Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 244 Sunday, 8 August 1999 Today's Topics: Shoveling more smoke cobain & av1 Bitch Bitch Bitch The "Cobain thing" re: The Verve Pipe No GREENMAN Single!!!! MGN XTC Hotbed ? Re:The FCC is making me cry, et al B-2 Unit Wonkery Future of radio Gentle Giant, long-ish digression Re: Prefab Sprout L.A. XTCers Owsley Re. Kurt CoBANE... Greenman. Not! The Might Zep, The Bland Cobain & Stink Re: The Bears Pirate Radio!?!? Where's XTC? Administrivia: To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command: unsubscribe For all other administrative issues, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to: <chalkhills@chalkhills.org> World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/> The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7 (John Relph <relph@sgi.com>). Even I never knew this is what I'd be.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: JEFFREY.THOMAS.JT@bayer-ag.de Subject: Shoveling more smoke Message-Id: <0006800013904829000002L092*@MHS> Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 18:05:27 +0200 A "down" day here in "Kreideberger"-land. Harrison wrote about violence at a rock festival, the "Brand Sixties" and closed with: >Peace and love, sister--now show us your tits. >Ugly world. Ugly, ugly world. Fascinating stuff, as well-written as we would expect, and intensely provocative. Sad, but true, it is an ugly ugly world; nevertheless, the descriptions are strikingly stereotypically Anglo-Saxon on one hand ("show me your tits" is harsh, but let's face it, what "northern" countries have a harder time coming to terms with sexual and bodily aspects than do the English-speaking ones? I've never seen any.). And on the other -- perhaps I am reading this wrong? -- the text seems to imply exactly that which it is decrying, i.e. that the 90s "Wouldstock" violence is something that mightn't/couldn't have happened at the original 60s one. Like, as if there were no bad eggs at Woodstock and no one was gang-raped there? Maybe they were just too numbed to notice! Bad people were there then, and if they didn't show their ugly heads at Yasgur's Farm, then it was just plain *luck*. (Cf. Altamont, as mentioned.) It is an ugly world, which leads us to... May wrote: >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 >its belly. Good idea, I've thought about it, too. While we're at it, send that blimp to Europe and give the message to the British, German, and Dutch football hools, then onto Japan to tell the Brazilian-bashers and... (Having said all that, will this post influence the behaviour of a single person? Thought so...) If you're looking for me, I'll be out shoveling smoke... Help me get through these cynical days. - Jeff
------------------------------ From: dan@gge.com Message-ID: <37AB140F.447B8207@gge.com> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 09:57:57 -0700 Subject: cobain & av1 thought i'd chime in on this kurt cobain thing. love him, like him or hate him, you can't deny nirvana's influence on popular music in the 90s. 'nevermind' gave radio a much-needed physik and paved a path for alot of other similar (ie: punk-ish) bands to vie for space among the raft of vapid dance pop and power ballads that had dominated the airwaves. i was never a big grunge fan (or radio fan for that matter), but found it refreshing to see the pop scene expand the way it did when seattle was mecca. i remember seeing green day in a tiny club here in san francisco about 6 yrs ago. i had known about them for a couple of months and was glad to have a chance to see them play, as i'd just moved here from the east coast. the show was great & we ended up chatting with them a bit afterward. a few months later i saw them on mtv in a prime-time slot and the cover of spin magazine! i believe this is entirely due to the fact that nirvana broke a hole in the dike and the 'industry' was snatching up grunge and punk-type bands as fast as they could at that time. similar phenomenon to the late 70s post-sex pistols craze. it's not a question of talent or song-writing ability. it's what's popular, what's marketed, and what kind of niche is created in the wake of 'the next big thing'. steve wrote: >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? it's hard to say. if i was a relatively new fan i think i might hate everything pre- black sea. indeed, everything pre-black sea seems like a different band to me so it's hard to look at the catalog as a whole. if i was a skylarking-and-on fan i'd put it at: skylarking, nonsvch, av1 and lastly O&L. but i'm an english settlement-and-on kid, so i would say: E/S, nonsvch, skylarking, mummer, av1, big express, then O&L. am i forgetting anything? what's funny, and contradictory, is that the song 'chalkhills & children' has been #1 of my personal mental top-40 chart for like 3 weeks! I'm skating over thin ice, while some nonesuch net holds me aloft, dan
