Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 107
Date: Thursday, 1 May 1997
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 107
Thursday, 1 May 1997
Today's Topics:
XTC - Who really wants them ?
Playin' catchup (soup 'n' puree?)
thanks!!
An apology of an update
I Overheard
Florida Musicians
Inrockuptibles
Ethnic Jokes - Chalkhills Style
In defense of independent tape-compilers
What did I miss?
RE: Chalkhills Digest #3-106
Everything
Free at last free at last, thank God Almighty I'm free at last!
Chalkies Originals Compilation
XTC withdrawal, What is Rock-n-Roll?
LAST POST
andy demos
Post Modern XTC and new photos of Tokyo P.
Those beautiful used record stores
Me again, back to the old routine!
falkner playing in bay area
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <336685DA.1F21@virgin.net> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 00:35:54 +0100 From: peter.wright2@virgin.net (peter.wright2@virgin.net) Subject: XTC - Who really wants them ? Dear All, I haven't posted for some time as, frankly, its hard to know what to say ! And it appears from recent 'Chalkhills' that I am not alone. The amount of real XTC content is almost non-existant nowadays. Now, I'm not blaming any of you brave people who write in regardless of the fact that you have nothing to say ! Lets face it, if nobody posts there is no 'Chalkhills'. So what is the result ? Pointless discussions about other artists we love / hate , Amanda ,car licence plates, Andys waist measurement, Amanda , Dave having once said hello to a bloke who lives near your brother-in-law, Amanda and Amanda. Its a criminal waste of an excellent fan forum. So who IS to blame ? Much as I hate to say it - and we all know its true, don't we ? Its XTC. For Gods sake, its been 5 long years since the last album. 5 years which has left this forum as barren as a desert. Who really cares whether Mummer is a Spring or Autumn album ? We need to quench our parched throats. WHERE IS THE NEW ALBUM, BOYS ?!!! We are desperate out here ! I've heard the demos and they are excellent. 'Easter Theatre' is the best song Andy has written for years - if not ever. I want a studio version in my CD player but I can't have it.WHY ? This talk of searching for a new label puzzles me. Why didn't they do all this negotiating during their so-called 'strike' ? They had four years to put out feelers and sort out a deal so that as soon as Virgin let them go they were able to go sign on the dotted line and get straight into the studio . Why did they just sit on their hands and do nothing for 4 years ? Now forgive me for being frank like this - I know many of you out there will be crying " BLASPHEMER" at your computer screen - but don't we all despair at the ridiculous situation that XTC have allowed themselves to get into here ? I wonder if all this talk about " finding the right record company who will be behind us " is really to cover the fact that most of the labels out there - believe me this is hard for me to say - wouldn't touch XTC with the proverbial ten foot pole. Look at the evidence : 1) XTC have not had a REAL hit since the Eighties. 2) XTC do not tour - promotional suicide, especially in the U.S. 3) XTC music is not, for the most part , commercial on a worldwide scale. ( And though WE love them for this, they don't sell records.) 4) Andy is ,lets face it, a cantankerous , self-opinionated guy who likes his own way and leaves producers - not to mention Dave and Colin - tearing their hair out in frustration . This can cause enormous problems, ergo, COST MONEY for the record company. 5) XTC fans are out there but not in vast numbers. The casual fans from the last album probably assume the boys have split and they ( the casuals) are spending their cash on other newer, trendier bands. To get new fans, the company will want XTC to be commercial, tour and basically do as they are told. Is this likely ? Read points 1 to 4 above ! Before you load up your flame throwers, listen to this. I am as loyal a fan as any of you. I have loved XTC for 20 years. Given the wish to see ANY band play live , it would be XTC. But the fact is, the boys have let us down. They are not rock n roll animals and we love them for that, but its their laid back Wiltshire attitude that has led them - and us - to this dead end . Finally , ask yourself this . If YOU were a record company exec. and XTC asked you to put hundreds of thousands of pounds - and your job - on the line for them , can you honestly say that you would ?? As a fan your heart says "yes". As a mortgage payer, your head says "no" . I can only pray that I am Wrong.
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 22:08:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19970429220838.61ef51a8@en.com> From: Michael Kearns <mikearns@en.com> Subject: Playin' catchup (soup 'n' puree?) Hi! Been a while.. been loving lurking though! Random notes: My top 5 recording artists according to quantity.. 1. Beatles (even without solo albums) 2. Kinks 3. XTC 4. Procol Harum 5. Elvis Costello (with or without the Attractions) As you can surmise, my collection is modest and leans heavily towards British male vocal acts, although my musical taste overall is actually pretty "out-there". Just ask any mermaid that you happen to see.. Heard a Ben Folds Five song on the car radio whilst driving through Lakewood, OH this past Saturday and it made my day! Kind of Squeeze-like (sans guitars) with some nice warped passages offsetting the groovy hooks. Great keyboard chops and vocals! "Wonderland" _does_ remind me of Talking Heads; I heard a TH song on the radio many years ago called "This Must Be The Place" -- "Wonderland" reminds me of that. I don't mind the 'synthetic' quality of some of XTC's recordings.. there's enough else they're capable of I can't fault them.. besides, they're quite effective whatever they choose to do. For example, I too detect a distinct 'wetness' to "Wonderland".. great adjective whoever provided that! Colin's voice is always delightful to hear and there's no exception in this 'wet' context. I don't think it's dated. On the other hand it can get overdone. The vocal 'swell' on Season Cycle (just before the moody Brian-Wilson-like bridge) is really overdone! Yuk! Overall the production quality of Skylarking ain't exactly the caliber of a 10cc record for example. The chorus of "The Meeting Place" and the synthetic bells kind of grate on me.. but otherwise I like the sentiment and the song,, and the album. Sorry to nitpick -- XTC is really one of my favorites of all time. Let me shift gears: Dave Marsh's comments: now THAT'S overdone! What an idiot. It's like he's got something personal against Andy! What's the deal? Slagging the Beach Boys too! What's the deal? When did Dave Marsh ever bring any joy into anyone's life? The hell with him! From the Rolling Stone Book of Rock Lists: Frank Zappa's Top Ten Rock Critics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Later..
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 19:33:31 -0700 From: becki digregorio <ziglain@cruzio.com> Subject: thanks!! Message-ID: <9704291854.aa19100@mail.cruzio.com> From: dave at studio seventeen <ambient@adnc.com> >and the songs WITHOUT dave are just as good as those WITH dave. wow, such a compliment, dave!! thank you. >you are more than lucky. I know if I sent *MY* tracks off to the UK and >they came back with *THOSE* guitar solos on...I would be sort of staring in >disbelief. must have been a hell of a shock! did you just send them and >say "play whatever you like?" pretty much, yeah. i figured that mr. gregory would know more than anyone what would fit best and where. on the song "godbox," i'd put on the track sheet where the solo was, so he knew that this would be the place. but _not_ of _what_ to play. in his 3-page letter (!) he returned w/ the tape he wrote: "I've played a fairly tortured guitar solo at the point indicated." (such is the reason i referred to this description in the cd booklet). he goes on to say: "Actually, Andy should take the credit/blame for the whole idea -- ... he hit on this bizarre flanging weirdness, which we both felt was kinda appropriate." it *was* quite a shock, but THE most incredible shock of my life, as all of us xtc fans can imagine. dave's contributions on "inside the dream" really add to the sound i was searching for, but of course could not possibly describe. and his keyboard parts to "open my eyes" were variations on the original (tho of course, dave played *three* separate keyboards and parts). and a special thank you to simon sleightholm, who was so-o-o very kind to do a review and scan some artwork from the disc onto a link from his wondrous "bungalow" web-site. if any of you haven't yet seen his incredible web page, i highly recommend checking it out. he's at: http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm the link he did for my cd is at: http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bdg.htm thanks to all the chalkhills folks who've inquired (and ordered) the cd, and do hope you're enjoying the tunes... --becki, one of the seven
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 00:28:41 -0400 (EDT) From: "David O'Connell" <doconnel@eagle.ycp.edu> Subject: An apology of an update Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970430000512.9148B-100000@coyote> Hello. I feel kinda dumb... >Another problem that I have is that I asked someone on this list to make >copies of the XTC demo tapes for me last October. That person agreed to >do it, so I sent a large stack of blank tapes and waited. I have asked >several times for an update and have been ignored. It is very >frustrating and makes me wonder about trust. While I am not the person Michael Myers is referring to (unless the amnesia is setting in), I will take this opportunity to tell the 6-8 people who haven't received their dubs from me that I have no intention of running off with your tapes and I will be sending them off over the next few weeks, plus I'll throw in some "new demos" dubs (on an additional cassette supplied by me) as sort of a peace offering for being so damn late. I know I owe Patricia McFadden, Brian McCloskey, Andy Cuthbert, Ted Harms and a few others some tapes, and I'm sorry for the delay. On Joshua Hall-Bachner's site, he referred to my dub offer as being only slightly less naive than his, and I think that's accurate. 20 people have received their multiple-cassette packages though, so it's not a tape-grabbing scheme. Obviously, I got myself in over my head, but that doesn't excuse it. College is a big distraction, though. Anyway, I apologize and it's not like I've been making money off of it like Erik, but still, I will get your tapes out. If you want to impress the need on me to get your tapes out there or if you want to remind me of address changes or anything relevant, you can e-mail me at <doconnel@ycp.edu> or <floopyglop@aol.com> or <jumpthecup@hotmail.com>. Again, I apologize if this has seriously affected your sense of trust towards the other people on this list. Dave O'Connell York PA
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 16:11:30 +0900 (JST) Message-Id: <199704300711.QAA02057@japan.co.jp> From: mikewix@japan.co.jp (mikewix) Subject: I Overheard Jason Phelan wrote: > These come from a BRAND NEW DEMO TAPE sent by Andy with a few Colin > songs included... Oh, MAN! This is incredible! How did Jason get a copy of the new demos?! Let me just say that at this very moment, I am reserving my copy of these new songs... BFF, how much for these gems? Do you accept cash? I have a $12 bill I could send you... And, out of curiosity, am I the first to call your bluff, Jason? :-) "Pencil Sharpener" indeed! However, I do wish I could listen to that monkey song... (NO! Not _another_ monkey thread! Spare a penny, Nigel!) (yes, come to think of it, it HAS been five years....Non(e)such indeed...) Anticipating the new album like you wouldn't believe, Mike W.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704301140.GAA15149@dfw-ix1.ix.netcom.com> From: "Jeremy Witt" <Circle2@ix.netcom.com> Subject: Florida Musicians Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 07:42:16 -0400 I am wondering if there are any TASTEFUL (XTC influenced) musicians in the Orlando-Daytona beach area - Florida I am thinking that I must be the only one <wry laugh> with good taste here seeing as how this is the state that brought us Marylin Manson and Seven Mary Three <shudder> thanks * ------------------------------------- Circle2@ix.netcom.com http://pw2.netcom.com/~circle2/home.html * -------------------------------------
------------------------------ Message-ID: <7D94D82F01291300@ametsoc.org> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 09:30:00 -0500 From: dgershmn <dgershmn@ametsoc.org> Organization: AMS Subject: Inrockuptibles Bonjours, Chalk-talkers, Purely by chance I came across a French music and arts Web site (that is, a music and arts site that's French, not a site for French music and arts) called Inrockuptibles, which has a college radio/alternative focus. They have what appears to be their picks for the 100 best albums of the 10 years from 1986 to 1996, and making it in just under the wire, at #99, is "Oranges and Lemons" by you-know-who! My French is pretty rusty, so I really can't summarize too much of what they said about O&L to you, but maybe someone with a better grasp of the language could go check it out and report back to Chalkhills with a translation. (All I can glean from the first paragraph, for instance, is something about "English pop," "dadaist humor," "social conscience," and "muffins and milk." You can see how helpful it would be if I went any further.) The list is pretty interesting overall anyway, so you might all want to take a look [though including 3 Smiths/Morrissey albums in the top 15 seems excessive, they do think to include albums as far ranging as The Feelies (twice!) and the Sneetches to Public Enemy and Roy Orbison (now wouldn't Roy and PE collaborating have been something!), which makes things a bit more interesting]. Here's the site's address: http://www.inrockuptibles.presse.fr/ And the address for the list itself: http://www.inrockuptibles.presse.fr/numero10ans/disques/indexdisques.html On the other end of things, Rolling Stone won't be back in any of its detractors' graces by excluding XTC from its new list of the top 200 essential rock CDs. I haven't read through the write-ups yet, but a cursory glance at the alphabetical list of artists included in the issue revealed that X was the only band listed under entries beginning with "X." Oh well. Listless in Boston, Dave Gershman
------------------------------ Message-ID: <33677E23.364B@sprintmail.com> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:15:15 -0700 From: Stormy Monday <stormymonday@sprintmail.com> Subject: Ethnic Jokes - Chalkhills Style Folxtc, Why did the Bryan Adams fan get fired from the M&M's candy factory? He kept rejecting the W's! How many Journey fans does it take to change a light bulb? 75,001. One to hold the lightbulb, and 75000 to turn the stadium around! Why did the ELO fan put on a suit and climb a tree with his briefcase in tow? Because he wanted to be a Branch Manager! Why was the XTC Fans vs. The Ben Folds Five Fans baseball game canceled? To have a proper baseball game, you need at least 18 people in the same place. Stormy Monday PS. > Is Ray Davies better than Andy Partridge? Was the > White Album any good? The List Of Everything will tell you, and save > unnecessary arguments. I'm so relieved ...
