Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 313
Date: Wednesday, 17 November 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 313
Wednesday, 17 November 1999
Today's Topics:
XTC LIVE AND DIRECT this week's uploads
An Open Leter To Steven Paul
Re: Seagulls Screaming
Intro/Outro songs
I slept through Swindon and other stories
fraternal order
If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic spporter
where's my cat?
The Big Easy (what a tourist thing to say)
this butterball
college
Power of Suggestion II
Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas in XTC
I Almost Forgot
Warning - Obscure Python Reference Ahead
New York Documentary and XTC
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <3830B299.E376E2BE@autoreverse.net> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 20:25:45 -0500 From: Ian C Stewart <ian@autoreverse.net> Organization: http://www.AUTOreverse.net/ Subject: XTC LIVE AND DIRECT this week's uploads XTC LIVE + DIRECT rare audio and videos online in Real Audio http://listen.to/xtcliveanddirect this weekend's additions: nearly 80MB of Real Audio treats (that's a lot!) including XTC LIVE in Athens Georgia, 1981 THE ROAD TO ORANGES AND LEMONS Real Video XTC-DEMO-RADIO now includes over 100 rare XTC tracks! Set your Realplayer on "shuffle" and let your PC be the DJ! The current playlist begins with the recent Andy demo "Playground," leading in to the 3 known BUBBLEGUM tracks: "Cherry In Your Tree," "Candymine" and "Visit To The Doctor."! Also included in the set are demos by HELIUM KIDZ, outtakes from DRUMS AND WIRES, BLACK SEA and ENGLISH SETTLEMENT plus all the tracks from JULES VERNE'S SKETCHBOOK! Top it off with three remixes of "King For A Day" and...well, that's a start anyway. Plus extra links for increased downloadability for all you non-streaming types! COME...COME OBSESS WITH ME! XTC LIVE + DIRECT! keep the requests and feedback coming! Ian C Stewart http://listen.to/xtcliveanddirect
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19991116051148.6220.qmail@ww184.netaddress.usa.net>
Date: 15 Nov 99 21:11:48 PST
From: vee tube <veetube@netscape.net>
Subject: An Open Leter To Steven Paul
Dear Sir,
As regards your entry in the,
'Turkey Pluto'
contest.
(Vol.5.# 307)
You are sumarilly disqualified,and
hereby ordered to immediately desist in
any further disruption of the,
Turkey Pluto Contest!
(see Vol.5.#307 RE:CONTEST RULES)
To Writ,you have violated 2! of the rules!
1. No! Lawyers!
2. Mrs. PAUL!!!!
3. Although not specifically stated
You have violated the spirit of the
holiday RE: S.L.O.P; H.U.R.L; and S.H.*.T!
And you dare try to evade these problems
by closing your entry with...
..."Not as your lawyer,but as your friend"
This alone may have been enough to cause
banishment from all and, any future contests,
but add to this your final statement that 'S.PAUL'
is not your real name?!?!?
What a pathetic ploy that, you would urinate
upon you family heritage.
Unless, of course, you are truly a BASTARD!!!
}---:)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <3830F106.F9A40D8D@home.com> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 00:52:06 -0500 From: Mark Newberg <mhnewberg@home.com> Organization: @Home Network Subject: Re: Seagulls Screaming What's shibuya-kei?
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s8312fa2.030@plextek.co.uk> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:18:50 +0000 From: Philip Lawes <PJL@plextek.co.uk> Subject: Intro/Outro songs It's been a long while since I've posted anything, but I've managed to get my snorkel above the waterline at work so here we go again! Motorcycle Belinda wrote: *** I have a play on in South London for one night only next Thursday 18th and need ideas about which XTC track I should have playing as the audience arrives and leaves. <Snip> Any ideas? Somehow Pink Thing just doesn't seem appropriate. *** I'm not sure about going in (maybe 'Ugly Underneath' or 'Crocodile'?) but going out it's got to be 'Wrapped in Grey' (or maybe 'Church of Women'). >Part self advert so forgive me do. Less of the misplaced modesty - times and venue please. Stand up naked and grin girl! Following up the lack of European release of Dear God debate from a couple of digests ago consider this. I've had more than a passing interest in XTC since I ran out of the house and bought 'Statue of Liberty' with my Christmas money after seeing the lads on, I think, 'Liftoff with Ayeshea' (spelling anybody?). I've been a fairly regular radio listener over the years and have got all of the appropriate albums, but I have *never ever heard* 'Dear God' (not even once). I think it hasn't had much attention in this country because, judging by the lyrics, it's entirely uncontroversial. In the post Bishop of Durham C of E it would hardly cause a stir - maybe a bit of debate over a post service coffee in the transept. Different story over the pond of course as you're never sure whether somebody's going to back up their argument with a high velocity bullet in that land of the NRA. Phil (taking deep breath & submerging under CADStar configuration files again)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <383115B0.5B19343E@earthlink.net> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 00:28:33 -0800 From: Herne <herne@earthlink.net> Subject: I slept through Swindon and other stories Well hello. Herne aka Ken here. Two months since my last post where I mentioned I was going to England. It took me awhile but here are the XTC/music related highlights and then some comments/rants on recent threads: THE UK Trip---Years in the planning and dreaming about, I finally set the date...Sept. 21st. My brother and I were off to Blighty and to Scotland. The trip began with the usual annoyance...a cancelled flight. Having just been forced to spend the night in Washington during that hurricane(George, Fred? Which one was it?)...I was used to that. We actually got transferred to a better one anyway. As a bonus we had a major musical celebrity sighting. While in the LaGuardia Airport Food Court, a guy came up to my brother and I and said that he didn't have his contacts on and was wondering if the man two tables over was DAVID BOWIE. I looked over and indeed it was. Wow. His hair was rather long-ish. He appeared to eating with some random fans or something. After food and amiable chatter, he got up with two others and left the rest of the table behind. Someone got a thrill. On to the UK I can't describe the feeling of coming to a country that i have been reading about, listening to music from, and worshipping obscure television shows from for my entire adult life. It was just surreal. We took the tube to South Ealing where we were staying with an exchange student who had stayed with my family ten years ago. It was cool to get to know him as I was already in LA for good when he stayed with my family and I had never really met him. It's interesting to hear foreigners views on Americans. My brother and I did a lot of the tourist stuff before succumbing to the inevitable temptation of finding and scouring cool record stores. Oddly, I found only a few offered true thrills. I wish I could have come to England when I really wanted too which was back in the early eightees. When all of my favorite bands were still together and touring. And since the prices were so high UK vs. English, I had to search for bargains. In one brilliant store with a huge used selection, they had all the XTC stuff including the Dear God-less SKYLARKING...which I prefer. My brother picked up that and Fossil Fuels which was really cheap actually. He loved Skylarking. My brother likes so many random things but he hadn't gotten around to much of XTC yet. I guess he's too busy listening to Test Dept., Emperor and Hank Williams Sr. My brother and Dom would have lots of music in common. And Speaking of which... XTC don't tour anymore. BUT the DAMNED sure as hell do. So one night in the Camden area of London, my brother and I took in a club date of the Damned. The bar whose name I do not recall was full of old school punks. And I mean old. A few younger types were around. On the walls were pictures of Bands who had played there including Dom's beloved Cardiacs. I wondered if Dom was actually at this gig in late September. Although according to some Chalkhills I read, he may have been in the US hanging with Harrison Sherwood. Who knows. I didn't wear my Chalkhills shirt so if I was standing next to Dom or any other regulars, I remained anon. Being bolder as well as older, I got right at the edge of the stage where I was pressed by the sweaty throng while the seemingly ageless Dave Vanian and Captain and the gang blasted through a great but somewhat short set. They had to leave the stage at 11 pm becuase "the Queen Mum was about to kick it" according to the Captain...but more likely because the club wasn't liscenced(sp.?) to go past that time. Could someone from England explain the whole liscence business to me? Why do the pubs close so damn early? Why can't I get a drink after 11? Anyway, thanks to the Damned, I finally got to live my UK punk rock fantasy, even if it was almost 20 years too late. Back to XTC...While in Edinbourough(please excuse spelling errors, if any), I wandered into HMV and found HOMESPUN on sale for 9 pounds 99p. Not knowing that HOMESPUN would be coming out in the US, I bought it for what I though would be cheaper than paying US. My brother and I rented a car and drove up to the Scottish Highlands. Since we were too terrified to try driving a car with a shift, we ended up with a somewhat costlier luxury car with a cd player. As Homespun was the only cd we had bought so far at that point, we put it in. Now...often on this list people speak of magical places they have listened to the group's work or what they would take on trips or what have you. So imagine your first listen of HOMESPUN being while on a drive in the Scottish Highlands. I can't even really do it justice. It's so beautiful up there. And to have these breathtaking vistas roll by while Andy unleashes Easter Theater...well for lack of a better word...WOW. We definitely had to "push our car from the road" several times to take it all in. And for no reason...a brief detour... I can pretty much remember everywhere I first saw or bought each of my XTC albums: White Music and Drums and Wires---Nice price cheapies at a discount record store in Pawtucket, RI. Go 2---Midland Records(now defunct) at the Swansea Mall in Swansea Mass. First listen in my grandparents house in East Aurora, New York. Black Sea---purchaed alongside the Dead Kennedys FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGATABLES in Pawtucket, RI's Beacon Records(now defunct). English Settlement---Goldy's Records in Providence, RI, The two album impoirt for which I paid a then colossal 16 dollars. A friend asked "why did you pay so much for a record?" To which my other friend replied "Cause he fucking wanted it!!!" Nuff said. Mummer/Waxworks/Beeswax---Goldy's again...after they moved. Big Express---Tower Records Los Angeles. I went there to get a new Devo record and there it was. I didn't even know it was coming out. What a shock. 25 O'Clock/Skylarking...Tempo at the USC University Shopping Center. Psonic Sunspot(coloured vinyl)---Rene's All Ears, L.A.(defunct). Oranges and Leamons...given free tape at MGM. Later bought vinyl at Tower Nonsuch...Vinyl at GO BOY Records in Redondo Beach. CD at Arons Apple Venus V.1---Aron's for the vinyl and the cd. Which brings us back to where I was before I went off on a tangent....Homespun HMV in Scotland. I have to say I'm glad I bought in the UK. And those hills will always be in my memories when I think of the cd. As for the CD itself... I was shocked to find how much it really did sound like the finished album. Andy really had gotten it almost to finished product in the shed. Colin's demos sounded much more Homebrew. In conclusion, more of an interesting diversion and a gap in collection filler than a necessity. I'm glad now that I held off on hearing the demos before getting Apple Venus. I'm convinced it would have gotten in the way. While drinking in a pub in a small town on the Isle of Skye, I heard XTC played in a bar for the first time ever. The song...Making Plans For Nigel. It was in the jukebox on a 80's top 40 sort of thing. The jukebox in this pub was free(!) and was full to the brim with all of the bands I liked a long time ago. In the UK they were Top 40. To sit in a bar and hear the Smiths followed by the Jam singing "Eton Rifles" was just unreal. I can't think of a bar in the US that has anything similar although they are slowly starting to appear. THE LIBRARY, a bar in the East Village of New York had Elvis Costello's TRUST in it. Finally...Swindon. To be honest...I slept through it. We were on a train to Bath to check out...Bath...and the Roman "Baths" therein. Still reeling from an unexpectedly devastating case of jetlag and a minor flu, I slept through most of the train ride. I heard the conductor say "arriving in Swindon." I remember waking up and looking out the window. It seemed the city was built on a hill or something. I had always pictured Swindon as small but it looked sort of large. I saw the steeple of a church at the top and thought. "Wow..this is Swindon. XTC is from here. The lyrics of Red Brick Dream wafted through my head. "Splashing Down Upon the Roofs of Swindon town...". I thought maybe if I had time I would come go back and check it out. Find that crazy Chalk Horse. I went back to sleep. And that was it. Never got around to going back there...or to Sherwood Forest for that matter...which Harrison assured me still existed in a note I didn't get until after I got back. Well times caught me up so I'll have to save my rants for tomorrow as I have to get up in five hours to resume work on yet another low paying no budget spectacular. And Jill, three months later, I'm finally writing your friend. I don't know what it is with me and email sometimes. It's like I have to think of something epic to write and it takes weeks or sometimes months to get around to it...like this post for example. Anyone have a psychological explanation for this other than procrastination? Nighty-night... KL
------------------------------ Message-ID: <41BC73C88FDBD2119D2908002BB32B3928A046@lonexchg02.getty-images.com> From: Warren Butson <Warren.Butson@getty-images.com> Subject: fraternal order Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:30:40 -0000 just thought I'd mention the fraternal order of the all 60's pastiche is by none other than Andrew Gold of never let her slip away and lonely boy fame. by the way, wasn't "I don't want to be here" written about all the hassle experienced with virgin and hence he just wants to put it all behind him and move on?
------------------------------ From: JStrole@aol.com Message-ID: <0.a36a59ff.2562c593@aol.com> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 09:34:59 EST Subject: If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic spporter Though I would hardily disagree with "Dunks" summation that "sport sucks," however, he did note how capitalism and politics raises it's ugly head. His story of how these countries bribe their way into hosting the Olympics reminds me of a slightly different tactic the US organizers used to get the World Cup '94 to our shores. Playing on anglophiles such as myself, the organizers pleaded with us to show up at exhibition games (friendlies to the initiated) with some interesting teams. I was fortunate enough to see Juventes (granted mostly their reserve team) and England among others play our mighty (sic) US national team. Tickets usually cost around US$ 15. When all was said and done (BTW shame on England losing to the US hacks) we got the World Cup. Ticket prices immediately went up to the US$ 100 range for the cheap seats. Of course every delegate at the UN and every celebrity who wouldn't be caught dead at a soccer game showed up. People like myself were promptly priced out of the picture. And people still wonder why soccer can't get on it's feet here in the good ol' US of A (except the women's game but that's another story). What does this have to do with XTC, well nothing. But I did listen to AV1 for the first time in a couple of months, sort of as an Andy b'day celebration. This is without a doubt the best album of the decade. The music is so rich and pure in it, it would be hard to find any words to truly describe it, Andy and Colin already did that within this work. Harry
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 11:55:21 -0500 (EST) From: Brian Whitman <bwhitman@crudites.org> Subject: where's my cat? Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.10.9911161152370.22625-100000@netspace.org> This from the guy who made "Procession Towards Learning Land"? Humph, I'm insulted. "There's not a lot, if any, musicality in machine music because it's made by people who have no grasp of chords, melodies, how you can make somebody tearful with a certain chord. They just get the family cat to walk across a keyboard, then the computer samples the sound and selects a tractor and a rocket launcher to go with it. The mechanics are simple. I've got a computer at home and getting a mechanical guitar is easy. It's also horrible." - Andy Partridge, XTC Brian Whitman bwhitman@crudites.org http://www.netspace.org/users/bwhitman
------------------------------ From: JEFFREY.THOMAS.JT@bayer-ag.de Subject: The Big Easy (what a tourist thing to say) Message-Id: <0006800017096318000002L082*@MHS> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 18:44:30 +0100 Hi "Kreideberger", I just wanted to mention that I will be in New Orleans in the coming week, and I'd be happy to meet another Hiller or two, so if anybody's from down there, get in touch with me at Wendynate@aol.com and let's talk XTC. Be good while I'm gone... - Jeff
------------------------------
From: Saints3Den@aol.com
Message-ID: <0.70dfcecf.2562fe9e@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:38:22 EST
Subject: this butterball
THIS BUTTERBALL
This Butterball is rockhard
This Butterball is froze
This Butterball is rockhard
I sure hope it thaws.
