Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 242
Date: Thursday, 17 August 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 242
Thursday, 17 August 2000
Topics:
Concerts
Re: Thanks for reminding me
My Ugly-Ass Sombrero
elephants - beware
Finger plucking good
Small Furry Animals
The Introduction of XTC...
Pubescence-Post
English Settlement: early or late?
Re: Squeeze
o-lay-son?
Mellotron vs. Optigan
skylarkers
Squirrel lyrics
The Anti-Stupidly Happy Sampler
Melt the guns
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 07:59:24 -0500 From: "Damian Wise (Foulger)" <damian@imclaser.com> Subject: Concerts Message-ID: <399A49DC.13199.C3996@localhost> First concert: The Highliners, 1989 Best concert: Crowded House, 1992 Best concert Runner-up: Ben Folds Five, 1999 "What the hell was I thinking?" concert: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, 2000 "Wish I'd Been There" concert: Any XTC <Shrug> Dames tWd ---------------------------------------------- Dr. Damian Wise (Foulger) Industrial Microphotonics Company
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 10:05:27 EDT From: RiknBkr@aol.com Subject: Re: Thanks for reminding me Message-ID: <65.8834c17.26cbf9a7@aol.com> In a message dated 8/15/00 6:01:32 PM Pacific Daylight Time, <owner-chalkhills@chalkhills.org> writes: > While we're on the subject of concerts: > > First concert: Pink Floyd, 1987 > Best concert: Elvis Costello & the Attractions, 1996 > Best concert Runner-up: Alejandro Escovedo, 1998 > Most disappointing concert: Beth Orton, 1998 > "What the hell was I thinking?" concert: Fleetwood Mac, c. 1989 > Most inexplicable concert: Brian Wilson, 2000 > "Wish I'd been there" concert: Monterey Pop Seems like another suitable list topic: First concert: ZZ Top, Forum LA 1976 Best concert: Pete Townshend, House of Blues LA 1996 Best concert Runner-up:Crowded House, Santa Barbara, 1995 Most disappointing concert: The Who, LA 1989 "What the hell was I thinking?" concert: The Eagles, LA Forum 1980 Most inexplicable concert: Marvin Gaye, LA Greek 1982 "Wish I'd been there" concert: XTC, UC Davis, 1980
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:11:27 -0400 From: Jeff Eason <eason@mountaintimes.com> Subject: My Ugly-Ass Sombrero Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20000816131127.007b1e80@mountaintimes.com> Howdy All, A big tip of the battered ugly orange sombrero to David Seddon who pointed me in the right direction regarding Roy Harper recordings. Thanks, Dave! I can call you Dave, can't I? Dan W. inquired about concerts, so here goes: First concert: Santana in Honolulu at some outdoor festival on January 1st, 1970. I was nine and with my parents but I remember thinking how loud it was and getting to mingle with REAL hippies for the first time. First concert w/o Ma & Pa: Elton John in Mobile, Alabama sometime in 1974. Keekee Dee opened the show. I still have the program! Weirdest Concert: Neil Young and his electronic devices during his "Trans" Tour in Chapel Hill circa 1983 or so. I'm glad Neil moved on to other obsessions... Best Concert seen by a Smallish Crowd: John Mclaughlin & Friends at Chapel Hill High School in 1982. Strangest Concert Lineup: The Producers, Grandmaster Flash, U2, and Todd Rundgren at Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill in 1983 or so. Runner up: Marshall Tucker Band, Charlie Daniels Band, and Bachman Turner Overdrive in Mobile in 1975. Great show! Charlie played fiddle with BTO during the encore! Best Concert: Lyle Lovett and his Big Band with Bonnie Raitt at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, 1989. Worst Concert: Dan Fogelberg and The Eagles in Mobile 1976. Thank heaven for the shrooms! Best Stage Show: The Tubes at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta in 1977 or 1978. Last Concert: Arlo Guthrie and Friends in Boone, NC last month. Great show and I got to meet Arlo at my local pub (Murphy's) after the concert. Anyone else got concert memories to share? Jeff "listening to Lambchop's Nixon album" Eason
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 19:26:10 +0000 From: Jayne Myrone <myrone@tesco.net> Subject: elephants - beware Message-ID: <399AEAC4.9BB11719@tesco.net> Gentle ChalkFolk The flat mate has been borrowing my shiny new CDs & has decided that Colin is singing "deliver us from the elephants." Question do I murder him now or wait until after the move yours pondering Jayne the Worrier Queen Want to know how many boxes have been packed? And just how many books there are here? http://www.stas.net/myrone/news.htm Moving on 19th August.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 19:29:48 +0100 From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com> Subject: Finger plucking good Message-ID: <001c01c007af$f739b780$6e9101d5@default> Though fairly unexciting by the standards of Chalkhills, Harrison and Kingstune have provided a debate which I can get my (fairly rusty) chops around. When is playing an instrument not playing an instrument and did/does George have the nadgers or tallywhacker to pick like a spaniard? Indeed the issue of what constitutes musicianship may have wider interest than to just grab a few of us. Harrison said: ""That snippet of flamenco guitar, apparently played by Eric Cook, an Australian session guitarist, was recorded on one of the loops. (That is to say, you could trigger the whole guitar phrase just by pressing one key on the Mellotron. No fancy fingerwork required at all.)" I knew that a mellotron could be used like a synth, and I knew that it could produce loops of weird sounds, but I didn't know that some keys made it act like a simple tape-recorder. The former could be described as playing, but the latter? That passage was only "played on a mellotron" in the same way as I could "play" a demo on a mini-cassio by hitting a button. Hardly much musicianship on my part. The real player was indeed a guitarist not a keyboardist. At the end of Bungalow Bill there is some mellotron playing of the musical type, when Chris Thomas hits different keys to produce a melody. The mellotron produces a trombone sound, but only the playing of the musician produces the actual notes that you hear. and then: "George was supposed to have studied sitar under Ravi Shankar in 1966. In reality that was a lookalike actor named William Campbell. The *real* George went to Malaga to study Flamenco guitar...." No come on now...everybody knows that he went to study under the Surrey mystic (who was really from Rochdale), Arthur Sultan, from whom he learnt the ancient martial art of Ecky Thump (that's the use of Black Puddings for self defence, for those who don't know). How else do you think he fought off that wretched burglar in his mansion? Kingstunes said: "Also, sorry to disappoint you, but Harrison did not have the kind of chops to cut that lick. That was a flamenco player on the sample. Although I do believe that Robbie Krieger played the intro to Spanish Caravan, which is the opening bars of a Spanish classical piece called Leyenda." George's solo work is full of high calibre playing and I somehow doubt that he couldn't hack a bit of Spanish! I have a friend who plays guitar. He professes to be "about grade 4." I have heard him play a few bars of Granados and Albeniz. He could not play the whole piece for sure, but he's learnt 20 seconds of it pretty well. The man who played And Your Bird Can Sing and many other superb solos With and Without the Beatles could surely have learnt 8 seconds of Spanish guitar, and don't forget that The Beatles also were fond of speeded up tapes if he needed help. So, George may not have played it, but I bet he could have with a bit of practise. It's hardly the whole of Rodrigo's Aranjeuz is it? To add further weight: as a grade 7 sax player, I can play short pieces by Bird, Coltrane and Rollins. Of course, I don't sound as good, I may not have their tone and I couldn't improvise around them too well, but I can play the tunes all the same. As for whether Harrison (hbSherwood) could play it. I don't know, let's ask him...Harrison can you...? Forget about your past And all your sorrows. The future won't last It will soon be your tomorrow. (Ringo rocks!)
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:45:40 -0500 From: "Wiencek, Dan" <Dan_Wiencek@mcgraw-hill.com> Subject: Small Furry Animals Message-ID: <200008161845.LAA22187@sgiblab.sgi.com> Chris, well, he had this to say: At the end [of Floyd's "Several Species ..."] > of a very > emotional outburst of gibberish, the Pict finally utters something I > think I can make out- "...And the wind, Craig." Who's Craig? Listen a little closer ... Waters is actually saying, in extremely guttural Pictish (a Scots dialect, if you were wondering) "And the wind cried Mary." Also on the topic of misheard lyrics: > 2.Jupiter and Saturn, overrun your lantern, and to tie you. I've been playing my mono edition of Piper at the Gates of Dawn lately, from whence this great song, Astronomy Domine, originates. That's actually not a bad interpretation. I'm not sure if publishing the lyrics with the album was actually the best decision ... some of Syd's stuff is better when you don't quite know what he's saying. Dan "The drones they throng on mossy seats?" Wiencek
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 14:52:21 EDT
From: Chauncy14@aol.com
Subject: The Introduction of XTC...
Message-ID: <92.8c1ba92.26cc3ce5@aol.com>
Hello Clan,
To pick up on the "introduction of XTC to friends" thread, the following was
the scenario I was faced with during a recent visit from a good friend and
his introduction to XTC.
Otto is an account executive at a company which handles all of the placements
for advertising for the company I work for. I call him all the time and
place ads in the local greater Chicagoland newspapers, mostly the Chicago
Tribune.
He is a great guy; maybe 5 years my younger, and has a cool name: Otto
Clark. I call him, The Sausage King, after the Chicago Sausage King, who is
coincidentally named Otto.
Anywho, I invite the Sausage King (this IS what I call Otto) out for drinks
from time to time, and on this occasion 3 months ago, Otto came by my flat
first for some preliminary drinks before we hit the road for Downtown
Chicago.
After some discussion about girls, vacation plans, music, I come to learn he
is a HUGE Led Zepplin fan. He asks me who my favs are, and I say, "Why XTC
of course!"
King: "Who is XTC?"
JG: "You have never heard of XTC?"
King: "No. Should I have?"
JG: I race over to the deck and put on the most famous radio song I
could think of, of late. I picked Ballad of Peter Pumkinhead, cuz that was
a song on WXRT Radio Chicago in which the dj's played a lot, assuming Otto
listens to WXRT.
JG: "So, heard this one?" Its playing on the changer.
King: "No"
JG: "Really?"
King: "Sorry John." He laughs out loud.
JG: "Ok, try this one?" I skip to Dear Madum Barnum, another radio tune.
KING: Just shakes his head and laughs.
JG: "Ok." Now I have to think...Oranges and Lemons, for sure he has
heard a few from this record. First I put on King for a Day, and
obviously that doesn't work; I skip to the hit on the record, Mayor of
Simpleton.
JG: "You must have heard this one?"
KING: Laughs, shakes his head, "Sorry John." We both laugh out loud.
JG: I kill the music, and ask, "Ok, you have never heard of XTC before?"
King: "No John, really. I have never heard of this band. Where are they
from?"
JG: "Swindon, England."
King: "Oh, ok!"
JG: "More to the point, what do you think of them having heard a few
tunes?"
King: And with a straight face he says, "They don't do much for me."
JG: "What?" I could have shot him right there on the couch with the
doobie in his
hand.
King: "Sorry John <coughs>, they just aren't happenin' for me," as he
laughs again.
JG: "I can't believe you have never heard of them!" Now I shake my head.
King: "Hey, you got any Led Zepplin?"
JG: "Who?"
We laugh, finished up our prelims and went out to the City for a night on
the town.
Not every one knows who XTC are, not even people who are musically connected,
such as Otto is. I have seen his collection, and he has a HUGE library of
music, though nothing under "X" in his catalogue.
Well, 3 months since that fateful evening, he still doesn't care for XTC. So
what are you going to do?
There is nothing to do. Some people just aren't cut out for the pastoral
nature of the music, and higher intellectual level in lyric than most bands.
Part of the signiture that make XTC who they are.
Do I care that Otto doesn't like XTC? Not particularly.
Well, the next time Otto comes over, he will surely get a dose of Andy
Partridge on video tape and see how that floats his boat! Or do I drown?
Regards from Chicago,
John
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:51:03 -0600 From: KirK.Gill@equifax.com Subject: Pubescence-Post Message-ID: <8525693D.006D1A0C.00@noteswetc15.fin.equifax.com> One of the many things to like about XTC is that they've grown as a band, rather than just skipped around trying every new style and trend. They didn't "go African" and make a record with a bunch of "authentic" musicians, they didn't "go grunge," etc. The only negative, of course, is if you happened to like the earlier stuff, the youthful indiscretions, and aren't as interested in the more painstaking current version. But what makes the band somewhat unique is that, since they don't play live, each era of the band remains pretty much intact. You don't get to hear balding versions of Statue of Liberty or She's Burning (With Optimism's Flames). There's no re-interpretation through age and experience. So I wonder sometimes, if the boys were to revisit some of the earlier material now, which tunes would benefit the most from a new (aging) perspective, and which would be much worse off. Needless to say, Dave's gone, and his absence would be palpable on every track. For me, I'd love to hear the boys tackle some of the moodier stuff, like Another Satellite or Sacrificial Bonfire. I'd also enjoy hearing a remake of Complicated Game or Snowman. But it's hard to imagine a geriatric Sgt. Rock or No Language in Our Lungs.....................(Ok, perhaps geriatric is a bit of an overstatement...) Any thoughts, anyone? k "don't call me k" g "you're the new recruit"
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:36:10 -0700 From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com> Subject: English Settlement: early or late? Message-ID: <08B5DDC2BABCD311BFC6005004A884B013B7CD@mgcservices.com> In 6-240, Mr. Easter said: So, I'm one of the jerks that likes Mummer much more than ES or BE. And I've got a question of those of you who swear by ES. If this is your favorite album (ES), then what do you find compelling in the current work? What similiarities still float your proverbial boats? Personally, I tend to seperate xtc's work into pre-skylarking and post-skylarking material. (Post-S being far more inspirational to me) And so I find it interesting that so many of you old timers are hooked on the vintage stuff. (no offense intended) Don't get me wrong, I like the albums, but they don't just hammer me the way, say, Oranges and Lemons does, or how AV1 still just does it for me. I wonder if you guys are ever in any way, dissapointed? First of all, I'll say yet again that I'm not in either the "early stuff" or "later stuff" camps - I consider myself a total career fan, and anyone who is firmly one way or another should really try a bit harder to be more open to the other, and give the stuff another listen. That said, I guess this is all perception, but first of all, I think that we're (you & I anyway, I won't speak for anyone else) definitely drawing the "new-old" line in different places. For me, English Settlement IS the line, the border, the point of transformation between the old new-wavier pop band (though hints of what was to come are detectable on D&W and BS) and the quality craft maestros of the developed latter period. Rather than belonging to the "old XTC" category, I've always perceived ES as being the first of the "late developed period/arty" albums, in many ways the first appearance of the XTC we know today; all the seeds are there, the arrangements just starting to strain the limits of live playability, almost in anticipation of the studio-only years that were about to begin. In a way, ES almost belongs to both and neither periods, being the expansive, woody, acoustic & fretless bass & 12-string frontier separating the two. I always assumed that this must be the one album that appeals to both sides, and never imagined that it could sound too "early XTC" for anyone. For me, the "early" period basically ends with BS, and REALLY ends with ES; the "later" period is born on ES and is official by "Mummer". (see my last post on "Mummer" for the way ES made everything fall into place for me) I never even considered the idea of "Skylarking" being the "new/old border" (not saying you're "wrong", I just never saw it that way). I can sort of see it in a way, as "Skylarking" is in many ways the first post-ES "studio band" album to fully "work" in a way that a lot of people could connect with: "Mummer" had the problems of being the first "post stage collapse" album, the mix of producers, the first version of the album being rejected by Virgin (though at least we got "Great Fire" out of that), etc. "Big Express" is more fully realized (and has become a big personal fave of mine in recent years), in terms of the band really starting to stretch its wings as a studio-only entity, but it seems to take people a while to get into (I had a copy for years before I really started loving it). Whether its problems are to be blamed on the drum machine (which I've always considered a simplistic argument), "overproduction" or just the time spent due to the deal they got on the studio time and Lord's indulgence of Andy's "kid in a candy store" reaction to the possibilities of recording... these are all debates for another time. "Skylarking" was the first late album to really "work" and click with a larger audience, but I still see it as at least the third "late" album (if we see ES as "both & neither", occupying its own period, like some cheesy Star Trek temporal anomaly) rather than the first. Whether this was because of or in spite of the conflicts with Rundgren is also obviously a separate debate. As far as what do I like in the late later stuff, what's still there, what do they all have in common, what do I still like...? Well, tons of things: 1. Songs. The songwriting talent is there going back to the very beginning, but ES is the first album where the writing & crafting is just so solid, track after track (plenty of you would argue BS, D&W, etc. and I wouldn't call you wrong), a state of affairs that continues to this day (not all of you would agree with that, perhaps, but I'm talking about my tastes, here). 2. Colin's bass. This has always been good going right back to WM (Colin's is the best playing on that album IMO); even when it sounds like Andy Barry and Terry are still learning, Colin has always sounded great. By ES, he's amazing. The basslines to "Knuckle Down" "Runaways" "Snowman" to name just a few... The bass in "Fly on the Wall" is mixed too low, but it's great if you listen closely. The fretless stuff... man. (odd that the main reason he's always given for giving up on the fretless was that it was a pain in the ass to play live and they haven't played live since...). Even if I think a song is just middling by XTC standards, if there's a Colin bassline in it, there is therefore an awesome bassline to listen to. I'm sorry, I can't keep just listing things... there are tons of things. I just can't imagine how anyone could possibly not hear the greatness of XTC's "mature" period being manifested for the first time in ES... So... What do you NOT hear, that you think is missing, and you love about the post-Skylarking stuff? I'm honestly asking, because to me, the "mature" period is like an unbroken line reaching all the way back to ES (and parts of BS). And Richard Hamilton had something similar to say and said: I think I can summarize my feelings on this in the following manner: those earlier XTC albums had a lot of Oh-oh-oh and Oy-oy-oy and hay-oh, hay-oh, hay-oh, and ooo-ooo-ooo and hay-UH, hay-UH, hay-UH (get my drift?). You'll notice that the vocals in the later albums are MUCH more sedate and (IMHO) appealing. Don't get me wrong, I love those earlier albums too (and I own most of the XTC catalog) but I prefer the "grown up" XTC sound as opposed to its "pubescent" sound. I don't know, but I'v always felt that that sort of thing (hay-oh, etc.) really had it's last hurrah with "Cuba" and "Rock" on BS, and the only thing that really comes close on ES is the "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh"s in "Cockpit". And ES is certainly not "pubescent" - it's got at least a few years of college and the obligatory trip to Europe under its belt. (Or if you don't like that one, it's mature enough to have gotten laid and drink in bars). Like I said, I'm not saying "I'm right and you're wrong", just that obviously I perceive the whole "early/late" thing very differently, and it's interesting that not only is there the whole "early stuff fans vs. later stuff fans" thing, but there are obviously different ideas on where the line between early and late lies. So I say ES, Joseph and Richard say Skylarking - anyone else have yet another perspective on where the border is? (The idea that the whole concept of a border between early and late is just plain silly in itself is also quite valid of course). Of course, I formed this impression when O&L was the "new album"... Ed K.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 14:20:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Misty Shock <mccrtny@scn.org> Subject: Re: Squeeze Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.96.1000816141008.22209E-100000@scn> Molly said: "Hey, Misty, Glenn Tilbrook is NO weenie. He's actually a nice guy. I've met him once. He's actually very sweet, but he's not a weenie. :)" "Weenie" is by no means a bad thing, in my book. Most of my male friends are weenies! What I mean is that they aren't your picture of masculinity. Glenn's voice is so sweet, almost girlish, as well. Chris has the harder edge. I have a hard time listening to songs like "The Truth" from Play, because I have a hard time believing that Glenn would be such a jerk, as the character in that song is. I love this quality in Glenn and his voice, but it doesn't exactly fit people's image of a rock star; in this sense, it might be a drawback. I saw Glenn once in concert, in DC, and at one point he was jumping up and down singing Daydream Believer -- a fittingly sweet and dorky image. That, in a nutshell, is Glenn's "weenie" side, for me an overall endearing quality. Misty
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 17:10:49 EDT
From: Saints3Den@aol.com
Subject: o-lay-son?
Message-ID: <42.97ff20f.26cc5d59@aol.com>
jill Oleson's post:
<< Dear Chalkers,
Here's a story that perhaps will surprise
Richard Pedretti-Allen most of all.
I just got back from a cross-country car trip from
Texas to New York (and back!) with my sister and her
kids, plus my mom. Altogether we had three adults
and five children (three of whom are still in diapers). >>
etc... and posts like it , are the type which keep me subscribed. Great
story, jill!
Bumble daisy, i'll sing about ya if nobody else will
eddie st.martin
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 17:27:34 EDT From: "Kevin Diamond" <kev_boy@hotmail.com> Subject: Mellotron vs. Optigan Message-ID: <LAW-F105ZdTr8gclDyG00002301@hotmail.com> You music geeks. Here's a question. I've been getting into this group called Optiganally Yours which, oddly enough, makes all it's music with Optigans, (Optical Organs) which basically, from what I've read, are exactly like what you guys are calling Mellotrons. What is the difference between the two? The only thing I can think of is that I know that the Optigan wasn't very well made, because it was made mostly using Mechanics, as opposed to Electronics. Are Mellotrongs just Electronically made Optigans? GARY! I've been trying to contact you! Did you get my CDs? I have stuff to tell you about them, like the track listing, and I'm going to upload some cover art I made for it incase you want to download it and print it up (my printer was, and still is, on the fritz) so e-mail me because your old e-mail adress doesn't seem to be working. Steve: >7. The song "Everything" makes me cry. New Thread! New Thread! Okay, so I stole this from the M Doughty Message board, but... what are some of the saddest songs you've ever heard. Songs that are so powerful, they can actually make you cry? Steve chose a good one, here's some more I can think of: End Of The Tour - They Might Be Giants. Brilliant lyrics, and a sad story. This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads (more mellancollie then sad, but it really touches me for some reason... it's like disenchantment, with just a little bit of hope, and that makes it so much sadder for some reasong) Pensacola - Soul Coughing... such power in that song. Dying - XTC (I don't want to die i don't want to die I don't want to die.. like... you... I don't want to die like youuuuuu...) have fun! If we get too depressed, we'll start a new thead of Happy songs. Kevin "I saw the worst bands of my generation" Diamond "There's a girl with a crown and a scepter who's on WLSD" - TMBG
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 18:45:39 EDT From: Poisongold@aol.com Subject: skylarkers Message-ID: <16.112964f.26cc7393@aol.com> Hey, sorry if this is already common knowledge. Advice to all Americans who resent the fact that my favorite Skylarking song, "Mermaid Smiled," was banished to Rag & Bone: Order the Canadian pressing (I got mine from HMV.com, for a great price thanks to the strong US dollar vs. Canada's 10-years-and-counting recession). It has the original running order, then "Dear God" tacked on at the end where it should be. The sound quality is as good as the Geffen pressing, at least to my decidedly non-audiophile ears. The graphics are a little "home computer"-ish, but OK. Wish I knew what was on the UK edition. I would assume "MS" was deleted, since it's on the UK Rag&Bone. Oh, and -- I guess it's because I bought the album in the winter, but to me, Skylarking is not so much a summer album as an evocative-of-summer album to be heard in winter. MJC
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 19:12:10 -0400 From: "squirrelgirl" <squirrelgirl@hitter.net> Subject: Squirrel lyrics Message-ID: <000901c007d7$68a3c420$634bc0cf@meredith-s> Howdy 'Hillians! Bravo, Mr. Relph, on an excellent lyric choice for digest 239. Broomstick Rhythm is a great song, made even more so by its rodenty reference. Thank you to the 'Hillians who have made suggestions for writing .wav to CDR; hopefully I'll get this thing figured out. Also thanks to those of you who have made suggestions for my 2 CDs for work. I've certainly got a lot to choose from! SG NP: Wasp Star (again and again and again)
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 18:24:52 -0500 From: "Marcus Padgett" <marcus@nebo.com> Subject: The Anti-Stupidly Happy Sampler Message-ID: <NDBBIHDFILGBJJCGKMNNOEHNCGAA.marcus@nebo.com> Last weekend I was talking with a friend who plays keyboards with Vernon Reid (formerly from Living Colour). He commented that he is bored by everything he hears, and finds most modern music lacking in melody. He is trained in classical and jazz and describes his own music as very unusual. I asked him if he had heard XTC. He said he had not, but had heard good things about them. I told him I would make a sampler for him. I decided to pick those songs that strike me as unusual and creative. I went through my collection and came up with this list (I tried to pick at least one from each album - starting with D&W). I found it interesting that although I usually think of Skylarking through AV1 as my favorite run, my list was heavy on ES through Skylarking. Drums & Wires - Millions,Scissorman Black Sea - Optimism's Flame English Settlement - No Thugs, Yacht Dance, Melt the Guns, Jason & the A's Mummer - Great Fire, Deliver Us From the Elements, Ladybird, Me and the Wind Big Express - All You Pretty Girls, Shake You Donkey Up, Seagulls Screaming, I Remember the Sun Skylarking - Ballet for a Rainy Day, 1000 Umbrellas, Another Satellite, TMWSAHS, Mermaid Smiled O & L - Across This Antheap, Miniature Sun Nonesuch - Rook, Omnibus AV1 - Easter Theatre, River of Orchids Wasp Star - TWATM R&BB - History of Rock and Roll Disagree? Suggest a substitute or help me whittle this down.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 19:00:25 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Melt the guns Message-ID: <l03130300b5c0d440daf0@[208.13.202.139]> >"no. it's more like going after Smith and Wesson because their gun was used >in a murder... or perhaps going after the cigarette companies..." > >Randy brought up the point above about going after gun and cigarette >companies and I just wanted to add something to that. > >Now, as for the gun issue, I am torn in between. I am not for guns and >believe they should be illegal. However, I don't think gun manufacturers >should be held responsible, or at least I am not sure about the issue now >enough to make a firm statement for or against. I have no use for guns myself, but as long as criminals have guns I'd be very comforted by the possibility that my neighbor might be armed and I could call him for help if some psycho shows up at my door with an AK-47. Think about it. Idealism's great until you're faced with a good dose of reality, as Rosie O'Donnell has figured out.(She won't carry a gun herself, but it's OK for her bodyguard to carry one because she's a celebrity and she can afford a bodyguard)Melt ALL the guns, and never more to fire them, but you better get them all, I don't want to be staring down the barrel of an illegal firearm with no way of protecting myself. If Matthew Shephard carried a gun and knew how to use it he'd probably still be alive today. Then again, his attackers probably wouldn't be in jail, so there's always a downside. When it comes to gun control, you have two realistic choices, disarm everybody or allow everybody concealed weapons. Anything in between is wishful thinking at best. If you can come up with a way to effectively disarm everybody I'm all ears. At least if everybody is allowed to arm themselves everybody has a chance to protect themselves in an increasingly dnagerous world. Some of you may live in a country where everybody's nice or at worst a little bad-tempered and don't see a need to own a gun, and I live in a part of the United States where I can get along reasonably well without one, but there are some parts of this country where there are people who will try to kill you just because they like doing it. I'd like to live in a free society where I have as many options as possible to make up my own mind about how to protect myself. I know many of you will still disagree with me vehemently and think that we have to try to get rid of guns anyway, and that's OK. I'll chip in for flowers for your funeral. I hope, of course, that you manage to live in peace and safety no matter what you choose to believe, I'm not one to wish ill on anybody. Just don't say I didn't warn ya. I'd be curious to see statistics on the murder rate in Australia since their recent gun grab law. Did they manage to take all the guns from all the criminals yet? If everything went according to plan, I'd be intrigued and amazed. I'd love to see a world where nobody owns a gun, every child is a wanted child, and everybody loves their neighbor. Ain't gonna happen in my lifetime. If you can't do away with evil, do the next best thing, allow the people every means to protect themselves from evil available. If you're physically weak, oppressed or threatened, arm yourselves, or befriend somebody who knows how to use a gun and carries one. Works for Rosie O'Donnell. Christopher R. Coolidge Homepage at http://homepages.together.net/~cauldron/homepage.html
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-242 *******************************
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