Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 44
Date: Saturday, 19 December 1998
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 44
Saturday, 19 December 1998
Today's Topics:
Best Of '98
Mr. Gristle
Top n
TB on Amazon
1998 My Hamster
my 98 favorites--not that it makes a heck of a lot of
Captain Quirk
CDnow Loves TB
Backorder
Why ask why?
Transistor Blast price and a poem for New Year's Eve
(Re:) Best of '98
Blasting Transistor Blast
Thriving in the Market
Lists (checking them twice)
Replies and review
John Lennon dead and such...
The year end top ten lists keep a rockin!
drumming, who cares?
Colin looks exactly
re: JOL and 12.8.80
This Is What The Net Is All About
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Iain.Murray@hr-m.b-m.defence.gov.au Message-Id: <4A2566DE.001620C5.00@mta.hr-m.b-m.defence.gov.au> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 14:09:37 +1000 Subject: Best Of '98 I've already sent this list directly to John Irvine, but since the rest of you are posting to the list, I thought I'd share my thought/s with y'all : In no particular order.... 1. "Stunt" - Barenaked Ladies : not their best album, but it was the first one I bought, so it's got a special feel to it (perhaps for that sole reason). 2. "Mermaid Avenue" - Billy Bragg & Wilco : my pick for Album of the Year. "California Stars" has been getting played to death on the radio here, but I can always skip through it on the CD if I feel like it (I haven't yet). 3. "Looking Back : The Best Of The Move" - The Move : a nice low-budget compilation released a few months ago. 4. "Mummer" - XTC : well, *I've* only had this for about six months.... That'd be about it for my list. Hope you all have a Murray Christmas (and stay off the "we hate puns" high-horse). : ) Iain "The Internet is a great way to get on the Net" - Bob Dole.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v04003a05b29ed637b7c3@[10.0.2.15]> Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 10:40:28 -0500 From: John McGann/Original Custom Transcription Service Subject: Mr. Gristle >so I'll confine my comments to Pat >Mastelotto's playing. He is an incredible drummer: tight, accurate, >inventive, and sensitive to what the others were playing (especially >given that it wasn't all worked out in rehearsal). >I too revile Mr Mister, Andy refered to this in a radio interview: "He's totally wasted in 'Mr. Gristle'..." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ John McGann (jmcgann @ world.std.com) PO Box 688 Jamaica Plain, Ma. 02130-0006 USA http://world.std.com/~jmcgann Custom Transcription Service /Technique Tips Plus... Private Lessons, D.I.Y. Transcription, Tips for Improvisers, Online Sheet Music and Tab, Info for Dobro, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Guitar Contests, Recordings and gigs, and more...
------------------------------
From: Nudeants@aol.com
Message-ID: <988f0271.3679df25@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 23:50:45 EST
Subject: Top n
Just wanted to mention my top purchases of '98, though some of them aren't
'98, but they're mostly at least close. No particular order:
1) Django Bates: Quiet Nights Unbelivable arrangements of mostly standard
tunes, with a Scandinavian singer, Josefine Cronholm, who sounds wonderful.
Worth getting for anyone who has even slightly adventurous tastes.
2) Ruins: Vrresto Their most insane album to date, I think. I haven't heard
all of them, but I've heard quite a few and this one is ridiculous. Not for
the meek.
3) Secret Chiefs: 2nd Grand Constitution and Bylaws; HURQAYLA Arab-tinged
techno weirdness, sonically great.
4)Big Satan: I Think They Liked It, Honey. trio of saxophonist Tim Berne,
guitarist marc Ducret, and drummer Tom Rainey. 'downtown' NYC avant-garde
jazz. amazing compositions and interplay
5)Marc Ducret: un certain malaise and Detail two separate albums, solo
guitar - the first electric, the second acoustic, mostly twelve string.
Weird and mostly dissonant but masterful
'98 releases that I'm receiving for Christmas but haven't heard yet:
Residents - Wormwood explorations of the dark side of the Bible. These guys
are a recent discovery for me. Weird and wonderful
Meshuggah - Chaosphere (fear?) extremely heavy metal is a guilty pleasure
of mine, though I guess I really don't feel guilty. For high-precision
delivery and maximum heaviness and scariness, these guys are among the best.
The rest of these are close to '98, some I'd never seen until this year,
some I just discovered:
Mike keneally - Sluggo! Came out in December '97, so its close enough. A
masterpiece. If you're skeptical of anything on this list, it shouldn't be
this.
5 uu's - Crisis in Clay - ('97) '90's Rock In Opposition style prog rock,
with Yes-style vocals. Demanding but extremely rewarding.
(OK, these last two aren't even close to '98, but they're new for me, so
deal)
Self - Subliminal Plastic Motives wonderful pop, slightly XTC-influenced. I
was bummed when I found out the follow up, The Half-Baked Serenade, was out
of print. it will thankfully be re-released in '99, along with the new
album, Breakfast with Girls
Jeff Buckley - Grace seriously one of the best albums of any sort from the
'90's. His loss in '97 is a tragedy. This album (I just discovered it this
week) is the first to make me weep outright in years, one of maybe 2 or 3 in
my life to do that.
best albums of '99: Apple Venus Vol. 1 & 2!!!!
Happy Holidays!
matt
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199812180650.WAA20639@mail.rapidnet.net> From: "J & J Greaves" <jgreaves@rapidnet.net> Subject: TB on Amazon Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 22:41:26 -0800 If you're like me and haven't got Transistor Blast yet, check Amazon's website, www.amazon.com. They have 30 second sound bites of some of the songs but you'll need RealAudio. If I don't post again before Christmas, have a good one! John
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s67a4bf8.048@parliament.uk> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 12:34:16 +0000 From: Dominic Lawson <LAWSOND@parliament.uk> Subject: 1998 My Hamster With mere seconds at my disposal, here's my "bestest" list of 1998. Next year should be interesting....who wants to predict what OUR favourite album will be? Hmm..... 1. CLUTCH - The Elephant Riders Oh yes, it's been mentioned before and not without good reason. If you like Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa or anything with a bit of imagination, this album will remove the top of your skull. Utter genius. 2. SYSTEM OF A DOWN - System Of A Down Metal band of the year - no question. Again, touched by the hand of Quirk, SOAD are a glorious amalgam of Faith No More, Tool, Dead Kennedys and (I reckon) Bog Shed. A nearly perfect Rick Rubin production job, and the authentic voice of the Armenian community. Apparently. 3. RZA - ...As Bobby Digital In Stereo Hip Hop highlight of the year. I know, rap sucks, but this is awesome. Check out "My Lovin' Is Digi" - probably the best thing I've heard all year. Hip Hop keeps hitting new levels of invention, and RZA is invariably packing the punch. 4. IRON MONKEY - Our Problem Bleeeaaauuuurrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!! And you can't argue with that, can you? Sabbath through the mincer, with the most deranged vocal style since Phil Collins - Iron Monkey sound very unpleasant, but they're actually rather cuddly. They rock, don't they Jill? 5. EC80R - World Beaters Guaranteed to give you a nosebleed, "World Beaters" is the sound of snotty youths with cheap equipment, kicking dance music to death and shouting a lot. Everything on Digital Hardcore Records rules, but this rules the most. Sublime chaos. 