Chalkhills Digest Volume 9, Issue 14
Date: Monday, 17 March 2003
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 9, Number 14
Monday, 17 March 2003
Topics:
In visible ink
RE: financial salvation for the record industry
North American XTC Convention?/Todd Is Godd!
Frankie Goes to Hell in a Handbasket
A recommended read
Eno Paints Brian
Best Of 2002
Re:Newell
Re: Impending Invasion
Squeeze
Re: Strummer
Re: How?
Greetings and Cupboards liner notes
More bookishness
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War is polishing his drum and peace plays second fiddle.
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Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 18:01:45 +0100
From: jeffrey.thomas@bayercropscience.com
Subject: In visible ink
Message-ID: <OF9FFFE2D4.674E24D0-ONC1256CE5.004A7B27@bayer-ag.com>
Hi there, 'Hillers,
Just wanted to come out of hibernation for a minute here to say something
very appropriate for this XTC website: I saw Aimee Mann in concert last
Saturday evening. It started out to be a pleasant evening in Cologne, but
it then became a great one. What a concert! Ron Sexsmith, often lauded
here on Chalkhills, was unplugged and solo as the opening act. I was
excited when I heard his name (the opening act had not been announced ahead
of time) -- after all, I'd heard of him often enough. However, I can't say
I really was able to form an opinion about him from the 8-10 songs he sang.
Maybe the band was missing...
Then came Aimee. Wow! What a great concert! She sang songs every solo
album except "Whatever" (even though fans kept requesting "Mr. Harris" and
"4th of July"), a couple of Til Tuesday tunes ("Telescope"), a couple of
covers (including a Coldplay song) but, unfortunately, no "Collideascope".
They started a bit late and there was a 10:00 curfew, so the show only
lasted about 1-1/2 hours, but it was great nonetheless. The band was
tight-tight-tight and some of the songs we know as rather placid on her
albums had real power. Very, very good concert, and as someone before me
mentioned a few weeks back, it made me go back to "Lost in Space" and play
it more often -- very much to my enjoyment. Particularly good were songs
like "The Moth" and "Invisible Ink", which were absolutely stunning to hear
live.
If she comes your way, go see her! If you like her already, you know why,
if you're undecided: she'll help you decide. Wonderful evening.
XTC? I like 'em!
- Jeff
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 13:23:53 EST From: BrainiacsDaughtr@aol.com Subject: RE: financial salvation for the record industry Message-ID: <66.2fb28b85.2ba37839@aol.com> In a message dated 3/14/2003 8:40:07 AM Pacific Standard Time, <owner-chalkhills@chalkhills.org> writes: >>before you had mp3 files to download, everyone i knew made copies on cassette tape and the record companies thought that it would kill their bottom lines as well.<< All very true but the thing is you didn't have the massive worldwide interconneted network in which these cassettes could be exchanged in the millions. The average home taper (barring rare things like bootlegs) if they exchanged tapes at all, it would be on such a miniscule scale. For that reason I can see why record companies freaked out. But still, as pointed out already, record companies are mainly responsible for their current state and trying the place the blame solely on filesharing is yet another example of their shortsighted-ness. The marketing of crappy product, the "new payola" system with independant promotors, Clear Channel's radio domination, over-priced CDs and not embracing the new technology in its infant stages have a lot more to do with it. Filesharing does play a part, but shouldn't take all the blame. Imagine if one record company took a chance decided to buck the trend? They'd probably be hailed as innovators lol. Especially now because, is it me or has anyone else noticed (on WinMX at least) how difficult it has become to download due to the volume of people doing this? Its becoming easier to just buy the CD! Some "innovative" record company could set up a service and say "sure you pay a small fee to download a song, but you're days of waiting in queue are over!" On filesharing in general, its difficult