Chalkhills Digest Volume 12, Issue 27
Date: Friday, 9 June 2006
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 12, Number 27
Friday, 9 June 2006
Topics:
Re: Barry Adamson
Re: Barry Adamson?
Re: Programme info about the Mellotrone happening on BBC
New XTC CD!! (Well, kinda.......)
dodgy maths
Re: Booker T Gregory indeed/Old Grey?
Re: alt-giants
Let it R.I.P.
Herman Munster and Robert Mitchum
Hope springs eternal
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 07:55:44 +0100 (BST) From: "Darryl W. Bullock" <dwbullock@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: Re: Barry Adamson Message-ID: <2584.82.46.87.247.1149490544.squirrel@82.46.87.247> In the latest Digest, Jamie Crampton wrote: Mojo magazine (UK version) reports that, in the forthcoming section, there is this:- Andy Partridge, Barry Adamson & Martyn Baker Title: Monstrence Due: July Production: "No one" Songs: TBC The Buzz: Improvised music from Partridge (guitar) and Shriekback men Adamson (keyboards) and Barker (drums). Such a shame that an august journal like Mojo can't even get the bald-headed, keyboard-throttling one's name right! D
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 06:40:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Barry Adamson? Message-ID: <20060605134049.65726.qmail@web32009.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi: Jamie Crampton wrote about Mojo's description of Andy's current improv project: > Andy Partridge, Barry Adamson & Martyn Baker <snip> > No news of what label its on although I would guess > APE may be a possibility, anyone know anything more? Well, first off (as many others will doubtless point out), the keyboard player is our favorite bald steam-piano abuser, Barry Andrews. I doubt we'll see a release in early or mid-summer (FW 7 and 8 will be the summer releases for APE, which will be the label for the project above), but it's a definite possibility by year's end. The band wanted to call themselves "Ut," but found out there'd already been another band by that name, so they're examining their options. -Todd Several excuses are always less convincing than one. -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2006 08:09:04 -0400 From: "Krys Olsiewicz" <kolsiewicz@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Programme info about the Mellotrone happening on BBC Message-ID: <BAY106-F1733DD92CB5933A8578728DF940@phx.gbl> I would have thought that the BBC would have better fact checkers but guess I was wrong. The keyboardist of the Moody Blues was not Swindon's own, Justin Hayward (misspelled below as 'Haywood' tsk tsk) but Mike Pinder (http://www.mikepinder.com/mellotron.shtml). Congrats to Andy and Dave though! -Krys Olsiewicz Kzincat <kzincat98@yahoo.com> wrote: > >Sampledelica! The History Of The Mellotron >BBC Radio 4 Saturday 3 June 2006 >10.30-11.00am BBC Radio 4 >Launched in 1963, the Mellotron was the first music >sampler - an instrument that could capture and >play back other sounds. In this fascinating feature, >which contains new interviews with Sir Paul >McCartney, Paul Weller and Tony Banks from Genesis, >Mark Radcliffe examines the history of the Mellotron >and the part it played in British pop music history. >The programme examines the history of the instrument, >investigates its impact on the music business as the >earliest sampling technology and particularly how it >was adopted by bands in the early Seventies >progressive rock era. Tony Banks, the keyboardist >with Genesis, talks of his love/hate relationship >with the instrument, which proved notoriously >difficult to take on the road. Other contributions >come from Andy Partridge and David Gregory of XTC, >Ian McDonald, the keyboardist from King Crimson, and >Justin Haywood from The Moody Blues, who famously >used the instrument on Nights In White Satin.
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 10:24:29 -0400 From: "Myers, Michael D" <mmyers@telcordia.com> Subject: New XTC CD!! (Well, kinda.......) Message-ID: <9C8CA610679BA74FBAEF300B18B9F3980704FE53@rrc-dte-exs03.dte.telcordia.com> Chalksters and Chalkettes; I first starting telling you about 8 years ago that you should check out a great group from Canada called the Nines. They just released a new CD called "Calling Distant Stations" (although the CD cover also has the wording "Calling Distance Stations"). I'll repeat my original assertion that this band is like a semi-clone of XTC. And I don't mean that they are just influenced by XTC; the lead singer, Steve Eggers has a voice that is frighteningly close to Andy's. I swear, there are times (especially in the quieter songs) if you were to close your eyes you would have a hard time telling who is who. The songs are top-notch but of course you shouldn't expect the incredible wordplay you find in most XTC songs. There are excellent arrangements and orchestration but the guitar is de-emphasized most of the time. As an added bonus, Andy co-wrote the closing song "Receiving Me", and it is a great song. Great chord changes, wonderful melody. Jason Falkner appears on bg vocals on one song, and mixed a bunch of the songs as well. I bought my copy through Not Lame but I guess you can get it in a few other places. Mike
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 23:09:40 -0400
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: dodgy maths
Message-ID: <a06110401c0aaa01b76cd@[4.157.5.27]>
"Simon Knight" <homefrontradio@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Christopher Coolige called me on my dodgy maths:
>
>>That's funny, I count twelve. I'm not going to bother listing them
>>all, but basically there's six with Terry and six without. Which did
>>you miss or not consider "main albums?"
>
>Oops, as you know I was talking out my arse again, which i so frequently do.
> It still wouldn't change my statistics enough to enable Andy to buy his
>own psychedelic Rolls Royce.
>
>But there's only 5 albums with Terry, isn't there? Depends on if you're
>counting 'Mummer' or not. 5 and 1 / 3?
>
>I forgot about 'Apple Venus / Wasp Star', due to the long gap between
>albums, where i'd got into the habit of thinking they were a '10 albumer'
>band. (I've got this tediously involved theory that great bands can only
>sustain a high quality of work for around either a 10 albums or 10 year
>maximum, and then everything goes to pot).
>For any band formed in the 90's and onwards, this rule goes out the window.
>The cycle has sped up. Try finding a band who doesn't burn out after 4
>albums or so.
Well, Andy didn't have any released soundtracks(since he was fired
from James & The Giant Peach), the odd song on soundtracks("Take This
Town," "Happy Families," etc.) doesn't count. Yes, I do count Mummer,
Terry was on it, albeit only two songs, so it counts. Shame on you
for forgetting Apple Venus/Wasp Star though; Wasp Star was merely
very good, but Apple Venus was their best album ever IMO. And even
though Wasp Star suffered by comparison, burnout had nothing to do
with it, more the absence of Dave Gregory; without Dave, Wasp Star
sounded like a very good demo for the most part, especially Colin's
songs, which especially suffered without DG's orchestrations.
--
Chris Coolidge
President, Vermont Spiritualist Association
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2006 16:30:57 -0700 From: Steve <ste7phen@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Booker T Gregory indeed/Old Grey? Message-ID: <4484BEB1.70203@yahoo.com> Neil Sheppard said: >Stage fright? What stagefright? >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRrm22b__vA it was wanting to download the full version of this rockpalast that prompted me to finally purchase broadband a year or two ago (and i won't hold it against them for my having done so). the video is one of my core favorites... live snowman! live jason and the argonauts! live living through another cuba! (and more) question: usually when bands did old grey whistle test they did atleast three songs didn't they?... and it looks like xtc was on there atleast twice as Statue of Liberty has been released and Yacht Dance is on Coat. There is desirable footage from those sessions. How can we get this stuff released rather than letting it become forgotten as our generations age and become forgotten ourselves??? Does anyone know all of the songs that were recorded during these old grey sessions released and unreleased? Another Steve
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2006 23:57:22 +0200 From: "don device" <device@noos.fr> Subject: Re: alt-giants Message-ID: <009d01c689b4$307e4ce0$743e4251@computer> Hiya, Here's a bit from Andrew Sullivan's blog from the TIME website! "It is truly amusing that, as your reader stated, 'people look back at the 80s as a wasteland music-wise.' In retrospect, as a child and teen of the 80's, there were numerous and influential artists who were simply ahead of their time. U2 and REM, the two alt-giants of the era, were not widely popular for much of the 80's. Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits, and X emerged in the 80's, as did the Cure, XTC, the Simths, the Pixies, and the Pogues. Husker Du was, in fact, just one of the artists that made Minneapolis the 80's version of 90's Seattle. Prince, Soul Asylum, the Replacements also fleshed out the Minneapolis sound. Throw in, for good measure, Elvis Costello, The Police, Kraftwerk, Run-DMC, Sonic Youth, and Public Enemy. I'm sure I'm missing some others, but still quite an impressive legacy." Check it out! xo, d^2 "I was married by a judge. I should've asked for a jury." --Groucho Marx
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 00:45:54 +0200 From: "don device" <device@noos.fr> Subject: Let it R.I.P. Message-ID: <009e01c68a84$22df8d30$743e4251@computer> Sadly, R.I.P. Mr Billy "16 year-old soul" Preston... Who cares which solo is better on 'Get Back'? I once heard Joe Walsh of all people play Preston's break on guitar and it was quite impressive. He'll be missed. xo, d"
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2006 18:57:45 -0500 From: "Eric Draves" <zoom98@mindspring.com> Subject: Herman Munster and Robert Mitchum Message-ID: <000801c68a8e$2d888a70$0a0110ac@Comp08> (Or, "Cars Gurgle the Lobe") Just found out Todd Rundgren and Prairie Prince are in the New Cars. Going to check out their live album. Heard it was good. Doubt if it'll make us forget Ric Ocasek as the track listing is full of his songs. So... Mr. "Making Funs of Umbil-Eye-Cal" and Mr. Time Bomb themself? Add a touch of Log Cabin Studio Syrup and an Unfairlight Computer (hey, what do they use nowadays, just some PC?) and you might just have something vehicular. Or is it "Bumper Cars" all over again? ---- For metal-likers, I now have three albuminations by Dungeon. I think they rank right up there with Megadeth, but then again what do I know? I only go by what sounds nice to me. It seems like almost nobody has heard them here in Yankland (they're from the golden country, you know, AU). Never mind, more coolness for us. ---- We need new XTC content... it's getting so I can't remember the words to some of their songs. (This is an excuse to get out the CDs and actually play them, or at least read the printed lyrics, but not much of one.) ---- Wish You Were Hear (my PC audio hardware's messed up right now), eriC "I like driving in my car... even with a flat tyre."
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 20:19:49 +0100 From: John Morrish <morrish@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: Hope springs eternal Message-ID: <42BEE586-A58C-4325-98FA-BE0625A42535@blueyonder.co.uk> Read this: `The day of a gig I'd wake up shaking, sweating, getting stomach cramps, vomiting. As I started playing two gigs a week, it became almost a permanent state of paralysis. One night, after supporting Gang Of Four, I collapsed and was taken to hospital. I thought it was a heart attack. That's when I stopped playing live. Only much later did I realise it was an anxiety problem.' No, it's not him. It's Green Gartside of Scritti Politti, who bears comparison with Andy in a number of ways. More successful, of course, at least in the eyes of the world; but barely more prolific. He's just put out a new album (wait until July, you Americans), but that's the first in seven years. The one before that was 11 years ago. And then there's the touring. The stage fright hit him in 1980, two years before it caught up with Partridge. But here's the good news. In January this year Green did a low-key gig - his first in 26 years - as "Double G and the Traitorous 3". Since then he's done about half a dozen more, latterly as Scritti Politti, even playing a couple of old songs. More shows are lined up. He seems to be enjoying himself. As he told The Sun the other day (an unlikely place to find a former follower of Gramsci, I know): "I was very nervous about playing live again after so many years. I used to get really awful panic attacks but I think I've chilled out at bit as I've got older and am a bit less uptight generally. The new Scritti is very inexperienced altogether - I like that. . . it's not about slick musicianship now . . . its about friends and having fun. - The nerves get a little better each time." I saw somewhere that he'd had some cognitive behavioural therapy to help with the nerves, which he claimed to be "interesting, if not that useful". Well, something did the trick. If you don't know Scritti, by the way, they've done some fine music. And here's another recommendation. Shack: At The Corner Of Miles And Gil. This record has come out on Noel Gallagher's label, but don't let that put you off. It's a thrilling piece of pop, with a string section and a brass band, some raucous guitar, and a rather Mouldingesque lyrical outlook. Very English. One or two too many references to drinking tea, but that comes with the territory. I'd never heard of Shack before this, but I'm a convert. I know that to some of us seeking out new talent feels a bit like infidelity, but we all have our needs. And it gets easier as it goes on*. JM * Or so I am told.
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