Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 242
Date: Thursday, 5 August 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 242
Thursday, 5 August 1999
Today's Topics:
It's All Too Much
Mayonnaise
Prefab Sprout!
Schoolteacher Sting
Re: Prog
New Verve Pipe song
Re: Queen
More on bands
Chalkhorse Choker Charm
Dave Gregory & The Divorce
Mr. Trivia
nonsuch
big takeover
Small success story from an XTC missionary
Acne Phoenix, Vacuum 1
Free Song Stories!
Most important 70's artist
a hellish victory
sting in the tail
mo' Momus
Sprout-Bears-Sakamoto
No Video For Vol 1
Evil corporations or Your Friends & Neighbours?
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Want to walk into London on my hands one day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <19990803004729.10108.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Ralph Simpson DeMarco" <sawpit@hotmail.com> Subject: It's All Too Much Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 17:47:28 PDT Greetings Affiliated Members: I will keep this short. The Police were a GREAT band. Each member integral to the group. When they split, there was never a reason to consider Sting at all. He really does suck solo. Andy P. sounds nothing like him, never did or will. Those who say it are lacking in fine-ear tuning (and that's being kind). By....
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37A656EA.2677@gte.net> Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 19:41:46 -0700 From: "May O'Mahoney" <may5272@gte.net> Subject: Mayonnaise Harrison Sherwood writes: > The result has been a terrible dilution of historical understanding of > that decade, a horrible, reductionist oversimplification of the Sixties > to a series of evocative but ultimately meaningless symbols, wrenched > from context and pasted to crappy merchandise.. WOW! That's all I can say. Great job Harrison! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who shares that opinion. My question to the Chalkhills is this: What on earth do overfed middle-class white kids have to riot over? Perhaps they should be blowing up their own televisions and computers while simultaneously setting their mommy-bought Lucky Brand jeans ablaze. They have only themselves to blame for their disgruntled state. Perhaps it's boredom due to overstimulation and lack of identity? I feel like sending up a blimp (appropriate) to travel across America with the words GET A LIFE emblazoned in red across it's belly. May the mayonnaise sandwich-eaters take a break to look up... Yours Truly, May
------------------------------ Message-ID: <389776789.933663970855.JavaMail.root@web03_mc.mail.com> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 03:06:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Thorbjorn <1@post.com> Subject: Prefab Sprout! Hi! May O'Mahoney wrote: "Prefab Sprout! My goodness it's been a long time since I've heard anyone utter those two words! It's even spelled right! (grin) They are delightful and am disappointed that I haven't heard the '97 release." Can't agree with you more! Perhaps you should get a hold of the Andromeda Heights-album soon, since it's one of the truly great albums of this decade. Thorbjorn
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <7c75b3c8.24d830e6@aol.com> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 07:47:50 EDT Subject: Schoolteacher Sting >Chalkbedbuddies, >Why are you all going so hard on Sting? Apart from writing about >subjects he knows nothing about, which is certainly not a heinous sin >these days, he's a damn good songwriter. Can someone tell me what the >general problem with Sting is? >Robin I can't speak for anyone else but myself, but the problem I have with Sting is he's not as good a songwriter as he thinks he is and he tends to fall flat on his face when he tries to make big statements. He must think he's still a schoolteacher sometimes, which he used to be before The Police. Sting works best when he just waxes poetic; when he does his writing is actually quite good, such as "Fortress In Your Heart." Unfortunately he tries to Say Something Important too often, in which case I just want to raise my hand and ask if I can go to the bathroom. I also find his voice annoying at times. Chris
------------------------------ From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <83a85549.24d830e2@aol.com> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 07:47:46 EDT Subject: Re: Prog >Hey, I like Yes and other progressive artists and groups of the 70s. I >don't see what's wrong with them. Name me some artists and groups that >top any of the progressive groups of the 70s. >Molly Aw man, better than ALL of them? Do I HAVE to? Seriously, though, I personally dislike Yes, but I like King Crimson, Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator. I take what I like from many different genres of music, though there's some genres of music I have little use for(practically everything on the Billboard top 40 these days, for example). Progressive rock isn't one of them, though, and I don't think the point was to diss all progressive rock of the 70's, just Yes. I personally don't think Yes was a benchmark of commercial and creative greatness in the 70's; has anyone besides diehard Yes fans managed to sit through all of Tales From Topgraphical Oceans?(I certainly haven't)Not that they don't have talent, though I still haven't forgiven Steve Howe for Asia. Personally I'd pick Pink Floyd or Elton John as more representative of the spirit of the 70's on a musical level, they certainly graced more college and high school turntables than Yes anyway. Chris(the other one)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990804034132.23235.rocketmail@web126.yahoomail.com> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 20:41:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Veronica Kyle Robertson <veronicakr@yahoo.com> Subject: New Verve Pipe song So, we know that Andy collaborated with the Verve Pipe for the Avengers soundtrack. A few months ago, someone posted about how the Verve Pipe was in the studio and they were hoping to get Andy to work with them again (as well as Kate Bush). Now the new album is out. Does anyone know if Andy (or Kate) actually participated? And has anyone heard their new single "Hero"? It certainly SOUNDS XTC-influenced! C'mon, there's got to be a few Verve Pipe/XTC fans in the know. On a different subject, does anyone see the humor in using a Smiths song to advertise a car with leather upholstry? Oh, Moz, did ya really need the money THAT bad? Veronica
