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 #227 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 227 Saturday November 9 1996 To post, send mail to fegmaniax@ecto.org To unsubscribe, send mail to majordomo@ecto.org with the words "unsubscribe fegmaniax-digest" in the message body. Send comments, etc. to the listowner at owner-fegmaniax@ecto.org FegMANIAX! Web Page: http://remus.rutgers.edu/~woj/fegmaniax/index.html Archives are available at ftp://www.ecto.org/pub/lists/fegmaniax/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: ------- ------- GWAR wins! GWAR wins! Seattle Show Re: Thank you for responding Unhatched Crablings Soft Boys recordings More, more, gimmee more tape tree problems Wreck of the Arthur Lee BAM Article Re: GWAR wins! GWAR wins! Re: BAM Article Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? Re: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? RE: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? 10 things Re: 10 things Finding Mossy Liquor Nov 16 gig flung into beyond? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 19:20:09 -0700 From: rgodfrey@swlink.net (Ryan Godfrey) Subject: GWAR wins! GWAR wins! As if. Thanks to the 31 people who voted in the other than Robyn faves poll. I probably won't get around to tallying votes until this weekend. I never did hear Perot's concession speech. Did he even give one, or is he still trying to get a word in edgewise? --Ryan rgodfrey@swlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 19:33:45 -0800 (PST) From: Jonathan Naito Subject: Seattle Show Having seen his performance in Seattle last night, it seems like a logical time for my semi-annual post... The unidentified song from the Seattle show (the scribble) was "Glass Hotel" which sounded absolutely terrific live. "Cheese You" was also a highlight, especially since he introduced it by having Deni show the crowd one of those Cheesehead hats that he apparently picked up in Madison, WI. If this movie and accompanying CD ever really happen, I sure hope he includes an acoustic version of "Chinese Bones." He played it that way last night (he seems to be doing this song a lot lately) and that's the way it's meant to be heard. In fact, most of his stuff sounds better acoustic, take "Arms of Love" on the Kershaw Sessions for example. The acoustic version of "Vibrating" (which was on one of those video tapes produced last year) was also much much better than the album version. The movie/CD seems like a great chance for him to offer improved versions of older songs while also releasing new material. Jon Naito ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 02:04:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Thank you for responding This was written by: Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy -Seeking enlightenment through normalcy. normal@grove.ufl.edu On Thu, 7 Nov 1996, Tom X. Chao wrote: > Thanks very much for responding to my question. > > However-- > what the HELL does that mean? "Dot to dot you"??? I'm missing something! > > I was hoping for something . . . else. 8^) > My guess is that it's a reference to those nifty connect-the-dots drawings....any other ideas? Terry ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 02:06:31 -0500 (EST) Subject: Unhatched Crablings Got Unhatched Crablings today from Bayard. Just letting you all know that the branch tapes will go out Monday. And so far...I like it. Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy -Seeking enlightenment through normalcy. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-UnitedKingdom-om4.om.hp.com Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 09:26:22 +0000 Subject: Soft Boys recordings Item Subject: cc:Mail Text I wrote > "Invisible Hitchcock" has it's low points, although I gather from > the Goldmine article that this contains the earliest recordings. To which Susan replied > Actually that would be "Can of Bees". To which I again reply: I am confused. The Goldmine article says: Raw -> Give It To The Soft Boys Radar -> Anglepoise Lamp Two Crabs -> A Can Of Bees Aura -> A Can Of Bees etc. But it also states that "Invisible Hits" was made up of recordings made while still at Radar and refers to them as "the sound of a writer learning to write". Mind you, the article goes on to talk about growing confidence and gig recording in late '79 and retention of one show for release. It seems to me however that this confident recording (Portland) was from '78. The recordings for "IH" were late '78 to mid '79 whereas ACOB was released in '79. When was this recorded? And how do I get the splendid sounding "1976-1981"? Hamish (suck it Mungo) ------------------------------ From: HAMISH_SIMPSON@HP-UnitedKingdom-om4.om.hp.com Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 14:37:26 +0000 Subject: More, more, gimmee more Item Subject: cc:Mail Text I've just finished reading the Goldmine article (so I'm slow). Is it possible to get the other session work that wasn't released on the Kershaw CD, preferably not on tape? I've also changed my mind about "Invisible Hits", it is just as good as "Underwater Moonlight". I must agree