From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org To: fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org Reply-To: fegmaniax@ecto.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@ecto.org Subject: Feg Digest V4 #156 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 156 Send posts to fegmaniax@ecto.org Send subscribe/unsubscribe commands to majordomo@ecto.org Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@ecto.org FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/ Archives are available at http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/fegmaniax/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- Re: Paisley Underground Re: Beatlestuff "Robyquette" said the interesting dwarf more damage than you think Re: Narnia/XTC Re: Narnia/XTC Debunking the Myth of the Bi-Polar Robyn MOSS RULES!! Re: Paisley Underground Re: Paisley Underground Re: Paisley Underground It's not big and it's not clever Re: Old RH interview Re: Paisley Underground Re: Debunking the Myth of the Bi-Polar Robyn Re: Old RH interview Album Poll- voting has begun Cormorants & Shags Moose Alex Hair Mosey a licks her (corrections on previous posting) Couple ot things 12 Bar, 20/08/96 Re: 12 Bar, 20/08/96 washington post review 7" vinyl ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 18:24:22 -0700 From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.) Subject: Re: Paisley Underground The four Paisley Underground bands? My guess would be the Rain Parade, Dream Syndicate, Three O'Clock and Green On Red. Down with Rodney King whining, EB ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 18:29:17 -0700 From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.) Subject: Re: Beatlestuff >Revolver remains the top Beatles album (source: Robyn Hitchcock). I can't argue with that. :) >[McCartney] did do some songs with Costello a while back, including the >hummable >'Veronica'. Should have brought the Attractions along too. There's a McCartney collaboration on Costello's new album called "Shallow Grave," which is actually one of my favorite tracks on that rather underwhelming disc. However, I believe the song was written quite awhile ago. E.B. ------------------------------ From: BLATZMAN@aol.com Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 21:55:51 -0400 Subject: "Robyquette" said the interesting dwarf Please don't take this as negative energy. It is just something I feel very strongly about: Nick writes: "The fact that many of us have different views and like different kinds of music...is what makes this list interesting" No Nick, this is the reason YOU find the list interesting. And this is the reason YOU find the list worth subscribing to. I'm not saying I disagree, but you can't assume the same for everyone else out there. There are many people who are uninterested in list member's other musical tastes. Some people want Robyn INFO only, and don't care about my "different views and different kinds of music" And finally, my real reason for this post: "Off-topic posts are just fine with me, by the way. Just keep it interesting for the majority and avoid personal attacks." I understand the intentions are good, but this statement can't be in the same post that contains a set of rules. What about the minority (if it is one) who would prefer zero off topic posts? You see, someone will always be bent out of shape. For some, the discussion is the reason why they stay. For others, it drives them crazy. It's hard, cause it puts you in a tough position. If you post off-topic, the very reason that makes the list for some, you RUIN the list for others. I personally don't want to ruin the list for anyone. But I sure like to argue... (that friendly communal garbage makes me sick. We are not all friends. Please don't include me. The devil on my shoulder is grinning) BLATZMAN ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 15:23:35 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: more damage than you think Folks! May I have your attention a moment? Until recently, this list was the most fun list I'd been on. Everyone happy, larking around in a surreal and Robynesque way. Even the traditional "Eye is better/worse than Perspex Island" arguments were handled in a friendly way, with everyones opinions being given due (dare I say it?) Respect. But in the last couple of weeks, things have gone badly downhill. Sure, some of us hate the music of a certain Beach Boy, others love it. But *come on*, we're not going to change each others opinions by arguing about it here. The thing that binds us together is our common love of the music of that quirky toothy English madman, not our wealth of divergent opinions on other matters. If you want to argue Brian's pros & cons, take it off list. It's not as though you've got nothing Robyn related to talk about - TWO new albums fer crissakes! I dopn't want to see this l;ist dissolve into a mass of flames. You're all too fun a bunch of people to let that happen. But some of the more well known of us are leaving because of the turmoil. Aidan's gone - who's going to be next? Can't we just agree to differ on non-Robyn topics, and go back to discussing Robyn like calm coherent crustacea? 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) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Narnia/XTC Date: Tue, 20 Aug 96 22:41:38 -0500 From: Della & Steve Schiavo That James guy wrote: >Another Narnian group is XTC, whom have a song called "Always Winter >Never Christmas", even. True, but Andy is a fairly militant atheist. (See Dear God, Merely a Man, Season Cycle, etc.) - Steve ------------------------------ From: ZeroSummer@aol.com Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 23:46:28 -0400 Subject: Re: Narnia/XTC >>> True, but Andy is a fairly militant atheist. (See Dear God, Merely a Man, Season Cycle, etc.) <<< The danger with Andy is misconstruing his arch ironic stance. Few complete atheists spend so much time writing about it. I think of Stephen Crane as well: pissed at God, not dismissive of him. --Joe (fave Narnia: Last Battle, Silver Chair) ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 