Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 35 Send posts to fegmaniax@nsmx.rutgers.edu Send subscribe/unsubscribe commands to majordomo@nsmx.rutgers.edu Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@nsmx.rutgers.edu FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/ Archives are available at http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- girlfriends Assistance Needed Re: girlfriends Re: girlfriends Nicola Hitchcock (no Robyn) Facial hair; Robyn's possession thereof... SYTYIL single, KROQ's Lovelines show. Re: Nicola Hitchcock (no Robyn) Re: Watch Your Intelligence Beards ------------------------------ From: "Aaron Sparrow" Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 20:21:51 -0500 Subject: girlfriends CC: fegmaniax@ns2.rutgers.edu I hear you, man. I discovered Robyn's music back in high school, along with some of my good friends. The music we all listened to was a real bonding point. Since then, it's been a real struggle to find people I connect with in terms of musical taste. But it's especially hard when you and your girlfriend just can't seem to agree on what's worth listening to. I don't know whose situation is worse - you, whose girlfriend finds Robyn pleasant enough, or me, whose girlfriend practically sickens at the sound of his music. (It seems that a lot of people who don't care for his music are turned off by his voice - could also be why he hasn't had any bonafide hits.) To make matters worse, her favourite band is Led Zeppelin (yikes!), about whom I feel likewise. The only common ground we share musically is Leo Kottke. Needless to say, we listen to quite a bit of him. As for your comparison of Robyn Hitchcock to Magritte, the similarities are quite strong. Both of them are fairly stylistically traditional - Robyn's music is almost always melodic, usually in a conventional way, while Magritte's paintings always depict recognizable objects in a smooth, clear, "realistic" style. And they both convey a sense of absurdity by juxtaposing fantastical ideas against this comfortable, recognizable backdrop. Looking at Magritte's paintings or listening to Robyn, I always get the same sense of the limitless possibilities of the imagination being opened up. Plus, they both clearly like to just play with their respective media - Robyn with words, Magritte with visual images. Can I go now? Aaron ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 17:11:59 -0900 (AKST) From: Brett Cooper Subject: Assistance Needed I would like to put out a formal inquiry to anyone on this mailing list that knows how to either directly speak with Robyn Hitchcock or knows someone who can get in touch with him. If anyone has any information, PLEASE let me know. I am currently doing research for Six Of One, "The Prisoner" Appreciation Society, and I must get in touch with Robyn to ask a couple of questions regarding "Balloon Man". If anyone has any information, please privately e-mail me. Thanks in advance. Brett (Cooper) ********************************************************* * "A wise man once said that a person trying to know * * something about everything will eventually know * * everything about nothing; and that a person trying to * * know everything about one thing will eventually know * * nothing about everything." * * -Harrison Blackwood, * * "War Of The Worlds" * *The official address of: * *BC Radio, Inc. * *cooperb@chs.mat-su.k12.ak.us * ********************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Feb 96 19:10 PST From: upstart@mindlink.bc.ca (Renee Lynn) Subject: Re: girlfriends >. I don't know whose situation is worse - you, >whose girlfriend finds Robyn pleasant enough, or me, whose girlfriend >practically sickens at the sound of his music. According to my husband, who is also a feg, you are both in a better situation than he is; having a wife who has listened to Robyn day and night for ten years and swoons at the very mention of Robyn's name. It depends on your point of view. Be Seeing You Renee Lynn "Balloon Man *is* a Rover" Thompson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Feb 96 19:10 PST From: upstart@mindlink.bc.ca (Renee Lynn) Subject: Re: girlfriends >. I don't know whose situation is worse - you, >whose girlfriend finds Robyn pleasant enough, or me, whose girlfriend >practically sickens at the sound of his music. According to my husband, who is also a feg, you are both in a better situation than he is; having a wife who has listened to Robyn day and night for ten years and swoons at the very mention of Robyn's name. It depends on your point of view. Be Seeing You Renee Lynn "Balloon Man *is* a Rover" Thompson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 23:04:45 -0500 (EST) From: ! Subject: Nicola Hitchcock (no Robyn) There's this woman named Nicola Hitchcock, and in 1993 she put out a record called _A Bowl of Chalk_ on Demon Records. I've been seeing a copy of it in one of my local Tower Record stores (i know, i know, i shouldn't support the beast, but they are the only record store open most of the time when i am not at work, since i work all the time, more or less...) for a while, and have been intensely curious about it, despite the fact that as far as i know, Nicola is no relation to Robyn. Demon records is a pretty cool label, in my book, and Nicola wrote all the songs, according to tiny print on the bottom of the back -- a good sign -- at least she's no producer's puppet performer. I figured that it was virtually inevitable that i would buy it eventually, and since i just got an annual bonus from the Company That Owns My Life, i decided that tonight would be the night. Guess what? I like it pretty durned well. She sings and plays guitar; her voice really reminds me of someone, but i can't quite put my finger on who. A nice voice, anyway, of the sort that usually gets called "fragile." Very precise enunciation. The guitars and bass tend to be acoustic and the mood tends to be pleasant, occasionally a little melancholy. Lyrically, i'm afraid Nicola is no real match for Our Boy Robyn, thought she can ocassionally turn a fairly surreal phrase, as witness this bit from "surf on shingle:" I met a friend last night and left my wallet on the bar In multi-storey carparks i can never find my car "was in, wash out" it said and now i'm permanently red I fancied toast this morning but hadn't any bread mostly she's a bit more linear, though. is anyone else obsessive enough to perpetrate this sort of nonsense, or am i the only feg to buy this record? doug (just now wondering if the shingle that surf is on is the same as shingle street as in the T. Dolby number "Cloudburst at Shingle Street") p.s. it might be the woman from darling buds that nicola reminds of, but maybe not. dang. this is gonna drive me nuts... __/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\__/-\ = ...nous devons cultiver notre jardin... = = INET:dmayowel@access.digex.net AOL:DougMhyphW Compu$erve:102432,355 = = visit the pathetic caverns! http://www.access.digex.net/~dmayowel = ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 03:44:47 -0500 Subject: Facial hair; Robyn's possession thereof... Backtracking a bit: Aha. Perhaps there's a form of crosstalk going on here between the "pink disc" faction and the "Ventilator e.p." people. Everything could be easily cleared up by anyone who, for some reason, possesses both. The trick is that it sounds like the photos on the two discs, whether from the same session or not, seem to be completely different. The pink record certainly doesn't have a "bullet hole" obscuring Robyn's face... and if that bullet hole weren't there it would be very obvious that both Wang Bo (I'll take your word that it is indeed he with the legendary T-shirt) AND Robyn are bearded. This would support Jim's memory of two Robyns in the photo-- BOTH BEARDED, n'est-ce pas, Jimbo? I won't even dare to ask what fantasies the now-confirmed-once-beardedness-of-Robyn evokes in the female / gay "Robyn is Sexy" contingent. Ooops, I just have, haven't I? To Dave's recomendation of the "So You Think" single, I'll add (since 'twas I who originally leant it to him): there are two versions, one with "Dark Green Energy" as the third track and the other with a smashing version of "Eight Miles High" which Robyn performed on the Perspex tour, at least in LA (same show Dave remembers "Intelligence" from, although it was after, not before, the release of "Perspex")... any other Byrdmaniax here? (Thanks, by the way for the support on the under-ratedness of Camper Van Beethoven; they've always gone hand-in-hand with Robyn for me.) PS to the rarities collectors and compilers (and you'll have to really make it worth my while to go hunting for this)... SOMEWHERE I have a tape of Robyn and the Egyptians on "Lovelines", a mortifying radio program on KROQ in LA where a moronic DJ, a pro psychologist, and celebrity guests try to solve romantic (and other sexually morbid) problems phoned in by listeners. The Egyptians actually help with the listeners' questions (Morris recounts an schooldays kiss with his fuzzy-faced best buddy), while Robyn predominantly tunes his guitar and occasionally contributes improvised songs based on the problems of hapless listeners. The highlight is when a teenage girl with braces complains that she's been publicly dissed by a boyfriend after oral sex, because her braces scraped him but good; she asks what she should do in retaliation. Robyn's 12-bar blues response: "Send him some dentures / Send him some teeth / Sometimes adventures / End in a sheath / Sometimes there's problems / And sometimes there's not / But whatever you're left with / Is whatever you've got." -Rx PS-- This is going out a little late; somebody else has already noted the "Eight Miles" cover. Still worth a listen, though... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 12:04:16 -0500 From: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu (John B. Jones) Subject: SYTYIL single, KROQ's Lovelines show. >To Dave's recomendation of the "So You Think" single, I'll add (since 'twas I >who originally leant it to him): there are two versions, one with "Dark Green >Energy" as the third track and the other with a smashing version of "Eight >Miles High" which Robyn performed on the Perspex tour, at least in LA (same >show Dave remembers "Intelligence" from, although it was after, not before, >the release of "Perspex")... any other Byrdmaniax here? (Thanks, by the way >for the support on the under-ratedness of Camper Van Beethoven; they've >always gone hand-in-hand with Robyn for me.) Actually, there are THREE versions of the "So You Think You're In Love" CD single: the two you mentioned above, and the third one has 3 live tracks from the May 5, 1991 Mc Cabe's Guitar Shop show that Robyn and the Egyptians did. The first 2 are Van Morrison covers: Fair Play, and Linden Arden Stole the Highlights, and the last is One Long Pair of Eyes. I think the single was released only in Germany. It was designed to promote the European tour they did, as there is a full listing of German and Swedish tour dates in the inside cover. Does anyone have this 5 May 91 gig on tape? I have it, but it is incomplete: It was about 115 min long--and I only have 90min or so. Also the sound quality on mine is poor. It was a great gig tho---lots of odd songs and covers. The Vomiting Cross shows up on this show, as well as one called Bog Down in The Valley. >PS to the rarities collectors and compilers (and you'll have to really make >it worth my while to go hunting for this)... SOMEWHERE I have a tape of Robyn >and the Egyptians on "Lovelines", a mortifying radio program on KROQ in LA >where a moronic DJ, a pro psychologist, and celebrity guests try to solve >romantic (and other sexually morbid) problems phoned in by listeners. The >Egyptians actually help with the listeners' questions (Morris recounts an >schooldays kiss with his fuzzy-faced best buddy), while Robyn predominantly >tunes his guitar and occasionally contributes improvised songs based on the >problems of hapless listeners. I just recently picked this up as well, and enjoyed it. Robyn's improvs are not on par with his other ones, but it is very interesting to hear the 3 of them talk about their past relationships, their sex lives, and their reactions to many of the problems that these American kid callers seem to be having. The show itself is kind of scary (mortifying was a good word, RXbroome!) Mixing comedy and ratings and celebrity with a show that is supposed to help people with sexual and relationship-oriented problems---YIKES. .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: : John B. Jones "Boys for Pele is . e-mail: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu NOT an abstract : http://web.syr.edu/~jojones album" -Tori Amos (yeah, right.) .:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 12:53:14 -0500 From: spaced heater Subject: Re: Nicola Hitchcock (no Robyn) ! sez: >There's this woman named Nicola Hitchcock, and in 1993 she put out a >record called _A Bowl of Chalk_ on Demon Records. yeah, i think she's been mentioned on feg before - in the far, distant past. i picked up a single of hers from _a bowl of chalk_ for "pick up your coat" which i liked fairly well. the extra tracks on the single include a cover/duet with chris difford of "is that love?" (which sounds strangely like the original while being fully acoustic), an acoustic version of a track on the album ("my mistake") and a non-album track. >her voice really reminds me of someone, but i can't quite put my finger >on who. wendy maharry? jill sobule? woj ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 13:04:16 -0600 From: seesaw@ezl.com (Stephen Austin) Subject: Re: Watch Your Intelligence It is quite dicourageing to have Robyn rejected by ones friends. Because it is such brain music and my friends are good thinkers, they should fit as hand in glove. However, I have unfortunately found this as not true. Back in September (when I listened to September Cones quite continually) I was on RH high. This is to say my other music was shelved and RH was it for that month or so. I would be around people, singing a lyric in my head and feel the need to explain the brilliance to them. This is very difficult to do starting from scratch. So I made a compilation tape. Quite a project. Robyn has somthing in the 300 songs ballpark. So I wrote down all the songs I thought someone should know, thats a hundred or so. I thinned down to 50; and reluctantly skimmed down to 30. I made a beautiful accousic side and a snappier, lively, excited side. I then dubbed the tape 4 times and gave it to 4 friends. Nothing much happened. I was so disturbed-saddened. One friend took a liking the others didn't. Therefore, 1 out of every 4 [dentists]... ho hum, oh well. This spreading the goodness of Robyn is tricky. At first I thought the little slip of paper inside the RH reissues though Rhino was tacky. "Tell two friends get one art." But later, and now I think it was of good intent. Spreading Robyn is so sticky. Stephen seesaw@ezl.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 18:35:12 -0500 (EST) From: Terry Marks Subject: Beards I remember this from a show.. Loud Man in Crowd: Elbow! [He's probably drunk also..] Robyn: No..I think what you meant to say is "Would you like to see my beard". In fact, I shaved my beard off in 1976. Hope it helps Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks a013645t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest.