Chalkhills, Number 237

                  Friday, 21 August 1992
Today's Topics:
                   Nonsvch promo insert
                XTC Spotlight on MuchMusic
                   Re:  Chalkhills #236
              Pumpkinhead -- Peter and Jack
                  (Radio and Skylarking)
                 (John Leckie and Dukes)
           The money, the horror, the horror...
               suggestion for next producer
                      US radio tape?

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 9:15:34 PDT
From: "John M. Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Nonsvch promo insert

Folks,

  I was in Washington D.C. last week and I went in one (count 'em, one)
record store.  It wasn't very good but I found one thing: a CD rack
divider with Andy's "How To Rationalize the Musical Universe" printed on
it.  The divider is designed to draw attention to the Geffen XTC
catalog.  It has the same pictures and comments from the Geffen Nonsvch
insert (see Digest #216 for details) except that they are arranged in a
rectangular pattern.  I thought it might make a good quilt...  So I
picked up the divider and asked the people at the front counter if they
would consider selling it.  They mumbled back and forth a bit and then
the man at the register said, "You can have it."  Maybe it was my "The
Difappointed" T-shirt that I was wearing.  How cool of him.  I expressed
my gratitude.  "Woe!" was all I had to say.  Woe dood.

	-- John

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 15:17:17 -0230
From: hamm@weejordy.physics.mun.ca (Craig Hamm)
Subject: XTC Spotlight on MuchMusic

	Did anyone else see the Much Music (Cdn.) 'Spotlight' on
	XTC last Thursday ?  I missed it, but saw my roomates tape which
	is now in his 'archive'  Only 1/2 hour, but it was great to see
	a decent band get some prime time coverage for a change!

	Craig Hamm

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 13:16:53 -0500
From: williams@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Kent Williams)
Subject: Re:  Chalkhills #236

So you all are speculating on producers for the next album?  My votes
are (in no particular order)

	1. J Mascis (Imagine selling that to Virgin!)
	2. Steve Lillywhite, again (I forget which album he did, I think
	   Black Sea)  Did you ever listen to 'All Mod Cons' by the Jam
	   REALLY LOUD???
	3. Robin Guthrie, though he and Andy might end up in a Calico Cat/
	   Calico Dog fight.
	4. Bob Thiele, if you're into the "I can hear andy rubbing his nose"
	   type production.

None of these are likely.  Fighting with Record Labels is a losing proposition.
But XTC has founded a reputation on a certain quirkiness and independence,
which seems to be homogenized out of the last 2-3 albums.

Incidentally, if you're into heart warming stories, I gave my brother who's
10 years younger than me "English Settlement" for Christmas in 1982.  Now
he's convinced Andy Partridge is God.  I used to think that; now I think
J Mascis is God, and Andy Partridge is Moses, or something like that.

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Date:         Wed, 19 Aug 92 16:11:01 EDT
From: Ben Zimmer <ZIMBENG@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu>
Subject:      Pumpkinhead -- Peter and Jack

OK -- so we all know Andy's explanation of how he came up with the idea for
Peter Pumpkinhead... saw a jack-o-lantern on a fence or something.  BUT...
another possible source of inspiration might have been L. Frank Baum's "The
Marvelous Land of Oz," the sequel to "The Wizard of Oz."  In it, a boy makes a
jack-o-lantern, then gives the jack-o-lantern a body made of sticks.  He names
his creation "Jack Pumpkinhead" (not Peter).  Jack Pumpkinhead comes alive,
and they eventually end up in the Emerald City, where they meet up with the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman.
Isn't Andy a fan of Baum?  If so, it seems that Jack Pumpkinhead must have
inspired Peter.  I remember him drawing some comparison between the trios of
Andy-Colin-Dave and Scarecrow-Tin Woodsman-Cowardly Lion.
Any other Oz references in XTC songs?   "Scarecrow People" jumps to mind, and
"Mayor of Simpleton" reminds me of "If I Only Had a Brain."

                                                                Ben Zimmer

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 14:44:21 -0500
From: drsmith@hamline.edu (jime)

here's something nifty!

last friday, the 14th o' august, a splendid deal was done.  one of the better
radio stations here (cities 97 i dunno the letters as i'm not a "radio's in
motion" in fan %-) fm) has a friday rush hour (for 20 minutes) called traffic
jam.  they have this program on every friday at 5pm, and they play 20
uninterrupted minutes of decent music.  well, our boys got their turn, last
week! i only heard a snit of it, such as "mayor of simpleton," and i think "my
bird performs" they also played "senses working overtime" and they said a bunch
of other things too, but i didn't catch them as i was already late for things.
then on sunday morning, on kjjo, fm (modern rock, 104) they had a show on
called "on the edge" i forget who the hostess was of it, but she did not do so
much talking.  they played xtc for about 45 minutes, then came another band.
but they'd play an xtc song and 3/4 of the way through it, andy would come on
and talk about stuff.  i think it was previously recorded. i recorded it, (got
up at 6am to be awake and vibrant for the 7am show!) but he was dry and
regular, and talked about stuff i'd already heard in _the_little_express_ and
chalkhills, here. (way ta stay ahead of 'em!).  so that was a pretty okay xtc
weekend here.

i just purchased _the_big_express_. it seems likeable. andy's comments in the
extra sleeve of _nonsuch_ do not describe it accurately. i got totally the
wrong impression from that. but i still do like it.

next, hopefully last (by now you say!) a friend of mine in dublin was
discussing music with me, and i asked if he'd ever heard _skylarking_ and he
said he'd never heard of xtc.  so i told him that he had to buy it at once! he
did! he loves it now, thinks i am the most brilliant person on the planet! he's
asking for more music references already!  my feelings are that _skylarking_ is
one of the best albums ever produced. i was introduced to xtc with _skylarking_
in fall of 1989 and have gone full blast since then. i noticed in the rankning
of xtc faves that a lot of people do not rank it very highly...which leads me
to this question: those who like _skylarking_ the best, were you first
introduced to xtc as that? and those who were not, were you introduced to
_skylarking_ as your first album. i think there is a directly proportional
relationship (to sound like a math/science person %-) to those who were
introduced to _skylarking_ first, and those who like it best of xtc. anyone
care to comment? (please, please do so at once!! %-) my roommate who introduced
me to _sky_ feels the same way. he bought _oranges_ and gave it away, he hated
it so much. now i am getting him into all the other xtc stuff which is all very
different, but very striking indeed!
sorry for being so treacherously turgid and long, 14 apologies, but there is my
pent up aesthetic emotions coming out!

peace-o!

dans  %-0

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 15:18:02 -0500
From: drsmith@hamline.edu (jime)

allright, now i am thoroughly caught up: done with chalkhills-request and
_the_l'il_express_.  re producers...hmmm.. this is very intersting...

i really like what john leckie did with the dukes! i'd like to see what they
could do with him now!  but i think one really interesting thing to see is what
nile rogers could do with xtc.  i think it could be another magical album like
_skylarking_  (sorry, i am too far gone on that one to go back now!)

what does anyone else think of this?  i haven't heard from nile for quite a
while, though. i am certain he is not on their list of people to consider,
though...so, i say we should ask the big boysat the top, and see what they're
going to say...i'm certain they'll tell us when they're ready...if they could
hear us bicker about all this stuff, would they say: bite the bark, or get a
life?

heheh!  nuthin' but fuel for the flames now!

lazer o'peece!!!

--dans

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Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 13:48:06 -0700
From: will kreth <kreth@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: The money, the horror, the horror...

Often I have a very dissatisfying experience at the newsstand, grazing
through vapid magazines about ego-driven celebs and their nothing lives.
BUT - the latest issue of Tower Record's PULSE (both a 'free' magazine at
Tower locations and a 'for sale' mag at newsstands) had those familiar THREE
LETTERS - X*T*C - on the cover. Yet another interview, I thought - here
months after Nonesvuch had fallen off the charts and the face of the earth.

Well, needless to say - (because here I am, boring you to death with the
long intro) - Brent Milano's interview was _great_! It explains the producer
connundrum at last, and even NAMES NAMES of the rejected candidates and the
extortion packages demanded up-front.

Also - the latest info on the home demo comp CD ("to be titled either
"Somesuch or Nearsuch") will be out this summer.

>>Ben Zimmer writes:
Don't recall if anyone's mentioned DON WAS as a potential producer for the
next album.  He's thanked in the _Nonsuch_ liner notes... anyone know why?
>>

Don Was is great! Eccentric, like our boys - and well known for good ears.

>>Gary Hanley assumes:

The next producer for XTC will be a person who is very experienced and
highly skilled in the fine art of producing a "produced" album. This
person is of course Eddy Offord, who has produced albums for ELP and
Yes amonst others.
>>

I feel certain that after the Gus Dudgeon experience, XTC will not opt for
the "dinosaur" producer choice again.

Mitch Froom. Still think he's a good choice. As long as he doesn't want
$100 grand up front and 4% of sales. 8^)

Krethmon

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Date: 19 Aug 1992 17:05:38 EST
From: BRANT.NELSON@bonnie.astro.ucla.edu
Subject: suggestion for next producer

How about Robin Guthrie (one of three Cocteau Twins,
current producer of Lush, past producer of Felt, AR Kane,
The Wolfgang Press, Dif Juz, and The Gun Club)?

One thing's for sure: it would sure be different!

Brant Nelson
Dewdrops Fanzine

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From: stuart@apollo.hp.com
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 16:19:46 EDT
Subject: US radio tape?

I was wondering if anyone has a copy of the tape once mentioned here
which was a compilation of some of XTC's US radio performances following
the release of "Oranges and Lemmings....I mean, Lemons"? Would a dub be
available, say, in exchange for something else of interest? Please email
me if you can accommodate. Thanks.
                                            -stuart@apollo.hp.com

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