6. BRUCE DICKINSON - Chemical Wedding Yes, I know. The ex-Maiden frontman is making the best music of his career at the moment - although most of you would probably rather be stabbed in the eye than hear it - and "Chemical Wedding" is something of a minor masterpiece. William Blake meets Sabbath on steroids. Can you see a theme forming here? 7. GANG STARR - Moment Of Truth More fantastic Hip Hop from one of the most under-rated combos ever. Guru is THE rapper (Rakim excepted) of the 90s, and DJ Premier has more funk in his little finger than Puff Daddy has EVER shaken a stick at. Not just great Hip Hop, this is great 90s soul music. 8. SHEAVY - The Electric Sleep The best album that Black Sabbath never made. The singer sounds exactly like Our Lord, and the whole thing is so exuberant and celebratory that even the most hardened metalliphobe would struggle to stop their feet from twitching. Glorious 90s distorto-blooze. 9. NOMEANSNO - Dance Of The Headless Bourgeousie Yet another classic album from NoMeansNo, Vancouver's finest jazzcore merchants. Grey-haired and lardy they may be, but no one rocks quite like this band. Quirky, funny and heavier than a skip full of wrestlers. 10. GANGER - Hammock Style Post-rock? Post-cock, more like. Ganger should not be pigeonholed as part of any scene. Theirs is a divine gift for creating beauty from rhythm. Two basses chime and clash, the drums an omnipresent metronome, while everything else adds gorgeous atmospheric icing on the proverbial sponge. It's the only thing here which I guarantee you'll like. A classic. STILL PLAYING FROM YESTERYEAR (couldn't leave these alone this year...) BOG SHED - Step On It / Brutal GANG OF FOUR - Entertainment! DEEP FREEZE MICE - War, Famine, Death, Pestilence & Miss Timberlake CARDIACS - everything, EVER! NAKED CITY - Grand Guignol XTC - everything, but especially Drums & Wires, English Settlement and Nonsuch. Salut! Dom.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s67a0fdb.022@gw.utk.edu> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 08:21:53 -0500 From: todd steed <steedt@cie.gw.utk.edu> Subject: my 98 favorites--not that it makes a heck of a lot of These include some I just got around to buying even though they ain't done been made in l998. This is because, I am a dumbass. 1. Sound of Lies The Jayhawks 2. Head Trip In Every Key Superdrag 3. V-roys All About Town 4. Golden Smog (new one) 5. Mermain Ave-- Billy Bragg & Wilco 6. Jason Faulkner _ Author Unknown (just found out abou thim) 7. Sam Phillips (the last two) 8. Cruel Sea (compilation) 9. Loudon Wainwright Little Ship 10. RB Morris Take that Ride 11. Dylan's new One 12. RANDY NEWMAN WONDERFUL BOX SET!! Anyhoo...best oldies I bought: Bill Evans Everybody Digs Bill Evans Frank Zappa Hot Rats The Band The Band Coltrane Compilation Mingus box set from 1960 Ahh, it twas a great year fer muzik. tod
------------------------------
Message-ID: <367A70DA.F22B3186@tmn.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 10:12:26 -0500
From: John Schoneboom <schone@tmn.com>
Subject: Captain Quirk
In an event unprecedented in the annals of recorded journalism, an
article on XTC has been written and published without containing the
word "quirky." The author: Mark Jenkins. The paper: Washington
Post. The date: Tuesday, Dec. 15 (give or take).
It was a review of Transistor Blast. Mildly complimentary. Says things
that could be construed as true enough for a person with a generally
whiny outlook on life ("mainly of interest to the die-hard fan"; "this
band does not even exist anymore as such"; "previous albums have been
inconsistent"). Had he asked me, I would have advised him to say their
albums are always sparkling gems of musical brilliance and that they
used to open many cans of whoop-ass on stage. But at least they got a
visible headline out of it, and he spelled their name right.
dutifully reporting,
your pal,
John
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19981218075515.12318.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Molly Fanton" <mollyfa@hotmail.com> Subject: CDnow Loves TB Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 23:55:15 PST Chalkers, Well, I just got a $50 gift certificate from my sister and brother-in-law to CDnow.com, and I ordered TB. I hope it comes in so I can listen to it. I can't wait. Molly
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199812180805.AAA00383@law-f90.hotmail.com> From: "Molly Fanton" <mollyfa@hotmail.com> Subject: Backorder Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:05:27 PST Sorry, to post again, but I just found out that Transistor Blast is on backorder on CDnow.com. I can't believe it. I spent my $50 gift certificate on something on backorder. Has anybody had this problem? I'm not canceling my order, because it's worth the wait. Molly
------------------------------ Message-ID: <367AB8C3.198E6F19@gte.net> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 12:19:18 -0800 From: Randy Hiatt <rhiatt@gte.net> Subject: Why ask why? To the Chalk-o-licious: Jim wrote: >Prairie Prince is great for their status in Modern Drummer magazine, but come on, no young *rock 'n roller* is deciding to learn the drums based on his stuff.< Newbee peresd@tcwgroup.com wrote: >and those glorious fills on TMWSAHS .....< Ya...every riff is unique... "Man who Sailed" made me understand why I'll never be a world class drummer (who cares about garage wannabees). No need putting someone down to promote Terry, I think there's room for em all. Terry's cyclic thumping drumming was real cool but too much real cool isn't. You gotta move on sometime... look at Phil... (THAT WAS A JOKE!) but just the fact Phil had Bruford play in Genesis shows he's always been in the right company (with men anyway,.. Phil get off the boo hoo hoo poor me thing and start wanking!). We all gotta grow (yes, even dom will someday) and each new xTc project just keeps getting better... that would be my vote. I too thought Mummer was brilliant and fresh, it got my attention and from that point on I looked forward to each release. I was a ProgRock junkie at the time with a punky girlfriend who loved our early boys, so to keep the peace (or is that get a piece) I listened.... am I glad I did... listen that is.... I confess, I'm just glad all over. Why even debate which is better... blue, green, brown... next thing you'll want to discuss which hair cut was best, you must have better things to do (well you should try anyway). Got TB at Tower Records before the one I ordered from the web... now I'll have 2! (quadrapunshot!). I love the weird mix of eras on each disk (US). Somehow I expected the box to be molded plastic, mine is cardboard... who cares... I love it. It gave me new interest in the early (rawer) stuff. Also recieved all 3 CC tapes (good job Richard)... cool stuff, some faithful, some original, some brave (really brave). It shows just how hard their simple stuff really is to pull off. Bob (tastes great/less filling) Estus has a cool work place.... http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Metro/4623/office.htm Merry HollowDaze all!! Randy (the thracken wanker) Hiatt
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03102808b2a0584f4d65@[165.227.110.102]> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 12:20:45 -0700 From: Richard Pedretti-Allen <richard@tactics.com> Subject: Transistor Blast price and a poem for New Year's Eve re: Rob's post indicating "Price: $83.79. Sorry...not today." Please don't be alarmed! That's a Canadian price! Albeit stil a bit steep after conversion but that's Canada. Just thought I'd clarify that in case anyone went wide-eyed and dropped an eyeball onto their desk. >>KULCHUH CORNER<< I leave you with a poem... The Music Crept By Us by Leonard Cohen I would like to remind the management that the drinks are watered and the hat-check girl has syphilis and the band is composed of former SS monsters However since it is New Year's Eve and I have lip cancer I will place my paper hat on my concussion and dance MC&HNY, Richard
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19981218205725.9361.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Catherine Piazolla" <notangos@hotmail.com> Subject: (Re:) Best of '98 Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 12:57:25 PST What a year... 1. Lauryn Hill: "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" 2. Miles Davis: "Bitches Brew" box, "60s Quintet" box 3. John Zorn: "The Circle Maker" 4. Koenjihyakkei: "II" 5. Olivier Messiaen: "Trois petites liturgies de la PrcOyence Divine" -- Kent Nagano, conductor 6. Weill/Brecht: "Threepenny Opera" -- Berlin RIAS recording 7. Ruins: "Vrresto" 8. Brian Wilson: "Imagination" Hope that XTC will start off '99 with a bang.