Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 145
Date: Monday, 22 March 1999

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 145

                  Monday, 22 March 1999

Today's Topics:

                  Look who's Hectoring!
          Re:Yeah, dem's fighting woids alright!
                 re: The Sun's Gone Cold
                  Making Plans For Percy
                 Jukebox Selection update
                  sartori in tangential
                     Rutles flashback
     it ain't easy being gasping, kitschy, and green
                       All Shook Up
                   Pet sounds, finally!
                         I'm sick
                           Woe
                      Commerciality
                      Hello Everyone
                     Commercial Music
              Re: Viscous Poly-Paste Breath
              Kitchner sayz Albert brown ok?
                     Hipgnosis & GO 2
                     Aspiriations ...
                      Commerciality
         XTC Computer Diagnostics & General Abuse
                     bubblegum album
                        Dutch news
                       Re: XTC Live
             Re: Breathe, breathe in the air

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We smelled your soup on the fire cooking.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message-ID: <02b001be733f$f6ee5160$8af032ca@speedking>
From: "Simon Curtiss" <mduffy@clear.net.nz>
Subject: Look who's Hectoring!
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 13:49:30 +1200

Ooooh, it hurts... and it's nearly relevant!

	[ http://reality.sgi.com/relph/humor/horse-virus.html ]

I'd love to take credit for this but I can't, it came off the David Brin
list (Sci-fi author)

Simon

------------------------------

Message-ID: <36F4E6E4.5055@bhip.infi.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 12:32:44 +0000
From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net>
Subject: Re:Yeah, dem's fighting woids alright!

Tschalkgerz!

>>"S-T-A-L-K-E-R, is that how you spell Amanda in Dave's dictionary?"<<

>Why you little ;) So you're putting me on the same wavelength as Mark
David Chapman and what'shisface who tried to kill Reagan to impress
Jodie Foster? Naw. I may be a bit zealous, but a stalker I am not. If
the day ever came when the thought of doing ANYTHING harmful to Dave
would enter my mind, I've have myself committed.<

I loathe to jump in this dumb thread, but Amanda, do you think that
these nut cases really thought about and planned the whole time that
they were going to bring harm to the people they eventually did? What
THEY perceived about themselves was probably a bit different than the
reality the rest of us now know about them, and just because someone
sits there and says "I'm not! I'm not" doesn't necessarily mean they're
not... hey, I don't mean to imply anything here, but there's always room
for other interpretations, other hypotheses, and I just dispensed my
$.02 worth. ;-)

XTC roolz!
(misspelled for flair)

--
 BRIAN THOMAS MATTHEWS
* Digital & traditional illustration/animation
* Caricaturist-for-hire
* RENDERMAN ~ One-Man Band Ordinaire
SAPRINGER CENTRAL ~ http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer

------------------------------

Message-ID: <B9B4268C8F87D11195DC0000F840FABE08387813@DUB-MSG-02>
From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com>
Subject: re: The Sun's Gone Cold
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 12:33:28 -0800

From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>

>> I can't remember the product, but I've also recently seen an
>> annoying use of "Good Day, Sunshine" in a commercial. Ugh.
>
>Kellog's Cornflakes or some other cereal perhaps?
>But that's actually very fitting 'cos if i remember correctly John
>Lennon was euh... "inspired" by a Kellog's commercial when he wrote
>this tune. I think this factoid was mentioned in  "The Beatles", the
>authorized bio from 1968.

AT LAST !!! I thought it would be a cold day in hell before
I could correct something from Mark (he who knoweth all about XTC)

Yeeehaaaa!

The song was "Good Morning Good Morning".... Paul wrote "Good Day
Sunshine".....

Well, I guess that's it for me for the rest of the decade....

-Peter

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903212056.MAA16191@mail.rapidnet.net>
From: "J & J Greaves" <jgreaves@rapidnet.net>
Subject: Making Plans For Percy
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 12:48:06 -0800

Mark is indeed right that things were cut out of the transcript of the
internet "chat".......

