Chalkhills Digest Volume 4, Issue 47
Date: Monday, 2 February 1998
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 4, Number 47
Monday, 2 February 1998
Today's Topics:
It's.......
RE: My First Posting
XTC sound alikes
My first post (Don't you just hate this as a subject?)
Primus XTC Cover
Posting
Six Degrees of XTC
The Good Things
We are normal, and we dig Burt Weedon!
Re: Perspective
Re: Testmoanial Dinner
Re: Perjury and the Dukes
The Gregory, er, Partridge, um oh what the hell . . . XTC Report:
a clarification
engelbert replies
re: Bad Testimony
re : CC'97: The Review
Calling all Midwestern Chalkhillians!
Another Cuba -- right on schedule...
Call a Lawyer...
Top 20 British Guitarists
Corrections to Church of Women Tab?
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Chalkhills is digested with Digest 3.5b (John Relph <relph@sgi.com>).
There's nothing out there for you, my dear.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: LadyCPlum@aol.com Message-ID: <e4e112bd.34d2bb09@aol.com> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 00:47:51 EST Subject: It's....... (Yet another shameless Monty Python reference......) So we shall cut right to the chase with our responses this week...... Paul-Hmmm...I don't know...I'll mull it over till next digest. (Give me time to think whether or not I'm breaking any cardinal laws or something....) David Friel-Lessee.....your comments on Freedy Johnston and Spacehog were spot on. As much as I like Hog in general, their version of Senses was HORRIBLE!!!!! As far as your comments on Crash Test Dummies......I'm not gonna touch those with a ten foot pole. (Although I will say that "I blow my nose at you, so called Arthur King!!!! You and all of your silly English k-nnnnnnigitts!!!!!!) As far as TMBG, I wasn't impressed with 25 O' Clock on first hearing, but it's grown on me slightly. As far as Sarah's Dear God, I refuse to listen to it. Tis all for now, ladies and gents. Till next time!!! Ciao, LCP XTC song of the day-Bumper Cars non XTC song-The Lumberjack Song-Monty Python's Flying Circus
------------------------------ Message-ID: <34D2C5CF.CD964502@digital.net> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 01:33:51 -0500 From: Michael Liquori <mliq@digital.net> Subject: RE: My First Posting You are decidedly not the youngest member of Chalkhills at 17. I am 16 and have been a member since 15, and I've heard of and know of other young members. Although it may seem that way, not everyone under 18 only likes what they see on MTV/BET. Also, I think the demos are quite good, much better than Nonsuch, although I don't know that he would use a real drummer for them, after he completely denounced the use of a real drummer on that Rock Over London interview.
------------------------------ From: "Rob Murphree" <rhino@dbtech.net> Subject: XTC sound alikes Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 01:48:24 -0600 Message-ID: <01bd2e1c$9c8a1920$3fd0d6cc@rhino.dbtech.net> I've lurked long enough. As a fellow-fan of XTC and member of Chalkhills, I feel compelled to pass along a bit of information on a Boston, Mass band who has been produced by Adrian Belew. (someone who has also been mentioned in Chalkhills before). The band in question is the Irresponsibles. They have been compared to XTC as well as the Beatles and I finally felt the urge to add a mention of them to this digest after receiving their latest CD. The CD in question is titled, "Backwards Boy" and features Adrian Belew as their producer. This has got to be the closest thing to XTC I've ever heard. For all you doubters out there, please take a moment to visit their webpage and listen to some of their RealAudio sound clips. The URL address is: http://web.dbtech.net/~rhino/irros/index.htm I look forward to hearing from anyone who hears a resemblance and appreciates their sound. The songs to listen to are titled, "It's All Right Here", "A Girl To Looze", "Mr. Belew"... hell, all of them!!! The Irresponsibles are a band in search for getting their music out there to those who enjoy it. Please make them feel welcome! If you like them, please let me know. I will be happy to let them know as well !! Thanks for listening. -Rob (the webmaster for the Adrian Belew Web site) Your Complete Guide to the Twang Bar Rhino King!!! Rob Murphree's Adrian Belew WWW Site http://web.dbtech.net/~rhino (c) 1998 Murple Web Creations
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199801311437.GAA19691@sweden.it.earthlink.net>
From: "Rob Miles" <wantobe@earthlink.net>
Subject: My first post (Don't you just hate this as a subject?)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 09:38:05 -0500
Hi everyone. As a long-time XTC fan, I was hapily surprised to find
the Chalkhills site on the web. As much as I'm into XTC, it just
amazes me that I didn't do a search sooner. I have to admit, I never
realized there was such a big following. I mean, when you grow up in
a area where Lynerd Skynerd (or whatever) is considered the best
thing since cornbread, you don't find many people who share your
enthusiasm for non-Southern Rock bands. I am not a great writer, nor
am I a great speller (as you'll find out), but I love to 'talk', even
if it's through e-mail.
What follows is a brief (I hope) explanation of how I came to be an
XTC fan. Anyone who is not interested can skip this section (be my
guest), or skip the rest of my post altogether. Since I'm new, I
certainly don't want to step on any toes, and I hope I will be
welcomed in the 'family' :) (of course, I reckon if I wouldn't be
welcomed, I wouldn't have found the instructions on how to join in
the first place, now would I?)
Back in '80 or '81 (so long ago....<sigh>...), I had just started
getting exposure to the Beatles (who remain my all-time favorite, by
the way...is this XTC blasphemy?). I loved the harmonies, the
musical ability, and most importantly the lyrical juggling that was
so prevalent in their mid-'60s and later albums. So I guess it's
only natural that the first XTC album I heard, which was Drums and
Wires, would catch my interest. At one point, the tape I made from
the album with Drums and Wires on side one and Black Sea on the other
was the only tape in my car, and it played constantly for about 6
months. Then I got the English Settlement double album (is it just
my faulty memory, or was there really a very truncated single album
released?) and it became the tape of choice.
I have to admit, there hasn't been one XTC album that I liked
entirely on the first hearing. There would always be 1 or 2 songs
that I would love immediately, but the rest of the songs would not
really do much for me at first. But as I would listen to the album
more and more (mainly of the 1 or 2 I really loved), the rest of the
songs would grow on me. After 4 or 5 times through all the songs, I
would then start to really enjoy the transitions and chord
progressions, and of course the lyrics. Call me an intellectual
(please) but I really like the way AP and CM put words together.
It's hard for me to say definatively what album is my favorite (and I
have the same problem with the Beatles) because I enjoy them all so
much. Even the first two (can't remember the first ones name, but Go
2 was the second one, I think), even though I never cared much for
that particular style from other groups. The Big Express is
certainly one of my top 3, as is Drums and Wires. I'd have to say my
all-time favorite XTC song is 'Dear God', mainly because the first
time I heard that song was right when I was having my own doubts
about my believes, and that song seemed to express some of the things
I was trying to explain to myself. Besides that, I also kinda like
the '...whiny-voiced American girl's....' intro to the song (though
until I read through the Chalkhills homepage, I always thought that
was a boy).
I don't have much in the way of XTC albums anymore, though at one
point I prided myself on having every 'officially' released recording
they made. I even had some of the EP's and singles that AP put out
from time to time. About a year ago, I needed some money so I sold
my whole collection of Beatles (also quite extensive) and XTC to a
local flea-market shop for about $300. I know, I know....shoot me
already. I could kick myself now, but at the time it seemed the
thing to do. I figured 'Heck, I'll never have a turntable again, and
how hard can it be to find the cd's?' What kills me most is that if
I had known of this group before then, I may have been able to have
helped some other people get some of the 'rarities' they don't have.
Let me just say, I am so sorry.....
Oh, well....life goes on.
I'm not an expert on XTC like so many of you others are. For the
last 3 or 4 years, my main hobby has been computers, so music has
kinda taken a back seat. I still listen to the paltry collection of
XTC I have on CD, and in fact am listening to Oranges and Lemons as I
write this. That's definately one that I didn't care much for at
first, but has started to grow on me in the last few months. But I
will definately be on the look-out for the next album (May this year
you say? Why so long?!?). I read that they wanted to record more
songs but were limited to 20 because of their budget. Has anyone
thought to possibly gather up donations to them to allow them to
record more? I know it's too late for this album, but maybe for the
next one.
One last question, and I'll end this already far-too-long a first
post. Do any of the band ever post messages here? I skimmed through
some of the back issues, but it's hard to tell for sure. Is there
anyway to contact them if they don't post here? Snail or e-mail?
Thanks for having me, guys. ('guys' as used by me is the non-gender
specific, generic type of 'guys', so please don't be offended
ladies.)
wantobe
Rob Miles
------------------------------
From: Rhoblidnen@aol.com
Message-ID: <11b022e1.34d353a4@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 11:38:58 EST
Subject: Primus XTC Cover
Chalkies...
There is a little compilation CD out there by the Band With The Mental
Bassist, Primus. It's called "Miscellaneous Debris," and it has a cover
version of none other than "Making Plans for Nigel." If you like Primus
(like me), then it's a great little CD to get (though it only has 3 or 4
songs on it). Other songs covered are things like Peter Gabriel's "The
Intruder". This version of "Nigel" is startlingly faithful, apart from Les'
nerdy little voice and the patented Primus bass solo. Herb Alexander, being
an incredible drum talent, spruces up Terry's already formidable percussion
line to add the slightly more "Primus-y" feel. If it's still out, I
reccomend it highly. Any other Primus-ites out there?
I read on an issue ages ago that Yazbeck did an opener for Ben Folds
Five (another great band, but in a different way). I hear that they're fans
of XTC also(?).
bye, then.
Robin.
------------------------------ From: PTBrookie@aol.com Message-ID: <ee49dc53.34d35a81@aol.com> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 12:08:15 EST Subject: Posting PTBrookie said: >>When I hear the song "Ten Feet Tall", I immediately smell "Hazelnut"!!! :) >>Don't ask me why....I just do! XTCKinks said: >>Boy!!! Talk about Senses Working Overtime!!!! Well, it's "The Loving" that I remember that makes me "Wake Up"!!!!
------------------------------
Message-Id: <34D35B5B.4C0C6337@iname.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 12:12:00 -0500
From: Ben Gott <loquacious@iname.com>
Organization: Loquacious Music - http://www.wp.com/58596
Subject: Six Degrees of XTC
Dear Chalkies,
So, I'm standing in the shower this morning, trying to come up with a
new Chalkhills thread...and then it hit me, much like Kevin Bacon hit
the main characters of the scary movie "Sleepers": how about "Six
Degrees of XTC"? Just tie XTC to any musician, in six steps or less.
Let's see how odd we can get:
*Paul Simon* (easy as pie!)
Reuben Blades plays lead role in long musical "The Capeman"
Reuben's "The Man Who Sailed..." graced "Testimonial Dinner"
*James Taylor* (a cinch!)
James's long-time producer was Danny Kortchmar
Kooch worked on Freedy Johnston's album "Never Home"
Freedy brought us a slide guitar-enhanced "Earn Enough for Us"
*Sean "Puffy" Coombs* (a little harder!)
ripped off Sting's "Every Breath You Take" to earn millions
Sting's favorite producer is Hugh "I'm Expensive Now" Padgham
Hugh produced..."English Settlement"
Any takers? I'd be interested to see anyone tie Whitney Houston, Tracey
Ullman (yes, the awesome theme song/80's hit qualifies her as a
musician), Elvis Costello (I tried, but couldn't come up with anything),
and Hanson.
Forever in Chalk,
-Ben
VOTE "NO" - MAINE WON'T DISCRIMINATE!
* ----------------------------------------------- *
B e n G o t t :: Bowdoin College
(207) 721-5142 :: Brunswick, ME 04011
And I've cancelled your subscription to my life.
* ----------------------------------------------- *
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19980131133904.33bf69c2@cyber1.servtech.com> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 13:39:04 From: Chaos Harlequin <harlequin@tmbg.org> Subject: The Good Things First note: To Ted Harms, hate me not. Life became, uh, temporarily busy. With my shining new stereo system, though, I'm ready to go. Will dub tapes tomorrow. Will send tapes on Tuesday. Will apologize profusely once again... >So, here I am... At the risk of being hideously scathed for my claim, I >venture to reckon that, at 17, I am the youngest member of the Chalkhills >club. Is this true? Not even. I'm still pushing sixteen. Eek. >Terry & the Lovemen: The Good Things - Absolutely the best song on the >album, in my humble opinion - the reason I bought the album in the first >place. I first heard the song on a tape of the "Rock over London" >interview with Andy in which they played this song. I've never heard >the original version of this song (does anyone know how I might get a >copy?), as I guess it's a pretty rare "b side." It originates on one of the singles for Mayor Of Simpleton. >At any rate, I love the guy's Colinesque voice, and I'm amazed that he >did everything on the song except play drums. Sign these lads up as >the opening act on the forthcoming XTC tour ( a double shot of wishful >thinking???) Heh. I'll let you in on the secret here: "Terry and the Lovemen" was considered by XTC as the original title for Black Sea, but eventually dropped. In this case, TatL *is* XTC -- the band snuck onto the record and made this excellent remake of an old demo of theirs. Finally: all the comments have gotten to me. I'll have to break down and buy CC'97 now... /---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\ | harlequin@tmbg.org http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | | "We all have our idiosyncracies -- maybe thinning hair, or gum disease."| \---- Kowanko, "Will You Come To?" ------ Thank You, And Goodnight. ------/
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199801312205.OAA03766@mail.eskimo.com> From: "Matt Keeley" <mrme@eskimo.com> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 14:05:28 +0000 Subject: We are normal, and we dig Burt Weedon! Hello... Hmm... there seemed to be quite a bit about the Bonzos and Neil Innes (well, just 2 or 3 mentions, but that's more than usual)... to anyone who hasn't heard them yet, I urge you to... I recently picked up a copy of Urban Spaceman (Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse + I'm the Urban Spaceman) and it kicks serious ass... but not especially like XTC. Well, I'd have to say nothing like XTC, except that they're both british bands.. and in that respect the Spice Girls are like XTC, except that the word "band" implies either "plastic" or "music", which the Spice Girls seem to be abundant in the former, but severly lacking in the latter... Anyway... > From: Rhoblidnen <Rhoblidnen@aol.com> > So, here I am... At the risk of being hideously scathed for my claim, I > venture to reckon that, at 17, I am the youngest member of the Chalkhills > club. Is this true? I'm also 17, but I think there might be one or two that are younger than us... but we're up/down there, I think. > From: LadyCPlum <LadyCPlum@aol.com> > You'll have to pardon me, I've been sick for about a week, and I've had > nothing to do with my time other than watch Monty Python movies! So if anyone > needs either the Holy Grail or Live at the Hollywood Bowl recited front to > back line for line, just come to me!!!!!!!!!!! We know all the words to every Monty Python sketch! We are the knights who say "Ni!" Ni! Ni! Ni! (I suppose it's sad that I know that that's not a direct quote from the movie... ah well...) > From: dfriel@corp.home.net (David Friel) > - The Rembrandts: Making Plans for Nigel - I don't ever want to hear > another remake of this song! The Primus version left a bad taste in my > mouth to begin with, so why did this band have to do an almost > identically poor cover? I recently heard a RA clip of the song... Ok, is it just me, or was karaoke allowed on the album? From the low quality RA file, I couldn't tell any difference from the XTC version other than the vocals. And also, if you're recording a song, and you screw up on one of the pronouns, do you a) rerecord the song, or at the very least dub the correct gender'd pronoun over the error or, b) release it? I mean... last time I checked Nigel wasn't a hermaphrodite....8) > Terry & the Lovemen: The Good Things - Absolutely the best song on the > album, in my humble opinion - the reason I bought the album in the first > place. I first heard the song on a tape of the "Rock over London" > interview with Andy in which they played this song. I've never heard > the original version of this song (does anyone know how I might get a > copy?), as I guess it's a pretty rare "b side." At any rate, I love the > guy's Colinesque voice, and I'm amazed that he did everything on the > song except play drums. Sign these lads up as the opening act on the > forthcoming XTC tour ( a double shot of wishful thinking???) 8) This one is just too good to pass up... yet I will anyway...8) Ah well, that's this world over... 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: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <322bdbde.34d493f7@aol.com> Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 10:25:41 EST Subject: Re: Perspective >More XTC: I can't believe the things being said about Chris Difford. >Let's keep things in perspective; as much as we all obviously love Andy, >I've formed the impression that he can be a bit ... difficult is maybe a >nice word. Does anyone agree or have I sealed my fate? > >Davo I second that. I've been a Squeeze fan for about as long as XTC(I discovered them both at about the same time, from the same person back in '81), and I'm willing to both cut them a little slack and realise business is business. It would be great if Difford had said, "that's OK, Andy, pay me when you can, no hard feelings," but since when do they owe each other any favors? To Andy's credit, as I recall from the original reference that spurred this debate, he seemed rather matter-of-fact about the whole thing and didn't seem to harbor any ill will against Difford, though it was obviously a setback and inconvenience. I ran a rock and roll club out here in Vermont a few years ago that did really well initially when we opened up, then we had to file for bankruptcy four months after opening due to high overhead and not enough revenue at all times but the weekends. It was an interesting experience; our suppliers loved us as long as we paid our bills, then towards the end it was pay the bills and hope the check doesn't bounce so we can get through another week of business and still be in business to pay the next bill. Well, too many checks bounced, and it's amazing how many people abandoned ships like so many rats. When you're doing well, everybody wants to be your friend; when you're not, you find out very quickly who your real friends are. We still owe money to our booking agent and one of the bands we booked. One band even stole some of our sound equipment to make sure they'd get paid. Can't say I blame them. In XTC's case, I'd be interested to see where Difford is when the album finally comes out. At least they'll have a finished product to vindicate themselves with. Chris
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <102e8dde.34d493fb@aol.com> Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 10:25:45 EST Subject: Re: Testmoanial Dinner >Thank you for your patience. Had to get this off my chest, plus I >haven't written anything for a good long while. Feel free to lambaste me >with your comments. You're glad I'm back, aren't you?? Ba! Ha! > >- Dave in San Francisco Several comments on your comments about Testimonial Dinner. I haven't heard it yet myself, so I can't comment on that. Firstly, I'll leave it to Amanda to lambaste you for dissing the Crash Test Dummies, that's her dept. I'm just mildly into them myself. Secondly, I can't vouch for P. Hux's version myself, but his originals are very good, judging from a 1989 album I have by one Parthenon Huxley, his given name. It's very well-crafted Rundgrenesque pop-rock. He was also a sideman with E, who now goes by the name The Eels(one of the more interesting releases of '97), and I believe he's still with them. All these are much better than P.Hux's XTC cover indicates. Freedy Johnson's also one of the better American songwriters around. Pity he couldn't put the same effort into covering XTC. Terry and the Lovemen is rumored to be XTC themselves incognito. No wonder the lead singer sounds like Colin, huh? Think about it. TERRY and the Lovemen. Chris
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 10:21:17 -0800 (PST) From: relph (John Relph) Message-Id: <9802011021.ZM11698@mando.engr.sgi.com> Subject: Re: Perjury and the Dukes David Friel <dfriel@corp.home.net> writes: > >So I just picked up a copy of "A Testimonial Dinner" recently and...does >anyone share my opinion that most of the renditions on this album are >pretty weak? Let's have a blow-by-blow analysis, shall we? Weak, perhaps. Bad, perhaps not. >P. Hux: Another Satellite - Without a doubt, the most fucking horrendous >song on the album! I can't believe this piece of shit was even allowed >on! I dunno how any band could've done less justice to this excellent >song, one of my XTC favorites. It sounds like the result of a piss-poor >garage band with no musical talent. I'm not too familiar with this >band, but I'm guessing their original tunes suck, too. Actually, this is one of my favorites on the album. Excellent distortion, good singing, and I like the way they took the original arrangement and tweaked it for their instruments. P. Hux's album _"Deluxe"_ is one of the best albums of 1995 in my opinion. Well written and well played pop songs. But it's good to see that P. Hux does not inspire indifference. >They Might Be Giants: 25 O'Clock - Very good. Boring. Their original stuff is much better (especially _Lincoln_ and _Apollo 18_). . . . Phil Hetherington <phil@emdac.demon.co.uk> > >I _think_ the ones in HMV, Virgin et al are Geffen imports, which >there seems to be no shortage of at the moment, but the copy in >Selectadisc is a Virgin original and has been there for some time. >Don't know whether there's any difference with this one (having >only got the Virgin copy), though the Virgin copies have been >considered superior for one or two of the other albums. The original UK Virgin CD has a color lyrics booklet, whilst the US Geffen version has a black and white lyrics booklet. The booklet in the Virgin CD is also printed on nicer paper. I wasn't able to detect any difference in sound quality, however. -- John (also in San Francisco)
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 15:18:25 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <v03007804b0fa30315067@[209.86.62.70]> From: Mitch Friedman <mitchf@mindspring.com> Subject: The Gregory, er, Partridge, um oh what the hell . . . XTC Report: Hill-o, Sit down and get comfortable folks because this could be a long one . . . I heard from both Dave and Andy within the past 24 hours. To summarize what they both told me into some kind of presentable story, let me start off with the fact that they have only ten more days at Chipping Norton in which to do an enormous amount of recording. At the moment all the drums have been recorded and Prairie Prince has gone home. They are busily editing together his best work for each song and in some cases leaving an entire take intact when it's sufficient. Dave says that Prairie did a very admirable job. But of course the problem of time and money constraints has reared it's ugly head again. Thanks to the whole Chris Difford set back (which I can now explain in more detail and will a bit later on), they had to redo the 5 or 6 bits they had already recorded and add that to fleshing out some 21 songs in under 2 months and what you have is a band trying hard to be perfectionists but running out of time in order to get things perfect. So there have been some stressful situations and some differences of opinion on what is good enough but things are back on track and according to both Andy and Dave, once the album is done it will be fantastic. The question is when will it be fantastic, i.e. done. After Chipping Norton the band will take a short break and then at the beginning of March they will head to Hayden's studio to do vocals and any quiet guitar parts. They also have a short block of time scheduled at Abbey Road to record an entire orchestra. Mixing may not happen until June which is when money will be available and so will the producer. So there may be an even further delay in releasing the album depending on how the cash flow ebbs. Both Andy and Dave indicated that the band was trying exceedingly hard to stay true to the demos and that is the cause of things going somewhat slowly after the false start last November. Andy thought it was a shame that everyone had heard most of the demos because he thinks a good part of the surprise of a totally new batch of songs is now lost. In addition he's concerned that those of us who have been listening to the demos for quite a while may not like the studio versions if they veer even a little bit from the demo versions which they surely will in several instances. I assured him that hardly anyone has heard more than half of the songs that will be on the album and had the demos not become available the interest in the band may have waned a bit more than would have been healthy at this point and either way all the real fans will buy the album no matter what. Andy also noted that he thought some of the orchestral things might really piss people off and he based this on some of the Chalkhills printouts he has been reading from the past few years in which Nonsuch was not as well liked as he thought. I mentioned that XTC has never made a bad album and I'm sure there have always been people who have had a hard time adjusting to the new directions the band has taken with each new release and this one should be no different but maybe the fact that people have heard some of the demos beforehand will make this album a little easier to accept and get used to. Now a bit more about DiffordGate. While at the present time Mr. Difford is still refusing to turn over the master tapes and is being somewhat of the villian in all this, it hasn't always been the case. Originally he offered XTC the use of his studio (or more accurately the studio his company owns) for free for two months. At this point XTC had to pre-pay for two months stay at a barn converted into living quarters. When they arrived to start recording and found the studio completely unworkable, Chris felt terribly embarrassed and apologized repeatedly and promised it to be up and running as soon as possible, still for free once it was ready. So XTC went home for two weeks, wasting a lot of money they had already spent to stay in the barn while they waited to be told when they could start. Once they got the call they returned only to find the studio was still not ready. The workers that were there insisted they would be done that day but this went on for almost a week while Dave spent the time programming and notating things based on Andy's demos. The band had lost all momentum after spending weeks in pre-production and was quite annoyed with the whole situation. When the studio was finally ready, they started working in it only to have a series of technical problems and delays while only recording 6 bits of usable sounds in about a month's time. Then suddenly Chris Difford informed them that while the studio time was free, they had to pay for the engineer and the price he told them was more than twice what the engineer said he was to be paid for his week's work so XTC decided that rather then be ripped off again and waste more time, they booked time at Chipping Norton in January. So when the truck arrived to cart off all their equipment, Chris Difford ran in and grabbed the master tapes and refused to give them back unless he was paid the balance for the engineer but XTC refused and will not pay for it ever. It seems that Mr. Difford's brother runs the company with him and he was the one who decided that they couldn't let XTC use the studio for free and I suppose he eventually convinced Chris (who according to Andy was a very nice guy and a big fan up until the ugly turn of events at the end) to change his tune and demand payment. So to sum up, Chris Difford was nice but is now not nice. End of story. And on we go . . . for those interested in the tracks on Dave's "Remoulds" covers CD, here they are with an explanation of who did the originals. Additionally I have included some other covers Dave has done which he sent me on a tape earlier last year. And there are several more covers in existence too but I don't know if anyone will ever hear them. Those Were The Days: Cream, 36-24-36: The Shadows, Scarlet O'Hara: The Shadows, The Cruel Sea: The Dakotas, Pretty Flamingo: Manfred Mann's Earth Band, I Feel Free: Cream, Tin Soldier: The Small Faces, Wait Until Tomorrow: Jimi Hendrix, Fresh Garbage: Spirit, Macarthur Park: Richard Harris, Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon: The Nice, And How Am I To Know?: Arsnova, Classical Gas: Mason Williams, All Along the Watchtower: Jimi Hendrix, Jigsaw Puzzle Blues: Fleetwood Mac, Happy Freuds: The Nice, Sabre Dance: Dave Edmunds/Love Sculpture, Our Prayer: The Beach Boys, Because: The Beatles, Little Bit of Love: Free, Frankenstein: The Edgar Winter Group, Love Comes to Everyone: George Harrison /// I Am The Walrus: The Beatles, Pictures of Lily: The Who, SWLABR: Cream, Blue Orpheus: Todd Rundgren, Forget All About It: The Nazz, Gyspy Eyes: Jimi Hendrix, Our Love Was: The Who, I'm Not Like Everybody Else: The Kinks, My White Bicycle: Tomorrow, Little Girl: The Syndicate of Sound, Say You Don't Mind: Denny Laine, Love Story: Jethro Tull, I See You: The Byrds. This final bit of info is not designed to make anyone more jealous of me than you already may be but I just have to tell everyone about something extremely exciting that I will be participating in the first week in March. Through a charitable organization called The Arvon Foundation, myself and 15 other lucky folks will get to spend #305 and four and one half days in a 300 year old manor house in the rolling farmland of Devon, England taking a songwriting course being taught by Ray Davies. He has always been tied for number one on my list of all-time favorite songwriters with you know who so I am incredibly thrilled to be able to hang out with him and have him teach us how to write songs. By the end of the class I may not be in any position to determine if he is a better songwriter than Andy (in my opinion) but I will at least be able to decide who is the nicer guy. I think I already know the answer to that question. Whew! Well my fingertips need to take a well deserved nap so until next time . . . Mitch
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03110700b0fa9148bff7@[128.83.101.23]> Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 15:56:11 -0500 From: Jason Garcia <h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu> Subject: a clarification Hey, in case anyone was wondering, my version of "Easter Theatre" on CC97 was supposed to be sort of a mix of "I Am The Walrus" and "Hello Goodbye". I guess it wasn't that obvious...oh well. My PROBLEM was I didn't have a piano...thanks for the audience of one accolade. Whoo-hoo! SOMEONE liked it! Back to recording... Jason
------------------------------ Message-ID: <B9B4268C8F87D11195DC0000F840FABE114AF0@DUB-MSG-02> From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com> Subject: engelbert replies Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 13:44:22 -0800 Heeehehehe Well - that's two unusual artists I've been compared to with this track (Dan Prendiville's wife compared me to Justin Haywood (Moody Blues dude). "wafting oboe" - thanks ! I guess that means "With Feeling" (or "with felix" if you were in my music class at college) Engelbert and I are just good friends. THANK YOU - it's just so cool to think that someone is listening to this. The "affecting" bit probably comes from a rough night when our 3 year old (Alison) was up late with a fever and decided it would be nice to join daddy in his attic studio at 2:00am . . . . she sat there on the sofa and listened to me working through her own set of headphones - I was doing the backing vocal overdubs at the time. I guess it was going ok because she asked to hear it again. Now "Nonsvch" is known as "the attic music daddy....." . . . . . . all parents will understand. . . . .all non-parents have already page-downed........ >MOST INTERESTING TAKE - Wrapped in Grey by Peter Fitzpatrick. The use >of the orchestral samples, *especially* the wafting oboe, transform this >song into a Humperdinck-ish 70's love ballad. Strangely enough, it >turns out to be entirely appropriate - both affecting and amusing. Peter
------------------------------ Message-ID: <B9B4268C8F87D11195DC0000F840FABE114AF1@DUB-MSG-02> From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com> Subject: re: Bad Testimony Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 13:49:13 -0800 >So I just picked up a copy of "A Testimonial Dinner" recently and...does >anyone share my opinion that most of the renditions on this album are >pretty weak? Let's have a blow-by-blow analysis, shall we? <snip lotsa from the heart stuff that really sets chalkhills agoing !!> Uhhhh - Dave !!! Tell us how you **reallllly** feel huhh ? <grin> Terry & the Lovemen: The Good Things - <ok folks - will you tell Dave or will I ?> >Thank you for your patience. Had to get this off my chest, plus I >haven't written anything for a good long while. Feel free to lambaste me >with your comments. You're glad I'm back, aren't you?? Ba! Ha! yes *I'm* glad !! hehe, thanks Dave. Peter
------------------------------ Message-ID: <B9B4268C8F87D11195DC0000F840FABE114AF2@DUB-MSG-02> From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com> Subject: re : CC'97: The Review Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 13:56:36 -0800 Phew !!! 3 posts in one day ! the end-of-the-world-is-nigh !! >(Warning: If you don't want to hear potentially critical comments >about your CC contribution, use that page down key now. But >I'm really not that harsh, I promise. Warning #2, it is a bit lengthy) Hey ! if you're not prepared to listen to critiques then stay outta tha' kitchen !! (but that's where all the best beer & whiskey is !!! last one in is a chicken !!) >Dear God: I expected the instruments to kick in after the first verse, but >didn't really miss them when they didn't. The echo effect may be just a >bit overdone. You have a great voice Jennifer, no need to hid it as much >as it was hidden on this track. I take full blame for the echo effect. I added it (with Jennifer's permission). I think it was *very* courageous of her to submit an acapella (dammit I'm not looking up the spelling now !) version of *anything*. I suggested adding some reverb and echo to help move the track along and give some space to it. Will I ever be forgiven ? >Wrapped in Grey: More pretty stuff here from Peter. Strong vocals, nice >orchestration. Gotta ask other the liner note though. All drums are from >sample libraries, but all precussion is _real_? Aren't drums precussion? >Great harmonizing on the _do do dos_ at the end. Why ! Thank you!! Let me explain : kick (bass) drum, snare and cymbals are all from samples, triangle, tambourine, shakers, claves are all real. I had **a blast** doing the bit at the end. Percussion - something that doesn't sit in a standard drum kit I guess. (my interpretation) >Hope you enjoyed my takes on yours takes. And I hope I didn't >either offend of bored the pants off anyone. Thanks ! I enjoyed them !, nope, not bored. livened up my day. Peter
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 17:15:24 -0500 (EST) From: "Jennifer L. Geese" <jlg@svsu.edu> Subject: Calling all Midwestern Chalkhillians! Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.3.91.980201170918.11326B-100000@tardis.svsu.edu> Hello all! If you saw Kate's message a couple of digests back, or if you're interested in a get-together of Chalkhillians from the Midwest to be held in the Milwaukee area (as of right now), then this message is for you! We are trying to organize a gathering of XTC-loving folks in Milwaukee or the surrounding area (hence to be referred to as MilCon for brevity's sake). The date that we are looking at right now is March 28, which is the first weekend that the people who have already responded can agree on. If you are interested in coming, have any suggestions for a place to hold it, an alternate date, or any such things, please e-mail myself (Jen) at: jlg@tardis.svsu.edu or Kate at: Kate_L_Burda/ALDRICH.ALDRICH@notesgw.sial.com Several people have expressed interest in this already, so step right up and add your name to the list! Hope to see you there. Jen
------------------------------
Message-ID: <34D546EC.3EF8@geocities.com>
Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 23:09:16 -0500
From: Troy Peters <troypeters@geocities.com>
Subject: Another Cuba -- right on schedule...
Chalkheads --
Just stumbled across this thought-provoking quote from the webpage of
amusing genius, Philadelphia cartoonist Vance Lehmkuhl (aka How-To
Harry):
Interesting that the Clinton thing broke when the big news was supposed
to be CUBA, since the last time Cuba really dominated the news was
during the reign of ... yes ... JFK. And if you still don't think
there's a conspiracy, check out the lyrics to XTC's "Living Through
Another Cuba" from Black Sea --- "If we get through this one all right
/ We're due for replay in *1998*." No, really. Get out your copy and
read the lyrics, fer chrissake!
You can check out more of Vance's wisdom at
http://www.citypaper.net/hth/current.html
So how can Andy be so darn prescient...
Troy Peters
------------------------------
From: hiner1@uakron.edu
Message-ID: <34D56759.699@uakron.edu>
Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 01:27:37 -0500
Subject: Call a Lawyer...
Saw this add our local paper (sports page, of course), and thought I
would share it. I'm not making this up - and I in no way support or
promote the material. I'll reproduce as best I can:
"Grand Opening
XTC
Total Adult Entertainment
Large Screen Theatre, Videos, Mags, Toys, 25 Cent Video Booths
Lap Dancing, Private Personal Dance, etc"
Yes, a porn club called XTC, right in beautiful downtown Akron. Think
they asked the band to come to the grand opening?
-Matt
------------------------------ From: Ben Rubin <brubin@harmonlaw.com> Date: Mon, 02 Feb 98 09:52:00 EST Message-ID: <34D5DDC8@msmail.bredycon.com> Subject: Top 20 British Guitarists For anyone interested, the March 1998 issue of Guitar Player magazine has a section of The Top 20 British Guitarists, and featured of course is Andy Partridge along with a large color photo of Andy and Dave. Ben
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 12:33:05 -0600 (CST) From: James Dupuy <dupuy@nol.net> Subject: Corrections to Church of Women Tab? Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.980202120349.17729A-100000@grassy.nol.net> Hello Chalkhill People, It's been a while since I last posted and will spare you the details. I am posting to point out what I think may be incorrect tab on Church of Women. I believe the chorus section should go E, F#(7), A, Abm aug5? I am not shure of the correct name of the last chord. I picked it out by ear but the fith is raised a half step. I was hoping to get some verification on this from the music theory minded posters. The tab for the Abm aug5 is: E--4-- B--5-- G--4-- D--6-- A--7-- E--4-- and I like to play the F#(7) as (if I can) E--2-- B--2-- G--3-- D--4-- A--1-- E--2-- I played around with the idea of tuning the G string to a Gb. It was a little interesting but gave up on it due to lazyness I suppose. Not wanting to revive the lead solo thread but I think the COW lead is intersting. I am trying to learn it as it is on the demo for the sake of originality. The past posts on lead solo's hit home for me because I play with band members (refered to in the past as cavemen) who find it difficult to let go of the 70's rock style. I have been avoiding the introduction of lead solo's in the new material like the plague. I don't want to have that tired old rock sound. The leads I do play are not the 2 min long comatose version but a lighter version that tends to "reflect" the vocal part but maybe with a couple new twists. I appologize for what may be boring XTC details but this one was bugging for some time. Do you think Andy and/or XTC would mind if I covered this song, COW, at an open mic? I will give full credit and accept no money or beer for doing the song. (as if I would get any!) Oh I almost forgot. I am slowly but surely turning some of my fellow cavemen into XTC tolerant musicians. Latest battle won with the help of " I Can't Own Her". Holding my breath for the new CD!
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #4-47 ******************************
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