Chalkhills, Number 77

                 Monday, 5 February 1990
Today's Topics:
		    English Settlement
                  English Settlement CD
                    Re: Chalkhills #76
                         Mailbag
               Chalkhills Survey leftovers

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Date: Sat, 3 Feb 90 03:13:41 EST
From: woj <woiccare@clutx.clarkson.edu>
Subject: English Settlement

There surrently is a raging debate over in rec.music.gaffa regarding the
various releases of _English_Settlement_ in all its incarnations. I would
appreciate it if someone here would quickly explain the genesis from Virgin
double-LP to Epic 10-cut LP to Geffen 15-cut CD plus any possibility of
differing CD's, etc.

Thanks

woj

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Date:     Sat, 3 Feb 90 20:28 MDT
From: <RLANTHIE@ducair.bitnet>
Subject:  English Settlement CD

Help!  I'm so confused!  I was reading rec.music.gaffa and noticed that
a number of people were discussing how much of English Settlement was on
the CD.  Some say all songs are on the Geffen release.  Some say there
are less on other labels versions.  What's the truth?  I know the US
version deleted some great tracks, but I never had that problem as I'm
>from Canada.  Personally I think an English Settlement without _Leisure_
or _Down in the Cockpit_ would be pitifully lacking.  One might want to
know why I want this information.  I just got the CD player this Christmas
and am replacing all my albums, slowly as the grad student budget is
less than one would like.  To make things worse Noteworthy has a Warner
Brothers version of the thing.  Please help me!

Thanks in advance.

Rich

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Date: Mon, 5 Feb 90 11:24:16 GMT
From: Scott.A.C.McIntyre@exeter.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #76

Hey...I was at a record fayre here in England a few weeks ago when I
picked up at XTC cd that I hear is very rare..it is called Making
Plans for Andy and seems to be a compilation of
various live tracks as well as remix of Cliff Richard's The Young
Ones, which if you have ever seen is hilarious.

Anyway, if anyone knows more about these things, like the BBC transcripts
they were taken from, or the Amsterdam concert, Id like to hear...if
you want more info from me, feel free to mail!

Scott

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Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1990 16:00:40 PST
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Mailbag

Rich <RLANTHIE@ducair.bitnet> asks:
>I guess the main question I have is why doesn't XTC ever tour?  Perhaps a
>related question is have they ever?

Yes, XTC toured almost non-stop from 1979 to 1982.  They played in
Europe, North America, Japan, and Venezuela, among other places.

Why don't they tour?  Because Andy had built up an 'orrible case of
stage fright, and had a couple of nervous breakdowns, leading to the
show in Paris where Andy walked off stage during the first song, and
thence to the cancellation of their last tour in San Diego.  Andy has
said that he felt the band would have self-destructed had they
continued touring, and that he would probably be in a home somewhere
"drooling on a cardboard guitar".

Tony <FOURNIER@ecs.umass.edu> says:

>	I've seen lots of "Dukes of Stratosphere" albums, and they're
>usually under the XTC files in record stores.  I haven't bought any yet,
>but I believe at least Andy Partridge is in the Dukes.  This is probably
>a stupid question, but as a new XTC fan, I'd appreciate some info on the
>Dukes and a description of what kind of music they play.  Thanks.

The Dukes of Stratosphear are XTC's psychadelic alter-egos.  They play
(and pay) tribute to all of their favourite sixties psychadelic bands
including Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, Small Faces, Beatles, Beach Boys,
Hollies, Kinks, and more.  However, The Dukes died in a horrible
kitchen accident a while ago.

But they recorded two good pieces of vinyl, the first being _25
O'Clock_, a six song EP released on April Fools' Day 1985, and the
second being _Psonic Psunspot_, a full album (complete with pscented
psychadelic psleeve).  I believe that _25 O'Clock_ is really the
better, more coherent, and more truly psychadelic of the two.  It in
fact was recorded in two weeks, for less than 20,000 quid.  The sad
thing about it is that it actually sold better than _The Big Express_,
which was released six months earlier.

Virgin was so impressed with sales of _25 O'Clock_ that they basically
forced The Dukes to make _Psonic Psunspot_.  The songs therein are a
mixture of XTC demo tracks psychadelicized and other purely purple
pieces.  But after that, The Dukes had their mysterious kitchen
accident resulting in their demise.

This was in the great cover story on XTC in the _Tower Records Pulse!_
magazine (back when _Oranges and Lemons_ were... was new):

    The Dukes -- Sir John Johns (Partridge), The Red
    Curtain (Moulding), Lord Cornelius Plum (Gregory) and
    drummer E.I.E.I. Owen (Gregory's brother Ian) -- have
    released two records of "soundgasm"...

	-- John

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Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1990 16:16:21 PST
From: John M. Relph <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org>
Subject: Chalkhills Survey leftovers

Here are some leftovers from the First Chalkhills Readers' Survey:

8.  Favourite lyrical phrase (a few words, a line or two)

    she treats me far too frosty / this hangin on has cost me
    years

    I hear the engine's dying breath

   "I wanted to make this instrumental / but the words got in
    the way" ("No Language in Our Lungs")

    Science Friction Burns My Fingers

   "When it rains it rains / Tickets for the front row seats up
    on the rooftops" (A side note: I am hard pressed to find a
    more beautiful thought in English poetry...and I majored
    in the subject in college.  I like the rain; here Andy
    gives the subject its due.)

    "Funk Pop A Roll": "But please don't listen to me /
    I've already been poisoned by this industry." Very
    memorable, for some reason.

    Life's like a jigsaw, you get the straight bits But
    there's something missing in the middle.

    I can't think of a particular lyrical phrase. I guess it
    would be...  "I should be shouting, but in liberation,
    feel like a ship with no rudder" from Me And The Wind.

   "Hammer goes down, brakes all scream, Me and a couple of
    empty carriages slide downhill still Next stop.. bad
    dreamsville!"

    My .sig has "There is no language in our lungs to tell the
    world just how we feel". There are _SO_ many good lyrics
    to choose from.

   "You made a fool of me and physics" from Heaven is Paved
    with Broken Glass

   `Sunday church and they look fetching But Saturday night
    saw him retching Over our fence' from Respectable Street

   "Immaculate Reception on their portable Sony Entertainment
    Centers" Tied with: "We're all Jesus, Buddha, and the
    Wizard of Oz."

    Like childrens' chalklines over pavement

   "The swastika and the hammer and symbol / Are sickles that
    reap only weeds." ("Reign of Blows")

   "You're the Wish You Are I Had" (Chorus from the song of
    the same name, from 'The Big Express')

   "Don't wanna be another satellite"- "Satellite",
    Skylarking

   'Insect bomber Bhuddist droning Copper chord of August's
    Organ', from "Summer's Cauldron"

   'bout the baby and its umbilical who's pushin the pedals
    on the season cycle (only Andy could make that one work!)

   "Life's like a firework, you're only lit once, and you
    must stand and radiate correctly."

9. Favourite album

    ARRGH!  Well, if I have to choose (ugh!), 'English
    Settlement'...  or 'Skylarking'... no wait, 'Black Sea'...
    All right, *sigh*, you wormed it out of me.
    ** 'SKYLARKING' **.

16. Least favourite song

    Least favorite song, gee...  I have absolutely no use for
    huge portions of White Music or Go 2.  I've read the
    positive reviews of them in Chalkhills and even went back
    and gave them a listen but, sorry lads, I just don't see
    it.  There's way to much use of gimmicky stuff for me.
    Partridge and Moulding can both write splendid songs
    without relying on that stuff.  And... I do indeed detest
    Oranges and Lemons.  It's sounds more like the Knack than
    XTC.  What happened to lush melody, guys?  There's way too
    much use of "riffs".  With all that said, my least
    favorite would probably be Dance Band.  It's an extremely
    irritating song.

17. Least favourite album

    The Big Express.  Too much dissonance.  Runner-up: Oranges
    and Lemons.  Musically not up to snuff, Mayor of Simpleton
    notwithstanding.

    My least favorite album would have to be Oranges and
    Lemons.  It's definitely the most disappointing one for
    me.  I don't like White Music and don't care for large
    parts of Go 2 but at least they moved upward and onward
    from them.  I sure hope they can recover from Oranges.

18. Least favourite video

    They have VIDEOS???

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