"Speaking of Linda, did anyone else notice the very crude "joke" Andy
made about the late Linda McCartney during the AOL chat?
Somehow this has disappeared from the transcripts but the remains
of his fumbled apology are still there. Now i'm sure i heard it but
in the excitement of getting my own question answered i forgot all
about it... does anybody remember his remark?"

This happened after someone asked what the backward messages were in Then
She Appeared. Andy said there were none. The host said something about a
"Paul is Dead" message to which Andy replied something like "No, that's
Linda". He immediately said after this though that Linda's death affected
him more deeply than Princess Di's, and that Paul was a hero of his.

Another missing bit from the transcript is when someone asked "Who is
Nigel". Before Colin could answer, Andy said, to Colin,"Now it can be told,
it's about your penis!" Colin replied, "No, that's Percy......"

John

------------------------------

Message-Id: <v03007801b31b121c93d2@[209.242.85.50]>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 15:22:10 -0600
From: John Yuelkenbeck <jy@tomrussell.com>
Subject: Jukebox Selection update

As previously reported, I've been playing "River of Orchids" and "Greenman"
on the jukebox at Dave's Stagecoach Inn in Kansas City, where I'm a
part-time bartender.

Yesterday, during "RoO," I received two more comments from people thinking
it was Sting.  These were independent of the person who said the same thing
the other day.

------------------------------

Message-Id: <l03110707b31b121ca32a@[206.173.208.76]>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 13:33:34 -0800
From: Eb <gondola@deltanet.com>
Subject: sartori in tangential

>From: Christie Byun <byunc01@student.ucr.edu>
>
>Yes, it is too late for me, my son.  Even Jedi master Fripp cannot save
>me now.

Speaking of Robert Fripp, here's what I've been wondering for years: Why is
Fripp pictured on the back of the Damned's "The Light at the End of the
Tunnel" compilation? Did he work with the Damned, at some time? I once
asked the King Crimson clique this, but they didn't have a clue -- heck, I
seriously doubt they had even HEARD of the Damned. Anyone know? There's
gotta be a slew of '70s UK-punk fanatics on this list....

Eb

------------------------------

Message-ID: <36F56C15.73B0@heraldonline.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 17:00:56 -0500
From: BPeschel@heraldonline.com (Bill Peschel)
Organization: The Herald
Subject: Rutles flashback

Greetings;

When Stephen Jackson quoted Mark Radcliffe's biography about seeing Andy
live and commenting "What impressed me most of all about Partridge,
though, was his voice and his trousers." -- I flashed back to the Rutles
show in which Leggy Mountbatten widow talked about the man's attraction
to the group when he first saw them play in a rat celler called the
Ratskellar.

Mrs. Mountbatten: But what he really liked about them was their
trousers.

Interviewer: Their trousers?

MM: Oh yes. They were lovely. Very tight.

I: (Hurriedly) Yes, yes. Thank you very much.

MM: You could see everything.

I: (In a panic) Thank you.

MM: Nothing left to the imagination.

That's a paraphrase, mind. But you get the idea. Brits must have some
thing about their trousers, I guess.

Best to y'all,

-- Bill Peschel
Book page editor, Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald

------------------------------

From: STakesh@aol.com
Message-ID: <bdaefae.36f56fba@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 17:16:26 EST
Subject: it ain't easy being gasping, kitschy, and green

Hi everyone,

Some stray thoughts and arguable influence-spotting this time:

First, re. beauty and 20th C. art:  the problem for the artist
in aiming for sheer beauty in his or her art is that falling short
often results in a work of easily-derided kitsch instead.  Sort
of like the difference between Rachmaninoff and ex-Raspberries
founder Eric Carmen (who borrowed some of Rach's motifs for
the schmaltzy, unintentionally hilarious "All By Myself").

Or to pick another example, if you're inspired by the Velvet Under-
ground and start a band, you might end up with something like Sonic
Youth or Galaxie 500 (both wonderful, but completely different, bands).
But if your inspiration is a beautifully soulful artist like Marvin Gaye,
you might end up like Michael Bolton!  Perhaps this is a strawman
of an argument, because Bolton isn't a musical artist on the same
level as the members of SY or G500.  My point is that the latter
fate is far more embarrassing.  If SY was to do a cover of "Heroin"
that managed to sound terrible and brought nothing new to the song,
that still wouldn't be as cringe-worthy (to me, anyway) as Bolton's
cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman".

