Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 212
Date: Thursday, 20 May 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 212
Thursday, 20 May 1999
Today's Topics:
dukes, many grand etc's.
re: A band you ought check out
Re: Genesis and Mojo Nixon
Zero XTC content
Re: Short List
effluvial ephemera and other unrelated particulars
Re: The Shaggs
My Own Spin
Triv
sex drugs and rock and roll
Get Set For A Taxiride
Monty Python: consensual relations?
Ooh, that smell
Please refresh my memory.
More Nonesuch
stuff
Ron Sexsmith
XTC For Dinner? Again?
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The smell of smoke hanging thick over funland.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jsteich@mindspring.com Message-ID: <000d01bea199$841528c0$ee908ad1@funtosplamisham> Subject: dukes, many grand etc's. Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 21:47:10 -0400 to all those rollin'-- ok, ive been on this list for several months now and ive seen posts about dukes this dukes that and im going to break down and beg now. i cant find the dukes cd anywhere (im looking for the one with both the lp and ep, whichever that is). so, could someone, since virgin or whoever doesnt want to keep on printing the album (i dont feel that i owe them anything anyway), please dub me a copy of this album? other than the fact that i want it, it would be nice to know what everyone is talking about. plus it would almost complete my xtc collection. still missing white music, but i dont feel its loss so keenly as i do the dukes album. okie dokie. write to me at jsteich@mindspring.com btw- just today i printed up my sleeve to the beach boys smile album that was offered here and i must say, it is a sight to see. what a beaut. the cover is kind of cheesy, but thats the way it was meant to be. (think cosmic.) on the reissue thing: i got into xtc about 1996 or so and, out of respect, bought all the pre-o&l albums on vinyl (except for go2 and d&w, which i couldnt find in time). vinyl is better. except on skylarking, which has got a huge fucking scratch on it from my friend... to whom i traded my cd copy of skylarking for the vinyl... oh, tragedy. on the genisis thing: eno was better. on the andy lurking thing: it is possible that he would be that insecure, but who knows? if he's lurking, he is not coming out. unless someone has a nice juicy steak to wave in his direction... if that doesnt work, i have some mace we can spray. then he'll run out and we can catch him! bad andy! bad andy! no hiding under the porch! and then he'll run into the woods where andy's belong. on the tribute album: i like xtc's versions of all songs concerned, except all along the watch tower, which was best done by DYLAN. hendrix's version is pretty good too, but it changes the whole idea of the thing. ok, thats enough for now. have a wonderful day! jesse (who has forgotten what :) means...)
------------------------------ From: jsteich@mindspring.com Message-ID: <001601bea19a$dfb26ac0$ee908ad1@funtosplamisham> Subject: re: A band you ought check out Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 21:56:54 -0400 >Apologies for the lack of Genesis, Phil Collins, heavy metal, John >Lennon >and Beach Boys content, but........ from here, this post just gets kind of nasty, and depends on irony far too much... if you want to get people talking about xtc again, dont point out that we're not and just tell us what we know, add something. these kind of posts are getting out of hand. so here goes: has anyone heard any of the andy partridge solo stuff? i saw the one he did with budd in a store once, but it was mighty pricy... whats his solo stuff like? is it more exprimental? does he do the dub thing? is it instrumental, or does he sing? does he play all the instruments or are there others (other than budd...)? i expect many long repsonses, full of xtc content. maybe you could connect it back to av1 if possible. or we could start talking about dub, a very interesting musical style. so there. jesse
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <6fcb3a17.24737df5@aol.com> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:37:41 EDT Subject: Re: Genesis and Mojo Nixon >Chris stated: > >>As I recall, Steve's only writing credits(I could be >>wrong)on A Trick Of The Tail and Wind And Wuthering were Los Endos and Wot >>Gorilla? Both instumentals. > >when actually Steve Hackett co-wrote: "Entangled" with none other than Tony >Banks, along with "Dance on a Volcano" with Banks, Rutherford and Collins >from "Trick"; " In that Quiet Earth" with Mike Rutherford, Banks and >Collins, "Blood on the Rooftops" with Collins, "Unquiet Slumber for >Sleepers" with Rutherford and "Eleventh Earl of Mar" with Banks and >Rutherford on Wind & Wuthering. By the way, "Wot Gorrilla" is a >Banks/Collins composition. I should have known better than to comment on albums I haven't owned since 1978, when I hurriedly jettisoned my Genesis collection upon hearing the Sex Pistols and deciding I was a punk.(yeah, right; a high school kid who spiked his hair with soap on weekends)Still, my observations on Hackett are based mostly on conversations with a serious Genesis fan in college who I suspect had a crush on Tony at the time and was very biased. She also turned me onto XTC, for which I'll be eternally grateful. My wife and I paid her a visit last weekend and I offered to play her my copy of Apple Venus which I brought with me, but she was too busy making dinner, eating dinner and putting the kids to bed, at which point she was ready for bed herself. She did hurriedly press her Mojo Nixon/Skid Roper CD into my hands, though, explaining she wanted to get rid of it before her nine year old finds it and gets ideas. Maybe I'll tape a teaser of ROO and FT for her. I don't want to tape the whole album for her, I want our boys to make money. Chris
------------------------------ Message-ID: <3741F1E7.2BD6@bhip.infi.net> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 23:04:19 +0000 From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net> Subject: Zero XTC content Tschalkgerz! Sorry - no XTC content... New album I had the pleasure of checking out: R.L.Burnside 'Come On In'. 72-year-old guy gettin' funky like he is on this album? Go do it. Fun stuff. VERY bluesy. -- BRIAN THOMAS MATTHEWS * Caricaturist-for-hire SAPRINGER CENTRAL ~ http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/cypressaliens
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <3d8583d3.24737deb@aol.com> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:37:31 EDT Subject: Re: Short List >Howdy 'Hillians! >The more I think about it, I really do believe that Andy P. is lurking >behind a pseudonym or alter ego on this list. But which one? Dunks? >Chris D.? Chris C.? Harrison? Dom? Molly? Amanda? > >Which one do YOU think is the real Andy P.? > >Just food for thought, > >Squirrelgirl You can rule me out, though I'm flattered to be on the short list. If I'm Andy, then he's damn brilliant(and boxed out of his mind)to make up someone like me. Some of my friends have told me in the past that if I didn't actually exist someone would have to make me up, which would probably mean I'm a figment of my wife's fertile imagination. It's not real likely to be one of the more talkative members of the list, that's too obvious and too much work for Andy to maintain his facade. It's more likely someone who just posts occasionally with some whimsical and/or pithy insights and disappears into lurkdom for a spell. If I didn't already know her, I'd suspect Kristin B. of being Andy. I got another idea: Andy made all of us up. No wonder he doesn't believe in God, because he just made up something no deity could ever conceive of. Chris
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37423349.B9F15AB1@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:43:06 -0700 From: Yoshiko Yeto <beaudrillard@earthlink.net> Subject: effluvial ephemera and other unrelated particulars Dearly beloved Chalkhillians: Salutations from the "soulless, sequined, showbiz moon"---a.k.a. Los Angeles! Harrison, yes I also prefer the mystique of my on-line handle: Malady Nelson. However, I had the misfortune of actually being named Yoshiko Yeto. My parents were kind enough to bestow me with alliteration in my name though...Also, thanks for your informative posting regarding the Shaggs! I'll definitely mosey over to their website. Will the real Mr. Partridge stand up? Monsieur Thomas, I didn't suspect that it was you...I might as well come clean; I am Colin Moulding. Surely, my quiet demeanor was the giveaway. Also, misattributing "Ball and Chain" to Partsy was a particularly brilliant cover. Innit? Shades of Sybil perhaps...I don't particularly have an aversion to purple though... Molly's tribute album inspired me to think of the converse: a covers album a la Elvis Costello's Kojak Variety. I am sure a Chalkhillian thought of the idea in the past, but please kindly indulge me. I am just mining in the Chalkhills collective unconscious. Here's my half pence in no particular order. 1. Animal Farm-The Kinks 2. Silas Stingy-The Who 3. At Home He's a Tourist-Gang of Four 4. My Attorney Bernie-Dave Frishberg (in homage to XTC's legal battles) 5. Some Velvet Morning-Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra (I'd like to see this as a duet with Andy and Nico) Nico would take Lee's lower register. 6. Another Day-The Rutles 7. Moanin' At Midnight-Howlin'Wolf 8. No Side to Fall In-The Raincoats 9. Burning Airlines Give You So Much More-Brian Eno 10. My Pal Foot Foot-The Shaggs 11. She Comes in Colors-Love 12. Blue Xmas-Bob Dorough/Miles Davis 13. 40 Versions-Wire Back to the testimonial album, I think that Nick Lowe would do justice to "Shake You Donkey Up". I know that this posting had more unconnected outbursts than a Tourette's patient. Please forgive me... Malady Nelson "Even I never know where I go when my eyes are all closed here I go again!"
