Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 117
Date: Friday, 5 March 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 117
Friday, 5 March 1999
Today's Topics:
Welcome To The Garden Of Earthly Delights
Time for a AV1 poll
miscellaneous ramblings
Re: AV1 MP3
No Lyrics: A Possible Explanation
Andy Photos on the Web
singing the praises
Lyrical Amusement
The demos vs. the divinity of the real AV1
Joining the fold
Listen As The Wind Blows Across The Great Divide !!
Weird epiphany...
Poor Thin Skin Steps Out
Re: Negative AV1 review
XTC Universe
Dear Andy, sorry to disturb you but...
Converts
Belly Dancers/lyrics?/Sea town
Bits of rag & bone...
Northeast Ohio likes XTC
Missing text and a sellout
Colin's Hobby?
Lurkers awake!
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The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.
Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7 (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).
And I don't want to find myself this way again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <B9B4268C8F87D11195DC0000F840FABE083876C0@DUB-MSG-02> From: Peter Fitzpatrick <peterfit@MICROSOFT.com> Subject: Welcome To The Garden Of Earthly Delights Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 06:57:38 -0800 <sorry no XTC content> Hi All, I've managed to dial into my office mail server for a few minutes in between hospital visits. We had a baby boy yesterday (Ben), everything is pretty much ok but he's in the intensive care unit for a few days (nothing serious we hope but taking precautions). If you could keep Ben in your prayers that would be really appreciated - he had a rough arrival (for an 8lb 14oz lad !) and needs a little help. Thanks -Peter
------------------------------ From: "Damian Foulger" <damian@imclaser.com> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 09:03:42 -0600 Subject: Time for a AV1 poll Message-Id: <19990302085212.1e7e96e0.in@ceo.ceolasers.com> Page down if you hate polls. Well, doin't page down, because this will be short and you might miss the next message, which is bound to be more interesting that a poll. I'm interested in what peoples initial likings are. Please send me directly a list in order of favourite to least favourite songs. Include as many and as few songs as you wish. I'll post the results, if I get any answers. Dames tWd * ------------------------------------------------ 'People will always be tempted to wipe their feet on anything with welcome written on it.' - AP
------------------------------ From: "Michael D. Myers" <mmyers@notes.cc.bellcore.com> Message-ID: <85256728.0052CD5D.00@notes950.cc.bellcore.com> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 10:04:30 -0500 Subject: miscellaneous ramblings Chalksters and Chalkettes; This is going to take a while to get through, so be forewarned..... Following are some sonic impressions a few days into an intense listening experience with AV1. I've had some time to digest this rich feast now and here's what I think about some of the songs: - "River of Orchids"; while some think this might just be a gimmick or a compositional exercise, consider that this might just be the raison d'etre for the entire album as released. I read a recent interview with Andy where he talked of the excitement of concocting tape loops in his shed that repeated horn and string parts in a syncopated fashion. He then found several different vocal melodies that he could sing over those parts. While he didn't identify the song in the interview, clearly it was ROO. He also stated that this was a launching-off point for the "orchoustic" notion. And regarding a recent comment that mentioned a "dripping faucet"; no, no, I totally disagree, that's too trite. Those drops take me back to some caves I recently visited in South Africa where I was a couple hundred feet underground and came upon a small, crystal-clear lake. In the total darkness after our guide extinguished his flashlight, a single drop would fall every few seconds and the echo of the slash sounded exactly like the water effect in this song..... - "I'd Like That" is a simple treasure. In fact, a recent post mentioned what a great song this was considering it was just an acoustic guitar, Andy's voice and him slapping his legs. While this is really incorrect, it is easy to see how the listener could be fooled. In fact, the delightful melody makes you forget that there's actually a whole lot going on here from an arrangement perspective. I invite you to take another listen and you'll surely notice Colin's subtle bass line sneaking around down there as well as several different keyboard parts. And don't forget the layered harmony vocals. - "Knights in Shining Karma" is so Beatle-ish it's scary, but that's fine with me. Anyone who is in touch with Lennon and McCartney's muse circa 1968 has my blessing and admiration. Just for jollies, take out your well-worn copy of the White Album and play "I Will"; follow it with KiSK; and then finish the trifecta with "Julia". I'm tellin' ya, I'm getting chills just typing this. - "Greenman" gets played at least one extra time each time AV1 gets a spin in my CD player. This song intigues, delights and pleases me enormously. Listen to the first time the flute part occurs and you'll notice that it's setting you up for an echoing vocal part later on. The dense, layered arrangement is so far beyond what most pop musicians are capable of that there needs to be a new category named for Andy's talents. Maybe "Supreme High Commander of Pop Music Orchestral Arrangements" or something. OK, if you insist, I'll also put Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks in there, too. But the Moody Blues fall short by a bit. But I digress.... In a recent post, I talked about Colin's great bass playing in this song. Tell you what: put on Greenman and when the CD timer hits about 1:29 into the song, turn up the volume about 2 notches. You will be elevated out of your chair exactly one second later. For the next 2 minutes and 30 seconds, you will experience the work of a master. His funky, rapid bass lines propel the song to new heights as he adds to the tension of the arrangement. Then, take a close listen at about the 4:00 mark for a change in dynamics when everything gets quieter to allow the song to build back up once again and grab you all over again, leading up to a pleasing climax. See, this is what those guys can do that we mere mortals can't. - The closing trio of "I Can't Own Her", "Harvest Festival" and "The Last Balloon" are great stage material. Several posters as well as Rolling Stone magazine's review mentioned the aspect of "show tunes" when reviewing the new album. And I see nothing wrong with that; it's not nor should it be considered a put-down. As someone who enjoys and regularly attends Broadway musicals, I can definitely see Andy writing a musical some day. The seeds are there in music like this. I sincerely hope that a prominent Broadway producer has a chance to listen to this incredible album and takes the time to link up with Andy for such a project. (TVT: facilitate this? After all, didn't you guys just release the new, extended version of the complete "Follies" which was also amazing?) Just think: after AV2, he'll probably have some downtime and what a great source of cash. I bet the idea of yet another creative outlet would get his juices flowing, too. In summary, I obviously love AV1, and all I can say to Andy is, "You sure are one horny boy!" since sexual references are just sprinkled all over the album. I also think Colin's pastoral, Kinks/Beatles-influenced material holds great promise for the future. Their complex harmonies are becoming a trademark, and this is best-mixed album I've heard in years (good on you, Nick Davies!). Got to go. Mike P.S. Could someone in L.A. ask Colin if he's playing a stand-up bass or a fretless electric bass in "The Last Balloon", please? Thanks.
------------------------------ From: sclarke@maritz.co.uk Message-ID: <80256728.005678F1.00@lisa.maritz.co.uk> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 15:43:38 +0000 Subject: Re: AV1 MP3 Rick Hap wrote > Apple Venus Volume One has been posted to alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.1990s > Enjoy. Let me get this straight - you're talking about the net wide distribution of an MP3 sound file of *the whole album* - the fruits of Colin & Andy's hard work without, presumably, any renumeration for XTC or TVT/Cooking Vinyl???? -Steve
------------------------------ Message-ID: <697A4CA51395D111A658AA00040058069D9FF7@NT6> From: "Wiencek, Dan" <wiencek@aaos.org> Subject: No Lyrics: A Possible Explanation Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 10:25:34 -0600 Like everyone else, I wondered why Apple Venus was the first XTC CD since English Settlement to be packaged without lyrics ... then I happened to be browsing the lyrics posted at Little Lighthouse, and a thought occurred to me. When you spell out profanity *orally*, its impact is diluted. "Eff-You-See-Kay" doesn't really sound bad. When you print it, even with capital letters and hyphens, it suddenly looks a lot worse: "F-U-C-K," etc. Look at the lyrics for YD and the song's meaning suddenly hits you, in a way that merely listening to it does not. Given Andy's sensitivity about this song and the fact that he didn't really want to record it in the first place, could this be why lyrics were omitted? And that he didn't want his kids leafing through Daddy's new CD and finding all these bad words? Just a thought. Dan
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 12:10:55 -0600 From: Piriya Vongkasemsiri <vongkpp@LFC.EDU> Subject: Andy Photos on the Web Message-id: <36DC29A6.9659C0EF@lfc.edu> Organization: Lake Forest College Hello Chalkfolk. My photos of Andy are up and ready for viewing! http://www.lfc.edu/~vongkpp/andy Enjoy! Piriya -- ol, ceol agus craic! "Your heart is the big box of paints, and others, the canvas we're dealt." -- Andy Partridge (XTC) Minister of Propaganda http://www.lfc.edu/~vongkpp
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 10:17:11 -0800 (PST) From: Shirley Jonestown Massacre <jemiah@q7.com> Subject: singing the praises Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.990302101321.15523A-100000@q7.q7.com> So far I've gushed about "Apple Venus" to every person and mailing list I'm on, and the responses from everyone who's actually got it already range from the "Oh my God, this is genius! What other XTC albums should I buy?" to "My new crush and I walk around singing the songs all day like goofballs" to "Helps me appreciate the mroe beautiful things in life like grey rain and cracks in the sidewalk". My suggestion is to buy copies of it for people. I'm trying to think of whose birthday is coming up... And i can't believe someone doesn't like "River of Orchids"! Oh well, I don't really like "A Day In The Life" (Beatles, bien sur) and I know that in certain circles that's heresy. Live and be well. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alizarine jemiah@q7.com jemiah@netnoir.net ICQ:24726572 do as thou wilt so long as it harms none this shall be the whole of the law.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <E936F9674805D111BCED0000F8788980B884C5@svr02.bclc.com> From: Neil Oliver <NOLIVER@bclc.com> Subject: Lyrical Amusement Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 10:25:37 -0800 Here's a little game I thought we could all play: If XTC were not going to call their next album "Apple Venus Vol. 2," what phrase or word from the lyrics to "Apple Venus Vol. I" would make a good title?
------------------------------
Message-Id: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC430E5F@newman.partech.com>
From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com>
Subject: The demos vs. the divinity of the real AV1
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 13:43:18 -0500
In Chalkhills #101, wise Cheryl put it this way:
<<For me, I can't say that listening to the demos
affect me in a bad way. On my first listening to the
actual album, I felt as if the songs suddenly lept
into 3-D. Like looking at a black and white photo of
a loved one for years only to turn around and have
the actual person standing in front of you. >>
That's so perfect; that's exactly how I felt, and how I knew I would
feel before I ever heard the finished album. The demos gave me a sense,
an inkling of something much more gorgeous...I knew the "real thing"
would be many times more moving, more grand, more divine.
The goodheardted Todd Bernhardt quizzes us about the concept and
sequence of AV1. I'm sure the fact that this *is* a concept album, a
chronological sequence (like Skylarking), is a large part of why it
appeals to me. The demos I originally heard (and loved) were in a
different sequence. I love the CD in a whole different way.
I hear River Of Orchids as Andy's vision of perfection, his ideal and
idyll. The transformation of something mundane and ugly into something
sublime and gorgeous and (most importantly) natural. In this song he
tells the listener the things he wants to do: ("walk into London on my
hands one day"); he tells us things he wants *us* to do, too("Take a
packet of seeds...." "Push your car..."). This song is amazingly direct
and, although musically very ambitious, not at all pretentious or
show-offy. I think River Of Orchids is, in some ways, an overture for
the rest of the album, in that we hear so many differing songs and
melodies and rhythms which all combine to create a headspinning
soundgasm. What began with a few drips and drops becomes a deluge.
Andy floods our heads with aural images and then washes it all away and
starts over with the next song.
The title of I'd Like That almost echoes the sentiments of the previous
song: he's musing on what he'd like, what he wants, what would please
him. Here he gives us more pretty scenarios, lovely daydreams with
historical references to lovers of old. Then he makes the sunflower
analogy... really high, and growing. I hear this song as the dawn, a
sunrise; I think it's the *real* beginning of Apple Venus.
Next comes Easter Theatre, nature's pageant. The images in this song
are unlike any I've experienced before, even in Andy's lyrics; colors
and sensations abound. Chocolate, golden, tumbling, kicking, climbing,
smiling, rainbow. It's spring. Rebirth. Enter Easter/Aistra/Ostara, the
goddess.
Yikes... I'm writing this at work so I better sum up rather than
elaborate for the rest of the songs. Believe me, I don't wish to
diminish them by assigning them just a few words, but this will just be
a little diagram of how I experience the cycle that is Apple Venus:
River Of Orchids = desire, overture
I'd Like That = dawn, growth, joy
Easter Theatre = birth, earth, goddess
Knights In Shining Karma = night, care, comfort, vigil
Frivolous Tonight = man, mankind, merriment
Greenman = earth, god
Your Dictionary = love/hate
Fruit Nut = dharma, purpose, occupation
I Can't Own Her = love again, woman, longings
Harvest Festival = culmination, reap, memory
The Last Balloon = departure, death, transformation
Maybe the Colin songs don't fall into the cycle so easily, but I like to
hear them as man's response to the universal themes that Andy presents.
Colin = man, Andy = god? Okay, maybe not. He sure can *create*, though,
can't he?
Drying up tea tears,
Janis
http://members.aol.com/starlingv/starling.htm
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990302194210.8679.rocketmail@send101.yahoomail.com> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 11:42:10 -0800 (PST) From: MARK ELLIOTT <frontln99@yahoo.com> Subject: Joining the fold Hello all ... Put off joining for many months, but due to wanting to share info with my other musical soul mates I am joining the fold. I'm a forever fan who is lovin' life this week thanks to the APPLE VENUS release. It's beyond brilliant.... Just a quick post for my 1st..more later I'm looking forward to it. Cheers Mark Elliott
------------------------------ Message-ID: <000f01be652c$20328220$9ce4f7c2@twkeckuj> From: "Kristian Wilkes" <kristianwilkes@x-stream.co.uk> Subject: Listen As The Wind Blows Across The Great Divide !! Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 20:12:59 -0800 Chalkfolk, Whoopee - True to their word I got my signed copy of AV1 from Cooking Vinyl. Andy & Colin have signed their names against their respective pictures - I'm a very happy monkey. But I'm still crying out for some more attention from Cooking Vinyl - Please, Please, Please can we have some signing sessions in the UK. I've become a gibbering baboon having to read about the appearances in the States. I appreciate that right now America is the biggest market and all that, but what about the natives. I'm sure if we could all get together and arrange a couple of strategic points in the UK for signing sessions, that enough people would turn up. At this point in time I would give anything to have what you lucky buggers have got in the States - My XTC !!!! - Give em back cause I want to play with them now !!! On a more sane note, in chalkhills 111 someone asked what Colin means by "Shower" in Frivolous Tonight - I presume it refers to the common English Phrase "Shower Of Shite" - My, aren't we a nice bunch. So once again, somebody help me - pretty please with knobs on. Kristian Still in Birmingham, England.
------------------------------
Message-Id: <B195726DB50AD2118E880008C7FAA6FC430E63@newman.partech.com>
From: Janis VanCourt <Janis_VanCourt@partech.com>
Subject: Weird epiphany...
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 15:12:15 -0500
Whilst driving around Hanover, NH last weekend with my beloved, we were
listening, of course, to Apple Venus. As we searched for a parking spot
("push your car" indeed), Easter Theatre played majestically.
Just as we rounded a corner, and as Andy sang "if we all breathe in and
blow away the smoke", John exclaimed "Oh, my god! Look at that license
plate!"
And there, embossed above the legend "Live Free Or Die" was the legend:
NEW LIF
Goosebumped,
Janis
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990302201106.7119.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Joe Funk" <jomama64@hotmail.com> Subject: Poor Thin Skin Steps Out Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 12:11:04 PST Chalkers!! I will be the first to admit at being a little thin-skinned at times!! therefore, because I value quality (to the extreme sometimes!), when I see or hear something said or done that goes against my grain, I usually over-react! (turn the other cheek, Joe!) It is commonly know in my circles as "there goes Joe again!". In turn, I wish to apologize to Eb..I was totally out of line, although the clapper idea has kept my inbox full!! And to Jason who wrote: > River of Orchids has been hailed as a masterpirece? By who? >Harold Budd Andy's friend. I think the SD comparison holds some merit >especially since Andy has said how clever he though it was and how proud >he was of himself for it. I have spoken to 2 music Professors at UT who seem to agree it is just short of being a masterpiece. Sorry... I also believe there is a class being taught at some University in Arizona (it's in Song Stories somewhere), where the professor uses ROO as an example of modern cyclical music. Oh, and Harold Budd! (Poor thin skin comes out!) Also Jason wrote: >Again while i disagree with Tim (i adore I Can't Own Her) i think he is >entitled to his opinion. To insinuate that Tim doesnt gett it because he >has no expeirence in heart break is assine. I can live with this...but I am not assine? What is assine? Toledo-4 miles? Pisces! Oh! I get it! ASSININE!!! I've been called worse... Tim, I also apologize.........I didn't care for "that wave" until after about 10 listens....and that is truly a masterpiece! Whew! A little bit of catharsis.... DON'T TAKE ME SO SERIOUS! FOLKS! Having the surname Funk applies to all aspects of my life! (except the odor! I think?). ..lost as child til Mermaid.....Smiled!!! Jomama
------------------------------
Message-ID: <36DC02E2.46D3@bhip.infi.net>
Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:25:27 +0000
From: Brian <mattone@bhip.infi.net>
Subject: Re: Negative AV1 review
Tschalkgerz!
>From the dissenting review of AV1:
>"The band's vaunted orchestral arrangements pop up all over this album to
syrupy, sometimes baffling effect. --SNIP-- "Your Dictionary," a bitter
diatribe by Partridge reflecting on his recent messy divorce, provides the
only bite on the disc. A bit more of that vitriol would have helped cut
through the treacle."<
A point of view I have to support (to an extent, mind you).
I said in my last post (or one of the last) that I was looking forward
to AV2, only because it will (likely) include a good number of the tunes
I liked a lot in demo version. And one of the reasons is because of this
"bite" that they have. I'm more interested when XTC go balls-to-the-wall
("This Is Pop?", "No Thugs In Our House", "Funk Pop-A- Roll",
"Respectable Street", "Living Through Another Cuba", just to name few
examples), and AV2 will (hopefully) go a little (more) in that
direction.
--
BRIAN THOMAS MATTHEWS
SAPRINGER CENTRAL ~ http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer
------------------------------ Message-Id: <03B6436DC430A03F*/c=US/admd=mci/prmd=marshmc/o=email/ou=NotesWREN/s=Moll/g=Christopher/@MHS> Date: 02 Mar 1999 19:59:06 Z From: Christopher Moll <Christopher.Moll@marshmc.com> Subject: XTC Universe Here we go...let's start a flame war. I'm sure it will follow because people are not allowed to state any views that are contradictory to the populace of a news group even if those views can be backed up by honest beliefs. Anyhow... I'm so tempted to remove myself from the list right now...the absurd postings that have been streaming through my e-mail on a more frequent basis these days, for obvious reasons, are driving me insane. It's reminiscent of that skit from Saturday Night Live with William Shatner at the "Star Trek" convention where the convention attendees have worked themselves into a frenzy at a Q&A session with Mr. Shatner, who, finally is driven to the point to say to the crowd "Would you people get a life!!!". "Hey... you with the Spock ears?!? Have you ever kissed a girl?" So I say to the crowd...as the infamous Mr. Shatner would say, "Would you people get a life!!!" First and formost...XTC is NEVER going to have mass domination. NEVER. Get used to it. Deal with it. Move on. I say this while being a massive XTC fan, owning all the releases and several bootleg and demo tapes. They don't appeal to the mainstream and the mainstream shouldn't appeal to them. Yes, the cash would be nice...but do not confuse earning a comfortable living creating art to please yourself with playing at the Grammys and getting inducted into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame and charting for several weeks on the Billboard charts and playing on heavy rotation on MTV whenever MTV gets the gall to play a music video. Two different things...and XTC SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT THIS. Am I upset about this? Hell yes!!! Is it reality? Hell Yes!!! Unfortunately there are alot of injustices in the world. But sometimes...you just have to accept your position in life and try to deal with it as best you can. Are XTC going to be the next Mariah Carey and run around in their videos strutting themselves half naked or are they going to continue to be XTC...continuing along their path of evolution...releasing albums recorded from their OWN home studios and releasing those albums through the internet on their OWN imprint, Idea Records, on their OWN terms. Why am I sooo angry you say? I see this person saying this song should be a single and this person saying that song should be a single. Fact is...if you look at a single as a vehicle for promotion and an item that is so catchy that mainstream and college radio will pick it up, place it in heavy rotation, alonside Madonna and the Backstreat Boys and then our boys will be well on the way to world domination then NONE OF THE SONGS QUALIFY. Do any of you hear anything like " River of Orchids" or "Greenman" or "Your Dictionary" on the radio in serious rotation? So...Cooking Vinyl and TVT will release these supposed singles, they'll tank, the album will tank, the label will get pissed because they have an act that doesn't want to tour to support the floundering product and will drop them and XTC will be right back to square one. People don't care if you can write a mildly Beatlesque song with lots a string arrangements and horn sections and vocal harmonie. XTC should empower themselves through the internet if they want to continue creating the kind of art that they currently are working on. Screw dealing with the labels. Labels are vehicles for mass domination. Case in point...there is a company that deals strictly with Power Pop and regular Pop on the internet called Not Lame. They have thousands of titles of bands that XTC can co-exist with easily. The majority of bands in this catalog have NO aspirations for mass domination. They just write songs to please themselves and if others get enjoyment out of it...GREAT!!! We should accept XTC for who they are and not try to make them into something they can't be. And Colin and Andy should do the same. With all the musical gear that they have between them they should just do it themselves. Can any of you HONESTLY say that any of the new songs had improved so dramatically from the demos that it justified the expenditures that were put out...cash that could have lined Colin and Andy's pockets. Anyhow... People get a life. It's so frustrating to see this newsgroup degenerate into serious topics of discussion regarding the marketing tactics of a musical group that is so stubborn that it doesn't want to partake in the musical mechanisms that allow bands world domination and yet posters become upset when their heroes haven't been received by open arms by the mass population.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199903022054.MAA05167@f102.hotmail.com> From: "David Pardue" <davidpardue@hotmail.com> Subject: Dear Andy, sorry to disturb you but... Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:54:30 EST Dear Andy, It was very nice to meet you last week in Boston and I know I and everyone there was very charmed by how open and approachable you were. And I know that you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but when AV2 comes out, will you come back over and give at least one live performance? Not a tour, necessarily; just a one-off show, on "Sessions at West 54th" on PBS or something like that will suffice. After hearing AV1, I really want to hear "Greenman" live. I really really would like to hear "Greenman" live. Really. I'd really really really love to hear "Greenman" live. Seriously. Yours in xtc, David.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <36DC536A.3556329D@tmbg.org> Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 16:09:12 -0500 From: Ben Gott/Loquacious Music <gott@tmbg.org> Organization: http://listen.to/loquacious Subject: Converts Hey, Hillers: I just wanted to pass on a review from a friend of mine who, even though he's a DJ, never had much good to say about XTC. I gave him a copy of "AV1" to see if I could change his mind. Here's what he wrote: > Hey bro, > > I've given the XTC album two supine, shoes off, phone ringer down, > all-the-way-through listens, and at first blush I'd have to call it an > almost overwhelmingly lovely release. The arrangements are so damned > smart. I'm at work, so I don't have time to gush, but I've already > latched on to "Your Dictionary", "Harvest Festival" and "Green Man" (I'm > a sucker for the latter ends of an album... speaks to artistic staying > power). > > Anyway... more reviews soon-pH Won one for the gippers! -Ben
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.32.19990302133301.00688164@mail.halcyon.com> Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 13:34:02 -0800 From: "Lynn S." <nemaliand@halcyon.com> Subject: Belly Dancers/lyrics?/Sea town Hi Chalk People, Someone wrote in one of the last digests about Greenman reminding them of belly dancers. I just had to comment, that song brings to my mind images of hippy women in long colorful skirts and long strings of beads dancing on the grass. For that reason, it is probably my least favorite track so far, though I can see its appeal. I have nothing against hippy women in general, I think I just worked at an organic food company too long:-). There is something about the derivative portions of these songs that bothers me a little. I feel as if I could find the exact notes or phrases in other works of music if I did enough research. So I'm interested to keep reading about what songs remind people of other works. But I love them anyway. ----- I have a question for you all. Can anyone explain the meaning of the phrase "Now the son has died the father can be born" and its origins? I've heard it before, but have forgotten its exact meaning. Seems like it was meant to describe how a father can be a better dad when the son inside himself has been healed. Is that right? ----- Thanks to Seattle people for responding, it's nice to know you are out there. I'm thinking of throwing an XTC picnic when the weather gets better. I'll post about it when the time comes. Lynn S.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 17:51:39 -0500
From: Dorothy Spirito <spiritod@techmail.gdc.com>
Subject: Bits of rag & bone...
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.4.00.9903021738340.618-100000@esun2028>
One of John Relph's recent one-liners: "Who's that dragging what looks
like a pink sack of spanners down the road?"
LOL! Buster Gonad! Boy, I'd like to hear this & its B-side. (Also, the
Drunken Session demos.)
Dave Gershman reported that Andy said, "You know, we're going to be
putting "Some Lovely" on Volume 2."
YES! I like this song a *lot*, and I'm looking forward to hearing a
polished production of it.
Bob O'Bannon wondered about "Prince of Orange"; well, our own John Relph
has a lineup listed for AV2 that goes like this:
We're All Light; Bumper Cars; You & The Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful;
Wonder Annual; Church of Women; Prince of Orange; Some Lovely (My Brown
Guitar); Dame Fortune; Our New Dark Ages; Wounded Horse; The Wheel & The
Maypole; The New Country Squires; Boarded Up; Playground; I Don't Want
to Be Here.
and it looks like they're planning to have "Prince of Orange" on it.
My philosophical .02... Knowing something about the life of Mozart -- that
he created phenominal music but never attained the wealth his talent
deserved -- I'd venture that Andy is the Mozart of our times.
--Dorothy.
("Color me happy!")
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.19990302180513.007a8ce0@mailhost.cle.ameritech.net> Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 18:05:13 +0000 From: Chris Mezzolesta <mezzolesta@ameritech.net> Subject: Northeast Ohio likes XTC Greetings Chalkhillians - just reporting pleasant and positive reviews, both with Andy interviews, in the Akron Beacon Journal (own reporter) and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (external guy); in the PD they figured prominently on the front of the Entertainment section today. Oh yeah.......
------------------------------ From: ElizaS33@aol.com Message-ID: <dc3048fa.36dc6ee5@aol.com> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 18:06:13 EST Subject: Missing text and a sellout Greetings, nice people: Upon reading my last post in the digest, I noticed that a chunk of text had somehow been swallowed by the ether, making it completely nonsensical. Since this was a question I sort of hoped someone could answer, I hope you don't mind if I attempt it again in its original form: >>Don't know if anyone has any insight on this, but my man, who's an arranger/conductor, was struck by the percussive use of the brass instruments on a few of the tracks (River of Orchids and, if I recall correctly, Greenman). He said it was the same technique he'd heard, in his wandering- minstrel youth, used by brass bands in several small black communities in North Carolina, and that he's been looking for recordings of music in this tradition ever since (unsuccessfully). Any possibility that that's the inspiration here, or is it merely a coincidence?<< In other news, the small shop I work in sold out of AV1 in three days. This doesn't happen often! I had the privilege of selling the very last copy to a nice man who barely spoke English and had never heard of XTC before, but I think I finally managed to convey to him that he had a 20-year body of work to catch up on. He said, with some effort, "Music sounds very... new." I suppose that's a good sign! Well, I suppose I'll see some of you Friday evening; or perhaps by the time the general public reads this, will have already seen you? If this *does* hit the stands before Friday and anyone who's going wants to say hi, email me off- list for identifying marks and scars. (Although I see no reason to do away with the digest format, as some people seem to think has been suggested, I do agree that it'd be awfully nice to have a bounce format option, for those of us who are masochistic enough to want to experience all this in real time.) Elizabeth The Gallery of Indispensable Pop Music homepages.infoseek.com/~popgallery www.frigidisk.com \ the coolest cds on the Internet
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199903022321.QAA09649@seagull.rtd.com> Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 16:15:43 -0700 Subject: Colin's Hobby? From: "Robert A. Dagnall" <dagnall@words-that-work.com> Ah, you've got to have a hobby... I've heard that Andy collects hats; anyone know what Colin collects? I'm looking for appropriate ideas for a small gift at the upcoming LA signing--God (or Greenman) knows their music has given a lot to me. Robert Dagnall dagnall@words-that-work.com
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990302232439.3823.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Lurkers awake! Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 15:24:39 PST I'd just like to say say how nice it is to see so many long-time lurkers de-cloaking and making their presence felt. The more the merrier, and welcome to you all! Dunks
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-117 *******************************
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