Re. heavy breathing in a song:  to record "Psycho Killer,"
David Byrne ran for a while in place in the studio so that he'd be
out of breath.  Not so much the big initial gulp of air so much as
gasping and spluttering all throughout...

Re. an XTC command performance in your living room:  I'd have
to go with "English Roundabout" or "Pink Thing," for Gregsy's
solos.  But if I wanted to be a bit calculating, I'd choose "Melt
the Guns" or "Travels in Nihilon" -- for their length!

And then there's Peter Blegvad's "The Green Boy," from "Downtime"
(1989).  [I apologize if I'm not the first to draw attention to this, but
I did run a cursory search on "Blegvad" and nothing leapt out on this
topic.]  I'm not insinuating that Partsy's "Greenman" is derivative, much
less a knockoff, of anything.  That song is much too deliriously sui
generis for that.  But there is this thematic precursor of sorts, and
there's no question that Partsy would've known of it, because of his
familiarity with Blegvad's work, including their collaboration on one of
Blegvad's albums.

Anyway, here's the lyrics for "The Ballad of the Green Boy"
[with P.B.'s idiosyncratic punctuation and notation, but structured by
lines and stanzas instead of the one run-on lyrical mush as in the
lyric sheet]:

I saw him but he didn't see me
Making love to a ginko tree
His skin was rough his blood was green
As if his father might have been a tree

2 policemen made him dress
To cover up his nakedness.
They drove off heading for the jail
And I described it in detail.

I told my friend what I had seen
I said his FATHER MUST HAVE BEEN A TREE.
I'd never seen them so outraged
They said HE SHOULD BE KILLED NOT CAGED.
That night a mob attacked the jail
And dragged the green boy from his cell.
Now there's no room to doubt
We heard it from the boy's own mouth:
"A TREE A TREE MY FATHER WAS A TREE."
We were 1/2 out of our wits
Moral pygmies hypocrites
So tough we scared ourselves
The boy was looking somewhere else...

We cut the buttons from his coat
Dropped a noose around his throat
He laughed "YOU CAN TRY BUT YOU WON'T HANG ME
MY FATHER IS THE GALLOWS TREE."
No one moved or made a sound
We all stood rooted to the ground.
Our arms were frozen in the air
Birds would soon be nesting there.
Where a jeering mob had stood
Now there was a quiet wood.
The boy reached up the tree bent down
The green boy put his arms around
The father he had lost & found
A tree a tree yep his father was a tree.

********************
Its theme of the bloody persecution of an unorthodox
outsider also anticipates "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead".

But I wouldn't buy the album for this song.  "The Green Boy"
is probably my least-favorite track on the album.  It's not so
much sung as drone-rapped with a really annoying second
vocalist (credited as Blegvad but sounding like a pubescent
child), if you can imagine this.  And musically, it has nothing
on either XTC song.  By way of disclosure, "Greenman"
is my least-fave track on AVv1, and I wasn't so crazy about
"Pumpkinhead" either.  I just thought this Blegvad bit was worth
noting, that's all.

And then there's James Hynes' compilation of three short
stories, "Publish Or Perish," which came out in '97, I think.
These are archly comic horror stories of academia and its hip
fringes.  One of the tales concerns a glib, intellectually shallow
pop anthropologist who produces an ego-vehicle of a TV show
highlighting strange peoples and places, sort of like "In Search Of"
meets "National Geographic".

Anyway, he journeys to rural Scotland [I think; it might've been
extreme northern England; how like an American to not note
the diff., though], to cover a second-rate "Stonehenge"-like
monolithic monument, an ancient druidic circle of stones with
an earth mound where ancient human sacrifices occurred,
and inadvertently ends up as part of the story in a way that he
wouldn't have wanted (although it was a very postmodern
for him to wind up the center of attention!).  Not the Green
Man so much as the Drunk/Stoned Man, so to speak.

