Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 302
Date: Wednesday, 3 November 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 302
Wednesday, 3 November 1999
Today's Topics:
The King is dead ... Long live the King!
XTC Video on TV
Re: The long and windy road
Yet more Brian Wilson (I do apologize)
A *little* on the BB
Re: Lin'-nell & Um-bi-li'-cal
No XTC content, but lots of Joe Jackson content
Jackson's Symphony
stuff that made me reply....
Rumblings & Ramblings
I'll Be Your Cohiba If You'll Be My Cedar Box--that rocks!
Fuzzy Boxed Sets
simpsons
Behind the Curve (of light)
the whole Belewth
Some rubbish from me
Dear John
grand AV1
Tom Morrow? Is he Vic's brother?
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <381ED08B.3D1FBCB8@erols.com> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 06:52:43 -0500 From: Todd and Jennifer Bernhardt <toddjenn@erols.com> Subject: The King is dead ... Long live the King! Hi: I was wondering if anyone has heard the recent buzz about the Elvis Presley "Live" tour, currently in its final stages of preparation in Memphis before heading to (where else?) Las Vegas. I was lucky enough to be invited to a press preview, and all I can say is ... Wow. It's great to see Elvis back on stage. I mean, it's a miracle, considering all the guy's been through. Sure, his guitar wasn't plugged in (in fact, he couldn't even really hold it, but the technicians have worked out some amazing tricks to make it look like he is), and occasionally they experienced technical difficulties with the tapes of his voice, but the band was killer and the song choice was amazing, focusing almost exclusively on The King's early years and confirming once and for all his influence on the course of rock and roll. The other members of the media around me were in tears, some clutching their stomachs and rocking in what I'm sure was awe, and others heading for the doors in what I can only assume was their eagerness to call the story in ASAP. Yes, it was ELVIS PRESLEY. "Elvis the Pelvis" (and, considering his new look, "Elvis the Femur," "Elvis the Metatarsal," etc.). Yes, The King is even sporting a new, thinner look. Those who remember his bloated days toward the end of his previous career will be pleasantly surprised by how well he can now shake, rattle and roll. Yes, I've heard all the criticisms of The King. I know he had his excesses and personal problems, and has purposely stayed out of the spotlight for many years. But The King is BACK. With the help of modern technology and a little suspension of disbelief on the part of his fans, he's putting on a stunning show and overcoming his personal demons. I feel privileged to have seen him, and urge everyone on the list to do the same. One notable exception to the tilt toward Elvis' early catalog was a haunting new song, "In My Tomb," reputedly written by The King himself. --Todd "and that evil bastard Col. Tom Parker is _still_ dead" Bernhardt
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381EDDF7.2C0BE544@which.net> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 12:49:59 +0000 From: B Blanchard <b.blanchard@which.net> Subject: XTC Video on TV >From your ever watchful correspondent. Hope you checked out all the XTC vinyl and Homepsun CD in Reckless Records London. When next I visit I wanna see them all gone OK? For all UK people: at 6.00pm BBC2 next Wednesday 10th November XTC are on Top Of The Pops 2. It's repeated the following Saturday. Bets on what they'll show? Nigel Senses Wages! So is there any news on AP's appearing in THIS years series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks? Didn't he have to back out of last year's? Belinda Blanchard
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381EEA22.35B8B2BF@biocomp.unl.edu> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 07:41:54 -0600 From: Peter Mullin <pmullin@biocomp.unl.edu> Subject: Re: The long and windy road Francis noted: > David Thomas *is* brilliant, but somehow I can never quite convince my > girlfriend of this fact. Play "Oh, Catherine" for her, that should do it (the Great American Novel stuffed into 2:34 or so...) > "I've got these arms and legs, they flip-flop, > flip-flop." "George had a hat, but it wasn't where it wasn't at." Maybe > they don't sound so good out of context. They're great, I tell you! One person's Dada is anothers Merz! > (Although his tendency to repeat himself from one song to another gets on > my nerves.) How lucky for you that all the solo albums he recorded > between Pere Ubu incarnations are available in one convenient box set, > "Monster" (if it's still in print...is it?). Yes, and here's the semi-XTC content in this post: from Cooking Vinyl. More semi-XTC content: Richard Thompson (ex-Fairport Cnnvention and frequent recorder with Dave Mattacks) appears now and then with David Thomas on some of these recordings; "Bird Town" presents some fine fretwork for your delectation. Kevin (He With Many Puns), wrote: > The OTHER dave thomas?? Oh, right, he's great. I loved Strange Brew... he > was great in that... what?... Not him?...you mean... there's yet ANOTHER > Dave Thomas???? Oh, my god... Ah, irrepressible youth; you will have noted my employment of the entire "David", not the diminutive "Dave", to assist you over just this sort of confusion. Good thing the guy's not named "John"... End.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <130CB597E04ED211B2A400104B93AAC47DF6FD@ESCORP1> From: "Wiencek, Dan" <dwiencek@crateandbarrel.com> Subject: Yet more Brian Wilson (I do apologize) Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 09:40:47 -0600 Chris Coolidge said: > As for Brian, the guy's a > walking miracle. Hopefully his next album will be better than Imagination > now that he's sued to get out of his current production deal with a guy > who's mostly known for his work with Chicago and Survivor. Brian can do > much better. I haven't heard Imagination, so can't attest to its quality or lack thereof, but I do occasionally listen to Steve Dahl, Chicago radio personality and friend and co-writer of Brian. When the lawsuit between Brian and Joe Thomas was announced, Dahl said on his show in no uncertain terms that Thomas's work on the album went well above and beyond the call of duty, including installing all of his own recording equipment into Brian's home studio. Dahl went on to say that Brian's co-production credit was largely given as a courtesy and that without Thomas, there probably wouldn't have been an album at all. Both Dahl and Thomas put the blame for the falling-out on Brian's wife, who feared (apparently) that Thomas was trying to take advantage of Brian. What an ugly story. And the severing of the production deal probably means there'll be no live album from Brian's concert tour. :( Rob then said, rather angrily: > Were you there at the Wiltern Theatre? Did you see me booing? I didn't > boo. > Not my style. Booing IS silly and childish. Mike was an integral part of > the > BB's success. > No, I didn't see you booing. I didn't say you did. Just pointing out something germane to the topic at hand. > My stepmother was the BB's secretary from the mid-60's to the early 70's. > Here's some insight: the other band members would do virtually anything > that Brian wanted. Until obnoxious Mr. Love began believing HE was the > reason for their success, not Brian. Mike was the four evil bastards > rolled into one. > > Brian loved (loves) Mike. I understand that. But if any man was > responsible for "Smile" not getting completed, it is Mr. Love. That's very interesting. And I agree completely about Smile. > >Buteveryone wants to bend over backwards for him: "Sure his keyboard > >wasn't plugged in, and sure, his backup singers hit most of the high > >notes for him, but come on -- it's Brian! At least he was there!" When > >people are willing to make those kind of excuses for an artist, you're > >not going to get anything like a disinterested view of what really > >happened. > > Were you there? Here are some excuses that hold water: Brian feels awkward > standing on stage without an instrument. In that regard, he's using the > keyboard as a prop. He's also tapping his hands on the keys to keep > rhythm. > Is that a crime? He's 57! <snip> Jeez. No, it isn't a crime. It's not even a misdemeanor. I am only pointing out that, in 99 cases out of a hundred, when you go to a show and the headline act is pretending to play an instrument, you feel a little cheated. With Brian people don't mind, because as you say, people know what he's been through, they love his music and they're just grateful to see him. I'd probably feel the same if I could have attended those concerts (couldn't score tickets here in Chicago). And I don't give a shit how old he is. He's no older than Paul McCartney, Dylan (OK, not a great example of a guy who kept his voice in shape), Paul Simon, Neil Young, etc. Those artists don't ask to be excused because of their age, and I'm sure Brian wouldn't either. > Can you sing falsetto like Brian did? Do you think > you could when you turn 57? Well, can you? What kind of question is that? Need I even point out how very little we would discuss on this list if we applied that standard to everyone we talked about? > And if you think his writing skills have eroded.... check out his sessions > (bootleg) with Andy Paley. Actually I didn't say anything about his writing skills--as far as I know Brian is still a great writer--and if you think this is worthwhile, I'll keep an eye out for it. > BTW, still digging "Homespun" Me too. OK, to get off this ghastly thread, I'll share a thought that won't go away: the pizzicato strings in Harvest Festival--so surprising, so beautifully effective--remind me so much of the pizzicato strings in Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year" that I'm starting to think the homage was intentional. Both songs are about looking back into the past, and in both cases the strings have a wonderful tick-tock sort of quality, like the clicking of a great watch. Perhaps it's just this quality that drew Andy to choose them, but I wonder if anyone more knowledgeable than me can attest whether AP has expressed admiration, disdain, or any damn feeling at all for Mr. Sinatra's work. He certainly wouldn't be out of place with the other influences the band cited for AV1. Wanting AV2 really rather badly, Dan W.
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999 23:03:38 -0800 (PST) From: Misty Shock <mccrtny@scn.org> Subject: A *little* on the BB Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.96.991101224919.8148A-100000@scn> >But everyone wants to bend over backwards for him: "Sure his keyboard >wasn't plugged in, and sure, his backup singers hit most of the high >notes for him, but come on -- it's Brian! At least he was there!" >When people are willing to make those kind of excuses for an artist, >you're not going to get anything like a disinterested view of what >really happened. As the author of this kind of comment, let me say this was not an excuse. The show was fantastic, yes, but at the same time I am not going to pretend that Brian was at his previous form. There are those things that makes one a little sad, but this does not take away from the fact that the BW show was a great, entertaining, energetic, fantastic show. And to see a lesser version of Brian Wilson (lesser than mid-60s Brian) is still spectacular. AND let's not get into the Mike Love fighting please. I was on the Pet Sounds mailing list enough to tire of this. We cannot really know what would happen without Mike, and I think that the BB/Brian/Smile situation is complex enough that we cannot attribute the results to a single cause. Mike's a first-class asshole, but he wrote some good lyrics, he sang some songs well. If Brian, can get over it, why can't we? In the meantime, the discussion is just tiresome. Misty
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991102145222.2094.rocketmail@web209.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 06:52:22 -0800 (PST) From: pancho artecona <partecona@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Lin'-nell & Um-bi-li'-cal Hey Chalkers, re Linnell. I have no idea wether they are breaking up, but from what has been said on the list it appears unlikely. Linnell put out one of the Hello! cd's with a few of the State Songs (PA, SC, MN, OR, NV) in 94 or 95 so this project has been in the works for quite awhile, thus no need to worry. I think he also has a project about Mayors that I'd love to hear more about. I will have to concurr that State Songs is quite a catchy cd. I just learned that the Prince of Orange, a Dutch Prince, was instrumental in defending Descartes from criticism and almost persecution after he moved to Holland to be able to pursue his intellectual interests without prejudice (apparently Holand was a very liberal place at the time, yet the protestants attacked Descartes saying his beliefs led to atheism) ...... hmmm...maybe this has to do with "you'll get no books for your dinner, sinner" (I think its quite a stretch but what the heck, I never heard of the Prince of Orange before, the guy in the song seems to be poor though). And finally, on the matter of um-bi-LIK-al. Below is the webster's entry Main Entry: 1um.bil.i.cal Pronunciation: "&m-'bi-li-k&l, British also "&m-b&-'lI-k&l Function: adjective Date: 1541 1 : of, relating to, or used at the navel 2 : of or relating to the central region of the abdomen so it does appear that the Partridgean pronunciation is an accepted British one (this was meant for Rob Hill but I erased his email address, sorry!) after all. Take care, Pancho XPRXTCFAN
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991102160039.10537.rocketmail@web2103.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 08:00:39 -0800 (PST) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: No XTC content, but lots of Joe Jackson content Has anyone checked out Joe Jackson's "Symphony No. 1"? I know his "Heaven and Hell" has been talked about a lot here (Not without good reason) but I havven't heard anyone mention this (It was just released)... any word on how it is? Does it have lyrics, or is it just music? ------------- Haven't bought it yet, so I don't know how it sounds. For those in the Chicago area, Joe Jackson will be appearing at Border's on Michigan avenue (the same place Andy visited last Feb.) on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30.He'll be reading from his new memoir, and signing copies of the new CD. I figured I'd pick up my copy of the new cd then. If you can't wait, go to CDNow's website. I heard a couple of real audio snippets there. Sounds like Joe's new one is sort of an instrumental version of 'Heaven & Hell'.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381F189F.9EA647A4@mnsi.net> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 13:00:21 -0400 From: Michael Stone <nedrise@MNSi.Net> Subject: Jackson's Symphony Hi Chalkland Kevin Diamond asked: >Has anyone checked out Joe Jackson's "Symphony No. 1"? Martin Bandyke(a big XTC fan) played the whole thing on his show on WDET(Detroit public radio) a few weeks ago, and I managed to catch it. It's scored for about 10 instruments, and no, there's no vocals. Uses some electronics, synths, etc. It reminded me of that beautiful instrumental of his, "Loisaida", from Body and Soul. Except the symphony isn't nearly as good. I really wasn't that taken with it, to be honest, though I feel that way about alot of stuff after only one listening. It seemed a little thin in the ideas dept. I'm not going to rush out and buy it. And, one more christmas tune, from Da Man Himself, Captain Beefheart: "There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evenin' Stage". Mike
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199911021822.NAA61278@chickasaw.gate.net> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 13:26:22 -0500 From: ""pann\"@gate.net@cybergate.net"e" Organization: Cybergate Subject: stuff that made me reply.... > Hello Hillians, Finally bit the bullet last week and got Homespun ( I know, I shoulda got it sooner...). It was one of those things that I knew I already had the demos, but everytime I went to the store it kept eyeing me and finally, I broke down ...and I love it! Excellent little package, and I really dig the little buried/recorded over orchestra on the early Harvest Festival. It reminds me of when me and my friends used to make weird little recordings in middle school, and we'd inevitably keep using the same old, grade z, realistic/Radio shack type of crappy tape over and over; ghost sounds buried by more ghost sounds ( and our even worse schoolkid jokes...) Thanks for the inclusion of that one, Andy.... > From: fheaney@erols.com > > > My pleasure. The new High Llamas is nice. It's not a great leap forward or > anything; it sticks pretty much to the sound you expect from them, except it > sounds even more like Stereolab than it used to (especially since Mary and > Laetitia from Stereolab contribute some vocals). But I don't have any > complaints about it. I already mentioned my semi-disappointment with the > new Stereolab, but did I mention that I love the b-sides to the first > single, "The Free Design"? Better than most of the album. And Sloan: for > power-pop lovers who've bought Jason Falkner or the Grays or Jellyfish or > whoever from Chalkhills recommendations and been disappointed, don't be shy. > I like Falkner, the Grays, and Jellyfish, but Sloan blows them all out of > the water. Their hooks shame all other bands with their catchiness. yeah, I love the new Llamas. And nice is a good word for it. O'Hagan is a gifted songwriter/arranger, and it is a nice continuation of their stuff. But, I think its a little more subtle this time around, based more on a group/performance vibe, that really serves the beautiful songs quite nicely. The new Stereolab didn't hook me at first, but I am really liking it now. I don't expect vast leaps of innovation from them anymore, I like where they've come to settle now. And the new Sloan, gotta agree with you on that. I think I still like last years "Navy Blues" better (more immediately catchy), but I think this new one will prove better over the long run....one thing, the past couple months have been productive for good new cds, at least for me..... > From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> > The reason for F.W. was to outdo the bootleggers and give the fans > a chance to get a good clean copy at a realistic price. > If they are going to leave off some of the tracks, they are missing > the whole point they were trying to make in the first place. there > would still be a demand for bootlegs of the missing tracks. > So Andy, please listen... give the people what they want. Hear Hear! Thats exactly right, why leave off stuff that we will then have to get bootlegged again? Include whatever is possible, fill every nook and space on a cd and give us all the demos we can handle! And, we can handle a lot, I'm sure...... > Subject: Wilson: Dead Or Alive? Having only gotten into the Beach Boys about 2 years ago (through the High Llamas), I really can't believe all the great songs he wrote...from being a band I used to ignorantly shrug off, they've now become indispensible in my collection. His story has become a rock and roll tragedy, sure, but the music is still there for everyone to enjoy. Its impossible to not imagine "if only" in his case, but its all over and done, and it can't be changed. I'm just glad I finally took the plunge when I did. Now, " if only" I could ever find Holland on cd....... Perry ( not the other Perry....)
------------------------------
Message-Id: <s81ef909.016@pigeon.dallas.isd.tenet.edu>
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 14:49:30 -0600
From: "David Martin" <dmartin@pigeon.dallas.isd.tenet.edu>
Subject: Rumblings & Ramblings
Seventh Grade says
1. English Settlement is a current Good.
2. Ted nugent and XTC can be purchased together.
3. AV 1 grows slowly.
4. D=M/V
5. Johnny Van Sant, Pat Travers, Blue Oryster Cult with an encore of
Pat , BOC, and the great TODD was the best concert ever.
6. Vikings rule
Mean too don't pick no cotton.
Mr. Martin
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381F46C4.334CAC76@averstar.com> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 16:17:00 -0400 From: Harrison Sherwood <sherwood@averstar.com> Subject: I'll Be Your Cohiba If You'll Be My Cedar Box--that rocks! > From: WTDK@aol.com > Subject: Re: Then She Appearled > > Since I accidentally deleted the last post, I'm doing this from memory, > but I believe it was Harrison who linked Pearl to Then She > Appeared...comments were generally made about the symbolism that reoccurs. No, 'tweren't me, 'twere the lovely and talented Pancho Artecona, in #293. And it was "Omnibus" he spoke of, not "Then She Appeared." The source of the confusion, I think, must be the Botticelli "Venus on the Half-Shell" painting I cited recently--but that's plainly a scallop ol' Aphro's surfing on, not an oyster. I can attest, however, that Sandro's frisky little daub does indeed get my Shakespeare quite reliably hard. That little Venereal Vixen can shuck my oyshter any day, growl growl. And Old Sobersides is showing an enormous amount of self-discipline here by refusing steadfastly to reach for the the easy punch line about a pearl necklace. Yes, sir. I have no intention to expand the purlieus of the matter. (That last is perhaps the classiest awful pun I have ever stolen. A big, manly Double Corona for anyone who can identify the source. Here Comes Everybody!) > Then again, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. ...And sometimes a humidor is just a humidor, I know, I know... ------ "How is XTC Pronounced?" Dammit, somebody help me out here. I *know* I've seen a transcription of a recent interview with Partridge in which he's actually holding a copy of the Chalkhills FAQ and reading from it (rather derisively, sad to say); he holds forth on the "proper" pronunciation of XTC: "Kkkkssttttsss," if memory serves--no vowels, you see. I could have sworn it was in the Big Takeover article from this summer, but I skimmed it and didn't find it. I searched the archived articles at Chalkhills, to no avail. ------ I've been having an offline convo with the extremely gracious Martin Monkman, about the Homespun packaging, and in particular about his post on the "snogs" typo on the Easter Theater notes. From Martin's original post, in #297: > Writes Partridge in the fourth paragraph: > "Please don't ask me what the names of the chords are, I just don't know. > This is not unusual for me, not knowing the chords or even keys of snogs." > (Oops, says the author, I've transposed the "o" and the "n" in "songs", I'd > better X it out and re-type it.) > > Keys of *snogs*? Surely this is some sort of Freudian slip, inspired by > the thought of a moist kiss from a rainbow mouth. Well, I thought, this is a very interesting slip of the keyboard, isn't it, a quick glimpse into the unguarded Partridge mind, where sex and music jumble together just like fruit tipped from a tray, where peacock feathers, pink things, and grassy pudenda grow up with each stroke like a really high thing, say an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 2... Only one problem with this Freudian-slip theory, cute though it is: In order for it to be true, Andy would have had to have actually typed those words. I've looked at the thing quite closely, and I am prepared to swear that, despite someone's excellent attempt at fakery, the liner notes were not typed on a manual typewriter, but were ginned up on a computer using the Trixie font, or conceivably a face cut for the occasion from scans from a "real" manual typewriter (this is quite easy to do with Fontographer). The letterforms are uneven and distressed, much as you would expect from a manual typescript on rough paper, but they're uneven and distressed in a very *regular* way. Each broken and misshapen lowercase "a" is broken and misshapen in exactly the same way. Furthermore, song titles are set off using "curly" single quotes--which are not available on a manual typewriter. Foot-and-inch marks would have been more authentic. So if the typescript is faked, that means that the old-style "X'd-over" mistakes are also faked--placed there deliberately, no doubt to heighten the "homespun" illusion. Again, trivially easy: Paste a few capital X's as drawing objects, and line 'em up over the "mistakes." Which leads us to the interesting conclusion that "snogs" was actually *planted* there. But by whom? Should we lay this prank (if that's the word we want) at the feet of Andrew Swinton of Cactus Design, credited as the designer? Working from a Partridge manuscript? With Partridge's knowledge--surely he and Moulding would have vetted the artwork? How suspicious is the name "Andrew Swinton," anyway? And perhaps most important: do you have any conception how ridiculous I felt last night peering fixedly at the Homespun CD booklet through my son's 20X GeoScope from Zany Brainy, and going "A-HA!" The things I do to keep you people entertained... ------ The handwritten notes reproduced in Homespun are, I think, the most revealing artifacts we Partridge-coprophiles have ever been granted: a direct insight into the Partridge/Moulding lyric-writing method--even better than the rather paltry notes reproduced in Song Stories, because in many cases we can read what's been crossed out and substituted. I'm want to refine my thoughts a bit further before I post anything on it, but I do have one observation: I for one was very amused to see little lists of rhyming words stacked up in the margins; e.g., in the notes for "Your Dictionary" we see the list "weep/cheap/deep/heap/reap/leap/seep." Andy was obviously stuck in the first bridge: "Now that I can see/My eyes won't weep," etc., and was casting about for a good end line. Trouble with this method is, of course, that you'll very frequently end up forcing a rhyme, and his two solutions, "my faith will leap" in the demo and "all your corn I'll reap" in the final, are both just flat-out awful, as forced as rhymes get. Harrison "Unlike 'Rocky Mountain sheep,' which would have been perfect" Sherwood
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991102222750.5716.rocketmail@web1306.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 14:27:50 -0800 (PST) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: Fuzzy Boxed Sets Mark S. wrote: <<I must admit that i'm totally baffled by this. The only people who are going to fork out hard earned cash for Fuzzy Warbles are the die hard fans like ourselves. And we don't want a selection, we want _everything_ !!!>> Oh by the time this baby is released I'll have a job. So I'll be definately going to buy it. This is going to be great. Once I get the job I'm also thinking about saving money for a trup to England, and I'm hoping to go to Swindon. This is so great, now I have to finish my job training and then I'll start working. Whoo hoo!! I'm surprised I'm excited to get a job. I'm going to go into the hospitality services field, and I'm going to hopefully going to get into the hotel field, and maybe if XTC does another promo tour in if they ever come to Buffalo, hey I might be entertaining Andy and Colin. :) Molly ===== Check Out My Craig Ferguson Tribute Page: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/mrwick.html Molly's Page http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991102224203.5620.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "garret harkawik" <funktaisia@hotmail.com> Subject: simpsons Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 17:42:03 EST Here are my XTC/Simpsons song ideas: Dying-Hans Moleman(I'm surprised no one chose this already! Hans has died so many times!) Season Cycle-Pepi No Thugs In Our House-Homer, Marge, and Chief Wiggum Visit To the Doctor-Dr. Hibbert Small Town-The whole town Ten Feet Tall-The really tall guy Roads Girdle the Globe-Otto(Did someone do this one allready?) * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Right now i'm listening to the demo of "Do The Dwarf". What the heck is this? Some one was talking about songs that don't seem like they were written by XTC on another chalkhills. This one has my vote! Garret Harkawik "I'm tired of being a wanna-be league bowler! I wanna be a league bowler!"
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381F6CEE.7EEA@realtime.com> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 16:59:58 -0600 From: chris vreeland <vreecave@realtime.com> Organization: Vreeland Graphics Subject: Behind the Curve (of light) Greetings, I'm sure this has been brought up here, but I've been awfully busy, what with the struggle to survive and all... And then this falls into my lap. Moving towards light again, thank you. Driving home monday evening, All Things Considered did a piece on The Flaming Lips. Nevere paid much attention to them, what with the struggle to survive and all, but I was captive at the traffic signal, and have forsworn (really) commercial radio, so I listened. Interesting piece. They seem creative, and possibly need to say something. Good to see those kind of folks getting exposure. "Accidental" was the word they used to describe their "fame." When I got to work this morning, one of my "associates" (team members) arrived at work with a new copy of The Flaming Lips' new CD, The Soft Bulletin, blurring, once again, the line between coincidence and irony. (one of the joys of owning your own printing business, besides being able to spend unlimited sums on vintage basses, is the big-ass stereo in the pressroom) I like this album. Alot. Then, upon perusing the cover, I find this quote, nay parenthetical remark, attatched to the song title "What is Light?" !!!(an untested hypothesis suggesting that the chemical in our brains by which we are able to experience the sensation of being in love is the same chemical that caused the "Big Bang" that was the birth of the accelerating universe)!!! After weeks of stumbling out of bed at three am to make a bottle, stumbling to work at seven to perform the impossible for the unnappreciatrive, and stumbling back home again to be handed a screaming baby by an exasperated wife, for a MOMENT today, it felt great to be alive again. Art still works. We're all light, Chris (shed currently under construction) Vreeland
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381F7878.1D08@ksbe.edu> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 13:50:16 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Organization: ksbe Subject: the whole Belewth >And while I have the floor, does Adrian Belew guest on the new NIN >album? I believe I overheard a fledgling rumour that he does. This is true. I haven't heard the album, though. Jim
------------------------------
From: Paul.Culnane@dcita.gov.au
Date: 3 Nov 99 10:46:24 ADS
Subject: Some rubbish from me
Message-ID: <0002uoayweie.0002sguaekgw@dcita.gov.au>
G'day, riders of the chalk-chariot!
This might interest our Molly. As I write this, I'm watching and thoroughly
enjoying a TV show called "Sessions on West 54th Street", which tonight is
featuring World Party. It seems to be around the time of their wonderful "
Bang" album, and, albeit as an augmented band, they sound friggin'
wonderful. XtC connection: drummer Chris Sharrock (formerly of The La's, and
traps-man on the "Testicular Dinner" versh of "The Good Things"), is looking
fine and smashing those skins with aplomb. I am loving this.
Now, look here: some of you (can't remember particularly who just now, but
there've been more than one dissenter) have been complaining about lack of
XtC `product' in recent times. For those of you who may be either casual
listeners or rabid completists let me just reiterate what we have had
officially made available to us in the last ten years:
- "Oranges & Lemons" - proper studio album, with attendant singles
(rare demos contained)
- "Rag & Bone Buffet" - compilation of rarities
- "Explode Together" - the dub experiments
- "Nonsuch" - proper studio album, with attendant singles (rare demos
contained)
- "Live 1980" - XtC live concert recording
- "Drum & Wireless" - BBC concert recordings
- "A Testimonial Dinner" - tribute album, with one rare XtC track
- "Fossil Fuel" - beautifully-remastered UK double-CD hits collection
- "Upsy Daisy Assortment" - US hits collection
- "Greatest" - Japanese hits gathering, including rare live tracks
- "Transistor Blast" - stupendous 4-CD box set of BBC sessions and
concert tracks
- "Apple Venus Volume One" - proper studio album, with attendant
singles (rare demos contained)
- "Homespun" - demo album of songs off `AV1' - rare demos contained
I may have missed some, but that's enough to be going on with, isn't it???
No point invoking the idea of Richard Branson's head on a plate - he
abdicated from his own label well before the rot set in between Virgin and
XtC. I say, quit whingeing - we've had far much more "product" than we
might have expected, from a band who has been, as Andy himself puts it,
"legally in the fridge" for almost a decade, and I think, under the
circumstances, we've been served remarkably well! But, yeah, bring on
AV2!!!!
I know that not all of us here choose to buy every breathing, waking moment
(or juicy fart) that "our boys" release, but those who complain that XtC are
slack in releasing material seem to me to be ignorant of the fact that XtC
are bent on providing us with us much stuff as they can, to redress that
serious imbalance that occurred during their 90s hiatus.
I guess most of us are prepared to wait with bated breath for the group's
next "real" release, "Apple Venus Volume 2", but fer chrissake, if you're a
collector, check the above list. If you're not that keen, well, respectfully
I ask you: what are you doing here??? But, er, welcome anyway.
PS: Somebody kindly mentioned AP's birthday on 11/11 as being his 48th.
Give us a break willya? - he and I are (or will be) both *only* a fluffy and
youthful 46. Goodnight!
As Bowie was at times wont to say: "love-on-ya!" ~p@ul
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991103000834.24504.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Dear John Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 16:08:32 PST I was watching "The Rutles" the other night - first time I'd seen it in years - and scanning the credits, I noticed the name "John Relph". Is this you, Oh Fearless Leader? Dunks [ No. -- Ed. ]
------------------------------ Message-ID: <381F811C.477D@ksbe.edu> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 14:27:15 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Organization: ksbe Subject: grand AV1 To the Hill Chalker looking to spend a grand on a guitar, consider a used one. You can get something that sold for 2 grand orginally....Personally, I like Washburns......I'd stay away from Ovation, as you said. Listened again to AV1. Now that time has passed, and it's just another one of my albums, as opposed to the new thing that I must listen to over and over to get it into my head, I can hear it more at arm's length. I can't get over the way a couple of guys from what was basically a punk band in the seventies evolved into orch-coustic masters. How does that happen? Brian Wilson mastered the orchestra and created wholly new rock textures as a very young man. XTC have taken longer to get there, but....WOW. What a journey. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I think this album will stand the test of time better than, well, better than just about anything else going on. This album will stand cool, and maybe even timely, in 30 years. you should drop us all like so much sand, Jim
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19991103031726.67449.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Iain Murray" <halfmanhalflager@hotmail.com> Subject: Tom Morrow? Is he Vic's brother? Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 14:17:26 EST From sellheim@zfn.uni-bremen.de : >First of all, thanks to Imanol Ugarte for enlightening me on the Keith West >subject. So he was in Tomorrow? <snip> now I have another reason to check >out the band.< If you need a *third* reason, I'd suggest listening for Steve Howe's guitar work. I've been revisiting old Yes albums lately (I know they're pompous as all hell, but their sense of melody is wonderful, Topographic Oceans notwithstanding), and Steve Howe's guitar playing is never less than fantastic. His earlier involvement in Tomorrow has probably been mentioned before, but I've forgotten - I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I've got to stop sniffing Ajax.....what, was I saying something? Iain Visit my homepage, and find out why I carry on with such rubbish..... http://homepages.msn.com/LyricLn/hmhlager/index.html
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-302 *******************************
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