Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 145
Date: Thursday, 1 June 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 145
Thursday, 1 June 2000
Topics:
Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder!
Re: Zippy
Demos, Dave, Defy
Another Wasp Star Weigh-in
Transcendental Meditation
I'm the Woman Who Murdered the Wasp Star Neighsayers (sp)
Responses to various sundry items
Ranting and raving
never underestimate the NME
Acronyms, demos and comparisons
the big square [retail] world; found the CD single; The
Wonsaponatime
charts and singles
Wounded Horse 1st at Finish!
Cat Among the Cliches
Demo Hell
The Knight Who Says Nay
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Never trust those staring humans.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 00:36:48 EDT
From: KINGSTUNES@aol.com
Subject: Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder!
Message-ID: <9c.429af4f.2665f0e0@aol.com>
Thanks to Dave Edwards, I can't listen to We're All Light anymore without a
straight face! I keep seeing the alien and the goldfish and the swaying
hamster (he is wearing a fez, right?)!!!! Oh, god, help me! Reminds me of
the scene in The Three Amigos when the horses start going 'bom, bom bom, bom,
bom, bom bom, bom' to back up Chevy Chase on (Randy Newman's) Blue Shadows On
The Trail! We could take this a step further. Maybe they could do a video,
with all these insane Disney animated creatures backing up Andy and Colin as
they walk through some cartoon wonderland. I can just see the birds flying
around Andy's head.....
Brought my guitar to a party jam last night and wanked out a semiliterate
version of ITMWML, with a conga player and a couple of others. Made a segue
into Midnight Hour (it worked!) somehow, then I brought it back. No one
there had heard it yet, but they loved it!! ("Who was that?" & such).
Hmmm....
In the Sting Department: Sting. The Sting man. Sting a ling a ding.
Stiiiiiiiiiiinnng.
NOT!!!!
Party on!
Tom K.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 06:41:49 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Zippy Message-ID: <l03130302b55aaab30db0@[208.13.202.224]> > Lastly. whew! "Zippy the pinhead" is looking for the voice of zippy for >some tv project . you can send choices via zippythepinhead.com site. With >all the mention on the 'hills recently, I sent in TOM WAITS as a suggestion. >I also submitted Wallace Shawn and Christopher Lloyd... whaddaya think? > > push me off to start the fun on a bike ride to the Wasp Star eddie >st.martin Bobcat Goldthwait. Christopher R. Coolidge Homepage at http://homepages.together.net/~cauldron/homepage.html
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 01:27:15 EDT From: Nudeants@aol.com Subject: Demos, Dave, Defy Message-ID: <a1.5f93fe6.2665fcb3@aol.com> Just a few things... Having the demos does not make one even an iota of authority on the song. The version on the album is the version that "you" have to "accept" and live with. We presumably like XTC enough to be on this list in the first place, so I would think that we could forgive any differences that we have with their 'final choices,' fr'chrissakes... Dave vs. Andy... Jesus Christ, who cares? Dave was awesome: anything he played on, he contributed to, and not just in the form of solos. However, Andy comports(?) himself wonderfully on the new album, and can truly play anything he really needs to on a song of his own, with more than enough competence, even brilliance. Come on, anyone else out there who CAN'T STAND 'I'm the man who murdered love?" I defy anyone to tell me that it's even remotely in the league of ANY of his other songs... matt mitchell
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 07:19:48 -0400 From: <johnbaldan@advanix.net> Subject: Another Wasp Star Weigh-in Message-ID: <200005311119.HAA01971@mail.advanix.net> It's taken until the fifth listen, but "Wasp Star" has finally clicked. I became aware when I started getting goosebumps in places I never got them before (places in the songs). At first, WS sounded like a rehash of earlier albums, and what's more, done in an over- simplified way. I don't hear that anymore I think the songs are so well-written that they have a deceptive simplicity. So I think this album is XTC's most commercial album AND one of their best. Two comments: The sing-song playground chants sound a bit strange. They sound all right from Holly, because such annoying couplets sound perfectly natural when repeated over and over by kids. Andy and Colin taking them up is a funny way of emphasizing that "we may leave school but school never leaves us". "Stupidly Happy" has got to be the catchiest song on the album. It should be a single!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 06:29:48 EDT
From: Blueruins@aol.com
Subject: Transcendental Meditation
Message-ID: <17.64006f9.2666439c@aol.com>
This is my take on Bob O'Bannon's comments about XTC not "alarming"
themselves or managing to transcend their previous efforts.
I'm wondering what you thought of Apple Venus Volume 1? I don't know if
you're a songwriter yourself but what they accomplished with that album is
very difficult to achieve. To make a valid rock album practically without
drums in an era where rhythm dominates everything else is no paltry task.
The complex syncopation's that made the orchestral work so effective had to
take almost infinite patience and care not to mention that there is no
blueprint for this kind of "pop" anywhere, Andy practically had to invent a
new vocabulary to make AV1 possible.
The other side of this coin is also a product of getting better at your
craft. Mr. Moulding and Partridge are learning to condense their feelings
into tighter sleeker packages because as they have become more experienced
they have learned to express themselves more succinctly. Having developed
their own unique vocabulary they are no longer in need of "reinventing the
wheel." Their experimentation has become more subtle because of their more
closely approaching their musical goals, but they are definitely still
reaching.
It is very, very difficult to write a memorable melody, and meaningful
lyrics with unique interesting music. XTC delivers more and more
consistently with each new disc. They are one of a handful of artists who
have managed to do this for almost thirty years. The devil is in the
details.
Brett Reeves
"Don't you know I'm ridin' with The King?"-John Hiatt
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 22:05:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: I'm the Woman Who Murdered the Wasp Star Neighsayers (sp) Message-ID: <20000531050551.12649.qmail@web1303.mail.yahoo.com> I just have to say one thing to those of you you who hate Wasp Star, "kiss my grits." (Good ole Flo from the TV series, ALICE) I understand that everyone has a right to their opinions, but some of you aren't being fair. I hate it when people compare this album to the demos. I think the people who have the demos have tainted themselves. I mean you were bound to bad mouth the album, because of the demo listening. Why listen to the demos in the first place? You know they're not going to sound the same. I guess people will never learn. I also am a bit disappointed with people trying to compare this to Oranges & Lemons. They're saying it's "overproduced". I think that people who say that are full of crap. I don't sit around bitching and moaning on whether a song is overproduced or not. If a record sounds good to my ears I'll listen to it. I think there are a lot of you who don't want them to get popular, because you don't want to share them with the world. *feels heat from the flamers* Why do you like to say things like, "oh this album sucks because it's overproduced or it's a sell out." Those two terms really make my stomach turn. I guess I'm not a "real" music lover, because I don't bitch and moan about the production. I guess I'll have to throw out all my CDs. (those two sentences were being sarcastic) I know I'm going to get flamed, but remember we all have a right to our opinions. You might like what I say, but I have every right to them. Molly ===== Molly's Pages: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html My Tribute to Talk Talk & .O.Rang: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/talktalkorang.html
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 08:40:19 -0400
From: "Brian" <mattone@bhip.infi.net>
Subject: Responses to various sundry items
Message-ID: <003701bfcafd$62790c20$52e49cd1@Brian>
Tschalkgerz!
> Three things about Wasp Star that you may not know . . .
>
> 1) The "that's how we're built love/don't let it wilt love" part of
> "In Another Life" uses the same chord progression as a part of
> "Cynical Days" and both songs were born from this one part.
Can we blame them any more than we can blame the Eagles for reusing that
exact same guitar lick from "Hotel California" on whatever tune it was they
used it in on 'The Long Run'?
> 2) Andy wishes they had recorded to a click track for "Boarded Up".
I disagree. If Andy was thinking that the song needed to be pulled together
tighter, it doesn't. Any looseness in tempo the song has only enhances the
effect.
