know if this has been posted yet, but They Might Be Giants hve been playing new song of recent and hve included quite a little homage to XTC entitled "XTC vs. Adam Ant" including the lines: "Just when you think it's over, with XTC on top, Ant Music like a Phoenix, rising up the charts" "History will decide. Even the singer from Bow-Wow-Wow, can't make up her mind" "Beatle-based pop vs. New Romantic, there is no right or wrong" Very cool. In fact, IMO, all of the 6 or 7 new TMBG songs they are working our are incredible. Very catchy and poppy. The new album will probably sell very well. Todd Grove
------------------------------ Date: 26 MAR 96 15:09:06 EDT From: PCulnane@dca.gov.au Subject: The Lost Trax Message-ID: <0000cusmeyea.0000bdpnvbdj@dca.gov.au> As many of you die-hard collectors (aka "completists") will know, there still remain some XTC live tracks officially issued (mainly as single b-sides) but which haven't shown up on CD as yet. I made my own compilation of these and, tightly-edited together in more-or-less chronological order, it makes for scintillating listening! The whole lot runs for just under 40 minutes, so it would make a fine CD on its own and would mean that just about everything officially released by the band would be available on CD. Is there anything that I have missed? (Well, I know I've missed the live version of "Traffic Light Rock", but what else?). Here's the track listing with their sources: 1. This Is Pop (concert origin unknown - b-side to Aus/Jap 7" single "Making Plans For Nigel") 2. Are You Receiving Me? (as for track 1) 3. Set Myself On Fire (17 March '79; Rainbow Theatre, London - b-side on 7" double-pack single "Towers Of London") 4. Battery Brides (as for track 3) 5. Living Through Another Cuba (12 Oct '80; Lyceum, London - b-side of 7" single "Sgt Rock") 6. Generals And Majors (as for track 5) 7. Burning With Optimism's Flames (May '91; Hammersmith Odeon, London - b-side of 12" single "Love On A Farmboy's Wages") 8. English Roundabout (as for track 7) 9. Cut It Out (as for tracks 7 & 8) 10. Respectable Street (28 Aug '80; Frejus Amphitheatre, Paris - from double-lp "Urgh! A Music War") For the eagle-eyed, but perhaps not fully-aware collector, the track entitled "Cut It Out" is not a "lost" song as such. It's merely a "jam" around the "Scissor Man" motif which emerges from the preceding track, "English Roundabout". Try making this compilation yourself. It sure beats changing records on the deck. Now, how do we convince the powers that be (the band? Virgin? Tarquin Gotch?) that this stuff should be rounded up and put out on CD without further delay? ...sense of irony intact.... The Honourable Paul Culnane of Oz (sic)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01BB1BAB.EEE28200@DIALUP1124.SISNA.COM> From: Randy Watkins <randyw@sisna.com> Subject: Right-O Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 20:42:51 -0800 Hi All! Mark Fisher wrote: "...the pop video has become a terribly cliched medium and - call me old fashioned but - few people have found an appropriate visual accompaniment to the pop song since Dick Lester's Beatle-flicks." I can't agree more with that statement. One of the wonderful things about music is the imagery that fills your head when you listen to it. To spoil that imagery by replacing it with someone else's version is pointless. That is not to say there aren't (and haven't been in the past) some damn fine music videos. I just think it shouldn't substitute for one's imagination. As a sidenote to that, a few years ago Hollywood wanted to make a "Pink Floyd...Dark Side of the Moon" film, with each song done by a different director. They had some big names lined up, too...Scorsese (?), Woody Allen, etc. Floyd canned the project because "we feel it would disturb the imagery that so many people hold dear to that recording." (I wish Hollywood would do an "XTC" film that way, so the guys could at least get some decent publicity!) Rando http://www.sandiego.sisna.com/randyw
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 04:06:40 -0500 (EST) From: "k.a. hehir" <angelo@mustang.uwo.ca> Subject: Life Begins With This Tape Message-ID: <Pine.3.88.9603270412.A25410-0100000@mustang-a.uwo.ca> i hope this squeaks in under the wire. my tribute submission is--- Life Begins With This Tape any other Adam West fans out there? kevin
------------------------------ Message-Id: <c=US%a=_%p=INTERGRAPH%l=HQ6960327160243FE003A00@hq14.pcmail.ingr.com> From: "Kirby, Jay (John E)" <JEKirby@ingr.com> Subject: Godley/Creme Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 16:02:43 -0600 In a recent digest, relph (John Relph) responded > james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) writes: > > > >Oh yes. And I also know that Godley and Creme released some gems of albums > >that no-one seems to have heard of, like "L", Freeze Frame", and "Ismism" > > Actually, I've heard _L_ was released on CD in Japan, but I wouldn't > fork out US$30+ for it... I'll just listen to the vinyl again, thank > you very much. I remember seeing "Freeze Frame" as a domestic US CD release in the late 80's but I neglected to buy it at the time. Haven't really looked lately. Hey maybe these guys will do nifty enhanced CD versions of their old catalog with kewl visuals, they should know how to do that right after all... ... Jay Kirby (jekirby@ingr.com)
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Mar 96 15:30:51 PST From: "Sean Robison" <sean_robison@studio.disney.com> Message-Id: <9602278279.AA827969116@ccmsmtp2.wds.disney.com> Subject: Various Stuff Actually, just two things: 1. The Gold CD's. I Emailed MFSL to see if they had any other XTC titles scheduled for production. Alas, the answer was no. However (whether this means anything or not, who knows) they did say that the interest in more titles from XTC would be passed along to their A/R dept. So.... there's always hope. 2. Videos. It's been interesting reading how people would 'videoize' various songs. So, I thought I'd toss in my two cents worth. But, instead of choosing a particular song, I'd either 1. like to see a video that's either a visual represtation of the VARIOUS interpretations an XTC song can be put through (ala "Dear Madam Barnum" and "Another Satellite") or a video that was JUST as open to interpretation AS the songs or 2. A video akin to the Beatles' "Free As A Bird" - jam packed with TONS of visual clues to the band's various songs - e.g. a scissor man running through... a smart monkey... a girl in the air like a helicopter, etc etc.... And so endeth my rambling. Well, other than I've been listening to "Go 2" quite a bit recently. Good album. It's a great sign of a great band when their sound evolves THAT much - from "White Music" to "Nonsuch"... OKAY... now I'm done with my rambling... Sean Robison
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199603280347.MAA18487@gamella.cc.hc.keio.ac.jp>
Subject: HELIUM KIDS lyrics
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 1996 12:47:04 +0900
From: "Naoyuking Iso." <a01512@cc.hc.keio.ac.jp>
Howdy, all you Chalkhillians?
I got HELIUM KIDS stuff the other day, but there was no lyrics sheet
with it. And, to my sorrow, I'm so bad at haering English that I can
hardly understand the lyrics.
Does anyone know if an archive for HELIUM KIDS lyrics exists?
Or if someone has the lyrics sheets, could you send me copies of them?
BTW, I'd like to ask a subscriber in France to email me personally
apart from the topic above. (Of course in ENGLISH!)
Cheers!!!
From "Naoyuking Iso." at the department of economics in Keio Univ.
E-mail:a01512@cc.hc.keio.ac.jp (till May 31. 1996)
------------------------------ From: Ben Gott <BENG@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> Subject: Stuff Date: Thu, 28 Mar 96 07:59:00 est Message-ID: <315A8C7F@pentium3.hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> Hi to all my favorite Chalkies: Well, it's been a long three weeks on Spring Break (yawn), but, finally, I am back at my e-mailing post. 1) Let's call the tribute tape "Strange Tales." 2) Has anyone else ever noticed the similarities between XTC and Midnight Oil? Let me explain: -both groups started off punk, but turned "lighter" -both groups had their most successful albums the same time (mid-1980's) -"Beds are Burning" and "Books are Burning" -both lead singers have varying degrees of hair loss 3) If I had all the money in the world to do an XTC video, I'd do one for Yacht Dance. Not sure how, though. 4) We have a great moderator. When my best friend sent an e-mail to John Relph requesting (for me) to unsubscribe from Chalkhills for the last three weeks, he sent a confirmation notice! What a guy - always looking out for our safety. 5) Another "get a copy o' the new demos" trivia question coming up... 6) "Fields" rocks! -Bennnnnn XTC SONG OF THE DAY: The World is Full of Angry Young Men
------------------------------ Message-Id: <9603280344.AA3473@worldcom-45.worldcom.com> From: Martin Bell <Martin_Bell/New_Zealand/IDG_Net@idg.com> Date: 28 Mar 96 16:27:24 Subject: Sacrificial Bonfire made with creaking chairs >Call me crazy, but I am pretty darn sure that the "creaking chair" in >Sacrificial Bonfire is the sound of a crackling "bondfire". Makes >sense huh?? No, I wasn't referring to the sound of a crackling bonfire after Colin sings the line "Burn up the old". It's AFTER he sings the line "Bring in the new". It's in that half second of silence before the "Bom Bom - da da da da daa" starts again that I heard the chair creaking. Like I say, I think you'll need a pretty good rig to hear it - it's almost buried in the tape hiss. But if you play it REAL loud (or maybe use headphones) you will hear it. Maybe it's more noticeable on the gold Skylarking? (Any closet audiophiles care to share?). Or maybe I'm the one who's crazy... Martin
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-91 ******************************
Go back to Volume 2.
28 March 1996 / Feedback