Chalkhills, Number 61

                 Tuesday, 24 October 1989
Today's Topics:
                    'Cuts' and more...
               Tape of XTC radio sessions?
                 Attention Canadian fans!
                XTC Convention '89 Report

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Date: Wed, 11 Oct 89 08:42:42 CDT
From: oconnor!keaton!jtl@oddjob.uchicago.edu (Joe Lynn)
Subject: 'Cuts' and more...

Thanks to everyone who have commented so far on the selections I included on
my friend's XTC 'Cuts' tape...  I even xeroxed some of the lyrics,
and after hearing it she said it sounds 'really cool.'

Ben Zimmer:

> taste of their earlier (i.e. better) material

oooooh..  I'm not going NEAR that one...

> {list of XTC songs...}

A lot of the songs you list (let's see.. 11 out of 23) appear on
_The Compact XTC_;  I wanted to avoid duplication because that CD was
intended as "Part 2" of this introduction project.  I also made a copy of
this tape for myself, so I wanted something to complement _Compact_/_Waxworks_.

> I could easily fill 2 or 3 tapes of the good stuff (including Dukes)

No kidding.

Re: the discussion about "Dear God"'s position on _Skylarking_:

The first version of _Skylarking_ that I heard had "Dear God" plopped in
its Geffen-given position on side 2.  I agree that "Dying" is a good
followup to "Dear God", but after hearing the original album (with
"Mermaid Smiled") I realize that the entire mood of the last half of
the album was changed when they re-ordered the songs.  I really prefer
my Canadian CD (with the original order), and I just program "Dear God" out.

I don't think _Skylarking_ would be the same (on CD) if the B-sides were
crammed in between LP sides 1 and 2;  in spite of how a lot of people
perceive this album ("Todd ruined it, man..."), I think the flow of songs
works nicely.  Of course, there's also the argument of "logical" flow
(wait!  doubting the existence of God _after_ death and rebirth?  whoaaaa..),
but I'm getting off track.

I think they were aiming towards the right idea in the UK, where
"Dear God" was released as a CDEP with the "Homo Safari" series;
maybe they should have released this EP with "Extrovert" (and perhaps
some other _Skylarking_ outtakes?) included.  Oh yeah, they also should
have released it in the US (sure, I'll call David Geffen this afternoon).

				--Joe Lynn

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Date:         Wed, 11 Oct 89 16:12:12 EDT
From: Ben Zimmer <ZIMBENG@yalevm.bitnet>
Subject:      Tape of XTC radio sessions?

I wasn't on the mailing list all summer, so I might have missed this...
Are there plans for making a tape or tapes of some/all of the sets XTC did on
radio stations this summer?

	[ Yes, there are plans.  I have completed a rough draft,
	  but I recently got some more material, so I'll need to
	  incorporate that as well.  In the meantime, I am fairly
	  busy, so it won't be real soon.  -- John ]

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Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 11:25:08 EDT
From: Mike Godfrey <migod@csri.toronto.edu>
Subject: Attention Canadian fans!

If you are lucky enough to get MuchMusic (the Canadian video channel),
then be sure to tune in on Thursday (26/10/89) for the MuchMusic
spotlight on XTC.

For the uninitiated, the "spotlight" is aired 5 days a week (with a
different artist each day) and consists of half an hour of videos,
with some interview clips interspersed.  In Toronto, at least, it's
on from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm, and repeated at 10:00 pm.

I'll post a summary of what happens, if I remember.

Mike.

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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1989 15:11:30 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: XTC Convention '89 Report

Hi folks!

  Yes, I have returned from abroad.  Sorry for any delays in
Chalkhills administrivia (address changes, adding new folks, etc.).

  What did I find?  I found a copy of the limited edition "Senses
Working Overtime" 7-inch single, complete with foldout colour pictures
and the official lyrics to "Blame the Weather" and "Tissue Tigers"!
No more hit and miss deciphering.

  Yes, I have seen "The Loving" CD-3.  Twice.  Once at the Convention,
but someone else had bought the last copy.  And once in Danceteria
Records in Paris.  Stupidly, I didn't buy it.  (I kick myself.)

  In Paris I also saw a new compilation of songs by various artists,
"Les Inrockuptibles presentent Un Printemps 89", which includes XTC's
"Scarecrow People".

  (It surprises me how difficult it is to find XTC records in London.
I see more stuff here in San Francisco.)

                              ---------

  And now for John Relph's impressions of The First XTC Music and
Friends Convention in Manchester, on 16 September 1989.

  I am surprised Toby didn't have anything to say about the
Convention.  Yes, I met Toby Howard there, however briefly.  As usual
for fan club/record collector events, the Convention was a little
strange.  Firstly, I was in a city I had never been in before, I knew
nobody, and I felt a bit alien (perhaps Very alien).  Secondly, fans
are a bit strange, in general.  I'll make that generalisation because
I think I fit the description myself.

  Paul Wilde, the organiser, is a very nice chap, though he was a
little stressed out because of the trauma of organising the event and
being behind schedule for most of the day.  I met Mark from Limelight,
and June and Chris (? my memory's gone after six weeks) from The
Little Express.  I was surprised at the level of interest they all
expressed about Chalkhills (and the Chalkhills discography).

  A lot of nice folks from all over the world (three or four from the
U.S., including myself) were in attendance.  Unfortunately, the band
couldn't make an appearance.  We watched loads of videos (many from
Dave Gregory's personal collection) including multiple versions of
"The Mayor", a pilot for a kids game show with Andy Partridge playing
host, and, sadly, the footage of the concert in France where Andy puts
down his guitar in the middle of the first song and walks offstage,
thus ending the concert (and, for the most part, XTC's live
performances).  By the end of the afternoon I was pretty video'd out.
I got a chance to play some of the XTC Radio Shows tape (a rough
draft) as well.

  Paul had also scheduled to show the best of the "make your own video
for one of XTC's songs" competition, but by the time of the Convention
he had only received one entry (in fact it had only arrived the night
before).  It was a Canadian video for "Scarecrow People".  It began
with hilarious "man-on-the-street" interviews asking anybody and
everybody on the street what they thought of XTC's latest album (most
of them, of course, hadn't heard of it, and many pretended they had).
And the video was surprisingly good!

  Paul had set up an "XTC Museum" upstairs at the hotel where the
Convention was held, and had a pile of XTC memorabilia displayed,
including one of Dave's guitars (I think it was Dave's).  The inside
of the hotel was covered with XTC posters and record covers, and there
was an area set up for vendors and Convention paraphrenalia (including
a badge and teeshirts).  I got a poster of the cover of "The Loving"
(50p, cheap), an autographed photograph of the boys from the folks at
The Little Express, a copy of the Johnny Japes single, a teeshirt, and
random other stuff.

  How many people were there?  I can't say, but I would put the figure
at close to 100.

  Unfortunately, I needed to catch a train back to London, so I didn't
get to stay around for the evening's festivities at a pub across town.
Frank Sidebottom (the mad Lancasterian) was scheduled to perform, as
were various fans playing their versions of XTC's best.  Toby will
have to give you his impressions of that portion of the event.

  That's all I can think of at the moment.  Until I remember more,

	-- John

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