Fegmaniax Digest Volume 2 Number 1 [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 18:50:36 PST From: ruppen@QAL.Berkeley.Edu (Andy Ruppenstein) To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: new Robyn cut... >From reading rec.music.misc I see that there's a new charity cd out of Chicago with live tracks from WXRT's vaults. One of them is "Railways Shoes", from an in-studio interview in June, 1992 (with Morris playing a Coke can). Actually, the whole tracklist looked worthwhile. I don't know how to order the thing, but you read it here first (or maybe somewhere else, earlier). If anyone figures out a way to obtain one, please let us know. Thanks. Cheers, Andy / ruppen@qal.berkeley.edu [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 13:16:16 PST From: ruppen@QAL.Berkeley.Edu (Andy Ruppenstein) To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: that WXRT cd... Well, I did a little bit of follow-up on that WXRT cd with "Railway Shoes" on it. I talked with the guy at the station - they don't do mail orders. They shipped them to Chicago area music stores only, so one has to purchase through them. He thought that Tower, Coconuts, and Rose Records would probably still have copies, although he suspected that they would sell out in the next couple of weeks. As to the number pressed, there were 15K, with no chance of a second printing because it was prohibited in the contracts they signed with the artists. He did say they hoped to make a charity disc of this type an annual affair. (Which would be great, because 'XRT has probably one of the greatest live show archives in the US). So, get 'em while you can, if you can. yr. humble servant, Andy / ruppen@qal.berkeley.edu [][][][][][][][][][] Date: 1 Dec 93 13:12:00 GMT From: "DWARFS::SMEATS" Subject: Gig Tonight in Bristol To: "fegmaniax" As U.K. tour date info seems to be scarce, I thought I'd better pass this on. Robyn is playing tonight at the Fleece and Firkin in Bristol ( which is b.t.w. a damn fine homebrew pub ). I think I'm right in saying that this marks the end of the current U.K. tour, so hit that M4 now ! Stephen Meats : "I think he comes from Leatherhead if all my facts are right." [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 3 Dec 93 17:39:56 PST From: Douglas Asherman To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Songs/chords Is there an archive of lyrics with chords/arrangements somewhere around that is available some other way than FTP? - doug asherman [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 6 Dec 93 17:18:52 GMT From: J.W.Davies@reading.ac.uk (Jim Davies) To: andyh@cogs.sussex.ac.uk Cc: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu, chalkhills@presto.ig.com Subject: First impressions On the Newell/ Partridge effort: The Greatest Living Englishman. Brief: worth buying. More XTC than Cleaners from Venus. The title track is superb. You'll think that the Kinks could have been really good. For XTC fans, it's somewhere between English Settlement and Skylarking. For Cleaners fans, it's a postcard from another world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the Retrospective: Golden Cleaners Brief: worth buying. There was an album once. It was called "Going to England" by a group called "The Cleaners from Venus". It was the greatest album anyone had ever made. It had the five greatest songs anyone had ever recorded. It had the best cover you will ever see. Everyone you played it to fell in love with it. And, if you were lucky, they'd fall in love with you. And did this record sell? No. Almost all of the tracks from "Going to England" appear on "Golden Cleaners". It's no substitute for the real thing: tracks from the first and third albums break up the flow and "You Must Be Out of My Mind" is missing. But think of it like this. Buy "Golden Cleaners". Create a demand for Martin's work. Then maybe. Just maybe. You'll get to see "Going to England" for yourself. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1993 03:47:29 -0400 (EDT) From: TCARLSTO@DREW.DREW.EDU Subject: is anybody alive? Breathe in, breathe out... To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu So, has the tape tree begun to blossom yet? I haven't received anything, but then I am only a lowly leaf.... Has anyone heard ANYTHING about what Robyn is going to do for a label? Was it a mutual termination? I figure he'd go to Rykodisc, with the Soft Boys coming out thereon. There's not many artists recording actively for that label--most are reissues--but they have some standouts, like Sugar. Actually, that's the only standout I can think of. But whatever. Todd "These days I couldn't care less" Carlstrom [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 7 Dec 93 09:25:10 GMT From: jturner@rpms.ac.uk (Jonathan Turner) To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Lope at the Astoria The Soft Boys + Weddings Parties Anything + The Liberty Cage Robyn Hitchcock - Andy Metcalfe - Kimberley Rew - Matthew Seligman - Morris Windsor The Astoria, London 15th January 1994 Eight Pounds and Fifty Pence. Information from a flyer given to me outside the Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday, but not looked at until last night. Jonathan. jturner@rpms.ac.uk [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 7 Dec 93 09:41:46 GMT From: J.W.Davies@reading.ac.uk (Jim Davies) To: J.W.Davies@reading.ac.uk Cc: andyh@cogs.sussex.ac.uk, fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Martin Newell/ Cleaners/ etc. Someone just emailed me asking about the relevance of my last posting to Fegmaniax. The answer is simple: the posting was about good music, and it's likely to be of interest to Hitchcock fans. There's also a loose connection (there almost always is) in that both Martin and Robyn have written lyrics for the Captain. Martin was brought in to replace Robyn on "Revolution Now" and "The Universe of Geoffrey Brown". The Cleaners from Venus were part of the late eighties wave of psychedelic pop. There were a lot of bands involved, the best were championed by Bucketfull of Brains and Alan Duffy's Acid Tapes label. The Mock Turtles were perhaps the most successful, having a hit single in the UK with Can You Dig It. [ Alan Duffy founded Imaginary Records in 1987. Robyn appeared on his Byrds tribute. Neither Martin nor Robyn appeared on the Syd Barrett tribute, although (1) both are fans of Barrett's work, and (2) it's brilliant. ] If you like the magical side of the Egyptians' music, which shines through on Fegmania and Element of Light, then there's a good chance that you'll like at least one of these bands. The Cleaners (on "Going to England") are a good example. You might also like some of Paul Roland's work. I happen to think that the Dentists are brilliant. But then I'm more "pop" than "psych". Which is why I think that Ringo are the best new band in the world. So there. It's of interest. I got a phone call from the Garage last night to inform me that the tentatively-rescheduled gig on the 19th is cancelled. Robyn also cancelled the gigs in Bristol and Sheffield. We're hoping that there will be a tour in the New Year, but we haven't heard anything. The only tour plans that I know of are the Soft Boys dates in the U.S. Jim [][][][][][][][][][] From: etlprnw@etlxd20.ericsson.se (peter new xd/gke x.4621 ) Date: Tue, 7 Dec 93 11:33:52 GMT To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Re: Lope at the Astoria > The Soft Boys + Weddings Parties Anything + The Liberty Cage > > Robyn Hitchcock - Andy Metcalfe - Kimberley Rew - Matthew Seligman - > Morris Windsor > > The Astoria, London > > 15th January 1994 > > Eight Pounds and Fifty Pence. > > Information from a flyer given to me outside the Hammersmith Apollo on > Saturday, but not looked at until last night. > > Jonathan. > jturner@rpms.ac.uk > In response: Spotted this on saturday in Rounder Records, Brighton; The Soft Boys + Robyn Hitchcock The Concorde, Brighton 14/1/94, 6 pounds Pete.. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 7 Dec 93 14:42:30 GMT From: jturner@rpms.ac.uk (Jonathan Turner) To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Subject: Stephen, Are You There ? Apologies for the semi personal nature of this posting. My mail to Stephen Meats bounced several times so Stephen, the info is: The Astoria is at the top of the Charing Cross Road, just by Tottenham Court Road tube station. I don't have a box office number with me, but can mail you one if you send me your email address. (Actually, can you send that anyway ? Just 'replying' doesn't seem to work, and I can't work out a useable address). Jonathan. jturner@rpms.ac.uk [][][][][][][][][][] Date: 07 Dec 93 11:12:21 EST From: Benjamin.M.Brainard@Dartmouth.EDU (Benjamin M. Brainard) Subject: Re: is anybody alive? Breathe in, breathe out... To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Re: the tree. I've assembled the final structure, but I still await the seed...once I get that, it should be a couple days before things really get rolling. If I become motivated a bit later today, maybe I will post the final structure, just to whet some appetites.... oh, and in fulfilling my duties as concert co-chair here at the illustrious dartmouth college, I happened to notice that Robyn was touring with the Egyptians around next april. Of course, I think I'm the only one at this school who has heard of him (where are you Espen?), so we had to pass him over :-( squash it, ...b [][][][][][][][][][] Date: 07 Dec 93 11:25:15 EST From: Benjamin.M.Brainard@Dartmouth.EDU (Benjamin M. Brainard) Subject: Re: Martin Newell/ Cleaners/ etc. To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu --- Jim Davies wrote: The only tour plans that I know of are the Soft Boys dates in the U.S. --- end of quoted material --- wow. when did this come about? Are there any confirmed dates as of yet? Is rykodisc coordinating the tour? [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1993 12:39:34 -0600 To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu From: gene@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu (Gene Hopstetter) Subject: 12-inch Comix Here's Robyn's poem from the _I Often Dream of Trains_ vinyl. Being that his handwriting's sometimes difficult to read, and it comes from a very old typed copy of it, I can't vouch for spelling, indentations, and line breaks, but here it is nonetheless. ++++++ Five clattered Fegballs -- Each, a painless ram Whose pincers gouge the clotted silence Tender and infinite -- As we watch the wallpaper. So the five appear [][][][][][][][][][] Five eyes! Five heads! Five orbs! Globes! Oh God of Bulbs! The wall is giving birth again. Five infant slots, blinking and dreaming On behalf of the soft, electric house And we behold the gashes part and flutter It's lunchtime and five open eyes Reflect the four square windowpane New eyes, aging out of innocence Throid onions in a swelling wall... ...the plants retreat, the cat sheds fur. The furniture doth knot itself. Here's Cynil! Come to dust the falls; He whistles in on roller-skates And points his feather thing But stops -- five staring eyes turn on his clothes Leave him to flee in smouldering shame It's three o'clock -- the mitered lids Can hardly hold the straining orbs The room is silent Except for the sound of muscular contractions Then falls the first An orange flop And Autumn's first pumpkin hisses to the floor A second squeezes from her slit And shoots across the room To splat, deflating on the soup-tureen Now click, now clack, now Cynil's back -- in Sophie's drag -- With lipstick, stockings and a fag -- or is it Sophie's anyway? -- Enter Renfrew, the soda butler They prize the three remaining eyes Mellow and putrid [][][][][][][][][][] -- they're ripe, and come out easily -- And serve them in a nest of claws and lettuce Somewhere out of doors. Five fegballs seeded, swollen, grown and gone Five sutures in the flaming wall Five fleshy tubers, hanging limp Vestigal, umbilical They fall like pork scratchings And are swept away Five maroon scars that slowly heal Till next time someone needs a meal Gene Hopstetter, Jr. +++++++ gene@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu Writer Guy +++++++++++ Tulane Computing Services [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1993 16:33:03 -0600 (CST) From: The Man Who Invented Himself Subject: Soft Boys Tour Dates? To: feg:; What are these so-called U.S. tour dates? Anyone? **************************** @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ * C. Aaron Lowe | "Time runs backwards, at the end; @ * "Waiting for the Great | You turn into a child again @ * Leap Forwards." | Then you're dust." @ * st3cr@jetson.uh edu | --Robyn Hitchcock @ **************************** @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [][][][][][][][][][] From: jilla70398@aol.com To: fegmaniax@gnu.ai.mit.edu Date: Tue, 07 Dec 93 20:05:17 EST Subject: Label Woes? T. Carlstrom writes asking what Robyn is doing for a label, and asking if this is a mutual termination. Has A&M dropped Robyn? If so, when did this happen? Never heard anything about it. Can't say I'm surprised, since his record sales aren't quite in the Garth Brooks range, but it's still very sad. Hope some enterprising label that's more interested in quality than the bottom line will pick him up. Can anyone confirm Soft Boys dates for the U.S.? Is this a one-off reunion tour, or are they planning something more permanent, like maybe even a record? Any info is appreciated. "Septicemia always wins" - R. H. Jill [][][][][][][][] End of this Fegmaniax Digest. Archives can be found on ftp.uwp.edu:/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax. For administrative questions, subscription requests, and all that boring crud, send mail to fegmaniax-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu. Slipping you the midnight fish...