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 99 Today's Topics: ------- ------ BSDR Feg Digest Vol. 3 Num. 97 Lewes gig set list More Other Chords (Fiend before Shrine) Name that Robyn Tune Never Stop Bleeding No news is bad news. Other Chords Thanks The _Punk Diary_ info! coupla questions where its at [][][][][][][][][][] Date: 22 Jun 95 09:45:24 EDT From: "N. Rob Leas" <74511.775@compuserve.com> To: Fegmaniax Subject: Feg Digest Vol. 3 Num. 97 From: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu (John B. Jones) Subject: Re: coupla questions >And on the productions side does anyone know what else Paul Fox has done other >than produce Perspex and XTC's Oranges and lemons? Victoria Williams: _Loose_ N. Rob Leas leasnr@btco.com <*** Music is the best. - FZ ***> [][][][][][][][][][] From: A.N.Pryke@cs.bham.ac.uk Date: Thu, 22 Jun 95 20:54:31 BST To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Lewes gig set list Cc: A.N.Pryke@cs.bham.ac.uk Hi all, especially those of you I met in Lewes. Here's the set list I scribbled on the back of my ticket during the gig. I've tried to make set lists before at RH gigs, but they've always come out as a load of squiggles and abreviations. Luckily, this gig was a sit-down affair, with no bouncing arround, so I can actually read what I wrote! For those of you who keep a close eye on Robyn's shirts at gigs, you may like to know that I was wearing my white shirt with black squiggles which I purchased for 3 pounds in a charity shop in Bradford. Very nice it is too! Anyway, you don't want to read about that, on with the set list.... Accoustic Set ------------- Surgery Wide Open Star Chinese Bones De Chirico St Madonna of the Wasps Balloon Man The Devil's Coachman Glass Hotel I'm Only You Queen Elvis Yip Song Electric Set ------------ I Am Not Me (Caroline Backwards) Heaven (He said this one was about addition). Listening to the Higsons I Often Dream of Trains Only the Stones Remain First Encore ------------ Queen of Eyes The President Radio Storm Second Encore ------------- Element of Light I Want to Cheese You / Please Direct Me To The Cheese Ace gig, had a great time. The support act, Martin Newall (ex Cleaners >From Venus) was good too, with wierd poetry and interesting lyrics. Thanks to Phil Flowers for organising it, hope the All Saints Centre goes well. See you on the next UK tour.... Andy --- Andy Pryke, Research Student, Computer Science, Birmingham University Data Mining Information - http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~anp/TheDataMine.html [][][][][][][][][][] From: jay@gw.lsli.com To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 12:32 CDT Subject: where its at I had a few folks ask what the record store with the compo cd with Statue is...so for those who like to call record stores in strange cities it is Cactus Records and Video on West Alabama and Shephard...I don't know their number...they do keep a very well stocked Robyn bin, so if you ever find yourself in Houston thats the place to go...then go down the street to the Alehouse where I make sure this Robyn on the bar tapes and jukebox jay [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 16:00:38 -0500 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: gene@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu (Gene Hopstetter) Subject: The _Punk Diary_ info! >From _Punk Diary: 1970-1989_, by George Gimarc; St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994; ISBN 0-312-11048-0; ML3534.G55. This book provides a day-by-day account of the beginnings of Punk Rawk in all its incarnations. It's impossibly detail-oriented (i.e., the day Robert Smith bought his first guitar, the day Paul Hewson, who later became some guy named Bono, heard the song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" on Middle Of The Road TV show and decided to become a pop star, etc) and utterly delicious for any music trivia nut. The text below is all stolen, without permission, from the book. But hey, it's chock full of very important information about Uncle Bobby. Note how Morris' name starts out as Maurice. Curious. Text in parentheses and typos are mine. Here goes: Monday, December 31, 1973 (p. 9) The Symptoms are playing their last-ever gig. Tonight's farewell show is opening up for Chilli Will & The Red Hot Peppers (Phil "Snakefinger" Lithman's band) at the London, British Council. They've been playing together for about two years under various names. For a while they were The Plums, their drummer Patrick "Patch" Fisher had them appear as "Patchwork Quilt" once, their drummer Simon