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990806170914.11807.rocketmail@web110.yahoomail.com> Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 10:09:14 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: Bitch Bitch Bitch Molly wrote: >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. Several things to respond to here: 1. I thought I was suggesting changes to David Seddon's list, not yours. 2. I was not trying to bash progressive rock (this time). My tastes in progressive run more towards Can and Henry Cow, but everyone else can listen to what they want, I could care less. 3. I was not judging people's musical tastes (this time). I thought the post in question dealt with INFLUENTIAL bands, not favorite ones. I put the Smiths on the list, for example, because like them or hate them, they have had a pretty huge influence over many of the British bands of the '90's. 4. Saying thet Queen were not as good or as influential in the '80's as they were in the '70's is hardly news to anyone. Again, whether ot not you like them has nothing to do with it. I am a huge REM fan, but I suggested them for the '80's list because their '90's work is not nearly as good or as influential as it was in the '80's. I can criticize the later work of a band I like, cant you take a little criticism of a band you like? 5. In response to my changes, David Seddon wrote "Can't disagree particularly with your comments, Tyler. They're fair points". Music fans are all opinionated sorts. We all think our tastes are sublime and everyone else's shit. It's true, whether or not you admit it. Many of the postings on this list prove that point. A little good natured chiding about the relative merits of this or that band is fun, and wont leave any long-lasting scars. I took all kinds of grief while in high school for being the only person in the tiny village I grew up in who listened to 'new wave', and I turned out (relatively) fine. And, I'm only human. Next time I'm feeling really bitchy, I'm liable to send off a post slamming not only music but anything else I can think of (I've done it before). I guess what I'm trying to say, in a long-winded way, is: Lighten up!
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990806142455.009235f0@smtpgw.ametsoc.org> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 14:24:55 -0400 From: David Gershman <dgershmn@ametsoc.org> Subject: The "Cobain thing" Howdy all, David Seddon sedd: >Afraid I just can't see the Cobain greatness thing... >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. 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! I'm not going to try to convert you to Nirvana, but let me just point out something to the anti-Cobainers here that you seem to be willfully overlooking or selectively forgetting: Cobain and Nirvana *were indeed* considered very important even before his death! They were pretty much the biggest (and best) thing going in rock in the early '90s, and his death may have increased his personal legend, but the band was *not* merely considered just another rock band before his death. As for your question: "What exactly was it that he or his music are deemed to have done that was fresh, interesting or musically new?," let me quote from the All Music Guide to help answer that: > Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections > of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, > a tax write-off. After the band's second album, 1991's Nevermind, nothing > was ever quite the same, for better and for worse. Nirvana popularized > punk, post-punk and indie-rock, unintentionally bringing it into the > American mainstream like no other band before it. While its sound was > equal parts Black Sabbath (as learned by fellow Washington underground > rockers, the Melvins) and Cheap Trick, Nirvana's aesthetics were strictly > indie-rock. They covered Vaselines songs, they revived New Wave cuts by > Devo, and leader Kurt Cobain relentlessly pushed his favorite bands -- > whether it was art-punk of the Raincoats or the country-fried hardcore of > the Meat Puppets -- as if his favorite records were always more important > than his own music. While Nirvana's ideology was indie-rock and their > melodies were pop, the sonic rush of their records and live shows merged > the post-industrial white noise with heavy metal grind. And that's what > made the group an unprecedented multi-platinum sensation. Jane's > Addiction and Soundgarden may have proven to the vast American heavy > metal audience that alternative could rock, and the Pixies may have > merged pop sensibilities with indie-rock white noise, but Nirvana pulled > at all together, creating a sound that was both fiery and melodic. . . . > The band's legacy stands as one of the most influential in rock & roll > history. Couldn't have said it better myself, Dave Gershman
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990806202401.21577.rocketmail@web122.yahoomail.com> Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 13:24:01 -0700 (PDT) From: julescheer <julescheer@yahoo.com> Subject: re: The Verve Pipe <<Now the new album is out. Does anyone know if Andy (or Kate) actually participated?>> I'm holding "The Verve Pipe" in my hot little hands. Although the XTC influence is present, Andy is not (Kate either). The influence is obvious on several of the tracks..."Hero," "La La," "She Has Faces" and "In Between" especially. It's a terrific album! Rumor has it that "Blow You Away" will probably end up as a B-side (it was left off the album at the last minute). There are other rumors circulating re: TVP/XTC collaborations, but nothing firm enough to report.
