Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 129
Date: Thursday, 12 June 1997
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 129
Thursday, 12 June 1997
Today's Topics:
Rifff and the Astro-pixies
Forgotten Band Name
411 overload
XT SI, XT NO
MINGUS MENTIONED
Announcement : Andy Partridge On-Line
The gap between albums, and how to mind it
Another CMJ-XTC sighting
various repsonses and xTc & NIN?
Trouble over Tributes
Video XTC x3
anyone wanna trade?
My Weapon & Kiss Me Son of God: Apologies
New old parallels
Re: Second Comings
Red Noise
Tapes and tales
Andy + Nicki Holland: Will Nicki's new CD feature Andy's tunes?
Free Chat with Andy Partridge!
Books and boots
Mac'ing plans for Miniature Sun?
Program notes
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Who murders who and where is the treasure hid?
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970610165159.006bdaa4@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 17:51:59 +0100 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: Rifff and the Astro-pixies Well, hello folks, After much swearing and four tiresome reloads I finally got MSN to work properly and have experienced the Andy Partridge Rifff show. It's pretty nifty as a whole, and the implementation reeks of Andy's active participation. A bit of jolly music links the sections - sort of "Through The Hill" by way of "Frost Circus" and "Prince Of Orange", but also with touches of upbeat ska and thumping keyboards. Not classic Partridge, but nice enough. By a strange quirk of happenstance I seemed to have a blank cassette in my hi-fi at around the same time I was trawling this show... It ain't blank any more. Oh and Peter, tell me honestly, when you met Andy did he look ANYTHING like the picture they're using? Or has someone been playing with the Photoshop "cheekbones" plug-in? The show is split into three man sections. Andy Partridge Q & A This starts with "The Interactive Interview". As if. As anyone who has seen amy movie-promo multimedia CDs will know, this actually means there are a small number of set questions and you "interact" by clicking the appropriate question and waiting for the system to respond. Unfortunately the best access time for UK users is pre-11am and, as MSN steadfastly refused to connect to the Rifff site on Sunday until I'd removed it and installed it again, I've only been able to get a sluggish connection after office hours, so the Real Audio streams have been breaking up. I dropped them down to a lower quality to get a smoother, but noisier, result. There's not much that we didn't already know - Andy talks about Dear God, what he thinks of his early records and how his voice used to sound, etc. Supplementing the "Interactive Interview" is a similar concept that responds to the questions with text rather than audio information. Happily this was all cut-and-pasteable so I have been able to save it out for future reference after the show ceases. Again, there's nothing we didn't already know, but I don't suppose it was intended as an exclusive look behind the scenes for all us uber-fans, but more as bait for the heathen majority who haven't yet begun the love affair. Improvision This section plays a music track in the back ground and allows the user to set a style - Western, Classical, Industrial etc. and an approach - slow, frenzy, cheesy, etc. and, by clicking on the various instruments - bass, drums, guitar, keyboard and brass - modify the music as they wish. It's a lot of fun but, to be honest, it's difficult to produce a sustained blast of decent sounding music - you get on a roll and the thing is sounding pretty funky then you click a button out of phase and it goes horribly, horribly, wrong. If this was on a local disk or CD you'd play with it for hours; as it's dial-up at 2p per minute you fiddle around for a bit and - impressed by it's cleverness - move on. Arrange that tune! This is a little similar to the Improviser, but it takes a different approach. A toy theatre appears and various scenes unfold; a princess trapped in a tower with soldiers running about; a circus and a whale at sea. These are all linked by the character of a baggy-trousered clown. Another stripped down track plays in the background and, by clicking on the set elements in the theatre, the user advances the story and adds preset sounds into the mix. For example, clicking on the clown's car in the circus section produces an annoying car-horn blast. To move the story on to the next scene it seems every link must be clicked a certain number of times, or in certain patterns. The artwork for the whole project does seem to have had Andy's hand on it - indirectly or indirectly. The illustrations all seem to be in the "hand-tinted Victorian engraving" style that Andy seems to be so keen on. An excellent bit of fun then, well worth a browse and something that can only do the man and the band good. The sheer playfulness of the music and the graphics tell you more about the man than much of what he says in the interview. I'd be more than happy to post extracts and transcriptions here for those who haven't been able to access the show if they're wanted, but it's only fair to Microsoft (and to Peter Fitzpatrick, who I don't want to put into a difficult situation by his being involved in a list which contains copyrighted Microsoft material, and of course to the estimable Mr Relph who might get clobbered for including it) to wait until after the show is over and even then to maybe only offer it on a private e-mail basis. And for Martin, who said "I'd love to see the lyrics for that one," here's a transcription from the very shoddy rehearsal tape I have. Astro-Pixie Snakeskin Blues, USA - The Dribbling Wilburys The astro-pixie in his solar flares, Cycles round the stars and stares, At giant cats and tiny bears, That jingle jangle everywhere. I'm from from Mars, she's from Venus, I wonder if her parents seen us, Making out at the drive-in show, Sunset-stripping, kissing alfresco. Judas wept, his snakeskin cracked, Fingers crossed behind his back, His face was white, his heart was black, He left her bleeding in the beat up shack. Hey Judas, Pixie-booted guy, It's summer, Dustbowl. You can fly. Your surfboard's wet, But your wit is dry, Your US snakeskin makes them cry. Girls and goblins,Cakes and tea, Purple trousers, lemon trees, I'm not quite all I seem to be, I am Judas Fleetfoot, Astro-pixie. Astro-pixie (Will you fix me?) Astro-pixie (Not from Dixie) Astro-pixie (Sippin' whiskey) Astro-pixie (Aged over fifty) I know, I know, Simon +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ XTC? Are they still going? Follow me and find out..
------------------------------ From: Richard.PedrettiAllen@octel.com Message-Id: <c=US%a=_%p=Octel%l=EX-CAMPUS1-970610195457Z-13105@ex-campus1.corp.octel.com> Subject: Forgotten Band Name Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 12:54:57 -0700 Whoops! I forgot to include a band name to the CC`96 missing band name list. The reality is that, had I put the band names on the J-card, I would have forgotten to put this name on it. My apologies. Day In, Day Out was covered by The PsychoSemitics. Hey Randy! Why don't you detail that Louie, Louie-style (Kingsman version) recording technique for the rest of Chalkhills?! The imagery conjured by knowing that and listening to the song is true entertainment! Cheers, Richard
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 15:01:54 -0600 (CST) From: y9d62@ttacs1.ttu.edu Subject: 411 overload Message-id: <Pine.PMDF.3.95.970610144433.538989445A-100000@TTACS.TTU.EDU> ...and in response to responses... When confronted with static on an issue in the last issue, I should've mentioned that when I compared AP to our BW, I was mainly talking about lyrical output. Of course "Humble Daisy" sounds like BW, but I put even the most formulaic verse of Andy P. with the best of Van Dyke Parks, and certainly Brian's sweet stuff. And of course, the subjectivity of objectiveness may bring up some scrappling---that is, rating craft on craft could be pointless...I just know I like the lot of them, and am getting slightly blue during this intermission between musics. Hows about I hum a happy tune and think about cherry trees and summer nights, and it'll all go away? And three cheers to those of you who put up an offering on the tribute tape! Who would criticize something like that? Dominique
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199706102023.WAA13499@utrecht.knoware.nl> From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Organization: The Little Lighthouse Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 21:30:28 +0000 Subject: XT SI, XT NO Dear Chalkers, First of all : welcome and "bonne chance" to Patrick Bourcier who told us of his plans to set up an XTC Website in French. Most excellent news... pretty soon us fans will have sites girdling the globe (sorry folks, I just couldn't resist that one) > > It's a 3 track 12" called the "On A Mission EP" by an artist (or > > group?) who calls himself XTC. > What year is the copy on this one? And if it's post 1978, isn't > that illegal to have the same name as another band? The record is from 1995 and as far as I know (but I'm not a showbiz lawyer) using the same name as our Heroes is indeed a form of copyright infringement. This record is probably a one-off project with just a couple of hunderds or thousand of copies pressed so you'll never be able to get any compensation (like money) out of it. I suspect that the name XTC has been used more often as a group name in the techno /house scenes of various countries. (refer to Dave G.'s post on the German techno sampler find here) It certainly pops up a lot in their song titles but this of course refers to the drug rather than to our beloved Heroes... yours in a vinyl anorak, Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse http://utopia.knoware.nl/~mmello ===> Mark's Random XTC Quote <=== Snipping, snipping, snipping goes the scissor man
------------------------------ From: Matt_Kaden/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com Message-Id: <852564B2.006F98A3.00@mta2.lotus.com> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 16:56:09 -0400 Subject: MINGUS MENTIONED Dominique typed: "I guess nobody here listens to jazz, or doesn't hear anything outstanding in the work of Charles Mingus. I love him. I wonder if you guys don't, or just don't listen to him." Well, I just didn't want to be the first. I got into him in 1989, my first semester in college. Jazz is a different monster entirely. In jazz, no one approaches Mingus (bass and composing) in style, feeling, vision... The best live performance of any kind is his Complete Town Hall Concert - the one with Epitaph pts. 1 and 2, My Search, and so on. It's so savage and earth-shattering. It sounds like riots were breaking out. Actually, during the last song they closed the curtains on the band and they kept playing! You can hear the audience breaking up in applause and protest. Second to this record is Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Someone else mentioned Mingus, I forget who. I'm always happy to see his name. I love his dissonant chords which sneak out of the shadows during a vamp section. My friend's father got to see him play in this club every night for two weeks in the sixties. He said that Mingus would reach over the pianist's shoulder and play when he was so inspired. I love all his stuff. His first record was revolutionary. Let's respect The Duke for his potent influence and everlasting melodies. Sorry, what are these songs? "Erlkonig", "Claire De Lune," To expand on me own tangent... ">Heard the Beatles Anthology version of "You know My Name, Look Up the >Number?" It's rather extended and hops from one genre to another. When >they get thru with the ska-rocksteady part, there's some very goofy >mutterings and novelty noises that conjure up Monty Python in a big way. >Let's not forget Ringo w/ P. Sellers in "The Magic Christian" which also >gave us Badfinger doing Paul's "Come & Get It." Of course, George went on >to produce a number of Python flix... and lets not forget who produced many of the Goons' recordings back in the fifties - one Mr. George Martin..." ...who later produced Peter Sellers' spoofs on the Beatles songs Yes It Is, She Loves You, Help and A Hard Day's Night. In The Magic Christian, filmed during the first year of the Flying Circus, John Cleese and Graham Chapman contributed to the script and played short cameos. We all know about The Rutles, in which George appears briefly.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <31510B652669CF11BA1D00805F38219E02535B7F@DUB-04-MSG> From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com> Subject: Announcement : Andy Partridge On-Line Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 14:37:55 -0700 As you probably already know, Andy has a show on "Rifff" (the Microsoft Network). Thursday June 12th will be an interesting day. At 1:00pm PST (that's 5:00pm GMT) Andy will participate in a "chat" on-line The Good News : it's free, you don't need an MSN account More Good News : so long as you have a web browser you can access this (This is the technical information I have been given, if for some reason it's wrong don't shoot me !). Yes, Mac , PC, Windows95, UNIX the whole lot. So go to http://Rifff.msn.com on Thursday. Maybe I'll see you there ? Peter
------------------------------ Message-Id: <9706102142.AA01958@firewall.vum.be> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 23:51:30 +0200 From: Tim De Cock <tim@vum.be> Subject: The gap between albums, and how to mind it Hi, > From: Mark Rushton <rushton@mindspring.com> > Can anybody think of excessive lengths inbetween albums by a > group (not breaking up and getting back together) or a solo > artist (not working on other major projects). Well, to your list you might add: 6. Scritti Politti - 11 years and counting (from "Provision" in 1988 till now - new album to be released by the end of the year) 7. Prefab Sprout - 7 years (from 1990's "Jordan: The Comeback" to "Andromeda Heights" in 1997, excluding a best of) 8. The Blue Nile - 6 and 7 years (from "A Walk Across The Rooftops" in 1983 to "Hats" in 1989, then to "Peace at last" in 1996) I was going to include David Sylvian (10 years and counting, from "Secrets of the Beehive" in 1987 to his next solo album to be released sometime next year, hopefully) but he made some collaboration albums in the meantime so I guess that doesn't count. Anyway, including XTC that's five of my favourite bands/artists well taking their time. I sure do pick 'em, don't I? The Sprouts' and The Blue Nile's last albums couldn't live up to the expectations built up in all those years - I'm biting my lip here, as a fan I can't bring myself to admit that, give or take a song or two, they suck. So, regarding the lads in Swindon: think I'd better knock (tuck tuck tuck tuck) on wood, baby, oooooh woo ooh ooh ooh ooh. Though reports on the new demos keep my hopes up - I haven't heard note one of those supposed gems, but I'll take your word for it, Chalkhillians! Bye, Tim "Patience is a girl that I hate to love the way I do, but I do" - Lloyd Cole
------------------------------ Message-ID: <339D9755.3DE8@snet.net> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 18:05:11 +0000 From: Andrew Lippitt <andylipp@snet.net> Subject: Another CMJ-XTC sighting Chalks, Did anyone else notice another XTC related item in the latest CMJ? Well, gosh, I did! Not only is there an ad for Upsy Daisy, but it mentions a band called 'Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her' playing at a music festival in Olympia, Washington next month. Besides the great name, is there any other reason to care about this band? Just call me Mr. Curious, Andrew
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 19:24:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Ted Harms <tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: various repsonses and xTc & NIN? Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95q.970610171818.26111A-100000@library.uwaterloo.ca> These are all rather old - sorry if I'm reviving any dead threads.... First of all - to Mr. Relph - thanks for stepping in. I helped fan the flames when it all should've been ignored. From: david.mcguinness@bbc.co.uk (David McGuinness) > Seeing as there have been two posts recently about the wonderful sound > quality on 'Drums and Wireless' - a quick aside from inside the BBC. > Yes it's true - (most of) our sound engineers in here know what they're > doing... Well, I think the Swindon Lads should get one of them to produce the next album. I always notice the bass first (it's what I play) and Colin's sound (especially on the English Settlement songs) just leaps out of the speakers; bass is usually the hardest sound to get down. A fine job to those BBC producers! Too bad there's probably not much money in going freelance... From: James Isaacs <jisaacs1@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de> > Someone mused if anyone had put together a streak of album isn short > order like XTC did from 78 to 83. > The answer is yes, overwhelmingly And, as well as Elvis and Husker Du, I'd like to add The Police who, between 1978 and 1981 put out Outlandos d'Amour, Regatta De Blanc, Zenyetta Mondetta, and (the best by far) Ghost In The Machine. From: Richard.PedrettiAllen@octel.com > The big shipment of Chalkhills' Children `96 is landing in people's > hands and the initial reports make me very proud! Thank you all for you > patience! I hope you feel it was worth it. I've a tendency to glance through most digests and I'm sorry about missing the first posting of the trib tape. Are there any copies still available? As for my original contribution - has anybody noticed the similarity between the fossil on the cover of _Fossil Fuels_ and what's been on a Nine Inch Nails cover (can't remember the recording)? Maybe the band is trying to go after the hip industrial crowd? *snicker* (Betcha you'd never thought Trent Rezenor would be mentioned in the same sentence as Andy.) Ted Harms Library, Univ. of Waterloo tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca 519.888.4567 x3761 "...it's elephants all the way down." - from Hindu cosmology
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 19:25:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ted Harms <tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Trouble over Tributes
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.95q.970610175819.26111B-100000@library.uwaterloo.ca>
another old post to respond to...
From: mf@well.com (Mitch Friedman)
> I'm sure that I'm not the only one who thinks that the Chalkhills' Children
> tape is fantastic and entertaining as hell...In my mind, this is the
> best of the four fan tribute projects and is much better than TD
^^^^
Forgive my ignorance but, apart from TD and Chalkhills Children, what are
the other two?
Ted Harms Library, Univ. of Waterloo
tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca 519.888.4567 x3761
"...it's elephants all the way down." - from Hindu cosmology
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199706102353.QAA02861@access.tucson.org> From: "J. D. SMX" <jsmelser@access.tucson.org> Organization: Access Tucson Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 17:18:47 -0700 Subject: Video XTC x3 Hello Fellow Chalkhillians, I. I've been requested to make another batch of XTC live videos of them playing 3 songs acoustically for MTV. I'll do my best to accomodate ALL who respond to me directly off list this time. The songs they play are: Scarecrow People, Blue Beret, and King For A Day The tape will be NTSC VHS only. Some who responded before were not replied to because your emails bounced back to me "undeliverable." All I can say is,"try again." I'll give all the details on how to order in a group reply. II. Thanks to ALL the contributers to the Chalkids '96. Great tape. III. How can I hear XTC's version of Disque Bleu? Never seen that 1. L8r, SMX J. D. SMX Video Engineer Access Tucson jsmelser@access.tucson.org
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 20:16:47 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <v01510106afc3660be1df@[206.80.14.46]> From: mf@well.com (Mitch Friedman) Subject: anyone wanna trade? I just got my beautiful Chalkhills' t-shirt yesterday thanks to Phil but I miscalculated my girth and my size medium navy blue shirt is a tiny bit too small for me. Anyone receive a size large navy blue shirt that is a tiny bit too big for them and want to trade? Mitch
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199706110335.UAA12750@mail.eskimo.com> From: "Matt Keeley" <mrme@eskimo.com> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 20:33:38 +0000 Subject: My Weapon & Kiss Me Son of God: Apologies OK! Please read this following message! I've already gotten two complaints about this message, so I'd better explain myself and apologise profusely! > > From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <harlequin@tmbg.org> > > <"MY WEAPON"> > > >effective because of the way it's sung without sarcasm or irony (see Toad > > >the wet sprocket's _Hold her Down_) > > (For those who don't know, HhD is an anti-rape/abuse song, but since the > > song uses the same technique (using the position of one of the > > attackers) in the chorus, many people seem to think it's a pro-rape > > anthem, of all things. (The "take the night back" line at the end of > > the song evidently didn't tip them off...) > Well, like I've said in the past, people are stupid, especially when > it comes to controversial issues. I remember when John Linnell > played "Kiss Me, Son of God" on a Kansas show, they pulled the plug > on him right after the line "And a world screams "Kiss me, son of > God". First off... it has been brought to my attention the truth of the whole Kiss Me, Son of God issue. To begin with, I want to make sure that everyone knows I was not making a comment on Midwesterners or anything, I just included "Kansas" as a point of reference. If this had happened in Seattle (where I hail from) I would have included "Seattle" instead of Kansas. Secondly, I found out that this was just an exaggeration by the person who wrote the original article (thanks Scott Taylor!)... apparently, it was just a commercial bumper. The way I had read it was that they got nervous and had pulled the plug... So, not only did I offend at least one person, for which I apologise again for, I was wrong as well... And please, accept my apologies, nothing was meant in harm or as a slam against any sort of person. I like all people, and well, it wasn't my intent. Also, about the "people are stupid, especially when it comes to controversial issues" comment... it was not my intent to call people stupid who have strong feelings about an issue.... it was merely my intent to vent on the kind of people who are blind towards things, and don't really see satire... I meant nothing about calling rape anything less that what it is: an evil crime that should have a stronger sentence. Of course, going over the lyrics to My Weapon again, I can tell the satirical intent was strained, and not done in a more standardly satirical fashion... Not very good, I'd say. I originally intended that MW also used the shock value effect that HhD used to "wake people up", as Ms. Cheryl (sorry, I couldn't find your last name!) put it, but well, after reading both, there is no contest as to what the more sucessful was. Again, I didn't mean that people were stupid to be disturbed by the subject of rape, which is a very disturbing subject, but well, I should stop now, because the more I write, the more chance I have to hang myself, if I haven't (not likely) already. I have a feeling I've more than built the gallows... In desperate apology, and in hopes that I won't say anything like this again, because it is never my intent to say anything offensive, Matt Keeley mrme@eskimo.com http://www.eskimo.com/~mrme/
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 23:43:52 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199706110343.XAA12655@cyber1.servtech.com> From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <harlequin@tmbg.org> Subject: New old parallels Hideho! Just a thought -- while listening to the New Demos recently, I noticed something. A number of them deal with some of the same issues that XTC wrote about earlier in their career, but this time with 20 more years of life and songwriting experience behind them. For example, whereas D&W gives us the sarcastic, farcical mock of "Roads Girdle the Globe," now we get "River of Orchids," a not at all sarcastic song with beautiful imagery and which, instead of merely tearing at what exists, urges people to do something *about* it: plant a flower, get rid of your car. Or look at "Meccanik Dancing," the classic tale of a young 20-something factory worker who needs to "suck some piss" and hit the dance floor to relax after a hard week. In "Bumper Cars," we have the same idea -- but updated from young working-class mode to middle-aged middle-class. Instead of the churning ska hooks and every which way mocking of "Living Through Another Cuba," we get several anti-war sentiments in this collection. Several lines from "You and the Clouds...," including "And I see nations playfully hurl snowballs packed with stone and clay" and "And every Bastille that gets stormtroopered, 'Hail to the Chief' comes rainin' rainin' rainin' down," accomplish the same goal with subtle, gentle wit. And "The Last Balloon" presents a mournful, dirgelike call to escape the violence, before it's too late. Or, even looking ten years back, the playfully giddy "Season Cycle" yields now to the far more delicate (well, except perhaps for the lines about breasts...) "Easter Theatre." So. Anyone else have any thoughts on this score? Josh And I see people conduct lightning down to a summer's day. /-------------Joshua Hall-Bachner-------------Chaos Harlequin-------------\ | harlequin@tmbg.com http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | |"We all have our idiosyncracies -- maybe thinning hair, or gum disease." | \---- Kowanko, "Will You Come To?" ------ Thank You, And Goodnight. ------/
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 08:27:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <ccoolidg@zoo.uvm.edu>
Subject: Re: Second Comings
Message-ID: <Pine.A32.3.91.970611082534.28420B-100000@elk.uvm.edu>
>Can anybody think of excessive lengths inbetween albums by a group (not
breaking up and getting back together) or a solo artist (not working on
other major projects).
1. Scott Walker - 11 years - ("Climate of Hunter" in 1984 to "Tilt" in 1995)
2. John Fogerty - 11 years - ("Eye of the Zombie" in 1987 to "Blue Moon
Swamp" in 1997)
3. Didn't Van Dyke Parks have a 8 year gap from around 1967 to 1975?
4. Stone Roses - 5 1/2 years (not counting the compilation of early stuff
they released - "Stone Roses" in 1989 and "Second Coming" in late 1994)
5. XTC - 5 years and counting since "Nonsuch"
Or how about Donovan, 19 years - (Donovan, 1977 to Sutras 1996)That's got
to be a record.
Christopher R. Coolidge
Eleventh Hour Cauldron Publications
------------------------------ Message-ID: <339EC339.49C91924@MCI.com> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 09:24:41 -0600 From: "Jeffrey Langr" <Jeffrey.Langr@MCI.Com> Subject: Red Noise >Bill Nelson Red Noise's 1979 album "Sound on Sound" is being >rereleased on CD sometime this summer by EMI UK - this is one >of the first albums where XTC's influence was on display. Apparently EMI is finally getting around to looking at their back catalog then -- the first two Stranglers albums (IV - Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes) have recently been issued on CD, each with a bonus disc. They are also considering the next two Stranglers CDs, from what I understand (Black and White and The Raven). At about $25 each for imported copies, though, I'm hoping they get EMI America to press these things. Sound on Sound is produced by John Leckie, by the way -- no doubt some of the reason for a similarity in sound. I found a used CD copy on Enigma records which I think was pressed in 1986 but went out of print. Recommended especially for fans of the older XTC material. The Enigma CD copy also contained a few good live tracks at the end; I hope the EMI one retains these. The Chalkhills Children tape, by the way, is excellent. I heard a few great takes on it, I especially liked the one track (my love expodes?) where the artist used the Gloria riff. Jeff L.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970611160859.006dfae8@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 17:08:59 +0100 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: Tapes and tales Hello Earthlings, I bring you greetings from Planet Claire. I just got a letter from Mike Foster and he passes on his thanks to all those who attended the Basingstoke Convention and especially those who had such good words to say about the day. His current state of mind regarding another convention next year is pretty positive; if there's a new album next year it seems likely there will be another convention too. While he enjoyed the positive comments I sent him, clipped from the posts in this list, he says he'd also be interested in hearing any criticisms and/or ideas for the next one. Bear in mind, though, that while there are some things we'd all like to see - the band playing a live set, for example, or a representative of Virgin Records in a pillory - he's looking for suggestions that can actually be planned and implemented in the _real_world_. You can mail any suggestions to me if you like, or to Mike (at 41 Coronation Road, Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 4EZ, UK) or maybe, if it's a suitable subject for general discusion, we could throw a few ideas around in this forum. If Mr Relph will allow, I'll pose the question; What, within the realms of the possible, would you all like to see at an XTC Convention? As an adjunct, Mike and his friends enjoyed playing the XTC covers so much that they intend to continue, doing support slots for friends' bands - he didn't say whether this would be XTC material, other covers or their own material. And Cheryl, I did some snooping for you but I didn't come up with anything much. Is your email working again yet? I got bounced a couple of times. Mike is writing up the day for the Little Express, but this won't make the next issue so it could be a long while before that ever sees the light of day. I'm hoping to the merciful fates that he forgets about the trophy. It's bad enough living with day-to-day with the knowledge, but seeing it in actual print... *sigh* Details have arrived, too, of the "Black Sea Tapes" that Mike had for sale at the Convention. Again I must say I'm not very happy about the cash aspect of this offer, but I vowed to help him in any way and so I'm tied to it. Here goes... Side A: 41 mins approx, rough mixes and Andy Partridge demos/workouts Living Through Another Cuba (instrumental mix - no vocals) Sgt. Rock Rocket From A Bottle Towers Of London Smokeless Zone (instrumental mix - no vocals) Instrumental (title unknown) Pearl (acoustic solo live Andy only) Holding The Baby (acoustic solo live Andy only) Monkeys In Human Skinsuits (solo live Andy only) Side B: 26 mins approx Live studio takes Burning With Optimism's Flames Paper & Iron Travels In Nihilon Don't Lose Your Temper Respectable Street Generals And Majors The tape is on offer to the highest bidder (a nasty business) and any bids should be sent to Mike Foster at the address quoted above, and CERTAINLY not to me. I want nothing more to do with it. Take me to your larder, Simon +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ XTC? Are they still going? Follow me and find out..
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 13:50:19 -0400 (EDT) From: "David O'Connell" <doconnel@eagle.ycp.edu> Subject: Andy + Nicki Holland: Will Nicki's new CD feature Andy's tunes? Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970611133446.11665A-100000@coyote> Hi! With all this talk of "Dave: Gay or Not Gay?" (sounds like a bad Saturday Night Live quiz-show sketch), have we forgotten about Andy's contributions to the soon-to-be-released (on 6/24) Nicky Holland record "Sense and Sensuality"? According to The Little Express issue 39 (that Little Express comes in so handy, I tell ya), Andy wrote three songs, "Paper Chase", "Another Tale From The Riverbank" and "New York Inside My Head" for her. Andy and Nicky had a falling out, but neither this issue or the next one indicated that the songs would be left off the record. Apparently, Andy was annoyed that he was doing 95% of the work on the songs and Nicky's attitude wasn't a pleasant one, so he felt that he was being used or something. Anyway, are these songs still set for the record? It comes out on June 24th (one week after Upsy Daisy- or The Wussy Album- hits the stores in all of its flowery, pastoral cover art glory), according to ICE magazine. I'm a diehard, so I might throw patience to the wind and buy it if Andy's presence is on there. Dave O'Connell York PA
------------------------------ Message-ID: <C5354F2530B3D011BAF300805F682CDF4E4150@RED-22-MSG.dns.microsoft.com> From: "Matt Jensen (EDP)" <a-mattje@microsoft.com> Subject: Free Chat with Andy Partridge! Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 12:01:22 -0700 Hello, folks. I'm the Lead Developer of Rifff (the music show on Microsoft's MSN), and I've also been a huge XTC fan for 10 years. I'm writing to share the good news that the live chat with Andy Partridge will be open to **anyone** with an Internet connection, whether or not they are MSN members! Our editors are probably also writing to Chalkhills at the same time I am, but I wanted to personally pass on this news so it reached people as soon as possible, giving them time to plan for the chat. The chat is Thursday, June 12, at 1 p.m. Pacific time (4 p.m. New York time, 9 p.m. London time). If you go to http://rifff.msn.com, you'll see a link there that tells all about Andy's chat and how to access it. If you have any problems with checking this out, please email me directly at a-mattje@microsoft.com (and start the subject with the word "XTC" so I can deal with it faster). You can use any IRC chat client to participate, or use our custom chat web page if you have Win95 and Internet Explorer. Check the link out early so you can get bugs worked out before the chat actually begins. It's my goal for this chat to allow as many fans as possible to participate. Although the live chats with Rifff's guest stars are normally open only to MSN members (like the rest of the Rifff site), I kept whining until the chat was moved into the public chat space, so please do join in. THE EVIL EMPIRE Let me add two cents about Microsoft, if I may. I DO think Bill Gates and his company are too powerful, and I hope antitrust action is eventually started to limit the scope of Microsoft's businesses. At the same time, I like what Microsoft is doing in the MSN group. They are investing many millions of dollars in experiments in online content. They won't be able to make a profit on this for at least several more years (if ever; the business model has not been proven yet), but in the meantime they pay people like the Rifff team to try out new ideas. The goal of the Rifff team (95% of whom are contractors, not Microsoft employees) is to find fun, interesting ways to give people ways to interact with music personalities (like Andy). Now, it so happens in this team that in addition to the Lead Developer (that's me), our Artist Relations person and our Audio Lead are also big XTC fans. So when we all said last year that we'd love to do something with XTC, and Andy showed some interest, well... let's just say that this episode has been the bright spot that's carried me through the bouts of deadlines and stress that inevitably come up. I mean, what could be more poetically just than spending Bill Gates' money to give Andy some more exposure and cash in the bank? :-) I want to point out though that this episode was not done by our regular team here in Redmond. Rather, the job went to those lucky bastards at Flabberghasted, a London multimedia company with whom Rifff contracts to create some of our episodes (they also did Robin Hitchcock and Philip Glass, for example). For a variety of reasons it made more sense for them to create Andy's episode, and they do absolutely top-notch work. Their credits are in the Rifff site. Anyway, I just didn't want anyone to miss out on the free chat with Andy. Thanks for reading this, and enjoy! -Matt Jensen
------------------------------ From: Cgeorge971@aol.com Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 15:38:03 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <970611153539_522138424@emout11.mail.aol.com> Subject: Books and boots Hail fellow Chalksters! I've really enjoyed this mailing list over the past several months, so I thought I would de-lurk briefly. Someone asked about good books on rock recently, and I would like to recommend one that mentions our beloved Dukes. The book is entitled "Ksleidoscope Eyes: Psychedlic Rock from the 60's to the 90's" by Jim DeRogatis. It was published by Citadel Underground in the US and Fourth Estate, Ltd. in the UK. A great read. Also, anyone who would be so kind as to help me obtain copies of the Nonsuch demos, O&L demos, or any more recent ones, I would much appreciate it. I've not heard a note of these. A friend of mine who I met at the '91 XTC convention in Barrie was going to send some of these to me, but has not yet done so (hope all is well, Craig!). I also have been wanting to hear the legendary Smile by Mr. Wilson for a long time. I have a large collection (about 150) of boots to trade, and they include some recently mentioned works: More unreleased Basement Tapes, live Captain Beefheart recordings, etc. Anyone wishing to trade, please contact me: Cgeorge971@aol.com Yours in XTC, Joe G
------------------------------ Message-ID: <339F0264.7DB2@myself.com> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 15:54:12 -0400 From: Ira Lieman <ira@myself.com> Subject: Mac'ing plans for Miniature Sun? > Subject: Power Macs & Miniature Sun > > Given the immense collectivity of musical talent & insight that is this > Chalkhills community, perhaps, someone can help me understand why my > brain gets triggered into "Miniature Sun" mode every time I power up a > Power Macintosh. Something about the harmonic, chordal tone it makes... I never thought about Miniature Sun...I always start singing Billy Joel's "River Of Dreams" when I boot up my Performa. I know, I know. Some people still remember I did a survey. Mea culpa, mea culpa, I haven't tabulated all the results. I'll start on it tomorrow (hopefully) when the boss is out. ***** And a PUBLIC golf clap to all who contributed on the Chalkhills Children tape. It made for an afternoon of satisfying listening while driving. Everyone should be commended for the effort. Especially Richard, who hopefully will continue his masochistic experimentation with CC '97. Oh yeah. I heard "Mayor Of Simpleton" on the radio last weekend. It was cool. :) -ira
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 14:59:26 -0600 (CST) From: y9d62@ttacs1.ttu.edu Subject: Program notes Message-id: <Pine.PMDF.3.95.970611145514.538986726A-100000@TTACS.TTU.EDU> Someone told me 'Nuff said.' Wow, how condescending. These are life's trials, I guess. Anyways... How are you guys recording your tribute tape things? 4-track? MIDI? Boombox? Something bigger?? What kind of recording quality is acceptable? Dominique
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #3-129 *******************************
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