Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 248
Date: Tuesday, 22 August 2000

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 248

                 Tuesday, 22 August 2000

Topics:

                      Re: Revolution
                I'm Listing! I'm Listing!
                   Tonto doesn't mind!
                       Re: Concerts
      Concerts- some good,some great, some abysmal!
          My Dream Concerts and a Concert Story
               Dear reminders of who I am.
                       Re: Concerts
     Neil Young's Sketchbook of Peter Gabriel (wot!?)
                           GIGS
                       Roger, Roger
                       my concerts
              re: wrapped in grey & concerts
                       You & The Q!
Gregory's Girl (http://www.swindonweb.com/ottc/past/greg.htm)
                    Flamenco Sketches

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The smoky air full of music and words.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 21:00:45 PDT
From: "Drew MacDonald" <moebius1956@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Revolution
Message-ID: <F89m9t0CI76rOJhKPc900001ac7@hotmail.com>

>Please recall that Michael Jackson owns (still, I believe) the >Beatles
>back publishing catalog and has allowed the use of some
>songs for commercial use.  So criticizing Ray is like criticizing
>the Beatles for "Revolution" being in a Nike commercial (or some
>car ad, I don't remember which it was).

 From what I understand, MJ has rights to the performances-as-recorded,
which is one of the reasons there was such a hullaballoo over the Nike
commercial (you were right the first time), which used the actual Beatles
track. However, he has long since sold the publishing of those  songs to
Sony. For instance, he doesn't make money from all those  Phillips
Electronics commercials that use "Getting Better All The Time," as performed
by some nameless studio hacks.

I used to be opposed to all such uses, but have since softened my stance. I
don't mind another generation getting turned on to Nick Drake because "Pink
Moon" was in a Volkswagen ad. For that matter, I had never heard of
Hooverphonic prior to their VW commercial, and now I have both their
records, thanks to VW's informative website.

Drew

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 09:17:35 EDT
From: OMBEAN1@aol.com
Subject: I'm Listing! I'm Listing!
Message-ID: <c8.9423c3e.26d1346f@aol.com>

Alright, I'll bite.
 First-- Gary Numan--1980
 Last--( except local bands)---The Cars 1989
 Best-- XTC__Emerald City, Cherry Hill NJ  1981
 Loudest--Queen, The Boomtown Rats
 Craziest--Ramones 1984- In a small bar in Margate NJ
 Most-- Psychedelic Furs, Cars ( 3 )
 Best Audience-- Beru Revue (  former Philly band )--lots of audience
participation
 What was I thinking--NRBQ--flat out sucked

 Top 5 XTC songs:
 1. Helicopter.  I literally have listened to this song 10,000 times
 2.  Every other
 3. song
 4. Theyve
 5. done.

Whats happening with Stupidly Happy?  I want answers!!!!
   Roger, over & out.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 22:33:24 +1200
From: "Simon Curtiss" <s_curtiss@clear.net.nz>
Subject: Tonto doesn't mind!
Message-ID: <007d01c00a92$18d52a20$2d64a8c0@emigre>

John Peacock wrote:

>Telephone Man, Schmelephone man. Who remembers the Lone Ranger song from
>about 1978? Quantum Leap, wasn't it?

**deep blush**

Aaagh, I've got that one too!

It's a little known fact that the gibberish he's saying at the beginning
(and I'm not even going to attempt writing it down) is the singers attempt
to pronounce the Maori name of a small town in the South Island of New
Zealand.

Not

But it does sound like it.

Oh Concerts!

First concert: -  Elvis Costello, circa This Years Model, Bracknell Sports
Centre - Awesome, shite acoustics but who cared!

Best concert: 'hmmm'........ I'd have to say U2 circa October - they were
bloody wonderful and I loved that album, but then they had to go and release
that bombastic preachy pile of crap called War and it was all downhill from
then. I've liked two (2) songs  of theirs since then, and I bought Pop based
on the Discotheque single - it didn't sound as good as did on the radio and
the rest is frankly blechh - anybody want it ?

Runners Up - Leonard Cohen -, Albert Hall, circa I'm Your Man - That Voice -
lovely.
Johnny Clegg & Savuka - what energy, Zulu dancing, spears & groovy music.
Here & Now - Reading Bus Station - hippies that rock!  (Please anyone got
the H&N album with the Jacques Costeau track on it  - please I neeeeeed to
trade for it!)

Worst concert: - Eric Clapton, Albert Hall. had a free ticket, he played
blues all night - we left before the encores could start in case it got
worse.

Feeling embarrassed for the artist concert: Bill Nelson, Leicester
Polytechnic - The Invisibility Exhibition tour - not many people left by the
time he came on (maybe 50 out of 300) as a student bar was NOT the place for
the Frank Chickens, Richard Jobson (ex the Skids) declaiming bad poetry, and
the Yorkshire Players doing the Cabinet of Dr Calgari. I enjoyed it though.

Too Loud: Paul Haig (ex Josef K) sounded much better by the pinball machines
in the next room.

Made a prat of myself at concert: Reading 1984 - Saxon, very drunk at the
time, managed to clear a space of about 15 feet around me by shouting for
the same song (747 strangers In The Night) all the way through the concert -
they did play it in the end though.   and The Passions (of I'm in love with
a German Film Star fame) by pogoing through the entire set (with 2 mates of
course) and they were not a punk band by any means.

Sounded exactly like the album concert: Propaganda (circa Dr Mabuse) they
might as well have not been there, just stuck the record on.

Shortest concert - Depeche Mode, Leicester University - touring their first
album they played all their songs in 40 minutes and had to repeat two songs
to be able to do an encore.  They were supported by Blancmange who were the
reason I went to the concert as I had their first ever EP on vinyl and liked
it at the time (it's utter crap from a perspective of 20 years) as it stated
on the sleeve it could be played at either 33 or 45 rpm. I missed them
completely as I was in the downstairs  bar for their whole set, from
hindsight a wise choice.

Missed but would have loved to see: Be Bop Deluxe, Red Noise, Crowded House
(stupid stupid stupid - thought they'd always be around), Split Enz (Circa
Second Thoughts) and Nonsuch/AV1 era XTC supported by full orchestra.

Thank god I missed concert; The Wiggles, NZ 2000 - luckily they sold out
before I was forced to take my 3 year old son to see them (only antipodean
chalkers will understand what a narrow escape this was !)

cheers

Simon
toot toot chugga chugga big red car - The Wiggles

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 09:06:17 -0500
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: Re: Concerts
Message-ID: <l03130300b5c592a3bc65@[208.13.202.187]>

  First concert: Stevie Wonder, Montreal Forum, March 1975. I was twelve,
my friend Scott's older sister chaperoned. Cat Stevens, of all people,
jammed with Stevie on the encore, which impressed this twelve year old Cat
Stevens fan no end.
  Best Concert: Bruce Springsteen, Montreal Forum, summer 1978. My
girlfriend and I were so tongue-tied and incoherent after that show her dad
thought we were on drugs when he picked us up after the show. We weren't.
Really!
  Most disappointing concert: No contest. The Gun Club, Hampshire College,
fall 1983(I think). Jeffrey Lee Pierce was on the nod on herion and barely
coherent, the band was sloppy and unrehearsed and didn't give a fuck, and
some idiot puked on my sweater.
  Why did I go? Adam Ant, spring 1983. Several female friends dragged me to
see him because they thought he was hot(one of them was the same one who
turned me onto XTC a couple of years before)and that he put on a good show
even if you didn't like his music. I have to admit he put on a good show,
but it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't gone, I felt like the only
straight male in the room who wasn't on stage, though I'm sure other guys
were dragged there by their girlfriends.
  Dream concert: Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, together on the same
stage, playing on each other's songs. Thank you, Bill Mumy, for suggesting
that one.

Christopher R. Coolidge

Homepage at
http://homepages.together.net/~cauldron/homepage.html

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 11:59:17 -0400
From: "Roger Fuller" <fullerfamily@sprintmail.com>
Subject: Concerts- some good,some great, some abysmal!
Message-ID: <004e01c00abf$9a3a09a0$2244d63f@hp-customer>

I have been following the thread on concerts and have been quite amused and
informed by some of the postings. Some great stories, I must say. I don't
get out to concerts much anymore (three small kids- whaddamIgonnado- take
'em to the next version of Lollapalooza and let 'em play in the mosh pit? I
slam-danced enough in my time- ooh myachinback-no thanks..)

Anyhoo.... I'll stick to rock here. Jazz and classical and country could
take up a lot more space, so here goes:

I remember my first, and that was a really good one: Jethro Tull, Sept(?)
1973, Boston Garden. "A Passion Play" Tour, complete with a bizarre film
with
the band in odd outfits and rabbits and Alice in Wonderland figures
scurrying about. Ian Anderson is basically English dance hall entertainment
with a very heavy backing (that's a compliment, BTW). The band was great,
but
somehow the idea of concept albums was starting to wear just a tad thin. The
marihuana smoke was everywhere; the unlucky support act, Livingston Taylor
commented to the crowd, "It may be autumn in New England, but it smells like
harvest time in Mexico...."

Mott the Hoople, April 1974, Providence Palace, Providence, RI. the height-
or nadir- of glam rock, depending on one's viewpoint. I really loved the
band and their music, but there was just too much stuff on stage: puppets,
marionettes, chicken feathers(!) flying through the air at one point. Queen
was one of the supporting acts- and boy were they terrible! Heavy metal
sludge....

After that most of the bands I saw for a long time were pretty insipid. The
mid-Seventies was not a time of originality in music, but, concerts used to
be a very cheap way to spend time with a date on Friday or Saturday night.
(I paid $7.50 for front row tickets to Jethro Tull....)

Consequently, in order to please members of the opposite sex, I remember
seeing at the Providence Civic Center and/or the Boston Garden 1974-1978:

Chicago (great horn section and bassist- Terry Kath wore sequined trousers
and had mirrors on his Telecaster- too much in love with his wah-wah pedal,
though),

Eric Clapton (definitely on something that night -him, not me...a million
people on stage with him),

Beach Boys (I think they had Ricky Fataar of the Rutles as guitarist- lots
of potted plants on stage- incl. the band...),

Lynyrd Skynyrd (Lord saaaave me....they were bad- all were drunk and
fighting with each other. Ronnie Van Zant cussed out the audience as
"dumbass Yankees" [well, he wasn't all wrong])...

(oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time....)

I saw Jethro Tull again, but with a band called Carmen as its support act.
(Picture a master flamenco dancer with a rock band- oddly enough- it was
really good!)

I saw Yes. Duuuuuuulllllll.........impenetrable, non-sequitur lyrics,
over-indulgent, endless solos. Support act: Gryphon- the
multi-instrumentalist played sackbuts and krummhorns- interesting gimmick,
but, no sale.

Boston. Duuuuulllllerrrrrr..... the pre-packaged "Foreigner" of its day. Not
ready for prime time. Would have been a good bar band.

Aerosmith, many times, bec. they were cheap and plentiful, like Thunderbird
and Kool-Aid.
 Raucous without merit, and I always woke up the next day with a splitting
headache.

Elton John. Treacly, but my date looooved him and his music..... Dee Murray
was a great bass player, though.

UK: they weren't King Crimson, I'm sorry to say...Allan Holdsworth couldn't
have looked more bored.

I saw more such concerts, but I have tried (successfully) to forget them.
Fleetwood Mac might have been in there...

After 1978, things got better. Kids nowadays have no idea how lame the
average musical offering was in the US until after 1977-1979, but, most
Americans still weren't buying it, so, things such as XTC just fell on cloth
ears over here.

Some post-1978 Concerts:

Ramones, whom I saw many times. A lot of fun, until Joey
tried to get political. The WORST band I ever saw was a support group for
the Ramones in Hartford, CT, whose name escapes me, but the guitarist was
named Miki (or Niki) Zone. Clad in leather, looking like a bad Village
people audition, these guys were beyond bad and offensive. At one point the
lead singer, who was introducing a song about "f***ing on a subway train",
mooned the audience with the filthiest backside I had ever seen outside of
farm animals. It was the only time in my life I ever wanted to throw
anything at a musical act, but I chose not to.

The Dead Kennedys, Rusty Nail West, Sunderland, MA, 1980- Wow, were they
fun! Lots of great playing, great riifing on the crowd by Jello Biafra,
e.g., taking some poor young lady in torn Tshirt and safety pins out of the
audience and commenting to the audience " Wow- so this is "New Wave"-
everybody better get on the bandwagon, and start looking like Miss Safety
Pin of 1980 here!" Somebody then called out, "Hey Jello- yer gettin' fat!" "
Biafra shot back, "That's because I like jelly doughnuts, more than I like
YOU!" :^)

Biggest Concert (and gullible record-buying youth in general) Ripoff: U2,
Basel,  Switzerland and Mannheim, W. Germany, 1987, two weeks later. Here's
the shtick: at one point during a song, a fan jumps up on stage and tries to
genuflect to Bono and sing along with him. A security guard rushes up, grabs
the interloper, and tries to drag him off the stage, and it looks like the
guard wants to beat the fan, until Bono remonstrates and says, "No, let him
up with us- he'll be up here for all of you in the crowd- let him sing and
dance with us!" The fan looks as if he has just been "saved", and he and
Bono embrace, and the crowd goes wild. I thought, "well, that's nice- Bono
is trying to fight against the venue and its guards and strike a blow for
youth freedom here" or some such blather I used to believe in in my ivory
tower days at university...

Two weeks later..... same concert, different place (I was given a ticket
because a friend had got called up to military service in the W. German Army
and couldn't go)... same song, same place in the concert... same guy, same
security guard!!!! Same quasi-religious salvation scene..... What the
F***????? I related this story to my friends who were all ardent believers
in U2, and none of them believed it- anybody else catch this phenomenon?

Beware rock stars- any rock stars- as devotional figures, folks- you get
what you pay for... :^)

I missed the Jam (DAMN!!!!!!), and I missed XTC (BIGGER DAMMMMNNN!!), but my
younger brother saw oor boys in Boston at the Paradise (?) in 1980. He said
the band were tired and ran through their show rather perfunctorily. he also
claimed to have gone to the bar afterwards and sat with Andy and somebody
else in the band, talking about unions and politics. I asked Andy about this
last year when I met him at the AV1 signings at HMV or whatever the durn
store is called in Boston (used to be EU Wurlitzer), and he couldn't
remember him or the event. Such is life.

Wish I had seen: Capt Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Buzzcocks, Clash, Johnny Cash,
Buck Owens, Sam and Dave, Bus Boys, Ornette Coleman, Cure, Nirvana.....the
list is endless- there are only so many hours in a day.

The upshot of all this is, as Mr P has told us, and I concur: despite
everyone's best hopes and wishes, concerts are a bare approximation of what
you hear on record. Such bands as Queen may sound impressive on record, but
live, w/o the overdubs, they were abysmal. Some may say XTC's best music was
back when Andy and Colin wrote their tunes to be easily reproducible live,
but I dunno... w/ all the overdubbing, I agree that it is better to create
an aural sculpture. And stay home and lead semi-normal lives.

Still would have like to have seen the four of them live, though. They (and
the Jam/Paul Weller) are still the major occupants of my CD player, twenty
years later.

All Of A Sudden (It's Too Late).....

Roger Fuller

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 12:37:34 EDT
From: MFanton00@cs.com
Subject: My Dream Concerts and a Concert Story
Message-ID: <48.9dc50cf.26d1634e@cs.com>

Well, I already saw one of my dream concerts (Squeeze, 1998).  But I'd LOVE
to see Paul McCartney, XTC, Talk Talk (been trying to get their former
drummer to talk to the rest of the guys), Kate Bush and The Moody Blues
(they've come here so many times, but I keep missing them).
I have a great story.  It was at The Who concert at Rich Stadium, 1989, and
near the end of the show the moon (which was full) was over the stage.  I
heard someone say, "That's Keith Moon's spirit approving of the concert."  It
was a very moving moment.

Molly

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 13:12:29 EDT
From: NORDIC68PJ@aol.com
Subject: Dear reminders of who I am.
Message-ID: <79.88b7a47.26d16b7d@aol.com>

The preparation begins.

Concert t-shirt?   Check.
Ticket?               Check.
Directions?         Check.
Gas money?       Check.
Ear plugs?          Chec..Wha?..WHAT?!..Wha'd you say?
Right then, let's go to the concert...

 First concert (too young to say "no"): Statler Brothers- 1976?
 First concert (rock/pop): Howard Jones- June 1985 "Dream Into Action" tour
---standing in line, I remember a car stereo blasting Violent Femmes onto us
from a parking garage.
 Most recent concert: The Tragically Hip- July 2000 "Hip,Hip.Hip,Hip,Hip..."
 Worst concert/What was I thinking?!?: Hootie & the Blowfish- August 1995
---Don Dixon opened for them, the only redeeming portion of the show.
 Most times seen: The Tragically Hip (6)
 Shortest concert: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians- April 1989 ---While
visiting my sister in New York City a friend of hers asks me to go along.
Someone forgot to tell me about said friends' severe claustrophobia. Exit
stage left after about 3 songs. Rumour has it that Eric Clapton was in the
crowd that night.
 Best Concert: R.E.M.- September 1989 "Green World Tour" ---NRBQ opened the
show.
 Best concert runner-up: Paul Weller- October 1997 (Jonette Napalitano of
Concrete Blonde opened) & : Toad the Wet Sprocket- April 1992 (opener for
Chris Whitley)
 What was I thinking?!? OR  Worst concert w/ a date: Richard Marx- March 1990
 She asked me to go. Then. She asked me to leave.
 I'd pay for "it" Concert: The Call- November 1990 --- The one concert I was
impressed enough by to say, "I'd pay for your admission too".
 Fantasy concert {A concert I would have loved to have seen, but, never
happened in real life} : XTC- Oranges & Lemons World Tour OR The Beatles-
Magical Mystery World Tour.
 Wish I'd been there:
  Talking Heads- Stop making sense
  The Jam- circa 1981-1982
  Joe Jackson- circa late 1980's
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Misheard lyric section-
  "I'll cast the first vote that's commin' in.."  Uh Huh, Oh Yeah - Paul
Weller
 The real line is... "I'll catch the first boat that's commin' in"
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  "Wha?.. WHAT?..Wha'd you say?.. Can somebody PLEASE turn that down!"
                                                Nor

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 11:25:12 -0700
From: David Hathaway <davidh@electricmail.com>
Subject: Re: Concerts
Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20000820111024.00bf5c40@aka1.electric.net>

Ok, obligatory concert list...

FIRST CONCERT: Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show!

BEST CONCERT: Oooooooooo, tough one. Probably Fishbone, Commodore, 1989 or
Bela Fleck, 1995, Club Soda

BEST CONCERT RUNNER-UP: Midnight Oil, King Crimson (yay Belew!)

WORST CONCERT: The Cars, circa whenever they wee brave enough to tour. man,
it was awful, except for Elliot Easton

"WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?" CONCERT: Genesis.

David Hathaway                                  davidh@electricmail.com
The Electric Mail Company                            +1 (604) 482-1111

Dogbert: Has your electronic mail system made you more efficient?
Dilbert: In a way... Now I'm getting ignored at the speed of light.
                                                 -- Scott Adams

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 13:20:01 EDT
From: "Seth Frisby" <vagueyear@hotmail.com>
Subject: Neil Young's Sketchbook of Peter Gabriel (wot!?)
Message-ID: <F310eE3pIdbI6bICZeL00003650@hotmail.com>

'Lo,
     I will not reveal my first concert experience. My voice quivers to
speak of it. Horrors of horrors. It was a gift from my parents, little did
they know the pain they would cause me later in life..it was the early
nineties and I was twelve. You guess for I shall not reveal my eternal
shame.
     After seeing Neil Young a few days ago I can safely tell all ye' nay
Sayers to stuff it! To quote David Byrne very loosely " the better the
singer the harder to believe what they're singing". Thus with that in mind I
believe in Neil's songs much more than say Whitney Houston's or michael
Bolton's songs. All in all Neil is much younger than he should be.
    Does anyone know when Jules Verne's sketchbook was put to tape? I'm
guessing 87-88? Am I close? Just for the record I do not dislike any XTC
album. Though there are a few I rarely need to hear. For some reason I need
to hear Mummer more than the Big Express. Which is no judge of quality, just
an observation.
     Did you know that Peter Gabriel has stockpiled almost 130 songs since
his last album in 92? He even claims to be a bit proud to have started a
"slow" trend in musicians that include Kate Bush and the Blue Nile! ! Arghh!
Why?! Don't be proud. At least YOU can sit in your cozy home studio and
listen to YOUR music, but us poor fans are left in the dark..help us we're
stuck out here in the wicked world with the horrors of Britney and N'sync.
Save us Peter! Be fair and Share! I understand he's still quite a busybody
just not in a very public manner. Oh well...good for him, bad for us.
     This is the fourth time I've written this post and it now has lost all
it's freshness and is now quite truncated. I cut out a nice bit on a great
Jon Brion article from the boston Globe which mentions the likes of Robyn
Hitchcock, Aimee Mann, XTC, and Elliot Smith among others. I even had a
link. I kept getting my posts sent back to me. If you want the link maybe
I'll inlcude it later.
     Does anyone know anything about the Rooks? I've heard a little talk
about them in British magazines, although they're as I understand it a very
american outfit. My music radar seems to feel they will be enjoyed by
myself..am I right?
Well anyways enjoy life's tickles. I'll return.

Seth "Guano Haircut" Frisby

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 14:43:23 EDT
From: WESnLES@aol.com
Subject: GIGS
Message-ID: <9c.6ab9ea1.26d180cb@aol.com>

FIRST CONCERT:
Very young, in my pajamas, at the Grand Old Opry with Johnny Cash on stage.
During the gig he talks to the crowd and asks my mother..."how old is your
little girl?"

FIRST CONCERT I CAN ACTUALLY REMEMBER:
The Beach Boys (about '71) with my folks.  I was 5 or so and all I remember
is Wet Willy opened (LOUD) and the Boys played new tunes until I fell asleep,
missed the commercial hits which were played later.

BEST CONCERT:
XTC @ WRFX Charlotte NC during the '89 acoustic tour.  (okay..not a true
concert)

BEST "TRUE" CONCERT:
Joe Pass in a very small club in Charlotte around '88.  The most amazing
guitarist I've ever seen...and I've seen some damn good ones.

WORST CONCERT:
Steve Miller band. (pick a year...had a good friend who was into 'em and I
often scored free tickets for him only to wind up having to go with him) Got
good and sloppy drunk each and every time.

LAST CONCERT:
Pearl Jam a few weeks back.  Urghhhhhhh...it hurt.  Free tickets and a 500
page review to write on the gig for a very small bit o cash.  As I stood
there, still as an iceberg, the shirtless sweaty teens all around me were
damn close to achieving orgasm as I silently asked myself..."uh, haven't they
already played this song at least twice?"

MISSED CONCERT:
Always regretted not seeing Miles Davis before he died.  Would have loved to
have seen Jaco Pastorious too. (his eponymous album has been remastered and
is soon coming out..if not out already...sounds great)

wesLONG @ http://members.tripod.com/~The_Last_Balloon/
Optimism's Flames

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 14:27:07 -0400
From: "Michael Versaci" <stormymonday@sprintmail.com>
Subject: Roger, Roger
Message-ID: <000001c00ad4$400b70d0$65081e26@mtwe50004>

Folxtc,

Roger Fuller observed:

>You have obviously thrown out a red herring
by attacking the original poster by attempting to censor him by advocating
that others ignore him. Speak up- what's your explanation for your
non-position, please? Is the free exchange of ideas, even about XTC and its
relationship to the politics that Andy P. injects himself into with his
music (although he steadfastly refuses to vote...) something that makes you
uncomfortable? It sure doesn't bother Andy to talk about issues.....<

I would never advocate censorship.  What I am advocating is restraint.
What makes me uncomfortable is extremism.

Chris Coolidge said:

>>>When it comes to gun control, you have two realistic choices, disarm
everybody or allow everybody concealed weapons.<<<

I said:

>>While some of his observations are worthy of a response, this one clearly
isn't.<<

Roger asked:

>Why not? <

Even though I said I wouldn't, I will.

Gun Control in the USA is a complex issue.  There are many intelligent
people who can debate passionately and logically on both sides.  Reducing it
to an "either-or" argument is a gross over-simplification.  Anyone who
approaches this complex issue with an open-mind and a certain degree of
intelligence can see *many* "realistic choices," not just two.

Michael Versaci

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 11:38:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: dAVe burlingame <davidb@spl.org>
Subject: my concerts
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.05.10008201130060.23498-100000@mail1.spl.org>

i have one that really stands out: bon jovi, '89 or '90, tacoma,
washington.

it stands out because i started the night with a bottle of vodka, a bottle
of orange juice, and two bottles of mad dog 20/20. i ended up passed out
on the men's room floor of the tacoma dome, having seen about ten minutes
of the show...a blessing, really [i despised their music, but the tickets
were free and the girls cute], which turned into a curse a few hours
later.

dAVe

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 16:30:36 EDT
From: TumeysKat@aol.com
Subject: re: wrapped in grey & concerts
Message-ID: <44.68a13ef.26d199ec@aol.com>

Here is my list of concerts to add to the group, but first may I say that I
love the song Wrapped in Grey, it is one of my favorites.  I love it's
message, there are far too many people who live "wrapped in grey" trying to
sell that view of the world to others, so I really loved hearing XTC
comparing your heart to a big box of paints, it was so fitting. I like the
coda into the next song too. Yes, it's a bit quirky, but I believe in order
to pull yourself out of a world wrapped in grey you need to be a bit quirky
at least once in a while.
On to the list

First  Concert:  My parents took me to the first one I can remember seeing...
Waylon Jennings with the Hollies  I think it was Summerfest, Milwaukee Wi.
Best Concert:  Tied for first place
                Metallica,   2000/Milwaukee Wi
                Pink Floyd, 1994? Madison Wi
Runners Up:     U2, Pop Tour, Cleveland Oh
                            Eurythmics, 1986/ East Troy Wi
                    The Residents    Chicago- forgot the year 1986-87?
Most seen in concert:  The Residents
                    They put on a great visual concert!  I saw them twice,
once in Chicago                     and later in Milwaukee.
Why did I go?:      Dire Straits/  Forgot the year again/ East Troy Wi.

Dream Concerts: I would love to see Metallica again!, and of course XTC!

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Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 16:22:20 -0400
From: Jeff Eason <eason@mountaintimes.com>
Subject: You & The Q!
Message-ID: <3.0.6.32.20000820162220.007ada00@mountaintimes.com>

Fellow Chalk Villains,

It's been a treat hearing of everyone's concert experiences. I thought I
was the elder around here but there's obviously some groovy geezers who are
longer in the tooth than moi.

I agree with Barry that seeing NRBQ in the mid-eighties was a highilight. I
worked the bar at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill for a few years and had
the pleasure of seeing them perform three or four times. Along with XTC,
REM and the dB's, NRBQ is the best band to use initials.  The band would
put a big request box on a table so the audience could write the names of
songs to be played during the encore. They would pull out songs and play
whatever came up. It became a situation where people would try to stump the
band with obscure songs. Sometimes the songs sounded great, other times it
was a disaster. But it was always entertaining.

I gotta disagree with Joe Hartley on his view on promo discs. His logic
about "hosing" the artists by buying promos is somewhat illogical. His
first point is that no money goes to the artist when you purchase a promo.
Well, that is true but is also true of all USED LPs and CDs. Does he
suggest we stop looking for bargains? This music junkie will continue to
get music where he can.
Hartley's second point is that the record companies make the artists foot
the bill for all the promos. If that is true then it is probably a big
reason why more and more bands are heading to smaller labels and DIY
distribution deals. Considering the willy-nilly way that big labels throw
promos around, I'm surprised any musician would stand for it.
I've worked at several radio stations and the big labels just send out
their latest discs regardless of the station's format.
I feel it is better that these promo discs end up in the Used Bins than to
gather dust in the closets of radio stations, record stores, and magazine
offices. If a buyer likes the disc he is likely to buy others by that
musician or play the disc for his friends. In a very real sense, that's
what those promos are meant to do. I can't begin to count the number of
bands I took a risk on because their used disc was $3 as opposed to a new
one at $15. Some are now some of my favorite bands while others had their
promo discs driven back to the Used Bin. Sorry!

I forgot to mention some key concerts!

Best first date concert: I rode to Maryland with some folks to see King
Crimson in '82 (or so) during their "Beat" Tour. Not only was it a great
show but one of the girls in the car and I really hit it off and ended up
dating for about three months.
"Wish I'd Been There" Shows: Any XTC performance; Zappa with his 1974 band;
Jeff Buckley.
Biggest Disappointment: the Replacements in 1985. I've got kids in my
neighborhood who could've put on a better show.
Great Recent Shows By Up-And-Coming Bands: Fat Mama, viperHouse; Dr. Dan;
Nickel Creek.

Later,

Jeff "listening to Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy on headphones" Eason

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 18:34:12 -0400
From: "Roger Fuller" <fullerfamily@sprintmail.com>
Subject: Gregory's Girl (http://www.swindonweb.com/ottc/past/greg.htm)
Message-ID: <000301c00af6$c4e74fa0$bb6ad63f@hp-customer>

Hey, this may be old hat to some, but is this AP's kid in the pic? Sure has
the family resemblance- the site even touts her as being the daughter of the
Bespectacled One.

http://www.swindonweb.com/ottc/past/greg.htm

Will she someday be the UK's riposte to Britney? (We could do a lot worse-
HP's backing vocals on "Playground" aren't bad at all)

I smell a career a-borning...

Roger Fuller

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Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 15:30:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Al LaCarte <allacarte@yahoo.com>
Subject: Flamenco Sketches
Message-ID: <20000820223026.25281.qmail@web1611.mail.yahoo.com>

All:

The KING said:

>Besides George, here are some others I think could
*not* play that flamenco lick at the height of their
abilities - <

SNIP!

> [Jeff] Beck <

Ahem.

Al

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