Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 261
Date: Tuesday, 5 September 2000

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 261

                Tuesday, 5 September 2000

Topics:

                      Saddest tune?
                Will Powers and Dome-Eggs
                  switching instruments
                     More Randomness
                    Re: Turning point
         Concert Moments of mindbending intensity
        radio stations for the radio deprived ;-)
                      XTC grown home
                         Thanks!
         Re: XTC interview in a Finnish music mag
                       Re: Crenshaw
                     Guest Guitarist
                  Sad Songs say so much
                       Concerts...
                        Mick Jones
                  Re: Marshall Crenshaw
                    Wiggling out of it

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

Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 14:26:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rob Hill <squidriver@yahoo.com>
Subject: Saddest tune?
Message-ID: <20000903212633.10402.qmail@web1305.mail.yahoo.com>

That's easy. You folks are looking in the wrong genre. The saddest
assembly of notes ever conceived is the finale of Bernard Herrmann's
score for Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451. The scene in which they're
wandering around in the snow reciting the words of all the banned books
they've committed to memory. Yow.

Rob

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

Date: 4 Sep 00 11:04:36 EST
From: Paul.Culnane@dcita.gov.au
Subject: Will Powers and Dome-Eggs
Message-ID: <0006bddhjdlv.0006amaiagke@dcita.gov.au>

1)  Was it Jayne who asked about the song "Kissing With Confidence"?  This
was put out under the moniker Will Powers, a nom-de-tune for celebrity rock
photographer Lynn Goldsmith.  Guests on the album included Sting, Steve
Winwood, et al (ie, most of the chaps she allegedly bonked, except I don't
think Springsteen's on it).  Quite an interesting LP.  Where Jayne might be
reminded of Laurie Anderson is that Goldsmith used different techniques
(vocoder, varispeed) to distort her voice - she does sound like Anderson on a
number of cuts.

2)  Get Peter Gabriel's new album, "OVO"!

3)  No XtC content except to say that I played "Chips From The Chocolate
Fireball" with ears afresh on the weekend.  You don't need weed or anything
else with this CD - it transports you to another universe all by itself.
Migosh it's good!

~~p@ul

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

Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2000 13:24:23 -0700
From: David Schneider <dnschneider@earthlink.net>
Subject: switching instruments
Message-ID: <B5D800FD.12A7%dnschneider@earthlink.net>

> re. bands that switch instruments:
> Talking Heads, in "Naive Melody" (that was the point of the song).
> King Crimson's Adrian Belew switches from guitar to drums occasionally,
> and does a damn good job!
> The Beta Band has turned this sort of versatility into one of their
> trademarks.  They don't even indicate on their discs who's playing what
> instrument....  Pretty interesting, user-friendly stuff, too!

Sumack, a local L.A. band, which I think I've plugged here before, does a
great take on this. In their live show, during one song, they repeatedly
switch instruments, until each band member has played every other
instrument. A very impressive thing to watch.

BTW, if I haven't plugged Sumack here before, I heartilly do so now. I would
describe them as sort of a mix between XTC and Soul Coughing, so I think
most of the people on this list would like 'em. Check out their CD, "Now
Hear This".

Dave
http://www.hateacomedy.com

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

Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2000 17:55:52 -0400
From: Sylvan <psiogen@mindspring.com>
Subject: More Randomness
Message-ID: <39B2C8E8.8008421C@mindspring.com>
Organization: psiogen@mindspring.com

Stephanie Takeshita typed:
<<Sad & poignant XTC songs: so many to choose from, running an astonishing
gamut of topics and styles, but my fave would probably be "Seagulls
Screaming Kiss Her, Kiss Her"...>> <snip highly articulate review thingy>

I agree totally... anyone who says that Skylarking is their maturity
turning point must be forgetting about Seagulls. (Jason and the
Argonauts too, but that's another matter.) It's the song that got me to
actually start buying their albums after I picked up Upsy Daisy
Assortment.

Said Deborah Brown:
<<..and while we're on the subject of Mummer (huh?).. The original album

tracks are F*CKING BRILLIANT, and you'll never hear me say otherwise..  but
is there anyone out there who adores the B-sides as much as I do?  Please
step forward.. I feel like a leper... sniff-sniff..oops! there goes my nose
again.. could ya grab that for me?..  thanks, you're a dear!>>

Love 'em. Well... maybe not the Homo Safari tracks (What were they
thinking?). But Toys, Gold, and Desert island are all great (Jump is
merely quite good). I love the bass on Desert.

Finally, today's random question: is that really accordion I'm hearing
on Fruit Nut and I Can't Own Her?

Sylvan

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

Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 17:23:00 -0400
From: "Brian" <mattone@bhip.infi.net>
Subject: Re: Turning point
Message-ID: <001701c015ed$23cace60$640affd1@Brian>

Tschalkgerz!

Rob, you echo my thoughts and sentiments exactly.

> English Settlement, *is* and this is not open for discussion <BG> the point
> at which XTC became more mature, it is definitely an album which shows a
> *huge* leap in song arrangement, production and lyrics. Yes there are a few
> "oh oh oh oh ohs" and "oy-oys" (please note lack of apostrophe for the
> plural of "oh" and "oy-oy"!!) but the whole feel of the album makes a
> massive, massive leap from what came before.

'English Settlement' was my introduction to XTC, when I read a review of it
in Rolling Stone magazine. Their review sent me flying off to the record
store to score it, and although I was caught unawares (as most newbies
likely are with XTC's music) by the songcraft and the inimitable English
take on things, I recognized that I had discovered something completely
new - someone who REALLY wrote interesting music.
Afterwards, I was turned on to 'Black Sea', which is XTC's crown jewel from
the previous paradigm. But things were different, and have remained so
since. 'English Settlement' IS the XTC turning point, and will always and
forever be, for me, THE quintessential XTC album.

-Brian Matthews
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer

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

Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 16:59:51 EDT
From: Telehead@aol.com
Subject: Concert Moments of mindbending intensity
Message-ID: <ee.a2083dc.26e415c7@aol.com>

Hey Chalkers ...

   I apologize for being mainly a lurker, but my schedule of
bands/soundgigs/working schlub tends to make my responses last week's news by
the time I come up with them. However, I take a moment during corporate
America's holiday bone to the working class to throw some memorable concerts
at you.

   1) The Who/ Anaheim Convention Center-Aug, 1967: Revealing myself as the
rockin' old fart I am (two years older than Andy!) ; A month before beginning
high school I was already way ahead of the musical curve. I already owned the
"Happy Jack" album (which I still have ...that would be "A Quick One" to my
Brit cousins) when I went to see The 'Ooo open for Herman's Hermits. "Can't
Explain", "Substitute", "I'm A Boy", "Pictures of Lily" ...stuff from the
album and the blueprint for the power pop I'd obsess about for the rest of my
life. And then BOOM ...."My Generation"; three minutes of sheer musical fury
followed by the sacrafice of a battered Stratocaster and even Entwhistle
splintering a vintage Telecaster bass followed by the explosion of Moonie's
kick drums ...poor ol' Peter Noone didn't stand a chance after that. Fast
forward 33 years and I saw them near Sacramento last week ... Peter Noone
STILL doesn't stand a chance ...Brit cousins ...you're next, trust me
....just go!

   2) Peter Gabriel: The Roxy, 1977 - The complete band from P.G.'s first
solo record including Robert Fripp (hiding behind a scrim placed behind Steve
Hunter). Dressed in a grey jogging suit that seemed to signify the break from
the flamboyance of the Genesis days, Peter went through the entire first
album opening with a solo version of "Here Comes the Flood". Just piano and
spine-shivering punctuations from Fripp; very much like the version that
showed up on Fripp' "Exposure" album a year or two later. Walking across the
table tops with a wireless mic on "Waiting for the Big One" establishing the
audience contact that would always be there (like the crowd surfing referred
to in other posts), full barbershop quartet on "Excuse Me", complete with a
not-yet bald Tony Levin on tuba. The Encore was a fire-breathing take on
"Back in NYC" from TLLDOB. I've seen Gabriel many times since, every show a
brilliant moment, but that first tour belongs to only a few thousand really
lucky folks.

