Chalkhills Digest, Volume 11, Number 14

                  Sunday, 27 March 2005

Topics:

             Time magazine, European edition
                       Band to Band
                     DVD/Video Trade
                  chicago radio tour '89
               DDiHC vs. Futureheads, etc.
  Mitch Friedman's PURPLE BURT (featuring Andy and Dave)

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But he likes to speak / And loves to be spoken to...

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 10:34:42 +0100
From: jeffrey.thomas@bayercropscience.com
Subject: Time magazine, European edition
Message-ID: <OF35439646.9A8B9322-ONC1256FCB.003262B1@bayer.de>

Bonjour, people of the collines de la craie,

Mike Versaci added to the ever-expanding list of recent XTC sightings in
various magazines in #13 by mentioning the appearance of our faves in Giant
magazine:

>The article went on to say how important, influential, cool,
>catchy, nerdy (!), and bloody fantastic XTC have been for the
>last 27 odd years, and how they are gaining in popularity because
>of the new bands who have been naming them as influences.  (New
>Pornographers, Hotdogs In Dead Cars, er... you know.)

In a similar vein, XTC was mentioned not once but *TWICE* in the March 14,
2005, issue of Time Europe magazine.  In an article titled "Hail to the
Chiefs: British rock is back and even Americans want to listen", the article
describes the Kaiser Chiefs and the Futureheads in some detail (while
mentioning Franz Ferdinand, Razorlight, Bloc Party, and Kasabian) and
discusses a turnaround in tastes by Americans:

"In 1986, U.K. acts accounted for 32% of the market share of albums in the
U.S.  Billboard Top 100; by 1999, it was just 0.2%. A British Council report
blamed record-industry and radio-station consolidation as well as
increasingly insular American tastes."

I guess the radio-station consolidation part doesn't really surprise...  The
article continues:

"British acts like Coldplay, Keane and Joss Stone have recently found some
joy in the U.S. charts. And the buzz on the new new wave bands is building,
just as they are about to converge en masse in Austin, Texas over the next
week for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) music convention. Is it a bona
fide rock movement? Certainly, the bands have found common influences in the
likes of '80s pioneers Gang of Four and XTC."

The news for XTC fans gets even better when Barry Hyde of the Futureheads is
quoted in a way not that unexpected in light of other recent comments cited
here:

"The Futureheads' sound is inspired by the post-punk of the Jam and the
Slits, and according to singer and guitarist Barry Hyde, 'I love XTC. Their
first 10 albums are essential.'"

Maybe, just maybe this sudden wave of publicity will awaken the drive and
desire in our boys to actually create a new album, which indeed might Help
Me Breathe well again.  And no matter what you think of the Futureheads, at
the very least their constant publicity might lead to some new music lovers
actually looking for and/or buying some of XTC's catalog.  That's what we
hoped for re. Mandy Moore's recent "Senses Working Overtime" cover, as well.

That's it from here, au revoir!

- Jeff

* * * * *
PS - and speaking of Joss Stone, man, that girl can *sing*!  Let's hope she
stays away from the people who turn voices into divas -- she could be the
next great soul singer!

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 08:59:20 -0600
From: "Richard" <rjpa1@comcast.net>
Subject: Band to Band
Message-ID: <001d01c52e26$8fedf9e0$03081fac@verisity.com>

> Subject: Band to Band
> http://www.bandtoband.com/
>
> It's basically a 6 degrees of sepreration idea...

I spent most of a morning playing at this site!  Every link from XTC goes
through Barry and then Fripp - and then you would think Eno because he has
worked with so many, but they only consider a link if that person was an
official member of the band.  They also don't list solo artists, so Fripp
isn't listed but The League Of Gentlemen is.

>From XTC to Roxy Music goes Barry-Fripp-Mel Collins-Alan Spenner.  It could
be Barry-Fripp-Eno which would obviously be the same for XTC to Eno but that
chain is seven links long (It could also be Andy-Harold Budd-Eno but again,
the solo artist isn't counted).

The developer clearly has a database fetish!

Anyway, great fun.  Thanks for the link!

Cheers,
Richard Pedretti-Allen

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

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:57:39 -0000
From: "Patrick Morgan" <pm007@blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: DVD/Video Trade
Message-ID: <003b01c52f08$a39286e0$52b530d5@MORGANHOUSE>

Just like to ask if anybody would like to trade rare clips of XTC tv
appearances, promos etc, that you may have on DVD/Video.

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

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:40:53 -0500
From: "Chris & Melany" <ellaguru@comcast.net>
Subject: chicago radio tour '89
Message-ID: <000601c5300a$2297ff40$fe0cf645@Sony>

hey folks...i know theres a few of us who use the bit torrent file share
system....im seeding the chicago '89 show right now...

http://www.easytree.org/torrents-details.php?id=33912

is where you'll find it lurking....

thank you, and goodnight.

cr

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

Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 00:02:36 -0800
From: David Gershman <dagersh@pobox.com>
Subject: DDiHC vs. Futureheads, etc.
Message-ID: <6.2.0.14.2.20050324223349.0279b688@mail.comcast.net>

Having had a chance to hear both the Dogs Die in Hot Cars and Futureheads
albums all the way through a couple times now, I have to give a wide margin
of victory (in this fake competition we've created) to the Futureheads.
Both bands come from a similar place musically, but whereas DDiHC sound
like a buncha youngsters doing their best to mimic early XTC and ending up
coming off more like Oingo Boingo, the Futureheads take their influences
from Drums and Wires-era XTC, early Wire, the Jam, and Gang of Four and
have made an album that sounds like the real McCoy. Which McCoy exactly, I
don't know, but I guess what I'm saying is that while it's certainly
derivative of their influences, it doesn't sound like a poor imitation.
DDiHC is hard for me to stomach...the lead singer's "Andy P., Jr." yelp is
completely missing some essential intangible that made Andy's voice so
unique and enjoyable in that era. Or maybe it's just that he uses that
voice to sing lame songs. Anyway, the Futureheads' song "Decent Days and
Nights" alone trumps the entire DDiHC album!

So I've also been trying to discover more about what makes Prefab Sprout so
great -- I had "Two Wheels Good" years ago and enjoyed most of it
("Appetite" is one of the best songs of the '80s, methinks). Other than
that, hadn't heard much until now, and I'm making my way through "The
Collection" to see what else there is to appreciate. Now granted, I haven't
gotten through all of it yet, but I'm having a reeeal hard time getting
past the cheesy '80s-style instrumentation of so many of the songs. The
lyrics might be great, but I'm not sure I can stomach hearing the songs too
many more times to discover them. Any suggestions on how to approach this
for maximum appreciation? I'm sure there must be some diehard Sprout fans
among us here.

Finally, for all you parents out there dying to find some decent children's
music that won't drive you completely nuts, I highly recommend Ralph
Covert, aka "Ralph's World." He's saved me from tedium! Start with the
album, "At the Bottom of the Sea," featuring one of my favorites, "Coffee":
"M-O-M-M-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E/D-A-D-D-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E," followed closely
by "18 Wheels on the Big Rig," in which, among other things, he counts the
wheels on the "big rig" in roman numerals ("I, I-I, I-I-I, I-V, V, V-I, . .
."), without losing the beat of the song much more than you'd ever think
possible. Amusing for the parents, and good music to boot. He's got 3 or 4
other albums of similar quality, so any of them will do if you can't find
the album I've recommended.

And really finally, just by way of self-promotion, I've recently released,
via CD Baby, Amazon, etc., the first of two albums by my "band," Nuclear
Forehead, entitled "What It Is!!." I put "band" in quotes because the album
was actually recorded in 1987(!) with little in the way of instrumental
talent or high-tech recording equipment, but a whole lotta heart,
tongue-in-cheek humor, and some good song ideas. While I have continued
doing my own songs and recording in the years since, Nuclear Forehead isn't
currently an active entity. Which isn't stopping me from putting out a new
NF album later this year, made up of a few later collaborations recorded
with my bandmate, Mick (co-lyricist and lead vocals), and other stuff
recorded on my own in the years immediately following the first album.
Anyway, if you'd like to give it a listen, please check it out at CD Baby
(http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nuclearforehead) or go to
http://music.download.com/nuclearforehead for a few free downloads. Buy the
album if it strikes you the right way and you've got a few bucks burning a
hole in your pocket. And I have no idea if it will strike you the right
way; although I was a huge XTC fan even then, it doesn't sound a bit like
them as far as I can tell, so I have no idea if it would appeal to any
other XTC fans who weren't involved in its recording. (That is, if you're
not me or Mick.) But hey, just thought I'd mention it.

-- Dave Gershman

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

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 17:14:30 -0500
From: Mitch Friedman <mitchf@mindspring.com>
Subject: Mitch Friedman's PURPLE BURT (featuring Andy and Dave)
Message-ID: <c8fad94a4c2a35b7c00c35f87ab2daaa@mindspring.com>

Hello again,

Yup, it's me. You may wonder where I've been lately. Well for the last
three years I've been writing, recording and mixing my brand new cd for
kids (and immature adults!) called PURPLE BURT. Can't you see how it's
rubbed off on me? ;-)

http://www.mitchfriedman.com/photos/mitchellaneous/33.jpg

Some of you may be familiar with the song "Purple Burt" from my 1999 cd
"The Importance of Sauce". Well this time he's the star and the subject
of a whole album. He's purple . . . he's invisible . . . he's
colorblind . . . he's got a snapping turtle named Kurt . . . his
singing girlfriend is named Do-Re-Mimi . . . he eats purple dirt to
stay alert . . . his brother Purple Herbert slurps and burps all day
from a diet consisting solely of herbal sherburt. Long story short -
he's unique and fun and sometimes a little sad too. I suppose you could
say he's like most kids, and most kids seem to like him.

The album sounds like the result of an Iron Chef competition between
They Might Be Giants and Ray Davies, with a mischievous Willy Wonka as
the judge, in which the theme ingredient is whimsy. Really.

15 songs alternate with spoken interludes to help to spin the tale.
Special guest stars include our own Andy Partridge who co-writes a song
called "Pluto" and plays some jazzy stereo electric guitar on "Try This
On For Size", and Dave Gregory who provides the entire scintillating,
shimmering, psychedelic backing track for "Color Feel".  Also appearing
is home recording genius R. Stevie Moore. It comes with a deluxe 20
page booklet that includes the complete song lyrics, and lots of
incredibly fun illustrations by Anne D. Bernstein. Best of all, the
front cover has something all children will love - wiggly eyes that
really wiggle!

Here's looking at you, kids. ;-)

http://chalkhills.org/Art/misc_mitchf.gif

I had tons of fun making this cd and I bet you'll have fun listening to
it, no matter what age you are. Have you got kids? Know anyone with
kids? Are you a kid yourself? Give it a try. If you like what you find
or know someone else who might, please spread the word. And remember,
it comes with a full 100% funny-back guarantee!

I have no children of my own so it would mean so much to me to know
that I've created something that would make you and your kids happy.

Wanna hear samples of all the songs and read the lyrics? Go to
http://www.mitchfriedman.com/purpleBurt.html

Wanna make a play date for your kids and buy a copy? Go to
http://www.cdbaby.com/mitchfriedman3

Thanks so much for your time, and enjoy!

Mitch
http://www.mitchfriedman.com

p.s. Check out the rest of my web site if you're so inclined. There are
lots of photos, videos, things to read, things to hear and a guest book
too. Oh, and if you snoop around you'll find Andy singing and playing
the just-written "Pluto" over the phone!

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #11-14
*******************************

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28 March 2005 / Feedback