Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 231
Date: Thursday, 10 August 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 231
Thursday, 10 August 2000
Topics:
Ray Davies vs. Neil Young! Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
AP in CMJ
Content?
Pissing Off The Parents
My Briefs
The Stuff Just Pours Out
The Joy Of The New, The Comfort Of The Familiar
Conversion
Like a Virgin
pure XTC content
The Andy Partridge Quote Collection?
I love XTC because...
Star Park MP3s
Had him nailed to a chunk of wood
Who started mtv unplugged?
Friendly fire and topicality
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He lead them up into a wood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 13:41:51 -0400 From: Jeff Eason <eason@mountaintimes.com> Subject: Ray Davies vs. Neil Young! Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20000808134151.0083aac0@mountaintimes.com> Hello All, In response to someone's query (I forget who, sorry) about why there seems to be a universal embracing of "Stupidly Happy": All of my non-XTC fanatical friends picked up on that song almost immediately when I played WASP STAR for them. I imagine if they were on the Rate-A-Record portion of American Bandstand they would say, "Gosh, Dick, it has a groovy beat that I can dance to and the chord changes were cool." Astute XTC fans are probably saying, "What chord changes?" And I think the lack of movement is actually what gives this song its robust character (when describing music, it often helps to talk like a wine critic). The lack of chord changes gives the piece an Indian raga-like drone that I happen to like, especially with the little sonic parts thrown in. I especially love the megaphone vocals on the "Devil" lyrics. I think if non-XTC fans glom onto a track, then it probably has a good shot at radio play. Let's face it, we (XTC fans) are a minority. Not an oppressed minority eligible for college scholarships...but a minority nonetheless. IN OTHER NEWS: To throw my two bits on the Kinks and Neil Young threads: I was watching VH1 the other night and "You Really Got Me" was used in two advertisements, one right after the other. The first was a true glimpse into my private ring of Hell as ten year olds bashed out the Kinks standard as a way of promoting Kids GAP and the second was a promo for VH1's Fall TV Lineup. Thanks, Ray! Love or hate Neil Young, at least you won't hear a "Tonight's the Night" advertisement for Trojan Condoms or "Heart of Gold" for California Artichokes. Later, Jeff "Your Message Here" Eason
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 14:18:26 -0400 From: Andrew Boyle <uscolor@uscolor.com> Subject: AP in CMJ Message-ID: <v04210100b5b5fccf05a8@[192.168.0.3]> Hello All, I have been happily lurking until vee tube exposed me for helping him with some idrive stuff (loves me some Vee Tube!) so I feel obligated to share: Just got my Sept. issue of CMJ and it has a great picture of Andy and his toy soldiers with a quick note about Andy and Wasp Star. (page 84) Also, CMJ has a Top 75 of College, non-commercial, and commercial radio stations every month and I see that Wasp Star is sitting at number 10. Not too bad, eh. In case you are interested in subscribing you can always go to www.cmj.com. I don't work for them but I have subscribed for 6 years and find it very instrumental in adding new music to my CD collection. It was also the first place I heard ITMWML and I'd Like That. Got to go listen to Star Park (thanks, again, to vee tube)! Andrew Orlando, FL
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 14:43:42 EDT From: KB305@aol.com Subject: Content? Message-ID: <200008081843.LAA09882@sgiblab.sgi.com> <Click on> Todd is right: most of the stuff posted in Chalkhills is about the person posting. In fact, most (if not all) of the stuff people say in any venue by any means is about themselves, period. And the Fripp note was spot-on: the bunch of us meet and lurk here because we like the music of XTC. It's apparent that we disagree on many other topics. So the benefit, if there be one, is about enlightened opinion (based on some perception that hopefully includes facts), and sharing information you have that I may not, or vice versa. All the rest is society, and subject to the same pratfalls and bellywash as any other gathering. Just