Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 194
Date: Wednesday, 5 May 1999

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 194

                  Wednesday, 5 May 1999

Today's Topics:

                    speeling and abuse
           The rain, the chalk and other things
                Nonsuch : my way ! & more.
                      Baby Gap = XTC
                      Hose me down!
                     Ralph and AbFab
                        Ollie-May
                 Points from Digest #191
          Lennon: Musician/person of the century
                 Weird Dream / Go-2-ness
                    Re: Flowery Twats
                       John Lennon
                         Ahh well

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

Message-ID: <19990504155645.4971.rocketmail@web105.yahoomail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 08:56:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com>
Subject: speeling and abuse

re:
Umm ... " incredibally " ... " charecter " ? sorry , I am a teacher ...

...and I am a VERY bad typist. I catch most of the obvous mistakes, but
a few inadvertantly pass by..

As for the LIGHTEN UP! suggestion, I just don't find one person's abuse
of another funny, even if it is done in jest. Those of you who have not
witnessed this behavior first hand are lucky. I grew up down the street
from a guy who used to physically abuse his wife. I was friends with
their kids, so went to their house to play. I  remember sitting on
their couch at about age 6 or 7 watching him hit his wife in the face
with his fists and pull her around by the hair. Made me sick to my
stomach. I threw up on the way home.
This stuff sticks with you-thirty years later, it still gives me an
ache in the pit of my stomach.
So, if I react a little strongly to things like AbFab and the
Honeymooners, at least I have a reason.
Tyler

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

From: Melsta@aol.com
Message-ID: <d7fcf95a.24608f42@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 13:58:26 EDT
Subject: The rain, the chalk and other things

Buono Estentes--

I'm trying to catch up on old digests, but I'm running out of patience. I
have to post, even if I am only on 186.

  I've got one-two-three-four-five Chalkhills digests I'm behind.
  Trying to read them all, but I've got . . .

you know the rest.

In case no one else has reported this, our local XTC-playing radio station
(WAPS 91.3 The Summit in Akron - visit them at http://www.913thesummit.com)
has finally added a second AV1 track to its playlist after I'd Like
That. What could it be? I'll be dog-garned if it's not Frivolous Tonight. I
would have gone for Green Man myself, and understood Easter Theatre, but it
holds up with their "Quality Rock" adult alternative format quite nicely.

Our friend Fat Freddy sez:

>  j'ecris l'anglais en le burinant a la
>  serpe ce qui me laisse peu de moyens de reparties. Cela dit, n'entravant
>  que pouic quand ca se corse, ca me fait le dos large en matiere
>  d'amour-propre ecorche

I read French (un peu), but I didn't get that, so I sent it to the Babelfish
and I'm even more confused:

> I write English by engraving it with the bill hook what leaves me few
> means of set out again. That said, blocking only pouic when that
> Corsican, that makes me the broad back as regards love-clean
> sectional view

Now, of course I had to add my own accents, and I may have missed one or
two, but . . . oh well.  Lebe der Polyglotismus!

As regards British TV, I can only say that Father Ted reminded me of The
Young Ones with collars (and that's not a good thing). On the other hand
the Fast Show/Brilliant! is both fast and brilliant. Or at least very very
funny.

Stinky-pinky bang bang. Chris Waddle. Etc.

But you gots to have _digital_ cable to get BBCAmerica. I'm looking to
move, but my choices of communities are limited by which ones offer this
service.

Mmmmmmmmmm, nice.

Should I give my Swindon report? Just you try and stop me.

I went to London in March and didn't meet a sodding one of you, but that
was my own dumb fault. Belated thanks to those who wrote to me way back
when I was planning my trip, but I'm a rude little something or other.

I saw a Green Man pub, but didn't go inside.  I wore either my Green Man or
my Uffington Horse pendant every day in hopes of being accosted, but no one
noticed. Not even when I was wearing my Drums & Wires shirt or my
Chalkhills shirt. Someone was listening to Apple Venus in the big HMV by
Picadilly and I kept hanging around, trying to display my Green Man
necklace as prominently as possible, but he didn't take the bait. So if
you're out there, and were wondering why the big fat blond kept hovering
around you while you were trying to listen to XTC, it was me.

I heard the dandelions roar in Picadilly Circus. Mmm.

Actually, I saw some dandy lions over the way in Trafalgar Square. But they
were mute.

I saw one of the 2 St. Clements churches that claims to be the real O&L
church.

I visited Winnie the Pooh country and saw the original Pooh-Sticks
bridge. I highly recommend this London Walks tour.

I didn't even buy the CDs I wanted (Cardiacs and Cathy Dennis) because in
the end I ran out of time. My last day was a Sunday and I never made it
back to the shops before the (mandatory?) 6 pm closing time.

I did take the train one day to Swindon. Thanks especially to the person
who told me I would see the Horse on the way. I asked the guy across from
me on the train which side I should be sitting on, and he said you couldn't
see it on this trip.  So I paid imperfect attention, sat there with my
walkman playing XTC and reading my Chalkhills printouts and I missed it.
On the way back it was dark. :(

It rained that day (or tiddled down, as Captain Peacock would say), but
because it had looked beautiful in the morning, I did not bring my
brolly. So call me dumb. Also dumb, I had no itinerary or any idea what the
hell I was doing in Swindon. I tried to find Internet access to check Go2
Swindon (which I should have done before boarding the plane in Cleveland),
but the place was booked till the next week. Actually, the first person I
asked at the shopping center information booth said, "I don't know of
anything like that. This IS Swindon, you know."  But I wandered around and
took pictures with my FunSaver (tm). Some came out better than others.
When it got dark I rode back "home" to Ealing where I was staying.

OK. Enough from me for now. Alanis rulz!!

Boutros-boutros gali,

--Melissa

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

Message-ID: <004901be965d$88945520$4ec1fac1@default>
From: "jpcac" <jpcac@wanadoo.fr>
Subject: Nonsuch : my way ! & more.
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 20:23:02 +0200

Hi all,
I joined the Chalkhills talks a few weeks (maybe monthes now) ago and
despite some ununderstandable things for a frenchman like me (just like the
"british vs US tv shows" debate) I quite enjoy it.
Why am I writing you right now ? I don't really now, expect the fact it's
sometimes a bit "embarassing" to receive all the messages without sending a
single word... There's so many times I had something to say about
something... but I'm too bloody shy, probably. And my english is not that
good, that's another great reason.
Anyway, here I am. And just like one of my compatriot on the precedent
digest, here are some of my thoughts. And yes, Romain, hurrah for the
Democracy.

1- For me, the trouble with Nonsuch is the lenght of the record. Nonsuch is
really too long. It's a big problem in those CD ages : today, you look lazy
or stingy if you only give 40-45 minutes of music (which was what we had on
most of the vinyls). With such "rich" songs just like the Nonsuch ones were,
I guess 45 minutes would have been great. When I'm listening to the 63
minutes (and 17 songs !!!!) we had, I feel like if I ate too much chantilly
cream.
It's the same with the awful CD editions of most of the XTC albums. See
Mummer: 6 tracks in the middle of the "real" album. This is a lack of
respect for the band who had built the album with 11 tracks and two sides,
and the better way to disgust those who listen Mummer for the fisrt time. I
discovered it on CD and I didn't appreciate it at all : too much songs, too
much cream, no cohesion... When I bought the vynil edition, I changed my
mind.
(Yes, I know English Settlement was a double LP, a 15 song treasure. But the
double-vynil construction gave it some relief. I hate compact discs...)
2- AV1 is really great.
3- I adore Drums & Wires, Black Sea, English Settlement. They were my
"doors" to XTC !
4- The song that should have been a single: Another Satellite
5- I never really went into The Big Express. (and Nonsuch is too long !)
6- Sergent Pepper blah blah blah ? I always prefered the White Album. And
Revolution 9.
7- Is Andy on the Chalkhills list ? Excellent : I have a message for him :

    Andy, please give us AV2 before 2000. Next year, you'll say "Nah, it's
too late now. There's a new century, I want something new..."

8- One big question : Was Easter Theatre REALLY issued as a 7" single ? I
never saw it on lists or on record shops ? And I'm desperatly looking for
it to complete my single collection !

Ciao for now.
Jean-Philippe.

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

Message-ID: <C926D35F7ED6D211836C00805FC15F4E65D95F@LNY-S-EXCHANGE>
From: "Lieman, Ira" <ilieman@lernerny.com>
Subject: Baby Gap = XTC
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 14:39:53 -0400

I'm on the phone with my wife who's currently in the Baby Gap in Jersey
City, NJ - they're playing "I'd Like That" over the speakers! Whoo hoo! :-)

-ira

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

Message-ID: <19990504191808.10297.rocketmail@web805.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 12:18:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chris Desmond <c_desmond@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hose me down!