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <48904c5e.24737df0@aol.com> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:37:36 EDT Subject: Re: The Shaggs >5. The Shaggs >The Shaggs defied all conventions of music theory, musicianship, and >musicality! Their songs breathtakingly teetered on impending >disintegration, yet they always miraculously managed to "stay together". I >defy anyone to try their nerve shattering tightrope act! As an all girl >group, they provide inspiration to us deranged members of the double x >chromosome set. Ah, The Shaggs, the epitomy of musical innocence and the kind of band my totally untrained and unmusical wife would form if she formed a band(keep in mind she doesn't play any instruments aside from a tiny bit of piano, and can't sing a note on key). I feel sorry for those girls, what started as a homemade album of their basement hobby turned into delusions of grandeur on the part of their father. They actually learned some chords by their second album Shaggs Own Thing, and some actual songs, pretty much their favorite top 40 songs of the day(The Carpenters, Marie Osmond, Tom T. Hall, etc.). Still charming and cute, but they were truly original when they didn't have the slightest idea what they were doing. Then again, they have a major cult following as a result, and Dot Wiggin can count on occasional visits to her trailer in New Hampshire by enterprising Shaggs fans, who I hear she's touched to receive visits from. Happens just often enough to remind her some people out there are interested in her but rarely enough to give her some privacy and a life. That's the kind of fame I like the idea of. Chris
------------------------------ From: Melsta@aol.com Message-ID: <9b74c69f.2473b7d0@aol.com> Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 02:44:32 EDT Subject: My Own Spin Hey Chalkfolk-- Here's my spin in I Can't Own Her: As the father of a teenage daughter, I think Andy could well be writing about his daughter growing up and away from him. That is, if he hadn't said somewhere it's about the uncertainties of a new relationship. That's the trouble/joy of having the artist explain his own work. Sometimes you like your own interpretations better. Melissa "My dad don't own me either" Reaves
------------------------------
Date: 19 May 99 15:21:26 AES
From: Paul.Culnane@dcita.gov.au
Subject: Triv
Message-ID: <0001bdrbxdrh.0001oomiqgqg@dcita.gov.au>
Hi folx
While dicking about on the net I came across this oddity:
http://triviamusica.com/x/xtc_t.html
The XtC-related trivia question is:
>>4/19/99 2:51:06 AM - XTC's Andy Partridge is engaged to an actress named
Erica Wexler. Erica originally had a cameo in the movie "Saturday Night
Fever". - Travis S, Norfolk NE. Can you confirm this? Click on the letter
to vote! True? Or Made-up?<<
I don't think you win a prize or anything, but how odd to have a solitary
XtC trivia question hidden away in some cobwebbed corner of the web!
~p@ul
------------------------------
Message-ID: <37426F9E.CC5D2D6@gte.net>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 01:00:36 -0700
From: Randy Hiatt <rhiatt@gte.net>
Subject: sex drugs and rock and roll
As a musician I understand the inner meaning of
most (if not all) rock/pop songs.
Our boy Colin may seem like the quiet shy one but
believe you me under this calm exterior lies a
steaming caldron of molten seething something or
other.
Case in point "Fruit Nut" where Colin cleverly
hides his craving for the carnal pleasures
continually offered the musical elite (i.e.
groupies).
Without getting too explicit I'll paraphrase the
songs true meaning.
Tending my fruit, tending my fruit
(taken care of his "privates", if these
don't perform what's left?)
Ah, you've got to have a hobby
(all guys wish to do this regularly, even
more then a hobby)
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
(Shed can be read as "Love Shack". The
place he takes his steady stream of conquests)
Spraying my butt, spraying my butt
Got to keep away diseases
(thank god for penicillin and
crab-be-gone)
I mix the poisons and the wife don't complain
(as is typical with wild sexual abandon:
drugs and alcohol. His wife is the understanding
type, just keep it away from her)
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a tawdry fool
(the Moral Majority is neither)
Someday they'll see
Till then I'll blow you a raspberry'
Cos assholes and pears are me
(here he distills men and women down to
their more recognizable elements)
So I'm tending my fruit
(use em or loose em!)
And I don't give a hoot
(it's his own personal business after all)
'Cos it keeps me sane, it keeps me sane
(obviously well read Colin makes reference
to (a true Peter Pumpkin Head) Wilheim Reich's
research in the orgasm (Orgone energy) and it's
power to heal (as well as control weather)
Our boys are only human after all... just another
product of the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's
Randy (what's in a name) Hiatt
rhiatt@gte.net
http://home1.gte.net/rhiatt/index.htm
------------------------------ From: "Michael Versaci" <stormymonday@sprintmail.com> Subject: Get Set For A Taxiride Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 08:47:07 -0400 Message-ID: <000001bea1f5$b5b5c2c0$7a6b0a26@laptop-mversaci.mtwconsulting.com> Folxtc, I am surprised at the amount of attention that The Shaggs have been receiving in this newsletter. Before any of you unsuspecting "Chalkhillians" rush out and spend your dollars that may be burning holes in your pockets on their record, you may want to visit this link http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1192880290/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/al bum.html/ArtistID=SHAGGS/itemid=30949 and play some of the song samples. Here is a review from CDNOW: ["The Shaggs consisted of the three Wiggin sisters, who hailed from the small town of Fremont, New Hampshire. Doted upon by a music-loving father, the girls set out to become stars -- never mind that they didn't know how to play a single note. Recorded in 1969, merely a year after the ladies began making noise, Philosophy... has since become an amateur-rock touchstone. The record certainly made the Wiggins sisters famous, but it didn't exactly garner them the kind of notoriety that they expected. This seemingly precursor-less album is considered a masterpiece of primitivism, distinguished by out-of-tune guitars and vocals and tempos that speed up and slow down at random. Punk audiences' tastes for primal sounds and raw expressionism helped create the Shaggs' legend. The girls turned naivete and innocence into something, at least during their time, truly ingenious and refreshing." Tad Hendrickson] This whole notion of critics seeing some kind of relevance and genius in bad (as in poorly executed) art reminds me of a wonderful story that I once heard about Jackson Pollock. I have been unable to substantiate this story, (i.e.; I searched "yahoo" for 15 minutes and couldn't find any references to it) but I think that the lesson is relevant and the story is at least credible if perhaps not true. Jackson Pollock made no secret of the contempt that he felt for art critics. So much so, (as the story goes) that he once set-up canvases at the monkey house at a zoo, and supplied the apes with paintbrushes and paints and let them create some "paintings." He then showed the works as his own, mocking the critics as they "interpreted" the "statements" that these paintings made. * * * So many of us have lost our patience with commercial radio, MTV and VH1. The bulk of what we call "Top 40" today is contrived and devoid of even a glimmer of imagination or creativity. It often sounds as if there were one band, one producer, and a parade of countless anonymous singers (that look great in videos) performing the same song with different words over and over again. Well, I finally heard something recently that really made me sit up and say, "who the f**k was *that*?" "That" turned out to be a new band called Taxiride. Their new single, "Get Set", is currently available on the soundtrack album of a movie called "The Election." "Imaginate", their debut album (which will include "Get Set") is slated for an early June release. "Get Set" is a great record, with (yes Jill, I'm going to use *your* word here!) BEAUTIFUL harmonies! Harrison was right; I am an old-fart who likes old-fart music! He told me this himself in between sips of his martini while listening to me pontificate about the state of music today and hearing Todd Bernhardt complain about his gout. My cranky rant went something like this: "I don't want to listen to shit and pretend that it's Shinola. Give me a record of a catchy song with clever lyrics that rhyme, some guitars, a bass, and real drums, good tight playing, and people that can sing, on key, and in harmony. The kids with the backwards baseball caps and the pants that look like Ralph Kramden's cut-offs as worn by David Bowie, who play music that either a), sounds like a slowed-down version of the Ramones with a constipated singer who can't get any relief (The Offspring comes to mind, though there are others) or b), is rap music without a message, (which is something like beer without the alcohol), have nothing relevant to say to my jaded ears. Oyy, Todd? Can you pass me the Geritol?" But that Taxiride song is a humdinger! Speaking of "humdingers", here's a recommendation for some of you young whipper-snappers out there: Go out and get a hold of the early Bob Dylan records, "Bob Dylan", "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", and "The Times They are a Changin'", and listen. We could use another "Bob Dylan" about now, and since we've been getting nothing but a gaggle of pre-packaged wankers and wannabes, our only hope is to go back to the source. Time for me to split. Michael "Hey Daddy, was he old like you?" Versaci "Fezzic, are there rocks ahead?" "If there are, we'll all be dead!" "No more rhymes now, I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s7427a59.051@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 08:45:15 -0600 From: "Steve Oleson" <Steve.Oleson@OAG.STATE.TX.US> Subject: Monty Python: consensual relations? I believe that Monty Python's Flying Circus had a large influence on British and American culture. Elvis Pressley was a big fan of Monty Python (although you would never know it) I've inferred that the Beatles wackiness in later years, must have been inspired by MP. Does anyone out there harbor similar delusions?