because we all have too many XTC CDs in our rack doesn't mean we're all the same. That being said, here's my content (rolling my eyes): 1. I like Wasp Star, but I find it having less substance (in my judgment) as other XTC things. The beauty of it for me is in a few sublime moments, rather than the whole: the elegance of the key change in 'Playground', or the modal shifts and vocal arrangement in 'Some Lovely'. Some of it sounds like stuff we've heard before-- 'The Wheel and The Maypole' might fit on 'Big Express', and 'You And The Clouds...' on 'O&L'. The production is pretty fab: clean, uncluttered, and without the stamp of Andy-mania I find on 'Big Express', for instance. Don't get me wrong: even a middling XTC release is better than just about anything else in pop music. I'll probably burn myself a CD for the car containing my favorites from AV and WS. I like all of the CDs, just some more than others. 2. I'm glad they're doing it themselves. Notice NO LOSS of promotional muscle by not having the Virgin/Geffen label on the back. Notice no lack of quality. Notice that Andy and Colin get to keep more of the money. Hooray for them, they deserve it. 3. I miss Dave. If nothing else, you could count on several lovely guitar bits on each record. Andy's a champion songwriter, but not such a great guitarist. I know, XTC is all about the songs, but there's nothing wrong with offering up some great guitar playing in the service of a song. 4. I'd like to publicly apologize to that guy in England who sent me the cassettes of WS & AV over a year ago, whom I told I would transcribe guitar chords for. I've lost his name and address long ago. I will post chords to all the songs that are missing them from WS. (I did this with Mummer a few years ago, just for giggles.) I've since learned that I can't transcribe off of a cassette -- too much stop & start. 5. I'd like to see a photo of Andy with his lovely Erica. Just curious. 6. I don't want to talk about other bands here. This is Chalkhills. 7. Somehow, all of the above is about me, too. Judgments are just something we all have, like feelings, or facts, or wants. Without them, we'd be less. Kevin http://redroad.iuma.com <Click off>
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 14:49:26 -0400 From: Steve Dockery <sdockery@gte.net> Subject: Pissing Off The Parents Message-ID: <B5B5CE76.1587%sdockery@gte.net> I'm gonna come off as a serious momma's boy for saying this, but: I never ever played any kind of music with the intention of pissing off my parents. My parents (apparently unlike most) didn't give me much reason to try to piss them off. -Steve "Stayed In His Room and Didn't Cause Much Trouble" Dockery
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 16:22:56 EDT From: WTDK@aol.com Subject: My Briefs Message-ID: <a3.9bde375.26c1c620@aol.com> > That said, here's what I want to talk about: > STUPIDLY HAPPY. I still just don't get it. Why do > most people on this list like this song??? I've tried, I've > really tried. But it's just too simple for me. That's the beauty of the song for me. It captures perfectly the feeling when you fall in love. It's probably one of Andy's most straight forward songs. I love some of his more complex pieces but like a lot of the best work by Davies, Lennon, Simon, Dylan, Thompson, etc., the simplest sentiments are sometimes the best. The directness of the song appeals to me. Complete artist collections--(that thread started a while back I believe--I'll give the abridged version so as not to bore everyone) The Beatles (including Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's stuff) Roxy Music (including Eno's solo stuff) The Police (some Sting but far from complete--he's been spotty in his solo career) Badfinger (including Pete Ham demos) Suzanne Vega Los Lobos Joan Armatrading Stevie Wonder The Kinks Xtc (of course) The Velvet Underground Peter Gabriel The Pretenders Jez-- that wasn't very brief! Sorry next time brevity is the rule. I personally like the stuff Andy did with Nicky Holland. Re: Napster and other bits and pieces-- Remember when VCR's first appeared? The death of movies! Instead, it contribute to a whole new market niche (the prerecorded video tape, and, eventually, DVD's, etc.) By the way, the same was said of television when it reared its ugly little heard. I agree that Napster can be nothing more than theft and can devalue an artist's work. However, it can also be a way for artist's to reach their audience directly. It's also possible that it will provide yet another outlet for rarities, singles and other music that might be deemed unreleasable by a major record company. There are pros and cons to Napster -- It all depends on how it is used. Napster could easily occupy the niche that is currently occupied by bootleggers--to the benefit of the audience. You won't have to pay $50.00 for that rare Xtc bootleg, etc. Later, Wayne
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 20:22:10 +0100 From: SPitts@thesaurus-computers.co.uk Subject: The Stuff Just Pours Out Message-ID: <OFC03DD3A1.C4297406-ON80256934.00561266@thesaurus-computers.co.uk> Chalkfolks, In #6-226 King Tomston asked: > How about artists that you would always buy their next offering, unheard, whether it sucked or not? < How would I know whether or not it sucked until I'd heard it?? > (In other words, you haven't given up on them.) < Ah well, if you put it like that: Billy Bragg (original material - the Woody Guthrie stuff is all fine and dandy, but it ain't Bill) Ian Dury (included for sentimental reasons - I still have trouble accepting that there won't be a 'next offering') The Fall Roy Harper Sade (if only she'd release another album) Squeeze (in the, possibly vain, hope that Domino was a temporary aberration) Suzanne Vega XTC I'd also include Peter Gabriel on that list, were it not for the fact that he has just released an album of material from shows put on in the fantastic white elephant that is the Millennium Dome, and I've sworn off anything to do with that monstrous carbuncle which continues to suck money out of the public purse (petty, I know, but sometimes ...) He also asked: > does not opinion require an element of arrogance? < I don't think so. An opinion of the 'I'm right and everyone else is wrong' variety does, so too 'my opinion is more valid than yours because...', but not all opinions fit the bill. Arrogance implies a disdain for other opinions, contrary or otherwise, and I somehow doubt that every opinion is expressed with such a backdrop. As to avoiding 'the offense that arrogance brings?', I don't see that one can do any more than reading what you've written as if it had been addressed to you, and judging your own feelings on the matter. Some folk are thinner skinned than others, though, so you still have the dilemma of how thin do you go?? In #6-227 Ryan Anthony enquired: > Well, he typed "Grooving," but isn't it "Conversing"? < Nope. They were definitely grooving. In #6-228 Robert Wood reminded us: > There was big campaign in the '70s that went something like, Home taping is killing music. It had a picture of a cassette and crossbones below the cassette < Laughable, wasn't it. I remember buying Billy Bragg's first 'album' - Life's A Riot With Spy vs. Spy - on pre-recorded cassette and being highly amused by the fact that it was supplied on one side of a cassette, with the other left blank, and a message on the box to the effect (I don't remember the exact words) of 'Kill the music industry - bootleg the Bragg'. The industry has reacted the same way to every new recording medium that has come along, whether it be cassettes, DATs, CD-Rs or MP3. In the process folk like me, who buy legitimate copies of pretty much everything they have in their collections, get to pay a levy on a lot of blank recording media in order to 'pay for the piracy' that said media is obviously the sole reason for anyone buying. Pah On the general subject of bad records/bands it occurred to me whilst on my way home from work the other night that no one has, as yet, mentioned the abysmal Boney M in that context, so I thought I'd throw them into the ring (as it were - check the Profanisaurus for double entendres, intend-red or otherwise). 'Brown Girl In The Ring' (there we go again) and 'Ra-Ra-Rasputin' have to be amongst the most execrable creations ever to gain such a public airing. Truly offal Oh, and in response to whoever asked if we were still listening to the whole of Wasp Star, you bet. The CD hasn't left slot 6 in the autochanger in my motor since the day after I bought it, other than the occasional excursion into the office to be played whilst I'm slaving away at a hot computer keyboard. I am not the sort that puts an album on repeat, over and over, but I have not yet tired of hearing it every third or fourth day, and it also has a pleasantly soothing effect on my offspring. In fact, my good lady wife said to me on Saturday afternoon, when I realised that WS was the only wife-and-child-suitable CD that I'd got in the car - 'this CD is always going to remind me of this summer'. I wouldn't count her as a 'fan' of XTC, but she certainly seems to like both volumes of Apple Venus, so my eternal thanks to Andy and Colin :)) Cheers, Steve NP: Mike Oldfield - Voyager
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 21:51:45 +0100 (BST) From: Rory Wilsher <rory_wilsher@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: The Joy Of The New, The Comfort Of The Familiar Message-ID: <20000808205145.16060.qmail@web1503.mail.yahoo.com> Hillers, Rigidly on-topic here! WS has now metamorphosed (for me at any rate) from the state of being a "new" XTC album into one with which I am now thoroughly familiar, and I can listen to it and compare/contrast with earlier works without being overwhelmed by "newness" and finding things in the songs that I hadn't heard before. Jim Kendrick opined: >That said, here's what I want to talk about: >STUPIDLY HAPPY. I still just don't get it. Why do >most people on this list like this song??? I sort of agree with you. I don't think it's BAAAD, just not as good as everything else on the album. With the exception of You And The Clouds... which I still can't listen to properly on the album, largely because of the anticipation of what's to follow! So I've put it on a separate compilation tape and tried listening to it like that, and I'm gradually coming around to this song. Obligatory Non-XTC content: Peter Gabriel overheard Paul Simon talking about Sting's opinion of David Bowie's thoughts on the Beatles' comments re the Clash's take on... Rory "You and the clouds will gradually get better" Wilsher
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 21:56:50 +0100 (BST) From: Rory Wilsher <rory_wilsher@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Conversion Message-ID: <20000808205650.16929.qmail@web1503.mail.yahoo.com> Hillians Just thought I'd share this with y'all - part message from a friend: >Okay so it took a while, but I finally got Wasp Star last week. I'm>supposed to be sworn off CD purchases as part of the pre-australia-trip >economy drive, but frankly after the day I'd had it was a straight >choice between some new music or Class A drugs ;) >What a treat! I'm hopeless at writing about music; and you've heard it >already so I don't need to tell you how good it is. >And now I feel fantastically stupid, because the point at which I first >thought 'Ooh I like them - must get the album', was about the time that >Making Plans for Nigel was released. So I guess I've got about 2 >decades' worth to catch up on. Where would you suggest I start? ;) My response is a tape containing the following, which I'll deliver this weekend. I'm assuming she's heard all the (regrettably few) songs that actually charted. It's called "What XTC Did Next"... Side 1: All Of A Sudden (it's Too Late) Wonderland Love On A Farmboy's Wages Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass All You Pretty Girls Washaway This World Over Season Cycle The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul Earn Enough For Us Mayor Of Simpleton History Of Rock'n'Roll Side 2: Here Comes President Kill Again The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead Books Are Burning The Ugly Underneath The Disappointed Easter Theatre Your Dictionary Frivolous Tonight I'm The Man Who Murdered Love My Brown Guitar The Wheel And The Maypole i.e. a lot of my favourites, with a fair mix of singles to album tracks, and going round the houses in terms of styles (but deliberately leaving out some of the more "difficult" stuff - don't want to scare her away!) Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to devise a similar list. Must fit onto one tape/CD. Obligatory London sense of humour bypass: Phil Collins and I were chatting down the pub last night. We didn't mention XTC ONCE! Rory "An over-sensitive Southern twat" Wilsher p.s. I'm saving the Dukes for a later treat...
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 15:03:38 -0600 From: KirK.Gill@equifax.com Subject: Like a Virgin Message-ID: <85256935.0073B9ED.00@noteswetc15.fin.equifax.com> My "Intro to XTC Story" (for what it's worth) I have to start at the beginning. I was watching an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show in the very late 60's or early 70's (yes, I'm THAT old), and they showed a clip of the Beatles that I now assume was from the movie Let It Be. Paul, magnificent in his overwhelming hair and beard, was singing, and I decided at that moment that I wanted to look like that, be like that, listen to that, etc. Although the first album I'd ever actually purchased with my own money was John Denver's "Poems, Prayers, and Promises," I decided that I NEEDED a Beatles album, and soon afterward a Beatles retrospective called "Beatles Alpha-Omega" was advertised on television. I began trying to do extra work around the house, weeding the garden, washing the cars, to earn a dollar or two to buy the 4-record set (it was $12.99, I believe). I found that my mom was foiling me at every turn, and was denying me the ability to buy the record, and I thought that she just didn't want me listening to them, which made me want to listen even more. Of course, she'd bought the records for me for Christmas, and was just preventing me from having TWO copies. Anyway, by virtue of that compilation, I got the Beatles all at once. Early stuff and later stuff and even post-Beatle stuff all at once, and not in chronological order. It stunned me and overtook my life. I literally ground those four pieces of vinyl into dust with thousands of listenings. Ok, fast forward. Many years later, a friend gave me a tunes tape. Lots of good stuff, including a couple of nuggets called "The Meeting Place" and "Knuckle Down." I didn't really like either of the songs all that much at first, and there were other artists and songs whose records I bought first due to the tape. But my friend told me that he thought that XTC were like a new Beatles, a new version of that alternatively fluffy and demanding, poppy and rocking English pop that I'd programmed into my brain so many years before. So I bought my first XTC disc - Oranges and Lemons. It was LOVE. And it's love now. I think finding and listening to XTC is the most satisfying musical experience of my adult life. Emotion and intellect and melody and rhythm bound together, English to the core, almost blues-less but still appealing to my guitar-player "it's got to be hard to play for me to like it" mentality. And I was lucky, because there were so many records to "discover," a whole catalogue of great music, a growth and progression of tunes to take in all at once, just like I had a chance to do with the Beatles so many years before. And better, because they still exist, they're still an ongoing musical entity, and they're still making great music and still growing. So there it is. Thanks for listening..... k "...gone where the goblins go, below, below below..."
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 22:18:41 +0000 From: Jayne Myrone <myrone@tesco.net> Subject: pure XTC content Message-ID: <39908739.4FA55C31@tesco.net> So there I was listening to Fossil Fuel (still filling in the gaps) & I'd got to Sgt Rock and all of a sudden there was a shiver going down my spine at some speed. Why this perturbation (not as good as suaveolent) in the spinal region? Well, it was this song that made me think "By 'eck that's good" and then "By 'eck they're good." Both statements are still true even if Sgt Rock is a little un-pc n'est pas? And that's my 'why I started buying XTC albums' story. I love XTC because every song is like a little movie. Victor Rocha (Pechanga Band of Luiseoo Indians) This is the other reason why I buy XTC. It's all so visual. Other news - I waiting for copies of Skylarking, Big Express and Mummer. Expect complaints from the local postman as he is greeted with "What do mean you haven't got the parcel," Wish me luck Darlin' Debora - Adorable Annamarie is defiantly right about getting the Duke's stuff - pure dead brilliant or what? My suggestions: Your Gold Dress & Little Lighthouse. Mark - Congrats (I think) on being sacked and seeing it as an XTC opportunity. veetube's Welcome Newbies should be engraved on tablets of stone and put somewhere prominent. Wasp Star is still being played about once a day and it still rocks. I still can't take Wounded Horse seriously after the "Wounded whore" post. (sorry I can't remember who it was.) I think it's down to the clip-clop percussion, and the fact that Andy sounds relatively cheerful to me. Good for those long dark drunken nights. And whoever mentioned Napalm in relation to TW&TM will not be getting an Xmas card. -- Jayne the Worrier Queen Want to know how many boxes have been packed? And just how many books there are here? http://www.stas.net/myrone/news.htm "Nothing is meaningless if one likes to do it" Gertrude Stein
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 07:38:12 +1000 From: "Clifford Smith" <dracon@worldreform.net> Subject: The Andy Partridge Quote Collection? Message-ID: <000e01c00180$f46252e0$290ffea9@dracon> This is what we should! Compile a large collection of wise/funny/silly Andy Partridge quotes!!! Send all quotes to me at dracon@worldreform.net Cheers!
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 18:25:37 EDT From: "Kevin Diamond" <kev_boy@hotmail.com> Subject: I love XTC because... Message-ID: <LAW-F28H6hm0a3Q8qeR000029b3@hotmail.com> Andy Partridge is a sexy bastard! no, seriously, I love XTC for so many reasons. I will list some. Respectable Street Funk Pop a Roll Great Fire Easter Theatre Church of Women Complicated Game Senses Working Overtime Across This Antheap Battery Brides Then She Appeared and, of course, the best XTC song ever written: I Remeber The Sun. Yes, now the truth comes out, the best XTC song is this incredible, incredible gem of a song. I want this song played as I quietly die in slow motion. but not any time soon. Oh man, I just bought the best album in the world! The Pulsars! Self titled release! It rocks so hard! Oh my god, I can't even stand it. It's as close to new wave as anyone's got since the early eighties. Buy it now! Thanks to all who have offered me copies of Big World, but I found that CDNow stocks an import of it for only 14.99! I'm buying it right away! Pissing off the parents? Wouldn't dream of it! It's kind of sad, I suppose, this is the time when I'm supposed to be pissing of my parents, my teenage years, but the only thing I end up blasting is, say, the outro to Hey Jude, which I'm sure doesn't really make them all that mad. God, ya gotta love that outro. It just goes on forever... Kevin "Naaaaaa Na Na Na-na-na-naaaaa..." Diamond
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2000 19:05:40 CDT
From: "vee tube" <veetube@hotmail.com>
Subject: Star Park MP3s
Message-ID: <F128GEoAJ3Lqogn78le00005ab3@hotmail.com>
For those about to rock.....
...idrive.com/starpark
NOTE! If you haven't used my idrives, please see
Chalkhills Vol.6 #205 RE: Warbles that are fuzzy.
The details: I haven't 'cleaned' these up as this 'boot'
is still available at better indie stores and I thought you
might like to hear (as close as MP3s will allow) what you'll
get for your money.
The news: I won't be up-ing anything new for about 3 weeks
as I have a personal project to work on (a KICK ASS EELS concert
from a French radio broadcast). It's full of multi-path and other
noise but it's so cool I HAVE to 'clean' this bastard up and, edit
the sh*t out of it.
When I return, we'll pick up with Fuzzy2 'Jules Verne' 'Nonsvch'
demos and a few more of Colin's demos.
Enjoy!
}---:)
P.S. DUNKS! Fish says, Mug the delivery boy, buy a CD!
NAPSTERKILLEDTHEVIDEOSTAR!OUT!
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 18:38:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Brown <mb2@deltanet.com> Subject: Had him nailed to a chunk of wood Message-ID: <200008090138.SAA09073@mail2.deltanet.com> Hi all, Go see what the music of XTC inspired- http://www.caligari.com/gallery/onemanshow/jeffwallmd/jeffwallmd.html Click on the pumpkin.. I think you'll enjoy it. Debora Brown
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 20:44:20 -0500 From: "David DeVoto" <devoto@rogerle.com> Subject: Who started mtv unplugged? Message-ID: <NEBBJHMIILEJKCBNABHJEEBFCAAA.devoto@rogerle.com> So I'm watching VH1's top 100 moments on T.V. (what's next - top 100 Rock and Roll hairstyles?) and number 96 or so was Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performing "unplugged" on the 1989 MTV video music awards (I think). This moment, of course, was touted as being the inspiration on the "Unplugged" series on MTV. Didn't XTC perform ON MTV with acoustic guitars that year? I'd like to know the dates to know who performed on MTV first. Not that it matters - just interesting.... Dave
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 18:43:10 -0700 From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com> Subject: Friendly fire and topicality Message-ID: <08B5DDC2BABCD311BFC6005004A884B013B7A4@mgcservices.com> 1. We are not in the middle of some sort of "flame plague", supposedly unprecedented and worse than has ever been seen before. People are discussing, debating and sharing views, allowing everyone to better understand one another's tastes and the infuences/listening history/personal evolution that has led each of us to become fans of XTC from a variety of different directions and routes. Sometimes, people exaggerate, overreact, get pissed off at one another, or just misunderstand what was said and take things too personally. I've done all these things, like just about everyone (who posts and makes the effort, that is). Just as often (IMO), people make up, clarify the wording of their views, allow themselves to be corrected when they're mistaken, or just generally forgive one another, accept differences of opinion and move on. Like many of you, I've done all these things as well. I don't think I've made any mortal enemies, and, if anything, I've appreciated learning more about where my "opponents" were coming from, as well as the opportunity to express my views more clearly when someone has taken exception to something that I may have written too hastily. It's all part of the ongoing ever-developing conversation that I see this list as being. I consider myself a relative newbie here, but in the year in which I was just a "lurking subscriber" I swear that I saw at least two periods of "too much flaming lately, not like the golden age of last year/month/week/whatever, it's all spoiled, the list will never be good again" panic posts, and this latest one is definitely the second since I've started posting. The less you let anything intimidate you from speaking your mind, the more interesting the conversation becomes; calling every disagreement "flaming" that should be stopped (especially if you take something out of the context of the thread it comes from) is just as much a damper on expression as launching an overreactive shitstorm against those with differing opinions. I myself am shy, reticent, oversensitive, inhibited and all those other weedy things, and even I'm not intimidated by the occasional flare-up; I just jumped into the fray one day and haven't looked back since. I personally believe that I have yet to be involved in a "flame war"; I've been involved in discussions and debates, sometimes involving strong disagreement, but never involving malice or a belief that the other person is some sort of loser or asshole because they hold a differing opinion or their background as a music fan went through different phases than mine. Hey, no matter the road we came by, we all arrived as XTC fans, didn't we? Which brings us to... 2. The topicality thing. I'd just like to thank all the people who've protested the lack of sufficient hard XTC content for all the brilliant observations about the band, cool thread ideas, etc. that they've contributed as a productive way of getting us wayward types back on track. That's so much better than "I don't feel like making any kind of effort, so the rest of you come up with more XTC-related stuff for me to read". (Hey, sometimes petty sarcasm is the only fit response.) Seriously, though, just in case it isn't obvious, I'll say it right out and unambiguously: I love XTC's music, and they are (still) my favourite goddamn band in the world. I wouldn't have come looking for XTC on the internet and found Chalkhills in the first place if this wasn't the case. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I came here for XTC, and stayed for the people, and the conversation. As far as the conversation may roam off topic as far as surface appearances go, the fact that this is a conversation among XTC fans is always there, if sometimes in the background. And unlike many other topics, XTC is the one thing that will definitely always come up again eventually (not counting CD vs. vinyl... heh-heh-heh...). As far as we may stray, the conversation started with XTC and will always come back on topic eventually; in between, a lot of interesting things get said by XTC fans discovering things about one another and finding common interests other than, and in addition to, their love for this band. I'd be bummed if hard "on topic" rules were enforced and digests trickled down to once a week or month, and I couldn't talk to other XTC fans about things that XTC fans are interested in, whether directly related to the band or not. And, really, come on, have patience; the way some people have protested, it's like there hasn't been anything said about the band since the late middle ages. A small run of digests that are a little thin on direct band stuff does not equal an ominous trend that threatens to become a permanent state of affairs. We'll get some news. Someone will have a revelation about a song. A fun, interesting thread about XTC's music will come around. Just relax, and if you read a conversation between others than you think isn't XTC-ish enough, start your own instead of demanding that they shut up. One day, you may read something off-topic that you find interesting, or have something to add to, and you won't be very happy when someone you've never heard of slags you for it, believe me. I raved and gushed over WS (which I still listen to quite frequently and love, BTW), expressed my disagreement with the disappointed to the point that I received an off-list e-mail accusing me of being the sort of person who'd rave over recordings of the band farting, and then a month or so later I'm not a "real fan" because I participated in a conversation about something else? As if. Not to be rude, but the only logical response to the "too much off-topic stuff" complainers has got to be: put up or shut up (I mean that in the most friendly way possible). 3. What's the deal with the continual flip-flop between "people should always specify that they're just stating their opinion" and "the fact that people are just stating their opinion is obvious, therefore specifying that it's just one's opinion is redundant and shouldn't be required"? This is never going to be definitively settled, is it? By the way, if and when I ever leave the list, I promise right now to slip quietly into lurkdom, and not make a big show of leaving while pointing fingers and calling people names. Ed K.
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-231 *******************************
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10 August 2000 / Feedback