From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V10 #102 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Sunday, April 1 2001 Volume 10 : Number 102 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Astromony in the Midwest [MPys2626@aol.com] Re: Soft Boys, Chicago/MP3's [Ben ] Quail's travelogue with fegfotos [Carole Reichstein ] Re: call a plumber [David Librik ] Nick Cave [Ken Weingold ] Soft Boys Bask in 'Moonlight' -- Hitchcock and band returning to stage [J] God's Children [Jill Brand ] NYC fegs... [vaska ] child abuse with view masters [DDerosa5@aol.com] Re: NYC fegs... [Ken Weingold ] Pulse magazine article ["Marc Holden" ] Re: NYC fegs... [lj lindhurst ] Soft Boys--live ["Marc Holden" ] Re: Boston ["bobsyerunc@earthlink.net" ] It was 13 years ago today [Jill Brand ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:57:43 EST From: MPys2626@aol.com Subject: Astromony in the Midwest In a message dated 3/31/01 9:06:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, Dolph on the fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org writes: > AND in Chicago too. 8-) I had spent my commute to work playing THE PIPER > AT THE GATES OF DAWN, trying to send vibes to the Soft Boys... > "pleeeease... play a Syd thing... pleeeeeeease" > Well, hey ho, Dolph! I'm glad YOU got it! Something to be said about a positive vibe flow! In a message dated 3/31/01 9:06:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, David Librik on the fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org writes: >>Astro [they played Astronomy Domine by Syd Barrett! >>My life is now complete!!] Well....mine is yet be! They MUST do one more East coast show before departing for England's green and pleasance! DAMMIT....did anyone see a video camera at either of the Syd enriched shows? Maybe if I at least get to see this on video! Glad again for you Chi-town folks! CYAs m Sleep Well ~ Don't Burst MapslegendS ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 22:50:17 -0500 From: Ben Subject: Re: Soft Boys, Chicago/MP3's > When the SB's > reformed last, in 1994, Robyn wrote a "new Soft Boys song" called > Zipper In Your Spine; it really did sound like '79 all over again both > musically and lyrically. It was a real throwback that wasn't really > done justice by the acoustic K Records solo single it was released on > (try to get a copy of the SB's Mark Radcliffe show to hear Zipper in > its full glory). Its also on an officially released cassette of one of those shows, I think it's called "Where Are The Prawns", in a full band version. But I guess it's out of print. Anyways if anyone wants I can host a FTP on a fast connection for uploading and downloading any shows. Let me know if it's needed!! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 19:53:39 -0800 (PST) From: Carole Reichstein Subject: Quail's travelogue with fegfotos Quail, I don't remember when I enjoyed a Feg Travelogue more. The Boston snow, the sheepishness of eating in the same Thai restaurant as Robyn, talking with Matthew and Morris (who looks a lot like actor Stephen Rea from the side), the raucous margarita photo montage..speaking of all those photos at that cool Mexican restaurant: I don't recall seeing Bayard so animated (or soused) before! ;) Or seeing Eddie with a wooden jesus in his pants. I also checked out the www.underwatermoonlight.com website last night..Matthew has written a tour diary for the Boston show (though not nearly as entertaining as Quail's, he tries). What's most interesting are the little quicktime movies at the end of the diary entry...there's a few seconds of Robyn running towards and pointing at a bus, a Boston train, and a great little bit of Robyn photographing Bayard, Kim and some unidentified person in front of the Boston Soft Boys marquee. But where was Eddie during all of this?? Parking the car? By the way, I haven't heard anything about the Toronto show, and how everyone (inlcuding Randi) thought of it. Please speak up! Hmmm...a margarita sounds awfully tasty right now. Carole ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 22:01:00 -0800 From: "Russ Reynolds" Subject: Re: call a plumber someone (whose name rhymes with Lavid Dibrik) said: > Further encore songs included "Rock and Roll Toilet," with the new couplet: > "I'd rather die that get an honest job / I'm gonna rock 'n' roll till the > toilet clogs!" "new" couplet? Ain't those the words they sang 23 years ago? Anyway, I'm already beyond that. Finally got a clog the other day that I couldn't fix with my own auger (no, it wasn't a 24 oz steak & baked potato from the night before, it was a shampoo bottle. Don't ask.) and I'm STILL rock 'n' rollin'. So there. All this Jenuwine Hitchcock content is freakin' me out, man. >!!HITCHCOCK TRIVIA PURSUIT!! WIN NO PRIZES!! IMPRESS NO ONE!! >The Kinks song in question has a clear relationship to RH. What is the song >and what is the relationship? >CLUE: I firmly believe that this song, along with The Spinners "Mighty Love" >deserves inclusion in the next ed. of the Anglican Hymnal. >HAZARD: Theres a slight trick in the wording. Harry Rag. Clear relationship to RH: he smokes 'em. Slight trick in wording: could be spelled "Hairy" for giggles. Okay, I'm not really trying. I just wanted to say "Harry Rag". Got my copy of Forever Changes from second spin today, and what do you know, it's the new 2001 release! When I saw it listed I figured it must have been an older one that somebody unloaded when the new one came out. At $7.99 it's the best bargain I've gotten since the "beer batter" struck out three times in one game at San Jose Municipal Stadium last summer. - -rUss np Love/Forever Changes (the new 2001 release!) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 01:13:27 -0600 From: David Librik Subject: Re: call a plumber > > Further encore songs included "Rock and Roll Toilet," with the new couplet: > > "I'd rather die that get an honest job / I'm gonna rock 'n' roll till the > > toilet clogs!" > > "new" couplet? Ain't those the words they sang 23 years ago? My tape of Invisible Hits says no, but I admit I haven't checked all the alternate versions, demos, and live recordings from that era yet. So I am prepared to accept that I'm wrong... (There is nothing I enjoy more that Hitchcock lyrical philology, so let's compare outtakes...) - - D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 06:27:45 -0400 From: Ken Weingold Subject: Nick Cave Saw Nick in NY tonight. Wow. Awesome. Even Nick alone with a piano is bigger than most artists. I have now seen him in three configurations: Bad Seeds, Die Haut, and "Solo". Any Nick is awesome Nick. He seemed in very good spirits. I was really pissed off at all the people yelling requests. I can't imagine all the work he put in rearranging all the songs to play in this environment. Only disappointment was not hearing Straight To You, which I heard he was doing. I thing that is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. But no matter; it was a Nick show. What a relief. :) He said the Bad Seeds would be back in Sept. Can't wait! If any of you have not see Nick Cave live, do it when they come around. Intense is an understatement. - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 03:55:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Soft Boys Bask in 'Moonlight' -- Hitchcock and band returning to stage http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/01/PK191779.DTL stolen from the sf comical: Aidin Vaziri, Special to The Chronicle Sunday, April 1, 2001 You'd think Robyn Hitchcock, 48, would be happy with the fervent cult following his solo work has attracted over the past two decades with hits like "Balloon Man" and "So You Think You're in Love." But instead of sitting around and sipping on fancy coconut drinks, the droll British singer-songwriter and subject of the 1998 Jonathan Demme documentary "Storefront Hitchcock" has reformed his old band, the Soft Boys, and hit the road. They play Saturday at the Fillmore. The psychedelic garage rock group, which served as a major inspiration for early R.E.M., may have hit its peak in 1980 when it released its classic second album, "Underwater Moonlight." But Hitchcock is just now understanding the newly reissued disc's supernatural appeal. In Austin, Texas, to kick off the American leg of the band's reunion tour at the annual South by Southwest music industry summit, he sits in his hotel room and whispers while his girlfriend sleeps in the next bed. "That album is not part of its time," he says. "It doesn't reek of 1980. It doesn't have that new-wave chug. And it was also a good combination of people. Although it isn't particularly of its time, we all coincided right." On the scale of comebacks, anticipation for the Soft Boys' may fall slightly closer to Loverboy than the Who. But the project has really put a fire under Hitchcock's posterior. His solo career crested in the late '80s, when paisley pop threatened to go mainstream on the back of jangly guitar hits by the likes of the Bangles and Prince. His albums "Queen Elvis" and "Eye" even briefly clawed their way out of the college radio slums. But mainstream success dutifully remained out of reach. The singer-songwriter then spent most of the last decade making increasingly self-indulgent and off-kilter folk records like "Moss Elixir" and "Jewels for Sophia" (actual song title from the latter: "You've Got a Sweet Mouth on You, Baby") which excited critics but left fans nonplussed. Despite intensive collaborations with R.E.M., famed producer Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann) and Grant Lee Buffalo singer-guitarist Grant Lee Phillips, Hitchcock's solo work continues to move out of record stores at a snail's pace. The film by Academy Award-winning director Demme ("Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia") didn't help matters. In it, the singer and crew take over an empty storefront in New York City's East Village and stage a series of impromptu concerts. It was a good way for a major film company to score an easy $2 million tax write-off. But now that his former Soft Boys collaborators -- guitarist Kimberley Rew, bassist Matthew Seligman and drummer Morris Windsor -- are back in the picture, Hitchcock senses things might be going his way again. "People have been very enthusiastic," he says. "There seems to be quite a buzz. We certainly have a lot more publicity and promotion for this release than we ever had in our lifetime. When 'Underwater Moonlight' first came out, we did three interviews total -- two in New York and one in London. This time we've already done more than we can count." It's hard to explain the exact appeal of "Underwater Moonlight." The original album appeared in a musical landscape overrun by punk burnouts (Buzzcocks, the Exploited) and grown men in pirate shirts and kabuki makeup (Adam and the Ants, Ultravox). Standout tracks like "I Wanna Destroy You" and "Queen of Eyes" present a surreal hybrid of Byrds-inspired harmonies and "Monty Python" lyrics. The record was so weird and unconventional and wonderful for its time, the Soft Boys couldn't help but bank on an eternity of cultdom. "I felt and still feel kind of to one side of time," Hitchcock says. "Although, if you look at the broad map of rock 'n' roll, the Soft Boys fit pretty comfortably between the Beatles and Oasis, even if we were never on that scale. Musically, it's absolutely there. We fit right in the middle of it like a spider in a web. Because of the way things went and because of the people we are, it's kind of had a slow-release effect." The Soft Boys attempted to reunite once before with less promising results. It was 1994, and only a small faction of the original lineup was onboard. It failed miserably, mostly because instead of focusing on the songs from its one good album, "Underwater Moonlight," the band attempted to celebrate its entire, extremely uneven back catalog. Hitchcock summarily fired his then manager. This time he's determined to do it right. "I just think there are certain times when you hit certain peaks, and you can't repeat them," he says. " 'Underwater Moonlight' was a certain combination of songs and people that was good, but we couldn't have done a follow-up. Maybe we could now, 20 years later, but it wouldn't sound anything like 'Underwater Moonlight.' Once you've done that, you don't go back there." The Soft Boys Robyn Hitchcock's band performs at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd., San Francisco. Young Fresh Fellows is the opening act. Tickets: $20. Call (415) 421-8497. ===== "I am so sorry that (Treasury Secretary Paul) O'Neill is upset by people who refer to the corporate aristocracy in this country as "robber barons." That _is_ rude, isn't it? Personally, I prefer to call them greedy bastards." --Molly Ivins Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/?.refer=text ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 11:02:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Jill Brand Subject: God's Children OK, Kay, can I bite? You wrote: "Went and looked at the whole story on SBSW posted by Marc Holden. So Ray Davies was there. Just last night I was listening to a Kinks tape(must be Jill's subliminal influence) which somehow launched me into full-flown fantasia. Which is--the Soft Boys, a pianist and Davies doing my favorite Kinks song... !!HITCHCOCK TRIVIA PURSUIT!! WIN NO PRIZES!! IMPRESS NO ONE!! The Kinks song in question has a clear relationship to RH. What is the song and what is the relationship?" Not only was Ray there, he was the keynote speaker. Had I known that the Soft Boys were there, too, I might have gotten on a plane and flown to the state from which our beloved president, um, slithered (Has anyone seen the bumper sticker "Read my lips: no new Texans"?), though I've sworn off both Florida and Texas. And so, is the answer to the Hitchcock trivia question "God's Children"? It could certainly be included in a hymnal, and, is it not true that Raymond Hitchcock (sire of the beloved) wrote the book on which the movie Percy was based (I believe loosely; it's a really terrible film) and for which the song "God's Children" was written? I don't want a prize; I'd just love to see RH and RDD together (what do you think, Ken?). Jill, who drove two miles past her destination today before realizing it whilst listening to "He's a Reptile" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 08:57:31 -0600 From: vaska Subject: NYC fegs... i'm going to be in nyc next week and i'm trying to find some good shows...music, art, whatnot... i'm certainly going to hit the new blake exhibit, whitney, dia, etc., but i can't seem to find any cool shows...the online village voice is not helping me out... anybody know of any neato stuff during the week of apr 7-14? if anybody knows of anything...toss it out...my interests are all over the road... thanks much for any ideas...jv ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 12:18:41 EDT From: DDerosa5@aol.com Subject: child abuse with view masters cappy said, amongst MANY other things... OK, how about the former View-Master plant in Tigard, Oregon, USA that had so poorly handled its waste water (though completely legally... according to this rule of "acceptable exposure") that the ground water in the area was giving diseases to PETS (hardly the sorts of creatures to live in a neighborhood for generations). Oh boy, View masters--this was my dad's company! GAF! So evil that as pure familial penance I had to work for Greenpeace for a decade! For many of us, the origianl virtual reality (I of course got a new one for Xmas every year...) dave thinking about making Jeme a deal where I don't burn any plastic as long as, if and when he has a kid, he beats her/him at least monthly, but I don't think Viv would allow it, as they discourage that kinda trade-off in law school until the upper tier levels (like IMF pollution futures trading...) for more on view masters, see Joe Matt's comic Peep Show. Joe, by the way, is my brother in law ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 12:52:27 -0400 From: Ken Weingold Subject: Re: NYC fegs... On Sun, Apr 1, 2001, vaska wrote: > i'm going to be in nyc next week and i'm trying to find some good > shows...music, art, whatnot... > > i'm certainly going to hit the new blake exhibit, whitney, dia, etc., but i > can't seem to find any cool shows...the online village voice is not helping > me out... > > anybody know of any neato stuff during the week of apr 7-14? if anybody > knows of anything...toss it out...my interests are all over the road... Yeah, for that the Voice site sucks. What you should do is to go find a Barnes and Noble or Borders Books or something that gets newspapers from all over the country. Get a real Village Voice, which will have everything you want. The club section is just before the classifieds in the back. Off hand, I don't know anything going on. But The Soft Boys and Nick Cave within one week was absolute aural orgasmic overload. :) - -Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 10:40:13 -0700 From: "Marc Holden" Subject: Pulse magazine article There's another short article about the Soft Boys (one page) in the April 2001 Pulse magazine--the free handout from Tower Records. They have an on-line version, but the print version has a nice photo of the guys included. I couldn't get a straight link, but found the article here: http://pulse.towerrecords.com/redirect-flash.asp?exec=contents%2Ehtml then click on "Hot Stories", scoll just past "sections" and click on "soft boys" Later, Marc "It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."