------------------------------ From: BobB22@aol.com Message-ID: <ac4cb89d.24dca404@aol.com> Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 16:48:04 EDT Subject: No GREENMAN Single!!!! I am only taking a guess on this but when I talked to Cookin Vinyl Records they told me that Greenman was not scheduled to be released......I was also told by them that they no longer have the CD single I'd Like That W/ Demo and how the song came to be as told by Andy........NOW, either XTC is selling Cd's like hot cakes or again XTC is stuck with a label that will not promote them.......is it me?????? or is XTC only great to a few of us??? Any comments???? Bob Bianco......see my Beatles site at http://members.aol.com/BobB22/index.html
------------------------------ Message-ID: <005901bee052$b3490600$92bc883e@e.e> From: "john" <john@bartlett132.freeserve.co.uk> Subject: MGN XTC Hotbed ? Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 22:28:31 +0100 Organization: i >From: John Morrish <morrish@dircon.co.uk> > >It's good to see that the dear old Independent of London has at least one >reader. > >Readers of my little feature about bands breaking up -- >http://chalkhills.org/articles/Independent9908.html (Yes, you can have >permission, John) Well, I make that 4 people with ties to MGN/ ex MGN companies on this list. Perhaps Bob Maxwell himself had "Senses" on the stereo as he went over the side. This is getting to be more than a coincidence. Perhaps that's 4 copies of the new single sold (which is released on 9-8-99 according to my local cd emporium.) Cheers, John
------------------------------ From: dan@gge.com Message-ID: <37AB5996.A70DF5CF@gge.com> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 14:54:57 -0700 Subject: Re:The FCC is making me cry, et al i have to say i have been so jaded for so long that i literally can't remember the last time i was turned on to something new and interesting via fm radio. it was probably more than 10 yrs ago, i shit you not. the only time i listen to the radio is in the car and then its strictly npr, baby. i'd rather listen to a monotonous discourse on labor strife in burma for half an hour than hear one commercial played. hell, i'd probably tune in to pop stations from time to time, out of morbid curiosity if it weren't for those obnoxious, insulting, insidious commercials. i digress. what i want to know is, what does it mean; 'seven stations in one market'? one market of what? could someone email me privately and explain how that works? oh, and zack, those people who get busted for home-grown pirate radio stations? you'd probably get in less trouble if you were selling security info wholesale to north korea while simutaneously importing 10 tons of heroine a week into the country through the white house basement while disguised as the pope than people who do that. the fcc doesn't f*ck around, and they don't take kindly to the proles muscling in on valuable advertising space. as zippy would say, "yow!" ralphie wrote: >What's not mentioned in Song Stories about Colin's >"Angry Young Men" is that it is the most Steely Dan-ish >song XTC has ever recorded never noticed before, but by god, you're right! i can hear donald fagen singing it so clearly! in fact i agree with you whole-heartedly about steely dan. also, there's another great bunch of songsters that said 'up the tour circuit' and found their identity in the studio. -dan
------------------------------ Message-ID: <022e01bee05f$672a6860$f74778c7@JH3.alternatech.net> From: "JH3" <jh3@netins.net> Subject: B-2 Unit Wonkery Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 17:59:55 -0500 Ah, finally a chance for some first-class XTC trainspotting wonkery! Rob Allen writes: >>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. ...And Shawn Berkeley: >...B2-Unit is quirky-non-pop-goodness, but I >have never been able to identify Andy's contributions either. In >the Japanese liner-notes (translated for me) there is no further >info in this regard. I've been told that as well, about the liner notes. It's always bothered me because I consider myself something of an expert on Andy's guest appearances on other people's records. I've also been told that none of the other guest musicians were guitar players, so I figure that the guitars on the album were entirely done by Andy, who didn't play keyboards at all back then (1979-80). Also, as XTC fans, we