Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 71
Date: Wednesday, 22 January 1997
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 71
Wednesday, 22 January 1997
Today's Topics:
Andy's Shed
croaking pumpkins
You're the Vapors-debate you are I had
How to be a bad writer
I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!
Hi, I'm Back
A request and an offer.....
Hery, I never got to put my top albums of 96 down....
A little more on preachiness......
Miss Cellaneous
Alright, last post, I promise, and this has really no XTC content...
Walking around in my Head and.......
The Long LONG Player
Steve Lillywhite Again
The Long Albums Debate
Re: I thought I spoke English! . . .
Wit and wisdom
Re: Chips from La Factory Showroom
"Radios in Motion: A History of XTC"
English As She Is Spoke
Trade Tapes Anyone ?
My day in Karlsruhe
xtc/smile
Radios In Motion
The greatest Andy Partridge quote of all time......
xtc
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Jan 97 23:36:01 UT From: "Peter Fitzpatrick" <Beatle@msn.com> Message-Id: <UPMAIL01.199701202333210088@msn.com> Subject: Andy's Shed Hi, Don't know if this has been discussed to death yet but here goes. Anyone out there know much about the equipment Andy is using in the shed these days ? (my bet is on an ADAT but I can't figure out what MIDI gear he's using....) Any takers ???????
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 00:41:41 -0600 (CST) From: "Jeffrey with 2 f's Jeffrey" <jenor@csd.uwm.edu> Subject: croaking pumpkins Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.970121002144.9860C-100000@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu> "Witter, Karl F" <witterkf@aetna.com>: > Non-XTC content: Heard Smashing Pumpkins cover The Cars' "You're All I've > Got Tonight" on the radio and found myself longing for the dulcet tones of > the golden-throated Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr. The remake was pretty shallow on > all fronts I can think of, and Corgan's (sp?) singing didn't do a thing for > me, even though a multi-octave range is not my first prerequisite in a rock > singer. Adds nothing to the original and takes away its sense of time. Haven't heard it - but is Corgan now running around claiming a "multi-octave" voice? Sheesh - I suppose one and half counts as "multi-." Anyway, with voices as elsewhere, size isn't everything.... His voice seems to have gotten more & more horrid over time - he doesn't seem to know how to use it, esp. on the louder songs. Contrast this w/Andy (hey! XTC-content!), who, while also not being blessed w/the most, errr, capable equipment (no, no...I mean his tongue...ummm, just foget it, okay?) has certainly learned to use it effectively. Too bad for Corgan, since when they're not trying to be a metal band, and when one can get past his annoying self-absorption, Smashing Pumpkins can write and arrange a fairly decent song. Still don't want to buy _Melon Collie..._ though. Jeff Ceci n'est pas une .sig In my CD changer: Rodan _Rusty_ R.E.M. _Out of Time_ Tricky _Maxinquaye_ Pulp _Different Class_ Scenic _Incident at Cima_
------------------------------ Message-ID: <32E49BCB.2476@fhsk.skurup.se> Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 10:34:51 +0000 From: Jonas Lind <tilia@fhsk.skurup.se> Organization: Skurups Folkhogskola Subject: You're the Vapors-debate you are I had Hi. I forgot to add an Andy Partridge-quote from that interview article. Andy commented on XTC's early recordings: "- When I wrote and recorded those songs, I was in an entirely different situation. I was a young man who made far too much noise. That's what I was like then - naive in a youthfully enthusiastic sort of way. That naivety is something that everyone in their right mind will lose, sooner or later, and when you do, the trick is to replace it with something else." Personally, I wouldn't mind if XTC went back to making an occasional naive album like "White Music" or "Go2", preferrably with Elvis Costello as their producer and Stewart Copeland as their sit-in drummer. Would you? About The Vapors: OK, they may not have sounded like XTC that much, but they still had that same catchy, high-energy, desperate-sounding output. I've always been a sucker for bands who combine punk energy and pop sofistication, and add a few quirky things of their own, like weird changes of key. On their first four albums, XTC did that better than any other band, and I guess bands like The Vapors and The Planets did too, in their own way. >From down in the tube station at midnight, Jonas
------------------------------ Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=AETNA%l=AETNA/AETNA/002E4731@aetna.aetna.com> From: "Witter, Karl F" <witterkf@aetna.com> Subject: How to be a bad writer Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 09:42:00 -0500 >[ME] Am I the only one to notice how both XTC double albums are shorter >than Nonsuch? (Don't answer that either.)...(Fewer, and longer tracks) >typically doesn't serve Andy's or Colin's songwriting best IMO. Don't answer that cos I bungled my facts. Of course, English Settlement is longer than Nonsuch, and O&L may be--I couldn't check my collection or the website, but I went ahead and posted anyway! Let me amend that to "Nonsuch isn't much shorter than the double LPs, and it probably wouldn't fit on a single LP". For average song length, you'll hear that little beeping sound while I back up: ES is almost 5m each and is very well served that way, sounding much quicker than 72 minutes. Maybe that live band feeling is the reason. And its length per track might not be the best thing for the songs they write as a studio band. My real point was: The new one doesn't have to be >60m as NS, O&L or ES are. And for a shorter total length, like in the low-40m range I'd rather more shorter songs than fewer longer ones (but no cereal filler). Measuring twice and cutting once, Karl
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 08:40:19 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! Message-id: <01IEGVMA5M2M8ZLCA8@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Ahhh, 106 messages waiting for moi when I got back to school. Well.....I'm going to have to read all these damn Chalkhills and respond to things all at once....it's gonna take some time!!!!! XTC things....transcribed an interview given to me by Keith Beck that was done around the time of the Music and Friends convention, I still need to actually get it onto the computer, however. Thanks For Christmas was actually played on 106.1, New Orleans resident alternative station. Mummer was shown on a Camelot Music commercial. I plastered my wall with pictures I printed up after FINALLY getting to see all the XTC webpages complete with graphics. Incredible blown up pic of Dave from the Nonsuch liner notes, which now is smack dab in the middle of my Wall O' XTC. More later, got too much mail to write! Later, AMANDA In Amanda's cd player right now: GOOD WEIRD FEELING-The Odds NO TALKING JUST HEAD-The Heads (Papersnow and BLue Moon are the most incredible songs.) FACTORY SHOWROOM-They Might Be Giants.... OH! Almost forgot something. MTV has been having hour long previews of their sister station, M2, and last week THEY PLAYED THE VIDEO FOR DEAR GOD!!!!!
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03010d00af0a78ec477f@[10.10.19.54]> Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:33:22 +0100 From: Andre de Koning <a.de.koning@bpa.nl> Subject: Hi, I'm Back Hi Chalkhillers! It turned out I was a mere 50 digests behind ( ;-) ) after being separated from this list and email (and internet) access for two months. Y'all please notice my new email address (I have a new job). I'm afraid I'm stuck with a case of indigestion from digesting all these digests so I'm afraid I don't have much to say, except that I'm still amazed at the amount of discussions goin on here. Here's to hoping we will be able to discuss *new* product this year! -- Andre de Koning a.de.koning@bpa.nl
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:17:13 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: A request and an offer..... Message-id: <01IEH33WTZ2Q8ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> I have the five song Nonsuch demo cd, which includes the demos for Peter Pumpkinhead, My Bird Performs, Down a Peg, Always Winter, Never Christmas, and the Smartest Monkeys (Probably the only time Colin's had more songs than Andy on anything.) Anyways, I am very much willing to part with this cd. I have only listened to it once, The case and cd itself are in perfect condition. I don't want to sell, I want to trade. I'm still looking for videos of the songs Grass, Mayor of Simpleton, King For a Day, and basically anything that has never been on MTV and wasn't on Look Look. (Live appearances and such.) I'm also looking for anything Dave. I just want stuff about Dave. Forget Andy and Colin, I'm looking for Dave. E-mail me, whoever's interested. Also, I printed up the band pictures from the Black Sea tour programme, but the words on the pages came up way too blurry for me to read. Anyone who can tell what is being said, I am very interested to see what the lads are saying about themselves....just about the only thing I can read is their heights and their weights. (Dave said he thought he was fat around that time...oh yes, someone who is six feet tall and weighs 11 stone is REALLY fat....I do believe that's around 154 or so pounds, for us yanks who don't weigh ourselves in stones.) That's all for now! (But I'll be back once I actually read through all the damn Chalkhills and CTD mailing lists thingies in my mailbox.) Later, Amanda "Torgo, I just met a fella named Torgo"
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:39:04 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: Hery, I never got to put my top albums of 96 down.... Message-id: <01IEH41WPMQQ8ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> So here they are:::: 1.Crash Test Dummies-A Worm's Life (well DUH!) They took a big gamble when they departed from the mainly acoustic sound they'd cultivated, but I think it worked....but did you notice that all the bands that were really big in 1994 have gone nowhere this year????? 2.Dave Matthews Band-Crash. Just plain great album. 3.Fiona Apple-Tidal. Another just plain great album. $-The Monkees-Justus. See above answer. And those are the only four albums of 96 that I really paid any attention to.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:49:28 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: A little more on preachiness...... Message-id: <01IEH4CCT5L48ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Some may say that XTC's lyrics do in fact tend to have ministorial overtones (PRAISE BE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!)...not necessarily in that sense, but some may say it. I find it odd then that Brad Roberts is such a huge fan, as he has said that he thinks preachy lyrics don't belong in pop music because "Of course usually pop stars are the last to preach to anybody about anything with any kind of foundation." Onto some things..... Got both Factory Showroom and No Talking Just Head for Christmas. Papersnow is a great song. As far as XTC Vs. Adam Ant goes.....I can't get into it. I thought it would sound a little different than it does. Well, I'm AMANDA-ing in my own name, so I'll be going now.
------------------------------
Message-Id: <2.2.16.19970121191216.0d7798e6@cic-mail.lanl.gov>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:12:16 -0700
From: DeWitt Henderson <dewitth@lanl.gov>
Subject: Miss Cellaneous
Hola amigos!
Yo! Ben Gott! Someone already said this in the latest 'hills, but I must
agree loudly - Genesis did NOT suck after PG left - at least not right
away. "Wind and Wuthering" and "Trick of the Tail" are 2 of my all-time
faves. I bought the albums, then the CD's, then the remastered CD's.
"...And Then There Were Three" and "Duke" ain't bad either. After
that, uh, they just got a little too commerical for me. The 2 "hits" on
"Duke" were the beginning of the end for me. However, they occasionally
will do a good song with the feel of their older mastery. For example,
to me, "Driving the Last Spike" on their last ("We Can't Dance") CD is
awesome. "Home by the Sea" is nice as well.
Karl Witter! Yeah, your "Jeopardy" story was a riot. And your CD will
be on its way tomorrow.
Cheryl - nice thoughts on AP and his situation...
Long CD's vs. filler debate - definitely some truth there, but I agree
with those who said XTC would have less filler ("and more taste!") than
the average band... one that does fit the profile that comes to mind is
Charlie Sexton's latest - some killer tracks, but some filler. To me...
Aussie CD prices?!?! Is this for real? That's utterly shocking! We
should work out a system where those of us in the US or UK buy the CD's
for you, and you ship us Foster's or something.
*----------------------------------
| DeWitt Henderson |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| CIC-13 MS P223 |
| Los Alamos, NM 87544 |
| 505/665-0720 |
*----------------------------------
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 14:37:24 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: Alright, last post, I promise, and this has really no XTC content... Message-id: <01IEH84ASFRY8ZNLBW@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> A question for everyone on here who lives in England or has been to London or the general vicinity.....my best friend is going there for a week and would like to know what there is to do. Besides going to gawk at Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and the Towers of London (La la Londinium) and Picadilly Circus, what else is there to see? I rather slyly told her that Billingsgate was just THE hottest spot for action in London....that is, if you like the smell of fish. Later, Amanda XTC song of the day: Shake You Donkey Up non-XTC song of the day: I Would Be Your Man-The Odds XTC song quote of the day: "People will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with wlecome written on it" non-XTC song quote of the day: "It seems the thinkers you call greatest are the sort who often fall ill young, or pine away. How can they help but drag the species down?"-Crash Test Dummies "I'm a Dog"
