Chalkhills Digest Volume 4, Issue 101
Date: Wednesday, 1 July 1998
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 4, Number 101
Wednesday, 1 July 1998
Today's Topics:
Aw! Pete's bored!
KFAD on MTV
Chalkhills Originals 98 - AWAKEN YOU DREAMERS
I hear, therefore I am
Reality Check
Junior's Farm
fragmented comments
FREE stuff!! Clockwise in LA
Musings
Re: Nitzche is Dead
catching up on some ancient threads
fegs'n'chalkies, and a doddery old wrinkly responds
Whetting appetites for CC98
I've got yer boring right here!
for the record
MY WEAPON
Dear Godlessnessssssssss
re: boring
boring ...again
A new survey? *uh-oh*
Administrivia:
Have you visited the Chalkhills site lately? Lots of new articles.
Also check out the artwork for _Awaken You Dreamers_. Order yours today.
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Chalkhills is compiled using Digest 3.6 (John Relph <relph@sgi.com>).
There's no youth culture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <QQevzv08068.199806301247@relay3.UU.NET> Date: 30 Jun 98 08:52:01 +0000 From: Jeff Partyka <jeff.partyka@onlineinc.com> Subject: Aw! Pete's bored! Pete wrote: >Dear All, > Survey - BORING. > That chord - BORING. > Dom - BORING ( and incredibly smug - one of those guys > who looks in the mirror and gets a hard-on ). >"...I heard Travels In Nihilon while on a bus / shopping / having > sex etc..." - BORING. >The once great Chalkhills Digest (and you don't know how much it pains > me to say this) - BORING. Gee, Pete, it's funny ... this is the first boring post I've read in Chalkhills since I signed up. Thanks a lot (you seem to resemble Dom a lot to me, actually). Jeff P.
------------------------------ From: "Damian Foulger" <damian@ceolasers.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 08:51:37 -0500 Subject: KFAD on MTV Message-Id: <19980630084703.951aa73b.in@ceo.ceolasers.com> > Did anyone happen to catch the Flashback 120 Minutes played of XTC? I know > the vid was KFAD, but for some strange reason MTV WAS NOT COMING IN LAST > NIGHT. I recorded the program and hit the video search button. I was lucky not to miss it. It lasted all of 10 seconds. Matt Pilchard (or whatever his name is ) said something to the effect that XTC's KFAD debued on MTV 8 (or there abouts) years ago. Then they had a 6.5 second snippet of XTC in false colour. I wondered if this was just a prelude to more, but it wasn't - no more XTC. A sad indictment on what MTV (and probably the music industry as a whole) think of XTC. So for all those of you who missed it... well you didn't. Dames tWd
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s598ada3.074@phjw.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 09:16:57 -0700 From: "MARK G. CUEVAS" <MGCUEVAS@phjw.com> Subject: Chalkhills Originals 98 - AWAKEN YOU DREAMERS Chalkhills Originals 98 - AWAKEN YOU DREAMERS Finally we are ready to take orders for this long-awaited debut. The holdup was in the pricing of the cassettte inserts (J-cards). I am happy to report, however, that the J-cards will be in CoLoR, with spiffy artwork by contributor Brian Jones of the Southern California-based power pop band, Mummer. We plan to begin shipping the cassettes in late July/early August. To order your copy follow the directions below. Send your check in U.S. dollars, payable to Mark Cuevas. Mail your check or International Money Order to: Mark Cuevas 4139 Via Marina #405 Marina del Rey, CA 90292 It's best to enclose a mailing label (with your address on it) so that I can easily affix it to your package, but so long as your address appears somewhere in what you send to me, I'll get it right. I will ship the tape when your check clears. We have rounded up to the nearest nickel to offset extraneous costs like insufficient postage or having to send a letter back because we've run out of tapes. In all cases, however, we've endeavored to come as close as possible to the actual cost without incurring a loss. Pick the place closest to you to determine your cost. If you know that it costs more, send a bit more. You will notice that some of the steps in price are non-linear. It is due to postage costs. Quan - United States 1..........$6.15 2..........$10.90 3..........$14.45 Quan - England 1..........$8.00 2..........$13.90 3..........$18.95 Quan - Japan 1..........$8.00 2..........$12.50 3..........$19.75
------------------------------ Message-ID: <9B8C1E03F07BD1119F6B00805FE633CA0EF8AE@ahqex1> From: Steve Sims <ssims@rei.com> Subject: I hear, therefore I am Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 09:57:12 -0700 It's finally my turn to jump on the pile... I've enjoyed reading the digest for months, and now I'm finally feeling an overwhelming urge to join in (I won't go into my distaste for the word "de-lurk"). I'm one of the old guys (41), so I feel I can address the question of how I'm affected by what I listened to at age 18. Here's some data on my musical tastes over the years: 1974 (age 18) - Yes, Allman Brothers 1979 (23) - Genesis, Gabriel 1984 (28) - David Grisman, Pat Metheny 1989 (33) - XTC, Talking Heads 1994 (38) - Janes Addiction, Toad TWS 1998 (41) - XTC, Verve Pipe I love where I've been. I love where I am. All of these artists are in my CD collection today. Admittedly, I have to be in one of those rare yearbook-browsing moods to put Yes on the box. The Allmans, though, are as classic today as they were 20 years ago. My point is that that we grow and we learn. We build on previous experience, hopefully not ignoring or forgetting it. I have this theory that my/our generation is much more tolerant of varied musical tastes than our parents were. The difference between Glen Miller and Jimi Hendrix is much more severe than comparing Elvis to Perry Farrell. In my house, the normal response to my playing Yes' Relayer album was "turn that s... down!" I believe there's fewer people out there making judgements like that. However, they also seem to have the biggest mouths. Still "One Of The Millions" - Steve Sims
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 10:11:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: "J. Brown" <ringostr@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Reality Check
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.3.96a.980629234615.21742B-100000@dante30.u.washington.edu>
Molly wrote:
> I would like to say that I didn't know I was spamming when I was
> mentioning the XTC content. I thought spamming had to do with unwanted
> advertisements in advertisements in your e-mail. Boy, I'm computer
> illiterate. Well, I want to say that I was sort of wrong when I said
> that.
You were not spamming. You were just whining. Spamming is unwelcomed
commercial e-mail. Although some consider any unwelcome email spamming.
If you don't like the content of chalkhills don't hine about it. Post
something! Not enough XTC in your chalkhills then tell us what you think
about some XTC topic, try to get some XTC discussion going.
> I change my mind about that XTC content thing, because I got slammed for
> mentioning XTC on a Squeeze mailing list. I don't want to bad mouth
> other mailing lists, but they can be brutal on that mailing list.
You didn't get slammed for mentioning XTC on squeeze fan. You were overly
sensitive about XTC and when anyone said they didn't like XTC you would
complain they were attacking you. Some people on the list requested that
there be more Squeeze and less XTC, especially in light of the fact that
squeeze was touring the US. They were anything but brutal they were
very easy going about the whole thing.
It's not a crime to not like XTC. People on squeezefan are there because
they arte Squeeze fan's. If they wanna talk about XTC as member of
squeezefan, thats cool with me, but if they don't i understand. If they
wanna talk about the Beautiful South (who know nothing about) then that's
cool with me, too. The same goes with Chalkhills. If people here wanna
talk about Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren or Yazbek (all of whom i
love), i'm all for it. if not thats ok too. And if they wanna talk about
stereolab, whom i'm not a fan of, thats ok too.
> I just posed this question: Why do a lot of Squeeze fans hate XTC? It
> just seems to me that a lot of them don't like XTC. I don't understand,
> because they're both great bands. I asked if it was because of the
> Chris Difford incident, because I was thinking some Squeeze fans would
> blame XTC for what happened.
This was a silly question. Why should people hate XTC because the
Diffords jerked them around? Why would they blame XTC for Chris's studio
being not in working order? Why would they blame XTC for Chris
withholding the masters? Frankly if i were just a Squeeze fan i wouldn't
care. It's the same to me if Andy rented out his house and then was a
crappy land lord and didn't fix stuff that was broken (just like my son of
bitch landlord!) I wouldn't hate the people that rented andy's house. If
anything i would think Andy's a jerk but that still wouldn't change my
opinion of his music.
Jason Wilson Brown
History & Canadian Studies Major
President- GEEK The Secret Society of the College Bowl
ringostr@u.washington.edu geekbowl@u.washington.edu
P.O. Box 45822 Seattle, WA 98145-0822 (206) 632-4905
"Thought I knew all the steps quite clearly, I don't have a clue"
-Elvis Costello
------------------------------ From: wwilson@star.zko.dec.com Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 13:04:51 -0400 Message-Id: <98063013045159@star.zko.dec.com> Subject: Junior's Farm I heard Wing's "Junior's Farm" the other day on the radio. Talk about a lost classic! It reminds me of Andy's recent material. I bet you a dozen donuts that Andy has that song in his collection. Yep, I agree with you Richard, it's great that the Unabomber's safely incarcerated. But it's too bad his manifesto was never published in Penthouse, where I may actually have had a chance to read it. What would it have read like after Penthouse's editors got through with it, though? "I'm not a student at a large Midwestern college, but you'd better believe me when I say she her twin chest bombs were the first thing I noticed as I stepped into the elevator..." Anyway, just got a package myself...probably some demo-BLAMMMMMMMOOOOO!