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03102809b2a061005927@[165.227.110.102]> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 13:03:21 -0700 From: Richard Pedretti-Allen <richard@tactics.com> Subject: Blasting Transistor Blast I think it might help Holger and a few others if we look at TB from a business standpoint. The record buying public has not heard of XTC in a relatively long time. The BBC live and studio discs were not readily available (or their release even known) and certainly not heard by the masses. A majority, if not all, of the tracks were already mastered (greatly reduced cost). XTC needed to get some exposure (and hopefully airplay) to reinitiate their name in the minds of consumers. Yeah, it would have been cool for us hardcore fans to get something we had never heard but realize that most people haven't heard it. Though I own Drums & Wireless and BBC Live and will probably look to sell them off, I still want to explore their material (and don't own the Hammersmith bootleg). Beyond that , I want them to be successful enough that they continue to find a viable market for their material. Should they "click" and everyone wants to hear their songs and they become hugely popular and wealthy and start doing duets with Philip Bailey and covering Motown songs and visit Regis & Kathy Lee and Andy gets hairplugs and organize fundraisers for the Basingstoke homeless and headline in a Vegas casino, I just hope we don't all turn into a bunch of "Yeah, they USED to be cool back in the 80's" Until then, I will explore their output (until the duet with Jennifer Warnes) as I explore so many others. Cheers, RIchard
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 17:06:03 -0500 Subject: Thriving in the Market Message-ID: <19981218.170833.-31355.0.skybar80@juno.com> From: skybar80@juno.com (Bar From The Sky) Greetings, Fellow Chalkies, All this talk of XTC gaining any $ucce$$ and exposure got me thinking about something I said in a message I sent to Chalkhills that never even got through. What I said was that I don't think XTC have the slightest chance of having any mainstream success. And that is just fine with me. I feel that my enjoyment of XTC would be slightly tarnished by the sights and sounds every 15-year-old in America running around scareming "This new band called XTC is so cool!!!!!! I can't wait till their second album comes out!!!!!! And they're even named after my favorite drug!!!" Ughhhhh It just makes me shudder. Besides, the only chance of XTC ever being heard on MTV or on the radio would be if that prick Puff Daddy went and sampled them!!! Just think of it...."Makin' Plans fo' My Bitch" or "Love on a Playa's Wages". Or maybe if XTC were to sink to the level of, say, Matchbox 20 or Third Eye Blind. Andy and Colin could whine and act all depressed in their videos, too!!!!!! Once again....it just makes me shudder. Ickkkcccckkkkccckkkcck Ok. That's all. Back to my cage. The Posting Mistress calls. Happy Holidays to one and all. --Ken *___________________________________ "Ignore the ignorance just one last first time. You'll never get used to it, but you will." --------Mister Misanthrope-------
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03007801b2a0863ec2bd@[137.186.208.39]> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 17:36:28 -0500 From: Erich Walther <enrico@fox.nstn.ca> Subject: Lists (checking them twice) First, a merrie Solstice to all and sundry who dwell here on the Hill! Top albums of '98 (in no particular order): Lounge Lizards "Queen of all Ears" Sonic Youth "1,000 Leaves" Marc Ribot & los Cubanos Postizas Beastie Boys "Hello Nasty" Soul Coughing "El Oso" I'll add TB when and if I can find it/afford it up here in Canada. Re my survey: responses are trickling in but so far we seem to be earlyish 30's males living in North America with a love of "Snowman". Remember: 1. Age 2. Sex (not yes - m/f/n only) 3. Country of domicile 4. All-time-favorite-changed-my-life-forever-xtc-song. Survey closes Jan 15. Gracias to those who've already responded. Finally, given the subject(s) of debate around here lately, I'd recommend that Weslay Hanks change his e-mail account name (WHANKS)!!! I suppose there's one on every list ;-) Happy Holidays! Erich in Ottawa - almost winter, not quite Christmas
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s67aa344.006@chemonics.com> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 18:38:14 -0500 From: Todd Bernhardt <tbernhardt@chemonics.com> Subject: Replies and review Hi: Constantine Pappas complained: >I have had three very close friends (one of whom got me into XTC in the first place) join and quit Chalkhills after a few weeks simply because some of you folks aren't exercising enough restraint.< Sounds to me like they need to apply the same stick-to-it-iveness that allows them to enjoy intelligent pop music like XTC to this digest. >it merits mentioning that some of you are scaring away both new and old readers and are hurting Chalkhills in the process, imho.< Your IMHO at the end there is the key to this dilemma, Constantine -- this is a voluntary thing, a digest formed of opinions freely given and read or ignored. Free and open discussion does not hurt Chalkhills, IMO -- in fact, I think it helps make this digest the best I've ever seen. >Having said all that, I want to say how much I love this group as a whole. It's a great source of inside XTC info, and I've bought a lot of great music as the result of the recommendations you folks post.< We agree about that. > I don't plan on canceling my subscription anytime soon, but I have to admit on days when I receive 5 digests (like I did one day in November) I am severely tempted.< Sounds like you didn't pick up your e-mail for a while. That's not the fault of Chalkhills. >I also feel that being flippantly told to just scroll down is a bit insulting.< Well then, I'll tell you in earnest: Just scroll down. If you don't, then don't bitch about the content you choose to read -- unless you choose to differ with it in a responsible way. >Please, though, leave stream of conscious essays to James Joyce.< Actually, I really enjoy the level and the range of writing and discourse on this list. >I AM THE AUDIENCE< So am I. So are we all. The cool thing is that we all subscribe to, and contribute to (or choose not to contribute to) this list for our own reasons. That's the best demonstration of the power and genius of XTC that I've ever seen. To Chris Crouch, who discovered XTC via Testimonial Dinner (see, I _knew_ that album was good for something besides "The Good Things"! :^) ... welcome. Don't let us scare you off... Ben asked, about the Moog: >It's bigger than my damn *house*. Has anyone ever played one? What are they like?< It was a motherfucker. Incredibly difficult to set up, what with all the patch cords, but once you got that figured out, it was kind of fun. It was, of course, completely analog, so all the dials and toggles and sliders could be manipulated to create an infinite number of combinations. Everything sounded very electronic and foreign, though -- none of the digital clarity of our modern-day samples. Not going to try and slip in a a top-10 list before Mr. Relph shuts that down, but I will give a quick review of the Cardiacs CD I got, "Sing to God," on Dom's recommendation. StG is their latest, a 2-CD set recorded in 1996 (though apparently they're working on a new one). I like it. Imagine a mix of Baroque, Romantic, Blues, Psychedelic, Punk and Metal, and you'll be close. It's too bad that the term progressive rock is out of vogue, because that's the best description of this music -- it's progressive in that it constantly pushes the rhythmic and musical envelope, and rock in that, well, it fucking _rocks_ (just as the best progrock did in its day, before the premiere reps of the genre got their heads too far inside their navels -- or up their asses, depending on your point of view*). It's definitely "musician's music," which I'd dare to say is also true of XTC and even more damning an assessment than "quirky." What do you say, boys and girls? Which is a more-certain sentence of commercial death -- "musician's music" or "quirky" music? Happy that IMVS just shipped me my own case of TB, TB *with the exception of King Crimson, which wisely sat out the late '70s.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <367AFFF8.78B6@bu.edu> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 20:23:08 -0500 From: Ryan Walsh <factory@bu.edu> Organization: Boston University Subject: John Lennon dead and such... Hey, Speaking of all this John Lennon death stuff I thought it would be a good chance to interject with an article I wrote about the subject. Ryan walsh Jesus Christ and John Lennon : The Same Guy? So, once upon a time there was this guy with shoulder length brownish hair and a beard who walked around spreading the message of peace, love, and understanding to anyone who would listen until some people got fed up with his ways and had him killed. Subsequently he became the greatest martyr of all time and now he is only seen in portraits adorning his followers' walls. No, not Jesus Christ - I was thinking more along the lines of John Lennon. Before you cry, "Blasphemy!", "Heresy!" and anything else as equally ridiculous, calm down, and let's examine the facts : As young men Jesus Christ and John Lennon were not yet important spiritual leaders but rather, lead relatively normal lives. Christ was a carpenter - Lennon a pop musician. But when the both reach the age of thirty something strange started to happen. Christ puts down the hammer, Lennon stops singing about holding people's hands and they, albeit their loved ones with their raised eyebrows, begin to spread messages and teachings. At their best these spiritual leaders conveyed their message with such stunning simplicity it caused a head smacking "duh!" for many who couldn't fathom why they hadn't thought of that before. Take for example, Jesus's simple directions of how to do God's will. "Love Your Enemies, and do good, and lend expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great." It fits snugly next to one of my favorite Lennonisms, " If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." Still not convinced? How about the fact that they both predicted their own death? Jesus, according to the book of Luke, said to his disciples, "The son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders...and be killed". Meanwhile, almost two thousand years later, John Lennon looks around at the vehement reactions many people have towards him and during The Ballad of John And Yoko makes his own death prediction. "The way things are going they're going to crucify me." Furthermore, if you're crazy like I am you believe that John Lennon's death was conspiricized by the FBI and made to look as if it was the actions of an obsessed and troubled fan. It's a fact that the FBI had been working diligently to get Lennon deported because of his anti-war stance towards Vietnam. Christ had similar troubles. You see, the Pharisees and Saducees expected a glorious political savior in the tradition of David. They would not accept the humble, spiritual message of Jesus. In light of this information this Lennon quote becomes especially interesting : "You make your own dream... Don't expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. That's what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshiped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be...I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you." I'm certain that there are those who will dismiss the very idea of this argument based on Lennon's controversial statement, "We're bigger than Jesus", so many years ago. To those people I present this final statement from John Lennon : "We are trying to make Christ's message contemporary. We want Christ to win. What would he have done if he had advertisements,T.V., records, films and newspapers ? The miracle today is communication. So Let's use it." I could argue this all day long (be thankful I didn't begin my Mary Magdeline = Yoko Ono spiel) but the simple fact is that there's no way to prove if John Lennon really was the second coming of Christ - and perhaps it was silly of me to try. But consider this : it is so ridiculously rare for someone to be so gigantically famous and to devoutly spread one beautifully simple message (Give Peace A Chance/All You Need Is Love) that for all intents and purposes John Lennon might as well have been the second coming of Christ. So, on the December 8th, the anniversary of his crucif...er, assassination, please stop and try to imagine a world of peace filled with love - a world both Lennon and Christ would be proud to live in. Come on, it's easy if you try.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <367B019B.7904@bu.edu> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 20:30:07 -0500 From: Ryan Walsh <factory@bu.edu> Organization: Boston University Subject: The year end top ten lists keep a rockin! Hey again, My own list of '98 favorites...In No particular order... 1) Elvis Costello - Painted From Memory 2) Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplasky - Cry Cry Cry 3) Soul Coughing - El Oso 4) Lyle Lovett - Step Inside This House 5) Marah - Let's Cut The Crap And Hook Up Later Tonight 6) Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road 7) Sean Lennon - Into The Sun 8) Elliot Smith - XO 9) Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme 10) B.Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Biggest Dissapointments 1) Tori Amos - From The Choir Girl Hotel 2) Chris Isaak - Speak Of The Devil 3) Faith No More - Who Cares A Lot?
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199812190215.VAA11084@lima.epix.net> From: "Michael Davies" <miser17@epix.net> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 21:14:48 -0400 Subject: drumming, who cares? > Drummers: I think we can pretty much all agree that Terry was stunning...But > could you imagine that heavy-handed hi-hat on "Mayor of Simpleton"? Or > "Omnibus"? Or "Ballet for a Rainy Day"? I think that they should've begged > him to come back for "The Big Express" (because it seems like SUCH his > style), but I'm glad that he's not been around for the last few > records. Now, please don't flame -- I think that the band's music/sound has i've read dozens of posts about which XTC drummer was the best, and i wonder if anyone else honestly never notices the drums when listening to music. i mean, unless there's a drum solo, or there's two drummers (like on The Fall's "Hip Priest and Kamerads"), you could replace the drumming on a song with totally different notes (or the drumming equivalent of notes), not just a different drummer, and tell me to play them repeatedly and look for differences, and i could probably play them each twenty times without noticing. i'm surprised by how much some people care about the qualities of one drummer versus another. opinions were like kittens, i was giving them away Michael davies miser17@epix.net