DAVID Romain  wrote:

> And God, what HAPPENED to Colin's Voice ???
> Listening to "fruit nut" or "frivolous tonight" is unbearable, sounds
> like an old mariner's voice.

Actually, I think it's rather sexy.

 "Valerie J. Keathley" wrote:
Oh I have totally had a crush on Andy since I was in sixth grade.
....(snip)  How could you not be titillated by a man who wrote
> such a
> sexy song as "Grass" ...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Grass was written by Colin, who is
pretty titillating in his own right. What did Andy refer to him as in
'Song Stories'... a cross between Rudolf Nureyev and Chrissie Hynde?
I'd flatten the clover with him any day.

Off to take a cold shower.

Chris

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

Message-ID: <IBoYETA0JzL3Iw0S@coopefamily.demon.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 18:46:28 +0100
From: KT <Katy@coopefamily.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Ralph and AbFab

In article <004701be954c$74f1a840$6e5791d2@johnboud>, John Boudreau
<aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> writes
>From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com>
>
>>No one has mentioned Absolutely Fabulous yet...
>>it's supposed to be funny.I found it incredibally
>>mean-spirited and cruel.
>>Ranks right up there with the Honeymooners-a supposedly classic
>>American sitcom in which the main charecter repeatedly threatens his
>>wife with physical violence. A laugh riot, let me tell you. Who thinks
>>this stuff up? And who thinks that one person's abuse of another is
>>FUNNY?

I think you kinda missed the point of AbFab. The abuse bit isn't the
thing that's meant to be funny. In fact, I've never seen it as abuse.
the 'plot' of AbFab is that the two adults are acting like kids, the
smoke, drink and take drugs to an excess, and the only one with any
degree of maturity is the kid. I think it's really funny. but it might
be like asking you Americans to 'get' the 'Hi, I'm Ed Winchester!' jokes
from 'the fast show' (I'm guessing they edited them out, they are just
taking the piss out of US news presenters, if you haven't seen it)

one more question, Does anyone think 'Rex the Runt' will make it to the
US? I loved it, but too many people found it to weird..

--
KT Coope
    "I like-- jam!"   Vince

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

From: Melsta@aol.com
Message-ID: <b1cd8271.2460a4b6@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 15:29:58 EDT
Subject: Ollie-May

Hey Chalkers! Two from me in one lifetime! Whadaya know about that?

Mr. Paul XTCKinks wrote in no. 188:

> This is my third posting addressing cruelty in 2 1/2 years (second
> regarding Molly). I could have posted many many more times. Is there
> anyone else (I know there's one, because you privately emailed your
> support) who feels like I do? Speak up! Let's stop the Molly-bashing
> before I go POSTAL.

OK, it was me. I'll speak up. I was tired of people picking on AMANDA too,
but she, well, not to say she deserved it, but, somehow I found her a
little more provocative or something. And anyway she's better now. But
people are picking picking picking all the time at Molly - it's getting to
be the Chalkhills National Pastime. Quit it.

Please e-mail me privately for further discussion.

And on the subject of XTC lust, I recently went through a terrible crush on
Colin. I love Andy's description of him as a cross between Chrissy Hynde
and Rudolph Nureyev!! And what I've read about him, well, I just think we'd
click. But he's got his Carol and I've got my Ken, so it's not to
be. Besides, I'm only 31. But still, if I ever met him, it would take all I
had in me not to sing to him:

"You be my Andy and I'll be your Erica".

Speaking of whom, nobody answered Mr. Ed Saints3Den in his question about
whether Erica was possibly black. What'samatter? Too politically incorrect
for ya?  I have had the same thought myself, though I don't remember what
triggered it. Coulda been the "chocolate nipple brown" thang. Mine are
pink, personally. I guess my husband's are a little on the cafe au lait
side, but not chocolate. Whatever.

Speaking of nipples, this isn't a real band name, but anyone looking for one,
don't use it, it's MINE:

Priapic Nipple

--Melissa "Ouch" Reaves

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

Message-ID: <000c01be965d$4b2cba60$f1f0abc3@vucqprlj>
From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com>
Subject: Points from Digest #191
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 19:37:15 +0100

A few points on the last digest grabbed me.

Dunks wrote:
"1.1 The debate over the choice of the first single remains unresolved,
although some agreement was reached on the point that a remix of 'Greenman'
might have stood a better chance of actually getting into the charts."

Great stuff.  If the band haven't decided yet on the third single do you
think it's worth pleading for it to be Greenman?  As I said weeks ago, it's
crying out to be a single.  With airplay it could be a hit.  I'm sure of it.

Elizabeth said:
"AND, for the record, I too cannot believe anyone would dislike Nonsvch
almost as much as GO2. It's a snapshot of the mature Dukes, and it's full
of humour and color and emotion and some of the best XTC moments I know
of."

Agreed.  To my ears there's more feeling in almost any single song on
Nonsuch than there is (for instance) on Skylarking...here he goes again.
I'm going to try to stoke up a decent debate on something other than the
Beatles/BB...yawn,  or Yes and Genesis...technicolour yawn, decent American
sit coms (count on one hand...err...MASH...err...).  Come on, slag me off
for not being into Skylarking!  Let's have some decent argument about this
boys and girls.  Strictly Marquis of Queensbury rules, mind.

Kirsten said:
Least Favorite XTC Song:  No Thugs in Our House
And before anyone takes umbrage, I don't hate this song because of those
long, lyric-discussing posts!  I just plain can't stand the song.  I think
it has something to do with the two songs it's placed between on ES--
between the melodic "Jason" and the ethereal "Yacht Dance."  I'd rather
listen to these two by themselves, without the interruptive yelling and
jarring chords that comprise "No Thugs."

Woah there, Kirsten!  Wind your viewpoint in!   Actually, it's refreshing to
hear someone state a diametrically opposite view to your own.  I love all of
ES (less mad about Fly on the Wall, I suppose), but there's not much better
in life (other than the obvious pleasures: like sex, chocolate, and seeing
Man United being truly thrashed) than cranking up the volume and blasting
Thugs out!  Gets me blood goin'.

BTW, on the subject of lust.  It's got to be Kate Bush!  In the words of
someone I remember writing in the NME circa 1978- "I'd crawl across miles of
broken glass backwards to ......." get the drift?  The woman is the only
songwriter (if we don't include the erratic McCartney) to rival Mr
Partridge; she's a genius, a fascinating personality and horny as hell to
boot.  Reckon The Sensual World is the most erotic piece of music.  "Mmmm
yes."  Gets me everytime, but don't tell my wife.  Time for another cold
shower!

Ain't nothing in the world like the Sensual Kate
Make your Union Jack and your flag unfurl.

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

From: WillJ4comm@aol.com
Message-ID: <441eb712.2460b316@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 16:31:18 EDT
Subject: Lennon: Musician/person of the century

Michael Stone wrote:

<<
David Seddon wrote:

>TBOPP- This really rocks!  When I first heard it I thought it was probably a
>tribute to John Lennon and since I consider that he will go down in history
>as the greatest musician of the century (ok, so tell me who was more
>important)

Come on now.  That`s stretching things a little isn`t it? Yes, he wrote
some great songs, and he was in a great band, but let's not get carried
away.
>>

Couching this all by stating up front that this is all purely a matter of
opinion, but I couldn't agree more with David: John Lennon was, in my mind,
not only the greatest musician of the century (that is, someone who made
music), but he's also my vote for Time Magazine's Person of the Century --
no, I'm not kidding.

Like Armstrong, Lennon was nearly the definition of an entertainer. With
the possible exception of the other Beatles (and maybe armstrong, now that
I think about it), there were few truly talented people who were more witty
and charming in the public light. Like Ghandi, Lennon had bold, outspoken
views on violence, war and peace, etc. True that unlike Ghandi, Lennon did
not lead an entire country to independence. But I would contend, even more
than Ghandi, Lennon emphasized the full integration of love into an entire
world political view, then created entertaining, uplifting, challenging and
inspiring ways to share that view and help people experience it and adopt
that same viewpoint. True, maybe not as complex as Stravinsky musically,
but much better to shake your booty to (we'll leave it up to Andy to
integrate Lennon and Stravinsky -- Easter Theatre, you say? well bless my
soul, he's already started!)

To me, Lennon towers over any political figure, and stands above all other
artists (not too high over some, mind you, but still above). He
successfully communicated a unifying spiritual worldview in both political
and entertainment context, and showed through example that creativity,
kindness and love are the most powerful, most persuasive forces at our
grasp, and he (alone and with the beatles) encouraged us to experience that
for ourselves.

In my mind, a no-brainer. John Lennon, musician and person of the century.

Burning with Optimism's Flame (sparked in Andy in part by John, I'll bet --
the optimism, not the song), Will J

P.S. - While I've heard people say that Andy claims Peter Pumpkinhead is a
"one song fits all martyrs" type deal, I always think of Jesus, and now
that David mentions it, John fits well into that mold, too. Don't worry,
I'm not a "John was the second coming of Jesus" person, but they did share
many good qualities. No coincidence, though even a bunch of reactionary,
dogmatic Christians pounced on Lennon for saying the Beatles were bigger
than Jesus (most likely simply a statement of fact at that time),
apparently John was actually quite a fan of JC, and liked what he stood
for.

"The Kingdom of heaven is at hand"
- Jesus Christ

"I don't expect you to understand
The Kingdom of heaven is in your hands"
-John Lennon, "Real Love" demo, later removed from the official "Beatles"
version on Anthology 2

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

Message-ID: <00f001be966c$824be980$058bb0d1@JH3.alternatech.net>
From: "JH3" <jh3@netins.net>
Subject: Weird Dream / Go-2-ness
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 15:27:16 -0500

I had this really weird XTC dream last night. I was in a long room with a
platform/dais thingie at the far end... I think it was a press conference,
or maybe a convention, or maybe a press conference held at a
convention. Andy and Colin walked up to the podium, both wearing full
camouflage gear and caps with mosquito netting around their heads - though
you could still tell it was them.  And then Andy announced that they were
going to stop making records and devote all of their time and energy to the
design and production of toy soldiers and war games, and that Colin was
also going to write a spy novel. (Colin didn't say a word the whole time.)

The announcement caused a huge uproar, with everyone shouting out questions
about how soon the first batch of toy soldiers and war games were going to
be available, and several people asked me if I had any old vinyl LP's for
sale and were offering me obscenely large amounts of money for them, and I
just kept refusing to sell anything.

So... maybe I just need more medication.

And on a more personal note (I won't name names because I don't want
to single anyone out), there's been a lot of this sort of thing lately:

>AND, for the record, I too cannot believe anyone would dislike
>Nonsvch almost as much as GO2...<snip>

The problem here is not that people like or dislike Nonsvch etc., but that
too often people assume that everybody agrees that Go 2 is XTC's "worst"
album (admittedly, a contradiction in terms). Why assume such a thing?
Despite what certain polls might indicate, several of us Chalkies consider
Go 2 to be XTC's best album; we just don't make a lot of noise about it. I,
for one, consider it to be the greatest album of all time, by anyone,
anywhere, ever. Better than Sgt. Pepper, Pet Sounds, Beethoven's 5th, Apple
Venus Vol. I, you name it.

While I hope the rest of the world (for their sake!) will eventually come
to bask in the eternal joyous light of Go-2-ness forever and ever amen, for
the time being I'm not going to assume everyone else believes as I
do. Maybe I should post more often about it to try to bring others 'round,
but most of us Go 2 types aren't really into proselytizing, probably
because Andy doesn't dig religions. You'll just have to find out for
yourself, I'm afraid!

Oh well.

John H. "I hope that didn't sound patronizing, etc., etc." Hedges
XTCWare: http://www.alternatech.net/jh3/xtc

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

Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 17:00:17 -0400
From: Steve Pitts <Steve_Pitts@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Flowery Twats
Message-ID: <199905041700_MC2-747A-ABFA@compuserve.com>

Chalkfolks,

In 5-189 Tyler Hewitt queried:

>> Who thinks this stuff up? And who thinks that one person's abuse of
another is FUNNY? <<

Pretty much anyone who is a fan of Fawlty Towers, for a start. I guess it
depends on how you define 'abuse' and where you draw the line as to what is
unacceptable. Blackadder abuses Baldrick, Basil Fawlty abuses Manual,
Lister and Rimmer (Red Dwarf) abuse each other, Rik gets abuse from Viv in
The Young Ones, and so on. Some of it is verbal, some is physical, but all
of the aforementioned I find funny, often uproariously so. I have to agree
that AbFab isn't particularly funny, but not for the reason that you cite

and Mark stated:

>> I must confess.....I like all of their albums....hell, I downright enjoy
them to the bone <<

Nice to finally hear someone voice that thought. I don't see how you can
compare 'Battery Brides' with 'Rook', or 'My Weapon' with 'Your
Dictionary', or ... well any two tracks of your choice separated by more
than a release or two. XTC have grown and changed over the years, as have
their audience. Whilst such comparisons are much of the life-blood of a
list such as Chalkhills, they are really rather odious. Why not simply
enjoy what one of the finest bands of all time have given us??

Cheers, Steve

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

Message-ID: <002001be9677$4c156de0$64eaabc3@vucqprlj>
From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com>
Subject: John Lennon
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 22:43:37 +0100

A few more comments about John Lennon.  Michael stone wrote:

"Come on now.  That`s stretching things a little isn`t it? Yes, he wrote
some great songs, and he was in a great band, but let's not get carried
away.

Here's just a few musicians who I'd say have got all over Lennon for that
coveted title:

Duke Ellington -he had a great band for 50 years!
George Gershwin -perhaps the greatest song writer ever
Igor Stravinsky -wrote "The Rite of Spring", the single most influential
       piece of orchestral music of the 20th century
Charlie Parker - came up with a new way of playing that turned jazz on its
ear

But without a doubt, to me the greatest and most influential musician
of the 20th century:

Louie Armstrong -with his fabulous trumpet playing, he set the course for
           all jazz that came after him.  As a singer and an entertainer,
           he set the course for popular music.  If there had been no
           Armstrong, jazz and pop music would be drastically different
           than it is now."

Now you've mentioned some pretty great musicians there, Michael and I
wouldn't deny it.  I'm a big jazz fan and a tenor sax player, and the best
musician-as-instrumental-great I have ever seen live was Sonny Rollins.
The guy is awesome and IMHO better than Miles Davis was anyway, but I don't
want to bore people with why.  But here's why I stick with Lennon over any
of them:

Lennon is the most imaginative songwriter since (Schubert?)  Well I know
Schubert's stuff pretty well and frankly I think that he and McCartney were
better, more prolifically good and more diverse.  They wrote so many
standards that it's scarcely believable.  Gershwin (and Cole Porter) were
class writers of some of the best songs ever, but they didn't write as many
great songs as L&McC. McCartney needed Lennon more than vice versa, but I
wouldn't argue with anyone who said they were equals.

Lennon changed the world (with the Beatles, but he was the main reason they
existed).  The others only changed music.

Rock music will go down as the dominant music of the century.  The greatest
classical musicians may have been better than the Beatles, but not in this
century they weren't.  You can't compare Stravinsky to Mozart or Chopin or
Handel, for instance.  Jazz is great music, but it defined a decade or two,
since then it became a tributary.  Rock music defines the post war era.

Imagine a world without the guys you mention.  Some things wouldn't have
happened I know and it would be much less richer musically as a result.
Imagine it without the Beatles and there is a gaping hole the size of a
planet.

I can't help but feel that The Beatles will be amongst the 10 things that
people remember about the 20th Century in 1000 years time.  The other guys?
Sorry.

Charlie Parker was a brilliant musician and wrote some good standard jazz
pieces, but I wouldn't call him a great writer of tunes that people will hum
in the streets.

The Beatles were from Liverpool so they have to be the best!

Cheers , I don't expect you to agree, but there you go.

Dave

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

Message-ID: <19990504220230.17591.rocketmail@web805.mail.yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1999 15:02:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chris Desmond <c_desmond@yahoo.com>
Subject: Ahh well

This, from John Gardner, whom I had expected more from:
>Subject: XTC Content for Chris Yahoo

>Hey Chris @YAHOO DOT COM:  Or should I say,  *Chrissy*:

You should Say, Say, Say what you want, but dont play games with my
affection...

>I quote:

No, *I* quote!...

>Give us some meaningful, thought provoking posts, will you,
>and stop acting like a prude, Damit!

Oooh! The nerve! Here I am, just stepping out of my cold shower, and
you have to go getting all personal on me (hey, watch the hands,
pal...)

>I now quote you:

Or is it *I*, again quoting *you*?

<<I'm supposed to feign being an intellectual snob and pretend that
<<I am above all this, but for fuck's sake, I'm only human.>

>Yes, I think you should take that advice of yours.  Somehow, you
>strike me more as someone who *chews on ice and takes cold showers*
>than someone *feigning* having an INTELLECT!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting confused as to who
said what here. Oh yes, I guess I was the one who was only human. Well,
John, here's what I have to say to you, you Cheeky Monkey: You can go
spouting off all you want about Tablas and Time Signatures (a followup
to Chalkhills and Children, me wonders?) but I can get my point across
much less pompously. There are those who would fashion themselves as
the relevancy police here on the 'hills. That "fashion" is not mine.
However, you might say I'm a member of the bullshit police, cutting
through the crap wherever it runs deep. Call me reactionary, never the
proactivist, if you must. Just don't call me late for dinner. Buh dum.

I'll just leave you with this final thought: It takes a mountain of
molehills to make the most of a mental motion.

Whatever,

Chris

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End of Chalkhills Digest #5-194
*******************************

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5 May 1999 / Feedback