Cook it all, cook it all,you women
Cook it all for your kin
Cook it all, cook it all, you women
As they come streaming in.
Cook it all
This Butterball is cooking
This Butterball we shall baste
This Butterball is cooking
I'd love to have a taste.
Carve it all, carve it all, you menfolk
Carve it all with a knife
Carve it all, carve it all, you menfolk
Carve it all for your wife.
Carve it all
This Butterball is juicy
This Butterball is warm
This Butterball is juicy
Well beyond the norm.
Eat it all, eat it all, you children
Eat it all while we serve,
Eat it all, eat it all, you children,
Eat it all, if you've the nerve.
( save me some), eddie st.martin
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:58:51 -0800 Subject: college From: David Schneider <dnschneider@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <B456E894.656%dnschneider@earthlink.net> > Just got back yesterday (sunday) from a four-night four-day trip to boston > and around mass. to look at colleges (Emerson and Amherst) As an Emerson grad, I feel compelled to tell you to choose Emerson! XTC content: Um, I first discovered XTC while attending Emerson, back in the late '80s. I came to the school listening to nothing but classic rock, but my freshman-year roommate played this song called "Senses Working Overtime". I asked to borrow the CD, and never looked back. Dave
------------------------------ From: unna@worldmailer.com Date: 16 Nov 1999 11:59:39 -0800 Message-ID: <19991116195939.25614.cpmta@c008.sfo.cp.net> Subject: Power of Suggestion II David Oh asked "are you suggesting that we've made up our dreams about xtc just for the fun of it? i can't speak for the others, but i can assure you that my dream wasn't made up to entertain anyone. it was very real... well, as far as dreams can be real, that is." -No, I wasn't suggesting any such thing. And, I didn't make up my dream to entertain anyone either. I think the problem is when I said that I went home and "made" a dream, instead of the standard "had" a dream. But my brain made it, did it not? And as far as the "we were all just playing" part, that was the *good* part. We *were* all playing, like kids in a swimming pool. (Isn't play important to how we function during the non-play times?) Anyway, I wasn't trying to belittle anyone's dream, and I'm fairly shocked that an innocent dream about all of us swimming like seals in the ocean by the cliffs wearing matching clothes would actually offend anyone.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <388073496.942786151716.JavaMail.root@web03_mc.mail.com> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 16:02:31 -0500 (EST) From: Satanas Diablo <thedevil@minister.com> Subject: Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas in XTC About how nice people are treating you, unfortunately, I cant say the same. I have had some good communication with Wes, other than that, every one either ignored my posts or sends the same old harassing emails that I have been trying to ignore. Its a shame, I dropped everything after all that has happened on this list regarding me and M, and still, no one has the decency to let it go and try and treat a fellow fan with respect. I am not just talking about the demos or the rare tracks that I asked for, its mostly being ignored on the list and put down in email when I have don't nothing to anyone on this list! Other than that, I like the info found on the list. I would have liked some help with Demos, but no one seems interested in helping so I will say this one more time. I need rare tracks. I have every CD, but do not own any rare tracks from movies, from compilations, etc. or anything from AV2. If anyone would be nice enough to send me some CDR's to the following address, I will master it, make it sound nice, and send you back a 4-CD Set, complete with newly mastered songs and a real nice cover, just for sending me some demos. One last time, keep in mind I own NOTHING rare or any demos except for the Peter EP. Anyway, that's in advance and have happy holidays. No controversy please, lets move on to talking about music. Boy, Prince is going to get a lot of airplay next month! Digital Recording Services PO Box 4007 West Covina, California 91791
------------------------------
Message-Id: <199911162136.QAA28286@nantucket.net>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 16:33:26 -0800
Subject: I Almost Forgot
From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net>
I can't beleive I forgot to say this, I'm such an idiot. It's one of
the most important things that happened to me on this past vacation
(see 5-312 for info on my last vacation). Before the TMBG concert in
Amherst, I was checking out the local Staples ("Yeah, we've got that")
and suddenly, what did my ears hear, but the begining chords to King
For A Day!!! I stoped dead in my tracks, dumbfounded that this had
actually happened to me! XTC in a public place! How good it sounded,
almost better then listening to it at home. Amazing.
And, to top it all of, the next day, while sitting down to lunch
at Freindly's, my freind turns to me and says "I can't believe you
heard you'r favorite band in a public place. I wish that would happen
to me." And a few moments later, what comes o but Dead Man's Party, by
Oingo Boingo (Who're his favorite band). It was really weird.
On another note, and this has absolutly nothing to do with XTC or
Music, but I'm writting it anyway, so plllplplpl!, are there any
people here who are fans of Tom Robbins. I only ask this because I
have always felt that he is a literary genius, much in the same way as
Mr. Partridge. He has lines in his books that can move you to
tears. He's the most truethful writter I know, much the same way as
Andy is the most truethful liracist I know. (Notice I have a
T.R. qoute at the bottom of this post.)
Kevin Diamond
Yeah, He's Got That
____________________________________________________________________________
"To emphasize the afterlife is to deny life. To concentrate on heaven is to
create hell."
-Tom Robbins
------------------------------ From: Iain.Murray.70428176@army.defence.gov.au Message-Id: <4A25682C.0010674F.00@stagemaster.army.defence.gov.au> Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 13:12:56 +1000 Subject: Warning - Obscure Python Reference Ahead >>From: David Oh <davidoh@interlog.com> >>Subject: Re: The Power of Suggestion >>In Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 308 >>>From: unna@worldmailer.com >>>Subject: The Power of Suggestion >>>I never thought I would have a dream about xtc, but after reading >>>about the dreams of others I went home and made one, too... >>...I don't think there's any symbolism here. I think we were all just >>playing. >>are you suggesting that we've made up our dreams about xtc just for the fun >>of it? From the original post, I took the part about 'we were all just playing' to be a reference to the dream itself (which, from memory, had something to do with swimming in a horseshoe-shaped pool or something), not a suggestion that people were making their dreams up for the sake of having something to post. Then again, I could be wrong..... >>From: Mud Shark <mudshark1944@yahoo.com.au> >>Subject: Stop my mind from wandering......... >>.....and while I'm here, I should also point >>out that these modern dancing tights go baggy at the >>knees after only a few evenings' fun. Bring back the >>old canvas ones, I say! It is incredible that in a >>world where we can land men on the moon, I still get >>these terrible headaches...... ....and in a recent episode of "High Chapparal", Kathy Kirby was singing glibly about flying me to the stars, when there are in fact no commercial flights of this sort available. And now for something completely different : XTC content. 'Andy Partridge' is an anagram of 'Dirty Red Pagan'. I think this could mean something.....but it's not quite as good as 'Eric Clapton' being an anagram of 'narcoleptic', or 'Royal Australian Army' being an anagram of 'Sara, Your Martian Ally' (I have too much time on my hands). Iain
------------------------------ Message-ID: <383227ED.E43@nac.net> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 22:58:37 -0500 From: steved <skullsaw@nac.net> Subject: New York Documentary and XTC Just finished watching Part 3 of the New York Documentory on PBS, absolutely fantastic show, and was pleased to hear XTC in the soundtrack. The tune was Frost Circus off of Mummer, one of a few little synth instrumentals they did using a Prophet 5. I wonder if royalties were paid <shrug> sd -- Music and Marmoset Recipes http://users.nac.net/skullsaw skullsaw mp3 http://www.mp3.com/skullsaw
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-313 *******************************
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