From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V6 #91 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Monday, December 8 1997 Volume 06 : Number 091 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Robyn at Princess Charlotte [Saul Hewish ] Robyn at The Charlotte, Leicester, 6 December [jharrisc@cix.co.uk (Jeremy] Meeting Robyn 101: How and What to Say [Carole Reichstein ] Re: Embarassing "I Met Robyn!" story [james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (] Re: Meeting Robyn 101: How and What to Say [Eb ] long live ted nugent! ["Capitalism Blows" ] Raging minimalists [Natalie Jane Jacobs ] Re: Raging minimalists [Eb ] Re: Raging minimalists [squeaky watson ] Re: Raging minimalists [Eb ] Nick Drake (again) ["Bret" ] Robyn Hitchcock's Christmas Party [John Barrington Jones Subject: Robyn at Princess Charlotte A brief review of Saturday night's gig at the Charlotte in Leicester. What a joy it was to see Robyn outside of the 12 Bar Club. I know it's intimate but it is normally so packed you can't move to get a drink and if you don't get there at the crack of dawn, it's often difficult to get a good view. Not the case last night. The Charlotte is still an intimate enough venue but with easy access to the bar and plenty of room to view. I arrived just before Tim and Jake from Homer went on. I must confess to not being much of a fan of Homer's songs although they did do a remarkably moving song about domestic violence called "Indestructable". All credit to them for that. Mr H was on cracking form with banter between virtually every song. Shirt was that black one with the white dots. Set list: Cheese Alarm Lysander Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom My Wife and My Dead Wife Lost Madonna of the Wasps Jewels for Sophia Elizabeth Jade (NB Sydney's post in Digest 90!!) Queen Elvis I'm Only You I Something You (? I've never heard it before - is it new, old or a cover?) Raymond Chandler Evening (Complete with long middle section with a Marlowe story!) Freeze Only the Stones Remain - ---------------------- Encores in that shocking shirt with the apples Alright Yeah I Saw Nick Drake Beautiful Queen - ---------------------- I Often Dream of Trains All in all a great gig - good seeing him out of London and a fine selection of tracks. Regards to all Saul ************************************** Saul Hewish Saul@dial.pipex.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 17:50 +0000 (GMT) From: jharrisc@cix.co.uk (Jeremy Harris) Subject: Robyn at The Charlotte, Leicester, 6 December A maiden posting to Fegmaniax with my maiden gig review too - we'll see how we get on. The ink on the set list I scribbled down has run, which is a great start - all bug reports welcomed. The Charlotte pub - a deservedly popular live venue in central Leicester with gigs virtually seven days a week - was pretty busy for Robyn last night - enough people there to give it some atmosphere but not so much that it was uncomfortably cramped/hot - the venue's a reasonable size anyway. Tucked in a corner was the ongoing Robyn Hitchcock Summer Sale(!) selling assorted vinyl/CDs/tapes for 5 pounds and T-shirts (Man With A Woman's Shadow, Respect, Robyn at Camden Jongleurs/Dingwalls) for 10 pounds plus the new Homer acoustic CD and a Homer Superkeen T-shirt. It was doing a roaring trade - I picked up the Give It To The Thoth Boys live oddities cassette and the Sequel My Wife And My Dead Wife CD single. Doors opened at 2030 and at 2105 Tim and Jake from Homer appeared to rattle their way acoustically through Stay By My Side, Back from Disneyland, Indestructible, Superkeen, Do You Want To Be Single?, Save Me For Happiness and the new single There There There. Good stuff, but I got the impression they aren't quite as versatile at doing acoustic work as Robyn - the two ballads were a bit tortuous and only earned polite applause from the crowd whereas the 'livelier' stuff was well cheered, so maybe others in the audience agreed. After a ten-minute interval Robyn came on stage at about 2145 in a black shirt with large white circles on it (changed, for the encores, to a red one with purple apples on it - it was that one that earned a "Nice shirt, Robyn!" from the audience...) Set list was; The Cheese Alarm Beautiful Queen (introduced by the story of a monoplane flying over a chessboard cutting the infrared beams emitted by the knights and so causing a toilet to flush in Kettering) Serpent At The Gates of Wisdom ('God above and all *her* angels') My Wife And My Dead Wife (enter Tim) Madonna Of The Wasps Jewels for Sophia (minus the reference to Tony Blair in the lyrics) Elizabeth Jade (*definitely* 'popper' on this occasion) Queen Elvis (exit Tim) I'm Only You I Something You (RH dons electric guitar) Raymond Chandler Evening Freeze Only The Stones Remain Encores: (the first three with Tim and Jake, and all acoustic I think) Alright Yeah Nick Drake Beautiful Queen (again) I Often Dream of Trains I tried to keep count of which ones were with the Baby Jesus guitar pick and which were with the Hail Mary but failed hopelessly.... As you can probably tell from the fact that there were four encores, it was a cracking show, and very well received. If Robyn hadn't had to be out of the place by 2300 I think he could have been kept there half the night. It was my first RH gig for quite a few years - I always seem to be abroad when he's playing in the UK - so I can't compare to his other recent shows but as far I - and apparently Leicester - were concerned he was on top form. It was just wonderful in any case to hear all these newer songs (Sophia, Elizabeth Jade etc) that all you fortunate Stateside Fegs have been talking about on here for months! :-) He said he hoped to see us all again next year - I'll certainly be there if he does. - -Jeremy- Jeremy Harris jharrisc@cix.co.uk (I'll think up a mindblowing sig one of these days - but don't hold your breath) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 13:07:29 -0800 (PST) From: Carole Reichstein Subject: Meeting Robyn 101: How and What to Say Matthew Knight wrote: > ... Robyn psyched me out completely and I choked. I say choked in the sense of a > tennis pro who needs to serve an ace to win a championship and just hits = the net. I > missed the opportunity to speak and have always regretted it. But the qu= estion > mere fan =91nobody=92 address a sophisticated, educated rock =91somebody= =92 ? What a good question! I've always envied those who can just go up to "sophisticated, educated rock somebodies" and start a conversation. Your story of chancing across Robyn (he brooding in a black coat, you cowering) on an ancient 600 year old road in London sounds, well, almost like Poe. Or a poignant Smiths/Morrissey song (just listen to the lyrics of "Paint a Vulgar Picture!"). Matthew, I'm sure I would've froze just like you. What DO you say? "Nice coat?" "Gee, you're tall?"=20 If memory serves, Randi Spiegel quipped, "Septecemica doesn't always win!" But how many of us have interesting scar/hospital stories to tell Robyn? :)=20 Hmm.. Here's the scene: you and Robyn in a narrow lane, walking towards each other. He's looking downright gloomy, and you're freaking out, but trying to play it cool. You have to say *something* to this great man.=20 What to do? (No, I would never say, "I got the Hots for You!" Sheesh.) Some options: a) stumble and trip. Robyn would say, "Are you ok?" and there you go! b) ask Robyn to introduce you to Tim Keegan, who you secretly want to marry. c) ask him for a cigarette? Not too original, I'm afraid. Offer him one? d) say, "Excuse me, but is time *really* round? e) sputter, "Hey, it's a Hedblade!" f) Ask Robyn if he's seen any good Jonathan Demme movies lately. g) see if Robyn knows of any good vegetarian restaurants/pubs/bookstores nearby. Play the hapless tourist. h) if you're a musician (or even if you're not), ask Robyn where he buys his guitars when he's in London. Or ask about his "hail mary" guitar picks.=20 i) be polite, tip your hat at the good man, and walk on. You can turn back and look if you like.=20 Any other suggestions?=20 - --Carole ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 15:29:25 -0600 From: Robert Ware Subject: hello again... Hello everyone.I've been a silent observer for some time now, and actually attempted a response a while back, but I believe it never reached you due to an evil imp which lives in my machine and deletes things at random. My inquiry is this...In Beautiful Queen, is the lyric...with your beautiful jeans...OR..with your beautiful GENE ?I'm guessing it's the latter. In sorrow not in anger, Lisa Marie P.S. Can anyone give me background information on Steve Webster??Many thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 10:45:12 +1300 (NZDT) From: james.dignan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Re: Embarassing "I Met Robyn!" story >Maybe the solution is to greet Robyn with a reference from one of his >songs. For >example: > >=ECHave a heart Betty, I=EDm not fireproof!.......=EE Too cryptic >"I'm just trash!........" Why the self-denigration ? >"I'm an old pervert man......" Errrrr no ! why not just ask him whether he's got a Harrison Ford poster that he could sign for you? James ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 13:41:40 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Meeting Robyn 101: How and What to Say >What a good question! I've always envied those who can just go up to >"sophisticated, educated rock somebodies" and start a conversation. > >Hmm.. Here's the scene: you and Robyn in a narrow lane, walking towards >each other. You have to say *something* to this great man. >What to do? Some options: > >a) stumble and trip. Robyn would say, "Are you ok?" and there you go! >b) ask Robyn to introduce you to Tim Keegan, who you secretly want to >marry. >c) ask him for a cigarette? Not too original, I'm afraid. Offer him one? >d) say, "Excuse me, but is time *really* round? >e) sputter, "Hey, it's a Hedblade!" >f) Ask Robyn if he's seen any good Jonathan Demme movies lately. >g) see if Robyn knows of any good vegetarian restaurants/pubs/bookstores >nearby. Play the hapless tourist. >h) if you're a musician (or even if you're not), ask Robyn where he buys >his guitars when he's in London. Or ask about his "hail mary" guitar >picks. >i) be polite, tip your hat at the good man, and walk on. You can turn back >and look if you like. >Any other suggestions? Speaking of someone who has talked to an awful lot of musicians, let me say this: Artists like to talk about what they're doing currently. Ask him about the upcoming movie. Ask him about his recent recording sessions, and plans for his next album. Don't start grilling him about past trivia. And of course, don't start gushing -- present yourself as a peer, not a disciple. That should get you off on the right foot. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 13:59:01 PST From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: long live ted nugent! ok, the mails are back on in canada. however, i've had a few people tell me that it would not be unwise to lay low for a while and allow things to get sorted out, lest our most valuable parcel become trapped in the bowels of the canadian postal system. (although it *would* be kind of neat to see the lobsterman organize some kind of commando unit to go up there and rescue it.) so if somebody --randi, rosso, daniel, renee-- could mail me and tell me when you think it's safe to mail to the great white north, i'll then send the spoken chain tape on to the two fangs media empire. and while you're at it, if you could give me a brief synopsis of the strike itself, i'd appreciate that. there's been absolutely no coverage down here, that i could detect. you know, the u.s. press is too deliriously giddy at the prospect of taxpayers bailing out currency speculators in south korea to the tune of $60 billion to notice that a labor action in canada actually shut down the mails for two weeks. i went ahead and bought the advance promo copy of MOSS ELIXIR with the "alternate artwork." it came in a cardboard sleeve with the upside-down duck drawing on the front, and a picture of figgy on the back. i do think it is a different picture of the cat, but it's from the same photo session. only the wieners among us will want to pick this one up. a stupid language question: shouldn't the master tape of a tape tree be called the "trunk" rather than the "seed"? i'd say that he very rarely responds with indifference. which is not to say he ever honors the requests. he usually comes up with funny ways to dismiss them. i had a pretty similar experience to sydney's, just one night before, in sacramento. i called out for "ALC," and robyn said: "ALC...wow...let me think about that a while and get back to you." he didn't play it, of course. now, before a bunch of you mail me wondering why that wasn't on the sacramento tapes i sent out to you: the reason is that i was so ashamed at having violated what i must assume is the first rule of taping (keep your fuckin' mouth shut) that i edited it out of the tapes i sent off. so after the show, while sydney and some others were getting their stuff auto graphed (one guy was getting a copy of GROOVY DECAY signed. and that's a fact.) i asked, "would you consider playing ALC in seattle on saturday?" he quizzically replied, "ALC?...what?..." "As Lemons Chop." "ahhh...As Lemons Chop, yes..." i think he honestly hadn't known which song i was referring to. he didn't play it in seattle, however. well, here are the contents of a mix tape i made for someone on the dan bern list who had NEVER HEARD OF ROBYN HITCHCOCK. i guess it's pretty safe to say that these are among my very favorite robyn songs. if you're wondering why so little soft boys, it's because i was instructed, "ease me into the crazy shit." i know this is pretty self-indulgent, posting this to the list and all. but: 1. self-indulgence is an especial property of assholes. which is not to justify it, merely to try to explain it. 2. you can always use this opportunity to see if your "delete" button still works. think of it kind of like testing out your smoke detector twice yearly. 3. i honestly love seeing what other people have put on their own robyn mix tapes. side a: Autumn Is Your Last Chance (binghamton, 10/2/90) Underwater Moonlight (1976-1981) 52 Stations (KERSHAW) I Wanna Destroy You (PRAWNS?) As Lemons Chop Horns Large Horns The President Brenda's Iron Sledge (KERSHAW) When I Was Dead (SPECTRE) Dark Green Energy You've Got Autumn Sea The Abandoned Brain The Can Opener side b: 1974 (washington, 11/13/96) Airscape Cynthia Mask You And Oblivion Elizabeth Jade (seattle, 6/7/97) Jewels For Sophia (seattle, 6/7/97) The Asking Tree Balloon Man Strange (WXRT, 1989) The Bones In The Ground St. Petersburg The Man With The Lightbulb Head Fuck You! I won't do what you tell me! (repeat fourteen times) --Rage Against the Machine ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 17:42:59 -0500 (EST) From: Natalie Jane Jacobs Subject: Raging minimalists Great Quail, I still love you too, however, re. Philip Glass, I've heard only a little by him, but what I have heard bored me deeply. I can say no more on the subject and, indeed, I shan't. I attended a Michael Nyman concert a couple of years ago. Strangely enough, some guy in the back kept yelling "Wafflehead!" over and over. I'm not sure why. I believe Eb recommended Harold Budd - a recommendation which I second, except that I was once chastised for calling Budd a minimalist - apparently he's actually "ambient." So it's not that there's only a little bit of him, it's just that he's hard to perceive. Greater minds than I can link all this up to Robyn. n. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 15:06:14 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Raging minimalists Natalie wrote: >I believe Eb recommended Harold Budd - a recommendation which I second, >except that I was once chastised for calling Budd a minimalist - >apparently he's actually "ambient." So it's not that there's only a >little bit of him, it's just that he's hard to perceive. No, that wasn't me. I'm not much interested in Budd, beyond his Eno collaborations. Stray away from the center two octaves of the piano, Harold...go on, I dare ya. Budd's music strikes me as fairly banal, actually -- quite dull, minus the benefit of Eno's accompanying landscapes. And yeah, I wouldn't call him minimalist either...not enough "pulse". Eddie wrote: >he quizzically replied, "ALC?...what?..." >"As Lemons Chop." >"ahhh...As Lemons Chop, yes..." i think he honestly hadn't known which >song i was referring to. And that surprises you? This whole acronym deal is definitely a peculiar creation of the Internet. I wouldn't have known what "ALC" referred to, either. Eb, who subscribed to the Eno list about a week ago and has yet to receive a digest ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Dec 1997 18:11:40 -0500 From: squeaky watson Subject: Re: Raging minimalists also sprach Eb: >Eddie wrote: >>"ahhh...As Lemons Chop, yes..." i think he honestly hadn't known which >>song i was referring to. >And that surprises you? This whole acronym deal is definitely a peculiar >creation of the Internet. I wouldn't have known what "ALC" referred to, >either. true, except that robyn, with or without the egyptians, refers to the songs by acronym when on-stage. check out any live recordings from 1993 or where "birds in perspex" is called "bip" and "kung fu fighting", "kff". or the knitting factory shows this past march where he called "raymond chandler evening" rlc. woj ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 16:07:38 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Raging minimalists >or the >knitting factory shows this past march where he called "raymond chandler >evening" rlc. Huh? Now THAT one I don't understand.... Eb ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 21:58:52 -0600 From: "Bret" Subject: Nick Drake (again) actually I'll make it quick..... some time ago, these was talk of a recording of 'I saw Nick Drake' = available via RealAudio. Does anyone know if this is still out there = somewhere? and if so, could that same someone point me in the correct = direction so that I may find it? many thanx!! - --Bret ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 23:03:20 -0800 From: John Barrington Jones Subject: Robyn Hitchcock's Christmas Party Happy Holidays Fegs! Now, I know I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would not be able to complete the tape of all Robyn's new songs. But, this week there was alot less work than my employer anticipated (when are you all sending out your xmas cards??? we're waiting!!), and so I had some time to work on it. I am pleased with the outcome. The problem I have is that starting tomorrow, things are going to get crazy at work. And will probably be that way for the rest of the month. I don't think I will have time to organize a tree with its various analog and digital branches. Will someone come forward to help out? You will get the master copy of the Robyn Hitchcock's Christmas Party tape, and your goal will be to a) enjoy the tape (of course) and b) make sure that those who want a copy get a copy, preferably before the holidays end (and the title becomes nothing more than an outdated Robyn reference!!) This person should have some good analog decks to dub for branches, and maybe even a DAT to run off copies for digi-branches. Let me know. With the Crablings sequel coming out too, 'tis the season!!! Have a holly jolly, - -jbj - -*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-# John B. Jones Email: lobstie@e-z.net House of Figgy-- http://web.syr.edu/~jojones/hitchcock.html "When you're down/ It's a long way up When you're up/ It's a long way down It's all the same thing/ No new tale to tell" -Love & Rockets - -*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-#-*-# ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V6 #91 ******************************