Chalkhills Digest Volume 1, Issue 359
Date: Tuesday, 5 July 1994
Chalkhills, Number 359
Tuesday, 5 July 1994
Today's Topics:
The Grays, Aimee Mann
Curry, XTC, & indigestion
hello from chicago
love this e mail thing
sneetches recommedation
Will the real Joe stand up . . .
Re: partridge? song
Monkeys Fly Out of My Butt???????
Re: Chalkhills #358
Re: Adrian Belew and XTC
Travels In Nihilon
question for guitar techies
Chalkhills and Children the Biography.
Notice of abscence
Looking for Jules & Bull
Andy interview on BBC radio
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 17:37:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Wendi Dunlap <litlnemo@connected.com> Subject: The Grays, Aimee Mann Slightly off topic here, but I know some of you will be interested: The Grays played an acoustic coffeehouse show yesterday in Seattle. Before the set started the tape playing was an acoustic XTC set (from the radio station tour, I suppose, or something like that). A guy sitting a couple of seats down the row from me was wearing a homemade XTC t-shirt (a very nice one, incidentally) and the Grays' Jason Falkner complimented him on it. The Grays' set itself was quite wonderful. Their harmonies are beautiful and I was impressed. The XTC influence is strong, of course, especially in "Very Best Years." Falkner mentioned that he left Jellyfish because they wouldn't let him write songs, which I find amazing since his stuff for the Grays sounds a lot like Jellyfish. (Then again, so do the songs written by the other members of the band.) Another band member, Jon Brion, produced the last Aimee Mann album and toured with her. He told me that they are about to start work on another Mann album. He said something to the effect of "I knew that everybody didn't like Til Tuesday, so the task was to produce the songs so that everyone would be hit over the head with what a good songwriter she is." He also said that "Elvis Costello and Chris Difford both think she's a wonderful songwriter, and if they say it I guess I would believe them." :) Wendi A. Dunlap * litlnemo@connected.com * Seattle, Washington Sysop, Slumberland BBS * (206)547-2629 * 24 hours a day * 3/12/24/96 Currently listening to: "Ghost at Number One" -- Jellyfish *^*^ Finger litlnemo@goshen.connected.com for my current resume *^*^
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Date: Thu, 30 Jun 1994 21:51:08 -0500 (CDT)
From: regalvin@mmm.com
Subject: Curry, XTC, & indigestion
Yesterday, I popped into the 'Sri Lankan Curry House' in Minneapolis for a
quick bite. It was my first time there -- nice, hot Indian food ...
anyway, I was cashing out, and on the wall is an 'Oranges & Lemons' album
cover stapled (!!) to the wall. Upon closer examination, there are 3
signatures from 'the boys' on front. I mention to the cashier that they
were my favorite band, to which she replies, 'Oh yeah? They were in here a
couple of years ago..'
Wierd...why would they be in MPLS two (or so years ago)?
(oof, good curry)...
Robert Galvin Reply: regalvin@mmm.com Phone: 612-733-7105 ~~~
Snail: 3M Center, Bldg 224-3S-17 Fax: 612-737-5539 \o-o/
St. Paul, MN 55144-1000 | _ |
"""
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Andy1800@aol.com Date: Thu, 30 Jun 94 22:57:08 EDT Subject: hello from chicago Greetings from Chicago. I'm pretty new to the net, but when I spotted Chalkhills in The Internet Directory (Eric Braun), I knew I had to check it out! I first heard XTC in'79 when I bought Drums and Wires, totally on impulse. A few weeks later I saw the band at a club in in the 'burbs called "b. ginnings." I sure didn't think I'd have to wait so long to see 'em again. I'm certainly not the collecter that some of you are; but it's great to know that I'm not the only one who thinks XTC is a band that that deserves more attention than they've received. Can't wait for the Budd/Partridge cd. Drowning here in summer's cauldron...Andy (not That Andy)
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: PB3BOY@aol.com Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 02:12:50 EDT Subject: love this e mail thing I love this e mail xtc thing, but am unsure if my reponses are being received. Are they edited?? I live in Minneapolis and have had the pleasure of meeting Andy, Colin and David, as well as dining with them. I also posess some great live performance black and whites from the Oranges and Lemons U.S. Radio promo tour.
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Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 04:10:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: brandon milner <bmilner@hal.skidmore.edu>
Subject: sneetches recommedation
DEAR LIST,
I was going through and copying some cassettes to DAT and I found
a SNEETCHES tape called SLOW. Holy XTC! this band has the same strong
melody, incredibly catchy, college meets, beach boys/beatles remember the
chorus for weeks feel that XTC does. I'm sure they were strongly
influenced by them.
I'm not recommending them purely as a "if you like XTC try..."
band. I genuinely think they are great. Certainly better than Jellyfish.
Any comments?
Brandon Milner
bmilner@scott.skidmore.edu
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: Fshbwlhead@aol.com Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 04:36:16 EDT Subject: Will the real Joe stand up . . . To Melinda, the man from Minneapolis and everyone else who's read my How I met Andy Partridge in 1990 story: Part three will be coming up. I've been lax lately, but I'll try to throw it all together by next issue. PREVIEW: I not only met Andy for the second day in a row, I also met and held hands with his daughter, Holly! Thanks for your patience, and please stay tuned! The best is yet to come. -- Joe
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From: adkoning@hvsag01.att.com (Andre A M De Koning +31 35 87 4927)
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 15:49:54 +0200
Subject: Re: partridge? song
Kevin Carhart <ukevc@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu> had some lyrics:
>I've got the X, you've got the Y
>I've got the W, you've got the Z
>Let's get together, over a glass of CHAMPAGNE
This sounds like the band 'Sailor' with 'Glass of Champagne'. The singer
is George Kajanus (sp?). I guess it's from about 1976 or so.
Indeed his voice here sounds a bit like Andy in his 'Lei--E-I-E-sure'-y
manner. Hmm, you had me humming that instantly (I've been waiting much
too long/For this moment to come along, o yeah! O yeah! O YEAH!!).
Sorry 'bout this. Back to regular programming now...
,
-- Andre de Koning
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 1 Jul 94 12:04:00 EDT From: patty@gdb.org (Patty Haley) Subject: Monkeys Fly Out of My Butt??????? Well, now, how interesting. I go into the home page for Chalkhills on WWW (damn, we gotta get that scanner hooked up here so I can add some cool stuff to the Catherine Wheel home page) and look at the images contained therein. Much to my surprise I see that the image for "The Smartest Monkeys" has been labeled the "Monkeys Fly Out of My Butt" vignette. Huh!!!! OK, Idaho Boy, is this a leg pull? I can just hear those new lyrics now: "And monkeys may fly out of my butt..." Erm, yeah, it's hitbound fer shure!!! Anyway, I've got some new background material for my terminal. Hey, does anyone have the CD with this new version of the song on it--trade ya!! -Patty (Note new .sig--within regulation size, mind you.) Catherine Wheel WorldWideWeb Home Page: http://gdbwww.gdb.org/cite/patty/CW/CW_home_page.html
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 01 Jul 94 10:33:40 CDT From: Andrew McDonald <ALDVAM0@nuacvm.acns.nwu.edu> Subject: Re: Chalkhills #358 Wesley Wilson <wesley_wilson@iegate.mitre.org> asks: >During my hiatus, I read a book mentioning Lord Kitchener of England, who >apparently was so beloved during the first part of this century that it was >he who was the model for the World War I posters, "Your >Country Needs You!" (Was that the slogan? Maybe some history buffs can >confirm!) >Anyway, a very Lord Kitchener-like portrait graces the cover of The Dukes >7" "You're a Good Man, Albert Brown." >Apparently, Kitchener was killed under mysterious circumstances when the ship >he was on sank. His death supposedly has "conspiracy" written all over it, >much like JFK's assassination. The poster, which you still see replicas of all the time, says in block letters "BRITONS" under which a pointing Lord Kitchener is above the line "wants you"/Join Your Country's Army!/God Save The King. Kitchener was in charge of raising the volunteer army in the U.K. at the outset of WWI and this was a recruiting poster. (Not surprisingly, the U.S. modelled its Uncle Sam Wants You poster on the Kitchener poster.) I am certain that the Imperial War Museum in London still sells replicas of the poster. Kitchener, who was Britain's most famous military figure at the outset of the war, was aboard a ship that hit a mine and sank off the coast of Scotland in late 1916. I don't think there was anything mysterious about it. The "Albert Brown" single is not the former Hero of the Sudan's first brush with pop music. The poster appears over Paul McCartney's shoulder in the Recruiting Office scene in Magical Mystery Tour. Andrew McDonald a-mc@nwu.edu
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: d.zemel@genie.geis.com Date: Sat, 2 Jul 94 02:15:00 UTC Subject: Re: Adrian Belew and XTC Tonight, I made my annual pilgrimage to Shank Hall, here in Milwaukee, to see Adrian Belew on his current tour. As always (and I do mean always), it was well worth whatever effort it took to be there. Psychodots (the Belewless Bears) opened the show and wowed us all, in their own right. Playing incredible pop, layered and varied, reminding more than just me of the Beatles, each of the three musicians displayed incredible talent. Rob Fetters is an amazing guitarist and vocalist, Chris Arduser a fabulous drummer, vocalist and mandolin player and Bob Nyswonger a tireless and flawless bass guitarist. Adrian came out and just blew away the crowd which was already more than halfway there, as a result of Psychodots. Although there was a heavy emphasis on his latest CD, Here, he also played a healthy batch of Bears, King Crimson and other solo songs. However, the songs from the Bears and King Crimson were virtually identical to the selection he'd played on the Inner Revolution tour. All four musicians appeared, quite convincingly, to be having a genuinely good time up there. The rapport, both musically and emotionally, between them all was something to just sit back and appreciate. The three part vocals, shared by Chris, Rob and Adrian were just beauty to behold and the effort expended by all four was exhausting, just to watch. Anyway, I didn't have an Adrian Belew shirt to wear to the show so I wore my XTC Nonsuch shirt that I got at the Princeton convention. I've worn that shirt several times and never got a reaction but tonight people were commenting on it all night long. Chris Arduser told me what a big XTC fan he is and how pissed he is that Andy won't tour. He was happy to have seen Dave out on tour with Aimee Mann and Colin playing on the Sam Phillips album. Adrian said that he'd gotten the Andy/Martin CD I'd sent him and that he loved it. He then told me that he'd recently come across a tape that Andy had given him of demos of a few songs from O&L, including Mayor Of Simpleton and Garden Of Earthly Delights and that he put it away, realizing what a treasure it was. Unfortunately, I didn't ask him for a dub! How cool it was to find that a tremendous musician like Adrian and I both share an affinity for XTC! When he talked about him, he didn't talk like a fellow musician---he talked about them like a fan, not unlike you and me! See this show!
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 03 Jul 1994 11:27:06 -0400 (EDT) From: The Banjo of Doom <MELINDA@delphi.com> Subject: Travels In Nihilon No, this is not an account of when I met any members of XTC, it's a teeny-tiny comment about the song by that name. I finally, after years of stubbornness, bought _Black_Sea_ on disc, and I realized that the sound at the end of "Nihilon" which I always took to be rain, actually sounds more like a faucet, or rather a spigot on concrete or something. That sort of changes things, doesn't it? I mean, rain is traditionally a positive symbol, cleansing and rebirth and all that, but a spigot on concrete is a pretty spare and solitary image. I always thought of the rain like gray and cold coming out of this bleak song, but with an overtone of hope, which is a good note to end an album with, almost like a surprise. It may seem like I'm making too much of this, but it is the very last thing on the album, and XTC albums tend to be laid out in a very precise rising-and-falling action. Not only that, but it completely changes a point-of-view I've held for more than 10 years! Okay, maybe it wasn't such a teeny-tiny comment ;-) Melinda
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 03 Jul 1994 17:07:18 -0500 (cdt) From: "my world is spinning..." <LEACH@ac.grin.edu> (Arlo B Leach) Subject: question for guitar techies hey all- i know there are SOME guitarists on this list, so here's a question that perhaps one of the more technically-minded of them can answer for me: in the solo for "the smartest monkeys," and also at the end of "countdown to christmas," there's this freaked-out guitar sound. at least i think it's a guitar, and i think they're essentially the same sound (although a bit more freaked out on the christmas song). so can anyone figure out how they got a sound like that? i mean, what kind of combination of effects were used to come up with something that un-guitarlike? or maybe it's just a weird synthesizer sound...but the way the notes are attacked makes it sound like a guitar... the liner notes for _nonsuch_ tell us that andy played all the electric guitar parts, if that helps any. on "countdown..." we don't even know that much -- it could be either kaspar, melchior, or balthazar! :) well, let me know if you have any ideas... -arlo
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From: Dames The Wonder Dog <SPXDLF@cardiff.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 14:18:48 GMT
Subject: Chalkhills and Children the Biography.
Hiya all!
I'd just like to tell you all of the fab weekend I just had. I
thought that it was about time I read the XTC biagraphy so I ordered
it from the library (it had been out on loan, so there is at least
one other XTC fan in cardiff [Wales] ). Saturday morning I sat down
in my room with a nice warm cup of tea, put on White Music and
prepared to plough through C&C and my XTC collection from beginning
to end. The book turned out to be an absolute joy to read. I
couldn't put it down and sometimes had to wrench myself away from it
after sitting in silence for ten minutes to change the CD or Tape or
Record. It is totally enthralling read that I really have to
recomend to everyone that is partially a fan of XTC. Unfortunately
it becomes very clear that Mister P. is the real reason why XTC are
where they are today. Without his inspiration there would be no XTC
(imagine the thought!) and without his shear bloody-mindedness they
would (probably - because who can say for sure!) be far more
successful and more prolific (which would be nice). It is also very
sad to find out all the hassles and hardships that XTC have suffered
for very little in the way of success. Why Colin and Dave haven't
minced Mister P. (P stands for BASTARD by the way) in a piece of large
industrial meat processing equipment is beyond me! They must have
the patience of extremely patient people.
A couple of interesting and rainbow like points are made in the
closing chapters (all aptly named after XTC song titles) of the book.
The first is that Andy was almost duped into going on a live tour a
few years back! But he realised the scam shortly before it was
arranged and pulled out. So perhaps someone may trick him again.
Secondly is that they still have a contract with Virgin for a few
more albums. Whether XTC can hold Virgin to this or if it is only so
Virgin can hold XTC to randsom I'm not sure, but there you go.
So all you fans out there - go and get Chalkhills and Children
and lap it up it's fab. It won't turn you against Andy, but it will
make you feel sorry for the rest of the band and the producers how
have tried (mainly in vain) to work with him.
Cheers (traditional English goodbye),
Dames TWD
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From: The Mayor Of Simpleton <EEN3SH@ecu-01.novell.leeds.ac.uk>
Date: Sat, 2 Jul 1994 14:06:56 GMT
Subject: Notice of abscence
Dear Chalkhills,
I`m sorry I haven`t written to intrioduce myself but I`ve been buried in
exams, and I`ve now run out of time anyway. I`ll be on vacation untill
october. Enjoy the holiday!
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of a bootleg tape of the
following, then please write to me at my home address; Address:
"Gwelva"
1A Chynowen Parc
Cubert
Nr Newquay
Cornwall
TR8 5HD
ENGLAND
The tape includes a recorded radio station programme of XTC playing
on their acoustic tour of 1989. The programme is the Fox "session"
and "features" a very funny version of Kaleidascope, and Dave
Gregory breaking a guitar string live on air! It`s also got an Interview
with Andy Partridge talking about Oranges & Lemons, his family and
XTC etc, and a recording of the live performance of King For A Day
on the David Letterman show. Again, if anyone wants a copy, or wants
to swap a copy for a copy of something I don`t havew, my home
address is as above.
Simon Hogg
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Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 22:37:35 -0400
From: bj835@cleveland.freenet.edu (Tim Connors)
Subject: Looking for Jules & Bull
The recent MOJO article was certainly intriguing, eh? For
those of you who haven't seen it, Andy says that he just might
be ready to tour again, having gained sufficient control of
his destiny.
Hope someone can help me... I've been looking for tapes of
Jules Verne and Bull w/Golden Guts for some time now. Is there
anyone who can help me get dubs, preferably from a first
generation tape? I have two cool items to trade, besides all
the studio stuff: The promo interview for Skylarking, with most
of the LP songs & commentary from Andy and Todd; and "Acoustic
Tales," a boot with KROQ in-studio acoustic songs from O&L
and earlier and some BBC performances.
The former is my brother's and he's on this list (Hi Chris!)
so hurry up before he asks me for it back!
Thanks...
--
TJC "Surprisingly tasty..."
The Jazz Butcher ("JB v. Prime Minister")
Internet: bj835@cleveland.freenet.edu
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From: Adrian <DOVERAL@lib.bham.ac.uk>
Date: 5 Jul 94 17:28:28 GMT
Subject: Andy interview on BBC radio
Apologies to all UK Chalkhillians that I didn't spot this earlier in
'Radio Times' -- Andy gave an interview to 'Mixing it', the Radio 3
late night 'alternative-serious' music programme, broadcast on Monday
4 July 1994 from 22.45 BST.
The good-news/bad-news section follows:
It took about half an hour of the 45 minute broadcast including music
examples and i did notice it in time to make a tape. It centred on
his recent collaboration with Harold Budd. :-)
Sadly I have no tape duplicating facility, so I can't offer to make
copies for anyone/everyone! :-(
However, if there is sufficient interest, I would be prepared to do
a transcript for chalkhills or for direct mailing. :-)
This might be a week or two in the making since I am very pushed for
spare time at the moment :-(
Please email me direct if you vote 'for' -- ten votes by the end of
the week would, I think, make it worthwhile and when I see how big the
resulting file is I will work out whether to put it on chalkhills or
mail it direct to interested subscribers.
Adrian.
--- Adrian Dover --- The University of Birmingham, UK
a.l.dover@bham.ac.uk --- usual disclaimers apply ---
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> For all other administrative issues, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> The Chalkhills archives were once available using FTP from "net.bio.net". The Chalkhills home page is available at "http://chalkhills.org/". The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. And if you're buying the next round / Then you're a good man Albert...
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