Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 71
Date: Thursday, 15 February 1996
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 71
Thursday, 15 February 1996
Today's Topics:
The Lilac Time
is it cabin fever or what?
Re: Dear Madam Barnum
Keneally & a Shameless Plug
Joe Meek ? It's Hard to Beleive It
Andy & DC Comics
Skylarking concept
(none)
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-70
Was God an English astronaut?
Rush Hour, Real Love
re: Gonads
News From Elvis & a SKYLACK Caveat
Other music
Re : L'Affaire Louis Trio
XTC & Rush: Long stretch, but similar no less
Re: L'Affaire Louis Trio
This & That
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The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.
The disappointed / Will bear me on their shoulders.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 15:34:37 -0500
From: mp2@waterw.com (Jim Kee)
Subject: The Lilac Time
Hey there chalkfolk,
There's been lots of talk about other XTC-ish bands, etc. But I
don't remember seeing anything about The Lilac Time. As far as I know they
put out 4 albums (Lilac Time, Paradise Circus, And Love For All, &
Astronauts), before Steven "Tin Tin" Duffy went to persue a solo career
again. Is there anyone else out there who liked this band as much as I?
They were sadly too short-lived, and I can't find any S. Duffy solo stuff
anywhere.
This was brought to mind as I've been playing them all day in work.
Anyway...
Later,
Jim (Kee)
------------------------------ Date: 14 Feb 1996 15:44:01 -0500 From: "Ken Salaets" <ksalaets@itic.nw.dc.us> Subject: is it cabin fever or what? Sure a lot of crankiness and nastiness of late. Doctor recommends a lager or midol. As for Alanis, I like her. I am constantly amazed at the stuff she gets away with, such as the use of a cheesy drum machine sans effects, and she pulls it off! And besides, I think she's sexy, so there! Dr. K
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 96 13:42:12 PST From: "Sean Robison" <sean_robison@studio.disney.com> Subject: Re: Dear Madam Barnum First off - this is my first posting :) Okay, but isn't "Dear Madam Barnum" just a veiled reference to Margaret Thatcher? Since my knowledge of British politics is VERY weak, I have no clue if she was still P.M. in 1992 when "Nonsuch" was released. However, I know she wasn't exactly the most popular person amongst the creative community (check out Elvis Costello's "Tramp The Dirt Down") at that time. And XTC's lyrics do seem to be making pointed jabs at a joke of a leader. And, in my opinion, Andy is putting himself in the place of "england"... aka "we refuse to put up with your foolish orders". "I resign as clown" = "I'm not going to go along with your ridiculous decisions". And THAT is my two bits :) Sean Robison
------------------------------
Date: 14 Feb 1996 14:02:28 U
From: "Sherwood, Harrison" <hsherwood@btg.com>
Subject: Keneally & a Shameless Plug
[bandwidth-conserving snippage]
>> "[Mike Keneally's] so go[od] he makes you want to spit."
>> Andy Partridge, XTC
Say , while we're on the subject of the august Mr. Keneally, perhaps this
would be a good time to plug BLASM: The Fiction Damage Place, which is up
and frugging frenetically at
http://www.erols.com/damage/home.htm
About Fiction Damage,the celebrated Mr. K has said the following:
"If I were on a lifeboat with Fiction Damage and there were insufficient
supplies to sustain all of us, I would gladly sacrifice myself that they
might survive. Their contribution to American culture is that great."
--Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Z, Beer for Dolphins)
Get the connection? Andy likes Mike, Mike likes Fiction Damage. Very nearly
an unimpeachable endorsement from the Swingin' Swindonians themselves, eh?
Drop by for a visit! There's an offer for a free cassette (quantities are
limited, so hurry!), plus sound clips, groovy pix, and a link to the
Chalkhills web site!
Fiction Damage's bassist and singer, Bob, is an incurable XTCoholic, and an
occasional poster to Chalkhills, when he has time. Some of you more
gray-bearded Hillsters may remember his famous Alehouse post from last
year, in which he asserted that Partridge stole everything he knows from
Dave Gregory's old band, Alehouse. That was a pretty funny one.
ObDisclaimer: I am Bob's brother, and I designed the page. So shoot me.
ObXTC: XTC rules. Thank you very much.