------------------------------ From: mollyfa@juno.com Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 23:53:58 -0400 Subject: Re: Queen Message-ID: <19990803.235949.3638.0.MollyFa@juno.com> Tyler wrote: <<g changes: 1.. Leave Queen off (or put them on the 70's list. at least they were good in the 70's). 2. Replace Queen with New Order (I'm not a fan, really, but they were very influential in merging new wave and dance music) 3. Remove Happy Mondays, replace with the Smiths. 4. Move REM from the 90's list, put them on the 80's list (for the same reason I moved Queen to the 70's list) 5. Add Los Lobos and Lucinda Williams to the '90's list.>> I don't see what was wrong with Queen in the 80s? I love Queen in any era, but I have really bad tastes in music since I like Genesis and other progressive rock groups. And if anybody "suggests" other bands to my list I will comment. Nobody's going to say, "Oh put this group in this ara, because they were better." Quit judging people's musical tastes. Molly
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000001bede70$aadd8420$07ffabc3@default> From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com> Subject: More on bands Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 12:22:24 +0100 Thanks, John. Decent of you. I was expecting a bit worse from Cobain fans! Afraid I just can't see the Cobain greatness thing. Perhaps this helps to explain: I don't think he wrote any music people are going to want to cover in 10 years time and he wasn't that great a musician. The Nirvana albums bored the life out of me and I found it very hard to discern any sort of melody thru' the noise. I can't agree that he stopped rock from being boring. It's been getting more boring for at least 10 years. In my opinion, he added to this tendancy. What exactly was it that he or his music are deemed to have done that was fresh, interesting or musically new? I can see that he and his band had energy, but so what. We could all name a hundred bands with that quality. Finally, he also became 100 times more important after his death and that gives the game away for me! Incidentally, I left a few errors in my first post... the 5th 70s star was supposed to be Bob Marley and I crossed off Cat Stevens, hence the comment at the end, and put in Jimmi Hendrix (mainly for his virtuosity). I thought I'd changed all of that before I sent it, but the change didn't stick! Still getting used to this Explorer 5 thing I've installed! Can't disagree particularly with your comments, Tyler. They're fair points. D.Seddon writes > Here's my pick of who will still be important and what will still be > listened to and analysed in 50 years time, either because they were > excellent creators, inovators or both... > I'm not sure who else yet, but not Kurt Cobain!!... a wastrel who didn't > deserve much credit at all, but got it due to hype (and) bullshit... and the small act of saving rock (from dying of boredom, for one thing). Other than that it was a decent list, which makes your railing at Cobain all the more confusing. Cheers, John.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC4310A7@newman.partech.com> From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com> Subject: Chalkhorse Choker Charm Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 08:57:57 -0400 I was browsing an online catalog of eclectic merchandise when I came upon this interesting item: http://www.mailordercentral.com/azuregreen/prodinfo.asp?number=JWHIH&variation=&aitem=348&mitem=358 It's a pewter pendant depicting a familiar equine. I've never ordered from AzureGreen before, so I can't vouch for their service/reliability, bur I've been getting their snail-mail catalogs for a quite a while now. I just may be placing an order soon. -Janis http://members.aol.com/starlingv/starling.htm
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990804134529.33291.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "jonathan monnickendam" <monnickj@hotmail.com> Subject: Dave Gregory & The Divorce Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 06:45:29 PDT UK readers ; get hold of the Independent 3/8/99 p8 which talks about band break ups and reforms, the Bay City Rollers, teh Eagles and Yes (topical).But in amongst all these super stars is our very own Dave G, no chance of a kiss and make up. The article is too long to type and I don't have a scanner. jon [ http://chalkhills.org/articles/Independent9908.html ]
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000c01bedea4$2113c860$fc0698cf@tedist> From: "Rick Buist" <rbuist@tedist.com> Subject: Mr. Trivia Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 11:06:38 -0700 >As for Owsley, I also have his debut and it is pure pop heaven. If I have >my facts down correctly, he played guitar with Shania Twain or someone >like that. From Nashville. He played guitar for Amy Grant. You are correct in that it is a great album. (Not Amy Grant's; Owsley's) XTC content: The lazy brown fo X jumps over T he qui C k dogs. Rick
