Chalkhills Digest, Volume 9, Number 30

                   Friday, 13 June 2003

Topics:

                         Pinback
           Waiting For The Slave Raider Revival
                  Fuzzy Apples, Please?
                        Re: Zevon
             My School And Music and Concerts
                   Couldn't Agree More!
           Zevon "Debut" and Martyn appearance
                Any Relation To The Dukes?
                Look Look on DVD for trade
                         Mattacks
                  rubber hatchet buried
                Loser's Lounge XTC Tribute
                mentals...instru, that is
          Loser's Lounge Tribute Show - June 11

Administrivia:

No Chalkhills next week.  I'm on vacation.  Happens every year.

    To UNSUBSCRIBE from the Chalkhills mailing list, send a message to
    <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> with the following command:

        unsubscribe

    For all other administrative issues, send a message to:

        <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org>

    Please remember to send your Chalkhills postings to:

        <chalkhills@chalkhills.org>

    World Wide Web: <http://chalkhills.org/>

    The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors.

    Chalkhills is compiled with Digest 3.7e (John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>).

Snarling dragons break to grin.

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

Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 18:46:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian MacDonald <brianm@kuci.org>
Subject: Pinback
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.1030609183954.23426B-100000@falco.kuci.uci.edu>

I think there was only one mention of this band on the list archives thus
far, but I thought I'd give them a more thorough plug here, since I think
they're the one band around today that comes closest to the musical spirit
of early-mid period XTC.. between "Drums and Wires" and "English
Settlement".

They're from San Diego, CA so of course there isn't that level of
catharsis and "English"ness to them, and Pinback's tempo tends to be on
the slower side.. however, musically speaking, there's a lot in common..
harmonies, melodies, Beefheart influences...

Well, anyway, the new EP "Offcell" is as good a place to start as any,
although all their releases.. "Pinback", "Some Voices", and "Blue Screen
Life" are also all excellent.

Brian MacDonald

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 11:09:10 +0100 (BST)
From: Dom Lawson <britishsteel666@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Waiting For The Slave Raider Revival
Message-ID: <20030610100910.75687.qmail@web40511.mail.yahoo.com>

Corkers,

> Gee, in my school - only the girls liked Poison. ANY
> guy that liked Poison would have gotten the "You're
> dead after class" comment.

Luckily, I kept my glam metal purchases very quiet,
thus securing my non-fag status. Besides, I was twice
the size of most people at my school so I could have
worn a Bronski Beat T-shirt and a tutu and I would
have been pretty safe.

Regrettably, I was the only metal fan in my entire
school until the sixth form, when suddenly a feeble
bunch of poorly coiffured oafs began turning up with
their Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi shirts. Of course, I
merrily argued the toss about whether either band
constituted proper metal (the former? possibly. the
latter? f**k no!) and did my best to disassociate
myself from the geek contingent.

And by the way, Europe's 'The Final Countdown' is
genius. Think I'm being ironic? Pah!

And now...some Bunglism.

>>The best I can describe it is riff-heavy rock like
>>Megadeth meets demented circus music. Dom Lawson
>>would probably abso-smegging-lutely love it. :D

Sho' nuff, yes I do! As any fule kno, Mr. Bungle are
stupendous. I actually prefer the second and third
albums...particularly 'Disco Volante', which is
arguably the most demented thing I've ever heard. The
latest effort, 'California', is an absolute must for
anyone who wants to hear Beach Boys, Zappa and Slayer
kicking off at the same time. Luverly.

> To me, the closest equivalent to a techno version of
> XTC is Level 42, or at
> least it was until they split up. Now they're back
> together and working on a new album.

Shit. I'd assumed this was a joke. Apparently it's
true which is one of the most horrific and odious bits
of information I've had to inwardly digest for some
time. Please, somebody, anybody...make them stop!!!
And comparing Level 42 to XTC, on any COUGH level, is
quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever
read on Chalkhills...and that's saying something,
"Millichip" fans!

Fact: Level 42 sucked poop from a badger's arse. They
will inevitably continue to do so.

>Have been reading a lot about British Sea Power.
>They sound (in description) a bit like an early XTC,
> but I haven't head a note, so I don't know.  Are
> they any good?

I've got the album and it hasn't really worked for me
yet, but I've only heard it twice. They're certainly
not the best band in Britain...sweet Jesus, no! But
they're quite good.

A few things to which I am currently listening,
innit...

Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Blur - Think Tank
Metallica - St. Anger
Supersuckers - Motherf**kers Be Trippin'
Nevermore - Enemies Of Reality
RPWL - Stock
Deftones - Deftones
Norther - Mirror Of Madness

Buy now or you're dead after class, f**kwads! (NB:
This is not strictly true.)

Salut!

Dom

=====
DOM LAWSON
NP: Labyrinth 'Labyrinth'

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 10:56:42 -0400
From: KEVIN.WOLLENWEBER@jpmorgan.com
Subject: Fuzzy Apples, Please?
Message-ID: <OF933D42A8.3CDA2710-ON85256D41.004A33A5@chase.com>

CHALK-Children:

Each time I receive another installment of this continuing conversation
(something genuinely looked forward to, I assure you), I'm dismayed.  While
we haven't really gotten a definite street date for them, I constantly
expect to hear that some of you have already ordered your copies of FUZZY
WARBLES, VOLS 3 and 4.  I don't know where I'd heard this, but I think it
was on this list--I'd heard that the forthcoming next two disks were coming
early this month.  Am I entirely wrong?  Friends who have internet access
have sent me a cut-and-paste of the actual track lists for the two disks
from the Idea Records website; so I would think that the release date
is...well...any day now.

And I'm oh so glad that Andy is continuously composing.  I hope these
wonderful songs find the light of day somewhere besides MP3's.  While I
like this new business of the musician totally running his or her own
career apart from the stodgy and ignorant American Idol-makers at the fast
decaying major record labels, I am doubly disenchanted with the fact that
all music, someday, will be merely down-loadable and, hey, if ya can't get
it, ya can't get it???  That's so non-inclusive!  Okay, so I'm one of those
few who don't own a computer and who doesn't have any access to the
internet at work (and, besides, while my job is not nearly one of the more
important at this corporate prison, I don't think they'd keep me very long
if I were able to spend half my day down-loading some rare and wonderful
music to hear that night).  I'm out of the loop when it comes to all those
techno-junkies and the new toys, although I get the enjoyment in same, even
though I also feel that merely being able to download music will cause a
lot of the stuff to go unnoticed.  I know a few people that enjoy sampling
music lists during their spare time, but most of us like that tangible
package.

Okay, okay, I've droned on and on about that before.  From what I've heard,
down-loadable music does not allow for interesting segues, just as sampling
tracks from a CD when burning disks for yourself at home does not allow you
to delete that annoying gap between two songs closely fused together (like
the title track from SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND and "With a
Little Help From my Friends").  I don't see CD's being phased out real
soon, but music can be ignored more easily if it is only a download, and a
mass audience just won't hear it.  The Beatles became a big deal, partially
because they were unavoidable!  when you ere listening to AM radio, you
heard this incredible Lennon-McCartney/George Martin arrangement and you
were hooked...and your parents were annoyed!  Either way, people *HAD* to
have an opinion about this new music!  I just hope we don't forget the
absolute art of the record album.  Folks like me will never get to hear
those rare tracks from Wilco...unless Wilco are waiting to see how many
folks will keep down-loading their six internet-only tunes and, a few years
later, will issue all six on that inevitable anthology.  I guess that my
speculating this might steer some folks away from listening to these songs,
thinking that they will eventually be available widely, but remember, this
is just speculation and, if the members of Wilco were to get wind of my
comments, they might decide against that inevitable inclusion.  Hey, have
we seen some of those rare Pearl Jam Christmas songs that were once
available *ONLY* through the "10" site?  I'm hardly ever right about these
things; I'm just wishfully thinking!  fanatical and techno-savvy fans will
always be around to sample.

Okay, enough rambling.  I am also very much looking forward to this
Andy/Apples album.  It would be fantastic to hear some genuinely new music
from Andy Partridge.  Actually, the album is by Andy and one of the Apples
in Stereo, but both artists are impressed, it seems, by the same types of
music.  What one doesn't know, the other does, and that kind of fused
talent makes one monster album.  We need unpredictability in this world of
anti-music!

I am glad that a lot of you are suggesting lists of favorite music, so we
can expand our musical horizons where we see fit.  Word of mouth is the
other way to get the good stuff out there.  Just be sure to let me know
when the *WARBLES* are out there.  I don't want to miss a note.

I'm a bit sorry that Andy and Colin don't get any enjoyment out of playing
live before an audience.  I understand the lack of desire to tour.  It is
grueling!  I had discussed this with Becki DiGregorio and she even cringed
at the thoght of touring around her next album whenever it shows itself.
It certainly puts you off the reasons why you so wanted to make music as a
career choice in the first place.  Artists are, more and more, taking
charge of their own music and creating  and learning what it takes to mass
produce albums on their own--it's exhausting but very necessary.  Perhaps,
someday, such music will reach the ears of DJ's and they will eventually
fight to get it back on radio and...boom!  The industry will go full circle
and, like the day we heard the Beatles/Martin productions amid faddish hit
lists on our stifling AM stations, unpredictability will ooze its snakey
way back into the hearts of *ALL* of the people!

Kevin

P.S.  Playing live in front of an audience or just jamming with a larger
band sometimes stirs up that creative energy that might remain dormant if
your only way to create is tracking yourself on your own studio oequipment.
Your songs might sound as you want them to, but there is always that input
from a band member that might make it a slight bit more interesting.  Just
listen to the final side of Todd Rundgren's SOMETHING/ANYTHING and match it
up against those sessions on the other three sides on which Todd is almost
playing all the instruments.  Yeah, I know there is always the special
phone hookups and such so artists involved in an album can actually "phone
in" their parts and add a different perspective to a song.  Nothing,
however, will beat the live performance as alternative to all the "right
notes" in the studio.  Either way, though, more XTC in our music libraries
is worth whatever I have to spend...and I do hope that Andy and Colin are
going to try and buy their catalogue from Virgin so years from now, we can
hear ORANGES AND LEMONS as they both meant the mix to sound!

And please keep us minimal computer users informed of new XTC compilations.

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 11:09:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Peter Boser <pboser@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Zevon
Message-ID: <20030610180955.22820.qmail@web41503.mail.yahoo.com>

Bob wrote:
> And Zevon--you all MUST add his debut--one of
> Time magazine's
> top ten album of the 70's-- to your collection....

Careful - Zevon's debut was "Wanted Dead or Alive" in
1969, but his major label debut was the eponymous 1976
El Lay classic.

Pete

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 16:17:42 -0400
From: "Molly, The New Wave Queen 2003" <thenewwavequeen@earthlink.net>
Subject: My School And Music and Concerts
Message-ID: <000f01c32f8d$5c50cfc0$4f3d4b43@thenewwavequeen>
Organization: Earthlink

In my high school, there was a mish mash of musical tastes.  The majority
liked bands like Poison, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi, but there were a few of
us "artsy" people who were into the alternative style of music.  In my
lockers I had pictures of all different types of musical bands and artists,
including XTC (this was when "Oranges and Lemons first came out) and Spandau
Ballet (back then I was, and still am, a huge fan of theirs).  I would get
picked on a little for the music I listened to, but there were a group of
people who also listened to this type of music, and I felt respected.  This
seems a little odd, because I come from a town with a population of less
than 10,000 people.  My graduating class was only 127 students.
This summer, I'm going to two great shows.  They are They Might Be Giants
and Aimee Mann.  They're both playing at this free concert series called,
"Thursday in the Square".  This will be They Might Be Giants' second try
here, since last year they were rained out (they started playing, but there
were thunderstorms in the area so they cancelled the rest of the show).
Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this time.  I have to double check the
schedule, but for those Western NY/Southern Ontario Chalkers interested
check: http://buffaloplace.com , and click on Thursday in the Square.

Molly
-- 
Song of the Moment:  "Partical Man" - They Might Be Giants
Video of the Moment: "The Lebenon" - Human League
Album of the Moment: "Aja" - Steely Dan
Movie of the Moment: "Bruce Almighty"
TV Show of the Moment: "Mystery Science Theater 3000"

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 16:44:06 -0700
From: "WAYNE KLEIN" <wtdk12@msn.com>
Subject: Couldn't Agree More!
Message-ID: <BAY3-DAV20gC81TbdkS00000059@hotmail.com>

xsteve x said--
For clearing a room full of drunks, or just clearing a room in general
nothing seems to do it as well as the first Mr. Bungle album.

couldn't agree more! I liked some of Faith No More's stuff and was appalled
when I purchased Mr. Bungle. Clearly Xsteve likes 'em. More power to him
but, well, I found them impossible to listen to. Hey, I'm not a Celine Dion
fan by any stretch of the imagination but Mr. Bungle seemed, well, like they
bungled everything they touched.

Or maybe I'm getting old.

stroo@aol.com gushed
Hear hear on both counts!  I'm generally not much of a fan of non-XTC
band disussion in this forum, but these are two of my faves.  Anything
Pete Ham sings is worthwhile, and the book (The Tragic Story of
Badfinger) tells quite a story.  I was amazed at how many songs he
wrote about life and living ("Constitution") and his ironic tragic
fate.  And Zevon--you all MUST add his debut--one of Time magazine's
top ten album of the 70's-- to your collection, as well as Sentimental
Hygiene.

Couldn't agree more! (seems I'm saying that a lot). Warren is a treasure and
is releasing his latest (I don't want to say last--it's too final and the
guy's still hanging in there as of this writing)CD Wind in about two months.

I know you know this Bob--but Constitution was actually a Joey Molland song.
It's a killer song. Actually, Joey's songs are quite good, too although he
wasn't as imaginative a writer as Ham but at his best songs like Give It Up
contained all the angst of Pete's best work. Joey just wasn't as consistent
or inspired a songwriter.

I've taken the best of the two Fuzzy Warbles (the songs) and combined them
with some of Colin's stuff to create Fuzzy Wannabe for home consumption.
Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to Andy's next two releases but I
really wish that Colin would have participated or, at the very least, put
out a single disc compilation including Mates and Don't a Peg. If Andy's
songs are the meal, Colin's are the sweet confection I'd be enjoying
afterwards.

So John I see that a virus sent out some partial files. I probably picked it
up (and downloaded it) although I was a bit confused when I noticed the
address. Which virus was it and which program did you find to be the best to
disinfect your computer? Thanks for the heads up on that.

Oh, and a new thread--

Bands on the decline-- these would be bands you once would have proudly
listened to but now wouldn't be caught dead purchasing.

Fortunately, I can't think of any at the moment although Swindon's finest
definitely does not come to mind.

Wayne

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 20:54:29 -0700
From: "Richard" <rjpa1@attbi.com>
Subject: Zevon "Debut" and Martyn appearance
Message-ID: <054a01c32fcd$28eb0d40$03081fac@verisity.com>

Sorry for the non-XTC post but to clarify, Warren Zevon's "debut" LP
"Wanted: Dead or Alive" is horribly lame and was probably never issued on
CD.  I'm sure that Bob (Stroo@aol.com) was referring to Zevon's
_self-titled_ release (containing Desperadoes Under The Eaves, Poor Poor
Pitiful Me, Mama Couldn't Be Persuaded, Hasten Down The Wind, Carmelita, The
French Inhaler).  It is a well-composed, well-performed and well-recorded CD
that barely made a blip on the radar.  Most people who were willing to dig
deeper only found it when the follow-up, Excitable Boy (containing
'Werewolves of London'), was released.

