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 #177 Fegmaniax Digest Volume 5 Number 177 Friday July 25 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: ------- ------- Who's got all the tunes? Subliminal bits "That Dignan guy from down under"??? Commander McBragg Everybody had matching towels Re: Commander McBragg... subtle McGloster Re: Everybody had matching towels Re: police come with a laser gun Re: Music Re: Music Re: bonus disks (1% RH) UK gigs ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:08:04 +1200 (NZST) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Who's got all the tunes? >Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. In that vein, consider this: >when the Red Hot Chili Peppers finally broke into mainstream radio, their >DJs had the unmitigated fucking gall to brag that they were bringing "new, >alternative music to the hungry masses" although I had already had to >tolerate their music (and Anthony Keidis' urge to bonk every thing with >legs and breasts that passed in front of him) for way too many years in >college radio. *slightly* different type of music, but same problem: In NZ, the Chills won the Silver Scroll (cf. Grammy) for "most promising new act" after the release of "I lovre my leather jacket", in about 1989 - despite the fact that they had been recording for about eight years. If a mainstream radio station announces that it is playing "new music" it means either (a) that the band has been around for decades and someone's finally noticed; (b) they've been around for decades and just changed to a different label, with better contacts; (c) they've landed a big contract with a label with the right contacts. I wouldn't automatically equate commercial radio with bad music (they do occasionally surprise me), but every time I hear it, that old comment about rock being the devil's music seems to come to mind. James James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:23:34 +1200 (NZST) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Subliminal bits >_The Cheerful Insanity Of Giles, Giles and Fripp_ contains "The Saga >Of Roddy Toady" which is told throughout the course of the album. I >can't remember whether it is given a track listing, however, so it >may not count as a hidden track. and all of Stanley Unwin's stuff on "Ogden's..." - a lot of late sixties albums had this sort of between-track stuff. Don't really think it qualifies as a hidden track in the same way, though. >I'm still trying to find the hidden tracks and backwards-masking on >"Monday's Lunch" by Mark Gloster and Big Rubber Shark. They've gotta >be there somewhere!!! :) There ARE hidden bits on Partial Rapture Theory. Outram (reproach) was originally going to be a hidden track, but I though "stuff it - I'll put it on the cover". Also, so faint it's impossible to hear them except on the 4-track master are two oddments... at the end of "Celia II" I reveal "Celia"'s real name, and more importantly, in "Omens on the run", immediately after the line "fish in the harbour", I whisper the word "Bass!". Who knows - this subliminal advertising may win over a few more converts to the Great Q... erm... Robyn Hitchcock. James ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:45:28 +1200 (NZST) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: "That Dignan guy from down under"??? >Eb, who definitely likes the High Llamas better than the Chinese Water Torture James prefers Chinese Water Python. It tastes like chicken. >>and yet a greater offense to begin no less than >>six of your album's songs (maybe more if I pay more attention on my next >>listen) with direct steals from another band's oeuvre. Hmmm. I guess there are a lot of us on this list who are Billy Bragg fans - sdespite him "borrowing from other artists right left and left-of-centre. "A New England" starts with two lines by Paul Simon. "Ideology" half-inches "Chimes of Freedom". "Mother of the Bride"'s bassline suddenly starts playing "Last Train to Clarkesville". Doesn't stop him being a fine songwriter IMHO. >> from the booklet was that the SB's version of Heartbreak Hotel came "by way >> of John Cale"...I had always thought this was a Soft Boys arrangement. Were >> they just playing John Cale's arrangement? And if so, where can John Cale's >> version be found? > >It's performed live on the notorious ACNE album 'June 1st 1974'. But >there's a studio version as well. The studio version is on both Slow Dazzle and Guts. I've seen live video footage of a piano version that knocks the guitar versions about a bit and makes them get chipped around the edges. Glen, Glen Uber Alles wrote: >Do you know the way to San Jose? by the weirdest of odd coincidences, this was the hidden vocal on the only recording I released prior to Partial Rapture tTheory. Are you a secret Moomins fan??? >>PS: Oh, yes. I was sheathing a sword cane rather violently and missed. > >What the heck does that mean? He should have said "sheafing". Sword cane is like sugar cane, but sharper. Trying to make sheafs out of it is very painful. Get well soon Mr Q. James PS - weirdly, in NZ, "Down under" usually means Australia. Go figure. James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 19:52:52 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Commander McBragg >Hmmm. I guess there are a lot of us on this list who are Billy Bragg fans - >despite him "borrowing from other artists right left and left-of-centre. >"A New England" starts with two lines by Paul Simon. "Ideology" half-inches >"Chimes of Freedom". "Mother of the Bride"'s bassline suddenly starts >playing "Last Train to Clarkesville". Doesn't stop him being a fine >songwriter IMHO. I like Billy Bragg all right (not nearly as much as RH), but I found the "Ideology" theft rather unforgivable. I heard that song BEFORE I started buying Bragg albums, and it took me quite awhile to get over the bias instilled by hearing that song. Eb, who had never heard that famous album called "ACNE" before, and had to laugh...that one's in my trade-in pile, though -- kinda unessential ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 16:06:51 +1200 (NZST) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Everybody had matching towels Terrence thusly spake: >Is it just me, or has 90s music been notably less impressive than 80s and >70s and 60s music? yes, you're right - either it's just you or 90s music has been notably less impressive than 80s and 70s and 60s music. Seriously, perhaps your tastes just don't seem to like the music of the nineties. Or perhaps it just hasn't had long enough to sink in. But albums by the following artists released in the last four or five years are prized jewels in my collection: Geoffrey Oryema; Blur; PJ Harvey; Jane Siberry; Shooglenifty; Martin Newell; Bailter Space; Dark Tower; Cake Kitchen; Aphex Twin; Strawpeople; Wannadies; Beth Orton; Muttonbirds; Radiohead; Greg Johnson; Curve; The Cruel Sea; Suzanne Vega; Tori Amos; Brian Eno; Spiritualized; Julian Cope; The Grid; The Orb; REM; Hunters and Collectors; GW McLennan; Nirvana; Crash Test Dummies; Ayub Ogada; Lloyd Cole; Crowded House; Verlaines; Robert Fripp String Quintet; Björk; Miranda SexGarden; Midnight Oil; Dave Dobbyn; Ed Kuepper; James; William Orbit; U2; Luna; Supergroove; FSOL; Dead Can Dance; James Dignan :); David Kilgour; Indigo Girls; My Friend the Chocolate Cake; Laurie Anderson; Chris Bailey; Hedningarna; Liz Phair; Nine Inch Nails; Beck; Adrian Belew; Robyn Hitchcock; U.Srinivas & Michael Brook; Magick Heads; Jack Frost; King Crimson; Ocean Colour Scene; The Church; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook; The Clean; Kula Shaker; Transglobal underground; Porno for Pyros; and even David Bowie. Plus several fine compilations, such as Industrium Post Mortem: China, Trainspotting, and Glass Flesh :). If you can't find something in that lot you like, check to see if you still have a pulse. As regards the mainstream though, you may be right. The mainstream, though, has become a lot narrower than it used to be. Back in the sixties, big singles had a lot of raw power - imagine how people took to things like "U can't explain" or "Satisfaction". Now, if it's got too much raw power, it is too "alternative" for mainstream playlisting. And yes, I know that "mainstream" stations wouldn't play ANY rock way back when, but the days of the pirates have gone, or at least, pirate stations like they were back then. on the subject of musical taste: >>Seconded! I just admired the British Isles map (that's me at the bottom >>on the left) and was disappointed not to see any dots in Ireland. Surely >>with the IRA ceasefire, some signs of _Fegmania_ should soon be apparent >>in the Emerald Isle? >It has something to do with Sinn Feg. remember that the Irish for Grim Reaper is something like "Sliema Feg" - any Erse speakers out there like to confirm this? The first word isn't Sliema, but it's something like that (Sliema, meanwhile, is a town in Malta). Susan (welcome back! What kept ya?): sez: >More interesting to me is the recent resurgence of Trio's "da da da". I >consider THAT one of the 80s finer singles. This, soon after some quailspeak on Devo... it's a worrying trend... np - The B52s - Rock Lobster >"Great minds disagree with themselves" to paraphrase Emerson. No, I don't >think it was. I lost all confidence in him when he joined up with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer ;) James - rambling on as usual PS: James sez "W4elcome to the REAL world, Natalie... come on in, the water's luverly..." PPS: the 4 is silent. James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ From: Mark_Gloster@3com.com Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 21:37:28 -0700 Subject: Re: Commander McBragg... subtle McGloster I get less angry when somebody lifts a line here or there. Sometimes it's done as a tribute. Sometimes it's done with a wink. Sometimes it's done with anger. Sometimes it is impractical for a writer to make up a new way of saying something. Sometimes people don't remember where their great ideas (my sweetie sometimes reminds me whose brilliant ideas I sometimes spout- sometimes I forget, this just happens). I guess it's just really hard for me to assume the worst about somebody who borrows little bits. Now if they never say anything new, or outright steal everything they do, then they're probably Bill Gates and while maybe I can be offended, sometimes there is little recourse. I guess I'm just not looking for reasons to hate things and people. I had lunch in San Jose, CA, USA, with Nick, Tom, Glen, and Russ today from feglandia. If you had clicked on Mr. Runion's Globe of fegs during the hours of 12:30 and 1:30, you probably could have seen us there laughing little bits of vegetables out of our ears. It was a joyous experience of extraordinary magnatude. I wish you all could have been there, but we would probably have had to wait a lot longer to get served if you were and, of course, the place wouldn't have fit us all, so some of you would have had to stand outside with the crack parking control officers helping them spot meter violations and helping geriatric people rollerskate across crosswalks and teach the graffiti artists how to spell that word properly. I bet you're all glad that you weren't here so you could stay at work and type notes to people on the internet during lunch instead of laughing about rude people on the internet and have to do all that other stuff that you would've had to do if you were all there. Nick's minidisc recorder is coooool. Well. I'm going home now. It has been a day. I something you all, but, as always, some more than others. -markg now playing: dan berN (I was just sure it was a "g" in a recent note, but I have a small brain and trouble with names over three letters long) I think I'm going to cover "Jerusalem" in a future performance. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:30:42 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Everybody had matching towels >Shooglenifty >Wannadies >My Friend the Chocolate Cake >Hedningarna Oh come on, James, you made these names up. ;) Eb ------------------------------ From: Ed Doxtator Date: Fri, 25 Jul 97 09:57:00 PDT Hi kids...this is what I can remember of the 12-Bar show from last Wednesday (23rd July): The 12 Bar Club is very small. Seats maybe 100 people. Probably closer to 75. Incredibly hot and humid. Robyn Hitchcock with Tim Keegan as support. Tim's Set: Tim had just gotten back from a holiday in Greece. He was looking tanned and relaxed and jet-lagged. His set was something like: -Indestructable (he sounds like friggin' Morrisey on this one...) -Superkeen -The Shallow End -Save Me From Happiness seven other songs I don't remember He was still a little nervous but he did do pretty well, I thought. Hard to keep it all going sometimes. Robyn's set list was something like this (not in order and probably incomplete): -Ring The Cheese Alarm (or whatever it's called-- it's hilarious!) -The Devil's Coachman -Jewels For Sophia (with Tim) another new song with Tim -I'm Only You -The Yip Song Then, much to our surprise, Andy Metcalfe came out! He had his acoustic bass with him and he played for the rest of the show with Robyn: -Winchester -Vegetation & Dimes -Birds in Perspex -Madonna Of The Wasps Encore: -Bass -Oceanside -Beautiful Queen Good show, I thought. Lots of stuff I'd wanted to hear live, and I wasn't at all disappointed. Despite the heat, there was lots of energy, and it looked like they were all having a good time. Andy and Robyn had an interesting little exchange about what kind of job would it be if you were a person that had to stick insects on windscreens and motorcyclist's goggles. Robyn reckoned they'd be pre-moistened, and Andy did a fair approximation of the precision motion required to apply the insects. "Insect Daubers" was the job title... Other than that, the banter was at a bare minimum. It was too hot for goofiness. The whole show lasted about three and a half hours. New bit at the end of The Devil's Coachman: "Yesterday I saw the Devil in our bed I could have strangled him But couldn't-- I'm English So instead I made him tea and TOAST!" (With Tracy in mind, I should think...) Fashion Report: Tim: Jeans, 70's terrycloth shirt . Robyn: Looked like a loose-fitting linen shirt (white) and linen trousers. Very smart. Changed for the encore into a paisley shirt. Andy: Linen shirt. Jeans (I think). Robyn plays at the 12 Bar again next Wed. I can't make that one, sadly. He's with Morris and I'd love to see that one. Finally, if anyone made a tape of the show, I'd love to have a copy. Sadly, I haven't anything to trade (I have no live Robyn stuff at all!), but I will (of course) pay for tapes and postage. (Toast optional) Well that's it from the village of Lurker-On-Wallflower... Look after yerselves... -Ed, Doc, can't stop hearing "Clean Steve" in my head... n.p. Ned's Atomic Dustbin, "0.522" ------------------------------ From: TchdnJesus@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 05:38:43 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: police come with a laser gun rreynold@ksjo.com (Russ Reynolds) writes: > KEN sed: >> i seem to remember reading that when guns 'n' roses' _the spagetti >> incident_ (an album of covers) came out there was a hidden track written >> by charles manson and that he was getting some serious royalties for it. > This is what I heard as well. Seems to me that not listing the track to > avoid paying royalties is a lot like not listing your income to avoid paying > taxes. I have trouble believing that's an actual legal loophole. besides which, most hidden tracks (at least that i've encountered) aren't covers, so why would the band deny themselves royalties? > a couple of thoughts: > *Did the Clash lose royalties on "Train in Vain" because it wasn't listed on > the album? hmmm. exactly. ------------------------------ From: TchdnJesus@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 05:39:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Music normal@grove.ufl.edu writes: > Is it just me, or has 90s music been notably les s impressive than 80s and > 70s and 60s music? nah. it's just that the swill from the 90's is fresher on your mind that the swill of the 80's, 70's, and 60's, so it just seems worse. ------------------------------ From: TchdnJesus@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 05:39:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Music normal@grove.ufl.edu (Terrence M Marks) writes: > What I'm saying is that there hasn't been a single as good as Der > Kommissar, Stray Cat Strut, Last Train to Clarkesville, Bang a Gong, Panic > in Detroit or Ride My See-Saw in this decade. (I mean a single that good > that has received comparable radio play) a) panic in detroit was not a single (at least not the bowie version; or at least it wasn't included on the _the singles: 1969-1993_) b) beck: the new pollution; r.e.m.: losing my religion; nirvana: in bloom; radiohead: creep; the smashing pumpkins: 1979; teenage fanclub: the concept; the breeders: cannonball; belly: feed the tree; garbage: queer; lush: ladykillers; bjork: human behaviour; the folk implosion: natural one; sinead o'connor: nothing compares 2 u. off the top of my head. ------------------------------ From: TchdnJesus@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 05:39:28 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: bonus disks (1% RH) rreynold@ksjo.com (Russ Reynolds) writes: >mrrunion@tng.net: >>More hated is when an album comes out in both a one CD and a two CD >>format: namely the last live Velvet Underground album. I'd already bought >>the abbreviated one-disk version before I realized my mistake! > > I don't get that. Were both versions released in the same country? yep, both domestic (in the US) on sire. blue is the double; purple is the single. mccartney did it too (first i think) with that tripping the live fantastic thing. i assume done so that more hardcore fans can have a longer live album, but they can still get sales from more casual fans as well. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 12:23:47 +0100 (BST) From: Gary Sedgwick Subject: UK gigs I went to the 12 Bar gig on Wednesday - I'll write up a review when I've got a spare moment, but in the meantime here's some first impressions. Firstly, I can't decide if the venue itself was a really cool place (not literally - as anyone who's been there knows, it's got a capacity of about 60, yet they managed to get about 300 people in!) or just cramped and a silly choice of building. It's got two floors, low ceilings, and a two feet high stage... so those of us on the ground floor had a view of Robyn neck down (unless you were lucky enough to be seated at the front), while those upstairs must have only had a view of Robyn's head. The poster outside the club described it as "intimate (which means the artists have to perform with their heads poking through a hole in the first floor)"... how we chuckled at that little 'pun'. Secondly, Tim Keegan was very good... I was very impressed. Thirdly, Andy was very good (first time I've seen him!). Robyn, although good, wasn't up to the same level he was at the Boat Race. Less banter (although it was very entertaining), and less improvisation. But then if I was playing in a venue the size of my kitchen and the atmosphere of a sauna, I probably wouldn't be enjoying it that much either. And the Boat Race gig was fantastic... I reckon it must be one of his best. We did, however, get a few new songs (or songs I've never heard before anyway)... Jewels For Sophia really stood out for me, with Elizabeth Jade coming in a close second. As I said earlier, I'll post up a more detailed review and set list soon... if anyone's interested, I do have a tape of the gig. Catching up with digests... Russ said: > Every once in a while you've gotta sit down and read the booklet that > comes with the Soft Boys 1976-1981 compilation. It's truly inspiring, > and serves as a reminder of why most of us are Hitchcock fans. After the Boat Race gig, I went a bit Soft Boy crazy and went from owning no SB albums to all of them in the space of about 48 hrs. And I completely agree with you Russ; if the VU inspired everyone who heard it to go out and form a band, I reckon everyone who hears Robyn will be inspired to write (if in a band) / search out (if not) less conventional and more lyrically inspirational songs. BTW, I also picked up Mossy Liquour and My Wife & My Dead Wife promo CD at the gig (with I Something You and Zipper In My Spine on it)... Antwoman has a 'summer sale' on where every CD is 5 quid and Mossy is 10. So now I only have Perspex Island and Queen Elvis to get. As QE isn't that easy to find, I'd be extremely grateful if anyone could find me a copy. Gary PS Is it just me, or have some of the digests been in reverse lately (i.e. posts with questions appearing AFTER the post with with the reply)?? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End of this Fegmaniax Digest. *sob* .