------------------------------ Message-ID: <D9E6CEC7734AD111BCF70090273C5D671318DA@user9.chemonics.net> From: Todd Bernhardt <TBernhardt@Chemonics.net> Subject: Ooh, that smell Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 10:36:52 -0400 It was a Dark and Stormy Monday who said: >Harrison was right; I am an old-fart who likes old-fart music! He told me this himself in between sips of his martini while listening to me pontificate about the state of music today and hearing Todd Bernhardt complain about his gout.< Well, if you smelled Harrison's gout, you'd complain too! H, I love ya, babe, but you've _got_ to lay off the sweetmeats, man! --Todd Now, if I could only do something about this goiter...
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000b01bea26e$13fe7ca0$3ac1b3d1@oemcomputer> From: "Aaron Pastula" <apastula@earthlink.net> Subject: Please refresh my memory. Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 20:08:46 -0700 Hello all - I don't think this has been discussed lately, but does anyone know (and I'm *sure* some of you do) whether the Fuzzy Warbles album will be re-recordings of the demos or simply their original versions compiled? I seem to remember reading somewhere about how Andy wanted to re-record them but that Colin and Dave (when he will still in the group) thought that would be redundant and unnecessary. And when do we get to have it in our grubby hands? Anyone? AP
------------------------------
Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990519202607.0068f490@pop.napanet.net>
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 20:26:07 -0700
From: "Elena F. Sirignano" <nycelena@napanet.net>
Subject: More Nonesuch
Hello Friends,
Forgive me if this is a repeat, but I've been out of the loop
for a bit. But like many others here, AV1 has brought me back to Nonesuch,
an album I priviously did not care for, after having fallen deep in love
with Skylarking. Nonesuch has never sounde so great because it definately
paved the way for AV1. My inquiry being from this, does anyone think of the
Ex-Mrs. P when they listen to Madame Barnum?
NYC Elena
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990520043313.16942.rocketmail@web117.yahoomail.com> Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 21:33:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: stuff David Yazbeck recently posted recommending a record by Adam Guettel. I don't have that one, but my roomate just bought the cast recording of 'Floyd Collins' and it's damn good! Threw me a little at first-it's a little different from what you usually expect from show music. Leave your brain engaged while listening (unlike when listening to Lloyd Webber, where the brain goes to sleep). We're hoping to catch the show-it's currently running here in Chicago. While I have your attention, I'd like those of you who are interested to check out my new website: http://www.mindspring.com/~t.hewitt It's a pretty straightforward site, mostly examoles of my work (I'm an artist) and resume, etc. Any comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated. It's my first ever site, so I want to show it off! Tyler
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199905200454.VAA16202@toucan.prod.itd.earthlink.net> Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 23:52:22 -0600 Subject: Ron Sexsmith From: "Bob O'Bannon" <batchain@earthlink.net> Ron Sexsmith's album "Other Songs" from a couple years ago was one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years. Well, his new one's out, called "Whereabouts," and it's more of the same -- lush, melodic, solid songwriting that grows on you with every listen and never gets old. Some of it recalls "Skylarking" period XTC (although Ron has mastered the art of restraint, which XTC seems only now to be learning, as "Apple Venus" evidences), so Chalkhillians should take notice. Bob O'Bannon
------------------------------ From: Iain.Murray.70428176@army.defence.gov.au Message-Id: <4A256777.000F6766.00@stagemaster.army.defence.gov.au> Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 12:53:43 +1000 Subject: XTC For Dinner? Again? << I know there's already been Testimonial Dinner, but I was thinking about what would your dream XTC tribute album be? Who would you have on it and what songs would they sing. >> I've tried to put together an Australasian collection for this - the reason there's only three New Zealand groups in this bunch of ten is mainly due to NZ-ignorance on my part. 1. Into The Atom Age - Split Enz 2. Earn Enough For Us - The Blackeyed Susans 3. Crocodile - Ed Kuepper 4. Life Begins At The Hop - Died Pretty 5. Great Fire - The Feelers 6. Train Running Low On Soul Coal - You Am I 7. When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty - DD Smash 8. The Mayor Of Simpleton - The Go-Betweens 9. Travels In Nihilon - The Triffids 10. Wrapped In Grey - Chris Wilson Iain (who is also not Andy, although nobody ever thought I was)
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-212 *******************************
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