------------------------------ From: McGREGOC <McGREGOC@asdf011.regents.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 20:52:44 GMT Subject: Walking around in my Head and....... Message-ID: <8051274FA0@asdf011.regents.ac.uk> Hello I was lying in bed thinking again (oh! no!) about this girl band stuff and the group L7 popped in to my head. Yikes! Okay, so there are some girl bands out there that have Umph! L7 may have too much Umph! I can imagine them beating the tar out of the Sex Pistols! I will leave this subject alone now. I was browsing through my thoughts this morning and Pink Floyd came on. I didn't know what song it was but I could tell from the sound of it who it was, which leads into my thought: What would you say is XTC's trademark sound? I can always tell by the guitar sound that its Pink Floyd. The funny thing is I'm not a big fan of theirs, I don't own any of their albums but I can spot them a mile away. I couldn't think of anything that when I hear it, it screams XTC at me. Ofcourse Mr. P.'s voice is unique and incredible but if I was listening to the radio and a new XTC song came on(without the announcer annoucing who it was)would I know it? How have you long-time fans "known" it was them? Each album has been so different. Even the sound of their voices have changed, it seemed to me. New question to ponder, I hope I will get some response from some of you and if this has already been discussed to death then e-mail me privately. Really what would you say is their trademark sound? Thus ends my wandering thoughts for this day, Cheryl
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01550102af0ad8c95f75@[146.6.72.30]> Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:05:06 -0600 From: h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu (Guy in a Dress) Subject: The Long LONG Player Hey y'all (with forced Texas accent). >If all you know is "Walk Like an Egyptian" or "Manic Monday," you're >missing out on some fine stuff. Hey I **LIKE** "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Manic Monday". Maybe I should buy the album (?!?!?!) Re: Bashing Long albums I'm with you! Not only do you have a better chance of less-than-good filler seeping into the mix, you also get half a decade of waiting between releases!!! What's up with that?!?! Now I'm not blaming the boys; they have good reasons, but when I think that the Beatles would release "Help" and "Rubber Soul" in the SAME FRIGGIN YEAR, or even "Revolver" and "Sgt.Pepper" within one year of each other-- IT BOGGLES THE MIND!! Albums should take less than a lifetime to record! I feel CDs are only adding fuel to the fire regarding this trend. Now you engineers and such out there will probably come back at me with "Well things are different now; we have 98-track recording where they only had four, it's more complicated." A friend of mine always had a little joke about that; he'd say, "Turn the echo up on the splash cymbal." If that's what multi-multi tracking makes us do, I say record the whole thing in an open room with four mikes and live vocals. Rrrrr. >Great examples of short albums that are amazing: >the Beatles - "Revolver" And then I read on!! Yes! This is my favorite Beatles album, short and to the point with a wide variety of styles and influences, but not "produced" to today's standards. >>It's good to be Bach! > >This has been bugging me for a while - exactly where does Colin say >this? >From the live BBC Radio 1 CD: "It's good to be Bach, VERY good to be Bach. This one's called 'Love at First Sight'. [begin guitar intro] It's about debauchery and things like that" Just a joke really, if it doesn't sound like it to you I don't think it's that big a deal. P.S.- all this talk about demo lyrics: keep in mind that they're just demos. The songs could (and most likely will) change considerably before they're recorded. And now, I must elsewhere. Jason
------------------------------ Message-ID: <c=AU%a=_%p=JDEAUNZ%l=MEL_SERVER-970121235400Z-20@mel_server.jde.com.au> From: Paul Haines <Hainesp@melbourne.jde.com.au> Subject: Steve Lillywhite Again Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:54:00 +1000 Hey Chalkhills People, Just read through a pile of Chalkhills and have come up with this: Steve Lillywhite produced Big Country's first three albums. If I'm not mistaken. I haven't gone back and checked but on their 4th album they used Peter Wolf from the J Geils Band and their sound changed a lot. So did a lot of their fans. I'd like two albums from XTC. Haines
------------------------------ Message-ID: <c=AU%a=_%p=JDEAUNZ%l=MEL_SERVER-970121235956Z-21@mel_server.jde.com.au> From: Paul Haines <Hainesp@melbourne.jde.com.au> Subject: The Long Albums Debate Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:59:56 +1000 Hello again, and so soon: Long albums: Let's briefly recall what we know shall we: English Settlement Oranges & Lemons NonSuch Not much wrong here really, is there? Also remember there has been a long period between albums since Skylarking came out. Thank you and good night. Haines
------------------------------
Message-Id: <v02130503af0bc86afd31@[134.32.48.177]>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 13:58:57 +0000
From: varga@ferndown.ate.slb.com (Stephen Varga)
Subject: Re: I thought I spoke English! . . .
In Chalkhills #3-70, J.D. Wrote:
>I speak American English, which I'm sure we all know has
>quite a few differences from standard English. Anyway . . . I was reading
>the Andy Partridge interview in the January issue of Record Collector
>magazine, when I came across this paragraph:
>
>"Most people think we've split up. We never used to appear in those
>coffee-table rock books. But now we're starting to. But we've been doing
>our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior miner's kit. We'll have
>to grow our hair in more of a Scargillian manner. I'll have some of Colin's
>overflow."
>
>Can someone explain all of the proper nouns in this quote?
British Leyland: The former name of the Rover Group and Austin Rover.
British car manufacturer (recently taken over by BMW) Andy's quote refers
to British Leyland in the 1970's when it was a nationalised company ridden
by constant strikes under the Old Labour government. (Jim Callaghan's
leadership) Not to be confused with Tony Blair's (probable Prime Minister
by May) New Labour.
Chad Valley: Toy manufacturer famous for producing occupational clothes
for kindergarten children.
Scargillian: Leader of the Miner's Union. Very left wing and militant.
He has a distinctive longish unkempt hairdo over his balding head.
Hope this helps.
Stephen Varga
___________________________________
Stephen Varga
Schlumberger ATE
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 14:23:24 GMT
Message-Id: <v01510102af0bc807d02b@[194.128.83.69]>
From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher)
Subject: Wit and wisdom
Daniel Prendiville said:
>D'yer ever get the feeling that Andy sits down and composes these
>very witty, pithy and not-at-all shitty remarks which many of us have
>grown up with over the years, reading interviews in the music media?
I too recognised Andy's not-exactly-fresh quote about someone playing White
Music in a restaurant, but then think how many times you rehash the same
old stories when you meet people socially. The really amazing thing is how
fresh Partridge manages to keep his interviews. Remember, many of them will
have been done on the same day in a marathon slog through a long line of
anonymous journalists. And there can't be many of us who sit poring over
his every word to catch him out for repetition. But still he gives everyone
something different.
I've been reading XTC interviews for something like 17 years - these days
I'm invariably bored by the journalists running through the same familiar
story, but deeply impressed at how Partridge keeps coming up with a new
spin on it.
Having spoken to him on several occasions, I'm convinced that he doesn't
sit down and prepare his witty remarks. His brain just works like that. The
recent thread about metaphor in XTC songs is relevant here, because
Partridge can't look at one thing without thinking of another. It's as if
every word in a sentence is sitting waiting for him to turn into a pun,
take overly literally, or turn on its head. I remember interviewing him for
Limelight, and discovering loads of jokes he'd made only when I played back
the tape.
Think of the Mayor of Simpleton. Now, "simpleton" is a word you use to
describe someone who's not very bright. Partridge hears the word and
chooses to understand it as "Simpleton" as in "Simple-town". And his brain
then gets to work on what such a place would be like and who would be in
charge of it.
Look at this throw-away sentence in the interview in the January Record
Collector:
"We've been doing our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior
miner's kit. We'll have to grow our hair in a more Scargillian manner. I'll
have some of Colin's overflow."
The intensity of the references here is bewildering. First he refers to
British Leyland, the car company that earned a bad reputation for
industrial relations in the 1970s, then he throws in Chad Valley, a toy
manufacturer's of his youth, and the reference to mining makes him
gravitate towards Arthur Scargill, the left-wing leader of the National
Union of Mineworkers who fought and lost the major industrial battle of the
1980s; and because Scargill's hair ("Scargillian" is an adjective of Andy's
making) has one of those extended strips to cover up a bald patch and is
prone to blowing all over the place in the wind, Partridge makes a hair
joke, which refers to his own thining pate and Moulding's prolific growth.
Now, he could have just said, "We went on strike." Which would you have
preferred?