His self-titled release is, in my opinion, his best work.  Though it only
shows a small smattering of his wit that has shone brightly on many later
discs, it is a beautiful, thoughtful recording.

My slogan through much of the late 80's in Silicon Valley was from that
record... "I'll sleep when I'm dead."

To the other poster from a couple digests ago, I have three or four John
Martyn CDs (I think they ALL may have 'Solid Air' and 'One World' on them)
and a couple vinyl slabs.  I first found out about him in the late 70's and
saw him open (solo) for Clapton on the 461 Ocean Blvd. tour (I think).  I
think some of his stuff is quite fantastic.

Cheers,
Richard

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 02:05:59 +0000
From: "*Hobbes *" <hazchem25@hotmail.com>
Subject: Any Relation To The Dukes?
Message-ID: <BAY2-F159gUp5G9C1op00029f1c@hotmail.com>

Hey all,

Just XTC fans on the list might be interested in the following band:

http://www.squiresofthesubterrain.com

Think well-writen lo-fi jangly Zombies / Kinks / Beach Boys / Beatles 60's
style music.  Very similar to the Dukes, Martin Newell and The Orgone Box.

I'm no way affiliated with the artist - just a fan.  Now someone get him in
the studio with Andy!

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 23:35:26 -0700
From: Ian Dahlberg <idahlberg@socal.rr.com>
Subject: Look Look on DVD for trade
Message-ID: <E2D65369-9BD6-11D7-AB4C-000393696C30@socal.rr.com>

Hey good people,

I have just finished authoring a DVD of the Look Look collection of
videos. It was digitized from a first-generation dub, although it's a
little grainy (I imagine the dub is close to 20 years old).  I replaced
the video's original soundtrack with the actual cuts from the album
CDs, so the sound is top-notch. In the cases of Black Sea and ES songs,
the replacement tracks were from the newly remastered versions (except
for "Respectable" which is the censored version) I also made some nice
animated menus with chapters so you can jump to your favorites. And, I
threw in a bonus video of "Heatwave", the quality of which isn't that
great, but it's still fun. A friend also did a bit of color correction
throughout. It was authored on a Mac, using DVD Studio Pro. It should
play fine on most top-name brand players. I can't guarantee how it
might perform on older, lesser-known brand machines.
about 45 min total.

I also have a homemade DVD of some of their live concerts: Apeldoorn,
Rockpalast, Urgh!, Oxford Road Show, and Old Grey Whistle Test. All
indexed by song, but with basic menus (no fancy stuff). The quality is
so-so; those of you with the video versions probably know how so-so.
Umpteenth generation quality. Still watchable and enjoyable, I think.
about 2 hours total.

I would like to offer these items for trade only, for now.  Those of
you interested, privately email me your list of tradables, and we'll
make a deal! It doesn't have to be XTC stuff either. I'm also
interested in items from Jason Falkner, The Grays, Mike Keneally,
Jellyfish and the like.

I look forward to hearing from y'all.

Ian
http://www.cheshirecousin.com/
http://geocities.com/dogbert_91324/xtc_riffs/

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 07:15:03 -0500
From: "Christopher R. Coolidge" <cauldron@together.net>
Subject: Mattacks
Message-ID: <BB0C8777.9439%cauldron@together.net>

on 6/9/03 7:49 PM, Duncan "and he rocked, too!" Watt wrote:

> ... to which I say whoa-ho-ho, ho! Boston's awe-sum, and I just saw The
> Mister Mattacks Himself a few weeks ago with my favorite guitar player of
> all time, Duke Levine, both playing *backup* for a cool local
> singer/songwriter at this little bar in Somerville (one town over from Where
> The Sox Like To Lose) called The Independent
> (http://www.theindo.com/drink/draft.html), me, my bud The Sith and less than
> 50 other people, all jaw-droolingly appreciative that There's Still Some
> Cool Left In This Ozzy-Forsaken World.  DM looked happy, so what's with the
> whining?

  Who says I'm whining? It's Fairport's loss, that's all but hey- Gerry
Conway's a good drummer too. It just seemed such a major shift, suddenly
quitting the band he's been a fixture of for twenty-five years and striking
off for a strange city, at his age too. Rather courageous of him to do that
though. He could have picked anywhere, and he chose Boston. LA or Montreal
would have been more obvious choices, with Richard Thompson in LA and Pat
Donaldson in Montreal.

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 04:27:59 -0700
From: "James T" <terbaxter@eudoramail.com>
Subject: rubber hatchet buried
Message-ID: <BJOMMFNHILEAGDAA@whowhere.com>
Organization: Lycos Mail (http://www.mail.eudoramail.com)

Hello Chalkpeople,

As far as I can tell no comment has as yet been made at Chalkhills on
the following snippet of news which has been sitting on the Idea
Records website for over a month now. From where I'm sitting, it looks
like a pretty damned interesting development.
James

------
Put Up Your Dukes

Date: 05/05/03

Believe it or not, they're back. Thats right, Sir John Johns, Red
Curtain, Lord Cornelius Plum and E.I.E.I. Owen are cutting wax
again. They've agreed to bury the rubber hatchet and record a song
for an M.S Charity Disc ( Multiple Schlerosis) which will be released
later this year.

The track is titled `Open A Can (Of Human Beans)' and is truly
Dukeserific!

Other artists confirmed for the album are Stephen Duffy, Martin Newel,
Harold Budd, Graham Coxon, Shadow Kabinet.

More later.

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 10:20:02 -0400
From: "Ashley Smith" <flash.ley@netzero.com>
Subject: Loser's Lounge XTC Tribute
Message-ID: <000801c33024$9045df40$0fa6b8cd@ASHLEY>

I don't know if anyone has reported on these shows, so I thought I'd
drop Chalkhills a line.

I went to the first show last Friday.  It was amazing.  Loser's Lounge
is a fantastic band, and they played a wonderfully quirky song list that
included lots of stuff from Dukes of Stratosphere, Drums and Wires, and
Skylarking, as well as smatterings from most of the other albums.  They
didn't play anything post Nonesuch, however.  It was a great time had by
all.  Colin and Andy even made an appearance from across the pond, via
streaming video.

I even got to go up and sing back up on an audience participation
version of Generals and Majors.

I'm going back for the last show on Saturday, and hopefully I'll talk my
way all the way to the lead vocal mike.

All the best,
Ashley

Ashley Smith

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 20:24:45 EDT
From: Saints3Den@aol.com
Subject: mentals...instru, that is
Message-ID: <147.13809fef.2c19224d@aol.com>

hello folks!

 todd b says

> By merit of successfully completing my 44th year of this life, I
> managed to obtain copies of both instrumental albums, and I've got to
> say, they're a revelation. Anyone who wants a glimpse into the minds
> of Andy and Colin -- or, at least, into their songwriting, arranging,
> and production process -- should grab copies of these toot sweet.

  I wonder...on the last balloon, when andys voice sort of turns into a
trumpet note... how is this handled?

eddie

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

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 15:50:18 -0400
From: "Kehoe, Brendan" <BKehoe@craneco.com>
Subject: Loser's Lounge Tribute Show - June 11
Message-ID: <99512104A954D311A167009027860D7407E9F94D@mail2.craneco.com>

I went to the Loser's Lounge Tribute to XTC show Wednesday night, June 11th,
and figured I would post a little review here for those of you not close
enough to NYC to attend - and for those close enough that have not bought
tickets for the Friday and Saturday shows yet.

The show was great.  They did the Boys proud.  The band was the Kustard
Kings (founded by a guitarist named David Terhune, a fairly big XTC fan
(with a nice D&W T-Shirt, by the by)) and the singing honors were handled by
a different Loser for every song.

The Band -

2 Guitarists, Drums (which was handled by a guy who had to fill in for the
original drummer - he did not have much time and he nailed it), keyboardist,
percusionist, bass and two back up singers (one male (Sean Altman) and one
female).

The set list, with minimal commentary:

First Set:

Senses Working Overtime - well done, sung by Sean Altman (of Rockapella
fame)
The Mayor of Simpleton - Very well done - perfect harmonies, bass player hit
'em all
The Vanishing Girl - Perfect
Cherry in Your Tree - Excellent.  Kicked off with a little reminiscing by
Sean Altman about the recording experience with Andy and an enlarged
photocopy of a doodle Andy drew when Sean asked him what it was about
(imagine a whole cherry pie with a "slice" missing in the shape of the
female genitalia).
Ten Feet Tall - Pretty good, but the guy who sang it was a fill in and had
to lean over to read the words...
Another Satellite - Nice, using the live ending from R&B Buffet version
Respectable Street - Unbelievable - the singer on this one was definitely a
fan (he subbed later on Real by Reel).  Classic beginning with the guitarist
crinkling a bag of ziti noodles to re-create the snap/pops of a scratched
record on the intro.
Sgt. Rock - Weird, but interesting.  An individual performer came out and
did this in a very bizarre fashion - with a great intro monologue - on a
slide guitar.
Grass - Beautiful.  Violin accompaniament with two accoustics and some synth
support.
Season Cycle -  Nicely sung by the girl who sang backup throughout (who I
would marry if I weren't already married...).
The Loving - Sung by the guitarist (David Terhune).  I thought they did this
better than the version on O&L
Towers of London - Great!
25 O'Clock - Awesome.  The guy who sang this definitely loved the Dukes.
Even ended it with a guy doing the Woody Allenesque commentary.
My Love Explodes - Loud!  Well done.  The guy who sang this dressed in Dukes
fashion and is believed to have had a roll of quarters in his pocket...

Intermission - Included a two minute video from Andy and Colin welcoming
everyone to the show and basically Andy (and even Colin) joking around.

Second Set

Making Plans for Nigel - Probably the best Colin imitation all night, except
perhaps for..
Generals and Majors - This was the Karaoke feature for the evening - sung by
a fan named Chris (sorry - didn't remember your last name, but I am sure you
are on the list) whose name was picked out of a hat (I think the Chicago
method of "Vote early and often" may have come into play here).  He NAILED
it with great stage presence.
Bags of Fun with Buster - Except for the Sax Swing Solo being done on a
trumpet, an excellent Johnny Japes send up!
The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul - Excellent, except for the improvised
injection of "Fever" in the middle, which was cheesy.
Dear God - Nailed it.
Pale and Precious - A little weak - my only disappointment
Earn Enough for Us - OK.
I'll Set Myself on Fire - Bizarre - A guy and two girls dressed like flames
doing a very strange rendition of the song in a devo-esque fashion.
Peter Pumpkinhead - Great!  Percssionist did the harmonica, singer was great
(and British).
Real by Real - Except for the missing whistles at the beginning and a little
off kilter vocals (the guy filled in at the last minute) it was spot on
musically.
Life Begins at the Hop - Perfect
Scissor Man - Sung by a woman in a gray beehive hairdo wig with a nightgown
on, I though a disaster was coming, but her campy, broadway-like voice and
school-marmish delivery worked...
Are You Receiving Me?  Nailed it.
Science Friction - Joe McGinty (the keyboardist and, I think, a founding
father of the Losers) steps out from the shadows to sing this with a cheap
strap-on keyboard.

The sets change each show based on which losers show up to sing, from what I
understand.

If you are in the New York area, make the trip.  It's worth the $20 plus two
drink minimum and there were plenty of XTC fans in the place - both on stage
and off.  There's a show Fridaynight  and two shows Saturday night.

Go.

Brendan

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

End of Chalkhills Digest #9-30
******************************

---

Go back to Volume 9.

13 June 2003 / Feedback