03:31:20 -0400 Subject: Debunking the Myth of the Bi-Polar Robyn "Pet Sounds" came about as a result of Brian Wilson trying to outdo "Revolver" (IMHO, he did not)." Ha ha ha ha!!! Who among you will bravely follow me into uncharted waters of off-topic postings, just to spite those who bitterly abandon ship? Surely if you're hearty enough to mix metaphors like that, you can follow me that much further... "Pet Sounds" was an attempt to outdo "Rubber Soul", not "Revolver" (see the recent Brian Wilson documentary). Simultaneously, "Revolver" was more than a little competitive with the Byrds, who, along with Dylan, pushed the Beatles into more folk-rock stuff than their previous Chuck Berry style (although their most Byrdsy track, "If I Needed Someone", is on "Rubber Soul"). So "Pet Sounds" and "Revolver" are roughly contemporaneous, while "Sgt. Pepper's" was indeed attempted payback for "Pet Sounds". Note that at the time, due to the frequency with which albums were produced, pop music was revolutionized in roughly the time it now takes to milk an album by, say, Stone Temple Pilots for three shitty singles while the singer escapes from an unending series of rehab joints... Okay, here's some Robyn stuff: Somebody mentioned, and was perhaps correct in the main, that Robyn fans are polarized into "Eye/IODOT" lovers and "Perspex etc." lovers. But I don't belong to either camp. I would divide his records thusly, mostly on the basis of which ones feel, to me, sincere or resonant; I think many will agree: ESSENTIAL: Underwater Moonlight, Black Snake Diamond Role, I Often Dream of Trains, Element of Light, Eye, Perspex Island*, Respect. (* "Perspex" is more a great pop record than a great Robyn record, but hey... it IS great.) ENJOYABLE BUT NOT THOROUGHLY INTERESTING: Fegmania! INTERESTING BUT NOT THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE: A Can of Bees, Globe of Frogs*, You & Oblivion, Mossy Liquor (so far), Moss Elixir (so far) (* I secretly consider "Globe", which was my introduction to Robyn, to be both essential and quintessential, but that's just to me; it does have some lousy stuff on it.) GENERALLY SHITTY BUT NOT WITHOUT MERIT: Invisible Hits, Groovy Decay/oy/o, Queen Elvis SUCKS SHIT THROUGH A STRAW: Invisible Hitchcock (I fear dear Hamish will have to change his name to "Flamish" if I keep this up!) So y'see, I favor neither the "old" nor "new" Robyn, nor the "accoustic" vs. "electric" Robyn. I see a big throughline-- the leap from "Queen of Eyes" to "Lysander" is a minimal as the leap from "Flavour of Night" to "You and Oblivion". I'm talking style here in an attempt to prove that style is sort of meaningless in terms of emotional content. If I had to pick an EMOTIONAL (not stylistic) latterday counterpart to, for example, the sparse, lo-fi "Flavour of Night", it would be the lush, big-budget "Ride": "A different disease in another translation; though you don't understand it, familiar sensation... but who needs to talk when you're caught in the flavor of night?" "You don't have to sharpen yourself; you're embedded deep as it is... all you've gotta do in this world is ride..." "You, yeah you, with your ice-cream hands-- you, yeah you are my friend..." "Love me love me love me love me love me-- that's what everybody say.." Well, I see a parallel, anyway... Rex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 19:19:41 +0800 (SST) From: Kevin M Mathews Subject: MOSS RULES!! So I have finally got me grubby hands on Moss Elixir - and it is your typical RH album - i.e. phenomenal! It treads a brilliant middle ground between the baroque simplicity of I Often Dream Of Trains & Eye and the full-on rock productions of the Egyptians stuff - eg. both Alright Yeah & Beautiful Queen would not be out of place on Perpex Island. When I heard the Moss version of Devil's Radio I was taken aback - it was totally opposite to the Mossy version and yet no less powerful - is this man a genius or what?! Yeah, I know I'm gushing but hey, no true-blue RH admirer could possibly feel any less about this classy album. Is anyone esle out there evoking the spirit of Lennon as well? Okay, first impressions last, right - will get more detailed as I listen to more. But, seriously folks, if you have a problem loving either ML or ME then let's hear why - because obviously, RH is still (thankfully) at the height of his ability, and the versatility displayed on ME augurs well for the future... how the albums fits into the scheme of things is left to narrow-minded critics. Enjoy!! Cheers, Kevin. RECOMMENDED PSYCHEDELIC NUGGET - Screaming Trees: Dust. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 12:22:40 +0100 (BST) From: M R Godwin Subject: Re: Paisley Underground On Tue, 20 Aug 1996, Aaron J. Sparrow wrote: > ======== Original Message ======== > >Quiz question: "By the fall of 1983 the term Paisley Underground was > >extremely misused ... Four bands were the Paisley Underground, no one > >else, ever!" (Griffin). Which four? (I'd never even heard of one of > >them). > > "The Three O'Clock" has got to be one of them. > > -tom > ======== Fwd by: Russ Reynolds ======== > Three O'Clock, Bangles, Rain Parade... > ----------------------------- > > Wasn't the Dream Syndicate one of them? Yes! I think we are there now. Thanks for the massive entry on this one. Bonus marks for mention of The Salvation Army rather than The Three O'Clock (same band, earlier name). I'm still waiting for the correct name of the Bangles at that date ... - MG PS Green on Red and the Long Ryders 'were suddenly lumped into the Paisley Underground even though we had nothing to do with the Underground scene. So now there were six' (Sid Griffin). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 08:11:20 -0400 From: lbiondi@iserver01.ci.buffalo.ny.us (Louie Biondi) CC: "Aaron J. Sparrow" , fegmaniax@ecto.org Subject: Re: Paisley Underground M R Godwin wrote: > > On Tue, 20 Aug 1996, Aaron J. Sparrow wrote: > > > ======== Original Message ======== > > >Quiz question: "By the fall of 1983 the term Paisley Underground was > > >extremely misused ... Four bands were the Paisley Underground, no one > > >else, ever!" (Griffin). Which four? (I'd never even heard of one of > > >them). > > > > "The Three O'Clock" has got to be one of them. > > > > -tom > > ======== Fwd by: Russ Reynolds ======== > > Three O'Clock, Bangles, Rain Parade... > > ----------------------------- > > > > Wasn't the Dream Syndicate one of them? > > Yes! > > I think we are there now. Thanks for the massive entry on this one. Bonus > marks for mention of The Salvation Army rather than The Three O'Clock > (same band, earlier name). I'm still waiting for the correct name of the > Bangles at that date ... > > - MG > > PS Green on Red and the Long Ryders 'were suddenly lumped into the Paisley > Underground even though we had nothing to do with the Underground scene. > So now there were six' (Sid Griffin). Hi, The Bangles were formerly known at The Bangs, but had to change the name due to the fact that there was another band already using that name. The first pressing of their first single actually lists the name on the sleeve as the Bangs. Best Always, "mad" louie ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 13:27:09 +0100 (BST) From: M R Godwin Subject: Re: Paisley Underground On Wed, 21 Aug 1996, Louie Biondi wrote: > The Bangles were formerly known at The Bangs, but had to change the > name due to the fact that there was another band already using that name. > The first pressing of their first single actually lists the name on the > sleeve as the Bangs. > > Best Always, > > "mad" louie Good work louie "Everyone has one and all shall have prizes" The collective fegs win the prize on this one, as no-one got more than 3 out of 4. Who says that all that feg energy working together can't change the world? As usual, the prize is a Syd Barrett lyric: BIRDY HOP Birdy Hop - he do, he hop along a lonely bird upon a window there he, he, there he blow a windy snow, he knew the snow, I know the snow, a hoppy bird The antelope ride around the parasol just to see if he's a man enough to meet you in the sandpit on a flying kind of sign in a meddlesome way you know the way - I see the flies she's a little kite the sort you think you might like to fly and like a kite you get to see her every night, you know the way she's only paving her way - Ektachrome plane - I see the flies. Birdy Hop - he do, he hop along a lonely bird upon a window there he, he, there he blow a windy snow, he knew the snow, I know the snow, a hoppy bird A camel woke up to a Polish dawn wouldn't look to see his feet had gone he wouldn't like it wouldn't have the strength to fight it, I see the flies I'm the only bird, a little third, I lost a quarter had a yearning to be earning just a dollar a day in a way you shouldn't like it, Ektachrome plane I see the flies. ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-UnitedKingdom-om4.om.hp.com Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 13:34:00 +0100 Subject: It's not big and it's not clever So now we lose Aidan. I think we have to start thinking about what we want from this group. It seems to be the current disease with newsgroups/mailing lists, that they just degenerate into a venue for personal, slanderous attacks, e.g. alt.music.makers.bass. That is what I liked about this list when I subscribed, it was relatively free of abusive mail. Personally I don't want to see woj censoring every mail but if that's what it takes. We have the right to pass opinion, not to deprive others of theirs. Hamish (the slightly sadder than yesterday) P.S. Don't flame me for this cos I won't respond to abuse-mail. I suggest others start to do likewise. "The flowers of intolerance and hatred are blooming kind of early this year -- someone's been watering them." P.P.S. I think I know why RH doesn't like the internet! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 13:29:34 +0100 (BST) From: M R Godwin Subject: Re: Old RH interview OK, thanks to an overwhelming three requests, here it is!. You wouldn't believe how many letter 'c's there are in Hitchcock... -Mike ******************************************************************* 'Robyn Hitchcock' by Vincent Eno from 'Strange Things are Happening', March 1988. 'It's only when things make total sense that they become really boring. Fortunately nothing ever does'. So says ROBYN HITCHCOCK, whose new album Globe of Frogs sees the light of day this spring. VINCENT ENO caught up with him in a graveyard in December with some peculiar results. See him live, buy the record, and read on..... Highgate Cemetery is quite some place. Crumbling monolithic shrines dedicated to prosperous Victorians, the imposing statue at Karl Marx's tomb, fine panoramic views over London Town.This fading piece of Old England seems a perfect place for an afternoon's debate with Robyn Hitchcock. You see, I'd had Hitchcock marked down as a late-twentieth-century throwback to an earlier, more whimsical age; some kind of modern day Decadent Victorian Romantic in the mould of Baudelaire, Huysmans, Symons or LaForge. All that stuff in his lyrics about drowning, death and decay, or those moody album covers with skulls and red wine bottles. I recalled lines like 'All my favourite buildings have fallen down' as I ambled over to meet the lanky figure sitting on the park bench. I was totally wrong, of course. Robyn picked the location because he lives nearby, and, although he agreed his outlook was romantic, he was having none of the late Victorian Decadent bit: "What, you mean old loonys with monocles on monocycles? people cycling through London parks with fishing rods?' Clearly I was way off the mark. Robyn's romanticism isn't your average rose- behind-the-ear stuff: 'You can easily romanticise a bunch of trees in autumn, or a load of old stones, but there's nothing there. Looking out over London I would be more interested if I could see a huge melon hovering over St Pauls, and I'd be more interested still if I could see a cucumber oozing out of the Thames. If coloured tents strted appearing in the cemetery I'd be delighted. if that guy over there suddenly sprouted wings and shot vertically into the air I'd be really pleased'. Robyn has a habit of coming out with such sentences. Coming from anyone else, this kind of palaver would seem totally contrived to gain attention (of the Isn't he _whacky_' type), but coming from Robyn Hitchcock it sounds perfectly natural. It is impossible to think of some sceming, zany popster when confronted with such a friendly, genuine, honest-to-goodness bloke - he's genuinely taken aback that I could even _dare_ suggest his creative output is contrived. 