  3) NRBQ: The Coach House, Jan, 1990 - I had read about NRBQ for years, but
I didn't really listen until I bought "Tiddlywinks" on a whim shortly before
seeing them live for the first time. For those of you who just don't get the
'Q, see 'em live and you'll know why the critics and all these rock gods
(Macca and Costello among them) trip over themselves praising these guys. I
see them at least twice everytime they come to Northern California and over
the years I've become friendly with the band, particularly newcomer Johnny
Spampinato. Best moment of that first time was keyboard maniac Terry Adams
dropping his mic stand in my wife's lap. She was instantly in love, but also
terrified of Terry for years ...she's over it now <g>.

   4) Paul McCartney: The Forum, Nov. 1989 - McCARTNEY ...do I really have to
say anymore?
   5) Genesis: Drury Lane Theatre, Jan. 1974 - My life's ambition up to that
point was to visit London and just hang out around the music scene; the fact
that my opportunity came up while in service to Richard Nixon and Uncle Sam
was besides the point. Hell, it could have been worse; the other bunch on my
Army training cycle were duly shipped to Vietnam. I went to Germany, hooked
up with an Army sponsored singing group and toured Germany warbling
traditional Army songs, "Mussi Den" (in German no less!) and occasionally
blasting a bad version of "Twisting the Night Away" with an equally bad group
of players. I got a week or so off, so off I went to the city of my dreams,
right into the middle of a semi blackout due to some middle east oil embargo
and a particularly high IRA alert (they seemed to have aquired a surface to
air missle launcher and wanted to blow up a plane coming into Heathrow).
During the day I hit the usual tourist traps, freezing my arse off at the
Tower of London (heard this strange clanking noise ...wonder what that was?).
By night I was usually at the Marquee; heard Be-Bop Deluxe (glam period),
Quadrille, and String Driven Thing. I did want to see a concert-concert and
the only thing going while I was there was some band called Genesis. The
ticket broker said they were kinda like Yes, so that worked for me. Spent the
day of the show nearly broke and getting hopelessly lost trying to find the
British Museum. Finally stumbled into the Drury Lane, found my seat and
waited. The house lights went down and this ominous chordal melody started
...the curtains went up and there was this band, all seated except for this
dude wearing bat wings on his head and glowing make-up around his eyes; the
stage was dark except for the black lights highlighting his eyes as slowly
the gazed across the audience from one side to another. That was my first
hearing of "Watcher of the Skies" and the first time I ever heard or saw
Genesis. By the end of "Supper's Ready" I was a rabid fan. Upon my return to
Germany, I learned they were playing near Frankfurt; I forced a number of my
chorus friends to buy tickets and away we went. Not even an unfortunate
injury to my shin boarding a train that day kept me from the show; twenty
some stitches, several beers and  adrenaline kept me going. It did slow me up
enough to keep me out of the front row where most of my friends wound up.
When the road crew noticed the Americans down front, they asked if anyone
could score some 'refreshments" ...my good friend Steve Loden came up with a
chunk of hashish and was escorted backstage. Bastard! shoulda been me, it was
MY idea!

   Some odds n' ends: Re the county fair thread: Here in Northern California
there's a venue called the Konocti Harbor Resort at Clear Lake. It IS the
graveyard of lost rock souls, usually populated by hacks like Eddie Money and
Styx; imagine my sorrow when the last couple of years Jethro Tull showed up
on the schedule and worse yet this year <sigh> ...the Pretenders.   Sad
songs? "It Makes No Difference" by the Band, hands down ...makes me hate
every f---ed up relationship I ever had. And finally ....

THE MISSED CONCERT OPPORTUNITY AWARD GOES TO: XTC ...San Francisco 1981:
Quote Chris Farley in his SNL interview skit with McCartney (circa 1993) ;
"Stupid, stupid, stupid! <slapping forehead between each word>

Thank you and please visit my new improved website at www.mojofiltermusic.com
or listen to my stuff at www.mp3.com/mojofilter. Your comments are always
welcome (off list please!) ...

See ya,
Warren Bishop

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

Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 17:46:12 EDT
From: IMSUNBAKE@aol.com
Subject: radio stations for the radio deprived ;-)
Message-ID: <29.9be1296.26e420a4@aol.com>

Amy, girrrrrlfriend, tune in to WRNR, 103.1 Fm, Annapolis, MD. www.wrnr.com.

In my LIFE, truly, this is one fabulous station. Stick with it a bit ... I
have learned more from these DJs than I can tell you! Plus, they play XTC
regularly, Dukes of Stratosphear, and KNOW WHO KEVIN GILBERT IS!!!!! You'll
get a mix of everything, and it is all great.

One DJ, Damian Epstein, is on in the morning, around 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Eastern time. His speech is a bit slurred, due to a nearly fatal car accident
years ago. But this guy knows everything, will chat with you on the phone,
and is just wonderful. He is a legend in the Washington, D.C. area. After one
morning listening to him, you'll understand him perfectly.

Your pal,
Annamarie
P.S. There used to be a great station in Philadelphia, Pa., 102.3, but I
can't remember the call letters and my husband says it has changed formats.
Any Philly/Jersey folks out there who can clue me in?

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

Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 13:43:21 -0400
From: mitch friedman <mitchf@mindspring.com>
Subject: XTC grown home
Message-ID: <v03007800b5d9888d1a2a@[165.247.27.101]>

Hi,

Long time no nuttin'. Having spoken with Andy yesterday, I have some bits
of news to report. First off, he and Colin were approached by a movie
producer last week and asked if they'd like to write a musical. They are
considering the idea.  Andy's also slowly conjuring up a script for a
children's tv show/series that would use puppets.

It seems possible that there might be a Wasp Star official demos cd called
"Homegrown" sometime but nothing is definite (as if you couldn't tell).

Even more likely is an abbreviated two volume "Fuzzy Warbles" consisting
only of demos from '92 to the present (because Virgin would force the band
to pay to use any demos from before '92). These two volumes would contain
Apple Venus songs that didn't make it like 'Dame Fortune', 'Bumper Cars',
'Wonder Annual', 'I Don't Want to Be Here', 'The Ship Trapped in the Ice',
etc. as well as the James and the Giant Peach demos and Andy will also be
doing some new demos of songs he only quickly recorded on mono cassette
for this release. When? You got me.

Andy will be supervising the mastering session of Martin Newell's (The
Cleaners From Venus') new album "The Spirit Cage" this week in Swindon as
Martin asked him to. He did not produce the album but has heard it and
says it's really good.

It seems that Andy wants the next XTC album (whatever year that might take
shape) to be "more abstract".

Last but certainly not least, about a week ago Andy and Dave finally spoke
to each other after almost two and a half years of silence.  The initial
part of the conversation was spent explaining what was bothering them when
Dave left the band and the rest of the time, about 45 minutes worth was
spent catching up on what they had been doing since. Andy said that after
the airing of complaints, it was very much like they had last spoken just
a day before. So that's good news I'd say. Don't get your hopes up for any
kind of future collaboration on much more than a phone call or a pint of
beer though.

And now my very own concert survey response:

First concert(s): The first three actually 1) Steve Martin at the Nassau
Coliseum in Long Island '79, 2) The Kinks at the same place in early '80
and then three days later 3) The Ramones at a very small club during which
the band was so loud that they blew a fuse and caused the power to go out
four times!

Best concerts: King Crimson - Discipline tour '81 near Albany, NY
	     Pere Ubu - The Knitting Factory, NYC '91-ish
	     Jonathan Richman - solo at The Lone Star Roadhouse, NYC '93?
	     Ray Davies - solo show at The Fillmore West in SF '95
	     Kathy McCarty - doing the songs of Daniel Johnston at
	        Kilowatt in SF, also '95
	     Tom Waits - Beacon Theater, NYC earlier this year.
Worst/most dissappointing: Violent Femmes at Carnegie Hall '88? The audience
	   insisted on screaming out all the lyrics, the volume was too low,
	   the show was stopped several times by people running onto the
                     stage.
	   or
	  Jonathan Richman at The Bottom Line in NYC '90?  He came on
	  an hour late, his guitar didn't work and he basically stood there
          for 20 minutes sulking and singing accapella and then walked off.

Most recent:  Ray Davies and Friends at The Jane Street Theater, NYC August
           23-25th.  A combination of great new songs, surprising old ones
	   and Yo La Tengo as his backing band for most of the show.

Mitch

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

Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 14:32:52 EDT
From: Jxnsmom@aol.com
Subject: Thanks!
Message-ID: <c3.8e3068e.26e544d4@aol.com>

Just wanted to thank MJC, Tyler, Annamarie, Joe, Dunks, and Wayne for their
Web radio suggestions. I've been trying them out and am so impressed (was
there ever a doubt?). Thank you for helping to pull me out of this musical
hellhole.

Amy

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

Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 19:05:28 +0100
From: Marc Wickens <marc@mwic.co.uk>
Subject: Re: XTC interview in a Finnish music mag
Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.0.20000904190252.00aab310@pop.clara.net>

At 09:18 04/09/00 -0700, jari.kostilainen@om.fi wrote:
>
>There is an interview of Andy in the September issue of Finnish music
>magazine Soundi.

Does that mean It'll be Finnish? (will they translate it for the Finnish
people?) - if it's English is there any chance you can scan a copy on to
the web? Does the mag have a web site?

Thanks,

---
Marc Wickens
"Have a better one."
http://www.mwic.co.uk

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

Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 20:24:00 GMT
From: "frederick rains" <f_rains@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Crenshaw
Message-ID: <F2037pN8pfsUduih9nv00006ccc@hotmail.com>

To the listmember (Wayne, I think?) who asked about recommendations on
starting points to "get into" Marshall Crenshaw:
I'd agree you can't go wrong with his first, self-titled album. It's
probably one of THE best and most highly regarded works of power pop of all
time, and it's just been remastered and reissued by Rhino with great liners
and a slew of bonus trax.  Also from Rhino is the best of CD, This Is Easy
which includes great material from almost all of his records (except for his
newest, "#447" and "Live-My Truck Is My Home").  You can't go wrong with any
of those, and hopefully, if you like this stuff enough, I would definitely
move on to his second record, "Field Day" produced by one Steve Lillywhite,
not too long after his stint with the Swindon Lads on "black Sea"...
PS, I've been away from the list for a while, has there been any word from
Turner when O' when they will show Andy's segment on Space Ghost?
Coming Unscrewed,
Fred Rains
Seattle

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

Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 07:10:10 +0900
From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp>
Subject: Guest Guitarist
Message-ID: <001901c016bd$00a02860$6c5791d2@johnboud>

>How about a
>list of guitarist we think (not that they give a A&C give a rat's ass about
>it) would be interesting on the next album.

Have said this before ... Richard Thompson with Dave Mattacks or Jeorme
Deupree ( Morphine ) on drums .

Sushiman

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

Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2000 00:14:47 BST
From: "gary thompson" <gthompson60@hotmail.com>
Subject: Sad Songs say so much
Message-ID: <LAW2-F259BLSAQV6uPD00002194@hotmail.com>

My modest entries in the sad song list would be:
Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
Pink Floyd -When The Tigers Broke Free
Prefab Sprout - Doo Wop in Harlem
Aimee Mann - I know There's A Word for This
Cheers, Gary

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

Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2000 00:21:29 +0100
From: Mark Winpenny <markw@wimps.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Concerts...
Message-ID: <rr78rscaco02prapneh6i02hmd018eukap@4ax.com>

Hi Folks,

First concert: Horslips 1977 - great Irish folk-rock band. Introduced
me to the fact that there was more to music than rock.

Missed opportunities:

Not going to see XTC at the Hope And Anchor Front Row festival in 1977

Tuning down a chance to be a steward at Live Aid - although my mate
who did go didn't see too much of the actual show.

Best concerts:

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - The Nashville Rooms London late
1977 - the band were just starting to gel and left a lasting
impression on me. Only 1 pound 75 pence to get in - oh those were the
days.....

XTC - The Marquee Club London 1978. This was the second or third time
I saw them. It was before Go2 was released but they were already doing
stuff from it in the shows. Magic and very sweaty gig.

Crowded House - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne Nov 96. The warm up shows
for their final big bash at the Sydney Opera house. Good band to see
in a small venue.

Disappointing concert: Bo Diddly, London 1983. Muddy Waters had died
the night before and I think that affected Bo a lot. He did a number
of long rambling and not very good dedications to him that seem to go
on for hours. Actually it was a really strange show. The bill was the
Meteors, The Pirates, King Kurt, Bo Diddly. So we had two Psycobilly
groups, 60's group The Pirates who as it turned out would not play
again (at least with the "classic" line-up) until 1999, and Bo and his
group of hired hands.

Most moving concert: Ian Dury and the Blockheads, London Palladium Feb
2000. Only weeks before his death he still delivered the goods. Ian
couldn't stand or move much but he still commanded the stage - and
what a great stage to bow out on.

The Wish List:

Split Enz, Gruppo Sportivo, the Rezillos - all groups I could have
seen but for some reason didn't.

Time warp wish list:

Pink Floyd (with Syd), The Beatles at the Cavern, The Who at the
Marquee.

TTFN,

Mark

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

Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 09:56:08 -0500
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: Mick Jones
Message-ID: <l03130300b5d6c48fcf78@[208.13.202.23]>

>Finally another Mott fan! Actually they sounded worlds better with Luther vs.
>the line up once Hunter left the band. Although Mick Ralphs has often been
>taken to task for his guitar playing he was a good example of a player that
>fit in perfectly. Mick Jones would actually have fit Mott better than Luther
>(and would have been comparable to Ronson) Same with Ian as vocalist. He's
>not a great singer but does very well with what God gave him. God I wish Ian
>would tour the US again.

  Point to ponder- Ian Hunter is the only man alive to have worked with
both guys named Mick Jones. Mick of The Clash produced his Short Back 'N
Sides album, Ian sang backup on Mick Jones of Foreigner's solo album. Now
if we can find someone who's worked with both Roger Millers("King Of The
Road"/Mission of Burma, respectively)we'd really have a diverse and
well-rounded individual.

Christopher R. Coolidge

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

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

Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 19:55:20 EDT
From: WTDK@aol.com
Subject: Re: Marshall Crenshaw
Message-ID: <bc.9eb5c36.26e59068@aol.com>

> David Smith asked:
>  Wayne mentioned Marshall Crenshaw. I only ever heard
>  "Cynical Girl", which I liked. Any recommendations
>  for a good "starting off" album anyone?

This is Easy is a great anthology from Rhino. If you want to dive right in
I'd recommend the following albums : Marshall's first album, Field Day ( a
fav of mine even though a lot of his fans dislike it due to Steve Lilywhite's
production), Downtown and #447 (which I took as a reference to the sales of
his albums, i.,e., re: Billboard's charts, etc. but I could be wrong).

A lot of his stuff is out of print but you can probably find it used.

Mary Jean and 9 Others is spotty but has some great tunes on it. Good Evening
is the weakest of his earlier efforts but has a great remake of a John Hiatt
tune. Life's too Short is his guitar hero album and quite good just for that.
The songs are pretty good as well.

Have fun digging in!

Wayne

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

Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 12:28:40 +1200
From: "Simon Curtiss" <s_curtiss@clear.net.nz>
Subject: Wiggling out of it
Message-ID: <005501c016d0$b4a82160$2d64a8c0@emigre>

Duncs wrote:

<<Simon Curtiss - I envy your peripatetic concert CV, but duty obliges me to
leap to the defence of The Wiggles. I'll admit my bias --  Murray (the red
one) is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I guess they're not
everybody's cup of tea, and like all children's entertainment, it's easy to
poke fun ... but the kids adore them, they're great at what they do, and
they do it with care, commitment and great good humour. They are hugely
successful for a good reason - they're the best in their field, and I can
honestly say that I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.>>

Well after first having to look up peripatetic, can I say that I've had more
personal e-mail on this than anything else. I wasn't really getting at the
Wiggles, just the thought of being in a room with 1000 kids all wetting
themselves at seeing a real live Wiggle.

As I told Iain -  you can give Murray a message, next time the Wigs come to
NZ - play some of the other towns, we don't all live in Auckland, Wellington
& Christchurch and can't get there either. Somewhere like Baycourt Theatre
in Tauranga would sell out 100 times over I should think, just give me
advance warning so I can get a ticket for my 3 year old Sam who knows all
the words and all the actions to every Wiggles song he's ever seen or heard
(come to that I know most of them myself - it only takes several hundred
plays of '5 little Joeys jumping on the bed' to embed it into your brain
permanently)

Ever find that Redgum CD??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jari Kostilainen wrote:
<<During these two months I haven't noticed anyone mention
Jackie Leven's name, so I'd like to recommend the music of this great
Scotsman at least for those who like Richard Thompson or Van Morrison.>>

Seconded, and he's better than most of Van the Man. Anyone who doesn't have
a Jackie Leven record doesn't have a complete collection - Start with 'The
Mystery of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery of Death' and work on from
there.  Cooking Vinyl web-site will have details.

Jari - wanna trade some JL rarities?? I just got 4 CD's of 'em!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smudgeboy wrote:

<<<Uh-oh, I feel a list coming on . . . sad songs, in no particular
order . . .

Here Comes The Flood - Peter Gabriel
Boxing - Ben Folds Five
Please Don't Ask - Genesis
The Wrong Child - REM
A World Without End - Crowded House
Creep - Radiohead

and, I'm afraid . . .

Leningrad - Billy Joel (I know, I know alright? I know!)>>>

That would be She Goes On by Crowded House. Sad yes, but uplifting too.
Possibly the most cheerful song about death I can recall. The lines

Blame it all on Frank Sinatra
He was playing when she walked into the room
And after the long weekend
They were a lifetime together

is the most  brilliant pricis of a life long relationship. and then the
Mariachi band solo - stunningly enough it fits perfectly.

I have to say that Leningrad makes me sniffle too - something about having
small children maybe.

<<<Oh, and Simon Curtiss - sign me up to your "keep fruit and
savouries apart" campaign please. I hate the fruit/meat combo,
esp on Pizza. Unless Olives are fruit, in which case I make a
token exception. Oh, hang on, tomatoes are fruit aren't they. Oh, well, bang
goes
my argument. Still think Liver and Banana is an abomination though.>>>

Olive is an Oyl, Tomatoes are small delicious leg-challenged aliens, Sweet &
Sour is an abomination and Liver & Banana sounds like blasphemy.  Pork &
Apple, Lamb & Mint, Turkey & Cranberry, etc. are combinations invented by an
evil French chef with a time machine in retaliation for MacDonalds opening a
restaurant in Paris.

XTC content ? -  I dunno, someone ask them.  (This joke courtesy of the Bob
Monkhouse estate - page 1711, volume 19 [of 27] - waddya mean he's not dead,
he's been dying for 60 years)

cheers

Simon

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End of Chalkhills Digest #6-261
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Go back to Volume 6.

6 September 2000 / Feedback