Chalkhills Digest Volume 1, Issue 231
Date: Friday, 17 July 1992
Chalkhills, Number 231
Friday, 17 July 1992
Today's Topics:
Coronation Street
Review Nonsuch
Interview
Overview
Wardance and Peter Murphy
Vinyl...?
CHART: Vancouver BC Canada: 09 Jul 92
Swindon Swindlers
Subject-ive
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 2 Jul 92 08:59:10 BST From: Toby Howard <toby@computer-science.manchester.ac.uk> Subject: Coronation Street Heard playing on the radio in the background in last night's Coronation Street: Peter Pumpkinhead. The world is indeed a strange place. Toby PS In case non-UK people are baffled, "Coronation Street" is a British soap that's been running on ITV since about 1960. (BTW, I think the current theme tune is an arrangement by Paul McCartney done in about 1966).
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From: hvgtw!dhgpa!adkoning@hvlpa.att.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 10:26 MDT
Subject: Review Nonsuch
Review Nonsuch in "OOR" number 10, May 16 1992; by Edwin Ammerlaan:
_Sweetpuss_
'Alarmingly straight.' And Andy Partridge goes on. On _Nonsuch_
XTC is 'within about two inches of The Brotherhood Of Man.' Joker.
Nothing is as it seems, even if Andy Partridge says so. Certainly not
if Andy Partridge says so! The songs on XTC's tenth album seem
simple, lightweight, melodic. But in this simplicity lies XTC's
strength as collective and Partridges' skill as songwriter.
Simplicity that can also tip the scales to superficiality, like the
current single _The Disappointed_ proves. It's the only commercial
kneefall on _Nonsuch_. In the other sixteen songs the group goes it's
own way and puts the listener regularly on the wrong foot. She does
this in fact with the same combination of intellect and undercooled
homour we see with Crowded House, REM or David Byrne. Knife-sharp
lyrics, masterly compositions, packed in almost ingenious arrangements
with the help of three decennia pop-history.
The references are empathically present. They vary from The
Beatles (with emphasis on the voice and compositions of McCartney in
amongst others _Holly Up On Poppy_) to The Beach Boys, while _The
Smartest Monkeys_ is to describe like an afternoon 'Joe Jackson meets
10CC.' This obstinate mix is brought with such a disarming drive that
even the biggest sourpuss will give a lurch. Partridge against the
sourpusses; XTC is completely back.
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From: hvgtw!dhgpa!adkoning@hvlpa.att.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 10:26 MDT
Subject: Interview
Interview in "OOR" number 12, June 13, 1992; by Oene Kummer:
_Andy Partridge is dealer in XTC_
but lying on a sofa in the Amsterdam _Americain Hotel_ the self-
proclaimed speaker for _the Disappointed_ has more of an ironic,
thirty-eight year old university professor that explains to his
audience how the wonderfull world of pop music works. He starts to
talk before the cassette recorder is on and doesn't stop afterwards.
'Our new album -- our tenth if I'm not mistaken - we have called,
modest as we are, _Nonsuch_. Which is old English for unsurpassable.
Not to be beat. We have to wait if that is really true, but every
record must in principle be the last and best XTC album. In my
opinion we have become, since _English Settlement_ in 1982, the year
we stopped to play live, a little better every time, although we have
taken a long time to grow mature. The careers of most bands are over
after fifteen months, while we have taken fifteen years to get going.
I have the urge to excuse us for that. We have no rights for a career
as long as that! Ask our friends of the English press, for whom you
are old news after five minutes and that have never forgiven us that
we kept going on. It's all gotten a bit out of hand and thanks for
that. I don't want what I wanted earlier: to become rich and famous
and screw the whole world. One half figurative and the other half
literal. Don't look at me so surprised, because that's what everyone
wants that has the mentality of a member of a teenage gang. Also the
somewhat stuffy, silly Andy Partridge that you see before you. It's
the classic sex, drugs & rock & roll story. That's why you start a
band.
'But next you do all those things and you find out it's nothing at
all. It's empty and superficial. In 1982 the _teenage gang member_
in me died that wanted to be a Monkee-Beatle-Rolling Stone and out of
the ashes there rose a baby that wanted to be the best songwriter in
the world. He is now 10 years old and he's doing nice, but I have the
feeling as if I'm still only just begun. I have to get rid of all
that sixties shit in our music. And then the fifties. And the
seventies. Everything that comes out now, has gone in as a child.
People ask: why are you a retro band? Why do you sound like The
Beatles and The Beach Boys? However I for myself think that we sound
more like The Kinks mixed with Steely Dan. But those are the sticks
we use to build our huts. And it would be healthy if other bands
would lie a little less about their influences, because I hear
everybody in everybody.
'But I have good ears, because I also hear things in us that other
people don't hear: Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Sun Ra, John
Coltrane. The tension between experimental jazz and the will to
exorcise the Small Faces, Kinks, Beatles, between that lies the music
of XTC. A song like _Miniature Sun_ from _Oranges and Lemons_ has
chord changes from the jazz fusion and a text that could be from The
Beach Boys.
'Originality doesn't exist according to me. Listen to the Beatles
and you hear big pieces of Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Listen to
their arrangements and you hear George Martin. He is called the fifth
Beatle, but for me he was the first. A genius. The Beatles could
write good songs, but they needed his arrangements to make them alive.
If you hear demos they made before they started to work with him. So
bad. No wonder they were rejected by so many labels.
'What is a miracle is that we haven't been dumped by our record
company Virgin after all those years. Our last two albums,
_Skylarking_ and _Oranges and Lemons_ have sold respectively 250.000
and 350.000 copies in America, but still it has taken a lot of time
before _Nonsuch_ was a fact. The record was in the end produced by
Gus Dudgeon with on drums Dave Mattocks [sp], formerly from Fairport
Convention. It is a pity that _The Disappointed_ has been released as
the first single. For me it's not more than a nice biscuit with the
tea, but it was our first top 40 hit since ages ago in England, so for
that it has done it's work.
'About the next single, _The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead_, I'm more
satisfied. It's about people that want to do too many good things
with their lives and therefore are cleared out of the way, like John
Lennon or JFK, although I haven't written the song with them in mind.
Apart from that there are two songs very important for me. _Books Are
Burning_ is about freedom of speech, a sacred thing, and has been
written because of the riots about _The Satanic Verses_ by Salman
Rushdie. And _Rook_, for myself the most mysterious song I ever
wrote, is about the accepting of human mortality. Furtheron, Colin
Moulding, our bass player, has surpassed all his previous compositions
with _Bungalow_. It has a brilliant simplicity that I envy. Together
with guitar player Dave Gregory we are now more than ever a today's
version of The Brotherhood Of Man. Taking into account that The
Brotherhood Of Man was much more rock & roll than XTC has ever been.
'The chances that XTC will ever tour again are still very small.
The pure physical fear that I feel when I'm confronted with a big
audience is the main reason. We did do acoustic sessions in America
at the time of _Oranges and Lemons_ and that went reasonably well. I
am afraid that the program _MTV Unplugged_ was caused by us. At MTV
they wanted us to do an electrical show on their soundstage, but we
wanted something with three acoustic guitars. They used us as a
try-out and they liked it so much that now the make it an obligation
for everybody to play acoustic.
'With _Nonsuch_ we also wanted to do acoustic sessions in Europe,
but in France they had arranged appearances that would draw a few
thousand people. I got paralyzed by fear, so I thought, shit, it's
not worth it and pulled the plug from it. If it's a few people, it's
okay, but when it gets too crowded, when the crowd begins to scream
when I get on stage, I close up. Very differrent from sitting here on
the couch. Pardon me, but from all the Perrier that I drank this
afternoon, I have to leave terrible farts. That sums it up quite
good. Andy Partridge. From the front there comes out wind. And from
the back also!'
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From: hvgtw!dhgpa!adkoning@hvlpa.att.com
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 10:26 MDT
Subject: Overview
Here's an overview of the 'chart succes' for the Nonsuch album in the
"Moordlijst" ('murder list'). It's published in "OOR" and broadcast
on VPRO radio. It's a top 30 list that's compiled by deejays and
(music) reporters from various magazines and newspapers.
May 9: 13 (new entry)
May 16: 8
May 23: 6
May 30: 5
June 6: 5
June 13: 9
June 20: 10
June 27: 10
July 4: gone...
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 14 Jul 92 14:53:28 CDT From: Ingrid de Beus <ied1@midway.uchicago.edu> Subject: Wardance and Peter Murphy Hello, Chalkhills! I'm a new-born fan of XTC, having been introduced by a dear friend to the band with "Merely a Man". <gasp!> what a newcomer am I. 8^) In a flush of enthusiasm, I bought _Nonesuch_ (I rarely buy music), and loved almost all of the songs. I could do without "Bungalow", and "Rook" is growing on me ve-ery slo-owly. "Wardance" is the reason for my posting. The sampled clarinette? is a really nice touch, in my humble opinion. Listening a few dozen times has brought to mind a similarity between "Wardance" and "Cuts You Up" by Peter Murphy. "Cuts You Up" has a melodic line sketched by a vionocello (heck if I know if it's a sample). Does anyone know if there are any other pseudo-connections or real-connections to Bauhaus and Peter Murphy >from XTC? I haven't had the opportunity to listen to a lot of the music of either bands, unfortunately, since my means to do so are strictly limited. Please forgive my lack of knowledge and accept in its place a genuine wish to explore anything new. Thank you. Ingrid ___________________________________________________________________________ Ingrid Elvire Maria de Beus there is no god ied1@midway.uchicago.edu only greed,dung,and lies oracle@usite-next.uchicago.edu you've got no soul eyes of green smoke and hair of gold only rips in your eyes __________________________________________________________________________
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From: wilson@psylo.enet.dec.com
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 92 09:40:14 PDT
Subject: Vinyl...?
I just recently joined the dwindling mass of those who buy records - I
have some old records that I wanted to listen to again, and some
newer ones for which I didn't want to buy the CD version.
If you have some XTC vinyl to sell, drop me a note with price(s)
and condition. Like the rest of my collection (mostly CDs), I'm
looking for material in top-notch shape (mint/near mint).
I called Mod Lang in Berkeley, CA, and they've so far sent me
the 12" "Meeting Place" (which has the four demo tracks not
on CD), and Barry Andrews "Town and Country" (granted, not XTC
per se, but of interest).
By the way, "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" sounds better
on vinyl, IMO, than the CD version of the same.
By the way (again), from my "old" collection, I have:
(all on vinyl)
The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 (in mint shape)
Nick Lowe - Pure Pop for Now People (mint)
Select 45's:
Culture Club - Church of the Poison Mind (p/s)
Blondie - Dreaming (no p/s)
Heart of Glass (p/s)
Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi b/w Pogo Pogo
Madness - Our House (p/s)
Psych. Furs - Ghost in You (p/s)
Geez, I miss 7'' singles. :-(
Wes
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From: jakubec@mprgate.mpr.ca (Trent J Jakubec)
Subject: CHART: Vancouver BC Canada: 09 Jul 92
Date: 11 Jul 92 11:50:01 GMT
Organization: Delft University of Technology
Thursday, 09 July 1992
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT TOP 50
===========================
[excerpted for Chalkhills]
TW = This Week; LW = Last Week; WOC = Weeks on Chart; Con Date = Concert Date
* = Canadian Artist
TW LW WOC | Artist Title | Con Date
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1 39 | Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 21 Jul
2 3 40 |*Tom Cochrane Mad Mad World |
3 2 3 | Faith No More Angel Dust | 17 Aug
4 6 7 | The Black Crowes The Southern Harmony & Music Com|
5 10 31 | U2 Achtung Baby! |
.
34 23 2 | The Allman Bros Band An Evening with the Allman Bros |
35 35 6 | XTC Nonesuch |
36 26 3 | Simon and Garfunkel The Definitive Simon & Garfunkel|
.
Until next week
Trent
=============================================================================
Dislaimer: Republished Without Permission
Concert Information Added From The Georgia Straight's "TIME OUT
MUSIC" section and various advertisements.
THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT TOP 50 is a weekly survey of the best-selling albums in
the Greater Vancouver area, based primarily on record sales charts provided
by major retailers, and modified by chart trend indicators such as new
singles, releases, radio airplay charts and add-ons, and trade magazine
charts.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 16 Jul 92 19:27:47 EDT From: Steve Levenstein <70750.1117@compuserve.com> Subject: Swindon Swindlers Hi Chalkhillers and Chalkhillerettes! So, you thought that the infamous "Paris Promotions" fiasco soured you on buying any more XTC clothing? I thought so, at least. Then, at a local Flea Market last weekend, I spied a pair of shoes emblazened "XTC FORCE". And priced at a mere 10 dollars, yet! Alas, I can't wear them, but they fit our 6 year old son perfectly! Speaking of the dreaded "Paris Promotions", has anyone received ANYTHING from those Swindon Swindlers??? Y'know, I placed a BIG order with them way back in February 1990. All I got were a few T-shirts and an XTC pen. The better T-shirts and ANY sweatshirts AND ANY refund or apology NEVER came. Bad news, those dudes... ---> Steve
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Date: Fri, 17 Jul 92 13:30:10 PDT
From: "John M. Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Subject-ive
I went on holiday for three weeks, and there were three XTC events
during that time.
The first was that a good friend, mostly a jazz listener, happened
to hear the interview with Andy Partridge on NPR (which I haven't
heard -- anybody tape it?). He said he thought the lyrics were DUMB.
But he mitigated that statement by also saying that he really never
listens to lyrics anyway. He also said he thought that Andy was
deluded, thinking that "Rook" was the best song he has hever
written...
The second was when I went record shopping in Seattle and happened
to go into a store that was having a half-price vinyl sale, in which I
found a Virgin UK LP copy of Oranges and Lemons and immediately bought
it for under US$10! Wow.
The third and final was probably the most surprising. The
aforementioned friend, my girlfriend and I went to Long Beach,
Washington, to get some pizza for dinner. In the pizza joint was a CD
jukebox and one of the CDs in the jukebox seemed to be a "college
radio hits" promotional jukebox-only compilation CD, and on that CD
was, yes, "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"! So of course I had to
play it...
So now I am back from holiday, sorry if my absence caused any
Chalkhills problems.
I picked up a copy of _Tower Records' Pulse!_ magazine and there is
an ad which reads
Hearing is Believing!
Now you can hear the music BEFORE you buy.
* Just dial 1-212-724-4837.
* Press the three-digit code number listed by the disc
you want to hear.
* Press [5] to repeat a track.
* Press [6] to skip to the next track.
* Press [*] and the new code number to hear another
disc at any time.
* Press [7] to order any featured music. . .
It's easy and fun!
Touch Tunes (TM)
The Audio Music Magazine
But the kicker is that XTC's _Nonsvch_ is featured (disc number 318)!
If you have seen the Hi-Larry-Us (say it fast) XTC video "The Road
To Oranges And Lemons", otherwise known as the XTC puppet show video,
then perhaps you have heard the name John Kalodner, A & R man for
Geffen Records. Andy does a great imitation of his very Hollywood
flat American accent. Here's his bio as written by Stephen Fried as
if it were on the back of his baseball card:
John David Kalodner
A & R Man
Team: Geffen Records
Born: 12/10/49, Philadelphia, Penn.
Pulling himself up from humble beginnings as a Philly rock
critic, Kalodner's been an A&R star since the mid '70s,
racking up an anviable track record. His '70s stint with
Atlantic Records helped make the world safe for AC/DC,
Foreigner and the solo careers of Phil Collins and Peter
Gabriel. During his lengthy tenure with Geffen, he has
helped to jumpstart the stalled careers of Aerosmith and
Cher and was instrumental in putting together the much-
ridiculed but temporarily huge Asia.
Kalodner Fun Fact: The verb "to Kalodner" has come into
common usage in music-industry circles.
Quote: "Asia was my fantasy band."
And finally, at the back of the magazine are the charts.
XTC's _Nonsvch_ entered the Audio Best-Sellers chart at
number 14, for the week ending May 16, 1992. And
_Nonsvch_ was at number 5 in the Breakouts chart, which
uses an arcane rating system based on its position in the
Best-Sellers chart and the number of units shifted at the
various Tower Records stores.
Enough is too much. Ciao,
-- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, fan club addresses, discography requests (last update 17 June), back issues, FAQ list, etc., send a message to the following address: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> The Chalkhills archives are available at "http://chalkhills.org/". All views expressed in Chalkhills are those of the individual contributors only. I'm merely a man.
Go back to Volume 1.
17 July 1992 / Feedback