Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 205
Date: Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 205
Tuesday, 25 July 2000
Topics:
Warbles that are Fuzzy (Disc 4)
What's your talk show theme song?
Everything You Know Is Debatable
Alien Love Fest
Jules Verne CDR
does He or doesn't He?
Is that little person crazy?
Reel to Reality Check
Mile High Rant
Plexiglass Toilet
A slight return to the defence of Britney
Vocals
Ol' Granpa sez...
Those Early G&C albums in full
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Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7b (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).
Wish they'd leave my head tonight, let me rest my bones.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 18:04:57 CDT
From: "vee tube" <veetube@hotmail.com>
Subject: Warbles that are Fuzzy (Disc 4)
Message-ID: <20000721230457.47741.qmail@hotmail.com>
Ok kids, listen up!
If you want free xtc (demo) MP3s do this...
Go to idrive.com and get yer own Idrive. When
you sign up, make sure you check 'Let Fish Send
stuff to my DROPBOX!'
Now, Log onto your new idrive. When you get to
your idrive homepage look at your browsers address/
location bar. You should see...
https://www.idrive.com/YOURDRIVE/?guest=false
Now, obey the BIGASSBASS! and do this!
01. Delete ONLY! yourdrive/?guest=false and insert
4fuzzy
02. When you get to 4fuzzy,click any song. This will open
my shared files.
03. Check any/all songs you want.
04. Click the Yellow 'Send' button.
05. When the send window opens, type the name of yourdrive.
In the SAME GREY WINDOW click the small 'send' button
06. GO HOME! You should see a message in your dropbox. If not
LOG BACK IN!
07. DO NOT CLICK THE DROPBOX! CLICK THE MESSAGE!
08. When you click the MESSAGE in your idrive you should see
all of the songs you just transferred. Start downloading!
I'd now like to thank Debora Brown and Andrew Boyle
for helping me work out some of these details. They both
spent several days helping me learn how to get these demos
to the rest of you.
THANX KIDS!
Idrive claims they are 'Upgrading' their site, so, this
should be easier in the future.But, you'll still need your
own drive and learn the send routine in order to avoid the
150mg daily limit.
OH YEAH! 4FUZZY is all of the AV1-2 Rejects.
AND MORE!
}---:)
P.S. If you use the 'Select All' option and get an 'Unknown
Error' one of the songs is corrupt! Try sending one or
two songs at a time and...
...Report any bad links to your local Pan-Dimensional
Hyper-Finoid! I'll fix it ASAP!
TROUT!OUT!
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 12:28:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Ryan Anthony <hamsterranch@yahoo.com> Subject: What's your talk show theme song? Message-ID: <20000721192829.24032.qmail@web106.yahoomail.com> First, who is responsible for "Wildfire"? Michael Murphey, who added his middle name (Martin), morphed from a pop balladeer into a cowboy ethnomusicologist, and released four (to date) albums called *Cowboy Songs*. From December 1 through 24 every year, *Cowboy Songs II: Cowboy Christmas* goes into heavy rotation at Chez Anthony, along with Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to *A Charlie Brown Christmas*, the Chieftains' *The Bells of Dublin*, James Brown's *Santa's Got a Brand New Bag* and all of Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas releases. Second, add to the list of bands that peaked with their first release: Guns N' Roses. I see you making finger-down-the-throat gestures out there. Give *Appetite For Destruction* another listen and see if it don't smoke. Third, a great throw-away line by Ed Kedzierski (Digest #6-182) which I intend to steal and use somewhere: "Take it easy, relax, have a drink, have a wank, take a dump, whatever. Obviously, there's too much pressure somewhere." Fourth, in Digest #6-155, another Chalkhiller with a tricky i-before-e surname, Dan Wiencek, coined a two-word phrase that would make a fine band name, or album title: "Swindonian erotica." (My own favorite band name, being held in reserve, at least until now: Anvil Chorus.) Fifth, a possible topic to replace the five-CDs-in-the-mothership thread (not that there was anything wrong with it): What music would you select -- other than your own, you musicians on the list -- as the theme song of your own radio or TV talk show? "Senses Working Overtime" is tempting, But I will borrow from "Smallcreep's Day," the seven-part mini-epic which constitutes side two of Michael Rutherford's first solo album, also titled *Smallcreep's Day*. To kick off the show, I will play "Out Into the Daylight" (a make-a-dead-man-come instrumental power pop gem), and at the end, that musical moment of afterglow called "At the End of the Day." Ryan "I Am the Hamster From the Ministry" Anthony, an independent Internet content provider
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 18:37:03 EDT From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Subject: Everything You Know Is Debatable Message-ID: <b0.8320c93.26ab7c0f@aol.com> All right. What's all this brouhaha: >From: chris vreeland <vreecave@realtime.com> >Subject: Alien Island disks > >P.S. Tom, They're in everybody's eggs. Chris again, later in the digest (not eating with his hands; using his entrenching tool): >Remember, if you DO spot an alien, drop beneath the seat of your plane, >and avoid eye contact. If no eyes, avoid ALL contact! And then, smack-dab in the middle of the Small-Animal Administration, comes this echoing cry: >From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com> >Subject: Your Brain is Not the Boss! >"Honey, they're in EVERYBODY'S eggs!" Ah, the mammaries you dredge up... "The pyramid is opening!" "Which one?" "The one with the ever-widening hole in it!" Say, I don't mean to be boring and bring this thrilling series of Komedy-Kutup Hi-Jinx (Dope Humor from the Seventies!) back to on-topicalitude, but I just found the following grafs in the liner notes of the "Shoes for Industry" compilation CD: "The unlimited studio time allowed us to write while we were working," Austin says. "And by Dwarf we had really gotten to feel comfortable with the process. It allowed us to experiment with the sounds of things. Technically, we understood we could use Hammond organ horns and run voices through them, or use backward tapes." This seems to reflect the influence of Bergman's original inspiration for the group, the Beatles, and Austin is quick to confirm the perception. "The Beatles were a huge influence on The Firesign Theatre," he says. "This was a period when we were doing large amounts of references to current Beatles product, and playing with the idea of using a whole album and tying the cuts together and using the more avant-garde audio techniques. They were far ahead of us when we started, but with our words and our own material, I thought we caught up real fast." Quod Erat Dictum, kiddiewinks: Goons --> Beatles --> Firesign Theater. Harrison "Aww, he's no fun; he fell right over" Sherwood
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 21:01:43 -0400 From: "squirrelgirl" <squirrelgirl@hitter.net> Subject: Alien Love Fest Message-ID: <002e01bff378$b458b240$0a48c0cf@meredith-s> Howdy (Again) 'Hillians! Well, it seems the aliens among us just won't go away, so here are my 5 picks: Styx - Classics Vol. 15 Warlock - True As Steel Ugly Kid Joe - As Ugly as They Wanna Be Rocky Horror Picture Show - Soundtrack Chicago - MCMLXIV (Oh, no, wait, that was Van Halen) :-) OK, so did you all get my little joke? No, my musical taste isn't REALLY that bad. Here's the real list: XTC - Black Sea David Bowie - Space Oddity Steve Morse Band - The Introduction Iron Maiden - Powerslave Steely Dan - Katy Lied and just in case I could stash a few extras: XTC - Drums & Wires Rush - Exit Stage Left The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta The Dregs - Unsung Heroes Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend I look forward to meeting the rest of you Chalkhillers on the Great Space Coaster! SG
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 20:22:48 -0400 From: "squirrelgirl" <squirrelgirl@hitter.net> Subject: Jules Verne CDR Message-ID: <002d01bff378$b34c2440$0a48c0cf@meredith-s> Howdy 'Hillians! I just got my CDR copy of JVS from Derek Miner, and I thought I'd write to the group at large to give credit where credit is due. This is one quality bit of work. The insert is a very professionally done reproduction of the original tape sleeve on heavy cardstock, and the CD label is the same picture from the cover. All the lyrics are there with a few extra Andy-handwritten notes and an autograph from AP (at least I'm assuming the notes are written by Andy - the script looks exactly like the notes Andy wrote on some of my stuff many moons ago). So, if you want a positive trading experience, Mr. Miner will deliver. Clearly a lot of time, effort and dare I say, love, went into this production and I am grateful to have this CDR to listen to, as I guard my original tape jealously and hate to play it, even to make another tape copy! Thanks Derek! Squirrelgirl
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 23:36:24 -0500 From: michael stone <nedrise@MNSi.Net> Subject: does He or doesn't He? Message-ID: <397924AF.B99B1826@mnsi.net> Dear Chalkees >>From: Fenboy7282@aol.com >>Subject: musings >>Firstly, did anyone read the wasp star review in Chalkhills where Andy >>is quoted as saying that he doesnt listen to anyone else's music >>anymore. >From: Hbsherwood@aol.com >Subject: The Stuff Just Pours Out (Part 1) >As one who has also mostly outgrown the juvenile impulse to have others >perceive me as encyclopedically knowledgable about every witless and >clangorous flavor-of-the-month being fobbed off on us by the Forces of >Malignity, I deem it a self-confident, centered, and above all adult >thing to say, and I applaud him for it. This is a very interesting point. Does he or doesn't he listen to the latest stuff anymore? As Fenboy notes, he says he doesn't. To be honest, I really don't believe this. And Wasp Star, to me, is the proof. The whole record is a conscious attempt to get current, hip, phat, now... whatever. As much as is possible while still being the inimitable XTC. And to get with the 'now' sounds, I think Andy deliberately checked out some top 40 radioish stuff. How about this stanza from the fade on I'm The Man Who Murdered Love --> If you never ever use it You know you're gonna lose it If you never ever kiss it How you ever gonna miss it? That's pure American, mid 90's AlternaFunkPop phrasing. Sounds more like the Spin Doctors or Red Hot Chili Peppers than Andy Partridge. You really think he came up with that in a vacuum? Hardly likely. Also, this stanza wasn't in the demo. Perhaps he parachuted it in, thinking the song needed some updating. The end of We're All Light -the run on phrase that ends with "And the stuff just pours out" strikes me the same way, as does the whole rhythmic feel of that song. A deliberate effort to 'get hip', so to speak. Please don't think I'm judging him on this. I'm not. He can imitate current radio bands all day if he wants to, that's fine with me, as long as he can distil it into his own brilliant flavour of Pop. Which is what Wasp Star is. I just don't buy it when he says he's not keeping up on what's on the top 40 these days. Comments please, what do y'all think to that? Mike
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 18:46:30 -0500 From: "Richard" <rjpa1@home.com> Subject: Is that little person crazy? Message-ID: <052001bff36d$e54432e0$15ec1718@mckiny1.tx.home.com> To both of the chalkers who missed me, I'm back online and actually reading the digest. I've been offline since the planetarium listening party in California on May 23 (sorry to those who couldn't make it due to the late notice - it all came together faster than the White Music session). It was good to see a few knowns at the bash as well as Russ Reynolds (the eternal Chalkhills lurker) from KSJO "cock-rock" radio and Becki diGregorio's bass player Endre. I am now a Texan. Hah y'all doon? Life here is purt-near perfect, seppin the heat? But I got AC and a pool and a cold beer, so I prolly have all I really need, gnome sane? (Sitting in Sonny Bryan's BBQ a few weeks back and some guy in his late 20's is trying to convince his father to loan him the money to go take some trade licensing exam- again. He had a little trouble justifying the cost, and marketing is NOT one of his strong suits, but he said to his father, "The last time I took that trip it cost me over $2000... hell, I coulda bought a dirt bike for THAT." Ah... Texas career logic!) I have been in contact with a few Texans in the past (S&J Oleson & ... Jason Garcia? ... M. Armintor?) and have recently come in econtact with a few new (vee tube and Joe Funk - uh, yeah right, a progressive rocker who is a serious power pop XTC fan with the name of "Funk"? - sounds like the start of a Sienfeld routine if you ask me.) as well as some gonzo XTC fan/DJ from "Merge Radio" so maybe I'll be fixin' ta have an XTC gathering rye-cheer sometime soon. So, enough empty prattle... check out the new Guster CD, "Lost And Gone Forever" (produced by Steve Lilywhite). Really enjoyable stuff!! Saw them in Fort Worth last Tuesday. Very entertaining, catchy material with harmonies, overlapping lyrics and no drum sticks! Bulbously cool. My son, Miles, turns five on Sunday and he absolutely LOVES the Wasp Star CD and requests it often (mainly because the first song songs "Playground" and the second song mentions a train - his primary passion - beyond that he just lets the CD play.) ...possibly too often. Cheers, Richard "Gnome Sane?" Pedretti-Allen
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 16:20:34 EDT
From: NORDIC68PJ@aol.com
Subject: Reel to Reality Check
Message-ID: <6.90dc74f.26aa0a92@aol.com>
The aliens have landed in my back yard ...and all I have is this damn
t-shirt to give them.
I refuse to go with them! I will not suffer the fate of taking 5 CD's with
me and leave all the rest behind. They tell me I have a choice, either go
along with them or they will disintegrate my whole collection!
Bastiches! I tell them to wait while I conveniently slip all my choices
into double jewel cases. Hah! Take that, you aliens from another world who
cannot comprehend our mathmatical system. I have outsmarted you. I'll throw
in the t-shirt for free.
1) Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
2) Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles
3) The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us
4) The Church - Starfish
5) The Call - Into the Woods
6) Afghan Whigs - Black Love
7) Paul Weller - Wild Wood
8) The Jam - Snap!
9) R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
10) XTC - Skylarking
------------------------------------------------------
Bands or artists that gone down hill since their first release..
1) Seal -self titled. This album showed such promise when I first heard
it in the early 90's. It was a mixture of dance grooves, stylish lyrics, and
nice melodies. It stays fresh to me to this day. Everything else released
since then has been the old "needle stuck on the record" bit.
2) The Smithereens - Especially For You. These guys have been around for
over 17 years and yet continue to show a lack of "getting on with it". It
seems they too have been stuck by putting out alot of the same tired old
music. Along the way I have found some of their releases to contain a few
gems, but it's too few and too far inbetween.
------------------------------------------------------
Quite a few of you out there seem to talk highly of Adrian Belew. I guess
I don't get it yet. I purchased " Inner Revolution" in a bargain bin, and
found it to be contemptible to my ears. I would welcome any comments or
suggestions on any thing else he has done.
------------------------------------------------------------
Bands on a curve. If ever I thought a band had enough talent to produce
high quality music and put on a killer live show it would have been Blues
Traveler. They quickly disproved my theory. "Save His Soul", their 3rd
release was to be the last one I could listen to and truly enjoy. They were
inflicted with the Top 40 bug shortly thereafter and have not been themselves
since. To top off that sobering thought, unfortunately, their bass player,
Bobby Sheehan, now resides in Rock n' Roll Heaven.
-------------
Gotta go now, the aliens have put on their t-shirts and have fueled up
the spaceship... Nor
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 17:04:28 -0600 From: KirK.Gill@equifax.com Subject: Mile High Rant Message-ID: <85256923.007E8204.00@noteswetc15.fin.equifax.com> In 6-195, Rob Carson said: I dare anybody to say ANYTHING good about Styx. Here's something: I used to play guitar with a pal of mine at all the parties back in high school. One of our numbers was an emotional rendition of the Styx tune "Suite Madame Blue." The girls really liked it, and by extension, us. The only way to say it is that the song got me laid. Repeatedly. Thank you Styx. And so long as we're into lists: Other tunes that melted hearts in high school (graduated circa 1981) Ziggy Stardust: David Bowie Father & Son: Cat Stevens Landslide: Fleetwood Mac Stairway to Heaven (and it was the most overplayed song back THEN, though that didn't stop us) Wish You Were Here: PF You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman) - don't know why, but the ladies liked to hear us guys singing this one And as for fave tunes per XTC disc: White Music: I'm Bugged GO2: Meccanic Dancing Drums & Wires: Scissor Man Explode Together: None Black Sea: No Language In Our Lungs English Settlement: Snowman Mummer: Love on a Farmboy's Wages Big Express: Seagulls Screaming (Kiss Her! Kiss Her!) Skylarking: 10,000 Umbrellas Oranges & Lemons: Poor Skeleton Steps Out Nonsuch: Ugly Underneath AV1: Greenman Wasp Star: We're all Light Oh, and the 5 Alien abduction cd's? Ambient/ On Land: Brian Eno Transistor Blast: XTC (Those aliens won't deny us boxed sets, will they?) Archive: Genesis (ditto!) Ah Um: Mingus Kind of Blue: Miles Davis Randy Hiatt says: "What I will pass on to you Prog/Art Heads is a band from Denver called Thinking Plague, yikes, don't even attempt to chart this stuff out... might be impossible. Female voice, Crimson meets Gentile Giant times 10. If you haven't puked yet you'll love them." This band is past tense, so far as I know. I live here in Denver, and the drummer for my old band was once a member of Thinking Plague. They haven't been around for a long time, at least not here in town. The one disc of theirs which I own (In This Life, I believe it is called) is truly worthy of interest. Three other Denver bands that I think might interest you are: Slim Cessna's Auto Club (Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys meet David Byrne), Sixteen Horsepower (atmospheric, rootsy, dark), and Worm Troule (atmospheric, urban, dark). Any other Chalkhillers here in Denver? Thanks for listening, k "man needs a woman to pull him right out of it"
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 08:07:36 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Plexiglass Toilet Message-ID: <l03130300b5a09890bebb@[208.13.202.168]> >In 6-195, Rob Carson said: >I dare anybody to say ANYTHING good about Styx. > >Well, "Mr. Roboto" does have it's uses in a "bad-funny" sort of way. >Especially >if you're very drunk and there's at least one person present >who has no >capacity for the whole "bad-funny" sort of thing, and you can >dance around >laughing at the lyrics while s/he begs you to stop playing >it... > >Someone has to know what I mean... Ed K. I was guilty of being a fan of theirs in early high school, up until The Grand Illusion, which happened to coincide with my discovery of The Sex Pistols. I don't know whether Styx started sucking then or they'd always sucked and I didn't know it, but I have fond memories of some of the material from Equinox and Crystal Ball, though not so much that I'm going to rush out and buy those albums on CD. I will say one good thing about them; there's a song on one of their early albums, The Serpent Also Rises, called "Plexiglass Toilet" which is one of the funniest things ever released, especially considering who it's by, and can be heard on the Dr Demento Show on occasion. You won't find it mentioned on the album cover or on the track order on the record, but if you suffer through J.C. Curulewski's(the rhythm guitarist who Tommy Shaw replaced starting with Crystal Ball)overwrought folkie lament "As Bad As This" at the end of side 2. eventually it ends, there's a brief pause, then you hear this goofy drunken calypso thing with somebody singing in a fake Jamaican accent "Don't sit down on the plexiglass toilet/Said the mother to the son/Wipe the butt clean with the paper/make it nice for everyone..." And more goofy lyrics about toilet training. If I ever meet Dennis Deyoung on the street, I'd be tempted to sing those lyrics under my breath as I go by, the pretentious jerkface deserves it. In addition, when I was living in Montreal I got to know this homeless guy who moved up from Texas a while back and couldn't hold a job due to his poor command of French and his love of demon alcohol, and on one occasion when I brought him and his handicapped wife(who'd got that way in a major car accident where she was left for dead and somehow survived)over to crash at my apartment, I happened to have taped the song off somebody and played it for him. He said matter-of-factly, "You know, I sang back-up on that song," and he told me how Styx used to play at small venues in Texas when he was playing in a local band, and his band used to open for Styx on occasion. They became drinking buddies, and apparently "Plexiglass Toilet" was the result of an all-night drinking binge with both bands at a small local studio. I don't know whose idea it was to sneak it onto the album, but I'm glad somebody did because it's the best and funniest thing Styx has ever recorded. Christopher R. Coolidge Homepage at http://homepages.together.net/~cauldron/homepage.html
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 22:29:20 +0100
From: "Laura Brown" <Laura@kenaud.dircon.co.uk>
Subject: A slight return to the defence of Britney
Message-ID: <002c01bff35a$bd8cf100$c03e70c2@kenaud>
> From: Misty Shock <mccrtny@scn.org>
> Subject: Slight defense of Britney
>
> I ain't claiming that Britney is any kind of genius, or even that she has
> loads of talent; however, it's worth noting that "Baby, Hit Me One More
> Time" was voted the number 97 best song ever written in the latest Mojo
> magazine. Of course, these lists are hardly much good, but it is evidence
> that some people out there think it's a very good song. Fran Healy from
> Travis was among the people who listed it as one of his favorite songs.
Well, I don't know if I'd call it a favourite, but I do think it's a
brilliant teen-pop song (and no, that's not a contradiction in terms). It's
got a killer hook in that funky piano bit [1], but as the boring^H^H^H^H^H^H
stripped-down cover versions by Travis and Fountains of Wayne show, it also
has a strong melody which holds up when taken out of context.
I haven't been that impressed with her subsequent singles, but they don't
make me retch and turn the radio off, either. And the endless string of
Britney clones is tiresome, but so were the Nirvana/Pearl Jam clones a few
years back. [2]
IMHO, commercial pop is like junk food. A steady diet of it isn't good for
you, but occasionally it really hits the spot. And boasting about how you
live on wheat germ and tofu is a bit self-righteous.
Elsewhere:
> From: MinerWerks <dminer@gte.net>
> Subject: Oops, I did it again!
>
> Okay, for "peaked with their first release":
>
> Oasis
Nah! Morning Glory is much better.
> although I don't know much about 'em, I've heard this about The Stone
> Roses
Oh, definitely. Over here (I'm an American living in the U.K., just to clear
up confusion), Second Coming is widely regarded as the worst follow-up album
in history. And it took them five years to release it!
My choices for bands that peaked with their first release:
The Velvet Underground
The Bluetones (so far)
Morrissey (I'm not holding my breath)
Tori Amos (ditto)
The La's
With their last:
Richard and Linda Thompson
Crowded House
The Verve (although some would violently disagree)
The La's
> From: "Kevin Diamond" <kev_boy@hotmail.com>
> Subject: Beans, beans, they're good for yer heart...
>
> Richard: Bands to check out if you haven't already: The Eels. Holy Slimy
> Water Creatures Batman, these (this) Guys (guy) are (is) incredible! It's
> really mostly just one guy, E. But his friend Butch helps him out on
> drums. Buy their album Daisies of the Galexy or Electro Shock
> Blues. They are both two incredible albums, with two different
> moods. Daisies is more upbeat, wheras Electro Shock is a little more
> sad... :'(
I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendation, but I'm wondering if you
meant to leave out their first album, Beautiful Freak. A lot of people say
it hasn't worn well -- I can't comment because I don't know it nearly as
well as the other two, which I suppose may prove their point.
Um, XTC content: well, we all know how much Andy Partridge admires the
Monkees, who also made brilliant teen pop and were the target of snobbery
in their day.
Laura Brown
[1] Actually, my husband claims that the bass line grabbed him first.
Weirdo.
[2] And the Oasis clones, in Britain.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 17:40:33 -0700 From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com> Subject: Vocals Message-ID: <08B5DDC2BABCD311BFC6005004A884B013B770@mgcservices.com> I just realized that a lot of what I've been saying recently in terms of liking and disliking bands and artists has a lot to do with my reaction to the vocals. This is mainly an emotional thing, and generally has nothing to do with whether someone is considered a technically good singer (in fact I've often heard vocalists I can't stand being praised on technical grounds). It all seems to depend on how well I "relate" to the personality that comes across, explaining why I frequently favour more "wimpy" sounding singers over those who come across in a more aggressive way (this can always be overridden if I perceive the aggro aspect as being undermined by humour; in fact, excessive self-seriousness and pomposity is also a big turnoff). (In a way this also relates to some of the stuff discussed recently about "kids today"; someone mentioned "pop-punk" and Blink 182. Well, with old pop punk stuff, say for instance the Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley had a frailty to his voice that was appealing, where the Blink 182 guy has a cockiness that repels me: it's like the jock types I got into "other" music to get away from have wierded up their hair, gotten a few tattoos, and have remade our once peaceful sanctuary in the image of their f**ked up world. So many of these bands seem composed of regular jerks, as opposed to intriguing freaks. Bear in mind how totally subjective this impression is.) In any case, forgive me for the sin of listmaking, but I'm going to give my fave & hated vocalists just to give an idea where I'm coming from: (Of course I may like any number of singers not on the actual faves list, and dislike others not on the actual hated list) Favourite Vocalists: 1. Ray Davies 2. John Lennon 3. Andy Partridge 4. Neil Innes 5. Paul McCartney 6. Robert Smith 7. Matt Johnson 8. Early Mick Jagger (pre 1970) 9. Elvis Costello 10. Vivian Stanshall Vocalists I dislike (who can put me off an otherwise good or well-written song, not that I'd know in many cases, the vocals having put me off before I could tell...): 1. Joe Cocker 2. Eddie Vedder 3. Latter-day Daltrey (I know the songs are generally pretty well-written there) 4. Jon Anderson 5. Rob Thomas (eee-yech!- is it becoming clear how much I hate this guy?) 6. Bryan Adams 7. The twit from Bush 8. The guy from Journey (Parry or Perry? First name Steve or something else?) 9. Brad Roberts 10. Micheal Bolton (Sure, it's like saying that R2D2 is a bad actor, but what list of hated singers would be complete without him...) Note that there are some obvious areas that I skipped altogether; yodelbellowing divas of the CelineWhitney etc. ilk are so beyond the pale that they don't even show up on the "hated" list (they're even worse than I'm willing to discuss). Likewise for boybands and "modern soft R&B" singers like Brian McKnight etc. And lest you assume that I just hate deep voices, note that Viv Stanshall & Matt Johnson are on the fave list (I like Iggy, too), and that the hate list includes a few high ones. Geddy Lee was considered for the hated list, but judged to be too funny (especially if you happen to be playing a fun game of "Inflicto"). Ye-eeeee-aaaa-aaaa-aaaah! Who-oooaaaaa-oooooh! Ooooo-ooooo-ooooo-oooooh! Ba-aa-aaaay-aaaay-ay-beeee! Ed K. PS: are we even talking about the same thing when I say "the Hooters suck" in reference to their popular dreck, and people from Philadelphia remember their better days as a local band? Especially as some people have mentioned members leaving, etc.? Every city has local bands whose best early stuff is never going to be known except by natives who "knew them when". Just because you saw them in a club when they were good doesn't make "All You Zombies" any better.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 23:16:04 EDT From: KINGSTUNES@aol.com Subject: Ol' Granpa sez... Message-ID: <a8.82378c8.26aa6bf4@aol.com> Chalk talkers, I had this image flash in my mind today at work: I was imagining Paper Lace attending Terry Kath's funeral and singing a poignant rendition of The Night Chicago Died...... I was thinking about this quote that Andy gave about not listening to other people's music. Did he give an explanation? Does he do it because so much of it sucks? That doesn't stop me. It shouldn't keep anyone for seeking out great music. I'm not sure I get this. Most people who get into this business and become succesful, on whatever level, do it because they are fans in the first place. Maybe I'm wrong about Andy here, but I couldn't imagine not being drawn to new music by another artist if it moved me in some way. I wonder if it was just an off-hand comment made as a satiric statement on the general state of affairs. But are you gonna tell me that there isn't anything being done that Andy's not listening to? I just don't believe that. There is so much worthwhile listening to, in spite of how bad it appears. Why stop? Question to John Relph or anyone who might have Andy's ear - has he heard The Shaming of the True by Kevin Gilbert? On top of being such an incredible piece of music, there's so much that he would relate to in his own experience. Then again, maybe the topic disturbs him.... By the way, I'm going out on a limb and delcaring TSOTT one of the greatest records I've ever heard. I found it so overwhelming that it totally eclipsed my Wasp Star ecstasy. I'm at a loss to describe what it does to me when I hear it. Splunge! As for that great oxymoron, "rap" music: Here's the thing. People need songs. SONGS. Remember those? I'm gonna tell you something, and I need some of you twenty-somethings to get my back on this. It is perfectly cool for a young music fan today to be into the older rock. There's really no shame there. Right? C'mon, I deal with twenty somethings all the time, at work, at music fests...they love to sing, and they love the old stuff, and they listen to it right along the new stuff. You'll find an amazing amount of young people who dig Zeppelin, Beatles, Hendrix, Joplin, Doors (don't knock them if they bridge the gap!), stuff from the seventies, the eighties, you know. Why, because, along with all the cool rock sound and guitars and poses and looks and everything else, they gave people songs!!!!! Human beings NEED songs! It's in every one of our genes. The Beatles stand as the great song GIVERs (I like that better than song writers!) of the rock culture. They became what they were and what they mean to the history of rock and music in general first and foremost because of their SONGS!!!! Even the Grateful Dead, who most of you may ordinarily associate with long drug-induced jams, are enshrined and forever woven into the fabric of music history beause of their songs (esp. the period of Aoxomoxoa - Working Man's Dead - American Beauty). Great songs last forever. They are basic to human instinct and necessary for human spritual survival What happens with rap? I repeat: What happens with rap?? Where's the fucking SONG? HMMMM? Try to imagine (you twenty somethings) that it's 50 years from now, you're in a nursing home, and all people do is gather 'round the scratch turntable and rap. That is, of course, you still have the memory left for all those words. Your generation needs songs. You know you want them. Someone START out there! The next Seegers, Dylans, Lennons, McCartneys, Wonders, Hunter/Garcias, Crosby/Stills/Nashes/Youngs, Gabriels, Kings, Davies, Townshends, Costellos, Partridges/Mouldings, Jacksons, Pettys, Brownes, Mitchells, Robertsons, Cobains, Folds, Gilberts, (Ya wanna have fun with this one? Post some of your own!) You're out there, and the soul of music is crying out to you for dear life! Enough with the rap already! Write some songs!!!! And stop paying attention to what the industry says you should listen to! They're getting too cheap to hire real songwriters! Ahem. As for Firesign, well, don't get me started! I'm not even going to try to add my accolades, they're not enough! I will point out that they really were different from the Goons in there own unique way in that they transferred the radio play format to record and made the LP their comedic / artistic vehicle. No one has ever done this quite as well, and I'm really stumped as to why no one's picked up the ball! Their use of studio techniques really borrows from the advances that rock musicians were making in the sixties; panning, echo, reverb, phasing, stereo effects, backwards tape, overdubbing and so on together with their often arcane but side splitting puns and satires really has NO parallel, as far as I can tell. Although I will agree that they were heavily influenced by such immortal greats as the Goons, they truly carved a remarkable niche that no one else has come close to matching. And, to boot, just like XTC, they don't miss a beat even now! Listen to their latest offerings and you'll find that they are just as hysterical and inventive at sixtyish as they were when they were a cultural vanguard for the sixties counterculture! Amazing! Another bad band - The Five Man Electrical Band Another band name - Otto and the Secret Jews Worst pop song of all time, bar none - Seasons in the Sun (Goodbye Papa, it's hard to die, with all the birdies singing in the sky) Oh, you don't know how that hurts! Oh, God! Stop! Get it out of my brain NOW! (sound of a gun shot.....) Another golden drekkie - Alone Again, Naturally (all right, I'll stop before someone else shoots me!) Tom "Gas Music From Jupiter indeed!" Kingston "I love Beethoven, especially the poems." - Ringo Starr
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 13:49:01 +0100
From: John Peacock <johndrewp@zoo.co.uk>
Subject: Those Early G&C albums in full
Message-ID: <397846BB.EC4FF91A@zoo.co.uk>
Organization: The Nice Organization
> Christopher Coolidge said:
>
> Ismism is actually their third album, their first was ... Consequences
> ... [the second album, L, is actually their best; I heard bits of Ismism
> and the fourth album Snack Attack and wasn't as impressed.
Um. Consequences is definitely first album (has anybody mentioned it
features Peter Cook, yet? It does, in one of his freeform impro moods, if
I remember correctly, and I hardly ever do); second album (first "proper"
album) is L. Very sorry to hear it's not available on CD, because it is
totally fab; third album (second "proper") - Freeze Frame, which features
An Englishman in New York (it was the one that had the video with the Dr
Phibesalike mechanical musicians, got released as a single and they
promoted it on Multi-coloured Swap Shop. It would never happen today). My
favouritest of the other tracks is I Pity Inanimate Objects (with intense
vocoded vocal). Fourth album ("third") was Ismism. Which featured the song
Snack Attack. So I suspect that the two albums are one and the same (or
that Snack Attack is a compilation).
I hope that's all clear.
The next album I have is History Mix Vol. 1 (fear not, I didn't pay full
whack for it), which is one of those
chop-up-old-tracks-and-slap-em-together-any-old-how remixes that were so
beloved in the early days of digital editing (every single had one, though
this is the first such album I heard). It has the single of Cry somewhere
in the middle. The best flagrant remix album is still Grace Jones' Slave
to the Rhythm (is *that* available on CD?).
IMHO of course.
There was also a single called Wide Boy in the early 80s which had a video
where freeze frames cut seamlessly to the next scene (scene freezes to
still, G&C burst through blow-up of still) which they turned into a famous
advert of the time, though for what I cannot remember. Jeans,
probably. This is not on any of the albums, and (unusually for a single)
couldn't be found anywhere (I liked the song and I tried) although it did
fetch up on an Italian compilation a few years ago.
That said, to XTC fans, the phenomenon of a single that can't be found
anywhere is not unusual at all.
Groovy,
John
--
In the spirit of shameless self promotion, my songs may be found at:
http://www.mp3.com/peacock
"sell yourself, sell yourself, expect nothing" as a sage saith.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-205 *******************************
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