Chalkhills, Number 126

                Wednesday, 30 January 1991
Today's Topics:
                Leckie, historical covers
                   Re: Chalkhills #125
         Re: New/old producers? (Chalkhills #125)
                         ecstasy
                     Glad to know ye!
                    And in response...

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Date: Fri, 25 Jan 91 19:38:58 PST
From: 6600kevc%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu (Kevin Carhart)
Subject: Leckie, historical covers

I have two items:
If anyone is a fan of John Leckie, producer of Go 2 and the Dukes stuff,
(anything else?) then I highly recommend The Trashcan Sinatras, who
he produced, on the album "Cake".  It is excellent mellow stuff, not to
mention the fact that I got to meet them at a KITS concert in San
Francisco.
me: Oh, John Leckie produced Cake!  He produced the Dukes of Stratosphear!
Paul (guitarist): I was just listening to that this morning.
They were extremely friendly, in spite of the fact that I asked obnoxious
things like:
me: has John Leckie ever mentioned anything about XTC?
:)
I have a question - some people have mentioned the white horse that makes
the cover of "English Settlement."  Does anyone know the historical origins
of the cover art for "Skylarking" and for the "King for a Day" remixes?
In the case of the remixes, now that I am aware that the other songs appear
on "Mummer," practically the only redeeming qualities of that thing are
the cover art, the chopping block on the back, and the photo of them on
the CD itself!  The art looks as though it's from some sort of medieval
tapestry.
    As for the "Skylarking" cover, I find the picture of those prehistoric
musicians to have great emotional power... fits great with the album, but
I will state my feelings on "Skylarking" in a seperate message.  Anyone
know the origin of that picture?
Kevin Carhart  6600kevc@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu

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From: fred@osf.org
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #125
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 91 15:48:42 EDT

> Kevin Carhart said:
>
> > Is anyone familiar with XTC's origins in relation to the drug?  People
> > who i am talking to about XTC will occasionally snicker, "ah yes, Ecstasy."
>
> In the interviews I've heard (and with my scant knowledge of the 'Ecstasy'
> culture), XTC (the band) was around way before the drug.
> The first XTC record came out in 1977.

actually, the drug has been around a lot longer, but not the name...
Back in the early '70's, it was called (only) MDA.  I don't know how
long it had been around at that point..

Fred

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Date: Mon, 28 Jan 91 22:32:00 EST
From: klm@cme.nist.gov (Ken Manheimer)
Subject: Re: New/old producers? (Chalkhills #125)

Gary Jedlicka wrote:

> So both Lillywhite and Paghdam are producing the new album.  Wow.  Could
> this signal the final shedding of the Dukes' psycheledic skin?  Could this
> signal a return to their old sound?  I hope not.  Time for something new.

I salivate at the prospect of getting some XTC with some of their old
sound!  It's not that i miss the heydey so much as i miss those raw,
assaulting edges.

At some point there was discussion on this list about a few camps of
XT-Ciples, early (i *love* _Go 2_ and _Drums and Wires_), middle
(_Black Sea_, _English Settlement_, which actually i love as well),
and late (_Oranges and Lemmons_, _Skylarking_, yawn).  I think the
combination of their rough, aggressive edges mixed with their sublime
(both musical and verbal) lyricism is what originally hooked me on
XTC, and what still gets my goat (grabs me by the throat and slaps my
mammy down, de doo wah:-). (Ok, so that's more Deviated that XTCtatic;
devo had some similar sublime antic tendencies.  Not quite the same
deep exuberant musicality, tho...)

The middle period seemed to have even more exquisite lyricism than the
early stuff but *without* sacrificing the guts, while the later stuff
never, for me, quite gels, never becomes something real and immediate.
Maybe i haven't given it enough of a chance, but i do feel like that
raw edge is missing or dulled.

Oh well, it took me a while (years) to realize that i liked them at
all in the first place, but when that happened it was like blinders
removed.  Who knows, maybe i'll one day turn a corner and look at the
recent stuff in a whole new light, 30 years hence...

Ken Manheimer
klm@cme.nist.gov (301)975-3539		I like time.  It's one of my favorites.

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Date:    Tue, 29 Jan 1991 17:24:30 CST
From: GJJ5315@venus.tamu.edu
Subject: ecstasy

Maybe XTC was around longer than the drug's name, but the substance itself
was created as a nerve agent in World War I.

Gary

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From: Ross MacKay <ross@ray.grdl.noaa.gov>
Subject: Glad to know ye!
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 12:44:33 EST

Hello XTC Fans,
  I'm new to this here net, so please forgive my lack of up-to-
dateness.  But now that I'm here, there are a few burning issues
I'd like to know about:

  >Does anyone have a Lyrics File (maybe even with chords)?
       - I understand that the UMass Lyrics Server DID have XTC
         songs on it, but has recently bit the dust.
  >Has anyone compiled a cassettes worth of the Oranges and
       Lemons radio tour stuff?
       - I can make copies of Jules Verne's Sketchbook to trade
         for this one (providing no Copy Right violations upset
         anyone).
  >Is it a given that everyone here subscribes to The Little Express?
  >What's all this about a producer's been sellected for their next CD?

  Responces to Chalkhills or by personal email will be eagerly awaited...
--
                                              ross@ray.grdl.noaa.gov
                                                   301-443-8424

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Date: Wed, 30 Jan 1991 13:14:54 PST
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: And in response...

Broadcasting live from Mars, here's ace reporter Kevin Carhart
 (6600kevc%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu):

>Is anyone familiar with XTC's origins in relation to the drug?  People
>who i am talking to about XTC will occasionally snicker, "ah yes, Ecstasy."

Yes, XTC (the band) has been around much longer than XTC (the drug).
The first time I ever heard of Ecstasy (XTC, MDMA, or ADAM) was around
1982, and by that time XTC (the band) already had four LPs out.  MDMA
is a designer drug, a chemically altered analog to MDA, a drug which
has been around much longer.

Andy Partridge says: "And we don't even get 10% from sales of the drug!"

				. . .

Nearer to home, Wes Wilson (wilson@psylo.enet.dec.com) asks a few questions:

>1. Any idea what songs will be on the new LP? I heard "Blue Beret"
>   merely one time.
>
>   My guess is that "Blue Beret" will appear on the next LP.

I wouldn't bet on it, although a few songs from earlier demos have
made it onto later LPs.  Personally I would be happier if "This is The
End", a demo from _Oranges and Lemons_, made it onto the LP.  What a
great song.

>   Does anyone have "Making Plans for Andy"? My guess is that this
>   is the rarest CD. Maybe someday I'll own it.

Probably the rarest.  There's also the recently released _Last Live
Show_ CD, which is probably harder to find, but time will tell.

>3. Any idea who will be the drummer for the new LP?

Neil Peart?  (That's a joke.)

I think it should be Chris Pedersen, the drummer from Camper Van
Beethoven.  (Dream on.)

>4. Oh, yes, the Dukes/Skylarking connection. I have read in
>   more than one place that listeners feel that Skylarking
>   was a continuation of the Dukes of Stratospheare's "feel",
>   but personally I don't see it at that much. Am I in a
>   minority? The Dukes stuff is more overtly psychedelic,
>   in my opinion. Skylarking to me represents "thinking man's
>   (or woman's) pop music" more so than a tribute to the 60's
>   psych bands.

There are some definite psychadelic bits to Skylarking, and in fact
when it came out a good friend and I sat 'round and tried to figure
out which songs were inspired by which 60's artists.  For example,
"Earn Enough for Us" sounds like the Beatles, "Season Cycle" like the
Beach Boys", etc.  And besides, XTC did say that they used The Dukes'
guitars.

>   Sure, there are Beatles-esque influences on Skylarking,
>   but I just don't see the Dukes' style on it...
>
>5. The "She's Having a Baby" soundtrack. Does anyone know if there
>   are any good songs on this besides XTC's "Happy Families"?
>   Is HF the same mix as appears on "Rag n' Bone Buffet"?

There's "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush, "Full of Love" by Dr.
Calculus, "It's All in the Game" by Carmel, and songs by Dave
Wakeling, Love and Rockets, Gene Loves Jezebel, Bryan Ferry,
Everything But The Girl, and Kirsty MacColl.

And "Happy Families" on _SHAB_ is a remix, done without XTC's express
permission.  They added strings and generally watered it down.  But
some people think the original XTC mix sounds cheesy, because of the
drum machine.

				. . .

Joe Lynn (oconnor!siouxsie!jtl@oddjob.uchicago.edu) says:

>(Normally, I don't like quoting sources like _ICE_ without letting
>them get mileage out of their info themselves, but this seemed
>pertinent to the Digest.

Yes, every so often there is information of great interest in _ICE_.

>Many critics (and Chalkhillians) have said that on _Oranges and Lemons_
>XTC *became* the Dukes of Stratosphear.  I find _O&L_ much more Dukes-ish
>than _Skylarking_.

Some songs are definitely more Dukes-ish, especially "Here Comes
President Kill Again", "The Loving", and the ending of "Garden of
Earthly Delights", but other than those songs I think there's little
of the obvious retro-psychadelia of The Dukes.

	-- John

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