- Mark
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~fisher/
------------------------------ Message-Id: <9701221422.AA21970@firewall.vum.be> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:28:57 +0100 From: Tim De Cock <tim@vum.be> Subject: Re: Chips from La Factory Showroom Greetings, Paul Hosken asked: > Does anyone know if [Chips from the Chocolate Fireball] > is planned to be rereleased in Europe, and what's it's status > in the US, is it readily available? I have no idea, frankly, but I do come across copies every once in a while in certain Belgian CD-stores. If you want, I'll have a look for you. Karl Harald wrote: > also! Is it only in Norway that Factory showroom (tmbg) > hasn't come out yet,aaarrghh! If it's any consolation: like yourself I have been looking for the album here and it's still not out! And those Chalkhillers just can't stop mentioning it!! Sheer torture!!! Months on end!!!! Worse (though admittedly a bit less unexpected) than the Spanish Inquisition!!!!! UNTIL a friend bought me a copy in NY. That was last week. Now if you're in for some really bad news: I don't like the album very much. You know: *their new stuff sucks* and all that! :-) I hope it just needs more time than their previous CD's. Rob Loughman said: > Yes, the La's made a > wonderful debut album of LP length, but who knows how > many great songs might've been cut to keep the album > at some arbitrary length? Not a whole lot, I think, judging from the cd-single "Feelin'" drawn from it. It featured only album tracks and a alternative version of (I think) the album track Doledrum. Where did those other great songs go, then? B-side Heaven? ;-) I'm not saying I support the ten-song idea as such: I want to see as much songs making it on CD as possible. But this is true: I've always felt that Nonsuch as an album (not considering the individual songs) lacked a certain inner strength, a cohesiveness that is very much present on e.g. Skylarking, D&W, Mummer, O&L (though that one's pretty lengthy) and I think length is a crucial factor in this feeling. The latter albums I usually listen to as a whole and in sequence; I've only once done that with Nonsuch. Of course, that can prove just about anything so I'll just shut up. Mark at the Lighthouse: I'll get in touch soon! Reporting for Chalkhills in Belgium, that's Tim De Cock. We'll be back after this break.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:40:35 -0700 From: Craig Larson <Craig_L@TSJC.CCCOES.EDU> Subject: "Radios in Motion: A History of XTC" Message-id: <01BC078F.EF6C4820@LarsonC.tsjc.cccoes.edu> Saw mention of this promo item in the digest. I've got a copy of this, too. No idea how rare it is, though I imagine it must be a bit unusual. I got it as a freebie with my subscription to _Alternative Press_ (just part of a mound of free tapes, CDs and band stickers I've accumulated over the years). Sort of a "greatest hits" package sent out to promote _Nonsuch_. Craig Larson Trinidad, CO
------------------------------ Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970122144412.006ba24c@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 14:44:12 +0000 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: English As She Is Spoke From: Jdmack01@aol.com >"Most people think we've split up. We never used to appear in those >coffee-table rock books. But now we're starting to. But we've been doing >our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior miner's kit. We'll have >to grow our hair in more of a Scargillian manner. I'll have some of Colin's >overflow." >Can someone explain all of the proper nouns in this quote (save for Colin)? >Thanks in advance for the chance to exapnd my cultural knowledge! Okey-doke. British Leyand : A UK car manufacturing firm legendary in the 1970s for not actually doing a lot of car manufacturing, but instead spending an immense ammount of the working week asleep or on strike. They were a staple component of the big-haired, frilly-shirted club comedian of the era who, when running low on the traditonal jolly British mix of deeply racist and sexist material, would endeavour to contrive some link between the three toed sloth and your average British Leyland worker. Hilarity ensued. Chad Valley : A toy manufacturer who took their name from the area where they were based, and who were pioneers in the art of building tin playthings with sharp edges. From my youth I seem to remember an excess of Chad Valley scooters, those proto-skateboards with handlebars which became rattling deathtraps on any decent slope and were often found, bent and abandoned, by the side of the road, usually under a hedge with a wheel missing. You could collect these for scrap. Extra points were awarded for each severed finger found in the debris. Scargillian: Arthur Scargill was the leader of the Miners in the famous mid-eighties coal workers strike in the UK when he fought long and hard for the futue of the British coal industry. Though he was possessed of a genuine passion for the cause of his union, he had a truly strange hair style, a fair facsimile of which can be created by leaving three demented kittens to play with a ball of red wool, and was thus largely dismissed as a crank. The general public celebrated when the strike was broken, and then watched in amazement as the government closed down all the mines. There are currently around five miners in regular work in the UK. (cf. The Comic Strip Presents - "STRIKE!"; a spoof film about the arrival of Hollywood movie makers in a British mining town to film the real story of the strike. With Al Pacino as Arthur Scargill.) Meep-meep, Simon +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-- XTC - This Is Pop?
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 97 15:04:08 UT From: "Peter Fitzpatrick" <Beatle@msn.com> Message-Id: <UPMAIL01.199701221513060420@msn.com> Subject: Trade Tapes Anyone ? Anyone new out there who would like to trade rare tapes and videos ? Mail me if you're interested. (newbies helped out....) thanks -Peter
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 19:07:33 +0100 (CET) From: James Isaacs <jisaacs1@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de> Subject: My day in Karlsruhe Message-Id: <Pine.A32.3.91.970122185904.69825E-100000@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de> I spent this Wednesday in Karlsruhe, a city in Southern Germany. What does this have to do with anything, let alone XTC? Well, just let me tell you... Oh, dear. Well, anyway, I went to a really cool museum, and they had a humongous collection of fossilized thingies that would fit very nicely on "Fossil Fuel". What are those, anthricites? My memory fails. Also, I found a lovely Cd store, where I picked up this wonderful Cd by the Sugarplastic that all here are raving about. If it is no good, or if it is good and I do not like it just for being the social pariah I am, I am personally going to flame all of you for taking me for 25DM. >; ) Mike, as honorary chairman and grand poobah of the Go 2 Society (Wouldn't Go 2 Hell be a good slogan?), let me welcome you aboard. We could probably field a miserable football team. Perhaps Renaldo or Allen Shearer likes Go 2 as well.... James Isaacs "Buy Red Wrigglers, the Cadillac of Worms" -song from the past
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:02:46 -0800 (PST) From: Thomas Long <tlong@unixg.ubc.ca> Subject: xtc/smile Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970122084428.12429A-100000@interchg.ubc.ca> All this time in between Nonsuch and ?? has at least given me the chance to discover some new/old sounds... and I'd like to personally thank Partridge & co. for giving me a new appreciation of the Beach Boys, a band I used to detest (actually, Mike Love & Al Jardine are still on my hate list, but why quibble)... Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile are superb, while stray tracks like Let Him Run Wild also send the shivers up & down the spine... I recently came across the book Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile... what a wealth of info, including xTc references... having read all about the infamous Smile sessions, I'm desperate to HEAR them... if anyone can put me in touch with a reasonable fascimile (ahem), please email me privately... cheers, thomas song of the day: Pale & Precious, of course!!
------------------------------ From: Michael_Ong@SOM-LRC.ucsd.edu Message-Id: <CC8388565@CCMail.UCSD.Edu> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 10:32:00 -0800 Subject: Radios In Motion I picked up a copy of it a year ago in San Diego in a used CD store called Music Trader. I assumed if I could find it in SD it couldn't be that rare, but since its a promo CD for radio stations there can't be that many copies. There were actually two copies there that day, but stupid me figured I could always get it later if I wanted two copies (sorry Ira). Haven't seen it since. mIKE
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:14:52 -0600 (CST) From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: The greatest Andy Partridge quote of all time...... Message-id: <01IEINSCFL1U8ZOOQZ@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> "The Crash Test Dummies are the greatest PR people we've never paid!"-from Record Collector Jan. 1997 Later, Amanda PS-Anyone know of any websites for those uof us addicted to CCGs, mainly to Magic: The Gathering and the X-Files???? Just wondering.
------------------------------ From: "AUTUMN D HOWELL" <howellad@salem.kent.edu> Organization: Kent State - Salem Campus Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:42:40 EST Subject: xtc Message-ID: <39481964757@salem-1.salem.kent.edu> Why does Andy Partridge look so much like John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman in the "Dear God' video? I think in that video he looks like Chapman parodying Lennon in the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" promo film/video in which Paul McCartney climbed into a tree to fix the mellotron wires (which loked more like telephone wires). With the recent revelation fronm Chapman in which he said he wanted to kill the rest of the Beatles, and the fact that Partridge was blaspheming God (saying he doesn't exist), and since Partridge had that dazed/crazed killer look and hit the tree with "Maxwell's Silver Hammers", I found that video inappropriate to be shown. thanx, a citizen
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #3-71 ******************************
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