> 3) Both Andy and Colin secretly worry that the end of "The Wheel and
> The Maypole" sounds too much like the end of "You're My Drug"
Eagles, again. At least were not hearing another band rip it off.
****
> 1. How long before some big utility/energy company approaches Andy
> about making this their new commercial jingle (" So you won't mind if
> I kiss you now/And maybe come on in for the night/Don't you know in
> this new Dark Age/We're all light/We're all light"). The tune and the
> lyrics are perfect.
And will any utility/energy company even know the song exists? And if they
do, it'll likely be "XTC... who?".
They'll want a big name song.
****
> Note to Brian:
>
> As you wrote: "Your reply is sarcastic, stupid and pointless as any
> retort that was ever made to stir up the muck."
>
> Well, my reply was definitely drenched in sarcasm. "Stupid," yeah
> I'll give ya that one, the majority of my posts here are. As for
> pointless, I believe that the point was that Andy pays enough
> attention to what he's doing in the studio that he wouldn't screw up a
> damn fade-out. It wasn't meant to "stir up the muck" as much as to
> poke some fun at your idiotic statement.
Yeah, Wes, I know we've already kissed and made up ;-), but I had some
agreement from others about this fade-out business... they, like I, thought
it was lacking in professionality, something XTC albums haven't had a
problem with for a long time, if ever.
But to be perfectly frank, I have yet to hear this bad fade-out again on
subsequent listenings. Perhaps my CD player skipped...?
****
> I need help (so I'm told on a regular basis). I didn't get Playground at
> first, now I think it's tremendous. But I still don't get the drum intro.
> All you learn-ed musicians, what am I supposed to be listening for, what am
> I missing? From the interviews, Chuck and Andy are clearly in on it - can
> somebody put a finger on my limitations?
The drum intro is set up to fool you into thinking there's a different beat
going on, and then then the main tune kicks in and you find out you were
wrong. I can't tell you HOW many times I've heard this trick used.
-Brian Matthews
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 09:34:50 -0400 From: "Todd Bernhardt" <todd.bernhardt@enterworks.com> Subject: Ranting and raving Message-ID: <393514FA.2728ADE3@enterworks.com> Organization: Enterworks, Inc. Hi: >From Mitch: > See, I am guilty (in a more direct way than I'm comfortable with) for > causing the demos to find their ways to everyone. Don't worry, lad. It wasn't just you, as you probably know. XTC were shopping those demos all over the place, so folks at the various record cos were a major source of the demo leaks. In other words, they would have gotten out one way or another. As for your news about future demos, I must say I'm not surprised. That's one more benefit of them running their own company, after all. ************* FWIW, here's my two cents on the whole demo brouhaha (hahaha): I'm *glad* I had the demos. GLAD, I tell you! They tided me over during the lean years, let me know that Good Things were coming up, and hearing the finished product has given me a very special glimpse into how Andy and Colin work in their own studios and in larger studios. And how can anyone be disappointed after hearing the finished products? *What* exactly were you expecting? If anything, having the demos lowered my expectations, because I knew the raw materials they were working with. If the finished product doesn't meet your expectations, I suggest you adjust your expectations; Andy and Colin certainly don't owe a thing to us. While I'm ranting: Why does everyone feel compelled to grace us with their review of the album? I've heard it, and -- *NEWSFLASH* -- I have my own opinion about it. Let's discuss songs, lyrics, what we perceive as motivations, where Andy and Colin are appearing, etc., but what's with the formal "Here's my formal analysis of the album, song-by-song, written as if for a magazine or newspaper" shit? Post it on Amazon. It's a waste of bandwidth here. IMO. Of course, yours may differ. We can nod politely to each other as we page-down by our respective posts. Furthermore (last rant), what's with people giving Andy "advice" via the list? My god, what arrogance. Tell you what -- write, record and release some songs that even approach XTC's worst, and maybe I'll listen, eh? Something tells me Andy won't, though. Thank goodness. ************* RNV (may I call you R?) quoted from my interview w/Andy, talking about who played guitar. Mitch, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Colin played guitar on his songs, while Andy played all guitar on his own songs (and perhaps added some to Colin's). To quote-- AP: It's more of a band situation. In fact, people have said to me, this is the most "band" you've sounded since your early few albums. TB: Do you agree with that? AP: Yeah, probably. It's literally just the three of us in any given combination, mostly. I'm getting to do all the guitar -- or most of the guitar, Colin's playing guitar on a few things -- and, you know, he's on bass and we're both doing bits of keyboard. *Great* point, R, about comparing the Apples Venus with Mummer/BE. Maybe that's why I like the pair so much -- because I have a special place in my heart for Mummer/BE. -Todd
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 19:12:52 +0100 From: "chris browning" <chris@boodle.fsnet.co.uk> Subject: never underestimate the NME Message-ID: <014a01bfcb2d$a3784bc0$d557883e@pbncomputer> new issue of NME - travis gurning on the cover doing their wee scottish jangly thang - has surprisingly positive "Wasp Star" review. haven't bought it - good god man it's the NME! - but should be able to find it on www.nme.com i would imagine. basically token oldie reviewer says one of best post punk bands come back with an enjoyable accessible new record. goes on about annoyingly quirky a bit, but otherwise surprisingly positive. shocking! also belle and sebastian's newie (out next week - will it rid my stereo of "wasp star" at last? we shall see...) gets good reviews. hopefully better than blopdy hopeless single "legal man".. and saw video for "senses working overtime" for first time ever on VH1 last night and fairly leapt through house with unadulterated glee.... that's me done crispetto
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 19:32:13 +0100 From: "Pledge" <PLEDGE7@btinternet.com> Subject: Acronyms, demos and comparisons Message-ID: <000d01bfcb2e$8aa27520$e8a901d5@PLEDGE> Firstly, on the subject of acronyms, it is probably a good thing that I'm The Man Who Murdered Love did not immediately follow Stupidly Happy!! On the subject of the demos, whilst I'd like to hear the 'lost' songs, I'm glad I did not have the demos for Apple Venus or Wasp Star. Despite some of the rumblings that AV1 + WS should have been whittled down to one album, I'm definitely in the love both of them camp. Unlike some people, I have purchased two entirely new and fresh albums in the last 15 months. As XTC don't attempt to be in synch with whatever is in fashion at any given time, this material feels fresh and now to me. However for some, who have heard the demos, it seems these albums were yesterday's news. Maybe one day I'll fully appreciate the joys of Black Sea, Mummer and The Big Express, but for now i'll content myself with loving Skylarking, Fossil Fuel, Apple Venus Volume 1 and Wasp Star. XTC are still making fine music, and on occasion as with Skylarking and Apple Venus they will greatly challenge my perception of what I like. For me Wasp Star is an easy album to listen to. As far as I can see it is the songs that are the important part and up and down their long career there is always something there for me to enjoy. And can we drop all this Dave Gregory stuff? As far as I can hear, XTC made some great albums with him and some great albums without him. Maybe some of you are more musically knowledgeable than me, which is fine, but I can't see the point in all the "this guitar part, that guitar part" debate. XTC just released another album that I like, and will have no shame in trying to plug to my mates whenever they take a lift in my car. I'll go back to lurking now shall I? Pledge
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 15:22:32 -0400
From: "Stephanie Takeshita" <edsxt@huber.com>
Subject: the big square [retail] world; found the CD single; The Onion's
Message-ID: <s9352e4c.056@gwia.huber.com>
review
'lo, everyone!
[John Relph, restore our e-addresses, please! It helps us communicate
offline, "crosswires"-like.... And I wasn't getting spammed anyway!]
One itty-bitty detail, so typical, of why I love XTC: the counterpoint
between the "big square world" of the opening track, "Playground," and
the circular imagery that suffuses the closer, "The Wheel and the
Maypole". You can question artist intentionality in this, as in so many
similar debates, but the obvious choice would've been "big grey world,"
hearkening back to "Wrapped in Grey". Nice touch, Partsy!
A Real-Life Playlet: XTC vs. Eminem
Scene: Last Tuesday, 5:30 PM, CDW (a music chain in NJ).
Three clerks are huddled together near the checkout counter. "I can't
believe it; it must've sold 150 units today." "Un-fuckin-believable."
Customer, overhearing, approaches the group. "Excuse me, which
artist?"
"Eminem."
[Customer, crestfallen] "Oh."
Flash forward, to the following Tuesday evening. [Same Bat-time; same
Bat-channel!]
The same customer approaches the same clerks. "Excuse me, but how well
has XTC: Wasp Star been selling this week?"
After exchanging a curious glance, one of the clerks volunteers, "Oh,
well, not all that much... five or six, maybe?" Seeing the customer's
dismay, another says, "but, you know, the XTC fans really come out...
when they've got a new album...".
[How charming, she thought. He was going to say, "come out of the
woodwork," but caught himself at the last moment. She suddenly felt
so.... quaintly middle-aged!]
Grinning now, she asked, "And how many has Eminem sold?"
[Enthusiastically]: "Aw, we sold over 200 units of Eminem on the first
day!" Then a female clerk adds, "but, you know, six months from now,
XTC will still be selling, while Eminem will be in the bins."
************
Sorry if my concern over the sales figures strikes you as naive
("Whaddaya expect? It's XTC! Most people aren't even clear on who or
what they are! Get used to it!"), but I can't help caring deeply about
it all and hoping that they start to make some real money, for once.
Heck, it isn't as if any of us had a beer riding on their highest chart
position or anything! (Talk about crass.....)
Anyway, I found the free-with-LP-purchase CD single "I'm the Man Who
Murdered Love" at CDW. It wasn't on the floor; they're in the storeroom
and you have to buttonhole one of the put-upon clerks and ask him for
it. (Perhaps they're afraid we rabid XTC fans will nick 'em? Or that
they're simply not worth the magnetized security tags?)
Also, The Onion has a favorable review of Wasp Star:
http://avclub.theonion.com/music.html
Stephanie Takeshita
x. 3625
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 19:12:05 +0100 From: "David Seddon" <D.Seddon@btinternet.com> Subject: Wonsaponatime Message-ID: <003c01bfcb2b$bb2ec520$65b901d5@default> Recently, I won a free CD in a competition with the Independent and I had the pick of any album at an internet store. I chose Lennon's Wonsaponatime because I'd always wanted to hear it, but didn't want to splash out #16 for the privilege. It's always been an expensive single album and I didn't want the 4 CD boxed set! It's the sort of album that's great as a pressie, but you perhaps don't want to buy yourself! Anyhow, I'm pleasantly surprised ...there's a bit of guff of course, but some of it is rather good! There's 63 mins of it. There's a Lennon's take on Dylan ...Serve Yourself, takes of Oh My Love, Working Class Hero and Imagine etc which are really very good and the original Real Love. I've always loved Grow Old Along With Me. On the night he was shot, they'sd been talking about the next day's recording and this was the one that they were going to work on. Lennon wanted it to be the song that "was always played at weddings." He'd done peace and Christmas anthems, so why not weddings. As a song, I think it's one of the best he ever wrote and a it's great shame that he never comleted it. Instead all we've got is a very rough demo and some strings added subtely by George Martin. Incidently, I had heard a rumour that for the upcoming Beatles Anthology book, they were going to do another single and Grow Old Along With Me was rumoured to be it. I don't want to reopen that whole Beatles reunion malarky, but this would make for a much stronger track than either of the two that they did do. We were at a wedding on Saturday, and the bride and groom had theri first dance to the song, sung by a female vocalist. I don't know who it was and I wasn't trying to find out at the time, but I am curious. I was just pleased that someone had recorded it and that it could be used for the purpose that John intended. My wife loved it. "That's lovely she said," tho' she didn't know that it was a Lennon song. "He was a big softy really wasn't he," she said when I told her. Yes, and what a talent! Anyone ever get the 4 CD boxed set? Anyone used GOAWM at their wedding? We had the Lennon version from Milk and Honey as one track on a tape at our reception. Reply off list if you like. XTC content. Still loving AV2, still don't like You and The Clouds, however.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 14:17:06 +0100 From: Warren Butson <Warren.Butson@getty-images.com> Subject: charts and singles Message-ID: <41BC73C88FDBD2119D2908002BB32B39036E96B6@lonexchg02.getty-images.com> I was very pleasantly surprised to see wasp star go straight in at 29 in the UK charts. Considering it's had little airplay and no single (as yet) this is quite an achievement, though if it goes out again next week then we'll know it was just the fans that bought it. Secondly, as far as the next single goes, it seems to me that the fact we are so divided is because there is no obvious second single as far as what could possibly be popular with the masses. Standing in for joe seems to be the right length and catchy to the ear thogh lacks a big chorus, whilst stupidly happy could do it as a surprise hit, dare i say it but there is a very small similarity to I can't dance by Genesis! My choice in a perfect world would be "shipped trapped in ice." I only heard this the other day for the first time and could not believe they didn't record it, incredibly catchy and beatley and to my mind the best single they have never made! Finally I'd just add that the trendy music mags such as melody maker, nme etc have been raving about this new album whilst the safer press such as q mag only gave it three stars out of 5, go figure!
------------------------------ Date: 31 May 2000 13:25:28 -0700 From: unna@worldmailer.com Subject: Wounded Horse 1st at Finish! Message-ID: <20000531202528.18530.cpmta@c008.sfo.cp.net> I can't understand what there is to dislike about Wounded Horse. It's great! Its got drama, humor, great melody, everything good you would expect from XTC! Its the kind of song that you can really sing to. Here's how: Pretend you're really heart broken, (you know with your hand on your head like in a silent film?) then stagger to one side of the room and hold on to the door frame. Slowly slide down the door frame while singing first verse. Next verse, get up and stagger to the other side of the room and repeat slow slide. Now for the next verse, go to the window and look out - try to look really wounded while singing "but my ship drifts on into an endless night." Now you've got it! You can add your own "wounded" moves!
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 21:44:36 +0100 From: "David Edwards" <david@awed.fsnet.co.uk> Subject: Cat Among the Cliches Message-ID: <007801bfcb41$363ddd40$b084883e@oemcomputer> Chalklings The track that made the hairs stand on end was Maypole. This is far more than just pop music. To be talking about decay, about how everything - marriages, planets, forests, palaces - falls apart, and then to meet it with this exhilarating, sunny-day skipping guitar - 'Was I so naive' - and then the defiant slamming guitar and the +completely+ unfazed 'of course it all unweaves'... It's just extraordinary! Also the way the guitars start to slow and decay and the song threatens to fall apart but then Andy rallies it all together and it ends in totally undaunted, accepting triumph... It's like the human spirit coming out from behind the clouds no matter how thick and black they are. For me it's an incredibly courageous, liberating song, especially when you know what Andy has been through. A lesser soul would be weeping over its empty 7-year calender and gnawing on its broken wedding ring. People say 'You and the Clouds' sounds Sting-like but I don't believe Andy would +aim+ to do that so it doesn't bother me. I love many of the words: the message to his wife is so honest and open and conciliatory after all the hurt, and his frustrated compassion for the world suffering from the war and chaos that he's powerless to stop - 'And every Troy with wooden horse I take to peaceful waters but I can't make him drown' - I love that sentiment. Also I love the rolling bass ending, the defiant (again) 'Hups' and the beautiful Colin vocals. Above all, to say to the wife (or husband) who's torn you apart: 'You'll always be beautiful to me', there's a vastness of soul there that is very impressive to me. Most people say, 'Bitch/Bastard, I never want to speak to her/him again', you know. For me, as with Maypole, this is what makes Andy a real genius; what he's doing is putting a cat among the cliches, opening up new possibilities for people. He's saying, 'Look, beyond the cliches, you can feel like this, you can think this; we are capable of so much more than just black and white despair and hate.' That's a great and very kind thing to do... David Edwards
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 21:33:46 +0100
From: "Simon Sleightholm" <simon@nonsuch.dircon.co.uk>
Subject: Demo Hell
Message-ID: <000001bfcb3f$a0e98560$fd3770c2@workstation98>
'Lo
Kudos to Mitch for his brave post regarding the demos. I know the
discomfort of being at both ends of the chain (though I've never had any
tapes direct from Andy). I've had tapes which _know_ I should never have
made copies of, but because I've loved the music so much and wanted other
people to hear it, I've weakened. And I've also been in a position when
tapes have been offered to me, and I've known that they're 'rogue' tapes,
and that accepting a copy will just encourage the spread, but, hey!, I'm a
fan and I want to hear it all too...
Count my corner in for a resounding 'never again', too. The demos didn't
spoil the music of Wasp Star for me, but they did spoil the surprise. The
only track I hadn't heard when I bought the CD was "In Another Life," a
pleasant enough song, but not the joy-shock I could have experienced had I
never heard "We're all light," or "Wheel and The Maypole" before.
It's a hard-learned lesson, mind. I vowed exactly the same thing after AV1
and then, when the chance of NEWER demos came into my sights, I fell for it
again.
Anyway, how about an observation that is about a year out of date?
Re: the "eastern" flavour of the western-myth-centred "Greenman" - the
infamous Morris dancing of England (has to be seen to be believed; a dozen
city-born, country-living bank clerks prancing about in flowery hats,
celebrating rural activities the true village-dwellers would sooner the
world forgot {c.f., witch burning, rough music and droit de signeur}) was a
gloss on a Muslim, or Moorish (hence "morris") dance representing the Holy
Land conflicts brought back by the crusaders. One of the key characters in
some Morris festivals, especially those in the south of England, is
Jack-In-The-Green - this chap isn't directly analogous to the Greenman, but
you never see them both in the same room at the same time.
Well, it made sense in my head before I wrote it down, honestly it did.
Tra,
Simon
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http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/bungalow.htm (http://come.to/bungalow)
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An XTC resource - "Saving it all up for you..."
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 00:31:27 +0200 From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Subject: The Knight Who Says Nay Message-ID: <20000531222653.B7E76A6CFC@mail.knoware.nl> Dear Chalkers, > Is it only a coincidence that two of the Wasp Star nay-sayers are big > time Dave Gregory collaborators? I am thinking of that RSMOORE fellow and > Mark Stribjos, who I can't recall ever saying anything against XTC. right and wrong. yes, it is a coincedence and (this is the last time i'm going to say this) I DO NOT SAY NAY TO WASP STAR. I LOVE IT. I LOVE EVERYTHING BY XTC. EXCEPT MY WEAPON. Unlike some others! For instance, take a look at this recent excerpt: > WOUNDED HORSE > Sorry. Like others have said. A one-joke song that overstays its > welcome. and other some people have dismissed all of Colin's work of the past 10 years on this forum without even causing a ripple. Or condemned whole albums ( and even band members! ) to the bin - i would NEVER do that. Like you say: i would never speak out against XTC. That doesn't mean i don't have an opinion or favorites. but these come and go - as many have observed here earlier this is very typical for xtc fans. So far, i still like English Settlement better than Skylarking and i prefer Go 2 over Mummer. But that is just my personal preference and doesn't mean to imply that one album is objectively better than another or that i would be a suitable judge in such matters. Right now i prefer Wasp Star over Volume 1 but i don't know how i will feel in 10 years time. or 30 years, because i will love them till the day i die. and rest assured that somehow i will get them to put those three familiar capitals on my headstone. Under the sign of the White Horse of course yours forever (like it or not) Mark Strijbos yours in xtc, Mark S. @ the Little Lighthouse www.come.to/xtc
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-145 *******************************
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