Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 48
Date: Thursday, 5 December 1996

          Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 48

                Thursday, 5 December 1996

Today's Topics:

                    Moving Right Along
             New, Improved, all-XTC content!
                    Re: Droll/Setanta
           A Young Person's Guide To The Dukes
                    Compilation tapes
               Hugh Produced Press To Play?
                     Love plus one...
                    Season's Greetings
               H To He Who Am The Only One
                       Viva Setanta
            RE:16 Chalkhills Part Two  etc...
                        Re: Heaven
                        Green Man
                        WHAAA?????
                        White out
                Re: music theory and form
                    Heads and Express
                    Re: Tears 'n' Bush
                A Rush to Geddy's Defense
             Your posts are appreciated, Mike
               You May Call Me "Insane Boy"
                     Psonic Psources
                 favourite little touches
                 blint's friend/alter ego
              Re: Avant Knitting Tours 1993

Administrivia:

To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to
<chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command:

        unsubscribe chalkhills

For all other administrative issues, send a message to:

        <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org>

Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to:

	<chalkhills@chalkhills.org>

World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/>

The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.

Hold him.  Tight.  Hold him like he was a baby.

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

Message-Id: <v01550100aeca2e8a8cbe@[146.6.72.39]>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 14:04:00 -0600
From: h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu (Insane Boy)
Subject: Moving Right Along

I'm back in the saddle again...

> Seems the melody neither integrates with the
>chord structure (when there is one) nor showcases the lyric, so he
>doesn't deliver a lot of tension or emphasis.

Yeah...precisely.  Sometimes that can be good, but most of the time
I don't think it gives the music much punch.  It's more conducive
to pleasant background music, which I think Sting is good for these
days.  I personally like melodies that integrate with the chord
structure in strange and interesting ways. For example, our Andy's
thing in "The Loving" after the guitar solo where the last syllable of
"The luuuu-uuv-innnnnnnnnng" stays the same note but the background
chords change in relation to it-- I love things like that.

>"a thousand Chesire Cats grinning silently."

Kind of funny when just as I was beginning to question whether I had
heard that right after all, I read Mark Strijbos' "Random XTC
quote":  "A thousand Cheshire cats grin inside of me", posted
as if by automatic correction.  Random?  You be the judge.

>"Don't ask me why" off Glass Houses. One of
>the best McCartney songs that Paul didn't write.

YES!! I've always liked that song, since I was a wee lad...

>>There is no such thing as an evil Canadian.

Have we forgotten about Rush? [the band]

>but...but... we're not foreign - YOU are! After all this is a list for a
>British band.... how can the Brits be the foreigners? :)

Hey...that's certainly strange.  I hadn't really thought about it, but...
IT'S TRUE!  Just goes to show how much better XTC are appreciated over
here in the States.  Somewhat ironic.

>The "bird sounds" (sorry, don't know what instrument that is) in Performs.

I think it's Gregsy on synth.

...aaand I'm one minute late to class.  Must go!

Jason

"I'm gonna turn back time until it sounds alright" -The Sugarplastic

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

Message-Id: <2.2.16.19961203201523.0927a2be@cic-mail.lanl.gov>
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 13:15:23 -0700
From: DeWitt Henderson <dewitth@lanl.gov>
Subject: New, Improved, all-XTC content!

James Dignan - you're absolutely right!  We (los Americanos) are the
foreigners on this list.  And thanks a lot for the review of Fossil
Fuel.

There's a car here in Los Alamos, NM that has a personalized plate
that's simply "XTC".  I have no idea, though, whether they're a fan
of the band or they think they're totally cool and in 'ecstasy'.

I mentioned before I loaned my demo tape to a guy that runs a small
record shop here, because he acted pretty interested.  I said when I
loaned it to him: "be careful with this, because I can't just buy
this anywhere".  He said oh yeah, blah blah.  Well, it's been a couple
of weeks now, and HE CAN'T FIND THE DEMO!!!  But he's still looking
at his house.  I can't believe it.  I'm sure someone here would send
me another one, but let's see if this guy can get his act together.

Whoever passed on the news that our heroes are close to signing -
thanks!  But with Setana, whom you said was an Italian label?  This
sounds weird to me.  Nothing against Italy or Italian labels, but they
don't exactly have a big following there, do they?  And yeah, how
would that affect world-wide distribution?

JHB, about those "little bits" in XTC songs - hey, I like almost
ALL their little touches.  Just out of curiosity here, does anyone
else like "Reign of Blows" but dislike the distorted vocal treatment?
* ----------------------------------
| DeWitt Henderson               |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| CIC-13   MS P223               |
| Los Alamos, NM 87544           |
| 505/665-0720                   |
* ----------------------------------

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

Message-Id: <v01540b00aeca35d8b551@[199.171.191.2]>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 13:16:31 -0700
From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.)
Subject: Re: Droll/Setanta

>From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <ccoolidg@zoo.uvm.edu>
>
>Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll are probably responsible for most,
>if not all, of the more droll ideas in the collective unconscious of
>British alternapop songwriting.

And what of Python? Sure, they were probably influenced by Lear and Carroll
too, but still....

>From: Daniel Ray Phipps <"phipps@3rddoor.com"@3rddoor.com>
>
>The latest news from Dave is that it seems the band is very
>close (at last!) to signing with a new company.  No name was
>mentioned, but J & P got a letter from Lumiere (the French
>XTC fan club) that mentioned the label SETANA, which they
>think might be an Italian label.  So they're not too sure
>how this will affect things in North America.

Well, several Setanta releases have been distributed in North America by
Bar/None (um...Harvest Ministers, Edwyn Collins, some others?). But XTC
seems to be too big a fish for Bar/None. But who knows?

I assume you meant to say Setanta, not Setana?

Not a Santana fan,
EB

np: God Bless Tiny Tim!

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

Message-Id: <199612032135.WAA15115@utrecht.knoware.nl>
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 22:36:38 +0000
Subject: A Young Person's Guide To The Dukes

Hi Chalkies,

First: the new label our Heroes might have signed with is not
Setana from Italy but the small British label SETANTA.
Please note this is just a rumour (yet)

Second: Martin Newell's CD The Greatest Living Englishman featuring
the New Improved Andy Partridge is almost brilliant.
Those of you who don't know it, give it a listen.

And there has been some discussion recently about the songs and bands
that inspired the Dukes...
Here's what Andy and Dave have said about their songs
in an interview in British mag Strange Things(March '88)

Braniac's Daughter: "we tried to make a McCartney psychedelic soup"
"a concious attempt to write as if McCartney had tried to come up
with a track around the time of Sgt Pepper or Yellow Submarine"

Have You Seen Jackie: "it was called Have You Seen Syd; a direct
reference of our Syd. (Barrett - MS)"
"the character & story are part Keith West/Teenage Opera/Mark Wirtz"

Pale And Precious: "...pretty obvious"
"the chords are all churchy and Bach and the stuff that Brian Wilson
was into at the time"

Vanishing Girl: "was steered towards the Hollies a lot"
"...Colin and I sang the same so that the voices got smashed into this
amorphous Hollies mess"

Shiny Cage: "everything from Revolver all smashed into one song"

Little Lighthouse: "...we made it sound like a lot of bands that imitated the
Stones"

You're My Drug: "a mixture of Montery by the Animals and So You Want
To Be A Rock N Roll Star by the Byrds." "...the chord change is so West Coast"

You're A Good MAn Albert Brown: "is pub psychedelica"
"Over The Wall We Go, I Knew Kaiser Bill's Batman, The Universal and
a couple of Bonzos (Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - MS) things"

The Affiliated: "Ray Davies. The middle section was an attempt to be
like Unit 4 + 2's Concrete And Clay"

Collideascope: "is Lennon. (...) the chords were picked because they
sound like The Move's Blackberry Way - it's The Move stealing from
The Beatles."

Your Gold Dress: "the stupidest riff in the history of riffs"
"We borrowed Nicky Hopkins' sound from Satanic Majesties."

What In The World: "bits of Manfred Mann, Only A Northern Song and
It's All Too Much; there's also half a dozen ECM records spun in by
hand"

My Love Explodes: "is the Yardbirds' Over Under Sideways Down mixed
with the Pretty Things, or anyone who had an armful of marracas and a
basin haircut"

yours ecstatically,

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

===> Mark's Random XTC Quote <==
She got to be obscene to be obheard

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

Message-Id: <199612032222.WAA24092@linux.nildram.co.uk>
From: "Keith Beck" <ericb@vip.solis.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 22:20:55 +0000
Subject: Compilation tapes

Hello People,
                     If you lot are like me, you probably make
compilation tapes of XTC for the car or your walkman, so on the theme
of best XTC song of the week and Desert Island XTC, which I just
missed out on, being new and all.
E-mail me direct with your track list choice, and I'll work out the
most popular songs to appear on your in car entertainment etc tapes.
Here is the track list for my current in car tape.
Side A
1.Wake up 2.Yacht dance 3.The ugly underneath 4.Tissue tigers 5.Hang
on to the night 6.Sgt Rock 7.Complicated Game 8.Miniature sun
9.Chalkhills and children 10.Great fire 11.Red 12.Another satellite.
Side B
1.Pale and precious 2.No language in our lungs 3.Shake your donkey up
4.Jason and the Argonauts 5.And she appeared 6.Me and the wind
7.Scissor man 8.The meeting place 9.Radio's in motion 10.The History
of rock n' roll 11.Take this town 12. Outside world 13.Do what you do
The only rule is that your choices must fit on a C90,
I'll give you a couple of  weeks before I post the results.

Cheers Medears,    Keith.

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

Message-ID: <32A57D57.5364@sprintmail.com>
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 05:32:07 -0800
From: Stormy Monday <stormymonday@sprintmail.com>
Subject: Hugh Produced Press To Play?

XTC Fans and Friends,

My apologies again for the Non XTC content,

I now seem to remember that McCartney's "Press To Play" was produced by
Hugh Padgham, not Eric Stewart, but I think he collaborated with Paul on
a few songs.

Mike

PS

Isn't one of Andy's favorite records "Hello Goodbye"?

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

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 18:00:41 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <v03007805aeca1a2983db@[207.77.27.76]>
From: Ira Lieman <aym@axe.intercall.com>
Subject: Love plus one...

Whoever said "Love Plus One" by Haircut 100 sounds like XTC is SO right. :)
Andy could have written and sang that song so well! (I'm hearing it right
now)

Anyone know where to find the album that song is on?

-ira

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

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 18:16:48 -0800
Message-Id: <199612040216.SAA24817@mando.engr.sgi.com>
From: John Relph <relph>
Subject: Season's Greetings

Isn't "Thanks for Christmas" the best Christmas song ever?  And I
really love "Countdown to Christmas Party Time"!  It's like Kool and
the Gang or maybe Chic (or some other disco band), except that it's
white boy funk.  It's such a stupid song that you gotta love it.  Just
like "Zonked Right Out (On Life)".

And yes, I do have Andy on my answering machine (we don't say
"ansaphone" in the U.S.).

	-- John

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

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 18:33:59 -0800
Message-Id: <199612040233.SAA05439@barley.adnc.com>
From: studio seventeen productions <ambient@adnc.com>
Subject: H To He Who Am The Only One

>Recently received a new and interesting three track promo CD from
>the UK (thanks, Keith) titled "Ice Cream Genius" by a group called
>simply H.

Not a group but simply Steve Hogarth (hence "H"...pretty clever huh!), lead
singer of Marillion (previously of The Europeans and How We Live)

>  Artist credits on the back cover: David Gregory, guitars;
>Richard Barbieri, synthesizers; Chucho Merchan, basses; Clem Burke,
>drums.  Forgive me if I've missed the news, but has our Dave Gregory
>been surreptitiously moonlighting?  Or is this another David Gregory
>who plays devilishly clever guitar and produces George Martin-like string
>arrangements?  Can anyone enlighten me, please?

One and the same Dave, just helping out.  From what I understand Steve H.
chose session musicians who would add a different flavour on this album (his
1st solo - he's still with Marillion) thus steering away from the
"progressive rock' genre.  Richard Babieri is currently in a
spacy/Floyd-type band called Porcupine Tree.  They're reasonably good, imo,
but after two songs I'm bored (just like with PF)...

I make no apologies for my diverse musical tastes...

OBXTCSTUFF (since *I*  never post here):   My favourite album is The Big
Express.  If you've ever ordered a nylon nightie and lived in a smalltown
you have to love this one  :)

dawn

173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168

*      *  *  *  *  *     he's seated now, and almost ready to
*                *       begin: "lead me in with a count of 17...."
*              *         (Consequences/Godley & Creme)
*            *

visit: http:www.adnc.com/web/ambient/index.html
seventeen: the ambient music page

173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168

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

Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 23:33:01 -0600 (CST)
Message-Id: <199612040533.XAA17377@ins1.netins.net>
From: JH3 <jh3@netins.net>
Subject: Viva Setanta

Chalkies:

>The latest news from Dave is that it seems the band is very
>close (at last!) to signing with a new company.  No name was
>mentioned, but J & P got a letter from Lumiere (the French
>XTC fan club) that mentioned the label SETANA, which they
>think might be an Italian label.  So they're not too sure
>how this will affect things in North America.

Presumably this refers to Setanta, a label which was mentioned in an earlier
post (sorry, I forget who posted it). So since I guess this is now
officially a Rumo(u)r, and since I may be the only Chalkhills subscriber who
has actually bought something from these people, here's what I know:

Setanta has offices in the UK (PO Box 4693, London SES 7XZ) and the US (PO
Box 2045, Hoboken, New Jersey of all places 07030). I don't know about
Italy. They're a very small label -- smaller than the so-called "major
indies" like Caroline and Matador. I'm fairly certain that they only started
releasing stuff in the US within the last year.

Probably their two biggest acts are Edwyn Collins, whom you *might* have
heard of, and Adrian Borland, former lead singer of The Sound (one of my
all-time faves and definitely *not* a shoegazer act). Other signees: The
Catchers, The Harvest Ministers, R.O.C., and The Divine Comedy. These bands
are pretty obscure, but having heard some of them I can say that if XTC were
to ink themselves a deal, they might completely outclass all their
label-mates (even Adrian!) but they wouldn't be particularly out of place
among them.

Setanta's a great label and I'm sure they would let XTC do whatever they
wanted, but I'm a little worried about their ability to promote and
distribute their records on a wide enough scale -- I don't think I've ever
seen Setanta product in a retail store, but considering where I live that's
not surprising. It might be that they desperately need an established act
like XTC to grab the interest of one of the big five US distributors.

Last time I checked, the US office had an e-mail address (SetantaUS@aol.com)
but if you wanted to buy anything from them you basically had to call them
at 201-659-7333. (Go ahead and call, they might still have some ltd. edition
1995 sampler CD's left and they're quite interesting.)

--John Hedges

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

Message-ID: <32A52DCD.7FE1@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 23:52:45 -0800
From: Herne <herne@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE:16 Chalkhills Part Two  etc...

Geez my Chalkhills disappears for like 6 days and then I start getting
messages from last week.  Weird.  Is this just happening to me?

Here's the last of the tidbits about what are now old threads cause I
got behind...

1.)Police---Was very into them until about halfway into ghost in the
Machine...or at about the time Sting picked up books and started write
about HEAVY stuff.  Synchronicity was a big turnoff...and of course it
was huge as well.  But his lyrics at that point..."I will turn your face
to alabaster, when you find your servant is your master....Mesistopoles
(sp?) is not your name...PLLLLEEEAASE!  Sting's solo work started out
unbearable then became tolerable and now is basically inconsequential to
me.  I guess your washed up when they start referring to you as a "pop
craftsman."  I bear him no ill will but his stuff just does nothing for
me.  I'd jump at the chance to see him live though as I know that
musician-wise it would be great.  Although I'm sure that if he did play
Police songs it would be the boring ones (Roxanne/Message in a bottle).

Anyway...the only time I ever saw the Police was in 1982 on the ghost in
the Machine tour and Stewart Copeland was wearing an XTC Drums and Wires
shirt.  Someone on the list mentioned that they liked Animal
Logic...well IMHO Animal Logic was total shit.  I saw them open for
Squeeze on their Frank tour (I think that was the album name).  they
were so dull.  Nothing worse than BAD music WELL played.  The playing
was fine but the material was awful.  Oddly enough they played a set as
long as Squeeze's that night.  Squeeze wasn't exactly in top form
either.  they looked like they were on their last legs.  A far cry from
when I saw them with Elvis Costello on the Trust Tour and they blew me
away.

Speaking of EC...

2.)AMANDA leaves early---my dear Amanda.  Are you mad?  Leaving a show
early...I mean you already paid.  Especially since that was the Brutal
Youth tour and EC was back with the Attractions for the first time in
ages and they played lots of old stuff just like they used to back when.
Anyway...back to AMANDA later.

3.)Flock of Seagulls---I know the hair thing...but they had some great
songs on that first album....Telecommunications, Messages, Space Age
Love Songs...

4.)Questions for XTC---I have yet to think of a question that I would
ask each member if I met them other than..."Andy, when are you going to
pull your head out of your ass and tour?"  A rude question I know but
hey...

5.)Off Topic Posts---I have yet to read anything here I thought was so
off-topic it bothered me.

6.)Love Letter to AMANDA---Boy that flame was fascinating.  By the end
of it I decided that I must pay tribute.  AMANDA is an enigma to me.
What with her  online nervous breakdown and "Sinners in the Hands of An
Angry God"-like pronouncements on the Crash Test Dummies...the CRASH
TEST DUMMIES???!!!...maybe I should give God Shuffled His Feet another
listen to see what I've been missing.  Heretofore I've been fairly
ambivalent about them.  They get bonus points for being XTC fans of
course.  Anyway...I disagree with many of AMANDA's points and/or rants
but I'm glad someone so different shares a similar passion musically to
me.  And hey I'm jealous...the fact that she has friends who she can get
drunk with and sing XTC songs.  that only happened once with me.  New
Years Eve 1990 in Rhode Island.  Someone put on Black Sea and we
screamed our way through side one.  So AMANDA may be a bit off but..."if
all of your moments were put down in a book I could read it till I went
blind..." (well I called it a love letter didn't I?)

Well I'm going to sign off now and maybe this will show up in a digest
tomorrow or maybe next week...who knows?

Till the next one,

Herne

p.s.---Re:Sting---when they were putting together testimonial Dinner I
kept reading that Sting might do a track.  It didn't happen but was this
ever close to being a reality?  What song would it have been?  Anybody
know?  Is it in the FAQ?

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

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 10:47:45 +0000 (GMT)
From: Chris Clee <cmc@sanger.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Heaven
Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.3.91.961204104641.1577C-100000@manta>

h.h.name@mail.utexas writes:

>"friday is heaven"

Isn't that a Cure song? :)

No...the title is Just Like Heaven

Bye bye

Chris

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

Subject: Green Man
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 14:52:57 +0000 (GMT)
Message-Id: <E0vVIgz-0006dh-00@sun-cc203.lboro.ac.uk>
From: C Browning <C.Browning-95@student.lboro.ac.uk>

I saw that reference to former XTC guitarist and managed to suspend the
shame of holding a CD by an ex-member of TAKE THAT long enough to see that
yes indeedy it is Dave Gregory. I didn't listen to it - obviously - although
i hear it is getting reasonable reviews. It can't be worse than teh painful
"CHILD" it has to be said.......

I'll have you know that just even looking at teh cover of the CD destroyed
my credibility so I hope that is of interest to people.

bye bye

chris

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

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 09:01:33 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: WHAAA?????
Message-id: <01ICLUGGMGAQ8WXKY1@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

Keith, I must have missed something somewhere along the lines.

Joshua, I also must've missed something too, b/c I don't recall hearing from
you on my politics. Maybe it's b/c my mail was erased on accident one day,
I don't know.

James: Got the article, Dave looks great (as usual). Thanks!

Later,
Amanda

XTC Song of the Day-Great Fire
XTC Quote of the Day-"Once you've created life, writing a song just doesn't
seem like much of an accomplishment."-Andy

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

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 15:05:39 GMT
Message-Id: <v01510100aecb39b716f6@[194.128.83.69]>
From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher)
Subject: White out

There have been a couple of interesting insights into the references that
crop up in Paper Snow, but would anyone care to hazard an explanantion
about what the song as a whole is actually going on about. I thought I was
about to understand it the other night, but then it slipped away again.

I know I've previously raised an eyebrow at people's odd attempts to
reinterpret songs that are perfectly intelligible in the first place, but I
do feel Paper Snow needs a little clarification.

Any clues?

- Mark
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~fisher/

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

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 16:03:12 -0600
Message-Id: <v01530504aecb4c0e598d@[204.153.64.180]>
From: musicvil@idir.net (John Yuelkenbeck)
Subject: Re: music theory and form

Didn't mean to strike any minor chords of the music theorists out there. My
only point was that sometimes people can be more involved with form than
they are with content.

In other words, I don't get a stiffy BECAUSE a poem is in the form of a
villanelle any more than BECAUSE it is in the form of a ballad. It's nice
to know and often helps my enjoyment of the poem, but not if the poem comes
off as artificial and hollow at the expense of tyring to satisfy meter and
rhyme requirements. There's a difference between verse and poetry.

I have nothing but respect for those of you who understand music theory. My
knowledge of it, as many of you assumed, limits me to the level of a
dilettante (and I humbly accept the negative connotations of that term as
much as my wryly ironic use of "pedantic" in the last post). Yes, I
confess, I'm jealous of your knowledge.

Can we dance now?

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

From: McGREGOC <McGREGOC@regents.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:07:36 +00
Subject: Heads and Express
Message-ID: <18DB45C5451@asdf011.regents.ac.uk>

Here there Friends and others!

AMANDA, you asked who say lead on How Do I Undo the Damage I Have
Done by the Heads and the answer to that one Bob is.....Johnette
Napolisomethingorother. She was the Lead singer in Concrete Blonde.
She is an incredible singer, don't ya think? I just saw the Heads in
concert last night.  I wasn't sure I would enjoy it but she made it
worthwhile.

And to your question about the Little Express, Yes! its still going
and all you have to do is send a letter saying you want to subscribe
or buy an issue.  They will send you a short form to fill out and you
mail it back with your check and ......wait.

Hey! to any Chalkhillers coming to London, make sure you e-mail me!
Hint, Hint, Nudge, Nudge, knowwhatImean?!

Bye friends!
Cheryl

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

Message-Id: <v01540b02aecba1668e71@[199.171.191.49]>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 15:03:53 -0700
From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.)
Subject: Re: Tears 'n' Bush

>From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
>
>Anyways, I was listening to When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty,
>and just as Andy sang the line "When you're near me I have difficulty
>standing upright", they showed a blooper of Will Smith from the Fresh Prince
>of Bel Air tripping and falling. I was in utter tears I was laughing at the
>irony.

Anyone else noticing this girl cries an awful lot??

Regarding David Gilmour on Kate Bush's The Sensual World: He also is often
credited as the one who "discovered" her -- on her debut The Kick Inside,
he is given thanks as the guy "who rolled the ball first," or something
like that (an allusion to a lyric on the album).

Eb

np: New Adventures In Hi-Fi (again)

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

Message-ID: <32A6DC5A.3ECD@sprintmail.com>
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 06:29:46 -0800
From: Stormy Monday <stormymonday@sprintmail.com>
Subject: A Rush to Geddy's Defense

XTC Fans and Friends

>>  Here are listed three "Evil Canadians"
>>
>> 1) Savoir Faire
>> 2) Snidely Whiplash
>> 3) The Guy Who Decided To Release...

>And don't forget, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, and Geddy Lee.

Jeff, I usually agree with you, but this time...

I know that it is unfashionable to like Rush, and I'm the first to admit
that Neil Peart's lyrics leave a lot to be desired, but Geddy Lee is an
extremely talented musician, and he is definitely not evil.

A rock critic once pointed out how many of his peers loved to bash Rush
while lauding the virtues of bands like Living Color and King's X, even
though those bands and many others often mention them as key influences.

While I am far from a Rush-o-phile,, there is some merit to their music.
"Roll The Bones" and "Distant Early Warning" are two of my favorites.

And I'd bet XTC, especially Dave, at least have respect for them,
although I have no proof.

"Snipping snipping snipping goes the Scissor Man"

Stormy Monday

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

Message-Id: <199612050020.QAA01450@dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com>
From: "Mark G. Cuevas" <litserv@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Your posts are appreciated, Mike
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 16:18:25 -0800

From: <mikek@cleveplayhouse.org>

>Fellow Chalksters -- I would have discontinued my posts (infrequent as they
>are) except some people responded saying they enjoy seeing them on
>Chalkhills ... so as long as I have some ideas and free time, and don't feel
>like I'm cast away on a desert island, I will continue to post. Otherwise I
>won't.

Take heart Mike.  I for one have truly enjoyed your posts.  And I never
thought you were being pedantic.  To the contrary, I've always found your
posts informative, witty and written in earnest.  Please continue.  Don't
let the recent drivel reduce our beloved Chalkhills to the lowest common
denominator.

I suspect there are a number of people who feel as I do.  It's just that
most of us go underground when those who need a soapbox feel the need to
blather on about their (non-XTC-related) problems.

To touch on another part of your post:  Without music, most of us wouldn't
have a life -- at least not one worth living.

Cheers.

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

Message-Id: <v01550100aecbc0484446@[146.6.72.39]>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 18:21:26 -0600
From: h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu (Insane Boy)
Subject: You May Call Me "Insane Boy"

Hi.

> I want our boys to be rich and famous and I don't are who else
>likes them or for what reasons. As long as he keeps on going, its worth it.

Yeah, exactly.  If Andy can get himself a hit song, then
that's great.  It's too bad he couldn't follow up on the
semi-success of "Peter Pumpkinhead" (that song was all over
college radio), what with the assholes at Virgin and all.
The problem is, they don't WANT to be in the spotlight.  If
only they plugged themselves more...WE know they're great,
but everyone else doesn't even know they still exist.  I was
listening to "Go 2" at work last night and marvelling at
how far they've come musically (I still consider "Go 2" their
first "real" album).  They're really the most interesting
group since the Beatles, followed by R.E.M. (but I'll shut
up now).  There seems to be no way you can say "the older
stuff is always better" about XTC, because they're always
evolving.  That's so refreshing from the usual "have one
hit song and then have a few others that sound just like
the first one" mentality that dominates today's airwaves.
Ugh.

> Always Winter, Never Christmas.

Yes, I loved that one when I bought it in 1993.  If that's the
demo, I wonder what a "real" recording of that would sound like?
Colin's bass is excellent throughout.

>Does anybody else think there's a hidden meaning w/Holly Up On Poppy
>as Holly, high on heroin?   It's not very usual for XTC to write
>about incideous drug use, is it?

And you're probably one of those who think John Lennon intended to
spell "LSD" with "Lucy in the Sky". I seriously doubt it.  I'm sure it
would send Andy into fits of laughter though, if you told him about it.

>Well, they should go one way or the other.

Rock critics always swing both ways.

Quote of the day:
>"There is infinite hope in reserving judgement."

Chalkhills quote of the day:
> I totally agree with those who disagreed with me.

By the way, my new alias refers to the fact that I'm going to be
UP SHIT CREEK IF I DON'T GET TO WORK!!!!  AAAAAAAAHHH!!  STRESS!!!!

It's not really that bad.  Is it?
INsanE bOy

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

Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 14:21:12 +1300 (NZDT)
Message-Id: <v01540b06aecc89161934@[139.80.228.170]>
From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)
Subject: Psonic Psources

Della & Steve Schiavo <schiavo@airmail.net> (well, Steve, anyway) suggested:

>Brainiac's Daughter - Paul McCartney
"Hello Goodbye"?

>Collideascope - John Lennon + "Blackberry Way" by The Move
Lennon as in the verse of 'I'm only sleeping'. This same song's chorus is
probably one of the main influences on 'Shiny Cage'!

>You're My Drug - The Byrds
'Eight Miles High'/'I see you' era. Yup, I can buy that.

>Little Lighthouse - Blues Magoos + Moby Grape
I also hear 'Xanadu' by Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Titch in there.

>You're a Good Man Albert Brown - Yellow Submarine Beatles + The Small
>Faces + The Kinks

I always saw this one as being Herman's Hermits meets the Kinks... And
whoever it was who did "Even the bad times are good?" (or was that Herman's
Hermits or the Kinks?)

>and that leaves:

>The Affiliated - ?
perhaps this is the Hermans Hermits one? Not sure though. Except for the
bossanova bit in the middle, that is. This taps into the same sixties vein
that some early Style Council did, but I can't quite put my finger on who
it was.

hmm. Nothing by The Who!

>- Steve
James

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

Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 14:25:30 +1300 (NZDT)
Message-Id: <v01540b07aecc8a9872b2@[139.80.228.170]>
From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)
Subject: favourite little touches

The inimitable JHB asked about favourite little touches like:
>- The drums in Nihilon.
>- The "bird sounds" (sorry, don't know what instrument that is) in Performs.
>- The opening riff in Miniature Sun.
>- The long wordless vocal in the single version of Ten Feet Tall.
>- "Take Number 3" from Towers of London.

Agree about "Take number three". Another eleven for you:

_The crows at the end of Senses
_The mellotron and drum intro of All you pretty girls
_The segue into Yacht Dance
_The weird alternating of the guitars on the intro of Beating of Hearts
_The odd saucepan-lid-being-hit sound in Across this Antheap (and the
general busyness of that song)
_That long pause in the vocals of Sacrificial Bonfire
_The running water at the end of Nihilon
_The wonderful, irrelevant-but-essential Johnny-Clegg-&-Savuka last 30
seconds of Hold Me My Daddy.
_A compla-acompla-aca-aca-acata-acata-a-a-acompla...
_The chunky scraping guitar sounds and organ stabs (sorry, Barry...
"ganks") in the intro of Statue of Liberty.
_dammit. I can't remember which song it is. One of the very early songs
sounds as though it's starting at the wrong speed and slowly speeding up.
An excellent piece of weirdness!

and many more...

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, 4 Dec 1996 17:31:25 -0800
Message-Id: <199612050131.RAA20903@barley.adnc.com>
From: studio seventeen productions <ambient@adnc.com>
Subject: blint's friend/alter ego

our kiwi friend james dignan reveals that all at 17 are way behind on
chalkhills:

>although it's not a segue to a 60s track, I say again:

>Another Satellite/Golden Boys (Godley & Creme). Different lyrics, same
>music! (any reaction from Mr Blint's friend at 17?)

and even more embarassing, I;ve listen to SO LITTLE of Godley & Creme's
output after SNACK ATTACK (  :-)  ) that I can't even remember what GOLDEN
BOY sounds LIKE.  ;-(

so:  a reaction will have to WAIT.

knowing james, it's probably TRUE!

what about my  OMNIBUS/OMNIBUS (The Move)   now that's a pair that rocks.....

the Move (pre-Jeff L*n*e) were the only band who could hold a candle to The
Be*tl*s IMHO)

Roy Wood was.......brilliant, and a bit mad.   (reminds me of someone else
we all know and love...)

dave at 17
173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168

*        *  *  *  *  *	 he's seated now, and almost ready to
*	           *	 begin: "lead me in with a count of 17...."
*                *         (Consequences/Godley & Creme)
*              *

visit: http:www.adnc.com/web/ambient/index.html
seventeen: the ambient music page

173451681734516817345168173451681734516817345168

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

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 17:57:39 -0800
Message-Id: <199612050157.RAA09572@mando.engr.sgi.com>
From: John Relph <relph>
Subject: Re: Avant Knitting Tours 1993

Joerg Sellmann <Joerg.Sellmann@topologix.de> asks:
>
>At www.telecd.de I found a cd named: Avant Knitting Tours 1993, featuring
>Charles Gayle, King Crimson and XTC. Does anybody know that record?

More information can be found at
"http://www.knittingfactory.com/CD_Catalogue/CD_List/Avant.html".  The
CD is called _Avant Knitting: Knitting Factory Tours 1993_.
Definitely does NOT feature XTC.

	-- John

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #3-48
******************************

Go back to Volume 3.

5 December 1996 / Feedback