Chalkhills Digest Volume 2, Issue 87
Date: Friday, 15 March 1996
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 2, Number 87
Friday, 15 March 1996
Today's Topics:
Top 10 - 95
My Weapon (oops)
Somesuch
Testimonial Dessert
Beach Boys "Smile"
Re: Gormenghast
Best of '95
Yazbek's 3/13 NYC gig
10cc
Names for the tape
Jellyfish connenction
Think I'm going ga-ga
Give a great big yawn to....
drums & wireless
Thanks, books, congrats, drummers
What is music?
No, this is not a list
Dolby / Leckie
Rags & Bones
Steve Lillywhite..DMB...XTC
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-86
Ian McNabb.
More on XTC guitars
I found a way to give money to Andy and Colin, other stuff
Books and XTC
re:Thanks, books, congrats, drummers
Tribute Titles
Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-86
masks/spoons in "Ugly"
xtc, Barrett and the Beachboys
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <v02130502ad6cfe9a8573@[206.104.207.216]> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 17:56:35 -0500 From: produce@magicnet.net (Arthur James Virgin) Subject: Top 10 - 95 1995's best: (1) Radiohead "The Bends": Is there any doubt? Frightingly great songs with production to match. There is no classification for this incredible five piece. A must have! (2) Ben Folds Five "Ben Folds Five": Intoxicating Beatle-esque debut. A shockingly good sing-along album! Great album from cover to cover. After this album where do you go next? (3) Aimee Mann "I'm With Stupid": Available only as an import until 1996, this gem was worth every penny. Excellent songwriter, excellent songs, excellent production. (4) Blur "The Great Escape": British powerpop is alive and well. Sure it sounds a little like XTC...is that a bad thing??? (5) Finn "Finn": An album not available in the States by Neil and Tim Finn. All of the pop sensibility of Crowded House and half the fat! Gorgeous album, gorgeous songs. (6) American Music Club "San Francisco": Eclectic, beautiful and haunting...Scary good. (7) Nick Heyward "Tangled": Not available in the States until 1996 (surprise, surprise), this fabulous little album grew on me big time. Superb songwriting. (8) Bjork "Post": What can you say about this little Icelandic beauty...She knows how to write em'! (9) Sing Hollies in Reverse: A surprise album! A Hollies tribute album with great performances by the Posies, Loud Family, and the production God Jon Brion. (10) Tears For Fears "Rhaoul and the Kings of Spain": Another superb album from Roland. Not as ambitious as "Seeds of Love", but great none-the-less. http://www.magicnet.net/~produce/ (Netscape 2.0 or later ONLY) "Skylarking is like a summer's day baked into one cake" - Andy Partridge
------------------------------ From: 7IHd <ee92pmh@brunel.ac.uk> Message-Id: <3285.9603140023@molnir.brunel.ac.uk> Subject: My Weapon (oops) Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 00:23:28 +0000 (GMT) # From: Tobin Munsat <tmunsat@pppl.gov> # Subject: "My Weapon" guess # >From: sellheim@zfn.uni-bremen.de (Erich Sellheim) # > # >In "My Weapon", the lyric sheet quotes the last line as "My stinking # >weapon", which doesn't make too much sense to me. # >Any suggestions? # My Secret Weapon? Er, that'll teach me to answer questions without listening to the song first... :-> Disregard my previous explanation for the line, since the word is quite obviously "secret". Sorry folks... # From: PCulnane@dca.gov.au # Subject: Oodles of Topix! # # It's worth shelling out extra for UK imports of all XTC albums (on Virgin), # 'cos they all sound much better than their US counterparts. Out of interest, can anyone compare the US and UK versions of Oranges & Lemons for me please? I ask because I have a US copy of that one (because for some obscure reason it was only available on import at the time), and I want to know if I'm missing out... ttfn _ |_)|_ *| | | )|| http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~ee92pmh/ ========
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01510103ad6d246e0dce@[206.15.64.148]> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 17:28:33 -0800 From: mf@well.com (Mitch Friedman) Subject: Somesuch Hey all, First of all, I think Chalkhill's Children is a great name for the tribute tape. I was toying with I Remember the Song and We Am the Audience, but they basically suck compared with the one above. Here are a few tips for entertainment from Andy himself: His favorite British television program of the last ten years is something called "Vic Reeves Big Night Out". It is available on Polygram video, but maybe only as a PAL conversion in some of the finer video stores. The show was on for two seasons and can only be described by saying that it's like Monty Python meets David Letterman meets Star Search. It's a completely bizarre and surreal parody of a variety show and is certainly an acquired taste, like, hmmm, XTC. He's also been telling me about a friend of his in NY named Jamie Block and his band called -- Block. I don't know how they sound, but he won't stop talking about how much he likes them. He says that a CD will be out soon, so look for it. On a related note, Ray Davies will be performing his one-man acoustic show at the Alcazar Theater in San Francisco from May 1st thru the 5th. Highly recommended for anyone who likes an evening of humorous stories, nostalgic reminiscences, and intelligent lyrical British pop genius. That's all for now. Mitch
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199603140219.SAA19794@deliverator.sgi.com> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 96 21:12:16 EST From: Melissa <MREAVES@KENTVM.KENT.EDU> Subject: Testimonial Dessert In bouncing ideas back and forth with my tribute tape collaborator, I keep coming up with great cover artists for Testimonial Dessert which I will now share with you all: Love on a Farmboy's Wages -- Dolly Parton All of a Sudden (It's too Late) -- Devo Melt the Guns -- Tom Tom Club or Laurie Anderson I'll keep you posted as I come up with more. I think that's all for now except for this: My Bird Performs is Colin's answer to Pink Thing. Shakespear's sonnets leave me cold... --Melissa Punctuation mark of the day: the colon
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01BB110A.8D3DBFC0@DIALUP1147.SISNA.COM> From: Randy Watkins <randyw@sisna.com> Subject: Beach Boys "Smile" Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 18:24:59 -0800 Yeah, I know this isn't a Beach Boys digest (thank God!), but the question was asked about "Smile", and since this is some of my favourite music, I thought I'd try to share some info. I'll try and keep it brief. After "Pet Sounds" was released in 1966, Brian Wilson set to work on his next single, "Good Vibrations." He described it as a "teenage symphony to God." The recording of this song is rather famous. It took several months, about five different recording studios and hundreds of musicians to accomplish. At the end of the sessions, Wilson assembled the dozens of hours of tapes, took snippets of several, and stitched them together. It's really amazing if you listen to it....a cello is used as a percussion/rhythm instrument! The song went #1, and the other Beach Boys toured Europe. Wilson and his new lyricist, Van Dyke Parks, went to work on the next Beach Boys album. He wanted to blow away the Beatles. He wanted to record THE greatest album ever made, and end the "great studio production race" once and for all. The working title was "Dumb Angel", but was later changed to "Smile," because the album was supposed to induce laughter. (Read: "Head" album.) The whole thing was to be recorded in the "Good Vibrations" mode, except this time the songs themselves would be the pieces to form the collective whole of the album. The centerpiece was to be a song called "Heroes and Villains". All the other songs would revolve around (and in some cases, "morph" into) its central musical theme. Of course, the album was never finished. After recording several albums worth of material, Wilson went nutso for a variety of reasons. The album was abandoned. The remaining fragments I consider brilliant pieces of work. Brian Wilson could do more with 4 and 8 track recorders back then than most people today can do with digital technology and/or 72 tracks. Woops. That was long, wasn't it? Rando "Back through the opera glass you see the pit and the pendulum drawn. Columnated ruins domino." ....Van Dyke Parks/Brian Wilson, from "Smile"
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01530505ad6d56b9daa5@[139.80.100.155]> Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 16:53:34 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Gormenghast someone (sorry!) quoth: >I'm sure I read in Melody Maker or NME last year that Andy was working on >music for a film project based on the Gormenghast novels of Mervyn Peake. >It turns out that these books are favorites of Neil Finn's. FYI, they are also listed among Robyn Hitchcock's favourite novels. 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, 13 Mar 1996 21:54:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Mike Wheeler <mwheeler@gladstone.uoregon.edu>
Subject: Best of '95
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960313212257.8993D-100000@ccserver>
Anyway as for the best of 1995. Looking through my CD I was surprised at
how few I have that were released in 1995. Anyway here's what I like:
Gideon Gaye - The High Llamas. Depending on where you live this may have
been released in 1994, 1995, or 1996. Great album if you like "Pet
Sounds"/"Smile" era Beach Boys. A lot of people compare it to Steely
Dan as well, but I don't know Steely Dan well enough to form an
opinion on that.
Wake Up - The Boo Radleys. Their best album yet. A couple of the tracks
were released as CD singles and were labelled as "The High llama
Mix" The head High Llama (Sean O'Hagan, once of MicroDisney)
remixed them.
(What's The Story) Morning Glory - Oasis. I'm definitely on the Oasis
side of the marketer's dream battle between them an Blur. Blur
seems like crap to me. It's like they're striving to be quirky and
sophisticated when they're just a bunch of idiots.
Orange Crate Art - Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks. Definitely not for
everyone. None of Van Dyke Parks' music is. It's an aquired taste,
though this is his most "accessible" release to date whatever that
means.
Mike Wheeler
mwheeler@gladstone.uoregon.edu
------------------------------ Date: 14 Mar 96 01:57:14 EST From: Sally Unterman <103274.3106@compuserve.com> Subject: Yazbek's 3/13 NYC gig Message-ID: <960314065714_103274.3106_IHH37-3@CompuServe.COM> Nice to meet all of you. I'm new to this cyberthing, so bear with me while I wet my delicate feet. After enjoying Yazbek's "The Laughing Man" for two months I made the trek in from Staten Island to see his gig at Brownies tonight. I'm elated that I was able to see him in such an intimate venue, because I'm sure that by this time next year he'll be bellowing "cowabunga!" as he rides the wave of his imminent stardom. The guy's piano chops are dazzling, he sings with raucous abandon, and each song is a pop gem! Especially enjoyable was an audience participation routine for a new song called "Schmuck in a Vacuum," which found us chanting "schmuck" (which I'm told means "penis" in Yiddish) while Yazbek undulated hypnotically ala Reggie from the Archies! Thank you Mr. Yazbek! When's the next one? Also, does anyone notice the Beach Boys-esqueness of XTC's "Cherry in Your Tree" from the album "Carmen Sandiego - Out of This World"? - Sally U.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 09:07:57 +0000 (GMT) From: William HamBevan <whambeva@jesus.ox.ac.uk> Subject: 10cc Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960314083933.16175A-100000@jesus> Regarding Tom Chao's picking up on the mention of 10cc in the last digest, I still find it difficult to believe that the band isn't mentioned more often in connexion with XTC. The first four albums are a joy from beginning to end for anyone who likes this sort of quirky Englishness. Unfortunately, they lost the plot a bit after that, but Sheet Music - which would be my first choice out of the above list - is an absolute must for XTC fans. Buy it! adieu William Ham Bevan Jesus College, Oxford
------------------------------
From: jde@abingdon.geoquest.slb.com (Jon Eva)
Message-Id: <9603140930.ZM21193@rs560.abingdon.geoquest.slb.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 09:30:26 +0000
Subject: Names for the tape
Dear All,
Two suggestions for a title for the tribute tape:
1) Etc.
2) Lemons
Perhaps the second is a little unkind.
How about "The White Whores Of Uffington" for an XTC song-covering band?
This has a tenuous, at best, connection to XTC, but did anyone in the UK
hear a band called The Chalk Giants about four or five years ago? They
played in the Reading area, and the cover of their tape had a picture of
that huge man with a club and an erection that's carved out in the hills
somewhere.
As I said, nothing to do with XTC, except for the chalky bit, but I'd like
to know what happened to them as they were very good. One of the only good
things about Reading at the time.
------------------------------ From: DAMIAN FOULGER <SPXDLF@cardiff.ac.uk> Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 10:03:03 GMT Subject: Jellyfish connenction Message-ID: <D9937E783D@nrd2s.cf.ac.uk> Melissa wrote: > On a totally unrelated subject, namely Jellyfish, I'm glad someone else > brought up the Queen connection!! That was the first thing I thought of, I bought 'Spilt Milk' the other day and, although I hear Queen in there, I think that the Super Tramp influence is even more eveident, but no-one has mentioned this yet. Does anyone else agree. I do like Jellyfish, but I would recommend many other bands before them to XTC fans. Love to everyone, Dames TWD (Life is good in the greenhouse:XTC) (You told me you saw Jesus, but I could only see a tree: Amber) (If people lived in Heaven, God would break their windows: Damian)
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01510100ad6d9b92e4e0@[194.128.83.69]> Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 10:33:14 +0000 From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher) Subject: Think I'm going ga-ga Have I had a humour bypass? First everyone keeps saying that "Dave and Colin and the Infinite Andy" is a very funny title - why? what does it refer to? what does it mean? - then I miss the fact that the posting about the Dukes ripping off Back in the USSR not the Beach Boys was meant to be ironic. Could it be that there's a special kind of XTC fan humour that I just don't get? Are there any manuals, joke books or web sites that could help me out? Or am I a lost cause? [By the way, I second the suggestion of Chalkhill's Children for the title of the tape tribute] Mark Fisher (fisher@easynet.co,uk)
------------------------------
Message-Id: <v02110100ad6de16ad1c4@[144.92.180.58]>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 10:05:39 -0500
From: aosterma@students.wisc.edu (Adam J. Ostermann)
Subject: Give a great big yawn to....
On a side note, does anyone here in the States think that the constant
playing of Spacehog's "In the Meantime" could help sales of ^Testimonial
Dinner^?
And to finally add something XTC-like in the great lyric debate, I always
thought the Loving's afterthought was "Straight t'ya!" But then again, I
was always under the assumption that Colin sung "Collideascope"....
And thanks to the lovely fellow who posted the XTC Australian promo! I
think I still have that entire broadcast the clips were culled from still
on tape (it was a 120 Minutes 2 hour show back in '92...the commercila
intros and outros all played snippets of OLD XTC videos ("Wonderland,"
"Ball and Chain,") as well as playing "Senses" in its entirety (slow-motion
jumping a-go!)
Unfortuneatly, after a great deal of thought, my only propsed titles for da
Tribute tape are daft (e.g. ^Seagulls Screaming "Tribute, Tribute"^ -ouch!)
Put my vote in for ^Living Through Another Tribute^. And sign me up for a
copy as well.)
Adam J. Ostermann
****************************************************************
Adam J. Ostermann (aosterma@students.wisc.edu)
UW-Madison Journalism major
Entertainment Co-Editor of ^The Badger Herald^,
which you can witness by contacting //www.badgerherald.com
****************************************************************
------------------------------ From: Greg Kuchmek <greg@stim.com> Subject: drums & wireless Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 19:49:07 +0000 Message-Id: 19490771805189@nyc.prodigy.com I just bought the import CD of Drums and Wireless, the BBC sessions '77-'89. I assume this is not the complete BBC Sessions. Does anyone know if more is to come? Also, are there more "official" live albums in the vaults and waiting release? Or are there live CD boots available?
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Mar 96 14:20:41 CST From: "Bernhardt, Todd" <tbernhardt@aga.com> Message-Id: <9602148268.AA826839356@cc.perftech.com> Subject: Thanks, books, congrats, drummers Chalkholios! From: steven.reule@24stex.com: >I might mention I am over 40 and most people my age seem to wax nostalgic >about the Beach Boys but I never thought they were more than a >good-time lightweight party group doing music that was usually >derivitive (to be kind) and even at it's best dull and boring. >Let me put on my flame-proof suit now... Thanks for your support, Steven. At least we'll burn together... From: Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> >OK, so after many months of research, Orwell writes a novel about the >unbelievably horrible conditions suffered by a family of Hungarian >immigrants working in a meat packing plant. The public outcry is so Sorry to point this out, Anthony, but that was Sinclair Lewis in "The Jungle," not George Orwell. Great book, though. Kudos to Mr. Relph for sticking to his editorial guns and imposing some discipline on top-10 postings and other such inquiries. And even though it's never an end in itself, we love it when you discipline us! :^) One last thing -- I spent a lot of time listening to ECostello and the Attractions last weekend, and I've decided: Pete Thomas HAS to be the drummer for the next album. Hell, they should ask him to join the band. He would be perfect. ByeBye!
------------------------------ From: steven.reule@24stex.com Message-ID: <9603141256.0I6AF00@24stex.com> Organization: 24th Street Exchange Date: Thu, 14 Mar 96 12:56:14 -0800 Subject: What is music? This was recently posted in defense of Beach Boys: >I encourage you naysayers and/or Beach Boy virgins (oops, didn't mean to >inadvertantly plug a certain nasty record co.) to get past what you've heard >on the radio (i.e. California Girls, car songs, etc.), get past Mike Love's >(especially) nasal voice, get past the surf lyrics and dig into their albums. > Ask most musicians active in 1966, "Good Vibrations" changed the way music >was recorded. Let's see, ignore their popular songs, ignore vocals, get past lyrics, and dig in. Sheesh! I don't think so. There's hardly anything left and what is left is still just mediocre. I prefer XTC where I do not have to ignore songs, vocals, and lyrics. Thanks anyway! :) Steve XTC song for the day: When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty
------------------------------ From: Benjamin Woll <bwoll@abacus.bates.edu> Message-Id: <9603142107.AA05013@abacus.bates.edu> Subject: No, this is not a list Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 16:07:35 -0500 (EST) SORRY!!!!!! I had no idea that the response to the top ten postings would be so great. Since, in the last issue of Chalkhills I posted my favorite songs, and I am still curious to read everyone's answers, email them to me and I will put them together. John Relph - you do a great job, and nobody should blame you for cutting out the lists. In fact, we are all collectively kissing your feet for the service you provide to all XTC fans. Cheers, Ben
------------------------------ From: 7IHd <ee92pmh@brunel.ac.uk> Message-Id: <11786.9603142125@molnir.brunel.ac.uk> Subject: Dolby / Leckie Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 21:25:12 +0000 (GMT) Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> failed to attribute me as saying: # >>"Astronauts & Heritics" is one of my all-time favourite records, it # >> blows me away every time I play it. "The Gate To The Minds Eye # >>Soundtrack" is almost as good, IMHO. # # Really? I own A&H, and I just can't seem to get anything from it. I # would like to, since Dolby's first two LPs are among my favorite of all time. # # Do you like it better than "...Wireless" and "The Flat Earth"? I can't # imagine... Definitely. They're all good, but A&H is the only one that's truly superb. It leans towards commercial pop whilst remaining original and fresh, and with lyrics that work on a number of levels... with the exception of "Thats Why People Fall In Love", I consider it perfect, and even that one has decent lyrics, I just don't like the tune much. Oh well. I can't say it's a grower, because I've always liked it. Takes me back to summer '92 and the last time I actually managed to get a holiday. How anyone can fail to me moved by "Neon Sisters" or completely blown away by "Eastern Bloc" is, quite honestly, beyond me. Still, at least we both like _some_ Thomas Dolby eh? And on a completely unrelated note: John Leckie. Specifically (and yes, I'm trying to start a contentious debate), what's the big deal? OK, those albums he produced for XTC sound great, but I offer the explanation that that's down to the musicians; I find the production to be flat and uninteresting compared to later albums, particularly on headphones (which is where such things really show up). OK so the available technology improved in recent years, but this can't be the whole story - there are some great late-70s / early 80s albums which sound far superior to the Leckie-produced XTC albums, IMHO. Any views on that? :-) Cheers, Phil PS: Who are the Beach Boys? _ |_)|_ *| | | )|| http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~ee92pmh/ ========
------------------------------ From: richard.pedrettiallen@octel.com Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 13:35:23 -0800 Message-Id: <148919b0@corp.octel.com> Subject: Rags & Bones I'm a Gentle Giant fan. At least I used to be. It's been a while... I could NEVER come up with ten fave albums. 100? Maybe. I feel most Beach Boys tune are inane, childish poop. Pet Sounds is a sonic masterpiece, CONSIDERING THE RELEASE DATE. Godley & Creme's big video break was Herbie Hancock's Rock It video. The GIZMO was not a synthesizer but a rotating wheel of plectrums. The "Cry" video is not morphing but fades. Surprises from the TOP TEN LISTS: Mentions of Keith Jarrett, Pink Floyd, Yes Lack of mentions of Peter Gabriel and Eno. All are amongst my (100) faves (multiple times)... but I was surprised. My list of 100 would contain most of mtross, Kevin K, Sean R & Jeffrey L. I'm (double) spaced out. Richard
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v02130500ad6e4e7d382b@[206.104.207.207]> Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 17:34:12 -0500 From: produce@magicnet.net (Arthur James Virgin) Subject: Steve Lillywhite..DMB...XTC >From: Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> >I just heard the Dave Matthews Band on Letterman last night for the first >time. Damn near blew my socks off! They were so good! >Anybody know anything about this group? I know nothing, except they're >all over the web. I bought their album in December 1994 "Under the Table and Dreaming"...I must say it was probably the best album of 1994 (though it didnt catch fire till' around March 1995). The album was produced by ex-XTC producer Steve Lillywhite..The album production is VERY similar to Oranges and Lemons in that the timbre's of all the instruments are VERY crisp and bright..The songs are also VERY good. They are currently mixing their next album..Steve Lillywhite produced again. Hope that helps! AJ http://www.magicnet.net/~produce/ (Netscape 2.0 or later ONLY) "Skylarking is like a summer's day baked into one cake" - Andy Partridge
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 14:36:48 -0800 (PST) From: Anthony Ciarochi <ciarochi@pe.net> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-86 Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960314143005.2874B-100000@nfs1> Benjamin Woll wrote: >> Anthony - I agree that our arguments over interpretation have gotten a >> little tiring, and from your last posting, I think our ideas might be more >> closely linked than I had previously thought...At any rate, it is fun to >> have these little back and forths. I am a big fan of good discussions... I was just going to post something to you alogn the same lines. I have really enjoyed the banter. There's nothing more monotonous than an un-armed opponent 8^) Anthony F. Ciarochi
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199603142314.PAA10733@sgi.sgi.com> Date: 14 Mar 96 18:17:00 EST From: "will heyniger" <WHEYNIGER@cqalert.com> Subject: Ian McNabb. First of all I'd like to apologize in advance for again venturing something woefully off-topic, but I'll try to be brief. A few times now on the list I've seen Ian McNabb's name mentioned, in particular an album called "Truth & Beauty." McNabb has always intrigued me -- for me he's always been something of a guilty pleasure, because his songs are full of the kind of risky overblown sentiment that can produce one song that's right-on, full of powerful feeling, and then another that's pure self-inflated schlock. I so loved an Icicle Works tune called "Hollow Horse," with its cascading Rickenbacker riffs and surging melody, that I followed the band through one awful album after another -- "If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song," "Blind," others, until mercifully they broke up. And yet my affection for a small number of McNabb tunes remains so deep that I find myself intrigued to find this solo record... What a tortured feeling. Anyway, where the heck is this record? I don't believe it was released in the U.S. It's turned up on a few "best" lists. And I thought he was ROBERT Ian McNabb, and went by the nickname "Boots." What has become of this North English romantic? Thanks. Unless people feel their posts might be edifying and entertaining for Chalkhills readers, they might be best advised to write me directly. Adieu. P.S. ObXTC: Is this Martin Newell record I keep hearing about "The Greatest Living Englishman," which is a bit spotty has plenty of pleasant songs? (It boasts on its cover the participation of A. Partridge.)
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 22:39:54 -0500 From: Ted Harms <tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: More on XTC guitars Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.960314223101.27630A-100000@library.uwaterloo.ca> To Simon S. (and others): I've heard contradicting testimony on which guitar(s) are used by XTC, specifically with the intro to "Wake Up". I can recall Musician magazine doing a piece on the lads several years back and I'm sure I recall a little paragraph or two where Andy says that him and Dave purchased almost identical Squire Telecasters and used them for pretty well the entire album. Sorry, I can't recall the issue and I gave all my old issues away so I can't back up my claim with any proof. But yes, certain passages are jangly enough to sound like a Ric'. As well, one picture I remember seeing of Andy is him holding a mid '80's Yamaha (double cut-away, humbuckers). Whether it be from processing the signal through various effects or just a lot of different guitars in the studio, you gotta admit that XTC doesn't have a 'signature' guitar sound. (BTW, anybody have any info regarding Colin's bass's; as a fellow bassist (though not even worthy to have my name mentioned in the same breath as Colin) I really like the sound he gets, regardless of who's producing - always a nice even deep tone but still in the foreground.) Ted Harms Library, Univ. of Waterloo tmharms@library.uwaterloo.ca 519.888.4567 x3761 "Should words have two meanings or should words serve the truth?" - M. Watt
------------------------------ From: JEFFAE@CEDAR.GOSHEN.EDU Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 2:40:43 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <960315024043.2021c51d@CEDAR.GOSHEN.EDU> Subject: I found a way to give money to Andy and Colin, other stuff In a message I posted earlier I mentioned my college radio show, well something interesting happened on it yesterday. I had decided to do an all-XTC show last night and it just so happened that on the same day my station manager asked me to write down the artist's names and more importantly the song writer's for each of the songs. It had to do with a survey of College Radio stations to help pay the writer's their royalties. And so, for almost three hour's I played only XTC and hopefully gave Andy and Colin quite a boost in revenue. So if you want to give Andy and Colin money, either play them on the radio when you can, or request them a lot. Also, Paul Culnane (I get the name right?) sent part a transcript of part of an interview done on MTV's 120 minutes. It just so happens that this was the interview that first sparked my interest in XTC. It was wonderfully done and insightful (at least too a person who had hardly ever heard of the band). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had a full transscript of that interview, what Paul sent was only a small fraction of the interview. I'd love too see the whole thing again. Third.... I suddenly forgot what the third thing was that I wanted to mention. Jeff Eby Jeffae@Goshen.edu
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 07:36 -0700 (MST) From: Miles or Gigi Coleman <coleman@cougarnet.byu.edu> Subject: Books and XTC Message-id: <0DOBCK4SF001R3@ACS2.BYU.EDU> In the last issue (2-86), there were a few comments about books and any relationship to XTC. I've got another. I just finished _Expensive People_ by Joyce Carol Oates. However, I noticed that under Other Books By JCO it had _A Garden of Earthly Delights_. Not having read it I wanted to know if anyone knows of a connection there? Miles Coleman
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 96 09:13:15 CST
From: "Bernhardt, Todd" <tbernhardt@aga.com>
Message-Id: <9602158269.AA826906980@cc.perftech.com>
Subject: re:Thanks, books, congrats, drummers
>From me:
>Sorry to point this out, Anthony, but that was Sinclair Lewis in "The
>Jungle," not George Orwell. Great book, though.
I guess this is the egg on my face that I get for correcting someone
publicly -- the author of "The Jungle" is Upton Sinclair, not Sinclair
Lewis.
Sinclair Lewis is, of course, author of "Bobbitt," a story of a man and
his severed pink thing ... no, wait a minute, he wrote "Babbitt." Maybe
it was Tolkein who wrote "The Bobbitt," the story of a misogynistic
dwarf who gets his just desserts ... never mind.
ByeBye!
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Mar 96 14:35:50 EST From: "John Christensen" <christej@vrinet.com> Message-Id: <9602158269.AA826929878@PO2.VRINET.COM> Subject: Tribute Titles Thanks Dames for volunteering to run the tribute tape title vote. Here are my nominations: 1) You're the Wish You Are We Had 2) Covered With Optimism's Flames 3) The Bull With Chalkhill Guts 4) Buzzcity Chalking 5) Chalklines on the Pavement 6) Chalkhills & Lemons 7) Covered in Chalk Jasper
------------------------------ From: steve@expersoft.com (Steve-O Lutz) Message-Id: <9603151959.AA09600@chomolangma.expersoft.com> Subject: Re: Chalkhills Digest #2-86 Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 12:06:36 -0800 (PST) > On the topic of The Loving lyrics, I had a damn good listen to it > over and over again and although the first word is open to debate > (either 'straight' or 'stand') the second word defitely has two > syllables so sounds more like "To-ya" rather than "Clear" so that > would suggest the phrase is "Straight to ya". But consider that the Swindonian accent tends to mangle words such as clear. If you pretend you're Colin, and sit around saying "stand clear" to yourself for a while, it ends up sounding like "stand clee-yah". Also, people will think you're a nut case; they'll stand clear, tho'. I think the lyrics tend to support "stand clear" a lot better than they do "straight to ya". The rest of the song depicts "The Loving" as some sort of unstoppable force that makes no distinctions and blasts right over anyone who might stand in the way. Or, depending on how you interpret it, maybe it's about Idi Amin. -- Steve-O
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 15:37:25 -0500 (EST) From: kathryn lynne burda <klburda@umich.edu> Subject: masks/spoons in "Ugly" Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.960315152931.1473C-100000@frogger.rs.itd.umich.edu> Dishes and spoons were terms given to butlers and maids back in the Middle Ages in Europe (as in "And the dish ran away with the spoon" from the "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme). I don't know what the archaic definition of a mask is.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Mar 1996 17:00:22 -0500 Message-Id: <v01510100ad6e8ce2a9e9@[128.230.1.92]> From: pebrantl@mailbox.syr.edu (Paul Brantley) Subject: xtc, Barrett and the Beachboys In an old "Contrast" magazine (#7 1990) Andy said: "...A couple of years back [Colin] got to hear Syd Barrett's solo stuff for the first time, and he really fell for it. The suddenly 'Grass' came out... He and I literally discovered the Beach Boys albums a couple of years back. I had never heard 'Smiley Smile'...and we found them together. [Colin] bought 'Pet Sounds' awhile back and became totally converted...There was a song we didn't do for O&L called 'The Good Things' that's very Beach Boys...I didn't plan to make 'Seasons Cycle' Beach Boy-ish.... What I find interesting is the Brian Wilson/Syd Barrett connection -- two artists almost impossible to talk about because neither one was able to transcend their "diamond in the rough" status. Syd Barrett was literally incapacitated by his mental illness almost as soon as his career began, and the same could be argued for Brian Wilson. As far as their "influence" on xtc is concerned, instead of nasal harmonies I hear Brian Wilson's endless pursuit of a unique sound world paving the way for an "orchestral" xtc; and in place of nearly incompetent guitar playing, Syd Barrett's love for language (James Joyce in particular) has only affirmed Colin's own -- Shakespeare sonnets aside. If you haven't yet, check out "Smiley Smile", a collection of surprisingly psychedelic/sometimes near-visionary out-takes from an album that was never to be. And apparently Brian Wilson lost his mind in the process. I experience the same kind of energy in "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn", The Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett) album. Some can't stand the beauty. Paul
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #2-87 ******************************
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