Chalkhills, Number 3

                  Sunday, 23 April 1989

Today's Topics:
                The Bells of St. Clement's
                    Re: Terry Chambers
                       XTC drummers

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1989 11:21:28 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: The Bells of St. Clement's

In article <8904221648.AA00869@king.csri.toronto.edu> of rec.music.misc
migod@csri.toronto.edu (Mike Godfrey) writes:
>In article <3952@emory.mathcs.emory.edu> of rec.music.misc
>colm@mathcs.emory.edu (Colm Mulcahy) writes:
>
>>Andy Partridge of XTC (that new band from LA) had only 300 quid in his
>>bank account when they set out to record the Bells Of St. Clements.
>
>Hmm, sounds like they should have called it after the Bells of St. Bailey.
>
>(Uhhh was is "St" or "Old".  Naww couldn't be "Old Bailey", it doesn't have
> any bells does it?.  Was is "Bailey" even?  Sigh, I can't remember the
> goshdarn rhyme.)

Andy Partridge says:

    The working title for the album is _Oranges and Lemons_, but
    I don't think anyone in power likes it, they all think it's
    rather twee; but all three of us quite like it, which is a
    rare occasion.  Maybe it's not whizzy and show business
    enough; the combination of those words are more traditional,
    and I don't think anyone knows the nursery rhyme over here.
    To me, the phrase associates with songs that last forever.
    Another title suggestion was "Frown Turned Upside Down"; I'm
    sure we'll come up with something that ties up the whole
    package.

Here's the nursery rhyme in question:

    Oranges and Lemons,
    Say the bells of St. Clement's.
    Halfpence and farthings,
    Say the bells of St. Martin's.
    When will you pay me?
    Say the bells of Old Bailey.
    When I grow rich,
    Say the bells of Shoreditch.
    When will that be?
    Say the bells of Stepney.
    I'm sure I don't know,
    Says the great Bell of Bow.

	-- John

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1989 17:27:56 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Re: Terry Chambers

Regarding Terry Chambers, this bit appears in an interview with XTC by
Jane Cullen, the cover story from the April 1989 _Tower Records
Pulse!_ magazine.

      Retiring from the road would prove to cost the group much.
    Not only did XTC lose the chance to promote its albums through
    established channels, but the music the band was developing
    fror the next album was proving more sophisticated, and thus
    potentially even harder to sell to the masses.  And it was hard
    to sell to the first casualty of the reorientation of the
    group, drummer Chambers.
      "Touring was really three parts of it for him," says Moulding
    of his old pal's departure.  "And he was having a bit of
    trouble with the new songs [which would eventually appear in
    '83 on _Mummer_].  We were getting more intricate and Terry's
    basically a thump-whack drummer.  One day we were working on
    `Love on a Farmboy's Wages,' and he was frustrated and said, `I
    can't do this -- and, as a matter of fact, I'm leaving the
    group anyway.'
      The group was shocked, but the die was cast, and Chambers was
    gone, off to Australia with his new wife.

	-- John

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1989 17:50:07 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: XTC drummers

This is fuel for the drummer debate, from the recent article in
_Musician_ magazine:

      [Partridge] notes that the three drummers on XTC's four
    post-Chambers albums "all have different personalities.
    Prairie Prince had a tight, flicky kind of sound -- a very
    controlled feel.  Pat Mastelotto was not afraid to use a lot of
    electronic bits and pieces, and not afraid to play along with
    machines; in fact, he encouraged it, which we thought was quite
    revolutionary in a drummer, 'cause drummers mostly think of
    machines as putting them out of work.  He's very metronomic,
    and that underscored the precise feel to a lot of tracks on
    this album."

	-- John

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

For all administrative issues, such as change of address,
withdrawal from the list, discography requests, etc., send
a message to the following address:

	<chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org>

The views expressed in Chalkhills
are those of the individual authors only.

---

Go back to Volume 1.

24 April 1989 / Feedback