with Mr Metcalfe though, they really should have avoided those instrumentals. Hamish (Cleethorpes) ------------------------------ From: firstcat@lsli.com Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 09:50:25 Subject: tape tree problems Hi all, I've tried getting these folks off list, but I keep getting mail back saying either user or host unkown. If you are one of these people, please contact me so I can get most of the tape trees done before I take off for vacation. Cheers Jay ... User unknown ... Host unknown ... Host unknown ------------------------------------- Jay Lyall Channel Sales Director Livermore Software Laboratories, Intl. 2825 Wilcrest, Suite 160 Houston, Texas 77042-3358 1-713-974-3274 jay@lsli.com Date: 11/8/96 "I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals; I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants." --A. Whitney Brown ------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: Ross Overbury Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 12:29:38 EST Subject: Wreck of the Arthur Lee Snippet from Total Guitar magazine: "Arthur Lee, guitarist with the '60s group Love has been given a 12-year jail sentence after shooting at one of his neighbours. Lee has previous convictions for arson, wife-beating, stalking and firearms offences. He is reported to be (cough) 'optimistic' about an appeal." -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca ------------------------------ From: KCasey@aol.com Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 13:07:27 -0500 Subject: BAM Article >From BAM #496 The Eight Or Nine Guitars Of Robyn Hitchcock By J. Kordosh Eccentric Brit Robyn Hitchcock is best known as a singer/songwriter, although he's spent much of his professional life as a guitarist in bands (namely, the Soft Boys, where he shared chores with Kimberly Rew, and the Egyptians, in which he was the sole guitarist.) Still, it's safe to assume that his cult of fans spend far more time analyzing his arcane, metaphor-ridden lyrics and Beatles-meet-Syd Barret melodies, than they do discussing his guitar tunings. Despite this, Hitchcock is, if not unique, certainly a stylist on his instument. His technique is available for scrutiny on the recently released Moss Elixir, a nifty solo offering that features (most prominently) the violin of Deni Bonet and the guitars (both acoustic and electric) of Robyn Hitchcock. I mention to Hitchcock what Mac Randall recently wrote in Musician: "Not many people think of Hitchcock as a guitarist. That's a shame because he's developed one of the most distinctive combination lead/rhythm guitar styles around. Blurring the distinction between single-note lines and chord arpeggiation with a gritty tone and plenty of ringing open strings, it's a style at once deliberate and unpredictable, and it fills enough space to eliminate the need for another guitarist." "I hope he's right," says Hitchcock. "I have been playing the guitar for nearly 30 years, so I must've developed in some way- or, if I haven't, I must've at least arrived at something." He describes his technique as "kind of involuntary; backwards really. Like a spider trying to stay straight, that kind of thing." (It's not only his lyrics that are elliptical, I'll tell you that.) Hitchcock says he has eight or nine guitars, three of them acoustics. A Yamaha he's had for almost 20 years; a Martin; and a British guitar called a Fylde that is his instrument of choice. "The Fylde is a very good guitar for picking," he says. "You can strum it as well, if you want, but you can meander quite high on the neck, and it's very...'tasty's' sort of a corny word to use, but a really good guitar sound is edible. You feel you can sink your teeth into it. If you look at the corner of aTelecaster, it actually looks as if someone has sunken their teeth into it. I think that people often refer to the Telecaster sound as 'chunky,' -to me, the Telecaster sound is a very edible guitar sound." No surprise then, that Hitchcock's other key guitar is a Telecaster, and that I'm vaguely hungry. As for the Fylde, though- which he used not only on Moss Elixir, but all the way back on his brilliant 1984 solo LP, I Often Dream Of Trains- Hitchcock says, "I found the Martin is actually hard work compared to the Fylde. I think it'd partly the action; I put lighter strings on the Martin just to get a good solid strum out of it, but it doesn't have any of the agility for picking that the Fylde has." He adds, on a pleasant note, "I think Mr. Fylde is still alive." Hitchcock, while not one to run himself down, doesn't overrate his ability, either. "I used to use things like a Fender Twin which woulkd be really loud in the studio- but when it was played back, there'd be this tinny little clunk coming out. Whereas Kimberly (Rew) in the Soft Boys could get sustain out of a guitar that wasn't even plugged in." Yikes! "You compensate by multi-tracking, so that you can have three or four of you doing it,: he adds. "I think Peter Buck does a similar thing; he doesn't innately have much sustain, so he just plays it really loud to make it sound like it's gonna last." Although he has a Vox AC 30 in the studio, (Probably Status Quo had them when they started," he observes) Hitchcock goes direct to the board through a Sans Amp, which is kind of like a Rockman. Speaking of amps, the never-aesthetically-challenged Hitchcock says he likes the Vox because they're "quite good-looking amps, sort of rectangular." "Ummm, aren't they all kind of rectangular?" I ask. "Yeah, but these are handsome rectangles," he rejoins. Hitchcock also says that he's finally experimenting with alternate tunings: "For 'Heliotrope,' I discovered this one; The bottom string is F, then G-C-F-G-E," he says, making it a C-4th, I guess. He's also discovered what he calls, the "venerable DADGAD tuning," which is exactly as it's spelled, only more musical sounding. Robyn sums up his approach to the guitar; "I desperately try to play arpeggios in time, but they never come out that way. I probably put far more effort into playing than I need to. A lot of people will just sit there confidently at the top of the neck. and they'll Claptonize all over the place, and they'll hit all the right notes- and it sounds, in most cases, too good to enjoy. With me, I'm whirling my fingers around before I even hit the guitar, then I'll desperately hope that my fingers land on the right fret." "I don't take it for granted." ------------------------------ From: TchdnJesus@aol.com Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 13:14:00 -0500 Subject: Re: GWAR wins! GWAR wins! In a message dated 96-11-07 21:22:35 EST, rgodfrey@swlink.net write: >As if. Thanks to the 31 people who voted in the other than Robyn faves >poll. I probably won't get around to tallying votes until this weekend. > >I never did hear Perot's concession speech. Did he even give one, or is he >still trying to get a word in edgewise? yeah, he got one in. he had better luck getting words in than the other three party candidates (then again, he had more money). never got to hear MY candidate talk, even though he finished fourth in the popular vote, with around half a million, without being heard and only being on in 20 states. but as the buzzcocks once said, "Sooner or later/ You'll have to listen to Ralph Nader........." ------------------------------ From: Ross Overbury Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 14:36:07 EST Subject: Re: BAM Article > Still, > it's safe to assume that his cult of fans spend far more time analyzing his > arcane, metaphor-ridden lyrics and Beatles-meet-Syd Barret melodies, than > they do discussing his guitar tunings. Hilarious! > With me, I'm whirling my fingers around before I even hit the > guitar, then I'll desperately hope that my fingers land on the right fret." > "I don't take it for granted." > I was going to comment on this in my review of the Montreal show. Although I was sitting behind his left shoulder and couldn't see any fingerings, I could see his hand flitting like a nervous bird over the neck whenever he wasn't fretting. This may be an extension of the eyelid action. -- Ross Overbury Montreal, Quebec, Canada email: rosso@cn.ca -- Ross Overbury Senior Operations Officer, Software CN Rail Signals and Communications, Laurentian District 2nd floor, 1060 University St. Montreal, Quebec, Canada TEL: (514) 399-8070 FAX: (514) 399-6725 email: rosso@cn.ca EMC2: OVERBURY ------------------------------ From: bryanm@doc.state.ok.us (Bryan Moore) Subject: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 14:54:25 -0600 There is an article at the addicted to noise site that suggests that Mr. Bragg is a better performer than Robyn read it here http://www.addict.com/html/hifi/MNOTW/ --- Bryan Check out the power pop band Wakeland at http://www.revolution-online.com/wakeland/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Nov 96 16:10:48 -600 From: spine@iastate.edu (James Francis) Subject: Re: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? rubbish. --"jim" francis ------------------------------ From: Robert Sutton Subject: RE: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? Date: Fri, 8 Nov 1996 14:12:53 -0800 IMHO the last Seattle gig showed quite the opposite. Robyn's guitar playing was the best I have seen yet (I have been a fan = of Robyn and the lads since 1986 and haven't missed a gig). Robyn, at this show at least, seemed to be having much fun and enjoyed = himself quite a bit. Billy, on the other hand, wasn't quite as entertaining compared his last = couple Seattle gigs. His musicianship seemed about equal if not a bit = sloppier compared to years past. Billy simply did not look very into it. Of course the venue may have had something to do with it. The Moore = theater is much bigger than the Backstage (small Seattle club) where = both played their last couple of gigs. Perhaps Robyn enjoys larger = venues and Billy prefers smaller? I kind of doubt it though... Robert ---------- From: Bryan Moore Sent: Friday, November 08, 1996 12:54 PM Subject: Billy Bragg out performs Robyn? There is an article at the addicted to noise site that suggests that Mr. Bragg is a better performer than Robyn read it here http://www.addict.com/html/hifi/MNOTW/ --- Bryan Check out the power pop