Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 127

                   Monday, 9 June 1997

Today's Topics:

            Caution not necessarily advised...
           Astro-pixie (warning: many topics!)
            Congrats on Chalkhills Children!!!
                 Baby You're a Crazy Man
                       -No Subject-
                  CC '97, short & sweet
                          SMILE
                       1992 - ????
                      The love thing
                        On a lark.
            English Settlement, Wonder Annual
                 Andy and Brian...Again!
     Children, Jokes, and Pynchonistic Synchronicity
                      CC`96 Credits
              Lumiere : Back from the Ashes
   TBE & ES Reconsidered, Favourite Bass Guitar Players
                   Alternative Nonsvch
                    ***IMO IMO IMO***
  Now that I post more often, the messages get shorter.

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The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.

Chalkhills is digested with Digest 3.3d (John Relph <relph@sgi.com>).

Testicular tomfoolery.

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

Message-Id: <199706091526.IAA17110@sgi.sgi.com>
From: "JH3" <JH3@alternatech.net>
Subject: Caution not necessarily advised...
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 10:18:17 -0500

Andrew Lippitt <andylipp@snet.net> writes:

> I want to urge everyone to avoid track by track reviews
> of the tribute tape to avoid hurting feelings.  It's one thing
> to slam the Rembrandts for a crappy cover of 'Nigel' but quite
> another to post here saying you hate, dislike, loath, or can't
> stand any of the creative efforts of contributing musicians
> that subscribe to this list.

I do appreciate the sentiment here, but doesn't this imply that the
contributors are essentially thin-skinned and over-sensitive? And that
other list subscribers are capable of getting nasty and vindictive just
because they don't like a piece of music? Of course, I'm probably just
reinforcing that impression by responding in this fashion...

Still, I'd rather read negative comments about CC in general -- or even
my own contribution in particular (not that this could ever happen, of
course) -- than a lot of what we've been seeing in the digest lately,
if you know what I mean.

And, while I know that many people think of musicians as all being
sex-obsessed, cannibalistic egomaniacs with drug problems, bad hygiene,
and poor time-management skills, I've found that hardly any of the
musicians I've worked with actually ate human flesh.

Don't you let them make you RED,

--John "Mine Has More Reverb Than Yours" Hedges

P.S. Admittedly, I would rather you slammed the Rembrandts than me.

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

From: Martin_Monkman@fincc04.fin.gov.bc.ca
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 08:49:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Astro-pixie (warning: many topics!)
Message-id: <9705098658.AA865871225@FINSMTP1.FIN.GOV.BC.CA>

In Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 125,
the following was said:

First, Joshua writes:
>>There's a colorful, full page advertisement for Upsy Daisy in the July
>>issue of CMJ monthly. It shows a happy ittle lamb leaping in the air over a
>>meadow of flowers, butterflies, and bees (I assume this is the cover art).
>
>Oh, great, that's how to get people to buy the album. Why not just print
>"wussy" in big letters on the front?

Just wait until you see the art work for the "Easter Theatre" and
"River Of Orchids" CD singles!  [Note:  these songs HAVE NOT been
released as singles, and have not yet progressed past the demo stage _
I'm just pointing out that there's lots of room in the future for
gambolling lambs and meadows of flowers!]

Then Andy asks:
"James & the Peachtree contains XTC ???"
>My one brain cell, that is left working, is sending a message that there
>was a discussion on this website about XTC either writing or performing
>on James & the Peachtree, a Disney movie soundtrack.  Can anyone confirm
>what my brain cell is telling me?

Andy was asked to supply songs for the soundtrack for the film "James
and the Giant Peach", based on Roald Dahl's book.  Two elements
conspired to prevent the (wonderful) songs making the soundtrack:
1.  Andy wanted to see the contract and when he did he suggested that
he earn more money for his efforts, and
2.  the Disney corporation, perhaps bouyed by the award winning
efforts on the earlier "Toy Story" soundtrack, appears to have
over-ridden the director's interest in Andy's efforts and assigned
Randy Newman to the job of writing both the songs and the score.
If I remember the "Musician" magazine feature on Andy from about a
year ago, Disney politely declined his efforts by telling him that the
script had changed and that his songs didn't fit any longer.

This critic's opinion (based, in part, on the responses of his two
children) is that the film is a fairly accurate replica of the book,
and well worth seeing.  Newman's songs aren't up to the calibre of
those he wrote for "Toy Story", but are good enough.  Alas, having
heard the Partridge efforts, I'm afraid I have to say that Newman's
don't quite match up.

It has been reported here in the past (by Mitch?) that "All I Dream Of
Is A Friend", one of Andy' Peach songs, has been re-written as a
grown-up song _ "The Living Room" springs to mind.  Look for it on a
forthcoming XTC album!

Next, Jon writes:
>Rock Reads
>Greil marcus and the basement tapes ; what did he listen to ?
>legend has it that Garth Hudson has most complete archive.
Indeed ... Hudson was the "engineer", and it was upon his machine that
the sessions were taped.  I've read reports that there are
comprehensive bootlegs of the sessions circulating, although I've not
seen any.

And
>Does Robbie Robbertson have terminal vanity ?
I don't know about terminal, but it's certainly persistent.

Then Pete <pete_srd@mindspring.com>
on >Subject: English Settlement in a new light
>So, my question is...(forgive me if this is on the FAQ), have these
>guys had any formal music training? Sure sounds like it. If not, they
>must have a helluvan ear. All of them.

Gregory has some "formal" theory training, but the two songwriters
are, to the best of my knowledge, self-taught.  Andy is a confessed
Primitive; I get the impression that he has studiously avoided
learning in order to tap into raw inspiration.

And finally (I have rattled on, haven't I?) Simon responds:
>From: Matt_Kaden/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com
>>Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan are all still alive despite all
>>odds. Let's get them all in the same room (it would probably have to be
>>Syd's place) for 5 minutes. Anything's possible.
<snip>
>The only useable song from the session,
>"Astro-pixie Snakeskin Blues, USA", would limp clumsily into the lower
>reaches of the chart.

I'd love to see the lyrics for that one.

Martin

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

Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=Raymond_James_Co%l=MAIL-970609154636Z-9872@mail.rjconsult.com>
From: Ed Miller <emiller@rjconsult.com>
Subject: Congrats on Chalkhills Children!!!
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 09:46:36 -0600

My congratulations to Richard Pedretti-Allen and All The Others who
contributed to the production of Chalkhills Children!  I'm really
enjoying listening to it.  But there's something even deeper that that
going on for me.

The nicest thing about the whole affair is getting to hear the work of
the Chalkies I've come to know over the last year or so.  I think the
tape adds tremendously to the sense of community that seems so strong in
Chalkhills.  Kudos to you all!!!!!!

Richard... count me in for a submission to CC '97!

Regards...

Ed

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

Message-ID: <8AD9D82F01291300@ametsoc.org>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 97 12:29:00 -0500
From: dgershmn <dgershmn@ametsoc.org>
Organization: AMS
Subject: Baby You're a Crazy Man

Richard Pedretti-Allen said:
>The response has been totally uplifting.

>I have wondered about doing another tribute tape.
>I have hinted that I might.
>I would like to do another.
>I will.

>It's official.

Richard, you must be nuts!

And I mean that in a good way!  Count me in! :)

I received my Chalkhills' Children tape last week and enjoyed it very much
the one time through that I've listened to it. I'll comment on specific
songs after I've heard it another time or two...

By the way, I saw something the other day in a CD store that really made me
curious. I happened to be flipping through a section of compilation CDs and
came across a pretty recent dance mix CD put out by a German label. I don't
recall the title of the compilation, unfortunately, but I do remember this:
about midway through the album there was a song, ostensibly by a band known
as "XTC," called "Drive." I checked to make sure it wasn't a song called
"XTC" by a band called "Drive," but if it was in keeping with the other
tracks, "XTC" was in the position where all the other performers' names
were. I can't say I've heard of any song XTC has ever done with that title,
much less in the midst of all these dance floor mixes by performers I'd
never heard of (not one of 'em). Can anyone tell me what the deal was with
this? Is someone infringing on XTC's name? Or did Andy & Co. sneak one out
without telling us?

Dave Gershman

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

Message-Id: <199706091618.MAA22099@ngw2.hns.com>
From: Fritz Stolzenbach/HNS <Fritz_Stolzenbach@notesgw.hns.com>
Date: 9 Jun 97 12:18:30 EDT
Subject: -No Subject-

In a recent Chalkhills, Dominique posted:  "...but I don't think
Brian Wilson would ever do anything as complex as "Humble Daisy."

Respectfully (and with a full-on, enthusiastic acknowledgement that XTC
pushes all sorts of musical boundaries, that they are the most amazing pop
band in the universe, etc.), HOGWASH!

Give a listen to most anything on the blissfully tripped out (and seriously
weird!) "Smiley Smile" album, or just to the "Good Vibrations" single, and
you may learn a few things about musical complexity and the genius of Brian
Wilson.  Or, come to think of it, just check out the track "Surf's Up" from
the album of the same name (watch out, though -- the album as a whole really
stinks).  Right there, in that one song (a tune from the "Smile" sessions
that turned up on the Surf's Up album many years later) is every bit of
acoustic evidence I could ever trot out to buttress my case.  Nuff said.

Thanks for your patience -- and here's hoping you'll get turned on to one of
America's greatest musical giants!

-- Fritz

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

Message-ID: <339C3F13.59F4@ns1.mindmagic.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 12:36:25 -0500
From: Brian Matthews <btm@ns1.mindmagic.com>
Organization: Ringling Multimedia Corporation
Subject: CC '97, short & sweet

Chalkliners! (SNAP!)

I hope someone out there will let us know officially about how and when
to contribute to the Chalkhills Children '97 compilation. I for one
should be able to contribute, so watch out. Is there a chance of still
getting the '96 compilation? How & how much?

-Brian
Eating future and shitting past.

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

From: Matt_Kaden/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com
Message-Id: <852564B1.0058AAD5.00@mta2.lotus.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 12:32:08 -0400
Subject: SMILE

Here we have pop music's ultimate punchline. I never would have suspected
my favorite record would be by the Beach Boys. Well, it wasn't - they were
on tour. This was Brian's creative explosion at a time when everything at
once came together for him. There is an exhilarating account of this era in
the book, Heroes and Villains. What happened to Brian? He cared too much
about his work, especially SMILE, the rest of the band (his brothers) were
opposing his experimental tendencies and the rest of the monsters in the
industry were putting pressures on him, he was tripping all the time at
this point and he thought Phil Spector was bugging his house and his car,
he was competing with the Beatles in a mad race at who would release the
next record first and who's would be more sublime. He abandoned SMILE when
Sgt. Pepper came out, because he thought that he had "lost". He withdrew
the same way Syd Barrett did in a sort of reverse ego, or protest - "let
them try it without me!" He then dropped the reigns and only contributed to
the band when he was feeling randomly optimistic; then he stayed in bed for
years. The mystery lies in the extraordinary atmospheres you find yourself
in while hearing SMILE. There's much more going on in there...

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

Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.19970609165435.0066b724@pop.mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 11:54:35 -0500
From: Mark Rushton <rushton@mindspring.com>
Subject: 1992 - ????

Can anybody think of excessive lengths inbetween albums by a group (not
breaking up and getting back together) or a solo artist (not working on
other major projects).

1. Scott Walker - 11 years - ("Climate of Hunter" in 1984 to "Tilt" in 1995)
2. John Fogerty - 11 years - ("Eye of the Zombie" in 1987 to "Blue Moon
Swamp" in 1997)
3.  Didn't Van Dyke Parks have a 8 year gap from around 1967 to 1975?
4.  Stone Roses - 5 1/2 years (not counting the compilation of early stuff
they released - "Stone Roses" in 1989 and "Second Coming" in late 1994)
5.  XTC - 5 years and counting since "Nonsuch"

I'm drawing blanks on other such "gaps" - anyone care to contribute?

*****
shameless plug:  visit the Bill Nelson WWW Site at
http://soli.inav.net/~rushton/nelson.html - Bill Nelson Red Noise's 1979
album "Sound on Sound" is being rereleased on CD sometime this summer by EMI
UK - this is one of the first albums where XTC's influence was on display.

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

Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 13:19:40 -0500 (EST)
From: "Dewitt J. Henderson" <0002170937@mcimail.com>
Subject: The love thing
Message-id: <97060918194003/0002170937PJ4EM@mcimail.com>

Hiya friends - DeWitt H. emailing here from work at lunch...

Someone posted a list of great streaks - Elvis Costello from '77
to '80 - I agree, but you're not counting 'Imperial Bedroom' in
there?

Andrew Lippett - right on.  'Nuff said.

Michael Penn's new one - Brian Whitman, you got it, man.  It's
perhaps his best.  I thought "Free For All" was OK, but this one
is pretty hot.

"The Loving" - sorry, Cheryl, but I LOVE that song.  I don't know
why (not picking on any individual here) people feel compelled
to inform us all of the XTC songs they hate - it's more fun to
talk about the ones we love.  But inevitably, the ones some of
us love are the same ones that others hate, and there's the cycle.

Comments on Keith WIlkinson as an underrated bassist - YEAH!

Trent, my man!  You misunderstood (and it was probably my fault)
my comments on 'deeper meaning is crap'.  I didn't mean that it
was silly or stupid to look for deeper meanings, but I don't
think they exist in every single song.  And what I was mainly
talking about was reviewer's occasional tendencies to write an
album review that reads like it was lifted from someone's PhD
thesis on comparitive 19th-century English literature.  I just
think the *reviewers* are sometimes way, way over the line, and
*they* are full of crap.

'All around the world, every boy and every girl, need the love thing'

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

Message-Id: <v03010d00afc201e80d24@[128.148.19.46]>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 14:41:35 -0500
From: Gene Yoon <Gene_Yoon@brown.edu>
Subject: On a lark.

Lately I've needed a reminder to why I continue subscribing to Chalkhills,
as I've done since I was about Amanda Owen's age (in years), about four
years ago.

Then last night I remembered.  I played Skylarking as I fell asleep,
hearing it again for the first time, although I've known it well since it
was a fresh recording, when I was just over four feet tall.  Again and
again, this album resurfaces as my favorite, between many-month intervals
where I delve into the other albums and other artists.

Skylarking captures in wonderful completeness what it means to be a living
being on this earth.  Mats of flower lava as well as all the hail and
thunder.  Sir Sun standing up, into grimey skies descending gray.  Love and
hate.  Togetherness and solitude.  You know what I'm talking about.  I
adore this album.  It's beautiful.

Listening in all its Gold Fidelity glory, thanks to my good friend and
fellow listmate Tim Kendrick, to whom I promise I will return it after
being spun a few hundred more times!  I've made some good friends from this
list.  I've learned a lot.  I've expanded both my music collection and my
musical horizon.

So I'll stay on with Chalkhills, though other majordomos from The Saab
Network to Vermont Ski Reports have seen me come and go.  Maybe I'll write
once in a while if I actually have something to say or ask... I guess
that's a threat.

stay well,
Gene

fire they cried
     so evil must die

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

Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:11:54 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199706091911.PAA10585@cyber1.servtech.com>
From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <harlequin@tmbg.org>
Subject: English Settlement, Wonder Annual

<Vinyl English Settlement>
>Does anybody have the information listed above? If so, would they be
>so kind as to share it? Or is me memory completely wrong?

All the information you ask for (instruments, etc.) is included in the
lovingly handled _English Settlement_ lyrics file on Chalkhills.

>Anyone else think "Wonder Annual" is a great song that you
>didn't think was so great when you first heard it?

Not so much that as I just ignored it for a while. But agreed, great song.
"And if lust equals knowledge, then I side with the snake..."

Josh

/-------------Joshua Hall-Bachner-------------Chaos Harlequin-------------\
|       harlequin@tmbg.com     http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/   |
|"We all have our idiosyncracies -- maybe thinning hair, or gum disease." |
\---- Kowanko, "Will You Come To?" ------ Thank You, And Goodnight. ------/

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

Message-ID: <339C1EEF.3A61@snet.net>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 15:19:12 +0000
From: Andrew Lippitt <andylipp@snet.net>
Subject: Andy and Brian...Again!

Hello Chalkish types:

Dominique (y9d62@ttacs1.ttu.edu) wrote:
> I don't think
> Brian Wilson would ever do anything as complex as "Humble Daisy."

While I agree with the main thrust of your post, that XTC is building
on, rather than recycling, musical ideas, I do have a problem with the
quote above.  Listen to the 'Smile" stuff, as well as 'Pet Sounds' and
'Good Vibrations' and I think that you may change your opinion as to
Brian Wilson's complexity.
'Humble Daisy' is wonderful, and quite Smile-like, especially in the
background chanting about 1'50' into the song. Check out the 'Heroes and
Villains' session recordings from which that idea was
stol...er...inspired.
Many of Brian's innovations spring from inspirations of his musical
past, as well as the work of his contemporaries (Phil Spector, the Four
Freshman, the Beatles and God Only Knows how many others). This has been
discussed many times in Chalkhills. Andy is also allowed to learn from
history in this manner, so no foul should be called on this play.
Andy and Brian are both fond of intricate, ingenious arrangements, which
is one of the reasons I love 'em both. To say one is more or less
complex than the other serves no purpose.

Also, <J_ARTECONA@RCMAD.UPR.CLU.EDU> asked about Brian:
>Did he suffer the fate of SYd Barret and go nuts or
>did something else happen. I remember a 60 minutes piece on him a few
>years back and he sounded sort of loony.

There are several Beach Boys books that try to answer the question: "Why
_is_ Brian nuts now?" (Im paraphrasing).  Seek them out.
As to what hes doing now, there was a TV special and CD called I Just
Wasnt Made for These Times about a year ago.  It was a watered-down
history with new recordings of old songs.  Don Was produced both in an
attempt to get Brian creating again.  From the film, its clear that
Brian is still a few tacos short of a combination platter, but is more
lucid than he has been in years.
He also did a true Stereo mix of Pet Sounds which is to be included in
a 4 CD Pet Sounds boxed set.  The release has been delayed several
times, but is supposed to eventually appear later this year, but don't
hold your breath. (Sort of like waiting for a new XTC release.)

OK, Bye,
Andrew

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

Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=BTG._Inc.%l=EXCH_SERVER-970609192751Z-1949@exchserver.btg.com>
From: "Sherwood, Harrison" <hsherwood@btg.com>
Subject: Children, Jokes, and Pynchonistic Synchronicity
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:27:51 -0400

Got my copy of Chalkhills' Children last Friday, and may I simply say,
in humble and awestruck admiration, that Richard Pedretti-Allen is Like
Unto a God.

Currently receiving heavy rotation in the Casey Casem's Top Forty
Countdown that is my car stereo is NaoyuKing and TomoKong's "Goosey
Goosey," which combines the freewheeling life-force of the Legendary
Stardust Cowboy with the intensely modal musicality of the Shaggs in an
amalgam of Gothick ocarina-fueled _liebestodt_ and, and,
and..._schadenfreude_.

Number Two with a bullet (ouch!) is the utterly demented "Collideascope"
from Philip McEachern & Rob Bernard. Go tell it to the Tube Screamer,
bhoyos! They're coming to take you away!

Everybody that did the back-masking: OK, so that's the way you want to
play, eh? Look, we can do this the easy way or we can do it the fun way.
Either you 'fess up and tell us what you said, or we're all going to
have to download some digital recording shareware and figure it out for
ourselves. Simple as that, kids.

Note to Richard: Elena Kagarlitsky is to be commended for her fine work
on the cover art. (Anybody get the joke?) It's an odd thing, but the
cover reminds me not a little bit of the cover of Thomas Pynchon's new
book, _Mason & Dixon,_ which features a large, "distressed" antique
ampersand very like the c-in-a-circle copyright symbol on "Children."

(I am by no means implying that anybody stole anything from anybody:
This is, I am sure, much more of a Jungian, Cosmic Unconscious,
wow-man-this-is-great-pot synchronicity kind of thang. Maybe it's the
Time of Year. No, maybe it's the Time of Man. It's
Mescalito/Beelzebub/Alistair Crowley/Roswell Grays/Bob Dobbs trying to
tell us something. It's the Year of the Large Typographical Symbol on
the Fronts of Things.)

Tom "cut me some" Slack said:

>Harrison Sherwood has become a timid,
>withdrawn man, prone to repeating statements several times to ensure
>it isn't taken the wrong way.

Oh, don't you worry about me, Tom. Since extricating my scrotum from
that particular wringer, I've moved on to bigger and better things.
Let's all do the same, eh? Move on, I mean. Not get our scrotums in a
wringer. Those of us who _have_ scrotums, anyway. You women who don't
have scrotums (not that there's anything _wrong_ with that!) will have
to get something _else_ not caught in a wringer. And move on. And for
all those Chalkhillians who _like_ getting their scrotums in a wringer,
please don't take this as a knock on your lifestyle. It takes two wings
to fly. Oh, and eunuchs. No, I mean that eunuchs probably don't have
quite the scrotal elasticity it takes to get caught in a wringer. Not
that it takes two eunuchs to fly. That would be silly. A-and
hermaphrodites, who will probably have to make the wringer/no wringer
decision on a case-by-case basis. There. Everybody covered?

(Yes, but with _what_, exactly?)

There resides on my computer's desktop a textfile that repeats 500
times, "I will NOT troll Chalkhills with stupid, easily misinterpreted
jokes and cause endless prattle for weeks upon weeks until the moderator
has to stomp on it." However, since I only typed it once and then
cut-and-pasted the rest of the iterations, its value as penance is
questionable.

Harrison "As is self-flagellation: Get 2000 friends to do it instead!"
>Sherwood

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

From: Richard.PedrettiAllen@octel.com
Message-Id: <c=US%a=_%p=Octel%l=EX-CAMPUS1-970609203429Z-12018@ex-campus1.corp.octel.com>
Subject: CC`96 Credits
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 13:34:29 -0700

By the way, sorry to the contributor's of Chalkhills' Children `96 who
asked that their band name be listed.  As it turns out the credits just
wouldn't fit with all of the names, instruments AND band names.  I felt
that the contributor's names were critical.  Then it became a coin toss
between listing the instruments and listing the band names.  If I
deleted the three band names, then everything else would fit, so I chose
to do that.

The three are:

The Geckos: 1000 Umbrellas
Motorman's Glove: My Love Explodes
Karate-Men: Goosey Goosey

My other apology is to Mitch Freidman.  I have spelled the title wrong
on his contribution in various places. 1) XTSea, 2) XTsea and 3) XTC
Medley.  What he wanted was "XTSEA" so I completely blew it on that.

The asterisk missing (to indicate "Chalkid") from my own name is an
oversight!  I'm truly surprised at how many people have already caught
it!  Sheesh!

I guess I never checked my own name.
I can't see the picture if I'm inside the frame.
	Ooooh, I feel a song coming on!

Cheers, Richard

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

Message-ID: <339C6B15.3214@hol.fr>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 22:44:05 +0200
From: Patrick Bourcier <pbourcier@hol.fr>
Subject: Lumiere : Back from the Ashes

Hello Chalkhillians,

I'm new on the Net and I'm a new subscriber on your list. I read with
great pleasure all your comments on this newsgroup since I have been
connected. After being a passive reader, I am now an active contributor.
I'll try to write no off-topic comments and apologies for the length of
this posting and my poor English !

" Les Inrockuptibles "  is a weekly French magazine. It deals with music
(Pop, Rock,Indie, World,...), various arts  and  media (cinema,culture, TV,
etc...). There's a lot of journalists in "Les Inrockuptibles" who are long
time XTC lovers. For the 10th birthday of their magazine, they have made
their definitive selection for the 100 best albums of the 10 years from
1986 to 1996. It's true that O & L was ranked a miserable 99 !
But what a pity because us - fans, we know that XTC deserves a better
ranking and not with a sole LP being ranked. I'll scan or xerox the article
for those who want this kind of archive. I can even try to translate it but
the journalists of this music review are reputed to be (or they like to
think they are, as the more jealous ones would say)  " intellectual ".
Contrarily to most music magazine journalists, the style they write in is a
very complicated and metaphoric(?) one. They have made an exhaustive box
set of 6 CDs in a limited edition with a lot of various artists and on it
you can find XTC and his "Mayor of Simpleton" (surely a future collector
item). They already have contributed to the famous Tiny circus of life
and its famous horrible front sleeve.
What a lot of criticism ! But dont worry ... I really love this magazine!

L'Affaire Louis Trio :
Anyone who reads the Little Express knows that the french pop group "
L'Affaire Louis Trio " has played 4 songs with Colin on bass in the LP
'L'homme aux 1000 vies'. I have recently interviewed the leader of
this group, Cleet Boris (a very charming and interesting gentleman).
The interview is now available in french and (hopefully) in
English for the Little Express. You'll read some funny stories about
the Brussels session with Colin Moulding. They have made another CD
with Jean-Louis Solans on guitar. This man is none other than the lead
singer and guitarist of my own group where I play the guitar and I (try
to ) sing : The X-Troverts.
Like the Dutch Vanishing Girls, the X-Troverts is an  XTC covers-only
group. We have played almost 30 songs live during two concerts as a
trial run. We plan to perform again very soon and to inform every XTC
fan for the big fiesta in Paris.

Our drummer, a XTC fan (what a surprise !), Sir Sylvain Cherrier has an
E-mail too (cherrier@planete.net). He's working on the brand new Webpage
of our group (soon available).

But now, I have two ambitious projects :

1)  - A French Tribute to XTC. I would like to know if there are some
french groups
or artists who would like to cover XTC. E-mail me directly or write at :

 Association Lumiere
 Patrick Bourcier
 44 rue Pierre Dulac
 94120 Fontenay-Sous-Bois
 France

(Fontenay-Sous-Bois is 10 kms from Paris)
 2)  The principal subject of this posting : Lumiere.

Do you remember the address of Lumiere in the Skylarking Credits ?
This Address at Rueil-Malmaison has definetly lapsed. Please don't
send anything at this address anymore . There will be no answer ! A
very good friend of mine, Christophe Depreitere was the last Chairman
of the French official XTC fan club, the famous (sic) Lumiere.
Sorry, sorry, and sorry again for the ones who wrote and sent things.
The person has moved a long time ago and he is so busy now that he
can't carry on with this adventure. I will take the controls of the
New Lumiere with some of my friends  and our project is to create a web
site in French with XTC as our only subject.
Hang on ! We do not aim to compete with Chalkhills or any other XTC
sites. The work of John Relph is really brilliant and I admire him.
We just want to give an alternative for those who are more
comfortable in French. It's plain for us that the main links are
Chalkhills, this site, and the other sites linked by Chalkhills. We
only want to be a branch, another branch, another link like the
others. 'Any kind of site is alright' ;-)
 But we need some original ideas. This site will perhaps be
in two formats : English and French. The people who will help me are
Philippe Bihan and Frederic Solans.
The first one is well known by the readers of the Little Express. He
is the one who has contributed in the brussels session between Colin and
Louis Trio. He has written the first biography of XTC in french
(still to be issued). The second one is the bassist of the X-Troverts and
the brother of Jean-Louis Solans,the session guitarist of L'Affaire(always)
As you see, everybody's revolving around the XTC planet.

My little story : I've already met Colin and Andy. It was in 1988.
They were in France to promote O&L. Our fan commitee had organised a
little party near Paris. I'll never forget this night, Chakhillians
Andy showed me on a Fender Guitar the intro chords of Mayor of Simpleton.
And later , he sat on the floor and played some acoustic versions of Blue
Beret and Scarecrow people. And there was no tape recorder around to
capture this magic moment ! (sigh .. sigh). I have some pictures of this
encounter of the third kind.

An other couple of things :

I have met too Martin Newell when he was in France to promote his fantastic
` Greatest Englishman '. Some pictures I took were published in an issue of
the Little Express. I have talked to him and seen he was very friendly.
At this time, he wanted to make a cover of Im the man who murdered love
but finally he didnt.

I have a PAL VCR. Some of you could send me some videos (the Letterman
Show, The man who sailed around his soul, The meeting place ,Dear god,
Grass, ...). I always hear about it but I have never seen it.

Questions chapter  :

Am I the only Frenchman here ? I know there are a lot of French fans.
Where are you, folxtc ?
Where is Erich Sellheim from Bremen ? He sent me a lot of incredible
chords of XTC. If you read these lines, e-mail me directly.
I would really like to hear the tapes of the chalkhillians compiled by
Richard Pendretti-Allen. Could somebody send me a copy please? Or any
individual covers ?
I didnt come for the Basingstoke Convention. Your reporting posts in the
list makes me regret it more and more. But fatherhood and other things
anchored my feet in France.

I was surprised to hear that (according to Jason)  " E-Bow, the
letter" - is  the favorite R.E.M. song of Andy. The fact is that in a
english paper, Andy said that Michael Sipe would like to work with him
but he (AP) finds that REM 's leader should first work on his own.
A song like "E-Bow, the letter" is a bit poor, both melodically and
lyrically.

Last minute : A french artist named Julien Baer has, in his brand-new CD,
a track (Juillet 66 - July 66 ) where Mr Dave Gregory (the one you know)
plays the guitar in the chorus. The song sounds like an old
Serge Gainsbourgs song - a 60s one.

To close the cover chapter, Colin's  track " Crowded room  " was
covered by a french artist named Charles De Goal (label Newrose).
Just to complete the list ...

This is the End ...of this communication.

P.S : Becki,  please, tell me how I can have your CD. I believe you
live in the States,
and it's very hard to have anything from there to come to France and
the price doubles while travelling across the Atlantic (post or bank
charges and so on). E mail me the exact references of your CD
(Label,production,...). Maybe I could import it ...

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

Message-Id: <s39c36a0.025@elsevier.com>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 16:59:56 -0400
From: Ralph DeMarco <r.demarco@elsevier.com>
Subject: TBE & ES Reconsidered, Favourite Bass Guitar Players

Dear One Armed Bandits and Affiliated Members:

A few weeks ago I listed my top ten XTC albums and in the short time
since I have changed my mind about The Big Express - the more I listen
to it, the more I love it!  Also, ditto for English Settlement.

Re: Favorite bass players (remember, I?m not up on all the young players
so forgive me.)

Pop/Rock:
* Paul McCartney -  I am happy to see Sir Paul getting his proper
respects. Instead of just tagging along with the guitars and drums he
made rock bass playing part of the melody over all atmosphere of the
song!  Very creative.

*Colin Moulding - Though not well known as a great bassist, a few
examples of XTC will convert the unbelieving.  He takes Paul McCartney?s
 ball and runs with it big time.

* John Entwistle - one of the best power rock bassists.  One of the best
drum-bass teams ever: Moon and Entwistle.

* Noel Redding - there was a good reason why Hendrix chose Redding
(and Mitchell) to back him up as The Experience when he could have
gotten just about anyone.  Redding was amazing. Another great
drum-bass team.

Jazz/Funk:
* Charles Mingus - Pioneer, genius...the jazz bass player against whom
all are judged.

* Jaco Pastorious - When this jazz bassist wanted to join Weather Report
he told their manager "I'm the greatest bass player alive"  he was not
exaggerating.  (Too bad he?s dead now) He re-invented jazz-fusion
bass.

* Stanley Clarke - All you need to do is listen to one album ?School Days?
to understand why he is so damn good.  Wonderful composer.

* Bootsy Collins - before transforming Funkadelic/Parliament's sound this
pioneer transformed James Brown's band into the funkiest thang ever
heard (think of Sex Machine OOWW!).

Folk/Blues-Rock:
* Danny Thompson - Thanks for mentioning him!  The  work he does with
Richard Thompson is superb.  Saw them last year with the R. Thompson
band (which included Dave Maddox on drums).  What subtle artistry with
the band and alone with Richard.

* Jack Cassidy - Bass player for Hot Tuna (Jorma Kaukonen-guitar) and
earlier with Jefferson Airplane.  Jack is a wonder to behold.

* Rick Danko - All the members of The Band were amazing musicians
(that?s why Dylan loved working with them so much).  Danko has always
been rock-solid and no-nonsense.

Reggae:
* Robbie Shakespear - usually known as the counterpart to Sly Dunbar
(drummer).  They are two of the most sought after bass-drum duos in
music.  And they play everything!  Notice them on Dylan?s Infidels.  They
really created a new sound.

Let me know who I forgot.

Ralph "Moondoggie" DeMarco

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

From: Matt_Kaden/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com
Message-Id: <852564B1.00736F1F.00@mta2.lotus.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 17:03:20 -0400
Subject: Alternative Nonsvch

Dear Madum Barnum
Crocodile
The Ugly Underneathe
That Wave
Then She Appeared
Humble Daisy
Holly Up On Poppy
Wrapped In Grey

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

Message-ID: <339C9DD0.E6F@columbia.edu>
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 1997 17:20:32 -0700
From: ts <ts215@columbia.edu>
Subject: ***IMO IMO IMO***

Now this sounds weird -

Time Out New York reviews Mexico's Cafe Tabuca as "Beck meets XTC, but in
Spanish."

Does that sound possible?

To James Dupuy -
 (Scroll Alert - lots and lots of personal opinion to follow)

I'm not a professional music reviewer or a musician, so I probably don't
have the lingo down, but O&L sounds overdone, and Nonsuch just weak.  O&L
has this big in your face drum sound, and overall sounds very shallow to
me.  That is, no depth, all sheen and lustre, with nothing below the
surface.  I just couldn't dig into it.  I listened to it a lot, and was
entertained, but I could never just sit down and focus on it, and there
was no lasting power - I'm not anxious to pull it out now many years
later.  Maybe it sounds better on vinyl?  Nonsuch I haven't given a fair
shake maybe.  But it didn't grab me the several times I listened to it.
I just tried again the other day, and found myself wanting Mummer
instead. Frankly, the music is kind of boring, and the drums again get in
the way (this is a big problem for me, and can ruin the whole shebang).
For all you Colin Moulding freaks, his bass playing is quite good, as
usual, and his songs are musically a bit more interesting, if lyrically
he's covering tired ground (Wardance and Smartest Monkeys).  I think a
lot of these songs would be great if given the Mummer sort of treatment,
which I consider a more natural, warmer, richer sound.  I assume XTC were
going for that Skylarking texture on this album, but it doesn't work
(isn't that why Rundgren's name *always* pops up when Skylarking is
mentioned?).

Andy did a great job with Martin Newell's The Greatest Living Englishman.
Of course, the lyrics are really nice to begin with, and the music is
simple, yet elegant.  The drums are understated, or silent altogether!
Home Counties Boy shimmers, and the dog barking is nice in the intro.
Street Called Prospect has great vocals and rhythym.  Straight to You,
Boy has such a nice shuffling percussion.  The only song I don't like,
Jangling Man, sounds like Andy got too involved (although his work on
Before the Hurricane is delicious, as Martin himself says in the liner
notes).  So, I think Andy et al have it in them to do more great work,
they just need someone to buff it the right way, and they need to write
some songs which have more personal feeling (ie. Humble Daisy - who can
latch on to that, vs. Bungalow - works better, has some heart in it).

Haven't heard the new demos yet - can't wait for some new stuff.

Sorry to be sooo long winded y'all.  Go ahead and get back to that French
Trombone thing that is so diverting.

Tom

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

Message-Id: <199706092245.PAA19471@mail.eskimo.com>
From: "Matt Keeley" <mrme@eskimo.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:43:53 +0000
Subject: Now that I post more often, the messages get shorter.

Too bad I can't say the same for the subject lines...!

Anyway....

> From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
> I have just added a very strange XTC record to my collection...
> It's a 3 track 12" called the "On A Mission EP" by an artist (or
> group?) who calls himself XTC.
> The label is Conqueror Records (London) and the music is
> some sort of techno/trip hop/dub cut-up groove; not totally unlike
> some of the XTC dub tracks in fact...
What year is the copy on this one?  And if it's post 1978, isn't that
illegal to have the same name as another band?  Anyway....

> Subject: English Settlement Liners
> vinyl Edition of English Settlement, there was all kinds of recording
> data listed on it, song by song, including who used what instruments,
> etc. But, this data is nowhere to be seen in the CD booklet and I have
I know that the Chalkhills lyric archive has the information under
each song on who did what... you might want to look there.  I don't
know about the CD itself or the vinyl or anything though, ES is one
of the few XTC I don't own.... YET.  I'll probably be getting either
that or Mummer next.

> From: Joshua Hall-Bachner <harlequin@tmbg.org>
> <"MY WEAPON">
> >effective because of the way it's sung without sarcasm or irony (see Toad
> >the wet sprocket's _Hold her Down_)
> (For those who don't know, HhD is an anti-rape/abuse song, but since the
> song uses the same technique (using the position of one of the attackers) in
> the chorus, many people seem to think it's a pro-rape anthem, of all things.
> (The "take the night back" line at the end of the song evidently didn't tip
> them off...)
Well, like I've said in the past, people are stupid, especially when
it comes to controversial issues.  I remember when John Linnell
played "Kiss Me, Son of God" on a Kansas show, they pulled the plug
on him right after the line "And a world screams "Kiss me, son of
God".

> From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)
> normal for the next few days, it's because I'll be going into hospital on
> Wednesday for minor surgery. I should be out of action for only a day or
> two, but I doubt I'll feel much like emailing for a while after that. So
> take care y'all, and hopefully I'll be annoying you again soon!
> James
I hope everything goes OK!  I hate surgery.  And hospital food.
Ecch.

> From: TBERNHA@columbiaenergy.com
> >>There's a colorful, full page advertisement for Upsy Daisy in the July
> issue of CMJ monthly. It shows a happy ittle lamb leaping in the air over a
> meadow of flowers, butterflies, and bees (I assume this is the cover
> art).<<
> >Oh, great, that's how to get people to buy the album. Why not just print
> "wussy" in big letters on the front?<
> :^) :^)  What, Josh, you expect marketing smarts from Virgin?

Actually, Geffen's releasing it, but I still wouldn't expect any
marketing smarts from them or Virgin, for that matter....

Ah well, that's this world over.  Again.

Matt

PS:  Me sig looks a lot better in a monospaced font!  It looks really
dippy in a normal font, though... I can tell, 'cause that's what I'm
using in my mail editor!
     -=>Matt Keeley  mrme@eskimo.com<=-
Living Through | Visit my home page
Another        | http://www.eskimo.com/~mrme
Cuba -- XTC    | I used to be temporarily insane!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now I'm just stupid! -- Brak
(ICQ UIN: 1455267, Name: MrMe)
Yeah.

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #3-127
*******************************

---

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10 June 1997 / Feedback