Chalkhills Digest Volume 11, Issue 17
Date: Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 11, Number 17
Tuesday, 19 April 2005
Topics:
Info on XTC at Hollywood Palladium in 1981?
Yet another XTC sighting
XTC items on Ebay
trainspotting
Little By Little
Dogs Die Concert Moment
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White horses showing / Their pearly teeth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 07:58:07 -0700 From: John Callender <jbc@west.net> Subject: Info on XTC at Hollywood Palladium in 1981? Message-ID: <72b692fcce166c9053e4a111e283ade2@west.net> Greetings. I'm trying to figure out if my memory is playing tricks on me, and I think there's an outside chance someone on this list will be able to help. After seeing U2 perform in Los Angeles at the Staples Center last week, I found myself thinking back to the time I first saw them. In my memory, that happened at the Hollywood Palladium in the spring of 1981, during my senior year in high school, when the band was touring in support of their 'Boy' album. I believe (or at least, I _think_ I believe) that I saw them perform there on a double bill, with U2 as the opening act for XTC. I'm _certain_ I saw XTC at the Palladium around that time. I'm pretty sure the concert was part of the tour supporting 'Drums and Wires' (still my favorite XTC album). I went there with several friends, and I remember how, at the end of the show, the management of the Palladium (I assume) sprayed clouds of some kinds of noxious smoke from the balcony at the rear of the hall in an effort to force us rowdy fans, who kept clamoring for more encores, to disperse. I left after the smoke was sprayed, but later, meeting up with my friend Scott Pearson, he told me, "hey, we didn't leave. The smoke didn't reach up by the stage, and a group of us stayed up there and they did another encore. We were all doing the 'helicopter' dance; it was great, man!" In hindsight that part might be a myth; Scott wasn't above crafting a tall tale. But I believed him at the time. Anyway, in checking the list of early U2 gigs at http://www.u2tours.com/, I found a mention of a series of shows that U2 did in southern California around that time, but nothing at the Hollywood Palladium. www.u2tours.com records that U2 _did_ play at the Palladium on November 28, 1981, in support of their 'October' album, but I really thought I'd seen them on the 'Boy' tour. The webmaster of www.u2tours.com wrote to me as follows when I asked about this: > Anything is possible, esp. when we're talking about 20+ years ago, so > we can't dismiss this off-hand. However.... > > There are three recognized authorities for U2's concert history: > U2tours.com, a book called U2 LIVE, and a book called U2- THE COMPLETE > SONGS. The only Hollywood Palladium date listed in all three is > 11-28-81. Beyond that, it's never been mentioned in any press article > or interview over all these years that U2 once opened for XTC. > U2tours.com lists all concerts U2 has played, whether they were > headlining or not, so it's not a case of ignoring such a show. > > I'm inclined to say the show never happened, but if your research > turns up some kind of evidence that it did, and we don't have it > listed, please do share with us what you find so we can make sure the > archives are as accurate as possible. Anyway, I suppose it's possible that I actually saw U2 at the later Palladium appearance, and mixed the two shows together in my memory. But I'd be very curious if anyone on this list recalls seeing XTC perform at the Palladium in early 1981, and if so, if they remember anything about who their opening act was (if any). Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. John Callender jbc@west.net
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:44:38 +0200 From: jeffrey.thomas@bayercropscience.com Subject: Yet another XTC sighting Message-ID: <OF81A1DA50.7DB47595-ONC1256FE3.002941C8@bayer.de> Bonjour, people of the collines de la craie, XTC is all over the place at the moment! I wrote recently about the article in "Time"; yesterday at the airport, I picked up (but did not buy) a copy of "Q", and in the free CD -- themed "new wave and post-punk" or something like that -- lookee there, it was XTC! "Complicated Game" was the song, which surprised me a little because I didn't think it was well known outside of hard-core fan circles and friends of Star Park. The comment in the mag was something along the lines of 'This is what XTC sounded like before Andy Partridge became a psychedelic-pop guru and hermit'. Do they get royalties for these "free" CDs in major music mags? Anyway, it seems to be time of the season for XTC. If they had been smart/lucky, they could have ridden this wave with a new album and sold more copies. But c'est la vie, I guess. Au revoir, Jeff
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 19:26:48 -0400 From: "J. D. Mack" <jdmack01@verizon.net> Subject: XTC items on Ebay Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.2.20050415192432.01e339b8@incoming.verizon.net> Sorry for the commercial intrusion, but this may interest some of you. I am selling off a bunch of CD's on Ebay, including some XTC promos, as well as the Hello Recording Club set that includes a CD by Andy Partridge. Here's the link: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZjQ2edQ2emack Now I only hope a digest comes out before the auction is over! J. D.
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 14:51:02 -0700 From: "\"Michael Ong\"" <mong@medicine.ucsf.edu> Subject: trainspotting Message-ID: <web-7600993@medicine.ucsf.edu> Happened to see an XTC reference in the Spirit Magazine for Southwest Airlines - unfortunately, I think they referred to XTC as a "Scottish band"....
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:38:58 -0400 From: KEVIN.WOLLENWEBER@jpmorgan.com Subject: Little By Little Message-ID: <OF9C3EB654.57F61B1A-ON85256FE7.006AD6C0@jpmchase.com> Folks: It seems as if the next few months might be the flood of great music that I had been hoping for! Years and years ago, I recall reading, within the liner notes to a vinyl copy of Judy Collins' then recent album, LIVING, a short but sweet sentence, "Ry Cooder is a joy!" Well, I'm a true believer, now, judging from what I'd heard of his forthcoming album, CHAVEZ REVINE, a kind of concept album around the memories of a Mexican-American community displaced when the building of Dodgers Stadium drove them elsewhere. The guy is doing his finest work in recent years, and I just had to mention this here in case any of you swing to that beat. This is going to be an incredible album!! It ain't XTC-related, but there is still good music to be had. Meanwhile, what does anyone hear of Vols. 7 and 8 of FUZZY WARBLES? Andy Partridge was o a roll with Vol. 6, and I hope the remaining 5 or six volumes give us some incredible highlights. As for new XTC, well, I think I've given up on that. I mean, we're practically now in a generation that nearly has forgotten the Beatles and all the music that Andy had originally given a kind of rebirth to with the Dukes of Stratosphere guise, but again, I hope they continue to surprise me. Kevin
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 14:00:34 -0600 From: "Steven Paul" <spaul@armstronglaw.com> Subject: Dogs Die Concert Moment Message-ID: <CGEGILJOEJHFCCGOJOKKGEOGDKAA.spaul@armstronglaw.com> Hey troop, I just wanted to send a shout out to those who have recommended Dogs Die in Hot Cars. I picked up the CD based on several recommendations within the Chalk halls. I really liked the music and made a copy for my daughter (age 15). Together we analyzed the xtc-ness of the music, but also pointed out the other sounds like Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, Grateful Dead, if you've heard the CD you know what I mean. If you haven't - I suggest you pick it up. Definite "ear candy". Last week, while playing on the internet during work, I looked for Dogs Die's web page and read up a little on the band. Then I checked the tour dates to see if they were thinking of skipping through Salt Lake City. Baam! What do I see, but they are scheduled to play the next night! First, I get permission from my wife to take my daughter to a concert (it would be her first) and then I spill the beans to my daughter and she is ecstatic at the thought of seeing this newly discovered favorite band. I call for tickets and find out all the advanced tickets are sold out. So I go over to the club on the day of the show, as it's on my way home, and try to buy tickets, but learn that the show is 21 and older! My daughter will be crushed. But lo, what do I see, but my cousin Rolo (not his full name, but everyone calls him that) and I go talk to him. He is the sound tech for the club and was talking to the owner. Rolo vouched for my daughter and the owner said sure, I could get her in. I hope this isn't too long. We get to the club at 8:00, just before the opening band takes the stage. My cousin gets us in no problem and we wander around looking for a place to sit. There is all of 15 people in the club. We learn that Dogs Die will go on last of three bands. So we sit through "Whatever" (not their real name) and then listen to Phoenix. A French funk band. It turns out all the advance sale tickets were for Phoenix. About 50 people were there to listen, dance and sing along. If you've heard of Phoenix and like them -- good on ya. If not, you haven't missed much. My daughter described them as Maroon 5 with a bad french accent. Then came Dogs Die in Hot Cars. Between bands we saw the keyboard girl, Ruth, and talked to her a bit about the band and touring. She also signed my CD. The music was great. The band sounded as good as the CD, but live of course. They played for only about 45 minutes, but that is about all of their music! By the time they finished about half of the crowd had left. After they finished, we talked with singer/songwriter, Craig. He mentioned that he is a fan of XTC but that he wouldn't want to meet Andy personally, as he would be far too intimidating! Craig said XTC's music has influenced his writing to stay away from drool repetition and use creative riffs, eighths and bridges - or something like that. These kids have a great sound are having fun touring and playing their music. In my humble opinion, they are starting out on what could be a brilliant career. If they are touring near you, support them. Buy their music. In the "Top 40" era we still live in, where being successful depends on sounding like everybody else, fresh sounds, good lyrics and musicianship should be supported. Thank you, and good night. Steven Paul Salt Lake City, Utah
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #11-17 *******************************
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