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199812190217.VAA11255@lima.epix.net> From: "Michael Davies" <miser17@epix.net> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 21:16:58 -0400 Subject: Colin looks exactly Colin looks exactly like the singer for the Crash Test Dummies in the packaging for Nonsuch. does he in real life? Michael davies miser17@epix.net
------------------------------ Message-ID: <367B561B.6D05@schoollink.net> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 23:30:35 -0800 From: Dan Phipps <phipps@schoollink.net> Organization: CIC Subject: re: JOL and 12.8.80 Jackie Brown in CH5_43 was on crack evidently when he wrote: > Come on!! I fail to see why John's murder is so sacred. Now mind you i'm > as big a Beatles fan as anyone but why is John's death such a tragedy? Now > if John had died in say 1967 i can see the tragedy. The murder of anyone > is awful but i think the deification of Lennon is ridiculous. What did Mr. > Chapman's gun rob the world of? More half-baked liberal platitudes? A > pointless beatles Reunion? Further evidence of Lennon's diminished > songwriting skills? John hadn't put out a good album since Imagine. Even > Wings at its worst is better than Somewhere in New York City or Mind Games > or Walls and Bridges or Double Fantasy, not mention the atrocious Stand By > me. > Am I glad John lennon's dead? Of Course Not. But these sorts of > hysterics are really silly. "he can not be named" come off it man! Mark > David Chapman is a crazy man! He is not satan for christ sakes. John > Lennon was not a god (inspite of what Grant Morrison argues), he was just > a songwriter, and most of the time a great songwriter but that's all. > Maybe i'm just full of hot cheese on this or maybe i've just had it up to > here with boomer icon worship shoved down my throat every year just before > my birthday (you should all be celbrating me dammnit not mourning him! ;-) > sorry if i offended anyone this little rant has been building for some > time. I have two questions re: this "opinion" of yours, Jackie -- Do you really want to play with fire on this particular issue or do you actually have balls for brains?! How can you look at Lennon's murder so casually? Yeah, he was a great songwriter, plain and simple, but Good God, man!! Look at what the world gave up at the insanity of one selfish bastard who was simply jealous of Lennon's talent! So jealous in fact that he actually thought HE was Lennon and that Lennon was an impostor and needed to be dis- posed!! Come on, this kind of narrow-minded thinking is exactly what causes a lot of unneccessary bullshit to start on these mailing lists in the first place! Or are you just looking for trouble here? Jeez! And you call yourself a Beatles fan with this type of attitude toward its leader's senseless death??? Opinions are indeed like assholes -- everybody's got one, even me... (My $0.02) Later ya'll!! -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /Dan Phipps <phipps@schoollink.net> "Imagination like a muscle will increase with exercise." (Peter Blegvad)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <367B2092.5FB805C6@billnelson.com> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 21:42:10 -0600 From: Mark Rushton <webmaster@billnelson.com> Subject: This Is What The Net Is All About I'd like to throw in some of my favorites for/in 1998, but first I'd like to have a round of applause for Richard Pedretti-Allen and the entire Chalkhills Children bunch. Richard & company helped inspire the coordination of Multiplex: Our Secret Studios, A Fan Tribute To Bill Nelson. Multiplex came about after an idea by a fan named Chuck Bird to coordinate a fan-based covers album. I knew about the Chalkhills Children from this list and contacted Richard who gladly showed us the path on how it should be done. 9 months later (talk about metaphors!) Chuck coordinated an impressive 26 track double-CD effort by Bill Nelson fans worldwide. This CD was presented to Bill one week ago in England by a fan named Stewart Gray, just before Bill's 50th birthday. For more info on what you Chalkhillians have inspired, go to http://www.billnelson.com/start.htm and follow the Multiplex link. Thank you very much Richard for your assistance, John Relph for doing this list & the corresponding XTC website, and all the Children involved! This is what the net is all about. My favorites of 1998: Karen Ramirez "Distant Dreams", Talvin Singh "OK", Cornershop "When I Was Born For The 7th Time", and Bill Nelson "What Now, What Next?" & "Atom Shop". Old sounds discovered this year were Talk Talk's "Spirit of Eden" and (even better) Talk Talk's "Laughing Stock". Also found Can's "Tago Mago", which is brilliant stuff, Primal Scream's "Vanishing Point", Hector Zazou's "Sahara Blue". Stumbled upon Robbie Williams by accident and actually liked him, and I'm shocked that I like the new Madonna album, "Ray of Light" (guilty pleasures, I suppose). Thanks for the space, Mark Rushton - webmaster@billnelson.com - http://www.billnelson.com
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