Chalkhills Digest Volume 9, Issue 46
Date: Friday, 12 September 2003
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 9, Number 46
Friday, 12 September 2003
Topics:
Senses, at least the sense of Musical Taste, working Undertime.
One more time
Mandy Moore in XTC
25th anniversary?
Again and Again and Again...
Mandy Moore
Moving on up
Who's Flash?
Spunkbubbled!
Re: Merely A Man
Should I resign now?
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And I don't want to find myself this way again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 09:05:57 -0400 From: "Duncan Watt" <dwatt@fastestmanintheworld.com> Subject: Senses, at least the sense of Musical Taste, working Undertime. Message-ID: <200309101307.h8AD7gQd4850057@els.sgi.com> Ben Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> wrote, innocently, re: the iminent Mandy Moore release, featuring an XTC cover: > and I can't friggin' WAIT to > see what "Drop the Pilot" (apparently the first single) and, of course, > "Senses..." sound like! ...um, yes, you *can*. It's crap. In fact, it's what AP was making fun of! Ouchies. Your Pal Duncan ps of course, you can hear the Striking Beauties rock "Senses" in a quite Superior Fashion right here: http://home.comcast.net/~kanuba/main/senses.html ...and no amnesty form needed!
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 06:07:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Jackson <jydson@yahoo.com> Subject: One more time Message-ID: <20030910130752.27191.qmail@web10803.mail.yahoo.com> Greetings, Just a couple of observations... It was perhaps my bragging a year ago about buying at ebay the bootleg "Andy Partridge A to Z " that started this hornet's nest (about bootlegs vs. the FW's demo releases) and the ensuing admonishment from the guy who does the attractive optimismsflames.com site..that lead to the 4 Fuzzy Warbles releases....or maybe all of this remaking/remodeling would have been published anyway, Regardless, any XTC related release is welcome in my cd player, and my feelings have always been "if you don't like the song change the station" All this negative human alchemy is a waste of bandwith...can't we all just get along? More pertinent, the last real new XTC release, WASP STAR is my favorite album by the band, there are'nt many artists I can say their last effort was their best. As often is the case, at first, I did'nt like it right off, but after a few listens , I could not stop playing it, especially The Maypole & The Wheel... over and over and over...just brilliant how they weave two themes simultaneously in their songs. It left me starving for more, and hating the long wait between another new release as XTC has left me wanting more,more,more betwen new releases for at least the past 20 years! There's simply no other band curently recording that has this effect on me. Like Lennon & McCartney, Adam & Eve or peanut butter and jelly, Moulding & Partridge go together better than seperate, PLEASE Sirs, may we have another? Never underestimate the power of positive feedback!...are you receiving me?
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 08:48:58 -0400 From: RMuRocks@aol.com Subject: Mandy Moore in XTC Message-ID: <27B41387.31730465.007ABAF2@aol.com> Ben said: > and I can't friggin' WAIT to > see what "Drop the Pilot" (apparently the first single) and, of course, > "Senses..." sound like! Ben, the video for that was on her website, as well as samples of all the tracks. I didn't care for her take on Drop The Pilot, but if it leads someone to the source and they pick up on Joan Armatrading, then some good will have come of it. And just to clarify...I'm not a Mandy Moore fan, I collect Joni Mitchell covers and Ms. Moore does "Help Me" on this disc as well. And hopefully a new generation will be introduced to the brilliant pop sensibilities of "Senses Working Overtime"! Bob, trying to act positively NP: Stevie Wonder, "Black Man"
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 10:00:36 -0400 From: "James Michael Isaacs" <james.isaacs@uky.edu> Subject: 25th anniversary? Message-ID: <1063202436.c7a39060james.isaacs@uky.edu> Citizens- There has been a lot of cheering and shouting about for the 20th anniversary of the release of Mummer. Should we also not be celebrating (much in the way we brought in Y2K) the 1978 release of Go 2, XTC's greatest work? Now, I don't remember the actual date, as I was yet a wee tot, but doggone it, think of this: if they never did Go 2, they never would have done Drums and Wires. I thought the East Coast blackout was perhaps a way of the entire population shutting down to appreciate it en masse, but then it occurred to me that without electricity, many people wouldn't be able to hear it anyway. And no, I am not insane, but my tongue is burrowing its way violently through my cheek. James 7 years of the "Go 2 Underappreciation League"
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 11:45:55 -0400 From: KEVIN.WOLLENWEBER@jpmorgan.com Subject: Again and Again and Again... Message-ID: <OF372016B8.C587F7DA-ON85256D9D.004C4C55@chase.com> CHALKHILLS Folk: Well, here I am again, posting just to say "hey". Oddly enough, these days, the bulk of my CD buying seems to be reissues. This does not mean that new music doesn't appeal to me; there just happens to be an awful lot of reissued stuff that also is pulling me in its collective direction, even stuff that I'd hoped would be on CD with just the right bit of upgrading. I realize that record companies like to reissue key albums or entire catalogues of the artists who have recorded for them, occasionally baiting the collector into believing that *THIS* would be the definitive copy. You take that chance when you buy and your only hope is that the local used CD store will take the previous issue off your hands, as most times, in my case, they have. Someone, at some point, will have to tell me, especially if he or she has worked in used CD shops, just how absolutely valuable previous issues of a given album on CD really are, because I buy the upgrades *BECAUSE* they are upgrades, sometimes sounding better than previous while not really tweaking the original recording. I wince when I find out that a certain product is being reissued yet again and *THIS* time, they claim, the sound is as pure as it is going to get. I almost expect that, for example, Verve will come out and decide to issue Frank Zappa & Mothers' albums like WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY and RUBIN AND THE JETS, with total original master tapes fully intact, explaining to the masses that they "had just found these sparkling master recordings that were unmarred by time, and we know that you fans will eat this stuff up!" How many times have you heard *THAT*! Sometimes the repurchases have something to do with packaging, but most times I rebuy for the sound upgrade with notable extras. While some of you have been complaining about the FUZZY WARBLES disks, I have to say that, when you look at most of the reissues this year, the FUZZIES are perhaps better buys. Most reissue campaigns merely turn out to be so many demos and alternate takes and, while these are good, you secretly hope that the extra stuff turns out to be truckloads of unissued tracks! This all depends on how the group likes to work and how they feel about the studio on the overall. Some folks, like our own Andy Partridge, seem to be more comfortable in the studio and that becomes their creative tool. While the recording of a record might be a grind, once they start creating and embellishing, ideas come flooding out on a good night and the record sometimes gets expanded to twice the length of the thing that eventually gets released. How many times have we read the article about the making of a forthcoming album in which one or two of the members talk about so many noodlings that they had done during a given session that are in the can but never made it to the finished album because they were afraid of putting too much "padding" throughout the disk? Yet, there was a time in pop music history where groups were not comfortable with the studio; so when they went in with songs, they had just enough material to fill the album and they went through the grueling process of rehearsing and perfecting, much of which is captured on tape and saved. Now, at that time, no one knew that there would be a such thing as a CD, with twice the length of a vinyl album. Thus, especially with jazz issues, we have found that any number of noteworthy musicians did numerous takes of the same song with the exact same arrangement but with different degrees of energy and dexterity in soloing. Fanatics must have just about *ALL* those arrangements and that is perhaps why jazz collections are peppered with alternate takes. The complete opposite of this is found with reissues of prog bands like Yes, whose catalogue is going through an overhaul with the majority of bonus tracks being rehearsals to give the listener an impression of just how the pieces took shape. These, too, are rather fascinating, though, because you realize how the studio had enhanced the recordings. For those who have never been in a recording studio, like myself, the outtakes here really make the ear keen to what kind of editing must go on to make the finished product shine like a new dime! For those who think that groups like Yes and Gentle Giant (remembre them?) were studio creations and not nearly as good in concert, well, perhaps their criticism has some basis in fact, but this problem stems less with the ability of the musicians to play the pieces correctly than to the fact that the artists in question have sometimes arranged and dubbed themselves to the point that, in order to play the pieces properly onstage, they'd need to carry twice the amount of musicians with them! Since we have heard from musicians themselves, even on this list, just how expensive it is to embark on a tour to support this magnificent bit of audio artistry that had just been completed and released, one can easily see why even the biggest names don't do more than merely attempt the pieces or songs as best they can with the resources that they can neatly carry around with them. Far beyond prog, someone like Elvis Costello at times did his own background harmonies and tricky vocal arrangements, too, and you felt the empty space when he had tried to perform some of those smoothe arrangements live minus the obviously overdubbed vocals. Nowadays, some groups have cagily brought along backing tracks to play along with, but it takes away from the live experience to hear this bit of cheating. Someone like Costello has opted instead to re-arrange his songs to fit the live venue and I'd always wished that more groups would do just that. So where am I going here? Nowhere, just to say that I fully understand why Andy Partridge chooses to use the studio as his creative tool. I've spoken about this before, but I did want to say that I like the FUZZY WARBLES disks for the reason that they, too, help us hear the arranging process on some songs as they happen...and these are *NEVER* boring. Partridge is comfortable with the studio and that always makes a fine album because the artist will always think of touches to add to songs or in between songs to create some sort of conceptual continuity, even if none was intended originally. With the advent of super-audio CD (SACD), artists (or, in the majority of the cases, the record companies that hoarde the artists' work) seem to be realizing that the studio is a never-ending tone poem. I don't have equipment with such capabilities, so I've never heard SACD sound, but I have a hard time feeling that the classic stereo albums of our favorite artists can be reconfigured to fit this neww expansion in sound well enough, without hiss or detection of the age of the master recordings. I've heard the stereo tricks on recordings of, say, the 1930's, lifted originally from the sound on 78 RPM productions, and something about it sounds synthetic. On the other hand, there is the miracle that the stereo remix of the Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS album seems to me! I guess it all depends on the condition of the original master tapes or disks. Yet, I don't hear of any current albums, released in the last few weeks, existing specifically on this format with a hybrid track for those, like myself, who don't have the equipment versatile enough. Such hybrids are always released as an aftermath. Yet, Andy Partridge is up there with the best soundscape masters, even if SACD does never discover XTC or Partridge never gets to dabble in hybrid recordings. Just recently, I ordered Martin Newell's current AUTUMN RADIO and an earlier album, THE OFF-WHITE ALBUM and, although I like some of the material on these albums, the true wizard of a collection remains THE GREATEST LIVING ENGLISHMAN, the one on which the "new and improved" Andy Partridge plays, arranges and produces. I do hope that Andy does another recording session with Martin Newell real soon since I thought the wits worked quite well together...and seemed to have a lot of fun doing it! Some concerts I'd seen in my lifetime really make me wish that the audience wasn't there, anyway, so I'm focusing almost entirely on good studio technique. If an artist can pull off his work live and afford to bring the amount of musicianship to make it work, bravo! However, most musicians are really feeling comfortable in the studio and perhaps grind their teeth at doing that road trip to introduce themselves to crowds that think it is fun, in this age of reality TV, to heckle or yowl up request lists that only result in the performer just standing there until everyone just shuts up and lets him or her or them continue with the show they had planned! I long for the day when an artist can make the bulk of his or her money producing albums alone. Who knows; maybe certain names will decide to eventually tour anyway, genuinely for the fun of it, having made money enough to do the trip as they wish. Look at Steely Dan; as far as I know, they had balked at touring for almost the same reasons I had given above, and audiences were miffed. They also hadn't recorded any music for years, save for solo material here and there, but suddenly, they decided on going out with a full band and touring again regularly around new product and playing sets that make each show interesting and unpredictable, sometimes slowing a number down or trying it on a different key with a different vocalist. I guess many of us could go on theorizing just why the guys came out and decided to tour again around new albums. Hey, Simon & Garfunkel are going to reform as a duo again! Sooner or later, despite degrees of success on the record racks, there is always the stage as creative tool as well, and we cannot predict just what could happen in the future. Yet, you just can't press this kind of creativity in eithe rdirection. If an artist goes through a creative block, sooner or later that artist will suddenly wake up with a double-album's worth of inspiration, and how many artists these days actually release full double albums? This only seems to be a reissue phenomenon with the second disk being bonus tracks and rehearsals. Let's hope that the Andy Partridge projects soon are finished and released to us. I've no doubt that he's got material in the can and will release it when the time is right. There is so much other music out there these days, that I can't keep up with it all, especially that being issued on websites. That is what I like to read the CHALKHILLS list for, and I hope we get back to talking about such rare goodies. Oh, by the way, I did read here that there is a Thomas Dolby recording floating around on which Andy or Colin did some co-writing? Wow!!! Now there is a supergroup for the future...and, boy, does that date me to even use the word "supergroup". The term killed Blind Faith and sent 'em bouncing back to their respective corners! Yet, I liked that whole bit of seeking new directions and playing with some talents with whom the artist in question always wanted to play. What Andy Partridge is about to do is really healthy, and I like Colin's attitude about younger musicians. If he felt so inclined, he should do some talent hopping and perhaps offering his assistance...and maybe even coaxing Mr. Dolby out into the studio again. Thomas Dolby left the biz on a real high note as far as I'm concerned. He had some heavyweights on his last studio album and I thought that this love affair with music as a career would have lasted for at least a few more audio projects. Meanwhile, reissues are flowing out like water. Soon we will have not only the supposedly upgraded Dylan catalogue (or 15 titles therein at least), but we wil see expanded Television reissues, with a live Rhino Handmade disk rumored to come!!! I hope it all continues, and I hope we start talking in this list about pros and cons on some of these, while hinting at stuff we're hearing about Andy and Colin. Lastly, Becki DiGregorio's new Dukes of Stratosphere-inspired project is underway...in spurts, but it is underway, and we should hear her take on '60's garage and psychedelic studio wizardry soon enough. It's all coming together and all still in the works, but there y'are! Kevin
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 23:14:49 -0400 From: Gary McBride <mrxtc@garym.com> Subject: Mandy Moore Message-ID: <1A675F84-E406-11D7-912C-000393BAD7A4@garym.com> Not sure if this has been reported, or maybe it's obvious, but you can hear a clip of Mandy Moore's cover of "Senses Working Overtime" at her website http://www.mandymoore.com along with all the other tracks on the album. Looks like "Senses" might be the leadoff track... nothing to really inspire me to buy it, or anyone else over age 24. The upside might be that it could inspire some youngsters to pick up an XTC album, or maybe mistakenly download the originals from Kazaa or something. I know that Travis inspired me to run out and buy the original "Hit Me Baby One More Time." Actually, it didn't... but it could have.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:25:47 -0700 From: "WAYNE KLEIN" <wtdk12@msn.com> Subject: Moving on up Message-ID: <BAY3-DAV86RT9aN2apm0000b350@hotmail.com> >>I had a strange feeling about Warren today, so I went out, bought the new album, and checked his website. Music has lost one of its greatest. The new album, "The Wind," is a damn good final wave goodbye. Warren, we'll miss you. -Ben<< I loved Warren's comment about life (and death) listed at his website. "Enjoy every sandwich". It says it all with the wry humor he was noted for. Transverse City and Sentimental Hygiene are two of my favorite albums. Yes, The Wind joined that list (along with Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School and Warren Zevon). Thanks for the joy Warren. May God (if he exists) have a sense of humor. Not that it matters but Warren's top albums-- Sentimental Hygiene Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School The Wind Life'll Kill You Transverse City Warren Zevon Learning to Flinch Hindu Love Gods The Envoy (why, oh why isn't this on CD yet?) My Ride's Here Don't know if Mr. Partridge is a fan but it would be a blast to see The Dukes cover a Zevon tune (Transverse City would be a natural). Took a listen to Mummer again for the first time in awhile. It isn't my fav album but it does have a number of classic tracks. I always felt that Funk Pop a Roll has plenty of bite but doesn't quite build the way, say, Snowman or Travels does. Still love Love on a Farm Boy's Wages though. Also from Ben >>Sorry to double post, but I've just heard Mandy Moore's version of John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me" from her upcoming album. Of course, the XTC connection is obvious (duh!), as the album was produced by our own John Fields and features a cover of "Senses Working Overtime." In any case, I don't know if you're out there, John, but you did a bang-up job with this one...the right combination of breathy and Hiatt-y (for lack of a better term), and I can't friggin' WAIT to see what "Drop the Pilot" (apparently the first single) and, of course, "Senses..." sound like!<< I was a bit surprised when I heard this (in a movie theater no less). My daughter loved it and she's asked to hear more of John Hiatt's music. Her fav so far is Child of the Wild Blue Yonder. As to Mandy's version of Faith it does remind me a bit of Glen Ballard's production of Hiatt's remake (it's on the Greatest Hits CD Capitol put out). If John Fields is out there I'd be curious if the remake was the starting point for Moore's version. Good choice to include Senses on the album. My daughter loves that, too. I kinda like it as well.
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 11:12:22 -0400 From: KEVIN.WOLLENWEBER@jpmorgan.com Subject: Who's Flash? Message-ID: <OF7584DD0E.B7228F82-ON85256D9F.0050B057@chase.com> Chalkmarkers: Well, well, well, just a day after I post to this list, I read the October issue of ICE Magazine (yes, I'd received the issue *THAT* quickly!) and noted a piece on what has to be the fourth reissue of the Who's TOMMY, this time in SACD hybrid with bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are what have me interested in the set, but I gotta tell ya, this is an instance wherein I wince! It was bad enough that the stores were not carrying the "secret" upgrade of A QUICK ONE and I had to send the copy I ended up buying back to MCA/Universal to get the corrected one, but now we're getting the kind of hype that *THIS* is indeed the definitive pressing, complete with extra bonuses...and I hear we may even get *ANOTHER* upgrade of WHO'S NEXT! The claim, like that which accompanied the blurbs on A QUICK ONE and WHO'S NEXT, is that the genuine master tapes have now *FINALLY* been discovered!!! AARGH!! Please, John Astley, mine those vaults more thoroughly next time, okay? SACD hybrids are here! Maybe it would have done Virgin well to save the XTC reissues until this phenomenon became the big news and issued domestic copies, complete with this extra layer of sound for the few that own such capable players, and all the bonuses and more!!! Again, i'm constantly swaying on this issue; I mean, I guess this is how record companies make their money, over and over again, and I don't completely sneer at it, mostly because, if I were to miss a prime edition of a given album, there will always be another even *MORE* definitive issue down the road; I mean, maybe Rhino will listen to my suggestion years hence and issue a two-disk edition of the Stooges' album, FUN HOUSE with the best of the bonuses that were once briefly available through Rhino Handmade on that eight-disk edition of the album! There is bound to be new editions of certain albums, honoring anniversaries and such. Has anyone stopped counting the different editions, in different parts of the world, of the Beach Boys' PET SOUNDS? In this case, I'm starting to smart from the excess and sometimes wonder whether I should jump at stuff that calls itself "definitive" or "deluxe", although the latter term usually is lent to reissues that turn out to be genuinely once-in-a-lifetime opportunities! Such hype is hard to figure out, but I guess that is what makes collecting interesting. I guess my desire for such upgrades will stop when the used CD stores stop accepting my previous issues. When no one wants my "stuff", I'll have no other alternative than to ignore the tempting fresher stuff that appears on the new product lists I constantly paruse with varied interest. I just thought you'd all like to hear about this item, though. Somebody sneak into Verve Records' vaults and make sure that they aren't hoarding the missing bass and percussion tracks to the Mothers of Invention album, WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY, who's uncensored version we were cheated out of, 'cept for a Zappa-conducted remix on Barking Pumpkin vinyl. Now *THAT* would be definitive!!! Kevin P.S. Could someone explain to me, sometime, off or on list, just why previous issues of a given album are worth so much to collectors, aside from those rare editions in mini-LP sleeves or which feature now very rare bonus tracks that still haven't shown up on current collections? When CD's were first being pressed, as I'd been told, the cover art for the CD versions was simulated impressions of the original album covers, and I know that word booklets were non-existent. Yet, I'd been told in some used CD shops, that earlier editions are valuable! Huh?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 08:35:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Versaci <michael_versaci@yahoo.com>
Subject: Spunkbubbled!
Message-ID: <20030912153542.8348.qmail@web20405.mail.yahoo.com>
Folxtc,
Long ago, in an internet far far away, a prophetic young Chalkhillian
upstart by the name of Dom Lawson had the wit and insight to post the
following:
>This reminds me of an episode of "Miami Vice" which I failed
to avoid a few years back. It co-starred the spew-inducing Phil Collins
(whose new album title "Hits" must be the ultimate in telling anagrams
-a bad joke, but a necessary one)[Good joke! mv], a thespian titan in
his own bigoted and imagination-free brain, as some kind of "crook"
(fellow Brits will confirm how implausible this casting was for the
diminuitive, cash-loving spunkbubble).<
A seasoned veteran of the list took exception to these bon mots and
reacted with the following:
>Granted, Phil Collins has made some records that were in poor taste.
He also happens to be a brilliant and influential drummer, a good
singer, and has written some fine songs. I recommend that you listen
to Genesis' first album after the departure of Peter Gabriel, "A Trick
Of The Tale" to find just how capable a musician the man is before you
dismiss him as being "spew-inducing" and "imagination-free". (By the
way, do you listen to Phil before you sit down to write to
"Chalkhills"?)
In fact, I'd wager that no matter what it is you do that you take pride
in Mr. Lawson, [embarrassing nasty bits edited for my own dignity]
whatever that thing is, you will never be as good at it as Phil
Collins is at making music.<
Well, as it turns out, this seasoned veteran has eaten these words for
breakfast many times since he wrote them. It started with the obvious
-records like "Invisible Touch" and "Another Day in Paradise" went from
"bad taste" to "spew-inducing," "Abacab" went from "Acceptable" to
"Crap," and now I'm afraid to spin "A Trick of The Tail!" I still
believe he was once a good drummer, but "brilliant" and "influential"
should be reserved for likes of Bill Bruford [Happy, T-Bone?] and
Stewart Copeland. As far as "good singer" is concerned, I must have
been smoking some exceptional, er, "cigarillos" back in those days.
That toffee-nosed wanker should have stayed behind the drums and kept
his festering gob shut, both on record and off.
(Sorry, this is abuse... :D )
Dom has demonstrated since then that he does many things extremely
well, from turning me on to great records ("Damnation" by Opeth for
one) to consistently contributing some of the most entertaining and
intelligent pieces to Chalkhills.
My formal apologies, Mr. Lawson. Collins is indeed, a Spew-Inducing
Spunkbubble!
Michael Versaci
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 12:52:13 -0400 From: RMuRocks@aol.com Subject: Re: Merely A Man Message-ID: <2787432A.0EE53203.007ABAF2@aol.com> > Funny you should mention Merely A Man. I don't think it's the worst thing on O&L...Across This Antheap or Here Comes President Kill Again (although lyrically right on the money) are my two least favorites. But when I transferred the LP to tape so I could play it in the car (back in THOSE days), Merely a Man didn't make the cut. Bob NP: XTC, "The Last Balloon" Homespun version
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 20:36:00 +0100 From: "gary NICHOLSON" <garynicholson@snurge.fsnet.co.uk> Subject: Should I resign now? Message-ID: <000801c37965$1c96ab80$904b86d9@oemcomputer> Point 1: Look up XTC in the 2004 Encyclopaedia Britannica DVD-ROM and you get an article on New Wave, which states: "In Britain new wave was led by clever singer-songwriters such as pub rock veterans Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, and Elvis Costello; Squeeze and XTC, whose songs were sophisticated and infectious; ska revivalists such as Madness and the Specials; genre-hopping Joe Jackson; synthesizer bands such as Human League, Heaven 17, and A Flock of Seagulls; and the so-called New Romantics, including the cosmetics-wearing Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, and Culture Club. As the mid-1980s approached, the line separating new wave from the corporate mainstream blurred, especially for bands such as the Pretenders (fronted by former rock journalist Chrissie Hynde), the Police, and U2, who became hugely popular. Although punk was pronounced dead (though it later would inspire grunge and alternative), the music and fashion sensibilities of new wave continued to influence pop music through the 1990s". Point 2: I work for Encyclopaedia Britannica in the UK (although I do sales and distribution of godd old fuddy-duddy print). Owing to this unfortunate, and potentially apoplexy-inducing association with XTC and (sharp intake of breath) A Flock of Seagulls hahahahahkillthemallhahahah. should I fall on my sword or use my negligible influence to get a few editorial changes? Point 3: Swindon's new parking wardens. 650 tickets issued in the first 10 days. By 20 wardens. According to BBC South today. Erm. Is it me or is that pretty poor? Point 4: Another glass of wine may be called for. Respect to all, Gary Nicholson
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #9-46 ******************************
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