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 #180 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 180 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: Mailbag Re: De Chiciro Emily Dickinson on RH Random thoughts Re: mailbag Re: Pet shop boys Re: Emily Tablist Re: Emily Dickinson on RH Re: De Chiciro Re: mailbag two things.... Re: Rain Parade Queen Elvis CDs--get 'em while they're used A Happy Byrd is a Fylthy Byrd Re: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind UK: Mossy Liquor source!! Re: A Happy Byrd is a Fylthy Byrd nigel cross... ------------------------------ From: Ross Overbury Date: Tue, 17 Sep 96 20:39:46 EDT Subject: Re: Mailbag I've seen Queen Elvis around here. Is there something we fegs can do to keep an updated list of required recordings? I'm all too glad to help out, but I don't want to get stuck with more copies of Queen Elvis (as glorious a recording as it may be) than I need. Those of you with requests might post something (or ask Woj to post something) on the fegmaniax web page. We'd need prompt notification of receipt when someone gets what they want. We could post ads for articles for sale. Anyone interested? I'd also like to see a copy of Terry's legendary "unposted" list. If this is already on the web page forgive me. I've not been there for quite a while, since my web-browsing capabilities have been crippled lately. Suggestions, anyone? -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 18:58:10 -0700 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: Re: De Chiciro "Major" Tom and the delectable Susan posted and quoted thusly: > >Hmmmm....... > >Robyn always seemed more Magritte to me :). DeChirico is a bit too stark > >and somber. > >What do you fellow fegs think? > > > >Susan > > Sure thing. Until the DeChirico thing came about, I never really thought > about why Robyn was my favorite musician and Magritte was my favorite > painter. > ...Thanks for making the connection for me, too. Amazingly I'd never thought about it before, but I've been a Magritte fan since early childhood (parents both artists - I went into science. Go figure.). Some of my earliest memories are of being dragged round the Tate Gallery in London and liking the surrealists. Having felt a little left out by all the librarianly folk on the list who quote Emily Dickinson and Franz Kafka over breakfast, I'm delighted to have found a thread which I can relate to. How about relating Robyn/his work to other artistic arenas? Architecture? (I always loved Battersea Power Station) Dance? Pottery? ...? Just a suggestion. -Nick (the sig-less) ------------------------------ From: Ross Overbury Date: Tue, 17 Sep 96 21:55:09 EDT Subject: Emily Dickinson on RH OK, so I take your advice and I go to a bookstore and get some of this Emily Dickinson character's stuff. And I come upon this piece of CRAP about Robyn's early work. I suppose her early work was better than Can of Bees... not. I DREADED THAT FIRST ROBYN SO I dreaded that first Robyn so But he is mastered now; I'm some accustomed to him grown-- He hurts a little, though. I thought if I could only live Till that first shout got by, Not all pianos in the woods Had power to mangle me. I dared not meet the daffodils For fear their yellow gown Would pierce me with a fashion So foreign to my own. I wished the grass would hurry, So when 'twas time to see, He'd be too tall, the tallest one Could stretch to look at me. I could not bear the bees should come; I wished they'd stay away In those dim countries where they go. What word had they for me? They're here though; not a creature failed. No blossom stayed away In gentle deference to me, The Queen of Calvary, Each one salutes me as he goes, And I my childish plumes Lift, in bereaved acknowledgement Of their unthinking drums. --- Get a LIFE, Emily! So much for poetry. -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ From: "Mike Hardaker" Subject: Random thoughts Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 04:00:45 +0200 1. The list seems to have got cuddly again. I like that. 2. I suspect that the best-selling Talking Heads album was actually Little Creatures, because it did the 'crossover' thing. 3. I'm learning to like Moss Elixir, although I still think the rhymes in Devil's Radio suck rocks though a straw 4. Since I spent a day setting up my Martin, I can now play chords which were once too painful, and I think I may have discovered some twists on Robyn's chord changes - more later. 5. You can't get Mossy Liquor or Greatest Hits in South Africa. 6. Nor can you see Robyn live. 7. So please shut the fuck up about these things, you lucky bastards. 8. I don't really mean that - it's actually great to have some hook into the rest of the world :-) 9. I suspect that the farts of Robyn Hitchcock and Bob Dylan are essentially indistinguishable unless (as is rumoured - but I have yet to see proof) they both play the harmonica badly. In which case, please ignore this random thought. 