Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 110
Date: Thursday, 11 May 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 110
Thursday, 11 May 2000
Topics:
URGENT NEWS FOR L.A. XTC FANS
ITMWML Painting
RE:ME
Re: TVT's website
"Johnny Sold Out"
I Want Some Love... with a Bullet!
Re: Mr. Sting
All the way Through?
Darn Wather/Wasp Star (minor spoiling)
Demo problems, a game & a metal question
In defense of Andy
I'm The Man Who Fondled Love
Wounded Horse on 3WK
Napster vs. Used CD's
103.1 Interview Rambling Impressions, Plus...
O-o-o-0-0, Our Deborah of Liberty...
XTC / Dance
a great lost band
Chalkhills here I come
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 18:14:57 -0700 From: "John Keel" <jbkev1@ev1.net> Subject: URGENT NEWS FOR L.A. XTC FANS Message-ID: <001401bfbbaf$7eb930c0$14525d3f@sony.com> Hi kids, So, Andy is taping VH1's "The List" this Sunday, May 14 at 1:30. If you want to go, call On-Camera Audiences at 818-295-2700 and ask for Michael. Be sure to specify that you want the show with Andy. You'll have to be at Hollywood Center Studios no later than 12:30 for the 1:30 taping and it lasts about an hour. Hope you can make it! John ********************************************* "The world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through." Tom Waits
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 10:38:46 PDT From: "Edward Sizzorhends" <skylar_king@hotmail.com> Subject: ITMWML Painting Message-ID: <20000511173846.83113.qmail@hotmail.com> On that painting springing to mind after hearing ITMWML, What a beautiful painting, can you give me any more info on it. I would love a print of it! It's so sad to, but beautiful. The Skylar King
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 10:34:55 PDT From: "Edward Sizzorhends" <skylar_king@hotmail.com> Subject: RE:ME Message-ID: <20000511173455.60825.qmail@hotmail.com> Just a quickie.... John Vorhees, the check is in the mail. That was the nicest thing somebody could have done for me at the moment and I REALLY appreciate it. Peace to all in the realm of.... The Skylar King
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 09:21:48 -0700 (PDT) From: relph (John Relph) Subject: Re: TVT's website Message-ID: <10005110921.ZM59728@mando.engr.sgi.com> "Garret Harkawik" <funktaisia@hotmail.com> asked: > >Is it just me, or does TVT's website suck? it's so annoyng because every >time you go to it, you have to go through the stupid thing with the truck >pulling away from the gas station and then that tiny window pops up that is >the acual site! Its just a stupid concept. No, it's not just a stupid concept. It's also a stupid realisation of a stupid concept. It takes so f***ing long to start the TVT page, and it crashes my browser more often than I'd like to admit. A bloody wankfest for web designers. Oh, sorry, I'll just be quiet now. -- John
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 18:20:05 +0200 From: jeffrey.thomas.jt@bayer-ag.de Subject: "Johnny Sold Out" Message-ID: <0006800024287331000002L012*@MHS> Hi there "Kreideberger", Wow, I do enjoy this "great lost group" thread. And thanks to Jon "The Comparative" Rosenberger for the bit of "Animal House" trivia. That's great, I didn't know that! But you all are forgetting one really great Busboys song: "Johnny Sold Out". It was THE song at the time for me, a black group singing about catching heat from other blacks, who, like Deborah Brown and Chris Coolidge said, thought they should be singing r&b, funk, or whatever. Typical racial stereotypes, and unfortunate -- they were a super rock group in the traditional fashion, and I didn't think they sounded white at all. But the whites had conquered rock 'n' roll so it just wasn't acceptable for blacks to sing it. (At the time, I had a black girlfriend and got to experience my share of stereotypes and catch my share of heat from both sides.) Sad... The song has pretty hilarious lyrics, which I unfortunately haven't heard for years (the LP is about 8000 km away from me now, with about 400 others I still don't have here...), but were along the lines of: He's did the alligator And then he did the twist The next thing you know he was acting like this Johnny sold out (oooo) Johnny sold out (ooo) He's into rock 'n' roll and he doesn't like rhythm and blues All this to a super rocking riff and melody that would've done Chuck Berry proud. Great stuff! Thanks for the memories, everybody! - Jeff
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 09:14:43 -0700 (PDT) From: relph (John Relph) Subject: I Want Some Love... with a Bullet! Message-ID: <10005110914.ZM60360@mando.engr.sgi.com> "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net> asked: > >I'm sorry, I'm having some trouble "getting" the cover of the I'm the Man >who Murdered Love cover. I see the face, and I see the bullet hole in it's >head, but... what exactly is the head made out of? Well, it's clearly a television test pattern. That which is broadcast when the station is not actually broadcasting. I don't get it either, but bear with me. Mr. Love said, "He hadn't worked at all this century", so perhaps it was as if The Love Channel (TM) had gone off the air, and so all that was left was the Love test pattern. So our Hero kindly "put a bullet in his sugar head", so the station could actually go off the air for good. Farfetched? Perhaps. Oh well. -- John
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 09:06:07 -0700 (PDT) From: relph (John Relph) Subject: Re: Mr. Sting Message-ID: <10005110906.ZM59758@mando.engr.sgi.com> Quoth "Steve Young" <sjyoung@hotmail.com>: > >3. "Sting". Let me get that word out of the way. >Now on to a song: "You and the Clouds Will Still be >Beautiful". A nice shuffle beat, some deceptively slack-jawed and poetic, >perfectly realized verses... cool. Then... "No matter what the >weatherrrr..." then an eerily familiar titular refrain... am I crazy? >Someone say yes. This sounds like Sting to me. I have to admit that I really don't have any idea what Mr. Sting sounds like these days. I know what he sounded like when he was the frontman for The Police, but I have had absolutely no interest in buying his records, much less listening to them, and since I don't listen to radio, I really can't say I'm familiar with his recent sound. So if XTC sounds like Sting to you, STOP LISTENING TO STING. :-) -- John P.S. Zappa.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 13:56:43 -0500 From: "Jan C. Harris" <wow@bluemarble.net> Subject: All the way Through? Message-ID: <035d01bfbb7b$d6284c80$8da6f5d0@janstrigem> I don't have the energy to list all of them, but I do know this: I don't think Oranges and Lemons will leave my CD wallet anytime soon. JanCarol wow@bluemarble.net www.bluemarble.net/~wow
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 12:22:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: Darn Wather/Wasp Star (minor spoiling) Message-ID: <20000511192219.28497.qmail@web1304.mail.yahoo.com> I missed both interviews, because we had severe weather in my area. I didn't want to blow up my parents' computer just to listen to Andy. Is there any chance there will be any transcripts available for these interviews? I'm listening to Wasp Star again, and I have to say it's a great album. I've listened to it a few times, and the only song I'm not to fond of is "Boarded Up". But like other Colin songs it'll grow on me. It took me a little while to like Bungalow (ducks the flinging poo). Oh I have to add another album I listen to in it's enterity, Anthology - The Monkees. It's a two disc set, and it's just a great album. Some of the songs I could picture Andy singing, especially a lot of the songs Mickey Dolenz sings. Molly ===== Molly's Pages: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html AIM Name: MFanton00
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 12:48:16 -0700 From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com> Subject: Demo problems, a game & a metal question Message-ID: <08B5DDC2BABCD311BFC6005004A884B013B63F@mgcservices.com> First of all, in 6-105, Chris Vreeland said: Knowing it wasn't slated to be on the album, I became increasingly frustrated every time I heard IDWTBH, and began to question Andy's judgment about song selection. So, already, I'm was becoming dissatisfied with the album, even before I'd heard it! I'll call that Problem #1. While I agree that this is a great song, and that it's a shame that it (along with Ship Trapped in the Ice and others) isn't available on any albums that people can buy, (and that there are various points over which each of us scratch our heads regarding song selection choices) I'm not sure where on either album these would fit in. Whether we always agree with the bands' choices (or whether it's even up to us to agree at all) as to what gets included, it does seem to be something that they do with a great deal of care. I can't really see where on AV1 these might have fit, and as far as the new one goes, judging from demos & preview snippets, I don't know of a bad song in the bunch, so I can't think of what would go to make room. Which brings us to a little game... (which can wait until everyone has all the material, but I'll bring it up now). Some of you will enjoy this, some of you will think it's a silly waste of time, but a while ago someone (I think it was John) suggested coming up with the double-album running order, using the combined AV1&2 songs to speculate what the double disc version would have been like. Well, how about taking that idea one step further? Based on every song known of from the years involved, put together "moot albums" based on different circumstances & times. For instance: 1. Put together the running order for an album called "Wonder Annual", circa 94-95, in some paralell reality where the band stayed with Virgin. 2. Put together the running order for the double album "Firework", circa 97-98, in some paralell reality where the Difford sessions went flawlessly, and there were no financial constraints. 3. What circumstances would lead to an album that included "Ship Trapped in the Ice", "I Don't Want to Be Here", etc.? 4. Put together the running order for the single-disc, amalgamated "best of both crops" version Dave Gregory wanted, assuming that he'd got his way & stayed (and what would have had to have happened to bring about that outcome?). Etc., etc. The possibilities are endless (apologies to those who hate the very thought of this kind of thing, but there's room for everything, isn't there?). There's no exercise like a futile one, I say. Sorry to bring up the metal definition/origin thing again, but I'm just curious as to where this other old usage of the term I came across fits in. As I said before, back in high school I came across "heavy metal" in the dictionary defined as "music dominated by or featuring a poweful horn section, loud blasts of brass, etc." (this isn't word for word, but that was the gist of it). I always assumed that this was classical music's heavy metal, though I guess it could have been big band. This was in a school dictionary that looked like it hadn't been updated since the forties. I'd aways assumed that the "rock" definition was descended from this; after all, music puncuated by blasts from an array of horns to music puncuated by power chords from electric guitars isn't that impossibly big a leap... It would certainly make sense if this definition descended from the artillery definition cited by Harrison in 6-104, and it would make Burroughs' role in coining/retooling/whatever the term even more peripheral... Anybody have any ideas? I swear I read this, it wasn't a dream or some teenage drug-vision, honest... Just can't stop chuckling every time John Travolta says "stupid humans!" in that damn movie ad... Ed K.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 14:16:57 -0500 From: "Jan C. Harris" <wow@bluemarble.net> Subject: In defense of Andy Message-ID: <038901bfbb83$eaa73600$8da6f5d0@janstrigem> Seth "Am I not the sole fool who pulls his trousers down?" Frisby writes: <<he also thinks he looks like a potato. The dj said he was sure there were many girls who would disagree (so Andy said "well then send 'em over") So all of you girls out there come out in Andy's defense because I sure won't.>> Well, I can't vouch for or deny the "potato" thing going on with Andy. But I can say that his poet's soul is enough to interest me! I'm also impressed - this list seems to have a higher female to male ratio than most other music lists I'm on! JanCarol wow@bluemarble.net www.bluemarble.net/~wow
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 15:42:45 EDT From: WESnLES@aol.com Subject: I'm The Man Who Fondled Love Message-ID: <44.384516e.264c6735@aol.com> Scarecrow People: TRADES: If anyone with a GOOD quality recording of any of the latest interviews wants to swap it for some of my XTC audio___I've got a lot kids___drop me a line. Here's the link to my Optimism's Flames trade/worship site. http://members.tripod.com/~The_Last_Balloon/index.html STING? GAG YOUR RANCID HOLES YOU FREAKS! I'm not a Sting basher, but PLEASE. Do shut up about Sting, won't you?!?! (Thank you, and read on) X: Great band, and Los Angeles is a great album. They actually released a CD with LA and Wild Gift on the same disc, probably out of print by now but if you check the used bins and see one, pick it up. (I have spoken) I AM THE HUNGRY ROOK! (no I'm not) I'M THE MAN WHO MURDERED LOVE: The line's not__THORNY__Roses It's__PHONY__Roses TAXIRIDE: YACK. A friend of mine, who also writes for the Consumable Online site, picked this disc as one of his top 5 of the year in '99. It's WAY too slick for its own good, or for anyone else's. (MY opinion___obviously___why would I be telling you of someone else's opinion) ROADS GIRDLE THE GLOBE: Okay, this one really hurt me. I should be used to it by now, Hillfolk posting that they don't like an XTC song which I consider to be within a gnats pubes of genius, but this one REALLY hurt. All I can say is: HAIL MOTHER MOTOR HAIL PISTON ROTOR HAIL WHEEL! (Why did he later tell us all to push our cars from the road?) CHURCH OF WOMEN SOLO: Bothered me a month ago, considered it too sparse. It's now my favorite moment of the album, the long pause between notes in the intro of the solo, ohhhhhhhh, it hurts so good. Please Andy, may I have another? 1989 RADIO TOUR: Someone mentioned this. I've got HIGH quality recordings of almost every one of these gigs, including the one I sat beside Andy and Company while they recorded; WRFX, Charlotte, NC. If prodded, I'll talk about it, though it pains me so to do so. Hee hee, so to do so__that's fun to say. wesLONG ~ These sure are good eggs ~ Francisco Franco
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 16:05:20 -0400 From: skybar80@juno.com Subject: Wounded Horse on 3WK Message-ID: <20000511.160527.-191113.0.skybar80@juno.com> Hi all. Sorry if someone has already mentioned this but I am a month behind on digests. I've recently discovered this great internet radio station called 3WK Underground Radio, which specializes in indie and such. For the past month or so they've been playing "Wounded Horse", and they play it often, too. So our boys are getting some exposure among the likes of Pedro the Lion and Bright Eyes (who are also both fantastic). If you love catchy indie as much as I do, I strongly reccommend checking this station out. I've found some great bands in the past month I would not have heard of otherwise. Check out http://www.3wk.com Thanks. Can't wait till WS. ---ken a.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 13:43:40 -0500 From: "JH3" <jh3@winco.net> Subject: Napster vs. Used CD's Message-ID: <00f601bfbb78$d33e2c40$2373fbd1@JH3.alternatech.net> Firstly: I, too, listen to every album I own all the way through. Especially XTC albums! Maybe if the "Skip" button were more conveniently located, that wouldn't be the case (at least with non-XTC albums). Meanwhile, MinerWerks <dminer@gte.net> writes: >A CD I buy brand new suddenly plummets in value to about >30% of its retail price once I open it! That's true of a lot of things - until they become rare and sought- after. And until the album is officially released, Wasp Star CD's will already be rare and sought-after, even if they're just burned from MP3 files. >So, the market's glutted, full of product that nobody paid for >in the first place, and the value of used items is a mere fraction >of new ones. And how many of you who criticize Napster have >never bought a used CD? The record companies have fought >used CDs for the same reasons they fight Napster - they get >no money on a product they produced - yet they couldn't stop >that trend. Does this indicate to anyone that the market >structure of pre-recorded music was already shaky and >due for collapse anyway? The market for pre-recorded music has never been rock- solid, but it *has* made a lot of (non-XTC) people rich, hasn't it? Your comparison of used CD's with Napster leaves out three crucial factors: The first is that with used CD's you still have to actually buy them, using actual money. Napster represents totally-free (and more anonymous) distribution. Secondly, there's a limited supply of used copies of any given CD, and the more sought-after the CD is, the more limited the supply. Napster represents an unlimited supply of everything. And finally, *most* record stores won't put a used copy of a yet-to-be-released CD out in the bins, at least not knowingly. (Most of them are clearly labeled as promos, after all.) But with Napster, that's completely up to the individual, who has no economic incentive to do or not do anything. To me, the last thing is the biggest problem. I know everyone on this list is going to buy Wasp Star many times, but there are lots of people who aren't on this list, last time I checked. And some of them might be interested enough in what XTC is doing to download stuff that they would otherwise have bought, but not interested enough to actually buy it. I'll even admit that for now they might *gain* sales from the added word-of-mouth, etc., but that won't necessarily be true a few years from now, when more people are doing it. I'm not really trying to be self-righteous or holier-than-thou here; it's just that I don't think XTC (or anyone else) has much time left, so for the sake of their personal well-being I just want them to make as much money from their latest release(s) as they can. John H. Hedges http://www.alternatech.net/jh3/xtc
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 11:42:33 -0700
From: "Dane Pereslete" <peresd@tcwgroup.com>
Subject: 103.1 Interview Rambling Impressions, Plus...
Message-ID: <s91a9cc1.084@acacia.tcwgroup.com>
Dear Chlks (My God!...it looks like Welsh!),
Haven't posted in awhile - I've just finished doing my civic duty as a
juror on a rather disturbing murder trial. However, yesterday's L.A.
radio interview has me all excited like a child on the first day of school.
So here are some quick highlights:
Andy and Colin took their cue from the Official Los Angeles Protocol
Manual and arrived 30 minutes late. Hey, when in Rome...
Nothing new revealed to Chalkies and other long-time fans during the
course of the interview, but Andy did get the opportunity to use the
word "tits" in a response (bravo!!).
My all time favorite "Dog Vomit" metaphor was once again brandished
when Andy was questioned about listening to XTC's old records. He
said that as a rule he won't, but when he gets thoroughly drunk, he'll lay
on the floor, don headphones (so as not to disturb anyone), and give the
old albums a spin. Colin said that Andy usually falls unconscious
around the fifth track...
Andy and Colin said that this was in fact their very first chance to hear
"I'm The Man Who Murdered Love" in-studio under radio compression
conditions. When prodded for his overall impression, Andy wryly
stated, "It sounds horrible".
We were also treated to "Stupidly Happy" and "In Another Life". I found
the latter quite enjoyable, and, if the brief snippet samples of "Boarded
Up" and "Standing In For Joe" downloaded from CDNow are true indicators, I
think Colin's contributions this time 'round are top notch!!
As usual, Colin's mic had to be amped-up to "11" - Speak up, man!!
Why must interviewers constantly keep flogging that "Touring" issue?
That animal has been dead for some time!! Even Andy frustratedly
pointed out that one should "get the hint" after some 18-odd-years
or so.
on other "serious" issues...
(our own "Hans Moleman") Jon Rosenberger said:
>Also on an extremely trivial note.... The Busboys appeared in the
>CLASSIC film "Animal House"... Yep that is them as "Otis Day and the
>Nights" both at the toga party and later at the R&B bar on the road
>trip.
Hmm...interesting, I never recognized them before. Be that as it may, let
me take this opportunity to self-promote and invite you to view again with
more careful scrutiny at the toga party scenes...spray-painted proudly on
the back wall is *my name*- DANE - in bold capitals. Did a spit-take the
first time I saw it, I did!!!
Resuscitating an old thread, there was some talk of "A Confederacy of
Dunces" here a while back. I picked this one up quite some time ago after
stumbling upon it at the bookstore and liking the brief summary on the back
cover. This was the only book that had me laughing out loud, _with tears_
in some cases. Yeah, you can get some really odd stares while reading this
one! If you haven't read this, please please please put it at the top of
your list! it truly is an "undiscovered classic". There was an attempt to
produce a motion picture of this novel many years ago, but I believe it is
currently mired in "development hell".
Now that release day is just around the corner, don't you feel time doing
that odd relativistic *stretching* akin to what happened around
Christmastime as a child? It's like the old mathematical example that if
you systematically halve the distance between you and the door, you'll get
ever so close, but never actually *reach* the door - that's how I'm feeling
right now...
Waiting, waiting, waiting, (impatiently now) for Wasp Star,
Dane ("Double Secret Probation") Pereslete
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 13:33:20 -0500 From: Jill Oleson <Jill_Oleson@kurion.com> Subject: O-o-o-0-0, Our Deborah of Liberty... Message-ID: <81CC73FC2FACD311A2D200508B8B88AA0D7198@KURION_EXCH> Deborah, The thought of you (or alternatively your young son) holding an antenna in the air like the Statue of Liberty to hear the XTC interview on radio station 103.1 in Santa Monica, California simply pains me. The rest of us (from around the world) listened to the show on our computers! Sorry, guess we forgot to tell you... I wrote the DJ just after the show: >----Original Message----- >From: Jill Oleson [mailto:Jill_Oleson@kurion.com] >Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 3:16 PM >To: Sandler, Nicole >Subject: Loved the XTC interview > >Hey Nicole, > >Loved hearing the XTC interview via the Web just now. >Few get both Andy and Colin at the same time, you know. >Thanks for asking such insightful questions. > >Sincerely, > >Jill Oleson >Austin, Texas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - She responded with: > >Jill, > >Thanks so much for the note. I do know how special >it was having them both in here.... now, if we could >only get 'em to play again! > >Nicole It was clear to me from her interview that she was a sincere fan of their music and it was charming to hear her barely conceal her enthusiasm for the band and their new album. This was the second XTC radio interview I've heard this week via my computer. Note to Chalkers: If you've never heard Andy and Colin speak, you should make an effort to hear one of these interviews while they're still doing them. It is so insightful to hear a musician describe his own work. We can debate and analyze all we want in this Chalkhills forum, but nothing compares with hearing it from the artist's own mouth. If you miss the interviews, you might want to pick up a single, such as the "Easter Theatre" single, in which the creative process of developing that song is discussed. Sincerely offered, Jill
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 16:40:23 -0400 From: Paul Burgess <pburgess@tvtrecords.com> Subject: XTC / Dance Message-ID: <v04220803b540c8f90072@[38.149.92.114]> At the time of the release of AV1 I hooked up Andy with choreagrapher, writer and dancer Neta Pulvermacher. The result of their meeting was the idea to create a dance based on the songs from Apple Venus. The result is The Orchid Show. The Neta Dance Company will perform the work in June. The Orchid Show June 15 - 18 8pm June 18 3pm at The Kitchen 512 West 19th Street (10th and 11th Avenues) Tickets $20 Reservation (212) 255 - 5793 ext 11 www.netacompany.org Do Not Miss It!!! Don't forget - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) May 23rd. Stay tuned for information on the limited edition added value "I'm The Man Who Murdered Love" CD single. more to come ----
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 11:44:16 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Subject: a great lost band Message-ID: <391B29AD.4F22B6B3@ksbe.edu> Organization: 3Tripper Anybody heard of an early eighties band called the Lambrettas? I never actually saw their album and don't know it's name. My friend had a cassette someone had taped him. My band back then did a couple of the songs, and i recall that they were very good. It was a poppy, mod/Squeeze/Joe jackson sort of thing, as I recall. Probably British. Anyone? Jim
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 22:51:23 +0100 From: Geoff Murrell <geoff.murrell@which.net> Subject: Chalkhills here I come Message-ID: <391B2B5B.576F3F75@which.net> My company have just decided to re-locate me to Swindon. I wonder if there's anything interesting there? Geoff...M
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-110 *******************************
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