From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V8 #358 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Tuesday, September 21 1999 Volume 08 : Number 358 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Let the west coast tremble! ["Capitalism Blows" ] Re: Giving eBay the boot... ["Capitalism Blows" ] This is what is wrong with the information age... ["Chris!" ] from randi - oops & bugmusic ["**twofangs .... aka .... randi**" ] Yellow Submarine ["Russ Reynolds" ] re: Randi + questions [HSatterfld@aol.com] Re: Effective Songwriting Technique & a couple of comments [Ethyl Ketone ] Re: More Songwriting [Joel Mullins ] Beatles Questions [The Great Quail ] Quaalanasqatsi for Toby [The Great Quail ] Bono's Three Chords (was: Effective Songwriting Techniques) [Paul Christi] Re: Effective Songwriting Technique 101 [Joel Mullins ] Re: Beatles Questions [Joel Mullins ] Re: Beatles Questions [hal brandt ] da Capo plagiarism note [Michael R Godwin ] re: da Capo plagiarism note [Stephen Buckalew ] Re: Beatles Questions ["Jason R. Thornton" ] Re: More Songwriting ["JH3" ] BIG Confession [The Great Quail ] RE: Beatles Questions ["Bachman, Michael" ] Re: Bono's Three Chords (was one of them Eb?) ["Jason R. Thornton" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 21:53:38 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: Let the west coast tremble! capuch'n shares a birthday with my mother. exciting! i expect a gift. this year, by the way, it'll also be on the tenth anniversary of the san francisco quake. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 22:14:02 PDT From: "Capitalism Blows" Subject: Re: Giving eBay the boot... because, according to the faq, you can't record on it. i, of course, think anything should be fair game. do people sell mix tapes on ebay? incidentally, though they say the policy goes into effect next month, somebody made a cd of dan bern songs they'd pulled off of various dan mp3 sites. it caused a big stir on the dan list, and dan's former (and, we hope and pray, future) keyboardist wrote a complaint to ebay, and the auction disappeared soon after. now, the faq also states that while the new policy doesn't explicitly state that bootlegs and promos will be affected, it does state that it is illegal to sell (in the case of bootlegs) or resell (in the case of promos) them, and that you'd better be careful when offering them for sale on ebay. of course, it's *not* illegal in europe, right? so that's a whole other angle. oh, speaking of dan. any cascadia fegs may be interested to know that he's playing the owl and thistle (with former bandmates hanuman trio backing him) on wednesday. yay! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 22:19:16 -0700 From: "Chris!" Subject: This is what is wrong with the information age... ...no information. http://www.schoolbytes.com/ Check out the historical time lines and the term papers. Pay close attention to the detail and the language used to present it. Finnally, remember this is adults presenting this information. .chris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:22:44 +0000 From: "Tony Blackman" Subject: Dingwalls Toby said: Did the blue rinse go terribly wrong? I guess I won't be somewhere in the netherland not too far from the bar and near enough a speaker to record it properly... See you there! I doubt if I'll be able to miss you.... Anyone else going to any of the UK gigs? I'm off to delightful Milton Keynes tonight.... I doubt if there's been much ticket demand there as the tickets are 12.50 to 15.50 GBP according to last Saturday's Independent. Tony. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 07:09:24 -0400 From: "**twofangs .... aka .... randi**" Subject: from randi - oops & bugmusic I forgot two things... Dr,. Marcy -- I am heartily enjoying the fruits of the spa, using gov't money of course ;-} Does everyone realize that "Jewels for Sophia" (Reprise) is {August 23rd Music - PRS} admin. by **Bug Music** ... as is my fave tribute album - - A tribute to Gram Parsons "Return of the Grievous Angel" (Almo) admin. by **Bug Music** ... ``````````````````````````````````` http://www.bugmusic.com/ ``````````````````````````````````` Personally - it freaks me out - after all - Chris Hillman plays on the tribute album - he was in the Byrds Gram Parsons played with the Byrds too ... Eerie coincidence don't you think ... Robyn cites the Byrds as inspiration ... says the girl who does not believe in coincidences, rls ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````` http://www.bugmusic.com/roster.html#-- H -- ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:22:14 -0400 (EDT) From: dmw Subject: Re: Effective Songwriting Technique 101 On Mon, 20 Sep 1999, Joel Mullins wrote: > > joel speak heap big sense, even if we're polar opposites on lyrics -- i > > endorse the "all of the above, the more often the better" approach > > wholeheartedly. i'll add three things, one of which i disapprove of: > > I don't understand this. i meant we approach the lyrics question differently -- to the degree that what i do works, i think the words are a big part of the reason -- but that i agreed completely with everything else you said. and that i was going to mention, but not endorse, the quasi-plagiaristic approach. one time of day: if i take a day off from work and spend five or six hours playing guitar, i usually wind up with at least fragmentary keepers. i think the key is the *not working* part -- free from other distractions, it's a lot easier to get into the place where you and your instrument are communicating with each other and the big hole in the sky that songs fall out of. another productive time: i hum to myself in the shower, free associating. a lot of times i think dream ideas percolate up from the subconscious and get fixed in the waking world. sometimes it just turns out to be a misheard snippet of something else, though, although as james points out, that's not entirely without its uses. not as new agey as i sound, i swear to fucking god, - -- d. - - oh no, you've just read mail from doug = dmw@radix.net - get yr pathos - - www.pathetic-caverns.com -- books, flicks, tunes, etc. = reviews - - www.fecklessbeast.com -- angst, guilt, fear, betrayal! = guitar pop ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 21:56:43 -0700 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Yellow Submarine Eb: >In 25 minutes, VH1 will show the new video for the Beatles' "Hey Bulldog," >including never-before-seen footage of John and Paul recording the song in >the studio. Not like I won't get another chance to see something that was on VH1, but was this the same as the video they showed on 20/20 Friday night which was ruined by the most horribly written and unnecessary voice over I have ever seen on network TV? The one that actually contains the often seen before footage used for the "Lady Madonna" video? EMI is sure going out of their way to make it seem as though they've unearthed some previously unavailable Beatles material with this Yellow Sub reissue, but far as I can tell it seems like it was/is all available previously in some form or another. For me the big plus is being able to have "Hey Bulldog" and "It's all Too Much" in the CD changer without having to worry about "Sea of Holes" popping up. I'm also happy about the extra verse to "It's all too much," which I've always thought was an outstanding song (at one point in the '70s I was almost leaning toward becoming a Journey fan when I heard their cover of this tune. Didn't take long for that to subside, though--the surrounding songs on the album took care of that). - -rUss ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:29:55 EDT From: HSatterfld@aol.com Subject: re: Randi + questions lj lindhurst exclaimed: >Hey, I am sending Randi some cards and such-- does anyone know what >the deal is with postage to Canada? Sending a letter from the US to Canada is currently 48 cents. n.p. moderately amusing early Alanis, "Now is the Time" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:04:50 -0400 From: Ethyl Ketone Subject: Re: Effective Songwriting Technique & a couple of comments At 10:27 PM -0400 9/20/99, dmw wrote: >2. re lyrics: i've gotten a couple of good ones by deliberately writing >out of my own perspective. like, maybe i'll see a couple fighting on the >bus, and eavesdrop shamelessly, and work some of the argument into a song. >okay, there's another half-thing 2.5: steal, steal, steal from the >environment, which is not copyrighted, and yours for the plundering. >sometimes (often) people will utter a phrase that just has a cool rhythm, >or a neat image. This is something I do alot of for visual imagry - which is why I carry a sketchbook/journal EVERYWHERE. I write down the phrases and sketch the angry/happy/sad/elated/stoned people on the bus/train/airport/cafe/park/zoo... Didn't know it worked for musicians also! Great! The gap is not as wide as I thought. Oh, and greetings to all fegs (esp. Randi and including sharkboy even though he's offline for a bit) esp. the Bay Area feg contingent! Boy do I miss the Cool Gray City of Love*. Philadelphia has been hot and wet but what do I care? I've seen nothing but the school and my studio since I arrived. Maybe I'll get to Betsy Ross' house or Independence Hall one of these days... Since I have nothing to offer on the music side I shall fade back into my printmaking. I had no idea grad school would be like this. A little too much contemplation of ones navel though. ;-) Sure makes the corporate world feel a thousand miles away. Be Seeing You, - - carrie * G. Sterling, SF poet, early 1900s "Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself." **************************************************************************** M.E.Ketone/C.Galbraith meketone@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:19:06 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: More Songwriting Ross Overbury wrote: > > Ross is right about writing good songs being a lot of hard work. > > But I > > don't think the hard work is actually in the writing of the good songs, > > but instead in the writing of the bad ones. > > Even though I didn't say that, it's not too far from my stock answer. Hmmm. I could have sworn it was you who said that. I guess I was wrong. Someone said that though. Joel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:44:09 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Beatles Questions I have a few Beatles questions, and I am *sure* someone on the List will be able to help. 1. What the hell is Paul doing with that breath-thing on "Girl?" What is that? Is that an English thing? Jesus. 2. Why has "Hey Jude" not been released on CD? What's with that???? (And I know that was the American version of "The Beatles Again," which has also not been released on CD.) 3. Has "Rarities" ever been released on CD? I can't seem to find it. 4. Are the Beatles really Klaatu? 5. Is Terrence Marks really Klaatu? - --Quail +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ The Great Quail, K.S.C. (riverrun Discordian Society, Kibroth-hattaavah Branch) For fun with postmodern literature, New York vampires, and Fegmania, visit Sarnath: http://www.rpg.net/quail "The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven." --Psalms 105:40 (Also see Exodus 16:13 and Numbers 11:31-34 for more starry wisdom) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:40:37 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Quaalanasqatsi for Toby Toby asks, >I saw reasonably priced copies of Invisible Hitchcock and the Philip Glass >soundtrack to the film called something like "Koyaanquasati" today; are >they worth having? I can answer on the Koyaanasqatsi question. Is it the original, or the newly remastered release? Avoid the original version, which was heavily cut down for an LP. It has a black cover. If it is the new Elektra Nonesuch release, with a car and a desert on the front of the slipcover, a yellow CD cover inside, then I can highly recommend it. Of course, Philip Glass is not for everyone -- and this is pure early eighties Glass, with lots of repetitions an drones -- but it's worth it just to hear the bass voices drone K O Y A A N A S Q A T S I I I I. . . . . - --Quail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Great Quail, Keeper of the Libyrinth: http://www.libyrinth.com "His fervour for the written word was an interweaving of solemn respect and gossipy irreverence. . . " --Gabriel García Márquez ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 9:47:6 -0600 From: Paul Christian Glenn Subject: Bono's Three Chords (was: Effective Songwriting Techniques) At 9/20/99 4:01:00 PM, you wrote: >>As Bono once said, "all you need is three chords and the truth." > >And he has never lived this down, either. ;) Speaking of which, I was at Amazon.com the other day and was reading some of the reviews of of "Rattle & Hum" (the movie), which I recently purchased. Am I the only one who thinks that R&H completely rocked? Watched it during college/post-college days quite a bit, and I think it contains the hands-down best version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", and really good versions of a lot of others (like "Pride in the Name of Love" and "Exit"). I even like the covers, especially "All Along the Watchtower" and "Helter Skelter". I just don't get why everyone doesn't like this film. I mean, I guess I can see how it's construed as self-indulgent, but c'mon, what music video *isn't* self-indulgent? I've also seen it called pretentious, but that's not U2's fault, it's the director's (though I don't see that accusation as having any real validity). Anyhoo, thoughts? Comments? Paul Christian Glenn | "Besides being complicated, trance@radiks.net | reality, in my experience, http://x-real.firinn.org | is usually odd." -C.S. Lewis Currently Reading: "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:47:51 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Effective Songwriting Technique 101 dmw wrote: > another productive time: i hum to myself in the shower, free associating. > a lot of times i think dream ideas percolate up from the subconscious and > get fixed in the waking world. sometimes it just turns out to be a > misheard snippet of something else, though, although as james points out, > that's not entirely without its uses. And yet another productive time: when mowing the lawn. I always try to write a song in my head when I'm working in the yard. It usually sounds great in my head and then not as good once I play it on guitar, but I do sometimes use pieces of it. Joel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:58:39 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: Beatles Questions The Great Quail wrote: > 1. What the hell is Paul doing with that breath-thing on "Girl?" What > is that? Is that an English thing? Jesus. I've always thought that was John doing that thing. Not sure what it is. > 2. Why has "Hey Jude" not been released on CD? What's with that???? I've often wondered this myself. I've always thought it was a great collection. > 3. Has "Rarities" ever been released on CD? I can't seem to find it. No. - --Joel ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:11:53 -0600 From: hal brandt Subject: Re: Beatles Questions The Great Quail wrote: > > I have a few Beatles questions, and I am *sure* someone on the List > will be able to help. > > 1. What the hell is Paul doing with that breath-thing on "Girl?" What > is that? Is that an English thing? Jesus. John sings "Girl". He never liked that song (see his Playboy Interviews in 1980). It's one of the reasons he wrote "Woman" for DF. Who knows why he chose that breathy approach on "Girl"? I like the "tit tit tit tit" bg vocals. They were always getting away with stuff like that. > 2. Why has "Hey Jude" not been released on CD? What's with that???? > (And I know that was the American version of "The Beatles Again," > which has also not been released on CD.) Aren't all those "Hey Jude" songs on "Past Masters"? > > 3. Has "Rarities" ever been released on CD? I can't seem to find it. Nope. Neither has "Live @ Hollywood Bowl". Or for that matter "Reel Music". > 4. Are the Beatles really Klaatu? Not even close. > 5. Is Terrence Marks really Klaatu? He's the Human Mellotron. /hal ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 16:16:43 +0100 (BST) From: Michael R Godwin Subject: da Capo plagiarism note They were playing Madonna's 'Beautiful Stranger' on the radio yesterday, and I noticed that towards the end there is a straight lift from Arthur Lee's 'She comes in colors'. The harpsichord and flute line which goes: Diddle um dum do do do Diddle iddle um dum do do do Doooo (trill on flute) appears almost intact; the harpsichord line is played by some keyboard, but the flute part is stone identical. Just thought you might like to know. - - Mike Godwin PS I do mean Arthur Lee's 'She comes in colors', not the Stones 'She's a rainbow' with which it is occasionally confused. n.p. Run to him, Bobby Vee ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:32:40 -0400 From: Stephen Buckalew Subject: re: da Capo plagiarism note >They were playing Madonna's 'Beautiful Stranger' on the radio yesterday, >and I noticed that towards the end there is a straight lift from Arthur >Lee's 'She comes in colors'. I noticed that too....and wondered if it was a "nod" or a rip-off...it is almost identical. S.B. **************************************************************************** "...everythings all on...it's rosy...it's a beautiful day!"--Syd Barrett **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 08:34:44 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: Beatles Questions >2. Why has "Hey Jude" not been released on CD? What's with that???? >(And I know that was the American version of "The Beatles Again," >which has also not been released on CD.) You need to buy "Past Masters Volume II." The world's most boring album art, but it's loaded with terrific songs. "Paperback Writer," the rocky "Revolution," "Day Tripper," etc. One year, my girlfriend brought home some fancy little notebooks from Thailand. One particular notebook had on the cover this painting of some beetles crawling over some leaves of grass. Each notebook had a pseudo-title, or thematic phrase based on the painting, on the front as well. I can't remember exactly what it was on the beetle book, but in the title "beetle" was spelled with an "a." Both my girlfriend and her friend couldn't figure why this cracked me up so - the two of them were both convinced that "beatle" was the proper spelling... Anyone thinking that the Beatles weren't more popular than Jesus should maybe rethink their position. - --Big Jason Thornton "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:46:32 -0500 From: "JH3" Subject: Re: More Songwriting >>>Ross is right about writing good songs being a lot of hard work. >>Even though I didn't say that, it's not too far from my stock answer. >Hmmm. I could have sworn it was you who said that. I guess I was >wrong. Someone said that though. That was me. (Of course, it's easy to get Ross and myself confused because we both type at about the same rate.) Ross, however, did write this: >Words seem to be the hardest for me too. I think the problem is knowing >just enough to recognise when the lyrics are bad, but not quite enough to >make them good enough. Spot-on! But to go just a little deeper than that, my specific problem seemed to be that I wanted to use mostly minor chords and progressions etc., music that tended towards sad/brooding/melancholy, but my idea of a good lyric was (and is) something that's funny, bizarre, and/or surrealistic, and they never seemed to fit. Apparently I didn't have the wherewithal (i.e., talent) to make them fit, and my occasional attempts to simply ignore the incongruity just ended up sounding worse, if anything. So it's like I spent my so-called "musical career" trying to write "Veins of the Queen II," but I never really came close. Oh well! (OTOH, I think if I were doing it now, I might do a slightly better job of it, because I no longer think that music has to be depressing or scary to be worth making. But maybe I'm just kidding myself...) John "I guess I really am chopped liver after all" Hedges ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:52:57 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: BIG Confession OK, laugh away, snicker behind your backs, call me a fake fan, revoke my status as a Feg: I have a VERY hard time telling which Beatle sings what song, all the way until Sgt. Pepper or so. Paul, John, and George -- dammit, I can't tell them apart. "Girl" could have been sung by any one of them as far as I can tell. I have tried, Lord knows -- and I am usually very good at spotting a vocalist. But the Beatles throw me. I am truly sorry. I usually have to tell by context and lyrics who wrote which song. I hate myself. I am going to hide in a box now. - --Quail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Great Quail, Keeper of the Libyrinth: http://www.libyrinth.com The places I took him! I tried hard to tell Young Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell A few brand-new wonderful words he might spell. I led him around and I tried hard to show There are things beyond Z that most people don't know. I took him past Zebra. As far as I could. And I think, perhaps, maybe I did him some good... Because finally he said: "This is really great stuff! And I guess the old alphabet ISN'T enough!" --Dr. Seuss, "On Beyond Zebra" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:54:07 -0400 From: "Bachman, Michael" Subject: RE: Beatles Questions Some folks like to compare Badfinger with the Beatles. They were both on Apple, COME AND GET IT was thought to have been performed by the Beatles when it first came out on the radio. Call me a nut, but I perfer to listen to Badfinger's NO DICE and STRAIGHT UP to later period Beatles stuff like ABBEY ROAD and LET IT BE. A lot of musicians have covered Badfinger songs off both of these releases, so they must have been respected at the time and they are still being covered. Michael - -----Original Message----- From: hal brandt [mailto:hbrandt@milehigh.net] Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 11:12 AM To: Silicone Pusscats Subject: Re: Beatles Questions The Great Quail wrote: > > I have a few Beatles questions, and I am *sure* someone on the List > will be able to help. > > 1. What the hell is Paul doing with that breath-thing on "Girl?" What > is that? Is that an English thing? Jesus. John sings "Girl". He never liked that song (see his Playboy Interviews in 1980). It's one of the reasons he wrote "Woman" for DF. Who knows why he chose that breathy approach on "Girl"? I like the "tit tit tit tit" bg vocals. They were always getting away with stuff like that. > 2. Why has "Hey Jude" not been released on CD? What's with that???? > (And I know that was the American version of "The Beatles Again," > which has also not been released on CD.) Aren't all those "Hey Jude" songs on "Past Masters"? > > 3. Has "Rarities" ever been released on CD? I can't seem to find it. Nope. Neither has "Live @ Hollywood Bowl". Or for that matter "Reel Music". > 4. Are the Beatles really Klaatu? Not even close. > 5. Is Terrence Marks really Klaatu? He's the Human Mellotron. /hal ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:14 +0000 From: mrrunion@palmnet.net Subject: Trailblazing Claudine A snippet from an interview with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt that appeared in the LA Times and was reprinted in our local paper. Eb should love this... Question: Did you think of Linda as a trailblazer, Emmy? Harris: Absolutely. I think that any woman who was out there working in a basically male dominated world, which it was up to the era of Lilith, was a trailblazer. I remember auditioning for someone at a record company when I was getting started, and I did several songs that ended up becoming hits for people, including "Mr. Bojangles" and "Get Together." It was a very eclectic mix of songs. At the end, he gave me a Claudine Longet record and said to come back when I could do that. Mike ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 12:44:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Eric Loehr Subject: RE: Beatles Questions On Tue, 21 Sep 1999, Bachman, Michael wrote: > Some folks like to compare Badfinger with the Beatles. They were both on > Apple, COME AND GET IT was thought to have been performed by the Beatles > when it first came out on the radio. Call me a nut, but I perfer to listen > to Badfinger's NO DICE and STRAIGHT UP > to later period Beatles stuff like ABBEY ROAD and LET IT BE. A lot of > musicians have covered Badfinger songs off both of these releases, so they > must have been respected at the time and they are still being covered. > > Michael > You're a nut. All seriousness aside, I do like Badfinger (you do know that Come and Get It was written and arranged by McCartney, right?) -- mostly the No Dice/Straight Up period -- and the best songs on those albums are as good as lots of Beatles songs, but for me there just aren't enough of that quality to make that kind of comparison; in fact, just my opinion, (WARNING! gratuitous British comedy reference!) I view it as analagous to Mr. Spiggott applying for the Tarzan role* -- nothing wrong with the one good leg, but it doesn't appear to meet the minimum requirements for the role. ;-} Eric "just the sort of person we shall be attempting to contact telephonically if no one with twice your abilities applies for the job" *http://www.prairienet.org/britcom/BD/Archive/v1/n8/index.html#OneLegTooFew ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 09:40:44 -0700 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: Bono's Three Chords (was one of them Eb?) At 09:47 AM 9/21/99 -0600, Paul Christian Glenn wrote: >Speaking of which, I was at Amazon.com the other day and was reading >some of the reviews of of "Rattle & Hum" (the movie), which I recently >purchased. Am I the only one who thinks that R&H completely rocked? As someone who appreciates U2, and has even publicly admitted it, I'd say "completely" is an exaggeration. It did rawk in parts, though. Mainly when they stopped showing scenes of the Edge sliding down hills, and focused on the performances. >... I mean, I guess I can see how it's construed as self-indulgent, >but c'mon, what music video *isn't* self-indulgent? Most of these sorts of videos and films really are geared toward fans - the sorts of people that WANT to see two hours of footage of their favorite musical artist(s). I wouldn't call "Rattle & Hum" SELF-indulgent. Not in the way "Magical Mystery Tour" is. Instead I'd probably say that it lacks universal appeal and caters only to fanboys. And, as such a work, there isn't really much artistic merit to it - much less merit than the album itself has. Even if that killer version of "Exit" is missing from the LP. >I've also seen it >called pretentious, but that's not U2's fault, it's the director's >(though I don't see that accusation as having any real validity). I think most of the pretentious moments are Bono's fault. That's hardly surprising... it's more the things he says, like the first comment of the film, the intro to "Helter Skelter," than the direction. You could blame the director for choosing to include such moments, but is anything else Bono says going to be much different? And, Bono's pretentiousness *is* part of his charm, in a funny sort of way. :) His goofy egotism is almost endearing. Intentionally avoiding this side of Bono would only make the movie less authentic. But, the one scene of Larry Mullen Jr. getting choked up about Elvis did smack of director pretention. The director milked that melodramatically by leaving the camera on the silent Larry far too long. There are some genuinely amusing, down-to-earth parts of the flick - mainly when the band is joking around. And, like I said, these are the sort of "home video" moments that appeal to fans more than anyone else. The real strength of the movie for the most part relies on the power of the live performances themselves. My favorite line in "Rattle & Hum" is still "Edge...play the blues." Busts me up every time. - --Jason "in a fistfight between U2 and The Beatles, Adam Clayton would kick John's, Paul's, George's, and Ringo's asses, and probably Bono's as well" The Thorntonster "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 11:40:05 -0700 From: Joel Mullins Subject: Re: BIG Confession The Great Quail wrote: > I have a VERY hard time telling which Beatle sings what song, all the > way until Sgt. Pepper or so. Paul, John, and George -- dammit, I > can't tell them apart. "Girl" could have been sung by any one of them > as far as I can tell. When I first started listening to the Beatles, I had a hard time with this too. But when I was in high school, my brother and I used to play this game on road trips: Listen to the Beatles and try to figure out who is singing what. Now I can always tell who's singing lead and can usually tell who's singing which harmony part. Joel P.S. Quail, you can still be a feg, just not a Beatlemaniac. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V8 #358 *******************************