Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 26 Wednesday, 9 February 2000 Today's Topics: Colin's Muse Jarmusic update - latest Newell releases Cause We've Ended Now As Lovers Do these colors Clash? how did they get there? AV2 Japan Release Date Mull-dah and Scur-lee There's Something Fishy... Science Friction? chalkhills #5 Freaks and Geeks and Monkees gcwf - the final boarding call! Greenman single at CDNOW D'oh!! more xtc moments, side 1 XTC sighting Al Jarreau Administrivia: To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command: unsubscribe For all other administrative issues, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to: <chalkhills@chalkhills.org> World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/> The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7 (John Relph <relph@sgi.com>). Well, me I like to think while the other fish swim.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <002d01bf707f$44e9e540$755791d2@johnboud> From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: Colin's Muse Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 17:47:27 +0900 At my daughter's request ( she didn't have to twist my arm mind you ... ) I inserted Fossil Fuel into the greedy mouth of my Onkyo CD player this lazy Sunday morning ... " Life Begins At The Hop " ... " Nigel " ... " Generals and Majors " ... " Love At First Sight " ... " Ball and Chain " ... " Wonderland " ... " Wake Up " ... " Grass " ... " The Meeting Place " ... The good old days when Colin was a prolific songwriter . Sure , Frivolous and Fruit Nut are nice tunes , but it would sure appear ( pardon me if this has been brought up before ) that Colin's muse has taken a hike since Nonsuch . Sure he is mellowing in his middle age , as most of us baby boomers are , but comparing Fruit Nut to the aforementioned gems ( some are among my all-time XTC faves ) one cannot help but hear a world of difference ... How many of Colin's tunes will appear on Vol. 2 ? As long as he is content to contribute a tune or two to future projects we have no reason to worry about the the boys splitting up methinks . Their record company should be happy with sales ; and the guys are making money , right ? They have a loyal fan base ( which can only grow larger after AV2 comes out ) who would buy anything Andy and Colin deem worthy of release , right ? That said , I worry ever so slightly that IF I am right and Colin has lost his muse , will that cause him to eventually lose interest in working with Andy in the future ? I mean , it is not as if XTC are performing live in concert or anything ... Just a few thoughts on a drizzly Sunday morn in the Japanese mountains ... Sushiman
------------------------------ Message-ID: <$34FTCA5yen4EwFg@apowell.demon.co.uk> Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 21:50:49 +0000 From: Ashley Powell <jarmusic@apowell.demon.co.uk> Subject: Jarmusic update - latest Newell releases The JARMusic website has now been updated with the latest Martin Newell and other releases available, including the last of the cassette to CD releases and Martin's latest poetry book. Buy one today! Buy another for a friend! Buy another just for the hell of it! The site has also been given a facelift, so pop along and see the spangly new presentation, and make me feel like it was worth the effort ;) http://go.to/jarmusic or http://www.apowell.demon.co.uk -- Ashley Powell
------------------------------ From: RnD426@aol.com Message-ID: <4e.1644ed7.25cfa339@aol.com> Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 23:25:29 EST Subject: Cause We've Ended Now As Lovers chris vreeland <vreecave@realtime.com> worte: >Cause Weve Ended as Lovers, Jeff Beck, Blow by Blow; A six-minute >lyric poem without words. After deleting five or six attempts to >describe this solo, Ill leave it at one word: Grace. Actually, Chris, Stevie did write words to this song. A vocal version may be found on the 'Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta' album by Syreeta Wright (stevie's first wife). It was orginally released in 1974, but I'm not sure if this album was released on CD or not. Worth checking out! -RnD
------------------------------ Message-Id: <200002070229.VAA05561@nantucket.net> Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 21:28:26 -0800 Subject: Do these colors Clash? From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net> Just got back from another great concert, once again put on by the double threat Johns of They Might Be Giants, along with their band of Dans, and the Velcro Horns. The experience was incredible. It started off with a bang, as the opening act was actually John Linnell (one half of TMBG) doing music from his solo album State Songs with his newely assembled touring group, the Statesmen. This alone was worth the price of admission. Then, after a short break, Linnell came back with John Flansburg for the They Might Be Giants portion of the evening. It blew me away. Incredible. I Mean, TMBG may not be virtuousos when it comes to music, but the definitely have a lot of talent. They're a very tight group, always right-on. Incredible. And they had a blast doing it, too. You can just tell when a band is having a good time on stage, and they were having a good time. One of the highlights of the evening was when the literally created a song in front of the audiance. Some might know that TMBG did the themesong for the incredibly funny new show Malcom in the Middle. Well, the song is only 33 seconds long, but since they are making a soundtrack for the show, they've asked TMBG to extend the song. Flansy got a sudden flash of brilliance, and the band just threw together an extended version, using the B section of another of their short songs (the theme song of their web-based radio station, Radio They Might Be Giants). It was awesome watching them making the decisions on the spur of the moment. Incredible. I loved it. In other good news, on the way down to Providence, I stoped in a Borders books and music, and they were having a special on Clash albums. It seems all of THe CLashes albums have been newely remastered by the band themselves, and, as a promotion for the new albums, as well as the live disk >From here to Eternity, they had a special offer: Buy two Clash CDs, get a free sampler Cd with a few singles, interviews and a rare B-side for free! I had been meaning to check out The Clash anyway, so I bought two albums (The Clash, and London Calling). I haven't given much time to the Clash, but I love London Calling. Great, great stuff. Also, I recently bought a disk by a band called Cornorshop. The CD is called When I Was Born for the 7 Time, and it's on David Byrne's record label, Luka Bop Records. Great stuff, check it out as well. That's all, back to my Trigonometry Homework Kevin "High School Sux" Diamond ____________________________________________________________________________ "She thinks she's Edith Head, But you might know she's not the accent in her speach she didn't have growing up." -John Flansburgh/They Might be Giants
------------------------------ Message-ID: <20000207073425.279.qmail@web2106.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 23:34:25 -0800 (PST) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: how did they get there? Mark Stribos asked: I mean, nobody ever wonders what all those good looking chaps in fashionable teenybopper bands like the BSB or East 17 had to do to get where they are today, now do they? Well, yes. My partner and I, whenever we see one of those bands ( or any questionable looking band/singer on tv), try to figure out if they got there through looks, talent, or the 'casting couch'. On a related note, I reAd an article in the NY Times last week about a Japanese band manager (japan has tons of boy bands) who has been accused of sexualy assaulting many of the boys he has worked with over a period of a couple of decades.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <005e01bf714b$73ea8b20$6f5791d2@johnboud> From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: AV2 Japan Release Date Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 18:09:08 +0900 In case you are interested ; the release date for AV2 in Japan is 3/15 . NOTICE Chalkhillers for whom I ordered Ltd. Editions : the discs will be in my hands on the 14th ! You will have them 5-7 days later . Now isn't that good news ? Sushiman
------------------------------ From: "Steve Pitts" <spitts@thesaurus-computers.co.uk> Message-ID: <8025687E.0049ECCD.00@thesaurus01.thesaurus-computers.co.uk> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 13:26:20 +0000 Subject: Mull-dah and Scur-lee Chalkfolks, In #6-25 Phil Hetherington wrote: > complete with Cerys's gorgeous Welsh accent (which should be made compulsory) < Amen to that. One of the things that has always aggravated me is non-American singers who insist on singing in an American accent. It doesn't always annoy me enough to prevent me from liking either the artist or their material (Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello spring to mind here), but it often comes close. Cerys' voice is instantly recognisable, and the (occasional) Welsh language stuff is, if anything, even more powerful (and that despite the fact that I don't understand a word of it). I am an old fogey, with 'old-school punk' as my main genre of interest, but Catatonia are one of the few Nineties' bands to turn my head and John Boudreau reported his daughter's comment: > " I want to hear some XTC ... " < Isn't brainwashing a marvellous thing?? My children too, after being assaulted with the XTC sound over the whole of their young lives, are as fond of the lads from Swindon as your lass is. In fact, if I ask any of them, including the three year old, what they'd like to listen to the answer is most likely to be 'the green man' as all other possibilities put together. Cheers, Steve
------------------------------ From: Tomgriffin100276@aol.com Message-ID: <ba.153c914.25d03179@aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 09:32:25 EST Subject: There's Something Fishy... I apologize for taking the bait, but here are my limerick entries to Vee Tube's fishy contest (and that's no BULL!)... Entry#1- There was an old flounder of France. XTC he did sing & he'd dance. When they said, "You've gone wild." He replied "Mermaid Smiled!" But kept his Pink Thing in his pants. Entry#2- There was a young salmon of Kent Who did carp wherever she went. They said she'd no class, Acted just like a bass. "She's too fishy, that Salmon of Kent!" I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone who had to read this. And to the fledgling salmon industry of Kent. I'd like it stated for the record that Kent salmon are not in any way "fishy". Further apologies to Edward Lear for stealing his style (and doing it much worse). Finally, I'd like to apologize to any bass who might be insulted by the fourth line in Limerick #2. Sorry again. I couldn't kelp myself! Tom Griffin (tomgriffin100276@aol.com)
------------------------------ From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 21:22:05 +0100 Subject: Science Friction? Message-Id: <20000207201919.3F91AA6CE4@mail.knoware.nl> Dear Chalkers, A dream come true: > Here's "Virtual Terry version 1.0". > http://homepage1.nifty.com/NewSphere/work/cg/cg_2/Terry10.JPG where can i get one? I'd love to have my own Terry! Perhaps he could help me out in getting that cover version of Travels In Nihilon on tape. yours in xtc, Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/ or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------ From: Saints3Den@aol.com Message-ID: <97.18657f7.25d0adc5@aol.com> Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 18:22:45 EST Subject: chalkhills #5 folks,,,, with the recent mentions of "mambo #5", i figured, WHY NOT , so here is "CHALKHILLS # 5" I wanna read a post by Sir John Relph Who runs this Chalkhills list all by himselph, I gotta read the one by David Oh, He had some trouble spelling once,U no, And then onto the one by Miss Fanton, Who's usually ravin' while she's rantin' I'll then take in a post by "winky fish", He served us Turkey Pluto on our dish Next peruse the one by young Ben Gott, Who likes this XTC band quite a lott, ha ha ha...etc feel free to add... Question! Is it likely that there will be any of those sampler cd's given with some magazines, containing any av2 songs? Or was that just for the "re-introduction" of xtc with av1? eddie st. martin ps.what is the helium kids song which has the lyrics "Why are you so far away?I said why are you so far away?"
------------------------------ Message-Id: <200002081804.KAA17577@mail.rapidnet.net> From: "J & J Greaves" <jgreaves@rapidnet.net> Subject: Freaks and Geeks and Monkees Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 09:56:54 -0800 I was surprised at just how many people on this list crossed paths with the F and G episode that played "No Language"! Isn't it funny how there's that moment of sheer disbelief, followed by pure joy, when the sound of Swindon's finest comes at you from a source you don't expect. I can only repeat what others have said about how well the song worked with the moment in the show. To carry this trainspotting even further, I cashed in a Christmas gift certificate at the local CD shop and picked up the Rhino Monkees CD Anthology recently. There's a nice booklet with the set and as I flipped through it, reading small sidebars from the likes of Brian Wilson, Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka, I found on page 6 the following from one ANDY PARTRIDGE: "My first Monkees experience was seeing a promo film on English TV - I was very impressed by the way their hair moved in slow motion. As an early teen, I looked remarkably like Peter Tork. Once the Monkees broke in England, I did everything I could to dress like him. It seemed to pay off; the Monkees were a passport to coolness - sort of "lubrication" to the opposite sex. I remember sitting on my doorstep for days trying to learn the intro to "Last Train To Clarksville". Their team was responsible for some great moments in pop history. Pisces, Aquaruis, Capricorn and Jones Ltd., which I would listen to at my girlfriend's house, is packed with wonderful memories. I was getting Monkees Monthly and there was a competition to draw a Monkee. I did a caricature of Micky Dolenz and won 10 pounds - a fantastic sum of money for me then. I bought a secondhand tape recorder, which further launched me. They've been very responsible for getting me started." - Andy Partridge Regards, John
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.20000208143612.00728f30@pop3.passport.ca> Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2000 14:36:12 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@passport.ca> Subject: gcwf - the final boarding call! the great chalkhillian wank fest, a.k.a. gcwf, a.k.a. the chalkhills musical instrument list, is pretty much completed. however, i've noticed that several newbies have joined the list since i decided that the deadline for entry was to be december 31, 1999. so, if there are any newbies (male *and* female) out there who own musical instruments and want to be included in the stats (sorry, no prizes involved, just the prestige), please email me *privately* with the information (brand, model, year (if known) of guitars, amps, drums, keyboards, etc.) by the end of february, 2000. *please* email me privately, as it is easier for me to compile the stats from a single email than it is by picking it out of the digest. i must reiterate; please email me privately! send email to: davidoh@passport.ca thanks. ill post the stats soon after the deadline, iow, sometime in march. peace & xtc, davidoh
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 11:27:52 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <200002081927.LAA38039@mando.engr.sgi.com> From: John Relph <relph@cthulhu> Subject: Greenman single at CDNOW Hey folks, Someone recently noticed that the "Greenman" single appeared in the catalog at CDNOW (and other places around the net). I attempted to order it (hey, why not?) and after a few days I got a note that says, and I quote: Unfortunately, the following item(s) from order number [...] have recently been deleted from our catalog and have been cancelled from your order: XTC/GREENMAN (CD) So I don't believe the single ever really existed in the first place. It appeared in the Cooking Vinyl catalog, but I believe it was never pressed. -- John
------------------------------ Message-ID: <001b01bf7275$990a6a80$2d977ed4@atidy> From: "Ade Ransome" <ade@instinct.freeuk.com> Subject: D'oh!! Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 20:46:37 -0000 Thanks to the svelte Dominic Lawson for pointing out the Official XTC Website. Only now do I realise that I've been following the wrong group for all these years: "Where is someone who can run in the darkness and know the power of the moon, and play with the joke that society has set up for us, and laugh at the shit they see and smell the future and love right now. Where are you. Why am I so alone?" Who needs the 'genius' of Andy Partridge when you've got stuff like that at the click of a button? I'm now off to HMV to try and find some of their stuff...... Ade "I Gotta Get Me Some Tats" Ransome
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.20000208221734.0072985c@pop3.passport.ca> Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2000 22:17:34 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@passport.ca> Subject: more xtc moments, side 1 as there were so many warm responses to my dissertation on "millions", i felt compelled to continue expounding on my thoughts and feelings on xtc's music and what it means to me. it took some time to compose this, but i wanted to get it right before i posted it. also, i had to break this down into 2 posts in order to fit in all i want to say. if there are more positive comments from the masses, i will continue on through their entire catalogue with my thoughts. ---------- after totally immersing myself in "drums and wires" for several months after its release, i was very excited when word came that xtc were to release a new album in 1980. when "black sea" was finally released, i believe i was one of the first to snap it up here in toronto. it was the first time that i bought an album on its first day of release and i can still remember the excitement and anticipation that i felt prior to purchasing it. when i got to the record store and asked for the latest xtc album, i was surprised to find it in a black plastic bag, with the "-xtc- black sea" titles printed on the front cover in silver. this was so cool, but not unique as pink floyd's "wish you were here" was originally released in an opaque shrink wrap to conceal the cover underneath. when i pulled the actual cover out of the black plastic bag, my immediate thought was that the sleeve was the work of hipgnosis, the record-jacket design company responsible for many of pink floyd's (and others', including xtc's "go 2") album covers - perhaps it's the diving suits, as i seem to remember that hipgnosis did a similar cover for 10cc called "deceptive bends". anyway, the "black sea" album cover has that not-quite-what-it-seems-to-be surreal distinction about it. once home, it was immediately placed onto my turntable (i'm tempted to say it was a garrard - made in swindon - but alas, it was a pioneer). i was temporarily fooled into thinking that i bought a defective copy at first, as the vinyl medium had the tendency to generate occasionally, by the "crappy" start to "respectable street", but realized my folly very soon upon further listening. "respectable street" demonstrates andy's unique sense of humour with his observations on nosey neighbours and "respectable" neighbourhoods. i really love the lines "sunday church and they look fetching/saturday night saw him retching over our fence", especially on the bbc radio 1 live in concert disc when andy emphasizes the "reeeetching" (as an aside, i really hate the censored radio edit and could never understand what it is in the lyrics that prompted them to be altered in the first place. god, i really hate censorship!). this song also has a great sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-lungs chorus, with the great ironic twist of the "what d'you think he bought..." line. a terrific opening track. "generals and majors" i was already familiar with as it had been released as the first single here and i had purchased it prior to the release of the album, complete with "the somnambulist" as its b-side. bouncy and catchy, but it's really not much of a song when listened to closely. however, i do like the guitar work throughout, the humming underneath the choruses and especially that little guitar riff at the end of the chorus line "generals and majors everywhere"; it sounds so regal. "living through another cuba" is, unfortunately, one of my least favourite xtc songs on any of their albums. it is - in my opinion, anyway - one of andy's weakest songs. i don't like the "wo-oh-oh"s at the beginning, i don't like the repetativeness of it... i just don't like it! andy has complained that they didn't have enough time between albums and tours to write better songs and this one proves he was right. of course, that said, andy's shit still smells better, and has greater consitency, than other people's shit! sure glad i didn't step in it... ;-) "love at first sight" is a disco romp, albeit with stinging guitars. i like the lines "mouse takes the bait/and soon as he leaves his seat/there's no escape/very soon their eyes will meet" because of the trap-like implications that can happen when picking up someone in a pub. i've been there before, but for me i think it was, upon reflection, more lust-at-first-sight rather than love-at-first-sight. i'm rather shallow that way... "rocket from a bottle" is one of those under-appreciated gems in my opinion. i always thought that this should've been a single because it has that "hit" quality stamped all over it. by that, i mean it has more hooks than a fishing lure and they're coming at you from all angles. from terry's thumping drums and unique hi-hat accents to colin's wonderfully circular bass line during the verses and upwardly bouncing bits in the choruses to dave's "fat-fingers" piano pounding to andy's always unique lyrics. i just love his use of technicolour-images, such as "birds beware/expect me up there/me and air are feeling light today/jets should hide/i'll fly along side/me and pride are bolted tight today". he sets up the high-in-the-sky images superbly, which locks in so well with the joyous "rocket from a bottle" choruses. another little bit that made me smile when i first heard it - and it still causes a little curl up at the corner of my mouth - is the line "i've been set off by a pretty little girl". it sounds like he's singing it to the tune of "nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!", another example of the partridgian wit. if anyone can remember the excitement of being in love for the first time (or again), then this song truly expresses that excitement. the song then transposes down during the (typically) brief guitar solo for the last run through the chorus before the segue into... "no language in our lungs". this, for me, is the centre-piece of the album and one of andy's finest moments as a songwriter. i really cannot express properly the impression that this song left on me when i first heard it; it was an instant classic. for a song that supposedly expresses the inability of language to say what is truly in our hearts and souls, it is perfectly said and the irony of the lyrics was not lost on me either. the music, too, is perfect with each note played being deliberate and right; all muscle and sinew with no fat on its bones. i can't even begin to do the song the justice it so richly deserves with my ineffectual words, but i will say this; at the time of its release, i was playing bass in a band that played progressive (floyd/tull/gabriel/etc) and hard rock (travers/heap/trower/etc). i wanted so very much to play "no language in our lungs" with that band in front of an audience, as i felt its heaviness was suitable for the band's style, but alas, i was out-voted because no-one else "got it" so, therefore, i have never played it live. i would still like to play this song for a live audience some day, so, hopefully, one day my dream will come true (as an aside, the band broke up in early 1982 because we couldn't get gigs anymore; the bars were booking only punk and new wave bands by then, not progressive rock bands). i've had to comfort myself by playing along to the record... alone, for 20 years! [sniff] ;-) ---------- and so, as we follow the run out groove along with the needle, we'll pause while i flip the record over for side 2... peace & xtc, davidoh
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38A17ADE.A86B33CB@tardis.svsu.edu> Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 09:34:06 -0500 From: Jennifer L Geese <jlg@tardis.svsu.edu> Organization: Saginaw Valley State University Subject: XTC sighting Hi all you children of the hills of Chalk - Just wanted to share an amazing (to me, anyway) XTC sighting. I belong to the Columbia House music club, and when I get the magazine I always look for XTC, even though I own everything I might conceivably find in there. This month, there was an insert about ordering your own CD's - where you choose the songs and they put it together for you, charging an exorbitant price to do so. Wonder of wonders, there was not one, not two but three!, count 'em, three XTC songs to choose from. The songs offered for your listening enjoyment were "Knights in Shining Karma", "Statue of Liberty", and "Making Plans for Nigel" (I believe, I'm not quite sure on that one). Does this mean they've finally hit the big time?? :) "Like some aurora from her head is growing", Jen
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38A19516.5A3F2783@tmbg.org> Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 11:25:59 -0500 From: Ben Gott/Loquacious Music <gott@tmbg.org> Organization: http://listen.to/loquacious Subject: Al Jarreau Folks, Sometimes CDNow is my downfall...like a week ago, when I placed an order for Al Jarreau's 1984 album "High Crime"! Way back when I was 8 (that'd be 12 years ago, by the way), my mom used to have this album on vinyl, and I used to play it all the time. Strangely enough, although I hadn't heard it in about 10 years, I found myself humming "Murphy's Law" a few weekends ago....So I had to get it, right? I mean, any song that stays in your head by virtue of memory alone for 12 years has got(t) to be good, right? Anyway, I bought the CD, and I'm incredibly happy that I did so. The songs are tight, and catchier than anything. Glen Ballard (Alanis's right-hand man) plays on it, as does Greg Phillinganes (who has, most recently, played on New Radicals' "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too"). However, I had a weird "XTC Connection" moment when, in reading the sleeve, I glanced at the credits for "Let's Pretend": Arranged by Jay Graydon, Richard Page & Steve George. DRUMS: Rug Toupe & O. Rapage. SYNTHESIZERS: Steve George. YOUR FILL OF ELECTRONIC DRUMS: Pat Mostelotto It's Our Pat! Of "Oranges & Lemons" fame! And his name's spelled wrong, I think! Now there's an XTC connection for ya! (I would also add, if I could, that all the drums on this album -- as on "The Big Express" -- are performed not by "Rug" and "O.," but by a Linn drum. Other "vintage" instruments include many appearances by a DX-1, an Oberheim, and a Fairlight.) Isn't that flicky? -Ben (http://www.mp3.com/BenGott) +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Benjamin Gott . Loquacious Music . Brunswick, ME 04011 AIM: Plan4Nigel . Tel: (207) 721-5366 . http://listen.to/loquacious Then we'll be as free / As I never really thought that we would be. +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-26 ******************************
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