------------------------------ From: Jeffie.Barbour@bmge.com Message-ID: <3B626B707EA4D111A72C00805F0DAD9A3A8933@USBAGE28> Subject: nonsuch Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 10:57:06 -0500 just a quick note... my horse's show name is "nonsuch". he went to his very first show this weekend, and not only behaved like a superstar, but also placed in his pre-green class. it was really cool to hear "nonsuch" being called out. alas, i was hoping for a gasp of recognition from some other fanatical xtc fan, but no such luck. maybe next time. jeffie
------------------------------ From: dan@gge.com Message-ID: <37A866C0.5926694B@gge.com> Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 09:13:58 -0700 Subject: big takeover thanks to all who mentioned the current issue of 'the big takeover' (cover: two gawky guys from swindon). i would've never found it on my own. as a rule, i hate music magazines (except 'no depression' the alt.country mag). but after finishing the nice, long xtc interview i started looking thru the rest of it and discovered that this a music magazine i can actually read! very intelligent editorials and tons of info/reviews/etc, on bands i know by name only and others i've never heard of but look interesting. will anyone here admit if you were one of the people who paid $350 for an advance copy of av1? come on! i want to meet you! dan
------------------------------ From: JEFFREY.THOMAS.JT@bayer-ag.de Subject: Small success story from an XTC missionary Message-Id: <0006800013837192000002L022*@MHS> Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 18:37:22 +0200 Hi "Kreideberger", I've read about others converting the unbelievers, but I have never really had any success trying to preach the XTC gospel over the years. Some people would recognize "Nigel", "G&M", "SWOT", or even "Mayor of Simpleton" -- they'd say they'd heard that, it was nice, but that was that. No requests for advice on which records to buy, no albums lent to copy. But a miracle has come to pass (and close to home, too). Hallelujah! During our holiday in England, and while exploring the strange stone/bronze/iron age sites down in Cornwall, something unusual occurred -- it must have been those ley lines. My girlfriend, who generally tolerates my XTC (and other group) manic phases with a smile, actually started *singing XTC music*!!! Of her own volition! Yes, at one stone circle, it was "The Meeting Place". Then at another site, she sang "Sacrificial Bonfire". And then, while we were in Boscastle, she started singing "Greenman"!! I didn't even know she knew the songs! To top it off, two days ago I came home from work and what did I hear playing? "AV1". And *I* wasn't anywhere *near* that stereo!!! I am totally amazed by this development. Oh, I know she's not really converted yet, but *the word has been heard*. I'm going to have to do my best to get the rest of the job done now. I'm not sure what's happening here, but I smiled so much my face almost cracked in two! - Jeff
------------------------------ Message-ID: <204640794C39D211A21700805FA73521037559B7@ahqex1.rei.com> From: Steve Sims <ssims@rei.com> Subject: Acne Phoenix, Vacuum 1 Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 09:43:17 -0700 Now that the smoke has cleared and most of our emotional attachments to AV1 have dissolved... Where do folks see it in relation to the rest of the discography? I kind of see it like this: Black Sea, English Settlement, Oranges & Lemons, Skylarking, and AV1. I feel AV1 is a bit too uneven to be considered with their best. -Sssssssssssss
------------------------------
Date: 04 Aug 1999 10:13:42 -0700
From: "Henson, Mary Beth" <Mary.Beth.Henson@disney.com>
Subject: Free Song Stories!
Chalkfriends:
Working for Disney isn't always a breeze, but it does have it's
privileges. For example, I've got an extra, absolutely free copy of
Song Stories. Our adult book publishing arm - Hyperion - produced
this book, in case you've forgotten. Anyhow, as I've already got a
copy of my own, so this one is free to the first person who e-mails me
and asks for it. Free postage too!
First come, first served!
MB
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000701bedeec$d9fc6ec0$3e68fed0@oemcomputer> From: "Chauffefamily" <delia1999@email.msn.com> Subject: Most important 70's artist Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 19:47:24 -0700 In response to Mark Strybos' of 7/30, I think you answered your own question. The 70's had so many off-shoot styles of 'rock' it is simply impossible to say who was the biggest as to importance, influence, etc. I agree with you that Bob Marley, for one, was a big influence on a lot of artists. I was glad I had a chance to see him before he died. Re: Reggae, for example, an arguement could be made that a lot of the current rap, hip-hop acts (No, this time I am not critizing them!) were influenced by the dance hall DJ style from Jamaica. There is also no question that Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath influenced hundreds of metal/rock/grunge bands just like Roxy Music did to early new wave and alternative bands. The same could be said for Yes, EL&P, even Hawkwind for more progressive sounds and spacy music, or what about Traffic to a more jazzy rock sound? The point being there are simply too many branches of rock music to name one single artist as the most influencial. And what about purely from a fan popularity standpoint? The 70's saw a lot of changes from the beginning to the end, I am sure if we had a poll for 1 or even our 5 best artist of the 70's, we would have an endless number of artists listed! I will skip mentioning the 80's for now, but I really think the biggest or most influencial artist of the 90's was Kurt Cobain for a number of reasons. But I may be opening up pandora's box...
