Chalkhills Digest Volume 3, Issue 71
Date: Wednesday, 22 January 1997

          Chalkhills Digest, Volume 3, Number 71

                Wednesday, 22 January 1997

Today's Topics:

                       Andy's Shed
                    croaking pumpkins
          You're the Vapors-debate you are I had
                  How to be a bad writer
     I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!
                       Hi, I'm Back
               A request and an offer.....
  Hery, I never got to put my top albums of 96 down....
            A little more on preachiness......
                     Miss Cellaneous
Alright, last post, I promise, and this has really no XTC content...
           Walking around in my Head and.......
                   The Long LONG Player
                  Steve Lillywhite Again
                  The Long Albums Debate
           Re: I thought I spoke English! . . .
                      Wit and wisdom
            Re: Chips from La Factory Showroom
           "Radios in Motion: A History of XTC"
                 English As She Is Spoke
                   Trade Tapes Anyone ?
                   My day in Karlsruhe
                        xtc/smile
                     Radios In Motion
   The greatest Andy Partridge quote of all time......
                           xtc

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jan 97 23:36:01 UT
From: "Peter Fitzpatrick" <Beatle@msn.com>
Message-Id: <UPMAIL01.199701202333210088@msn.com>
Subject: Andy's Shed

Hi,
Don't know if this has been discussed to death yet but here goes.

Anyone out there know much about the equipment Andy is using in the shed these
days ?
(my bet is on an ADAT but I can't figure out what MIDI gear he's using....)

Any takers ???????

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 00:41:41 -0600 (CST)
From: "Jeffrey with 2 f's Jeffrey" <jenor@csd.uwm.edu>
Subject: croaking pumpkins
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.970121002144.9860C-100000@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu>

"Witter, Karl F" <witterkf@aetna.com>:

> Non-XTC content: Heard Smashing Pumpkins cover The Cars' "You're All I've
> Got Tonight" on the radio and found myself longing for the dulcet tones of
> the golden-throated Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr. The remake was pretty shallow on
> all fronts I can think of, and Corgan's (sp?) singing didn't do a thing for
> me, even though a multi-octave range is not my first prerequisite in a rock
> singer. Adds nothing to the original and takes away its sense of time.

Haven't heard it - but is Corgan now running around claiming a
"multi-octave" voice? Sheesh - I suppose one and half counts as "multi-."

Anyway, with voices as elsewhere, size isn't everything.... His voice
seems to have gotten more & more horrid over time - he doesn't seem to
know how to use it, esp. on the louder songs.

Contrast this w/Andy (hey! XTC-content!), who, while also not being
blessed w/the most, errr, capable equipment (no, no...I mean his
tongue...ummm, just foget it, okay?) has certainly learned to use it
effectively.

Too bad for Corgan, since when they're not trying to be a metal band, and
when one can get past his annoying self-absorption, Smashing Pumpkins can
write and arrange a fairly decent song.

Still don't want to buy _Melon Collie..._ though.

Jeff

Ceci n'est pas une .sig

In my CD changer: Rodan _Rusty_
		  R.E.M. _Out of Time_
		  Tricky _Maxinquaye_
		  Pulp _Different Class_
		  Scenic _Incident at Cima_

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

Message-ID: <32E49BCB.2476@fhsk.skurup.se>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 10:34:51 +0000
From: Jonas Lind <tilia@fhsk.skurup.se>
Organization: Skurups Folkhogskola
Subject: You're the Vapors-debate you are I had

Hi.

I forgot to add an Andy Partridge-quote from that interview article.
Andy commented on XTC's early recordings:
"- When I wrote and recorded those songs, I was in an entirely different
situation. I was a young man who made far too much noise. That's what I
was like then - naive in a youthfully enthusiastic sort of way. That
naivety is something that everyone in their right mind will lose, sooner
or later, and when you do, the trick is to replace it with something
else."

Personally, I wouldn't mind if XTC went back to making an occasional
naive album like "White Music" or "Go2", preferrably with Elvis Costello
as their producer and Stewart Copeland as their sit-in drummer. Would
you?

About The Vapors: OK, they may not have sounded like XTC that much, but
they still had that same catchy, high-energy, desperate-sounding output.
I've always been a sucker for bands who combine punk energy and pop
sofistication, and add a few quirky things of their own, like weird
changes of key. On their first four albums, XTC did that better than any
other band, and I guess bands like The Vapors and The Planets did too,
in their own way.

>From down in the tube station at midnight,

Jonas

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

Message-ID: <c=US%a=_%p=AETNA%l=AETNA/AETNA/002E4731@aetna.aetna.com>
From: "Witter, Karl F" <witterkf@aetna.com>
Subject: How to be a bad writer
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 09:42:00 -0500

>[ME] Am I the only one to notice how both XTC double albums are shorter
>than Nonsuch? (Don't answer that either.)...(Fewer, and longer tracks)
>typically doesn't serve Andy's or Colin's songwriting best IMO.

Don't answer that cos I bungled my facts. Of course, English Settlement is
longer than Nonsuch, and O&L may be--I couldn't check my collection or the
website, but I went ahead and posted anyway!

Let me amend that to "Nonsuch isn't much shorter than the double LPs, and it
probably wouldn't fit on a single LP". For average song length, you'll hear
that little beeping sound while I back up: ES is almost 5m each and is very
well served that way, sounding much quicker than 72 minutes. Maybe that live
band feeling is the reason. And its length per track might not be the best
thing for the songs they write as a studio band.

My real point was: The new one doesn't have to be >60m as NS, O&L or ES are.
And for a shorter total length, like in the low-40m range I'd rather more
shorter songs than fewer longer ones (but no cereal filler).

Measuring twice and cutting once,
Karl

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 08:40:19 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!
Message-id: <01IEGVMA5M2M8ZLCA8@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

Ahhh, 106 messages waiting for moi when I got back to school.

Well.....I'm going to have to read all these damn Chalkhills and respond to
things all at once....it's gonna take some time!!!!!

XTC things....transcribed an interview given to me by Keith Beck that was
done around the time of the Music and Friends convention, I still need to
actually get it onto the computer, however.

Thanks For Christmas was actually played on 106.1, New Orleans resident
alternative station.

Mummer was shown on a Camelot Music commercial.

I plastered my wall with pictures I printed up after FINALLY getting to see
all the XTC webpages complete with graphics. Incredible blown up pic of Dave
from the Nonsuch liner notes, which now is smack dab in the middle of my
Wall O' XTC.  More later, got too much mail to write!

Later,
AMANDA
In Amanda's cd player right now:
GOOD WEIRD FEELING-The Odds
NO TALKING JUST HEAD-The Heads (Papersnow and BLue Moon are the most
incredible songs.)
FACTORY SHOWROOM-They Might Be Giants....

OH! Almost forgot something. MTV has been having hour long previews of their
sister station, M2, and last week THEY PLAYED THE VIDEO FOR DEAR GOD!!!!!

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

Message-Id: <v03010d00af0a78ec477f@[10.10.19.54]>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:33:22 +0100
From: Andre de Koning <a.de.koning@bpa.nl>
Subject: Hi, I'm Back

Hi Chalkhillers!

It turned out I was a mere 50 digests behind ( ;-) ) after being separated
from this list and email (and internet) access for two months.

Y'all please notice my new email address (I have a new job).

I'm afraid I'm stuck with a case of indigestion from digesting all these
digests so I'm afraid I don't have much to say, except that I'm still
amazed at the amount of discussions goin on here. Here's to hoping we will
be able to discuss *new* product this year!

--
  Andre de Koning
  a.de.koning@bpa.nl

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:17:13 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: A request and an offer.....
Message-id: <01IEH33WTZ2Q8ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

I have the five song Nonsuch demo cd, which includes the demos for Peter
Pumpkinhead, My Bird Performs, Down a Peg, Always Winter, Never Christmas,
and the Smartest Monkeys (Probably the only time Colin's had more songs than
Andy on anything.) Anyways, I am very much willing to part with this cd. I
have only listened to it once, The case and cd itself are in perfect
condition. I don't want to sell, I want to trade. I'm still looking for
videos of the songs Grass, Mayor of Simpleton, King For a Day, and basically
anything that has never been on MTV and wasn't on Look Look. (Live
appearances and such.) I'm also looking for anything Dave. I just want stuff
about Dave. Forget Andy and Colin, I'm looking for Dave. E-mail me,
whoever's interested.

Also, I printed up the band pictures from the Black Sea tour programme, but
the words on the pages came up way too blurry for me to read. Anyone who can
tell what is being said, I am very interested to see what the lads are
saying about themselves....just about the only thing I can read is their
heights and their weights. (Dave said he thought he was fat around that
time...oh yes, someone who is six feet tall and weighs 11 stone is REALLY
fat....I do believe that's around 154 or so pounds, for us yanks who don't
weigh ourselves in stones.)

That's all for now! (But I'll be back once I actually read through all the
damn Chalkhills and CTD mailing lists thingies in my mailbox.)

Later,
Amanda

"Torgo, I just met a fella named Torgo"

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:39:04 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: Hery, I never got to put my top albums of 96 down....
Message-id: <01IEH41WPMQQ8ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

So here they are::::

1.Crash Test Dummies-A Worm's Life (well DUH!) They took a big gamble when
they departed from the mainly acoustic sound they'd cultivated, but I think
it worked....but did you notice that all the bands that were really big in
1994 have gone nowhere this year?????
2.Dave Matthews Band-Crash. Just plain great album.
3.Fiona Apple-Tidal. Another just plain great album.
$-The Monkees-Justus. See above answer.

And those are the only four albums of 96 that I really paid any attention to.

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:49:28 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: A little more on preachiness......
Message-id: <01IEH4CCT5L48ZN4G7@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

Some may say that XTC's lyrics do in fact tend to have ministorial overtones
(PRAISE BE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!)...not necessarily in that sense, but some
may say it. I find it odd then that Brad Roberts is such a huge fan, as he
has said that he thinks preachy lyrics don't belong in pop music because "Of
course usually pop stars are the last to preach to anybody about anything
with any kind of foundation."

Onto some things.....

Got both Factory Showroom and No Talking Just Head for Christmas. Papersnow
is a great song. As far as XTC Vs. Adam Ant goes.....I can't get into it. I
thought it would sound a little different than it does.

Well, I'm AMANDA-ing in my own name, so I'll be going now.

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

Message-Id: <2.2.16.19970121191216.0d7798e6@cic-mail.lanl.gov>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 12:12:16 -0700
From: DeWitt Henderson <dewitth@lanl.gov>
Subject: Miss Cellaneous

Hola amigos!

Yo! Ben Gott!  Someone already said this in the latest 'hills, but I must
agree loudly - Genesis did NOT suck after PG left - at least not right
away.  "Wind and Wuthering" and "Trick of the Tail" are 2 of my all-time
faves.  I bought the albums, then the CD's, then the remastered CD's.
"...And Then There Were Three" and "Duke" ain't bad either.  After
that, uh, they just got a little too commerical for me.  The 2 "hits" on
"Duke" were the beginning of the end for me.  However, they occasionally
will do a good song with the feel of their older mastery.  For example,
to me, "Driving the Last Spike" on their last ("We Can't Dance") CD is
awesome.  "Home by the Sea" is nice as well.

Karl Witter!  Yeah, your "Jeopardy" story was a riot.  And your CD will
be on its way tomorrow.

Cheryl - nice thoughts on AP and his situation...

Long CD's vs. filler debate - definitely some truth there, but I agree
with those who said XTC would have less filler ("and more taste!") than
the average band... one that does fit the profile that comes to mind is
Charlie Sexton's latest - some killer tracks, but some filler.  To me...

Aussie CD prices?!?!  Is this for real?  That's utterly shocking!  We
should work out a system where those of us in the US or UK buy the CD's
for you, and you ship us Foster's or something.
*----------------------------------
| DeWitt Henderson               |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| CIC-13   MS P223               |
| Los Alamos, NM 87544           |
| 505/665-0720                   |
*----------------------------------

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 14:37:24 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: Alright, last post, I promise, and this has really no XTC content...
Message-id: <01IEH84ASFRY8ZNLBW@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

A question for everyone on here who lives in England or has been to London
or the general vicinity.....my best friend is going there for a week and
would like to know what there is to do. Besides going to gawk at Buckingham
Palace and Big Ben and the Towers of London (La la Londinium) and Picadilly
Circus, what else is there to see? I rather slyly told her that Billingsgate
was just THE hottest spot for action in London....that is, if you like the
smell of fish.

Later,
Amanda
XTC song of the day: Shake You Donkey Up
non-XTC song of the day: I Would Be Your Man-The Odds
XTC song quote of the day: "People will always be tempted to wipe their feet
on anything with wlecome written on it"
non-XTC song quote of the day: "It seems the thinkers you call greatest are
the sort who often fall ill young, or pine away. How can they help but drag
the species down?"-Crash Test Dummies "I'm a Dog"

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

From: McGREGOC <McGREGOC@asdf011.regents.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 20:52:44 GMT
Subject: Walking around in my Head and.......
Message-ID: <8051274FA0@asdf011.regents.ac.uk>

Hello

 I was lying in bed thinking again (oh! no!) about this girl
band stuff and the group L7 popped in to my head.   Yikes!

Okay, so there are some girl bands out there that have Umph!
L7 may have too much Umph!  I can imagine them beating the tar out of
the Sex Pistols!

I will leave this subject alone now.

I was browsing through my thoughts this morning and Pink Floyd came
on.  I didn't know what song it was but I could tell from the sound
of it who it was, which leads into my thought:  What would you say is
XTC's trademark sound?

I can always tell by the guitar sound that its Pink Floyd.
The funny thing is I'm not a big fan of theirs, I don't own any of
their albums but I can spot them a mile away.
I couldn't think of anything that when I hear it, it screams XTC at me.
Ofcourse Mr. P.'s voice is unique and incredible but if I was
listening to the radio and a new XTC song came on(without the
announcer annoucing who it was)would I know it?  How have you
long-time fans "known" it was them?
Each album has been so different.  Even the sound of their voices
have changed, it seemed to me.

New question to ponder, I hope I will get some response from some of
you and if this has already been discussed to death
then e-mail me privately.

Really what would you say is their trademark sound?

Thus ends my wandering thoughts for this day,
Cheryl

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

Message-Id: <v01550102af0ad8c95f75@[146.6.72.30]>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:05:06 -0600
From: h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu (Guy in a Dress)
Subject: The Long LONG Player

Hey y'all (with forced Texas accent).

>If all you know is "Walk Like an Egyptian" or "Manic Monday," you're
>missing out on some fine stuff.

Hey I **LIKE** "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Manic Monday".  Maybe I
should buy the album (?!?!?!)

Re: Bashing Long albums

I'm with you! Not only do you have a better chance of less-than-good filler
seeping into the mix, you also get half a decade of waiting between
releases!!! What's up with that?!?!  Now I'm not blaming the boys;
they have good reasons, but when I think that the Beatles would release
"Help" and "Rubber Soul" in the SAME FRIGGIN YEAR, or even "Revolver" and
"Sgt.Pepper" within one year of each other-- IT BOGGLES THE MIND!!  Albums
should take less than a lifetime to record!  I feel CDs are only
adding fuel to the fire regarding this trend.  Now you engineers and
such out there will probably come back at me with "Well things are
different now;  we have 98-track recording where they only had four,
it's more complicated."  A friend of mine always had a little joke about
that; he'd say, "Turn the echo up on the splash cymbal."  If that's
what multi-multi tracking makes us do, I say record the whole thing in
an open room with four mikes and live vocals.

Rrrrr.

>Great examples of short albums that are amazing:
>the Beatles - "Revolver"

And then I read on!! Yes!  This is my favorite Beatles album, short
and to the point with a wide variety of styles and influences, but
not "produced" to today's standards.

>>It's good to be Bach!
>
>This has been bugging me for a while - exactly where does Colin say
>this?

>From the live BBC Radio 1 CD:

"It's good to be Bach, VERY good to be Bach.  This one's called 'Love
at First Sight'.   [begin guitar intro] It's about debauchery and
things like that"

Just a joke really, if it doesn't sound like it to you I don't think
it's that big a deal.

P.S.- all this talk about demo lyrics:  keep in mind that they're
just demos.  The songs could (and most likely will) change considerably
before they're recorded.

And now, I must elsewhere.
Jason

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

Message-ID: <c=AU%a=_%p=JDEAUNZ%l=MEL_SERVER-970121235400Z-20@mel_server.jde.com.au>
From: Paul Haines <Hainesp@melbourne.jde.com.au>
Subject: Steve Lillywhite Again
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:54:00 +1000

Hey Chalkhills People,

Just read through a pile of Chalkhills and have come up with this:

Steve Lillywhite produced Big Country's first three albums.

If I'm not mistaken.

I haven't gone back and checked but on their 4th album they used Peter
Wolf from the J Geils Band and their sound changed a lot. So did a lot
of their fans.

I'd like two albums from XTC.

Haines

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

Message-ID: <c=AU%a=_%p=JDEAUNZ%l=MEL_SERVER-970121235956Z-21@mel_server.jde.com.au>
From: Paul Haines <Hainesp@melbourne.jde.com.au>
Subject: The Long Albums Debate
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:59:56 +1000

Hello again, and so soon:

Long albums:

Let's briefly recall what we know shall we:

	English Settlement
	Oranges & Lemons
	NonSuch

Not much wrong here really, is there?

Also remember there has been a long period between albums since
Skylarking came out.

Thank you and good night.

Haines

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

Message-Id: <v02130503af0bc86afd31@[134.32.48.177]>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 13:58:57 +0000
From: varga@ferndown.ate.slb.com (Stephen Varga)
Subject: Re: I thought I spoke English! . . .

In Chalkhills #3-70, J.D. Wrote:

>I speak American English, which I'm sure we all know has
>quite a few differences from standard English.  Anyway . . . I was reading
>the Andy Partridge interview in the January issue of Record Collector
>magazine, when I came across this paragraph:
>
>"Most people think we've split up.  We never used to appear in those
>coffee-table rock books.  But now we're starting to.  But we've been doing
>our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior miner's kit.  We'll have
>to grow our hair in more of a Scargillian manner.  I'll have some of Colin's
>overflow."
>
>Can someone explain all of the proper nouns in this quote?

British Leyland:    The former name of the Rover Group and Austin Rover.
British car manufacturer (recently taken over by BMW) Andy's quote refers
to British Leyland in the 1970's when it was a nationalised company ridden
by constant strikes under the Old Labour government. (Jim Callaghan's
leadership) Not to be confused with Tony Blair's (probable Prime Minister
by May) New Labour.

Chad Valley:    Toy manufacturer famous for producing occupational clothes
for kindergarten children.

Scargillian:    Leader of the Miner's Union. Very left wing and militant.
He has a distinctive longish unkempt hairdo over his balding head.

Hope this helps.

Stephen Varga

        ___________________________________
        Stephen Varga
        Schlumberger ATE

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 14:23:24 GMT
Message-Id: <v01510102af0bc807d02b@[194.128.83.69]>
From: fisher@easynet.co.uk (Mark Fisher)
Subject: Wit and wisdom

Daniel Prendiville said:
>D'yer ever get the feeling that Andy sits down and composes these
>very witty, pithy and not-at-all shitty remarks which many of us have
>grown up with over the years, reading interviews in the music media?

I too recognised Andy's not-exactly-fresh quote about someone playing White
Music in a restaurant, but then think how many times you rehash the same
old stories when you meet people socially. The really amazing thing is how
fresh Partridge manages to keep his interviews. Remember, many of them will
have been done on the same day in a marathon slog through a long line of
anonymous journalists. And there can't be many of us who sit poring over
his every word to catch him out for repetition. But still he gives everyone
something different.

I've been reading XTC interviews for something like 17 years - these days
I'm invariably bored by the journalists running through the same familiar
story, but deeply impressed at how Partridge keeps coming up with a new
spin on it.

Having spoken to him on several occasions, I'm convinced that he doesn't
sit down and prepare his witty remarks. His brain just works like that. The
recent thread about metaphor in XTC songs is relevant here, because
Partridge can't look at one thing without thinking of another. It's as if
every word in a sentence is sitting waiting for him to turn into a pun,
take overly literally, or turn on its head. I remember interviewing him for
Limelight, and discovering loads of jokes he'd made only when I played back
the tape.

Think of the Mayor of Simpleton. Now, "simpleton" is a word you use to
describe someone who's not very bright. Partridge hears the word and
chooses to understand it as "Simpleton" as in "Simple-town". And his brain
then gets to work on what such a place would be like and who would be in
charge of it.

Look at this throw-away sentence in the interview in the January Record
Collector:

"We've been doing our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior
miner's kit. We'll have to grow our hair in a more Scargillian manner. I'll
have some of Colin's overflow."

The intensity of the references here is bewildering. First he refers to
British Leyland, the car company that earned a bad reputation for
industrial relations in the 1970s, then he throws in Chad Valley, a toy
manufacturer's of his youth, and the reference to mining makes him
gravitate towards Arthur Scargill, the left-wing leader of the National
Union of Mineworkers who fought and lost the major industrial battle of the
1980s; and because Scargill's hair ("Scargillian" is an adjective of Andy's
making) has one of those extended strips to cover up a bald patch and is
prone to blowing all over the place in the wind, Partridge makes a hair
joke, which refers to his own thining pate and Moulding's prolific growth.

Now, he could have just said, "We went on strike." Which would you have
preferred?

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

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

Message-Id: <9701221422.AA21970@firewall.vum.be>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:28:57 +0100
From: Tim De Cock <tim@vum.be>
Subject: Re: Chips from La Factory Showroom

Greetings,

Paul Hosken asked:
 > Does anyone know if [Chips from the Chocolate Fireball]
 > is planned to be rereleased in Europe, and what's it's status
 > in the US, is it readily available?

I have no idea, frankly, but I do come across copies every once in a
 while in certain Belgian CD-stores. If you want, I'll have a look for
 you.

Karl Harald wrote:
 > also! Is it only in Norway that Factory showroom (tmbg)
 > hasn't come out yet,aaarrghh!

If it's any consolation: like yourself I have been looking for the
 album here and it's still not out! And those Chalkhillers just can't
 stop mentioning it!! Sheer torture!!! Months on end!!!! Worse (though
 admittedly a bit less unexpected) than the Spanish Inquisition!!!!!
 UNTIL a friend bought me a copy in NY.
That was last week. Now if you're in for some really bad news: I don't
 like the album very much. You know: *their new stuff sucks* and all
 that! :-)
I hope it just needs more time than their previous CD's.

Rob Loughman said:
 > Yes, the La's made a
 > wonderful debut album of LP length, but who knows how
 > many great songs might've been cut to keep the album
 > at some arbitrary length?

Not a whole lot, I think, judging from the cd-single "Feelin'" drawn
 from it. It featured only album tracks and a alternative version of
 (I think) the album track Doledrum. Where did those other great songs
 go, then? B-side Heaven? ;-)
I'm not saying I support the ten-song idea as such: I want to see as
 much songs making it on CD as possible. But this is true: I've always
 felt that Nonsuch as an album (not considering the individual songs)
 lacked a certain inner strength, a cohesiveness that is very much
 present on e.g. Skylarking, D&W, Mummer, O&L (though that one's
 pretty lengthy) and I think length is a crucial factor in this
 feeling. The latter albums I usually listen to as a whole and in
 sequence; I've only once done that with Nonsuch. Of course, that can
 prove just about anything so I'll just shut up.

Mark at the Lighthouse: I'll get in touch soon! Reporting for
 Chalkhills in Belgium, that's Tim De Cock. We'll be back after this
 break.

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 11:40:35 -0700
From: Craig Larson <Craig_L@TSJC.CCCOES.EDU>
Subject: "Radios in Motion: A History of XTC"
Message-id: <01BC078F.EF6C4820@LarsonC.tsjc.cccoes.edu>

Saw mention of this promo item in the digest.  I've got a copy of this, too.
No idea how rare it is, though I imagine it must be a bit unusual.  I got it
as a freebie with my subscription to _Alternative Press_ (just part of a
mound of free tapes, CDs and band stickers I've accumulated over the years).
Sort of a "greatest hits" package sent out to promote _Nonsuch_.

Craig Larson
Trinidad, CO

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

Message-Id: <2.2.32.19970122144412.006ba24c@popmail.dircon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 14:44:12 +0000
From: Simon Sleightholm <nonsuch@dircon.co.uk>
Subject: English As She Is Spoke

From: Jdmack01@aol.com

>"Most people think we've split up.  We never used to appear in those
>coffee-table rock books.  But now we're starting to.  But we've been doing
>our British Leyland bit, with our Chad Valley junior miner's kit.  We'll have
>to grow our hair in more of a Scargillian manner.  I'll have some of Colin's
>overflow."

>Can someone explain all of the proper nouns in this quote (save for Colin)?
>Thanks in advance for the chance to exapnd my cultural knowledge!

Okey-doke.

British Leyand : A UK car manufacturing firm legendary in the 1970s for not
actually doing a lot of car manufacturing, but instead spending an immense
ammount of the working week asleep or on strike. They were a staple
component of the big-haired, frilly-shirted club comedian of the era who,
when running low on the traditonal jolly British mix of deeply racist and
sexist material, would endeavour to contrive some link between the three
toed sloth and your average British Leyland worker. Hilarity ensued.

Chad Valley : A toy manufacturer who took their name from the area where
they were based, and who were pioneers in the art of building tin playthings
with sharp edges. From my youth I seem to remember an excess of Chad Valley
scooters, those proto-skateboards with handlebars which became rattling
deathtraps on any decent slope and were often found, bent and abandoned, by
the side of the road, usually under a hedge with a wheel missing. You could
collect these for scrap. Extra points were awarded for each severed finger
found in the debris.

Scargillian: Arthur Scargill was the leader of the Miners in the famous
mid-eighties coal workers strike in the UK when he fought long and hard for
the futue of the British coal industry. Though he was possessed of a genuine
passion for the cause of his union, he had a truly strange hair style, a
fair facsimile of which can be created by leaving three demented kittens to
play with a ball of red wool, and was thus largely dismissed as a crank. The
general public celebrated when the strike was broken, and then watched in
amazement as the government closed down all the mines. There are currently
around five miners in regular work in the UK. (cf. The Comic Strip Presents
- "STRIKE!"; a spoof film about the arrival of Hollywood movie makers in a
British mining town to film the real story of the strike. With Al Pacino as
Arthur Scargill.)

Meep-meep,

Simon
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--
http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nonsuch/bungalow.htm
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--
XTC - This Is Pop?

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 97 15:04:08 UT
From: "Peter Fitzpatrick" <Beatle@msn.com>
Message-Id: <UPMAIL01.199701221513060420@msn.com>
Subject: Trade Tapes Anyone ?

Anyone new out there who would like to trade rare tapes and videos ?

Mail me if you're interested.

(newbies helped out....)

thanks

-Peter

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 19:07:33 +0100 (CET)
From: James Isaacs <jisaacs1@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>
Subject: My day in Karlsruhe
Message-Id: <Pine.A32.3.91.970122185904.69825E-100000@aixterm1.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>

I spent this Wednesday in Karlsruhe, a city in Southern Germany.  What
does this have to do with anything, let alone XTC? Well, just let me tell
you...
Oh, dear.
Well, anyway, I went to a really cool museum, and they had a humongous
collection of fossilized thingies that would fit very nicely on "Fossil
Fuel".  What are those, anthricites?  My memory fails.
Also, I found  a lovely Cd store, where I picked up this wonderful Cd by
the  Sugarplastic that all here are raving about.  If it is no good, or
if it is good  and  I do not like it just for being the social pariah I
am,  I am personally going to flame all of you for taking me for 25DM. >; )
Mike, as honorary chairman and grand poobah of the Go 2 Society (Wouldn't
Go 2 Hell be a good slogan?), let me welcome you aboard.  We could
probably field a miserable football team.  Perhaps Renaldo or Allen
Shearer likes Go 2 as well....
James Isaacs

"Buy Red Wrigglers, the Cadillac of Worms"
-song from the past

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 09:02:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Thomas Long <tlong@unixg.ubc.ca>
Subject: xtc/smile
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970122084428.12429A-100000@interchg.ubc.ca>

All this time in between Nonsuch and ?? has at least given me the chance
to discover some new/old sounds... and I'd like to personally thank
Partridge & co. for giving me a new appreciation of the Beach Boys, a
band I used to detest (actually, Mike Love & Al Jardine are still on my
hate list, but why quibble)... Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile are superb, while
stray tracks like Let Him Run Wild also send the shivers up & down the
spine... I recently came across the book Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile...
what a wealth of info, including xTc references... having read all about
the infamous Smile sessions, I'm desperate to HEAR them... if anyone can
put me in touch with a reasonable fascimile (ahem), please email me
privately... cheers, thomas

song of the day: Pale & Precious, of course!!

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

From: Michael_Ong@SOM-LRC.ucsd.edu
Message-Id: <CC8388565@CCMail.UCSD.Edu>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 10:32:00 -0800
Subject: Radios In Motion

I picked up a copy of it a year ago in San Diego in a used CD store
called Music Trader.  I assumed if I could find it in SD it couldn't
be that rare, but since its a promo CD for radio stations there
can't be that many copies.  There were actually two copies there
that day, but stupid me figured I could always get it later if I
wanted two copies (sorry Ira).  Haven't seen it since.

mIKE

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:14:52 -0600 (CST)
From: AMANDA OWENS <ACOEA@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>
Subject: The greatest Andy Partridge quote of all time......
Message-id: <01IEINSCFL1U8ZOOQZ@jazz.ucc.uno.edu>

"The Crash Test Dummies are the greatest PR people we've never paid!"-from
Record Collector Jan. 1997

Later,
Amanda

PS-Anyone know of any websites for those uof us addicted to CCGs, mainly to
Magic: The Gathering and the X-Files???? Just wondering.

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

From: "AUTUMN D HOWELL" <howellad@salem.kent.edu>
Organization: Kent State - Salem Campus
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 15:42:40 EST
Subject: xtc
Message-ID: <39481964757@salem-1.salem.kent.edu>

Why does Andy Partridge look so much like John Lennon's assassin Mark
David Chapman in the "Dear God' video?  I think in that video he
looks like Chapman parodying Lennon in the Beatles' "Strawberry
Fields Forever" promo film/video in which Paul McCartney climbed into
a tree to fix the mellotron wires (which loked more like telephone
wires).  With the recent revelation fronm Chapman in which he said he
wanted to kill the rest of the Beatles, and the fact that Partridge
was blaspheming God (saying he doesn't exist), and since Partridge
had that dazed/crazed killer look and hit the tree with "Maxwell's
Silver Hammers", I  found that video inappropriate to be shown.
thanx, a citizen

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #3-71
******************************

Go back to Volume 3.

22 January 1997 / Feedback