Fegmaniax Digest <==----------==> (Send posts to the list to fegmaniax@nsmx.rutgers.edu) (Send adminstrative requests to majordomo@nsmx.rutgers.edu) (Send comments, etc to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@nsmx.rutgers.edu) <==----------==> Volume 3 Number 57 Today's Topics: ------- ------ Cycling madly DeRogatis at Chicago Show Greetings ... More about Robyn comp More about Robyn compilations Nigel & The Crosses Place Names In Robyn Songs Respect is due, man Robyn Sampler So You Think You're In Love? Tax Season catch-up part II Thomas Dolby hi stranded on a & m... [][][][][][][][][][] From: mad5c@server.cs.virginia.edu Subject: Nigel & The Crosses To: fegmaniax Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 10:00:16 -0400 (EDT) Says Joe Beaulieu: >> >> On a different note, did you all know that Robyn and Peter Buck did a >> song on a Byrds tribute album several years ago as "Nigel and the Crosses"? >> Its a really great song - the highlight of the album IMO. This is something I'm not really clear on. Here's what I think I know about Nigel & The Crosses: Nigel Cross is a BBC producer or something like that. Like John Peel or (Andy?) Kershaw. Nigel & The Crosses included at least one of the Egyptians and Peter Buck. I'm not clear on what the lineup was. There were just a few Nigel & The Crosses, and tapes do exist. The sets included some interesting covers, including 'Wild Mountain Thyme' which is excellent, and is the tune Joe is referring to above, and 'Purple Haze', among others. I'm reasonably sure not all of this is true. Would anyone like to clear up any of my mis-apprehensions, or better yet, offer to trade me a tape? Mike. --- Michael DeLong - UVa Department of Computer Science - mike@virginia.edu --- "Join the 10% with the lead pipes." -- Dan Johnson (The Elder Dan) [][][][][][][][][][] From: r.adams7@genie.geis.com Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 14:21:00 UTC To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: DeRogatis at Chicago Show Reply: Item #6637556 from fegmaniax@nsmx.rutgers.edu@INET#on 95/04/19 at 16:02 Huh, so Jim wasn't having a good time at the show? I could see him rather clearly from my table, and he sure looked like he was having a good time. I can understand why he got the date about Jill Sobule's debut wrong; it's being promoted as her debut for that particular label. DeRogatis may be going by her current promo material, which most likely doesn't mention the older, not-so-great album. Just like Tori Amos has tried to disavow Y KANT TORI READ, y'know. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 10:57:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Eugene B Mirman Subject: Re: More about Robyn compilations To: Lee Gray Cc: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I believe the whole concept of monotheism is a gift from the gods" -Emo Phillips Eugene's humor page: http://dawn.pc.cc.cmu.edu/~eugene/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Lee Gray wrote: > For instance, I *love* "Give It to the Soft Boys," but if I > had heard it 10 years ago as the first song on a comp tape, I probably > wouldn't have made it very much farther! The first song I heard five years ago was Man With The Light Bulb Head, the second song was "Give It To The Soft Boys." I fell in love. At the time I was listening to Motley Crue, Aerosmith, and Jethro Tull. I don't know how much further I could get from Motley Crue than Robyn. If you put it on the comp tape, they will listen... -Eugene [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 17:38:03 +0100 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: ekwall@algonet.se (Christer Ekwall) Subject: Re: So You Think You're In Love? Joe Beaulieu wrote: >Once, when Robyn was hosting 120 Minutes, they showed a part of the video for >>"So You Think..." and as they came out of the video, Robyn says something >like >"Thats a video about what people will do for money". > >But I think its a good song. How much of the antipathy directed at that song >is based on the production, and maybe not the song itself? > I think you're right, Joe. I first heard Robyn performing this song with just an acoustic guitar and thought it was a good song - not great, but good. When I later heard it on the album I was VERY disappointed. I found the production and performance poor and totally lifeless. Christer E ekwall@algonet.se [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 09:34:46 From: Russ Reynolds To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: More about Robyn comp Eugene sez: > The first song I heard five years ago was Man With The Light Bulb Head, > the second song was "Give It To The Soft Boys." I fell in love. Several years ago a co-worker heard "Light Bulb Head" on a tape I was blaring, and expressed an interest. So I put together a Robyn compilation, which began with "Give It To The Soft Boys". The next day he was raving about GITTSB. I haven't seen the bloke in about ten years so I can't say whether or not he's completely fegged, but it would appear that TMWTLBH and GITTSB have a pretty good track record as an initial one-two punch. Russ. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 18:32:53 +0000 From: S.Roberts@astronomy.cardiff.ac.uk (Simon Roberts) To: owner-fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Thomas Dolby Phewph! I've been eastering for 10 days and come back to 200 RH messages. It's great that his music spawns such mass debate. It was mentioned a while ago but I'd thought I'd add to the Thomas Dolby "Flat Earth" discussion. Matthew Seligman (sp?) and Thomas Dolby must've been friends at some stage because they both supported Bowie at Live Aid in 1985. Matthew Silicon plays on the "Dancing in the Street" Bowie/Jagger charity record. Hope somebody finds this slightly interesting. Simon [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 18:30:58 GMT From: rramsay@realres.demon.co.uk (Robert Ramsay) To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Robyn Sampler Here's my Robyn Sampler - Only up to 'Perspex Island' however - it fills both sides of a C100. I think I'd take out Tonight, Love, Flavour of Night, and Sleeping with Your Devil Mask to fit in some stuff from Respect & You & Oblivion... Give It To The Soft Boys Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole I Wanna Destroy You Tonight The Man Who Invented Himself Love Uncorrected Personality Traits Flavour Of Night This Could Be the Day "I Often Dream Of Trains" The Man With The Lightbulb Head Strawberry Mind Glass The Cars She Used To Drive My Wife and My Dead Wife Brenda's Iron Sledge Only The Stones Remain Leppo & The Jooves It's A Mystic Trip Point It At Gran Airscape The Leopard Tell Me About Your Drugs Sleeping With Your Devil Mask Unsettled The Devil's Coachman Cynthia Mask Beautiful Girl Clean Steve Oceanside So You Think You're In Love -- Robert Ramsay - Reality Research rramsay@realres.demon.co.uk "Meaning is something we humans invented" [][][][][][][][][][] From: mikester@bix.com Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 14:48:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Tax Season catch-up part II To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Ok... playing catch-up on all my mail since I have actual time now. Re: Boston Shows Hitchcock-o-rama was outstanding. He did enough different material at each show to keep things interesting for those of us determined to overdose. My only regret was that I wasn't able to meet any of you guys. Best show: the 7:00 show at TT's, with the Newbury Comics performance a _close_ second. >- There were two electric songs that I felt didn't work: Only The Stones >Remain and Driving Aloud. "Stones" was wonderfuly sloppy, IMO, and I thought "Driving Aloud" was great each night. "Bleeding" was awesome, as was "Ghost Ship." I loved Deni & her band, but Jill S. didn't impress me that much. >1. Boooooooooo!!!! No "Airscape" or "Birdshead" or "Surgery". He actually opened the 7:00 show with "Surgery." Re: NetSurfer Ghost I would _love_ a tape of all the new stuff. I think we should go for it, and maybe even send a copy to Robyn. Re: Robyn's blinking while playing > I've been a longtime lurker and one-time poster to this list, >and I wanted to re-introduce myself with a question: anyone know what's >up with the Man's blinking? Every time I've seen him he's done that. He does that on the "GLTHO" video. Re: April 8th setlist >A little bit different - I gather he didn't do "Dead Wife" either since >he did it in the Newbury Comics gig. He _did_ do Dead Wife (although that may have been at the 7:00 show), and said that it was supposed to be on Frank Sinatra's "Duets" album, but they had a problem with the computer, and it was Frank singing a duet with himself. He substituted "'Robyn,' she says" with "'Frank,' she says." Re: Robyn's Greatest Off the top of my head, I'd start it with some Soft Boys, perhaps the song "Underwater Moonlight," "Queen Of Eyes," and "Tonight," if your convert has more conservative musical tastes. I'd also put on things like "Priest," "Airscape," "Baloon Man," (Yeah, I know, but it _is_ probably his most accessable pop song) "Madonna," "Swirling," "Oceanside," "SYTYIL" (see Balooon Man), "Yip" and "Driving Aloud." Others as well, but I can't reach my CD's from here. Re: Perspex, Respect, and produciton in general. While I agree that Perspex can come off as overproduced, it's got an _awesome_ stereo spread and drum sound. Same thing about Respect. Personally, I love both those albums. They're not his best, but they're better than 90% of what was released those years. I think it was Bayard that said that Robyn may not feel he's talented enough to be his own producer. That's probably partly true, but the other thing is that you almost have to have someone outside producing. They can hear things the artist can't, since they're not as emotionaly attached to it as the artist is. I'd _never_ produce my own material on a serious recording. Ok... that'll about finish this catch-up up. ---Mike (Nickname o' the month - "Rickenbacker Boy") [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 10:10:37 +1200 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James) Subject: Cycling madly > "Cycling madly through ????? Honiton Clyst. There is a village near Exeter in southwest England called Clyst Honiton. Clyst is a pretty common word in village names in that area (I *think* it means chapel), sometimes at the beginning of names, sometimes at the end. Presumably, Robyn just reversed the words. (I've always heard it as "cycling through Honiton pissed" up till now, BTW!). Honiton itself is a town about 10 miles further down the same road. He seems to like place names in songs (Swindon in "Ride", Reading and Basingstoke in IODOT, Shawford and Winchester in "Winchester", etc etc. Any others?) James Dignan, Department of Psychology, University of Otago. Ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk St., St. Clair, Dunedin, New Zealand pixelphone james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz / steam megaphone NZ 03-455-7807 * You talk to me as if from a distance * and I reply with impressions chosen from another time, time, time, * from another time (Brian Eno) [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 95 19:13:34 EST From: kenster@MIT.EDU (ostrander) To: owner-fegmaniax@ns2.Rutgers.EDU Subject: stranded on a & m... what's wrong with it? sure, its got production value. sure, it appeals to the masses. but the music speaks for itself. this is the most consistant of his a&m releases as far as songwriting goes. 'ride', 'oceanside', 'lysander', 'vegetation & dimes', "she doesn't exist', and yes, 'so you think you're in love' all rank with his best work. the sound is so dynamic and the tunes stand on their own. perhaps the biggest problem people have with it is that it sounds like someone else wrote them. his quarky charm seems to be whitewashed. it is his in your face album, though i feel stupid for not seeing the environmental bent in "earthly paradise". i don't see robyn jumping on any bandwagon and i don't think any of you buy that either. i do have my doubts about the bastard label he was working for. i wonder how much control he has over what they do to his records. all of the live versions i've heard have more vitality (by definition?) than the recorded ones. still, i wouldn't sell any of them for food. also, look at EYE and YOU & OBLIVION. much better, don't you think? ken p.s. >If he really had written a song with that title back in the '70s, he >certainly wouldn't have sung "...well, you probably are." how about "...well you poor fucking shit" p.p.s. i would like to get my hands on some of this nigel & the crosses grooviness that seems to be the rage of years gone by. i have blank tapes, so who, where, and why not? p.p.p.s. i finally got my copy of GLOBE OF FROGS back so here is the fabled manifesto: SOMEWHERE inside a glowing kernel of peace is an irritant- an inflamed seed that messes up the organism. we are best seen as conductors, through which solids, air, and liquids flow constantly, matched by a whorl of loosely related thoughts. if i am a prophet of chaos, then this is truly my age; but perhaps i am a prophet of order, recoiling in disgust from the uncontrollable force of life. inside and out. this albumdoes not deal with the conventional problems of so-called 'real' life: relationships, injustice, politics, and central heating systems, about which it's notoriously hard to talk because orthodox lines of cliche have been devised for and against everything. in the short span of a song- let alone a newspaper- it is easy to descend to slogans and dogma: thatcher is bad, vegetables are good, show business is indifferent. everybody who wants to know that knows it already. the dinosaurs graze in the last warm valley, avoiding the icy winds. to go into 'issues' at the length they merit requires the depth- and double-talk- of a politician. i'm concentrating instead on the organic. all of us exist in a swarming, pulsating world, driven mostly by an unconscious that we ignore and misunderstand. within the framework of 'civilization' we remain as savage as possible. against the dense traffic of midern life, we fortify our animal selves with video violence, imaginary sex, and music: screw you, mate- here i go! one side, mother____er! give it to me, baby, as often and as beautifully as possible- eat lead, infidel scum. mostly we contain ouselves. sexual crimes, and private murders are still news (legalized murders, though, such as executions, wars and the systematic deprivation of the helpless, seldom make the headlines). but our inflamed and disoriented psyches smoulder on beneath the wet leaves of habit. insanity is big business. and vice versa. religion isn't dead either. the antichrist will have access to computers, television, radio, and compact disk. if he walks among us already, the chances are that he has a walkman. i just hope it's not christ himself, disillusioned after two thousand years in a cosmic sitting room full of magazines and cheeseplants, turned malignant and rotting in despair at the way his message has been perverted. my contention is, however- and it's a bloody obvious one- that beneath our civilized glazing, we are all deviants, all alone, and all peculiar. this flies in the face of mass marketing, but i'm sticking with it. so loosen your spine, bury your television, and welcome to a globe of frogs... robyn hitchcock november 1987 [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 16:13:42 -0700 From: librik@netcom.com (David Librik) To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Place Names In Robyn Songs James Dignan, talking about Clyst Honiton in "Goodnight I Say": >He seems to like place names in songs (Swindon in "Ride", Reading and >Basingstoke in IODOT, Shawford and Winchester in "Winchester", etc etc. Any >others?) There's "Cleethorpes" at the end of "When I Was A Kid" (I think that's the song... somebody thought it was "play, forbes" on here a while ago). And Leith in "The Can Opener" and of course Frognal and East Grinstead. Yes! Let's make huge lists of obscure English towns with funny names in Robyn songs! - David Librik librik@cs.Berkeley.edu [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 19:53:57 -0400 (EDT) From: KEN W Subject: hi To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Well, I see that the list is working again. I guess I'll introduce myself. My name is Ken, and I'm just about to graduate from SUNY Albany. I've been into Robyn since about 1987 when I heard my friend's band cover Balloon Man. I really like it, so I went and bought Globe of Frogs. I got to see The Egyptians for the first time in May 1992 at the Ritz in NYC and loved it. I just got to see Robyn again a few weeks ago in Amherst, MA, and again loved him. He's great solo acoustic. Well, I guest that's it. Happy to be on the list. Ken kw1247@cnsvax.albany.edu [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 19:58:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Void where prohibited by law To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Nigel & The Crosses >On a different note, did you all know that Robyn and Peter Buck did a >song on a Byrds tribute album several years ago as "Nigel and the Crosses"? >Its a really great song - the highlight of the album IMO. I dunno. I kind of liked Dinosaur Jr.'s stirring rendition of "Feel A Whole Lot Better" too. :-) Hadn't known that Peter Buck played on that track though. Thanks for the info. Someone mentioned something about Robyn compilations tending to be in chronological order (or something like that. I was skimming.) I've never put together a comp. tape myself but I did guest host a campus radio show that a friend of mine has. We're talking extremely low power AM that barely clears the edge of campus but it gets piped in over the campus info cable channel so the listening audience is potentially in the dozens. :-) Anyway, the playlist was: All I Wanna Do Is Fall In Love The Bones In The Ground My Wife And My Dead Wife Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole Insanely Jealous Wild Mountain Thyme The Banana Boat Song Uncorrected Personality Traits St. Petersburg Let There Be More Darkness Dark Green Energy The Black Crow Knows Heaven (live) I was limited on time so I had to leave out a lot of stuff I'd have liked to play (like most of QUEEN ELVIS, and "Watch Your Intelligence", and ...) Also don't own any of the Rhino reissues, A CAN OF BEES, BLACK SNAKE DIAMOND ROLE, or YOU AND OBLIVION so the pool of available releases was limited. The only Hitchcock they had at the station was PERSPEX ISLAND and a DARK GREEN ENERGY promo single so it's just as well that I shlepped all my own stuff ... -- Stewart "rambled on enough for now" Tame [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 20:36:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Gary Assa To: mad5c@server.cs.virginia.edu cc: fegmaniax Subject: Re: Nigel & The Crosses > >> On a different note, did you all know that Robyn and Peter Buck did a > >> song on a Byrds tribute album several years ago as "Nigel and the Crosses"? > >> Its a really great song - the highlight of the album IMO. > When Robyn opened for REM in Chicago in 1990 (I belive), there wasan un-announced show somewhere in Chaicago which was basically Robyn, and all of REM, sans Stipe. They billed themselves as Nigel and the Crosses for the show. [][][][][][][][][][] From: BLATZMAN@aol.com Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 22:19:05 -0400 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Respect is due, man I can't sit back and take it anymore. I just have to say that I think Robyn is a much better songwriter NOW than he was 10 years ago. I find Respect to be his most moving work to date. Railway Shoes and Aurther Lee just KILL me. For me, it's his most honest work, and it's in no way cold. It's uneven, but when it hits, it hits hard. And as for as bsides goes, who knows who picks album tracks and why. Watch Your Intelligence is my FAVORITE song from the PI sessions. And I prefer the Electric version of Globe of Frogs (by 100,000 percent). Dear God started off as a bside. (whose idea was that?) Oh, and life wouldn't be the same without Ride. I love Perspex Island! Sorry, I couldn't contain myself... Dave------ [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 01:18:44 -0400 (EDT) From: LEW Subject: Greetings ... To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Hi all, This will be short, sweet, and hopefully painless. My name is Lew and I'm a second year law student at BC. I first got into Robyn when Queen Elvis came out. I really liked the album, and picked up Globe of Frogs soon after. I went to go see Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians at the Vic in Chicago in 1989 for the first time and found it to be and incredible show. I really enjoyed the inbetween song interludes and was instantly taken by the show. Since then, for one reason or another, I lost track of the band. Recently I went to go see Robyn during his solo accoustic tour in Boston. He played here for two nights and both were sold out. Thankfully he added an earlier show which I was able to catch. The show was amazing and I was instantly hooked. And now, here I am. Thanx for listening (reading) Lew -- -- Lew J. Harasymiw --- BC Law ----- harasymi@bcvms.bc.edu ---- | | | "This is Providence. This is April 12, 1995. Thanks." | | - Bob Mould | | | | "Thanks a lot, Bob! It was great!" | | - me :) | | | --------------------------------------------------------------- [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 11:46:18 +0100 To: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James), fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: andyh@pavilion.co.uk (Andy Holyer) Subject: Re: Cycling madly At 10:10 am 21/4/95 +1200, James wrote: ... > >He seems to like place names in songs (Swindon in "Ride", Reading and >Basingstoke in IODOT, Shawford and Winchester in "Winchester", etc etc. Any >others?) > Well of course, some people prefer East Grinstead :-) Andy Holyer, Pavilion Internet plc, Brighton, UK http://www.pavilion.co.uk/ [][][][][][][][] End of this Fegmaniax Digest. Archives can be found on fegmania.wustl.edu:/fegmaniax and ftp.uwp.edu:/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax. For administrative questions, subscription requests, and all that boring crud, send mail to fegmaniax-request@nsmx.rutgers.edu. Slipping you the midnight fish...