Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 113
Date: Friday, 17 May 1996
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 113
Friday, 17 May 1996
Today's Topics:
XTC on vinyl
What was "Radios in motion"?
getting out of the wrong side of bed in the morning
German fans / XTC references in novels
Revisiting the Produce Stand
AB-CD
Some Justice in the World
(none)
Re: Sugarplastic = XTC?? Nope
irrelevance +
Johnny Nexdor/Sean Altman/David Yazbek
(none)
XTC Meanderings...
it was early spring
Reviews
Drums, Wireless, and Yazbek
Re: Scooby Doopergirl!
xTc UNplugged?
SugarPlastic
Yazbek gigs (correction)
Peter Blegvad
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Working underground.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <01BB41E3.A48B6100@ppp300.enterprise.net> From: Richard Brooks <rebrooks@enterprise.net> Subject: XTC on vinyl Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 22:20:44 +-100 Hi folks, I'm afraid I'm a staunch vinyl fan with a CD player that has just keeled over and died, so my question is: Can you still get XTC albums on LP brand new? If not brand new then I'll have to make do with second hand. I've just tried to get Skylarking on vinyl without success (Virgin megastore weren't interested) Second hand shops in my area also yielded nothing. (I could have brought 15 copies of the Big Express-What does that tell you?) Is there some mail order contact that deals in records perhaps? Please Advise. My area is Nottingham, UK Rick Brooks
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199605150127.LAA17002@warchives.riv.csu.edu.au.> From: "Simon Knight" <sknight@warchivegw.riv.csu.edu.au> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 10:25:08 +0000 Subject: What was "Radios in motion"? Around the time that "Nonsuch" came out i was in a store in Canberra and saw something on the wall behind the counter where they keep the box sets. It was a large plastic case which had two small booklet things inset in it. One of them showed the american cover of the "Peter pumpkinhead" single, the other was a large yellow booklet with "Radios in motion: A history of XTC 1977-1992" emblazoned across the front. I didn't ask what it was because it was priced at $230! (Roughly 460 pounds). I figured there was no point getting needlessly depressed over something i really wanted and couldn't possibly afford. I'm kicking myself now though. I've always wondered what it was though, does anyone else know? Was it some kind of box set? A nonsuch promo? A video collection? Radio concerts? It would want to be pretty special for that price! (XTC are hardly a household word in Australia).
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01530505adbf01d8ef97@[139.80.100.143]> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 15:39:20 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: getting out of the wrong side of bed in the morning >I would have thought that most XTC fans would be of a "certain age" (i.e. >30+) and would, accordingly have more common sense than to rant on about >seagulls with human faces etc. just a reminder that "The large family" was painted by Rene Magritte in 1963. It features a bird made of clouds and blue sky. Ten years earlier, he had painted "Golconda" featuring hundreds of bowler hatted men falling to the ground like rain. You'd think, wouldn't you, that a man aged 55 in 1953 (and thus 65 in 1963) would have more common sense than to paint things like that. >In that light, is it not >possible to discuss a matter of common interest in a matoor (for our >American correspendents) manner, rather than to indulge in childish >speculation about a media which is vacuous in content and manipulative in >intent? it is only as vacuous and manipulative as it is made by the people using it. Video, and cinematographic image in general, is as powerful an artform as music or painting, and the combination of it with music is merely another form of "mixed media" art. That it is not used well, or artistically, is firstly irrelevant to the discussion, and secondly only a matter of opinion. >Not to mention the fundamental question of whether the Internet (bow and >scrape) is populated by overeducated nerds who badly need to get a life. someone whose taking a simple series of messages in a mailing list as seriously as you obviously are is seriously in need of a life. For me, it's just a hobby. The really sad thing is that because of your comments - not *what* you said, but the *way* it was said, in all likelihood - Eric has now said that he's gone back to lurking. I don't like flaming. I think it's bad for a list, which is why it's with reluctance that I'm writing in the tone I am now. But scaring off people who just want their 2 cents to an ongoing thread is not polite. Come back Eric! I for one am far more keen to hear your contributions to this list than those of this parvenu, a word which my dictionary defines as "one who has risen above his socioeconomic class without the background or qualifications; an upstart". His word, not mine. James James Dignan, Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk St., St. Clair, Dunedin, New Zealand pixelphone james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz / steam megaphone NZ 03-455-7807 * You talk to me as if from a distance * and I reply with impressions chosen from another time, time, time, * from another time (Brian Eno)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 11:46:13 +0200
Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19960515114446.1ea72d90@mc.village.it>
From: Stefano De Astis <stefano@mc.village.it>
Subject: German fans / XTC references in novels
I've got a few articles about XTC in German.
If someone understands German and is willing to translate them in English
for the web site, I'll send him/her a copy.
Reading "Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis I came across the following
reference to XTC (p. 143, Picador, UK paperback edition):
And at Kim's party that night, while everyone plays Quarters and gets
drunk, Blair and I sit on a couch in the living room and listen to an
old XTC album...
Did you find references to XTC in other novels?
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 96 13:24:09 EST From: "John Christensen" <christej@vrinet.com> Message-Id: <9604158321.AA832192522@PO2.VRINET.COM> Subject: Revisiting the Produce Stand I'm going to say it once again and you can continue to ignore me: Geoff Emerick must produce an XTC album! Any Emerick doubters should run off and listen to the new Elvis Costello album, All This Useless Beauty (or EC's Imperial Bedroom). And while you're at it, listen to his engineering work on Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, Rubber Soul . . . the guy is brilliant. And a perfect match for XTC's passion and genius. Of course at this point, if it would speed an album release, I'd let Krusty the Clown produce them! Jasper
------------------------------ From: Ben Gott <BENG@hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> Subject: AB-CD Date: Wed, 15 May 96 14:56:00 edt Message-ID: <319A37B1@smtp.hotchkiss.pvt.k12.ct.us> Hey, Chalkies: I just wanted to let you know that, if you visit their web page, AB-CD (http://www.ab-cd.com) will send you a nice catalog of all the XTC CDs they have, including: Demos 2 (Nonsuch Demos) Demos 3 (O&L Demos) Demos 4 (Helium Kidz & Covers) Demos 5 (TBE et al) Demos (Studio Demos) NAC (Noncush) Sampler Rag & Bone Sampler This is not the New Album There are more, but these are the most interesting! Take care, Ben http://www.wp.com/58596 PS: I have no affiliation with AB-CD, but am pretty psyched about all of these CDs being available to me now!
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 20:53:34 GMT Message-Id: <199605152053.UAA11748@emerald.oz.net> From: Todd Wells <twells@oz.net> Subject: Some Justice in the World We all lament the fact that our favorite threesome isn't making a lot of money. However, Adam Curry's Sleaze Report (which I don't frequent) had this encouraging, entirely off-topic news to report, and I thought you all might appreciate this: Hard-up rapper HAMMER is working as a telephone salesman after blowing his $30 million fortune. The singer, once one of the world's richest entertainers with a string of hit singles such as U CAN'T TOUCH THIS, recently declared himself bankrupt. He is struggling to support his wife and three children in Fremont, California. A pal says, "Hammer is broke and is willing to do anything to keep the wolf from the door. Basically, he wasted a lot of cash on looking after his so-called friends." Hammer, 34, has signed a new deal with DEATH ROW RECORDS but they have refused to give him a cash advance. My question is - would you buy a telephone from this man? <snicker> - Todd twells@oz.net What's wrong with McDonald's? Check out McSpotlight! http://www.mcspotlight.org/
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199605160040.TAA12537@mailhost.onramp.net> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 19:41:50 -0600 From: gimarc@Onramp.NET (gimarc@onramp.net) I just talked with Andy the other day and he seems to be seeing light at the end of the tunnel as far as the contract release goes. Perhaps a flood of new material before years end. Also- thanks to all of you who have responded to the post about the Adventure Club Session CD that I have with the legal release of "Blue Beret" on it. Many times I've been asked if there are still some left and there are plenty left. The distributer that had told me they had sold through in Dallas found several boxes of them, which I pulled to sell on the net instead of in the Dallas area. I just wanted to spread the joy a little. If you need to see what it's all about check out Reel George site at www.onramp.net/RGP/ Also- I'm working on the final bits for the follow up to Punk Diary. It will cover 1980-82. But what should it be called? New Wave Diary? Post Punk Diary? Pink Diary - the commie infiltration of the cheese industry. What? Suggestions please. It will, include another CD freebie disc with loads of interviews, and of course, I'll go way out of my way to get a huge chunk of XTC on the disc. That's it!! All the best! George Gimarc http://www.onramp.net/RGP/ home to: Punk Diary 1970-79 (St. Martin's Press) Hollywood Hi Fi (St. Martin's Press) Elisabeth Fairchild (Signet Regency Romance author) Reel George Productions, Inc (Record company)
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03006c00adc03503ec4a@[206.104.207.18]> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 21:36:43 -0400 From: arthur james virgin <produce@magicnet.net> Subject: Re: Sugarplastic = XTC?? Nope >From: "Raul Escudero Jr." <ccbree@uky.campus.mci.net> >Subject: Sugarplastic = XTC > I saw a review of it in the CMJ magazine and they have a rating/reference >system >that said that if you like XTC, they recommend this band. So just with >that information I went out and bought the SUGARPLASTIC CD. I also got >the ERIC MATTHEWS CD, since it was mentioned here a couple of times. >Well, I gotta tell you, I think The SUGARPLASTIC blows him away. Their >music has so much more energy and has that 'quirky' XTC quality that we >all love. On the same recommendation I rushed out to the store to check out this Sugarplastic thing...I put the CD in a listening post and after the first song concluded I had a HUGE grin on my face, "Wow this is cool!" I took a second to pull myself together, "Listen closely, dont make your decision in haste." The grin steadily wore away...This is the perfect example of XTC "quirkyness" (whatever the hell that is) swallowing up all melody. Sugarplastic comes off more like They Might Be Giants than XTC.....Too many bells and whistles, not enough melody. My .02, AJ http://www.magicnet.net/~produce/ "But you're only as good as the last great thing you did" - Paddy McAloon - Prefab Sprout
------------------------------ From: Gene_Yoon@brown.edu Message-Id: <v02130501adc0444407ce@[128.148.184.54]> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 21:39:31 -0500 Subject: irrelevance + >From patty: >> And to the rest of us, I hope no one thinks twice about posting to >> Chalkhills for fear that they'll be called "childish" or "immature." Or >> that they don't use Roget's Thesaurus every time they post. Or that >> they're not an overeducated nerd. > >Hell, no. Having been dubbed "pigheaded" by none other than the member >above, I'd like to encourage everyone to dive right in. Sure hasn't >stopped me. Never stopped me either. Meant to add that. (and I *still* say I never called you pigheaded, patty!) Post-post apology for the ranting in #2-111, I was in a crummy mood. BTW: new Cocteau Twins is smashing. Milk and cookies. Gene
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 22:44:31 -0400 From: nmcgrath@world.std.com (Nancy McGrath) Message-Id: <199605160244.AA08401@world.std.com> Subject: Johnny Nexdor/Sean Altman/David Yazbek In Chalkhills Digest #2-112, Scott Taylor <staylor@sky.net> commented: > Now I'm wondering, if Altman's that good, why didn't he contribute > something like that to the _Testimonial Dinner_ disc? Like Sally Unterman (who also posted a response to the "Johnny Nexdor" query), I am a Rockapella devotee as well as an XTC fan. And yes... Altman *is* that good, and not just at doing dead-on imitations of Andy Partridge. If you have any doubts, check out Rockapella. If you're in Utah or Ohio area, you can catch the band this weekend -- they'll be headlining at the opening of Salt Lake City's Salt Palace Convention Center on Friday, 5/17 and at the Cincinnati Arts Festival (513/241-SHOW) on Sunday, 5/19. You can sign up on Rockapella's mailing list by dropping a line with only the word "subscribe" in it to concerts-request@rockapella.com. As to why Sean didn't contribute to A TESTIMONIAL DINNER, I don't know exactly. In any case, I for one would vote for him or Rockapella to contribute to the next tribute album. In the meantime, it appears he'll be doing something for CHALKHILLS' CHILDREN. I would also vote for an appearance by David Yazbek, who confined his involvement on A TESTIMONIAL DINNER to masterminding and executive producing. Those of you in the NYC area can catch him twice in the next month: this Friday, 5/17 (5:30 pm), at HMV (86th & Lexington) and on Saturday, 6/8 (9:30 pm) at the New Music Cafe (212/941-1019) at West Broadway & Canal Street. To subscribe to his mailing list, send an email with only the word "subscribe" in the text to yazbek-request@world.std.com. Nancy McGrath nmcgrath@world.std.com
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 23:05:30 -0400 Message-Id: <199605160305.XAA18516@dcez.dcez.com> From: "J. D. Mack" <jdmack@nicom.com> >From: Kirk Taylor Waldrop <gt6680d@prism.gatech.edu> > > According to him >(he said he read it somewhere), Todd Rundgren, in an attempt to show >everyone that he could copy anyone's style and further boost his ego, >wrote "Supergirl" for XTC and it was so perfect an XTC copy that they >recorded it. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this? I seem to remember Andy explaining the origin of this song in the "Skylarking" radio special. If memory serves me, he had written the song long before most of the "Skylarking" demos, and didn't really care for it. But for some reason, Todd thought it was great, so it made it on the album. From: "Simon Knight: >For quite a while now i've puzzled over the "passing day" theme of >"Skylarking" and wondered why certain songs are where they are. I've always thought the album had more of a stages of life theme. My interpretation is as follows: Summer's Cauldron - a basic kind of intro song. Grass - innocent first love Meeting Place - a little older, we've got jobs now Super Girl - First love gone wrong Ballet For ..., 1000 umbrellas, and Season Cycle - O.K., these don't fit in my plan Ear Enough For Us - Got a girl pregnant, so ... Big Day - you marry her Another Satellite - but then you're tempted by an affair, which you survive The Man Who Sailed ... - The bulk of your life spent in shallow pursuits Mermaid Smiled - Longings for childhood Dear God - late life loss of faith Dying - the end Sacrificial Bonfire - the cycle repeats Gee, I should go for my masters in Pop Musicology! Later, J.D. Burning .............Melting .... Dissolving
------------------------------ From: Benjamin Woll <bwoll@abacus.bates.edu> Message-Id: <9605160315.AA13546@abacus.bates.edu> Subject: XTC Meanderings... Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 23:15:18 -0400 (EDT) Four points. 1) Mummer is a great record. It used to be my least favorite LP of the post-touring days, but after becoming reacquainted with it, almost every song is characteristic of what is XTC's greatest strength. Each song is a connected whole that works, but that they can also be explored by breaking them up and exploring minuitae...like the bass solo at the end of Jump and the lyrics of Great Fire. Hmmm...the new demos bring the same characteristic to mind. 2) I understand that Andy wants XTC's audience to hear XTC at their post-production best with the understanding that he is recieving compensation and the satisfaction of a job well done. But I refuse to believe that listening to great music is wrong. With so much time between records and no touring, the proliferation of demos should come as no surprise. We should congratulate Andy on a job well done and (if he wants) to send us a bill. 3) A few issues back someone mistook Eric Matthews to mean Dave Matthews Band, and then went on to comment that no XTC fan in his or her right mind could possibly like Dave. Dave Matthews is a great songwriter, and the band includes some of the most talented musicians in modern pop music. Of course, disagree with me on all counts if you so choose, but try not to rank on music purely because it is commercially successful. Sure, a lot of the stuff out there is dreck, but our knowledge that XTC is the most underrated band out there should not make us bitter. Or smug. Or holier than thou. Dave Matthews, The Jayhawks, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains - they are all undeniably talented, and they all bring "something" to the table. Recognize that creativity and thoughtfulness are what count, even if they do not go in your direction. A job well done is a job well done. 4) Let's lay off some of the vicious insults I saw in the last issue. Some of what has been said is pretty cleary out of line for a band list. The truest sign of intelligence is being able to disgree with others in a respectful, peaceful manner. Listen to Books Are Burning a few times. "The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality." -John Quincy Adams. Wisest damn thing I have ever read. Cheers, Ben
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01510101adc0aea6ed2f@[194.128.83.69]> Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 10:38:40 +0000 From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher) Subject: it was early spring If Natalie Jacobs would like to find more Blegvad she should try and get hold of the UK newspaper The Independent on Sunday. Blegvad has a weekly cartoon strip called Leviathan in the magazine section. And very wonderful and strange it is too. Mark Fisher (fisher@easynet.co,uk)
------------------------------
From: 7IHd <ee92pmh@brunel.ac.uk>
Message-Id: <21995.9605161619@molnir.brunel.ac.uk>
Subject: Reviews
Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 17:19:49 +0100 (BST)
# From: mwicks@gol.com (Michael Wicks)
# Subject: Reviews ("tosh" is a four-letter word!)
I said:
# >This isn't meant to sound like a flame, so sorry if it does, but... would
# >you mind telling us why >you're bothering with these reviews? Surely
# >everyone on this list, even if they don't have all >the albums, is enough
# >of a fan to know they want all the albums... and some of your comments
# >are, quite frankly, tosh.
#
# One of the reasons for the reviews, besides giving those who are new to
# Chalkhills (I'm sure there are a few out there who are new subscribers in
# the past few months; and of those, many who only know XTC for either "that
# song about Nigel", "SWO", "that song about pot, er...grass", "Dear God",
# "that Mayor song", "the Dukes are WHO? XTC?!", and, more recently "Peter
# Pumpkinhead.../Nonsuch") a bit of background on the recordings of the
# newsgroup they're subscribing to. News flash: not everyone who subscribes
# to this newsgroup has all the albums, I'm willing to bet.
If you read my comment again you might realise that I didn't say that.
However, I don't think people subscribe to mailing lists *that* casually;
I suspect there are few of the "that Nigel song" brigade on Chalkhills.
(If there are I am prepared to be corrected). However, I fail to see how
your reviews are helping these people anyway, as your grasp of some of the
ideas covered in the songs appears to have progressed little since you
were in that camp yourself. (This is not just my opinion, I've had a couple
of pieces of email to back this up - not enough for a representative
selection though). To be perfectly honest, there are people on here who
are offended by your treatment of some of the albums they've known and
loved for years. I'm dreading what you'll say about "The Big Express"...
And by the way, this isn't a newsgroup. If it was then there would indeed
be more of the casual/uninformed people here, and your reviews may then
have a place. But it isn't.
# Also, the idea came to me when reading through the many, many volumes of
# back issues/digests. I started noticing some people's reviews of
# albums...especially Nonsuch...then, all of a sudden, they stopped. I wish
# to revive this way of discussing some of XTC's work by offering a short
# synopsis (i.e. - my own bloody opinion! And yes, very subjective!) of each
# of the songs. And, if I may borrow a Colin quote from live shows past, "It
# would please me to see " your comments, too! That's what a forum is for,
# to discuss, to debate, to have queries explained and answered, to express
# how you feel about, in this case, Things XTC!
I have no objection to the idea of commenting on various songs and
expressing your opinions on them. That is indeed one of the functions of a
list such as this, and yes it does still happen, contrary to what you said.
However, to present your queries/opinions as a factual review intended to
inform people is quite wrong, especially when those opinions appear to be
formed from a limited understanding of the songs concerned. Hence my
comment:
# >Sorry. I'd rather you reviewed something new, or just asked questions.
# This brings me to the third reason of doing these reviews. We all know
# that XTC is going through some transitionary times, what with the label
# change, contract negotiations (those are finished, though, right?), and
# whatnot, while we desparate, drooling appreciators of those wonderfully
# addictive musical sounds those three purveyors of The Good Things have
# given us wait patiently for a new record to come out. It is difficult to
# review something new when there's nothing new to review. (You wanna
# review Yazbek, or Eric Matthews? Suggestion: Start your own Newsgroup/Forum
# then! They don't call this Chalkhills for nothing!)
Now you are getting ridiculous. Firstly a factual correction though: The
contract difficulties are *not* finished, unless you know something we don't.
Now, if you want to discuss old XTC that is fine. "I've just been listening
to x and I wondered/thought y" comments are fine, and will more often than
not spark a healthy debate. However, this isn't what you've been doing; what
you have been doing is preaching to the converted, and rather poorly at that.
XTC's music is a complex thing, and your "reviews" quite simply don't do it
justice. I could have written an entire issue of chalkhills about most of the
songs on 'Black Sea' and not feel that I'd fully understood them...
The idea that people shouldn't review other artists on here seems to imply
that music should be listened to in a vacuum, which I can't agree with.
Peoples comments on here have led me to discover Ben Folds Five, for which
I am eternally grateful; I didn't jump up and down and shout about it because
I think they have been adequately covered in the past, but such reviews have
performed a useful function and long may they continue to do so. You think
XTC only listen to their own music? I hope not.
# Now, if these reviews are in any way detrimental to the group, or if some
# of you deem them unnecessary, then I'll discontinue them. I do think,
# though, that I'll shorten some of the comments down, since I admit they've
# been a bit long.
Now you have completely ignored everything I've said and gone to the opposite
extreme. My basic criticism of your reviews is the apparent limited grasp of
the concepts covered in the songs; to shorten the comments would only make
this more apparent.
# But I still kind of like the idea of going through the XTC
# catalogue and taking a trip down memory lane while we do wait patiently for
# "something new".
Nobody is objecting to this. Now, if you were to post "I've just listened to
'Black Sea' and here are some comments, any views?", people would probably
take note. But posting "You should listen to Black Sea because these are my
views" all seems rather pointless. If you have a point to make, please make
it straight up rather than disguising it in a "review". If not, then please
wait for a post along the lines of "I've only got Drums & Wires, what next?"
- which most people here would be only too happy to answer.
Well that's about it for my view on the situation. (Backed up, I think, by
the email I have received). I'm prepared to summarise for/against these
reviews if people want to email me (off-list) rather than flooding
chalkhills...
Phil
_
|_)|_ *|
| | )|| http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~ee92pmh/
========
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 12:59:21 -500 (CDT)
From: Lars Schubert <larss@scisoc.org>
Subject: Drums, Wireless, and Yazbek
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9605161204.A20115-0100000@scisoc.scisoc.org>
This is probably old news for many of you, but "Drums and Wireless" and
Yazbek's "The Laughing Man" really are good. I finally picked them up
("Drums and Wireless", on a lark), and they are truly most excellent.
I was mostly suspicious about the "Drums and Wireless" compilation, since
it was practically "live" stuff (which I normally avoid like the plague),
it was nothing I didn't already own in some form, and it was frankly too
damned expensive. For fellow doubters: do yourself a favor and shell out
the megabucks (if you can find it). It's worth it. The quality is really
quite good, for that sort of thing (remember, I don't normally go for
that stuff). You may not find yourself listening to it all the time, but
those first few listens are really worth the expenditure. Really.
Really really really.
Oh, and Yazbek's put out a gem, too.
This is really super, super chalkhillians.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v02140b00adc11f4f4b06@[198.69.129.114]> Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 14:48:59 -0400 From: lstead@cais.cais.com (Lewis Stead) Subject: Re: Scooby Doopergirl! I've never really thought about a passing day theme with Skylarking, more of a life cycle than a daily cycle. To me Summer's Cauldron is an introduction, something which reaffirms a connection with nature (the life cycle is of course a natural cycle), and brings about reminiscences that make up the rest of the album (disk, tape, etc). It reminds me of a lot of times that I just relaxed in a park or field and thought. Also in terms of an introduction, as someone doing some esoteric stuff, the song makes a very good trance induction--at least for me. I can't imagine Grass/meeting Place/Supergirl separated. I see them as intimately related and telling the story of a single first love affair. The first grapplings in grass with references to a sort of adolescent playing hard to get and buying ice cream, evidence of coming maturity in Meeting Place (you're a working girl now...". Supergirl I interpret as the evolution of one partner (the woman) beyond the relationship before the singer is really aware of it. There's a certain self-centered and immature quality to supergirl. "I won't call you again..." almost seems like an adolescent taunt from someone spurned. I think the comic book reference enhances this. If one accepts that the metaphor is continued, which I don't think works quite as well, Ballet is a period of reflection, and 1000 umbrellas a final acceptance--yes he's miserable, but if you compare it to Supergirl (both songs about loss) it's a much more mature sounding song--at least to me. That ends the first side, you move on to Earn Enough. I don't know about other people, but between my first very intense and very immature love affair and when I met my current wife, the rest was pretty forgettable. So I see a certain jump as quite reasonable here. (Of course the real reason is probably timing, but this .) !------------------------------------------------------------------------! ! Lewis Stead -=- lstead@cais.com -=- http://www.webcom.com/lstead/ ! !------------------------------------------------------------------------!
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 13:49:06 -0600 Message-Id: <199605161949.NAA26786@river.city.saskatoon.sk.ca> From: Erik Anderson <Erik.Anderson@city.saskatoon.sk.ca> Subject: xTc UNplugged? >From: "Simon Knight" <sknight@warchivegw.riv.csu.edu.au> > >I remember reading in REFLEX magazine sometime in 1993 that XTC were >going to record for MTV Unplugged. Was the show ever recorded, or did >it fall through some how? Does anyone know what happened? Was it >due to Andy's stage fright? Actually, they have already recorded it! xTc, in case anyone didn't know, were the first band EVER to do an unplugged session for MTV -- mostly because of Andy's condition. The session was aired on MTV and the material is also included on the CD "Kings for a Day" if you can find it. EA
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199605162012.AA231357560@paloalto.access.hp.com> From: Luke Lohnes <luke@hplaatc2.nsr.hp.com> Subject: SugarPlastic Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 13:20:46 PDT Hello all, Yes, the SugarPlastic album is fantastic! Very XTC, early Talking Heads type stuff. I am sure that you will dig it. If you want to hear some of it, as well as them playing live point you web brower to www.kcrw.com go to music then I think to Morning Becomes Eclectic. They were on last week and this radio station has all live performances on the web, you may want to get the RealAudio player befor you check this out, also, RealAudio does not play through Prodigy or AOL 2.5, there are ways to get around this but I don't want to go into that here. But check it out you won't be dissapointed. My band (the Last, new CD comming out May 21 on SST) has played a couple of shows with the SugarPlastic here in LA this year, in which we had quite a bit of fun and some broken eardrums. They are quite different live because (as you will hear) Ben does many vocal parts and some very nimble guitar playing that a three piece just cannot recreate live. So check out "Bang! The Earth Is Round", since our heros don't seem like they are going to be releasing anything soon, this will hit your pop meter for the year. Thanks for reading and sorry for the shameless pimping of our new release. Luke
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 19:24:31 -0400 From: nmcgrath@world.std.com (Nancy McGrath) Message-Id: <199605162324.AA11233@world.std.com> Subject: Yazbek gigs (correction) I take it back. In a previous post, I mentioned a Yazbek gig on June 8 in NYC. Turns out it's been cancelled. But Yazbek *will* be appearing on Saturday, May 25 at the North Star in Philadelphia (27th & Poplar; 215/235-7826). Yazbek is scheduled to go on around 11 p.m. Cover is $5. Nancy McGrath nmcgrath@world.std.com
------------------------------ Message-ID: <18C7D62F01291300@ametsoc.org> Date: Fri, 17 May 96 09:46:00 -0500 From: dgershmn <dgershmn@ametsoc.org> Organization: AMS Subject: Peter Blegvad I tried e-mailing directly to Natalie Jacobs on this, but my messages were returned with an "authoritative address" error (whatever that means). So here you go, Natalie (is "gnat@umich.edu" correct?)! You don't mention in your posting to Chalkhills if you have any other albums by him. It sort of sounds like you don't, so maybe you'd be interested in tapes of what I have. On vinyl, I have "The Naked Shakespeare," as produced by Andy P., and "Knights Like This" (not produced by Andy P.). I also have on CD his 1988 album "Downtime." So basically, I have his first three solo albums...they're all very enjoyable, and "Downtime" is the only one with spoken-word pieces on it. I have the Golden Palominos album "Blast of Silence" too, which he appears on and cowrote a couple of songs. I saw him at Johnny D's here in Somerville, Mass., last year, playing solo acoustic. He was absolutely great, and the friends who came with me to see him and had never heard of him before were immediately won over and all walked out having purchased some of his CDs (on sale at the show). Anyway, I'd be happy to tape any of these things for you if you'd like. If you happen to have any XTC demos/videos, I'd be glad to do a trade thing...whatever works out. Just let me know. Dave Gershman
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-113 *******************************
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