Chalkhills Digest Volume 7, Issue 64
Date: Tuesday, 18 December 2001
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 7, Number 64
Tuesday, 18 December 2001
Topics:
Re: 2001
Re: Frippin Collins
Re: Phil the drummer
<no subject>
todd the god...
b-groups, etc.
Re: The Gap
First time caller
Re: Sweater Sell
How dare I!!
It's only Phair, and that is all, why do I feel the way I do?
Re: Our Stevie
Re: Our Stevie
Re: Phil Collins
Re: Spampinato
Selling sweaters
Andy Quoted in EW
Bah! Humbug!
Fall into the...
Auto-my-graph!
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 15:17:55 -0800 From: "Scott Betts" <scottebetts@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: 2001 Message-ID: <F256r2iz2Mb1s7nlT2N000039ef@hotmail.com> >A non-XTC-related question now, for you cool people >who know everything: Why wasn't *2001: A Space >Odyssey* re-released this year? It sure was! I saw the re-released version two months back at Seattle's lovely spot-on early 60s style Cinerama theater. Obligatory XTC content: You Are the Wish You Are I Had has got to be one of the best stammering geek love songs ever. cheers and back to lurking, Scott in Seattle, Warshington
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 19:20:48 -0500 From: Ian C Stewart <iancstewart@columbus.rr.com> Subject: Re: Frippin Collins Message-ID: <3C1A9760.3050107@columbus.rr.com> Edward Collier estimated: > Whatever you think of Phil Collins the "pop star with the mawkish tin of > paint", with his whining voice and feeble lyrics, the man could play the > drums. If you doubt me, check out some of his work with Eno, for instance. > Or even with King Crimson, a band with whom I seem to recall he sat in at > some time (unless the drugs worked too well and my memory is fabricating > rather than losing data) Ehh, I think that might be the drugs. I don't recall Phil ever sitting in with Fripp etc. And the fact that he might've had a lucky streak before the dookie hit the fan 20 years ago is moot. Maybe he can play the drums, but to me it's like arguing that Hitler was a great poet. Hmmm, perhaps he was but so what!? Yes, I'm saying Phil Collins is as bad as Hitler. Please quote me on that. > and a band in whom you evince an interest. Good > review too. Kicked ass. Why thank you! Has anyone here seen King Crimson lately? I've fallen out of the loop since they played here. I've played "Level Five" a lot and it's very very very nice. I can't wait to hear studio versions. The sadly misguided Ben Gott theorized: > Perhaps this ad will usher in a Supertramp revival in > much the same way that Volkswagen's Cabrio commercial ushered in a Nick > Drake revival. Jesus H Jones man, let's hope not! Comparing Supertramp to the incomparable Nick Drake is sacrilege! Don't make me come over there and smack you on the arm with my cardigan! Just because I'm a pacifist doesn't mean I won't write a really mean poem about you!!!!! Supertramp. Yeesh. Lest ye think Ben and I have nothing in common, he and I collaborated through the mail on an actual musical recording. I did the music and he did the singing and it's for a compilation I'm doing entitled BECAUSE IT'S CHEAPER THAN A PLANE TICKET, which is made up of songs done by people like Ben and I who record our parts separately on our own studios. http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/2034/2034543.html actually we did two songs, but this is the more commercial of the two. Check it if you dare. Ian C Stewart XTC videos: http://bizarredepiction.batcave.net/xtcvideo.htm
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 20:14:02 -0600 From: steve <steveschiavo@mac.com> Subject: Re: Phil the drummer Message-ID: <6812BC86-F101-11D5-A0BC-0050E445D419@mac.com> On Friday, December 14, 2001, at 03:55 PM, Edward Collier wrote: > Whatever you think of Phil Collins the "pop star with the mawkish tin of > paint", with his whining voice and feeble lyrics, the man could play the > drums. If you want to hear Phil's prowess, check out the first two Brand X albums, Unorthodox Behaviour and Moroccan Roll. - Steve
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 22:00:44 -0500 From: Virginia Rosenberg <vmr423@earthlink.net> Subject: <no subject> Message-ID: <B840270C.802%vmr423@earthlink.net> Hi Ben, It isn't even winter, but I'm shivering, shivering... hey, honey, where's my Gap sweater?! Of course, I'm a TV illiterate, so haven't seen the ads in question. Oh well... Best- Virginia This got me thinking: what XTC song could sell sweaters? The great thing about The Gap's current campaign is that these performers capture a real magic -- the song is stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocals -- while at the same time selling sweaters *and* getting a melody stuck in our collective heads. In other words, the song isn't about sweaters, or clothes, or even gifts themselves -- it's about the act of giving and, as such, it fits perfectly. Any ideas? -Ben
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 22:08:58 -0500 From: Virginia Rosenberg <vmr423@earthlink.net> Subject: todd the god... Message-ID: <B84028F9.803%vmr423@earthlink.net> Happy birthday, Dook- So did you ever get around to "Skylarking"? Why'd ya start out with O&L, the one after Todd produced what, to my mind, is one of the best albums ever, by anyone? Did I miss something implied about the glories of "Skylarking"? Yours in curiosity, Virginia But hey, I'd bought albums by The Tubes and even Hall & Oates purely because Todd was twiddling the knobs. So I took the plunge. And came up with diamonds in the souls of my feet. From the opening chords of GOED I was hooked. That fusion of Byrdsian psychedelic-acid rock-with-a-splash-of-Shankar did pretty much the same to me as Viv Richards was doing to England's bowlers around that time. In the immortal words of Gary's Gang, you really knocked me out, guys.
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 00:03:57 -0500 From: Virginia Rosenberg <vmr423@earthlink.net> Subject: b-groups, etc. Message-ID: <B84043EC.805%vmr423@earthlink.net> A few musings on the music of the Beatles, BeeGees, etc. ... I was born in '67- after Sgt. Pepper's had been recorded, but before it was released- so I'm one of those people Tom was pitying who never really experienced Beatle-mania first-hand. I grew up listening to the Fab Four & taking them for granted. And although I know that popular music was changed forever by the band's later recordings, I can't *hear* them as revolutionary- only as stuff I've been listening to forever. For me, the stuff that really kicks ass is their earliest stuff- still young, raw & razor-sharp. There's an awful lot to love, though, throughout all their stages... I'm constantly amazed at all the bands constantly huzzahed on this list who, for me, were exactly what XTC was a glorious alternative to... Having been forced to listen to the saccharine offerings of Elton John, Wings &- yes- the BeeGees growing up in the 70's, my first X-static experience- I was given promo copies of "Generals & Majors" & "Drums & Wires" in 1980- was like finally being allowed to eat real food after a long, enforced diet of marshmallows. Substance, bite, flavor at last! Makes me think of the line from "Funk Pop-a-Roll" about the young who only want bread, but are force-fed cake... The new XTC site is verrrry cool- anyone who hasn't checked it out yet should make the trip. My early nominees for best 2001 albums: Joe Henry's "Scar", Radiohead's "Amnesiac" , "Si-Se" & Neil Finn's "One Nil". A few wonderful things which were c2000, but which I didn't get around to till this year are Julieta Venegas' "Bueninvento", Broadcast's "The Noise Made by People" & Caetano Veloso's "Noites de Norte" . I'm probably missing something(s), but that's life. Of course, as always, I listened to vast quantities of XTC. Temporarily de-lurking, Virginia
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 01:34:28 EST From: Telehead@aol.com Subject: Re: The Gap Message-ID: <40.160fe9a5.294c48f4@aol.com> In a message dated 12/14/01 2:13:44 PM, <owner-chalkhills@chalkhills.org> writes: >The Gap's current campaign is that these performers capture a real magic >-- the song is stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocals -- while at the >same time selling sweaters *and* getting a melody stuck in our collective >heads. I saw Aimee Mann in San Francisco at the Fillmore on Wednesday night. She had a hilarious bit about the Gap people calling her to do the ad and her agonizing over "totally selling out". She decided against it and they got Liz Phair instead who, ironically, is currently being produced by Aimee's hubby, Michael Penn. "Maybe next year" said Aimee ... brilliant show as well. BTW, are any other AOL users having trouble with the Idea/XTC site? I can get the home page but that's it. Cheers, Warren, who would post more if he wasn't in two bands and doing sound at a club besides working and I think you're all wonderful.
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 03:00:19 -0800 (PST) From: Jackson <jydson@yahoo.com> Subject: First time caller Message-ID: <20011215110019.41820.qmail@web10803.mail.yahoo.com> Good Morning Chalkhills, I really enjoy Chalkhills,it's one of the few lists I actually read. It's a nice vindicator knowing many of you listen(ed) to the same stuff I grew up loving.. XTC,Supertramp, Roxy, NRBQ, Kinks Genesis and Peter Gabriel...does anyone remember a band of 7-8 characters known as "DEAF SCHOOL" with the likes of Enrico Cadillac Jr., Betty Brite and the Revererend Max Ripple ( on vaccuum cleaner, no less). My point? yes, I have a point! I first ( and last) saw the boys of XTC live in Painters Mill Music Fair (Baltimore) back around '81 I think, I had my fiancee ( nee x-wife) with me and another couple and of all people Joan Jett warmed up for them. Never quite understood that, tho as an aside I'd heard King Crimson once warmed up for another band at that venue and got booed off the stage. Like most concerts I attended, I can't remember much other than wishing the show would never end... , my most vivid memory is of Joan spitting on the stage and the girls imitating her afterward. Who today writes with the wry and elegance of Colin and Andy? er ...Andy & Colin? I used to be involved in table top strategy and wargames and learned of Andy's interest. So just as a lark tried to call him in Swyndon(sp?)..and got some old fart who told me "lots of people call me by accident, I'd like to meet him ( Andy Partridge) tho" What's a chalkhill anyway? Even I never know where I go when my eyes are closed... Thanks, Jack [ See http://chalkhills.org/FAQ.html#q8 ]
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 08:56:36 -0500 From: "Duncan Watt" <dwatt@fastestmanintheworld.com> Subject: Re: Sweater Sell Message-ID: <200112151357.fBFDvb907587@chmls05.mediaone.net> The normally clear-thinking Ben Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> reflected: >what XTC song could sell sweaters? Exactly none, I hope. Duncan Watt -- email me: dwatt@fastestmanintheworld.com surf me: http://www.fastestmanintheworld.com
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 15:12:11 -0500 From: m stone <nedrise@sympatico.ca> Subject: How dare I!! Message-ID: <3C1BAE9A.562762D6@sympatico.ca> >From: m stone <nedrise@sympatico.ca> >Ummm, you're kidding, right? To me, Zappa is one the most boring, >wanker-est of guitar players ever. So many if his tunes were ruined >by looooooooong, aimless guitar solos. Frank Zappa was a tremendous guitarist... Period.. You have bad taste... >Otherwise, I agree with you about the Bee Gees. Quite a glorious career See what I mean? Jo "This guy has Bee Gee's Disease!!" mama XTC Rules!! < Yeah, I understand now. In your world, Zappa =GOOD Bee Gees =BAD Thanks for making that clear. Forgive me for critcizing the GREAT MAN, I can see you're not used to it. But hey, I suppose if I had to choose between the two, I would take Zappa over the Bee Gees...barely. I didn't say Zappa sucks, I think he wrote some great stuff. He just tended to go on a tad too long. To me there's more good music in XTC's 12 albums than there is in Zappa's 50 or 60. And let's face it, Barry Gibb could out-falsetto Frank any day, and he's way cuter... Mike
------------------------------ Date: 15 Dec 2001 18:45:01 -0000 From: "Todd Bernhardt" <xtcfan@musician.net> Subject: It's only Phair, and that is all, why do I feel the way I do? Message-ID: <20011215184501.17162.qmail@purina.chek.com> Hi: Edward Collier said: >Whatever you think of Phil Collins the "pop star with the mawkish tin of paint", with his whining voice and feeble lyrics, the man could play the drums. If you doubt me, check out some of his work with Eno, for instance. Or even with King Crimson, a band with whom I seem to recall he sat in at some time (unless the drugs worked too well and my memory is fabricating rather than losing data), and a band in whom you evince an interest. Good review too. Kicked ass.< Nope, not as far as I know. Bill Bruford, the Crim drummer with the longest tenure (sometimes length *is* important), sat in for a while w/Genesis after Peter Gabriel left (regularly kicking Collins' skinny little butt all over the stage w/his five-piece kit vs. Collins' 11-piece ... sometimes size *doesn't* matter), but AFAIK Collins never played w/KC. Did some really nice stuff with Brand X, though, and the PG-era Genesis is great, too. And, from my favorite English teacher, Ben Gott: >what XTC song could sell sweaters? I don't know about sweaters, but how about: Umbrellas Blue Berets Blue Overalls Gold Dresses Kitchen Curtains Human Skin Suits Globe Girdles (think about it) and Pink Things, Wrapped in Grey >P.S. If you're interested, AdCritic.com has the full 30-second spot featuring Seal and Seal alone. Don't you just love Seal? I do. And that sweater...!< I dunno, I'm kinda partial to the Liz Phair ad, sweater or no sweater (I'll take no sweater, thankyouverymuch). -Todd
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 20:15:08 -0500 From: Tony Picco <tpicco@iesna.org> Subject: Re: Our Stevie Message-ID: <B8415FCC.2A22%tpicco@iesna.org> <<From: travis schulz Subject: Our Stevie After reading the recent Spin magazine article on R. Stevie Moore I would love to hear what all the fuss is about. 60s inspired pop in the vein of XTC?! Can anyone recommend what his best is and where to get it?>> I've been a fan of R. Stevie since he used to dj at local radio ststion WFMU (now webcasting at www.wfmu.org) in the early 80s... (that's old-fashioned record playing... not modern dj-ing) and he used to sell home-copied cassetes of his tunes, with hand-colored photcopied inserts... Personally, I'd hesitate to catagorize his music the way SPIN did... I mean, I don't think he sounds like XTC, but there is a pop mentality in his work that might make him a like-minded musician. I think he's well worth checking out. You could start here: http://rsteviemoore.com/ tony picco
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 19:53:56 -0800 (PST) From: pancho artecona <partecona@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Our Stevie Message-ID: <20011216035356.18563.qmail@web10401.mail.yahoo.com> Travis states: "After reading the recent Spin magazine article on R. Stevie Moore I would love to hear what all the fuss is about. 60s inspired pop in the vein of XTC?! Can anyone recommend what his best is and where to get it?" I'd recommend Delicate Tension to begin with. I'm sure he can give you his own suggestions as he is a regular contributor to this list. His output is prodigious with countless tapes and a variety of cd's as well as numerous videos that are very lo-fi and often very very funny. He also did 'Remoulds' with Dave Gregory a couple of years back. A lot of it is very brit-pop based but a lot of it is not. I know you can get most of the stuff at his web-site. RSM is the man! I'm quite pleased with my autographed cd! Too bad I couldn't be there to chat with the lads. And despite his perceived shortcomings I still think Andy Partridge is a very spiritual guy-attuned to the earth and the seasons and able to find beauty in the everyday. Colin likes to fish but Vee still likes him. Pancho
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 14:11:28 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Phil Collins Message-ID: <B8425C10.1A2F%cauldron@together.net> on 12/14/01 4:55 PM, Edward wrote: > Whatever you think of Phil Collins the "pop star with the mawkish tin of > paint", with his whining voice and feeble lyrics, the man could play the > drums. If you doubt me, check out some of his work with Eno, for instance. > Or even with King Crimson, a band with whom I seem to recall he sat in at > some time (unless the drugs worked too well and my memory is fabricating > rather than losing data), and a band in whom you evince an interest. Good > review too. Kicked ass. For that matter, I sampled Phil's drum sound on PG's "Intruder" because I liked it. So you're preaching to the choir here as far as Phil's drumming is concerned. I wish he would go back to it because he's a damn good drummer, and a drummer with brains, never mind his singing and songwriting, which wasn't bad on the first two solo albums and the Genesis material until that point, then got more and more unctuous with age. Phil didn't actually play with King Crimson per se, but I believe he's the only drummer on Robert Fripp's solo album Exposure. For that matter, his drumming would do well with XTC if they can bring themselves to call him up, but he's probably too busy writing bad pop songs for cartoon movie soundtracks right now. -- Satan: "Saddam, you're dead. I killed you." Saddam: "Yeah, well, where was I gonna go- Detroit?" Chris Coolidge mp3's of my band available at http://www.mp3.com/Welcome_Home
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 14:13:06 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Spampinato Message-ID: <B8425C72.1A30%cauldron@together.net> on 12/14/01 4:55 PM, Peter Mullin wrote: > Chris, Chris, Chris: As Terry Adams clearly stated on "Message for the > Mess-Age". > it's: "S-P-A-M-P-I-N-A-T-O, Spampinato (Spampinato) Spampinato" > > Sorry, I just couldn't resist ;-) Should have known, unfortunately I didn't have the album in front of me. Fortunately Joey's not on this list(I don't think). :-)
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 14:39:47 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Selling sweaters Message-ID: <B84262B3.1A31%cauldron@together.net> on 12/14/01 4:55 PM, Ben wrote: > This got me thinking: what XTC song could sell sweaters? The great thing > about The Gap's current campaign is that these performers capture a real > magic -- the song is stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocals -- while at > the same time selling sweaters *and* getting a melody stuck in our > collective heads. In other words, the song isn't about sweaters, or > clothes, or even gifts themselves -- it's about the act of giving and, as > such, it fits perfectly. > > Any ideas? How about "I'd Like That?"
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 17:53:06 -0700 From: Phil Corless <pkmeco@yahoo.com> Subject: Andy Quoted in EW Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20011217174831.0215ce70@pop.mindspring.com> In the new George Harrison tribute issue of Entertainment Weekly Magazine, Andy is quoted in the article about George: "It's almost like All Things Must Pass was the next Beatles album," says XTC's Beatlemaniac Andy Partridge. "I'll stick my neck out here and say that it was probably the best Beatles solo album."
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 01:44:47 From: "Duncan Kimball" <dunks58@hotmail.com> Subject: Bah! Humbug! Message-ID: <F4MKSCkFs7gwyy2XU1q00002f89@hotmail.com> >From: Edward Collier Subject: RE: Phil and King >Whatever you think of Phil Collins ... <snip> Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the show that never ends ... Great to see the Annual Phil Collins Debate returning just in time for Xmas. * * * >From: "Joe Funk" <twosheds@mindspring.com> >Subject: Bee Gee's Disease >Frank Zappa was a tremendous guitarist... Period.. >You have bad taste... Joe you are a dead-set legend (almost). However I still think the Bee Gees are great (not cool, just great). As far as career comebacks are concerned, yes, Paul Simon had a biggie with "Graceland", but I hardly think he'd fallen so low in the public's estimation that he was relegated to the north England working men's club circuit, to which the Bee Gees were consigned at their lowest ebb in the mid-70s. * * * >From: Ben Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> >Subject: Commerciality >Gang, >Recently, The Gap has introduced Supertramp's "Give a Little Bit" to >those >of us who weren't around to hear it back in the day. Christ, am I so old that there are people who don't remember Supertramp? And has the world become so cruel a place that someone WANTS us to remember them? I cold happily die without even hearing a single note of "Breakfast In America" ever, ever again. The mere thought of that album makes me phsyically ill. >Perhaps this ad will usher in a Supertramp revival in much the same >way >that Volkswagen's Cabrio commercial ushered in a Nick >Drake revival. Hurrah! What a concept. Personally I can't wait for the Iggy Pop revival, courtesy of Pal Meaty Bites. Or how about the Frank Zappa revival, brought to us by Farmers Market: Call any vegetable, and the chances are good (da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-dum) Tha-at the vegetable will respond to you" (and in this age of microchips, smart cards and GM foods, there's every likelihood that the vegetable will indeed respond to you ... very very soon, and in ways you least expect.) And surely it's high time that Viagra got with the program and turned the world back on to James Brown: Get up Get on up Stay on the scene Like a sex machine Seriously though, folks -- have we indeed sunk so low, has radio become so moribund, that it requires the exploitation of all this fine music by advertisers to engender broad public interest in such artists as Nick Drake? I wonder what Nick would make of his music being used to sell cars to yuppies? It's a sad commentary that more people have heard Nick's music thanks to the manufacturers of Nazi staff cars than have ever heard it on radio. Pathetic. >This got me thinking: what XTC song could sell sweaters? The great >thing >about The Gap's current campaign is that these performers >capture a real >magic -- the song is stripped down to acoustic guitar >and vocals -- while >at the same time selling sweaters *and* getting a >melody stuck in our >collective heads. In other words, the song isn't >about sweaters, or >clothes, or even gifts themselves -- it's about the >act of giving and, as >such, it fits perfectly. No Ben, it's about engaging/disctracting your attention in order to con you into buying things. It is about the act of CONSUMPTION. It is about the act of rendering you a pawn in the Great Game. As such, it indeed appears to have worked perfectly. It is about the act of Giving, only insofar as you are being seduced into giving your money to Gap, or Coke, or Microsoft, or whoever is yapping at your at the moment. God bless the happy, healthy world where we spend more per annum feeding our pets than on welfare for humans living in poverty. Merry Xmas, starving millions. May we be spared the horror of hearing XTC used as an advertisment for ANYTHING. If XTC's long odyssey from the Virgin days to the present are about anything, it's about a bunch of guys who are more concerned with making good, true, honest music and being good craftsmen, than with being a bunch of cynical, greedy cash-in artists. Now, I would hardly begrudge Andy and Colin the royalties if someome WERE to use their music -- Split Enz founder Phil Judd has been on a nice little earner for years, thanks to K-Mart (Australia)'s use of his Swingers hit "Counting The Beat" in their adverising over several years. That's fine. I'm sure Phil doesn't lose any sleep over it, and it probably helps him do things he wants to do. Call me an old hippy, but it just saddens and angers me to hear music I take rather seriously, that (I believe) was made with serious intent, being used to sell stuff that has NOTHING to do with music. It pisses me off to hear The Beatles' "Revolution" being ripped off by those econo-imperialists Nike (who in turn pay squillions for the rights to that vile freak Michael Jackson). For what? To sell shoes, made for a pittance by third-world piece workers, and which are sold to image-obsessed first-world comsumers for a price per pair greater than the annual wage of the person who made them. And for what? To celebrate the music? As if. No, it is used purely as a means of seducing the listener/viewer into a state of receptivity to the inexorable, inescapable message: CONSUME - BE SILENT - DIE. Advertising is a blight on our culture, its practitioners are parasites. A pox on all their houses. "And I think to myself ... what a wonderful world." Oh yeah? * * * On that cheery note, I will take this opportunity to wish all Chalkers and their loved ones a happy [insert ceremony here] and good fortune for the [christian calendar] new year. I MUST send special wishes to my buddy Paul Culnane, who is a great bloke and has put up with much from me this year, and to my dear, good friends Toni and Sebastien. Thanks to all those who have done me so many kindnesses (this means you, Michael Versaci), thanks and kudos to our wonderful host, John, and thanks to everyone on the list for your crankiness, wit, pig-headedness, intelligence, triviality, downright stupidity, humour, rudeness, flaming and just plain fun. Thank you all for the sheer unalloyed delight of communicating with people who have brains and aren't afraid to use them. And last but not least, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts Andy, Colin, Dave, Terry, Barry, and all your friends, families, facilitators and foes who have made the music of XTC what it is -- pure joy. We love you. 2001 will not be remembered as the best of years, for many reasons, and we have lost many bright lights from our lives. I just read today that the great Rufus Thomas has died, and there are so many other names, great and small, that we should honour. It is not a year that I will remember fondly, but it is one we will all remember. Dunks
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 10:31:09 -0400 From: Andrew Boyle <uscolor@uscolor.com> Subject: Fall into the... Message-ID: <v04210108b84502cfc17a@[208.134.65.66]> Ben Gott wondered: >This got me thinking: what XTC song could sell sweaters? <snip> > >Any ideas? I hereby nominate "Pink Thing". Celebrities: far to many to mention. Definitely all in pink, natch. I said "natch". Filthy minds! Andrew Boyle Orlando, FL P.S. Happy holidays to all!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 21:28:24 -0500
From: Ben Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org>
Subject: Auto-my-graph!
Message-ID: <B8456578.5C0E%bgott@rectoryschool.org>
Fans of Quality Pop Music,
I too ordered two of the digitally-remastered XTC CDs from the Idea Records
website ("White Music" and "Go2," which sound great), and they arrived
autographed! Snork! I'm inhaling my sinuses in excitement!
Jamie Lowe sent me a copy of the new Super Furry Animals CD, and I think
it's keen. Jamie Lowe has damn fine taste. I recently bought an album by
Doves, which I like a lot, and The Strokes' new one, which I think sucks the
big one in the hardest way possible. The production is so, so stinky
(what's up with that damn distortion on *all* the vocal tracks that makes it
sound like they employed a My First Sony with built-in primary-colored
microphone for recording?) Argue with me if you want, but I'm ready for a
pop fight: I just re-discovered R.E.M.'s "Reckoning," dammit! (By the way,
Peter Buck could get drunk and disorderly on *my* plane any day! And Johnny
Marr could board with a huge statue of Dave Gregory made completely out of
cocaine, like Catherine Zeta-Jones's dolls in "Traffic"! And I'd still let
them come tour the cockpit!)
All for now,
-Ben
P.S. Don't you hate the fact that the stupid media has whored the term
"pop" to describe Britney, Backstreet, and N*sync? I always get excited
when I see "In Pop..." on CDNow's website, only to be disappointed by a
picture of Mariah Carey and her new album. That is *not* pop. The Feelies
were pop. The Housemartins were pop. Sloan and Guided by Voices are pop.
Not friggin' MARIAH!
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #7-64 ******************************
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