From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V5 #115 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Thursday, May 11 2000 Volume 05 : Number 115 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Song of the Week: New Toy ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Alloy: SOTW - Airwaves - Trapped Between Worlds [Spencer2424@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 02:12:27 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Song of the Week: New Toy Robyn Moore offers: >> a send-up of people who are easily bored, and their endless >> search for the next thing - people who search for completion in >> the material world and not the spiritual. >> >> YMMV, >> Europa and /\/\iles > > > Nah, our mileage is pretty similar. That's pretty much how I > always interpreted it. :) This one is pretty straightforward. (Oh, and that could be Your Meaning May Vary, for a more contextual acronym. ) How about we put this one to bed for now and move on to "Airwaves"? /\/\ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 02:12:26 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions Robyn, appropriately, steps in: > Jungle Line should come in there somewhere, as it came out on > the same single as Urban Tribal. Europa with Therapy/Growth was > released early on as well, as was Airwaves b/w Wreck of the > Fairchild. (Thanks for confirming my memory, Lazlo. > ::grin::)However, I don't remember whether Therapy/Growth or > Fairchild had enough of a coherent lyric to discuss. Jungle Line is Joni Mitchell's composition. Thomas' version is a pretty much straight forward cover (but missing a verse) of same (from "The Hissing of Summer Lawns"). Yes, I left Therapy / Growth off the list of earlies in error. And it does have lyrics worth discussing, imo. As Robyn suggests, TWotF won't require much analysis as it consists of just two lines: Some fruit are sweet And some are poison > Oh, we should definitely discuss video versions - that's about > the only chance we've got at Samson and Delilah, Puppet Theatre > and Fieldwork. Samson and Delilah, yes (but it *is* a Kevin Armstrong composition and may not qualify), the others have studio versions available that we may compare to the video versions you mention. Thanks for bringing all these up. It just goes to show that Alloy with its complement of Flat Earth Society members is the best, and in all likelihood the only place this can happen with any hope of achieving a modicum of completeness and thoroughness in the effort. I'm all for it, and it may just turn out to be a service for Thomas Dolby fans everywhere. > While I'm here, let me chalk up a vote for including movie > soundtracks somewhere along the line in this discussion. I'll second that. There's quite a lot to discuss there as well. /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 02:51:04 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: PAL copy of GAOV on eBay Alloids, A PAL (UK-VHS) copy of The Golden Age of Video is available on eBay. Search for item # 328590235 That is all. /\/\ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 10:40:33 EDT From: DAbbitt32@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions Miles - Where does Therapy/Growth fall chronologically? - -Dabbitt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 10:44:42 EDT From: DAbbitt32@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions In a message dated 05/09/2000 6:32:49 PM Pacific Daylight Time, kbrm@iefx.com writes: << Oh, we should definitely discuss video versions - that's about the only chance we've got at Samson and Delilah, Puppet Theatre and Fieldwork. Also, doesn't the Live Wireless version of Radio Silence have an extra verse? (Frantically searching for my copy mode: ON) >> We shouldn't forget, however, that Samson and Delilah isn't actually one of TMDR's ditties. - -Dabbitt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 11:13:52 -0700 From: Robyn Moore Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions At 23:12 2000.05.09, you wrote: >Jungle Line is Joni Mitchell's composition. Thomas' version is a >pretty much straight forward cover (but missing a verse) of same >(from "The Hissing of Summer Lawns"). Ah - I wasn't aware of that. I'm a little hazy as far as what he did with Joni. >Samson and Delilah, yes (but it *is* a Kevin Armstrong composition >and may not qualify), the others have studio versions available that >we may compare to the video versions you mention. I'd forgotten that Puppet Theatre and Fieldwork came out on singles - my bad. Robyn M @ Robyn Moore @ http://www.alveus.com/kbrm/robyn.html @ You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. - S.C. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 11:16:37 -0700 From: Robyn Moore Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions At 07:44 2000.05.10, you wrote: >We shouldn't forget, however, that Samson and Delilah isn't actually one of >TMDR's ditties. Here I figured that because it was on Live Wireless it counted. Silly me. ::grin:: Are we restricting this discussion to works where he was the primary contributor, then? Robyn M @ Robyn Moore @ http://www.alveus.com/kbrm/robyn.html @ You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. - S.C. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 19:36:25 +0100 (BST) From: Redfern Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions Therapy/Growth is the B-side of Europa, so 1981 i think (although it wasn't released in the US 'til 83!) On Wed, 10 May 2000 DAbbitt32@aol.com wrote: > > Miles - > > Where does Therapy/Growth fall chronologically? > > -Dabbitt > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 19:37:18 +0100 (BST) From: Redfern Subject: Re: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions So, where else was Urban Tribal from other than live wireless because it is an excellent song but a shame it was never released! On Wed, 10 May 2000, Robyn Moore wrote: > > At 07:44 2000.05.10, you wrote: > > > >We shouldn't forget, however, that Samson and Delilah isn't actually one of > >TMDR's ditties. > > Here I figured that because it was on Live Wireless it counted. Silly > me. ::grin:: Are we restricting this discussion to works where he was the > primary contributor, then? > > Robyn M > > > @ Robyn Moore > @ http://www.alveus.com/kbrm/robyn.html > @ You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. - S.C. > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 18:56:46 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Song of the Week (SOTW) - suggestions Robyn "Super Chicken" Moore asks: > Are we restricting this discussion to works where he was the > primary contributor, then? I feel it might make things simpler at the outset. If we want, and for completeness' sake, we can come back and pick up the odd bits after the solo canon is covered. Sound OK? /\/\ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 18:56:47 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Urban Tribal - publication information Redfern steps up: > So, where else was Urban Tribal from other than live wireless > because it is an excellent song but a shame it was never released! Actually, it was! Urban Tribal (Thomas Dolby) was published under the group name "Low Noise" (hmmm. something strangely familiar about that...) on Happy Birthday records (Warner) as catalog # UR 5, titled as "Jungle Line". The 3-track 12" includes vocal and instrumental versions of the title track plus Urban Tribal. Low Noise personnel are listed as: Kevin Armstrong - Guitar Matthew Seligman - Subsonics Thomas Dolby - Treatments, Voices J.J. - Beat There is no date on this 45rpm disc, but Lazlo has it as [1981?]. And who is Lazlo, you ask? Lazlo Nibble aka Ernie Longmire is a collector of music and keeper of discographies. A truly rich resource, you may view his Thomas Dolby discography by visiting: Cheers! /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 18:56:45 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: SOTW - Airwaves The lyrics to "Airwaves" from The Golden Age of Wireless... Note the copyright date. This is one of Thomas' earliest compositions as further evidenced by its inclusion on "From Brussels With Love" as a 4-track demo produced, I believe, at home. The demo version has alternate lyrics in the bridge, noted below in "< >" brackets. ********************************************************************* AIRWAVES (c) 1981 Strange how the scale forms In tiny patterns On my antenna And the five o'clock show, hello hello... Brooklyn is crawling with famous people I turn my vehicle beneath the river, west from south Through the airwaves - People never read the airwaves Do we only feed the airwaves Or stamp them out at street level? Airwaves - the dampness of the wind The airwaves - the tension of the skin The airwaves I really should have seen through. Electric fences line our new freeway Here in the half-light, the motor homes leave Knee-deep in water under a pylon How slow my heartbeat, how thin the air I'm breathing in Control has enabled the abandoned wires again But the copper cables all rust in the acid rain That flood the subway With elements of our corrosion Cabled in to me... Cable them to me... Cable them to me... Be in my broadcast when this is over Give me your shoulder, I need a place To wait for morning. No it was nothing - some car backfiring - Please don't ask questions I itch all over Let me sleep. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 21:53:19 -0400 From: "Beth Meyer" Subject: RE: Alloy: SOTW - Airwaves Hi, folks; Well, I have to weigh in on this one, as it has always been one of my favorites. I have always seen "Airwaves" as portraying a daring intellectual hero in an oppressive society -- in this case, perhaps some sort of dreary, alternate-universe New York, where jackbooted government thugs are part of everyday life along with celebrity sightings. (I envision a cross between two movies -- "The Warriors" and "Brazil".) Our Hero is the host of a radio show, some kind of news/commentary program, in which he challenges the status quo. He is desperately trying to wake up the population and lead them to bring about reform, but most are apathetic and it seems that his words just go out into empty air. On the occasion of this song, it's possible that he's gone a little too far in his last broadcast, and the authorities may be after him. He's not sure -- much as you hear stories of people in oppressive societies having said a bit too much during the day, and then lying awake all night waiting for the soldiers to break down the door. His only defense is to go to stay the night at the home of someone who is sympathetic, but doesn't really know what's gone down today. What I really feel at the end of "Airwaves" is that sense of exhaustion from a valiant and dangerous effort that might also be totally futile. On a side note, I have to say that "Airwaves" and "Dissidents" really spoke to me as a young woman during my college years. The romantic ideal of someone who devoted their considerable mental and verbal talent to a cause, at great personal risk, was one that I loved and aspired to. (Unlike, say, the heroes who performed great feats of physical strength.) I don't know of too many other songwriters who portrayed this sort of character. OK, there's my interpretation. On a couple of completely different notes: a) I have no idea what a Camera Club is, if it's not a bunch of photography buffs. b) So, any of you Denver-area Alloyites heading out to Fruita (near Grand Junction) for "Mike the Headless Chicken Days" on May 18 and 19? Milena and I will be available, but I think it's too far of a drive for us. (But hey, apparently they won Westword's "Best Annual Festival" award...) Cheers, Beth Beth Meyer bethmeyer@mindspring.com - -----Original Message----- From: owner-alloy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-alloy@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Stephen M. Tilson Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 6:57 PM To: alloy@smoe.org Subject: Alloy: SOTW - Airwaves The lyrics to "Airwaves" from The Golden Age of Wireless... Note the copyright date. This is one of Thomas' earliest compositions as further evidenced by its inclusion on "From Brussels With Love" as a 4-track demo produced, I believe, at home. The demo version has alternate lyrics in the bridge, noted below in "< >" brackets. ********************************************************************* AIRWAVES (c) 1981 Strange how the scale forms In tiny patterns On my antenna And the five o'clock show, hello hello... Brooklyn is crawling with famous people I turn my vehicle beneath the river, west from south Through the airwaves - People never read the airwaves Do we only feed the airwaves Or stamp them out at street level? Airwaves - the dampness of the wind The airwaves - the tension of the skin The airwaves I really should have seen through. Electric fences line our new freeway Here in the half-light, the motor homes leave Knee-deep in water under a pylon How slow my heartbeat, how thin the air I'm breathing in Control has enabled the abandoned wires again But the copper cables all rust in the acid rain That flood the subway With elements of our corrosion Cabled in to me... Cable them to me... Cable them to me... Be in my broadcast when this is over Give me your shoulder, I need a place To wait for morning. No it was nothing - some car backfiring - Please don't ask questions I itch all over Let me sleep. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 00:26:56 EDT From: Spencer2424@aol.com Subject: Alloy: SOTW - Airwaves - Trapped Between Worlds AIRWAVES I'm afraid I've missed out on all the previous discussions of Airwaves (except for Beth Meyer's - enjoyed your interpretation!). So if I'm retreading some previously voiced comments, please forgive the redundancies. Anyway, Airwaves has settled in as my all-time favorite Dolby song. And part of the reason I like it is its lyrical ambiguity: who is this person in the song, and what exactly is he singing about? Well, here's the way I personally like to envision it: I think Airwaves is about a young man from another (politically opposed) country who was standed here in the U.S. I got that idea partly from the video, and partly from the fact that the B-side of the Airwaves 45 is a song called "The Wreck of the Fairchild." It's mostly instrumental, but seems to be something of a prototype for "One of Our Submarines." And the end of "Fairchild" fades with the same radio frequency tones that begin the long version of "Airwaves", so the two songs are linked in that way. Anyway, I'm thinking that the character in Airwaves is trying to get out of the U.S.; a political fugitive, who is under constant surveillance by the CIA (or some other Big Brother institution). But he is presumed by his political superiors, and no one is looking for him. And so the only way he can get home is if he can contact his friends back in Russia (or wherever he's from) using some kind of ham radio equipment. And night after night, he scans the frequencies, sending out messages that may never be received: "Through the Airwaves; people never read the airwaves, do we only feed the airwaves..." And there's that line about "Be in my broadcast, when this is over..." which suggests he's actually established some sort of relationship with someone here in the U.S., but hasn't quite been able to tell that person the whole truth about his life. "No, it was nothing; some car backfiring; please don't ask questions; I itch all over; let me sleep." It's a very intriguing song. So, that's my two cents worth. Has anybody ever heard/read what exactly Thomas had in mind when he wrote it? - - Craig PS> I suppose it could also be about an alien from outer space, but that just seems too David Bowie to me. ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V5 #115 ***************************