Chalkhills Digest Volume 5, Issue 53
Date: Tuesday, 5 January 1999
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 53
Tuesday, 5 January 1999
Today's Topics:
Surreal Japanese transaltion of Take Away/Lure... cut?
Brevity is the soul of wit? F*** that! Let's ramble.
PEPPERLAND
Transistor Blast Review
Limbaugh
Japanese Releases?!? Cost?!?
Apple Venus, Soundscan, Billboard Charts, etc
Boycott, not me
Apple Venus Vinyl?
XTC without Dave Gregory
Sad songs?
Japanese bonus tracks
Runaway Synchronicity
Release policy
Jesus wrote a book?
XTC Article in MNOTW
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <3690DACF.658B@ibm.net> Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 07:14:23 -0800 From: "Dale \"Dale\" Gardner" <hifitoaster@ibm.net> Subject: Surreal Japanese transaltion of Take Away/Lure... cut? Howdy Pardon me if this has been covered recently, but I'm just on board again after a yearlong Chalkhills hiatus. In Neville Farmer's Song Stories he mentions surreal Japanese translations of "The Forgotten Language of Light" off of Take Away/Lure of Salvage. Does anyone have a Japanese copy with the translations. If so, could you post them (or email off list)? Thanks. Color me curious. Sleep Cheap Dale (hifitoaster@ibm.net)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <19990104064209.9596.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Brevity is the soul of wit? F*** that! Let's ramble. Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 22:42:07 PST Hello Chook-heelers! Back from a sweet but all-too-short holiday. We blew all our money. So what? We managed to have a great time on beautiful Fraser Island, even though my son got chicken-pox the day we got there. There I was, feet up, lazing on the balcony of a holiday villa, sipping a fine single malt (Glenlivet for those who care), XTC pumping in the headphones, devouring my newly-won copy of "Song Stories". A small piece of heaven on a stick ... ... now I sit here, broke, ploughing through the accumulated digests while President Kill is living through another Cuba with the B'stard of Baghdad. "Hooray, we'll stack body bags...." My, but how busy you've all been in my abscence! I've had to spend hours catching up ! Talk about garrulous - I thought the folks on the Move List could spin a yarn, but you lot are the most verbose, argumentative crowd I come across yet. Excellent! (Who are those firebrands, Smithers?) Shall I be brief in my responses to the many issues which have arisen in my abscence? Shall I, bollocks! *CHALKHILLS MINI-CONVENTION (South-east Australian Chapter) As alluded to by Iain himself, I was delighted to finally meet and greet in person those estimable Chalkhillers Paul Culnane and Iain Murray. The venue for our first meeting was indeed a tad grim, but we reconvened chez Culnane some days later and had a great time. My ears are still ringing. Geez, Paul, you like it LOUD, don't you? We raised a toast, and spent pleasant hours yakking about anything and everything, and even occasionally mentioning XTC. To be continued! FAVES OF '98 **Costello and Bacharach - Painted From Memory. At the very least, the best album of 1998. Certainly up there with the best work EC has ever done, and quite probably the best singing of his career. *Indisputably* the best work from Mr Bach-O-Rock in at least the last 25 years. Like the legendary Pet Sounds, it conceals great emotional power and lyrical depth behind an elegant pop facade. (Could be hard listening for anyone who is going through, or has recently gone through, a breakup, though). I am still reeling back in gob-smacked awe at the doom-laden magnificence of track 11: "What's Her Name Today?" Just f***ing brilliant. The song Nick Cave has been trying to write all his life ... as if he ever could. Plus, Elvis will be here in Sydney with Steve Nieve next month ... woo-hoo! **Genesis - Archives Call me an old hippy (I know you will anyway) but this set is worth it, if only for the legendary 1973 Rainbow live recording of "Supper's Ready". I dare you to listen to that one and tell me Phil Collins can't play. **Brian Wilson - "Imagination" OK it's not Pet Sounds II, but any Brian album is a good album. **Regurgitator - "Unit" Pure pop for now people. My highlight is "The Song Formerly Known As", their fun-ky tribute to Prince. Hey I wonder if Mr Purple himself played "1999" on New Year's Eve. Damn, I would like to have that royalty cheque! **The Stooges - "Raw Power" (IggyOs 98 remix) Goddam! This must be the loudest record ever made. I LOVE it **Neil Finn - Try Whistling This Is there no end to this man's talent? And now his SON is playing? Do I sense a dynasty forming. Beauty! **Smashing Pumpkins - Adore Billy turns it down a bit. For some reason, I'm reminded of Mummer. But they still kick arrrrse. And it has Mike Garson on piano. **Black Sorrows - Radio Waves: I know it came out a while back, but I only got this a couple of weeks ago so I'm putting it in anyway. A great momento of one of Australia's best bands; three-CD, 36-track live set, which showcases A) what a superb singer / songwriter Joe Camilleri is, and B) what a consistently excellent live band the Sorrows were ... and anything with the celestial voices of Vika and Linda Bull on it is worth having. Plus it has the talents of Our Blessed Lady of The Backing Vocal, Venetta Fields. I can't recommend this group too highly to anyone on the list who has not yet disovered them. Any and all of their albums are worth getting. TOO MANY TRACKS Errr ... are you mental? Did I really see a complaint about having TOO MANY XTC tracks?? I can only respond with a resounding "bollocks to that". That's like me saying "Oh bother, there's far too much money in this wallet". Get real - we are talking precious currency here. You want LESS XTC?? Well, stop buying it then! So what if it's not (in your opinion) all quite up to the stellar standards of albums like Black Sea, or English Settlement, or [insert preferred album here]? Compared to the audio gruel most people seem happy to digest (if commercial radio and music TV here is any indicator) I'll gobble up as much tasty and nutritious XTC as Andy and Colin can ladle out, thank you very much! (Anyone for another big steaming plateful of Spice Girls? ... anyone?) COUNTDOWN AND MOLLY I feel obliged to respond to Roger McDonald's rather uncharitable - and inaccurate - remarks (5/23) about Countdown and Ian 'Molly' Meldrum. (Sorry if this is a bit obscure for non-Aussies. Countdown was the major force in Australian pop music in the 70s and 80s. Essentially our Top of the Pops, it ran unchallenged from 1974 into the early 90s as the No.1 music show on Australian TV. Its talent coordinator (and later host) was Ian "Molly" Meldrum, ex-pop journo and music producer,. Famous for his rambling, incoherent on-air style, Molly was at his "best" with his stupendously bumbling performance with special guest Prince Charles in a famous 1988 broadcast. (The outtakes are legendary and were recently shown on a New Years Eve show here - Molly repeatedly fluffing his intro, saying F*** very loudly, and then dying of emabarrassment; Charles quizzically asking the mortified Molly why he doesn't use an autocue ...) Roger - Molly has his failings, but I must spring to his defence and say that he is and has always been a staunch champion of Australian music (and the best of overseas music). If it wasnt for him, and his direct involvement in getting Countdown on the air in 1974, the 70s/80s rock and pop scene in Australia would have been a much smaller, sadder affair. OK so the Angels are a bit ordinary. I can live with that - but hey, they're still going strong after 20 years, which is more than most bands can boast. And what the hell is so bad about Cold Chisel anyway? OK the reunion is a bit naff, and Barnesy ... well, the bloke just tries too hard ... but IMHO they were a *great* band and Don Walkers songs are unimpeachably brilliant. (Actually, they regularly took pleasure in bagging Molly, and famously lambasted him in their legendary (84?) Countdown Awards performance, when they belted out a vituperative song aimed at him, then trashed the set. Radio Birdman? OK I agree they probably werent considered "Countdown material", but they werent the only ones. It was a POP show after all, and there used to be plenty of other outlets for that kind of stuff. I think they had their moments, but feel personally that they were highly overrated (and as I recall, even their uber-hero Iggy thought they were crap). Riptides, Gobies and others? Be fair - they had *good* exposure on Countdown, mate. And lest we forget that Molly consistently championed many bands like Split Enz, Sports, The Church and Models. As for MEO245? Well ... zzz! For me, a merely adequate 80s haircut band, whom I had not thought of in years ...very like Fisher Z, in fact. And of course I MUST remind you (and get in the obligatory topic reference) by mentioning that Countdown was, after all, the first Australian TV show to play XTC videos. 'nuff said? Not quite - I conclude by declaring that Molly resides in my personal Hall of Fame for having had the incomparable good taste to punch out Billy Joel. SONG STORIES One aspect which disappointed/puzzled me was the conspicuous-by-its-abscence non-comment and non-information about the band's original management - which surely forms one of the major thematic threads in Andys writing. OK I know there are legal issues here ... but what *is* this arrangement Neville Farmer speaks of? Sounds pretty draconian. What else are they *not* allowed to discuss ... or do? Could I be forgiven for speculating that one could expect to find a sizeable index reference under the name "Reid, Ian" in a possible future book, which might perchance be the much-needed English version of Fred Goodmans excellent "The Mansion on the Hill"? And might this hypothetical book perhaps also examine the affairs of other prominent British entertainment identities ... like Mike Jeffries, Peter Grant, Don Arden, Tony Secunda, and that bloke from Immediate who nicked all the Small Faces' money? (Not Oldham, the other one). Hell, I'd buy a copy. HOBBIES Simon Deane/Gina Chong said: >I get the feeling some members of this list are letting XTC take up >too big a part of their lives. You really should go out more - find >an interesting hobby or something. Oh really? Well I'm with Harry on this one - I think a lot of us already have a hobby that suits us just fine! What would you suggest as an alternative? The Celine Dion Fan Club? Golf? (Now there's an environmentally-friendly, socially-useful pastime) MARK ISHAM I can recommend his soundtrack for the excellent (and much underrated) Fred Schepsi feature, "Mrs Soffel", and the film itself. I'm not a Mel Gibson fan at all, but he's quite good in this one, and of course it co-stars the luminous Diane Keaton. *sigh*. I recall it was unkindly reviewed at the time; one particularly bitchy reviewer commented: "Soffel rhymes with offal", which was both uncalled-for and innacurate, since the name was pronounced 'so-fel'. MOJO Can't wait for the big XTC feature. I LOVE this magazine, and its sister publication, Q, which are my monthly postcards from the real world (well, London, anyway). But I am getting a wee bit bored with these "100 Greatest Whatever" lists, which seem a poor excuse for proper stories. (Like, when are they going to do something - anything- about the Australian rock scene?). And the worst thing about those lists? You cant help picking them apart, can you? I mean, how can anyone take seriously a 100 Greatest Singers list which includes that tedious, second-rate hack Phony Bennett, yet omits Barbra Streisand? A list which includes Aretha, Tina, Dionne, Chaka and Gladys, but leaves out the phenomenal Patti LaBelle, arguably the best singer of the lot?? A list which rates Placebo The Dingo with Nick Cave?? Ridiculous. Bizarre. And I'm sorry, but Sinatra did, does and will always just totally, completely SUCK ASS. Flame away, kiddies. IMHO he bites - bigtime. Since when did he become cool. What? He did a duet with BONO? Oh, that makes all the difference ... "ART" AND ARTS FUNDING Funk Genie (5-37), you were SO right-on with your comments. Succinctly put and right on-the-mark. Why DO so many people have a problem with government arts funding? At least it means *some* 'left-field' artists get support for their work, instead of NONE, which is what would otherwise happen. Oh, you dont like what they do? Well, dont go to the exhibition. I can assure you that here in Australia, many, many outstanding creative artists would not be working creatively at all were it not for the existence of our excellent (tho' much-criticised) federal and state funding bodies. And people from more populous countries need to bear in mind just HOW important these organisatons are for small countries like Australia and New Zealand. We have a tiny population here, relative to the US or the UK, so artists simply cant survive though the 'economy of scale' (e.g. in the record industry) which enables cult artists to survive in larger market. It's always been a cruel fact Aussie bands had to go overseas to "make it", and some still sell more in places like Sweden than here in OZ. Without gov't support, the Australian Arts Scene could have its AGM in my lounge room. And let's not overlook that most basic of all subsidies for the struggling artist - the good old Unemployment Benefit. I know for a fact that there are a hell of a lot of Australian musos who would not have made it in the business at all had they not been able to get through the lean times by subsisting on the meagre (and I do mean MEAGRE) support provided by the dole. And why the hell shouldn't they? I for one am proud to see my tax dollars go towards unemployment benefits. Which reminds me - why is it that the current gang of robber barons seem to have totally neglected the concept of 'noblesse oblige', which their predecessors like Carnegie and Rockerfeller at least saw fit to honour. Take for instance Dicky Branson, who's made a tidy pile out of the British music industry and XTC, thanks very much. Why isn't he using some of his loverly money to create a music foundation, instead of blowing it on vapid, self-serving jaunts around the world in a enlarged model of his own head? Hey, I heard his latest balloon just crashed and he had to be rescued from "Shark-Infested Waters" ... obviously not infested enough! Seems to me the sharks could learn a thing or two about predation from Mr Branson. Just look at those teeth! And as for what is or is not 'Art' - I merely mention the motto by Marshall McLuhan, who opined that: "Art is anything you can get away with." (Just ask Damien Hirst). AMPY PARTRIDGE Simon Sleightholm - I am dead envious. Loved your delightful post (5-32) about getting Andy's amp. As Michael Palin said ..."You lucky, lucky bastard ..." TERRY THE TUB-THUMPER Total agreement with Mark Strijbos (5-32) about Terry - one of the truly great original drummers of the rock era, extraordinarily talented, and all the more so because he was basically self-taught. THE TOWNHOUSE Cool points from Paul Culnane (5-32) about the PG/XTC interface . As I recall, the Townhouse was the favoured manor at that time, thanks to its acoustics, and habitues like Messrs Lilywhite, Launay and Padgham. I think PG and XTC were recording/mixing at roughly the same time, hence Squinty and others' presence on the 3rd PG album. Sounds like it was also the last time anyone was able to tell Phil Collins what to do - I recall hearing PG in a great Triple-J interview, talking about all the amazing sounds on the album, and saying that he had a hell of a job getting Phil to put away the cymbals. But it paid off. BTW - the key sound on PG albums is the triangle. Trust me. As for a PG cover by Trent Reznor ... as far as I can see, Mr Nine Inch Nose has based his whole career on retreading ideas from PG3 ... so why bother doing a cover? Face it - Reznor and Manson could only make it in America, 'cos it's the only place where people don't realise that the music is yesterday's gear ... and Yanks are the only people who could possibly be shocked by their vaudeville antics. MUMMER Re: Michael Davies' question about Mummer ... at the time, I saw it as a perfectly logical extension of English Settlement, mining the pastoral seam they had opened up. (And I love Jim Slade's description of ES and Mummer as being "wooden" albums - perfectly put). At that stage, no-one realised they would NEVER play live again, so it seemed a normal off-road excursion to me. I loved the album at the time, especially 'Elements' and 'Farmboy', tho' I must admit that my stylus tended to linger on Side 1 more often. In retrospect I also feel that they (Andy especially) saved some of the best material for the b-sides ... here I'm thinking of "Gold", "Extrovert" and especially my fave from that period, "Jump". If they could afford to relegate stuff of that quality to the b-side or the 12", what ELSE does Andy have lurking in the shed? Zounds! LYLE LOVETT Off topic perhaps, but Jill Oleson got my interest with her mention (5-33) of Lyle Lovett's new LP. Jill, am I correct in assuming that he includes a Roky Erikson cover on this outing, as indicated by the choice of title? "Step Inside This House" is of course a famous Roky/13th Floor Elevators track, (which I think Elevators actually used to sing as "Trip Inside This House" - they weren't kidding either). It was superbly covered by Primal Scream on "Screamadelica", and the excellent Roky tribute CD "Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye" (Warners 1991), which also features ZZ Top, Julian Cope, Jesus & Mary Chain, John Wesley Harding and of course, Many More. Highlight for me is the truly barnstorming version of the Elevators' garage classic "You're Gonna Miss Me", by the great Doug Sahm. It ROCKS. Go and get it. REMIXES Didn't Andy already do the remix thing with Go+ and Takeaway ... and apparently got it out of his system? And what the hell is so good about what they do? Am I just getting old? Maybe ... but remixes are sad, boring, parasitic wastes of good vinyl done by people who lack even a shred of original talent. Cornershop release the marvellous "Brimful of Asha" and it gets to No 65. Norman Cook pastes a boring disco beat onto it and it goes to No.1. Go figure. I heard the other day that, on the strength of his inane remix of "Professional Widow", by boring Kate Bush clone Tori Amos - which used only two lines from the song - the guy who did it now charges $30,000 per remix. And people pay for it?! Talk about Money for Nothing!! Personally, I think I've only ever heard one remix of a song which actually improved the original, and that was Aussie muso Richard Pleasance's remix of his own song "The Best Thing". Originally an cod-anthemic, fast-paced 80s rocker by his band, Boom Crash Opera, he remixed into a shimmering and supremely groovy 7-minute psyche-trance epic for their 'odds & sods' CD "Look, Listen". Highly recommended. But from what I've heard of the current style in so-called remixes, I'll stick with Mr Partidge, thanks very much. PHIL AND FRIENDS ENOUGH already with these futile and meaningless debates about the relative merits of Messrs Prince, P., Mastellotto and Phipps. (hey - did anyone else notice that all their first names start with the letter "P"? Is this a clue?) Can we confine these debates to inter-personal emails from now on please. And after all, didnt these guys ALL play with XTC? Erm ... could that not be taken as a fair indication that they are, at the very least, rather good players? TAXATION, etc Excuse me, but, until this list merges with alt.libertarianism, may I humbly suggest using a more appropriate venue for airing personal politics. I'm here to communicate talk about XTC and related matters, not listen to political rants. (See above for evidence of author's breathtaking hypocrisy) MUSICO-MARITAL INCOMPATIBILTY SYNDROME Phil, Nanette - sorry but it sounds like it's time to call the lawyers. I have a friend who LOVES Neil Young; his wife HATES Neil Young. He can't even listen to it in the house when she's there. That's not a marriage - that's "cruel and unusual punishment". Seriously though, my wife and I both agree that neither of us could possibly imagine marrying someone who didn't share the same music tastes. It's one of the deepest and strongest bonds we have. It would just be hell not to be able to share that. Why put yourself through it? OK maybe for the hot sex ... but I just cannot deal with the idea of NOT being able to listen to my music, whenever I want to. Isn't it written into the Universal Delaration of Human Rights that youOre entitled to do that? GRASS-SHOW Martin - I hereby declare that Grass-Show, with the title of their album "Something Smells Good in Stinkville", are winners of my personal oscar for the "Most Obscure Saturday Night Live Reference in an album title for 1998" .... God, has it really come to this ...? JEFFERSON STARSHIP Don't wanna diss Prairie Prince, whose work I admire, but is this band about thirty years past its use-by date or what? OK - come and get me. I'm waiting for you and I have both barrels loaded ... Dunks
------------------------------ From: Matt_Kaden/CAM/Lotus@lotus.com Message-ID: <852566EF.00694096.00@mta2.lotus.com> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 14:01:30 -0500 Subject: PEPPERLAND There has been a new release called PEPPERLAND from Silent Sea Productions. It's a 2CD set and if you find it = BUY it. It takes Sgt. Pepper and stands it on its head. It consists of every Pepper era rarity known to exist, including alternate takes, alternate mixes, demos but most importantly: The first time BBC played the album on the air with comedian Kenny Everett as DJ with special crazed guests Lennon & McCartney. The entire mono mix is also included which incidentally sounds worlds better than the album we got to know so well. This is it. The secrets have been unleashed. I felt like I was crawling through all the tracks of the Pepper masters. It blew me away, and at a time when I thought I had all worthy Beatlegs. Good luck finding it. Love, Matt
------------------------------ Message-ID: <2043F72A2C73D2119D5B0008C74CA17B1DF301@azmail.rjconsult.com> From: "Miller, Ed" <emiller@rjconsult.com> Subject: Transistor Blast Review Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 12:24:29 -0600 Hi, everyone.... Here's a review that appeared in a recent issue of Westword. The Westword is a weekly newspaper akin to the Village Voice, Dallas Observer, and other liberal weeklies whose names I no longer recall. XTC Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions (TVT) Andy Partridge, XTC's main man, is renowned for his dislike of live performances -- an opinion that, rightly or wrongly, has been interpreted as stage fright. But the two gigs commemorated by Transistor show that the only thing scary about XTC on stage during its early days was how impressive the band sounded. Add two more discs of BBC studio recordings and you've got a first-rate look at one of pop's most underrated acts. All for now.... Ed
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.1.16.19990104143758.293fa568@pop.mindspring.com> Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 14:37:58 From: marystephens <markdrake@mindspring.com> Subject: Limbaugh Howdy Chalktalkers from the Biblebelly! - Not much to say but I just had a panic attack in my cube. I'm sittin' here catching up on my vacation e-mail (Reading vol 5-50 as a matter of fact), listening to Tony Snow filling in for Rush Limbaugh, and coming in off of the 2:25 e.t. break I hear "Generals and Majors" being played as bumper music. Did anybody else hear it? Does anyone care? I just thought it neat that anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people could have heard a small snippet of OUR favorite mistrals. That's all 4 now. Mark D.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <03B5A36911F1900C*/c=US/admd=mci/prmd=marshmc/o=email/ou=NotesWREN/s=Moll/g=Christopher/@MHS> Date: 04 Jan 1999 20:05:45 Z From: Christopher Moll <Christopher.Moll@marshmc.com> Subject: Japanese Releases?!? Cost?!? "Will someone please explain to me why so many Japanese CD's have bonus tracks not available anywhere else??!! It simply doesn't cost any more to press a CD with ten songs or twelve songs." For some strange reason...foreign imports into Japan actually cost less then their domestic counterparts. The Japanese music markets due two things to try to combat this: 1) If you look somewhere on the back of most Japanese releases there are two dated numbers. The first is the general release date when the CD can be sold for it's CD release price...the second is to when it can be sold at it's discount rate. The Japanese music market...as much as it can...tries to control release dates so that the Japanese consumer is forced to buy the higher priced, original, domestic Japanese release while staying away from it's cheaper, imported, foreign counterpart. Most times they will try to time it that the imports will be available around the time of the second discounted date listed. That way the Japanese consumer wouldn't have that much of an incentive to buy the import. 2) To entice the Japanese consumer into buying the Japanese releases they will package them with additional tracks and or upgraded packaging. Now you know. chris23 Fave release of 98': Artist: Cornelius Title: Fantasma Label: Matador/Trattoria No other artist this year has released an album so forward thinking in it's production and so all encompassing in it's love for different music genre's as this release. We can say that a release is "Beatlesque" but we forget that the Beatles were of their time and also well ahead of it. "Fantasma" is such a release...containing elements of the Beatles, Beach Boys, My Bloody Valentine, Burt Bacharach, Drum-n-Bass, Jungle, Saturday Morning Cartoon Elements, and plenty of "cool" Planet of the Apes references. A must for any open-minded XTC fans into "headphone" music.
------------------------------ Message-ID: <36911FCC.EC5807B4@billnelson.com> Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 14:08:44 -0600 From: Mark Rushton <webmaster@billnelson.com> Subject: Apple Venus, Soundscan, Billboard Charts, etc In Chalkhills Digest, Volume 5, Number 52, Phil Corless asked some questions concerning the purchasing of Apple Venus and how sales of the album through online retailers affect the charts via SoundScan. Most major online CD retailers use the SoundScan system. This includes CDNow and Amazon.com. I've confirmed this information in past emails with company officials. So if you buy Apple Venus through CDNow or Amazon.com, it will be counted towards the SoundScan total and, subsequently, the Billboard charts. Direct record company sales are not counted towards SoundScan or the Billboard charts unless the record company participates in the SoundScan program. I'm not aware of any record companies doing direct mail order that participate in SoundScan. Another thing I've learned, again this directly from the Billboard people, is that it takes about 5000 to 7000 unit sales on a weekly basis to crack the Billboard Top 200 album chart. This varies depending on the week, time of the year, etc I found all this out at the time of the last Bill Nelson CD release, Atom Shop, in October 1998. Unfortunately, Bill's album didn't chart in the US. Maybe next time.... As XTC's fan base is still reasonably large in the US, quite frankly due to Chalkhills and the web, Apple Venus will surely chart. Perhaps it would be fun to guess where it will enter, peak, etc? Mark Rushton, Permanent Flame - The Bill Nelson/Be Bop Deluxe/Channel Light Vessel web site - http://www.billnelson.com
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199901042025.MAA09156@law-f67.hotmail.com> From: "Molly Fanton" <mollyfa@hotmail.com> Subject: Boycott, not me Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 12:25:43 PST Chalkers, JD Mack wrote: <<I hereby vow that if this is true, I will NOT by the TVT release of "Apple Venus." And I suspect many others will boycott the U.S. release if they can get their hands on the Japanese import. The question that needs to be asked is: what percentage of the people who would by "Apple Venus" in the U.S. are subscribers to this list (i.e. - die hard fans who care about these things). If we only make up, say, 1 % of all the people who will buy this album, then I guess it doesn't matter. But if we make up the majority of purchasers, the TVT would be making a colossal economic mistake not to release "Apple Venus" with bonus tracks as well (or at least make them available as a separate CD single). Am I way off base here?>> Yes, I think you are. I hate boycotting things. How is XTC going to get the sales if we boycott the album? Why should we punish the band becaues of the record company. I'm going to buy the album the first time it's released, which is when? I say go buy the album, and not punish the band. That's all for now. Molly http://www.angelfire.com/mo/mollyfa/index.html P.S. By the way, I got a new guestbook, because some stupid person screwed up my guestbook, and typed in XTC Sucks. Then I couldn't open up my guestbook. So I had to get a new one. So if you want to sign it go to http://www.angelfire.com/mo/mollyfa/guestbook.html. Thanks.
------------------------------ Message-Id: <199901042221.XAA07795@mb06.swip.net> Subject: Apple Venus Vinyl? Date: Tue, 5 Jan 99 00:26:09 +0200 From: Per Aronsson <per@aron.pp.se> Since CD:s sounds so bad, I really hope that Apple Venus will be released on vinyl. Is there anyone out there that have any information from the record company? The LP-market is growing. Many people are discovering that their old turntables sound better than their new cd-playesr. So I think it should be a good thing for XTC to produce a bunch of LP:s. I think a lot of people that otherwise wouldn't buy XTC, should do that. I judge by my own experience. Since not all artists is available on vinyl, I tend to give those who are a bigger ear. So what do do? Well, I hope that those who talks to Andy and Colin reminds them that the LP is alive and well... Per Aronsson.
------------------------------ From: Adamette1@aol.com Message-ID: <e5bdf906.36916481@aol.com> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 20:01:53 EST Subject: XTC without Dave Gregory I have to agree with those who have indiacted that Dave Gregory's influence in the band is irreplaceable. Lyrical and musical authorship are only two of the reasons that I love XTC. Another (of many) is their musicianship. The pages of "Song Stories" reminded me of just how important Dave's influence on the musicianship was. Throughout the whole book there are accounts of how Dave enthusiastically approached improving his contiribution to the songs musically. It seems clear to me that his influence will be sorely missed. Patrick Go Go2
------------------------------ Message-Id: <v01540b01b2b715126a1a@[139.80.100.165]> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 14:37:30 +1300 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Sad songs? Rob Crawford gleefully stateds that several threads have died, then inadvertently starts another... (re SF Sorrow) >It's worth buying for the saddest song of all time"Lonelist Man in the World" if it's sadder that "Puff the magic dragon", I'll be very surprised! Seriously, that's the saddest song I know (and I don't think I want to hear one that's sadder...) James
------------------------------ From: GFROBE@aol.com Message-ID: <b573001b.369171f7@aol.com> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 20:59:19 EST Subject: Japanese bonus tracks To JD Mack who asked why Japanese CDs have bonus tracks, U.S. record companies typically give their Japanese affiliates extra cuts for a number of reasons. Believe it or not, in Japan imports are actually cheaper than domestic releases. Additionally, Japanese production times are much longer than U.S. and by the time parts are ready it's usually too late for Japan to make a simultaneous release date with the U.S. Bonus cuts thus give the local Japanese company a way to persuade both retail stores and consumers to wait for their often late and more expensive release rather than simply order from America. Hope that makes you feel better.
------------------------------ From: nedrise@MNSi.Net Message-ID: <3690DB58.369D7F14@mnsi.net> Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 11:17:19 -0400 Subject: Runaway Synchronicity Hey Chalkhill-ites Just as I finished perusing Chalkhills 5-52, low and behold what comes on the radio but 'Runaways' from Transistor Blast. The station was WDET(Detroit Public Radio) and the cool, cool DJ was Ralph Valdez. Must be a good omen! - this will be a big year for XTC Oh yes, oh yes. Michael Stone Windsor, Ontario
------------------------------ From: Holger.Loeschner@mkjff.rlp.de Message-ID: <048208B9F651D21192EA0000F877AAD604CCF3@ns3.mbk.rpl> Subject: Release policy Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 10:13:33 +0100 > Will someone please explain to me why so many Japanese CD's have bonus > tracks not available anywhere else??!! It simply doesn't cost any more to > press a CD with ten songs or twelve songs! That's what J.D. wrote in # 5/52. There is no reason for that, absolutely not. Is it only a question that depends on the Japanese market? I don't know, but it has always been that way and I think it will always be that the Japanese handle a CD with more care. Their range of CD, their back catalogue is much wider than in Europe. Lots of records are available which you'll never find here or maybe only in few years. A booklet with lyrics, band history a.o. seems to be obligatory in Japan. This has been formerly the same with vinyl records which included also OBI & lyric sheets. When you compare the US-only Waxworks-CD with the Japanes Beeswax, or the paltry UK Rag'n'Bone with the Japanese edition. That one includes a thick booklet. It is not only a problem with XTC records, it is customary that the companies treat their product with unkindness. For the 25th anniversary of Queen remastered versions of their records had been reissued: standard jewel cases in Europe but miniature FOC in Japan - WHY? Perhaps our Japanese friends can give us answers to this question. Booklets and lyric sheets maybe more useful in Japan because of the total different language. Maybe it's a question of the budget including covers, cases and booklets - but that doesn't justify the omission of bonus tracks. The only reason I can make out is that the companies want to make more money: fans want to have everything, so they buy also the xpensive Japanese pressings because they have bonus tracks. Isn't it? Holger
------------------------------ Message-ID: <01BE3901.FECF46A0@h22.s253.ts32.hinet.net> From: Don Rogalski <tonikuo@ms10.hinet.net> Subject: Jesus wrote a book? Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 23:20:27 +0800 Pedant alert! (I speak of myself, for making this post) >From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> >Subject: Lennon & Jesus >I'm back, and may yet have reason to regret it. Indeed you do, especially when addressing such an astute crowd as this one. I speak light-heartedly, but in the interest of preserving the high standards of satirical and humourous expression on this list, I put on my pedant's cap and point my finger at: >**Twelve reasons why John Lennon has nothing in common with Jesus** >8. They both wrote two books, but John's are shorter AND funnier Yikes. That's a pretty embarrassing blooper, wouldn't you say? Pretty much robs the material of it's humour factor, sort of like saying that Beethoven was a great French general. Jay-zus... didn't any of you go to church as kids? Hell, I haven't set foot in one since I was sixteen, and am happily agnostic... but is this the great promise of our secularizing society, that the most fundamental basis (for better or worse, naturally) upon which stand 2000 years of Western history, Christianity, is mis-read, misunderstood, and little studied? To further endear myself, I'll set down a few tidbits about the New Testament, as are known. It's figured that the authors are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, although inconsistencies and questions will always remain. It's figured (you need this phrase a lot in this area) that most of the books were written between 40 and 90 AD, and the earliest piece of parchment in anyone's possession is dated about 125 AD, which places them, erm... after the death of Christ. Now, Christians believe he was resurrected, and hey, if you buy that, then maybe you WOULD find it plausible that the "messiah" wrote the books of the New Testament. After all, his earthly duties were finished, so he must have had a lot of free time on his hands to write the 24,000 pieces of papyrus and parchment upon which were written, in Greek, all or parts of the New Testament. >9. Jesus' comeback promises to be much better than "Double Fantasy" No erudital nit-picking here, just full agreement on my part. Maybe after all the TV preachers and their legions get taken up to meet Jesus in the air the world will be a more congenial place to live. >12. Errrm ... John Lennon was a real person Ha ha. "Real", meaning what? Real loony, in Lennon's case. However, going beyond the intended off-handedness of your remark, there surely can't be any doubt in anyone's mind of the authenticity of Jesus of Nazareth's existence, as 24,000 manuscripts written over a period of about 225 years amply proves it. You don't get any better documentation of historical figures than that, bar none. Even Homer's Illiad has only about 600 surviving copies, the earliest 500 years after the time of writing. On an XTC note: Predictions are terrible things. They make me sad. That's probably the main reason I've never liked Living Through Another Cuba, along with it's cloying repetition of the title line. After all, it's 1999 now, isn't it? Cheers, Don Rogalski [Attachment omitted, unknown MIME type or encoding (application/ms-tnef)]
------------------------------ From: "Neil Oliver" <lizneil@netcom.ca> Subject: XTC Article in MNOTW Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 07:56:32 -0800 Message-ID: <000001be38c3$f93179e0$9f49b5cf@default> From today's "Music News of the World" (in the online magazine Addicted to Noise): XTC End Silence With New Label Deal And Box Set Transistor Blast is the group's first album since 1992's Nonsuch. Correspondent Jeff Niesel reports: Plenty of rock bands have had disputes with their record labels. Few have ever gone on strike. That's what singer/guitarist Andy Partridge and singer/bassist Colin Moulding of British pop band XTC did when their U.K. label, Virgin Records, wouldn't release them from their contract. "[Virgin] wouldn't make our deal any better and they wouldn't let us go," Partridge said during his and Moulding's recent New York visit. "They just snickered and then kept ringing us up every month to ask us when we were going into the studio. The only way to get out of the deal was to withhold our labor. With the help of a bully of a lawyer, we managed to get out of [the contract]." XTC, which had been with Virgin UK since 1977, haven't released any new material since 1992's Nonsuch. The drought will end soon -- XTC plan to release two albums in 1999 on TVT Records: Apple Venus, Vol. 1, due in February, is in the same orchestral pop vein as Nonsuch. In the fall, XTC will ditch the orchestrations for an album of what Partridge called "cranked-up noise." The band signed with TVT in the summer, and TVT released a live XTC box set, Transistor Blast, on Dec. 8. Three of the box's four discs feature performances recorded for the BBC in 1977 and 1989; the fourth captures a 1980 performance at London's Hammersmith Palais. XTC's dispute with Virgin is documented in Neville Farmer's book, "XTC: Song Stories" (1998). "Andy is by no means a good businessman and his stubbornness had much to do with their problems," Farmer, a contributing writer to Billboard, wrote in a recent e-mail. "He doesn't understand why a label, with all its staff and overheads and investment costs, should get more than its artists." Farmer also said the band's refusal to tour created a hostile relationship with Virgin. The band stopped touring in 1992 because of Partridge's stage fright. Partridge said he has found no cure for his stage fright and the group has no plans to resume touring. "We make records and people really need to wake up to that. Get over it," he said. "When people stop asking us, maybe we'll tour." Partridge also said artists shouldn't have to tour just to validate their records. "It's like the record industry thinks you're not real unless you tour," he said. "The industry-approved hamster has to be on his wheel a certain amount of the day, and then he has to make his nest in the sawdust at a certain time of the day. They won't just let him do something else. If he's not on the wheel, they think he can't be a hamster. We're hamsters, too. Just because we don't want to get on the wheel doesn't mean that we're less of a hamster. We don't make great concerts, anyway. I got that out of my system in my late 20s." The live music compiled on Transistor Blast represents "songs we did from '77 to '89 and it was the best of the stuff they didn't erase," Partridge said. "They're not too different from the record[s], although they're played with a bit more fire." XTC were formed in 1977 in Swindon, an industrial town in Northern England. They grew out of the Helium Kidz, a band for which Partridge was the principal songwriter. The group emerged during the punk revolution but played quirky pop, bridging the gap between punk and pop. "We were one of the stools in the great bowel movement that was punk," Partridge said. It remained prolific through the '80s. XTC's six studio albums in the '80s spawned such singles as "Senses Working Overtime" from English Settlement (1982), "Dear God" (RealAudio excerpt) from Skylarking (1986) and "The Mayor of Simpleton" from Oranges and Lemons (1989). As for the upcoming Apple Venus, Farmer said it's "quite wonderful. Although Andy was worried that everything he'd written was either depressing or downbeat and that Colin's two songs were jolly, I find that Andy's songs run the gamut of emotions. 'I'd Like That' is whimsical but happy. 'Harvest Festival,' with its images of a school assembly, chairs shuffling, recorders playing, just takes me straight back to my childhood. 'Green Man' is lush and rich and overwhelming." Partridge, for his part, said he couldn't care less what fans might think of the new records. "I'm not interested in winning back old fans," he said. "I don't care if the devil is stoking their asses in hell. I'm just interested in making music. I suppose I'll panic if nobody buys it. But if people like it, they like it. I'm not going to ram it down anybody's throat."
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