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 58 Today's Topics: ------- ------ Airscape! Argh... Brick-eaters... Eating Brick? Kung-Fu Fighting Nigel Cross RE: Respect is due, man Respect P.I. The Day They Ate Brick... Tull (was More about Robyn compilations) [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 09:46:12 -0700 From: camus@netcom.com (Julian Stewart) To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Argh... I was in Denver the other day, spending more money than I should on music. Naturally, I looked around for any strange Hitchcock releases. One small store had an odd looking disc, something about poll tax as the title. It did not specifically have Robyn's name on the disc, but I did notice that 1) It was on Midnight Music 2) "Kung Fu Fighting" was listed as one of the tracks! Stupidly, I did not pick it up-- I got too excited about a stack of used Go-Betweens discs I found. But does anyone either have or know what this is? (it would seem more likely that U.K. fans would be familiar with this...) thanx, julian [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 95 11:18:04 PDT From: lroberts@aristotle.bellahs.com (Laurence Roberts RD) To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Nigel Cross Nigel Cross has been known to write for Forced Exposure (I think he did an interview with Larry Wallis, sometime of the Pink Fairies and Motorhead.) Forced Exposure suggested that Ryko should have gotten him to write the liner notes to the Soft Boys box. I'd be interested to know what he mostly does, though. Larry-bob lroberts@bellahs.com [][][][][][][][][][] From: daramsey@vaxsar.vassar.edu Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 15:03:00 -0300 Subject: Nigel Cross To: Fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu If I'm not mistaken, Nigel Cross has some connection with the magazine Bucketful of Brains. I don't know if he is an editor or a writer. On the back cover of the Soft Boys "the Day They Ate Brick" album is a long article about the Soft Boys. This article was written by Nigel Cross and appeared in an old issue of Bucketful of Brains. daveR. "And when there's no more tears to cry, there's nothing left to do but laugh..." -Robyn Hitchcock ***another 100% natural S.M.I.L.B.U. production*** [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 18:02:42 -0700 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu, fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: avarice@primenet.com (Christopher Donnell) Subject: Re: Argh... At 09:46 AM 4/21/95 -0700, Julian Stewart wrote: > One small store had an odd looking disc, something about poll tax >as the title. It did not specifically have Robyn's name on the disc, but >I did notice that 1) It was on Midnight Music 2) "Kung Fu Fighting" was >listed as one of the tracks! > > Stupidly, I did not pick it up Damn right! Go back an get it man! _ Christopher 'The Man With The Lightbulb Head' Donnell / \ avarice@primenet.com \w/ www - http://www.primenet.com/~avarice _V_ [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 20:58:41 -0400 From: am497@freenet.buffalo.edu (Michael J. Swedene) To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Respect P.I. Kinda like Magnum P.I. Oh well. Enuff. I like both albums. It rwally depends on what mood I am in when I listen to them. I think most of you will agree. We can not really say the albums "suck" because, they don't since they are Robyn's. A musician, who escapes me at the moment, said something like "albums are like your own children, you like some more than others sometimes." It is the same as us judging them. I don't know, I just like them. There I've said it!! Robyn did say on 120 minutes about doing things for money. -HERBIE ps-So you think you're in love was extremely overplayed. I blame A&M records for that. pss-Anyone know anything about Frank Black losing his record contract with ELECTRA? and 4AD? I heard it on CFNY 102.1 (toronto) today. WOJ? -- I'm Looking for NIRVANA Bootlegs, Hitchcock too. "Give an inch and take an inch and what you've got is where you were The Universe is based on Sullen Entropy - It falls apart as it goes on." -Robyn Hitchcock [][][][][][][][][][] From: BritPop@aol.com Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 22:37:40 -0400 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: RE: Respect is due, man Quoth Dave BLATZMAN@aol.com: >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. >Oh, and life wouldn't be the same without Ride. I love >Perspex Island! As fits my name, I couldn't agree with him more! Well put. But then, I did recruit him for this list of "my" Britpop Board on AOL. Ain't to proud to pop, Brit [][][][][][][][][][] From: sprano@cvax.ipfw.indiana.edu Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 21:41:32 EST To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Eating Brick? Hey Waffleheads..! daveR. mentioned a Soft Boys album titled "The Day They Ate Brick"...What the hell is that? A bootleg? That's my guess, but would appreciate being enlightened. By the way, does anyone have a comprehensive Robyn bootleg discography? If so, please include as many details as possible and if you want to do some trading! The only official boot I have is called "A Soft Boy No More" on Blue Lake Records live in Atlanta 1985. The song line-up is Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl, Kingdom Of Love, America, The Cars She Used To Drive, My Wife and My Dead Wife, Only The Stones Remain, I Don't Know Why, Man With the Lightbulb Head, Strawberry Mind, It's Only You, Acid Bird, Down By The Sea, The President, Brenda's I ron Sledge,Heaven, IODOT, Uncorrected Personality Traits, Listening to the Higsons. I haven't heard anyone comment on Robyn's Van Morrison covers on the b-side of the "oceanside" 12-inch. He does "Fair Play" and "Linden Arden Stole The Highlights" and imitates Van's vocal style. Hilarious! any replies appreciated> HAL. [][][][][][][][][][] From: daramsey@vaxsar.vassar.edu Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 02:08:32 -0300 Subject: The Day They Ate Brick... To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu In response to HAL's query about "the Day They Ate Brick"- this is an lp of possibly German origin. It has a psychedelic swirly brite red and yellow cover with a nice photo of the Soft Boys on the front, and a great article about the Soft Boys by Nigel Cross on the back. Basically this record bills itself as containing 'the legendary Radar sessions'. Unfortunately, though, it really only contains most of the tracks that appear on "A Can of Bees" and "Invisible Hits". Most of the versions on "the Day They Ate Brick" are identical to those on the officially released albums. However, a couple of the tracks on "the Day They Ate Brick" sound somewhat different from their official counterparts- 'Pigworker' and 'When I Was a Kid' spring to mind off-hand. The other appealing thing about "the Day They Ate Brick" is that it contains two versions of 'Look Into Your Mirror'. Basically, it's a really cool record...I have only seen it for sale once (and I bought that copy), so I think it is rather hard to come by. If you do see it though, you might want to snag it, if it's cheap. However, if you already own "A Can of Bees" and "Invisible Hits", you are not really missing anything of much importance. On the thread of bootleg Robyn lps, besides "A Soft Boy No More" there is also "the Hooded One", which is pretty cool. It has a fine drawing by R. Crumb on the cover of a man with a lightbulb head. This record contains a concert from I think '86 in Washington. Don't hold me to that, though...I would check but I'm too lazy to rummage through my records right now. A while ago I think Woj posted that only 500 copies of this record were made up, which is pretty cool. I do not know if that is fact or simply a rumour, however. The tracks themselves on this record are nothing terribly special- it's a typical Robyn & the Egyptians show from '86. The sound quality is fine, though nothing to write home about. These three lps ('the Day They Ate Brick', 'A Soft Boy No More', 'the Hooded One') are the only bootleg Robyn lps I know of. There are a few bootleg seven inches around- "A Tin of Crabs" contains tracks taped directly from two Soft Boys albums (I forget which albums), there are two Soft Boys 7"s which are quite exciting which contain demos and unreleased tracks (one of these 7"s contains a rough version of 'Salamander' and a nifty song called 'Which of Us is Me', and the other contains a GREAT version of 'I Wanna Destroy You' and an excellent song which has no title). There is also a 4 song Robyn & the Egyptians live 7" on green vinyl which contains, if I'm not mistaken, 'Rain' (by the Beatles) and 'Calvary Cross'. Phew....and then there are the bootleg CDs which are popping up- "Invisible History" is a fine compilation of rare and unreleased tracks moving chronologically from the Soft Boys up to about the time of "Queen Elvis". "Stand Back, Dennis" contains a gig from Athens GA in 1988. There is also apparently a Soft Boys boot CD called "Rout of the Clones" which I have only heard mention of and unfortunately do not posess myself. If anyone knows of anything I've missed, let me know! Hope this helps a bit. daveR. "And when there's no more tears to cry, there's nothing left to do but laugh..." -Robyn Hitchcock ***another 100% natural S.M.I.L.B.U. production*** [][][][][][][][][][] From: daramsey@vaxsar.vassar.edu Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 02:10:32 -0300 Subject: Brick-eaters... To: Fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Also, I remember reading in an article in Goldmine a while ago that the working title for "A Can of Bees" was actually "the Day They Ate Brick". Kinda neat, eh? daveR. "And when there's no more tears to cry, there's nothing left to do but laugh..." -Robyn Hitchcock ***another 100% natural S.M.I.L.B.U. production*** [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 04:12:15 -0400 (EDT) From: KEN W Subject: Kung-Fu Fighting To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu When I saw Robyn in 1992 at the Ritz in NYC, he closed with a wonderfully hilarious version of Everybody's Kung-Fu Fighting. Does he do this a lot? Ken kw1247@cnsvax.albany.edu [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 21:23:56 +1200 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James) Subject: Airscape! Ahh... well, you know what they say about the simplest songs being the best... Airscape! E A Bsus4 A And in the element of light E A Bsus4 A The sun reflects from the waves, inshore it spangles E A Bsus4 A E The child of air is borne upon the winds that blow across the sea A Bsus4 A E A Bsus4 A And in the element of summer E A Bsus4 A The cliffs suspended in the heat, the air in columns E A Bsus4 A E The tiny figures of the world are walking underneath your feet A Bsus4 And underneath your hair A Bsus4 A Bsus4 Where angels wander, I'll wander too A Bsus4 E Where angels wander, over you etc etc etc! Bsus4, BTW, is played (xx4440). That's all there is to it! Well, not quite. There is a short instrumental break, and a coda, both of which consist simply of one chord... D+2 (x00230) Enjoy! James 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: Sat, 22 Apr 1995 21:25:14 +1200 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James) Subject: Tull (was Re: More about Robyn compilations) Cc: Eugene B Mirman >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... True. In some ways, though, there are similarities between RH and Tull... both idiosyncratically "English" in their own ways. Listen to an early Tull song like "Going up the 'pool", or even a big, nasty, "heavy" song like Aqualung, and try to imagine Robyn singing it. (Is Aqualung the Old Pervert?). It can be done! James (unrepentant Perspex Island - and Heavy Horses - fan!) 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) [][][][][][][][] 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...