Chalkhills Digest, Volume 6, Number 80 Sunday, 16 April 2000 Topics: oooh, kev, that does hurt. (and a brief intro of me) I've Got Blisters on my Fingers! Eldorado Fab Foursome in Philly Beatle news Verbed promotional obituary Metallica Sues Napster John's Vocal Emotions Aztec Fever Re: Wasp Star, spoiled Wasp Star Comments Metalica is Suing Napster "...to..." A couple of points WS cinema A Correction And the verdict... GUILTY! Re: on speed Song Stories in Japan Administrivia: To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command: unsubscribe For all other administrative issues, send a message to: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to: <chalkhills@chalkhills.org> World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/> The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7b (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>). There's a message in Milwaukee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 09:48:24 PDT From: "Sarah's Madness" <bitqueen@hotmail.com> Subject: oooh, kev, that does hurt. (and a brief intro of me) Message-ID: <20000414164824.26111.qmail@hotmail.com> >Oh man, this hurts a lot... <snip kev's extremely sad story of mommie throwing away XTC items> if my mommy did that i would be so sad...:( (I'm SO my father's son... I forget everything...I made an XTC CD-R of some of their best songs for someone who's interested in XTC, but only has a couple of albums, and forgot to send it for at least two weeks...) I am that individual for whom the CD-R was made. It rocks so much. *falls into xtc obsession pit* ack! i hate it when that happens. i've fallen into so many of those pits. soon i won't be able to do anything but listen to music all day to assuage my obsessions... anyway, i have been on this list for a while (like a year or more) but i haven't spoken in a long time, so now that i have awakened from my stupor i thought maybe i should introduce meself. my name is Sarah, I live in Connecticut, and i'm in college. I bought my first XTC album in the summer of 1998. It was The Big Express, cause it only cost 8 dollars and i was wary cause i didn't know what they would sound like. I listened to it twice, was not too impressed, and resumed life as normal. Then in early 1999 sometime i was implored by my friend Chris to buy Apple Venus or else suffer horrible wrath on his part, so i did and i was totally captivated by it and went on to buy Oranges and Lemons, which i liked as well. and now Kevin has sent me this lovely cd-r of goodness, which i have listened to at least 15 times since Tuesday night, and which has awoken me from my Chalkhills-ignoring mode. :) well, i hope i have not been too boring. sarah faye
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 10:17:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Al LaCarte <allacarte@yahoo.com> Subject: I've Got Blisters on my Fingers! Message-ID: <20000414171748.21480.qmail@web1609.mail.yahoo.com> All: >From Wayne: >Exile--it is both overrated and could easily be >reduced to one good album much like the White Album I've put up with the bashing of "Exile," Jerry, and even Eric Clapton. "It's the bloody Beatles' 'White Album.' Shut up!" -- Paul McCartney Al
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 10:27:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Al LaCarte <allacarte@yahoo.com> Subject: Eldorado Message-ID: <20000414172720.20491.qmail@web1606.mail.yahoo.com> All: Wayne also said: >While his vocal range wasn't as good as Paul's, he >had a unique quality to be able to tap into his >emotional center and pour that raw emotion into the >heart of a song "It's a goal! It's a goal! It's a goal!" Al
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 19:49:45 +0200 From: "paolo" <lemons@tin.it> Subject: Fab Foursome in Philly Message-ID: <LOBBIBKPKJCGLGDMLDLKEEMCCBAA.lemons@tin.it> Tom Paluzzi write: Acoustic Tales and Fab Foursome in Philly color artwork?? ----- inside "Ten Feet Tall" you can find all the images of "Fab Foursome in Philly" . You go in the page called "Rarity&Curiosity". Kind regards to everybody. paolo di modica@ten feet tall http://space.tin.it/io/pdimodic http://fly.to.xtc.it
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 13:29:57 -0500 From: "Wiencek, Dan" <dwiencek@crateandbarrel.com> Subject: Beatle news Message-ID: <CCCF24B992E6D311BE670050DA793DE03AD1E1@escorp1.crate.barrel.com> This ties into a thread from a few moons ago, and may provide a nice respite from tiring Napster debates. I've taken the liberty of highlighting the relevant portion. (Launch) - If you're a Beatle-maniac and a modern videophile, it's time to make some room on the credit card again. "The Beatles Anthology" is reportedly set for release on DVD in October, to accompany the book that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have compiled under that same title. Longtime Beatles producer George Martin has remastered the popular TV and video documentary especially for the DVD release, using 5.1 surround sound. >>Martin has also reportedly been working on remastering the group's entire catalog for a new CD issue.<< Now *that* would be news worth celebrating. I am crossing my fingers even now. Dan
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 15:11:15 -0400 From: Ben Gott/Loquacious Music <gott@tmbg.org> Subject: Verbed Message-ID: <B51CE593.1D8E%gott@tmbg.org> Gang, Our friend Greg Marrs commented: > The energy and drive of AVII is a delight -- those of you who've been > craving electric guitars, gangway, you've bloody well benjamin-gott 'em. Hah! Greg Marrs is funny! Perhaps he's from...Marrs! Does anyone know when the "add date" for "The Man Who Murdered Love" is? I want to play it on my radio show, but I don't want to be too early. You know how it is... -Ben +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Benjamin Gott . Loquacious Music . Brunswick, ME 04011 AIM: Plan4Nigel . Tel: (207) 721-5366 . http://listen.to/loquacious You can feel it all over / You can feel it all over, people... +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 09:20:52 -1000 From: "Jim Smart" <jismart@ksbe.edu> Subject: promotional obituary Message-ID: <38F76F92.AF0CD032@ksbe.edu> Organization: 3Tripper London (AP) - Friends of the mysterious pop music figure named simply "Love" are reporting his death by gunshot. It is unclear whether the shot was self -inflicted or not. There was a pile of imitation roses scattered by the feet of the body. Authorities are not ruling out foul play, according to Peace, a longtime friend and collaborator. In fact, rumors have begun to circulate that police have a confession from "one of today's pop stars", according to unnamed sources. Footsteps were heard rushing away from Love's body, and they did not respond to the call fro bystanders to "stop in the name of Love". Love's cousin Understanding said that although he was greatly saddened by Love's death, the mysterious circumstances surrounding it seemed oddly appropriate. "Love liked to keep to himself. He was always just out of reach, existing past the fringe of the pop explosion that began in the sixties." In fact, Love's notoriety goes back farther than that. There was a song in the fifties that referred to the "Book of Love". But it was really the psychedelic era of the late sixties and early seventies that gave Love his odd sort of fame. The Beatles claimed that Love was "all you need", while Crosby, Stills, and Nash sang that "Love is coming to us all". Some felt that this meant he would be some sort of messiah who would "reign o'er" them. Others took a darker view. Love had a close brush with death in the glam rock era of the seventies. Though it remains unclear who did the stabbing, Elton John sang that "Love lies bleeding in my hands". Love survived the bizarre attack and went on to garner a kind of elder statesman respect in the pop world. In the eighties Chryssie Hynde stridently demanded that "when Love walks in the room, everybody stand up!" But it all seems to have ended in tragedy. Original rumors that the assassin was the ghost of Bob Marley have been denied by his spokesman, the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley did admit to shooting the sheriff, however, but denied shooting either Love or the deputy . Authorities are said to be focusing their investigation on the town of Swindon in southern England. Nothing further is known at this time. It seems that in death, as in life, Love remains a mystery.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 12:28:12 -0700 From: Richard Pedretti-Allen <richard@tactics.com> Subject: Metallica Sues Napster Message-ID: <l03130300b51d1b88a6d1@[165.227.110.102]> Metallica has filed a lawsuit against Napster (and the University of Southern California, Yale University and Indiana University) "...for copyright infringement, unlawful use of a digital audio interface device and violations of the Racketeering Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). "One reason Metallica is the first recording act to file suit against Napster is that the group is one of relatively few that owns its own master tapes as well as its own music publishing." Who else do we know that owns their own master tapes and music publishing? For the full story: http://news.excite.com/news/r/000414/03/entertainment-music-metallica Cheers, Richard "School is out but never over" Pedretti-Allen
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 16:59:07 -0400 From: "Diamond" <arnos@nantucket.net> Subject: John's Vocal Emotions Message-ID: <200004142103.RAA03260@nantucket.net> >While his vocal range wasn't as good as Paul's, he had a unique >quality to be able to tap into his emotional center and pour that raw >emotion into the heart of a song (great run on sentence there). I agree... completely... one of the things I like the most in a vocalist is the emotion he or she can put into a song... and I think lennon is a PERFECT example of that... another great example is the singer from The Flaming Lips... when I first listened to The Soft Bulletin, his singing style kind of turned me off... but on the second listen, I understood completely what he was saying... he puts so much emotion into his vocals, that nothing else matters. http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/79/the_french_electric_all-st.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/84/bass-cleff.html http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/85/starving_artists.html -- "No one in the world ever get's what they want, and that is beautiful. Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful" -John Linnell (of They Might Be Giants) / "Don't Let's Start"
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 01:14:27 +0200 From: "Mark Strijbos" <mmello@knoware.nl> Subject: Aztec Fever Message-ID: <20000414231030.F39FBA6CE4@mail.knoware.nl> Dear Chalkers, somebody asked: > >Indeed, there is nothing like the genuine article, but do discs > >actually have a smell? cd's don't as far as i'm concerned but vinyl most certainly does! i've often said that there's nothing in this world like the smell of a newly released XTC album fresh out of its sleeve for the very first time. it's almost erotic! and It's about time we all get a new "fix", eh? all that fussing and fighting... yours in xtc, Mark S. @ the Little Lighthouse www.come.to/xtc
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 17:10:45 -0700 From: Eb <gondola@deltanet.com> Subject: Re: Wasp Star, spoiled Message-ID: <f0431010bb51d5b3a936b@[206.173.241.97]> Well, I've listened to my AV2 disc a few times now, and it's just not going to get any better. I like "Playground," "You and the Clouds Will Still Be Beautiful," "Church of Women" and "The Wheel and the Maypole" quite a bit (note: I didn't say I "love" them), but the entire middle is just more of those Perky Little Ditties a la AV1's milder tracks. It's just, well, *innocuous*. Colin is singing better but still stuck in that up-and-down "Penny Lane" rut, "My Brown Guitar" sounds like the boys were forced to play it at 75% speed (and I'm *not* saying this, based on hearing the demo), "Boarded Up" and "Wounded Horse" are clunky faux-blues, and the aptly titled "Stupidly Happy" sounds like a B-side from Genesis' Abacab album (honest to God). There's no sense of danger or risk-taking on the album at *all*, except on "The Wheel and the Maypole." And for a disc hyped as an "ELECTRIC ROCK" record, it sure lacks anything remotely resembling abrasiveness. It aims to be nothing but a pleasing little pop record, and I suppose this goal was achieved. But wasn't XTC supposed to be something more? I wasn't overwhelmed by AV1 either, but this disc rates about two notches lower with me than its predecessor. I was hoping this would be my favorite release of the year...instead, it'll be lucky to crack the top 12. :( Back to lurking....
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 17:16:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Sean Robison <dabahbs1@go.com> Subject: Wasp Star Comments Message-ID: <8038753.955757776818.JavaMail.dabahbs1@gomailjtp02> *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER* I too succumbed to the urge to commit heinous acts of copyright violation and managed to piece together Wasp Star from Napster. It makes getting from today to May 23rd, when I can hold the real article and listed to the songs in the utmost, pristine clarity, a little more bearable. I'm not going to the do the track-by-track run down, but instead offer some comments: *SPOILER SPOILER* (just in case you missed the first batch) I agree with those that think this is an awesome album. I also agree with those that think this might finally be their big "break". It's the most accessible album they've put out. The songs are much tighter and more straightforward and yet still have those distinctive XTC lyrics and chord changes and unique musical structures. Personally, I would have chosen "Playground" over "Man Who Murdered Love" as the first single. "You and the Clouds" is the best song Sting never wrote... Someone mentioned (at least I THINK someone mentioned) hearing a familiar tune (or tunes) in "Standing In For Joe". The song that jumped out at me was Steely Dan's "Barrytown". The lyrical progression is somewhat similar. All the songs do have a different feel with Dave Gregory gone. While Andy and Colin were the one's who would make the drawings, it was Dave's guitar that would add the shading and the texture. However, as I mentioned above, the songs' cleaner sound makes them more accessible to the new listener. Just a very exhuberant, upbeat, finally-get-to-play-some- loud-music-after-seven-years fun time of an album.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 20:34:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Molly Fanton <mfanton99@yahoo.com> Subject: Metalica is Suing Napster Message-ID: <20000415033423.6391.qmail@web1301.mail.yahoo.com> I just read that Metalica is suing Napster. What do you think about it? I think they're doing the right thing. Molly, too tired to type anymore ===== Molly's Pages http://www.angelfire.com/mn/mollyfa99/index.html
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 11:35:00 -0400 From: Ben Gott/Loquacious Music <gott@tmbg.org> Subject: "...to..." Message-ID: <B51E0464.1DAF%gott@tmbg.org> Hillfolk, A few digests ago (but who's counting?), someone asked if the lyric "what do you think to that?" was changed from the demo to the final version of "The Man Who Murdered Love." As far as I know, the demo also contains this phrase which is, perhaps, a Britishism... Anyway, I was thinking about this post at the exact moment that I began to play Sisqo's "Thong Song" and, sure enough, I had a "moment of clarity": "She had dumps like a truck truck truck Thighs like what what what Baby move your butt butt butt I think *to sing it again*..." (emphasis added) Now apparently, although it sometimes sounds like Mr. Sisqo is singing "I think I'll sing it again," the official lyrics (that I picked up on the 'Net) say differently...that is, he uses "to" in an unusual place, just like Andy does. This leads me to the question at hand: has Sisqo been listening to XTC? Downloaded from Napster, no less? On another note, I will add that Andy has changed the lyrics in the bridge of "Church of Women" to: "A lie for a lie, but a truth for the truth... Baby make the beat go da na da Baby make your booty go da na da Girl I know you wanna show That church ch-church church church..." Spoiler, my thong! You've got to know *this*! -Ben +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Benjamin Gott . Loquacious Music . Brunswick, ME 04011 AIM: Plan4Nigel . Tel: (207) 721-5366 . http://listen.to/loquacious So remember, just don't smile / 'Cos tonight we've got style... +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 12:38:52 +0100 From: Philip Lawes <PJL@plextek.co.uk> Subject: A couple of points Message-ID: <s8f862ea.001@plextek.co.uk> Wasp Star: You can spoil away as far as I'm concerned. If I live to be 80 (you never know) the 38 days between now and Wasp Star's release represents approximately 0.13% of my minimum intended lifespan - and that's too bigger percentage to waste trying to avoid hearing about the contents of a CD, even if it is by XTC. Wait a minute, I'll be on holiday in Italy 'til the 30th - that's an extra WEEK! BuggerBuggerBugger... Glad to see that the new cover art is suitably pudendal - and is more apple than wasp. Actually I'm almost afraid to say the lyric "Apple Venus on a half opened shell.." said 'Genitalia' to me the first time I heard it. Perhaps I ought to start choosing my magazines from nearer the bottom shelf. WIMP Only got a two disk changer, so lets see... Disk 1 - S Club 7 - Two in a Million single. Curse those kids. Disk 2 - Boo Hewerdine - Thanksgiving. Why isn't this writer of perfect English pop songs more famous. Years in the music biz and he's only got a terraced house to show for it (hang on, where have I heard that before?) Contains perhaps the only love song written on social Darwinist principles that I've ever heard (The Birds Are Leaving) - beautifully bittersweet. Lots of lovely DADGAD style guitar picking and lyrics that've had me thinking for months. Nothing better - get to CD-Now and download a taster. (BTW Mr. Hewerdine is ALLEGEDLY one of the models for the hero of 'High Fidelity' by his mate Nick Hornby.) WOMT (What's On My Turntable) Got the LP's out of the loft a while back and, surprise, surprise, the stuff I thought was fairly crap twenty years ago turns out to be quite good. Favourites so far include Blondie - Parallel lines (cracking pop album, don't remember them all looking that ugly though) - Japan Exorcizing Ghosts (best of) sounds surprisingly fresh & not nearly as gloomy as I remember. And of course D&W on vinyl. My 7" of Statue of Liberty seems to have attracted that species of mildew that lives exclusively in record grooves though. Wonder what it feeds on - perhaps fossilized perspiration from sitting next to the record deck at a hundred student parties? Take care. Phil PS what is 'WebTV' and why does everyone from that address write like they've been snorting speed?
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 10:16:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Brown <mb2@deltanet.com> Subject: WS cinema Message-ID: <200004151716.KAA13529@mail2.deltanet.com> (working title)- The Trouble With Having One Copy of Wasp Star -or- What Has Become of Mr. O.? (in a corner of the backyard)- The scene opens with a tight shot of a patch of freshly turned earth. (In the background we hear the opening bars of 'Stupidly Happy') The camera pulls back and pans to the right, across the lawn, over to the patio where we find Mrs. O. relaxing on a chaise-lounge. (close-up of Mrs. O.)- We see Mrs. O., her eyes are closed as she nods her head to the beat of the music. A smug smile slowly spreads across her face... (scene dissolves)
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 20:22:08 +0100 (GMT+01:00) From: hugh_Janus@pillock.co.uk Subject: A Correction Message-ID: <25861608.955826528570.JavaMail.root@mh-a01.backend.another.com> Did I say that 'The Birds are leaving' by Boo Hewerdine was 'Social Darwinian'. I meant just 'Darwinian'. It's just a great song about the mess our genes can get us into in matters of love and neither the song nor it's author has any connection with either eugenics or jackboots. I hope this makes it a bit clearer. Many apologies Phil
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 18:18:40 -0700 From: "Digitalmaster" <digitalmaster@earthlink.net> Subject: And the verdict... GUILTY! Message-ID: <002201bfa741$d5b3b3a0$0200a8c0@digitalpc> OK. So I go to this small record store and what do they have in the XTC section for sale? Well, besides the Ultradisc 2 Versions of O&L and Skylarking, they have THE WASP STAR PROMO!!! First, I have heard conflicting stories on how the promo looks. This promo looks like a manufactured CD; not a CD that some guy printed up on his Cannon Printer in order to sell on eBay. Be careful on eBay because I have seen some people selling boots of the promo (now that is fucking low!). Less then 10 feet away was a listening station. Should I hold out? Hell no! I had the CD in that player faster then Nell Carter in a box of Twinkies. I only listened to about 1 minute per song. Let me stress this everyone; This is NOT, I repeat NOT like anything else they have done. Well, was AV1? The songs to me sounded like they could compete with all the stuff out now, without sacrificing their integrity. Its kind of hard to explain. At any rate, I did not listen long enough to give a review or anything. One thing I will say is that one song sounded really, ummm, like Housemartins. So, if your a fan of Housemartins, you are sure to love that song. I would say this XTC album is closer to sounding like Cracker than the XTC we have grown use to; BUT THAT IS NOT BAD! I loved this album so much. I wanted sit there and play the whole songs but my wife was waiting in the car. I want to take a poll. But I want to wait until the album comes out for you all to give me your opinion. If there was any mistake with this album, it is that it should have been AV1, meaning it should have been released before the orchestrated stuff from AV1. In my opinion, listening to it for the first time, I thought that it would have done more for both albums if WS was first and what we have come to know as AV1 was second. I am sure opinions vary, but I want to see what the rest of you will have to say after May 23rd. No matter what, get this album. XTC "kicks ass," they "rock," they are "tight" they are "the shit," XTC rules god damn it!
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 10:38:27 EDT From: CapnEndo@aol.com Subject: Re: on speed Message-ID: <db.2ebc539.262b2a63@aol.com> > I believe it was Mr Thompson who, a number of years ago, said that judging > a guitar solo on the speed of playing was like judging a novel on how fast > it was typed. My opinion on that is: if the note is a good one, you should stick with it for at least a bit. Tom
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 16:47:38 +0900 From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp> Subject: Song Stories in Japan Message-ID: <001901bfa778$8182a480$785791d2@johnboud> While in Tokyo last week saw the Japanese translated version of Song Stories in the Virgin Megastore in Shinjuku . Had been unaware that it existed in Japanese . Shows how much interest in the band there still is here in Sushiland . No - I didn't buy anything at VIRGIN . Just looking ... Sorry to all of you who asked me to look for stuff which I couldn't find . It doesn't mean the discs don't exist , however . There are zillions of shops , unfortunately my search was confined to one area of Tokyo - Shinjuku , and half a dozen stores . Sushiman
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #6-80 ******************************
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