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.32.19980630123825.0069525c@acton.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 12:38:26 -0500 From: Dave Ledbetter <dbetter@acton.com> Subject: fragmented comments "K. Zimmer" <kzimmer@together.net> wrote, referring to "anti-american coments": >And remember, we've got more nuclear weapons than you. (hee >hee - just joking, melt the guns and all that) Yeah, you'd all do well to keep this in mind. Possibly there are some missile-launch technicians on chalkhills who will become upset. Besides, my dad can beat up your dad. DAVID FATSCHER <dfatscher@BTA.ORG.UK> poses a great idea: >So with that in mind - and the above experience, which is all too familiar - >I was wondering if we could put together a Top 10 of 'turn-on-able' XTC >songs together with (and this is the fun bit) 'turn-off-able' ones. By the way, I have managed to turn-on several people to XTC within the last year; I don't think I've turned anyone off to them. Persistence is the Key. XTC is very addictive if administered properly and regularly. Here are my top 10 Turn-onable XTC tracks. 1. Dear God 2. Mekkanic Dancing 3. Respectable Street 4. Earn Enough for Us 5. Extrovert 6. the Mayor of Simpleton 7. Poor Skeleton Steps Out 8. Jason and the Argonauts 9. Across the Antheap 10. Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen (depends on the listener, they either love it or hate it.) Top 10 turn-offable XTC tracks: 1. The Smartest Monkeys 2. Bungalow 3. Chalkhills and Children 4. The Last Baloon (I know it's only a demo, does it still count?) 5. Well... I dont know... the rest probably fit at number five here. Pete says: >BORING. Thanks for contributing Pete. It helped make the last digest not-so-BORING. Really! Oh God, let's not digress into politics or religion. Perhaps we can focus on those things we have in common rather than on our differences. What we really need is a well-informed update from Mitch, Simon, or someone else about the band. Also, when is the 4 Cd set going to be released, and where in the US or web can I get it the day it comes out? Dave
------------------------------ Message-ID: <35992BA8.C1CE1107@home.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 13:17:12 -0500 From: Paul Rogers <progers@home.com> Organization: @Home Network Subject: FREE stuff!! Clockwise in LA First, thank you Mark C for coming out to see the band in LA, and for your kind kind words about the show. Now to the fun part. Since my goal is to spread the love far and wide, (and I have a bunch of promo product available), I wanted to make the CLockwise CD available to any Chalkhillians who want one. Gratis. With the exception of course of postage - which I can keep to about $ 1.50. We are our own label (we don't have a deal yet) and so we can do what we want, which is great. So here's the deal - If you want a Free full length rockin' CD from clockwise, just e-mail progers@home.com with your postal address and you will get one while supplies last. In fact, depending on the response, let the postage go for now. If you feel like you want to send the $ 1.50 it will cost me, then please by all means mail me a check. I will give you my address by private e-mail when you request a disc. if I end up losing too much I'll start getting the postage, for now lets have some fun. Thanks and I hope some of you will check it out. Of course if anyone can get one to the demi-gods who forced the creation of this list, I would be very humbled and thankful. Enough - e-mail me! Paul For the cautious, you can check out a clip or 2 at www.overnight-music.com/clockCD.htm
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s5990411.037@chemonics.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 15:26:59 -0400 From: Todd Bernhardt <tbernhardt@chemonics.com> Subject: Musings Hi: It's two o'clock and time for lunch (dumdedumdedumdum) and I've got to do something besides working on this damn proposal, so here goes: Richard PA mused: >And speaking of "Fuck", considering that Andy never _actually_ speaks_ the words "Fuck" or "Shit" in "Your Dictionary", do you think it can still get airplay?< I sincerely hope so. I hope the band/management/record label realize that "Your Dictionary" could be _the_ over-the-top hit for them. The fact that he spells out naughty words could be the hook that initially gets it played, but people will ultimately go for the raw emotion of the song. Anyone out there knowledgeable enough about FTC regs to comment on the possibility of "obscene" words being able to get played on U.S. airwaves because they're spelled out ? Dom mused: >there was no indication that I thought myself "hip" or in any way superior to anyone else. It was just an opinion about music - something I feel strongly about. It was also my first post, and I was (and still am) new to all this.< Dom, you're nothing if not thought-provoking. I was provoked to examine some past digests; here's a snippet from your first post: > Much as I've enjoyed discovering a world of fellow XTC fans, I have been a little disturbed by the somewhat narrow musical view shared by many of you. As a proud fan of heavy metal, hip hop, various strands of dance music and pretty much anything with imagination, I'm puzzled as to why everyone seems to be solely into white, commercial, adult-orientated pop music, albeit of an often vaguely quirky nature.< Hmmm ... The implication that your broad musical tastes are superior to (what you perceive as) our provincial, white-bread-and-mayonnaise tastes seems pretty clear to me. You're asking: Why don't we like what you like? In other words: What's wrong with us? Then, with "I told you so" smugness, you said in your second post: >It's always nice to be proved right. Having expressed concerns about the often terrifyingly safe and predictable tastes of Chalkhills contributors, what do I read in the latest digest, as part of the "double LP" debate? Sting, Bob Dylan, Genesis and Jesus H. Christ Superstar!!! It's sad enough that as people get older they lose the ability to listen to anything remotely challenging or imaginative, but Jesus Christ Superstar??? This is too much - I sincerely hope we get a good explanation! < Several people have tried to give an explanation. On point #2 -- JC Superstar -- Simon Deane recently and rightly pointed out that everyone's entitled to their opinion, esp. when it comes to something as subjective as music and/or the arts. On point #1 -- our narrow musical view -- several people, including myself, have explained that this is a list about XTC, so naturally most of the music and bands mentioned are going to be similar in nature to XTC. This _does not_ mean we don't listen to other types of music. It _just doesn't come up._ You yourself pointed out that the double-album thread could lead to a pointless "who's got the coolest record collection" debate, so why are we kicking around an assumption you made -- based on faulty logic -- that could lead to the same debate? And why do you keep trying to douse this fire _you_ started with additional flames? Chill out, friend. Let this fire go out of its own accord, or at least give us your reaction to the answer to point #1. As for point #2, write me privately if you want and we can bounce that ball around without being DULL DULL DULL to everyone else. David Fatscher said: >So with that in mind - and the above experience, which is all too familiar - I was wondering if we could put together a Top 10 of 'turn-on-able' XTC songs together with (and this is the fun bit) 'turn-off-able' ones.< Well, our editor will probably want you to take this off the list, gather responses, and post them back to the list, but I'll do a little damage before he lowers the boom: The only three songs that have for me consistently converted people to XTC are Extrovert (typical response is "Wow! Who's _that?_), 10 Feet Tall (D&W version) and My Dictionary. And don't tell Dom that Travels in Nihilon is a "turn-off-able" song, for fuck's sake! :^) Robert Wood said: >Again, replace Republicans with Conservatives!< What's the point? ;^) Brian Sellers asked: >What is the relationship [or lack thereof] between Andy and Robyn Hitchcock? I've never heard a satisfactory answer to this question - only speculation. Are the tides rough between the two? Have they ever worked together? Seems unlikely, but please enlighten me. I would love to hear their pop chords collide.< A 'Net friend -- Natalie? Are you still out there? -- once told me that Andy and Robyn did an interview together in which Andy was, well, Andy, and Hitchcock was his usual hilarious, frustrating and surrealistic self. Don't know any more details, though. Molly mused: >Why do a lot of Squeeze fans hate XTC?< Simple, dear. It's jealousy, pure and simple. Finally, Ira -- I'd like to thank you for your enlightening post ... just give me a minute here to put my degree back where it belongs ... Oh my gawd! I'm Jewish!! Who knew?
------------------------------
From: CCooli9575@aol.com
Message-ID: <e8b3fe03.359997b1@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:58:08 EDT
Subject: Re: Nitzche is Dead
>and someone said that he liked XTC's music until, being a fairly
>religious person, he was turned off by "Dear God." He said something
>like "God is great; how could Andy suggest otherwise," etc., etc.
>Sorry if this is a recycled thread.
God is whatever we decide it is; if you say "God doesn't exist," God
says "Yes, boss" and goes out of It's way to prove you right. God
reflects back to us whatever preconceptions and expectations we have.
>By the way, could anybody suggest a good Shriekback album to act as a bit
>of an introduction? I'm kinda curious.
I highly recommend Oil And Gold; next best is Big Night Music. After that
proceed with caution. Care and Jam Science are sort of ambient funk, if
you're into that, sort a Can for the 80's. I found Go Bang! from '88 for a
dollar on cassette, it's worth about that. It's mostly middling white funk,
with just Barry Andrews and drummer Martin Barker left from the original
lineup(Barker left after Go Bang). The last song at the end of side 2 is a
lovely Enoesque ambient ballad(similar to Another Green World, kind of)and
the KC and the Sunshine Band cover("Get Down Tonight")is perverse but fun,
and there's traces of the bizarre imagery so abundant on Oil And Gold, but
Oil And Gold is really Shriekback at it's best. Barker, original bassist
Dave Allen(also ex-Gang of Four, left after Big Night Music)and tour
keyboardist Ken Halliwell formed a more bluesy swamp-rockish outfit called
King Swamp that did a couple of interesting albums and disappeared. I have
no idea who's in the current Shriekback lineup besides, presumably, Andrews.
Chris
>Misty Shock
>mccrtny@u.washington.edu
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01540b01b1be74847223@[139.80.101.16]> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 15:07:14 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: catching up on some ancient threads Just catching up on some away-time stuff - here are a few more worthwhile double albums that hadn't been mentioned by the time I went away: Billy Bragg - Don't Try this at Home Derek & the Dominoes - Layla and Other Love Songs King Crimson - B'boom and the first two discs of George Harrison's "All things must pass" as to CC-originals, it sounds like we need more than one album. Due to being way behind with sifting through my mail, I didn't find about this for quite a while, and figured it would be far, far too late to send in a tape of some of my material, to get it to a wider audience*. A shame, but that's all there is to it. With so many chalkhillers, this type of exercise is bound to get oversubscribed incredibly quickly. The Robyn Hitchcock list (Fegmaniax!) has only about 250 members, and one of its members has just sent out a three-tape compilation of original songs by list members. Considering the number of people on this list, we'd be looking at a huge series of tapes in an attempt to do the same sort of thing. *Still, I suppose this is a good opportunity to plug my cassette anyway - Partial Rapture Theory was released a bit over a year ago, but I still have a few copies left. Lo-fi pure sweet pop. If anyone is interested, email me! >>The latest news that it's likely January for the new XTC tunes got me to >>thinking which band has taken the longest time between releases. >The longest I know of between actual releases is twenty-three years in the >case of the Velvet Underground, between 1970 and 93(I know, the reunion >was live only, but there was one new track, and the double live album that >resulted was as important as an studio album of theirs). Between studio >albums it would have to be Television, between '78 and '93. Andy and Colin >would have to get old and grey before they break any records, not that I'm >encouraging it. Singles: the Beatles song "Free as a Bird" was released 25 years after "The long and winding road". As far as studio albums are concerned, Traffic released albums in 1975 and (IIRC) 1996. James
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01540b00b1be744a653c@[139.80.101.16]> Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 15:07:10 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: fegs'n'chalkies, and a doddery old wrinkly responds I'm baaack! I would have been back sooner, but my normally trusty, rusty computer hard disc did the big firework, and wiped a truckload of files for me (including my entire, unbackedup diary for 1997 - waah!). Everything is now back to normal, and I intend to get back to contributing to Chalkhills as soon as something interesting turns up (sigh) A couple of items from digest 99: As to the rivalry between Chalkhill and Fegmania (sorry - I deleted the original item, so I don't recall who asked about it), I've never heard of a rivalry. Andy and Robyn have not worked together to the best of my knowledge, although both have worked with Thomas Dolby (different tracks on the same album, too, IINM), so they presumably know *of* each other at the very least. Robert Wood <wobbit@bigfoot.com> sez: >Ooooh, this is so true! People are so conservative (with a small "c", note!) >once they reach their 20s! Most people feel comfortable with what they grow >up with and once they say goodbye to their teen years they become Luddites. ouch! either this is tongue in cheek or be careful with those generalisations sonny! As a member of the geriatric set (35 last month), and fan of (among others) Sebadoh, Richard D. James, Loop Guru, Screaming Trees, Forest for the Trees, Ocean Colour Scene and Leftfield (most of whom would have been making goo gah and frrppp noises when I was first listening to music, if they had even been born then), I would like to object to your comment. Certainly I still like a lot of what I was listening to as a teenager, but a lot of it now seems like unmitigated crap (ELO, anyone?). So be careful what you say or I shall come round and hit you over the head with my zimmer frame! Hash anyone sheen where I put me teef? James
------------------------------ Subject: Whetting appetites for CC98 Date: Wed, 1 Jul 98 11:11:35 +0800 From: Paul Carnine <pdc@foresight.com> Message-ID: <1312877890-408243144@foresight.com> Folk: Thought you might appreciate some recording notes from my latest feeble effort. As some of you may know, I'm living and working in China, and have been playing drums for a chinese punk rock band that goes by the name of "Lunchbox." (Actually, the chinese name is more specific, describing those little styrofoam lunch boxes you often see here). [side note: the other band members speak no english, and i've only got about 4 months of chinese instruction under my belt. so, although getting a retake done is within my skills or asking for a little break is easy, talking about what the sound should be with the engineer is way beyond my ability. we spent a good deal of time before hand going over what we wanted so that they could do most of the talking. but in the studio we often just waved our arms in semaphoric (sophmoric) gestures to get a point across... FYI, the band had never heard of XTC before this.] So here we go, and hope you enjoy: Covering: Complicated Game Li, Jian Hong -- Vocals, Lead Guitar, Electric Rhythm Guitar Gan, Bian Fu -- Bass, Backing Vocals Paul Carnine -- Vocals, Acoustic Rhythm Guitar, Drums Equipment: No Name Chinese made electric guitar (all it says on it is "Made In China" in huge red letters) No Name Chinese made trap set (borrowed from a friend who found half some parts in a junkyard). (used high hat cymbal as a crash; his crash had a wicked hum...) (there was no drum key, and vice grips were almost useless. to deaden the snare, i used an old pair of sweat pants across the right half of the drum head). (usually, the club you work at has a drum set for you. this studio had none). Kapok Chinese made acoustic guitar (replete with nylon strings). Bian Fu's borrowed fretless fender bass broke, so the acoustic guitar doubled as bass. (it was sad, becuase he was so excited to use this bass, and wham, it was dead. fool didn't bring his own. we whacked him upside the head several times. but the higher tones on the acoustic works, IMHO, if only we'd mixed the bass hotter.) Tuned everything down a third, as i was worried about high end of our voices. Recording done at Hang Zhou Da Zi studios, Hanzhou, PRC. The recording studio was built as an orchestra recording studio. The internals are larger than any barn i've seen. imagine doing a vocals in the middle of a huge empty, dead, plane hanger and you about have it. I wanted to keep the recording of the steps it took to get to the mic from the double doors (we left the mics hot while walking to do a set of vocals, it was brilliant but the engineer thought it was stupid to keep. i should have pulled rank). The studio is now used mostly to dub movies, tv programs, and karaoke. There is no orchestra in town any more. The board had to have been made while Mao was still alive and the engineer was a TRUE engineer behind that beast... he knew his machine. at one point when i let loose on a test run of the vocals, i overdrove the mic rather harshly and he told me to stop. i stopped and he said, "deng yi xia" which literally means "wait a little" but can mean anywhere from a second to hours. About 5 minutes of me waiting in the studio with headphones on waiting to hear what was going to happen next, his head pops over the top of the board and he's got a freaking soldering iron in hand. I dropped the headphones and by the time i make it inside, he's got half the board opened up and is asking us to hold wires steady to get a good solder. He tried to reassure me that it wasn't me who blew the board (impossible as we know, but funny to think that just as i let loose on the mic, a puff of smoke came out of the board). must have been quite a scene in the control room... jian hong was snickering. When he gets noise from his pots, he just whacks em once or twice. Periodically, it appears, a wire pops loose, and, well, no time like the present to fix it (on OUR DOLLAR <smile>). I did the acoustic guitar and drums in one take. (guitar first, if you're wondering). I did the vocals in two takes, one scratch take to help the guitarist know where he was, which we ended up keeping half of, and then a re-take of the last verse to the end. The engineer said he'd never seen anybody come in and lay down so many tracks so quickly. The first six tracks were all me, and they were done within an hour and a half, including trap set mic setup, sound checks, etc. The whole recording took 5 hours. We mixed down to DAT in less than 45 minutes (which I was unhappy with as there are parts of the mix I wanted changed) and we duped tapes for 15 minutes. Six hours total studio time (including his equipment fixing which was a good half hour). For a cost of RMB$1000 (oh, about USD$120, and the DAT media cost about USD$15 of that). Bian Fu's slippery smooth bass was lost in the mix, IMHO. I tried to get Jian Hong to do the fourth verse, but he would have none of it. Bummed, I sang the track myself, but then Jian Hong added some essential backing (and ALMOST did the last verse). Some of the little things that one tends to forget about, but frames so much of the experience: there were special "recording studio slippers" we had to wear, and the engineer wore a blue work jacket that he took off when he left the control room, then put back on as he re-entered. we had no camera but the image of jian hong blowing oreo cookie mush into the microphone screen will forever be etched into my head. (the mic screen was, by the way, a pair of nylon hose stretched around a hoop made from what looked to have been a coat hanger). the immediate and swift reaction of jian hong to the backside of bian fu's head when bian fu said he didn't BRING his own bass... i swear that man was brought up watching the three stooges (i know he grew up listening to iggy pop and his stooges). I guess you'll have to wait to hear the resulting offering. But maybe this'll get those of you still holding tapes from the ever patient Mr. Allen into gear. The engineer, who knew i was from the states but clearly didn't get that the song was from an english band, had this to say (translated): "I've never recorded American music. I think the beginning is very pretty." Paul Carnine
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03110700b1bf663d4d4b@[146.6.72.33]> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 23:19:02 -0500 From: Jason Garcia <h.h.name@mail.utexas.edu> Subject: I've got yer boring right here! Dear Chalkfaces, Boring is in the mind of the beholder. It's all relative man! And with that disclaimer out of the way, I'm going to proceed to post MY two bits of nonsense. Oh, what a time I had the other night at a packed club downtown. It wasn't the drink I was having (a margarita, on ice, with salt, which is exactly the way I HATE margaritas), it wasn't the people I was with (my friend Jon, how could he have known I didn't like margaritas that way?). No, no, it was because I was thrilling to the sound of "Ball and Chain" blasting from the club speakers over the crowded din. Yes, amid the usual stuff you find on club jukebokes, there was the "Waxworks" collection, from which I culled three songs to liven up the proceedings: the aforementioned would-be anthem (that chorus is awesome!), "Generals and Majors", and "Senses Working Overtime". I was in heaven for about 12 minutes. I know, I know, everyone hates hearing about these things, but what do I care! I'm posting 'em! Who's boring now?! Another disclaimer: if anyone is planning on ordering the Chalkhills Originals comp that's being put out by our renowned Mark Cuevas, there's a song on it called "The Great American Public". Don't be offended, my fellow Americans, it's a love song. Or rather, a love gone wrong. (he said with a smirk) In the CD player of late: The Auteurs, "New Wave". Anybody like this band?! They're pretty darn good! Jason TOP 40 http://www.angelfire.com/tx/top40
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:24:12 -0700 Subject: for the record Message-ID: <19980630.212413.12822.0.deuchars@juno.com> From: deuchars@juno.com (jim d deuchars) hey chalkfolk, As part of the collateral damage of the Dom/ Harrison war, my reference to Jesus Christ Superstar keeps coming up. I'm being identified as a Weber fan every time this subject rears it's ugly head. FOR THE RECORD- I agree, and have since the beginning, that Weber's "music is Satan-spawned demonspew from hell. I AM, however, fond of Tim Rice's lyrics. They set JCS apart. That's it. That's all. I don't want to be remembered in Chalkhills history as the day what liked Weber. (xtc content coming) Please excuse the tirade, but I fear my torment will continue if I don't respond. I agree with Dom. Weber is garbage. xtc is NOT garbage. Hey Harrison, I think they're pretty hip, too! love, deuchars
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19980701045134.8294.rocketmail@send101.yahoomail.com> Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:51:34 -0700 (PDT) From: K D <hentoe_xtc@yahoo.com> Subject: MY WEAPON I know I never post, but every once in a while it seems I have to come out of hiding to defend this song, again: I LOVE My Weapon... and while I'm at it: my "turn on" list: 1. No Thugs in Our House 2. My Weapon 3. Earn Enough for Us 4. Statue of Liberty 5. Extrovert 6. Albert Brown (hasn't failed yet) 7. Fly on the Wall 8. Scissor Man 9. When Your Near Me... 10. You're the Wish You Are... 11. Science Friction (these are, of course, in addition to the ones they have already heard on the radio, etc...these songs rarely fail to peak interest...but I usually make a full 90 minute mix tape for any interested person!) "turn offs" (not necessarily turn offs for ME--but turn offs for the hopeful convert): 1. Smartest Monkeys (my least favorite) 2. Big Day 3. Seagulls Screaming (MY all time favorite!) 4. Shake You Donkey Up (actually works both ways) 5. Dance Band 6. Wonderland 7. Runaways 8. Cherry in Your Tree 9. Train running Low on Soul Coal 10. Me and the Wind (unfortunately, I caused a few roommates to hate this one due to one summer of loud, constant playing...I still love it...) I think it REALLY depends on the person you are trying to convert, though! Almost all my friends got interested thru My Weapon & Science Friction--two songs most people would find GRATING!!! but EVERYONE loves the Dukes! this is sure to ruffle some feathers...sorry--but it was a fun exercise! okay, I am done for a while... NEAL, are you out there!!!!? -the Baltimore Kate
------------------------------ Message-ID: <8191BF798BAFD111817B0001FA0E3A574ED8A8@ZSCED004> From: "ARCHER-MAY,Mark" <Mark.ARCHER-MAY@deetya.gov.au> Subject: Dear Godlessnessssssssss Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 16:43:41 +1000 Evening One and All Dear God seems to raise its rather attractive head on many occasions. That song has always struck me like the letter a kid who doesn't believe in Santa writes when he doesn't get what he wants. Hey santa your a joke you don't exist but hey just in case you are pole sitting up north I've been real good and I certainly believe Andy Partridge never got what he wanted from a god. He never got that faith or belief which so many people manage to swallow with such ease. Dear God is a diatribe it is a monumental dummy spit at all the organised religions (Not just christianity, but being from a christian upbringing this is the one he targets). It calls into doubt the existence of any god any being that controls our destiny. It is blasphemy, it is wonderful, I love it and agree with every word he says. I have held the same views for at least the last 15 years. Always remember Man made God in his own image. Oddly enough Monty Python reworked a song that I think would go well as a prequel with Dear God, "All things Dull and Ugly." Oddly enough I also feel that if it was for the lyric content the song wouldn't have attracted any attention, while it is a pleasant tune it's nothing to write home to a god about. XTC song association: Dear God. (Of course) Non XTC song association: Better Get a Lawyer - Cruel Sea Yours Merely a Man Mark P.S. Has anyone other than the Australian's come across the Aussie Group "Mental as Anything". They had a single out a couple of years ago called Nigel, which (not that I can prove it) is I feel a sequel to Making Plans for Nigel. Just a total piece of trivia.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <359A15C8.3C5173F1@fastlink.com.au> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 10:56:09 +0000 From: "Joseph J. Ierano" <chierano@fastlink.com.au> Organization: chiropractic ierano Subject: re: boring I agree with Peter (Chalkhills #99). Chalkhills has lapsed into quite a bit of boring chit chat lately. I still skim through it though for the occasional XTC news... joe -- Joseph J Ierano BSc DC chiropractic ierano PO Box 108 Camden NSW Australia 2570 Ph: +61 2 4655 4010 email: chierano@fastlink.com.au
------------------------------ Message-ID: <359A8278.9076683@fastlink.com.au> Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 18:39:55 +0000 From: "Joseph J. Ierano" <chierano@fastlink.com.au> Organization: chiropractic ierano Subject: boring ...again RE: boring Case in point: Mr Robert Woods post in Chalkhills #99: I did not even hang around long enough to see if there was any XTC content...all politics. Now Politics is part of life and may be related to XTC, but a whole essay?? ...<yawn>. joe -- Joseph J Ierano BSc DC chiropractic ierano PO Box 108 Camden NSW Australia 2570 Ph: +61 2 4655 4010 email: chierano@fastlink.com.au
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01BDA4F6.0BE1CF20@pC19F22C0.dip.t-online.de> From: Arndt_Bar <trash@cdgmbh.de> Subject: A new survey? *uh-oh* Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 13:41:15 +0200 Delurking (seems to become a habit lately) because: - I have a question/suggestion - I have some time on my hands - I wanted to try the Babelfish translation thingy :-) Soooo ... from the Babelfish right into your email ... *------------------------ Hello, I know that this topic was addressed already from time to time once sorted in the list, but I would like to energize nevertheless a new inquiry. Where otherwise does one meet so many XTC experts? It concerns to arrange an ultimative album in order to win thereby new XTC fans. An album? No, few. As was here already often determined, the music of XTC is characterised both in different songs and over the time by the variety of the incidents and music directions. The idea: Different XTC albums for different musical geschmacksrichtungen! If only the curiosity were waked, one can put then also different albums (perhaps even White Music) to the victims forward. My suggestion: In a first step different taste directions and musical interests collect, in order to then find appropriate songs for each taste. Some geschmacksrichtungen, which occur to me even: - Melodi Pop/Rock - energy-loaded Rock/Punk - experimental music - musical interesting, refined pieces - Songs for people, which are interested particularly in the texts -... Who doesn't agree with so an organization? Who has still further suggestions? Greeting, Arndt *---------------------- Considering this, I dare to say that if the list used the translation service, - we'd had a few good laughs - nobody would understood anything - we'd get none of the refined prose that sometimes shows up on the list - we'd get more of the Dom/Sherwood stuff here - irony would die So please forgive me my little experiment. For those who don't know what I said in the piece above: >From time to time, I want to convert people to XTCism. A common denominator on this list was, considering the variety of XTC styles and musical inspirations, that different sides of XTC appeal to people with different tastes. The idea is to pin down a few of the major (or minor) musical styles that can be found in XTC songs, and then collect the songs that would most likely appeal to people who favour a certain style or interest. If this has been done systematically before, please let me know and forget this post. Otherwise, here are a few interests/styles I can think of. Compilations could be made for people who - like melodic pop/rock - like wild, energetic rock/punk - like experimental music - like romantic, slow music - like offbeat/reggae/ska music - like musically refined/interesting songs - are mainly interested in the lyrics of a song - like HipHop - ... Any additions, alterations, suggestions? Remember, this is an experiment. Cheers, Arndt --------- P.S. Stephanie, the Babelfish was a great idea ;-)
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #4-101 *******************************
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