for me to say whether it has changed my own spending habits in regards to CD purchases. Probably getting older has changed my habits more as I don't even download songs as much as I use too. Hell, I have yet to buy "Coat of Many Cupboards or Fuzzy Warbles! What kind of XTC fan am I?. But if I hear something I really like, I'll still buy the CD. And I consider it a good sign when my 19 year old nephew, who has all the perks of high speed internet connection, CD burner, disposible income and is an avid music listner, discovered the beauty of going to a store like Amoeba Records here in LA and buying a stack of used CDs. He was blown away by the variety of music available and the affordable pricing. Subtle hint for the record industry there. Laurie Collins www.lulastream.com
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 15:20:13 EST From: XTCGO2@aol.com Subject: North American XTC Convention?/Todd Is Godd! Message-ID: <1d3.51f2e64.2ba3937d@aol.com> Hello to ALL! LONGTIME reader, first time post'r. Little bit about me. My name is Erich. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota (any one else on the list from the cities?). When I was a junior in high school a girlfriend gave me a newly released copy of Drums & Wires (she hated it).... Ooodles of vinyl, CD's, memorabilia, neon & two tattoo's (Skylarking logo, Uffington horse) later.... I have never been the same. By far XTC is and will always be my all time favorite! I am a hard-core music junkie owning 2,000 CD's & roughly 1500 LP's. I am a HUGE residents fan as well if anyone has questions regarding Andy's work with them! I attended the first North American XTC convention in Illinois years ago & had a guruvy time. I have wondered over the years why there has never been an effort to stage another in the states? Anyone else interested in getting the ball rolling? Maybe to coincide with the next legitimate release? Prior to learning of XTC I was heavily into Peter Gabriel & yes.... Utopia/Todd Rundgren. I have seen Todd/Utopia 25 times (which qualifies me as a light Todd head amongst his fans). And have never once been disappointed by his live performance. Since selling the rights for "Bat Out Of Hell" back to Sony Todd has not toured out of necessity. He is out there for the love of music & for his fans. I agree he is not what he was during his Teens, 20's, 30's 40's. But if you are a fan (know of more than "Bang on the drum" and "I saw the light") it is evident Todd still has as much passion for his music & his fans as anyone (yes that includes our Andy & Colin)! If you play someone who's only knowledge of XTC is "Senses" & "Dear God" chances are they are not going to be blown away by Apple Venus. (way back)When I discovered Todd was going to be producing XTC's next release (Skylarking).... I lost sleep thinking of the possibilities of things to come. I/we were not disappointed. XTC's most successful/lush release to date. I have a hard time believing that if another producer took on the task we would have anything close to as succesful & gorgeous as what Todd did with our boy's(& oodles of other artists). I will take the sloppy piano remark with a grain of salt since even Andy has mellowed out the "Toddzilla" banter over the years. I would put Todd's recorded guitar solo's right up there with any of our boy's solo's. Here are some recommendations (if anyone cares). Recommended Todd (for those interested): Something anything Wizard a true star Hermit of Mink Hollow Runt Acapella Recommended Utopia: Road to Utopia Ooops wrong planet Deface the music Utopia Have also seen Squeeze a dozen times and have never been disappointed. Glen Tilbrook solo is a gas! Latest concert "wow's": Simian, Flaming Lips, Residents, Neil Finn, Camper Van Beethoven, the Hang Ups, Super Furry Animals, Robyn & the Softboys, Marshall Crenshaw.... Concerts in the queue: John Parish & Howe Gelb, King Crimson, Joe Jackson Band, Polyphonic Spree, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Of Montreal, the Silo's, Motorhead & Anthrax (just kidding)... After all these years It took some Todd bashing to finally get me to halt the busy schedule & shout out! Whew! Peace, Love & 25 O'clock! Erich Karius XTCGO2@aol.com & yes.... Love is the answer!
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:45:13 -0500 From: Matt Hiner <hiner1@uakron.edu> Subject: Frankie Goes to Hell in a Handbasket Message-ID: <3E725B79.9030003@uakron.edu> Delurking for two seconds to chime in on the worst concert thread: In 1984 I had the honor of escorting my then girlfriend to the Music Hall in Cleveland to sit through 90 minutes of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It still has to be the worst show I have ever seen - the band was flat and uninteresting, the music sounded "dead," and (how lame is this?) they played "Relax" twice during the show - once about 3/4 through the concert and again as an encore. I mean, couldn't these guys learn another song? If I remember correctly, the only song I enjoyed was their cover of "Born to Run," which featured fairly decent bass work. Even the opening band, Belouis Some, was lame. In a close second was the Power Station in 1985 featuring the highly annoying Michael Des Barres. If Robert Palmer had toured with the band, it may have been a different story, but Des Barres was more irritating than entertaining. And the 10,000 crying teenage girls didn't help the ambiance either. Of course, I only went to the show to see the opening band - OMD. Gene Loves Jezebel in 1986 would rank third. When I told my future wife about seeing that show, she asked me if I was gay. -- Matt Hiner, Associate Lecturer of History "We live as we dream - alone; The space between our work and its product."
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 23:53:16 -0500 From: DMiner <werkshop@tampabay.rr.com> Subject: A recommended read Message-ID: <a05100300ba985c6c3384@[192.168.1.101]> Hey, Chalkfolks, I recently read an amazing graphic novel called "Box Office Poison" by Alex Robinson. This is a 600-page collection of a series that ran from 1994 to 2000. I guess the original comic was only vaguely known and the collected book has sold less than 10,000 copies, but I'm still surprised the XTC allusions within the book haven't been discovered by anyone here yet. The book starts with disgruntled bookstore employee Sherman looking for an apartment and lamenting a recent breakup. His best pal Ed is a cartoonist who dreams of working for the legendary Zoom Comics. Sherman moves in with Jane and Stephen. The book has occasional side stories about these characters, but a continuing narrative develops with Sherman meeting a difficult new girlfriend, Dorothy, and Ed going to work for a long-forgotten comic writer named Irving Flavor, who happened to create Zoom's most popular character ever, but ended up turning the rights over to them. I'm not a big comics fan. I do enjoy some small press off-the-wall humor stuff and books that treat their audience with respect, but I do not read or care about super hero stuff. There's some of that world in "Box Office Poison," but the characters and story are so rich, it's easy to get involved nonetheless. The author, Alex Robinson, lets some of his tastes in literature and music intrude into the book. There are some pretty big Beatles drops, a couple subtle They Might Be Giants allusions, and at least three background appearances of Elvis Costello. A party scene features lyric quotes from the Clash, the Police and Richard Thompson among others. XTC is referenced three times. Once "segment" of the book is titled "Another Satellite." One panel showing a record store puts the Oranges & Lemons cover next to albums by Elvis Costello, They Might Be Giants, The Kinks and the Velvet Underground. And most intriguingly, a scene where Sherman is considering kissing a girl who is NOT his girlfriend has the line "I'm happy standing on my feet of clay..." from "Another Satellite" playing through the window. But I'll mention again that the book is quite involving and emotional. I absolutely loved it, and the musical references were icing on the cake. Be on the lookout for this sucker, a huge book with four colored boxes on the front (orange, green, blue and yellow). = Derek = www.minerwerks.com
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 01:06:58 -0500 (EST) From: RSMko@webtv.net (Marston Moor) Subject: Eno Paints Brian Message-ID: <18373-3E72C302-1202@storefull-2237.public.lawson.webtv.net> off-topic, sorry... but not really. quite thought provoking. ------- ----- ----- ---- --- -- The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World To this European, America is trapped in a fortress of arrogance and ignorance By BRIAN ENO Posted Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003; 2.09 p.m. GMT Europeans have always looked at America with a mixture of fascination and puzzlement, and now, increasingly, disbelief. How is it that a country that prides itself on its economic success could have so many very poor people? How is it that a country so insistent on the rule of law should seek to exempt itself from international agreements? And how is it that the world's beacon of democracy can have elections dominated by wealthy special interest groups? For me, the question has become: "How can a country that has produced so much cultural and economic wealth act so dumb?" I could fill this page with the names of Americans who have influenced, entertained and educated me. They represent what I admire about America: a vigorous originality of thought, and a confidence that things can be changed for the better. That was the America I lived in and enjoyed from 1978 until 1983. That America was an act of faith the faith that "otherness" was not threatening but nourishing, the faith that there could be a country big enough in spirit to welcome and nurture all the diversity the world could throw at it. But since Sept. 11, that vision has been eclipsed by a suspicious, introverted America, a country-sized version of that peculiarly American form of ghetto: the gated community. A gated community is defensive. Designed to keep the "others" out, it dissolves the rich web of society into a random clustering of disconnected individuals. It turns paranoia and isolation into a lifestyle. Surely this isn't the America that anyone dreamed of; it's a last resort, nobody's choice. It's especially ironic since so much of the best new thinking about society, economics, politics and philosophy in the last century came from America. Unhampered by the snobbery and exclusivity of much European thought, American thinkers vaulted forward courageous, innovative and determined to talk in a public language. But, unfortunately, over the same period, the mass media vaulted backward, thriving on increasingly simple stories and trivializing news into something indistinguishable from entertainment. As a result, a wealth of original and subtle thought America's real wealth is squandered. This narrowing of the American mind is exacerbated by the withdrawal of the left from active politics. Virtually ignored by the media, the left has further marginalized itself by a retreat into introspective cultural criticism. It seems content to do yoga and gender studies, leaving the fundamentalist Christian right and the multinationals to do the politics. The separation of church and state seems to be breaking down too. Political discourse is now dominated by moralizing, like George W. Bush's promotion of American "family values" abroad, and dissent is unpatriotic. "You're either with us or against us" is the kind of cant you'd expect from a zealous mullah, not an American President. When Europeans make such criticisms, Americans assume we're envious. "They want what we've got," the thinking goes, "and if they can't get it, they're going to stop us from having it." But does everyone want what America has? Well, we like some of it but could do without the rest: among the highest rates of violent crime, economic inequality, functional illiteracy, incarceration and drug use in the developed world. President Bush recently declared that the U.S. was "the single surviving model of human progress." Maybe some Americans think this self-evident, but the rest of us see it as a clumsy arrogance born of ignorance. Europeans tend to regard free national health services, unemployment benefits, social housing and so on as pretty good models of human progress. We think it's important civilized, in fact to help people who fall through society's cracks. This isn't just altruism, but an understanding that having too many losers in society hurts everyone. It's better for everybody to have a stake in society than to have a resentful underclass bent on wrecking things. To many Americans, this sounds like socialism, big government, the nanny state. But so what? The result is: Europe has less gun crime and homicide, less poverty and arguably a higher quality of life than the U.S., which makes a lot of us wonder why America doesn't want some of what we've got. Too often, the U.S. presents the "American way" as the only way, insisting on its kind of free-market Darwinism as the only acceptable "model of human progress." But isn't civilization what happens when people stop behaving as if they're trapped in a ruthless Darwinian struggle and start thinking about communities and shared futures? America as a gated community won't work, because not even the world's sole superpower can build walls high enough to shield itself from the intertwined realities of the 21st century. There's a better form of security: reconnect with the rest of the world, don't shut it out; stop making enemies and start making friends. Perhaps it's asking a lot to expect America to act differently from all the other empires in history, but wasn't that the original idea? Brian Eno is a musician who believes that regime change begins at home. He almost joined XTC one fine day. http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2003/0120/cover/view_eno.html Moore Steven Robt NJ
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:12:47 +0000 From: Phil Hetherington <phil@emdac.demon.co.uk> Subject: Best Of 2002 Message-ID: <ssghT0BvwFd+Mwus@emdac.demon.co.uk> I'm running a bit late here (too snowed under with work) so as most of you have probably forgotten 2002 ever happened, I'll keep it brief: Best album of 2002 for me, unquestionably, was this one: Looper - The Snare Looper is basically one of the guys out of Belle & Sebastian who has since broken ranks and veered off in his own direction. His first couple of albums were patchy, to say the least, so I didn't hold out much hope for this one. In fact I nearly didn't bother buying it, but I'm so glad I did - it's been on near-constant heavy rotation for months now. If I described it as slowed-down dance music with proper songs, that would be about right, but if someone described it like that to me I'd run a mile, so I won't. But I will mention the final track, 'Fucking Around', which as the title suggests is not something you'll hear on the radio. But it's actually a really nice song! There's not a bad song on this album, and it's not very often you can say that. And numbers 2-10 in no particular order: + Afel Bocoum, Damon Albarn, Toumani Diabate & Friends - Mali Music + Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel (Which includes my favourite lyric of the year, from 'Alibi' and delivered with typical Costello bile, the lines "Sister is a whore / Brother isn't sure") + Cousteau - Sirena (The weirdest thing about this was hearing one of the tracks in Argentina, despite there being no sign of the album in the shops there) + Tanya Donnelly - Beauty Sleep (Pretty sloppy live though) + Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out Of Season + Gemma Hayes - Night On My Side (Missed most of her live set supporting Suede, from the little I did see, she rocks. Great debut) + Suede - A New Morning + They Might Be Giants - No! + Kathryn Williams - Old Low Light (Great songs let down by lousy production) And five non-studio albums but still great CDs: + The Bluetones - The Singles + Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Volume 5 - Live 1975 (wasn't so keen on the '66 one which everyone raved about, but this one is absolutely stunning) + Christy Moore - Live At Vicar Street + Andy Partridge - Fuzzy Warbles 2 (wish I could say the same about volume 1, but it bores me stiff) + They Might Be Giants - They Got Lost So there you have it. Some good stuff there in the end, though hardly a vintage year. -- Phil Hetherington
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 12:21:32 -0000 From: "paul.wilkinson@btinternet.com" <cleanersvenus@yahoo.com> Subject: Re:Newell Message-ID: <000801c2ebb6$9558df80$05018351@mesh> Martin Newell, who some of you seem interested in at the moment, is playing a one off live music gig to celebrate his 50th birthday. He was 50 on March 4th and so the gig is on the 14th of June. Those of you familiar with Martin will appreciate the logic in this. Anyway it's at the Colchester Arts Centre and will take place between 2 and 5pm. Yes it is an afternoon gig. It's a kind of party too with cakes and tea etc. All very Martin. All are welcome, and you really should try to make it as he may not do any more after this. He's recording it for a live album. All the best to the Chalkhillians at this very weird time. Peace. Paul Wilkinson www.martinnewell.co.uk
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:16:48 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Impending Invasion Message-ID: <BA99FF90.7C8C%cauldron@together.net> on 3/14/03 10:15 AM, Dunks wrote: > From La-la-Londinium -- assuming we are not turned back at the border -- we > then go west young man to Noo Yawk and other points in the East, and then > over to L.A., then north to Vancouver, Canada, and finally back home via > Hawaii. > > It would indeed be a pleasure to meet up with any Chalkers on either > continent (who have not by then been rounded up by homeland security) who > might be in or near our intended path and who might feel disposed to join us > a beverage or a meal and a chinwag on topics chalkish or otherwise. > > Any and all suggestions concerning modes of transport, places of > accommodation and points of interest will be gratefully accepted. > > For those less favourably disposed to our impending invasion, we will > provide a full intinerary in due course, along with suggested vantage points > from which you may safely hurl fruit and vegetables in our general > direction. > > You have been warned. Vermont is lovely in the summer, and there are surprisingly cheap JetBlue flights to Burlington from LaGuardia. Amtrak will also take you to nearby Essex Junction,(or IBMville, effectively) a five minute walk from my inlaws' house. There's loads of half-way decent Chinese restaurants(including one right across from the station) and even a couple of good Indian restaurants in Burlington. Relatively cheap accomodations can be found in a chain of motels along Shelburne Rd, somewhat more mid-priced to upscale elsewhere. I wouldn't recommend our place at the moment, our twin toddlers daughters are kind-hearted and friendly but they haven't learned manners yet, they'll think you're something new to climb on, but we'd gladly meet you for dinner anywhere that's kid-friendly, we're right near the airport too. (several decent Chinese places near the airport- Burlington, VT is lousy with them) If you can only spend one day in Vermont, I'd recommend heading for Stowe, pay a visit to the Ben&Jerry's ice cream factory in Waterbury on the way, then take the gondola ride most of the way up Mt Mansfield(or if you rent a car you can drive almost to the summit, it's a three-quarter mile walk to the summit from the end of the road). If you're good with steep hiking trails there's a short but challenging hike to the top of the ridge from where it's an easy half mile above treeline to the summit, where there are great views in all directions and loads of other people in the summer. For less crowds, if you have a full day for hiking I recommend Camel's Hump or Mt Abraham further south. Let me know if you plan to pass this way- I look forward to some of our spirited political discussions in person.
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:26:52 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Squeeze Message-ID: <BA9A01EC.7C8D%cauldron@together.net> on 3/14/03 10:15 AM, someone wrote: > > In response to Annamarie's question about the worst concert ever, I'd > have to say Squeeze, 1985. Though I liked Squeeze well enough, the > reason I'd bought tickets to their show at George Washington > University, in DC, was to see Oingo Boingo, who was opening for them > in support of "Dead Man's Party." BUT ... someone in OB got sick, > they didn't play, and instead my girlfriend and I endured a mess of a > concert by Squeeze. Bad sound, uninspired sleepwalking-type > performances by all involved (except Glenn Tilbrook ... I was quite > impressed by his voice and playing), and overall a big > disappointment. The best part of the night was watching the > teeny-bopper co-eds in the upper seats attempt to dance along to the > music without any regard to the actual beat of the song involved. You must have caught them on a bad night, the three times I saw them(1982, 1987, and 1995) they were very good. I must admit, though, that aside from Tilbrook, who's quite a handsome guy, none of the rest of the band would win beauty contests. The 1987 show was particularly notable in that respect, the rest of the band resembled extras from an old 30's gangster movie more than rock and roll musicians, though keyboardist Jools Holland had a rollicking jazzbo flair and showmanship that made up for it somewhat, I recall he did most of the talking between songs as well, at one point leading the audience in a rousing call and response of "Hey, you, Jools, you're Oscar Peterson's love child!"
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 10:51:20 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: Strummer Message-ID: <BA9A07A8.7C8E%cauldron@together.net> on 3/14/03 10:15 AM, Jim wrote: > I suspect that Joe Strummer's role was a bit like that > of Roger Waters in Pink Floyd. They both were the main > movers and shakers, but they needed their partners to > arrange their strong ideas into magnificent music. A better example would Lennon and McCartney in The Beatles, who balanced each other out, Lennon was more of a rocker, McCartney more of an aspiring composer(though he did outrock Lennon with "Helter Skelter"). Strummer and Jones had a fairly equal share in the writing, basically Strummer sang his stuff and Jones sang his. Strummer was the in-your-face political ranter, Jones was more of an introspective observer and musical explorer, the one most responsible for their explorations into reggae, dub, R&B. Without Jones, The Clash were in their final incarnation just going through the motions, Strummer should have just gone solo with a stronger bunch of musicians than those three new guys(whose names completely escape me, though one of them popped up in another semi-notable British band of the early 90's whose name also escapes me). Cut The Crap was an album of tuneless football cheers, that's what it sounded like anyway, with the exception of "This Is England," a Joe Strummer rant good enough to fit on an earlier Clash album, and an OK reggae-ish track "Three Card Trick" which sounds like a leftover Mick Jones demo he thought too dodgy for Big Audio Dynamite. The rest is a waste of vinyl, one of the sorriest excuses for an album ever recorded by a major band.
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 11:05:48 -0500 From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net> Subject: Re: How? Message-ID: <BA9A0B0C.7C8F%cauldron@together.net> on 3/14/03 10:15 AM, Simon Deane wrote: > 2. I've been wondering for a while how XTC fans "came" to the group i.e. > musical antecedents before being converted, if that's the right expression. > As someone nearing mid-40s (bloody hell, am I really that old?), I > principally liked David Bowie and Jethro Tull (with some mercifully short > sidetracks into Genesis and Yes - this was the early 70s, you see), before > settling into XTC. What inspired my interest here was hearing some of the > other oldsters on Chalkhills mentioning Bowie and Tull favourably in > dispatches a couple of years ago (yes, it has taken me that long to write in > about this), and I just wondered whether there was some kind of pattern here > i.e. all Bowie and Jethro Tull fans end up with XTC. I was introduced to XTC by a friend in college who had a show on her college radio station(my college didn't have a radio station, so I hung out at hers, which was six miles down the road) who was a major fan and played the stuffing out of Black Sea when it came out. Until then this former punk rocker had written off XTC as just another one of those skinny-tie bands crossed with a bit of watered down Devo who were killing punk rock. How wrong I was, I even initially wrote off The Cure and The Soft Boys for the same reason. I based my ill-informed opinion on hearing "Making Plans For Nigel" a couple of times. After being indoctrinated with "Respectable Street," "Generals And Majors" and "Sgt Rock" I finally revised my opinion and decided these guys were instead one of the best British bands since the Beatles, having also been similarly won over by Squeeze, who I had also written off on a similar basis. Thus began my discovery of early 80's Beatles influenced pop bands and my realisation of how musically limiting punk was. With a gift for melody and words, and an ability to play instruments well enough to get your ideas across, you can get a lot further than just knowing a few chords and shouting a lot. I mean- where's Sham 69 and Peter and The Test Tube Babies now? Exactly. -- Satan: "Saddam, you're dead. I killed you." Saddam: "Yeah, well, where was I gonna go- Detroit?" Chris Coolidge visit my church at http://www.vermontspiritualistassociation.org/
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 02:54:04 -0600 From: "Bobby P" <bobbyp_42@hotmail.com> Subject: Greetings and Cupboards liner notes Message-ID: <F166ewsM1RkIZ8eisXb000021df@hotmail.com> Hello, all. I am new to Chalkhills. I am a newbie XTC-addict... experiencing a bit of mania, you know? I am already hunting down obscure tracks and B-sides while I still fully familiarize myself with their commercial albums. I keep "Song Stories" by my bed and occasionally listen to whole albums, reading along with the lyrics and the stories with each song. I have been devouring the content of chalhills.org. (What an amazingly great site!) I am an XTC dork. And yes, my friends and family think I might be getting a little *too* into XTC, but I am having fun with it and am thrilled to find that there are so many other fans who share my passion and enthusiasm for XTC's music. Hooray for that. Also, I wanted to express my appreciation for the liner notes written for the XTC box set, "Coat of Many Cupboards". I've had the set for a while but just tonight sat down and read the booklet. Harrison Sherwood did an absolutlely *fantastic* job. For those of you who haven't already, read it! bobbyP
------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 08:25:14 -0500 From: DMiner <werkshop@tampabay.rr.com> Subject: More bookishness Message-ID: <a05100300ba9b7a4f27f1@[192.168.1.101]> My last note mentioned the book "Box Office Poison" by Alex Robinson, which contained a couple XTC references. I have been in contact with the author and pointed him to Chalkhills. He had no idea there was an XTC mailing list and seemed very pleased! He also considered sending a copy of the book to Mr. Partridge, as Andy is/was a comics fan. I thought one you good folks "in the know" could suggest the best way for Mr. Robinson to get one of these fabulous books to Andy. If so, drop me an email at werkshop@tampabay.rr.com and I can get you in touch with the author. = Derek = www.minerwerks.com
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #9-14 ******************************
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18 March 2003 / Feedback