Chalkhills Digest Volume 1, Issue 333
Date: Wednesday, 16 March 1994
Chalkhills, Number 333
Wednesday, 16 March 1994
Today's Topics:
Intro to members
Re: Chalkhills #332
Re: The Red Curtain & Co.
03:Chalkhills #331
XTC Interview LP Query
Re: Survey
Tubes did Cry_to_me ?
This 'N' That...
Introduction Re: Chalkhills #332
Six strings, no waiting
Crash Test Dummies, eh?
CFV: rec.music.beach-boys
Home at last...a new subscriber finds his people
Gribouillage and Go2
Best solo
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: 11 Mar 94 15:26:14 EST From: Steve Cohen <71334.1516@compuserve.com> Subject: Intro to members Greetings fellow XTC fans--I am a commercial photographer in NYC and a big fan of Partridge, Moulding et al. I heard about the club through the Net Guide-I look forward to receiving newsletters and such from the group. e-mail me at Compuserve 71334.1516 Steve
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Date: Fri, 11 Mar 94 16:39:53 EST
From: "Gene (Sp00n) Yoon" <ST004422@brownvm.brown.edu>
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #332
<GOOSENMK@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu> wrote:
>And--not to start a flame war or anything, God forbid--does
>anyone else not care for the Dukes? As a loyal XTC fan, I bought all
>the Dukes' stuff but found it (aside from a certain amusement value) to
>be lacking. I much preferred straight-out XTC albums. Besides, the
>Dukes come from the period of XTC's career which I like the least
>(Mummer-Big Express-Skylarking), so I consider the Dukes to be part of
>that mini-slump in XTC-land. BTW, those aforementioned albums are all
>quite good; they suffer only in comparison to the albums which preceded
>and followed them...
Not to instill a flame war or anything, but oh, how reading this
did pain me.... Just as an example, Vanishing Girl is such a
brilliantly-written, tight song that it really amazed me how much I
liked it upon the first listening; usually I have to hear a song many
times before truly appreciating it, as is the case with a lot of XTC.
Actually, this and a couple other tracks from Psonic Psunspot could
easily have been conceivable on an XTC album, with maybe some less
idiosyncratic production.
Andy and Colin's music has always been innovative
and unique, but it's really delightful when they're actually TRYING to
be weird. And 25 o'clock and PS reveal their wonderfully absurd sides
better than most XTC stuff. Of course, if I had to choose, I'd
definitely rank their real, serious material over their comic/cosmic-ness,
but I've found that knowing music by the D's of S has made me like XTC
as a band even more. Amusement value is an important value, IMHO!
Thank you, thank you,
Gene
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Date: Fri, 11 Mar 1994 18:44:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Derek Miner <ind00163@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu>
Subject: Re: The Red Curtain & Co.
On Wed, 9 Mar 1994 "Gene (Sp00n) Yoon" <ST004422@brownvm.brown.edu> wrote:
> By the way, I'm ignorant as to who that fourth guy is in the pictures.
> Also, are AP and CM the only lead vocalists on the Dukes or is there
> someone else? because if it's really just Andy on all the songs by Sir John
> Johns then he's doing a very good job of sounding like someone else.
The fourth Duke is Dave's brother Ian Gregory, or E.I.E.I. Owen.
Also, I'm pretty sure all the vocals are Andy and Colin. They do some
interesting variations, but I was always pretty sure Andy was the
vocalist, especially on the Psonic Psunspot tracks.
Derek Miner
ind00163@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
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From: Mike.Gervasi@f1.n3658.z1.fidonet.org (Mike Gervasi)
Date: 11 Mar 94 17:43:30 -0500
Subject: 03:Chalkhills #331
Organization: FidoNet:
Just got a package from L.E. today, with like, 6 issues. Some are back
issues('88 and such) and the new one. Inside there is no mention of why the
back up of releases of issues. Anybody know why?
Also, some hellos to John, and my good friend over on Genie, Dean Zemel
(Howdy Mixmaster! Nice picture in L.E.) Does anyone have tablature of XTC's
stuff, and can I get copies? (11 Different Animals never came in :( ).
Mike Gervasi, Soaking up sun in BDA
Mike
* Wave Rider 1.01 [NR] *
... UNREGISTERED EVALUATION COPY
--- Blue Wave/Maximus
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Date: Sat, 12 Mar 1994 15:14:40 -0500
From: ah115@yfn.ysu.edu (Robert James Foley)
Subject: XTC Interview LP Query
Please forgive me, if this has been addressed previously.
Recently, I purchased a limited edition picture disc containing
an interview with Andy Partridge. It was released on Cross Talk
Records in 1986. I'm wondering if anyone has information on this
record? Any comments would greatly be appreciated.
Cheers,
Bob
--
Writer/Editor of the Reconnoiter. E-mail for info.
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Date: Sun, 13 Mar 94 16:16:25 PST
From: "John Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Re: Survey
Please do not send your completed survey to Chalkhills.
Please DO send your completed survey to schrey@vfl.paramax.com.
Thank you for your mind.
-- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Andreas Spreen <andi@pippin.cadlab.de> Subject: Tubes did Cry_to_me ? Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 15:57:25 MET Hi! > What's the best Dave Gregory guitar solo? I like the weird sound of the solo in "The smartest monkeys". Still wonder if this is played on guitar or keyboard, or maybe on guitar with a keyboard-sound via Midi-connection? (Well by now, you'll know that I don't know much about these things). And a little question concerning the Tubes: On one of my cassettes I got a good song which maybe called "Cry to me" (at least that's the main-line). Anybody knows if that is done by the Tubes and on which album? I don't remember how I got to think, that this might be the Tubes, but I think they might be. Bye, Andreas.
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: d.zemel@genie.geis.com Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 03:36:00 BST Subject: This 'N' That... For those who've asked, I think that the Golden Cleaners CD by Cleaners Of Venus is not that difficult to get, once you've hooked up with a store that has the ability to get imports. I ordered it and got it in less than a week. In other words, I think it's a current British title so an importer can get it. I'm quite frustrated because I've heard a lot of talk about the new Little Express, including hearing that a picture of me and Steve Reule at the convention is among the pages, but I haven't gotten it yet! I hope Peter and June haven't forgotten about me! I don't know how available it is outside of Chicago and the midwest, but I picked up a Cd entitled "ONXRT: Live From The Archives, Vol.1". WXRT is a pretty good alternative station in Chicago and this album is a collection of live performances that have been on the station over the years, either broadcast from the station or from clubs/theaters which XRT sponsored. Included in the CD's set is the Senses Working Overtime/Grass/Love On A Farmboy's Wages medley from the O&L tour. I know that there are a number of boots out there from that tour but I've never heard anything from the XRT performance. The rest of the lineup from this CD is pretty good too: Melissa Etheridge, Del Amitri, John Hiatt, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, Gin Blossoms, The Replacements, John Lee Hooker, Michael McDermott, Midnight Oil, Peter Himmelman, The Judybats, Johnny Clegg And Savuka and Los Lobos! I haven't heard it yet since I just got it but I thought some of you might want to know about the availability of that XTC medley. For the record (no pun intended), there's no specific label or ordering information, but it's a benefit for Christmas Is For Kids and Chicago House and there are addresses for those organizations so maybe you can write them and get ordering information. The addresses are: Christmas Is For Kids, 207 W. Goethe, Chicago, Illinois 60610 and Chicago House, P.O. Box 14728, Chicago, Illinois 60614. I had trouble getting it from stores in Milwaukee but was finally successful getting it at Rose Records, a midwest chain based in Chicago. Is that book of transcriptions of XTC stuff the "Eleven Different Animals" book that I've heard about but have never seen? If not, who knows exactly what kind of book "Eleven Different Animals" is? I'd appreciate the information so I can explain to the myriad of book stores that I've stopped in just what it is that I'm looking for. I think the Department of Rhetoric where we can find Chris Kasic must be at the same school where you can find the Department of Redundancy Department (credit to Firesign Theater)! Dean
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Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 15:04:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Wesley Van Kilgore <trout@pinn.net>
Subject: Introduction Re: Chalkhills #332
Greetings. I'm Wes Kilgore and I'm new to Chalkhills as well as Internet.
Like many Chalkhillians, I'm a musician. I play bass for a rap band
(gasp!) called Verbal Threat. We've opened up for Public Enemy, Us3,
Basehead, Follow For Now, Queen Latifah, etc. My main gig, however, is as
an editor for the Virginian Pilot.
I was turned on to XTC during my junior year of high school (around
'82). I can't recall whether I saw them in Urrggh! doing "Respectable
Street" or borrowed my friend's English Settlement album first, but the
outcoume was the same... I was hooked.
As a black man, I feel that Human Alchemy is the sincerest
expression of remorse about slavery I've ever heard from any white person.
I haven't pulled the FAQs file yet, So forgive me if you've heard
these questions before.
(1) Did XTC do any other covers beside the Hendrix one on White Noise
(2) What was the extent of the XTC-River Phoenix relationship,
other than River mentioning the band in every interview.
To the Jane Sibierry fan: my roommate has an autographed poster of
her when she played a gig here (Norfolk, VA) years ago in whole in the
wall called The King's Head Inn. He's hard up for cash, so he may be
willing to part with it.
Oh yeah, and ditto on Sam Phillips album. Awesome.
I think the best lyricists in pop music today, arguably, are
Partridge/Moulding, Costello, and Beat Crazy era Joe Jackson.
Gotta run,
Wes
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 18:00:26 EST From: stacy@trc.com (Robert Stacy) Subject: Six strings, no waiting Ken (kes@acpub.duke.edu) raises a number of interesting points about the "Towers of London" bend, and XTC guitar work in general. I was poking around with this same riff on the 'Paul a few weeks ago, and couldn't let the synchronicity of his statement go unnoted (sorry). (A sidenote regarding string bends: I only started playing guitar again, after many years' hiatus, about six months ago. One adjunct in coming up to speed that I have found extremely helpful is a little toy that's been turning up in music stores, catalogs, u.s.w., called the Grip-Master. It looked kind of hokey when I saw the ad for it, but it seemed logical, so I said what the hell and bought it anyway. (It's nothing fancy, just a rubber-covered handle with some spring- loaded buttons attached. I keep it in my left jacket pocket, and haul it out when I'm in the car, or else use it in my pocket when I'm walking outdoors. It has made a _significant_ improvement in my left-hand strength, making two- and three-fret bends far easier than they ever were before. (I _wish_ I had a financial investment in this little baby, but unfortunately am only a thoroughly satisfied user. End of unsolicited testimony.) Me, I couldn't begin to select a favorite XTC solo. The way each one is tuned to the individual song almost requires refocussing one's critical acumen for each case. The simplicity of the break in "Life Begins at the Hop" is just right, with the right-hand muting keeping it tight and contained right up to the burst of joyous release in the last nine notes. And how about that solo on "Towers" itself? All those grandiose assertions on the upper frets? _Great_ attitude. And with a like-minded nod toward Ken's post in #332, the work in "Rocket From a Bottle" is similarly notable. One of the things that made _Black Sea_ my favorite album (at least until the next one came along) was the "riffiness" of it; not just solos, but chord work, as well. "Respectable Street"*, "Sgt. Rock", the pure, poppy, headlong glee of the "Generals and Majors" hook -- there's a lot of solid six-string work going down on that album. One of the things that definitely pushed me over the line that separates viewing the band as "another bunch of guys playing songs", and a group of musicians with the power to captivate (to the extent that I'm spilling out a description of the experience more than a decade later), is hearing "No Language in Our Lungs" for the first time, performed in a live (taped) concert on the car radio while returning from an errand at Caldor's. The overlapping chordal textures just floored me. Sure, I was taken with the recursive nature of the tune's intent (the intellectual hook, if you will), but I was musically fascinated, as well. And to echo John Vorhees' anguished entreaty to Wile E: throw us a bone on this XTC transcription book, wouldja? A verbatim title and publisher, at least, just to get the wheels turning. Man, I bet your e-mail's been spewing out the wall since you dropped _that_ little bomb. Geez, what a tease . . . . --RSt * There's an anecdote that goes along with my playing this track for the first time, but it'll keep 'til another post. Maybe there are others who have had a similar experience. One can only hope.
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Date: 14 Mar 94 21:33:03 EST
From: Steve Levenstein <70750.1117@compuserve.com>
Subject: Crash Test Dummies, eh?
To _Karen_, who in Chalkhills #236 mentioned the _Crash Test
Dummies_, yes, I have heard that band. They are a Canadian group
out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The lead singer ("Brad" something) has
the deepest voice I've ever heard; the band themselves have a sort
of folky, pastoral feel to their sound. They are best known for
their _Superman Song_, which was played interminably 'round here
(Toronto area) a couple of years ago. I really can't stand them,
when a song by them comes on the radio I can't turn the tuning
knob fast enough. I don't know about any XTC influence to their
material, unless it's the most "pastoral" of XTC.
BTW, I'm 35, and first heard XTC's _Crowded Room_ in 1978.
---> Steve
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Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 00:37 EST
From: jamesm@dialogic.com (Mark James)
Subject: CFV: rec.music.beach-boys
The following Call for Votes has been posted to the Usenet newsgroup
news.announce.newgroups.
From: jamesm@dialogic.com (Mark James)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.config,alt.hotrod,alt.music.todd-rundgren,alt.rock-n-roll,alt.rock-n-roll.classic,alt.rock-n-roll.oldies,rec.music.info,rec.music.misc,rec.music.beatles
Subject: CFV: rec.music.beach-boys
Date: 9 Mar 1994 17:32:52 -0500
Organization: Usenet Volunteer Votetakers
1st CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
Unmoderated group rec.music.beach-boys
Newsgroups line:
rec.music.beach-boys The Beach Boys, their music, members, and news.
Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 30 March 1994.
This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party. For voting
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questions about the proposed group, contact Ben Lukoff
<lukoff@helen.bush.edu>.
The CFVs for this vote will be sent to the following mailing lists:
The Beach Boys Mailing List surfsup@u.washington.edu
Robyn Hitchcock Mailing List fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu
XTC Mailing List <chalkhills@chalkhills.org>
Elvis Costello Mailing List costello@gnu.ai.mit.edu
CHARTER
-------
rec.music.beach-boys will be used to discuss all aspects of the Beach
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of the Beach Boys, led by Brian Wilson, has changed the sound of music
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the surviving members of the Beach Boys are still making and performing
music today. There is much more to the Beach Boys than just surf and
car music. In the mid to late sixties the Beach Boys were making music
of such artistic quality it is comparable only to the Beatles of the
same period.
HOW TO VOTE
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Mark James <jamesm@dialogic.com> *** Opinions, errors etc are mine. ***
Dialogic Corporation, 300 Littleton Road | "You have violated Robot's Rules
Parsippany NJ 07054, U.S.A. | of Order and will be asked to
+1 201 334 1268 ext 438 | leave the future immediately."
[ Further announcements will not be posted to Chalkhills. -- John ]
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 12:14 EST From: "NEIL D. BERNSTEIN" <0004361918@mcimail.com> Subject: Home at last...a new subscriber finds his people I knew you were all out there somewhere, and finally I've found you. The Chalkhills gang. Hi! I'm a new subscriber and a fairly-long-time XTC fan living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As you can tell from my rather useless email address, I work for MCI, who brought me out here from New York. I became aware of XTC during the glory days of WLIR back in New York, but I didn't really get hooked until '84 and Big Express. In fact, I have to thank Wendy Berkowitz, wherever she may be, with getting me to listen to that record. I've become as familiar as I thought I could be with their music, and I've read THE book. Sadly, I became a fan too late to ever see the band live, but I have had the good fortune to meet them on two occasions while working as Program Director at WBRU in Providence. What I have not ever done is join any of the fan clubs, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Just the last three digests have shown me that there's a lot more XTC music out there that I need to get my ears around - any suggestions on how I can get ahold of some of the tapes mentioned would be appreciated. My favorite record? Who knows. Probably Mummer. Maybe ES. Maybe Skylarking. All of them, really. Sorry for the lame answer. Some comments: To Marshall Pierce, who says: > Unfortunately, Colorado Springs has lost it's alternative radio station, > so I'm reduced to MTV and the local NPR station's free form program, which > is on during business hours - of course, for new music or snatches of good > music. I, too, feel your pain (look out your window - I work up the street from you). The death of 102.7 The Max was a terrible thing. To all you raving about "Then She Appeared": I, too, share your pleasure. It's still my fave from Nonsuch. To Chris Cahill <ccahill@xis.xerox.com>, who says of Sam Phillips: >"The Indescribable Wow" was her first, but I can't think of the title of her second album right now. I, too, share your apathy toward her second album, because it was forgettable after the first one. The new one is terrific, but I haven't listened to it enough to really notice Colin's contribution. The funny part is that the song I walked away singing is the one Colin coproduced. Finally, to Ken Strayhorn Jr." <kes@acpub.duke.edu>, who speaks of: > commercial rock stations that play Boston and Led Zepplin incessantly. Please don't speak of Boston and Led Zepplin as if they were in the same league. LZ was an incredibly talented band who wrote music almost as rich and complex as XTC's. You should give them another good listen. I'm suprprised there aren't more XTC fans who are also LZ fans. OK, now that all that's off my chest, it's time to go back to doing what they pay me for. Please forgive my ramblings - I'm new at this. -Neil (Neil_D_Bernstein@mcimail.com)
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From: hvsag01!adkoning@hvgtw.att.com
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 21:58:30 +0100
Subject: Gribouillage and Go2
Dean (d.zemel@genie.geis.com) wrote:
>What is "Griboulage"? You mentioned this as one of the places where some of
>the unreleased Nonsuch-era demos have popped up?
Gribouillage is a 5-track 'not for sale' CD5 from France, containing
five demo's for Nonsuch. Three tracks are the same as the better
available Japanese 'Demo Tracks', they even look alike (a bit).
More info in the Discography (item 69 if I'm not mistaken).
I bought Gribouillage on a record fair here in The Netherlands (Utrecht)
a few weeks ago (I even managed to buy an extra copy for 'El Relpho'
himself). It was not too expensive (about 10 dollars). Look for the
french people if you visit fairs in Europe (April 16th in Amsterdam).
And for something completely different (let's say about 14 years before
that... gosh, that long?): is there anybody out there who has some
recording info on the 'Go2' sessions, including the track 'Are you
receiving me?' that was produced by Martin Rushent? I am about to do
some serious PostScript 'fiddeling' to get the 'Go2' CD-booklet a bit
more complete (you know the drill: engineers, complaning Chinese waiters
>from next door... oops, wrong album). Any help welcome!
,
-- Andre de Koning
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 14:56:55 -0500 (EST) From: V074MYKG@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: Best solo Organization: University at Buffalo Greeting fellow Chalkhillians. I am new so let me introduce myself. My name is Eric Larson, but you can call me Travis. I am 22 years old and a student at the State University of New York at Buffalo and a geograpghy major. However, I grew up in Ronkonkoma, New York which is on Long Island, just 40 minutes from New York City. I have been an XTC fan for about 6 years and my favorite albums are "The Big Express" and "Oranges and Lemons." XTC is by far my favorite group. The other groups I am fans of are Van Halen, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin, Matthew Sweet, and Warrant. I know, it's a rather weird variety (especially Warrant) but variety is the spice of life. I am responding to cast my vote for best Dave Gregory guitar solo. My favorite happens to be "Extrovert." It's just such a good rocking solo that compliments the overall mood of the song. Also, for anyone interested, I am posting an XTC lyrics quiz on the "rec.games.trivia" newsgroup between the week of March 17 and March 24. It might not be fair to let all the Chalkhillians on it because you'll probably blow everyone else away, but I'm interested in getting a lot of responses. Oh, yeah, one more question. What is Colin saying in the chorus to "Ball and Chain" After, "Save us from the ball and chain" 3x, it sounds like "The diggers and the tower of something" but I don't know. I can't find the lyrics anywhere and they're not printed in the CD booklet. You can write the answer to me at "v074mykg@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu" I've got to know. -Eric Larson (Travis Cameron) University at Buffalo
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, fan club addresses, discography requests (last update 3 March), 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/". The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. The diggers and the tower cranes.
Go back to Volume 1.
16 March 1994 / Feedback