Suffice it to say, any Chalkie who is fascinated with Primitive
Englishness (Green Men, Chalkhorses, Druids, Wiccans, Morris
dancing, etc.) would appreciate the schizoid sensibilites of the
villagers in the tale:  modern and innocuous 364 days of the
year, but watch out for that annual local festival of theirs!
Which raises the question:  would Andy be embraced by
the villagers as one of them, or regarded with suspicion as
another outsider?

Stephanie T.
"Watch the direction you're going in those English
roundabouts -- and stone circles!"

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903212219.XAA20259@mail.knoware.nl>
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 23:31:37 +0000
Subject: All Shook Up

Dear Chalkers,

I made a terrible mistake:

> > I can't remember the product, but I've also recently seen an
> > annoying use of "Good Day, Sunshine" in a commercial. Ugh.
>
> Kellog's Cornflakes or some other cereal perhaps?
> But that's actually very fitting 'cos if i remember correctly
> John Lennon was euh... "inspired" by a Kellog's commercial when he
> wrote this tune.

of course it was Paul Macca who wrote G.D.S. and not Lennon and it
was Godd Morning, Good Morning that was inspired by a cereal
commercial. I'll shut up now...

yours in xtc,

Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
 http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
     or http://come.to/xtc

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903212239.QAA22168@access.mbnet.mb.ca>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 16:39:14 -0600
Subject: Pet sounds, finally!
From: "McCausland_Ian" <talk@ian.mb.ca>

Having formed my musical tastes in the 80's I never did own The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds. (as another off topic thread-debate: MY "Sgt Pepper" was The
Clash's London Calling what was yers?)

So today I broke down and bought it. I decided to go with the $CDN16.99
version opposed to the $75 box set. The first thing I thought while
listening: AP has heard this album quite a few times!

Now don't get me wrong I think AV1 is splendid. And derivative is nothing to
be ashamed of if it's based on something we all like, but having heard Pet
sounds I can't help but notice its influence on AV1,more so than previous
XTC releases. The vocal melodies, the song structures, that type of thing. I
also dusted off my copy of The Zombies Odessey & Oracle, there again I spot
a few influences.

Coming at it backwards, noticing these ties make me appreaciate the old
classics. Maybe one day I will breakdown and buy a few Beatles albums! Oddly
enough I don't own any of those either. But before all the Beatle Fans flame
me, does anyone else recall that comment made my Trent Reznor of Nine Inch
Nails, about how the death of Freedie Mercury affected him more than the
death of John Lennon?.... well same for me....

Ian "30-something In the True North Strong and Free"  McCausland

------------------------------

From: "Wesley Hanks" <whanks@earthlink.net>
Subject: I'm sick
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 14:48:32 -0800
Message-ID: <000001be73ec$f299e2c0$bb1c1d26@wes>

...with the flu...only thing that helps is a poultice of Mummer and AV1 on
repeat...

hack, gack, wheeze
Wes

------------------------------

Message-ID: <19990322002855.21784.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com>
Subject: Woe
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 16:28:55 PST

I am reduced to rubble ... utterly destroyed... by Keith Sawyer's
<Keith.Sawyer@fmr.com> devastating criticism:

>Other random thoughts ...
<snip>
>- Duncan Kimball is single-handedly making Molly's posts much more
>palatable ... comparatively.

Well Keith, I wish I could tell you just how sorry I am that Molly and I
don't meet your stringent literary standards. Please don't be too hard
on us - your posts are just *so* awe-inspiring that we feel utterly
inadequate by comparison.

Your suicidally
Dunks

------------------------------

Message-ID: <19990322012424.18101.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com>
Subject: Commerciality
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 17:24:23 PST

Marvellous Mark Strijbos wrote:

>And  now... a brief word from our sponsors:

>> I can't remember the product, but I've also recently seen an
>> annoying use of "Good Day, Sunshine" in a commercial. Ugh.

>Kellog's Cornflakes or some other cereal perhaps? But that's actually
>very fitting 'cos if i remember correctly John Lennon was euh...
>"inspired" by a Kellog's commercial when he wrote this tune. I think
>this factoid was mentioned in  "The Beatles", the authorized bio from
>1968.

This is SO anally pedantic - please forgive me - but:

A) "Good Day, Sunshine" was written by McCartney

B) The Lennon song Mark referred to is actually "Good Morning, Good
Morning", from Sgt Pepper's. It's one of the products of Lennon's
"fallow" period (i.e. sitting around the house for about a year, blitzed
on acid, with the telly on all the time). As I recall, he regarded it as
something of a throwaway piece, and that it was written quite fast,
basically to come up with something to balance out all the stuff Macca
kept bringing in to the sessions. In its favour, it ROCKS, Ringo never
drummed better, and it has far and away the BEST brass sound of any song
EVER.

Yours Walrusly,
Dunks

------------------------------

Message-ID: <19990322020615.26407.rocketmail@web707.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 18:06:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Kimberly Ericson <kimber1579@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hello Everyone

Hello!  XTC has been one of my favourite bands for ages, and as I'm
new to this computer thing, I thought it would be wonderful to join in
the discussions.  I think Apple Venus is brilliant.  It strikes a
chord with me!

Kim

------------------------------

Message-ID: <36F5B37D.9CFE94A4@umich.edu>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 22:05:33 -0500
From: Rob Hill <rhill@umich.edu>
Subject: Commercial Music

Mark Strijbos sez:
>But that's actually very fitting 'cos if i remember correctly John
>Lennon was euh... "inspired" by a Kellog's commercial when he wrote
>this tune. I think this factoid was mentioned in  "The Beatles", the
>authorized bio from 1968.

At the risk of contributing to a maelstrom of replies, you're thinking
of "Good Morning, Good Morning" from SGT PEPPER, the one which of course
begins with a cock crowing (then proceeds hierachically thru the
farmyard) -- one of many brilliant songs Lennon would later reflect upon
as "junk."

"Good Day Sunshine" actually is Paul's tune.

Rob

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903212140.PAA11649@access.mbnet.mb.ca>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 15:40:31 -0600
Subject: Re: Viscous Poly-Paste Breath
From: "McCausland_Ian" <talk@ian.mb.ca>

>> One of the great AV 1 moments that no one mentioned before: Andy's
>> breathing in at the beginning of Your Dictionary (...) Does anyone
>> know other songs which are started this way?

You should all do yourself a favour and get the Mark Hollis solo album.
Formerly of Talk Talk, he has done a quiet yet wonderful record... How
quiet?....plenty of breathing before verses...You can hear him draw air
through his nose before starting one song..... you can hear the stool he
sits on creak as he moves! He barely whispers his lines out...

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903220320.VAA26681@access.mbnet.mb.ca>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 21:20:16 -0600
Subject: Kitchner sayz Albert brown ok?
From: "McCausland_Ian" <talk@ian.mb.ca>

further to my whole Nelson-Kitchner mix up.... is that a pyschedelic version
of Kitchner I see on the cover of "Your a Good Man Albert Brown" single?

------------------------------

Message-Id: <199903220439.UAA24805@sparrow.prod.itd.earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 20:38:58 -0800
Subject: Hipgnosis & GO 2
From: "Russ Reynolds" <rcreation@earthlink.net>

Chalksters,

For some reason I've been getting nostalgic for Hipgnosis a lot
lately...recalling all those great album covers that I used to spend hours
studying in the '70s.  Pink Floyd, 10cc, Alan Parsons, Led Zeppelin,
Genesis...no matter what one thought of the music you couldn't argue the
genius of those covers, all created way before Macs and Photoshop were
invented.

It's sad that album covers have taken such a back seat in the CD era,
because half the fun of buying a new album used to be exploring the cover.
Looking at the cover was such an intregal part of listening to the music.
Now we just put the CD in the player and set the jewel case out of the way
somewhere...or if we're adventurous maybe we try to read the song
titles--which are the size of the small print we used to hunt for in the LP
era--until our eyes start to hurt too much.

All those great covers still exist in CD form, but the impact is lost.  In
particular it strikes me how absurd it was to shrink the GO 2 cover down to
CD size.  I haven't actually looked at a CD copy of GO 2 yet, but I imagine
the temptation to stand in the aisle of the record store reading the tiny
text on the cover is nowhere near what it was at full size.

Now a few questions relating to the GO 2 cover that I didn't see in the FAQ.

1.   What all did the original packaging include?  I've got two copies of
this LP...one with no inner sleve and no gatefold insert (both having been
lost at some point by the LP's previous owner).  It does however have the
original Hipgnosis label on it.  The other copy I have includes the gatefold
insert but has just a plain, boring Virgin label (I bet there's a good story
behind THAT switch) and a plain white sleeve.  Wasn't there originally a
Hipgnosis designed inner sleeve too?

2. Was the text altered in any way when GO 2 was issued in other formats
(cassette & CD)?   I took a look at the "picture CD" in the Chalkhills
gallery and it looks as though the whole concept was pretty much butchered.
I wouldn't expect they'd have bothered to change the text for the CD given
the amount of time that had passed, but can anyone with an original cassette
copy of GO 2 tell me if the text differs from the LP cover?

3. Did GO +  or any of the singles from the album include that same design
of white text on a black background?  I vaguely recall seeing a 7" disc at
the ol' college radio station with that theme on the jacket but it could be
one o' them whatchacall implanted memories.

Thanks for your time.  I'm going 2 GO now and wait for the answers to start
pouring in.

-russ

------------------------------

Message-ID: <19990322052058.24903.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aspiriations ...
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 21:20:57 PST

Funny thread, this one ...

My favourite "breathy" moment? Roxy Music - "For Your Pleasure" - Bryan
Ferry huffs and puffs like a choo-choo at the end of "The Bogus Man",
just before it segues into "Grey Lagoons".

Dunks

------------------------------

Message-Id: <l03110700b31bb91c34c9@[209.112.136.19]>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 01:24:59 -0900
From: Michael Travis <mdt@pobox.alaska.net>
Subject: Commerciality

Mark Strijbos wrote (regarding "Good Day Sunshine"):

> But that's actually very fitting 'cos if i remember correctly John
> Lennon was euh... "inspired" by a Kellog's commercial when he wrote
> this tune. I think this factoid was mentioned in  "The Beatles", the
> authorized bio from 1968.

It was "Good Morning, Good Morning" that was inspired by a cereal ad.
If I recall correctly, it was a radio ad.

I've heard a lot of re-recorded Beatles songs in TV commercials lately.
It annoys me; I hate to think that some kid's first (or only) exposure
to a good song is via a bad, heavily edited cover version used to sell
clothes or something. Those orange soda ads in the late 70s or early 80s (?)
broadcast in the US nearly ruined my later enjoyment of Brian Wilson's
"Good Vibrations". Fifteen+ years later I got that song on CD, and I still
remembered that ad. I've disassociated the two now, but it took a while.

I wouldn't mind if someone used an XTC song, since it would put some
extra cash in their pockets and the extra exposure wouldn't hurt.
I can't imagine what song they would use; maybe "Senses Working Overtime".

Bust magazine (www.bust.com - nice zine, my girlfriend subscribes) has a
short but favorable review of AV1 in their new issue (not online).
Unfortunately, it is at the tail end of several pages of CD reviews.
Small type, no photo or album cover.

------------------------------

Message-ID: <037301be7460$b2f47440$6fa725ca@speedking>
From: "Simon Curtiss" <mduffy@clear.net.nz>
Subject: XTC Computer Diagnostics & General Abuse
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 00:37:06 +1200

Apple Venus Vol 1 as a computer diagnostic tool

Yes you heard me right!

When playing _Easter Theatre_ I realised I was only getting one channel, as
I can't hear Colin singing "Stage Right", but as my soundcard has '3D Stereo
enhancement' (whatever that really means) it was not until I turned it off
did I realise that only one speaker was playing. It's not something simple
like a loose cable so now I've got to go digging around in the software &
hardware to find out why - happy happy happy joy joy joy.

So now every hardware engineer should have _Easter Theatre_ included in
their toolkit, that should sell a few copies.
_______________________________________________________________

Hanoi Rocks! - Bridget don't you dare bring any with you, the possession of
poodle_hair_posturing_rock_boys_music carries a minimum two year jail term
over here, and boy are those customs officers thorough!
_______________

Jefferson Ogata wrote
>One unfortunate thing about the chalkhills digest format is that I
>can't just put Amanda and Molly in a kill file.
>Take it to email for crying out loud.

No don't spoil the fun!

>>... and another Molly-Amanda catfight... which is only slightly less
>> pleasurable to think about than Linda!)
Mark Strijbos wrote
>My money is on Amanda :)

Yeah but will Molly ever realise that she's lost?   0:-O
______________________

john gardner wrote
>If Admiral Lord Nelson died in Trafalgar in 1805, is he the war hero who is
>represented in the sculpture dedicated to the Trafalgar Square, London?
>Just a thought.

I knew half of you wouldn't get the Nelson's column joke -  from now on I
shall have to make jokes without any cultural references - is that possible?
____________
Lincoln Fong - get a sense of humour! or at least look up the word I-R-O-N-Y
'cos that's how I spell funny in my dictionary.
____________
Wes (Wilson) - sheesh Mr Grumpy- what are you like when you get out of the
wrong side of the bed?
____________

Colin Moulding writes the best track on an XTC album - well it's happened,
_Frivoulous Tonight_ is the winner (sorry Jon) in a photo finish with
_Easter Theatre_ & the last three tracks (which make the best run of tracks
in the album).  It's a personal thing though so i don't expect many people
to agree with me.

Simon

------------------------------

Message-ID: <002701be7475$51970540$1700000a@andy-pii>
From: "Andy Miller" <andymiller@4thestate.co.uk>
Subject: bubblegum album
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 15:04:43 -0000

Ah yes, the bubblegum album, "nicely banal, a dozen tracks about sex" as
Andy said recently in the Mojo article.

We know three of these songs, and the titles of three more. The three songs
are as follows:

Candymine (Hello EP) - rude
Cherry in your Tree (Carmen Sandiego s/t) - very rude
Standing in for Joe (Apple Venus demos) - filthy

and from the same Mojo piece, three titles (readers of a sensitive
disposition should look away now):

Lolly Let's Suck It and See
Bubbleland
My Red Aeroplane

The mind boggles. Anyway, that leaves six songs unaccounted for. Presumably
these will pitch up on Fuzzy Warbles, but in the meantime, does anybody
know what they might be?

One more question - was this album presented to Virgin before or after
Nonsuch - Song Stories says before, the Mojo article implies after? Just
curious...

Andy

------------------------------

From: a.de.koning@bpa.vnu.com
Message-ID: <C125673C.0052371C.00@bpa.vnu.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 16:06:52 +0100
Subject: Dutch news

Hi Chalkers,

A short update on AV1 in the OOR Moordlijst: it is back at number 6 (it was
down to number 10 last week).
The album is still included in their 11-tal, which is a good sign!
The magazine also has a (very short) article on XTC: only 1/3rd of a page
and, unfortunately, not much news either :(

Andre

------------------------------

From: Chauncy14@aol.com
Message-ID: <fdd24b9.36f65dcc@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 10:12:12 EST
Subject: Re: XTC Live

If I had a choice which XTC tune would I want played for me live?

Most definitely "Towers of London."  The middle 8 bridge with the double
guitaring, especially the acoustic lead part of the duo, is one of the most
melodic combination of harmonized strumming yet!   Add to it the rockin'
drumming!!!  Yeah, most definitely!!  (Followed by Ball and Chain wouldn't
suck either!)

-Cheers in XTC!
John in Chicago

------------------------------

Message-ID: <36F65FD4.91AEE6C9@pobox.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 10:20:52 -0500
From: Jefferson Ogata <ogata@pobox.com>
Subject: Re: Breathe, breathe in the air

It was asked:
> One of the great AV 1 moments that no one mentioned before: Andy's
> breathing in at the beginning of Your Dictionary (...) Does anyone
> know other songs which are started this way?

Can't remember whether this one has been noted already, but my
favorite example of this is The Ugly Underneath. The first note
of that song hits somewhat like a slice of mango wrapped round
a British steel cricket bat.

--
Jefferson Ogata.  smtp: <ogata@pobox.com>  http://www.pobox.com/~ogata/
finger: ogata@pobox.com  ICQ: 19569681  whois: jo317@whois.internic.net

------------------------------

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