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 V5 #163 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 5 Number 163 Sunday July 13 1997 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: ------- ------- Re: lou reed (no robyn) 9 july 97 12 bar setlist Re: Reminder: RH wants to know Re: Robyn buzzes Old Thread/Muzak mondo 2000, et. al. article archive update Re: Old Thread/Muzak Re: FegMaps Re: Reminder: RH wants to know My First Time With Robyn ... when James met Robyn Re: Reminder: RH wants to know Bumbershoot/FegFest '97 "How come Jesus gets Industrial Disease?" "How come Lucky gets Whatnot Disease?" Re: quickies ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 14:46:00 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: lou reed (no robyn) > no, it didn't suck. SET THE TWILIGHT REELING is an amazing album. > i could't stop playing this disk over and over. Oh, YOU were the one. ;) Even the critics abandoned Lou with that album. ;P Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 17:46:20 -0400 From: the woj of noise Subject: 9 july 97 12 bar setlist this appeared on the warner brother's robyn chat thingie. note the presence of kimberley rew. (!) >FROM: psychics on pluto >DATE: Fri Jul 11 07:49:30 PDT 1997 >set list, 12-bar gig, london, 9.7.97: on stage robyn acoustic guitar >(white linen shirt, cream [sic] trousers) surgery 1974 devil's radio chinese >bones beautiful girl glass hotel electric guitar she doesn't exist adoration >of the city airscape kimberley rew joins robyn on stage (!) city of shame >kingdom of love insanely jealous both exit back on stage (same shirts) robyn >& kimberley i often dream of trains (first time ever played with another >human) tired of waiting for you (kinks) so you think you're in love (both >exit; end of show) +w ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 18:16:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Loehr Subject: Re: Reminder: RH wants to know Hi Randi and other Fegs, I guess I'd have to say that I was hooked on RH instantly, in a delayed-reaction sort of way: Back when I was in grad school I'd read some intrigueing reviews in Musician or Rolling Stone or somewhere, and so I ordered Globe of Frogs as part of my BMG music club initial bazillion CD's for-the-price-of-one, (or whatever the deal was). Unfortunately, I didn't listen to it, but when Queen Elvis and Eye came out I also bought those. I also somehow managed to listen to Queen Elvis, liked it, but still didn't give Eye or Globe of Frogs a chance for some unknown reason. When Perspex Island came out I bought that (I'd heard "So You think you're in love" and also liked that.) The mists of fog rolled around the Robyn parts of my brain, keeping them still dormant until last summer when Moss Elixor came out; I bought that, also liked it, and sometime last fall discovered all you Fegmaniax. Armed with new inspiration, I started listening to ME, bought Fegmania, REALLY like that, and since then have been instantly hooked (I've always had this difficulty dealing with time -- sometimes it speeds up or slows down and I don't really notice it until later). After seeing Robyn at the Iron Horse here in Northampton last spring, I've also managed to collect a nice bunch of live tapes, further increasing my RH tendrilcies. A mere two days ago I completed (except for some of the rarer stuff) my RH CD collection with Black Snake Diamond R. and Gotta Let This Hen Out. I now stand before you, Gene Hackman everywhere, with a big smile on my face. Eric On Tue, 8 Jul 1997, twofangs/randi spiegel wrote: > Hi to all in this Globe of Fegs, > > Just a reminder...you have until July 14th to tell Steve and Robyn, (and > me!) about your first RH experience, your first album purchase, your > first RH concert, and where you live. > > Just e-mail me at > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 17:56:25 -0500 From: Miles Subject: Re: Robyn buzzes At 12:23 PM 7/11/97 -0500, Gregory Stuart Shell wrote: >Speaking only for myself and "I am unanimous in this" as Ms. Sloakum(sp?) >would say, I enjoy reading thoughts of the Great Quail. If you do not, >simply delete them, but get off his back. Agreed. Quail is a most welcome dish, but grouse is not. later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 18:45:17 -0600 From: Mark Ponder Subject: Old Thread/Muzak To add to an old thread, I had an amazing discovery in a Hardee's in Centreville, AL (Hardee's is a fast food franchise, similar to McDonald's; it even has an apostrophe in its name). I was in line and heard "The Bells of Rhymmney" over the speakers. Flabbergasted, I listened for a couple of minutes to make sure I was hearing correctly...and I was. As an added bonus, I was able to piss off the cashier by just standing there ignoring her, one of the few pleasures I take in life (I'm able to do this because I was once one myself). Anyone else had a recent experience with Robyn's Muzak? Mark Ponder "People who look down their nose at Jimmy Buffett usually have pasty white skin, and have never been really drunk before." Bilford Wilson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 18:39:21 -0400 From: the woj of noise Subject: mondo 2000, et. al. hey fegs, has anyone else noticed an interview with robyn in the winter issue of mondo 2000? has anyone transcribed it? i don't see a copy in the archives, but i vaguely remember seeing it posted before. if not, i'll transcribe it. .chris asks: >is there any notion of giving web space to the 'mythical' experiences >as well as the non-mythical robyn-firsts? if i ever get off my duff and work on the "feg-dom" section of fegmania!, this is one place they can go. however, i'm kinda focused on the guitar tab and the concert reviews from the recent shows right now. see spot runion sez: >Someone out there mentioned having a map of where all the various fegs >live. I think this would be great, actually. the ecto mailing list has a map like this, though it's woefully out of date. linking up a fegmap with the fegographics, as bayard suggested, is a cool idea. this would be a nice alternative to the usual list of subscriber websites which show up in a lot of mailing list sites. eb sez: >In a way, I want them to break up. Lou's last album sucked, and if Laurie >dumps him, just THINK how great his next album will be! ;) funny lou/laurie story. some friends of mine saw victoria williams at the town hall in nyc (i would have been there, but i think i was in nova scotia at the time). during her set, lou reed comes up and joins her for a rendition of "sweet jane". afterwards, one of my friends, who is a big fan of laurie anderson, is curious to know who this lou reed guy is. everyone else tries to explain his place in musical history to her, but nothing penetrates. finally, someone has the bright idea and says, "he's laurie's main squeeze." immediately, she says very loudly, "oh! so he's *important*!" the punchline: lou was walking right in front of them as the exchange was carried out and noticeably chuckled as they passed him at the next corner. +w ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 19:51:47 -0400 From: the woj of noise Subject: article archive update fegs, i've just added a bunch of articles to the ftp.ecto.org archive, including the goldmine and the weekend edition sunday transcriptions from last year. they're all at . enjoy! +w ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 01:46:04 -0500 (CDT) From: donald andrew snyder Subject: Re: Old Thread/Muzak On Fri, 11 Jul 1997, Mark Ponder wrote: > To add to an old thread, I had an amazing discovery in a Hardee's in > Centreville, AL (Hardee's is a fast food franchise, similar to McDonald's; > it even has an apostrophe in its name). I was in line and heard "The Bells > of Rhymmney" over the speakers. Having grown up in Montgomery, I can tell ya those Alabama boys can't get enough of Robyn. How many times have I gone out drinking, hoping to hear a little Buffet, and all I get is this Hitchcock guy? Geeez, Andy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 13:22:47 -0400 From: mrrunion@tng.net (Runion, Michael R.) Subject: Re: FegMaps Well, I guess from the responses I've received so far (13) that some of your think this is a cool idea. So...hee's my initial plan. I've already found some non-descript gif maps out on the Web. I'm gonna pull off all the city/state/country names...it'll just be blank. If you don't know geography already, you'll need to have an official atlas by your computer for additional reference. No fancy programming or anything, just a series of image maps. When you click on a dot, it'll link over to a page with name, city, email address, web page, and anything else you want to include. Text only on my server...what with the cones graphics and all, I'll be hitting my limit eventually. Once I get something preliminary up and running (say in a week or so), you can email me off-list with suggestions, improvement ideas, etc. So as not to add to the growing worldwide binary codification of our personas without proper authorization, I will not be giving anyone a 'dot' unless you email me (preferably off-list) and give me the go-ahead. Those who have responded so far: Susan Even, Gary Parker, Gene Hopstetter, Bayard, Cynthia Peterson, Tracy Copeland, Terry Linning, Scary Mary, Daniel Saunders, Grant Burnell, Tom Clark, Zelda Pinwheel, and Chris Wallace. Talk to yall later... Mike Busy-Now Runion Mike Runion, Cocoa, FL email: mrrunion@tng.net WWW: http://www.spacecoast.net/users/mrrunion/default.htm ************ Visit the Virtual Cone Museum! ************** * http://www.spacecoast.net/users/mrrunion/cones.htm * ********************************************************** "A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends, Drink another, coin a phrase..." -REM ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 01:20:30 -0700 (PDT) From: David Librik Subject: Re: Reminder: RH wants to know At the last minute, here's my Discovering Robyn Hitchcock Story for Randi, Steve, Robyn, and anyone else listening in. In 1986 I was a second-year college student, passionate about Syd Barrett, the Kinks (circa Village Green Preservation Society), the Who, and the Move/ELO/Roy Wood/The Idle Race complex -- these were the bands I collected every bootleg and EP from -- as well as a selection of the other pop-rock bands of the late 60s-early 70s. (I wasn't a "hippie"; this sort of musical focus, while a bit off-kilter, was wholly acceptable in the dormitory-living college boy world of the mid-80s where Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, and Genesis were universally accepted as Great Music among the more "intellectual" 18-year-old boys.) While pressing a copy of _Piper At The Gates Of Dawn_ into the hands of a girl I had a crush on, I mentioned that I couldn't find anyone else who rivalled Syd Barrett. She said, "Haven't you heard Robyn Hitchcock? He's always compared to Barrett." So I went bravely into the Underground Alternative Independent Hip Record Store on campus, passed the Songs About Fucking and the Alien Sex Fiend and the Death Disco and bought THE MAN WHO INVENTED HIMSELF. My first Robyn Hitchcock album was that Greek bootleg greatest hits LP! And so I went back to the dorm and put it on the record player, and heard "Brenda's Iron Sledge" and "The Lizard" and "Acid Bird" and "The Man With The Lightbulb Head" and "This Could Be The Day" -- and it was clear by this point that I was hearing something radically new and modern to me, yet something built fundamentally on a darker version of the whimsical Syd Barrett psychedelic pop-rock I already liked. I got a friend to tape the album for me and I listened to it non-stop on my Walkman as I went to classes -- I knew that this was difficult stuff (far more hard-edged than what I'd liked before) but I knew it would be ultimately rewarding, because here was someone *whose musical tastes matched mine*. So despite Robyn Hitchcock's avowed dislike of the constant comparisons to Syd Barrett, Ray Davies, John Lennon, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam, I don't think I'm alone in saying that if he were less "derivative" I wouldn't have gotten into his work to begin with. Listening to Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, and to The Soft Boys -- my next purchases were _Underwater Moonlight_ and _Black Snake Diamond Role_ -- were my way into beginning to appreciate the rock music of the 80s. I think my next step was R.E.M. In fact, I remember the moment when I was sitting in my bedroom at home, listening to the track "Underwater Moonlight," when I suddenly said "you know, this is as good as The Who." It wasn't weird difficult music, it was a great rock song. My first Robyn concert -- April 8, 1988, at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. By this point I was a fanatic, and I dragged along my girlfriend and some other friends; most of them, like most of the audience that attended, had no idea who Robyn Hitchcock was -- I heard a lot of "Oh THAT'S who this guy is!!" after the band played "Balloon Man." I was NOT disappointed: Robyn won over the audience, working them, charming them, telling them stories, getting them to sing along with "I Got A Message For You," breaking them up with "Uncorrected Personality Traits." My friends and I all love goofy comedy songs like Tom Lehrer's, and I think Hitchcock The Clever English Whimsical Comic won over as many people as Hitchcock The Catchy Rocker. (If Robyn H. is reading this, it's no doubt making him cringe, but I guess I like having the usual cliched "buttons" pushed. Call me easily manipulated, but the things I most enjoy seem to be the very things he's trying to put behind him. I dragged some friends to a solo show a couple years ago, and I was disappointed to hear a rather somber collection of thoughful acoustic tunes when I was hoping he'd recruit some new fans with storytelling and funny songs. He's under no obligation to be wacky on command, though, and I'm sure there are lots of people who prefer the poetic and Dylanesque Robyn to the old hyperkinetic, frenetic, retrodelic free-association.) Well, I hope that's enough. You wanted to know where I live -- currently Normal, Illinois (near where I went to university), but I spent the previous four years in Berkeley, California, where I got to hear Hitchcock concerts far more often. Edit, rewrite, rearrange as you see fit. - David Librik librik@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 11:32:00 +0000 (GMT) From: "NORMAN PARKER +44 (0)1473-222478" Subject: My First Time With Robyn ... OK, as Randi singled me out with the old "hey, mention their name, they'll get embarrassed and be forced to tell us all those sordid and intimate details" trick : While in my local independent record emporium, I had checked out all the new releases & imports, and fancied trying something new. My mate Scruff (who happened to work there, and was a fan), recommended some Hitchcock. I had a quick listen to about 4 tracks from GOTTA LET THIS HEN OUT, and remember being somewhat underwhelmed. I was a bit put off by the jokiness of it all, being a deadly serious kind of person (well, in music anyway). A few weeks later, Scruff gave me a tape - this turned out to be a mix of Robyn and Soft Boys tracks, including various live bits & rarities. This was a copy of the mix tape he was originally given, which got him hooked. The tape got played in the car once, and left there for a while. I came back to it, and played it a few more times. It was then that I realised I was (gradually) hooked, so on my next visit to Scruff's Record Emporium, I bought all the RH CDs I could find. I can't really say what the first one was, but I picked up about 7 of the Sequel (or Rhino for you folks on other side of the pond) reissues, and got him to order all the rest. I definitely recall buying the Soft Boys 76-81 comp at the same time though - the three individual SB albums came about a month later. My first (and so far only) live experience was at the 12 Bar club last year. Great gig, only disappointment was trying to remember how to stand up, after being crammed into tiny seats with sod-all legroom. I also vividly remember somewhat later having to move out of the way of the stage to let someone past, and nearly telling him to wait his bloody turn, until I realised who it was ! I'll claim mitigating circumstances - I'd never seen him before, and expected him to look like his photos on those 15 year old album sleeves ! Oh, and I live somewhere dull in Essex. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 11:56:11 -0700 From: james isaacs Subject: when James met Robyn My story is a fairly nondescript ne, ane one that reveals an embarrasing secret- I discovered Robyn from MTV. One night I was staying at a friend's house. It was probably 1988. Anyway, MTV had whatever show they had at the time trying to that they had an edge. And this show had a video by a fellow named Robyn Hitchcock. In this video, he sang about wasps, and had a fish above his head. I thought "This is weird! I am going to loook this fella up!" So, next time at my local record store, I found Queen Elvis, as a cut-out no less, and I was hooked. At the time I was hard and heavy into XTC, and I needed to find something to fill the void between releases. I saw my first Robyn show on October 20, 1990, which still stands out as the best day of my life (the Reds won the series that night, and the show happened to bi in Cincinnati). I laughed my wrists off. It was sublime. That about covers it, James (Isaacs) ------------------------------ From: Rob Collingwood Subject: Re: Reminder: RH wants to know Date: Sun, 13 Jul 97 18:05:55 PDT Like, I suspect, many fegs, my first RH experience was via a compilation tape made for me by a friend. Made up of bits of fegMania, IODOT and GD. At the time most of what I was listening to was modern prog. rock by bands few of you will have heard of, plus Rain Parade, Green On Red, Doctor and the Medics and a touch of Goth (Sisters of Mercy and New Model Army). Robyn's stuff was a pleasant change and I fell for it immediately. First album purchase - EOL as soon as it was available. First RH concert - Soft Boys reunion tour in Wolverhampton (1994?) First RH as RH concert - Chester 1995. I was living in Scotland for quite a while and, as Hamish mentioned, it's not an area Robyn plays very often. Since moving south, I've seen him three times locally plus once at the 12 Bar last year. -- Rob Collingwood Rob@nimbus.demon.co.uk Warrington, UK. ------------------------------ From: "Eddie Tews" Subject: Bumbershoot/FegFest '97 Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 13:38:24 PDT here is part of an article which appeared in the paper a couple days ago: "sheryl crow, foo fighters, david byrne, sleater-kinney, medeski martin & wood, the neville brothers, mark o'connor, steve forbert and blues traveler have been added to the lineup for Bumbershoot, Aug. 29-Sept. 1 at seattle center. "they join previously announced headliners, including beck, conic youth, joan osborne, shawn colvin, zap mama, the art ensemble of chicage, and ROBYN HITCHCOCK. [emphasis in original] "...other performers announced today include michael penn, wilco, tuatara, pacific northwest ballet, jane siberry, wayne horvitz, jon stewart, the picketts, geggy tah, bhundu boys, dick dale, el vez, terrance simien, dog's eye view, reel big fish, super deluxe, sould coughing, sky cries mary and cindy lee berryhill." then it goes on to talk about literary figures and the 1 reel film festival. so, not only is it cool that robyn is considered a headliner, but, hey, that's a hell of a lineup. so y'all coming? the only one i know of for sure from outside the region is .chris. by the way, glen, did you read that note in the ava about the lady suing aaron neville for delivering a psychic shock to her forehead? too funny! _______________________________________________________ Get Private Web-Based Email Free http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: "Eddie Tews" Subject: "How come Jesus gets Industrial Disease?" Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 14:14:10 PDT regarding the recent quail-bashing, here is how i perceive the fegmaniax milieu: woj, of course, is the frodo of the list aragorn: rock solid dependable, understated charisma, impeccable bloodlines, been-around-the-block wisdom, not above entering the fray...i know there's a bit of a gender problem, but you gonna tell me that's not susan to a T? bayard is gandalf john is elrond tracy and aidan are galadriel and celeborn sydney of the wasps and mr. hedblade are merry and pippin .chris is bombadil and the quail is obviously master samwise: his oratory may not be earth-shatteringly profound (whose is?), it may not be 100% "on-topic," but it's usually insightful, always entertaining, and ALWAYS welcomed. and let's don't forget that gamgee pulled frodo's bacon out of the fire on more than one occasion. master samwise and toad of toad hall are my two favorite literary characters. i suppose it goes without saying that eb and myself are nazgul, but somebody else can fill in the other seven. Lyrics: in I Something You, i know it's supposed to be "you whatnot me," but every time i listen to it, i hear, "you ought not me." am i just completely crazy? in Elizabeth Jade, it's, "pre-war lemonade," right? in Viva Sea-Tac, has anybody deciphered the verse about selling a banana that counts up to 100 and turns pink? PERSPEX Tour: i remember attending the seattle stop of this revue, i remember loving it, i still wear my "there are no jokes in the bible, keith," t-shirt quite frequently. but recently listening to THOTH BOYS again, and the new orleans stop at tripitina's, i've acquired a newfound appreciation for this tour. not only were the lads at the top of their game, not only was robyn in fulltime story mode, but it was quite a souped-up production. remember that for the driving aloud tour they stripped it down to fit the feel of the album. and of course, he hasn't gone out with andy and morris since then. so that may have been robyn's one real stab at putting on a ROCK SHOW, as opposed to performing a concert. not making a value judgement here, just an observation. Spoken Chain Tape: john, i really liked your story about the one-letter-at-a-time essay in south america. i especially found it interesting that the piece would circulate back to each member several times. is there any way we could something like this with the chain tape? you know, limit the individual pieces to one or two minutes instead of five? and, instead of making one 90-minute tape, how about two 100-minute tapes? there's plenty of material, that's for sure. was listening last night to the In The Bluewall concert from 9/89 that i got from...someone. debora, i think. anyway, two things struck me. 1. he told a long, funny story about a World War I fighter. this sealed the deal for me. i'm definitely going to go through every piece of robyn audio that i have and catalogue all references to warplanes. this will probably take several months, so don't expect it any time soon. but you can help me out if you're inclined. i've got all the releases and promos, to my knowledge, so don't worry about that. but i obviously don't have all the live tapes. so, if you happen to hear something about warplanes, if you could jot it down, and then if you don't see it when i put my list up, add it on, that would be rather decent of you. 2. Ted Woody & Junior played on piano was a revelation. remember that argument that terry and susan were having a while back about acoustic versus band versions of songs? i really don't think it matters. robyn's got the midas touch. however he chooses to arrange a song, it's gonna work. and the more different arrangements, the better, in my view. Only The Stones with harmonica from the recently completed tour is another prime example. Instantly Hooked: with the exception of GLOBE OF FROGS, which i did like instantly, every time i get a new robyn album, i don't like it the first time i listen to it. then a day later, i think, i want to hear that again, just in case. and from there it blossoms. every album. i used to think, "well, he's allowed one clunker, isn't he." now, i've just come to expect it. may i second the opinion that SET THE TWILIGHT REELING is a great album? mike godwin's fave flicks: La Strada, L'Age d'Or, Duck Soup, Time Bandits, This is Spinal Tap, Day for Night, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, An American Werewolf in London, The Railway Children, Two Way Stretch james fairbanks' fave flicks: 1. Blade Runner, 2. Cool Hand Luke, 3. The Empire Strikes Back, 4. Repo Man, 5. Reds, 6. Lawrence of Arabia, 7. Raising Arizona, 8. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 9. Jaws, 10. Tron matt valenta's fave flicks: 1. Dr. Strangelove, 2. Quiz Show, 3. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, 4. Kafka, 5. Blade Runner, 6. Grosse Pointe Blank, 7. Scent of a Woman, 8. Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, 9. The Paper, 10. The Professional & Twelfth Night (1996( [note: grosse pointe blank is surely the newest movie mentioned, and if ya haven't seen it yet, you oughta. it's my second-favorite of the year so far, after Schizopolis.] _______________________________________________________ Get Private Web-Based Email Free http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 14:33:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Refugees on 45 Subject: "How come Lucky gets Whatnot Disease?" > Lyrics: in I Something You, i know it's supposed to be "you whatnot > me," but every time i listen to it, i hear, "you ought not me." am i > just completely crazy? k yes, completely; and it is LUCKY elsewhere!! (even if it *might* not be). :) over, .chris ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 15:34:01 -0700 From: Nick Winkworth Subject: Re: quickies On Thu, 10 Jul 1997 18:14 the woj of noise hat gesagt: [Re: Thomas Dolby's "The Flat Earth"...] > some? except for "hyperactive", that's a damn fine album and one of my > all-time favorites. One of mine, also. *Especially* "hyperactive"!! ~N PS Any progress on the fegmania(x) domain? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .