Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 152
Date: Monday, 2 September 1996

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 152

                 Monday, 2 September 1996

Today's Topics:

                 Explode Together lyrics
                    just some tidbits
                    Just lucky I guess
                           j@zz
                       my thoughts
                   Hans de Vente again.
      CHANGES IN POP MUSIC: WILL XTC BE INFLUENCED?
               XTC In America Pre-Dear God
                    Musings galore...
                     That Todd Thing
        _O&L_ 3 CD-3 request repost blah blah blah
             Producer for upcoming XTC album
               Influence Theory Management
                       More Dukes?
          Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-151 (honest!)
                  Sugarplastic for Sale
                         Big Days
               now now what's all this then
                     The Sugarplastic
                      too few Brits
                      Voice of Andy
                  Earn Enough for Poole
                  in denial/bass varlet
                       The Blue Up?
           All these demos I keep hearing about
                  I have made a convert!
       Fireworks!! (In more ways than you think!!)

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He love me, he loves me not.

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

Date: Wed, 28 Aug 1996 18:37:45 +0200
From: sellheim@zfn.uni-bremen.de (Erich Sellheim)
Message-Id: <9608281637.AA39133@alf.zfn.uni-bremen.de>
Subject: Explode Together lyrics

Hello everyone,

as promised,here is the rest of the Explode Together lyrics:

Cairo
=====

Well,let me tell you about my girlie
She goes by the name of Sleepy Shirley
She become a real life wiro
Since she learned how to do the Cairo
And she go

Up up down down
Up up down down

She pours out the sand on the kitchen floor
Then we start to camel through the living room door
She was cool to me,but now her heart's afiro
Since she learned how to do the Cairo
And she go

The Rotary
==========

I'm warning you
I'm warning you now
Look out people as it's the holy cow
It's the rotary
I told you 'bout the spinning top
And that's a dance you gotta drop
Because the rotary is in
The rotary,the rotary
The dance you've got to top is the brand-new spinning top
That's out,this is the rotary
The rotary
This is a thing that's definitely gonna make Captain Beefheart
and His Magic Band look bad
They thought they had it with the "blimp"
Well I'm talking to you about the rotary
People will be coming,will be twirling,twirling,twirling,twirling
The rotary
You can jump it,I can jump it
Everybody can jump it
Grab an armadillo,grab your husband,grab anybody
The rotary
The rotary,the rotary,oh,the rotary
It's the thing that's for me and you
Ooh,ooh,the rotary
I can see the precision
They're lining up,falling over
They're going crazy
They can't get enough of the rotary
Yes,siree
The rotary
Turning,turning,turning,turning...
You're burning,burning,burning...
With the rotary,ooh
Yes,siree
The rotary
I shouldn't want you to get this confused with any other dance craze
Because this is the one
Oh,the rotary
You'll be burning all your clothes
And you'll be burning all of your jewellery
You will be the rotary
It's nothing like anarchy
No,siree
It's,it's the rotary
The rotary,the rotary...
R.O.T.A.R.Y.
Rotary,the rotary
You'll want to do it,do it with me
You'll want to do it,you can do it for free
The rotary
Go on Terry,play the rotary
How do you think he got the second half of his name?
Terry is the last part of Rotary
Drum it up,drum it up...

I Sit In The Snow
=================

I sit in the snow
The town lights aglow
The air is alight
We drown in the night

New Broom
=========

We need a new broom
To sweep it all clean
We need a beat boom
We need a new scheme
Break all the deadlocks
And spill all the beer
Mr Ditko was right
Mr A so near
Break out the paints and the brushes
And spill out your hearts
No amount of soft soap
Can ever give you a fresh start
We are walking on a tight rope
We can slip beyond religion
The answer's in your cranium
And not on independent television

Also included are hand-written lyrics for Take This Town (I think the
version in the Chalkhills archive has some mistakes):

Take This Town
==============

Living in a rabbit tunnel
Keep the doggie in her kennel
Mustn't let her see the world
Oh no,don't treat her like that
Oh no,don't treat her like that

Living under mum and daddy
Carry hope just like a caddie
Mustn't let them see you're killed
Oh no,don't treat her like that
Oh no,don't treat her like that

Shout it clear for all to hear
You won't shoot this bird down
Shout it clear for all to hear
We're going to take this town

Turn a deaf ear to the orders
Keep them as your perfect daughters
Mustn't let them know their minds
Oh no,don't treat her like that
Oh no,don't treat her like that

Turning on to only music
Breaking from their childhood attic
Mustn't let them open the blinds
Oh no,don't treat her like that
Oh no,don't treat her like that

It's time she stopped being your ornament
It's time she put that in the past for permanent
You can't hold her if she wants to roam around
You can't hold her dream and keep it gagged and bound

I hope this was of interest;
greetings to all of you,

Erich

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

Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 12:22:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Todd A. McCullough" <tmccullo@jaguar1.usouthal.edu>
Subject: just some tidbits
Message-Id: <Pine.3.88.9608291144.A13613-0100000@jaguar1.usouthal.edu>

	Hi, all. This is just a quick message about two distinct, but
nonetheless tangential, XTC items.
	One: I saw the Cure (The Cure?) Tuesday night. While it was my
girlfriend's idea, it was a solid, rockin' 2-and-a-half hour show. BUT...
the ubiquitous pschedelic video backdrop (required by law, I guess) was a
shock to see because it was *Exactly* like the moire pattern on the _Great
Fire_
7". And it went on and on, back and forth, for at least 45 mins. That
wasn't enough to write in, but then I noticed the backdrop itself, which
was two-layered with slashes in the front to expose diaphanous
puff-throughs from the back. Guess what? - the spirally, cross-hatched
pattern formed the huge letters (no kidding - ~25 ft.): X T C. I swear.
Unfortunately, I kept going on about XTC, and not the Cure, so I am still
apologizing for "Ruining the show." Whatever.
	My record guy today told me that Virgin is not being co-operative
in promoting _Fossil Fuel_ (is there an "S" on the end?). There will be
500 vinyl copies, period, They Say, and HMV and Tower in London have
already spoken for them; tough for the US vinyl collectors/aficionados.
My guy also said that September 11 was his in-store due date, due to various
importative snags. So, if you are on the beam and have your copy lined
down (CD or vinyl), congratulations. If anyone knows whether the vinyl
will be *that* much more special, let me know.
	Well, that's my vaguely-XTC related content for now.
	Bye.

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

Message-ID: <MAILQUEUE-101.960829142544.288@library.uta.edu>
From: "L. Gutierrez-Ross" <GUTIERREZROSS@library.uta.edu>
Organization: UTA Libraries
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 14:25:45 CST
Subject: Just lucky I guess

Well, I keep hearing people mention that their partner can't stand
XTC. Call me a circus freak, but me and my husband both love XTC. Of
course this happened way before we met each other, maybe that's the
trick. One interesting difference I have noted is he will play O&L
and Nonesuch, (in fact he's one of the factors that finally got me to
listen to Nonesuch carefully) to clean house, work
on projects, etc... whereas I generally choose, ES and D&W. Hmmmm.

I will be playing Elvis Costello and XTC in-utero (ooh, gross) to our
soon to be child in hopes of influencing his/her musical taste! I'll
let you know how it turns out. I just can't picture myself playing
Kenny Loggins' baby songs, it's inhumane.

God, I've become so domestic, Rice Crispy treats anyone?

Laura
I don't want the world, I just want your half

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

From: myke <jerk@earth.execpc.com>
Message-Id: <199608292309.SAA05640@earth.execpc.com>
Subject: j@zz
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 18:09:49 -0500 (CDT)

John Coltrane and Charlie Mingus are the only jazz that matters.

Myke, being seriously narrow-minded and elitist as always :)

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

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:05:04 +1000
Message-Id: <v01540b01ae4c6d9bec73@[203.111.6.65]>
From: eliot@magna.com.au (Eliot Fish)
Subject: my thoughts

Just thought I'd post my thoughts,

>Andy is currently in the middle of promoting this forthcoming release
>throughout the UK and Europe.

What about Australia!!!?? *sniff*

>An internet conference will be set up very soon so that you will all be
>able to speak to Andy directly.

Awesome! Fantastic! Amazing! Yee-haa!

>Also at the end of the year there will be a video compilation release made
>up of various videos, TV and filmed performances.

About time, eh? Wonderful!

>A new album (possibly a double) will be released in the new year of '97.
>Suggestions - who would be your favourite producer for the band?

What about Ted Nicely?
He's done Girls Against Boys, Jawbox, Throwing Muses and he gets such a
big, warm, detailed, pop sound!

Either that, or the band just do it themselves! Actually, I'll do it! Pick me!

Bye folks, I'm going to go re-listen to Nonsuch (I haven't in 2 years)

Eliot.