------------------------------ Message-ID: <33677EF1.54FD@netwalk.com> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:18:41 -0700 From: Ian C Stewart <stewart@netwalk.com> Subject: In defense of independent tape-compilers Mike Myers! Firstly, cheers aplenty for typing out the Newell bits from Goldmine. Excellent stuff. That guy cracks me up, he's so casual. Doesn't G'mine have a web site? Now then... I must confess that I too "submitted" a couple of my songs to the chap---sorry, I've forgotten his name already---who was putting together the compilation of Original Chalkie-musix. Having a *little* experience in the realm of the Cassette Compilation myself I know that the numerous outside factors involved sometimes overtake the initial rush ---that drive to do something really cool that will hopefully benefit the whole list and will stand the test of time, blah blah. I'm not saying that I agree with having people's material lying dormant and I'm not saying that it doesn't suck. But I do understand it. Me, I was scorched to pieces before even joining the list officially, as some of you with warm flamethrowers may recall, for the way SKYLACKING was put together. In that case, however, the people who felt snubbed had submitted tracks very late in the game. SKYLACKING was a ludicrously specific project that asked a hell of a lot of its contributors, consequently a lot of tracks didn't make the cut. As I've always said, if you don't like the way I put my tapes together, MAKE YOUR OWN. Quit crying about what a pootie-hole I am and do your own thing. It ain't like I got the only supply of blank tapes and postage in the world. I put together my first XTC tribute tape in 1991 after the first convention in Barrie. It took about a year to get enough material to put out an hour-long tape. Even then there were up to three songs per artist in some cases. In the time between that first tribute (fall 92) and the second one (January 1995) I can't tell you how many other people I heard of who were doing similar projects. A girl from California kept calling me at home to tell me about *her* XTC tribute tape in summer 92. How many ads were there in the back of the Little Express? Five? Six? I mean, that's a lot of unrealized projects. Bottom line: it's very easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of doing stuff like putting out compilation tapes, but few people are prepared to wait for months on end with no mention of their project. Even fewer actually go so far as to make copies of their product. Let's count them! There's Martin Fuchs, there's me and there's Richard Pedretti-Allen for starters. It's a hell of a lot more work than it seems. I don't know what Chalkie-Music guy's story is, really I don't even care... he didn't solicit money, he didn't promise anybody a mansion or anything. Like I said... I don't agree with him. And it does suck because my songs were damn good! Ha! But it does happen. So, Michael Myers? Why not put tapes of your stuff out yourself? I'd love to trade tapes with you. Anyone else got a tape out? Hook me up. I got a whole zine full of this stuff---AUTOreverse---we still need reviewers! Fancy yerself a music critic? e-mail me offline. Thank you, goodnight. fer now, Ian C Stewart stewart@netwalk.com
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 09:45:06 -0500 (CDT) From: AMANDA CARYL OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: What did I miss? Message-id: <01IIB8A1K9L68Y3XW0@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> I'm not familiar with this joke that seems to have caused a bit of a flap. (But all I can say is thank Christ I'M not in the middle of it!) Responses are in order for the following Chalkhills customers, the line forms to the left: Ben Gott: >Sure, tirades against fellow Chalkhillians can get old quickly, You have no idea....... >From Simon Sleightholm: >(and _only_guitar work, Amanda) Aw shucks! I was hoping he could check to see if my ceiling needs painting from a horizontal point of view. (Oh but I am naughty, aren't I?) >From Dave Gershman: >Oh please I dunno, I thought "Love to all and pity to those I might have offended was harmless. >...but please, lay off the jokes. I DID warn him about what to expect when he got on this list....... >From Natalie Jacobs: >Yes, I know I have a page-down key, and I use it frequently, especially when >the words "Beatles Anthology" or "AMANDA" appear- Gee, I'm touched. Well, I was gonna tellk you a few things to add onto some articles on your Perdix page, but that little jab just made them suddenly fly out of my head. Sad, really. Chris Coolidge-A thousand BRAVOS for that rewrite of Dear God. I would LOVE for Andy to see that. I have to wonder if he'd laugh it off or sit and think about it. My guess is that he's so staunch in his atheism he'd laugh it off. Exactly five years since the release of Nonsuch....... AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >From Ed Miller: >Subject: Let's form our own label! God don't I WISH! Anything to help out the Lads. And now, I'm gonna fish through recent Chalkhills to catch the offensive joke. Ciao, Amanda XTC song of the day-Living In a Haunted Heart non-XTc song of the day-The Porpoise Song-The Monkees (PS-Anyone been watching the Monkees on TV? They come on VH-1 now!) Je me souviens du soleil
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704301452.KAA16664@gate3.fmr.com> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:49:00 -0400 From: "Sawyer, Keith" <Keith.Sawyer@FMR.Com> Subject: RE: Chalkhills Digest #3-106 I'd just like to thank all involved for making Chalkhills #3-106 the most surly and sarcastic digest I've ever read. Personally, I much prefer this to #3-105's "you can post your opinions as long as they agree with mine" tone. krankily, keith "The best things get screwed up, so fuck what they say" -Long River Train, 'The First'
------------------------------ Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970430152617.0069f350@popmail.dircon.co.uk> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 16:26:17 +0100 From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk> Subject: Everything I am useless. I've had a few mails querying me on my volte-face about that joke of Mark's and my subsequent retraction of my first statement. So here goes; I did find the joke unfunny and unpleasant in its tone and content, but I also thought I was a bit surly with my original condemnation when I was merely trying to point out a certain imbalance in the thrust of the main part of the mail and the joke that wrapped it up. Having been involved in flame-wars before I know how depressing I they can be and so I attempted to clean up behind myself and drop the matter. It didn't work - I've now been getting some stick for giving the appearance of having reversed my opinion. Gahhh. I admit I back-pedalled out of basic cowardice and a reluctance to be drawn into an argument that I am simply in no state to cope with at the moment. I seem to have become embroiled in the very thing I was trying to avoid. And I was right, it has depressed me. I should have just stuck to my guns in the first place. *sigh* As part of the current vogue for reworking lyrics, here's a snippet of an alternate Peter Pumkinhead (and no, I'm not setting myself up as some fallen messiah...) :- Simon Sleightholm he came to town, Shot his mouth, pulled his trousers down. All the good folk they stood in line, Took a swipe at his "kick me" sign. Had a knack for making enemies, Forced them all to use their page-down keys, I think he's learned his lesson, Flame wars are such depressing things. (hamonica solo) Chocolate coated Kudos to Dave Gershman for handling the matter far more correctly and clearly. To quote Monty Python quoting James Whistler, "I wish _I'd_ said that..." Now, a litle more Beckiana for those who are going to be at the Basingstoke convention - Becki is going to try and send me a few CDs to play (and hopefully sell) to interested parties on the day. From: jason.phelan@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu >Well I 'll be happy to make copies for anyone who wants them. And don't >forget about the bridge I have for sale. :) Jason, I think I love you. I recently got an email from a performance art group, Second Hand Dance (website at http://www.worlddesign.com/secondhand), who are fans of XTC and who wanted me to foward their details to the band with a view to possible collaboration. I often get these sorts of messages; people think, and I can sort of see why, that because I run Bungalow I have some direct connection with the band (last year two people sent me birthday wishes on Andy's birthday!). Anyway, I've forwarded their message on to someone who does have access to the band and they have promised to pass it on. I think I remember reading in Limelight that the Take Away/Lure Of Salvage album was used as the basis for some modern dance, and the ambient landscapes of Through The Hill could certainly comprise a finely textured backdrop for some visionary choreography. Dance, I must admit, isn't really my thing - as an art form in itself, that is - I would no more think of going to see a dance show than thread an eel through my nose, but when it's used well (either abstractly or interpretively) in support of music that I like then I do enjoy it. As I recall from the results of a list-survey last year, Chalkhills seems to thrive with performers and show-biz technicians, so is there anyone out there with the requisite grounding who could see something wild coming of such a collaboration? I'm just stepping outside, I may be some time. Simon - (Idiot Seeks Low Profile) +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ XTC? Are they still going? Follow me and find out..
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:41:40 -0500 (CDT) From: amanda caryl owens <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: Free at last free at last, thank God Almighty I'm free at last! Message-id: <01IIBAQXNI848Y3XW0@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> I finally got my name out of those friggin' caps! HURRAH! Sorry, got a little emotional there. Second post, I'm getting back on track. Mark-I have to admit myself, that was a bit crude to post. I'm surprised John let you get away with it! A few words of advice...speaking from experience as a person who has been lambasted for everything from using the word "fuck" to stating my views about vegetarianism, it's best to keep the personal views on non-XTC subjects to an absolute minimum. Ciao again, Amanda Je me souviens du soleil
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704301554.LAA28093@ngw2.hns.com> From: Fritz Stolzenbach/HNS <Fritz_Stolzenbach@notesgw.hns.com> Date: 30 Apr 97 11:43:38 EDT Subject: Chalkies Originals Compilation AAARRGGHH! Folks, I AM sorry about the delay this Chalkies originals tape has taken! I really HAVE been completely over my head at work! I really DON'T have any intention of stealing/reselling/otherwise fiddling with the creative output of folks I consider friends (in the electronic sense, anyway)! I really HAVE basically finished the compilation -- all that remains is the duping and mailing process! My girlfriend really IS angry at me for leaving all the SASEs strewn about her living room for four months! I really WILL get to it as soon as I can! Please bear with me -- the company I work for is in the middle of the biggest product launch in its history -- a new home satellite dish which will receive both 200 channels of DIRECTV and the Internet at 400 Kbps. The product launches in late June/early July, and there is one person -- me -- responsible for managing the entire marketing/P.R. process for the launch. I won't bore you with all the details involved in a nationwide consumer electronics product launch of this type, but they are considerable. When I initiated the Chalkies Originals tape, I was an underemployed new management hire here with time on my hands. Well, it's like the old Gypsy curse, "may you get what you ask for" -- now I'm the point man for all things marketing/advertising/P.R. related to this new product, and I've been working 50-60 hour weeks for the past three months. I am here, if anyone wants to talk to me about this. I believe I've been good about answering e-mails from nervous contributors. I feel bad enough about my private life going to shit over the last few months (and for the next few on top of that) because of this job. All I can say is, I'll get to it as soon as I can. This music project (despite appearances) is important to me, and all of you are important to me. I enjoy your insights (almost all the time), and I don't want to lose your trust. Bear with me -- please. Unless something else explodes in the interim I MAY be able to finish dubbing a couple of weeks from now. I'm gunning for that, but my life prevents me from making promises I can't keep right now. I don't want to disappoint anybody any more than I already have. So, again, I ask for your patience and your trust. Geez -- look at the length of this thing. See? 15 minutes of work time, gone. (sob, sob, boo hoo, etc.) Just for the record, here's the message I'm responding to: >Jason had a legitimate complaint a few days ago about an apparent shady deal some of us were involved with late last year. One member of this list asked people who write original music to send him material so that he could compile a tape showing the wide range of styles exhibited by composers who are also list members. I sent a tape of one of my copyrighted songs with the promised expectation that this would be complete and issued by "Thanksgiving, or at latest Christmas". Of course, as you are all aware, this tape has not been completed. I sent a couple of messages to the person who was compiling the tape, and got "sorry, I'm so busy, I promise to get to it" as an excuse. So here's how it looks to me: in good faith, I sent a copy of one of my best songs so that this guy could put together a tape that could be sent out to the list. I was hoping that my song along with 10-15 others could be listened to and perhaps enjoyed, and maybe even start some discussion on the list. Now, my original material plus that of others is in limbo. Perhaps that doesn't mean much unless you write songs, but it's very distressing to me. I sent my material with the specific intent that it would be put on a tape for the use of this list by Christmas, 1996; now I don't know where it is. That sucks.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s3674849.097@elsevier.com> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 13:25:08 -0400 From: Ralph DeMarco <r.demarco@elsevier.com> Subject: XTC withdrawal, What is Rock-n-Roll? Dear One Armed Bandits and Affiliated Members: Re: Need New Album! >From: Macca5151@aol.com >April 28, 1992, 5 years today since Nonsuch was released.....Going >thru heavy withdrawal, am pissed and angry.....NEED NEW XTC >NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Has it been that long? How time flies. I agree. I don't know how I've managed to stay so calm. I guess Michael Jackson fans are used to waiting five years between albums, but I'm not... Re: Dave Marsh... Marshall Joseph Armintor <mojo@owlnet.rice.edu> wrote: > Marsh's critical outlook is grounded in the idea of rock >as a genre suited for the lower class exclusively, in order to express >outrage, depict life as it's lived, and to produce a feeling of class >solidarity. and H.Davies" <H.Davies@law.hull.ac.uk> responded: >It looks like Dave Marsh has some very strange ideas about class. For a >start, the Beatles weren't really-Working class. Paul McCartney and >John Lennon, at least, had very much middle-class upbringings. And is >it true to say that Andy P. & co. are middle class? What sort of >upbrinings did they have? I don't actually know myself. It just seems >stupid to assume that because someone reads books that they are >either automatically middle class or are somehow betraying their class >roots. Anyway, rant over. Oh, I guess it's o.k. to become rich and sell out your original sound (like Springsteen did with Born in the USA) as long as your roots are working class. This is all very interesting and explains much about Dave Marsh and the problems I've had reading him over the years. Let's suppose for a moment that Marsh is on to something. What's at issue here is the definition of Rock-n-Roll. Back in the fifties the term Rock-n-Roll was coined by DJ Alan Freed to describe the new faster R&B beats (called race records). A reporter asked Fats Domino how long he'd been playing Rock-n-Roll and he responded (basically) "I don't know what Rock-n-Roll is, but I've been playing the Blues all my life." Rhythm and Blues became what we consider "Rock-n-Roll" when black and later white people started mixing all sorts of influences with R&B, such as big band, jazz, folk, country & western, bluegrass, popular ballads, various regional styles, etc. I think that it's safe to say that very few great "rock" musicians just play Rock-n-Roll. They may start off that way, but usually branch off and grow as their creative tastes mature. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the first white act to play the Apollo Theater in Harlem and they were well received. The crowd didn't walk out of the theater asking themselves questions like, "I wonder if the Crickets came from poor families or middle-class?" The question was not relevant to them and sure as sh-t not to me. The real question is, does it have soul? That's the only thing that counts!!! Does it move you? Make you tap your feet, hum along or intrigue your ear holes. And, dare I say in some cases...make you think? It could be that Marsh took and too many sociology classes in college. Perhaps he should stop thinking so much about class roots and just listen to the music for what it is - music, and not try to see if it fits his narrow idea of what "real" Rock-n-Roll is. Whew! R.D.
------------------------------
From: jason.phelan@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 12:52:54 CST
Message-Id: <9703308624.AA862430084@in2.mcmail.vanderbilt.edu>
Subject: LAST POST
Hey Chalk-salmon,
Sorry I reeled so many of you in with my last post about the fake
demos. I was trying to be a little humourous, but like
Orson Welles production of "War of the Worlds", I am afraid too many
of you did not sense the subtle signs of sarcasm. (Alliteration free
of charge)
And by the way, Stormy Monday, can I come to the Atlanta thing. I live
in Nashville and it doesn't take too long to get there?? I will bring
snacks...
By the way, everyone who asked for the demos did so with the utmost
courtesy I really felt bad telling them it was a joke.
The Boy who cried "demos",
Jason Phelan
------------------------------ Message-Id: <9704301848.AA28368@gateway.vhf.org> From: Ricky.Kreitman@vhf.org Date: 04/30/97 11:46 Subject: andy demos Please tell me how I can get aany of the recent Andy demos. Tape trade? I can beg- I have no pride. RICKY (ricky@vhf.org)
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199704302118.GAA23813@mail.ca2.so-net.or.jp> Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 06:25:40 +0900 From: n2_n@ca2.so-net.or.jp (Nishimatu) Subject: Post Modern XTC and new photos of Tokyo P. Post Modern XTC... The Japanese magazine The Dig(_Shinko Music Publishing_ http://www.shinko-music.co.jp/) has an interesting column on the page 35 among the 12 pages of special article of XTC. In the column, the columnist Nakoji Koushiro wrote about the Post Modern aspect of XTC's music. The purport of what he wrote was... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= XTC de-constructs all the pop musics and sounds down, and re-constructs up them into utterly new musical architecture. When some of other musicians says "I don't like XTC because of the perverseness of their music", it means they don't like the Post Modern method. When some of other musicians says "I like music of XTC", it often means they merely like the melody line of XTC's music, not XTC's Post Modern method. He concludes ... XTC had far-reaching influence on so many musicians over the world, but none of those musicians could go beyond XTC. The originality of XTC is so high and unique. Any musician would not equal to XTC, refinements of their Post Modern music is so great. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Well, I agree with this columnist. I love XTC's constructions of sounds. Their method is unique, their music is so excellent. TMBG, BF5, T.Heads, M.Newell, and so many other musicians were mentioned in this Mailing list, but the sounds I got into was only Through the Hill and P.Blegvad, they shows Post Modern taste in their music. :-) Now, if I'm Mr.P, I feel being on the road to do concerts is so clumsy and suffocatively old pattern. There's very few opportunity to feel excitement of the Post Modern in the tour. Touring is to be a big project, so many people involved, so many plans are scheduled in advance, there's no room to de-construct anything. While, to do a guerrilla gig on a truck is a cool plan to compromise with taste of Post Modern. Not tied with big project, big concert hall nor big industry. It's a good idea to play in a basic field fitting to enjoy the music. Also, with the Post Modern way of thinking, it's not fun to make musics to fit in the single hit market. I love XTC. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ BTW, new photos of the Tokyo Party are arrived from Naomi. You can see them at http://www02.so-net.or.jp/~n2_n/xtc/p1.html Thank you Naomi and all attendants of the party. $B@>>>Fs@$(J Nishimatu Nisei/Japan n2_n@ca2.so-net.or.jp CQA03750@niftyserve.or.jp http://www02.so-net.or.jp/~n2_n/
------------------------------ From: gopack@postoffice.worldnet.att.net Subject: Those beautiful used record stores Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 23:06:18 +0000 Message-ID: <19970430230615.AAA4825@CTX> Well - after an extremely uneventful dissertation sabbatical that produced about 500 pages of notes and no actual written text, I have returned to the unintellectual surroundings of Ohio to find not one, not two, but several hundred (at least it seems) back-issues of Chalkhills. It may take me longer to get thru them than it will to write the "beast" (as I have affectionately come to call the diss). Anyway - I need to report that several excursions to various used record (for you younger patrons, that's a round, 12" piece of vinyl that contained music - produced when dinosaurs roamed Terra) CD stores produced a plethora of material. I found several old albums by Magazine (still one of the best post-punk pop bands Manchester ever produced), Shriekback (no matter what I do, I just can't learn to like those guys - but I buy the stuff anyways), Humidifier, and Barry Andrew's "Town and Country" 7" (songs that I wish XTC would have recorded). The point here is that I found many XTC items: the "Mayor of Simpleton" 3" CD (its so cute!) with the O&L demos, "The Meeting Place" 12" with the Skylarking demos, and both "PP" CD singles with the Nonsvch demos. Of them all, I believe that the Nonsvch songs are stronger (or perhaps just recorded better?). And I really get a kick out of "Ella Guru" - does anybody know who did the voice of Ella in the song? Please email to let me know. My question here is: has anyone ever considered putting together a price list for recorded XTC material? I paid $20 for the "Mayor" 3", and I will always wonder whether I over- or under-paid. I'm not sure how it could be done - prices vary depending on location and availability. If you have any ideas, let me know. Matt "If you think there's a solution, you're automatically part of the problem." - George Carlin
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 08:52:53 -0500 (CDT) From: amanda caryl owens <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Subject: Me again, back to the old routine! Message-id: <01IICL9XP04O8Y0X9K@jazz.ucc.uno.edu> Thi is (hopefully) the last time I will have to send this..... PLEASE people, I can't tape stuff anymore! I'm still getting a few tape requests. I've got a full stack of stuff to tape as it is, and final exams coming up, so I haven't really got the time to do anythig more than what I'm committed to doing right now! Ciao, Amanda Je me souviens du soleil PS-So is everyone in England bracing for a change of government? Seems Tony Blair's got a lock on PM!
------------------------------ Message-ID: <33685B03.66A4@cats.ucsc.edu> Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 08:57:39 +0000 From: Becki di Gregorio <beckidig@cats.ucsc.edu> Subject: falkner playing in bay area folks of chalk: many of you have written in w/ your raves about jason falkner. i went and bought his "author unknown" cd and really dig it. his work w/ the grays is terrific, too. anyway, i just read that he's playing at a club in san jose called "the agenda" on first street, this coming tuesday may 6th. i'm definitely going, so if any other xtc fans show up let's make it a point to connect, ok?? --becki, one of the seven
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #3-107 *******************************
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