10. Robyn has less to do with de Chirico or Matisse than with Peter Blake. 11. If you like Robyn and want a comfortable route into Julian Cope, then 20 Mothers is the place to start. Great album if you can stand the whiff of pixie-shit. 12. You can't get Queen Elvis here, either. 13. Frankly, you can't get anything except for Moss Elixir and (for some odd reason) Invisible Hitchcock. My local record store has five copies of the latter... 14. Why, when you reach the age of 30, do hairs start growing out of your nose? 15. What would happen if George Martin produced Robyn? Love, Mike ======================================================= Mike Hardaker e-mail: hardaker@iafrica.com WWW: http://mickey.iafrica.com/~hardaker/ (The Hole In The Wall) ======================================================= "I'd like to reassure you, But I'm not that kind of guy." - Robyn Hitchcock ======================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 21:22:59 -0500 From: alexfw@mail.utexas.edu (Alex Wettreich) Subject: Re: mailbag >1) There's genuine doubt as to whether the CoB liner note songs existed. >We think that we found The D Song and maybe one other one, but a lot of >them seem kinda made up. Forgive me if this has been dealt with before, but this comment made me think of something... "So You Think You're In Love" is one of the titles listed in the CoB notes. Is this the "other one" referred to by T.H. Mellotron? Does anyone know if the song is the same one that turned up on PI? Always wondered about that, Alex n.p. Crying Your Knife Away -- Guided By Voices ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 14:46:48 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Pet shop boys > And anyway, what contributions have the music criticism industry > actually made to popular music, to show that "they know any better". > The Pet Shop Boys???? Let he who is without sin etc.. The Pretenders? or was Chrissie H a muso first and a critic later? 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: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 14:49:26 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Emily >That's all for now -- gotta go to the bookstore and pick up some Emily >Dickinson. Thanks for the leads! popular music connection - Dickinson (along with Robert Frost) was the major inspiration on Paul Simon in his years with Art Garfunkel. Frequent namechecking exists (Dangling Conversation, For Emily), and whole sections, particluarly from Frost's poems, are included in tracks like the 59th Street Bridge Song. Just thought you'd be interested. I'll shut up now. James ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 23:08:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Tablist You asked for it. It's prolly inaccurate in places because I tab things that turn out not to work.. If you ask for something that isn't there, well, then it isn't there. Everything posted accurately has been taken off of the list, however Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks normal@grove.ufl.edu Untabbed: -17 songs 99 left [this is not true] Other: Yodelling Hoover Watch Your Intelligence Allright Yeah! Bright Fresh Flower Dark Green Energy Legalised Murder Salamander Hear My Brane Innocent Boy Can of Bees: The Pigworker The Rat's Prayer Sandra's Having Her Brain Out The Return of the Sacred Crab Fatman's Son Anglepoise Lamp Ugly Nora Invisible Hits: Have a Heart, Betty Let Me Put it Next to You Empty Girl He's a Reptile Underwater Moonlight I Got the Hots Tonight Queen of Eyes Underwater Moonlight Where are the Prawns? Dreams There's Nobody Like You Song No. 4 Black Snake Diamond Role Acid Bird Out of the Picture Gravy Deco: Young People Scream How Do You Work This Thing? America I Often Dream of Trains: Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl Ye Sleeping Nights Of Jesus Winter Love This Could Be The Day Trams Of Old London Fegmania: Glass Element of Light: Winchester The President Lady Waters & The Hooded One The Black Crow Knows The Crawling Tell Me About Your Drugs Invisible Hitchcock: Falling Leaves Trash Messages Of Dark I Got A Message For You Vegetable Friend Point It At Gran Dr. Sticky Globe of Frogs: Luminous Rose Chinese Bones Queen Elvis: Knife Swirling Veins Of The Queen Eye: Certainly Clickot Flesh Cartoons Executioner Sweet Ghost Of Light College Of Ice Transparent Lover Satellite Aquarium Perspex Island: Birds In Perspex Ultra Unbelievable Love Vegetation And Dimes Child Of The Universe If You Go Away Earthly Paradise Respect: Wreck of the Arthur Lee You & Oblivion: Birdshead Victorian Squid Mr. Rock'N'Roll Take your Knife out of my Back The Dust Stranded in the Future Keeping Still You&Me Surfer Ghost: Sinister but Happy I Something You Filthy Bird Her Silver Wands Surfer Ghost Zipper in your spine Man w/ a Woman's Shadow Woman in You Cheese You Trilobyte Cool Bug Rumble Devil's Radio ShadowCat You and Oblivion Speed of Things ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 23:17:34 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Emily Dickinson on RH On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Ross Overbury wrote: > OK, so I take your advice and I go to a bookstore and get some of this > Emily Dickinson character's stuff. And I come upon this piece of CRAP > about Robyn's early work. I suppose her early work was better than Can > of Bees... not. > > I DREADED THAT FIRST ROBYN SO > > > I dreaded that first Robyn so > But he is mastered now; > I'm some accustomed to him grown-- > He hurts a little, though. Nods. According to Aidan Merrit, the one of the few human beings to own a copy of "Jet Set Flier", the first record with Robyn, the earlier you go, the more dreadful it gets. > I thought if I could only live > Till that first shout got by, > Not all pianos in the woods > Had power to mangle me. If you survived "The Unpleasant Stain", then not even Can of Bees could get you down. > I dared not meet the daffodils > For fear their yellow gown > Would pierce me with a fashion > So foreign to my own. a few lines of filler > I wished the grass would hurry, > So when 'twas time to see, > He'd be too tall, the tallest one > Could stretch to look at me. A witty take on Robyn's height and his way of leering at the audience while playing live. The "grass" refferred to...well, try pronouncing "Can o' Bees" carefully.... > I could not bear the bees should come; > I wished they'd stay away See! Bees! Told you so! Trying to pawn off a copy of that Soft Boys album, but it keeps coming back > In those dim countries where they go. Egypt, of course > What word had they for me? And the word they had for her was FEG! > They're here though; not a creature failed. > No blossom stayed away > In gentle deference to me, > The Queen of Calvary, No creature failed...not the bass, not the leopard, and not Mucky the Pig. And the Queen of Calvary bit is a reference to Robyn's frequent covers of "Calvary Cross" > Each one salutes me as he goes, and then does it twice.. > And I my childish plumes > Lift, in bereaved acknowledgement > Of their unthinking drums. which express the night. The next poem deals wiht a taxidermist looking for a fight. > > --- > Get a LIFE, Emily! So much for poetry. What do you mean? Emily rules! Terrence "The Human Mellotron" marks ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 23:19:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: De Chiciro > How about relating Robyn/his work to other artistic arenas? > Architecture? (I always loved Battersea Power Station) Dance? Pottery? > ...? Note: Battersea Power Station is the nifty one on the cover of the Pink Floyd disc, Animals. Note 2: Real Battersea Power Station does not include the pig, but can be pig-equipped, as seen in photo. ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 23:23:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: mailbag On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Alex Wettreich wrote: > > >1) There's genuine doubt as to whether the CoB liner note songs existed. > >We think that we found The D Song and maybe one other one, but a lot of > >them seem kinda made up. > > Forgive me if this has been dealt with before, but this comment made me > think of something... > > "So You Think You're In Love" is one of the titles listed in the CoB notes. > Is this the "other one" referred to by T.H. Mellotron? Does anyone know if > the song is the same one that turned up on PI? You're forgiven. But, for similar reasons, SYTYIL is not the same, probably. "So you think you're in love, well, you probably are" is *not* SB-era Robyn talking. "So you think you're in love, well, it won't last" or "So you thnk you're in love, it will only bring you pain" would be... TM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 21:48:40 -0700 (PDT) From: "Trixie, Bunny and Peaches" Subject: two things.... hello all-- two things here, as follows: (1) how much are tickets to the SF show at the warfield?? also, is there going to be any wierd seating situation? (2) is there anywhere still on the net that has guitar tabs? or is this a thing of copyright history? over, .chris ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 17:38:12 +1200 From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Rain Parade >I have all the Rain Parade releases (even the above, which ain't easy to >find), but I'm not sure the records have aged very well. The best is >certainly Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, but even there, I prefer either >Mazzy Star album. Oh well...there was a time when "This Can't Be Today" >sent me into seventh Heaven.... :) at the risk of drifting even further from Robyn, for those of you who like Rain Parade, try to find the album "Send You" by New Zealand's Sneaky Feelings (released on Flying Nun, so hopefully it's available in the states and UK). It's pretty low-fi, but fans of RP should really like it. BTW - were Beyond the Sunset or Crashing Dream evber released on CD? I have the E3RPT/EITGP compilation CD, but I've never seen the others except on vinyl. James ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 22:52:20 -0700 From: Ryan Godfrey Subject: Queen Elvis CDs--get 'em while they're used As penance for my permanently scaring Robyn away from the list with speculations about the combustibility of Mr. Zimmermann's intestinal emanations, I have scoured the record shops of Phoenix and come up with four (4) used copies of Queen Elvis on CD, now in my possession. QE was my introduction to RH, and while it's flawed, five or six of its songs are downright marvy. "One Long Pair of Eyes" is one of my favorite songs by anyone ever. And the CyberAlpert(tm) trumpet solo on "Veins of the Queen" is, um, regal and serene. Let's trade. Here's things I'd like: CDs: Element of Light Fegmania Black Snake Diamond Role Kershaw Sessions Can of Bees A tape of ML Sublime boots (I generally ain't crazy about recorded live music at all, let alone muddy bootlegs. If you wanna go this route for QE, plan to send me tapes that will make me rue my ill-conceived snobbery.) I will be happy to entertain other offers, including cool non-RH CDs that maybe you're just a little sick of. I've seen several copies of Globe of Frogs floating around in stores too. I'll send you one of those for similar considerations. --Ryan rgodfrey@swlink.net ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 03:24:25 -0400 Subject: A Happy Byrd is a Fylthy Byrd Susan, who is a certified genius and really pretty, too, makes the following Robyn- to- painter correlation: "Robyn always seemed more Magritte to me :). DeChirico is a bit too stark and somber. What do you fellow fegs think?" This Magritte thing has been mentioned before, and it's very valid. Howevah, I think Robyn is a little less one for winking directly at his audience a la Magritte. Bypassing Dali, whose technique is a little too refined to parallel Robyn, I see a little bit of the stranger Ernst stuff in Robyn, and one might even describe his more brutally biological explosions of gristle as a little bit Bacon-esque (think "Can of Bees"). Of course, when Robyn himself paints, it's, I dunno, more like Matisse than most things filled with floating fish painted like WWII fighter planes are. Hamish asks: "The response hasn't been that good on my Nigel & The Crosses inquiries has it?" I have a dub of a truly shasty demo of "Flesh #1" with Robyn, Peter and maybe Chris Cox (?) where they have a hard time starting together after all the breaks. It's from a flexi disc owned by my bandmate Chuck-- dunno it it's attribiuted to N&theC's or not. The other appearance of Nigel & the Crosses is, as far as I know, the unspeakably lovely version of "Wild Mountain Thyme" on the Byrds tribute album, "Time Between". (Oddly, on an album that empasized songs written by the Byrds over their better-known Dylan covers, "WMT" is a completely traditional tune (although the Byrds did manage to OWN it, with help from Van Dyke Parks. I am geek, hear me roar.). It cannot be overemphasized how GREAT the Nigel version is; the comp ain't half bad, either.) BTW: "Time Between", while it credits Robyn and Peter, also includes a "special thanks" to Nigel Cross. Is this a real person? Woj? Russ taunts the Blatzman: "But then, I'm still trying to figure out why a home-brewing beer connoiseur would choose an internet name that reminds me of the most foul tasting swill I've ever sucked from a can." Gotta admit, Dave... you set yourself up for that one... As to the meaning of "Filthy Bird", I think that perhaps Robyn just likes fish better than birds... like I do. This song reminds me of something I wrote years ago, an item in a surreal "what's in / what's out" list. Just looked it up. Went like this: "IN: concept of a world where beautifully bejewelled fish float languidly through the air bringing joy to all, while dirty, twitching birds flounder pathetically beneath the waves. OUT: Anyone referring to him or herself by the psuedonym "Louse", up to and including groups of people calling themselves "lice"." Best not to ask what I was up to at the time, but "Filthy Bird" reminds me of this... Rex PS not to further the REM-ana here, but while I, like many others, consider their first three records their best, I can't follow everyone else's lead on the subsequent records. "LRP", "Green" and "Out of Time" are the most "sold-out" records of the lot, but that doesn't mean much; they all have their share of weirdness. "Document" and "Automatic" are the best of the