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 #229 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 4 Number 229 Tuesday November 12 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: ------- ------- handy hints and spiffing wheezes spare ticket LA Show Details... Re: "Love" Re: LA Show Details... Favorite Bands Poll Results some notes on SF Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: San Francisco, 8 Nov 1996 Re: LA Show Details... Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Demme Film Shooting? Re: LA Show Details... Cheese hat Bragg disrespect... More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: Bragg disrespect... Re: Bragg disrespect... Bragg disrespect... Re: poll results Re: poll results Vic Chestnutt (no RH) Re: Bragg disrespect... Re: Bragg disrespect... re: protest! poll results... Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: poll results Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Re: Vic Chestnutt (no RH) And in the red corner... Stage Robynisms.. Re: Stage Robynisms.. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 15:23:30 +1300 (NZDT) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: handy hints and spiffing wheezes >>what the HELL does that mean? "Dot to dot you"??? I'm missing something! >My guess is that it's a reference to those nifty connect-the-dots >drawings....any other ideas? my thoughts exactly, a picture of you made as a connect-the-dots picture (called in Britain "dot-to-dot"). A picture made of youthat way would basically be a "dot you", I suppose, or at least something like you. There ya go - a dot-to-dot you, a dot you, like you. >Hmm...would anyone like to try to get from DEVO to Robyn? Devo's first album produced by Eno, who recorded Music for Films 3 with (among others) John Paul Jones, who according to a recent digest worked with Peter Buck, from there to our Bobby. reading through some recent digests, I came across this: >Eno had two tape recorders and somebody playing a D-tuned violin, and the >violin is going and someone lit a stick of incense. It was fantastic. now, Eno used to utilise de-tuned violins a lot, but I'm not so sure about ones tuned to D... oh, and I missed the "alternative artists to listen to" poll, due to being busy for the last week or so, so I'll take this opportunity to say this: If you're a fan of Robyn's work with the Egyptians, hunt out some music by Australia's Paul Kelly, especially his 1987 album "Gossip" (by "Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls"). The big single of that album, "Before Too Long" is so Hitchcock it hurts! >Hamish (Cleethorpes) one of my best friends here in NZ is from Old Clee. He tells me that Grimsby Town are having a rotten season. >Off To 'Frisco! >-tc hell, even I know they won't like you if you call it that, and I'm half a planet away! 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: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 23:46:28 -0500 From: MichaelHooker Subject: spare ticket hey , it looks like i've got a spare ticket for the beacon theater show friday,nov 15. 4th row orchestra. any female looking to go, e-mail me. i'm married( my wife hates my music), there will be other people, no shenanagins. if you live on long island, i may give you a lift. let me know. guys will be considered if no women accept. Mike Hooker ------------------------------ From: RxBroome@aol.com Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 01:10:19 -0500 Subject: LA Show Details... Hey all... Forgive me if it's all been covered before... 1) Devil's Radio. Solo and accoustic... 2) Where Do You Go When You Die (?)... this set the gleefully macabre tone for the show, which featured both More Death!!! and More Frivolity!!! than usual. Around this time Robyn asks the audience if anyone was actually born in LA. Someone yells that they were born right there in the El Rey Theatre. Robyn adopts an American accent and exclaims "So was I, Friend!" and launches into a story about how the spotlight was his mother and the second mic was his father, and both were banished from the El Rey when it was a movie palace, only to move to Orange County where they stood upon two oranges calling each other brother and sister until they were arrested for such incestuous perversion, only to be freed by a perverted judge who allowed them to live together only in he could join them, and these three then begat Robyn. The applause was deafening--- no kidding. 3) Wind Cries Mary 4) Feels Like 1974. This one rambles and has no real "hook", but is great nonetheless-- one of those perfectly autumnal Robyn songs. (The line about Syd Barrett's last session, followed by "Now he'll have to be Roger for the rest of his life", although clearly about Roger Waters, is also almost verbatim what the former Jim McGuinn said not too long ago about changing his name way back when...) 5) DeCherico Street. Deni Bonet shows up dressed in orange and is thenceforth referred to by Robyn as "The Human Pumpkin Girl". Um, she seems to play viola, not violin. 6) Filthy Bird. The viola is particularly nice on this one... 7) Let's Go Thundering. By the end of which Robyn is practically dancing with Deni, which is a pretty unusual sight. 8) Glass Hotel. Deni leaves and Robyn spends a while tuning. The audience, which has been very responsive thus far, begins to get distracted-- possibly an influx of the latecomer Billy-only crowd. They yak it up annoyingly throughout this most delicate of songs. Afterwards, Robyn seem vexed, to the point where he does something I've never seen before-- he stops one of his rambling stories in midsentence! 9) I Something You. Still frustrated, Robyn delivers the "predictible" middle bit in an especially unhinged manner and folks start paying attention again. 10) Yip Song. 11) "I Am Not Me". Robyn switches to the electric and introduce the song thusly: "What was the kindly old lady made out of? ...FUCK-ASS ROCK AND ROLL!" Indeed. There were a couple of sly and effective lyrical refinements in this version. 12) "You and Oblivion". Even scarier than usual. Robyn appeared frozen or uncharacteristically immobile with tension by the "death train" line. 13) "Freeze". (I expected Robyn to update the David Byrne line-- he didn't). End of the regular set. 14) "Direct Me to the Cheese" (?). Encore is electric also. At the end of this one, Billy marched onstage and placed a large hat shaped like a wedge of Swiss cheese on Robyn's head. They bow to each other, whereupon the Human Pumpkin Girl returns to the stage as Billy leaves. 15) "Beautiful Queen". Lovely lovely lovely. Marred only by the fact that Deni's amp seemed to break down after the bridge, and there was much distracted rushing about trying to fix it. Robyn finished just fine without her. There followed a tease that they would fix the technical problem and continue, but Robyn abruptly changed his mind and said they were done, goodbye, etc... Billy was quite good, too. Why the hell didn't they encore together? Trading verses on "Visions of Johanna" or some such? I guess their audiences were a little less compatible than I would've thought. Still a terrific double bill for my money. Rex ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 22:18:24 -0700 From: gondola@deltanet.com (E.B.) Subject: Re: "Love" >From: The Mack > >I heard, though I might be wrong on this, that the High >Llamas became "Love" for the European leg of his '94 tour. It would've >been the perfect match, as the Llamas sound to me like a near perfect >blend of "Forever Changes" Lee and "Smile" Brian Wilson. Maybe things were different in Europe, but I thought that Lee's recent backing band was a L.A. psychedelic-pop group called Baby Lemonade. Gee, any of you know where THAT name comes from? ;) GB ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 02:15:05 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: LA Show Details... > 4) Feels Like 1974. This one rambles and has no real "hook", but is great > nonetheless-- one of those perfectly autumnal Robyn songs. (The line about > Syd Barrett's last session, followed by "Now he'll have to be Roger for the > rest of his life", although clearly about Roger Waters, is also almost > verbatim what the former Jim McGuinn said not too long ago about changing his > name way back when...) Iie. Syd Barrett's real name is Roger Barrett. And, basically, after that session in 1974 (and a good deal of psychotherapy), he stopped being Syd Barrett and reverted to being Roger Barrett. Terry. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 01:32:32 -0700 From: rgodfrey@swlink.net (Ryan Godfrey) Subject: Favorite Bands Poll Results Here they are. My thanks to the 31 people who voted. The results below are the bands cited by more than one person. If you would like the whole list, e-mail me. I will also be giving the entire list to woj, who I believe intends to post it on his web page. There are many many cool bands on the unexpurgated list, so check 'em out. The first number is the number of people who voted for that band; the second is the total points allotted to that band. ALL-TIME GREATS 13 103 Beatles 11 73 Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd 9 68 Elvis Costello 8 60 XTC 8 37 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale 6 38 They Might Be Giants 6 30 David Bowie 5 41 Kinks 5 29 R.E.M. 5 20 Smiths/Morrissey 4 33 Bob Dylan 4 27 Tom Waits 3 19 Brian Eno 3 19 Pixies 3 17 U2 3 16 Replacements 3 15 Leonard Cohen 3 15 Richard Thompson 3 15 Rolling Stones 3 14 Talking Heads 2 19 Police 2 18 Church 2 16 John Wesley Harding 2 15 King Crimson 2 14 Cure 2 13 Roxy Music 2 12 Barenaked Ladies 2 12 Billy Bragg 2 12 Game Theory/Loud Family 2 12 Madness 2 12 Moody Blues 2 12 Pavement 2 9 Peter Gabriel 2 8 Frank Zappa 2 8 Husker Du 2 5 James/Tim Booth CURRENT FAVORITES 6 33 R.E.M. 5 38 Beatles 5 35 Elvis Costello 4 32 Radiohead 4 28 Smashing Pumpkins 4 27 Pavement 3 25 Kinks 3 22 Beck 3 22 Guided By Voices 3 22 Morphine 3 22 XTC 3 20 Game Theory/Loud Family 3 20 Weezer 3 19 Blur 3 18 Echobelly 3 17 Pixies 3 13 Tom Waits 3 9 James/Tim Booth 2 20 Bob Dylan 2 18 Church 2 18 Grant Lee Buffalo 2 18 Nirvana 2 16 Pearl Jam 2 15 Cardigans 2 15 Hoodoo Gurus 2 13 Big Star 2 12 Neil Young 2 11 Eels 2 11 High Llamas 2 10 Leonard Cohen 2 10 PJ Harvey 2 9 Semisonic 2 9 Tool 2 8 Rolling Stones 2 8 Tori Amos 2 8 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale 2 7 Ben Lee 2 7 Soul Coughing TOP 20 BANDS FROM THE COMBINED LISTS (sorted by points) 141 18 Beatles 103 14 Elvis Costello 82 11 XTC 73 11 Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd 66 8 Kinks 62 11 R.E.M. 53 6 Bob Dylan 45 10 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale 42 7 They Might Be Giants 40 7 Tom Waits 39 6 Pavement 36 7 David Bowie 36 6 Pixies 36 4 Church 34 5 Radiohead 32 5 Game Theory/Loud Family 32 4 Morphine 31 5 Smashing Pumpkins 27 4 Beck 26 4 Guided By Voices I'd be interested in any conclusions you draw about these results. --Ryan rgodfrey@swlink.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 01:10:33 -0800 From: librik@netcom.com (David Librik) Subject: some notes on SF I was at the San Francisco show, and now that the folks up front who took notes have given you the real details, I can throw in some observations. 1. The first three or four songs were all about God and/or the Devil. Is this the replacement for crustaceans and/or fish? 2. Very few stories. This was also the case last time he was here. Maybe this is because he figures he has an audience who don't need to be "worked"/won-over/charmed in S.F. (The best show I ever saw from Robyn was to an auditorium of students in Champaign, Illinois in 1988, where he realized that nobody knew who he was, and so he went out and won their hearts with a full-on assault of charming stories, silly songs like "Uncorrected Personality Traits," and audience sing-alongs. He doesn't do that very much anymore, at least not to audiences who know his music.) 3. One problem with Robyn Hitchcock Solo is that he doesn't have anyone to react to, except on those times when he bonds with the audience in some way. The addition of Deni Bonet really seemed to perk him up. She's active and she gets him moving around, and she made things much more interesting to watch from Row 976 GGG on the far side of Mars where half the audience was sitting. Yay for Deni! 4. It's not worth taking your Robyn-uninitiated friends to see him. Give them copies of the full versions of good Egyptians songs and the funny acoustic stuff, and intersperse the tape with some of his stories. Then wait for them to ask you to take them. (All the uninitiates I brought got bored, and I'm not sure I can blame them.) 5. He did Clear Spot! 6. He mentioned Syd Barrett and gave his real first name! I'm sure that one went right over most of the audience. 7. Egyptian Cream started out as a synth-driven rocker (on Fegmania), turned into an Electro-pop style minimalist tune (in later concerts), and is now accompanied on a viola (with Deni). Interesting. I don't know really how well it works -- this is the trouble with all of the solo/string versions of older songs -- because I'm unconsciously filling in, in my head, all the necessary accompaniment. 8. No new earworm songs this time, nothing like "Trilobite." 9. Billy Bragg is a fantastic performer. He has an endless supply of stories, jokes, and political calls-to-action that really work on his audience. Musically I wasn't very impressed, though, but I chalked that up to the lack of the "necessarily accompaniment" that his albums no doubt include. - David Librik librik@cs.Berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Terrence M Marks Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 04:12:50 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results So....who was the other guy who digs Soul Coughing? Terry "The Human Mellotron" Marks Second Student in the Tendo Kasumi School of Philosophy -Seeking enlightenment through normalcy. normal@grove.ufl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 01:39:22 -0800 (PST) From: The Mack Subject: Re: San Francisco, 8 Nov 1996 On Mon, 11 Nov 1996, Truman Peyote wrote: > > Robyn returned wearing a plain purple shirt. Still playing the Telecaster: > > It was slightly oversized and appeared to be silk, although I wasn't quite > close enough to verify that. Anyway, he looked quite fetching in it. I was close enough to verify that it badly needed laundering, with a few splotches down the front. It also did a poor job of covering Robyn's newly acquired (or maybe I just noticed) belly. Though not yet a Pillsbury Soft Boy he seemed to have racked up a few lbs since last I saw him. > I am really really looking forward to the Demme film. I'll be there with > my lovely new "Jasper" t-shirt :). A pox on you! It seems you go the last one. -chad ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 10:37:24 +0000 (GMT) From: M R Godwin Subject: Re: LA Show Details... On Tue, 12 Nov 1996 RxBroome@aol.com wrote: > 4) Feels Like 1974. This one rambles and has no real "hook", but is great > nonetheless-- one of those perfectly autumnal Robyn songs. (The line about > Syd Barrett's last session, followed by "Now he'll have to be Roger for the > rest of his life", although clearly about Roger Waters, is also almost > verbatim what the former Jim McGuinn said not too long ago about changing his > name way back when...) No! Surely it refers to Syd's real name, which is Roger Keith Barrett... - Mike Godwin Grasshopper interlude: Guru to McGuinn: Now you have received total spiritual enlightenment - that will be $2000, used notes only. There's just one thing, Jim... McGuinn: What's that, oh serene master of being into nothingness? Guru: You'll need a new name - 'Jim' just doesn't have that spiritual aura... McGuinn: What shall it be, master? Krsna? Bodhisattva? Sri Chinmoy Lighthouse? Guru: Well, since I saw that last James Bond movie, I thought ROGER would just be divine... (And all this was taking place during exactly the same decade that Syd was changing his name FROM Roger! makes you think... ) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:01:33 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Ryan Godfrey wrote: > 8 37 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale One problem here, though. Can't speak for everyone else, but my vote was only for John Cale. Lou Reed makes me want to hurl and I haven't listened to the Velvets in ages. These two have long-established and influential solo careers outside the band, so why include them WITH the band if the vote was for them alone ? It's like saying "Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd". Worse, actually, since Syd only had two solo albums and diverse and sundry outtakes to his credit, and both Cale and Reed have ten times that to their names. Otherwise, good work! :) Sorry if that came off a bit snippy. Susan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 10:07:34 -0400 From: lj lindhurst Subject: Demme Film Shooting? As I understand, they're shooting between Nov. 11--13 on the streets of New York--? Is this true? Does anyone know where this might be taking place? Just curious. lj (who's changing her name to Horsefly)(or Housefly)(yeah, Housefly, that's it) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:10:27 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: Re: LA Show Details... On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, M R Godwin wrote: > > On Tue, 12 Nov 1996 RxBroome@aol.com wrote: > > 4) Feels Like 1974. This one rambles and has no real "hook", but is great > > nonetheless-- one of those perfectly autumnal Robyn songs. (The line about > > Syd Barrett's last session, followed by "Now he'll have to be Roger for the > > rest of his life", although clearly about Roger Waters, is also almost > > verbatim what the former Jim McGuinn said not too long ago about changing his > > name way back when...) > > No! Surely it refers to Syd's real name, which is Roger Keith Barrett... > Actually I kinda thought it referred both to Syd's real name being Roger AND Roger Waters (in the sense of, now that Syd is relatively normal and sane 'n all, he's as dull as Roger Waters- but then I could be projecting my own opinions of Mr. Waters' talents onto Robyn, who after all may or may not share my opinion that post-Barrett Floyd is a big lumbering snoozefest). Susan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:16:55 -0600 (CST) From: John Stevenson Subject: Cheese hat Listen..... If Billy bought the cheese hat in Minneapolis at the Mall From Hell, how could he have worn it in Madison the night before he was in the twin cities? Are you telling me that the Braggster made a special trip up to the Mall then Came back down to do the show in Madison??? Now that's an outrageous conspiracy theory...... ;) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Stevenson (608) 265-4065 UW-Survey Center stevenson@ssc.wisc.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:21:49 -0600 (CST) From: John Stevenson Subject: Bragg disrespect... I am quite surprised how many robyn hitchcock fans left during bragg's part of the show. For some reason it seems like a pride issue. I heard people before the Madison show going out of their way to let people know that they were ONLY ther for Robyn. Reviews of the shows here have occassionally mentioned that they sat in the lobby during bragg (which I admit is better that staying in and talking through the show). It just seems that there's some posturing going on here. The bragg list has had a fair amount of discussion of how bragg's part of the show sucked, the alternative theory is regularly placed here. Kind of lame, really. god forbid we enjoy both of them... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Stevenson (608) 265-4065 UW-Survey Center stevenson@ssc.wisc.edu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:30:09 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Ryan Godfrey wrote: > ALL-TIME GREATS > 2 13 Roxy Music Ok, who else had Roxy Music as one of their top 10? Inquiring minds want to know! > CURRENT FAVORITES > > 3 22 Beck And who are the two other Beck fans? > TOP 20 BANDS FROM THE COMBINED LISTS (sorted by points) > > 141 18 Beatles > 103 14 Elvis Costello > 82 11 XTC > 73 11 Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd > 66 8 Kinks > 62 11 R.E.M. > 53 6 Bob Dylan > 45 10 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale > 42 7 They Might Be Giants > 40 7 Tom Waits > 39 6 Pavement > 36 7 David Bowie > 36 6 Pixies > 36 4 Church > 34 5 Radiohead > 32 5 Game Theory/Loud Family > 32 4 Morphine > 31 5 Smashing Pumpkins > 27 4 Beck > 26 4 Guided By Voices > > > I'd be interested in any conclusions you draw about these results. I'm very surprised at Elvis's high showing. I remember him showing up much lower on the last poll. I don't have any conclusions about this though. I'm also afraid that any poll we do will have the Beatles come out on top- maybe they ought to be eliminated from the voting next time :). I noticed that my own vote was roughly the same as it was on the last poll- anyone else (a bit of reshuffling in order, but mostly the same artists)? As always, I proudly put the Kinks first! :) Overall, the list ain't seriously shocking (aside from, perhaps, the high showings for Radiohead and Pavement- this seems a little weird to me, but not too)- what's probably more interesting is the individual lists. When those go up on the web page, will they be anonymous or under each person's name? Susan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 11:10:35 -0500 (EST) From: Bayard Subject: Re: More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results > I'm also afraid that any poll we do will have the Beatles come out on top- > maybe they ought to be eliminated from the voting next time :). I noticed didn't XTC come out #1 last time? ------------------------------ From: Kymm Zuckert Subject: Re: Bragg disrespect... Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 11:18:04 -0500 >The bragg list has had a fair amount of discussion of how bragg's part of >the show sucked, the alternative theory is regularly placed here. > >Kind of lame, really. god forbid we enjoy both of them... > I think that was a typo above and you meant that on the Bragg list they were saying how Robyn sucked. I'm with you, John, a member of both lists and a fan of both men, and I find it amazing the loathing that the two groups of fans seem to have for each other. I think the music compliments each other, myself. Kymm **************************************************************************** "I just want you to hurt like I do..." -Randy Newman Check out my goofy little web site at it's NEW HOME!: The Mighty Kymm's Home Page http://www.inet-images.com/mightykymm/index.html **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 11:49:41 -0500 (EST) From: Vashty Hawkins Subject: Re: Bragg disrespect... I think that's a real shame, that fans of each musician don't care for the other. I also thought that they worked quite well together (both have GREAT senses of humor and had the audience in stitches at the show I was at) and they both work well off one another (Robyn's surrealism was a perfect foil for Billy's no-bullshit stance). They are also both progressive in their political beliefs, though Robyn's stance on issues is more implied and less overt than Billy. Now I've got to say that I'm a Hitchcock fan first and foremost, and primarily went to see him. But I'm glad I stayed for Billy Bragg, because apart from the soapbox stuff which BB indulged in a little too often for my liking (not that I'm right-wing by any means, I just thought he sometimes went on a bit) his was a thoroughly enjoyable show as well. Just my 0.02, Vashty ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 11:58:08 -0500 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Bragg disrespect... John Stevenson sed: >I am quite surprised how many robyn hitchcock fans left during bragg's part >of the show. For some reason it seems like a pride issue. I heard >people before the Madison show going out of their way to let people know >that they were ONLY there for Robyn. Welp, I'm going ONLY for Robyn. No disrespect meant to you or other Bragg fans, but I saw Billy perform solo back in 1989 and I didn't enjoy him, so I don't much care to see him again. I didn't much care for his politics, persona, or musicianship. But hey, that's me, and if you dig it, that's cool with me, really. Just don't disrespect me because I don't. I'll probably watch Bragg from the bar, with a beer and an open mind. And if I don't like him, I'll leave. No harm done to Bragg, his fans, or anyone for that matter, right? >It just seems that there's some posturing going on here. I'm not posturing -- I just know what I like and what I don't. I do have an open mind -- I don't plan on leaving after Robyn and before Bragg on some sort of principal -- I'll stick around and give Mr. Bragg a listen. It's just that I don't expect much of him. Granted, I don't much appreciate that the cost of seeing Robyn *doubled* because Bragg's on the bill, but hey, c'est la vie. I'll pay what I have to to see Uncle Bobby. I've left many a show because I went to see the opening act and not the mainliner. Been doing that for 12 years, as a matter of fact. One more time's not gonna hurt. >Kind of lame, really. god forbid we enjoy both of them... Well, gourd forbid some folks are intelligent, informed, and act upon their preferences, too. Please be careful about such broad generalizations. +++++++++++++++++ + Gene Hopstetter, Jr. + "Guilt is magic." -- James Dickey +++++++++++++++++ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 96 09:18:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: Re: poll results >ALL-TIME GREATS * surprised that TMBG ends up on this list in the middle of all those legendary acts. While I enjoy their music, they've always seemed to me to be more of a novelty act than a legendary act. * nice to see that no act made it into the top 20 with just one vote (ie no one threw the thing out of whack by picking the Doobie Brothers as one of their top 3 bands) >TOP 20 BANDS FROM THE COMBINED LISTS (sorted by points) > >141 18 Beatles >103 14 Elvis Costello > 82 11 XTC * Also kind of surprised to see Elvis Costello up so high. It makes sense, given the kind of songwriting talent Elvis has, it's just that I seem to remember quite recently someone remarking about the lack of Elvis mentions on this list. * Since there are so many XTC fans here let me just say that "Black Sea" has to be one of the greatest albums of all time. * I'd like to know where Hitchcock would fit in. I mean, how many of us would put him above the Beatles(few, I'm guessing)? Above Elvis and XTC? -russ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: poll results Date: Tue, 12 Nov 96 10:10:48 -0800 From: Tom Clark "The Lobster Gang" Russ asks: >* I'd like to know where Hitchcock would fit in. I mean, how many of us >would put him above the Beatles(few, I'm guessing)? Above Elvis and XTC? I would, most definitely. -tc ************************************* * Tom Clark "Once during Prohibition * Apple Computer, Inc. I was forced to live for days * tclark@apple.com on nothing but food and water." * tclark@netgate.net - W.C. Fields * http://www.netgate.net/~tclark ************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 96 10:21:00 -0800 From: Russ Reynolds Subject: Vic Chestnutt (no RH) there was a short but nice review of alleged listmember Vic Chestnutt's new release in the Sunday SF Examiner: ***VIC CHESTNUTT, About to Choke, Capitol, $15.98 Idiosymcratic singer-songwriter Vic Chestnutt makes his major-label debut with his most musical effort yet (in stores Tuesday). Sounding more confident than ever as a melodist and as a guitarist, Chestnutt soars through this collection of solo performances and band arrangements, backed on the latter by former members of Agitpop. "Degenerate," "New Town" and "Tarragon" should convince anyone that Chestnutt is an important voice who's wallowed far too long in obscurity. -Gary Graff ------------------------------ From: Kymm Zuckert Subject: Re: Bragg disrespect... Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:42:31 -0500 >>I am quite surprised how many robyn hitchcock fans left during bragg's part >>of the show. For some reason it seems like a pride issue. I heard >>people before the Madison show going out of their way to let people know >>that they were ONLY there for Robyn. > >Welp, I'm going ONLY for Robyn. No disrespect meant to you or other Bragg >fans, but I saw Billy perform solo back in 1989 and I didn't enjoy him, so >I don't much care to see him again. I didn't much care for his politics, >persona, or musicianship. But hey, that's me, and if you dig it, that's >cool with me, really. Just don't disrespect me because I don't. I'll >probably watch Bragg from the bar, with a beer and an open mind. And if I >don't like him, I'll leave. No harm done to Bragg, his fans, or anyone for >that matter, right? > I don't think that's what John meant. Your attitude "I'm hear to see Robyn, and let's see if Billy does anything I like" is fine, you're not required to like Billy, it's the whole "My guy is great and your guy SUCKS, and is NO GOOD and probably EATS BABIES FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!!" attitude on both sides that is somewhat surprising. Kymm **************************************************************************** "I just want you to hurt like I do..." -Randy Newman Check out my goofy little web site at it's NEW HOME!: The Mighty Kymm's Home Page http://www.inet-images.com/mightykymm/index.html **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:14:57 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: Re: Bragg disrespect... On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Kymm Zuckert wrote: > > >The bragg list has had a fair amount of discussion of how bragg's part of > >the show sucked, the alternative theory is regularly placed here. > > > >Kind of lame, really. god forbid we enjoy both of them... > > > I think that was a typo above and you meant that on the Bragg list they were > saying how Robyn sucked. > > I'm with you, John, a member of both lists and a fan of both men, and I find > it amazing the loathing that the two groups of fans seem to have for each > other. > I think the music compliments each other, myself. That may very well be (and in fact I enjoyed the Bragg show in Chicago, lobby-skipped it in San Francisco, not a snob thing, I just felt that once was enough). But I found that the people I met who were there only to see Bragg were unpleasant twerps ("Don't you think that Robyn Hitchcock is ultimately vapid?",I was asked by one particularly annoying little punter from the Democratic Socialists of America, Iowa chapter). And the commentary I overheard from Bragg partisans around me in both Chicago and SF did little to dispell this notion (such enlightened commentary as "that guy's a freak", for example). And by the way, if you don't want to see the first act, for heaven's sake go somewhere else other than the floor in front of the stage to hold your conversations (for that matter, those who don't want to see the second act should do the same!). Now I am certainly not suggesting that it is completely impossible to be a fan of both men. There is more than one such person right here on this list! And while I wouldn't say their music has a NATURAL affinity or whatever, it's not completely odd that one would be a fan of both songwriters. But it is JUST possible that both songwriters have devoted cults of fans behind them (no! the hell you say!) and that the extreme Bragg fan is going to be a very very different sort of person from the extreme Hitchcock fan- almost 180 degrees opposite personality-wise. The moderate fan of either would probably be more than able to enjoy both, but I suspect the extreme fan of earnest Bill would suspect Robyn of over-cleverness and silly irrelevancy (what is he doing to save the workers, Jim?!?) and the extreme fan of Robyn would think Bill rather dull (But Dennis! He is so relentlessly prosaic! :)). I confess to being close to the latter view, especially musically speaking, but his between songs patter was really witty and ultimately he did a pretty good show (but again, one that I didn't need to see twice- that 'Times They Are A-Changin' schtick gets old fast- in fact, it's been pretty old for a long time). Susan ------------------------------ From: "jeffery j vaska" Subject: re: protest! poll results... Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 12:37:35 -0800 hiya's, not to cause a commotion of monstrous proportions, but practically NONE of my favorite bands popped up into the most recent polling thing. actually, i really didn't even know the rules but i thought that i would at least post some of the bands that were on my own TOP list. for posterity and to feed my own ego, here goes... my 10 all time favorite bands/performers for today: 1. tom ze - irreverent brazilian art/experimental rocker from the late sixties, early seventies (he's still around too!). he's even done some records in the bossa nova/samba vein as well. AMAZINGLY poetic and lyrical. oftentimes he will experiment with the rhyrhmic and colloquial tendencies found in concrete poetry. 2. gentra pasundan degung group - from java. a five piece complete with bells, gongs, and various percussion. very moving in spiritually thunderous kind of way. 3. talking heads - yeah me too. 4. les negresses vertes - from france. gypsy, spanish, chevalieresque mix of accordion, percussion, and rhythmic guitars. NOT like the gypsy kings, and very cool. their earlier albums are best. 5. squirrel nut zippers - from this planet. if you haven't heard them DO. young kids play old style ragtime/swing. incredibly energetic and authentic. 6. beatles - from heaven. 7. mutantes - yet another brasilian rock and roll band from the late sixties. they are considered the beatles of brasil. quite coincidentally one of their founding members went nuts just like syd. cultural cannibalists, they mix up a variety of psychedelic, surf, beatles from their day. 8. caetano veloso - from brasil. a poet with a guitar. for those of you who truly admire robyn as a serious songwriter (ignoring his verbose nutty crunchy chewy side) caetano ranks right with him. actually, caetano spent many years in england and europe when he was in exile (huh?). he's still making records that are both very sensual and mimic the harshness and corruption of brasilian society. well, there you go. next time we do a poll, i will be sure to do some studying before the fact - so i can get a perfect score. required robyn content: didn't does any body know more about robyn's possible publishing deal? i can't tell you how excited this makes me - FINALLY... ta-ra all!...jv ____________________________________________________________ ethnic/world music director, kzuu 90.7 fm @ washington state university u.s. correspondent, brasil 2000 103.7 fm - sao paolo, brasil vaska, jeffery | jvaska@mail.wsu.edu http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~kzuu/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:42:39 -0700 From: rgodfrey@swlink.net (Ryan Godfrey) Subject: Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results >On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Ryan Godfrey wrote: > >> 8 37 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale > >One problem here, though. >Can't speak for everyone else, but my vote was only for John Cale. Lou >Reed makes me want to hurl and I haven't listened to the Velvets in ages. >These two have long-established and influential solo careers outside the >band, so why include them WITH the band if the vote was for them alone ? >It's like saying "Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd". Worse, actually, since Syd only >had two solo albums and diverse and sundry outtakes to his credit, and >both Cale and Reed have ten times that to their names. I was kinda torn on this issue. I'm sympathetic to your plight. I feel your pain. I would have gladly kept all bands separate from their solo artists if all voters had done so. But I got votes, for example, for Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, and Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd. Should I have made three separate categories for those? I decided in favor of grouping most solo artists and related bands with the bands that spawned them, on the theory that most people who like Game Theory also like the Loud Family, and that both the bands and their auxiliaries would lend weight to each other and bubble up the list (if weighty bubbles can rise). Susan, I'm sorry to have mashed your toes on the Cale thing. If you would like, erase John from the end of that line, make the numbers 7 and 30 for the Velvets, and reorder the list accordingly. As no one else voted specifically for Cale, he falls off the list. --Ryan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:59:10 -0700 From: rgodfrey@swlink.net (Ryan Godfrey) Subject: Re: More Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results Susan wrote: >Overall, the list ain't seriously shocking (aside from, perhaps, the high >showings for Radiohead and Pavement- this seems a little weird to me, but >not too)- what's probably more interesting is the individual lists. When >those go up on the web page, will they be anonymous or under each person's >name? Right now it's just a list--no names are attached. I suppose individual lists could be posted as well, but formatting would be a bit of work that I don't have time for now. --Ryan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 14:06:51 -0700 From: rgodfrey@swlink.net (Ryan Godfrey) Subject: Re: poll results Russ R. writes: >* I'd like to know where Hitchcock would fit in. I mean, how many of us >would put him above the Beatles(few, I'm guessing)? Above Elvis and XTC? Even if he didn't get the high vote from every voter (although he would from many, I believe), it is reasonable to assume he would be high on everyone's list, making him easily the top vote-getter. --Ryan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 15:27:34 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: Re: Favorite Bands Poll Results On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Ryan Godfrey wrote: > >On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Ryan Godfrey wrote: > > > >> 8 37 Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale > > I was kinda torn on this issue. I'm sympathetic to your plight. I feel your > pain. I would have gladly kept all bands separate from their solo artists > if all voters had done so. But I got votes, for example, for Syd Barrett, > Pink Floyd, and Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd. Should I have made three separate > categories for those? Well, IMHO the voters were the ones who should have kept these separate. I mean, Syd Barrett's solo work is a rather different beast from "Dark Side of the Moon"! > I decided in favor of grouping most solo artists and related bands with the > bands that spawned them, on the theory that most people who like Game > Theory also like the Loud Family, and that both the bands and their > auxiliaries would lend weight to each other and bubble up the list (if > weighty bubbles can rise). I understand you had quite a task in front of you. The Velvets are an odd case, considering that they really weren't together all that long and that they were, shall we say, composed of rather combustible opposing personalities. The solo works of Reed and Cale bear this out stunningly. It's hard to imagine two more different artistic personalities coexisting in one band for as long as they did. I happen to be an ardent fan of Cale, a so-so fan of the Velvets, and a loather of Reed- and I suspect that there might be a few who voted for Reed who are only tepid Velvets fans as well (and probably wouldn't want to be lumped in with the John Cale fans, oops, I mean fan, either :)). It's not quite the same thing as Game Theory/Loud Family- the Reed/Cale thing tends to be passionately partisan, especially among those in the Cale camp, who feel that J.C. has been unjustly overlooked by an uncaring world (hmm....reminds me of the way I felt when all the Bragg fans were talking during Robyn's set, verrrrrrrrrry defensive :)). > Susan, I'm sorry to have mashed your toes on the Cale thing. If you would > like, erase John from the end of that line, make the numbers 7 and 30 for > the Velvets, and reorder the list accordingly. As no one else voted > specifically for Cale, he falls off the list. Yup! A pox upon you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) Susan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 15:32:56 -0600 (CST) From: Truman Peyote Subject: Re: Vic Chestnutt (no RH) On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Russ Reynolds wrote: > there was a short but nice review of alleged listmember Vic Chestnutt's new > release in the Sunday SF Examiner: > > ***VIC CHESTNUTT, About to Choke, Capitol, $15.98 > Idiosymcratic singer-songwriter Vic Chestnutt makes his major-label debut Oh, it's that evil word again! At least the reviewer refrained from using the word "eccentric" in the review, thank God! > with his most musical effort yet (in stores Tuesday). Sounding more > confident than ever as a melodist and as a guitarist, Chestnutt soars > through this collection of solo performances and band arrangements, backed > on the latter by former members of Agitpop. "Degenerate," "New Town" and What a wonderful band name! Damn, I wish I'd thought of it. Oh, and my real question- is Vic Chestnutt really a list lurker? Wow! Susan back with a vengeance and posting like a fiend! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 14:03:31 -0800 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: And in the red corner... OK, here is the first of what will be several random thoughts posted as work permits.. First: Robyn vs. Billy Did Billy blow Robyn away as a performer as has been suggested by a certain person on this list? Only in the same way that the Sex Pistols blow Mozart away -- i.e. volume!! They are both good, but at completely different things. I enjoyed Billy's set immensely (unlike Robyn, he *can* tell jokes: What are the three English football teams with rude words in their names...?), but for me that did not overwhelm Robyn's excellent performance in the first half. Billy is basically a stand-up comedian to Robyn's troubadour. He is direct, instantly understandable -- Robyn takes a little work (an acquired taste?). Billy exchanges barbs with his audience in a way Robyn could never do, and though his song writing is also powerful (I particularly loved the one about not going to the moon..), his guitar playing is like a Mack truck compared to Robyn's intricate tendrils of sound. More accessible, certainly, and maybe that's why he has a bigger following. But better? I know I needn't answer that for you lot... -Nick ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 14:34:09 -0800 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: Stage Robynisms.. More random thoughts about nothing in particular (can you tell I'm having a quiet afternoon?)... Re the SF show: - Not nearly so much blinking as last time I saw him. I think because he wasn't sweating so much. Function of a larger venue perhaps? - For those who scoffed at the very idea of Robyn changing guitar tunings mid-set... HA! - As well as adding immeasurably to the music, Deni makes Robyn much more animated on stage. Including her in the Demme film should make Robyn much more interesting to watch. - No one mentioned the stuffed cat!! (Someone put this next to a lighted candle on the front edge of the stage). Robyn, holding up said cat: "it looks like a fire hazard to me. It's mother was a fire hazard and it's father was a fire hazard..." - Also, no one mentioned that when he reappeared for the encore, he was walking backwards while still putting on his shirt -- I'm sure that was when I heard swooning noises coming from Susan's general direction. - Lastly, in response to a shouted request that I couldn't quite hear, Robyn went into a thing about how he could not deviate from his set list because it was all controlled by a computer in Hemel Hempstead. Maybe it was me, but this explanation had a certain 'bite', that made me think there was an element of truth. (maybe he wanted to play more different stuff but felt too time constrained) (Billy, on the other hand had great fun ridiculing the audience member who kept requesting songs he'd already played!) OK enough. -Nick No. One more.. Deni was NOT dressed in orange! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Stage Robynisms.. Date: Tue, 12 Nov 96 16:34:24 -0800 From: Tom Clark Nick's slow day produced: >- Lastly, in response to a shouted request that I couldn't quite hear, >Robyn went into a thing about how he could not deviate from his set list >because it was all controlled by a computer in Hemel Hempstead. Maybe it >was me, but this explanation had a certain 'bite', that made me think >there was an element of truth. (maybe he wanted to play more different >stuff but felt too time constrained) Someone kept shouting "DEAD WIFE!!" He said if he deviated from the set list he and Deni would get the death penalty: "This is one the States where they have that, right?" -tc ************************************* * Tom Clark * Apple Computer, Inc. * tclark@apple.com * tclark@netgate.net * http://www.netgate.net/~tclark ************************************* ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .