Chalkhills, Number 280

                   Monday, 7 June 1993
Today's Topics:
                  Separated At Birth ??
                   Re: Chalkhills #279
                        ouTakeS...
                       This is Pop!
                       Re: HeLLo...
                    Two Little Hitlers

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Date: Fri, 28 May 93 09:43:23 EST
From: graeme@research.canon.oz.au (Graeme Wong See)
Subject: Separated At Birth ??

The other week while I was watching my favourite Boston Celtics go down and
seeing Kevin McHale retire I thought "gee Colin Moulding looks like Kevin
McHale!!". I reckon add a bit of height to Colin Moulding (anyone know how
tall he is) and add a bit of shoulder length hair to Kevin McHale and they
could be brothers!!

Just an curious observation.

Graeme

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From: Tim Szeliga <tim@snow.nohrsc.nws.gov>
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #279
Date: Fri, 28 May 93 7:15:45 CDT

Re: "...seems to obey..."

Because Nature has granted Woman so much power, the Law has, wisely,
granted her none.
                    Dr. Samuel Johnson

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Subject: ouTakeS...
Date: Fri, 28 May 93 09:02:27 -0400
From: silva@mond1.ccrc.uga.edu

Kevin said:

Does anyone know if these songs ever saw the light of day and if they are
available?

   I'm fairly certain that "eXTroVerT" was one of them, because I
originally purchased it as a B-side to the "GraSS" single. And of
course that made it on to RaGnBonE.  As for any others, I can't say...

JoE
silva@mond1.ccrc.uga.edu

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Date: Fri, 28 May 93 09:22:31 EDT
From: 28-May-1993 0904 <wilson@meta.enet.dec.com>
Subject: This is Pop!

Last weekend I say a small, but interesting show at Brandeis University
in nearby Waltham, MA.

It wasn't a music show, but rather an art exhibit of works from the
1960s.

While there was some stuff that didn't appeal to me, there were a few
items that - and here's the XTC connection - reminded me of early XTC.
And the punk/new wave movement in general.

First, there was a Lichtenstein painting, kind of looked like a
comic, with a man in the foreground saying to a distraught-looking
woman in the background: "Forget it! Forget me...I'm just not your
type!"...or something like that. Very colorful. If you've never seen
any of Lichtenstein's work, check it out.

There were a few pieces by Warhol which were also very thought-provoking.
Another painting was of a 50's style kitchen, and it had real oven
knobs protruding from the canvas!

I don't know, the whole thing reminded me of "White Music", "Go 2",
and "Drums and Wires." Easily accessible, quirky, colorful, jarring,
and most of all - POP!

One remark by an artists that really stood out was something like,
"We're reacting to the private mythologies of the Abstract Expressionists
and saying, 'Look around you in everyday life and see the art on the
supermarket shelves, on magazine covers, in newspapers.'"

I think this is the way the early XTC albums are: easily accessible,
nothing personal, just words for the words' sake, jaunty, somewhat
dissonant. I miss that sometimes!

_ _ _ _ _

Someone was asking about "the lost Skylarking tracks." Well, I know
of three that I believe were intended for "Skylarking" and ended
up on the 12'' vinyl "The Meeting Place": Terrorism, Find the Fox,
Let's Make a Den.

I think that some of the others ended up on "Jules Vernes Sketchbook".
Extrovert is on "Rag n' Bone Buffet."

So, while the band probably had well over an hour's worth of material
for "Skylarking," Todd had this vision of the way he wanted the
songs to appear in sequence on the album, so the rest were cut with
the exception of Another Satellite, which Andy insisted on having
on the album.

Bye...gotta search out that all-elusive New Wave album, on orange
vinyl nonetheless...

Have a Modern day.

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Date: Thu, 3 Jun 93 10:34:38 PDT
From: "John M. Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Re: HeLLo...

JoE <silva@mond1.ccrc.uga.edu> broadcasting live from the Moon, says:
>
>p.s. - When I spoke to Andy he said he was preparing a followup to the
>JV Sketchbook clled "The Bull With the Golden Guts" or something like
>that. Does anyone know if anything new has been released?

Yes, it has.  _The Bull With The Golden Guts_ is now available from
The Little Express.  If you are a subscriber to The Little Express,
you shouls have received an order form.  If you do not subscribe to
The Little Express, perhaps now is the time to do so.  Send a S.A.S.E.
to

  The Little Express: Box 1072, Barrie, Ontario, L4M 5E1, Canada

and make sure to ask about _The Bull..._

Check out Digest #266 for a full transcription of the liner notes from
_The Bull_.  "Zonked Right Out (On Life" is a great dance tune.  Andy
should be in Techno.  "Goosey Goosey" is fun.  "Difficult Age" could
have been a great tune, as could have "Everything".  And of course,
"This Is The End" is one of the best unfinished songs I've heard from
Andy Partridge in a long while.  John Bob says, "Check it out".

        -- John

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From: leo@cp.tn.tudelft.nl (Leo Breebaart)
Subject: Two Little Hitlers
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1993 11:17:41 +0200 (MET DST)

If I understand the account in Twomey's book correctly, than Todd
Rundgren went out of his way to make the "Skylarking" sessions as
unpleasant as possible: he made non-negotiable decisions about what
songs to use before even meeting the band, during recording he was
hostile and distant, and he childishly ridiculed and heckled Andy
every chance he got.

What I want to know is: why? Did anybody everybody get Todd's side of
the story? Is he really such an asshole, or is Twomey exaggerating a
bit and was it just a question of escalating Ego Clash between Todd
and Andy?  But if so, then why was Rundgren unpleasant to the other
members of the band as well? Todd has done a gazillion production jobs
-- is he well-known to be difficult or unpleasant to work with?

If there's anybody out there who can provide a bit more background
information I would love to hear about it. Feel free to email me if
this has been hashed out on this list too often.

--
Leo Breebaart (leo @ cp.tn.tudelft.nl)

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