Harrison "Dollar a hit" Sherwood
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 17:33:13 -0500 From: "Robert P. Krajewski" <robertk@lotatg.lotus.com> Organization: Lotus Development Corporation Subject: Joe Meek ? It's Hard to Beleive It How interesting that Andy Partridge's enthusiastic blurb appeared on a Joe Meek compilation. Joe Meek's most famous moment is "Telstar" by the Tornados. It is his unmistakeable over-the-top production which makes it stand out. Meek was an eccentric, bending musicians and early-to-mid 60s recording technology to his will. He was one of the first independent record producers, often working out of his home studio, full of one-of-kind equipment. Joe Meek had obsessions: the power of sound, "horror" and the sprit world, outer space, and Buddy Holly. Never quite balanced, he killed himself eight years to the day that Buddy Holly died. _It's Hard To Beleive It_ compiles Meek-produced hits. Some of it is fun, some of it is like Twin Peaks pop taken into the ninth dimension, some of it is schlock. And there are two tracks from a 1960 EP called "I Hear A New World" which are just amazing, sounding like Eno or Can way before the fact.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 17:59:31 -0600 (CST) From: Dean Zemel <dbzemel@execpc.com> Subject: Andy & DC Comics I believe that the DC comic book in which Andy made a brief guest appearance was the Legion Of Superheros, not Justice League of America. I remember seeing it at the Princeton, Illinois XTC convention and later buying a copy for a friend of mine. Perhaps that friend (who is a Chalkhills reader and participant) could write to Chalkhills and confirm both the title and number of the book. (It was a VERY brief appearance and it took me a while to recognize it, even while paging through the very issue that I knew contained the appearance.) Dean
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 14:42:50 +1300 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Skylarking concept >Anyway, I have two questions: (1) This may be a stupid question, but I >couldn't find it on the web or in the FAQ. I noticed that in Skylarking, >it says "Continuity Concept by Todd Rundgren". Now, does this make >Skylarking a 'concept album' per se? I've heard that it was, and I'm >having trouble piecing together all the songs. All of them seem to >revolve around a man and a woman, but I can't figure out the 'story', if >there is one. It's not so much a "story" as a general progression from summer, when everything is happy and relationships are beginning, through "autumnal" feelings of restlessness and disenchantment, to the "wintry" feelings of death, followed by the ritual rebirth of the new year in a "sacrificial bonfire" James
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 00:34:42 -0800 (PST) From: Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> > 3. 5 songs which...uhhh...lack that XTC sparkle: Deliver Us From The > Elements, Human Alchemy, Peter Pumpkinhead, Heatwave, Little Lighthouse Ummm, gotta disagree there, Ben... "Deliver Us From The Elements" could not have come from any band other than XTC. It may be a bit pretentious, but that's just one side of Colin Moulding we've all come to know and love. "Human Alchemy" is also vintage XTC, being another one of those extended metaphores that Andy Partridge is so fond of. The feel, also, is reminiscent of some stuff from "Drums & Wires", only with a 'thicker' production. Likewise with "Peter Pumpkinhead", which could have come >from the same mould as "Earn Enough For Us", or any number of Partridge's excursions into power pop silliness (I'm refering to the title, not the message). -- Anthony
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 00:56:13 -0800 (PST) From: Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-70 - Brian Whitman wrote: >> Anyway, I have two questions: (1) This may be a stupid question, but I couldn't find it on the web or in the FAQ. I noticed that in Skylarking, it says "Continuity Concept by Todd Rundgren". Now, does this make Skylarking a 'concept album' per se? I've heard that it was, and I'm having trouble piecing together all the songs. All of them seem to revolve around a man and a woman, but I can't figure out the 'story', if there is one. ------------ Well, Brian, my interpretation of the 'Continuity Concept" was simply the way the songs segued into each other with crickets chirping and grass rustling -- the sounds of a warm summer day wrapped into one little package.. Andy Partridge made a quote recently, something to that effect, my short term memory is shot. There is no connection between the actual songs that I can see, unless perhaps it's: "Oh boy, more songs about girls and the weather!" (To mis-quote Andy yet again :-) ) - Anthony
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 11:25:48 +0000 From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher) Subject: Was God an English astronaut? Chuck, a high school English teacher, defends someone accused (rightly or wrongly) of being an English student by using exactly the same over-analytical approach to a different song. This is not a defence of the first person, it is a confirmation that the Eng Lit mindset is obsessed with picking things apart and seeing rather more trees than wood. Of course, it's not beyond the realms of possibilty that Another Satellite and Dear Madam Barnum are disguised tracts about religion, but what possible motive would Andy Partridge have for disguising them? The fact that he has written about religion explicitly should be evidence enough that he has no need to write about it in code. And where will this end? As a relief from all this earnest analysis, I challenge fellow Chalkhillians to prove a case for any of the following: That Complicated Game is really about TV soap operas That Hold Me My Daddy is really about the Gulf War That Me and the Wind is really about the cosmetics industry That Shake You Donkey Up is really about substance abuse That Wrapped in Grey is really about interior decoration . . . or any combination of the above. Mark Fisher (fisher@easynet.co,uk)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 13:14:36 +0100 (MET)
From: markus gruber <h9150394@obelix.wu-wien.ac.at>
Subject: Rush Hour, Real Love
Hi, Klaus Bergmaier from Austria participating again. I loved to see the
Rush/XTC-bruhaha rising in the last two weeks (where I was unable to read
Chalkhills), because I'm a big Rush fan myself. Although I don't find
many parallels between XTC and Rush (musically), I agree with most of you
in saying, that they are all excellent musicians and have great lyrics.
BTW, just heard the Beatles' "Real Love" - I think it's even better than
FAAB (Free as a Bird), because this tune features excellent guitar work
by George Harrison, give and take his vocal backings, that enlightened
the outro of FAAB, too. I'm not sure if I should still prefer the Lennon
version featured on 1988's "Imagine-The Soundtrack", which the Fab3 did
not use for their new overdubs. Anyway, I know you don't like people talking
about the B*****s, but I had to (for the first time BTW). That's it for today
Klaus
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
Neil Peart / Rush / "Free Will"
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 07:48:22 -0700 (MST) From: Big Earl Sellar <splitred@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: re: Gonads Howdy! To start with, I was in a band called THE GONADS back in '87 or so: bass, bongos and me on 1 string guitar (F#). the pre-occupied Jon Eva jde@abingdon.geoquest.slb.com mentioned: > Years and years ago Viz released a record by "Johnny Japes & His Jesticles", > who were actually XTC in disguise (well ok, 2/3 of XTC with John Otway), so > it's not completely inconceivable that Spoilt Brat was based on some artist's > or editor's bad experiences of dealing with Andy. By the way, has anyone ever > heard this record, and if so is it worth tracking down? (I once saw it valued > at fifty dollars - the lyrics would have to be bloody funny to justify that > price). INTERESTING! I knew that Andy had done some work with John (a single or something) but *this* is new? Info please - which 2/3? I remember on my very first post to this list I asked if there were any JOHN OTWAY fans out there. Since the list has tons o' members now, any more out there? John's on-line right now, when he's not (playing) in the pubs. 1/4 Joni + 1/8 Curt - 5/16 (Liz Phair x Bryan Adams) = Alanis Later... EEEEEEE Big Earl Sellar - splitred@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca EE "If all that ash EEEE Used to be hash EE What the heck time EEEEEE Is it now?" Current Temperature: +3C - ASH HASH - Bob Snider
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 96 11:36:06 EST
From: "John Christensen" <christej@vrinet.com>
Subject: News From Elvis & a SKYLACK Caveat
Members of the Elvis Costello list were recently polled about their
favorite (non-Elvis) bands and, not surprisingly, XTC placed well:
Artist Total
1 The Beatles 30
2 Neil Young 16
3 Squeeze 14
4 XTC 13
5 Bruce Springsteen 13
6 Nick Lowe 13
7 Tom Waits 13
8 The Clash 11
9 R.E.M. 11
10 Bob Dylan 11
11 John Hiatt 10
12 They Might Be Giants 10
13 Joe Jackson 9
14 The Who/Pete Townshend 9
15 Graham Parker 9
What? . . . No Joni Mitchell? No Alanis Morrisette? No Blur? No Oasis? No
Ben Folds Five? No Rush and no Queen?
A couple current activites on the Costello list that Chalkhillers may want
to consider:
1. A fan tribute tape. (Someone else suggested this recently and I agree.)
The Elvis list is about to complete a four-month project with a 100-minute
tape of fan covers (the master is currently being cleaned digitally by a
sound engineer on the list) and the whole list is waiting eagerly for
it. It has been a real "community" effort; involving many people with
different skills and talent levels.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the SKYLACKING thing has been nothing
but frustrating for me. Warning: The SKYLACKING songs listed on the Web
page as "still available" are NOT all still available -- so don't spend a
lot of time on "your" song (like we did) until you get the OK from the
compiler. And don't hold your breath for a quick response. The song I
wanted to cover wasn't available, but I was asked to cover a song to
replace someone else's submission. That turned me off to the whole ball of
wax. A Chalkhills list cover tape would be a lot more fun (and no one's
song would get bumped 'cause it didn't make the grade).
2. Album reviews. Volunteers were solicited from the list to write album
reviews for the Costello web page. This will allow newbies to scan through
the discography and get a feel for which album to start with. Could be
useful and fun for the Chalkhills page as well.
Anyone agree?
Jasper
**********************************************************
"But only for a few seconds am I in XTC"
--Madness ("Land of Hope and Glory"; One Step Beyond)
(so when did Suggs join the band?)
**********************************************************
------------------------------ Date: 15 Feb 96 13:08:10 EST From: Simon Sleightholm <101477.1611@compuserve.com> Subject: Other music Michael in Osaka wrote:- > XTC's >musical offerings have moved me more so than any of the above bands. IMHO, >they have continuously made, by far, the freshest, most compelling pieces >of music than any other pop band. But this doesn't mean I'm gonna limit >myself to "XTC-sounding" bands. I couldn't agree more. It seems that a love of XTC denotes a general openess to music of all kinds, the band having pulled the tails of many different tigers in their career. To their credit, the band have slid through musical styles without becoming too much of a "jack of all trades, master of none", although the Carnival style of Omnibus is ineptly handled, especially the intro. A couple of years back I had Van Morrison's Too Long In Exile Album playing while we had some friends over. One of them asked me to take if off, not because he didn't like the music, but because he couldn't handle the way the album jumped from pure blues to soul and then jazz (anyone who has the album will know that it really isn't a particularly radical work.). It was really making him edgy. A whole XTC album would probably kill him. This incident brought home to me how conservative and short-sighted some people are in their appreciation of music. The same friend is a compulsive "Programmer" of his CD. No matter which album he puts in he fiddles about removing tracks from the play cycle, which is something I would *never* dream of doing. Even though I think Nonsuch would suffer little if Smartest Monkeys and Wardance had never been included, they have been placed in the running order according to some design the band had for how the songs should best be heard. Whether it's deliberate or not, the Moulding songs on Skylarking have a definite theme and progression. They cover, in running order, tentative flirting (Grass), which grows to a steady relationship (Meeting Place), culminating in marriage (Big Day), and inevitable bereavement (Dying). After all that the cycle begins again (Sacrificial Bonfire). I'm not a great fan of Big Day, but the natural ordering and progression of the songs appeals to me; editing out the track or hitting the random play button would tear Skylarking apart. Ah. 'Twould seem the (sizeable) anal-retentive in me is dragging this missive *well* off course. Oh well. With the CD revolution and the instant market for re-issues many of us are looking back and buying music we already have - witness the the growth in the Box Set market (Beatles' interminable anthology series; "Track 20; Ringo & Paul humming a bit...") - or music that sounds like music they used to listen to. I cannot deny that I've bought work by Blur because it sent me back to my teenage years with it's nods towards the Jam, XTC and a very obvious pitch at Teardrop Explodes on "Colin Zeal" (if that's not Sleeping Gas I'll eat Andy's hat.) It's easy to get into a loop of buying music by bands that sound like bands you've already bought music by, until you end up with a stagnant collection that doesn't take you anywhere beyond yourself. Being a 28yr old Briton my musical roots are in the 1976-1982 new-wave and punk boom and, although I try to keep my horizons as wide as possible, I still find myself buying the work of Julian Cope, Ian McNabb, Paul Weller & Edwyn Collins. I love the music but, perhaps leaving Copey aside, none of it's particularly "on the edge" stuff. By deliberately keeping an ear open to the newer sounds I can at least attempt to absorb the best of the newer musics; Portishead, Tricky, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Baby Bird, Angel Corpus Christi, Liz Phair, Garbage (all of which I recommend to Chalkhillers) But the problem, of course, is that with a limited disposable income I am restricted like many others from taking too many risks on unheard artists. I have done it - Liz Phair and The Blue Aeroplane are two gambles that paid off, The Frames one that didn't - and will do it again, no doubt, but unless you're rolling in cash or (better still) have a very rich and gullible record buying friend (there aren't many about, I've been looking for *ages*) the temptation will always be to buy something you know you are going to like. Mailing lists like this can help, but the recent Alanis Morrissette for-and-against debate show that there isn't a standard XTC fan and that recommendations made here are probably no more valid that any others. With that in mind, here are my recommendations! Julian Cope - Jehovahkill The Blue Areoplanes - Rough Music Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece Liz Phair - Whip Smart Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona Garbage - Garbage Pixies - Surfer Rosa Danny Wilson - Be-Bop Mop-Top Also Catatonia, Morphine, Big White Stairs, Grant Lee Buffalo, Vic Chesnutt, Oh shut up Simon... My wife wishes to propose me as the world's *saddest* XTC fan because I have the "Let's begin!" from Peter Pumpkinhead as my Windows startup sound and Funk Pop A Roll's "Bye bye" as the exit sound. Is there anyone out there with even less of a life? I'd love to know. Simon "Success is being a quote," Andy Partridge.
------------------------------
Date: 15 Feb 96 14:46:38 EST
From: Emmanuel Marin <100574.3414@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re : L'Affaire Louis Trio
>From Wesley Wilson :
>I just heard the L'Affaire Louis Trio songs that Colin plays bass
>on...punchy, sophisticated pop tracks (hey...who's the French Paul
>McCartney?).
Well, in the 60's, many (including some of the biggest ones) French pop
stars wanted British musicians to have the "real pop sound" on their
records. [These French pop stars even had English-sounding pseudonyms. Ever
heard of Johnny Halliday, Eddy Mitchell, Dick Rivers, Danny Logan, Ronnie
Bird, etc... etc... They're all French (or Belgian) !]
So a French pop musician that could be said to be the French Paul
McCartney? I'm afraid there's none.
>What's a good English translation of the album title, and the songs Colin
>plays on? "Le Homme aux Milles Vies" translates to "The Man with a
>Thousand Lives" in my estimation. Another track Colin plays on is "Ma Vie
>Etait Si Simple" = "My Life Was Not Easy". (I'm just guessing at the
>translations here.)
The first one is correct, the second one is just the opposite (in fact,
it's "My Life Was So Easy"). Other songs Colin plays on : "Le Vieux Sage"
("The Old Wise Man") and "Le Cimetiere des Elegants" ("The Cemetery of the
Elegant Ones" - a pun with the one of the Elephants).
>Does anyone from France know how this CD is doing in sales? Is it popular?
It's doing well, but not as good as their previous one, which had been a
big hit here (singles as well as the album). For the anecdote, if I
remember well, they tried to have Andy Partridge for the previous one (or
is it for the last one ?).
So far the two singles from the last CD are the title track and "Le
Meilleur des Mondes". Colin's appearance and work in the CD did not make
any news in the media in case you wondered about it, except for an
interview in the would-be-fashion-maker "Les Inrockuptibles"music
magazine. There's no Colin in the video-clips either.
Nevertheless, L'Affaire Louis Trio is a popular French pop band, and I
suspect they are very well known in Lyons, France's 2nd biggest town, where
they live. Their early works varied from
cheap-synths-and-cheap-drum-machines-and-silly-lyrics hits to
big-band-a-la-Count-Basie ones, but know they are working more for albums
than for singles. Interestingly, as a reference to Andy Partridge's
universe of references, L'A.L.T's leader Cleet Boris is a comics
writer/drawer, but it doesn't appear in the lyrics.
>From: BEAULAC MARIO
(Before signing off--any other french speaking Chalkhillians out here on
the list? Just a mite curious.)
IMHO, whether or not people from Quebec can be said to speak French is
still an open question ;-)
Emmanuel Marin
Paris, France
------------------------------
From: SCOTT@BUAXP1.BARRY.EDU
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 17:24:47 -0500 (EST)
Subject: XTC & Rush: Long stretch, but similar no less
I was pleasantly surprised to see that, indeed, there are
individuals besides myself who admire both of these bands, and for much the
same reasons.
The comparison is not so superficial. A truly superficial
comparison would be weighing Slayer against Megadeth, or Toad the Wet
Sprocket against the Gin Blossoms. The neat thing about comparing XTC with
Rush is that they are in totally different genres of rock music. On the
other hand (and this is another way in which the two bands are similar),
both bands are extremely difficult to pigeonhole (especially Rush). The
musical images created by XTC and Rush represent true enigmas in the world
of pop music. These bands simply do what they do and it would be very
difficult for anyone else to emulate them.
Just to give you one specific example of what I'm talking about,
consider the song Mayor of Simpleton. The beauty of that song lies in the
fact that the bass guitar is carrying the melody. The line is extremely
well structured and takes more than a few listens even to remember it
correctly, but when you finally do remember it correctly you think, "How
else could it have been played?" Most Rush songs are like that. The melodic
structure is conveyed by the bass line while the rhythm guitar provides
texture and harmony.
Incidentally some of my favorite XTC songs are:
Love on a Farmboy's Wages
Jason & the Argonats
Making Plans for Nigel
Little Lighthouse (DOS)
Chalkhills for Children
Day In, Day Out
Thanks for Christmas
Then She Appeared
Cynical Days
... what an incredible band.
Sam Scott
scott@buaxp1.barry.edu
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 22:32:36 GMT From: philippe.fabry@arcadis.be (Philippe Fabry) Subject: Re: L'Affaire Louis Trio >What's a good English translation of the album title, and the songs Colin >plays on? "Le Homme aux Milles Vies" translates to "The Man with a >Thousand Lives" in my estimation. Very good estimation Wes. >Another track Colin plays on is "Ma Vie Etait Si Simple" - "My Life Was >Not Easy". (I'm just guessing at the translations here.) You're close but that's not it. The correct translation is "My Life Was So Easy". >Does anyone from France know how this CD is doing in sales? Is it popular? Thank God I'm not from France : ) I'm from Belgium, but it's almost the same thing so mayby I can help you even if I'm not a faithful fan of this band. L'Affaire Louis Trio is a band starting in the early 80's with a pretty cool song called "Chic planete - Swell planet" The song said about this: "Earthling friends, look at the bowl rolling under our feet. It suits us because It's mine, so let's dance on it because there is nothing more beautiful in a range of millions light years!". They made a few albums from time to time, one every two or three years (does it ring a bell?). I wasn't very surprised when I heard that Colin produced and played with them, because like XTC, L'Affaire Louis Trio know that life stinks but it's so good to be alive. Anyway I think they're doing fine. They have very good press in France and Belgium and they are quiet popular even if Patrick Bruel is way more famous (I told you we are stupid). Thinking about it, my idea is that L'Affaire Louis Trio is as famous in France than XTC is in the UK. Could be better... Allei, salut mainant. Schutz.
------------------------------ From: Ewalther@eworld.com Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 16:28:54 -0800 Subject: This & That First, thanks to Adam for the time & effort in the top ten list; too bad there weren't more responses. 'Mayor' makes sense as #1: it has all the musical hooks (12 string jangle, pounding drums), witty (as always) lyrics and, yes, was packaged in a fun video (where is Mrs. Peel now that I need her!). It's also a sure-fired tease to get the unintiated to listen to more. Brian, I think the continuity concept was the crickety sounds between the first few numbers; I don't really see any yarn weaving the lyrics together as some have posted. Knowing Todd's background (but not the Fab Three's), I'd say it may have to do with herbal intake. For Mike in Osaka - Atom Age - smashing guitars and angy Andy - It has all the sounds that will follow on D&W. As for the NTA enigma, I think Andy's on about leaving smalltown and heading for Londinium and all the music industry hype he's had to face there. The gilded cage is the press. Re Alanis: She started on a local 'Tween' show here in Ottawa called "You Can't do That on Television" some years ago (I think she was 11). The show was a collection of allegedly comic skits and such but had no musical segments: She wasn't very funny. She played a lot of shopping malls here pumping her 'dance' music stuff after that: She wasn't very good. I'd hopefully thought that she'd disappeared into the oblivion she so richly deserved. Oh well.... The Mayor's declared Alanis Morissette Day when she comes home to our new, expensive and under-used arena. I guess I do live in Simpleton! I think it's enough that we all know what we like to hear whether we're 'musical' or not (tip o the hat, ladies!) however, I WILL draw the line at 'Achey Breaky'! <Still breathing though> Enrico
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-71 ******************************
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