Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 252
Date: Monday, 23 August 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 252
Monday, 23 August 1999
Today's Topics:
haiku 4 you
the irony and the XTC (I'm so sorry...)
Re: Easter Theatre lyrics and other assorted items
AV2
I am Sci-Fi
English Settlement bits and further Iron Giant raves
Cleanin' Up, and I'm Gettn' Down...
A post that must be reread!!!!
Give me the Money
What is more tedious than endless posts about Nirvana?
Art Pop, etc. my recommendations
Where Angels Fear To Tread
Re: English Settlement
English Settlement highlights
Brussel Sprouts
Trades, Bitching, Cover Art, Contest!
XTC FAVES
Sting, Xtc, Andy's "solo" stuff and other bits and pieces
SEC: UNCLASSIFIED:-Vote Early, And Vote Often
I'm bugged ...
long winded
Re: Outside the asylum
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <900822C71730D2118D8C00805F65765C8DBB4C@EINSTEIN> From: Jill Oleson <oleson@moneystar.com> Subject: haiku 4 you Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:48:56 -0500 hmmm..... shucks. i dunno smoky easter theatre cain't hack it no mo'
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990820221918.16396.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Megan Heller" <hellerm@hotmail.com> Subject: the irony and the XTC (I'm so sorry...) Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:19:18 PDT I have to say, I find it a little ironic that the multiple posts by people complaining that they've had to scan through "boring" non-XTC posts has meant I've had to scan through a whole bunch of boring posts! hm... now, XTC content, so I won't be a hypocrite (or get accosted)... on the "how is Apple Venus vol. 1 now?" thread, I am so happy to say that I think the album has held up beautifully, and I only wish that vol. 2 were coming out sooner-- or not, there's a three volume album by Magnetic Fields coming out in September (all three volumes at once, hey, that's a good idea) and a two volume Momus album next week... I still think Apple Venus may land the top spot in my albums for this year... m.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000401beeb74$22bb8180$34bfa0d0@meridith-s> From: "squirrelgirl" <squirrelgirl@citrusonline.net> Subject: Re: Easter Theatre lyrics and other assorted items Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 21:24:02 -0400 Howdy 'Hillians! Been a few weeks since I caught up on my digests, and I can see that mostly I've missed people arguing amongst themselves. about irrelevant topics. Interestingly, nothing scathing from Dom or Dunks recently. Hmmm. Hope you have a happy vacation, dear Mr. Sherwood. Welcome Aboard to all those of you who have "outed" yourselves recently. The more the merrier on this here chalkhill. In Digest 250, Molly said, >Molly, putting her flame retardent suit Molly, I'm glad to see that you are becoming immune to those who persistently flame you. Keep that sense of humor intact, girl. In the same digest, Will Lewis wrote, >Oh, for crying out loud. >I joined this thing hoping for informative facts about XTC and their music. >So why is it clogged with endless opinions and bantering about other bands >that I don't give a rats a** about? Well, I think lots of us have the same feelings and are starting to air them. We implore you, Mitch, et. al., who are "in the know", please feed us some scraps of timely information before we mutate into Miscellaneoushills. And, Mark posted: >until I bought the "Easter Theatre" Single I thought the line read "If >we'd all breathe in and blow away the snow" Yes, I know the "misheard lyric" thread is long since dead, but I have never confessed and am now moved to do so: until I looked up the lyrics on Chalkhills, I thought the lyrics went: Bugs will laugh and burst/Racing to be first That certainly conjured up some potent visualizations in my mind, along with some questions (Why would the bugs laugh about exploding, and why would they be in a hurry to self-destruct?). So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I still kind of like "bugs" vs. "buds", since that's how I first was impressed. Now, back to your regularly scheduled Nirvana-fest.... Squirrelgirl
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03007800b3e3b774b7b3@[165.247.19.30]> Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 20:55:42 -0500 From: Mitch Friedman <mitchf@mindspring.com> Subject: AV2 I'll see what I can find out but from what I know they just got started on it.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01BEEB4A.D7253640.wes@iolvegas.com> From: Wes Hanks <wes@iolvegas.com> Subject: I am Sci-Fi Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 20:29:58 -0700 Chalkhooligans, Swing by scifi.com and you can submit your nomination for Andy and Colin to be featured in one of the Sci Fi Channel's "I am Sci-Fi" promo spots. It would be a delicious counter to the Richard Branson one! Hey, don't cost nuthin... So how would Mike and the 'bots of MST3K treat the "Greenman" video? Cripes, I want to see this! Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), Wes Hanks
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990821045638.9240.rocketmail@web218.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 21:56:38 -0700 (PDT) From: "Lisa G." <devilgirlchocolate@yahoo.com> Subject: English Settlement bits and further Iron Giant raves A couple of my favorite bits from ES would have to be: 1. The heart-wrenching line from "Snowman": "People will always be tempted to wipe their feet/On anything with welcome written on it" and 2. The nonsense lines Andy babbles in the beginning of "Snowman": "A-doomalamma-deemalamma-doyamma-do" or, whatever! Hee hee. 3. The beautiful guitar in the beginning of "Yacht Dance." I think I might use this as a "first dance" at my wedding! Oh, and I agree with the Iron Giant rave; it is so wonderful! Go see it, please! It made me cry! Buy the toy, too. You press a button and the giant's eyes light up and he says "HOGARTH....FRIEND..." Cool. Late, Lisa (the Devilish Girl) === "I am the girl who wanted to be God."-- Manic Street Preachers
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37BEF870.ADCF4647@risd.edu> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 15:05:21 -0400 From: Gene <gyoon@risd.edu> Subject: Cleanin' Up, and I'm Gettn' Down... Hidy-ho Chalkhills neighbors-- An overcast breezy day in Rhode Island today, so I took to long overdue housecleaning this morning. Needed a soundtrack to keep me moving, so I programmed the cd changer and set the receiver to "Stadium Effect" to simulate my own private live XTC set (slight bias to Apple Venus, since every band wants to promote its most recent offerings, right?): 1. Earn Enough For Us 2. I'd Like That 3. Making Plans for Nigel 4. Wake Up 5. Harvest Festival 6. The Meeting Place 7. Mayor of Simpleton 8. You and the Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful 9. Easter Theatre 10. Ball and Chain 11. Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead 12. Big Day 13. Love on a Farmboy's Wages 14. Train Running Low on Soul Coal (Pressed pause to vacuum for ten minutes) Encore: 1. Greenman 2. Dear God 3. Senses Working Overtime I hadn't played XTC full blast in a long time, so it was a soul-tickling reminder of why I love them so much. House got clean rather painlessly. On another note, the other day I was perusing at local eclectic music purveyor In Your Ear and spotted three rare, now-classic 45's (curiously and, as a Colin devotee, rather amusingly there were no Andy songs) all in good condition and with complete sleeves: Nigel, Wonderland and Meeting Place. They were selling for about $8-10 each. Nigel had the game board included. I almost bought them but thought better of it, as I'm not really a collector and I'm trying to ebb on my frivolous expenditures. Thought I'd mention it here in case any Chalkhillian wants them-- you can email me. In another interesting hommage to our man Moulding, I found that WRNI 1290 (RI's NPR news station) uses a loop of Life Begins at the Hop's guitar riff as opening music on their morning show. Very cool (even tho it's on a crappy-sounding AM frequency). Thought I'd share, Gene
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19990821193355.9334.rocketmail@web120.yahoomail.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 12:33:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com>
Subject: A post that must be reread!!!!
In case you missed it in Digest #251
Francis hit the nail right on the old head.
themolefromtheministry
Here is the whole post.
From: fheaney@erols.com
Message-ID: <006901beeb41$6ef05b80$4ae47ad1@default>
Subject: I'll be brief
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 15:23:04 -0400
I would rather read ten messages about Nirvana than ten messages
griping about lack of XTC content. If you want a discussion about XTC,
start one yourself; don't complain that no one else is doing it for
you.
-- Francis Heaney
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 14:41:18 -0400 Subject: Give me the Money Message-ID: <19990821.174735.-467353.5.MollyFa@juno.com> From: Molly E Fanton <mollyfa@juno.com> vee tube wrote: <<So,why don't we all just pull up our socks,buy "homespun" and pass on our AV1.'s to the unsuspecting masses.>> Give me the money to buy it then. Not everybody on this list can afford everything XTC. I get so sick of people bragging about all their stuff they have bought, and then tell other people to buy it. I always tell people who say this type of thing, to give me the money and I'll buy it. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Molly
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990821221750.28570.rocketmail@web128.yahoomail.com> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 15:17:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: What is more tedious than endless posts about Nirvana? Endless posts bitching about the endless Nirvana posts.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990821231124.2051.rocketmail@web128.yahoomail.com> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 16:11:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: Art Pop, etc. my recommendations Jim Slade wrote: I'd rather listen to Henry Cow or Art Bears (the album something about "winter"??? - I have by them is among the best of all that I own from that British avant-prog-jazz scene. ---- That title is "Winter Songs" and it is indeed a truly excellant, challenging album. Available on CD coupled with another Art Bears album "the World as it is Today" which is also great. I love Dagmar Krause's voice. She added a lot to the Art Bears sound. Her album "Supply & Demand" is an amazing collection of Brecht/Weill and Eisler songs, by a voice that was born to sing them! Supply & Demand also has Richard Thompson on guitar and banjo, and was produced my Joe Boyd, who produced the old Nick Drake lps, and at least one REM record. --- There's also an amazing Fred Frith album called Gravity that fans of XTC's oddball/experimental side should check out. --- "Gravity" is, again, a wonderful, challenging recording. His "Speechless" is every bit as good. I also recommend "Cheap at Half the Price", which seems to be Frith's low-tech experiment. Recorded on 4-track equipment, it's his least polished recording that I know of (excepting those Frith, French, Kaiser and Thompson records that really aren't that good, especially considring the talent involved) and also contains his most pop-like songs, and is the only record of his I know of where he sings! Fans of the classical-inspired XTC tracks on AV1 may like Henry Cow's Western Culture lp, which is more coherent than most of their recordings, and takes sort of a chamber music approach to rock music. Another amazing record for those who like the classical-inspired AV1 tracks is Joe Jackson's Heaven & Hell. On my best of the decade list, this is an extremely ambitious album, challenging yet accessable, a pop masterpiece. Easily Jackson's best work, this record sank without a trace when it was released two years ago, and its a shame, because it contains some of the best-written pop music I have ever heard. Comes closer to a true classical-rock hybrid than ANY other attempt I know of. Absolutely Fuckin' Brilliant! What else? Well, Soft Machine are always a good bet. Any of the Robert Wyatt solo stuff is great, too (I would love to hear a Wyatt/Partridge collaboration). David Sylvian and Robert Fripp's "The First Day", released in 1993 is quite good. Producer Hal Wilner's various artist theme records are always fun and interesting. "Stay Up Late" is all Disney songs done by Los Lobos, Suzanne Vega, Yma Sumac, Harry Nillson, Tom Waits, Sun Ra, The Replacements, Betty Carter, etc. "Lost in the Stars" is all Kurt Weill songs done by Sting, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Tom Waits, Todd Rundgren, Van Dyke Parks, Marianne Faithfull, etc. He has also done records of Nino Rota and Charles Mingus music by similar artists. And, for those with beat generation affectations, Allen Ginsberg's "The Lion For Real" is a Hal Wilner production of Allen reading his poems backed up by musicians from the New York downtown music scene. Long out of print, it was reissued after Ginsberg's death. It's wonderful! Wilner's two productions for William Burroughs are also great. God, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to go on like this, but start me going about music I like and look at what happens! If it's any consolation, I like reading everyone elses music recommendations, so I hope you don't mind this. I have a bias towards trusting XTC fans taste in music. Every XTC fan I've ever known (sadly, not too many) has turned me on to interesting, usually non-commercial music. Besides, if you didn't like this post, I'm sure to hear about it! Now everyone go shopping!-at your local independant record store. Tyler
------------------------------
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 01:13:12 +0200
Subject: Where Angels Fear To Tread
Message-Id: <19990821231416.066F1A6CDD@mail.knoware.nl>
Dear Chalkers,
Somebody asked:
> Did anyone else get there via/simultaneously with Comsat Angels?
> Does/did anyone follow the Comsats?
Yes yes yes!
The Comsats, quite popular here in the Low Countries during their
early 80's heyday, were an important factor in my conversion to
New Wave. I resisted XTC at first but they, along with Peter
Gabriel's third album (starring our Dave!), Talking Heads and B-52's
sort of paved the way.
The Comsats first album "Waiting For A Miracle" is still a great
record today and has been re-mastered exceptionally well on CD.
If you ever come across it, pick it up.
For a while they were "the next big thing" but they never really
surpassed their debut album.
yours in xtc,
Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 00:01:17 -0400 From: Dorothy Spirito <spiritod@techmail.gdc.com> Subject: Re: English Settlement Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.00.9908201325130.13746-100000@esun2028> Maggie Jungwirth wanted to know what "bits" of ES we like. SNOWMAN! (sorry; excuse my enthusiasm) Migosh. The opening crescendo; the twaaang, twaang guitaring; rhyming "know, man" with "snowman" and making it come across clever, not stupid; the frustration bit off with every "HA!"; the cadence which suggests a relationship snowballing toward an explosive conclusion; and the immortal line "People will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with 'welcome' written on it". Gosh, I could write a mini-art-critique of *every* song. The album is a pastiche of aural treats; it's a sampler of quality chocolates. Limiting this to my top five faves, I also love "Jason and the Argonauts", "Yacht Dance", "Senses Working Overtime", and "No Thugs In Our House". --Dorothy. (one of a pair of wheeling seabirds ::smile::)
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19990822051834.18541.rocketmail@send205.yahoomail.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 06:18:33 +0100 (BST)
From: Brent Palmer <brent_palmer@yahoo.com.au>
Subject: English Settlement highlights
In response to Maggie's question in #5-250, "What bits
[of _English Settlement_] do you all like?":
For me, the album's highlights aren't any single,
isolated moments as such, but factors which flavour
_English Settlement_ overall:
1. Terry's wholesale re-invention of rock drumming,
laden with off-beat snare and "red herrings"...
2. The first XTC record to use synths - yet in such
a way that the listener is not immediately
conscious of the fact (during the new romantic
explosion, at that!)...
3. Dave's 12-string weaving gold threads
throughout...
4. Hardly characteristically eighties in any way, it
transcended time like few other records do...
Classic in the most authentic sense!
Brent,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
------------------------------ From: SLEDZNH@aol.com Message-ID: <99b3f57b.24f17a88@aol.com> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 12:08:40 EDT Subject: Brussel Sprouts Chalkhills, Yeaaah! Looks like the tide is turning and discussions about XTC on this list are picking back up - another victory for the HOME TEAM! I know it's only an opinion but...I for one do not think Greenman is/was at all an appropriate single for the band. It is a fine song and all but the "general record buying public" would not identify with the subject matter (some lyric about needing to be "spoon fed" comes to mind right about now). Jill: my $.02 on the line "if we all breath in and blow away the smoke" is the cleansing / clearing of all the "pollution" in our society. That if we all tried to make things better all at once, it would truly have an effect, where-as right now enough people are doing enough at the same time to fix our sometimes f*cked up world. Yes, I agree with you that is one of the best lines on this album (oh, sorry, I mean CD). I did like the comment from the person who thought it went "...blow away the snow", very creative. That is one for the mis-heard lyric files! To the other person on this list from the Manchester, NH area (sorry I forgot your name but saw the "Rat-Fink" site) - there is a record store on Elm St that may still have an extra promo poster for AV1. I went there and asked for the one in the window and the guy gave me one fresh "out of the box" in the back room! "Not much demand for these" he said when he gave it to me - mine is now proudly hung on a wall of our home. I may even frame it! Carry on, ~James PS: Also wanted to share a funny story...I bought an extra copy of AV1 for one of my friends who has always really been into early XTC but not much into anything since ES. He recently told me he has been listening and liking it more and more lately. He actually said "you know XTC is kind of like brussel sprouts, kind of hard going down at first but I know that they're good for me so I keep eating".....are we not the luckiest fans in the world?
------------------------------ From: WESnLES@aol.com Message-ID: <1ed8056e.24f0b90d@aol.com> Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 22:23:09 EDT Subject: Trades, Bitching, Cover Art, Contest! People of Smalltown: I recently made 10 cdr's of XTC(most of the Extatic series...James & The Giant Peach...The Bull With The Silver Innards...all the '96 & '97 demos...and a few other mega rare items)for a chap who promised to swap me some rather cool shite for 'em, but the chap lied to me & never came through. So...here I am with some great quality XTC on cd...not to mention the fact that I spent a good bit o time printing up some damn fine artwork for the covers of 'em...damn, I mentioned it. Anyway, what am I to do with it? Anyone interested in trades? Some words for the bitch brigade, from George Carlin: Don't sweat the petty things & don't pet the sweaty things. & If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten. 5 best covers for regular XTC releases: 1. Drums & Wires 2. Oranges & Lemons 3. Go 2 4. Black Sea 5. Skylarking 1 worst cover for regular XTC releases: 1. Nonsuch (The Big Express cover was saved by a cricket) Okay....here's a contest for all of you interested in obtaining a free XTC cdr of your choice, see the link to my trade list below. The game is called...guess what's in my pocket. The most entertaining answer wins. wesLONG @ Optimism's Flames: Click here: http://members.tripod.com/~The_Last_Balloon/index.html
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37C07A5D.D267F0B7@usa.net> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 17:31:57 -0500 From: "Mark D. Irvin" <mdirvin@usa.net> Subject: XTC FAVES anyone care to share some of their XTC faves? It seems to go in waves for me.... at present moment, i am thoroughly enjoying Drums and Wires....day in day out.....that is the way (dig the horn)...scissor man....complicated game....wow......just think.....20 years ago......she has six swans singing in her sauna....I am finding some XTC/Police similarities, particularly in the guitar work...been listening to this album for almost 20 years and have never really noticed it.....and i was into the Police back then as well. Anyway....have a pleasant day....it may be your last. XTC song of the day: Day In Day Out nonXTC song of the day: Sorry, none available, it is an XTC day. yours from Omahaha, mark.......
------------------------------ From: WTDK@aol.com Message-ID: <fc4dcdfa.24f1e04f@aol.com> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 19:22:55 EDT Subject: Sting, Xtc, Andy's "solo" stuff and other bits and pieces I'm not sure who made the post, but the comments about cult bands vs. commercial bands and how "artistic" they are seen as being was on the mark. I've always been a Police fan and noticed during the 70's and 80's that, as soon as they began to make it big, the press turned against them (as did some of their core following). Would that have been the case with Xtc? Perhaps, but Andy and Colin's songwriting aren't what I would call "commercial" songwriting by today's standards. They seem to be doing what they want and are enjoying it for the first time in years, so hat's off to them. The story could have been a little different if they had Stewart Copeland's business acumen. Copeland insisted that his band pay for the recording of their first two albums themselves. They didn't take advances against sales and, hence, were commercially successful when their albums began to sell in bundles. It was good business. Something that is frequently said about doctors is that they know how to practice medicine, but not how to survive in business. The net result is they are being eaten alive by managed care and cost issues. I'd say the same is true of musicians and a lot of artists. It would probably do all of them some good to take business courses to make sure that their music actually reaches the masses (or that they don't incur a huge debt). Andy and his solo stuff: I don't understand Andy's reluctance to release his demos commercially. Perhaps that'll come to pass now with TVT and Cooking Vinyl in the picture. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the lack of name recognition for the casual XTC fan (and there are those...a good example, my brother. He loves all their albums, but has no clue as to who does what and doesn't care--he just loves the results). Perhaps Andy feels that the resulting releases wouldn't sell well enough to justify putting them out. The most likely answer is that he has felt that XTC is his band and always will be, so he doesn't need to release the stuff. It would allow him (like his Harold Budd excursion and his work with Martin Newell) to try out material that might not fit into the XTC universe. Same with Colin. I personally would love to see him release a solo album even if it was a covers album. I'm personally excited at Dave's upcoming solo release. Regardless of which camp you fall into (i.e., Dave's side or Andy's in their dispute), there is no denying that, when he came on board there was a major shift in the band's sound. That shift can't solely be attributed to Andy or Colin. He contributed in, perhaps, subtle ways, but his contribution will still be missed. That isn't to slight AV1 or AV2. Both are terrific (at least AV2 is from the demos I've heard). Wayne
------------------------------ From: Iain.Murray.70428176@army.defence.gov.au Message-Id: <4A2567D5.0082E90D.00@stagemaster.army.defence.gov.au> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:59:55 +1000 Subject: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED:-Vote Early, And Vote Often John Hedges opined in this manner (re : Best Album of the Decade poll) : >>Shouldn't that be the five best *non-XTC* albums of the 90's? >>There were two XTC albums released in the 90's, three if you >>count O&L (technically released late in 1989), but we all know >>know about those already. This poll of yours would leave only >>2-3 slots for other bands... Okay, fair point. Initially, I was thinking of making it a non-XTC poll, but I thought I'd get too many complaints - I was hoping that there wouldn't be *too* much XTC-bias in the voting, but if the first dozen or so are anything to go by, that hope is pretty much out the window (mind you, I put in an XTC vote myself....). >>I have to say that I'm listening to the new Flaming Lips album >>right now, and I think it would be a serious contender to make >>such a list, even *with* XTC reserving the top 2-3 slots. Send me a vote for it, then. The more, the merrier (or something). >>Of course, YMMV. I have no idea what YMMV means. It took me about three weeks to decipher "IMHO" (yes, Duncan, there *is* a dolt on this list). Iain
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990823005533.39505.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: I'm bugged ... Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 17:55:31 PDT Dear Chalkers, I will be brief(ish) (*this* time). I'm bugged ... with the recent clutch of messages criticising the content and direction of recent threads on this list, like the Nirvana thread. My view? You know it. The reason Chalkhills is of value and interest to me is because there is none of the petty, facistic control over individual expression that exists on other lists. Posts don't HAVE to be about XTC. And why should they be? I *like* hearing about other topics. Culture is a conversation. The lists that I am/have been on, that stick rigidly to topic, are generally inhabited (or at least managed) by anally-retentive no-life trainspotters who seem to have no other thought or interest outside their particular obsession. They are, quite simply, boring and of very limited interest in the long term. What is way cool about Chalkhills is that we CAN talk about other topics. After all, it's a communuity, not an army barracks ... isn't it?. If people don't like these digressions, that's their privelege. They can respond - as they often do - but hey, there's always the page down button. It's like the old argument about TV censorship - if you don't like what's on, you can always turn it off. As for topic relevance? Well, let's face it - AV1 has been out for months. I'm not saying we've milked that particular topic dry, but it's not like there's all that much current news about the group, is there? There's only so much you can say before it gets ridiculous. As Elvis Costello sagely observed: "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" AV2 will most likely not appear until 2000. It will be some months at least until the demo collection arrives. What SHOULD we be talking about exactly? The colour of Andy's socks? Colin's favourite marrow varities? It just gets a bit sad IMHO if it gets reduced to that level. THEY have lives and interests outside XTC - so do we. Why should the list not reflect that? Besides, there are PLENTY of posts about XTC, and most people do their best to keep on topic, or at least include a token reference. Some of us tend to ramble sometimes (mea culpa!) but at least we CAN. What is of real value/interest here to me is reading posts that show a brain at work, in someone real and interesting, at the other end. What alwyas impresses me - and what makes this list the best by far of all the lists I have joined - is what a talented, interesting, funny, articulate group of people this is. I really admire people like Harrison (whose beautifully-composed posts I can hardly hope to equal) and as I've got to know some of the Australian Chalkers personally (g'day Paul, Iain, Seb, Toni et al) I can assure you they are just as groovy in person. (Well OK we're all a *little* bit geeky but hey - that's part of the charm!) I don't really want to tell anybody on this list what to say or not to say, other than to appeal for a bit of latitude. If I'm really losing the plot, tell me - I'm a big boy now, I can take it. If anyone has any objections to the content of anything I write, for whatever reason, they can post it, or email me, and I'll address it. I'm not interested in playing moderator. That's John's job and he does it beautifully. He seems to know that we can pretty much manage the process ourselves, which I think we do we do reasonably well. I understand that people voicing criticism of the list direction is part of that process - I just wish you'd all loosen up a bit. Dunks
------------------------------ From: OMBEAN1@aol.com Message-ID: <fc4f2d45.24f1faf3@aol.com> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 21:16:35 EDT Subject: long winded Hillbillies, JEESUS CHRIIIST Dunks, what do you do for a living that you have the time to think that long & hard for one post? I would bet my yearly salary that NOBODY read the whole thing. On the subject of XTC's best album. Its all in the mood. Sometimes "White Music " is the best thing going,sometimes its "Nonsuch". It depends how Im feeling. Now Im going to listen to O & L. Bye , Roger
------------------------------ Message-ID: <37C07E66.54F1@bhip.infi.net> Date: Sun, 22 Aug 1999 22:49:15 +0000 From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net> Subject: Re: Outside the asylum Tschalkgerz! > I find Green Man to be rather preachy and unusually repetitive for an XTC > song.< Oh, so now there is another label to pin on the lads - that they don't write repetitve, preachy songs? Sheesh. Andy Partridge has ALWAYS preached. >I'm all for focusing marketing money on the songs with hit potential, but I don't think Green Man would pay off. Let's wait for Volume 2, and then we can watch TVT and Cooking Vinyl kick the masses' asses.< I DO agree here. If anything like what we heard on the demos makes it onto Vol. II, it'll be a much more viable album for breakout stuff. I really liked what I heard of "Playground". -Brian If you're interested: A cross between 'The Flintstones' & STAR TREK... http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer/STONETREK.html
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