Chalkhills Digest Volume 8, Issue 33
Date: Saturday, 8 June 2002
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 8, Number 33
Saturday, 8 June 2002
Topics:
The JAm
carplates and the book set
Bluegrass Fan
Is a CD an album -- or "taken from" an album?
OUCH!!
Oh, It's a Jolly Holiday With You, Bert
Re: Subject: A Toast, to the Jam!
Sacrificial Bonfire of the vanities
Trouble So Hard, Lawd Lawd
Imports and Wishes
Re:A Toast, to the Jam!
Stupidly Mashed Up
Jam synopsis
COMC, Paul Weller, etc.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 19:21:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Tyler Hewitt <tahewitt@yahoo.com> Subject: The JAm Message-ID: <20020604022131.57030.qmail@web14207.mail.yahoo.com> I'm no fanatic, but if you're getting into the Jam you MUST have a copy of Sound Affects. Probably their best record. I liked The Gift a lot as well, (and that's where 'Town Called Malice' originally appeared), but that one wasn't as well recieved by fans. Setting Sons is a brilliant record, although its grim and a little depresing. hell, all their work is good. Might as well buy the box set! Don't know too much about the solo Paul Weller work, but Wildwood is a good one. RE: From some precursory internet noodling, I've found that there seem to be plenty of Jam/Paul Weller/Style Council websites and fans out there. Is anyone on this list familiar with a lot of his stuff? Has the rest of his material (in either group or solo) been good? Any suggestions on must-have releases for the beginning listener? And does anyone know if the Jam originated anywhere near the Swindon scene? Thanks all!
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 19:01:49 -0800 From: strwbrry <strwbrry@tidepool.com> Subject: carplates and the book set Message-ID: <3CFC2D98.AE58CF76@tidepool.com> All these carplate ideas nifty as some are keep conjuring in my noggin ideas such as civilization's car is running wi wi wild... ...hope you enjoy your meal its only gas and chemicals... ... push your caaaaaar from the road!!... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I now have received my Coat of Many Cupboards. Some have complained about the non-new material, but I've enjoyed its entirety dearly with book open, reading the comments along with each song. A brilliant sunny day in the backyard with headphones and tall grass. Thank you! Stephen
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 00:23:39 EDT From: BrainiacsDaughtr@aol.com Subject: Bluegrass Fan Message-ID: <2f.2840a3aa.2a2d9acb@aol.com> In a message dated 6/3/02 6:38:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time, <owner-chalkhills@chalkhills.org> writes: > I am staking a claim to be the biggest XTC fan in Lexington, perhaps > all of Kentucky (poulation of almost 4 million)- any challengers? Be glad I no longer live in Louisville! lol Laurie Collins
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 00:07:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Ryan Anthony <hamsterranch@yahoo.com> Subject: Is a CD an album -- or "taken from" an album? Message-ID: <20020604070758.6692.qmail@web10103.mail.yahoo.com> A most interesting post from brother James Michael Isaacs! Firstly, I thank him for finding the "Senses Working Overtime" lyrics quoted in *Sports Illustrated*. Kudos to writer Steve Rushin. Is he a fellow XTC National, do you suppose, or did he find those words by visiting the Grand Internet Compilation of Every Lyric Ever Written website and running a search for "football"? How many times has (or "have," for the Brits) XTC mentioned association football in lyrics? Only two come to my mind: this one of Andy's, and Colin's plaintive dream of "test matches we might win." (If such a site as the G.I.C.E.L.E.W. exists, I want to visit -- if only to make sure, once and for all, that James Marshall Amp Hendrix didn't really sing "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy.") Secondlyly, James writes: "I am staking a claim to be the biggest XTC fan in Lexington, perhaps all of Kentucky (population of almost 4 million) -- any challengers?" Similarly, I claim Arizona, population, uh, what are we up to as of today, six mil? I think I could claim the entire Mountain Time Zone (minus seven hours from Greenwich). Actually, unless I hear otherwise in a future Digest, I will claim every bit of land between the California border and the Mississippi River. Man! In the loneliness department, Klaatu's lighthouse-keeper is a piker. Thirdlylyly, James hollers: "Let's hear it for *Go 2*! Best album packaging by a good margin, clever, witty, controversial, fast, fun. Who could dare say otherwise?" I'm not gainsaying you, James, but I have a beef. The famous white-on-black typewriter copy has been changed on the CD. I'm not complaining about required changes, such as the new catalogue number. But was it really necessary to change "This is a RECORD COVER" to "This is a COMPACT DISC COVER"? On the back, was it really necessary to change "The record is by XTC. This is their second album" to "The COMPACT DISC is by XTC. This is taken from their second album."? So a compact disc doesn't qualify as an album -- it is merely "taken from" an album? On the vinyl: "This sleeve was written and photographed by Hipgnosis." On the CD, that credit has been eliminated. Is this due to record company boorishness, or did Hipgnosis request or require this delisting? (Did we learn in *Chalkhills & Children*, or was it in *Song Stories*, or maybe was it here in one of these digests, that Hipgnosis had created the white-on-black typewriter design for another band which backed out of the deal, and Andy, Colin, Terry, and Barry saw it on the wall, liked it, and took it as their own?) By the way, one thing Geffen should have changed but didn't is the reference to "more pictures and words in the very colourfull booklet which you can only see if you buy the whole thing." Hardly. The enormous full-color head-shots (count the zits! Count the pores!) are gone from the CD "booklet" (actually, one folded sheet), as is Andy's poem, "Fifties Kitchen Curtain (of Mr and Mrs Partridge)." Ryan Anthony An independent Internet content provider
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 08:23:45 +0100 From: "Will" <skellington@clara.co.uk> Subject: OUCH!! Message-ID: <001e01c20b98$c4590ca0$791d9ed9@oemcomputer> "David Smith" <David.Smith50@virgin.net> wrote: > They then proceeded to blather on about him "rolling back the years" to > the good old days of "Kraftwerk, XTC and those other great new wave > bands" (quote!). > > I was apopleptic. > > I was incandescent. As was I at this description of Kraftwerk "This Casio-programmed, throwaway, euro-dance ditty" BELOW THE BELT!!!!! OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 04:09:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Al LaCarte <allacarte@yahoo.com> Subject: Oh, It's a Jolly Holiday With You, Bert Message-ID: <20020604110910.77543.qmail@web14502.mail.yahoo.com> ...shite
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 11:10:07 -0400 From: Tony Picco <tpicco@iesna.org> Subject: Re: Subject: A Toast, to the Jam! Message-ID: <B922508F.4502%tpicco@iesna.org> Re: Subject: A Toast, to the Jam! <<I've found that there seem to be plenty of Jam/Paul Weller/Style Council websites and fans out there. Is anyone on this list familiar with a lot of his stuff?>> Yow! I'm sure quite a number of English Chalkhillers will be shocked at your ignorance... The Jam, as I understand it, were HUGE across the pond but couldn't get arrested here in the States. I think even XTC were more popular in America at the time (late 70s/early 80s). Tony Picco tpicco@iesna.org
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 18:47:58 +0200 From: jeffrey.thomas@bayercropscience.com Subject: Sacrificial Bonfire of the vanities Message-ID: <OFC6E42E41.2A175115-ONC1256BCE.005BC251@bayer-ag.com> Hi "Kreideberger", Far be it from me to digress from the main topic (XTC), but Ryan Anthony wrote: >P.S.: Two of the best vanity license plates of all >time (and they require only six characters!) are >"10SNE1" and "HIYOAG." This is an art in itself. I've seen hundreds I thought were fantastic. Just two examples: TI 3VOM (read it in your mirror) GSNDHT (on the back of a pickup branded "Isuzu") It's just so disappointing to live here in a country that doesn't allow vanity plates. (I promise to think of something to say involving XTC next time.) - Jeff
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 16:56:44 EDT From: Hbsherwood@aol.com Subject: Trouble So Hard, Lawd Lawd Message-ID: <10c.12d49f6c.2a2e838c@aol.com> >From: Bert Millichip <juan_the_man2002@yahoo.co.uk> >Subject: Jeffs >A more diplomatic Jeff wrote: > >>>>I'm no big fan of Moby, I have two of his CD's and >find half of them enjoyable, but half of them bland. >But why the adamant, viscous and often personal >attacks on him suddenly?<<< > >Because some people are full of bile and hate and want >to piss off anybody who dares to like music that they >don't personally "get". I pity them, and so should >you. Also, a lot of people make a wholly irrational >connection between an artist's musical talent and >his/her worth as a person. I reject violently the implicit notion that all music is equal to all other music, and that disliking a particular kind of music indicates a failure on my part to "get" it. I don't much care for books written by Holocaust deniers, or Imelda Marcos's shoe collection, but that sure as hell doesn't mean I don't "get" them. Is art made by an asshole separable from his assholery? I refuse to live in a world where the answer is "yes." My "viscous" dislike of Moby, both as a person and as a musician, is no more "irrational" than my dislike of bullies, white supremacists, or people who inherit lots of money and think this makes them better than me. Here's the deal: on "Play," Moby featured very prominently samples from legendary musicologist Alan Lomax's "Sounds of the South" album, which featured mid-century field recordings of prisoners, field hands, and other desperately oppressed people ( http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aczem97qkkr5t). The Alan Lomax Archive negotiated a royalty buyout with Moby and received a flat fee, which was shared with the heirs of the performers. However, then Moby licensed EVERY SINGLE TRACK on "Play" for use in commercials and films. The Lomax Archive had absolutely no say over how archival material could be used. Our prisoners, field hands and other d.o.p's wound up essentially as indentured pitchmen for Volkswagen and Nordstrom. Their opinion as to whether they would actually *like* to have their shouts of poverty, pain and anguish "repurposed" to shill for multinational corporations (and we all know what a steadfast friend of the poor they are) was, of course, not solicited. And, also of course, the flat royalty fee didn't extend to sublicenses, so their Singin' Dem Ol' Volkswagen Jetta Blues fo' Massa went completely unpaid as well. If this is not immoral, then there is no morality. My problem is, I'm becoming convinced in my cranky old age that more and more people (particularly that kind of people who are summarized in that classic Old-Fart phrase "Kids these days") actually don't have much of a problem with this at all, but that's a rant for another day. Now, remind me again, how is it that I'm supposed to separate the foregoing from the music-in-itself? Do I nod my head appreciatively to the rockin' tunes while frantically ignoring the fact that the people whose songs were sliced & diced & served up on a bed of drum-machine sludge are in the process of getting yet one more shaft job from life, even after their deaths? Hell yes, give that Nigro boy a shiny nickel! Principle Number One: TV Culture makes you think you live in a vacuum. Principle Number Two: You don't. >I despise Moby's MUSIC >as much as anybody, but if you enjoy it then I'm >pleased for you, and congrats to him for making >himself a nice living out of it. Yes, indeed. Nice work if you can get it. Harrison "And live with yourself" Sherwood
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 20:17:16 -0700 From: Rando <rando@attbi.com> Subject: Imports and Wishes Message-ID: <B922D0CC.1147%rando@attbi.com> Greetings! Does anyone know if there's a Japanese re-master "mini-LP cover" version of the Duke's "Chips ..." disc? If so, is that the same one being offered in XTC's online boutique? (Don't 'ya just wish that they'd release "25 O'Clock" in that mini-LP format, with the CD itself being the original black-and-white old Virgin label from the LP? And how about releasing "Psonic Psunspot" as a separate disc, complete with a mini-gatefold sleeve and a colored disc inside? Ahhhh ... To dream ...) Oh, and kudos to Weatherbox, Ltd. I finally ordered the Japanese re-masters of "Big Express" and "Mummer," and received them in a week! And I live in Northern California to boot! Excellent service. The re-masters themselves are outstanding, IMO. And I finally have CDs with the original running order ... "Mummer" especially didn't sound right to me with the extra tracks stuffed in the middle. Oh, (part 2), I found the Japanese "mini-LP" versions of "Skylarking" and "Oranges and Lemons" in a local record shop for $14.99 apiece. Of course, I just had to snatch those up .... -- Rando "Nothing is ever what it seems, but everything is exactly what it is." ... Dr. Buckaroo Banzai
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 20:46:25 -0700 From: "Phil Cusimano" <riknbkr330@cox.net> Subject: Re:A Toast, to the Jam! Message-ID: <001401c20c43$91ed8600$12490644@sd.cox.net> Matt wrote: >From some precursory internet noodling, I've found that there seem to >be plenty of Jam/Paul Weller/Style Council websites and fans out >there. Thanks all! >Is anyone on this list familiar with a lot of his stuff? I've got it all. >Has the rest of his material (in either group or solo) been good? The rest of Paul Weller's material since the Jam has not been that consistent. I didn't really care much for the Style Council, and I think his solo stuff has some ups and downs. I think his true style, and true heart in his music was during the Jam. I'm biased as well, because that's the music of my youth as I'm a couple of years younger and I could relate to his angry, young man ways in The Jam. As soon as he got into the Cappucino Kid stuff, albeit I'm Italian with Anglophile tendencies, he lost it for me. I've seen him live in all his incarnations, except for the very early Jam. >Any suggestions on must-have releases for the beginning listener? Here's my suggestions: With the Jam my favorites in ranking : 1) Sound Affects 2) Setting Sons 3) All Mod Cons 4) In the City 5) The Modern World 6) The Gift You can get the box set "Direction, Reaction, Creation" or something like that and that would have all the above, although in different running order and mixes (some LP and 45). Plus you get a bonus 5th disc. Then there's Extras for more outtakes, rarities. Plus there are two live CDs as well as a new release, June 3d, of the "Jam at the BBC" . The Style Council: I guess you could get their greatest hits, but the first CD "Cafe Blue" was the best of the bunch. Solo, well, I prefer "Heavy Soul", then his first solo CD entitled "Paul Weller". "Wild Wood" would be good as a summertime CD, since we are approaching the season. There again you could get the greatest hits and get a nice overview. >And does anyone know if the Jam originated anywhere near the Swindon >scene? The Jam originated from the town of Woking which is southeast of London. Hope this helps. Cheers, Phil
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 20:58:07 -0700
From: "Craig Vreeken" <vreeken@citlink.net>
Subject: Stupidly Mashed Up
Message-ID: <NBBBKECCDCIDMJNEPBMGKEAFCDAA.vreeken@citlink.net>
Have you heard of the latest trend, bootlegging? Not how those of us
codgers from the 60s and 70s know it - surreptitiously taping a live
performance and releasing on scratchy poor sounding records - but the mainly
British trend of taking the vocal track of one song, and blending it with
the instrumental track of another - the more disparate, the better.
Well check this out. Go to http://www.boomselection.n3.net and scroll about
halfway down the extremely long page. Download the MP3 called stark
effect - gonna make you stupid
As you will see, someone has taken our boys' Stupidly Happy, and melted it
onto/into that screaming dance track used in thousands of commercials,
movies, etc. - C+C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat. You've heard it,
I'm sure ("EVERYBODY DANCE NOW")
Well, what do you think? Is it a shameful bastardization and ruination of a
perfectly good XTC tune, or is it a new and innovative Fair Use or
reimagining, destined to be a dance floor smash? Discuss.
Craig Vreeken
http://www.citlink.net/~javalee/
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Jun 2002 10:40:31 -0600 From: "Bob O'Bannon" <batchain@earthlink.net> Subject: Jam synopsis Message-ID: <B9239B1F.3B7A%batchain@earthlink.net> > From some precursory internet noodling, I've found that there seem to > be plenty of Jam/Paul Weller/Style Council websites and fans out > there. Is anyone on this list familiar with a lot of his stuff? Has > the rest of his material (in either group or solo) been good? Any > suggestions on must-have releases for the beginning listener? And > does anyone know if the Jam originated anywhere near the Swindon > scene? Thanks all! The Jam was one of the most popular bands in Britain in the late 70s, early 80s. I remember reading that their single "Going Underground" actually entered the charts at #1 somewhere around 1982. Somehow, the rabid interest in the band in Britain never translated to America, and even today the Jam is largely unknown on this side of the pond, even though bands like Blur and Oasis owe everything to them. For me, the Jam (and XTC) are one of the few bands from that era that have really help up well with the passing of time. Except for the early punk stuff, the Jam today don't sound dated at all. As for recommendations, I would say the compilation "Snap" is a pretty good starter, but the band was so varied in its sound that "Snap" can sound uneven and choppy. The best thing to do is just go out and buy every one of their albums. I would start with "Setting Sons" or "Sound Affects" or "All Mod Cons." Each one is classic. Bob
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2002 17:33:51 EDT From: Huwptd@aol.com Subject: COMC, Paul Weller, etc. Message-ID: <82.1c9d56b0.2a312f3f@aol.com> I haven't posted here for a while, but the release of Coat of Many Cupboards has inspired me to get writing again. To start off with, I have to say that the complaints regarding the length of Harrison Sherwood's essay baffle me. It's not *that* long. Do people really have too short attention spans these days? Another baffling thing is the inclusion of the Black Sea version of Sgt Rock in the box set considering that Andy hates it and so do a lot of XTC fans. It's doubtful that the casual buyer is going to be lured in merely by the inclusion of this song. Perhaps Virgin insisted on its inclusion in order to annoy Andy. On the whole, I think COMC is worth the money. It has especially given me a renewed appreciation of Drums & Wires as an album, considering that there is a lot of material in the box set that dates from that era. Quite frankly, I want as many different versions of Life Begins at the Hop as is humanly possible (I've got 7 now). I'm a big fan of Find the Fox as well. Regarding the Jam/Paul Weller/the Style Council. The Jam were from Woking, which I suppose can be said to be similar to Swindon in it being a small town in the South of England. One thing the Jam and XTC do have in common is the way they were very much inspired by the music of Ray Davies and the Kinks. Paul Weller has gone rather dull and conservative these days however, unlike XTC who continue to be very inventive. Am I the only one here who thinks that Paul Weller did his best stuff with the Style Council? Huw Davies, London, England
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