--Jack Handey ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 13:46:42 -0400 From: lj lindhurst Subject: Re: NYC fegs... Go to Citysearch! Citysearch rules... http://www.newyork.citysearch.com >On Sun, Apr 1, 2001, vaska wrote: >> i'm going to be in nyc next week and i'm trying to find some good >> shows...music, art, whatnot... >> >> i'm certainly going to hit the new blake exhibit, whitney, dia, etc., but i >> can't seem to find any cool shows...the online village voice is not helping >> me out... >> >> anybody know of any neato stuff during the week of apr 7-14? if anybody >> knows of anything...toss it out...my interests are all over the road... > >Yeah, for that the Voice site sucks. What you should do is to go find >a Barnes and Noble or Borders Books or something that gets newspapers >from all over the country. Get a real Village Voice, which will have >everything you want. The club section is just before the classifieds >in the back. > >Off hand, I don't know anything going on. But The Soft Boys and Nick >Cave within one week was absolute aural orgasmic overload. :) > > >-Ken ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 12:10:09 -0700 From: "Marc Holden" Subject: Soft Boys--live >Don't rub it in-! >/hal, wishing I was in Chicago I seem to remember that Denver has an airport (with an expensive, state of the art baggage handling system, which seems to work intermittently--I remember because I hit a 9 hour unscheduled delay there once), so what are you vetching about? Cough up for some airfare and make it happen, dude! They aren't coming to Phoenix either, but I made it to the Baltimore, DC, and New York shows, and will catch at least the Fillmore and Knitting Factory shows next week. Maybe Eb will put you up for a night or two in LA, and you guys can dig through his secret cache of live Grateful Dead tapes. Later--Marc I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed psychiatrist is our "friend." ---Jack Handey ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2001 22:36:56 -0400 From: "bobsyerunc@earthlink.net" Subject: Re: Boston i, too, noticed what i...hoped was just some runaway wool perched on robyn's neck...i thought i was hallucinating... - ---------- >From: Johnathan Vail >To: fegmaniax@smoe.org >Subject: Boston >Date: Thu, Mar 29, 2001, 7:38 AM > > Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 21:14:50 -0500 (EST) > From: Stefan Cooke > Subject: Soft Boys, Boston 26 March 2001 > > I got loads of requests for this gig, too many to accommodate personally. > > However, if I can get 4 or 5 people who > >I publicly announce my candidacy as one of these tape copiers. I >further offer some ftp space on newts.org for this show or maybe some >others. (I hope to put my meager mp3 collection up Real Soon Now >anyway). > > > >Hello Fegs, > >I have been a feg since the early/mid 80's when I was college DJ >although I don't think I saw a show until about 91 or 92. I was on >this list in the early early days but was off for several years and >back on mostly lurking the last 2. > >Anyway, it was a treat to meet people at the Boston show. A fellow >feg who used to go to shows with me had prompted me to go to this >show although she bagged out at the last minute. I decided to go >along alone. I am glad I did. Meeting fegs was a lot of fun and the >show was great. > >I won't bore you all with the details. I drove down in the snow from >Newt Hampshire, I came, I met, I ate Pad Thai, I bought some feg >stuff, I saw a show, I drove home in the snow. > >I did have one disturbing observation to make. From where I was >standing, slightly stage right about 3 corpses from the front, there >was a yellowish gel light directly behind Robyn. This would be fine >but it summoned into view a large clump of otherwise invisible neck >hair that protruded an inch or two away from our hero's neck. Anyone >else notice this or am I the only one? > >jv <-- pining for the pork of the porcupine ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 23:17:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Jill Brand Subject: It was 13 years ago today Thirteen years ago at this very minute I was at the Paradise in Boston, Robyn and the Egyptians were on the stage, and Peter Buck came bursting onto the scene after having finished an REM concert somewhere huge and impersonal to play along. Ah, the speed of things. Jill, who would go back if she could only find a way ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V10 #102 ********************************