'I'm not somebody who sat around saying 'Well, I'm going to be eccentric; I'm going to carry a marrow, I'm going to wear goggles'; I have a lot of trouble trying to make anything make sense to me. I'm a ludicrous person in a ludicrous world. I'm trying to be as serious as everyone else - I'm not trying to wear a mask. I'm a lot more me than I bet Spandau Ballet are Spanday Ballet ... although they probably want the same things - sex and central heating and drugs, only I suspect they want fame as well'. Whether he likes it or not, Robyn Hitchcock will, in his own particular way, be treading the weary path towards fame as much as the likes of Spandau Ballet in the very near future. Recently signed to A&M America for a two album deal, his fame has been gradually escalating to hero- worship proportions Stateside. American journalists have been frothing with critical acclaim - _Creem_ magazine was even preposterous enough to suggest that 'God walks among us'. This kind of adulation is in direct opposition to the kind of attention he receives in Britain - for the most part he is ignored, or at best pigeonholed as an oddball novelty. You can't blame him looking to the US for support: 'For seven years we had no response here - I spent five clawing up a cliff side till my fingernails came out, and didn't even make a mark in the cliff! I started America three years ago and things have been good. Karmically, I think that if you have the slagging then you deserve the praise. I think the Americans are over-the-top and the British are under-the-top. The British don't understand what the fuck I'm about and the Americans take it far too seriously. The truth, as ever, lies somewhere in between'. Very true. Robyn Hitchcock is certainly no higher being, but he's written some damn good tunes. 'Kingdom of Love', 'Queen of Eyes', 'I Wanna Destroy You', most of _Fegmania_ and a fair smattering of _Element of Light_ ought to have graced our charts and airwaves. Unfortunately they didn't. Will the A&M move bring more success? 'If we had a top five hit with A&M it would be awful ... you become the property of eight year old girls - like the Thompson Twins. They were very trendy, very NME, an English Talking Heads - very popular with the middle class post- punk hippies that had lots of things dangling in their hair. I thought they were dreadful. Then they started doing songs for six year olds which I thought were actually much better; they lost their credibility, made lots of money ... and nobody wanted to know them at all. I don't think it's going to happen to me - if it did it would be tough luck .... but then it's dangerous to make these statements gazing out over London because you'll probably find that in six months I'm doing some ghastly track with Stock, Aitken and Waterman and saying "It's alright man, it's only money!" '. Somehow I doubt it. For one thing, his spanner-in-the-works school of songwriting that we know and love wouldn't allow for it. Robyn describes his songwriting style as 'totally ramshackle'; it is certainly at odds with your average top 40 fodder. His lyrics aren't intentionally obscure - they just come out that way ... 'I read back my lyrics and I know that sooner or later there's going to be something wrong somewhere. But that seems to me how life operates - either that or I'm just obsessed by the inappropriate. It's not intentional bloody-mindedness; I just find it almost impossible to write pop lyrics. The reason I've remained invisible for so long is because I work in a conventional framework musically but not lyrically. It's far too conventional for Peel to play, but it's not the sort of thing the daytime radio people can play because it hasn't got expensive production and the words stick in people's ears'. But it's songwriting, not pleasing the accountant, that Robyn is most interested in - to the exclusion of almost everything else. 'It's actually quite an effort to do the washing up or the shopping - I'm really happiest when I've got a piano or a guitar or I'm going for a long walk'. So how does he write? 'I usually make notes when I'm in orbit, and whenever I come to rest I sing through them. I might just have a list of titles written on the train, something like 'Sagging Sheep', 'The Catastrophic Window' or 'The Empty Hydrangea'; you have all of those things and you'll find that one of them makes sense. You will then find that your title, which is the springboard for a song, is a context in which you can discuss a variety of things. songwriting is a blueprint. In the instant of conception the artist is as ignorant as the public as to what it's about. When you first have an idea you don't know why you have the idea or what it represents; the first thing you get is the idea. You may then be able to label it, pigeonhole it, discuss it, send it away ... but you don't know to start with. It just occurs to me before it gets to you'. What Robyn is about to unleash on the unsuspecting public is a new LP entitle _Globe of Frogs_. It sees Robyn in a mellower mood, a continuing trait that has spanned The Soft Boys 'Wading Through Your Ventilator' [sic] through to the reflective rush of _Element of Light's_ 'Winchester'. Robyn's obsession with all things organic also rears its head. 'There's lots of creatures crawling all over the place, oozing out of each other'. The sea and its inhabitants is a central concern: 'There's a high incidence of fish, underwater stuff on the new record - people will say "Ey up, Hitchcock's into fish again" ... I'll go to America and get given a few more plastic lobsters. Someone gave us a live lobster in a bucket in Chicago - at least they didn't throw it at us on stage - the guy said he would!' The sea is not only a songwriting inspiration; it also plays an active role in the Hitchcock life. He lives by the sea most of the time, and spends a fair few days splashing around in the water. Drowning crops up on numerous occasions as a songwriting fixation - on _Globe of Frogs_ there's a track called 'The Luminous Rosebud' where a serviceman fails to return home because he's been drowned. 'Water is the source of all life' muses Robyn. 'A lot of people dream about water. Psychologists tell us our unconscious is reflected in it. Even if there was a nuclear war the sea would be the last place to die. Things at the bottom of the sea would be the last to mutate and rot. The sea is the mother'. Having said this, Robyn isn't too impressed with the idea of the Channel Tunnel: 'The crabs aren't going to like that, oh boy!' With all this fishy business going on you might care to associate Robyn Hitchcock with Pisces. you'd be right. But not yer average Pisces: 'I know a lot of people who are Pisces, but they don't rattle on about lobsters, fish and crabs! The only way I connect with Pisces is that the fish emblem is going in opposite directions at once, This perfectly sums up my career!' along with the crustacean fixation, death and decay are the two other subjects that stumble on to the new LP. a recent song subject was execution in a state prison. Decay for Robyn is 'the law of life. You can only regenerate through what has actually rotted. In Tarot the hanged man represents the earth. If you dream about dying it is supposed to be rebirth. Death is the Christmas present nobody unwraps ... but everyone's going to get it'. Quite. So it's a bag of laughs, this new disc, huh? 'It's a lot about reproduction, religion and death. Nothing to do with politics or relationships or economics or slogans or media or sex. It's my most complete rejection fo the outside world - but on the other hand I think it's my most complete reflection of the world I see'. But surely any complete reflection of your worldview must be political? 'It's not to do with party politics or the number of hospitals that have been closed or the fact that they're charging you even togo and see the dentist, to see what he looks like ... those particular things are obscene but it's very hard to write songs about them that don't come out as dogma. And I hate dogma. I hate slogans. If I had the gift to write those songs I would write them ... maybe I will'. However Robyn is far from apolitical. he has recently appeared in anti fur-trade and Nicaraguan benefits, because 'that's all I can do. People assume that because I don't write about things that I'm completely indifferent to them - that I'm some sort of supercilious middle class bastard who livesin a bubble. It's true in a way, but it's not that true'. Robyn Hitchcock is a sincere and immensely likeable individual. Not a god, not a genius, just a talented and unique songwriter doing what he knows best. His fans, however, would agree to differ here - some are totally obsessed. How does he cope with them? 'The important thing about them is that they never meet you because it's such an awful dissolution to them. You get people who want to occupy the same physical space as you, they stand so close ... they kind of wish you didn't exist because they'd like to be you instead. Mark Chapman was such a person. You've got to watch it - but on the other hand I was obsessive - rock music was what kept me going. I didn't have any interest in reality'. Robyn's only other outlet was drawing and painting; he went to Art School but quit due to its formal nature. 'It was very academic and I was more interested in doing imaginative stuff. Quentin Crisp used to model there - that was about the only interesting thing about it. We didn't know who he was - he wasn't a celebrity - he ws an oldish guy with silver hair that had obviously had a rinse. I got demoralised and chose the Rock and roll path!' yet this interest in all things artistic has led to some fine cover art and excellent pen and ink sketches. Robyn is fairly modest about this: 'I work very slowly, but I've just done some paintings for the new album. I do about two and a half paintings a year. I'm not really very good at painting - I think I'm a good line artist - I'm a cartoonist basically. Painting is my hobby'. So it's not a RonWood Rock Star pictures bit? 'At lest that proves that Ron Wood can do something other than chopping out lines of coke! More power to Ron! People at that stage _need_ therapy. I'd like to see keith Richard plant a flower bed - and do something useful for a change!' Robyn's family are similarly artistic - his sister has just completed a radio paly whilst his father has written a fair number of novels, mainly of the thriller variety. anyone fami8liar with the live Hitchcock experience will recall his boundless excursions into babbled storytelling prose. Would he consider giving up songwriting to enter the world of literature? 'I'm sure there will be a book of poems and lyrics. And sometime there will be a book of drawings. I'm really plesed that people are interested because it's a possibility that I'd stop making records at some point if I thought the songs weren't good enough - it could be any day. I don't think I can concentrate long enough to write a short story. I don't see myself writing novels. I wish I could but I can't. I can write plots, dialogue and characters, but I don't seem to have the ability to do any more'. Still there are some strong literary influences bearing down upon Robyn's output - amongst them J G Ballard. 'I've read nearly all of them; I liked _Empire of the Sun_ but thought the masturbatory car-crash stuff was a bit over the top. I'd rather read _Tarantula_ or William burroughs. I thought it was too frantic, the blood on the sheets stuff - I'd certainly take sex over technology any time! things like _The Drowned World_, _The Draught_, _The Illuminated Man_, _A Woman From Nowhere_ and all the short stories that he wrote up to the mid sixties. Of the more recent stuff _Hello America_ was alright, _Empire of the Sun_ very good. It explained an awful lot. The Ballard landscape of the drained river bed with the concrete bunkers and the dead wives and the dead parents hovering off into the corner...' Does this sound familiar? The Hitchcock landscape is just as vivid as Ballard's, just as radical, just as enjoyable. And ten times more humorous. As we leave, trying to cross through Highgate Cemetery becomes a problem. An undertake bars our entrance - apparently there's to be a burial later in the day. Robyn is ecstatic: "What you mean they still bury people here? How much does it cost?' On being discreetly informed the grisly details by this bemused Highgate official Robyn and I slowly walk away. 'Aha', says Robyn 'Now I've solved my Christmas present problems'. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 10:08:41 -0400 (EDT) From: Richard Plumb Subject: Re: Paisley Underground How about GREEN ON RED and DREAM SYNDICATE? Rich ------------------------------ From: "Aaron J. Sparrow" Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 09:59:10 -0500 Subject: Re: Debunking the Myth of the Bi-Polar Robyn Rex hit upon something that's bugged me for years when he said: "Note that at the time [mid-late 60s], due to the frequency with which albums were produced, pop music was revolutionized in roughly the time it now takes to milk an album by, say, Stone Temple Pilots for three shitty singles..." Any ideas why that is? It seems like Hitchcock's string of albums from Can of Bees through Perspex Island, which average out to roughly one per year, is even rare these days. Meanwhile, the Beatles were putting out 2 or 3 per year. What's up with that? Robyn related: Rex then proceeded to give us his list of Robyn's classics, good ones, and bungles. Perhaps we could vote on our favorite Hitchcock albums, the way we did for our favorite Hitchcock songs a few months ago. I'd love to volunteer to host this, but unfortunately my email account is via work. Any takers? Aaron ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 11:02:46 -0500 From: mlang@inch.com (Steven Matrick) Aaron wrote: Rex then proceeded to give us his list of Robyn's classics, good ones, and bungles. Perhaps we could vote on our favorite Hitchcock albums, the way we did for our favorite Hitchcock songs a few months ago. I'd love to volunteer to host this, but unfortunately my email account is via work. Any takers? Aaron _____________________________________________________________________________ I think this is a great idea and will steer this list away from negativity. I will do this if the following conditions are acceptable: We rule out Moss Elixir/Mossy Liquor: Most of us have not had them long enough to truly evaluate them within the body of Robyn's work. We limit this to a top ten Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys album poll where: #1 gets 15 points #2 gets 10 points #3 gets 8 points #4 gets 7 points #5 gets 6 points #6 gets 5 points #7 gets 4 points #8 gets 3 points #9 gets 2 points #10 gets 1 point That is probably clear enough: :) If this sounds like something everyone wants to do, they can begin posting to me directly or post to the list if you want to share your opinions.... Steven Matrick The Favorite Color ------------------------------ From: "Aaron J. Sparrow" Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 12:27:37 -0500 Subject: Re: Old RH interview >From the 1988 interview so generously and painstaikingly transcribed by Mike, the following quote emerged: " 'Looking out over London I would be more interested if I could see a huge melon hovering over St Pauls...' " Robyn Hitchcock=Rene Magritte Now we have proof. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 14:11:34 -0500 From: mlang@inch.com (Steven Matrick) Subject: Album Poll- voting has begun Well, it looks like voting has begun as I have received several responses already. I just want add that only official album releases should be counted (no bootlegs)..... Steven Matrick The Favorite Color ------------------------------ Subject: Cormorants & Shags Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 11:25:00 -0700 From: Tom Clark I just wanted to say that I love all of you. Yes, even those of you who enjoy "Eye." Peace, -tc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 17:35:50 +0100 From: Christian James Burnham Subject: Moose Alex Hair I've just been catching up on about 3 months of posts. The reception given to Moose Alex Hair seems a little tepid. I have to say that it surprised me in genuinely being the best RH in years (though people will always claim that; Eye bores etc). It's a question of taste, but when he sings 'a happy bird is a filthy bird' I think, yes, that's so true, that rings home, this sort of insight will bring down the government, let there be no doubt. Notes: 1) You can hold the back of the CD close to your face so that your eyes are reflected in RH's shades to see what RH would look like if he were morphed with you. Warning, can be scary. 2) The Devil's radio goes from memory: Intro: Amaj7,bmin,D then against singing: Amaj7, bmin, Amaj7, F#min*, E, D, Amaj7, bmin, Amaj7, F#min*, E, D, E, chorus: Bmin, D, A (repeat *3) then F#min*, bmin, then back to singing bit. F#min* is F*min with 5th string open, and played as bass note. 3) A happy bird is indeed a filthy bird. 4) I'm going to NY (I'm Englandish) this Saturday for a day before going to New Hamp. Where should I visit? (mail me personally at cjb@ice.physics.salford.ac.uk) 5) My home page does not have a Java enabled Robyn Hitchcock playing the mandolin on it. You can therefore avoid visiting by not typing http://ice.physics.salford.ac.uk.christian.html in your browser. 6) Much thanks, and RH still cuts the scampi. mahnruB (rae niT) naitsirhC ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 18:13:48 +0100 From: Christian James Burnham Subject: Mosey a licks her (corrections on previous posting) Correction to previous posting. Sorry. I've just been catching up on about 3 months of posts. The reception given to Moose Alex Hair seems a little tepid. I have to say that it surprised me in genuinely being the best RH in years (though people will always claim that; Eye bores etc). It's a question of taste, but when he sings 'a happy bird is a filthy bird' I think, yes, that's so true, that rings home, this sort of insight will bring down the government, let there be no doubt. Notes: 1) You can hold the back of the CD close to your face so that your eyes are reflected in RH's shades to see what RH would look like if he were morphed with you. Warning, can be scary. 2) The Devil's radio goes from memory: Intro: Amaj7,bmin,D then against singing: Amaj7, bmin, Amaj7, F#min*, E, D, Amaj7, bmin, Amaj7, F#min*, E, D, E, chorus: Bmin, D, A (repeat *3) then F#min*, bmin, then back to singing bit. F#min* is F*min with 5th string open, and played as bass note. 3) A happy bird is indeed a filthy bird. 4) I'm going to NY (I'm Englandish) this Saturday for a day before going to New Hamp. Where should I visit? (mail me personally at cjb@ice.physics.salford.ac.uk) 5) My home page does not have a Java enabled Robyn Hitchcock playing the mandolin on it. You can therefore avoid visiting by not typing http://ice.physics.salford.ac.uk/christian.html in your browser. 6) Much thanks, and RH still cuts the scampi. mahnruB (rae niT) naitsirhC ------------------------------ From: jlaw@qucis.queensu.ca (Jeffrey Lawrence) Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 18:25:39 EDT Subject: Couple ot things Glad to see the "Brian Wilson Appreciation Society" mailing list has gotten back to topic ;-) Now onto more serious things: a) Got M.E. last night at last - played it complete last night too. It's actually pretty IMHO. Certainly not the greatest solo or group effort that he's ever done but it a large improvement from You & Oblivion IMHO (which sucked I thought - but who knows, maybe someone out thinks it's his greatest album - you never know.....) "Beautiful Queen" really SHOULD be a hit - I mean it's so radio friendly that it's a crime NOT to play it - maybe we should start a grass roots campaign like the Squeeze newsgroup did.... The only TRULY(sp?) disapointing thing about the album is that since almost all the songs (except Y&O and This Is How It Feels) have already been passed around on this list so many times, through various boots, I didn't have that sense of adventure listening to it for the first time like I normally do with new albums, since I knew almost all the songs by heart! So this was kind of a bummer, but it certainly didn't ruin the album for me. Did anyone else have this reaction too BTW, is it me or do the horns on DeChirico sound like (in tone, not note-for-note) the horns-only track from Elvis Costello's "Spike" (1989) (can't remember the song title right now - damn!). Curious.... b) I found this listed on the JAM! Anti-hit List today (JAM! is part of the online version of the Sun chain of newspapers (a Canadian newspaper chain for those Fegs outside the Great White North) - it's actually quite a cool site - http://www.canoe.ca if you're interested). Anyways, RH is on the Anti Hit list and this is what they had to say.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ROBYN HITCHCOCK, Sinister But She Was Happy: The lead-off track from the album that should finally give him a legitimate shot at mass success. If anything, the smooth, acoustic accompaniment makes Hitchcock's off-kilter lyrics seem even nuttier than usual. Quite possibly his best album since the glory days of the Soft Boys. (From Moss Elixir, Warner) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The # means this the coolest single of the week (in case you couldn't guess! ;-)) Another neat one was posted there too: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. BLACK GRAPE with JOE STRUMMER, England's Irie (Suedehead Dub) (au, 188K): Imagine a long lost collaboration between the Happy Mondays and the Clash, and you've got the gist of this irresisitibly breezy summer remix. (From England's Irie CD single, Radioactive U.K.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can you imagine? The mind boggles... Maybe Robyn should team up with Massive Attack and do a remix of "Beautiful Queen"? Watcha think? ;-) -- Slainte!, Jeff " Jesus said: "Love thy neighbor." (Matthew 22:39) Elvis said: "Don't be cruel." (RCA, 1956) Jesus walked on water. (Matthew 14:25) Elvis surfed. (Blue Hawaii, Paramount, 1965)" - anon, from "Why Elvis is god" (this is meant tounge-in-cheek ;-)) ** JEFF LAWRENCE (jlaw@qucis.queensu.ca) ** Systems Specialist, Robotics and Perception Labs, Dept. of Computing and Information Sciences, Rm.729, Goodwin Hall, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, CANADA, K7L 3N6 Ph:(613)545-6656 FAX: (613)545-6513 URL : http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/home/jlaw/home.html ** ALBUMS OF THE WEEK (Aug. 21 edition) **: 1) Robyn Hitchcok - Moss Elixir 2) Elvis Costello - Mighty Like A Rose 3) Elvis Costello & The Attractions - All This Useless Beauty 4) "Trainspotting" soundtrack 5) Tasmin Archer - Shipbuilding EP *************************************************** ** CHECK OUT THE CANADIAN JOB SOURCE!!!!!! ** ** http://www.irus.rri.uwo.ca/~jlaw/job_can.html ** *************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 21:52:46 GMT From: Rob Collingwood Subject: 12 Bar, 20/08/96 To give Jonathan Turner a break, I'm doing this week's report. My first visit to the 12 Bar Club, and it must be the smallest venue I've ever seen a gig in. Very intimate, very hot and lots of friendly people, including a surprising (to me at least) number of Americans. (I'm not saying that I was surprised that the Americans were friendly, but that they were there. Don't want anyone to get offended :-) ) Stood next to Robyn at the bar. This presented me with the problem of what can I possibly say to him that wouldn't sound completely stupid. Rather than pretend I hadn't noticed him, the cowards way out, I asked him if there was going to be a single from the new album. He said that there wasn't going to be a single but there was some vinyl - I think he meant Mossy Liquor - end of conversation. He walked off with a can of Guinness. Support was from Homer. Quite enjoyable, but slightly depressing subject matter in the lyrics. Robyn's set was somewhat marred by the very drunk member of the audience who was singing along very loudly and very out of tune with the bits of songs that he could remember the words to. I don't think Robyn noticed, but everyone else did. Fortunately, he didn't know many of the songs, and disappeared for good during the electric portion of the set. There were several new songs in the set, Robyn said he was getting them ready for the film, and an album to be recorded in one day, IIRC. Here is the set list, courtesy of Jonathan. New songs are marked with a * and the titles may or may not be completely correct. Acoustic - Eerie Green Lanterns * Madonna Of The Wasps Devil's Coachman No, I Don't Remember Guildford * I'm Only You I Something You Glass Hotel Where Do You Go When You Die * Let's Go Thundering * Electric - I Am Not Me Never Stop Bleeding Airscape Freeze * Encore - Acoustic - Heliotrope Then joined by most of Homer for the rest of the songs and took up electric guitar - Alright, Yeah De Chirico St ('the first time I've played this with an electric guitar') Beautiful Queen Queen Of Eyes Shirt report for the obsessives Main set was a lizard shirt Encore was plain white shirt -- Rob Collingwood Warrington, Cheshire, England ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 12 Bar, 20/08/96 Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 16:37:01 -0700 From: Tom Clark "The Lobster Gang" Rob was kind enough to post the following: >There were several new songs in the set, Robyn said he was getting them >ready for the film, and an album to be recorded in one day, IIRC. Would that be "If I Recall Correctly"? Excuse my anachronistic naivite... >Here is the set list, courtesy of Jonathan. New songs are marked with a * >and >the titles may or may not be completely correct. > >Acoustic - >Eerie Green Lanterns * >Madonna Of The Wasps >Devil's Coachman >No, I Don't Remember Guildford * >I'm Only You >I Something You >Glass Hotel >Where Do You Go When You Die * >Let's Go Thundering * > >Electric - >I Am Not Me >Never Stop Bleeding >Airscape >Freeze * Could this have been the Freeze from Queen Elvis? > >Encore - > >Acoustic - >Heliotrope > >Then joined by most of Homer for the rest of the songs and took up electric >guitar - >Alright, Yeah >De Chirico St ('the first time I've played this with an electric guitar') >Beautiful Queen >Queen Of Eyes > >Shirt report for the obsessives >Main set was a lizard shirt >Encore was plain white shirt With the surprise showing of Lime Green pants recently, I think a trowser report would be enlightening as well! -t "full of questions and smart ass remarks" c ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 19:52:21 -0400 From: the rumsy gravel in the gales Subject: washington post review this was sent to me today. i hope to put this (and the other new reviews) up on the website tonight, but i dunno if i'll get to it or not... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robyn Hitchcock's Eccentric `Elixir' By Mark Jenkins Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, August 21 1996; Page D07 The Washington Post Like many successful rockers, Robyn Hitchcock apparently feels imprisoned by his best-known songs. Except that Hitchcock is not a successful rocker. He is a cult figure who has opted out of embracing a larger audience so often that major labels are understandably wary of him. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. has signed Hitchcock and released "Moss Elixir," his first full-blown rock album since 1993's "Respect." Except that "Elixir" is not a full-blown rock album. It is a pointedly eccentric and personal collection that frequently sidesteps the neo-Byrdsian style of such Hitchcock college-radio hits as "Balloon Man" and "So You Think You're in Love." This is not unprecedented. After briefly retiring in 1983 following "Groovy Decay," an album he deemed overproduced, Hitchcock returned with the spare, folkish "I Often Dream of Trains." He has since released two more low-sheen albums, "Eye" and "You & Oblivion," and complained that "Respect" came out sounding much more lush than he'd intended. "Elixir" is not the English singer-songwriter's starkest effort, but it is less ornate than its predecessor. Despite Hitchcock's quest for a less commercial sound, "Elixir" is not rashly dissimilar to his previous work. The album's first single, "Alright, Yeah," is a tuneful rocker with a chiming guitar riff that (not for the first time in a Hitchcock song) is almost lifted from the Byrds' "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better." Several of the other songs feature a full band, and Hitchcock plays electric guitar more often than acoustic. The most sonically extravagant track, "Beautiful Queen," is a virtual digest of Beatles studio inventions from 1966 to '67, including backward-played tapes from "Tomorrow Never Knows" and a horn flourish from "Penny Lane." The performer is unaccompanied on three of these 12 songs, while five others feature only Hitchcock and a single other musician, most often violinist Deni Bonet. This unadorned approach suits the melancholy feel of songs like "Man With a Woman's Shadow" and "I Am Not Me." As usual, Hitchcock's absurdist lyrics can be merely playful, but his obsession with mortality proves unusually resonant in "The Speed of Things" and "You and Oblivion." The former contemplates life's ephemerality; the latter turns specifically to the death of Hitchcock's father, the dominant theme of "Respect." Ultimately, it is the music that best conveys the songwriter's unease. Discordant guitar parts and unexpected, ghostly harmonies underlie such songs as "Filthy Bird" and "The Speed of Things." As a lyricist, Hitchcock still tends toward the glib, but on "Elixir" his guitar provides a rich blend of sweet melody and astringent counterpoint. fin ------------------------------ From: Michael Martin Subject: 7" vinyl Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 12:57:00 PDT I would like to order "I something you." Is it still available? What is the best way to go about ordering it? I live in S. California. Thanks for any suggestions. Mike Martin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .