Chalkhills Digest Volume 10, Issue 47
Date: Sunday, 17 October 2004

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 10, Number 47

                 Sunday, 17 October 2004

Topics:

                    XTC on Mastermind
                         One Word
                        More Todd
                        Smile....
                          SMiLe!
                  Re Fuzzy Warble 5 & 6
                   Who gains from that?
            Fuzzy Warbles and quality control
             Mastermind BBC2 8pm Monday 18th
              I've started so I'll finish...

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Never been near a university / never took a paper or a learned degree.

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Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 17:30:10 +0100
From: "Belinda" <b.blanchard@btinternet.com>
Subject: XTC on Mastermind
Message-ID: <007b01c4b078$be5cbf90$3c2a9b51@davidfoh4tm83a>

Hi all

Next MONDAY 18th October 2004  at  8.00pm  on BBC2  (UK only!)  the
programme MASTERMIND is on and one of the specialist subjects is:

"The band XTC".

Altogether now:
"PINK WARMTH"
"HELIUM KIDZ"
"BARRY ANDREWS"
"BUSTER"
"YES"
"1980"
"DEAR GOD"
"NO"

Well, they are some answers! Let's see if I got the questions right!

Belinda x

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 14:09:41 EDT
From: SnarleyCo@aol.com
Subject: One Word
Message-ID: <88.165c054e.2e9d77e5@aol.com>

Chalkhillians-

"SMILE"

" 'Nuff said' "

Carl

Carl R  Snow,
Moss Hill Mastering
www.jacop.net/CRS.html

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 19:00:00 EDT
From: RMuRocks@aol.com
Subject: More Todd
Message-ID: <1f0.2c9940c4.2e9dbbf0@aol.com>

All this Todd-talk, and not one mention of his EXCELLENT latest
release, called "Liars" which has been getting regular play from me
ever since it came out (it's not competing with Elvis Costello & Tom
Waits among others, but no matter).

Liars works all the way 'round for me; lyrically, musically, and
whatever other -ly one would attach.  The track "Stood Up" sounds like
it came right from the Skylarking sessions.

Bob

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 09:44:10 +1000
From: "Dominic Van Abbe" <domva@hotmail.com>
Subject: Smile....
Message-ID: <BAY17-F9ozTIAw19DBq0004d485@hotmail.com>

Tally-ho Chalksters,

Word about Brian Wilson's "Smile" has gradually found its way onto these
pages, and with very good reason.   As one of those who has for a few years
had a tape of the "Smile" album (a fan assembled compilation, cobbled from
the assorted boots out there), it's always saddened me that this album never
saw the light of day.  Even worse, that some of the songs were later
released in diluted form, as the twat that is Mike Love grappled for control
of the Beach Boys.

In short, you MUST hear this album.  Yes, it's out-of-time.  Yes, it could
be conceived as the work of a Beach Boys cover-band who just happen to have
Brian on lead vocals.  But the songs within are absolutely sublime and ought
to confirm Brian Wilson reputation!!!  Surf's Up, Cabin Essence, Wonderful-
I could go on.

See where Andy has gotten a lot of his late-80's onwards touchstones from.
I tell ya, if the release of this album doesn't prompt Andy to
extract-the-digit, and get off his arse to create new XtC material, nothing
will....

Dom

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:48:53 -0400
From: Steve Dockery <sdockery@mac.com>
Subject: SMiLe!
Message-ID: <C905E87A-1DE7-11D9-9C27-0003938AC4BC@mac.com>

I went to guy buy the SMiLe! CD yesterday at a couple stores, and they
were all sold out, so I went on the iTunes music store and grabbed it
for $9.99.

Remarkable. It's everything folks have been saying. As a musician, I
feel like a guy who draws a comic strip looking the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel for the first time. One thing that's truly weird is
hearing familiar songs (Good Vibrations) in a completely different
context and a slightly altered form.

Since the album is kind of a symphony, with one song flowing to the
next, listening to it in electronic form has a serious drawback-
there's always a slight pause between one track and the next. I
understand it's not the player, it's part of how MP3's and similar
formats store the song. If I burn it to a CD with no gaps between
songs, that problem will go away, but I generally only listen to music
on my iPod these days, so that's no solution.

The other problem with the electronic version is there's no packaging.
I was sitting on the Metro this morning listening to SMiLe! on my iPod,
and looked over at the guy next to me, and was surprised to see he was
listening to it as well, only he was playing it on his CD player, and
was looking at the insert booklet. The booklet and the outside cover of
the album are beautiful.

I guess I'll still have to buy the real thing, but at least iTunes gave
me instant gratification. :)

Steve Dockery
http://www.stevedockery.com

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 15:38:40 +0200 (CEST)
From: Nick Brickell <member@brickcom.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re Fuzzy Warble 5 & 6
Message-ID: <28769024.1097847520572.JavaMail.www@wwinf3003>

Delurking after several years

OK I'm all for the guy(s) making some money, but I feel Andy's taking
the p*** with the Laugh Track and welcome to volume 5. Its always
interesting to here the sketch stuff like Dear God Skiffle version,
Maror of Simpleton etc, but there are a few things that are scraping
the barrel, then if you manage to listen to vol 6 before volume 5 like
me you get right to the end and My land is burning and everthing is
forgiven! However did that escape.

I've no idea if Andy & Colin still look in from time to time, but
couldn&#8217;t Colin manage just one fuzzy warble of his own, I'd love
to have decent legal recordings of House full of mice, Where did the
ordinary people go , mates etc and at 1 volume to 10 of Andy's that
would be just right.

I pass the Model shop in Bath every day but I've never seen Andy (Not
that I'd know what to say)

Back to the Background for another few years

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 19:08:08 +0200
From: jeffrey.thomas@bayercropscience.com
Subject: Who gains from that?
Message-ID: <OFB1D26EB2.95D27FB4-ONC1256F2E.005CBF6E@bayer.de>

Hi people of the collines de la craie,

Months of silence and then 2 posts in a short span -- one might get the
impression I am returning from the world of lurk to the world of the
participation.  But I'm not.  Nevertheless:

David Edwards opined/asked:

>>Ideally, the whole band would have come together and listened to +all+ the
songs available and chosen them on merit rather than authorship. If they
had, Nonsuch could have been, not just great, but out of this world, and
things could have turned out very differently. You can't cast out musical
pearls from one of the great creative talents of our time just because he's
already had his allotted share of songs! Who gains from that?<<

Honestly, and no offense to all those people out there who hate all of
Colin's songs on Nonsuch (except maybe "Bungalow", which is okay to like
because Andy told them it was okay to like that one), I think the band does
get together and make a decision of that nature.  And Colin, as a member of
the band, has been given a share of the songs.  You may think they're worse,
but then, that's your opinion.

If you ask me, Lennon and McCartney made the same judgement on Harrison and
continued to long after they were writing songs like "Maxwell's Silver
Hammer", while George was sitting on gems like "All Things Must Pass".  (You
may agree with my implicit statement here, but there are plenty of people I
know who think Maxwell is better than anything on ATMP.  Well, there you go
-- and I think I have to leave it to the Beatles to decide what they want on
their records, whether I like it or not.)

Nothing is stopping Andy from taking his songs and recording solo.
Nothing...  except he likes the concept of XTC.  And that concept includes
Colin, and Andy seems happy with that.  So when they decided Nonsuch was
going to be one CD and not two, they cut songs.  As far as I'm concerned,
they could have cut "Peter Pumpkinhead", "Books are Burning", and a couple
of others of Andy's, as well as "War Dance" by Colin.  Please don't tell me
how great those Andy songs are, I know you believe it.  I don't.  But who
cares?  I still like the album and I respect XTC's choices, even when I
don't agree with them.

Sorry, had to vent -

- Jeff

* * * * *
PS - "The Stinking Rich Song" is my favorite "Peach" track yet!  Fantastic!
I still think Andy cut off his own nose to spite his face on that one.  Be
humble once, sell a million records, and then go for the throat!  But c'est
la vie.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 04:02:45 +0000
From: "WAYNE KLEIN" <wtdk12@msn.com>
Subject: Fuzzy Warbles and quality control
Message-ID: <BAY3-F19ljWwY0VnkB40000b979@hotmail.com>

I hate to sound like an XTC heretic here but is it just my imagination or as
we continue on in the "Fuzzy Warbles" series does the material get thinner
and thinner? I've noticed that all of them have had their share of filler
but #6 seems like the weakest of the lot yet. On the other hand, the best
songs such as "Prince of Orange" (which I had before on a bootleg) and the
incredible "My Land is Burning" are among the best that I've heard. It's a
pity that "My Land is Burning probably won't get a proper recording. As Andy
points out, it would have fit quite well on "Apple Venus". Perhaps it will
still receive full blown recording although it's pretty darn powerful as it
is.

I noticed mention of Andy as ex-member of XTC in an article at the
Chalkhills website. Maybe I've missed something of late but does that mean
the "group" is offically dissolved?

Off the XTC subject--I like Elvis Costello's latest CD very much and same
with the Finn Brothers recent release. I don't recall who posted questioning
the Finn's musical quality (or that of Crowded House, Split Endz, Tim and
Neil's solo efforts) and while everyone's due their informed opinion, I
don't know that whomever it was has taken the effort to listen to all of
their material. It would be akin to making a judgement on XTC's worthiness
based on one or two listenings to "White Music" and/or "Mummer". There's
more than meets the ear on both those albums event though they aren't my
particular favorites.  I realize this was many posts back (I haven't been
staying up on reading all the posts of late). Certainly Neil and Tim Finn's
music wouldn't be to everyone's taste...

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:35:55 +0100
From: "Stephen Jackson" <planet_skaro@btopenworld.com>
Subject: Mastermind BBC2 8pm Monday 18th
Message-ID: <000b01c4b478$2503d5a0$b9868351@default>

I don't know whether this will make a digest in time, but one of the
contestants specialist subjects is XTC.

Who is it, I wonder? Must be somebody here.

Steve

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:21:35 +0100
From: Jason Witcher <jason@etceterate.net>
Subject: I've started so I'll finish...
Message-ID: <4172C63F.5080108@etceterate.net>

Not sure if this has been mentioned as my email's been on the blink and
I've missed a few digests, but one of the contestants on Mastermind (UK
quiz show) has chosen XTC as his/her specialist subject. It's on BBC2
tomorrow (i.e. Monday the 18th, so hopefully this'll appear before the
digest comes out) at 8pm.
Jason

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End of Chalkhills Digest #10-47
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