just assume that anyone with a chance to work with Andy Partridge on their album would want to feature him very prominently, but that isn't the case here - his parts are buried in the mixes beneath those bubbling, gurgling, 1980-vintage synths. But after listening to it many times through the headphones, there are six songs I can hear Andy-esque guitars on, namely: "Differencia" (there's this sort of scratchy muted-string arpeggio going on in there that gets replaced by a synth at the end) "participation mystique" (the distorted guitar, also towards the end, is so low in the mix you can barely hear it) "E-3A" (in which there's some upper-fret noodling, starting about halfway through, that sounds like the sort of Beefhearty thing Andy would have been likely to do at the time, vaguely reminiscent of some of the Homo Safari numbers) "Riot In Lagos" (released as a 12" single - I think Andy mostly just plays one or two guitar notes on this one, as if it were a percussion instrument) "Not the 6 o'clock news" (in which you can just barely hear an acoustic (!) guitar being played in the classic choppy Andy style, again almost as if it were a percussion instrument) "the end of europe" (where he's doing some heavily flanged distorted feedback stuff, also low in the mix, that predates Sonic Youth by at least a few years) We'd need somebody who was actually at the recording sessions to give us something official. But it was a long time ago, and finding someone who remembers that much detail, especially on a record like that, isn't very likely. It would've been nice if they'd made Andy's contributions more audible, and nicer still to give him parts on "Thatness & Thereness" and "Iconic Storage" - IMO the two most memorable tunes on the album - but what the hell, I guess we'll always have those Martin Newell and Stephen Duffy albums. (Not to mention XTC albums...) And as long as I'm posting this anyway, the people who are saying such nice things about the Owsley album are absolutely correct. You, the discerning music consumer, should heed their wise and valuable advice and pick this up, pronto. LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I'd also like to take this opportunity to (belatedly) thank and applaud The Fabulous Bob Estus for his time and talents in putting together the animated Oranges & Lemons cover AVI file (which you can get at http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Metro/4623/lemonade.htm ), easily the coolest thing I've ever seen on the Internet. If you haven't checked this out yet, you're wacked! Get with the program! John "why no between-the-name quotes?" Hedges XTCware: http://www.alternatech.net/jh3/xtc
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s7ab23f9.085@mail.emmis.com> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 18:04:47 -0500 From: Erik Meyer <Erikm@stl.emmis.com> Subject: Future of radio I am writing this before finishing reading my current digest, so forgive me if I repeat anything. This is in response to all the talk about corporate radio, and its downward spiral. I currently have a crappy job with an active rock station, so almost every little bit we play is crap, but the perks are good. We also own two other stations in the market, and are in the process of possibly buying a few more in the market. I do feel as though I have something to add. What makes radio suck is the dependence on research, and the idiots with Arbitron diaries. At the same time, as long as clients look at the ratings, we must also consider them important. But don't think that a program director is about to put a song on the air 40 times a week just because a label tells him to. A song must either be seen as good by the programming staff for the market demographic, or people all around the country are buying it. I feel, and I think a lot of you would agree, that the average music listener doesn't know his ear from his ass. Therefore the music played, for whatever reason, sucks ass (I'm trying to keep my poor language to a minimum). I'm sorry but don't blame radio for the fact that the majority of the music released is complete crap. Hell, I don't know why Bob Mould, Moz, and Frank Black among others who I love dearly , have lost their souls. Although, I am stuck in the hell called corporate radio. On the subject of having 7 stations, who cares. As long as radio is profit driven, like everything else in this world, bad music will continue to be produced for people that like bad music. Even after writing this I hope I can stay on the list, but we who are critical of the music we listen to are a minority. I still believe that we should blame the idiots that listen to the Backstreet Boys, and Limp Bizkit for creating the demand. Well, I hope I got my point accross, I'm going to go shoot myself. Erik
------------------------------ From: fheaney@erols.com Message-ID: <000001bee05d$c41a7080$39e37ad1@default> Subject: Gentle Giant, long-ish digression Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 18:47:38 -0400 Aaron Pastula wrote: > As for prog rock, no one has mentioned Gentle Giant. Though certainly not > the most popular prog group, they are without a doubt (in my enlightened > opinion) the most creative and talented of bands to emerge from this era. > Any prog fan who isn't at least partially versed in the music of GG is > missing out on a HUGE HUGE talent. Trust me. I am not wrong. It's true; he is not wrong. Probably the only thing that kept them from taking off was their lack of a distinct personality, as was had by Genesis (Peter Gabriel), King Crimson (Robert Fripp), and Yes (Jon Anderson, and to some extent, Rick Wakeman, whose flashy keyboard playing made him extremely popular). But musically, they compare pretty well, overall. I recommend their third and fourth albums, "Three Friends" and "Octopus". (And they're priced really cheaply at CDnow...if you find one of their coupons for $10 off a purchase of $15 or more, they'll come to around $6 each, including tax and postage.) Then if you haven't had enough overlooked prog rock after that, you can start buying up the essential Caravan ("In the Land of the Grey and Pink", "If I Had to Do It All Over Again...", and "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night"). I maintain that prog rock, like every other music genre, will have its moment of becoming trendy again. Certainly some current bands could fall under the same classification, like Porcupine Tree (try "The Sky Moves Sideways") and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, or exhibit some influence (Built to Spill, Squarepusher, Tortoise, maybe The Loud Family...and this is the last time I'm going to tell you people, their CD "Days for Days" was the best album of 1998). I predict the prog revival will evolve from an offshoot of electronic music. Remember, you heard it here first. XTC content: The above-quoted Aaron Pastula has the same initials as Andy Partridge. -- Francis Heaney "Sociability is hard enough for me." -- Blur
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990807001840.72702.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "carey guitar" <careyguitar@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Prefab Sprout Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 17:18:40 PDT Then band I was touring with last summer did a dozen shows opening up for the Jesus & Mary Chain. This was before, during and after the brother's big fight onstage which resulted in William leaving the band after 2 days of fisticuffs... The band and the crew were wonderful if a little untamed. They were like pirates, really. We were all in the hotel lobby in Denver and they were chatting music, and I cut in & asked them what they thought of Prefab Sprout. I couldn't resist jerking the Chain's chain, as it were. It was like I pissed in their eggs. After some stinky looks of disbelief, they kind of acknowledged that they existed, then told me what town they were from. I remember a few of them liked Robert Fripp. The Sprout is good, long live the Sprout! What's good about them: the singing, full and jazzy; Dolby's influence; those aching-heart lyrics (ah, yes!); very original. Also the fact that my ex gave me their tape and she's never going to get it back. I ran into a englishman the other day. Actually he was driving on the wrong side of the road. I asked him about Swinbourne. He said it's kind of magnet for high technology these days. After reading the XTC book I thought it was all abandoned trains. Well, that's all for now except I wish Andy & Colin were touring. hoisting a virtual pint from afar me twinkling 1 & 0's - Carey
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199908070119.SAA18233@intergate.sonyinteractive.com> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 18:18:08 -0700 From: Bob Estus <bestus@intergate.sonyinteractive.com> Subject: L.A. XTCers Hello, Sorry for the short notice! (I *do* hope a Chalkhills comes out this weekend) There's a small L.A. XTC gathering scheduled for this Tuesday August 10th. Chalkperson Randy Hiatt and I are in town for the major computer graphics convention "Siggraph" and thought it would be opportune to meet with others of our ilk whilst there. The where and when will be decided shortly after settling down this Sunday the 8th and may depend on number interested, but will most likely be a restaurant close to the part of town the Convention Center lies in. The main objective is to exchange tapes, photos, stories, while consuming dinner and or drinks. (If friend Mel shows up he should have photos of "close encounters" of the Swindon kind.) Location suggestions welcome. Interested parties contact me by Monday the 9th at: Bob Estus The Holiday Inn Pasadena 626-449-4000 see you then, -Bob p.s. Info about the convention, if interested http://www.siggraph.org/s99/
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37AB5714.55A6@bhip.infi.net> Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 21:43:49 +0000 From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net> Subject: Owsley Tschalkgerz! For what its worth: I've been listening to a new CD... guys' name is Owsley, and his self-titled debut from Warner Bros. Records is pretty darned good. He shopped his own home-made final master around to everyone until he found a company that would release his album as is, without thinking they needed another chef (producer) in the kitchen (studio). Some of it sounds like the Beatles, in which case will point towards the XTCsound, somewhat. Recommended. -Brian http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990807055249.10376.rocketmail@web308.yahoomail.com> Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 15:52:49 +1000 (EST) From: Brent Palmer <brent_palmer@yahoo.com.au> Subject: Re. Kurt CoBANE... As someone strongly empathising with David Seddon re. Kurt Cobain/Nirvana, please allow me to pour a huge, steaming vat of contempt on the grunge "revolution". (After all, its abrasive, alienating presence still failed to plug the flow of tawdry slush dominating the Top 40, didn't it?) For all the press' shovelfuls of sentiments like "alternative", "gritty reality", "spokeman for a generation", etc., no-one can convince me of Seattle sludge's merits. No doubt this viewpoint may paint me as an "old bore" at best (for the record, I'm 25); a fascist knee-jerk reactionary at worst. A torrent of flame-mail could well be heading my way. But in a nutshell, my viewpoint of the post-"Smells Like Teen Spirit" era is this: _The music industry needed Kurt Cobain like a hole in the head!_ Meanwhile, XTC will remain _truly_ alternative to the core, a breath of fresh air to sustain us fashion-oblivious misfits who have yet to be bludgeoned into "alternative" conformity. (It used to be the Blackshirts, and the Brownshirts - now it's the Korn-shirts!) So thanks to all those fellow miscellaneous flotsam-and-jetsam who are still enraptured by classy, clean, melodic pop with a delightfully cerebral bent! "Don't let the loveless ones sell you a world wrapped in grey..." Brent, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia === Email: brent_palmer@yahoo.com.au __________________________________________________________ "Why shouldn't art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world." - Auguste Renoir "The music business is a hammer to keep you pegs in your holes." - Andy Partridge, XTC
------------------------------ Message-ID: <002501bee09f$d6bd3aa0$0100a8c0@mallard> From: "Dean Skilton" <dean@welded-widgeon.com> Subject: Greenman. Not! Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 07:41:10 +0100 Organization: Welded Widgeon I recently tried to order "I'd Like That" from Cooking Vinyl's web site, and received this reply: [Hi Dean, Unfortunately I have to inform you that the XTC single 'I'd Like That' is already sold out and there won't be a third single of AV l either. But there will be an album of the demo versions for AV l, called 'Homespun' out on 27-09-99. AV ll will follow early next year. Sorry !] I replied, suggesting that they reconsider, given that 'Greenman' was always (for me) the most obvious track on AV1 to be a single.
------------------------------ From: JStrole@aol.com Message-ID: <b3495f50.24dda323@aol.com> Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 10:56:35 EDT Subject: The Might Zep, The Bland Cobain & Stink Led Zeppelin--Kurt Cobain--influential?! With influences like that music would turn into some homogenized, boring state, with all originality sucked right out. Can someone please point out a cohesive lyric that Robert Plant actually wrote? Can someone think of a moment that you just didn't feel sorry for Mr. Cobain? It was all done before and it was done much better than the two groups mentioned above did. While we're at it let's face facts that Jimmy Page was the 4th best lead guitarist from The Yardbirds (don't you think Top Topham was the cat's meow). The Police were known to be fervent XTC fans. Stewart Copeland wore his Drums & Wires shirt to tatters on tour. Plus, I have always felt Sting's music was quite influenced by Andy. I wouldn't be suprised to hear a 40-piece orchestra on his next solo adventure. His solo work has been watered down XTC songs, to me. Come to think of it, he hasn't put out much new material lately, coincidence? Harry
------------------------------ From: WTDK@aol.com Message-ID: <9b9863c1.24ddb5c1@aol.com> Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 12:16:01 EDT Subject: Re: The Bears From: "rob allen" <prefab11@hotmail.com> > >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? Yes I've heard both albums and they are terrific. I still have the first (misplaced the second during a move a long time ago). I'd suggest contacting Thirsty Ear Records as they have just issued an Adrian Belew anthology (with no Bears songs I might add) which includes solo and group work. Thirsty Ear might be in the process of pursuing the reissues (or might like the suggestion) .It's possible that Cave Man Records wouldn't license the songs from those albums. The first album can still occasionally be found in the used bins at various record stores. Wayne Klein
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37AC5AA5.314A@realtime.com> Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 17:11:18 +0100 From: chris vreeland <vreecave@realtime.com> Organization: Vreeland Graphics Subject: Pirate Radio!?!? For those about to rock... Austin TX apparently is under attack from radio pirates! I'm not certain of this, but I have detected a low power non commercial radio signal where there should be none. I've tuned in off and on for the last two days, and finally caught a deejay, who identified the station as "Radio Free Austin, an unsposored, uncensored community experiment." Couldn't find anything concerning it in the local media, so either they are unaware, or perhaps this is old news, and I'm the last on my block to find out. They are playing lots of strange and unusual music that I don't recognize, and covering a lot of genres- the only song I've heard before was "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan- fitting for pirate radio, if that's what it is. Commercial Radio might be going to the corporate dogs,but as long as there are those who will risk the wrath of the FCC in order to broadcast for the sake of the art of music, then there remains that spark of hope. 7 stations per market, indeed! My dial will be set to none of them. Godspeed, ye brave and hearty pirates! Chris Vreeland
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 19:23:33 -0400 From: douglas m clep <vtube@compuserve.com> Subject: Where's XTC? Message-ID: <199908071923_MC2-8031-B3A1@compuserve.com> Who are we? Why are we here? The first time I heard XTC was after our bass player went to see the Police, The next day he woke up, Ran to the record store, and came back w/Go+ "Nuff Said?" Where do you hear XTC? Here in Dallas I hear a "Right Wing Whacko" Radio talk show weenie use the intro to GREENMAN as "bumper" music! I have also heard "My Bird" at the supermarket. And the guys on "Car Talk" have been known to play "Roads Girdle" Where do you hear XTC? Steve: Yes the smoke has cleared and Yes, AV.V.1 is still a GREAT! CD! Is it their best? WHO CARES!!!! Holly: Squeeze is not a bad word! Enjoy all music! Everybody: Squeeze is not a bad word, But F**K is! So is B**ch, and C*nt And I see no reason why we should put up with such language! Please whatch yourselves! }---:)
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-244 *******************************
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