"He who laughs, lasts."
eliot@magna.com.au
http://www.magna.com.au/~eliot/bhshome.html

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

Message-Id: <199608300008.CAA20664@utrecht.knoware.nl>
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 02:07:55 +0000
Subject: Hans de Vente again.

Dear Chalkies,

Brookes Mckenzie asked about my fellow countryman
Hans de Vente being mentioned on the Mummer inner sleeve.
Yes, you are right: this was meant literally as 'inner sleeve'; not
the crummy CD booklet Virgin pasted together...

My Dutch Mummer LP has with the original inner sleeve and it says:

"...and thanks to Hans the wind for De Vente"

I hope everything is clear now...

BTW: a big thank you to Paul Bailey for all the wonderful news he
posted in the last Digest.
I'm really thrilled that They are going 'online'!

ta,

Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://utopia.knoware.nl/~mmello/index.html

===> Mark's useless XTC quote for today <==
There is no muscle in our tongues
to tell the world what's in our hearts

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

Message-Id: <v01540b00ae4ba1d5de2b@[169.132.99.96]>
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 20:59:25 +0100
From: pjmuck@mail.idt.net (Peter McCulloch)
Subject: CHANGES IN POP MUSIC: WILL XTC BE INFLUENCED?

Ted Harms wrote:

>But, I'm wondering if anybody knows if Colin plays with his fingers or a
>pick (or plectrum, for our non-N. America readers)?  The pictures I've
>seen of him are sans pick but the string attack on said track is so
>friggin' even, it's almost inhuman.

Actually, Colin plays with both his fingers and a pick, depending on the
song. I've only seen him play with his fingers on "Burning With Optimism's
Flames", while songs such as "Life Begins At The Hop" he usually uses a
pick.

The real question is: Has he ever slapped?

Peter

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

Date: Thu, 29 Aug 96 20:02:20 CDT
From: Paul Gelpi <PGELPI3@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Organization: The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Subject: XTC In America Pre-Dear God
Message-Id: <960829.202415.CDT.PGELPI3@ua1vm.ua.edu>

Greetings Chalkhillians,

Although a long term XTC fan I am very new to Chalkhills and this is my
first post. I've read in the last two Chalkhills about XTC's popularity in
the US and the importance of Dear God to it. Well here's my 2 pence.

My first exposure to XTC was in late 1982 or early 1983 through a sunday
night show on WBCN in Boston (by 1985 the show was called Oedipus'
Nocturnal Emissions but I cannot recall its name in 1982/83) which was
generally an AOR station playing the hard rock hits of the day except for
this show. Anyway after hearing "Generals and Majors" (I believe) I was
intrigued. By the time I entered high school in the fall of 1983 I was
hooked on XTC (put this way it kind of sounds like an addiction :) ).

Regarding Trey Gunn guesting on the new material...is there any
confirmation of this rumor. An avid King Crimson fan I've not seen any
mention of this in Crimso circles. For those unfamiliar w/TG's work he's
rather amazing and a thoroughly nice chap.

Happy listening,

Paul

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

Date: Thu, 29 Aug 1996 23:00:30 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199608300300.XAA19591@cyber1.servtech.com>
From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <particle@servtech.com>
Subject: Musings galore...

One wrote:

>For my serious musician friends I will
>use "Miniature Sun" (although many of them make fun of the bridge).

What? The bridge is the best part of the song! (And an exception to the
general rule that Andy's bridges tend to be weaker than the songs that
contain them. Off the top of my head, BWOF is another...)

And another:

>In Joshua-hills, oops, I mean Chalkhills #150 (but didn't it seem like every
>post in that last one was from Mr. Hall-Bachner?)

That isn't a flame, is it? Sorry, when I get a notion I dash off a note. Can
you blame me? :)

And XTC's manager:

>An internet conference will be set up very soon so that you will all be
>able to speak to Andy directly.

Yippee! Can hardly wait! Hopefully the maturity level will be a bit higher
than on most of these types of things.

>Also at the end of the year there will be a video compilation release made
>up of various videos, TV and filmed performances.

Yippee! (Wait, already said that.) How complete will this be? Any more info
than that?

>The band are currently in negotiations with various record compani8es in
>regard to finding a new label due to leaving Virgin after 19 years.

We knew that...hope they get a deal soon.

>A new album (possibly a double) will be released in the new year of '97.
>Suggestions - who would be your favourite producer for the band?

Everybody who posted those "Face it, Andy isn't going to read your posts and
say, 'Aha, that's the perfect producer!'" posts, would you prefer your words
with ketchup or without? :)

>XTC are currently developing their own web site to include access to
>merchandising (T - shirts as we know them Jim!), the 'Andy Partridge Game
>Show' (fully interactive), news, views and any other ideas that comes out
>of the time capsule that is Swindon!

Great. "The Andy Partridge Game Show"? Oh yes. T-shirts...can never have too
many T-shirts.

>May your world be large.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

Okay, enough rambling for today...
/---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\
|     particle@servtech.com    http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/   |
| "Life is like a jigsaw. You get the straight bits, but there's something|
\-----missing in the middle."--XTC, "All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late)"-----/

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

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 12:01:29 +0100
Message-Id: <199608301101.AA26134@felix.dircon.co.uk>
From: nonsuch@dircon.co.uk (Simon Sleightholm)
Subject: That Todd Thing

FROM Dave O'Connell

>Todd has everything to gain and nothing to lose from being on a
>compilation album, even one with a less than stellar lineup of
>artists.
>Also, no artist can be held responsible for the quality of the artists who
>might appear alongside him or her on a compilation album.

I'm afraid you misunderstood me or, as is more likely, I didn't make myself
clear. The compilation was an anthology of Rundgren's own work. (I should
have used the word "collection" not "compilation", I know). I think, in
fact, it was called the Todd Rundgren Anthology, released in the UK by
Castle Communcations. Believe me I really tried to like it, but it was not
to be.

>Anyway, the gloating part of my post was not meant to be taken seriously.

I know, and neither was my deliberatly irrational balancing of the figures.
I was just tying to respond in a similar vein.

A failure to connect on both sides, I think. This time I really wasn't
trying to start a fight.

Simon
* ---------------------------------------------------
http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm
* ---------------------------------------------------
No Thugs In Our House, only XTC.

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

From: mark allender - king of the universe <mallende@kent.edu>
Message-Id: <199608301326.JAA139866@kent.edu>
Subject: _O&L_ 3 CD-3 request repost blah blah blah
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:26:42 -0400 (EDT)

just to keep checking...

does anyone have or know of an edition of the _Oranges and Lemons_ 3"
3 CD set that they have seen or would want to part with.  e me
prively. thanx.
--
-makotu
mallende@Phoenix.kent.edu
                                      uh...

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

Message-Id: <9608301349.AA08918@pop1a.mail.mci.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 08:48 -0500 (CDT)
From: Michael Faulkner <Michael.Faulkner@mci.com>
Subject: Producer for upcoming XTC album

>A new album (possibly a double) will be released in the new year of '97.
>Suggestions - who would be your favourite producer for the band?

Might I suggest Beck!  I'm not referring to Jeff...

Mike

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

Message-ID: <D234D72F01291300@ametsoc.org>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 09:57:00 -0500
From: dgershmn <dgershmn@ametsoc.org>
Organization: AMS
Subject: Influence Theory Management

"vancha@online.microcity.com" wondered:
>Subject: CHANGES IN POP MUSIC: WILL XTC BE INFLUENCED?
>Will XTC just keep making great records and do it as they have in the past,
>or will they be influenced by any of the developments with regard to
>making pop songs and albums? Let's see!

"Let's see!"?? I don't know about you, but it seems pretty clear to me, even
if I hadn't already heard the new demos, that the answer to that is no, of
course they won't be influenced by any of that. Any similarities will most
likely be coincidental...I doubt that they really pay much attention to what
other people are doing when it comes to how they do their own music. Why
would they want to start sounding like everyone else? Give them a little
more credit than that!

>From "Jeffrey with 2 f's Jeffrey":
>Since many of us had been talking about Sugarplastic, I thought I'd let
>the list know they're touring the US opening for the Loud Family - who
>might be described as an American XTC, in that they're a pop band who
>incorporate some avant-garde-ish ideas and textures as well as very
>intelligent & witty lyrics....Scott Miller, the Loud Family's main writer,
headed >Game Theory in the '80s (for us 30+ types making up the plurality of
the list!).

I second the idea of Game Theory/Loud Family as something like an American
XTC...Scott Miller is a brilliant and very inventive songwriter, though
possibly a little less consistent than Andy. I suspect a lot of you would
like them a lot, if you haven't already discovered them (pick up "The Big
Shot Chronicles" for a taste of Game Theory at their best).

And finally, we received this from a "Paul Bailey":
>Hi all you children of the Chalkhills
>As management for XTC, GOOD NEWS FOR ALL. HURRAH!...

...and he went on to talk about "Fossil Fuel" and Andy currently promoting
it in the UK and Europe, and then things too good to be true, like an
Internet conference with Andy and the vaunted video compilation release we'd
all been hoping for...

I was actually considering the possibility that this might be legit, until I
got to this:
>A new album (possibly a double) will be released in the new year of '97.
>Suggestions - who would be your favourite producer for the band?

YEAH, RIGHT!! After all we've been through "choosing" producers!?? They're
taking suggestions? Ha! Nice try! Like we're going to believe that you
didn't know about that whole thread all along and aren't just trying to play
some sort of horrible practical joke on us?! What do you take us for,
fools?!

(But, uh, just in case.... T-Bone Burnett!)  :)

Oh, and lest you think I forgot...  DESERT ISLAND TOP 5 XTC SONGS! You know,
just you and a Walkman and 5 XTC songs on cassette in the middle of nowhere,
out of all contact with civilization...what would those 5 songs be? Send 'em
to me ASAP! Thank you.

Dave Gershman

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

From: Pete Philips <pete@corp.netcom.net.uk>
Message-Id: <199608301430.PAA22167@corp.netcom.net.uk>
Subject: More Dukes?
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 15:30:44 +0100 (BST)

Well I've checked the FAQ and the list archives and even though I'm sure
it must be an FAQ...

Will there ever be another Dukes album?
Which XTC album is most similar in style to the Dukes material?

Many thanks,

Pete.

 ------------------------------------------------------
|   Pete Philips                                  \|/  |
|   E-mail: pete@corp.netcom.net.uk                O   |
 ------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:18:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Natalie Jane Jacobs <gnat@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-151 (honest!)
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.95.960830104958.15329E-100000@qix.rs.itd.umich.edu>

A number of comments...

First of all - an XTC web site?  I'm flabbergasted!  "Into the atom age,"
indeed.  Surely this is a troll... :)

Lyrics corrections (or, Natalie recapitulates the anal stage of her
childhood development):

>From "You and the Clouds": "Every Troy with wooden horse will take to
water but just can't make it drown" (something like that - I don't have
the tape with me)

>From "I'd Like That": "...if you could  slide me from this wire/Toasting
fork, I'll be done..."  and "kissing glue" (not "kissing blue")

>From "It Didn't Hurt a Bit" - "If you see her again" (not "see the king"),
and "piece of GRIT got in my eye," not "grape"!  (Sorry - it's a good
transcription but that one just cracked me up.)

Also, I think "It Didn't Hurt a Bit" has great lyrics.  Very simple, and
combined with the melancholy music, very poignant - the words of a man
totally and utterly lying to himself, but at the same time realizing that
he's lying to himself.  It's one of my favorite Colin demos, and I don't
know why it didn't go on an album.

I second the words of the Chalkhillian who enthused about Mervyn Peake.
The "Gormenghast" trilogy is truly wonderful.  Check it out - it's easily
available at used bookshops and in England there's some very nice trade
paperback editions with illustrations and interpretive essays.

Re. Joshua "Mr. Prolific" Hall-Bachner's call for song interpretations, I
thought of taking you up on that but I had no idea what you meant by
"interpretations."  Analysis of the lyrics?  Personal significance?
Reviews?  Please explain further.  Thanks.

Natalie Jacobs
Visit the Land of Do-As-You-Please!
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~gnat

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

Subject: Sugarplastic for Sale
From: wwilson@mail07.mitre.org (Wesley H. Wilson)
Message-Id: <960830134136.9558@mail07.mitre.org.0>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 13:41:37 -0400

I have the Sugarplastic's "Bang! The World Is Round" CD for sale. You'd
swear it's new.

$8.00 including shipping

Please e-mail me.

Also, I feel I've been missing out on some XTC-related stuff lately. Of
course, their last studio album was "Nonsuch" and I have everything related
to that. I have L'Affaire Louis Trio (w/Colin), "The Off-White Album" and
I'm getting "Without the Beatles." As a completist, anything else I should
try to get ahold of?

Wes

P.S. Thanks to the person who posted about Siren Records in California as
being a source for the limited edition "Fossil Fuel" 2CD. Can't wait 4 it!

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

Message-Id: <199608301817.DAA10057@mita2.cc.mita.keio.ac.jp>
Subject: Big Days
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 03:17:41 +0900
From: NAOYUKI ISOGAI <b9400863@mita2.cc.mita.keio.ac.jp>

Howdee, Chalkies!!!

I didn't know that no less than 3% of Chalkies were Japanese...

Anyway, the last two weeks have been quite big days to me.  This is
because I traveled in the U.S. and had a really enjoyable time with
a few American Chalkies there.  I had a nice conversation with D.G.
by phone in Boston (not Dave Gregory, of course), I had a quite
pleasant lunch with T.B. in Washington D.C., and I spent three
fantabulous days with C.B. in Cleveland (of course we went to the
Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame).  I'm really grateful to them, and I will
never forget these experiences forever.  And of course, I'm grateful
to J.R. (everybody knows who he is) who gave me an opportunity to get
acquainted with them...

Thanks a lot for everything!!!

BTW, is there anyone out there who can transcribe the lyric of "Pupil
Hayes"?  I'd LOVE to sing it for "Purple Haze" when I go to `Karaoke'
next. :^)

Cheers!!!

---- NaoyuKing, the department           "I'm merely a man and I bring
     of Economics in KEIO Univ.           nothing but love for you...
                                          I'm merely a man and I want
  E-mail : b9400863@cc.mita.keio.ac.jp    nothing that you can't do..."

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

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 16:04:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: "k.a. hehir" <angelo@mustang.uwo.ca>
Subject: now now what's all this then
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.95.960830155228.27257C-100000@mustang-a.uwo.ca>

hello all,
i've been away for a couple of months so forgive me if this redundant all
over again, but:

Paul Bailey mentioned Fossil Fuel, is this the first mention of this
ceedee? i just read in Q this morning a glowing preview of the set. it
gives the song list(albeit indirectly) and has a photo that will make some
of us dig out our skinny neckties and wax "it wasn't that bad, was it?"

i don't know about the u.s. but the canadian release date is september 9.
this news from my man jumping jimmy at the HMV, who is an XTCphile from
waay back.

he's hoping to score a freebie from the emi rep.

best of luck to all returning to school and my cocondolences to all of you
in the real world.

kevin

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

Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 13:40:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Stephen Mahoney <stephenm@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us>
Subject: The Sugarplastic
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960830133547.28627B-100000@nethost.multnomah.lib.or.us>

	The Sugarplastic were mentioned in previous chalkhills, but I can't
seem to remember what exactly was said. On the 5th of September they are
playing at E.J.'s ( which used to be a strip club ) in Portland,
Oregon for only $5. The loud Family plays after them, another band I
haven't the vaguest notion whom they are.      "i bought myself a liarbird
						he came with free drinks
						just to blur the lies falling
						out like rain on an average
						english summer's afternoon"
							Steve (port, or.)

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

From: Stephen Larson <MereBrian@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: too few Brits
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 01:01:48 +0000
Message-ID: <19960831010146.AAA7203@LOCALNAME>

gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.) writes:
<<Re people wondering why Chalkhills has more Americans than Brits: Um, how
about the fact that there are far, far more people in the United States? I
don't know the exact population ratio, but even 1 out of 100,000 people in
the States would add up pretty quick....>>

Actually, the ratio in the CH poll was 66% to 7% US to UK Chalkhillians.
The population ratio is only about 4:1 US:UK.  Of course, the number of
home computers in the US may be closer to the 10:1 ratio...

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

Message-ID: <3227A603.34D7@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 19:40:03 -0700
From: Joe Binfet <xtc16@earthlink.net>
Subject: Voice of Andy

Excerpt from the LA New Times review of Voice of the Beehive's - Sea &
Misery CD:

".... vocals as nauseatingly sweet as Equal, the whole darned thing so
decaffeinated it doesn't keep you awake past noon. But I'll take 'Blue
in Paradise' off the new Sex & Misery over anything found on the last
two Madonna records: Cowritten by Tracey Bryn and XTC's Andy Partridge,
it's a lovely, lilting little dance/faux R&B track that builds toward a
slow burn and climaxes in a tiny inferno; its'a smart enough song ---
sad words purred over an insinuating melody - that single-handedly
rescues sister Bryn and Melissa Belland from the obscurity granted them
after such epic non-entities as their debut ...."

You get the idea - once again Andy kick's some ass!

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

From: JH3@aol.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 22:52:17 -0400
Message-ID: <960830225216_273662190@emout19.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Earn Enough for Poole

This will sound pretty trivial compared to the news that XTC has a new
manager who's subscribed to this list and that there really will be a new
video comp released soon and that the band will even have their own web-site,
but here goes anyway.

There's a band based in Northern Virginia called Poole that has released a
single called "Sparkle" that has a cover of "Earn Enough For Us" on the
b-side. It's a pretty straightforward version -- Ian Stewart probably
would've sent it back for not being weird enough, but it's understandable
that they wouldn't want to mess with it too much. Anyway, I doubt they
pressed very many, so if you're the sort who has to have everything (and who
isn't?), get 'em before they inevitably break up.

The label's address is Radiopaque Recordings, P.O. Box 16241, Alexandria, VA
22302. The band's address is P.O. Box 6952, Falls Church, VA 22046, or you
can e-mail them at mrpoole@erols.com. It's odd that they themselves haven't
posted something about this... who knows, maybe they did and I just missed
it. If so, sorry to use up the bandwidth, and now it's back to our regularly
scheduled digest...

--John Hedges

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

Message-Id: <199608310843.JAA22243@aoife.indigo.ie>
From: "Daniel Prendiville" <modjp@indigo.ie>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 17:16:05 +0000
Subject: in denial/bass varlet

In #2-151, Joshua Hall-Bachner said:-

>> 2. Joshua Hall-Bachner suggests that the R&BB version of TEN FEET TALL
is the best version.

>Just curious, *when* did I do this? I don't think I've said so in
about three months :)

Er, in #2-148, he said:-

"And Ten Feet Tall (even though the R&BB version is better...)"

Slow down, Josh... all that speed is gonna get you in the end :-) And
let's not get into a tangle over the fact that you said *better* and not
*best*. I've had a Pauline conversion ("ooh, sound painful. Do you have to
do your poohs into a bag?") and I'm now into peace, love and all that shit :-)

Also in #2-151, Ted Harms <tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca> wonders whether
Moulding uses his fingers to play the bass rather than a plec. As far as I
am aware, Colin is pretty much a finger man....BTW, I'd have to disagree
with you re. the consistency of his string attack on BURNING... on the
BBC1 CD; if you ask me, it's rather uneven (I haven't got the technical
jargon to cover this adequately, even though I've been playing the bass
for 14 years, badly, but you can hear a twanging sound every now again
rather like a thumb snap, indicating that more force is being applied to
the string). Not to mention Colin's fluff in and around the "dreadful
knitwear" bit...

Daryn Tidgrape, indeed

djp

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

From: kinterkn@winternet.com
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 12:20:20 -0500 (CDT)
Message-Id: <199608311720.MAA08182@icicle.winternet.com>
Subject: The Blue Up?

I was just listening to my The Blue Up? cd, "spool forka dish," and thought
I'd post the lyrics to a song that should be of interest to this group.
It's called "Blasting XTC," which I at first (until hearing it) assumed was
a slam against you-know-who.  Actually, it's a rather terrific salute to the
world's most talented band.  Too bad this (I don't know how far reaching)
local Minneapolis band is no longer together.  They were a talented trio of
women.

I will never ever leave,
windy grass from which they weave,
tales of gardens I believe,
drowning in their blackest sea,
headphones blasting XTC,
and a thousand umbrellas with ladybirds all in flame,
lit a runaway rocket that hissed as it hit the train,
spilling mermaids and alchemists kissing inside my brain,
I fly how far it flows,
suround with sound that grows into a tiger kite that blows away,
closest as I'll ever be to language spoken into me,
wake me up with NRG,
Sgr. Rock will wset me free,
headphones blasting XTC,
my senses never stop which I hear "This is Pop,"
I dance to my stereo blasting XTC,
bop-bop-oom-ba-dop,
this is pop!

Copywrite issues aside, and disregarding the fact that it isn't a cover of
an actual XTC song, it would a good addition to the tribute tape.

Priscilla
kinterkn@winternet.com

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

Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 15:42:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Edward P. Aubry" <eaubry@wesleyan.edu>
Subject: All these demos I keep hearing about
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.960831153921.21662A-100000@mail.wesleyan.edu>

Okay, who's got some of these millions of demos that they can tape for me?

Or, alternately, where do I have to send for them.  I am starved for
unheard XTC music and will take whatever I can get.

-Ed

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

Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 00:22:30 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199609010422.AAA05605@cyber1.servtech.com>
From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <particle@servtech.com>
Subject: I have made a convert!

Yay! I've converted someone! :)

Okay, remember how a long time ago I asked for suggestions on what to put on
an XTC tape? Well, I sent out the following:

Wrapped in Grey - Grass - Senses Working Overtime - No Language In Our Lungs
- The Everyday Story Of Smalltown - Yacht Dance - Mayor Of Simpleton - The
Meeting Place - Then She Appeared - Wake Up - The Loving - Season Cycle -
The History Of Rock And Roll - My Bird Performs - Blame The Weather - The
Disappointed - The World Is Full Of Angry Young Men - Chalkhills And
Children - This World Over - Towers Of London - Ball And Chain - Ballet For
A Rainy Day - Books Are Burning - Train Running Low On Soul Coal

Anyway, after my "mark" received it she wrote to me telling me how much she
liked it. In fact, this past week she went out and purchased O&L and
Nonsvch! Aaahhh, to finally have a real convert...(my attempts to hook my
friends on XTC rarely get a response more civil or reasonable than "Turn
that crap off and put on some Rage Against The Machine!", and my TMBG
converts "reverted" after a few months...) Anyway, just thought someone
might find this mildly interesting.

Anybody out there notice the odd way that demo outtakes (like Down A Peg)
sound less "demo-ish" than the demos of released songs? Is there any
particular reason for this, is it just my mind reacting strangely? Also,
this seems to be "decreasing" with time; the earlier demos sound pretty
shoddy compared to their corresponding official versions, the Nonsvch and
post-Nonsvch demos are all good enough quality (not sound quality, I mean
the quality of the actual performance and arrangement) that they could
concievably be merely remastered and released, and they would sound
perfectly fine. (Notice how Nonsvch is the first album to have some of it's
tracks' demos officially released, and then notice how good they sound.)
Again, just rambling my thoughts out into the air.

/---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\
|     particle@servtech.com    http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/   |
| "Life is like a jigsaw. You get the straight bits, but there's something|
\-----missing in the middle."--XTC, "All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late)"-----/

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

Message-Id: <199609020514.AAA02514@zeus.anet-chi.com>
From: "LaShawn M. Taylor" <shonnie@zeus.anet-chi.com>
Subject: Fireworks!! (In more ways than you think!!)
Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 21:03:44 -0500

Hi! It's little ole me, delurking for a bit!

This Sunday, my favorite radio station, WXRT, hosted its 6th Annual
Fireworks display to end the Democratic National Convention complete with
music synchronized to exploding fireworks. In the overture, just before the
fireworks began, they played a small snippet of songs that had singers
counting off...and among them was our dear boys singing "1, 2, 3, 4,
5....senses working overtime!"  Now, if I can convince XRT to actually play
an XTC song set to fireworks...

In other news:
>Also, there are certain XTC tunes (the aforementioned Dance Mixture, for
>example) that, IN MY OPINION, *might* sink below the usual XTC quality
>level

Hey!!! I love the dance remix better than the original!  Andy's quirks in
the lyrics, the tinny drone of an airplane, Colin's stripped down bass, the
gorilla chuckling...I find it hilarious!  For balance sake, though, I will
say that I do skip President Kill and Knuckle Down sometimes; often I'm
just too lazy to get up to push the FF button.

Dave transcribed "It Didn't Hurt A Bit" for us:

: My appearance isn't what you surmise
: It's just a piece of grape that got in my eye

Grape? Can one eat grapes so violently? Tee-hee!

BTW, the other day I found Dave Yazbeck's "The Laughing Man" at Borders.
Dave, simply put, you are a genius. Pure, simple genius. I haven't been
able to play anything else since I got it. Your songs are so, well,
"sing-along-able". Perhaps you should consider being the boys' next
producer. But then again...

Whoops. Got a little off topic. Sorry. Finally:

: An internet conference will be set up very soon so that you will all be
: able to speak to Andy directly.

Wait a minute. Andy? Our Andy? Our
I-won't-go-near-a-computer-except-for-music Andy?  This I simply have to
see!

: A new album (possibly a double) will be released in the new year of '97.
: Suggestions - who would be your favourite producer for the band?

See above (aha! I knew I could connect it!)

: XTC are currently developing their own web site to include access to
: merchandising (T - shirts as we know them Jim!), the 'Andy Partridge Game
: Show' (fully interactive), news, views and any other ideas that comes out
: of the time capsule that is Swindon!

Hmm...XTC's going online? This is all to much for me! Well, there goes my
savings...

==========================================================================
/===\     LaShawn M. Taylor (shonnie@zeus.anet-chi.com)
|^ ^|\    Nice to meet you! Cream Stew!--Sailor Moon
 \v/\|    There's a forest in my heart. I must be crazy to believe that I
    |\    could climb to reach the sky, for I know that in its time the sun
    \|    will come to me, and in warmth and love I will rise above the sky.
          -PFR
==========================================================================

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #2-152
*******************************

Go back to Volume 2.

3 September 1996 / Feedback