Chalkhills Digest Volume 6, Issue 30
Date: Monday, 21 February 2000
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 30
Monday, 21 February 2000
Today's Topics:
AV2 vinyl?
Browsing in the produce department
Re: XtC on its own
promo press
Chalkhills, me the XTC fan and Let's All Make A Record.
Welcome Ed (well sort of, since you lurked!) and Jamie's proposition.
Converted
XTC LIVE AND DIRECT back for real
Bush vs Hill
xtc collaborations, con't...
a startling discovery!
Hot Jazz
Re: Green Eggs and Spam
Little Express Again
Re: Nonsuch on Vinyl
Spam and Eggs
Colin's Missing Muse . . ?
Little Express
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-Id: <200002190731.IAA10834@mb07.swip.net> Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 08:35:10 +0100 Subject: AV2 vinyl? From: "Per Aronsson" <per@aron.pp.se> Here I go again... Does anybody know if AV2 will be released on vinyl? I think that Cooking Vinyl listened to the voices on Chalkhills and decided to release AV1 on vinyl. I can only hope that they do the same again. If not, I hope many of you join me in a campaign... So if anyone has information on this subject - please let us all know. Per Aronsson.
------------------------------ From: fheaney@erols.com Message-ID: <000901bf7ad6$7b0246c0$71e17ad1@default> Subject: Browsing in the produce department Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 07:32:19 -0500 Jamie proposed: > Let's (Chalkhills Children) produce a future Xtc CD. You know, I've had this thought before, except it's always one of those "if I won the lottery..." kind of daydreams. > ...the point is to produce new Xtc Music! It seems like Andy and Colin aren't having too much of a problem coming up with the dough to produce CDs right now, but I was thinking, maybe if someone else were to say "here's a bunch of money", maybe they could be persuaded to produce some *old* XTC music -- that is, band versions of their favorite unproduced demos (like, in my perfect dream world, "Young Cleopatra" and "This is the End"). I'm a non-Rockefeller, but if I were reasonably sure of recouping my investment, I'd probably chip in for such a zany scheme. And Mitch reports: > Oh, what does Andy say? He says that just about everyone who knows him > has been told to listen to this cd called "Fascinating Rhythm! - Great > Hits of the Twenties". Thanks for the tip. Another fun old-oldies album is "That's What I Call Sweet Music", a CD of '20s dance music compiled by R. Crumb. -- Francis "You there, you're no square -- a love rectangle with sides that flare." -- Make Up
------------------------------
From: CapnEndo@aol.com
Message-ID: <d2.11016c8.25e012a5@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 10:37:09 EST
Subject: Re: XtC on its own
In a message dated 02/19/2000 1:35:01
> A lot of reviewers comparing Skylarking to Sgt Pepper
> at the time (perhaps this is what DavidOh's referring to - I remember quite
> a few reviews of this album containing lines like "trying to re-make Sgt.
> Pepper
OK people help me out. I've been an XTC fan for over a dozen years and
can never understand why people make this connection. I own all major
releases from them. Frankly, in my opinion I find them very much unlike each
other with the exception of a few songs, and this IMHO just a passing
similarity that you can say about many bands. The phrase "Beatlesque"
thoroughly confuses me. They fit in much better with bands of their own
genre such as Dolby, Joe, Elvis, Heads, etc.
Perhaps you all can open my eyes to something other than thinking people
are desperately trying to attach something "great" to a band that has been
under appreciated for far too long. That is the cynic in me talking "help me
get through these cynical days, they say it's just a passing phase".
Best of.. to all of you who believe differently and I anxiously await
your berating words.
Note: Do not send me spittle covered emails about the Dukes stuff because
that was not released as XtC music ;-p~
Unconvinced in Connecticut,
Tom
------------------------------ Message-ID: <001601bf7b01$45174580$94d9fea9@user.msu.edu> From: "Kate Burda" <burdakat@pilot.msu.edu> Subject: promo press Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:46:36 -0500 >First off, as far as I have been led to believe the new album has been >mastered and will be pressed up into promo copies any day now. I'm not familiar with production timeframes- does this mean early April is still a realistic release date? Kate
------------------------------ Message-ID: <001a01bf7b0f$cb3d95c0$e940063e@computer> From: "Pledge" <PLEDGE7@btinternet.com> Subject: Chalkhills, me the XTC fan and Let's All Make A Record. Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 19:30:34 -0000 Hello. I'm new to Chalkhills, but not new to XTC by any stretch of the imagination. I grew up hearing plenty of XTC's early singles on Radio 1 in the UK, but didn't eventually buy anything until around the time Oranges And Lemons was released. A mate played Skylarking regularly in his car and I'd been meaning to buy Senses Working Overtime and Love On A Farmboys Wages for years, so Mayor Of Simpleton would have been one of my first purchases. Since then I have not looked back buying each release as soon as it has appeared in the shops (yes I know that hasn't exactly amounted to much) and have picked up the earlier CD albums and the compilations. The release of Apple Venus 1 came as quite a shock as I'd been an infrequent visitor to the Chalkhills web site since getting on the net in April 98 and was well aware of the band's problems with Virgin in the UK. Like many others I imagine, I didn't have a clue if I would still like XTC after the prolonged break after Nonsuch but after a few plays I quickly realised I owned one of the finest albums I'd ever bought. The first track I heard was River of Orchids (free with the Uncut magazine CD). It took ages for this to 'click' but I knew I'd try the album out all the same. The album had the same effect when I purchased it, eventually clicking when I let it into my subconscious by putting it on very quietly when I was trying to get to sleep and listening to it constantly in my car or when working on my computer. Over a year later I still hear bits I'm convinced I've never noticed before (surely the sign of a great album). The only song on AV1 that I'm still not really into is Knights In Shining Karma, but the rest I simply love. I have managed to convert a few people of varying ages and musical tastes by playing them the album and this ensured a few more sales were clocked up as Christmas presents. Requested by them, not forced upon them I might add! Apple Venus is now up there with Skylarking as far as I'm concerned. Anyway enough about me, the reason for this posting was to reply to Jamie Lowe's suggestion that we should try to finance future XTC recordings. In principle, this seems a good idea (although I couldn't afford to chip in) but I think it is fundamentally flawed: My first argument would be that a larger budget would not necessarily make a better album. It would also make it more difficult to recoup the cost. Surely releases such as Homespun and Transistor Blast will have contributed enough money to finance a cheap but well made album? My second argument would be (from personal experience) that fans should not strive to get too closely involved with the artists they like. A few years ago I sold T shirts and ran an information service for a band which was a spin off from a very famous and successful band that I had liked for over ten years. Sometimes going to their gigs seemed more like a chore than a form of entertainment. I'd hate to listen to an XTC album and think "If only they'd put another single on it I'd have recouped all of my money". I am sure that would detract from the thrill of listening to probably the only band I know that seem to record and release songs that mean something to themselves and a relatively small fanbase only. I wouldn't want my perception of XTC to change. As it stands my contract with them reads "XTC release an album and I do my level best to enjoy it" and that's how I want things to stay. If it takes another 7 years after Apple Venus 2 for their next album to come out so be it. If that happened I'd be 39 then but I bet I'd still be interested enough to buy it, after all, despite not listening religiously to all the albums regularly, I can honestly say that I enjoy the chronological listing of the whole of Fossil Fuel, just the tracks hit me on a different level: This Is Pop gives me a massive adrenaline rush, whereas Easter Theatre makes my hair stand on end and that's the way I like it. Finally, please don't rush to point out that there is more to XTC than the singles: I am well aware of that I just used that compilation to illustrate my point! Pledge
------------------------------ Message-ID: <003301bf7b1b$a074b600$0200a8c0@digitalpc> From: "Digitalmaster" <digitalmaster@earthlink.net> Subject: Welcome Ed (well sort of, since you lurked!) and Jamie's proposition. Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:55:15 -0800 Ed, nice meeting you and reading through your extremely LONG post. Although, I'm glad I did. Its funny hearing about someone with the Robert Smith hair faze... (I for one won't admit it, but yes, I am familiar with the pains of putting on the white make up and lipstick, but you did not hear that from me!!!) I went through so many phases. From the early 80's Human League and Devo phase, to the Minor Threat and Dead Kennedy's,, The Ska phase and even the Gothic Phase (god I miss being a teenager!). Over the years though, when the smoke cleared, bands like XTC, Devo, etc, never left my collection. When groups like The Cure bored me, I still had my XTC, Boingo and Missing Persons to bring me up. You have a nice list of bands mentioned. I am actually getting ready to see Robyn Hitchcock tonight and am ecstatic. I have never seen him in concert so this is a real treat for me. Other bands I enjoy are Camper Van Beethoven (and every related group, Cracker, V.K.,Segal, Electric Chairmen, etc.), Talking Heads, The Clash, etc. Anyway, nice meeting you ed and welcome to Chalkhills (though you have been here a hell of a lot longer than me!) Jamie, I love the idea, though $1000.00 might be too much for many of us to handle, but I am down. I think $100 split between 10,000 people is more reasonable, but less likely to happen. Also, another problem is, who would handle such a thing? Who would want the responsibility of handling all that money, and who could we trust? I know I would not trust just anybody with $1000.00 of my money. Though these obstacles are pretty big ones, I still like the idea and have seen things like this work out before. (Of course, I would prefer a petition and a $100,000 bribe for them to go on the road, but...)
------------------------------ Message-ID: <002401bf7b49$dd455200$705791d2@johnboud> From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: Converted Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 09:21:03 +0900 Here's part of an e-mail I received from a Japanese girlfriend whom I turned on to XTC , Durutti Column , Eno ... >re: xtc >i like the cd a lot! makes me spirited and cheers me up... even though >its words are not so cheerful... i bought the cd among many was because >>its title "NONSVCH" and cover pictures caught my eyes. Another satisfied customer ! In case you are interested , she also digs Durutti Column and Eno . She * used to * listen to " ... Sting, James Taylor, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Michael Franks, Alan Parsons, Eagles, Bobby Caldwell , Ricky Martin , ... " , so quite a turnaround . Sushiman
------------------------------ Message-Id: <200002200246.VAA22126@mail.netwalk.com> From: "Ian C Stewart" <ian@autoreverse.net> Subject: XTC LIVE AND DIRECT back for real Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 21:45:00 -0500 http://listen.to/xtcliveanddirect Online XTC radio station of sorts. Playing about two hundred million hours worth of demos, live tracks, guest appearances, production jobs, er answering machine messages, you name it. All the damn time. We back on track, baby. The playlist features albums and tracks by XTC, Helium Kidz, Martin Newell, Mitch Friedman, R Stevie Moore, Cathy Dennis, Sam Phillips and so many more it's really not funny actually. A chap could get carpal tunnel trying to list it all out. Let's put it this way: I have a lot of XTC stuff. A lot. And I'm almost done encoding it all, okay? So check it out! It's fun 'n stuff. http://listen.to/xtcliveanddirect later somnambulators, Ian C Stewart
------------------------------ From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:04:46 +0100 Subject: Bush vs Hill Message-Id: <20000220010145.EA51BA6CE9@mail.knoware.nl> Dear Chalkers, The ever charming Kate Bush popped up again: > As I type 'Hounds Of Love' is in the old > >player. I just love the drums in 'Running Up That Hill'. And let's not forget that the video for Cloudbusting (with Donald Sutherland as her father/mad professor) was actually recorded in Uffington on the burial or sacrificial mound facing 'our' White Horse. But the horsey is never in view which must have been on purpose coz it's not easy to miss - it's rather large Anyway, one has to admire Miss Bush if only for the way in which she maintained her indepedence, artistic freedom and integrity througout her career. PS: last week i got hold of the US "longbox" cd version of Nonsuch. Now i want more, more, more!!! So if you've got any XTC longbox cd's email me privately - i've got a huge cd-r archive of bootlegs, interviews, radio shows and much more to offer in return. And some nice original items too Mark Strijbos work: webmaster@coss.nl home: mmello@knoware.nl
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.20000220021155.0084bec0@pop3.passport.ca> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:11:55 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@passport.ca> Subject: xtc collaborations, con't... <<Which brings up my question: Has XTC ever recorded with any other big named artist or used anyone as backup vocals>> the irrepressible molly fanton mentioned andy p. playing harmonica on thomas dolby's "europa and the pirate twins" single, but she might have missed the fact that our andy also played drums on dolby's song "urges", which was found on the original (vinyl) version dolby's first album "the golden age of wireless". indeed, our andy and thomas are the only musicians playing on "urges". the subsequent re-release of the "... wireless" album (at least, here in canada) dropped the songs "urges" and "leipzig" (both songs co-produced by thomas d. & andy p.) to make way for the surprise hit singles "she blinded me with science" and "one of our submarines" (does that sound familiar?). they also completely scambled the original running order, too, much to the album's detriment, in my opinion. the cd release of "... wireless" reflects the second edition of this album. all of the songs mentioned above, including the ones featuring our andy, can be found on dolby's excellent compilation disc "retrospectacle - the best of thomas dolby". even though some of his early material sounds very dated today, i highly recommend this disc as i've always felt that dolby and xtc were cut from the same cloth - or perhaps that should be, cut from the same pattern using different cloth... or something like that. that's what i know about that, but i was wondering... does anyone know if our andy has ever collaborated with ryuichi sakamoto? i'm not sure, but i think i read that somewhere before... peace & xtc, davidoh
------------------------------ Message-Id: <3.0.2.32.20000220054219.00849710@pop3.passport.ca> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 05:42:19 -0500 From: David Oh <davidoh@passport.ca> Subject: a startling discovery! i have found an xtc related item that i think - i believe - that i am the first one to discover this little bit of information. i have an almost complete collection of the late, but very great, magazine that was known as musician (i'm missing some 30 or so issues out of 244 - plus i have about 10 special issues - and most of the issues i'm missing are from its earliest days). i've catalogued most of the articles, interviews and reviews from all of these issues in an ms excel spreadsheet so that when i want to read information on a particular band or music/recording related subject, i just open this file and run a "find" search to see which issue to retrieve. ok, so i'm a little anally retentive... today, i was looking for xtc articles to scan for the chalkhills site and i came across about 7 such features. while briefly examining each article, i made an astonishing discovery! in issue # 75 (january 1985), under the record reviews section, is a review of xtc's "the big express" album. naturally, it is a glowing appraisal of its "invention, originality and wit". so what, you might be asking yourself, has this got to do with the price of onions? well, what is so startling is _who_ wrote this particular review. there, at the bottom of the review is the writer's credit... erica wexler! i'm dead serious! what's even more incredible is her comment about the song "seagulls screaming...". after describing it thus, "[it] rolls in like a fog with a haunting repetition of mellotron, thundering drums and unresolved tension", she concludes: "so kiss her already!" i'm left wondering, did anyone else know about this or am i the one who discovered it first? i realize that it's really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but i was totally blown away when i saw this! in this day and age, it's rare to be the first to discover *anything* new or previously unknown, so i won't be disappointed if someone else knew of this before. another thing crossed my mind; did erica know that the song was written about her before she wrote this review? the "so kiss her already!" comment would imply that she did, but still i wonder... anyroad, look for the review, plus everything else i have on xtc from my musician magazine collection, in the very near future on the chalkhills site. ---------- as an aside, if anyone is looking for articles/interviews/reviews on a particular recording artist, email me in private what you are looking for and, if there is such an article, i'll scan and email it to you, just tell me who or what you're looking for and what file format you'd like (ms word, text, html, whatever). there are some of the best articles and interviews of some of the most important and/or influential recording artists in those 200+ issues and i'd be more than happy to help anyone out. just give me enough time to assemble it and it's yours. also, if anyone is interested, i could send out the ms excel file for you to look at yourself to see if there is something of interest to you. again, let me know in private. peace & xtc, davidoh
------------------------------ Message-ID: <38AFEFD5.6B740BC2@erols.com> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 08:44:53 -0500 From: Todd and Jennifer Bernhardt <toddjenn@erols.com> Subject: Hot Jazz Hi: Mitch revealed: > Oh, what does Andy say? He says that just about everyone who knows him > has been told to listen to this cd called "Fascinating Rhythm! - Great > Hits of the Twenties". <snip> > I purchased "Fascinating Rhythm" about three weeks ago and I've > listened to it about 20 times. The selections are wonderful, and the > sound is amazing. If you're interested in early swing and jazz -- as Mitch says, there's a lot of great music from that era -- check out your local National Public Radio station on Saturday nights, because they might be one of the stations playing "Hot Jazz Saturday Night," a program done here in DC and syndicated throughout the country. For more info, check out: http://www.wamu.org/hjsnint.html As always, thanks for the update, Mitch. And welcome, Ed! --Todd
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 09:19:00 -0800 (PST) From: relph (John Relph) Message-Id: <10002200919.ZM325614@mando.engr.sgi.com> Subject: Re: Green Eggs and Spam "Digitalmaster" <digitalmaster@earthlink.net> writes: > >One comment to those of you who use the list for spaming purposes. Since >I joined this list, I have received about 10 spams a day. This is getting >old, so I am going to change my email on both the list and with my isp. >If someone is interested in your product, they will search it out on yahoo >like I do. However, its a big turn off to get mail about how I can make a >million dollars blah blah blah. This is a great list, but unfortunately >our email addresses are either being sold by a dishonest user, or sniffed >out on the site by spammers. It is certainly possible that someone has joined the list with the express purpose of gleaning email addresses from the digests. I can't stop this. However, I just took steps to remove email addresses from digests displayed on the Chalkhills page. If you surf to Chalkhills, you will not be able to see the email addresses in the digests. This may slow down the spammers slightly. Then again, it might be too little, too late. -- John
------------------------------ Message-id: <fc.00003c540047177900003c5400471779.4717b9@nynet.nybe.on.ca> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 18:09:10 -0500 Subject: Little Express Again From: Joe_Jarrett@nynet.nybe.on.ca (Joe Jarrett) It's good to see other people expressing their appreciation for Peter and June's work on the Little Express. In the old days it was the only method of getting current and accurate information about the band. They kept us abreast of things like Andy's illness and the cancellation of the tours. Another example of the service they provided was just after everyone heard Mummer for the first time. Some people, including me, thought that the "bye-bye" at the end Funk Pop a Roll was the sound of Andy riding off into the sunset. It was through the LE that I learned they were already working on what was to become The Big Express. I thought just occurred to me while I was reading some of the posts of people who were expressing their feeling about the demise of the Little Express. The last time I posted I said their post office box address is still available. But writing letters can be a pain, so if anyone wants to send a message to Peter and June they can e-mail it to me and I'll get it to them. They are not on line so you can't e-mail them directly. So if this is useful, I'd be glad to help.
------------------------------
From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 01:17:01 +0100
Subject: Re: Nonsuch on Vinyl
Message-Id: <20000221001403.8A215A6CF7@mail.knoware.nl>
> >A query: was "Nonsuch" ever released on vinyl?
>
> Indeed it was:
and there is one up for auction on eBay right now.
Scoop it up, coz these lovelies are getting rarer every day and my
beautiful factory sealed copy is not for sale
yours in xtc,
Mark Strijbos at The Little Lighthouse
http://www.knoware.nl/users/mmello/
or http://come.to/xtc
------------------------------
From: "Steve Pitts" <spitts@thesaurus-computers.co.uk>
Message-ID: <8025688C.00390F07.00@thesaurus01.thesaurus-computers.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:23:12 +0000
Subject: Spam and Eggs
In #6-29 Chris Vreeland mentioned:
> "That funny song about the guy who can't spell..." <
:)) I have to admit to being a coward on this one - my children have never
even heard that track (their mother has a _big_ thing about children
swearing, and in my view it is better that they hear the other ten tracks
than none of it)
Josh noted:
> Jake, my 4-year-old, digs the songs "No Thugs In Our House" and
especially "Senses Working Overtime" <
I find it intriguing to listen to which tracks the youngsters latch on to.
My eldest has just got into 'No Thugs', as I've been starting to play him
some of the earlier stuff ('but it doesn't sound like XTC, Daddy') whilst
doing my taxi service bit to and from various sporting activities. Up to
now he and his sisters tend to sing along to 'River Of Orchids', 'I'd Like
That', 'Greenman', 'Peter Pumpkinhead', 'Smartest Monkeys' and 'All You
Pretty Girls' more than any other tracks, and 'Nonsuch' and AV1 are
definitely their favourites
Digitalmaster moaned:
> This is a great list, but unfortunately our email addresses are either
being sold by a dishonest user, or sniffed out on the site by spammers <
Hmmm, this may be asking for trouble, but I have not had any problems with
spam and I've been subscribed from this address for nearly a year. Y
You may be pointing the finger at the wrong culprit, old son
Cheers, Steve
------------------------------ Message-ID: <802EE5D7277AD21188D10008C728D44801821E1B@TFSECMSG02> From: "Smith, David" <David.Smith@tfeurope.com> Subject: Colin's Missing Muse . . ? Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:14:24 -0000 First posting - hope I'm doing it right! Further to the "Colin's missing muse" theories, I think many people are reading a little too much into this. Looking back, Colin's contributions have always tended towards the lighter, more "poppy" side of the album and I think it's pretty obvious that Andy seems the naturally inclined to sit and write "because that's what he does". But so what? Like Jim in the last issue, I often take a while to "get" Colin's tracks - but when I finally do the experience is akin to tasting and enjoying a new food for the first time (after years of gagging at the thought of snails, I had some in Portugal last year and they were fantastic!). Songs such as "Loving Memory of a Name" and, more recently "Bungalow", were, for me, the archetypal "oh, here comes the track to skip" until one day . . . I think it's part of the appeal of Colin's writing that many of his songs are slow-burners. I won't forget the moment I gave "Bungalow" just one last try and was suddenly captivated by the simplicity of the track, the crescendo of instruments and - in particular - that brass band and male voice choir backing. It reminded me of a track from many years ago by Peter Skellern called "You're a Lady". This probably won't translate for the non-Brits out there, but Peter Skellern is a quintessentially English singer/songwriter, mostly known for writing songs for shows and, in more recent years a move to his religious roots. However, in the 70s he had a big hit with "You're a Lady", a song of tongue-tied first love (for the want of a better description). It was a nice enough song, but what stood it out from the crowd was Skellern's trademark use of music from his Yorkshire roots - in particular a colliery brass band and a male voice choir. In my view, both elements lifted the song to another level of craft. It was this sound that Colin "got" on Bungalow and suddenly the pieces fit. And I often find that this is what sets both Colin and Andy's work apart from so much of the dross out there. Put in simple terms, it's sheer musicality and an obvious love for their craft. Let's worry about Colin losing his muse when it happens, not IF it happens. I wish I had a better closing line, but I've probably rambled enough (no kidding!) Glad to be here Smudgeboy
------------------------------ From: BrainiacsDaughtr@aol.com Message-ID: <5f.1b4b567.25e2d951@aol.com> Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:09:21 EST Subject: Little Express There was nothing better than getting the latest copy of L.E. the mail ... other than getting the latest XTC album. I was very suprised when I first got online that among all the XTC related sites, there wasn't an official website for The Little Express. But even after finding the Chalkhills site, etc. I still got a thrill from receiving that little magazine in the mail. It was special and it will be sorely missed. Thanks Peter and June. Laurie
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-30 ******************************
Go back to Volume 6.
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