Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 41
Date: Sunday, 24 November 1996
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 41
Sunday, 24 November 1996
Today's Topics:
Funky Fossil pack
all you need is a string bonfire
All this useless DEFENSE and ABUSE!
Klark Kent
Xenophobia?
Stormy Friday
Re: fuzz box
Dukes cheap on the net
Re:The Sugarplastic
you're the block you are i coughed
Amanda's World
We're all foreigners to SOMEONE, I guess...
He Liked to...Copy It?
COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC, TOTALLY
Billy Joel!
Greenhouse!/pantless Branson/etc
Take off, you hoser!
Ooh-ya-tatta Ooh-ya-tatta
Living through another Cuba...
For AMANDA, whom I've offended.
Now taking bids on Sting!!
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Where we're going in this verdant spiral.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: box@linux.nemesis.com.au Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 13:05:13 +1100 Subject: Funky Fossil pack Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9611231344.D27186-0100000@linux.nemesis.com.au> I just got my 'Ltd Edition Fossil Pack' from CDnow and I'm thrilled. BUT... the lyrics are a bit dodgy. I know people have noticed errors in the booklet, but has anyone noticed the printer has used an 'i' character instead of an apostrophe in 'Science Friction'? Twice? Di-i-isgusting... This is my last post for a while, getting a much needed holiday in before I go insane. Wishing everyone an inebriated christmas and a happy new XTC album, Adam
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 22:10:32 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <v01510102aebbae286644@[128.230.1.163]> From: pebrantl@mailbox.syr.edu (Paul Brantley) Subject: all you need is a string bonfire Yet another composer/conductor here. I've counted about 4 so far -- lots of musicians on Chalkhills. Noah, did your friend Becky mention anything about Todd recording her at a slower speed? Those perfect interval arpeggios in SB go up to a high g (more than two octaves above middle C) -- rather high and awkward figures for a viola to negotiate. Sounds like fiddles in there too. Has anyone noticed how Todd's arrangement sounds like a rather hysterical homage to George Martin's string chart on "All you need is Love" (right after the guitar solo)? Check it out. Paul
------------------------------ Date: 23 Nov 1996 03:32:14 -0000 Message-ID: <19961123033214.11166.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "G.M. Quinn" <lovechunks@hotmail.com> Subject: All this useless DEFENSE and ABUSE! In reference to these messages from kgh: >Small additions for poetic license. On "Punk Lolita" from The Heads >(vocals by Tina Weymouth, Debbie Harry, and Johnette Napolitano) there is >a new pronunciation of the word PEDESTAL. > >Second, as a newly practicing academic (urk), it seems to me that the >majority of people concerned about canons (poetic license, laws of >composition, et al) are those of us who stand to make a career out of >it. The rest of the world sits back and enjoys or not, but without all >of the bullshit language that we're trained in. And whoever this was: > >Hey, chalkaholix... > >G.M. Quinn said, "As an English student, writer and Literature major, Andy >most definitely uses a bit too much poetic license." > >To which Mark Cuevas replied with the story about Mozart and the king >(though you left out the best part, Mark -- when the king says the piece >contains too many notes, Mozart asks asks the king to tell him which notes >he should take out, if I remember correctly), and goes on say get off Andy's >back, but what *I'm* wondering is, when did Andy become an English student, >writer and literature major? :^) ENOUGH OF THIS ABUSE! IF ANYONE HAD BOTHERED TO READ THE PREVIOUS MESSAGES THEY WOULD HAVE FIGURED OUT THAT a) I was responding to the phrase "as a born and bred Britisher" which regarded b) the issue of ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. I DID not and DO not comment unfavourably on Andy's lyrics, and the poetic licence line was taken far too seriously. From the way you are all carrying on you would think that you thought NOTHING of Andy Partridge's intelligence and sense of humour because you all found it so necessary to defend him where there was no attack! All I have to say to all the bored people who jumped on my back is: LOOK IT UP IN THE DICTIONARY! the pronunciation of 'Umbilical' was and is the issue, not WHY Andy said it! LOOK IT UP! I never intended to waste people's time with a useless and completely overblown argument based on surmise alone, but if too many people take MARK CUEVAS' comments seriously when he completely misunderstood my innocent comment about English, then you deserve to have your time wasted. I thought I had found a group of intelligent people with a sense of humour. If I have stumbled into a pit of narrow-minded fools eager to pick a fight with whoever stains the sacrosanct shrine of XTC, then I aoplogise for MY ignorance. My apologies to everyone who had the sense not to stoop to this level. I am the disappointed. I thought we were all here for the same reason? Quinn. Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself. Talent recognises genius
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 19:42:15 -0800 (PST) From: Randy Posynick <posynick@netcom.com> Subject: Klark Kent Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9611221917.A17225-0100000@netcom21> R+K Carvey <carveys@bright.net> wrote: >I encourage [snip] my Chalkhills friends to listen to Stewart Copeland's >Rumblefish soundtrack [snip] and his truly New Wave offerings under the >guise of Klark Kent (or Klerk Kant, after warnings from DC Comics >lawyers). Wasn't it Klerk Kunt? Randy Posynick | One day, there'll be a cure for pain. posynick@netcom.com | That's the day I throw my drugs away.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 22:11:20 -0600
Message-Id: <v02110100aebbd25454c1@[144.92.182.66]>
From: jhackney@facstaff.wisc.edu (John M. Hackney)
Subject: Xenophobia?
On Thursday, Nov. 21, Amanda Owens wrote:
"Now, I've said that I'm not at all very patriotic, but I get just
a little aggravated when someone who's never lived here and has only seen
certain parts of the country makes a xenophobic statement like that."
I think that you're the one who's showing signs of xenophobia,
Amanda. I happen to agree with the announcer that Ronald Reagan and George
Bush are evil. I feel that citizens of other countries have the perfect
right to criticize the U.S. whenever they feel like it. Why do they have to
live here, for God's sake? If nothing else, our foreign policy expresses
itself quite adequately to those living overseas, and so frequently these
policies have been shortsighted, to say the least. I think people overseas
also have the perfect right to criticize our domestic affairs----such as our
incredible consumption of natural resources and waste of energy, our
generation of pollutants that affect the entire planet, our disemmination of
a culture that is at times, "uh", a little dysfunctional. Anyone with half
a brain knows that I could go on with countless other points that
continuously affect and insult the other residents of this planet.
I think that it's pathetic for you to suggest that foreigners make
such remarks about America out of jealousy! As a U.S. citizen, you make me
gag with embarrassment! Again, I think that people overseas don't need to
spend any time at all here to be able to level valid criticisms. You claim
that you never open your mouth because "It's really none of (your)
business". What are you, in 3rd grade? Was it no business of people in
other countries to speak out against apartheid in South Africa? Have you
ever spent any time overseas or in trying to become familiar with foreign
cultures? I'm thankful that citizens in other countries, at least, feel
compelled to speak out against our society from time to time. At least they
weren't raised by television sets, like you and so many others in this
country.
The only positive thing I can see in your posting relates to the
fact that, with opinions and limited intellects like yours out there, we can
at least be assured that Andy has good material for inspired song-writing.
How dare you call "Reign of Blows" too political, lyrically (as opposed to
too political, musically?). Do you really understand the conditions in
Britain that led him to pen this song? I doubt it. I think it's
appropriate that you closed your posting with a quote from Sheryl Crow. Why
don't mall rats like you just focus your limited attention spans on
derivative "artists" like her? That's really more your speed, after all.
John
John M. Hackney
Department of Botany
University of Wisconsin-Madison
430 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 273-4361 Home
(608) 262-0657 Lab
(608) 262-7509 FAX
------------------------------ Message-ID: <32975979.241C@sprintmail.com> Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 12:07:21 -0800 From: Stormy Monday <stormymonday@sprintmail.com> Subject: Stormy Friday XTC Fans & Friends I'm too lazy to "quote" references, so bear with me. I'm listening to the other "EC". Remastered and expanded edition of "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert". I can't listen to XTC and write at the same time. Their music always screams for my complete attention. Dec. 1996 Stereo Review has a very positive review of the new Rutles record. No way can I commit the time to transcribe it. George Harrison. Like McCartney, he was certainly capable of creating great records after the breakup. Ditto for the bad ones. REM & T.M.B.G. fans, sharpen your keyboards, but I'll say that "Dark Horse" is a truly great record, and "33& 1/3", "Extra Texture" and "George Harrison" each have their share of really good songs. I believe that George's music (up until the time that the "Jeffrey Dahmer" of producers Jeff Lynne got his claws into his records) was a true departure from his early work with Das Beatles. John and Paul did exactly what one would expect, (John became more "John-Like", and Paul, well you know.) But George developed a completely new style. Billy Joel. Ahh, he's a tough one. On the one hand, he has written some great songs. "New York State of Mind" being one of them. He is a good piano player, and has a gift for pop melodies. On the other hand, he gets the award for writing two of the *worst* songs (lyrically) that have ever received airplay. "Honesty" is so embarrassingly bad, that I can't even enjoy it as parody. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" is the most offensive song to ever be written about music. Funk Pop A Roll and Radio Radio. My favorite artists all seem to share the same quality: They all take personal experience and express it honestly through their artistic endeavors. Elvis was angry about the state of Radio in the late seventies, and he did a brilliant job of conveying that message to the listener. I hear frustration in Funk Pop A Roll. I hear Andy's frustration. I can barely imagine what it must be like to be in XTC, releasing records of the caliber of "Black Sea" and "English Settlement" and not moving enough product to keep Dave (a virtuoso, no less) out of the Milk Delivery Truck while people like "John Melon Cougar Camp" and "Styx" are enjoying the good life. The romantic vision of "starving for the sake of one's art" starts to wear thin when the kids and the bills enter one's life. From the same record "People think that I'm no good, Painting pictures and carving wood I'd be a rich man, If I could, But the *only* job I do well is here on the farm, And it's breaking my back" Andy is real. Maybe it was immature and whiny to say what he was saying in the song, but that is how he felt at the time. He doesn't imagine what an artist is supposed to feel or say, he says what he feels. And this is why many of us have trouble with Sting's lyrics. Sure, he has the vocabulary, he can be clever, he knows how to rhyme, but we just don't believe him when he sings: "I guess it's my destiny to be the King of Pain". (but I still like his music). But how many of us doubt Andy when he sings: "Please don't listen to me, I've already been poisoned by this industree-ee-ee-ee!"? McCartney. I really like "Tomorrow" from "Wild Life", but I wish that I could get a version with Linda's vocal track wiped. "No More Lonely Nights", featuring a truly wonderful guitar player by the name of David Gilmour (he says more in one note than many say in their entire careers) is another high point. Just a beautiful song. "Flowers in the Dirt" is a great record, but it has a few low points, like "Figure of Eight" and "How Many People". Loud XTC songs. Most of my picks have been listed, but "Respectable Street", "Fly On The Wall", "Wake Up" , "Real by Real" and "Melt The Guns" make the neighbors "bang the wall for me to turn down". "Bye Bye" Mike
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03007800aebc3f17b538@[207.198.144.28]> Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 01:31:12 -0500 From: "David H. Schwab" <sgd_luth@gate.cybernex.net> Subject: Re: fuzz box Jeff Smelser asked: Does anyone know of an XTC song where either guitar player uses a fuzz box? I can't think of any. I've heard flange, chorus, tremolo, reverb, echo, and a bevy of other effects but not fuzz/distortion. Please help refresh my memory. Yes Jeff, one immediately comes to mind: "Fly on the Wall" on ES, lists Dave as playing "fuzz-boxed 12-string guitar". Also on "Books are Burning" Dave's solos sound like an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz box. If not the big muff, _some_ kind of fuzz for sure. Maybe in Sgt. Rock too. BTW, Hi every one, I'm new to the list, but a long time XTC addict! My introduction to the band was by seeing them open up for the Talking Heads back during the tour for Go 2. I had never heard of them, and to say the least I forgot all about the Heads after that! Too bad it was my only time seeing the band live. I ran out the next day and found White Music in a shop in NYC. I've been reading the thread about songs to play loud, and I have to add a few (it's so hard to choose!) "roads girdle the globe" and "complicated game" off D&W (hell! All of D&W!) "travels in nihilon" (ditto for BS!) And last but not least "Red" (YES Natalie!!!) from Go 2 (maybe "the rhythm" and "...greenhouse" too!). I have to admit I think I have to vote for Go 2 also, but I like all of them any way, except I'm just not to found of "skylarking". My two all time favorites are Drums & Wires, and Black Sea. David H. Schwab SGD Lutherie, custom guitars and basses. http://www2.cybernex.net/~sgd_luth/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 23:47:00 -0700 (MST)
From: cminer@cougarnet.byu.edu (Chris Miner)
Subject: Dukes cheap on the net
Message-id: <01IC5XY9ITQ6B8K876@yvax.byu.edu>
Chalkheads,
If anyone never picked up the Dukes, Chips from the Chocolate
Fireball is for sale from both www.cdnow.com and www.cduniverse.com for
about $10 U.S. Both call it Dukes of Stratosphere Psonic Sunspot, but its
Chips. cdnow gives the track list to Chips and cduniverse shows the cover
art. I was replacing a copy my brother sold for me many years ago and it
took about 5 days to get to me from Cdnow. Pretty good deal. Cheers.
Currently enjoying: The Beautiful South
Chris Miner
_____________________________
http://www.byu.edu/~cminer
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03007801aebc4da8216e@[207.198.144.33]> Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 01:58:04 -0500 From: "David H. Schwab" <sgd_luth@gate.cybernex.net> Subject: Re:The Sugarplastic Mark G. Cuevas mentioned The Sugarplastic, in the last post. I just heard this band for the first time about three months ago when a co worker called me over and said "listen to this band, do they sound like XTC or what?" I just found a web page for the band <http://geffen.com/sugarplastic/>, and they never mention XTC as an influence at all! Give me a brake! It's a good band, but to say they don't try to sound like D&W or BS era XTC is an insult! (It's hard to sound like XTC! I've tried to write XTC styled songs, but it just sounds like me doing XTC!) This is what they said about The Sugarplastic: "His voice, which he "doesn't quite like," bears some similarity to that of David Byrne. "Maybe I have the same size throat and lungs as David Byrne," he muses. The Sugarplastic really bonded over bands like the Kinks and the Pixies and artists like Brian Eno. A Beatles thread also runs through their musical comings-of-age." David H. Schwab SGD Lutherie, custom guitars and basses. http://www2.cybernex.net/~sgd_luth/
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 03:26:29 -0500 (EST) From: Brookes McKenzie <RMCKENZI@smith.smith.edu> Subject: you're the block you are i coughed Message-id: <01IC65KV1UXUC06BGW@SMITH> to whoever mentioned andy's rearranging words/blithe disregard of grammar - is not by far the best example "you're the wish"? aside from being one of my favorite songs, it's also just so utterly excellent in that it's as if andy's trying to convince someone (the subject?) - "you're the wish - no really, you are - i had". whenever i hear it i think all over again that there isn't any other way to put it - it's simply perfect. after the grand success of my attempt to start an xtc-a cappella thread, (heh - glad i never tried to start one before, if that was going to be the response! *sheesh*) i just wanted to humbly add that i'm sorry that i forgot to mention the most vital connection of the above-mentioned, which is that Sean Altman, lead songwriter for the _a cappella_ group Rockappella, is a monster XTC fan and (according to Dave Yazbek, who ought to know) is the genius behind the inspired parody of them on the second _Carmen Sandiego_ album, "Change My World" - which i fell for so completely that i thought that not only was it Andy P. on the choruses but that it was _also_ John Linnell of TMBG on the verses - which goes under the utterly believable pseudonym of Johnny Nexdor and his Neighbors. (BTW, Dave Y. - when's your next show in NYC? anytime soon?) which leads me nicely to my subject: does anyone know where in Manhattan (Jamie) BLOCK's show this Tuesday (the 26th) is? also, i'm going to see Soul Coughing on Friday the 29th at the Roseland, so if anyone else is too, look for me - i have dark pink hair (the exact same color that Jon Auer has in the booklet of the Posies' latest, _Amazing Disgrace_, coincidentally) at the moment, but i have no idea what i'll wear, so that's no help. if i had an XTC shirt i'd wear it. - brookes currently playing (over and over again): "soft jingo"
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 14:47:39 GMT Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19961123094751.35bf9e12@mindspring.com> From: jes <xtc@mindspring.com> Subject: Amanda's World AMANDA with all caps took me to task again: "He Liked to Feel It is NOT a note for note ripoff of The Disappointed." Ok, point well taken, it is not note-for-note, but when I first heard it, I thought for SURE that XTC had a "new" song on the radio and I had never heard it before. Imagine my surprise when Brad's baritone comes in. "As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as alternative music anymore. It died when REM hit big with Losing My Religion." You are wrong, dearie. Granted, in a world where Phish scores a hit, things must be getting weird. But there is a host of really progressive, excellent stuff out there, but even COLLEGE radio won't touch it. Seems as though college radio, with exceptions, has become the farm-league for commercial radio, so all these pimply jocks are sprucing up their acts for their audition tapes. I tuned into WRAS in Atlanta (Album 88, the supposed Voice Of Georgia State University) and could barely tell it apart from WNNX (99-X, home of Barnes, Leslie, and The Irritant) other than there were no scream-in-your-face car ads promising approved credit for EVERYONE! However, as long as WREK (91.1, no catchy labels, nothing clever, just eclectic, alternative music, home of Georgia Tech where We Ain't Got No Journalism School So We're Making It All Up As We Go Along) exists, you can find some alternative music in this world. For instance, I doubt seriously that The Orb will ever find its way to mainstream radio. Same with Moby, Tricky, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Robert Fripp, Bill Laswell, Pere Ubu, Thinking Fellers Local, and The Hafler Trio." "It's just....how that 24 year old could forsake his 5-year old son and two-year old daughter for a fling boggles me. (And how Carol obviously took him back boggles me even more. I'm sorry, but his ass would've been out the door SO fast. But I guess she loved him enough to forgive him, blah blah blah.)" I should probably take this to e-mail, but I will bare my soul and give everyone a tiny sliver of personal perspective on this situation. While I don't want to elaborate on the details, suffice it to say that in my personal history there has been a situation where I have been Left Behind. And, you never know until you are there. If there is enough love, even something has heinous as an affair can be forgiven. there are, in fact, worse things. Enough.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199611231458.GAA29801@dfw-ix4.ix.netcom.com> From: "Steve Perley" <huduguru@ix.netcom.com> Subject: We're all foreigners to SOMEONE, I guess... Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 09:59:30 -0500 >Our friend AMANDA OWENS asked: >I would like to ask, do all foreigners have such a skewed view of the USA? >I look at all the other countires out their and I see land masses with >people and a government. That's all. A legitimate question with an unfortunate use of the word "foreigners." To which Jeff Smith replied: >Well Amanda, maybe some of those "foreigners" remember short range nuclear >missiles be planted in their countries by the USA. Or maybe they can't >forget how the USA supplied weapons to extended wars for years. Or how the >CIA help over throw ligament governments. >Reign of Blows, This World Over and I Remember The Sun fit in the political >and historical context perfectly. As for Reagan and Bush being evil. >Reagan wanted to arm space and build a nuclear missile called a peace maker >and Bush ran the CIA. Evil? Nahh. Jeez, I can't believe I'm jumping into this...but here goes (waving my little flag): First off, you're right about the songs fitting in with the times. I had a friend who was an army brat in Germany back in the heady days of the cold war. According to him, it was indeed unpleasant for the locals to have American military hardware all over the place and to have to put up with the often boorish behavior of some of our military personnel. On the other hand, east of the Berlin Wall the locals were also hosting, um, "guests" from another superpower. I'm pretty sure that they were even less pleased with the fact that they didn't have a "ligament" government of their own, had to live under Communism (and all that goes with it), had to stand in line for just about everything, etc. etc... If they had stayed home, we would have been happy to do the same. There are loads of legitimate gripes against the US, but every time there's trouble anywhere in the world, you don't hear people saying "Why doesn't (insert your favorite non-superpower contry here) DO something???" Even our current president, as wonderful as young people think he is, has no qualms about sending the US forces all over the world at the whim of the Boutros-Boutros Whatshisface, so it's not just a republican thing, as much as one might like to believe it. Who got us into Viet Nam? Who got us out? I rest my case. My taxes are too damned high, and I'd love to call everyone home and stop giving money to other countries, but then the rest of the world would scream even louder that we're a bunch of dickheads. Being a super power is a dirty job at times, but somebody's gotta do it. Sorry...um...Hey, when do you think that new album will be out? Shit, I'm gonna get flamed far and wide.... Steve
------------------------------ Date: 23 Nov 1996 15:22:42 -0000 Message-ID: <19961123152242.4705.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Ben Gott" <xtcfan@hotmail.com> Subject: He Liked to...Copy It? I've got one foot out the proverbial door, but I just wanted to say one thing about people's anger toward the fact that "He Liked to Feel It" sounds eerily like "The Disappointed." If I were Andy, I'd be honored that someone would like one of my songs so much that they write a song that is very similar to it (kind of like the concept of sampling...) Furthermore, if any Crash Test Haters can pull themselves through the song, they'll hear a couple of great angry guitar notes, and Dan Roberts's "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" bass line at the end of the last verse. I myself have written songs directly after listening to XTC, only to find out that they sound like XTC. What's wrong with that? Honoring an artist that you love? Hey - they gave Andy (and David Yazbek!) credit on the inner sleeve! (So did Toad the Wet Sprocket, come to think of it...) We spend a lot of time on this list talking about how TMBG or Yazbek or The Sugarplastic sound like XTC - why, all of a sudden, are we pissed at Brad and Co.? Regarding Robyn Hitchcock: could someone please e-mail me as to their favorite album by Robyn? I've not heard any of his stuff, and would like to get a general consensus on something (like on "The Naked Shakespeare" being Blegvad's best - an album I have not yet heard, either.) As was the case with Martin Newell (now winging its way toward me courtesy CDnow!), could someone please advise? Now I'm really leaving. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! -Ben * ------------------------------------------- Ben Gott The Hotchkiss School "It's just a complicated game..." -XTC
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 08:24:25 -0800 Message-Id: <199611231624.IAA19460@barley.adnc.com> From: studio seventeen productions <ambient@adnc.com> Subject: COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC, TOTALLY I FINALLY figured out what the guy who said "Jason Falkner sounds like Queen" was talking about: the fifteen second guitar solo located HERE on "Author Unknown" TRACK 11 2:04 through 2:19 probably because the guitar has that midrange sound that brian may always used, and the backing is a bit waltz-like/queenish. beyond that, there is NOTHING on this record REMOTELY resembling Queen...so please go and buy it IMMEDIATELY! it is, IMHO, the coolest pop record I have heard all year. it's WAY better than the Grays (which I really like). my comment on first hearing it: this is the album TODD should be making (instead of his techno (c)rap). NEXT: And I like the XTSegues idea, your Mondayness. Howabout "Omnibus"/"Magic Bus"?? NO no no! it's "Omnibus"/"Omnibus" (The Move) MUCH better. NEXT: #> From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.) #> Adrian Belew's Here is OK but probably his worst album ever >It's the second album of his I've bought and listened to [_Young >Lions_ being the first], so am I in for a treat when I build up his >back catalogue? Can anyone recommend his bestest? Thanks... BESTEST, NO DOUBT: OP ZOP TOO WAH, hands down SECOND >My favorite is Twang Bar King (out of print, I believe), AGREED THIRD followed by Lone Rhino (also out of print, I believe). AGREED these two, as noted are available (with one or two GREAT songs evilly removed-so find the albums) as the compilation DESIRE OF THE RHINO KING...still available on CD and then HERE and then INNER REVOLUTION or MR. MUSIC HEAD and then, maybe YOUNG LIONS and the guitar as orchestra is strictly for musicians only I'd say... >Or buy anything by King Crimson from 1980 on... absolutely. particularly DISCIPLINE or THRAK NEXT: >I like All Things Must Pass a lot (though not nearly as well as >Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which I actually like better than most of the >Beatles albums). But what gets me is, why did George only have one >good >record in him? Perhaps he should've made ATMP a single album, and >saved the >extra songs to bolster future releases.... I have to disagree here....the second album is great (just ignore the Krishna content) and listen to the MUSIC. After that, I think George really lost interest in music-until CLOUD 9, which is OK but is no ATMP. HOWEVER, the double live LIVE IN JAPAN is fabulous, and to hear Eric Clapton playing lead on George's songs...and playing in a melodic pop fashion instead of a tired blues fashion is REMARKABLE. George sounds great...and they cover some cool obscure tunes, like "I Want To Tell You" and "If I Needed Someone" and "Piggies"...check it out! LOUD XTC songs; REIGN OF BLOWS ROADS GIRDLE THE GLOBE and most important of all NO LANGUAGE IN OUR LUNGS or maybe all of em, except the quiet ones :-) ^^^^^ end of completely off topic post (apologies for the XTC content that crept in there) ^^^^^ dave p.s. how can you NOT like LIFE BEGINS AT THE HOP??? 173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168 * * * * * * he's seated now, and almost ready to * * begin: "lead me in with a count of 17...." * * (Consequences/Godley & Creme) * * visit: http:www.adnc.com/web/ambient/index.html seventeen: the ambient music page 173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03007801aebcbc83e979@[207.77.26.58]> Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 12:38:06 -0500 From: Ira Lieman <aym@axe.intercall.com> Subject: Billy Joel! > Billy Joel - Love 'im. Yes, I know I'm sticking my neck way the hell >out now, but I feel I should be honest. Liked him since I was a kid. Still >do. He taught me my first few lessons in the appreciation of songwriting. So >sue me. I think probably most of you Beatle fans who don't like BJ just >haven't listened very closely. He's written some very, very good stuff. Do I >sound defensive? Hey! Wow! There are OTHER Billy fans on the XTC list. I've been a Billy Joel fan ever since my uncle played "Turnstiles" for me at the tender age of 3. My first music purchase was Billy's 52nd Street album in 1979. And I've been on the Billy Joel mailing list longer than even Chalkhills! What do you think my "aym" stands for? "TWIFOAYM" isn't the first one that comes to mind...Billy's is better. So there you have it...you're not alone. :) -ira "In a milk bar and feeling lost"
------------------------------ From: HifiToastr@aol.com Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 15:01:16 -0500 Message-ID: <961123150116_230466223@emout16.mail.aol.com> Subject: Greenhouse!/pantless Branson/etc Some random poop from some recent postings: -GO2/Greenhouse: My fave XTC albums seem to change from month to month (often based on which ones I've listened to last), but GO2 is almost always in the top 3. And I was glad to see Jeff Smelser rave about "Greenhouse", which has been a fave of mine from the first time I heard it. It was a great launching pad for a skinny tie new wave kid to find something a bit experimental that still had a great (although slow) hook. -In CH#40 Daniel Ray Phipps suggests NRBQ covering "Dear Madam Barnum", which sounded silly at first, but when I thought it about it makes total sense. But I can more see them tackling one of my faves, "Toys". I think Terry Adams could do some wonderous things with that sweet voice of his. -I've seen the "Generals and Majors" video so many times and I never relised that Colin is pulling down Richard Branson's pants until AMANDA (caps and talk about typos rather than fixing them) OWENS mentioned it. Yoiks! I don't think it was spontanious, it does look planned (but still funny). -Alternative music: Most of the XTC fans I've come across in the past 10 years or so mostly listen to non-commercial music. I think some of it does come from a "if it's popular it must not be cool" attitude, but I usually give two reasons for listening to "less popular music": First, I can't stand overkill unless it's on my terms. I will play records over and over again to endless delight, but I can't stand hearing a song that's not on my personal A list more than a couple of times. I don't know how many I've thrown a song on a tune tape only to have it be a big hit later and have me lunge for the fast forward button everytime it comes on. But a year or two later when it's not on all the time I'll warm up to it again. Second, I do believe the gereral public has what I call the "lowest common denomanator factor", which means that the public tends to favor things that are safe and/or simple. Most of the records residing on the American charts are far from complex. If it doesn't grab them right away, they're not interested. XTC have hooks galore, but I they have too many other things going on to really grab the average person on a listen or two. That rambling post sort of leads to my point that "alternative music" has always been a poor tag that means nothing except to say it's not commercially feasible. It included everyhing from XTC to Alien Sex Fiend to The Tall Dwarfs to The Fleshtones to TMBG to the dBs to Minor Threat to John Zorn etc etc. On a musical level they had nothing in common but it at least put all those band in some sort of catagory. Then a few of them started selling records and the whole thing was blown to hell. I've never been happy with the phrase anyway (indie never worked either because most of the bands that got me into the whole movement were already on majors). I think I may have lost my point in there somewhere, sorry. I'm done rambling, I'll go back to lurking. In my personal rotation: The Lilys - Better Can't...(it's just like early Kinks) Posies - Amazing Disgrace (the Posies in full rock mode) Overwhlming Colorfast (very big guitars with some very big hooks) The Fall - Light User Syndrome (one of their best ever!) Sleep Cheap Dale (HifiToastr@aol.com)
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01540b00aebd0b16a664@[146.6.72.55]> Date: Sat, 23 Nov 1996 14:34:46 -0600 From: h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu (Mike Mills) Subject: Take off, you hoser! Tonight I'm gonna break away... >There is no such thing as an evil Canadian. A young woman named...um, Alanis? comes to mind... > Every verse has a different >backing and stage of feeling as I listen to it, making PP seem shorter >than it really is. I agree completely. Even though the musicians were basically playing the thing live (it sounds), the mix makes every verse sound different (you can tell that Andy's guitar is obviously mixed lower in the third verse). The song doesn't seem like 5 minutes long. on GO 2: Man, count me in with the Go2 appreciation society. That album is such an improvement over "White Music". To me it's their first album. "White Music" is kind of a joke. Which is not to say that I don't like some of the songs..."Radios in Motion", "Statue of LIberty" and "New Town Animal" I still spin regularly (oh and of course the SINGLE version of "This is Pop"). Everything else is well, tiresome. >many of >the so-called "alternative" bands on the Top 40 charts (Alice In Chains, >Sponge, etc.) are really just '90s hard rock. Sucks, don't it? There's nothing different about any of this...major, major deja vu... >All of which lead to the newspaper headline - >"Eck's TC Has Senses Working Overtime" > >Well, I thought it was funny ! "Hey, that was a smile! I smiled!!" -- Calvin Okay, paper calls... Jason "Radio flyer follows me..." -- Javelin Boot (this song was on Party of Five!)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <32987DC1.2931@sprintmail.com> Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 08:54:25 -0800 From: Stormy Monday <stormymonday@sprintmail.com> Subject: Ooh-ya-tatta Ooh-ya-tatta XTC Fans & Friends, "Um-Bull-LIKE-Ul"? Yay! I think one Miles Copeland had something to do with promoting XTC in the early days. Isn't he Stewart's brother? I liked the "Omnibus/Magic Bus" segue. "Crocodile/Crocodile Rock"? Not. Add Phil Collins to the list of "drummers I'd like to see on the next album if he was only allowed to drum". Forgive him his sins, he is a seriously creative and talented drummer. Awhile ago, someone compared "Dear Madame Barnum" to a McCartney song. Now I'll allow that the song is built around a similar chord structure to the Traveling Wilburys inferior "Last Night", but "Macca" wasn't even in that band. It is truly one of my favorite XTC songs. The lyrics are wonderful, and the music perfectly depicts the mood of the song. A+. Not only do I LOVE the "Arrrgggggggggghhhh" of "Snowman", I'm also partial to the "Ooh-ya-tatta Ooh-ya-tatta Ooh-ya-tatta Ooh-ya-tatta" of "Beating Of Hearts". I also can't agree that the aforementioned "BOH" is "production over song writing". It is a textbook example of the superior composing and unique arranging that could only have come from the hearts, minds and hands of XTC. Add "Me and the Wind" to songs that should be played loud. "Once, I had no sympathy, for those destroyed and thrown away by love" Mike
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 01:09:20 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199611240609.BAA26880@cyber1.servtech.com> From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <particle@servtech.com> Subject: Living through another Cuba... >Very few artists can find gold without a massive sell-out. >R.E.M. is held up as the poster child of "how to succeed in mainstream rock >without selling out," but I would say boo to that. They have been releasing >the same album ever since "Document" and just letting the times catch up >with them. Have you ever actually *listened* to any of these albums? There's a hell of a division between Automatic and Monster. By your reasoning, XTC released the same album over and over again until English Settlement. The similarities between Go2 and Black Sea are about the same as between Green and NAiHF. Quality assessments, fine ... if you don't like the albums, *say* that -- don't throw out something like that. >Personally, I >like the song for what it is, and not "in spite of its being crap," as you >say...in my opinion, it's NOT crap. Okay, then...we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. However, I'd like to hear what, exactly, you *like* about STST. The music is okay, but the lyrics...well... >I propose to invite XTC to play a concert for videotape in my TV >studio. I hope you have the $10,000 to shell out for said concert. Or did you expect XTC to do it out of the goodness of their hearts? Our lads are working two jobs now just to live. >I've yet to read a _FF_ review which >says *anything* bad about XTC. Did you see the "War Against Silence" one? The jist: I hate it when new XTC albums come out because all the songs but two or three suck. But now there's FF, which conveniently encapsulates all of the good XTC songs so I can get rid of all my crappy XTC albums now. >I agree totally. Who cares if it's blatant/pompous? Who's to say >that Andy's writing is crap when he wants to preach or get a point >across? I am. I certainly don't listen to music to be preached to. If a song has a message -- so be it. But I don't want the lyrics and the music sacrificed in a heavy-handed attempt to "make a difference," which is what Andy and Colin have both done several times in their careers. > #> could anyone give a ROUGH BALL PARK FIGURE on when we > #> could expect an album of newness from the Swindon boys? > >Give 'em at least six months. Hah! Wishful thinking. Reasonably, I'd budget three months to find a label, a month to get accustomed to the new environment, two to three to record the album, one to mix and master it, and one to sit on the shelf waiting to be released -- nine months in all. It's possible that it could take less time than that, but I certainly wouldn't rely on it. It could very well be a year. >As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as alternative music >anymore. It died when REM hit big with Losing My Religion. Rather than snip at AMANDA for that statement here, I will merely ask "What the HELL is that supposed to mean?" >So let's agree to >let politix alone, shall we? If you'd like to respond, please e-mail me >privately. If any of you would like to set up some sort of mass e-mail on the topic AMANDA has raised, e-mail me, and I'll set up something. I would dearly like to debate this matter (about which I feel *very* strongly) with the Chalkhills community, but this digest is not the proper place for it. Josh, torture raises its head decked out in blue white and red. /---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\ | particle@servtech.com http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | | "I won't die until I'm dead." -- They Might Be Giants, "On The Drag" | \-------------------------- Eschew Obfuscation ---------------------------/
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 05:56:19 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199611241356.FAA19849@fingers.shocking.com>
From: Craig Schafer <schaf@shocking.com>
Subject: For AMANDA, whom I've offended.
>Craig, you spelled "Dummies" wrong.
DOH!
Okay, when I wrote that article, or whatever the hell it was, I
apologized in advance for offending anybody.
Thing is, what I was trying to do was make sure that my opinions
about music were as clear as I could make them, given my rather limited
ability to express myself. I wanted feedback from others whose tastes were
similar to mine. So I gave examples. I listed my loves and, as a bit of an
afterthought, some of my not-so-loves.
I think Crash Test Dummies (sp?) suck suck suck. It's nothing
personal, I mean it's absolutely personal, but it's not an intentional
insult to anyone who DOESN'T think they suck suck suck. These are just
opposing opinions. I don't like tripe either, but some people eat it. What
the hell do I care?
You are no less of a person for liking CTD. I am no less for
disliking them. I want to apologize to you personally, but I can't think of
a very good reason to. I guess I'm sorry for that.
Anyhoo, thanks to those who sent suggestions in response to my
controvercial (ha!) (I wish Eudora Lite had a spell-checker) post. Looking
forward to blowing some money on good music.
BTW - A friend (and bandmate) of mine, who happens to be only a
semi-fan of XTC, thinks "All of a Sudden (It's Too Late)" is just the best
thing since sliced corned beef. I think it's a damn good song to be fixated
on. Haven't noticed much mention of it here, though . . . . . . . ?
sorry, no sig.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 06:57:47 -0800 (PST)
Message-Id: <199611241457.GAA26523@fingers.shocking.com>
From: Craig Schafer <schaf@shocking.com>
Subject: Now taking bids on Sting!!
>> On the Stingthing: As one of the people who got this started, I don't
>> *dislike* Sting; I think he's okay and has written some fine songs. I just
>>think that if you bought him for what's he's worth and sold him for what he
>>thinks he's worth, you'd make a nifty profit. :^)
>
>Oooooh, nice one. ZING!! ;)
Nice one? ZING? Hmm.
Do you know how much Sting is "worth" (whatever that means)? Do you
have a clue as to how much he thinks he's worth? I don't. And I don't care.
Are we talking about ego here? If you only listen to recording
artists without big egos, you must live a very quiet life. I don't think
anyone gets very far in the entertainment industry without having a nice,
fat ego.
This is just a silly as that whole "platinum-envy" thing.
Also . . .
Patrick Adamek said:
>The
>vacuous over-produced digitally perfect computer sound that emitted from
>these discs (the more recent the worst) was not what I was looking for
>out of Sting.
And then he said:
>P.S. Any Prince fans out there? Emancipation rocks!
Nuff said?
Oh, yeah. I really, really, like XTC.
sorry, no sig.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #3-41 ******************************
Go back to Volume 3.
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