Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 167
Date: Friday, 9 April 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 167
Friday, 9 April 1999
Today's Topics:
Which One Is Pink?
teletubby
embarrasments,late sgts and parents....
Ridiculous?
XTC, Yes and Rush
Embarrassing music
Re: Vocal and Instruments Merging
Japanese Ltd. Ed. AV1
Embarassing "songs"
Brian/Beatles/BS
Everything Chalkhillian
Re: Into the Dream
Blended vocals and embarrassing songs
Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Chattanooga
Attn Nashville Chalkers!
Elmore James got nothing on this, baby
My embarassing music is your epiphany and vise versa
L.A. Radio, More Embarrassing, and Football...
XTC vid on TV?
Thanks and stuff
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <199904090816.KAA01391@mail.coss.nl> From: "Mark R. Strijbos" <mast@coss.nl> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 10:18:19 +0200 Subject: Which One Is Pink? Dear Chalkers, Iain Fisher said: > Also just wanted to say that the last Balloon where Andy's vocals > merge into solo at the end is simply exquisite. One of my fave moments on the AV1 album also. But it does make me wonder a bit... is it real or is it ProTools? > Anybody else think of any other songs where vocals and instruments merge ? "Show Me The Way" by Peter Frmapton :) > I've got a nagging thought that Rogers Waters has probably done it but i > can't seem to figure out which Pink Floyd track it is ? "Welcome To The Machine" comes to my mind Mark R. Strijbos COSS Holland bv
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 04:34:48 -0400 From: Cooking Vinyl <Cooking_Vinyl@compuserve.com> Subject: teletubby Message-ID: <199904090435_MC2-7125-FE1E@compuserve.com> my son (15 months) loves teletubbys and AV1:)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <oTtZmGAiYfD3EwJy@neutronstar.demon.co.uk> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 13:44:18 +0100 From: chris <chris@neutronstar.demon.co.uk> Subject: embarrasments,late sgts and parents.... Embarrassing music ? I don't know... maybe 'Keeper of the Seven Keys (parts 1 & 2)' by Helloween. Great music, but those lyrics.. Or maybe 'Clouds Across the Moon' by The Rah Band. I don't know why I like it, alright? I know I'm late on this thread but some 'Peppers': 1. 'Unknown Pleasures' - Joy Division 2. 'Locust Abortion Technician' - Butthole Surfers 3. 'Last Temptation of Reid' - Lard 4. 'Seconds Out' - Genesis 5. 'The Big Express' - XTC If I had to pick just one of the above, I think I'd go for 'Locust...'. On the subject of parents liking the same music, my dad bought 'English Settlement' for his own enjoyment, and two years later I went round to his flat, found it covered in dust at the back of a cupboard, played it and then went straight out and bought 'Big Express'. However, he has always denied actually liking XTC one iota. -- chris2
------------------------------ Message-ID: <C926D35F7ED6D211836C00805FC15F4E150206@LNY-S-EXCHANGE> From: "Lieman, Ira" <ilieman@lernerny.com> Subject: Ridiculous? Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 09:01:43 -0400 >My question to you all is... What is the MOST RIDICULOUS song >you LOVE? My submission, obviously, is Mandy. Come on... embarrass >yourselves! What do I win? "She Bop," by Cyndi Lauper. -ira L E R N E R N E W Y O R K Ira Lieman, Information Center Analyst
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v03110701b333a94af3aa@[18.156.0.43]> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 09:07:01 -0400 From: josh getman <jgetman@MIT.EDU> Subject: XTC, Yes and Rush Along XTC and Yes lines, it seems Mike Kenneally is a fan of both (he does a song one is solo albums that patches together riffs of about 50 Yes songs or so). I have been a lifelong Yes fan who agrees with those who've said that they have gone astray in recent years. Unlike many hardcore Yes fans, I'm a big fan of the Trevor Rabin era, as well as the classic era. On the subject of Rush....will someone please explain to me why they take so many pot shots (from both professional and wannabe critics)? I love Rush and, unlike Yes, I think that they've grown and adapted as a band into the'90s. People goof on Geddy Lee's voice and some of their medievil (sp?) lyrics. As I recall, however, a fairly large part of being a band is musicianship, isn't it? And no one can deny the skill Rush possesses as individual musicians. I think that's why so many of their fans are musicians themselves: they can appreciate what Rush is doing. Anyway, everyone has a right to their opinion (incidentally, I hope Rush is able to recover from the personal tragedies that drummer Neil Peart has suffered over the past couple of years - for those of you who don't know, his wife died of cancer and his daughter was killed in an auto accident). Just my $.02 josh -- Josh Getman Technology Review - Nominated for The 1999 National Magazine Award for General Excellence
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990409110056.00924380@smtpgw.ametsoc.org> Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 11:00:56 -0400 From: David Gershman <dgershmn@ametsoc.org> Subject: Embarrassing music On the subject of "ridiculous/embarrassing" music, here's some music I have loved and that I continue to have a lingering illicit relationship with: Anything by Heart, up to and including "Bebe Le Strange" Anything by Abba, up to but NOT including "Supertrouper" "The Best of Bread, Vol. I" "Fox on the Run," by Sweet "(Oh wo wo, It's) Magic," by Pilot "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi (but I swear, NO OTHER hair bands or their songs) And oh, there are plenty more, but I don't care to think of them at the moment. Meanwhile, Dom asked, "What the lightly-poached arse [hey, he said it, not me] is 'power pop'?" Well, hard to define, exactly, but I would say that it's hard-edged, catchy-as-hell pop that's almost all Beatles-influenced in some way (frequently as filtered through Cheap Trick). That doesn't quite say it, I guess, but here are some prime examples of power pop: "A Million Miles Away" -- The Plimsouls "Starry Eyes" -- The Records Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp" and "I'm the Man" albums "Every Word Means No" -- Let's Active Just about anything by Redd Kross "What I Like About You" -- The Romantics "I Want You Back" -- The Hoodoo Gurus Nick Lowe's "Pure Pop for Now People" (aka "Jesus of Cool") and "Labour of Lust" albums Squeeze's "Argybargy" album And the list goes on. A lot of people would include a lot of early XTC (say, through "Black Sea") and Elvis Costello (maybe through "Get Happy"), actually, but I see them as being more complex (lyrically and/or musically) than your prime power poppers and maybe not quite fitting the bill. That's about as close to a definition as I can give you. The term is NOT synonymous with "New Wave," but you could say that (at least in terms of the late '70s/early '80s) it was a subset of New Wave. Me, I've always been a sucker for it. Dave Gershman
------------------------------ From: "Edward Percival" <epercival@meshplc.co.uk> Subject: Re: Vocal and Instruments Merging Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 09:01:18 +0100 Message-ID: <000001be825f$263eb3a0$4e01a8c0@M60443.mesh.internal> > Also just wanted to say that the last Balloon where Andy's vocals merge > into solo at the end is simply exquisite. Anybody else think of any other > songs where vocal s and instruments merge ? I've got a nagging > thought that > Rogers Waters has probably done it but I can't seem to figure out which > Pink Floyd track it is ? It is something on 'the Final Cut'. Unfortunately my copy was stolen from my car a few years back so I can't give the track listing. Since Floyd were reborn/recycled this album has all but disappeared from UK shops- certainly it has never been included in the midprice sales which go on every month in the major retailers. The effect works well with guitars and especially saxophones which share a human quality to their sound. It ought to work well with a 'cello, but I can't recall any examples. Edward Like Dom- no sexy signature, but a certain smugness that Charlton (the team my company sponsors) inflicted such a damaging blow to West Ham's UEFA hopes. It will make relegation all the easier to bear.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 04:34:51 -0400 From: Cooking Vinyl <Cooking_Vinyl@compuserve.com> Subject: Japanese Ltd. Ed. AV1 Message-ID: <199904090435_MC2-7125-FE20@compuserve.com> Message text written by INTERNET:<chalkhills@chalkhills.org> >XTC Apple Venus V.1 (Limited Edition) LIMITED EDITION JAPANESE VERSION. DELUXE BOOKLET CONTAINS COMPLETE LYRICS & EXCLUSIVE COLOR PHOTOS. Genre: Pop Origin: JPN This is an import title. PONYC M131311 < we are thinking of bringing out a 2nd version of AV1 with the Japanese booklet + all the demos + more so you might want to wait a couple of months?
------------------------------
Message-ID: <19990409151642.57646.qmail@hotmail.com>
From: "kristi leigh siegel" <beatlebird@hotmail.com>
Subject: Embarassing "songs"
Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 08:16:41 PDT
Tyler "Demento" Hewitt writty:
>>My question to you all is... What is the MOST RIDICULOUS song
>>you LOVE? My submission, obviously, is Mandy. Come on... embarrass
>>yourselves!
Let's see... The "Oobu Joobu" theme
song...the "Tiny Toons Adventures"
theme song ("We're tiny, we're toony")...
"Crocodile Rock", Elton,
"One Step Beyond", by Madness,
"New York (New York),"by Nina Hagen,
"Satisfaction," Devo,
Any version of "Mr Sandman",
and "Take Me out to the Ballgame"
always gets the blood pumping in this
die-hard baseball nut...
Ok, I've embarassed myself now.
Throw the cream pie once more.
--Living for the American League East
pennant in '99,
Kristi
http://beatlemania.webjump.com
http://www.apolloii.com
------------------------------ Message-Id: <l03130301b333caf694bd@[129.93.47.17]> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 10:24:51 -0500 From: "R.L.D.Watson" <rwatson@unlinfo.unl.edu> Subject: Brian/Beatles/BS I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist. "On the Beatles vs Brian Wilson controversy (i.e. who is more of a genius): I think BW's reaction to hearing Sgt Pepper speaks volumes. He became a musical recluse, and almost destroyed his mind with the large amounts of LSD he took trying to "compete" musically with the Beatles." You're kidding right? Brian became a recluse and took lots of LSD as a "reaction to hearing Sgt. Pepper"? Now if that isn't an instance of hyperbole, I don't know what is. Have you ever read any of McCartney's views on Brian, or Sean Lennon for that matter, who listens to Pet Sounds every day? You may have some crossed-wired there. Really, now, Brain was having lots of troubles that had nothing to do with hearing Sgt. Pepper, and suggesting that his listening to it pushed him into despair and reclusiveness is just silly. See Brian's autobiography, please. Randall L. Watson A & S Humanities Programs 306 Avery Hall 472-6169 rwatson@unlinfo.unl.edu
------------------------------
From: JEFFREY.THOMAS.JT@bayer-ag.de
Subject: Everything Chalkhillian
Message-Id: <0006800010243040000002L002*@MHS>
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 13:35:49 +0200
Hello to all you "Kreideberger" (that's pretty close to "Chalkhillers") out
there,
Well, I've been a member of this very interesting family for about a month
now, and what a ride it's been so far! I've been an XTC fan since watching
3 of their videos ("Nigel", "G & M", "Towers of London") back in 1980 on a
video show on an American TV station. I mean, a *video show* and not on
MTV -- which was still in diapers/nappies at that time and not available to
just anybody -- that shows how long it's been. I have bought every album
since "Black Sea" as it came out (except "Psonic Psunspot", which I never
saw or heard of until I bought "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball"), and am
now thrilled not to be alone in the world any more -- other than my
brother, I'm the only XTC fan I know! The seemingly endless stream of
Chalkhills digests keeps me up to date and is chock full of interesting
stuff about our heroes and just about everything else. And I guess that
after my "Dukes" story awhile back, it's time to take a shot at some of my
favorite topics of the past month. This'll probably be long, so fasten
your seatbelts (or start scrolling).
1) Andy the egomaniac vs. Dave: Yes, Andy is a dictator, and he probably
pissed Dave off to the point of no return. But he is also the major artist
of the group, and, as we all know, a lot of artists are egomaniacs. Just
imagine what the Beatles had to put up with: John an egomaniac, Paul an
egomaniac. Each of them was a dictator of sorts, but the music was fab,
and we still love it -- and them -- to this day (except for a few Chalkers
who seem to deny their heroes' "roots", but okay, "jedem das Seine" = to
each his own). And XTC is -- despite Andy's problems with Dave, and Terry,
and Barry and who knows, maybe Colin, too -- a great band!
2) My Sgt. Pepper: As with a number of you, I have plenty of them in each
of the "musical phases" of my life. Early on, there was "Sgt. Pepper"
itself and "Deja Vu" by CSNY, both of which were the first real rock
records I had contact with. Later, it was the discovery of my first 2 fave
groups, the Beatles (big ones were "Rubber Soul", "Help", and "Abbey Rd.")
and that other group with Swindonians in it, the Moody Blues ("Question of
Balance", "Seventh Sojourn"). I also loved the listening experience of Dan
Fogelberg's "Nether Lands" and Genesis' "A Trick of the Tail". A big
turning point started around 1977-78, when a lot of new bands came out.
Some that stick out are Squeeze with "Argybargy" and XTC with "Black Sea",
both of which were followed by stupendous records responsible for
permanently cementing the groups in my heart, "East Side Story" and
"English Settlement" (3 years ago I went out of my way to see the Uffington
White Horse, which I had always wanted to see since then!). And there was
also "Dire Straits", "Regatta de Blanc" by the Police, "Fear of Music" by
the Talking Heads and "The Cars". Life, and music, have moved on since
then, and there have been many more. If I had to pick just one? Hmmm,
it's hard, but I suppose I'd say "Abbey Road".
3) Censorship, music theory, cars, and catfights (D/D, A/M, etc.): can be
very interesting for awhile, but I, too, tire of the long battles and
monologues quickly. "Scroll that text off the screen" is the best way to
deal with it in my eyes. I do like the Beatles vs. Beach Boys stuff,
though, and think *both* of them deserve their place in history.
Sgt. Pepper was a great album (and if you don't believe it now, just ask
Brian Wilson), but was not a great collection of individual songs as was
Revolver or for that matter Pet Sounds.
4) Misheard lyrics: Poor Ruud, even people from "Missourah" know what "four
eyes" means. (But do they know that ".nl" means Ruud is from Holland and
not a native speaker? Probably not!) There have been a lot of great
misheard lyrics, hilarious, I love reading them. But mine is easy, Ruud:
if I don't have the lyrics next to me I, too, *still* sing "for I'd fool
you, laying round everywhere" -- which almost fits the context, as he'd
stink up her joint, being such an S-H-I-T! I like it that way!
5) Favorite XTC records: This is a tough one. I guess what I like are a)
records that I don't have to skip songs on (but this does not include the
B-sides and extras on the CD reissues of LPs), and b) records with
particularly good balance and with particularly good songs. Based on "a",
"Skylarking" qualifies as my favorite record, there's not a song on there
I'd dare skip over! Other top choices are "Mummer", "O&L", "English
Settlement" and "Black Sea". "Apple Venus" doesn't have any skippers
either, so it ought to be right up there.
By the way, my favorite "CD bonus song": "Desert Island", with out a doubt!
I'm not quite sure how to explain "particularly good balance and strong
songs", but I think all the records I mentioned are good examples.
Everything on an album seems to fit, all of it, and despite the fact that
all of the records are comprised of songs from two composers, they seem to
match well.
As a contrast, "Big Express", which has some *amazing* songs on it, still
has a few clunkers that seem to weigh it down in my eyes. And parts of it
were overproduced to the hilt (compare "Train Running Low" on the album to
the version Andy did on TV on "XTC Play at Home", and you'll know what I
mean. By the way, can anyone supply me with a video of that show?).
I loved reading that other people need to "take their time" to understand
XTC's albums, to like the songs. Wow! I thought I was alone there, too. I
used to explain to non-fans that you just can't hear XTC and fall for it,
you have to hear the albums about 5 times before you figure out just *why*
the melodies are as good as they are. If you're not patient, you might
miss it! But how much patience do you need? Here's a story for you: I
bought "Skylarking" the day it appeared in the stores, but I only started
liking it shortly after buying "O&L"; it took *years* before I liked it.
(Rundgren's production was sooo different...) And, whether it's the new
album or all the fan post here influencing my thoughts, I like "Nonsuch"
much better now than I ever did before.
6) Least favorite songs: Jeez, a lot of people are picking on stuff I
really like. "I Can't Own Her" is excellent, a real Wilson-like song that
Brian himself should cover. I think he could do it even better, though the
swirling skies strings are hard to top. "The Smartest Monkeys", winner of
a "Yechhhh award" in a recent digest, is -- along with "Then She Appeared"
-- my favorite song on "Nonsuch"! My least fave? How about "Shake Your
Donkey Up"? And I still don't like "Living Through Another Cuba".
7) Colin's role: I almost hate to touch this one. I prefer to see Colin as
part of unidentical siamese twins, not to be separated from Andy. Because
XTC wouldn't be the same without *either* of them. To me, the songs,
whether Andy's or Colin's, are just XTC songs, and it isn't fair to call it
"Andy's group". (Or would you have us live w/o "Nigel", "Generals", "Ball
& Chain", "Wake Up", "Grass", "Sacrificial Bonfire", "One of the Millions",
"Vanishing Girl", etc.?)
I tend to like the mix of both their styles the best. And I really like
"Skylarking". Why? Because I think it really *is* different, *Colin's*
songs were the fenceposts there, Andy's were the planks. It was a
different album in so many respects. Rundgren's production was so very
different from the albums before. But what really stuck out for me is,
Andy seemed to have to fill in around Colin. "Grass", "Meeting Place",
"Bonfire", -- what amazing songs! And "Dying" and "Big Day" are tremendous
XTC pieces that no one else could write.
Which leads us to one of the weaknesses of "AV1": in my eyes, Colin needs
to have at least 3 songs on an album like this. Why? If his songs "fit"
with Andy's, then 2 might be fine (see "Black Sea"), but as has often been
pointed out, Colin's stuff on "AV1" is different. I disagree with those
who say it's bad -- I think both songs are very good. But they differ both
in their "English eccentric" topics and in their less "orchoustic" sound,
so they stick out a bit. Which would be less so if there were, say, 4 of
them. I'd hate to have Colin limit himself to just 2 per CD now, he's
selling himself short. A lot of people pick on his stuff on "Nonsuch" -- I
say it's great, but I'm happy that there are four there -- it influences
the flavor of the album and seems to me to make it more homogeneous on the
whole. (That some of it was "down" reflects his general mood at the time,
already quite evident on "O&L".)
As for his bass playing, I guess we are all of one opinion here. I
particularly like his Beatles-influenced bits (how about that "Rain" bass
in "What in the World" -- along with those "I Want to Tell You" harmonies,
and Zager & Evans lyrics. Original art? Long live derivative art!).
8) Other stuff:
The April issue of the German edition of Rolling Stone includes a short
article/interview on XTC and a review of both "Transistor Blast" and "AV1".
Both records get 4 stars of 5. The articles are different from their
English edition counterparts. The interview article features Colin, as
Andy had the flu. Unfortunately, I don't know if German Rolling Stone has
a website, I sure haven't found it yet.
In the ad(vert)s in the same issue, both CD and LP versions of "AV1" are
offered by a company called Poplife for DM 24.90 (page 121), email at
poplifemv@aol.com. Finally, we can get vinyl here in Germany!
Favorite dumb song: I still hate it, but I got a kick out of "Ive been to
paradise, but I've never been to me" in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".
But I loved the Abba song in there. And I love "Sugar Sugar" by the
Archies.
Vocal/intrument merges: How about the chicken and the guitar in the segue
from a popular song here at Chalkhills, "Good Morning Good Morning" to the
"Sgt. Pepper Reprise" (do chickens count as vocals)? Or how about Linda
Ronstadt's version of "Alison" (please don't flame me for this), when her
"my aim is true" turns into a saxophone? Breathing before a song?
"Mother"/Pink Floyd.
Misspellings: Although I occasionally cringe at bad spelling, I find it
interesting that so many people get *so* upset about a few misspelled
words. But, once in awhile, misspellings lead to hilarious results: I
choose "naval gazing" as the funniest mistake of the month. Itt reeli mayd
mee laff owt lowd!
Best contribution to Chalkhills: There were a lot of candidates, but
Stephanie's "Simpsons" episode would have to top my list.
Biggest disappointment: After my "Dukes" story, Giles contacted me to offer
a tape of the radio interview I had heard in 1985. Unfortunately, only for
trade, and more unfortunately, I have nothing much to trade! And I haven't
heard from him since. So close, yet so far...
Keep up the good work at Chalkhills as we work our way to "AV2"!
- Jeff
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199904090822.IAA021.98@GATEWAY.TIRERACK.COM> Subject: Re: Into the Dream Date: Fri, 9 Apr 99 08:21:24 -0600 From: William Loring <bloring@tirerack.com> >Also just wanted to say that the last Balloon where Andy's vocals merge >into solo at the end is simply exquisite. Anybody else think of any other >songs where vocal s and instruments merge ? I've got a nagging thought that >Rogers Waters has probably done it but i can't seem to figure out which >Pink Floyd track it is ? The song is from the Animals LP, I believe it's Dogs, but I'm not sure I remember correctly. The CD is at home, and I'm at work. I'm sure someone else will correct me if I'm wrong. I'm sure it's a device that's been used before, but in The Last Balloon it is _very_ effective. William Loring
------------------------------ Message-ID: <697A4CA51395D111A658AA0004005806E12EC5@NT6> From: "Wiencek, Dan" <wiencek@aaos.org> Subject: Blended vocals and embarrassing songs Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 10:42:24 -0500 Iain Fisher wrote: Also just wanted to say that the last Balloon where Andy's vocals merge into solo at the end is simply exquisite. Anybody else think of any other songs where vocal s and instruments merge ? I've got a nagging thought that Rogers Waters has probably done it but i can't seem to figure out which Pink Floyd track it is ? The only one I can think of is "Sheep," from Animals, in which Waters' voice fades into a synthesizer note at the end of every verse. Dave Gilmour's guitar outro to that song is one of the best guitar parts I've ever heard. And on the subject of embarrassing songs, you people are seriously letting me down. The Cramps? Joni Mitchell? Even Neil Diamond? Shit, if you're going to like something embarrassing, don't be half-assed about it. Go for the *really* embarrassing stuff. Herewith, at great risk of never being allowed to hold my head up on Chalkhills again, I present a short list of my favorite cheesy, irredeemable, embarrassing songs: - "Midnight at the Oasis," Maria Muldaur - "Reminiscing," Little River Band - "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)," Four Seasons And, the crowning turd in the punchbowl: - "After the Loving," Engelbert Humberdink Yes, at heart I'm a depraved sentimentalist. I draw the line at Barry Manilow, however; that guy just *blows*. ;) Yours in cheesy-70s-light-balladry, Dan -- Dan Wiencek American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
------------------------------
Message-ID: <370E25E3.9E2CCF52@averstar.com>
Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 12:08:11 -0400
From: Harrison Sherwood <sherwood@averstar.com>
Organization: Averstar, Inc.
Subject: Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Chattanooga
From: Chris Desmond <c_desmond@yahoo.com>
Subject: Zzzzzzzz.....
Chris replied to John Gardner's completely inoffensive (if a touch
didactic) post:
>> Sure, whatever...will someone wake me when this snoozefest is over?
>> Chris
Certain I must have unaccountably missed all of Chris's sparkling and
informative posts to Chalkhills over the years, and anxious to redress this
grave error, I skedaddled over to the digest archives to look up what I was
sure I would find to be a long track record of thoughtful posts, larded
through with the sort of mordant and brittle wit exhibited above. Surely, I
thought, someone who cares so deeply for the content and direction of our
discourse will have himself contributed at great self-sacrificing length to
the ongoing give and take, with each carefully wrought post more trenchant
than the last? Surely he would have, as the expression goes, *walked the
walk*?
Imagine my surprise.
No, the foregoing was in fact Chris's *maiden* post to Chalkhills! Welcome
to Chalkhills, Chris. I hope you have a long and fruitful time here, during
which you make many friends. Something tells me this isn't in the cards,
however.
John Gardner, I thought your post was just dandy, and don't let the
loveless ones sell you a cheap one-liner wrapped in gray. I am sure many
people here didn't know what syncopation is, and your explanation was very
welcome. Your account reminded me of a teacher I had once who used to
archly sniff that "music died with Brahms" or some such Babbitry. My barbed
reply (which occurred to me, naturally, twenty years too late) was that
music wasn't even _born_ until people learned to clap on two and four.
Have you ever watched one of those figure-skating
competitions--particularly the ones in Europe--and noticed that, no matter
how bluesy the accompanying music is, everybody in the audience always
claps on one and three? Drives me absolutely batty, this. God...white
people! What can ya do?
I'm something of a bluegrass banjo player, and over the course of my
servitude to this bitch goddess of an instrument, it occurred to me that
the history of the five-string banjo recapitulates rather neatly the course
of American music in the 20th century--and that of its pretentious little
offshoot, rock and roll.
(The RealAudio sound-clip links below may get line breaks in them. If they
do, cut and paste the whole ponderous thing into your browser's "location"
widget. That should work. Provided you actually have a RealAudio client
installed. And sound, for that matter.)
In the beginning there was what we now term "Old-Timey" music, which
encompassed jug bands, string bands, mountain music--the music that would
evolve into skiffle and the other precursors of rock. This would have been
the Twenties and Thirties. The banjo featured prominently in arrangements
of old-timey music, but it was played in the "clawhammer" or "frailing"
style, which is a sort of stylized up-and-down bare-fingered strum. Uncle
Dave Macon is a very good example of this style: listen to his "Cumberland
Mountain Deer Race" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/eras/B0000012E1001002/002-2932143-6163238
Count the beats, and notice where the stresses go: ONE two THREE
four. Phrases always ending on the bar. Very...white.
Then along comes Snuffy Jenkins, in 1937-38, who plays the banjo in a
radically new way. Instead of strumming it like a guitar, or frailing it,
Snuffy picks it with THREE FINGERS, thumb, index, middle, which he rolls,
doing a little three-legged spider-dance on the strings. See, Snuffy's been
immersing himself in Dixieland, in swing and blues, and he's come to
understand that you can set off just king-hell syncopation if you play
three (three fingers) against four (four beats). This is pretty radical
stuff, the Negrification of the cricks and hollers. And in order for it to
work, you have to turn the beat around, just like they do down in Darktown,
like they've been doing since Scott Joplin first set pen to paper: one TWO
three FOUR. Check out "Possum Up a Gum Stump" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/eras/B000009Q3G001003/002-2932143-6163238
and see if that doesn't sound a hell of a lot closer to rock-n-roll. Dawg
Music in embryo, 's what it is.
After the war, in the late Forties and early Fifties, it only remained for
Don Reno, Ralph Stanley, and most of all Earl Scruggs (who is the
banjoistic equivalent of Jimi Hendrix, Chet Atkins and Django Reinhardt all
rolled into one) to codify and formalize this new style, which did to
old-timey music just about exactly what Elvis did to Presbyterian hymns and
field hollers: shined 'er up, stuck some slick tires on 'er, bored 'er out
and set off down the highway at a hundred and twenty. Great bluegrass bears
a strange resemblance to great punk: loud-n-fast rules, and all that
matters is The Drive. Try on "Ground Speed" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/eras/B0000012DO001001/002-2932143-6163238
-- Jesus, listen to Earl's fills behind the fiddle! Woof! And that
machine-gun blaze of notes in the main banjo riff! Cat can play! ("Ground
Speed," by the way, appears on "Foggy Mountain Banjo," the greatest
bluegrass album ever made, which must have been the Sergeant Pepper for
Clarence White, Bill Keith, Charlie Waller, John Duffy, Tony Rice, Bela
Fleck, Ricky Skaggs, and the whole following generation of what I've come
to think of as Country Music That Doesn't Suck.)
XTC content? I heard a bluegrass band once did a cover of "Crocodile."
Harrison "It sucked" Sherwood
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199904091628.MAA07702@mail.bna.bellsouth.net> From: "RoadKill" <csberry@mail.bna.bellsouth.net> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 11:28:04 +0000 Subject: Attn Nashville Chalkers! Lightning 100 will have an interview w/ our beloved Andy on Monday, April 12 around 11am. I've been trying to find out if it's going to be a phoner or if he's in town. Will post if I find out more. Cory
------------------------------
Message-ID: <370E2CDA.9B00A126@averstar.com>
Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 12:37:56 -0400
From: Harrison Sherwood <sherwood@averstar.com>
Organization: Averstar, Inc.
Subject: Elmore James got nothing on this, baby
From Barry Miles & Paul McCartney, _Many Years from Now_, Owl Books, New
York, 1997:
Meanwhile, refurbishment began on 3 Savile Row, which Apple
bought for #500,000 in June 1968. "I had asked Neil [Aspinall]
to look for a great London building [to house Apple Studios],"
Paul explained, "And he found it, 3 Savile Row, Lady Hamilton's
London residence, which Nelson bought for her. I thought, if
nothing else, that's a good London building." It was a magnificent
listed town house, part of a uniform terrace built between 1733
and 1735 running the length of the east side of Savile Row, and
conveniently close to Nelson's house on Bond Street for him to
drop round on Lady H. whenever the urge took him. _The Survey
of London_ says that number 3 has good interior features, as
indeed it did until a later phase of Apple's history when Allen
Klein was to move in and rip the building apart to build a
recording studio in the basement.
Thus it was, of course, from Lady Hamilton's Love Shack that the Beatles
gave their celebrated "rooftop concert," seen in the "Let It Be" film.
Harrison "Besame mucho, Hardy!" Sherwood
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990409172412.13818.rocketmail@web130.yahoomail.com> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 10:24:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: My embarassing music is your epiphany and vise versa RE: >>There are whole genres of music I love which are embarassing. Rememberpower pop in the early '80's? That stuff still makes me smile. Forgive my English senses of humour, but what the lightly-poached arse is "power pop"? Is that the same as "new wave" (English meaning) or "new wave" (bizarre US interpretation) or "post punk"? Sounds like one of those meaningless, vapid examples of journo-speak to me! I want examples, and I want them now!!! Well, you're probably right, the term 'power pop' sounds like a vapid example of journo-speak to me, also. For that matter, so does 'new wave'. Power Pop, for the British, is probably best represented by The Motors. They are probably the quintessential example of that term. Other Power Pop acts? the Greg Khin Band, the Records, Bram Tchaikovsky (a former Motor), Plimsouls, the Beat (the American ones, not the far superior English Beat) etc. The wonderful, underated band Fingerprintz did a power pop album called Distinguishing Marks, although their other records are nowhere close to power pop (they are all excellant and highly recommended, however). Now do you know why I find it embarassing? Rhino Records, as part of their excellant DIY series, has released a couple of power pop compilations. "Teenage Kicks-UK Pop I" and "Starry Eyes-UK Pop II" are both really good, although they stray away from power pop (XTC is on both compilations). I think they did US pop comps, too, but I don't have them. "Starry Eyes-UK Pop II" has much more power pop than the other one. >>Some friends have suggested that I should be embarassed at how I loveJoni Mitchell, but she's too damn good to get embarassed over. ...thus one of the major differences between you and I is exposed for all to see. The Cramps are embarrassing but Joni Mitchell ain't? The tears are streaming down my leg as we "speak". Don't get me wrong- I love the Cramps (at least their first few records, for the past few years they have been underwhelming, to say the least). One of the things I like about them is that they Are so cheesy and revel in it. Maybe putting Goo Goo Muck on my list of embarassing songs was in error. Let's replace it with 'the Animal Song' by the Europeans, OK? As for Joni Mitchell, I cant say enough about how gifted she is. Don't take those few folk songs of hers you may have heard on the radio as representitive of her work. She is widely regarded as one of the very best pop/rock/folk songwriters, on a level with Dylan and Neil Young. The New York Times has called her one of the century's most brilliant songwriters/musicians. It dosen't seem a stretch to me at all for people who like AV1 to also like Joni's mid '70's albums. Knights In Shining Karma has, from first listen, reminded me of Joni's Hejira album. Don't take my word for it-Any fan of intelligent, challenging, adult pop needs to have some Joni Mitchell in their collection. Try'Court & Spark", 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns', or Hejira, give 'em a few listens to sink in, and I KNOW a lot of Chalkhillers would become huge fans.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <s70dd552.001@tcwgroup.com> Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 10:23:31 -0700 From: "Dane Pereslete" <peresd@tcwgroup.com> Subject: L.A. Radio, More Embarrassing, and Football... Hey Bill Machock, thanks for the radio alert, I've spent the last two months trying unsuccessfully to hear XTC on any L.A. radio other than KCRW. I'd just given up on Y107. Maybe YD will be ensconced on Y107's playlist. Lord knows it could use a little spicing up... And the winner in the embarrassing song category is..... Jim Slade! for pulling out the DiFranco Family! Good Lord man, you need help!! ;-) You could only have beaten that one with "Kung-Fu Fighting" or some such... >From Dom: >"Still no witty signature file, but while I'm here, isn't it bloody >outrageous that West Ham won't get to play in the UEFA Cup next season even >if they finish 5th in the League? It's a disgrace, especially since sodding >Newcastle will qualify, even if they lose in a Cup semi-final!!!! It's a >stitch-up, I'm telling you..." I've never quite understood Cup rules, anyway... In a related story to this, over the fax today comes news that the Secretary of State for Trade disallowed the purchase of Manchester United by BskyB. A Quote: "We are disappointed..(blah,blah) _snip_ We will continue to offer exclusively live Premier League games to our seven million plus subscribers, and to demonstrate our commitment to football". Oh yeah, except now it won't be exclusively *Manchester United* football, will it? Dane (Whose favorite Dodgers ball club were allowed to be purchased by the Fox/Murdoch Empire, and now every fucking ball game broadcast to the world will be a Dodgers game...enjoy!!!) *------------------------------------------------------- Logging in from beautiful Glendale, CA USA "Take me out to the ballgame" daneperes@aol.com -or- bramage64@aol.com
------------------------------ Message-ID: <370E398D.96BE845@which.net> Date: Fri, 09 Apr 1999 18:31:57 +0100 From: B Blanchard <b.blanchard@which.net> Subject: XTC vid on TV? Hi gang, It's Friday 6.30pm and I just saw an advert on VH-1 that they're doing another A-Z weekend this weekend. You never know, you never know. (This is in UK btw) I don't get a Chalkhills for 3 days then three come along in one day. Is this my server or you? Just like public transport mateys. Talking of transport - you all let me off for my I AIN'T GIVING UP MY BIKE YAHBOO post, which was interesting and kind of you. Oh No!! My "Sgt Peppers" and my two most embarrassing records are all muddled up together below! Sort them out for yourselves. 10cc "Original Soundtrack" Minnie Ripperton "Lovin' You" Fun Boy Three "Waiting" Terry Jacks "Seaons in the Sun" (The B Side "Put The Bone In" was the rudest song this child had heard in her life and she didn't understand it till she was thirty three.) Kate Bush (first album) Family "Fearless" Midnight Oil "10, 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1" Bye bye! BELINDA
------------------------------ From: snsi@win.bright.net Message-Id: <199904091840.NAA21126@forward.win.bright.net> Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 13:39:27 +0000 Subject: Thanks and stuff Hey Hillers (you damn rabid internet fans, you), Big thanks (!) to Hank Tomczak for taking the time and effort to record and post the World Cafe interview with the boys. I think there opinion of us "rabid internet fans" is a hoot. I myself do not live with my mother and have never spent my last dollar buying demos but if any of you have demos of the song Andy is yet to write I be interested. Stuff: I'd Like That was added to the Twin Cities Zone105 playlist and this can be viewed at: http://www.zone105.com My misheard lyric. I thought that the "Forever to him you're tied" was "Forever to him you'll TITHE" Jeff Smith Barnes, WI '71 A-HD Sprint 350; '97 Kawasaki KLR650 (King o'La Road) "Beware the dirt bike ... Ground shaking dirt bike" TMBG
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #5-167 *******************************
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