Chalkhills Originals '98: Awaken You Dreamers

Executive Producer: Mark Cuevas
Technical Advisor: Jeff Castanon
Cover Design: Brian Jones

NOW SHIPPING!


Mark Cuevas Talks about Awaken You Dreamers

. . . At my invitation, a number of very talented Chalkers, ex-Chalkers and friends thereof have been diligently creating originals to be compiled and released on CHALKHILLS ORIGINALS '98: AWAKEN YOU DREAMERS.

You've heard many of these artists performing remakes of XTC's greatest. Now you'll hear their own compositions.

I recently asked the Awaken You Dreamers contributors to describe their songs. Here's what they have to say:

Steve Clarke (Song: Rainy Day Blues)
"Kind of . . . Norwegian Wood sung by Thomas Dolby on valium"
John Relph (Song: Don't Tell Me)
"Think Bob Mould meets Matthew Sweet and Nick Lowe for some hard-edged, jangly pop."
Me (Mark Cuevas) (Song: Molly Grey)
"10cc meets Eleanor Rigby [at the Overlook Hotel]"
Hades' Horror Is Now aka Harrison Sherwood ;) (Song: Kicking Out the William (Homage to Catatonia))
"Pop fluff so danged infectious it's been quarantined by the WHO. The lyrics are caulked to the brim with Clues and Hidden Meanings -- I wanna see those Green Lantern decoder rings samokin'.
Hint that will unravel the whole Gordian Knot: the Giant Squid is JFK."
Jeff Castanon (Song: Nine More Minutes)
"Like riding a roller coaster while eating an ice cream sundae."
Jason Garcia (Song: The Great American Public)
"Basically 'Radio, Radio' with a few twists, turns and surprises, sung by a guy in a McCartney costume."
becki digregorio (Song: Love Can)
"acoustic psychedelic heavy folk"
Paul Brantley (Song: Sing Along With Me)
"Composer of chamber music hears Mayor of Simpleton and becomes Your Honor of Homage"
Mike Foster (Song: The Vanishing Man)
[I wasn't able to get Mike's description, but it's a folksy acoustic ballad -- with strong vocals by Paul McNulty. These guys went to a London studio to record this one.]
Pat Tomek (Song: Hunger Moon)
"Tony Joe White tries to play 'Misty Mountain Hop' from memory"
Paul Rogers (Song: Love Is The Reason)
". . . sort of Crowded House v. Toad the Wet Sprocket"
Eric Day (Song: What the Hell Does the Devil Want With My Soul)
"A timid little waltz about self-flagellation with several incorrect chords and far too many notes"
Randy Christopher (Song: Anastasia)
"Anastasia is your basic pop rock with psychedelic overtones, and contains a tiny little lyrical tribute to XTC for those who are bored enough to actually try and decipher the words. But really, don't bother."
Jamie Brantley (Song: Better Than I Know Myself)
[I wasn't able to get Jamie's description, but his tune is an expertly engineered, mellow rock-type tune with good vocals and a really tasteful acoustic guitar solo]
Todd Bernhardt (Song: Good Enough)
"The Mayor of Simpleton (lyrically) meets the Godfather of Soul (musically)"
Mitch Friedman (Song: Purple Burt)
"Simply what would have happened had Syd Barrett been hosting a children's tv show and written a song for it."

Order Yours Today!

Finally we are ready to take orders for this long-awaited debut. The holdup was in the pricing of the cassettte inserts (J-cards). I am happy to report, however, that the J-cards will be in CoLoR, with spiffy artwork by contributor Brian Jones of the Southern California-based power pop band Mummer.

If you haven't yet ordered your copy of Chalkhills Originals '98 - Awaken You Dreamers, you had better hurry. Only a few copies remain!

Please contact Mark Cuevas for ordering details.


Some ordering information

It's best to enclose a mailing label (with your address on it) so that I can easily affix it to your package, but so long as your address appears somewhere in what you send to me, I'll get it right.

I will ship the tape when your check clears.

We have rounded up to the nearest nickel to offset extraneous costs like insufficient postage or having to send a letter back because we've run out of tapes. In all cases, however, we've endeavored to come as close as possible to the actual cost without incurring a loss.

Pick the place closest to you to determine your cost. If you know that it costs more, send a bit more.

You will notice that some of the steps in price are non-linear. It is due to postage costs.

Quan - United States
1..........$6.15
2..........$10.90
3..........$14.45

Quan - England
1..........$8.00
2..........$13.90
3..........$18.95

Quan - Japan
1..........$8.00
2..........$12.50
3..........$19.75

The Tracks

Side A:

Clockwise: Love Is The Reason (USA)
(Paul Rogers, Quinton Gibson, Jason Foures, Adam Wirdzek)

TOP 40: The Great American Public (USA)
(Jason Garcia)
Jason performed "Easter Theatre" on CC '97.

Wires & Drumless: The Vanishing Man (England)
(Paul McNulty, Tim Jellis, Mike Foster)
Mike organized the Basingstoke XTC convention, summer '97 (and performed as well).

Harrison Sherwood: Kicking Out The William (Homage to Catalonia) (USA)
(Harrison Sherwood)
Harrison performed "Living in Haunted Heart" on CC '96; and "Real by Reel" on CC '97.

Steve Clarke: Rainy Day Blues (England)
(Steve Clarke, Kathy Clarke)
Steve performed "Toys" on CC '97.

Look Number 9: Molly Grey (USA)
(Mark Cuevas, Jeff Castanon, Valerie Staines)
Mark and Jeff performed "Snowman" on CC '97.

Jamie Brantley: Better Than I Know Myself (USA)

Mummer: Nine More Minutes (USA)
(Jeff Castanon, Brian Jones, Kevin Shobe, Dave Arellano)
Jeff performed "Snowman" on CC '97

Side B:

The Mind Reels: Anastasia (USA)
(Randy Christopher, Mark Hunter, Mike Roberts, Bill Hauer)
Randy performed "Down a Peg" on CC '97.

Paul Brantley: Sing Along With Me (USA)
(Paul Brantley, Jamie Brantley, Steve Brantley)
Paul did not perform in the CC series but is a long time Chalkie.

Eric Day: What the Hell Does the Devil Want With My Soul? (USA)
Eric performed "It's Nearly Africa" on CC '96.

Becki DiGregorio: Love Can (USA)
Dave Gregory plays on her album seven worthies . . . of the bamboo grove.

John Relph: Don't Tell Me (USA)
John didn't perform on CC '97, but you know him -- he performed "Another Satellite" on Skylacking.

The Rainmakers: Hunger Moon (USA)
(Bob Walkenhorst, Steve Phillips, Michael Bliss, Pat Tomek)

Mitch Friedman: Purple Burt (USA)

Todd Bernhardt: Good Enough (USA)
(Todd Bernhardt, Alan Scott, Andre Walker)


Go back to Chalkhills Merchandise.

Mark G. Cuevas