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 15:49:15 +1100 From: Sebastien Maury 02 9950 3315 <maury.sebastien@a2.abc.net.au> Subject: a hellish victory Message-Id: <E1441IAT3FHHY*/R=A1/R=ABCNET/U=MAURYS6G/@MHS> Can I just say to Janis VanCourt that I haven't laughed so much reading the subject line "Oh, Sting/Where is thy death?" in a long time. Then again, I really should get out more... Seb.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 15:57:14 +1100 From: Sebastien Maury 02 9950 3315 <maury.sebastien@a2.abc.net.au> Subject: sting in the tail Message-Id: <E1444IAT3HHG0*/R=A1/R=ABCNET/U=MAURYS6G/@MHS> Oh and for fuck's sake, if you don't detect Sting similarities in parts of ROO or in I Can't Own Her around the word "money", then you really haven't heard much Sting (not necessarily a crime) or more culpably, you don't know AV very well... Mind you this is no "Sting impersonation" as someone suggested; it's more about the odd similarity in vocal inflection and occasional melodic echoes (ie "money"). This is *not* the end of the world! For God's sake the Police and XTC aren't exactly strangers. There, I feel better now. Seb.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 16:28:42 +1100 From: Sebastien Maury 02 9950 3315 <maury.sebastien@a2.abc.net.au> Subject: mo' Momus Message-Id: <E1446IAT3JS2G*/R=A1/R=ABCNET/U=MAURYS6G/@MHS> Megan Heller, may I have the honour of being the first? Seb.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990805180304.68410.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "rob allen" <prefab11@hotmail.com> Subject: Sprout-Bears-Sakamoto Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 11:03:03 PDT Well, I guess there are plenty of XTC fans who also enjoy Prefab Sprout. Thanks for all the responses. As for the Sprouts's "Andromeda Heights".... it really has some brilliant moments: "Electric Guitars", "The Mystery Of Love" and "Swans". I would agree it's not their best CD, but it's still much better than most things I hear nowadays. O.K. Chalkhillers.... help me out here. Anybody remember Adrian Belew's 80's pop band the Bears? I've read nothing but great things about 'em. I know their CD's are out-of-print. Anybody heard them? Any plans for re-release? I have been a big fan of YMO and Ryuichi Sakamoto for 20 years (same as XTC!). Andy Partridge plays on Sakamoto's 1980 "B-2 Unit" CD. What DOES he play? The liner notes just mention his name. That's all. This oddball CD is worth seeking out. Later.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37A9F189.6EB1@gte.net> Date: Thu, 05 Aug 1999 16:18:17 -0400 From: george toledo <guitarc@gte.net> Organization: home Subject: No Video For Vol 1 A TVT rep emailed me and said that there would be no video off of vol 1, but to expect one off of vol 2. This brings up two questions- what happened to the greenman video, and which song will be the video off of the second release?
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03130300b3cfc84c6b61@[153.37.163.28]> Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 19:10:41 -0400 From: MinerWerks <dminer@gte.net> Subject: Evil corporations or Your Friends & Neighbours? Hi all.. just back from my jaunt to Mexico in an old jalopy of a van and I came in to find a new corporate adjustment taking place. If you recall, I posted a couple weeks ago about the "Universal Entertainment Group" and their slashing of hundreds of artists from their rosters? Well, now big corporations are going to drive RADIO further into the ground than it already is. The FCC is now allowing companies to own up to SEVEN radio stations in one market. I don't even LISTEN to seven stations in my market. I've seen the rise of this trend in the last few years. If you ask me, when the FCC relaxed regulations and allowed companies to own FOUR stations, programming creativity dropped dramatically, and so did jobs. Now think about one program director creating the public image for not one, but SEVEN different radio stations. And I don't say that because it's a worst-case scenario, I say that because it's the foregone conclusion of this whole consolidation trip. I know a lot of us are not "radio" fans, but I've got some good memories of when radio was at least decent and willing to try some new stuff - I could live with it. I might as well just throw that out the window now - and you might as well kiss the chance of EVER hearing new XTC music on the radio again goodbye. Raging Mad with Caffeine, = Derek =
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-242 *******************************
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