band Wakeland at http://www.revolution-online.com/wakeland/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Nov 96 16:35:39 -600 From: spine@iastate.edu (James Francis) Subject: 10 things dear patient and kind fegs, this a rather (okay, very) self-indulgent letter, with only a few tads of information. so if you're annoyed by these sorts of things, please don't read on. thing #1: had occasion to hear "give it to the soft boys" played backwards yesterday afternoon. it sounded, in places, oddly like "twist and shout," which i thought was both weird and appropriate. thing #2: robyn singing backwards on tape sounds exactly like robyn singing backwards live (that is, he's good at it), which he did for a while at the minneapolis show at the end of "freeze." thing #3: i had the good fortune to meet and talk to robyn at that concert, and i'll just underscore what i've heard several other people say: he's very modest, often coherent, often quite odd, and generally very nice. he spoke in long and involved metaphors (accompanied by those long stringy-fingered illustrations) often, which proves, i think, that his creative side is almost always running. thing #4: he did say he thought there'd be a longer spring solo tour. thing #5: michele is extremely nice. and a truly handsome woman as well. i was amazed at the way she just nonchalantly observed robyn being his amazing, creative self in casual conversation. she said the demme film will definitely have a live soundtrack but that there's debate about whether it should feature mostly new songs or a sort of mix of the work robyn's most proud of and new things. thing #6: when i met robyn i immediately adopted my deer-in-headlights persona. i think that made him uncomfortable (as well it should, but i was very very nervous). he doesn't seem to respond to adoration all that well. i got hold of myself quickly and we had a pretty good conversation by the end. thing #7: robyn did a funny marlon brando impersonation (er, i think). thing #8: robyn seemed quite amused that figgy has a website, though predictably he's not planning to visit. where is figgy's website? (he asks, as if anyone is still reading.) thing #9: i don't understand why billy gets all the attention. i've seen robyn several times in minneapolis and he always draws very good sized crowds, yet at the concert (1st ave., which he regularly sells out on his own) it seemed almost all bragg fans. waiting to see him and to see billy afterwards were about 20-25 people, and it was only me and maybe three others that were waiting for robyn. thing #10: "1974" is a really great song. the only new one, sadly, that he played at my show. thanks for your time. you'll never have it back, but then, you know, everything revolves. . . --twisting uncomfortably, "jim" francis hey, person i met upstairs when i met robyn! are you out there? ------------------------------ Subject: Re: 10 things Date: Fri, 8 Nov 96 16:04:05 -0800 From: Tom Clark "The Lobster Gang" >thing #7: robyn did a funny marlon brando impersonation (er, i think). You think it was funny, or that it was Brando? Off To 'Frisco! -tc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Nov 1996 17:45:22 -0700 (MST) From: Miranda Gill Subject: Finding Mossy Liquor It could be that I haven't been looking hard enough or that nobody else in Phoenix has ever heard of or likes Robyn, but I have been wildly unsuccessful in finding Mossy Liquor (or even finding anyone whose heard of it). I'm hoping someone knows (if it is still available in the states) where I can find it mail order or something.... --Miranda ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Nov 1996 01:58:59 -0500 From: jojones@mailbox.syr.edu (John) Subject: Nov 16 gig flung into beyond? >Date: Fri, 08 Nov 1996 23:44:53 -0500 >From: "R&L Edmonds" >MIME-Version: 1.0 >To: jojones@syr.edu >Subject: ribbom hitzok >Here goes: I'm a big fan, right? So, when I found out Robyn & Billy >would be playing Boston on November 16 I made a point of getting my lazy >ass out of bed on a Saturday morning so I could buy tickets when they >went on sale. So I get there right? And I ask for two tickets right? And >I get freaking second row center seats on the floor!!! I couldn't >freaking beleive it. Well (Now cue deni bonet) two days ago I found out >that tickets were not selling as well as expected so they have moved the >show to a general admission club. So although I am still going to see >RH&BB my 2nd row seat tickets mean absolutly nothing nada zero zilch >squat. MA fegs --- Is this true?? Have they changed the venue from the Orpheum to somewhere else? A) I find this hard to believe. Both Billy and Robyn have HUMONGOUS followings in Boston. B) well, there's no b. hmmmm. someone in the know, let us out-of-towners know. John +~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+ John B. Jones jojones@mailbox.syr.edu WWW-----http://web.syr.edu/~jojones "I often dream of trains till it gets light, The summer turns to winter overnight, The leaves fall so suddenly, The sun sets at four o clock, ----exactly what I'm dreading." -Robyn Hitchcock ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .