Chalkhills Digest Volume 7, Issue 5
Date: Thursday, 25 January 2001

          Chalkhills Digest, Volume 7, Number 5

                Thursday, 25 January 2001

Topics:

                  Fistfighting in a room
         Fistfights and Children...Oddly Complete
                  The Problem With Music
          Re: The Definitive XTC albums campaign
                 Miscellaneous ramblings
            Re: Definitive XTC albums campaign
                 Pumpkinhead on Genius TV
            Jill In Brazil and The Orchid Show
                        Remasters
                   Let my people go...
                           Bah
                        re: kozmo
          Apple Venus meets Apples In Stereo...
                   White Music, Plus...
           The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
        TVT Records drops lawsuit against Napster
                  horses of many shades
    Fw: Subject: Young Marble Giants / Louis Phililppe
Hanging there he looked a lot like you and an awful lot like me
              My New Wasp Star Running Order
                    Parrots And Lemurs
             Back again with the Toy Matinee
      What I've decided, or "suddenly, at midnight"

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At first I see 'em swarming from a dark and midnight nest.

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 15:10:08 -0800
From: "Elena F. Sirignano" <nycelena@napanet.net>
Subject: Fistfighting in a room
Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.20010123151008.006cc1e4@pop.napanet.net>

To Answer the not so age old question of Adrian Ransome on 1/21/01: a fist
fight amonst XTC members would depend highly on which encarnation of the
band we are refering to. Overall it's my opinion if we took every member,
past, present or studio filler, stuck them in a room and locked the door,
I'd say Terry Chambers would come out the winner, due to his infamous
alchol induced anti-social, destructive behavier. Andy would find away out
of the room while no one else was looking
                                Goodbye and Thanks For All The Fish
                                         Elena

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 17:01:56 -0700
From: "Steve Johnson" <sjohnson@co.missoula.mt.us>
Subject: Fistfights and Children...Oddly Complete
Message-ID: <sa6db91d.095@mail.co.missoula.mt.us>

Adrian asked the great philosphical/theological/historical (and other
things ending with "al") question of our day:  "If the members of XTC
had a fistfight, who would win and why?"

I don't know, but I hope Andy would lose.  Sounds like about three
albums worth of new material.  ;-)

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 19:20:50 -0800
From: "Jamie and Martin Monkman" <monkman@coastnet.com>
Subject: The Problem With Music
Message-ID: <003f01c085b4$a8085620$f0763cc7@new>

In 'Hills #7-4, Mr. Kimball wrote, in part and in reply to Kate Burda:

>>From: "Kate Burda" <burdakat@pilot.msu.edu>
>>Subject: The REAL reasons XTC never made any money!
>
>PREFACE: Kate, have you read Fred Goodman's "Mansion On The Hill?"

Also highly recommended is Steve Albini's "The Problem With Music" article.
The article can be found in various places on the web, but here's one of the
more colourful:
http://www.arancidamoeba.com/mrr/problemwithmusic.html

The best feature to my mind is the accounting table, showing who earns what
money from a band's labours.  And don't you believe for a minute the lie
that the internet will somehow make all of this different--all of the
internet "success" stories (Aimee Mann, for example) a) aren't getting rich,
and b) had the benefit of corporate promotion in the past to raise their
profile and build them an audience.

Gee ain't it grand.

Martin

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 22:36:56 -0500
From: Groove Disques <info@groovedisques.com>
Subject: Re: The Definitive XTC albums campaign
Message-ID: <4.1.20010123222430.00988930@mail.digiweb.com>

>English Settlement is too long to include any bonus tracks on a
>single disc. But there are a lot of b-sides from this period as well
>as some various live recordings. I suggest that a remastered English
>Settlement become a 2-disc set...

Count me in for a copy of the expanded English Settlement, but rather than
all the B-sides listed, many of which I already own over two formats, I
would LOVE to hear a set that focuses on all that went into what I believe
should have been a turning point in pop music.  In my opinion, English
Settlement pointed toward a way that the rest of us - and the band itself -
failed to follow through on.  The combination of influences, dynamics,
textures, production, lyrics are as distinctive as any breakthrough Beatles
or Led Zeppelin albums, to use examples of two bands that specialized in
sonically groundbreaking albums.  I'm not an agressive collector of bootleg
demos, but I'd love to hear how those songs went from demo form through
early attempts at proper recordings to the final product.  I can imagine
the genesis of most songs by most bands I hear: musician picks up guitar or
piano and starts bashing out a chord progression while humming a melody,
lyrics ensue...In the case of English Settlement, the songs and
arrangements are seamless.  I can't tell where they started and how the
band arranged them.  Everything they'd done until that album lead up to it.
 I'll stop my yapping, but no matter how many fantastic songs XTC has
produced since that album, the loss of that band and its unique ensemble
style is missed dearly.

Jim
www.groovedisques.com

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 21:52:57 -0800
From: "John Keel" <jbkxtc@ev1.net>
Subject: Miscellaneous ramblings
Message-ID: <002701c085c9$e7f1ad30$6f525d3f@xtc>

Hi kids,

So . . . Deb Brown almost seems to be challenging me to make good on my
resolution to get the L.A. fans together.  "Come ON, Keel!  Let's get to
it!!!" I can hear her saying all the way down here at the beach.  Well, I'm
still very interested in doing just that, but it may take me just a few more
weeks before I have the time to focus on it.  I'm preparing to move over to
Hollyweird in the coming weeks - into a studio apartment with my girlfriend,
no less - and the agony over what to pack, what to take and what to sell is
just beginning.  But, rest assured, your Deb-ness, that every effort will be
made to make it happen.  Hey, when is the next solstice?  I believe a proper
pagan ceremony would only add to the festivities!

You know what else I was thinking, and I'm sure it has probably been
suggested before and may already be in place in some form or fashion.  What
about a site on Chalkhills (sorry, John, like you don't have enough to do as
it is) or elsewhere where we can all post photos of ourselves?  Just an idea
as a way for those of us who haven't had the good fortune to meet to get a
look at each other.

SPECIAL NOTE TO WES LONG:  Dude, send me your home address!  When I had to
erase my hard drive due to that damn virus I got, I lost it!  I need to send
you your "Wasp Star" vinyl, if you didn't get tired of waiting on me and got
it somewhere else.

Big XXX's & OOO's to Jayne and Kay across the pond and a public thanks to
Squirrel Girl for the "Gilmore Girls" update, as I was late in posting about
it.  SG, I'll reply to your reply soon.

Wow, sorry to ramble on so long.  Oh, one last thing.  I got this temp gig
at Fox Sports which is mostly boring data entry except I get to listen to
music all day long and have been running through the entire XTC catalog
(Well, except "Mummer" and "Big Express", which I still have to take in
small doses).  I actually get paid to listen to XTC all day!  Ain't life
grand?

JK

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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 02:23:57 -0500
From: Sylvan <psiogen@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Definitive XTC albums campaign
Message-ID: <3A6E830F.90172A1A@mindspring.com>
Organization: psiogen@mindspring.com

Responding to Derek's master plan...

It would be nice to have all those weird rarites, but I don't think they
shouldbe added unless they make the album better in some way. Songs that
screw with the mood/whatever of the album should be tossed. And I don't
think tracks should be tacked on the end of albums. Most of them have
songs that were meant to be album closers (Funk Pop A Roll, Sacrificial
Bonfire, Travels in Nihilon, Complicated Game, etc.).  And I am shocked
and disturbed, by the way, to hear that you think Thatnks For Christmas
belongs on The Big Express.

The albums they should modify from the existing CDs:

-Black Sea: Cut out Somnambulist and and Smokeless Zone.

-Mummer: Cut out Procession and Frost Circus.

-Skylarking: Add Mermaid Smiled, keep Dear God between Dying and The Man
Who Sailed... add Extrovert between Season's Cycle and Earn Enough.

-Rag and Bone Buffet: Make into a 2 (maybe 3?) CD set to cover all the
remaining out of print material, such as the dub sessions stuff and the
Homo Safari tracks, plus the cut bonus tracks.

-Apple Venus 2 CD Set: Obviously Virgin won't be doing this, but it would
be cool if AV and WS were re-released as a double album the way it was
originally intended.

--
Sylvan
Three lefts make a right.

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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 18:40:00 +0900
From: "John Boudreau" <aso1@mocha.ocn.ne.jp>
Subject: Pumpkinhead on Genius TV
Message-ID: <000101c0860f$6ff78de0$645791d2@johnboud>

Konnichwa ,

Syncronicity strikes ... I was reading the latest Chalkhills , when my
daughter got home from school and flipped on the TV to a Japanese kids'
program called " Tensai TV " ( " Tensai " is " genius " in English ) .
 Anyway , these starkids of the show were walking down the street in a small
town looking for the house of a kid to whom they had sent autographed
pictures , with a cover version of " Peter Pumpkinhead " providing backround
music ! It was a great cover that fooled Mika .
Somebody at NHK must have dug the song enough to use it on the show ; I'm
just wondering who the cover was by ?

Sushiman

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

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 09:03:35 -0500
From: np80@columbia.edu
Subject: Jill In Brazil and The Orchid Show
Message-ID: <3A6D48E7.30269.53D81CF@localhost>

Hi,

We are writing to let you know that we will be doing The
Orchid Show again in February for nine shows through February
at The Flea Theater in NYC.  The following is the press
release.  For this special project we will do 5 songs from our
Apple Venus suite, the Orchid Show and the new sister episode,
Jill In Brazil.

Best

Jason Marchant

The Neta Dance Company

	[ more details at http://chalkhills.org/product/OrchidShow.html ]

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 11:06:54 +1100
From: "Culnane, Paul" <Paul.Culnane@DCITA.GOV.AU>
Subject: Remasters
Message-ID: <17E19E6D5085D41196240000E896881D146C41@g5dccbr0ms01.dcita.gov.au>

Derek Miner's suggestions about how best to compile the remastered
back-catalogue was interesting, and for the most part plausible.  But what
about "Nonsuch" and the Dukes?

~~p@ul

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 08:31:21 -0500
From: MinerWerks <dminer@gte.net>
Subject: Let my people go...
Message-ID: <a05001900b695da11c59b@[63.11.105.165]>

I know I'm off topic again here, but just in case anyone was
wondering about the immediate impact of that AOL Time-Warner
merger... This rundown has been called a "bloodbath" and inspired the
headline "You've Got Screwed"...

For those keeping score at home, here is the breakdown:

America Online: minus 725. To give the appearances of not playing
favorites, AOL's cuts will include 300 at its former headquarters in
Dulles, Virginia.

The publishing division of Time Inc.: minus 400. Cuts in the
direct-marketing division, in editorial at Time-Life books in
Alexandria, Virginia, and at the subscription center in Birmingham,
Alabama. No editorial jobs have yet been lost at magazines like Time,
People, Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated.

Warner Music Group: minus 600. Attrition and early retirement will
remove jobs in manufacturing and distribution. Long-term senior
executives may go. Reprise Records, whose acts include Barenaked
Ladies, may be folded under Warner Bros. Records.

New Line Cinema/Fine Line Features: minus 120. Production President
Michael De Luca is already gone. Senior Executive Vice President
Richard Saperstein just got the ax. More will follow.

Intenet portal Entertaindom.com: minus 100. The site will soon close,
folded into Warner Bros.' overall Internet operations.

AOL Time Warner Corporation: minus 100. New York Rockerfeller Center
workers, particularly those in information-technology, gone.

But the stock is up 50 percent!

= Derek =

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 12:41:09 +0100
From: a.de.koning@bp.vnu.com
Subject: Bah
Message-ID: <OF7FA1BD15.EAD6A8FE-ONC12569DF.00387205@bpa.vnu.com>

Hi All,

All this positive talk about Andy co-writing with Robert Schneider of the
Apples in Stereo made me think what Andy has said about collaborations in
the past: it made him some money during the Virgin-strike-years. He would
work with anyone that would have him. Of course: it may be just two people
getting together to see if they can write some stuff together but it could
also mean that Andy has serious cashflow problems (WS not selling as much
as hoped, anyone?).
I hope it's just me.

On to more positive thinking:
Derek made a great list of what would be nice to see in the Virgin box-set.
I have a few comments:
- can 'Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass' please be the Ball&Chain 12"
version, not the version as on R&BB?
- I seem to miss the 'Take Away / The Lure of Salvage' tracks. You have
found a place for Go+ on Go2 and 'Take Away' should be on D&W but obviously
won't fit. Maybe another double-disk would do? This way the need for
'Explode Together' is gone and the 2nd ES disk could concentrate on the
later stuff.
- O&L could do with a version of 'Blue Beret'.
- Nonsuch can also be a 2-disk set, with all the demo's that popped up on
various singles (and I noticed it was not in your list).

This still leaves the 'fan club' tapes and all unreleased demo's. If Virgin
still claims those, we need more 2-disk sets, but I really hope they can be
used for Fuzzy Warbles (if that ever sees the light of day).

Andre de Koning

PS: If you want my opinion on Homegrown and AV1-Instrumental ever being
released: I regard them as rumours (so, prove me wrong).

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 05:39:17 -0500
From: "Danny Phipps" <phipps@schoollink.net>
Subject: re: kozmo
Message-ID: <web-5896632@schoollink.net>

hello, all...

i know that this subject is way off the beam when it
comes to each individual mailing list and all, but i
just wanted to share a thought with you --

our oldest cat kozmo was put to sleep yesterday afternoon
around 5:00 after suffering from (chronic) kidney failure.
the sad part of this situation, let alone now dealing
with this big empty void in our lives, is the fact that
we were both unaware of his condition until just 5 days
ago.  so needless to say, my wife and i are both stunned
and shocked by what has taken place re: this amazing
13-year-old animal.

he was special and he will be missed...plain and simple.

thanks for the eyetime --

/dan

 -------------------------------------------
"All of the answers you seek can be
 found in the dreams that you dream..."
                       -- Dan Fogelberg
 -------------------------------------------

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 06:18:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Ira Lieman <ilieman@yahoo.com>
Subject: Apple Venus meets Apples In Stereo...
Message-ID: <20010125141831.18144.qmail@web214.mail.yahoo.com>

 From Rolling Stone Online:

http://rock.yahoo.com/rock/music_news/rolling_stone/story.html?s=n/rolling_stone/rock/news/20010125/20010125006

I guess any mention is a good mention, nowadays.

Non-XTC content: Napster is REALLY COOL.

-ira

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 11:36:19 -0400
From: Andrew Boyle <uscolor@uscolor.com>
Subject: White Music, Plus...
Message-ID: <v04210101b695f1778b37@[192.168.0.3]>

Hello all,

For anyone searching for White Music before the remasters arrive:

I headed over to our latest Barnes & Noble super/mega/multi-store to
cash in some gift certificates and decided to look into the latest
CDs and what not. Sitting in plain view were White Music AND Go 2,
both for 13 bucks. This even though White Music is not on their web
site inventory. Maybe you will get lucky. Or wait.

On another note, I was trying to get the 8 month old back to sleep in
the wee hours and stumbled onto HBO and Eddie Izzard doing his
stand-up. How he got to sleep bouncing up and down while I giggled is
beyond me. XTC connection? During a good bit on space exploration he
portrays British space hopefuls climbing a verrrrry long ladder and
calling down, "Come in Swindon!" It was a good show.
___________________________

Speaking of space travel, do you good folk overseas even pay
attention to Shuttle launches or missions? Since I am right here I
can't avoid them. Just curious about things outside of my box.
_______________________

I hope everyone is ready to watch and see if the Russians can get the
Mir down next month. Again, could just be my box.
_______________________

Now don't you kids get crazy on me, but:

Favorite sign at the inauguration: "Hail to the Thief"

__________________________

Next shuttle launch: No sooner than Feb. 6.

Andrew Boyle
Orlando, FL

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 09:21:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Message-ID: <20010125172156.18397.qmail@web123.yahoomail.com>

Allo Folks and welcome back from Ollyday!

Chalk #7-4

Derek Miner posted about the things he would like to see in the new
reissues.

Derek I totally agree with you. That would be great, as long as they
tack em on the end this time. ;)

But it will never happen. Many of those tunes have never been
remastered and I doubt Virgin would spend the money to do so and then
just toss em on as freebies. You might get one extra track per cd as a
bonus incentive towards buying it. The other reason is because it would
cut in to the material for the Virgin Box set. Also Virgin cannot
release BBC tracks since they have been leased by Idea records and I
doubt AP and CM are going to give their old friends the luxury of doing
so. Also I doubt AP has any sway over what will and will not be
included on the reissues. They were consulted on the box set because
they are contractually required to be (including Dave I believe). I
doubt they would be there for any other reason.

You also left out Nonsuch and it's bonuses. I would REALLY like to see
the b-sides to the singles tacked on there so that more people could
appreciate Bungalow in demo form as it "wasn't" released on the Wrapped
In Grey Single. Great song and the demo just helped me to appreciate it
more.

Also your concerns about Rhino are unfounded, Regardless of the music
that Rhino chooses to release they have only one thing that they need
to prove to AOL. They need to be profitable. The need to make an
increasing level of profit on an annual basis and they need to do so
have an increasing market share. No holding company will ever cut off a
money making arm. They may sell em, or fold em in somewhere else or
something, but they won't cut em. And you can say MANY things about
AOL, but you can't accuse them of being stupid in the realm of
business. These guys are SHARP. Maybe what Warnsers needs is a good
shakeup anyway. They aren't exactly pumping out great stuff on their
label. Who knows AOL may bring em some new blood. Yeah I doubt it too.
;)

XTC Fight.....My money is on Barry! Loved your post though Laura, great
imagery.

Ah yes and Mr Kimball's post.

First of all I agree with all of your enviornmental views and honestly
it scares the _)@#*$)@#$ bejesus out of me that we now have an oilman
for a president AGAIN. I was very pleased that Prz Clinton set aside
those lands as Federal Monuments before he left office and I am going
to be very PO'd if that wet behind the ears Dubya, stops those orders
so his money grubbing friends can go drill holes in the artic. This guy
is the very epitome of shortsighted.

Dunks two points on your "the record industry is evil" section...

One- the Beatles renegotiated a far better deal than 2% royalties long
before Elton John ever earned a dime from his music. And Elton and
Stevie were both REnegotiations in the seventies. They both started out
making crap too. You have to remember Stevie had a lot of hits in the
Sixties here in Motown. An amazing child, who has become an even more
amazing artist as a mature adult. Any act that really "makes it"
renegotiates long before their contracts are up.

However I agree with you that there is a WHOLE lot of screwing over
being done and in most cases it is not being done by the artists.

I have read a ton of rock-bios and many of them have the same themes
that Dunks was relating. The worst one I have read was by Noel Redding
bassist for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Contributed to some of the
greatest albums ever. He has nothing to show for it. He had to go to
court to try to get paid. He won the case, but they still couldn't find
the money. The manager mysteriously "dies" and there is like 22 Million
missing and no one knows where? Yeah right I misplaced 22 Mil just last
week. Great book, check it out.

One other correction Dunks, XTC did in fact renegotiate their deal with
Virgin. Unfortunatly at the time they were in a court battle with THE
BASTARD Ian Reid. Virgin wasn't paying any royalties to anyone awaiting
the outcome and XTC had no incoming cash. Virgin said "well sure we
will give you a loan to cover you but, here why don't you just sign
this new contract while your here" They felt they had no choice at the
time. And eventually they went on strike to get out of that deal.

So here is some good advice to any new musicians out there who are
thinking of going pro. This is what I have learned from twenty years of
reading rock horror stories.

1. Never sign a long term deal as your first contract. 3 Years will be
plenty to see if you can make it. By then you will be in a better
position to negotiate.
2. Do not take an advance from the Record company if you can help it.
This is NOT free money. It is your money, but they are going to charge
you interest to use it. If you absolutly have to take an advance to
make the album make it as small as possible. Do not buy yourself a new
house, car, guitar and mounds of peruvian marching powder. For these
reasons...your never gonna be home in the next three years anyway, you
will be too "out of it" to be driving, it will get stolen or broken,
your music will turn to dada and your friends will all get loaded on
your dime. Also (although it is difficult to do) try to retain control
of the master tapes. You paid for them after all, you should own them.
Generally you don't though. If you can get them, don't store them at a
friends place.
3.Hire an accountant that reports solely to you. Individually, not as a
band. Have the guy audit the books at least twice a year. Less people
will try to take your cash if they think you are watching. When you get
really big hire an accountant to audit your accountant. I'm not
kidding.
4. Songwriting royalties are what makes the coin. Period. everything
else is chicken feed. If you want the big coin, write the bleedin
songs. Conversely if you are writing the bleedin songs and you what to
keep your bandmates happy. Cut em a slice. Two of the biggest groups
ever do exactly that. Van Halen cuts everything equally. Someone
mentioned Beautiful South earlier as well (The Liars Bar, bio was
great), the other really amazing one is the Police. Sting didn't cut it
equally but he took half and gave Stewart and Andy 1/4 each. So they
still hated his guts but it wasn't due to the money. XTC did not adopt
this model by the way. Someone recently asked how songwriting royalties
were split and my understanding is that the songwriter ie: AP or CM
keeps all of his revenue. Plz correct me if I am in error, anyone? My
understanding is that his is why Dave and to a lesser degree Colin had
to get side jobs while on strike in order to be able to support
themselves. Makes me sad to think of the KING of Fuzzy Guitar repo'ing
cars to make the mortgage. But I digress..The Police\Sting are probably
one of the most successfully run business's in entertainment. They had
a ruthless manager that didn't cheat them, and they didn't take big
advances. The manager was also very inventive with the merchandising
and supplied a ton of items to the collectors. If you need a guy to
model your rock and roll business after, Sting is definitely your guy.
5. They call it the music business for a reason. It is a business,
either you need to have the skills to run an operation with anywhere
from 5 to 30 employees, or you need to hire someone who can. And you
need to pay them enough so that they don't take your money and run.
Personal loyalty is hard to expect when you are making a $1 mill plus
per year and your manager is getting $100,000. And he is handling the
business side of it. A really good trusted manager should be an equal
partner in my estimation. And I am not talking about somebody that
books you gigs. I am talking about someone who does all of your
contract negotiations, totally deals with the paperwork. Pays off your
drunk driving arrests, expedites your divorces etc... hushes up that
"incident " at the curry house in San Fran etc.. Of course you won't be
like that ;)
>From what I have seen there are really two ways for a manager to get
paid, either you pay him well and he respects and looks after your
interests which is what you want or he get's shafted by you in his
paycheck and he just decides to reroute your cash into his own account.
He may try to reroute your cash into his own account anyway, see item
3!
6. PAY YOUR TAXES. The MAN has ways of punishing you if you don't. His
favorite is something called fines and interest. As a general rule in
all business dealings you should always avoid the words and implied
actions of "fines" "penalties" and "interest" they are all really just
code words for "we are taking you hard earned dough"!
7. Eventually you will have to invest cash in something to keep it from
the MAN. Genaral rules are a.) If it is hard for the MAN to find it, it
will be hard for you to find it too. Just ask Noel Redding. b.) If an
investment sounds foolproof it isn't, they are just hiding the fact
that YOU are the fool. Keep it simple and in the long run you will
still know where your cash is.

8. Being a pro musician is a job, it requires work. When it is time to
work, work. When it is time to play and relax then feel free to do
whatever (but harm none). Don't ever confuse the two and you will
always be ok in the end.

XTC content: I was listening to Skylarking last night - The Canadian cd
version that leaves Mermaid Smiled in and adds Dear God at the end. I
really like the way Sacrifial bonfire flows into Dear God. It kind of
renews the cycle. I picture the whole life from childhood to maturity
then death and then protagonists child asks God why? And gets angry due
to the loss of his father. He disavows God due to his own loss.

So I wondered if anyone knew where Todd Rundgren originally planned to
place Dear God when he planned out the album before XTC came over to
the states to record it. In Chalkhills Children, Twomey relates that
Todd had the whole thing planned and they started recording the songs
"in the order that Todd, had laid them out" Anyone know what the
original order was?

Recently played - Rush 2112
Now Playing: Zep 3--- Gallows Pole

Cheers all,

Mole

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 11:04:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Jon Rosenberger <wile1coyote@yahoo.com>
Subject: TVT Records drops lawsuit against Napster
Message-ID: <20010125190413.21495.qmail@web112.yahoomail.com>

Here is some interesting XTC releated info...

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010125/en/music-napster_1.html

Hope it is still hear by the time you read it.

Mole

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 19:05:46 +0800
From: The Worrier Queen <myrone@tesco.net>
Subject: horses of many shades
Message-ID: <3A70088A.5770A5B0@tesco.net>

About the horses

Look geography was never my strong point - I thought Wolverhampton was
somewhere near Southampton for years.

Can I plead missing brain cells?  One too many liquid down the nose incident?

But aren't all white horses, what ever their age or location, part of the
same idea?

So be nice to white horses where ever you may find them.

An idle thought - does anyone know a song where lemurs get a mention?  Or
is Wrapped in Grey unique?

So which way do I go to get to Northampton?

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 20:05:39 -0000
From: "John Bartlett" <john@bartlett132.screaming.net>
Subject: Fw: Subject: Young Marble Giants / Louis Phililppe
Message-ID: <002501c0870a$31ce4bc0$bc9e403e@bartlett132>

Hello all,
    this was posted on the Audities list, and I thought it may be of
interest to Chalkers......

> > Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 07:48:19 +0100
> > From: "Robert Pally" <robert.pally@bluewin.ch>
> >
> > Talking about Young Marble Giants, Louis Philippe told me that he is going
> > to put out a album with Stuart Moxham. Louis said furthermore that this
> > album will have some of the best songs Sturt has written since "Searching
> > for Mr. Wright".
> > BTW: Check also Louis Philippes album "Azure" out, that has the XTC song I
> > can't own her" on it. Here is what he said about this song:
> >
> > Andy had actually promised me the song (which I adored - marvellous
> > imagery, and genuine tenderness, a rare combination in an XTC song)
> > after I'd heard it on one of his demos. He said he would not do it,
> > thanked me for rescuing it, then the bugger decided to record it on
> > "Apple Venus" after I'd done my own version! GRRR!
> >
> > He recorded the album with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague.
> > "Azure" is a bit similar to "Apple Venus" but more mellon collie.

Cheers,
    John B.

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 12:42:51 -0800
From: "Miller, Ed" <Ed.Miller@icn.siemens.com>
Subject: Hanging there he looked a lot like you and an awful lot like me
Message-ID: <B85CC0B15FDCDB469FC0F039B4FDD98F11AF62@stca205a>

Hi Chalkhillers,

"It's been a long time
 Now I'm
 Coming back home."

Greetings to my old friends Peter F, Richard P-A, Harrison, JDSMX, Mike V,
Ira and whoever is still out there.  Hello to everyone else too.  Drop me a
line if you get a chance.  I think I'll lurk for a while.

Ed Miller

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 15:48:44 EST
From: WillJ4comm@aol.com
Subject: My New Wasp Star Running Order
Message-ID: <42.fdf22b3.27a1eb2c@aol.com>

Hi all, many or most may not know or remember me, as I haven't posted
in a long time. Glad to be back! And now, to my message, as I am
leaving for an appointment in a moment.

Ever since a few weeks Wasp Star came out, I have been convinced that
the reason I didn't consider it a very strong XTC release is because
of the running order of the songs, as I thought the material was for
the most part very good, if not great. I felt the same way about AV1,
another collection of great material that I thought suffered from its
song sequence -- some of you may remember my posts about finding the
sequence on that one that re-introduced me to the disc.

Well, I'm happy to report (for myself at least), after un-countable
combinations and experimentations, I've found an order for Wasp Star
that makes me love the album. I'd actually stopped trying from
frustration, and didn't listen to any XTC for about 3 months. Then
about two weeks ago, I started putting them back into the rotation,
and for some reason got an early hankering for Wasp Star. I guess the
time away did me right, because now a few days later, I've arrived at
my "Wasp Star As It Was Meant To Be." So without further ado, and
because I really must be leaving, here you go, my version of Wasp Star
Proper. Program this into your CD player and see how it flows,
musically, energetically, thematically, all of it, this now works for
me and makes AV2 a great instead of merely a good album:

1, 12, 8, 7, 9, 4, 6, 5, 11, 3, 2, 10

And there you have it, 9 months (on and off) of brainsplitting work in
one line of email text. Interested in any feedback, good to be back.

Best, Will

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

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 00:12:44 -0000
From: "Rory Wilsher" <rory.wilsher@lineone.net>
Subject: Parrots And Lemurs
Message-ID: <004001c0872c$c8a8f280$3c377bd5@oemcomputer>

Awaken you lurkers

I've been away for a while, but still keeping up with the news in lurk mode.
Anyone miss me? Thought not. If you recognise me already, press page down
now!

Well, it's a bit late for this now, but I've only just got my new computer
after a long period without one, so here's my "best of" for 2000, in no
particular order:

Wasp Star (Duh!)
Love This City - The Whitlams. Buy this album.
Pop Trash - Duran Duran. Surprisingly good, dare I say quite "Beatles-ish".
Now who does that remind me of...?
The Real Thing - Midnight Oil. "Contractual obligation" album, but with
loads of acoustic/"unplugged" versions of well-known songs (in Australia,
anyway).
Kid A - Radiohead. 'Nuff said.

Now down to serious business: there's a move afoot to organise a UK
Chalkhills get-together. I'm reliably informed that the entire South London
Chapter are up for this (current membership: 2), but have seen little
response from other areas. We know you're out there! So come on chaps and
chapesses, de-lurk for a moment, and don't let these LA guys upstage us by
gathering more Hillsters in one place than us!

On the "Fight Night" front, I'm gonna have to back Andy "The Low-Flying Game
Bird" Partridge over Colin "The Curtain". It's simple. The Moulding haircut
simply does not work for boxing. He's not called "Red Curtain" for nothing.

Enough ramblings for now. I'd just like to thank Mr. Tube for the continued
availability of XTsCheme, the downloading of which was one of my primary
objectives and has now been achieved. If you haven't done this already, I
suggest you do so.

Now back to your irregular programming.

Rory "Hide The Frosties" Wilsher

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

Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 00:17:40 EST
From: WTDK@aol.com
Subject: Back again with the Toy Matinee
Message-ID: <df.f864622.27a26274@aol.com>

For fans of Kevin Gilbert--the Toy Matinee CD is going to be re-released by
Patrick Leonard on his custom label in early Feb.  The remaster will include
a lot of demos for the session with Kevin.

FYI

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 21:21:48 -0800 (PST)
From: nross <PhoenixYellowRose@rocketmail.com>
Subject: What I've decided, or "suddenly, at midnight"
Message-ID: <20010126052148.7657.qmail@web2901.mail.yahoo.com>

Well... okay its only 11:43.

I've decided that Andy Partridge is, without a doubt, a beautiful man.
Esthetically speaking, his face is very pleasant. None of that matters.
I think a lot of people are beautiful. I think Drew Carey, while not
beautiful, is damn cute. It is nearing midnight, and I've spent the day
doing data analysis and complaining about being a lowly graduate
student... so perhaps my mind is not all it should be at the moment. I
just felt like pondering on his face, Andy's face, that is.

Why should I focus upon a man's face... a man I know nothing about...
who has little to do with me, aside from making music I like? I must
answer: Escape. Escape from my data, escape from my normal existence.
Why Andy? He represents an ideal: someone who actually is doing what
most people only dream of doing. Once, I dreamt of being a graduate
student. I wonder, if I were a musician, would I be idealizing those
crazy ass-ed students that went for a piece of paper? Ha, probably not,
I say! I say, no. No.

But, the grass... yes, it is always greener, right. Cliches, gotta love
'em. Grass.

Anyways, I was not merely wasting time thinking of his face. I was
listening to Oranges and Lemons, arguing against the song "President
Kill Again". Ugh, I dislike that song. So, of course... if you are
arguing w/ someone who isn't there... you must imagine he is there?
Right? Okay... so while counting cells I'm imagining Andy is in front
of me... and I'm telling him to shut up and stop being so fucking
idealistic about politics, eh? No... I'm lying. I was merely counting
cells. Occasionally I thought, "ah, shaddap", never imagining he was
there... and never arguing.

Its just... its just, a damn idiotic song. President Kill again...
democracy, uh... NO. For one thing... war is occasionally necessary to
bring about peace. Tell me what other outcome there was to the nonsense
occurring in Germany during WW2? All that murder of innocent people by
madmen and by others who were frustrated at their circumstance and
feeling the need to vent - and blame others. In that particular case,
reason and peaceful demonstration would not work. So, okay... he's not
talking about that. But, even a moderate situation sometimes calls for
a little force. Mostly, though, I don't think people (at least in the
US) run for President with malicious intent, or even with views that
are extreme. My husband loves to bite me down when I rant against
certain parties in the US... he feels there is little difference
between democrats and republicans when comparing those parties to those
in England. So, whats the deal in getting hyped up about it... nothing
substantial will change. So... that leaves us with: No extreme person
will ever be elected president and no big issues will ever be decidedly
moved to the right or left.

I somewhat agree... but I'm still stuck on the "no one enters the race
maliciously" theme. You can disagree with a candidate on the issues,
but at least have respect for them risking their reputations and lives
on those issues. Most of us just sit on our hands and complain about
the government.

So, Andy sings against certain themes, and I agree with the right to do
so, and with most of the sentiment. However, to say "President Kill
Again"  suggests mal intent and extremism. This is why I go "ugh,
shaddap".

I think its funny... I once wrote on the digest, as a joke, that
political talk on chalkhills should be avoided. It was an old argument,
and one I disagreed with, so my statment was a joke, really. Someone
then wrote me and told me that these issues are brought up by the band
and therefore are relevant to the digest. Of course, since I was joking
with my original statement, I quite agree with that point. So... at
now, 12:07, I finish my statement. You can all tell me to go to hell...
and I'll think it funny. I'm already there. Its called 7 years into
grad school.

I think someone is smoking some grass on the floor. Perhaps, this is
effecting me. Hmmm.

-I lied, 12:10 and the statement is ended.
-Nicole

=====
Nicole's internet music station:
http://radio.sonicnet.com/mymusiclisten.asp?name=phoenixyellowrose

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #7-5
*****************************

Go back to Volume 7.

26 January 2001 / Feedback