post-godhood lot, IMHO; "Monster" plays like a great album with a throwaway EP stuck in the middle of it. The new record is shaping up quite well. Their latter day records are amazingly sophisticated, IMHO... and I welcome the marrying of that sophistication to their earlier way with catchy ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-UnitedKingdom-om4.om.hp.com Date: Wed, 18 Sep 96 09:36:12 +0100 Subject: Re: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind Item Subject: cc:Mail Text > hal wrote: >> Brian Huddell wrote: >> >> > I for one would rather see Robyn light Bob Dylan's farts. >> If you are wondering why Robyn himself doesn't >> participate in our little gathering here...this >> quoted post might be some indication. >> >> Grow up. >> >> hal >Thanks for the public spanking. Why did you pick my post, the third >in the thread? Why did you leave out the scrap of irony appended >thusly: >> (finally a thread I can feel good about; lets hope it lasts a long time) >Why is it so important to you to assert your superiority in front of >hundreds of people? (etc) >Love, >Brian Whoah, Let's not go overboard. I agree, however, with Brian. I have always resisted the urge (although it hasn't taken much effort) to "grow up". I certainly don't think that immaturity is why RH doesn't talk here. I would hardly have called him "grown up". Personally, and I mean personally, I believe the main reason he avoids this sort of thing is down to the negative vibes (man) that occasionally fly around, e.g. people telling other people to grow up or stop professing their librarian tendencies. Come on guys, lets live a little. I don't think anyone really, for one minute, wants to see Bob Dylan light his own farts. Brian Wilson, however......... Hamish (spreading joy, happiness and bullshit across the net) ------------------------------ From: P J Whitehead Subject: UK: Mossy Liquor source!! Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 10:30:46 +0100 (BST) To all UK Fegs To obtain a copy of Mossy Liquor vinyl, try: Diverse Vinyl 12 Upper Dock Street Newport Gwent NP9 1DF Tel: 01633 259661 Send a cheque for 11.50 + 1.00 p&p This man knows his business - Virgin: did they try? !$$#!^&!* Diverse Vinyl - received said LP in 3 days - well before the cheque cleared. I have no connection with Diverse, just a satisfied customer. Paul (Sheffield, England) ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-UnitedKingdom-om4.om.hp.com Date: Wed, 18 Sep 96 11:08:57 +0100 Subject: Re: A Happy Byrd is a Fylthy Byrd Item Subject: cc:Mail Text Rex, It seems I was a tad hasty and impatient. Thanks for the info (esp woj, Bayard and Rex) and forgive me for being a grumpy, tetchy old pout-monger. > I have a dub of a truly shasty demo of "Flesh #1" with Robyn, Peter > and maybe Chris Cox (?) where they have a hard time starting > together after all the breaks. It's from a flexi disc owned by my > bandmate Chuck-- dunno it it's attribiuted to N&theC's or not. This sounds like the Bucketful of rains flexi which is RH and PB only. > BTW: "Time Between", while it credits Robyn and Peter, also includes > a "special thanks" to Nigel Cross. Is this a real person? Woj? In browsing through BoB at the weekend (active social life) I noticed something. In the review of the N&TC single a reference is made to someone's name being stolen by N&TC and (OK two things, the Spanish Inquisitions two main weapons are) that Nigel Cross does/did reviews for BoB. I wondered if the name was lifted as a tribute or that NC is RH in a spooky nome-de-plume-sort-of-kind-of-thingy. My next request is for the chords to the Yip Song, Mr Mello?, anyone? I am trying to convince my band to cover it. (I might be on a roll.) In a strange-but-true-Michael-Aspel-other-worldy-deja-vu connection, when I first mooted (now there's a word) the Groove Puppies part of our name about 6 years ago, I envisaged our fans (in my dreams) all running down the front at our gigs and repeatedly crying "Yip, yip, yip, yip". Now tell me that's not fate. Hamish (the bass [as in the guitar, not the fish]) P.S. Susan, Big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, bignose. And not as good looking or anywhere near as talented as I myself am indeed. Hamish (oh no he isn't!) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 06:54:55 -0400 From: sister ernestine Subject: nigel cross... ...is, indeed, a real person. english music critic type. not sure if he wrote for BoB or not, but he is the one responsible for the forced exposure interview (which is available through the positive vibrations web pages: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/pv.html - e-mail me for a copy if you are web-challenged). apparently, he and robyn have had some sort of odd relationship through the years courtesy of cross's reviews... woj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .