Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 77
Date: Wednesday, 3 February 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 77
Wednesday, 3 February 1999
Today's Topics:
Re: What A Sap She Had
I don't know about Art ...
Re: Subject: L.A. Radio and XTC
Grilled Partridge
Top 10s and Ally McBeal
Re: Pressing Needs
Q-Mag sampler: Greenman, Leibowitz and Feinstein
The Age Of Dinner/Sense
I'd Like That radio song
My ears and stuff
the lure of salvage
Colin singing
Mel Blanc would
Re: Peter Pumpkinhead
a link between AP and Danny Elfman
Amazon rankings
RE: dreaming of buying XTC
Fonts
The XTC-Boingo Connection (the lovers, the dreamers, and meeeeee)
Chicago radio appearance
news: 'Don't expect AV2 this year'
XTC Moment and VH1
AP in RAYGUN
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: CCooli9575@aol.com Message-ID: <a4e6565d.36b520cb@aol.com> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 22:34:35 EST Subject: Re: What A Sap She Had >The wonder of non-singers should not be underestimated. I know there'll be a >thousand sappy Crowded House fans out there who may disagree, but sweet >vocal melodies are by no means a prerequisite for great pop music. Dem's fighting words, wanna take it outside? This sappy Crowded House fan is also a sappy XTC fan. Aside from Neil Finn's admittedly gorgeous voice(I suppose you think Squeeze is sappy too, though admittedly Paul McCartney can be), his songs are anything but sappy. His lyrics are downright morose a lot of the time, especially on his solo album Try Whistling This, which has a way of marrying upbeat lyrics to melancholy music and vice versa. One of the best albums of the year IMO. Sappy my ass. Humph. There's plenty of room for choirboys in rock form like Neil Finn as well as Captain Beefheart, Mark E. Smith, Tom Waits and Wild Man Fischer, all of whom I'm also fans of. The songwriting's the most important thing to me, and it helps that no matter what voice you're given you know how to use it, which is why I've all but given up the music business myself; I keep writing theses pretty good songs that I can't sing. When I used to demo my songs people just couldn't get past my voice, I just have trouble controlling it and getting it to do what I want it to do. As limited as the voices of Lou Reed, Randy Newman and Neil Young are, I can't imagine their songs with anybody else's voices but theirs. I can't even manage that. So I admire anybody who knows how to use their voice as an instrument, whether that instrument be a clarinet or a perfectly modulated foghorn. Chris
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990201035920.25270.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: I don't know about Art ... Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 19:59:19 PST Dan Wiencek said: >Now, the question is this: should a "best of" list consist of albums >you think people should listen to, or should it consist of albums you >personally fell in love with? Sorry, Dan, but what exactly *was* the question? For me there is NO distinction. Any album I recommend is *both* - an album I personally love AND something I feel others should listen to. Why would I waste anyone else's time recommending "worthy" records that turned out (for me) to be crap? To take up the movie analogy - I know that the fims of Japanese director Yosujiro Ozu are critically acclaimed, but I myself once had the misfortune to sit through an entire screening of Ozu's "Tokyo Story". I am still not yet fully recovered. It is a film so oceanically dull that to call it a motion picture compliments it beyond all reason; a film for which no synonym of "boring" has yet been coined that can fully fathom it's utter, brain-splitting tedium. By comparison, watching paint dry would seem like a high-speed re-run of highlights of "Best Crashes of the Indy-500". You know how they use strobe light and high-seed film to slow down a bullet in flight? Well if you did that to the growth of the slowest growing lichen in the world, an Ozu film would make that seem like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. In spite of the great critical worth and claims of high art attached to the work of Ozu, I would not hesitate to warn anyone to stay as far away as possible from any cinema showing, or threatening to show, any Ozu film. Ozu may be "worthy" but I wouldn't wish his films on my worst enemy. Likewise with records. I ONLY recommend records I love. Because I love them, I think they are worthy. How could it be otherwise? Dunks
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.19990131231114.006b7ab0@mail.interlog.com> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 23:11:14 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@interlog.com> Subject: Re: Subject: L.A. Radio and XTC >on a more personal note...in the song, 'Grass', when Andy sings..."the way >you slap my face just fills me with desire"...it really does fill ME with >desire!!... >couldn't you just swoon, ladies?? hhhmmmmmmmm???? ;) >Debora Brown debora, i probably won't be the only person 2 respond 2 this, but here goes... the song was written by colin, & as thus, sung by colin. where andy does sing on the song is as a background voice during the singing of "on grass" @ the end of the song. so, when _colin_ sings the line mentioned above, it should still fill u with desire. does it? not nit-picking, just thought u should know it was colin who fills u with desire, ok? davidoh
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36B5490D.D42D684A@umich.edu> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 01:26:22 -0500 From: Rob Hill <rhill@umich.edu> Subject: Grilled Partridge Wes <weslong@usa.net> imparted: >I'm interviewing Partsy on the 16th of Feb, for the music paper that I write >for....The Music Monitor, also online at www.musicmonitor.net >I've heard/read/seen so many interviews with him, and would love to do >something a bit different. I'm going to rack my brain for ideas, and am >open to any help you can supply. Let me know some of the things that you >would most like to ask Andy/know about him, etc... If you have any off the >wall format ideas, or questions...let me know them as well. Time is short >here people, so start thinking! Help me to make this an interview that >means something! Zounds. What an opportunity. Well, I've always noticed a deficiency in Andy interviews as far as targeting his actual songwriting process. Everyone asks about his stagefright & Virgin strike & whatnot. Rarely do they get right down into the clay & ask about his lyric writing, or how he glues chords together, or how the hell he comes up with some of those uniquely bizarre chord shapes he employs so often. Does he hear the entire song in his head before committing it to demo form, or are his demos the final product of a long string of shreds & sketches? That's the sort of interviewing the budding songwriters among us would snort up greedily. Rob
------------------------------ From: ElizaS33@aol.com Message-ID: <78cd2996.36b5627c@aol.com> Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 03:14:52 EST Subject: Top 10s and Ally McBeal Dan said, re top 10 lists and the obscurity thereof: >> I don't want to come off as though this deeply bothers me, but I think that because the lists were stacked so much in favor of little-known acts, I wondered how much I could trust them--that is, if people were posting what they really, truly responded to, or whether they deliberately omitted things they figured "didn't need" to be mentioned. << Looking at my own list after reading your original comments, I did notice that only a few of my picks were on a major label (all Dreamworks, oddly) and that those were not particularly burning up the charts. I can only answer for myself, but if I had to explain that, I'd just say that a list of 10 CDs is not a hell of a lot of room. If I'd listed my top 20 or 30, there would've been a few "mainstream" albums in there - Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow and Beck, I believe, all sold a few records. But there were 10 (or more) records I liked *more* than those, and those were the 10 I listed. Another point - if you don't come by your music through mainstream channels (which I don't - I generally learn about things from mailing lists like this one, from the quirky little record shop I work in, and the great good fortune I have to be living in the midst of the coolest creative scene on the planet right now), you don't even necessarily *know* if something's popular in the "real world" or not. Somehow I thought the Elliott Smith album was a resounding success. Apparently it wasn't. Don't know if that explains everyone's obscure choices, but it pretty much sums up mine! And, proving my complete non-fear of the mainstream, in response to: >>What is the Deal with that show? It's so well written and acted but it is sick making. I think that's what kills me the most. If he was into XTC or something but Christ. When that girl sings those sappy 70's covers, I want to run for the hills. << As far as I'm concerned, the music on Ally McBeal is genius... as a SOUNDTRACK, not as music, for goodness' sake! ;-) I kind of see Ally as the end result of the problem Nick Hornby addressed in his wonderful book "High Fidelity" (which I hope you've all read!): Can you have healthy relationships when your entire subconscious is filled with pop songs? The woman can't even look at a guy without AM radio hits from when she was a teenager possessing her thoughts. It makes perfect sense. (I was just going to launch into why I think the show has gone downhill this year, but then I remembered this is merely a tangent!) I have absolutely nothing relevant or thought-provoking to say about XTC at the moment. Elizabeth The Gallery of Indispensable Pop Music homepages.infoseek.com/~popgallery www.frigidisk.com \ the coolest cds on the Internet
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 06:09:49 -0500 From: Cooking Vinyl <Cooking_Vinyl@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Pressing Needs Message-ID: <199902010610_MC2-68B8-7F73@compuserve.com> Someone on Chalkhills wrote: >I think I'll order "AV1" online, because it'll probably be $17 at Tower, and XTC or no XTC, $17 is TOO MUCH TO PAY FOR A THING THAT COSTS LESS THAN $.20 TO PRESS!!! DAMN RETAILERS!!!< fyi it costs about a $1 to press + origination costs - studios, mastering, artwork + artist royalties (or shouldn't they eat) + marketing and promotion (need to let people it exists) + distribution + retail
------------------------------ Message-Id: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC430DB6@newman.partech.com> From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com> Subject: Q-Mag sampler: Greenman, Leibowitz and Feinstein Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 08:44:05 -0500 Charles Eltham informs us: <<Can't believe it, a new XTC track on the latest Q mag free sampler! But shame on Q, there's no Apple Venus review. Called Green Man...>> OK, not that it TRULY matters, since the song is positively sublime no matter what it's called, but can anyone confirm whether the title is "The Green Man" or "Green Man" or "Greenman"? I dearly hope it's one of the first two, as "Greenman" looks more like the last name of a member of a New York accounting firm than of the forest lord. Thanks, -Janis http://members.aol.com/starlingv/starling.htm "Lay your head with mine/make a bed out of oak and pine." -AP
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s6b5ba4f.038@parliament.uk> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:28:25 +0000 From: Dominic Lawson <LAWSOND@parliament.uk> Subject: The Age Of Dinner/Sense Greetings pond-life! As many of you will have been bored rigid by my recent decision to be nasty to Mr Oh I thought it only reasonable to let you know that we have settled our differences privately and plan to marry very soon. He still can't spell, but nobody's perfect.... On a more interesting note (but only just) I heard Testimonial Dinner for the first time recently (again, thanks Don!) and was pleasantly horrified by the whole thing. With a couple of notable exceptions - i.e. that mad version of "TMWSAHS" and They Might Be Giants excellent "25 O'Clock" - I found it all rather gruesome. Sterile, bland and dazzlingly unoriginal interpretations of established classics, one and all. The ghastly bint who destroyed "Dear God" could not have sounded less sincere if she'd spent five years at Insincerity School and must surely rival that squealing harridan from Ally McBeal for sheer audacity in the face of zero talent. Hideous. Elsewhere, Spacehog confirmed their mediocrity with a truly insipid "Senses", and Crash Test Dummies finally earned my contempt with a stunningly banal "...Pretty Girls".... The less said about Joe Jackson, the better. Mind you, no change there.... Thoroughly foul stuff, and no kind of tribute to XTC. What we really need is for someone to assemble some half decent acts to pay their respects to the Earls of Popness, not witless berks with a frighteningly poor grasp of what makes the band so great in the first place. I guess most of you will have made your minds up about this album a long time ago, but I thought you'd all be less than amazed to hear that I give it a huge thumbs-down and a raspberry the length of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". On an even more interesting note, I perused with great interest the results of AMartin's XTC survey. Guess what? I was appalled by the results! Blimey, there's a turn-up for the books! OK, it's all just a bit of fun and I have absolutely no right to expect anyone else's favourites to coincide with my own, but come on!! "Senses Working Overtime"??? The best XTC song ever??? Yes, it's a fantastic song, a legendary single and the kind of thing that only retarded baboons would fail to adore but seriously, if this is the pinnacle of AP & CM's creativity then I'm a retarded baboon's uncle. And I'm not. It came as no surprise that "Skylarking" was the top album - although those who voted for it were quite wrong and want shooting (JOKE!!! JOKE!!! JOKE!!!) - but to see "Drums & Wires" so far down the list was enough to have me blubbing into my morning coffee. Maybe we should split into two factions (again, this is a JOKE!!!! but don't let that stop you from getting hysterical), i.e. (a) those who think Crowded House are like, really cool and (b) those of us who KNOW FOR A FACT that "Travels In Nihilon" and "Complicated Game" are the best things XTC have ever done and that the band are really sonic terrorists, kindred spirits of Napalm Death and the scourge of melody freaks everywhere....... Worst of all, despite the undeniable evidence before you, "My Weapon" wasn't voted the worst XTC tune of all time. "The Smartest Monkeys"??? Eh??? Are you all on drugs or something? If not, why not? I mean, yes, "War Dance" is a load of poo and "Super Tuff" makes "Jah War" by The Ruts sound like King Tubby, but "The Smartest Monkeys" is a corker. I don't know, you youngsters...... Finally, just in case this has been bugging anyone else.... >>>Rich Bunnell or "Metal Man," whichever sounds more insane Eh? Sorry mate, but neither sounds remotely insane (although if I had a gun pressed to my face I would opt for the former...). Also, I seem to remember that you hate Metal anyway, so it's a trifle puzzling as to why you would choose such a name. I demand an explanation! My, that was a grumpy post........cool! Dom.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36B5BCA6.902D0DF8@connectexpress.com> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 06:39:34 -0800 From: Jon Davis <jon@connectexpress.com> Subject: I'd Like That radio song Just a quick post from Seattle. I've heard the advance single I'd Like That twice on local station KMTT, once on the morning drive time show, once in the afternoon. They've been announcing the AV1 release date as March 2. ICE Magazine has it listed as tentative on Feb 23. Knowing TVT, it'll be sometime in April! (grrrrr) On another subject...I'm quite disappointed to note that tvtrecords.com does not say ANYTHING about AV1. All they have info on is TB BTW, if anyone on this list is interested, new Blondie is out Feb 23. I've heard the single Maria, and it's quite enjoyable. Not as good as Our Heroes, but very nice. Can't get Collideascope out of my head this morning. Jon
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36B5C282.793DA1ED@geocities.com> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:04:37 +0100 From: dieling <lemoncurry@geocities.com> Subject: My ears and stuff Hello ! Some folks disagreed with me on minidiscs. Fine. Your ears are obviously far better than mine, but I still think mine are okay. At least I can tune my guitar right without a tuner, so that's okay for me. About hearing differences: I sometimes think we hear what we want. Volume is a good example. What we feel is "too loud" depends on how we like the sounds. XTC has a far higher volume to reach to be too loud for me than Spice Girls. So maybe, if I see a minidisc player turned on and if I know about frequencies cut off maybe I'll hear differences I wouldn't have heard without seeing the source of the sound. But maybe it's just my ears being ruined after spending years in loud bands, 70 cm in front of my amp screaming at me. XTC content: What would appear as the sound of the 90's if Andy Partridge had made "The History of Rock'n'Roll" now ?
------------------------------ Message-ID: <001d01be4dfc$54271f60$ba499cd0@alexivie> From: "Eddie" <beef@keg.com> Subject: the lure of salvage Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 10:02:18 -0600 There was a time, back before the internet opened my eyes, when I thought I was the only XTC fan in America. I am excited to find you my brothers and sisters of Swindon. About a decade ago I found an LP at Bleeker Bobs on Melrose in LA. It was Andy Partrige, "The Lure of Salvage". Can anyone clue me into the history of this album. thanks Eddie
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 08:20:17 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199902011620.IAA14597@mail2.deltanet.com> From: DCB-MBB <mb2@deltanet.com> Subject: Colin singing Hey chalkers! Before you all begin to pummel me with...oranges and lemons, naturally...i have been corrected by a fellow chalkhead.... thanks for bursting my bubble, Rich B.!..(just johsin').... so here I was thinking that Andy was melting my wax (singing the lead in Grass)...turns out it was Colin, then? i'll have to listen a little more closely... (Colin's no slouch, but Andy STILL melts my wax!!!)-- ;) later, dudes and dudettes! Debora Brown
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v04003a01b2db662b0379@[10.0.2.15]> Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 09:10:50 -0500 From: John McGann/Original Custom Transcription Service Subject: Mel Blanc would >Makes me wonder how Mel Blanc would have done as a rock n' roll singer. I don't think he and David Lee Roth were ever seen together at the same time... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Custom Transcription Service /Technique Tips Plus... Private Lessons, D.I.Y. Transcription, Tips for Improvisers, Online Sheet Music and Tab, Eric Dolphy solo excerpt, Info for Dobro, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Guitar Contests, Recordings and gigs, and more...
------------------------------
Message-Id: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC430DBD@newman.partech.com>
From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com>
Subject: Re: Peter Pumpkinhead
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 14:17:40 -0500
Dr. Jeff ("Jeffrey W Wall M.D." <wally@kc.net>) said:
<<I've created an image based on The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead - I'd
just like to get some of the Chalkers opinions on it.
take the Peter Pumpkinhead link at http://www.animavitae.com to see it>>
Sorry for multi-posting today but I just have to urge everyone to take a
look at this very striking artwork. Jeff, I'm very eager to see your
next creation!
-Janis
http://members.aol.com/starlingv/starling.htm
"Any kind of love is all right." - AP (PP)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990201192253.27771.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "David Pardue" <davidpardue@hotmail.com> Subject: a link between AP and Danny Elfman Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:22:53 EST >From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> >Haven't figured a direct link between >XTC and Danny Elfman. Look to the concert film "URGH!!!! A Music War" (1980) to see a very young XTC and a very young Boingo sharing a stage. Mssrs. Partridge and Elfman can be spotted at the end, as I recall, singing backup to Sting and the Police. Surely this is enough evidence to provide a Baconian link between the two. SO, anyone wanna try JENNA Elfman?
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990201143209.0094d100@smtpgw.ametsoc.org> Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:32:09 -0500 From: David Gershman <dgershmn@ametsoc.org> Subject: Amazon rankings Hello Chalkvillians, Obviously in need of a better way to waste my time, I perused the Amazon.com's music site to check out XTC's sales rankings there. Not knowing how they arrive at these numbers, they clearly don't mean much, but I thought it was sort of interesting anyway. So for whatever it's worth, here are each album's rankings (NOT the total number sold), last to first: Dub Experiments (import) -- 116,048 Fossil Fuel (import) -- 91,901 Skylarking (Gold disc) -- 86,479 Explode Together (import) -- 65,384 White Music -- 49,730 O&L (Gold disc) -- 47,326 Mummer -- 35,831 Waxworks -- 33,732 Testimonial Dinner -- 30,387 Go2 -- 28,888 Black Sea -- 27,018 Rag and Bone Buffet -- 26,134 Drums and Wires -- 20,420 Nonsuch -- 16,506 Upsy Daisy -- 13,511 Live at the BBC -- 12,927 Big Express -- 11,455 Skylarking -- 11,188 O&L -- 9,406 English Settlement -- 8,766 Chips from the Chocolate Fireball -- 8,317 Transistor Blast -- 1,859 Apple Venus (preorders) -- 286 (wahoo!) Go ahead, analyze it as you may. I'd say the top 6 and bottom 6 are about where you'd expect, relative to the rest, and then all the middle stuff could be anywhere. So there you have it -- what you do with it is up to you. Me, I'd just forget about it and move on. :) Dave Gershman
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990201193104.5242.rocketmail@send105.yahoomail.com> Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 11:31:04 -0800 (PST) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: RE: dreaming of buying XTC I genreally don't tell this sort of thing to people, lest they think I'm nuts, but given the recent postings about people having dreams where they bought AV1, I thought I'd share something from my past... I dreamed the sleeve of the "Senses Working Overtime" single months before it or English Settlement were released. In the dream, I was in a record store and saw this wonderful single sleeve-a drawng of a face where you could unfold the ears and see color photos of birds, unfold the eyes and see photos of fish, and pull up on the nose and see flowers and fruit. In the dream, there was no song or group listing-just a drawing of a face. When I finally saw the single for real, I was flooded with a wierd sense of deja vu. Of course I bought it, but I've always bought every XTC single I can get my hands on (they all have great packaging). THe only other time I can recall dreaming a record cover in advance of release is the album "Wild Gift" by X. I wasn't even a fan of that band at the time I dreamed it, but I knew it was X, and I dreamed the title as "The Gift". Later became a fan after buying that album. I used to dream