Chalkhills, Number 96

                  Tuesday, 12 June 1990
Today's Topics:
                    Re: Chalkhills #95
                   Re:  Chalkhills #95
                        Their CDs
                       favorite XTC
                    RE: Chalkhills #95

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Subject: Re: Chalkhills #95
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 90 14:28:25 -0400
From: eboneste@bbn.com

>Is there something wrong with me?  It seems like most people on this mailing
>list don't like "O&L" that much.  What's up?

The main reason I don't listen to it much is that I think the album
has about twice as many songs as it should have.  There aren't a lot
of double albums I can think of that couldn't have been greatly
improved by major editing.  When I get the patience, I plan to do just
that with O&L, put my edited version on tape, and leave the CD on the
shelf.

Bits of it are wonderful.  Bits of it are annoying.  My opinion, of
course;  since I want them to be millionaires, I'm always glad when
someone likes O&L.

About Go 2:
>I wish I found the album as interesting as the cover.  Fortunately, any music
>that I listen to long enough I will eventually start to enjoy, so it just a
>matter of time.
>Should I do it?

I think Go 2 is worth the effort; but then, I think I'm the only
person on this list who likes White Music better than Go 2 (somebody
prove me wrong!), so you probably don't want to listen to me.

>On my copy of "Skylarking" I managed to scratch the CD so that "That's Really
>Super, Supergirl" skips on a couple of my CD players.  It is worth it to
>buy another copy of the CD for that one song?

That's up to you, of course; but one of the things I like about
Skylarking is that it stands very well as a whole.  It's one of the
few albums I own that has a definite rhythm when played from beginning
to end.  (I even have the Ugly American version, with "Dear God" and
without "Mermaid Smiled.") I'd do it;  but between you and me, I'm a
fanatic.

Liz

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Date: Mon, 11 Jun 90 12:37:19 mdt
From: Michael Schoonover      <michael@hpfcma.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Re:  Chalkhills #95

>Date: Thu, 7 Jun 90 12:20:59 PDT
>From: Alan F. Perry <perry@devnet.la.locus.com>
>Subject: Misc. Ramblings and Chalkhills #94
>
>Is there something wrong with me?  It seems like most people on this mailing
>list don't like "O&L" that much.  What's up?
>
>alan perry

I, too, am puzzled by the apparent majority's dislike of O&L.  It's
probably because it followed a great album, Skylarking, and critics
have a difficult time admitting that a group did two great albums in
a row.  The usual complaint against O&L was that it was overproduced,
and critics cite the "reverb" in the lyric to Mayor of Simpleton:

	What you get is all real,
	I can't put on an ***act***,
	It takes brains to do that anyway...

The reverb on "act" sounds fine.  It just emphasizes the sentiment of
phoniness in putting on an act.  Clever.

Mike Schoonover

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From: stewarte@sco.com
Subject: Their CDs
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 90 12:26:04 PDT

>From: dhgpa!dhtpa!adkoning@hvlpb.att.com
>
>- Who archieved that the old albums have extra tracks on CD ?
>  (Manager? The group? Someone at Virgin?
>  Remember: a lot of CD-reissues are treated like "you-should-be-lucky-our-
>  company-is-even-bothering-to-release-this-on-CD")

I recall Andy making a comment to the effect that "English Settlement"
was the first CD released in the UK, and that they were quite annoyed
to find out that two tracks had been taken off it.  He implied that
Virgin put extra tracks on the other discs to mollify the band.

-- Stewart

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From: stewarte@sco.com
Subject: favorite XTC
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 90 12:36:45 PDT

>From alan perry, whose email address I accidentally deleted:

>The album (actually CD) that turned me on to XTC was "Oranges and Lemons" and
>out of what I have since accumulated ("O&L", "Skylarking", "English
>Settlement", "The Big Express" and "Go 2") I have to admit that "O&L" is still
>probably my favorite, although that varies with my mood.
>
>Is there something wrong with me?  It seems like most people on this mailing
>list don't like "O&L" that much.  What's up?

I think that most people will always have a soft spot for whatever album
first turned them on to a particular favorite band.  Much though I hate to
admit that my own tastes are influenced by such whims, it is true that
"Black Sea", the first XTC album I owned, is still my favorite (trading
off with "English Settlement", actually).

I think this phenomenon is partly caused by sentiment and the fact that
the first album you hear sounds fresher than the others; it's probably
also partly caused by the fact that there's some quality in that album
that caused you to really respond to it, which may not be present (or
may not be as obvious) in other albums by the band.  Someone who really
likes complex arrangements might be knocked out by O&L but not care
much for White Music; someone who likes loud guitars might go for Black
Sea but not care much for Mummer.  There may be more than just chance
that made that one album the one that really turned you on to the band.

To make a long story not much longer, no, I don't think there's anything
wrong with you or your taste.  After all, you've demonstrated the
superiority of your taste by being an XTC fan in the first place...

-- Stewart

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Date: Tue, 12 Jun 90 01:14:55 PDT
From: "My brain hurts like a warehouse, no room to spare" <drobb@ayov27.enet.dec.com>
Subject: RE: Chalkhills #95

              Re-printed from the U.K.'s 'Record Collector'
              =============================================
                 magazine (June issue) without permission
                 ========================================

XTC collectors can look forward to a couple of interesting CDS this summer,
both boasting archive recordings.  "Explode Together (The Dub Experiments
1978-81" will include material from Andy Partridge's solo album, plus
tracks from the "Go Plus" e.p., originally issued free with the band's
"Go 2" album.  A second disc is likely to concentrate on general rarities,
like the "Three Wise Men" 45, Colin Moulding solo material and hard-to-get
'b' sides.

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