Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 263
Date: Friday, 8 September 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 263
Friday, 8 September 2000
Topics:
back to the back to the beat ya'll
an Axe to grind
and furthermore
Sad Songs
Mitch....
The Green Man
Saddest Song Nomination....
Sad Songs (Can Say So Much)
Sad songs
RE: Spot the threads
Next up: Attila the Bun
The top XTC sites
The Mole from the Ministry
Strongest, funniest, saddest ...
requiem for a cd wallet (or two)
I'm back
Re: Horace Wimp
re: CD resurfacers
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 23:21:46 -0600 From: "Joseph Easter" <easter2000@earthlink.net> Subject: back to the back to the beat ya'll Message-ID: <000901c017c2$5d149c60$8e720a3f@default> If we are going to include the more significant genres in our "Saddest Tune" forum, then... Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria in D Major, Et in terra pax, chorus, is my bid. If you know what I'm getting at, debate me off post...You can almost feel The Grim One knocking. Very stoic, in the traditional sense. In other news...while we are on the subject of offpost, I would be honored, absolutely at your disposal if one can help me compile a list of Marriage/Divorce songs by xtc. Not the obvious ones like Your Dictionary/Big Day/ Harvest Festival, but the more subtle ones I may have overlooked. I would be your hit man for the next assass ination. Also, and excuse my ignorance, but this Nick Drake character seems to be creeping up around me everywhere. Should I bite the bullet and buy the box set (say five times fast)? Mr. Crenshaw is also getting quite a bit of attention not only here but in the fake world beyond. Maybe xtc is next? Right... As Always, Joseph Easter easter2000@earthlink.net By now, I'm sure we have already exhausted the subject of a Japanese WS Homespun, but just to be thorough or whitman or emerson...
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 22:47:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: an Axe to grind Message-ID: <20000906054730.29988.qmail@web2103.mail.yahoo.com> re: How about a >list of guitarist we think would be interesting on the next album Fred Frith Henry Kaiser Eugene Chadbourne Sonny Sharrock (no, he's dead) Arto Lyndsey me (I don't play the guitar) You DID say INTERESTING! ----------- All this talk of Marshall Crenshaw remided me that a friend of my sister's went to high school with Marshall in Berkeley, MI. That makes me, what, four degrees of seperation from him? As long as we're discussing degrees of seperation here (well, as long as I am), here's another one: A friend of mine from college has an older brother who dated Madonna when they were both in high school. I worked out once that I was about four degrees away from Annie Lennox, but can't remember the connections now. ooh, not-so-near brushes with celebrity! can't stand the excitement!
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 23:49:31 -0600 From: "Joseph Easter" <easter2000@earthlink.net> Subject: and furthermore Message-ID: <001301c017c6$3b710540$8e720a3f@default> On a completely different style, Stephen Sondheim's I Remember, is a tear jerker and a half. A little girl who has never left the department store that houses her family sings an ode to a sky she has never seen and begins to fantasize about what the outside world is like. Since she has never seen this sky, she compares the natural world to things she is familiar with in the department store, ink, lint, Christmas paper. Really kind of pathetic in context and add that to the sound of the song...buckets. My friend Ellen Scarpaci sang this in Musical Theater class but didn't know the origin of the song, so she imagined and environment where the little girl was in a concentration camp. I practically asked her to marry me afterward. Point being, the experience of listening to a cd is one thing, while a group focused on a central point and gathered for a common purpose is a VERY different experience. Since we have been on the concert thread recently, I felt I should remind you that even if a performer doesn't deviate from the sound duplicated on the album, Just being part of a mass gathered with the same intention is sometimes worth the price of admission. Unless you're going to see Chicago or something, which is mostly a waste of money... ow, who threw that!? In performance, an artist brings a completely different side to himself. Some artists have difficulty communicating outside of the studio. Some exist *only* outside the studio. Being present for the event has it's own mystique and it's own lyric, silent but inextinguishable. Having said that, I'm glad xtc doesn't tour. Have you bothered to listen to any of the demos? Andy's voice could not survive a grueling tour. Pressures would accumulate and we would probably be faced with the same carp (or crap, one or the other) that Peter Gabriel, Beastie Boys (insert popular seldom recording band here) give us, which is, not much. An album every seven years? Fuck you. I know xtc has been bad recently about it, but not their fault. I look forward to one every two years now. There track record used to be pretty good. I have faith. Beat me up, call me girly names, dress me up in granny's clothes, just love me... Joseph Easter easter2000@earthlink.net
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 09:25:33 +0200 From: Bergmaier Klaus <klaus.bergmaier@maxonline.at> Subject: Sad Songs Message-ID: <41E0B760C85AD3119BE200E0291B6EE5057C3D@NTSRV> Dear all! Some sad songs XTC - This World Over, The Last Balloon Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust, Enjoy The Silence New Order - Regret, 1963 Black - almost any song... Level 42 - Silence, It's Over Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond Beatles - Long And Winding Road FGTH - The Power of Love Ringo Starr - Photograph Ultravox - Your Name Has Slipped My Brain Again, All In One Day Queen - You Take My Breath Away, Teo Toriate John Lennon - Watching The Wheels Paul McCartney - Here Today, Somebody Who Cares, Dress Me Up As A Robber A Garland for Linda (now playing!) Wolfgang Ambros - Langsamm wachs ma z'samm (Austrian) Andri Heller - Wie mei Herzschlag (Austrian version of Elvis' You Were Always On My Mind, but much sadder) plus many of his other songs Spliff - Rand der Welt, Glaspalast (German) For me it's not so much the lyrics, but the melody. All these songs bring tears to my eyes whenever I hear them or even think about them. But as these are only songs by some major atrists that came to my mind now, there are many many more. It has nothing to do with a song being in minor or being slow. Even uptempo songs like "Dress Me Up..." can make me feel sad, although I can't exactly say why, but that's the point with emotions. Certainly not sad at all: Elton John - Sad Songs XTC - TWATM, The Disappointed anything Metallica Ultravox - Lament Be sad or be happy, but be yourself! Klaus
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 09:10:19 EDT From: SLEDZNH@aol.com Subject: Mitch.... Message-ID: <91.3586de.26e79c3b@aol.com> Mitch, Thank you so much for sharing your conversations with Andy with the C-hills group. It is something you obviously don't have to do but choose to, and it is apreciated here. ~~Jim
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 06:14:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Wilkinson <cleanersvenus@yahoo.com> Subject: The Green Man Message-ID: <20000906131443.13656.qmail@web515.mail.yahoo.com> Hi Chalkfolk, I don't know if anyone has pointed this out before, but there is a great site of info on the Greenman and the Green Man legend, at www.mikeharding.co.uk Mike is a well known folky, broadcaster and comedian in the UK. Check it out. Paul
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 09:01:40 EDT From: SLEDZNH@aol.com Subject: Saddest Song Nomination.... Message-ID: <5a.a587f58.26e79a34@aol.com> The saddest song I know that comes to my mind first is "The Loneliest of Creatures" by Klaatu from the album "Hope". Coincidentally, one of the 'warmest' songs I have ever heard is the title track from the same albuym, "Hope". XTC Content: Two people in the past week have told me they heard "Stupidly Happy" played on WXRV 92.5 here which is located outside of Boston (a station that I think someone else mentioned in a recent post...). My heart pumping wine.... ~~Jim
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 10:00:51 -0400
From: "Benjamin A. Gott" <bgott@bowdoin.edu>
Subject: Sad Songs (Can Say So Much)
Message-ID: <B5DBC653.16A0%bgott@bowdoin.edu>
Chalkers,
It's been awhile, but I wanted to add to the "sad songs" thread.
For some reason, Peter Gabriel's "Secret World" always chokes me up. What a
choice for an album ender! Wow.
There are also certain songs that give me goosebumps -- they're not
necessarily sad, but they're pretty friggin' amazing nonetheless. Suzanne
Vega's "Honeymoon Suite," for example, is a great tune, but when she sings
"when we sleep so close together that our hair becomes entwined / I must
have missed that moment in the gateway to his mind," I get all flicky.
The same goes, oddly enough, for Joe Raposo's "I Don't Want to Live on the
Moon," as sung by Ernie from Sesame Street. There are so many great bits to
this song, but I'm especially fond of the end of the
not-wanting-to-live-in-the-sea verse, where Ernie sings, "I might stay for a
day there if I had my wish / But there's not much to do when your friends
are all fish..." (I also like the end of the bridge: "There are so many
strange places I'd like to be / But none of them per-man-ent-ly.")
Other choices for "occasional goosebump award": Jason Falkner's "Don't Show
Me Heaven" (the break before the last chorus, with the piano bit), James
Taylor's "The Frozen Man" (especially the bridge), Tori Amos's "Baker Baker"
and Sting's "Fortress Around Your Heart" (the first thirty seconds), and
Toad the Wet Sprocket's "Windmills" (the whole damn thing). There are so
many others...
Here's an XTC moment for you: my roommate Chad recently returned from a
semester in Greece, and we went to pick him up at the airport. (Almost) the
first thing he said to me was, "I love 'Wasp Star'!" I responded that that
was pretty cool, and then he said, "And I bought 'Apple Venus 1' too,
because I couldn't get it out of my head!" Then, when I returned to the
apartment later that night, he was playing "Nonsuch," voluntarily. So, see?
It *can* happen!
Peace out,
-Ben
P.S. Has anyone here noticed that Warren G.'s "Regulators" is made up,
primarily, of Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting"? My friend Chris and I
were having a "Bad A.M. Song Fest" last night (at which we played
"Wildfire," Horse with no Name," "Muskrat Love," and "That Girl is Mine,"
among others), and, when we got to "I Keep Forgetting," my roommate Curtis
was like, "Damn! That's 'Regulators'!" I didn't believe him, so I went to
Napster...and, sure enough, it *was*.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
Benjamin Gott . Loquacious Music . Brunswick, ME 04011
AIM: Plan4Nigel . . http://listen.to/loquacious
And I just can't contain / This feeling that remains...
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 10:00:10 -0400 From: Andrew Boyle <uscolor@uscolor.com> Subject: Sad songs Message-ID: <v04210102b5dbfb8896ff@[192.168.0.3]> Hi, all. Don't you just hate it when you want to go to a great beach and find it is closed just because some little ol Space Shuttle is about to take off in a few days? Me too. Anyway. Saddest songs that always get me: I Hope I Never - Split Enz Beautiful Ones - Prince/TAFKA Prince/Prince Again Mary - Oingo Boingo (from the last Boingo Studio album. Get it.) There are probably more but these hit me the hardest. Dying (from Skylarking, of course) has always been a little sad but usually turns into an observation. I end up imagining the dead person in a detached way. Still sad. And I am tired. Sorry to interrupt. "Bumble Novas Bounce!" -Yukon Cornilius in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Andrew Boyle Orlando
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 14:06:34 +0100
From: "Smith, David" <David.Smith@tfeurope.com>
Subject: RE: Spot the threads
Message-ID: <4BBE67B71C1DD411A23600508B65F71E6861AA@tfsecmsg04.tfseur.co.uk>
Can't be arsed to link back to the threads. Read, or don't read, there
is no link.
Ready . . .
I like Lamb and Mint - but that's OK 'cos Mint's a herb. Pronounced
WITH the "h" by the way.
Oh, and Duck a l'Orange? Someone needs to be slowly tortured for
dreaming that one up.
I have now caught Marshall Crenshaw's first (self-titled) LP - thanks
to all who recommended it. Only one listen so far - not bad, have a
feeling this will be a "grower" (bit like most XTC albums).
Bands who switch instruments . . . for f*ck's sake stop bloody
showing off and play the bleedin' songs!
There was reference to the Homo Safari tracks on Mummer - errr, what's
them then? I assume that's "Frost Circus" and "Procession . . .". If so, I
love 'em. - although maybe they belong on a compilation of "seasonal"
stuff.
In fact, this has long been a bug-bear of mine - surely there's enough
"seasonal/pastoral" related stuff by the boys to make a cracking
"Best Of" type CD entitled something like "Seasons' Cycle".
Cue rest of forum "Oh gawd, he's starting ANOTHER bloody list thread . . ."
Such as:
Summer's Cauldron
Miniature Sun
Frost Circus
Easter Theatre
Greenman
Harvest Festival
Grass
Antheap
Chalkhills & Children
Snowman
Wheel & Maypole
Deleiver us From the Elements
Me And The Wind
Additions and better working titles greatly encouraged . . .
I feel a minidisc compilation night coming on . . .
Err, who the f*ck are The Wiggles?
Come to that, who are NRBQ? Sorry!
Finally ("hoooooraaaaaay") sorry about getting the title of "She
Goes On" (Crowded House) wrong a few posts back. Lyrically,
that's as close to perfect as it gets. I played it to my Mum
about a year ago.
"Beautiful" she said . . . "you can sing that at my funeral".
Errrr, cheers, Mum!
Smudgeboy
E-Mail: david.smith@tfeurope.com
"Right, this track has Smudger on lead guitar"
"But I'm a f*cking drummer!"
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 12:17:15 -0400 From: "Todd Bernhardt" <todd.bernhardt@enterworks.com> Subject: Next up: Attila the Bun Message-ID: <39B66E0B.611B6E53@enterworks.com> Organization: Enterworks, Inc. Hi: Playing catch-up on the last two issues... >From Dunks: > Todd Bernhardt: thanks again from the bottom of my heart (or is that the > heart of my bottom?) for putting me onto "Upright Citizens Brigade". We just > saw the episode from Series 2 about the Spritual Expo. I almost wet myself > laughing. Almost as funny as the "Ass Pennies" or "Bucket of Truth" episodes, eh? Unfortunately, UCB is on its last legs at Comedy Central; the suits there, in their infinite wisdom, have decided not to run a fourth season of this brilliant sketch-comedy show, and have relegated it to a killer time slot in its dying days: 1:30 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning. Tape it while you can, folks. > May the good lord smile upon you, and not let you pass away until next we > meet Dunks! I'm *so* disappointed in you. It's "May the good Lord take a likin' to you, and blow you up REAL GOOD." Sylvan asked: > Finally, today's random question: is that really accordion I'm hearing > on Fruit Nut and I Can't Own Her? More likely a sample of an accordion. To Warren Bishop re: his concert memories of Genesis, PG, et. al. (cue Michael-Palin-as-aged-prisoner voice): You bastard. You lucky, lucky bastard. Annamarie recommended WRNR, saying: > 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. I heartily agree. WRNR was founded by the folks who founded WHFS, which used to be a unbelievably righteous station in the midst of corporate mediocrity until the Epsteins sold their interest in the station and it succumbed to the same disease as the others, while attempting to remain "alternative." Think kickass low-end DJ voice: "H ... F ... S... Cutting-edge music. Now, here's another commercially proven song by a group from the mid-80s..." Well, okay, maybe they didn't say *that* exactly, but they should have... But now they've started up this great station out of Annapolis, Maryland. I just wish their signal had a bit more power behind it; it's extremely hard to get in Northern Virginia in my car, and I can't listen to it over the Internet at work because I share an office. Dammit. And yes, Annamarie, Damien is da bomb. Very cool, very nice guy. As always, Mitch, thanks for the News from Wiltshire. Very good news re:Andy and Dave's rapprochement. I don't harbor any hopes for them playing together again (though I'd love it if they did), but it's nice to know that they're friends again. Thank you. Now, here is the News for Parrots: No parrots were involved in an accident on the M-1 today when a lorry carrying high-octane fuel was in a collision with a bollard. That's a BOLLARD and *not* a PARROT... -Todd
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 16:37:18 +0100 From: Marc Wickens <admin@special-interest.net> Subject: The top XTC sites Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.0.20000906163403.00aa3ef0@pop.clara.net> I know (of course!) Chalk Hills is the best XTC site out there, but are there any other web sites that anyone has noticed as being good? Email me personal if you know any (I'm sure this topic comes up all the time and don't want to bore people. :o) Thanks, MW --- Marc Wickens "Have a better one." http://www.mwic.co.uk
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 20:45:27 +0100 From: "Stephen Jackson" <smj@zen.co.uk> Subject: The Mole from the Ministry Message-ID: <008c01c0183b$14bad6e0$1b1017d4@default> Sorry to bore those people on here who probably know this already, but if you slow down and reverse that squeaky voice at the end of 'The Mole from The Minstry' is actually says 'Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb'. Honest. Steve. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They use the head and not the fist. [ Use the FAQ, Luke. ]
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 15:16:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Ryan Anthony <hamsterranch@yahoo.com> Subject: Strongest, funniest, saddest ... Message-ID: <20000906221630.14934.qmail@web121.yahoomail.com> Agendum the first: Thanks, Harrison Sherwood, for the heads-up in Digest 6-258 about *Urgh! A Music War* appearing on the Sundance Channel this month. I don't have cable or satellite TV, but my sister and her husband-the-doctor do, and they're off jeeping around Alaska for ten days, and I have a key to their house. I'll try to catch it. Agendum the second: In Digest 6-259, Roger asks if there are any other Chalkhillian fans of the American animated sitcom *Family Guy*. Yes, Roger, over here! To my knowledge, *Family Guy* hasn't mentioned XTC, but it did reference *Homicide: Life On the Street*, which made me want to praise Allah and send the producers a gift of fifty high-breasted virgins, fifty beautiful youths, and fifty massive Sudanese eunuchs, all bathed, depilated, scented with sandalwood essence, and clad in intricately-worked robes of silk and gold ... Whoops! I'm enjoying the uncut, uncensored Mardrus-Mathers translation of the Arabian Nights (Shahrazade has now cheated death for more than three months!), and I forgot where I was for a moment. Sorry. By the way, you Brits will love hearing that the baby on *Family Guy*, a diaper-clad would-be-James-Bond-supervillain named Stewie, once dared a caregiver to mistreat him, crying, "Shake me! Shake me like a British nanny!" I understand the line was expunged before that episode aired in the UK. Just thought you'd like to know what your government is protecting you from these days. Agendum the third: Chris Vreeland's review of Peter Gabriel in concert (Digest 6-257) is one of the most powerful things I've ever read here ... Agendum the fourth: ... and Trevor Matthews' recent account of Buddy Guy playing guitar "with his teeth, his dick, his toes" is one of the funniest. Agendum the fifth: One of our Chalksiblings recently described a concert which featured a stage full of Easter Island-style stone heads. Were they eighteen feet tall -- or eighteen inches? Everyone who understands the eighteen feet/eighteen inches reference, as well as everyone who doesn't, should be sure to catch *This Is Spinal Tap* (insert the umlauts yourself) on a big screen near you. Yes, it has been re-released! Agendum the sixth and last: Saddest song? Not intrinsically, but in context, for me that would be "Daddy's Hands," written and performed by Holly Dunn, a second-tier American country musician. In 1992 I bought her greatest-hits collection, *Milestones*, in order to possess the song "Maybe I Mean Yes," which fringe feminists had targeted for suppression because it supposedly sanctions "date rape." But the disc opens with "Daddy's Hands," which I don't recommend listening to if you've recently lost your father. The saddest album? Frank Sinatra's *Watertown*. And, no, it's not just because my heart has been on display, impaled on a pike, outside a certain woman's house in Watertown, Wisc., for the past eight years. Ryan "the Hamster from the Ministry" Anthony An independent Internet content provider
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 19:19:16 CDT From: "Megan Heller" <hellerm@hotmail.com> Subject: requiem for a cd wallet (or two) Message-ID: <F36pYC98Bi89QtpfTYS000045f3@hotmail.com> hello everyone-- I unsubscribed briefly while I was moving from the DC area up to lovely (oh, and how loosely I use that term, how very very loosely) New Brunswick, New Jersey. In the meantime, the loaded car to bring me my things was broken into, and they got my computer, my stereo, and both of my 100-cd wallets. Fine, and you? Actually, this brings me to a couple of questions-- First, I know a lot of you are in the DC area, and I would just like to ask, if you're in a store selling used cds over the next few weeks, perhaps glance and see if there is an unusual amount of XTC, or really any Momus (these are the things which stand out from my collection, although I also had nearly every Cure album on cd, and some kind of obscure Smiths singles). I'm not even sure that they'd be able to sell them, as they didn't have jewel boxes, but, you know, if you're there. Second, does anyone know where I might find the Rykodisc editions of David Bowie's albums? I like the bonus tracks, and I don't want Virgin's damned "enhanced" cds. I know ebay is one place-- in fact, I bought "Hunky Dory" and "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" Rykodisc versions on there earlier this summer. But, if you know someplace easier, I'm open to suggestions, although I won't be replacing my collection particularly soon. I'm hoping insurance pays back a decent amount, and I'm certain I won't want to buy *all* of them over again, but... well, I'm sure this bunch can understand.(In fact, once I have a stereo again, I may be offering to pay for CD-Rs of certain less-beloved things-- watch this space and all.) I never thought I would be happy that so many XTC cds are bargain-priced! so, I hope everyone is having better luck than I was last week (and I hope my luck improves, despite reading 300 pages of theory a week). megan.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 17:30:11 -0700
From: Ed Kedzierski <ed.kedzierski@blvdmedia.com>
Subject: I'm back
Message-ID: <08B5DDC2BABCD311BFC6005004A884B013B7F0@mgcservices.com>
Not that anyone missed me or anything...
Man, I needed that vacation. Got out of the city, relaxed, drank & barbequed
when we got hungry on an idyllic local island paradise with a gang of old &
close friends - I swear, once I finally unpacked, fixed a cocktail and sat
down, the slow hiss of my deflating stresses was almost audible. It was even
okay that I was only allowed to play XTC once, considering the fact that my
overreactive "you play them too much" friend (hmph - I've only even had the
opportunity to play him two songs from WS so I don't see how he can say...
grumble grumble) was one of our hosts. Fortunately, his sister-in-law
(actually everyone's friend & part of the group, not just someone's wife or
sister-in-law) quickly had enough of another friend (he of "all ambient all
the time" fame I mentioned before) monopolizing the CD player, and made
clear her preference for the stack I'd brought along. What could be closer
to bliss than sparking one up and sitting with a cold drinkie on a deck
overlooking the water on a small, relatively less-developed island smelling
only of trees while cranking "Skylarking" on a blazing hot sunny day? The
sound of real birds and insects blending in with the recorded ones taking
you right into Summer's Cauldron...
F**king heaven.
(Skylarking, you may recall, being an album that came out when XTC's
"mature" period was well in progress... )
On the "catching up" front:
Glad that a couple of others have finally chimed in on the side of ES being
the first "mature" album. I was sure I couldn't possibly be the only one who
felt that way... did the rest of you just think it too self-evident to
bother arguing about? Seemed like it was all "it all starts with Skylarking
for me" types around the hills for a while there... (not that there's
anything wrong with that, poor souls...:^) ) Seriously, though, the
"cusp/both & neither" idea seemed like a reasonable compromise to me...
Checked out the online digests of a couple of other lists of groups I
like... read someone on the Hitchcock list complaining that "there's a list
where everyone's listing every concert they ever went to"... I wonder which
list they're talking about? Seriously, though, I don't think it's that bad,
and it's certainly not EVERY concert (if it was, I could have listed the
dozens of smaller club gigs from my "going out every single night" days, and
deflected the Mole's criticism of "pedestrian" listings; as it was, I tried
to stick to big ticket "concerts" as opposed to "gigs", as I thought that's
what was meant...not that I'm really grumbling, having spent a week easing
the work-induced stick out of my butt, why should I put it back and start
nit-picking?)
In fact, the RH and Kinks lists seem to have quite a few names that I used
to see here... What's up with that? The usual quibbles about the supposedly
bad behavior/attitude of chalkers seem irrelevant, as I don't see anything
especially superior in anyone's conduct in regards to criticism, arguments,
etc. and the Hitchcock list seems to have an endless US politics thread
that's been going for some time... In any case, I'm still happy here, not
going anywhere, the list is what you make it, etc.
Loved reading Deborah Brown's raves about "Mummer"; makes me wish there was
some older album that I'd overlooked/never bought so I could discover it...
("Toys" is my candidate for best bonus track on that one, never got why Jump
and Gold seem to have more supporters...)
Had a bunch of stuff to say about the whole "Prog" thing, but that will get
a big post of it's own (along with my long-planned "why Colin rules and we
should say so more often" rant) at some future time. Mainly just some
observations and questions from a longtime non-progger (but not necessarily
knee-jerk prog hater), hopefully the more prog-oriented of you will be able
to enlighten me on a couple of points...
Great to hear some real news in 6-261 through Mr. Friedman: any Fuzzy
Warbles is better than nothing, I hope I don't have to order from Japan to
get "Homegrown" (though if I do I will), a "more abstract" next album sounds
both intriguingly vague and vaguely intriguing, and the Andy & Dave finally
talking thing was really nice to read; even though it may not, as he said,
mean any kind of collaboration, and they're two people I've never met, two
fewer people in the world refusing to talk to one another is a positive
thing at the very least.
On the two Mick Joneses: I've always thought of them as "Good Mick Jones"
(Clash, obviously) and "Shitty Mick Jones", and if I get taken to task for
slagging Foreigner, that's a sad thing indeed. His voice just has too many
of the qualities that I find intolerable, and working with someone good
earlier in one's career doesn't excuse "Juke Box Hero" or "Urgent" any more
than "My Aim Is True" excuses "Hip to be Square".
I think it's time for our downunder members to fill the rest of us in as to
just what the story is with these "Wiggles" you speak of...
Sorry to Joe Hartley; I keep meaning to check the ISBN number and publisher
of the Micheal O'Donoghue biography, but keep forgetting in the mornings
when I leave home. I do know that the author is Dennis Perrin, and that the
title at its fullest extension is "Mr. Mike: the Life and Work of Micheal
O'Donoghue (From National Lampoon to Saturday Night Live, the Man Who Made
Comedy Dangerous)". I'll try to remember the other info, unless you e-mail
me that the above is sufficient. I suppose I should have sent this to you
offlist, but I also can't recommend this enough to anyone out there with an
interest in the late 60s to 70s comedy scene, as O'Donoghue was quite
frankly one of its most important figures and isn't remembered anywhere near
enough (and is a major hero of mine).
So, no Virgin box set, eh? Typical. Oh well, I wouldn't have been able to
resist buying it, and then I would have felt all ambivalent & guilty about
it, etc. etc.
More of a "sputter to an abrupt halt" ending to this post than a
particularly neat or elegant one, but sometimes that's the way things are,
Ed K.
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 07:17:10 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Horace Wimp Message-ID: <l03130302b5dbe4bcf3d5@[208.13.202.177]> >Yeah, precisely why I still like "Diary of Horace Wimp" today. The >only good song on that album. And I heard "Xanadu" recently and it's >damn cool, even if it's really dumb. > > -- John For me the only good song on the album in question is "Don't Bring Me Down." No great statement or attempt to write the perfect pop song, it just ROCKS! With strings too. PRUISS!(or is that PRUITT?) "And Johnny played little violin And Bobby Joe played the big violin The one that stands on the floor They were all in the rock and roll band.... ...Right off, they needed a name Someone said "How about The Renegades?" Johnny said "Well, I don't know, I prefer ELO." -Randy Newman Christopher R. Coolidge Homepage at http://homepages.together.net/~cauldron/homepage.html
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 14:24:34 -0500 From: "Jan C. Harris" <wow@bluemarble.net> Subject: re: CD resurfacers Message-ID: <057901c01902$5cb700a0$a4a6f5d0@janstrigem> Wayne said: <<<<1) A CD resurfacer (runs about $25.00) gets rid of bad scratches and can be used quite a bit <<>>>> Robert asks: <<<Eh? How do you get rid of scratches on a CD? Does it work out which bits were corrupt and insert the appropriate 0s and 1s?! Sounds like a marketing scam to me...>>>> ach! getting technical! When Wayne said that, I was very curious, and looked into it, as I have more than a few scratched CD's I'd hate to pay to replace. What I found was a guy who, for $3-5 per disk, will remove scratches. If the scratches run parallel to the diameter (across the data) it is easier than if they run parallel to the circumfrence (alongside the data). If he cannot fix the scratch, he doesn't charge anything. It sounds like he's built quite a little cottage business with a $25.00 machine! I'm guessing that the 0's and 1's are engraved in the surface, and removing the scratch allows the CD player to access the engraving again, instead of the scratch. that'll be .02 cents please. Jan"then she appeared"Carol wow@bluemarble.net
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-263 *******************************
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