Chalkhills Digest Volume 4, Issue 13
Date: Friday, 24 October 1997
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 4, Number 13
Friday, 24 October 1997
Today's Topics:
Animation
Another drummer nominee
Black Ice
The Green Man
It Puts the Lotion in the Basket
searching, searching, searching
The Dangers of Guitars and Guitar Solos
on a lighter note
Phish, solos and other bits and pieces
100% Commercial
I'm pretty sure Michael Bland likes XTC, so........
Hmm...
college radio...
Aimee
aw mom, do i have to?
chumbawumba and stuff
Song Title/Artist answer..
Brookes, Brookes gaze in your r- Oh, darn....
Andy who? I don't know anyone named Andy
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Daydream of dents in her rear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <2.2.32.19971022201908.006cbff8@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 21:19:08 +0100 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: Animation I got my copy of Cinemania back.... The guy Andy was supposed to do Mervyn Peake's "Letters From A Lost Uncle" with was Henry Selick, who went on to _direct_ "James and The Giant Peach" as well as the AWESOME "Nightmare Before Christmas" Toodle-oo, Simon -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm (http://come.to./bungalow) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- An XTC resource - "Saving it all up for you..."
------------------------------ Message-ID: <344E6A2D.5BB9@student.flint.umich.edu> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:03:41 -0400 From: Rob Hill <rhill@student.flint.umich.edu> Subject: Another drummer nominee Gary.Dean@manor.ch stood forth and made this emission: >Johnny Rotten did in fact receive vocal training. >Take a look at "The great rock 'n' roll swindle". I'll make sure to recommend it to my Grandma. On the XTC front--does anyone know what became of Pete "the Abominable Doctor" Phipps? I'd rather like to see him brought back into the fold. His drumming on "Ladybird" and throughout Big Express is some of my favourite ever committed to acetate. Rob
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199710222134.XAA03995@utrecht.knoware.nl> From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Organization: The Little Lighthouse Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 23:41:24 +0000 Subject: Black Ice Dear Chalkers, Jeff Cotter asked: > Why do I keep thinking that the line "and busses might skid on black > ice" is missing from Senses on the Upsy Daisy Assortment? I can't > figure out why and where I remember hearing this line. Any clues? Easy, you are absolutely right! Virgin insisted on having that line edited from the single version of Senses Working Overtime. Why? To get to the chorus a bit sooner... Now you understand why our Heroes were so eager to leave Virgin ;) So my guess is you heard the missing line on the Settlement album. yours trainspotting, Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse the XTC website @ http://come.to/xtc ===> The Random XTC Quote <=== A thousand Cheshire cats grin inside of me
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 16:58:45 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <199710222158.QAA29648@thor.inlink.com> From: jims@inlink.com (Jim S) Subject: The Green Man All this talk of what demo songs we hope (and in some cases hope DON'T ) make the album has got me thinking; all this time I have assumed The Green Man was going to be part of the album. In fact, I think it would make a great opening track. Is this pretty much the opinion out there, that The Green Man, being one of the stronger of the demos, is a cinch to make the album? Is Andy as proud of this one as Easter Theatre? And just curious, which of the demos do you think ARE cinches to make the album? I'd say Easter Theatre, River of Orchids and (hopefully) The Green Man are the only ones I would consider "locks." Oh, and Playground, which seems to be part of a "school" theme Andy and Colin are looking into. Anyone else? At least calm my nerves about The Green Man! Jim S. <jims@inlink.com> Serious fan of: *St. Louis Rams *Michigan Wolverines *"JAWS" *St. Louis Cardinals *XTC *MST3K Movie buffs: Check out Jake Gove's excellent "JAWS" homepage. Video, sound, reviews, trivia and more from the 1975 classic! http://www.winternet.com/~tandj04/jaws.html
------------------------------
Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=BTG._Inc.%l=EXCH_HQ-971022222228Z-50756@exchserver.btg.com>
From: "Sherwood, Harrison" <hsherwood@btg.com>
Subject: It Puts the Lotion in the Basket
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:22:28 -0400
>From: "Bob Prowse" <bobprowse@mcmail.com>
>Subject: Bumpers, Colin, and those solos...
>On occasion, has anybody ever remarked that you speak
>really fast, in real life? Just curious.
Heh! Actually, Bob, in what you laughingly term "real life" I can't get
the damned ducks to stop talking to _me_. Anybody know a good surgeon
who specializes in intracranial microchip removal?
(This joke will be understood by exactly 0.002% of the population here,
but _they're_ ROTFL. And isn't that enough? Just keep that fucking
bar-code reader away from me, and we'll get along just fine.... And look
for Chalkhills' Children '97, which has some oblique relevance to all
this.)
For those who are wondering, I bear an uncanny physical resemblance to
Sister Wendy from those art-history shows
(http://www-wbgu.bgsu.edu/programming/features/sister.html).
>From: "Kevin Keeler" <insanity@underworld.net>
>Subject: synchsynchsynch
>And the cool thing last issue seems to be: analyze harrison. He started out
>strong and true, but started waning. While arguing against the definitive
>'goodness' of a piece, he ended up attempting to define it in his own,
>biased terms. He was on the right track, but with a few wheels hanging off
>to the side.
I've been pondering this, and would like to propose a little
thought-experiment that I hope will demonstrate the point I'm trying to
make about absolute values in music.
Let's take, oh, the Beach Boys' "In My Room." It would take a much
harder heart than mine to argue that this isn't a numinously beautiful,
heartfelt, innocent, sensitively arranged and executed bit o' teenage
gorgeousness straight from the soul of a traumatized but uncannily
talented artist who is beginning to suspect he might be going insane.
Pretty ripping good stuff, right? (Note: you don't actually have to like
the Beach Boys or "In My Room" for this experiment to work. Bear with
me.)
Now let's pretend that "In My Room" never existed, and that the Beach
Boys were all killed in a tragic gardening accident in 1961. Now, in
1997, the Ford Motor Company has a new line of sumbitchin' pickup trucks
they want to make people start salivating for. They hire a talented hack
who--wonder of coincidental wonders--comes up with a jingle, called "In
My Truck," that exactly resembles "In My Room" in every way, down to the
lush harmonies and instrumentation and heartache. The only difference
between the two is the chorus ("When we're randy, feeling horny, need a
place to...." You get the idea. I hope.) The point is, there is
quantitatively *no difference* between the two songs. The notes are all
exactly the same.
The difference is in _intent_. The first song is the cry of a wounded
soul, reaching simultaneously outward to us and inward to himself,
hoping against hope to find solace and strength against the pain of
being alive. Brian Wilson uses musical tools such as tension and
release, dissonance and resolution, contrasting textures and whatnot, to
communicate to us the intended emotions. We listeners open up and let
the song in, because we sense the validity, the honesty of the emotions
being expressed, and we hear ourselves in the song. A human connection
is made between us and Brian Wilson.
The second song uses exactly the same techniques to make us feel all
gooey-n-sticky so we'll run out and buy some trucks. A connection is
made between the Ford Motor Company and our checkbooks.
Now: I refuse to live in a universe where an advertising jingle,
conceived and executed with the intent of appealing to my natural
covetousness, with nothing humanistic, nothing engaging, nothing
vulnerable or personal about it, can carry the same artistic weight as
"In My Room"--*even if it's exactly the same song.* The two are not
equally good.
>
>From: Gary.Dean@manor.ch
>Date: 21 Oct 1997 09:12:07 +0000
>BTW: The last issue was my first, is it always this pretentious?
You obviously missed last month's masterful 10,000-word monograph from
John Relph, "In/Human Alchemy: The Reification of Meta-Praxis in
Semiotically Objectified Far-Eastern Geographical Imagery in 'Radios in
Motion.'" Had tongues wagging for weeks.
>From: "Stafford, Dave" <dstaffor@tradesvc.com>
>Subject: FORBIDDEN SUBJECT: GUITAR SOLOS (But everything else is OK)
>What a baffling post from "The Kid" !
I agree it _was_ baffling, but I think quite a lot of the bafflitude
will be cleared up when you know that The Kid was actually quoting _me_
for the first two-three paragraphs of his post, but failed to include
the little quote marks that denote this. That explains quite a lot of
the apparent schizophrenia, where he suddenly turns around and starts
booting himself violently (if comically) in the ass. It was me he was
aiming for.
>
And speaking of which..
>Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 07:33:46 -0400
>From: Mark Stevenson <MRS@OVUM.MHS.compuserve.com>
>Subject: Inclusive and Exclusive Thought
>
>I feel I must reply to Harrison Sherwood. Poor, misguided, emotionally
stunted Harrison.
Y'know, I'm sure you had a point in there somewhere, but I'm damned if
I'm going to wade through 150-plus lines of spittle-flecked venom to try
to get to it. You've obviously got some unresolved rage issues you need
to work through, but may I suggest that this is not the forum for it.
If you want to fling more hardened little balls of excrement at me about
the level of my emotional maturity, my comments in Chalkhills, or my
writing style, please mail them to me privately, where I can mock them
for you in relative peace and quiet.
Harrison "Pompous enough for you?" Sherwood
------------------------------ Message-Id: <9710222251.AA23920@axtx0060.scent.mccaw.com> From: steve mcallister <steve.mcallister-next@attws.com> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 97 17:51:17 -0500 Subject: searching, searching, searching please help. If anyone out there is adept at sleuthing out rare, out-of-print records, please e-mail me privately. I'm looking for something specific from the 40's. Finder's fee offered (as well as the AP signed Nonsuch display listed in my last post, if such is your fancy)(hope that counts as XTC content). many thanks McAllister
------------------------------ Message-ID: <c=AU%a=_%p=DPIEXCH%l=DPIEXCH/MHOEXCH/002608FA@pibcrmexh001.pib.dpi.qld.gov.au> From: "McDonald, Roger" <McDonaRF@prose.dpi.qld.gov.au> Subject: The Dangers of Guitars and Guitar Solos Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 09:50:00 +1000 Ho-hum Trainspotters, Well, I must say I'm certainly impressed with the high falutin' nature of the latest intellectual extrapolations regarding guitar solos and the only hypothesis that I can possibly postulate at this moment in time is that big words sure are impressive! I mean, don't get me wrong as you may or may not remember I was one of the first to congratulate Sherwood Harrison (or is it Harrison Sherwood?) on his fiery anti widdly widdly diatribe - and I still do! Here in Australia (where the kangaroos still stampede down the main street of the city at dusk - zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...) we have a thing called the 'tall poppy syndrome' whereby if ya do good, ya get a pat on the back but if ya start gettin' too many kudos ya get kicked back down with the pack. Weird, hey? Anyway, probably because of this deeply ingrained cultural drawback I read Mark Stevenson's reply with some excitement, relish, olives and a white wine sauce. What can I say gentlemen but thank you. We had intellect, passion and insight. I'm calling it a draw. Ya done good! Much more exciting than, "Oh yeah? Well your Mother wears army boots!" Not that I'm totally averse to this sort of fight either. Anyway, I'm rabbiting on here and to atone for my general obnoxiousness(?) I found an article in an old Spiral Scratch magazine on Martin Newell and included was a poem which I thought was quite relevent: GOVERNMENT GUITAR WARNING They should print a safety warning On every new guitar In case of operator fault Like hoping to be a star This machine may lead you To a yawning empty space Where all your dreams and money Will vanish without trace It may cause inflated ego It may dislocate your brain It can make you very boring It can make you very vain You may find yourself in places Where you didn't want to go with a lot of sordid people Whom you wish you didn't know You may wake up with a headache With no memory and no cash With a former seaside donkey And a disappointing rash You may find the music business To be very very bad As surprising and as welcome As a blow-job from your Dad You'd be safer with a hobby You should take up origami In fact you'll do less damage If you join the British Army Right on, right on, right on! I've been there as have a large percantage of you trainspotters out there. RogerFromOz (A National Treasure? - If you say so Louise!)
------------------------------ From: CascadeSS@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:22:48 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <971022202248_-626364682@mrin45.mail.aol.com> Subject: on a lighter note greetings chalkhellians- recently i pulled out a live posies tape from a small1989 show. it's pre-'dear 23' (which is a terrific piece of music). anyway, the posies are notorious xtc fans and opened the show with the semi-obscure b-side 'living in a haunted heart. alot of press about cloning these days... it's good, it's canadian and you would swear andy is singing vocals on 3 or 4 tracks !!! don't worry, he's not...but you should hear this cd. the nines - wonderworld of colorful picked up my copy from 'not lame recording co.' and they can be reached at: popmusic@notlame.com they have a web site and a catalog - fast, reasonable and they describe what the different artists sound like. in the dry season we must seek out...until the next xtc appears.
------------------------------ From: David Ferguson <dferg@webbernet.net> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:43:39 -0400 Subject: Phish, solos and other bits and pieces Message-ID: <v03110701b07304c7730b@[208.205.89.11]> blah...had to speak up ...blah, blah blah... >I will do some checking into Phish's version of "Melt the Guns." My old >math teacher had over 350 tapes of concerts...He should know, right? Ok, here is some poop on Phish if your interested. scroll if not, I'll wait.... Phish are a New Hampshire rockSLASHfolkSLASHjazzSLASHaccapellaSLASH whatever-the-hell-else band that many consider the heirs to the Grateful Dead legacy of concerts attended by the thousands by smelly, hopped up hippies who caravan from city to city just to get high and see the band at *every single* venue. I am going to my first this year :) They sound nothing like XTC if your wondering, but that doesn't mean they suck or don't have a good sound. They have funny songs, poinient songs, and sing along songs, but mostly they have LONG songs, with very long SOLOS, ala the 70's bands many here have indicated that they despise, so be forwarned. But until the new XTC comes out, I suggest you buy their albums A Picture of Nectar or Hoist as a good start to Phishy-type music. One cool thing about Phish is that during their concerts they have an area for tapers, so people with DAT recorders and those big micophones can record their concerts and trade tapes for FREE!!! What a great concept! The band allows this, and they don't seem to be missing out on millions of dollars of ticket and album sales. They have a new live CD coming out soon, so they must be selling the darn things despite the tapers. I trade phish tapes all the time, I have the most recent Phish concerts, where they try out new songs to see how they go over (another cool comcept) and if anyone is interested in trading tapes, email me. Heck, if your interested in Phish, check out http://www.phish.net , where information about the band, merchandise, tape traders and tours can be found. Aw, you internet savvy bunch new that already. > One thing that's rather unique about Phish is every now and then they'll > cover a certain favorite album in its entirety in concert. On one occasion > they did Who's Next(man, I would have loved to see how they pulled off > "Won't Get Fooled Again"), on another they did The Talking Heads' Remain > In Light. Anybody planning to see Phish in concert soon, lobbying for > English Settlement wouldn't be a bad idea.... I don't have the concert that has the XTC cover (anyone, anyone?), but I do have the Halloween concerts they did of the Who's Quadrophenia (the whole album w/sound effects like the waves crashing and such!), and the Talking Heads concert mentioned before. It is their idea of a band costume, to play another bands music that night, but I hear they have no plans this year for a Halloween concert, so that might be the end of doing that. Cheesed off that their was no XTC mentioned in this post?...well then....In regards to the solos in Books are Burning...that topic still OK to talk about I hope? I thought I read that Brian May of Queen did one of the solos. Tell me if I'm right,folks... I hope BumperCars *IS* on the new album! I love the bassline of that little song! PS Hey I can fix that amp for Andy! That Dave guy in Detroit Hey Jim Zittel, you still around!? Email me...... Now I'm done. ++++++++++++++++++ Boil that dust speck!
------------------------------ Message-ID: <344D55D6.7A802C0F@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 18:24:41 -0700 From: Wesley Hanks <whanks@earthlink.net> Subject: 100% Commercial Chalks, Heaven or Hell, you decide -- an XTC song used in the current Burger King TV campaign. Pros: Money for the boys, Exposure to their music, albeit to sell fast food Cons: A final nail in the "this band is obviously broken up, read: has been" public perception coffin. The ubiquitous commercial exposure equals selling out maelstrom of criticism. Apologies to our non-American friends who haven't seen these BK ads, basically they use old(er) new wave and R&B songs as the soundtrack. e.g. Modern English's "I Melt With You" played with a close up of cheese melting on a cheeseburger. Remember someone was paid to think that up. Warmly, Wes "I never eat fast food" Hanks
------------------------------ Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=State_Theatre%l=STATE-971023011647Z-5056@state.orpheum.com> From: Jess Ford <Jess@orpheum.com> Subject: I'm pretty sure Michael Bland likes XTC, so........ Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:16:47 -0500 > From: kraig olmstead <kraigo@netcommcorp.com > I can tell you (me being a drummer) that the man is an absolute monster > drummer. > The guy definitely has chops out the wazoo, and >more importantly knows when NOT to play. > I had never thought of XTC using someone like Michael for their drummer. Being a Minneapolitan, I too have witnessed the amazing Michael Bland playing in numerous ensembles, Prince, The Billy Franz Trio, Paul Westerberg, and of course the local club institution Dr. Mambo's Combo. He is an absolute anchor and monster of technique regardless the style of music he is contributing to. I was at a Dr. Mambo's show about three years ago. During the break between sets Michael decided to take on the responsibility for playing background music Cd's from the sound board, when low and behold he puts on "Knuckle Down". I was stunned and quite blown away at the time. Not only to hear this song, at this bar, ( of course no one else heard it, knew it, or paid any attention to it) but it was also to realize that this guy dug XTC. A fact which I confirmed in a short conversation with him while the song was playing. So perhaps the choice of Mr. Bland as the drummer for the new record would not be so very far fetched. Personally I'd like nothing more than to see this happen, and as an earlier post reported, I too can confirm that he really is an incredibly nice, approachable, and humble man. Especially considering the artists with which he has been associated, and the tremendous amount of talent he possesses, I guess in this industry that would give him a liscence to be a dick, but he chooses not too. How can we make this happen??????
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199710230141.SAA00386@mail.eskimo.com>
From: "Matt Keeley" <mrme@eskimo.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:36:03 +0000
Subject: Hmm...
Hello... In case the bit at the beginning of the last issue about the
sig files was directed at me, I've edited my sig... it's now down to
five, but that's about as far as I can go without taking out the
essential "yeah."... But it was a frightening 7 or 8 before...
Anyway...
> From: MARKROCKS@aol.com
> Just as Simon mentioned, I was also foraging through some old demo
> tapes. Lap of Luxury, in my case. Listening to Buster Gonads, it got
> my wondering. What the hell were they thinking? I just cannot get
> over the banality of those lyrics, no matter how much the sax playing
> reminds of something out of a 1930's cartoon.
I'm not sure, I haven't heard the tapes, but after reading the lyrics
from the archives, I kinda think that the banality is sort of the
point of the song (well, other than to be about some guy's enormous
testicles, but anyway)....
> From: Ben Gott <bgott@bowdoin.edu>
> I'm sorry, Josh, but I think that "Your Dictionary" just has to stay
> come hell or high water. It's one of the angriest songs Andy has ever
> done, and (if produced correctly) could yield tons of college radio
> play.
I just heard the new demos, and I LOVE "Your Dictionary"... not that
thrilled about the little piano-y bit, but I love Andy and the guitar
alone.... that's a really great effect for that song... BTW, Andy
actually does spell out the profanity, for those curious by the
omission of the vowels in the archives... (I was curious how the tape
was, y'know...)
> ("Cynical Days" is my favourite song on "Oranges and Lemons" -- because
> of that, I suppose, I am in the minority.)
"Cynical Days" isn't my favourite, but it's up there... my favourite
is probably Across this Antheap or Chalkhills and Children...
>Then, John won't hate us, and he won't start
> adding disclaimers to our e-mails like:
> (Ben is an angry freak. --John)
> He didn't write that, but he might! It might come to that! Think about
> it, and remember: the truth is in here.
Just out of curiousity, am I the only one who kinda expected to see
such a disclamer at the end of Ben's message? Just my warped sense
of humour, I guess...
> From: jims@inlink.com (Jim S)
> I am also VERY fond of The Last Ballon (sounds like a companion piece to
> Chalkhills and Children). And while I expect it won't make the cut, I am
> really pulling for Your Dictionary.
I like "the Last Balloon", but after a while it starts to lose it for
me... maybe if it were a bit shorter... at least save the melody for
another song, or SOMETHING...
> From: AMANDA CARYL OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
> Jeff-I believe the reson why Upsy Daisy's Senses has the missing verse is
> because the cd showcases the single versions of the songs. The same is done
> on Fossil Fuel. I think they use the crappy "BBC Friendly" version of
> Respectable Street, as well. Anyhoo, the single verion of Senses was
> shortened in the interest of time, I guess.
So, does ANYONE prefer the Single "pre-chewed" version to the Black
Sea one? I sure don't... I guess, Senses did have the line taken out
for time, but would one line really have mattered? I say just take
out the cawing at the end and leave the song intact, if you need to
shorten it... why BOTH birds and line? Agh!
> From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher)
> Yes, but it's a silly argument. "All music is good" is only as true as "all
> opinions are good". The two things cancel each other out.
> In formulating an opinion about something, you are not helped by the
> knowledge that the creator probably meant well by it. Such information
> might make you sentimental, but it cannot affect the sound, shape or colour
> of the finished article, and if you're being honest with yourself, it
> shouldn't affect your reaction to it either.
I don't see how the two things cancel out... "All opinions are good"
to me merely states that the idea of an opinion is good, not much to
the actual opinion. Like if someone said something like "All [insert
ethnicity/gender/other-thing-people-are-predjudiced-about-other-
people here] must be killed for the good of the rest of us," the
right for that person to have an opinion is good, even if you don't
agree with the actual opinion, y'know... Ah well, this is off topic,
even by the original post... I'm sure I meant well....
> From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk>
> >Ah, I'm just curious, what IS the middle eight? I first heard the
> >term when I bought the Rutles' "Archaeology" and I was curious to
> >what it was... ah well...
> It is that which, in your pagan colonial parlance, you would probably term
> "the bridge" ;)
> The "middle eight" is never in the middle of the song, and is never eight
> bars long. Um, hence the name.
Ah... to paraphrase Cartman from South Park (gee, another SP
reference on Chalkhills... who'd a thunk it...), American English
pisses me off... I personally feel that since it's called "English,"
we should speak and spell things the, if you will, English way. But
that's just me... and I don't even hold to it all the time... but
usually so I don't get marked wrong for having "oestrogen" on a paper
instead of "estrogen"... Ah well...
Ah well... that's two "ah well"s in a row...
Matt
Living Through | (ICQ UIN: 1455267, Name: MrMe)
Another | http://www.eskimo.com/~mrme
Cuba -- XTC | I used to be temporarily insane!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now I'm just stupid! -- Brak
Yeah.
------------------------------
From: "The Great Lemur" <GRIFE@Athena.valpo.edu>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 21:27:30 CST
Subject: college radio...
Message-ID: <5BB9BB903EB@athena.valpo.edu>
i'll be the rep for the midwest... I have a four hour show
-dave
------------------------------ Message-Id: <344EAE6D.AD123FC9@bowdoin.edu> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 20:55:00 -0500 From: Ben Gott <bgott@bowdoin.edu> Organization: Loquacious Music Subject: Aimee Attention, for all you silly Chalkers: not a lot of XTC content in this post! AMANDA: Lay off Aimee Mann, for God's sake! I think her "I'm With Stupid" album is quite good, actually. I also like "Whatever..." Just because she was macking Dave, and you aren't doesn't mean you need to get snotty! :-) Ben * ------------------------------------------ * B e n G o t t :: Bowdoin College Telephone :: (207) 721-5142 Internet :: http://www.wp.com/58596 ...The more you ignore me, the closer I get... * ------------------------------------------ *
------------------------------
Message-Id: <l03020902b07486554aca@[206.252.158.14]>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 02:03:05 -0400
From: aka Louise <rmckenzi@dti.net>
Subject: aw mom, do i have to?
[pick a subject line, that is]
Hill-people -
well, i have to admit that when i first saw the alarming post by KIMBERLY
MARTIN, a little bit of 'oh god - not another one' ran through my head. but
Ms. Martin redeemed herself with a few interesting tidbits among the gossip
and plugs for her 'zine, to wit:
[KIMBERLY MARTIN <KMAR0971@Mercury.GC.PeachNet.EDU> wrote:]
>evolution (both b.s. but both true), magic is real, a tribute to my
>personal idol BILL HICKS, a short story about the REAL way the guy
>who sued the makers of Lucky Strike cigarettes won, plus many other
Bill Hicks is absolutely fucking rock-and-roll - i saw an HBO special on
him the other week on Comedy Central that blew my fucking mind. i had heard
of him before, mostly in conjunction with Tool (they have a painting of him
on the inside of their latest, _Aenima_, with the mysterious inscription
"Bill Hicks - Another Dead Hero"), but had never seen even two seconds of
him performing. he was not exactly a comedian, although he could be quite
sarcastically funny at times, but most of the time his audiences were
gasping in shock rather than laughing. he was actually doing a really
interesting kind of philosophical performance art that was brilliantly
original and subversive. he died in 1992 (i think, right? or was it '94?)
of pancreatic cancer, at age 32. anyone who wants to have their world
rocked can go check him out - they might well have the HBO tape at
Blockbuster (aka SATAN).
also, re: Insane Clown Posse - no, i'm serious, who are they? i've heard of
them before and i think the same thing every time i hear their name - what
a ridiculously great name for a band to have; what the hell could their
music be like?
okay, one last thing about "XTC vs. Adam Ant" - does anyone think the
squealing guitar riffing in the beginning sounds more like Matthew Sweet
circa _Altered Beast_ than either Adam Ant or XTC??
spending daylight -
- brookes
who is a one-woman insane clown posse
----------------------rmckenzi@dti.net-------------------------------
R. Brookes McKenzie aka Louise B. Minetti
Full bottle in front of me
Time to roll up my sleeves / and get to work
And after many glasses of work,
I get paid / in the brain - TMBG, "Your Own Worst Enemy"
------------------http://www.dti.net/rmckenzi------------------------
------------------------------ From: Gary.Dean@manor.ch Date: 23 Oct 1997 07:43:09 +0000 Subject: chumbawumba and stuff Message-Id: <0003119500000004*@MHS> Amanda (#4-12) wrote >Alright ladies and gents, need your help in identifying another song...I've >heard this one several times on the radio, but I can never catch who sings >it. The chorus is "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're >(they're?) never gonna keep me down.", or something like that. The song is called "Tubthumping" and is by a band called "Chumbawumba". They're a left wing political outfit from the North of England (Leeds?) and outnumber Madness in band members. The song is remarkable for two reasons. 1. A UK hit for Chumbawumba 2. A good song by Chumbawumba Mark Brown (#4-12) wrote >Just as Simon mentioned, I was also foraging through some old demo >tapes. Lap of Luxury, in my case. Listening to Buster Gonads, it got >my wondering. What the hell were they thinking? "Bags of fun with Buster". This song was originally sold in Viz (a comic for adults that is not as funny as it used to be). It was written in honour of one of the stars of the comic, "Buster Gonad and his unfeasibly large testicles". Buster would get into endless comic situations based on the size of his plums. Defending Oasis Anybody who has ever started a band (myself included) has done so to emulate their heroes. To accuse Oasis of this is a bit rich, especially in view of the "Dukes" stuff put out by our beloved XTC. Oasis are brash,loud,cocky, abrasive and obnoxious (and I love 'em for it). Gary Dean.
------------------------------
From: bob_prowse@sw2000.com
Message-Id: <9710238775.AA877597173@gateway.sw2000.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 97 09:59:25 GMT
Subject: Song Title/Artist answer..
Hi Hillsters
The good news is, "I - got - a - T-shirt - on - its - way - from -
Phil!"
(Sorry about that, very childish but I'm so happy. Its the simple
things that appeal, like feeling a load better because you haven't
got one. 'Na, na, na-na, Na', etc, etc...)
Amanda - yeah, I can imagine there's lots more fun to be had with the
power of 'thought transference'. I should have added, '...amongst
other things' :-)
The song you are asking after is by Chumbawumba and called
'Tubthumping'. It's (almost) about getting totally pissed up on a
good night out. Or, thats how its being interpreted. Nothing wrong
with that. Its also a kind of metaphor for how life itself has been
for them. It is an extremely irritating little song and in that sense
was almost destined to make it to the Number 1 slot - which it did.
For three weeks. There's a little dance that goes with it by the way
which i saw performed on Top Of The Pops. 'Birdy-Song' MkII for
definite. Inventive, easy to pick up, not too strenuous _and_ you
(must?) feel like a complete and utter wally doing it. Should go far.
But, bless 'em (more cockney), Chumbawumba have struggled for a good
number of years now and its good to see the underdog storm through to
beat off the might of the 'Major Label' acts. There's definite hope
for our boys... We just got to work on a dance, lads.
Now, Step, two and three and four and stretch two, etc, etc....
Bob
------------------------------ Message-Id: <2.2.32.19971023112617.006c97a8@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 12:26:17 +0100 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: Brookes, Brookes gaze in your r- Oh, darn.... From: Brookes, aka Louise <rmckenzi@dti.net> >they should do an album that is the >_Dukes_ alter ego, so that when people say, "Don't you just love this album >by the Velour Draperies? but who are they?", those of us in the know can >say, "Why, they're the Dukes of Stratosphear under a different name." This is a _wonderful_ thought, though - judging by the relative commerical performance of 25 O'clock compared to The Big Express - it might do the band some good after such a lay-off to promote the next _XTC_ album as being the Dukes under a different name... >[from Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk>, who is starting to gain on >Mitch F. as Chalkhills resident "Ear of God":] Ha! I feel more like Satan's Ringpiece at the moment... >is *that* how you pronounce his name?! to rhyme with "Doomy"?! i would have >thought it was "Twoh-me". please enlighten me Sir Simon. I wasn't sure exactly, I guessed it was Too-me (having heard some big lug - probably played by William Bendix or Victor McLaglan - in a b&w war movie being called that) but, as I always do in such cases, I take my first instincts as being nothing more than the antagonistic action of a spiteful mind ever keen on tripping me up. It was equally probably that is was pronounced T-woo-me, T-woe-me, t-woo-may, or that all the letters apart from the _implied_ Q and X were silent. But, having heard it from the mouth of Andy I can reveal that it is, in fact, pronounced Too-me to rhyme with "doomy" . On a similar tack, I discovered that Moulding is pronouced Gregory, Gregory is pronounced Moulding and Partridge is just _pronounced_ (he's that kind of guy). >YES!!! "Playground"!!! oh yes, baby. i'm telling you all - those songs are >amazingly _even better_ than the '94-'95 demos. just thinking about hearing >"Playground" again in my lifetime, let alone approx. eight months from now, >makes my mouth water. I don't know for certain that it's going to be on the album, but that is the only one of the newest tracks I've heard - it was showcased on a UK radio show Andy did earlier this year - and it's a great song indeed, a pure XTC track - one of those songs that no other band could have done. A clever lyric and a slightly Beatley (in the "Cherry In Your Tree", "Earn Enough For Us", "Some Lovely" mould) tune. I _hope_ it makes the album, 'cos it's one of those songs that gives you a happy buzz when you just remember it _exists_ >oh, man! it's like christmas around here!! Andy writing Peake songs - it >doesn't get much better than this. maybe they'll find another animator, >because that is such an amazing idea that it really shouldn't go to waste. I'm a _major_ Peake fan myself, and that's why I raised the question with him, having hurled it around the Rifff forum on both occasions only to have it skipped - he mentioned working on a Peake project in the NME years ago and I was baying to find out what it was. I thought - perhaps being overly obvious - that it was going to be something for a Gormenghast project, but I should have known better. "Lost Uncle" isn't a book I've read or even seen - it's not currently available anywhere as far as I can determine, having trawled the web-bookstores in search of it. It seems, though, that Andy no longer has any stake in the rights for the project so it's probably unlikely that we'll see anything of it. I know Peake's name has been floated around Chalkhills before but I _do_ urge you all to seek out some of this guy's work - a genius, true and real. "I waxes and I wanes, sir, I ebbses and I flows, Some say it be my brains, sir, Some say it be my nose. It's not as though I'm slow, sir, To cut a story long, It's just I'd love to know, sir, Which one of them is _wrong_." - Mervyn Peake "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx From: AMANDA CARYL OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> >Alright ladies and gents, need your help in identifying another song...I've >heard this one several times on the radio, but I can never catch who sings >it. The chorus is "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're >(they're?) never gonna keep me down.", or something like that. So..thinking >caps on, and GO! This is the _mighty_ and most _excellent_ "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba. A record that is still making me shake my head and say "This is _Chumbawamba_? Are you _sure_?". Definitely the best use of the word "pissing" in a hit record since the Jam's "Funeral Pyre." I watched a whole club full of people explode to this track last Friday. An excellent moment, which quite allayed my general feeling of "who let all these _children_ in here?" for a moment or two. And, oh, the _jiggling_ that was going on... This isn't as easy as it looks, Simon -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm (http://come.to./bungalow) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- An XTC resource - "Saving it all up for you..."
------------------------------
Message-Id: <l03020901b074f30aac22@[141.212.142.135]>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 09:30:50 -0400
From: Natalie Jacobs <gnat@umich.edu>
Subject: Andy who? I don't know anyone named Andy
>Yes you'll know when it's time to change gear.
Gee, is Mr. Relph trying to tell us something? ;)
My fellow Michigander Mark Brown asks,
>I know this a bit of a cliche subject, but what other XTC guitar solos do
>you other 'hillsters get off on?
Oooh, the guitar solo in "Pink Thing." (I could say more but I'd be
heading into heavy phallic innuendo and we've got enough potty humor
courtesy of "South Park" on this list as it is. :) The solo in "The World
is Full of Angry Young Men" is also lovely. I like the way Dave can do a
very elegant, delicate solo in one song and then really rip it up in
another song (e.g. "That Wave"). I guess that's what they call "talent."
:)
Jeffrey Langr grumbles,
>So now I get to add my negativity to the fire, go figure. Personally
>I'm thinking XTC is close to has-been status. I'm camping out,
>though, like a rabid media person outside Jimmy Stewart's house
>while he prepares to die hoping that he will do one last great
>thing before he dies, waiting myself for that next long awaited
>overanticipated XTC album soon to be released hopefully before
>the next millenium and vainfully hoping that somehow it will be
>better than the last and better than whatever else is out there
>currently attracting my attention... Go XTC... rah!
Before the cock crows thou shalt deny XTC thrice! Look - I too am one of
the tiny minority on this list that doesn't like "Nonsuch," but I know from
listening to the 1995 demos that the new album will be better. When I
first popped the new demo tape into my car stereo, I was fully prepared to
be disappointed. I thought XTC were indeed washed up, that the new stuff
would just be "Nonsuch" redux (and not even the best of "Nonsuch," since
Andy seems to adore all the songs that I dislike), but the opening
pizzicato notes of "River of Orchids" soon cured me of that delusion. It
sounded like *nothing* I had ever heard by XTC, and it was wonderful.
Andy's been taking in the lessons he learned from Harold Budd, he's
obviously been listening to some classical music of one kind or another
("River of Orchids" definitely sounds like Michael Nyman to me), and he's
taken those influences and woven them into something new.
Not all the demos live up to that high standard, but a lot of them do -
"Easter Theater" and "The Green Man" being the primary culprits. Having
also heard a couple of newer, "guitar-y" demos ("Playground" and "We're
All Light"), I am now fairly certain that the new album will not disappoint
me the way "Nonsuch" did. It may not be another "Skylarking," it may have
a few average or mediocre tracks on it, but as far as I'm concerned, unless
Mr. Bendall *really* fucks up, it's probably going to be a good album. So
take heart, St. Jeffrey, all is not lost.
Brooks McKenzie (whose dad is Father McKenzie) remarks,
they should do an album that is the
>_Dukes_ alter ego, so that when people say, "Don't you just love this album
>by the Velour Draperies? but who are they?", those of us in the know can
>say, "Why, they're the Dukes of Stratosphear under a different name."
That is the coolest idea. Meta-pseudonyms! The total breakdown of
identity! Pretty soon XTC would have so many pseudonyms that they'd forget
who they were to start with. "Hey, you're in that band Skysoul Purple,
aren't you?" "Uh, no, I'm... I'm... I'm in a band, I know that..."
Someone on the list paraphrased "Always Winter, Never Christmas" and I just
wanted to stop and point out what a great song that is, and I hope it'll be
on the Bootleg Album (I have no hopes of it being on the new album because
it's too old). It's a wonderful song to sing along with - that "How can I
let you know-ow-ow-ow-ow" bit is like a little rollercoaster ride for the
vocal cords. Odd that a song about a disintegrating relationship should be
so bright and perky, but that's Andy for you, I guess...
Hey, do we have a title for the new album yet? I'm tired of calling it
"the new album." To paraphrase Robyn Hitchcock, "Every album needs a name,
even if it's only Zoot."
gold sun rolls around,
Natalie Jacobs
Perdix: The Andy Partridge Appreciation Page
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gnat/perdix.html
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #4-13 ******************************
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