locations-places I had never been to, only to know my way around once I made it to that particular place (which waas never specified in the dream). The first time was scary, I dreamed the layout of a building in England I stayed in while visiting in High School. It was wierd knowing exactly what I would see when I rounded the corner, then turning the corner and seeing exactly what I knew I would. In the dream, one of my good friends was murdered after surprising a burgular, and I was scared that would come true, but also afraid of being made a fool for saying anything. I said nothing, and he lived (there was no burgaler), so that worked out fine. This has been the frustrating thing about this peculiar ability-I dream locations, but have unable to ever link them to an event that has any significance. Some of the locations are banal-I've dreamed bland suburban retail strips more times than I would have liked. I've also found this kind of precognitive dream occuring much more rarely as I get older, possibly due to my questioning it more than I used to. Say what you will about esp, I have many reservations about it myself. But I am convinced of my sanity (relatively speaking), and I can't deny what I have experienced. Any comments, etc. on this are welcome. Thanks for putting up with this one, Tyler
------------------------------
Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990201123459.0086ede0@pophost.micron.net>
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 12:34:59 -0700
From: Phil Corless <philco@micron.net>
Subject: Fonts
Ray Larabie, one of the most prolific font creators on the Internet,
has just posted two new fonts to his site:
http://209.207.164.79/users/font/fontnews.htm
Vanishing Girl and Knuckle Down!
They're not particularly XTC-ish, but with names like those he must
be a fan.
Phil Corless
philco@micron.net
http://netnow.micron.net/~philco/
"The grass is always greener when it bursts up through concrete."
- Andy Partridge
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000b01be4e1d$3ff791c0$f06dcec0@t24806009694.DOA.STATE.LA.US> From: "John Voorhees" <griffon@earthling.net> Subject: The XTC-Boingo Connection (the lovers, the dreamers, and meeeeee) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 13:58:32 -0600 Hey Tyler! >Haven't figured a direct link between XTC and Danny Elfman. Well, if memory serves, the old Trouser Press guide once slammed Oingo Boingo as "XTC wannabees" or something of that sort. Obviously, this was a loooooong time ago...
------------------------------ Message-ID: <697A4CA51395D111A658AA00040058069D9F77@NT6> From: "Wiencek, Dan" <wiencek@aaos.org> Subject: Chicago radio appearance Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 14:13:47 -0600 To all Chicago Chalkhillians: Just heard on XRT that they're expecting an in-studio visit from Andy (and possibly Colin) "toward the end of the month." Details are pending, so keep listening. (The DJ also mentioned the possibility of live music; obviously he hadn't been told of the "no performing" rule ..) dan
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 21:25:03 +0100 (MET)
From: Tim De Cock <tim@vum.be>
Message-Id: <199902012025.VAA16568@vum.be>
Subject: news: 'Don't expect AV2 this year'
Folks,
Two bits of news:
1. Andy Partridge Weekly Health Report: the bespectacled one has the flu.
2. Apple Venus Volume 2 Status Report: don't expect to see it this year.
I'm not trying to bug you lovely people, it's just that I interviewed The
Man Moulding for my newspaper today and that's the gist of what he said. The
interview was supposed to have been with Andy, but he couldn't come down to
Belgium because of his illness. Colin has to tackle the press duties of both
Andy and him now. After one day of Belgian and Dutch press (Monday), he was
off to Germany for three days...
Colin was totally the nice guy I was expecting, but I think the interview
could've run smoother had I known it was him I was going to talk to. As it
was, I had to throw away the smaller half of my questions because they were
directly related to Andy or Andy's songs. The interview would've run A LOT
smoother had not the hotel been located in a part of Brussels where every
building was either being torn down ('Save us from the ball and chain!') or
being renovated at the time of our talk. And Colin is _ literally _ the
Quiet One, I have found out. Hope I can make something of that tape.
Anyway, as it was an interview for my paper I couldn't ask very 'specialist'
questions, but I got an AV2 status report and yes, most songs have been
selected but no studio has been booked and Colin does not believe it can be
released this year. (I always thought that nine or ten months was sharp to
do pre-produce, record, mix, design, manifacture and distribute a record,
but in this case I really hate to be right.)
He also said: 'I think it needs some extra songs.' So there you go. There
had been 21 songs selected for the original double cd, 11 are on AV1, that
leaves 10 for AV2. Not a whole lot for a 'guitar-record' as AV2 is announced
to be, especially since guitar-oriented songs tend to be shorter and
snappier than 'orchoustic' ones. Those who have heard the new demos can
start guessing.
BTW: Like some on this list, and I hereby salute them all, I have resisted
the devious temptation of the AV-demos. Lo and behold, my strength of
character has been rewarded! Not only did suddenly an angel appear at my
desk to ask in a matter-of-fact way: 'Could you spare some time on February
1st to interview Andy Partridge' - a huge surprise since I don't normally
write articles, I'm an editor -, I also received an advance copy of AV1 to
do my research. Well, I can assure you that research has never been more
entertaining.
At the end of the interview I did the completely unprofessional thing and
asked Colin if he would autograph TB for my elder brother, who introduced me
to XTC years ago. He would, and scribbled a nice 'Good on ya, mate!' on it
too.
Colin also said that he is aware of our little gatherings here on
Chalkhills, but hasn't read anything so far as he's not on the internet. But
he has caught echoes of this list and he is far more charmed by the insights
and angles some of us provide than those of most interviewers. Why? Because
they are direct and not 'coloured' by the medium that is carrying
them. (Very true, as I too felt restricted by the knowledge that our little
talk had to result in a sensible article that will have to appeal to
non-fans as well.) So there you go: good on us, mates!
Oh, and to revive a thread that's as ancient as history itself: Colin
pronounced XTC as ex-tee-see, not ecstasy. Take that!
Tim in Belgium
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19990201210008.27904.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "Molly Fanton" <mollyfa@hotmail.com>
Subject: XTC Moment and VH1
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 13:00:07 PST
Chalkers,
Well, I had a XTC moment this afternoon. I was checking DMX on my
Digital Cable system and I switched on the Alternative Music channel and
they played Dear God. I almost died, because that's the first XTC song
I heard on that channel.
Also here is what I got from VH1 after writing to them about Behind the
Music:
<<Thanks for your note. Andy Partridge from XTC will be featured
on tomorrow night's premiere of Where Are They Now on the British
Invasion. The show will air at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) and Midnight. I hope
you can tune in. Thanks for watching VH1.>>
That was a bit disappointing, but I'll definately be taping this
show. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Molly
------------------------------ Message-ID: <8237F918C884D211B3AD0008C7F41FF5038463@chowan.ncxix.hcg.eds.com> From: "Martin, Alan" <Alan.Martin@ncxix.hcg.eds.com> Subject: AP in RAYGUN Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:55:06 -0500 Greetings fellow Chalksticks, After reading the negative response to AP's comments in the recent Raygun article I simply had to say something to all of you whining, Goody-Goodies who think AP was too hard on DG..... GET OVER IT!!! AP spoke with forthright and I'm glad he did. We have enough people in this world measuring everything they say and it's so plastic. Don't get me wrong, I'm not "Dave Bashing" in an indirect way here. I love Dave's work with XTC as much as anyone and I have always felt he was an important member to the overall "Soundwork" of XTC's music so far. However, judging by the demos that I've heard, they will get along just fine without him now. Flame me if you want, but it seems somewhat apparrent that Dave was causing some kind of trouble with the band. Remember, Colin also made a statement along the lines of Dave being hard to work with. It was just Andy who made the most open statements as he was really the primary person being interviewed in the article. Anyway, none of us were there so we don't really know exactly what went on and led up to Dave's departure. Expecting the flames...
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-77 ******************************
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