suggested "Four Ascetic Young Gentlemen," and their bassist Martin Stanway-Mayers came up with the Symptoms. The only problem is that at their farewell appearance their name is spelled incorrectly as the "Symptons." The guitarist/vocalist Robyn Hitchcock will later front the influential band the Soft Boys and later have a solo career of some repute in the '80s and '90s. Wednesday, October 13, 1976 (p. 38) Robyn Hitchcock finds himself fronting a band called Dennis & The Experts. Robyn himself is cast in the lead role as "Dennis," while the "Experts" are Rob Lamb, Andy Metcalf and Maurice Windsor. They play a few originals of Robyn's and some covers by artists like Little Feat, Steely Dan and select bits of David Bowie. While punk is screaming on in London, Robyn is stuck in Cambridge playing what he later described as "sedate hippy gibberish." The group would only be a brief stopping place on the way to becoming the Soft Boys, with quite a different style. Saturday, November 27, 1976 (p. 41) Robyn Hitchcock announced to the crowd on-stage tonight in Cambridge "We're the Soft Boys." It's a new direction for the group that was only hours ago calling itself Dennis & The Experts. The new name comes from the title of a song that Robyn recently made up in rehearsal called "Give It To The Soft Boys." Rob Lamb left the group when he felt the band was getting to be too scrappy. The Soft Boys are Robyn Hitchcock on lead vocals and guitar, Maurice Windsor on drums, Andy Metcalf on bass and new guitarist Alan "Wangbo" Davies, who takes departing Rob's place. Why the name the Soft Boys? Robyn explains, "I'd had this concept of this thing called the Soft Boys, like a William Burroughs amalgam. Soft Machine and the Wild Boys. The implications were kind of homo-erotic and seedy, kind of crawling, bloodless, colorless things that crawled around like filleted human jellyfish around the corridors of power. Soft Boys controlled things but they had no spine. Basically insidious people and basically that's what we were." (They played that night, billed as Dennis & The Experts, at Cambridge, Polytechnic.) Monday, October 10, 1977 (p. 88) The Soft Boys (a) Cambridge-based band, have their debut EP released on Raw Records. The Soft Boys were formed out of the convergence of Andy Metcalfe and Robyn Hitchcock when Andy auditioned Robyn for a position as vocalist in a while soul combo that became Dennis & The Experts back in 1976. The band then reformed with Kimberly Rew brought in on guitar and Morris Windsor on drums. A song that Robyn wrote called "Give It To The Soft Boys" gave the band their name. Their EP has the tracks "Wading Through a Ventilator," "The Face of Death," and "Hear My Brane." All of the songs are Soft Boys originals. The other tracks from the sessions, "The Yodelling Hoover," "Vyra Knowl Is A Headbanger," and "Give It To The Soft Boys" are all left unissued until 1984. Friday, May 26, 1978 (p. 129) Soft Boys have their second 45 "(I Want To Be An) Anglepoise Lamp" released by Radar Records. It's back with "Fat Man's Son," both Robyn Hitchcock compositions. The Cambridge-based group is lead singer Robyn Hitchcock, along with Andy Metcalf, Morris Windsor, Jim Melton, and Kimberly Rew. Hitchcock has been in bands for many years. (The Soft Boys played in London at The Nashville with Solid Waste that night.) Sunday, February 4, 1979 (p. 169) The Soft Boys have left Radar Records on the eve of the release of their debut album when Radar decided that the recording for "The Day They Ate Brick" was too bad to release. Their single "Anglepoise Lamp" was out last May, but their album will have to wait until they get their own record company, Two Crabs Music, together next month. Tuesday, April 24, 1979 (p. 185) The Soft Boys celebrate the release of 2,500 copies of their debut album "A Can Of Bees." it's a collection of eight studio tracks and three live recordings. Robyn Hitchcock has written a group of unlikely titles, such as "Leppo and The Jooves," "Sandra's Having Her Brain Out," "The Rat's Prayer," "Do The Chisel," "and "The Pigworker." The live tracks include a cover of Lennon's "Cold Turkey." The album is a re-recorded version of the album rejected by Radar a few months ago. Before settling on a "Can Of Bees" The LP was briefly called "Heat Me Up, And Tell Me You're Happy." A major tour follows today's release. (They played the Moonlight Club in London with La Starza that night.) Friday, September 7, 1979 (p. 219) The Soft Boys debut their new line-up. Bassist Andy Metcalf left to join Telephone Bill & The Smooth Operators, eventually joining Squeeze. He is replaced by ex-Bruce Wooley Band member Matthew Seligman. Drummer Jim Melton left to start his own band and is having his duties heaped on drummer Morris Windsor. The Soft Boys are again a four-piece group. (They played the Rock Garden in London with Scissors Fit that night.) =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Gene Hopstetter, Jr. + gene@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu Writer/Layout/WWW Guy + Tulane Computing Services http://yodelling-hoover.tcs.tulane.edu/ [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 17:19:49 -0700 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: redsfan@best.com (Mark McKeown) Subject: Name that Robyn Tune Greetings everyone, I had a friend ask me from which Robyn song the following lyrics came from: Bird's head \ Grow on my shoulder \ And when I'm older \ Whither, and die. I've looked through most of Mr. Hitchcock's albums and am not coming up with it so I decided to pose the question to the group. I really hope my friend isn't leading me on a goose chase, but these lyrics do sound very familiar. So much so, I'm kinda pulling my hair out. By the way, this is my first time sending you all a massage. It has been nice to read the banter. I am excited by Bayard's idea of a Robynbase. Thanks in advance -- mark mckeown Mark McKeown Voice/Fax: (415) 326-8811 975 Florence Lane Internet: redsfan@best.com Apt B. Reds News: The Reds (33-19) bounced Menlo Park, CA 94025 back to take the final two games of their 4-game series with the Braves. Eric Anthony hit a 3-run pinch-hit HR & Eddie Taubansee a pinch-hit 2-run johnson to erase an 8-4 deficit and shock the Braves 9-8 Thursday! Both pinch-hit roundtrippers were delivered in the 8th inning. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Fri, 23 Jun 1995 23:30:06 -0400 From: das freshmaker! To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Re: Name that Robyn Tune redsfan@best.com (Mark McKeown) sez: >I had a friend ask me from which Robyn song the following lyrics came from: >Bird's head \ >Grow on my shoulder \ >And when I'm older \ >Whither, and die. no goose chase here. that's "birdshead". it was a common live song during 1988 or so, often performed with peter buck, who, for a while, was joining the egyptians on stage regularly. "birdshead" first appeared on a promo compilation from a&m records called _pave the earth_. an alternate version has since surfaced on _you & oblivion_. woj [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 15:20:11 -0700 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: redsfan@best.com (Mark McKeown) Subject: Thanks Dear All, I want to thank everyone (8 and counting) who answered my request in the name that Robyn tune contest (Birdshead). It sure is nice to have all this knowledge at my fingertips. The lyrics did sound familiar. Maybe Robyn did it when I saw him perform with Peter Buck at the Ol' Fillmore before "the big one" in S.F. pre-1989. All the talk about the new releases motivated me to get out to the record store (or should I say CD store?) last night and investigate the Rhino re-releases. I had heard about the new releases via a flyer that I had gotten at a Robyn show last November in San Francisco, but I have been living in a cave for the last 8 months and haven't had time to get out and catch up with all of the latest releases. I must say though that I came away from Tower Music with a mix of anger and being bummed out and 0 Robyn CD's purchased. I know that Rhino is boasting about most of the re-releases being available for the first time on CD in the U.S., the liner notes, new photos and artwork and the dreaded, alluring BONUS TRACKS, but I just think the whole re-release thing is so absurd. Here's why: I'm standing in Tower Music looking at the Robyn CD bin with two copies of "Eye" in my hand. One costs $13.99, the other $15.99. If I'm Joe music fan without much knowledge of what's being done here, I am confused about what to buy. Oh there is a different back cover on them and one does have more songs than the other, but do they really make it worth $2 extra. I personally can't get over my resentment of having to buy and re-buy these releases just to stay current. With the exception of Fegmania and I Often Dream of Trains, I have already "upgraded" everything from album to CD once. Now I have to do it again? Or when I finally give in, who says it won't happen all over again. I call bullshit. Am I missing the point here? Are these re-releases exposing Robyn to a whole new legion of fans, who would not otherwise have access to his early works? Maybe Rhino should work out an exchange policy like you can do when you buy a new car? Sorry to go from a request in my first mailer to flame-throwing in my second, but the emotion is honest. To finish on a positive note, I do have some cool bootlegs, a particular one of note would be a "surprise" show he did on his birthday in March of 1990 at the Paradise Lounge. I guess I will soon find out how rare or unrare these are. Cheers -- mark mckeown Mark McKeown Voice/Fax: (415) 326-8811 975 Florence Lane Internet: redsfan@best.com Apt B. Reds News: The Reds (33-20) were Menlo Park, CA 94025 embarrassed, 16-4, by the Florida Marlins Friday...RHP Kevin Jarvis, who threw a two-hit shutout against the Fish May 10th, was tagged for 7 runs & 8 hits in 4.1 innings...Reds OF Reggie Sanders is now 2nd in the N.L. with 45 runs batted in. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 00:07:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: Re: Thanks To: Mark McKeown Cc: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Well...technically, this has nothing to do with the previous Thanks post, except that I think my Can of Bees is a few tracks shorter than the latest, and I hope that I didn't miss anything I'd like to thank all of you who answered my 'Which Album' thread. I didn't keep count. I got BSDR. I also got Invisible Hits, and put Fegmania and Invisible Hitchcock on order. I know that you don't really care about most of that, but.... what you say in this forum really does affect people's lives! and... Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole, while it may be sexist, is really really catchy. Only thing I would've changed is to have made the backing vocals not English gibberish, but aboriginal chants, you know, to make them completely unintelligble (unless you happen to speak aboriginal) Terry "Horak the Exchanger" Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 02:20:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: BSDR To: Pretty Girls and Anglepoise lamps I would just like to say, for the record, that "Love" is one of the most beautiful songs in existance. I don't know what it is about it, especially that last couplet. It sounds like Syd Barrett's "I never lied to you", but with an emotional effect, I mean, I almost cried when I heard it. Not many CD's can do that. Probably just the way Robyn does things, sort of like the way he did "Dreams" or "Surgery". Or maybe it was the way Thomas Dolby played that Ocean. Thank you all for listening to me Terry Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 14:37:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Gary Assa To: Mark McKeown cc: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu Subject: Re: Name that Robyn Tune > Bird's head \ > Grow on my shoulder \ > And when I'm older \ > Whither, and die. > Birdshead, from You And Oblivion. He has been doing it in concert for about 10 years. I bet you get 15 responses. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 02:37 GMT+0200 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: hardaker@iaccess.za (Mike Hardaker) Subject: Re: Never Stop Bleeding The correspondence related to this song has been interesting, to say the leat, since James first posted his tab. I've always played, with no attempt at originality, this in 'Keef' tuning, namely: _GDGBD between a couple of Stones-type blues songs (which justified the detuning and the dragging of the bass E string off the neck), but I'm increaingly coming to view the tuning as either GGDGBD or EGDGBD My only problem is that either tuning seems to require six fingers on the left hand... I'll play around for a while and se if I can come up with some tab. But congratulations to James - he's done 95 per cent of the work. If I can provide the last 5 per cent, it'll just be gilding the lilly. [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 21:43:01 -0400 To: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu From: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu (John B. Jones) Subject: No news is bad news. Fegs-- This is definitely a low period in "THE YEAR OF ROBYN". With the Rhino reissues and the tours in the Northeast US and in England, there was a big hullabaloo and plenty to keep us occupied. With the release of the K Records 7" and the Ptolemaic Terrascope flexi and the Virgin sampler, there were some new songs to track down. But now----NOTHING. Not a splash, or a ripple. Supposedly Robyn was to go into the studio this summer with Deni to record songs for a new album. Supposedly there was to be a book (although some still have hope for a CD) of short stories. There was supposed to be a new record deal with some label or other (probably Rhino according to ICE magazine). I had hoped to know more by now of what is going on with Robyn in terms of new material (music, words, AND pictures & paintings). Does anyone have information that would pull me out of my melancholia? I'll tell you what would really snap me out of it: Does anyone have that 14 song demo tape that Robyn has passed around to record companies, etc? And would you make me a tape of it if you do??? ;) --nudge nudge wink wink----- In the meantime, kudos to Bayard & Mike for the upcoming Glass Flesh tribute tapes, and to Woj for both the In-store tape and the Netsurfer Ghost tape. If only my branch would come through for the poor little leaf (---me----) and send me my Netsurfer Ghost tape. Finally, a Robyn reference in the new Rolling Stone (the one with Jim Carrey on the cover): In the Random Notes, a pic of Debbie Gibson and Circle Jerks up on stage and a blurb that said that they played "I Wanna Destroy You". But the assholes never mentioned the fact that it was a cover of a Soft Boys song!!!! By not mentioning Robyn or The Soft Boys in the blurb, the average Joe reads it and assumes it must be a Circle Jerks or a Debbie Gibson tune...---snarl--- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- John B. Jones e-mail: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu "I was thinking about Lou Reed the other day, and I was wondering if he ever sings the theme to "The Monkees" in the bathtub." -Robyn Hitchcock "Well, you know what they say: The pen is mightier than the pencil." -Andy Metcalfe -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 22:56:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: Other Chords To: Pretty Girls and Anglepoise lamps Does anyone out there know how to play: Love Poisoning Surgery Love The Rat's Prayer You & Me Railway Shoes When I was Dead Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom anything from Eye Vegetable Man Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole When I was a Kid (any version) Terry Marks (now having given up on finding a good nickname every time he posts something...Going to try for "The Man Who...." or "The Man That..." someething, but something original. I mean, it would be nice to take something of Robyn's, but then I'd be taking something of Robyn's.) a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us [][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 23:10:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Terry Marks Subject: More Other Chords (Fiend before Shrine) To: Pretty Girls and Anglepoise lamps It goes like this: Fiend Before The Shrine by Robyn Hitchcock E A E A I stumbled with a friend of mine to see a fiend before the shrine E A E ? with pointed ears and furry breath, he summoned men of faith to death E A Within a cloister full of ferns and ivy twining 'round the urns E A that brimmed with duckweed and with snails. E ? The fiend his mouth was full of nails E A E A "Oh come and see my swarming shrine", his little pointed eyes did shine E A E ? but God is life and life is lust and will be after you are dust E A The shrine, it writhed with giblets and with hairs E A and little tounges in flickering pairs E A E ? and throats that grew from pads of cheese and then came out behind the knees E A E A A pumpkin smiled and from its beak a pair of scaly legs did peek E A E ? with squirming Elvis for its hair and from that midst an eye did stare. E A E A It winked at me as if to say "You've seen enough, now go away" E A E ? I sing of life, I sing of death, until I might run out of breath E A E A I stumbled with a friend of mine to see a fiend before a shrine E A E ? with pointed eyes and septic ears, I knew this fiend did last for years. (One note at a time way (I forget what it's really called)) E: A: ?: (I think) e:---0--------------------------------- B:----0------2-2----------0------------ G:--1--1-----------------2-1----------- D:------------2------------------------ A:----------0-------------------------- E:-0----------------------------------- If someone could tell me what the mystery chord is, I would be really grateful. Thank You Terry Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us [][][][][][][][] End of this Fegmaniax Digest. Archives can be found at ftp://fegmania.wustl.edu/fegmaniax/archives/ For administrative questions, subscription requests, and all that boring crud, send mail to fegmaniax-request@nsmx.rutgers.edu. Slipping you the midnight fish...