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alloy-digest Sunday, March 11 2001 Volume 06 : Number 063
Today's Subjects:
-----------------
Alloy: Rockula on eBay ["Robin" <rthurlow@worldshare.net>]
Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band [Beth Meyer <bethmeyer@mindspring.com>]
Alloy: TIM and SLARV ["PAULO GONZALEZ" <jason66@ig.com.br>]
Re: Alloy: Flailing Barbies ["M. R. Jordan" <melissa@askcrc.com>]
Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band ["Keith Stansell" <Keith@Stansell.com>]
Alloy: Barbie donations ["Julie Sweeney" <jsweeney@netpros-inc.net>]
Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band [Elaine Linstruth <elaine@qnet.com>]
Re: Alloy: TIM and SLARV [CRACKERS <crackers@hwcn.org>]
Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band [CRACKERS <crackers@hwcn.org>]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 02:02:29 -0500
From: "Robin" <rthurlow@worldshare.net>
Subject: Alloy: Rockula on eBay
for those still looking for Rockula, I've come across it on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1415023434
happy bidding! :)
Robin T
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 00:42:52 -0500
From: Beth Meyer <bethmeyer@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band
Well, while we're at it, there is the name Mark came up with, preferably for a
heavy-metal sort of band -- "Shoefit Wobblehead".
I see the Queasy Peters and Monkey Yogurt as sort of pop-alternative bands.
And the Flailing Barbies or the Great Shovel Event as more out-there
alternative or industrial...
Cheers,
Beth
CRACKERS wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Mar 2001 DAbbitt32@aol.com wrote:
>
> >
> > How about The Queasy Peters?
> >
>
> Or the ever popular "Monkey Yogurt".
>
> Actually another name we've been contemplating was just simply "The
> Reggies". The concept for this being Reggie from "The Archies" goes off on
> a solo career and absolutely tanks it. Of course Archie Comics is just as
> rabid as Mattel when it comes to their copyrights and trademarks so it
> probably wouldn't be too long before we were on the receiving end of a
> very nasty lawsuit.
>
> CRACKERS
> (Which would be kinda fun from hell!!!)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 09:07:24 -0300
From: "PAULO GONZALEZ" <jason66@ig.com.br>
Subject: Alloy: TIM and SLARV
TIM and SLARV:
Thank you very much for your welcome messages.
TIM asks me how I got into Thomas music:
I guess you all at alloy must be fed up of hearing how one's got into his
music, but as I am new and as I was asked, I'm telling you my story:
I first got into Thomas Dolby music in the early 80's. I was too young by
then, and I used to like discos. SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE played in
radio stations and in discos too. But speaking frankly, I didn't care about
this song. It is not that I didn't like it, but there was so much tecnopop
going around, that SCIENCE was just one more song on the radio by just a new
tecnopop face, which I didn't care to know his name.
Another song ONE OF OUR SUBMARINES played much at the discos too (and
on the radio), and this one I liked too much above all other tecnopop
music of that era. At the time I did not now it was from the same guy who
recorded SCIENCE.
Brazil is a far away and some things arrive distorted from original idea.
For instance: music magazines said the futuristic sounds of tecnopop were
in fact NEW WAVE ROCK
played/programed on keyboard instruments. Against this, discos assumed that
tecnopop was an avant-garde new form of 80's disco music (which a bit later
mutated into HI-NRG - they said), so that it could get rid of the 70's
cheese disco music format.
Some radical rock "critics" treated tecnopop as some overnight passing
sillyness going round the rockbizz,
but thankfully it was treated like futuristic music by the majority.
Back to the story: although I knew SCIENCE and SUBMARINES I did not
pay any attention to Thomas Dolby at all. One year later comes an issue in a
music magazine talking about the wonders of a new release called THE FLAT
EARTH.
The issued said it was recorded by an egyptian musician who was musically
miles above any other pop act: THOMAS DOLBY. The issue also said that Dolby
was a SOFT MACHINE fan and that some songs on the album sounded like some
early KING CRIMSON, because of the use of wind
instruments - trumpets, etc....).
That issue left me curious because, although I did not know SOFT MACHINE,
I knew and liked KING CRIMSON. I could not resist and bought the album.
I wasn't really expecting to listen to that kind of high quality music.
The album was PERFECT. The music on it was extremely beautiful and moving.
The arrangements were varyed and rich. The instrumentation was a blend of
acoustic and eletronic. But to me, what stands out was the exceptional
musicianship of THOMAS DOLBY. His chord sequences were much more complex
than those by any other pop artists. By the way: this is the high price good
musicians pay: their inteligent and sophisticated music does not
match with the tastes of the big public, which (as we all know) prefer to
listen
to rubbish music. Unfortunately, as the musical level went down in the 90's
names like Thomas Dolby or Kate Bush had to
step asside for Backstreet Boys or Five.
From that moment on I became a Dolby fan, buying his albums and imports
(12" and 7"). Only after THE FLAT EARTH I bought BLINDED BY SCIENCE EP
and THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS (which were also released in Brazil) to
discovered that SUBMARINES and SCIENCE were not only from the same guy, but
also by THOMAS DOLBY. What a good surprise I had that day!
Then it followed that long absence from pop were he was reported to be
scoring
movies:
1 - HOWARD THE DUCK
(which I saw at the cinema at the time. This LP wasn't released here, but I
got it and its 12" through an import shop)
2 - GHOTHIC
(the movie never arrived here, neither the LP, but I could find the CD in
the early 90's).
ALIENS was also released here to very very good reviews. And answering your
question TIM, it contains the best Dolby track to me, which is BUDAPEST BY
BLIMP (but that's a very difficult question to answer. Maybe tomorrow is
SCREEN KISS.
ASTRONAUTS was not released here. In my opinion it is as good as anything he
recorded (he never recorded something bad, anyway). I love NEON SISTERS, I
LIVE IN A SUITCASE and I LOVE YOU GOODBYE.
BEAUTY OF A DREAM played in a light FM radio station in 92/93! It
survived quite a long time in their daily repertorie.
GATE TO THE MIND'S EYE was released in Brazil (cd and video). I
watched THE VALLEY TO THE MIND'S EYE video twice on Brazilian MTV.
What a beautiful/sad song it is....
RETROSPECTACLE, 12 X 12 and HYPERACTIVE were not released.
But a strange thing happened in early 2000 (or late 1999). I went to the
import shop where I buy my cds and
flipping through the T section I found a brazilian compilation of DOLBY
songs.
I thought that was strange, since he lost his success in the
90's (no one here knows who is THOMAS DOLBY anymore / what a shame!).
The CD is called ESSENTIAL THOMAS DOLBY. It is nothing special as it only
contains the obvious album hits plus DISSIDENTS - THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH PARTS
1 & 2 and GET OUT OF MY MIX which are 12").
It is almost like the Hyperactive Compilation or the Premium Gold Collection
with a different cover and running order of the songs.
The cover is grey with an early photo.
I looked for it in american and english catalogues bacause I always prefer
to buy the imports (the domestic releases are always appaling and blurred).
But could not find this record in US or UK.
But I think it is very strange that it should be an exclusive brazilian
release,
because has no more public here and nor him, nor the Brazilian EMI won't
support the CD.
Thank you very much
Sorry for english mistakes
Paulo
TIM and SLARV, THANKS ONCE MORE FOR WELCOME MESSAGES!!
Paulo
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 09:18:09 -0500
From: "M. R. Jordan" <melissa@askcrc.com>
Subject: Re: Alloy: Flailing Barbies
Polyester Tuna. That's what my friend Lisa and I wanted to name our all-girl
band, circa 1984. And it wasn't even a crude sexual reference (for an all-girl
band in the 1980's) - it was a reference to a stuffed animal. Someone had made
my mother a fairly accurate-looking stuffed polyester tunafish, about three
feet long, because they were amused that she made tuna sandwiches for the
whole family every Friday for years and years (back when we still actually
went to a Catholic church - before I gave up church for Lent). I have pictures
of it (the stuffed tuna, not the sandwiches on Friday). Actually, my friend
Lisa and I were so small-town, we didn't know at that point the tuna
connotation, and that people might think the fishy reference was in poor
taste. I *still* think it's a great band name, and, had L7 risen to fame in
the eyeshadow and LipSmacker era of the early '80's, they could have been
Polyester Tuna.
- - Melissa "Mean and Nasty" Jordan
Beth Meyer wrote:
> And might I add that Flailing Barbies would be a most excellent name for a
> rock band...
>
> -Beth
>
> (as would a sign we saw once at a Home Depot, "The Great Shovel Event")
>
> Robin Thurlow wrote:
>
> > I wrote:
> > >
> > >Though the thought of sitting around flailing Barbie dolls and
> > > peeling off their skins to make new dolls of my own is *really*
> > > unpleasant!!
> >
> > I meant to say "flaying" but Flailing does sort of work in the sentence
> > too...
> >
> > needing a day off,
> > Robin T
- --
Melissa R. Jordan
Director, Compass Rose Consulting International (http://www.askcrc.com)
Owner/Artist, Compass Rose Studios (http://www.crstudios.com)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 09:56:38 -0700
From: "Keith Stansell" <Keith@Stansell.com>
Subject: Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band
I always thought a good name for a rock band was Magna Sin. I saw that
written on the sides of a lot of the little green VW Taxi's in Mexico City
and it also was on the gas pumps. I think it meant unleaded gasoline. I
pictured one of those taxis gracing the cover of the self titled debut from
the imaginary band.
At the time I was there, I was living in Salt Lake City Utah which had a
small town named Magna and so I pictured it also as referring to some
unspeakable thing that happens in Magna Utah.
If anyone here is starting a band and would like to use the name, I give you
full permission to use it. Just let me know.
- -Keith
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 12:15:17 -0600
From: "Julie Sweeney" <jsweeney@netpros-inc.net>
Subject: Alloy: Barbie donations
Hey Robin--
I have several Barbies for your tattoo practice if and when you do it, and
if you would actually want them... our former dog decapitated/ripped arms
off of three or four of my elder daughter's... talk about CREEPY... they
still have plenty of skin left, though. I know we should celebrate their
differences, but somehow I have the feeling you could bring out their true
beauty.
Julie
who would be happy to see all of our Barbies go bye-bye
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 12:18:50 -0800 (PST)
From: Elaine Linstruth <elaine@qnet.com>
Subject: Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band
My favorite goofball band name idea remains our own Melissa's note from at
the time:
"'The Miami Relatives' -- hey, that sounds like a rock band."
- --
Elaine Linstruth <elaine@qnet.com>
Palmdale, CA, USA
"After her election to the Senate last fall, Hillary had a golden
opportunity to shed her bad press and recreate herself -- to surprise her
critics and win back disillusioned admirers (like me). Instead she went
wholehog down Marie Antoinette Boulevard by angling for an inflated book
contract and spinning off on a shopping spree for yet another mansion.
The Clintons, forever schmoozing with the rich and famous, are fake
populists with distorted values."
- Camille Paglia, January 17, 2001
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 15:55:09 -0500 (EST)
From: CRACKERS <crackers@hwcn.org>
Subject: Re: Alloy: TIM and SLARV
On Sat, 10 Mar 2001, PAULO GONZALEZ wrote:
> musicianship of THOMAS DOLBY. His chord sequences were much more complex
> than those by any other pop artists. By the way: this is the high price good
> musicians pay: their inteligent and sophisticated music does not
> match with the tastes of the big public, which (as we all know) prefer to
> listen
> to rubbish music.
I really don't think it's so much a case of the public prefering to listen
to rubbish music as it is the public listens to the music they're told to
listen to. Now adays a musician's talent means absolutely nothing. It's
all image and promotion that determines who succeeds and who does not.
Like I have said before, money is no longer a barrier to creating an
album. For very little money anyone can have in their basement a digital
studio that rivals the top studios of the 80s and surpasses the ones of
the 70s and 60s. It has never been cheaper for an artist to produce their
own album. Even for the big recording stars who hire expensive production
staff and facilities, the actual cost of producing the album is peanuts
compaired to the cost of promotion.
The record companies will spend millions and millions of dollars telling
you that their bland artist of the week is the greatest thing to hit the
airwaves since those four young men from Liverpool with the bad haircuts
and matching suits caused such a commotion.
Many truly talented musicians are damned to obscurity simply because
they're buried under the marketing avalanche that the recording industry
throws at it's newest disposable pop star. Now you might ask why the
industry doesn't throw that marketing power into promoting talent instead
of fluff and the answer is they don't care about talent, they care about
control and looks.
They want a musician that is young and naive and easily controlled that
will sing what they are told to sing, play what they are told to play,
dress how they are told to dress and dance how they are told to dance.
They want young guys with washboard abs and square jaws and girls with
heaving cleavage and tiny waists.
Infact I was talking with one Nashville producer who was complaining about
the current crop of "talent" the record companies send to him to turn into
stars. Without exception they can't sing. They've never taken vocal
lessons or spent any amount of time perfecting their craft, but that
doesn't matter because modern technology allows him to fix it in the mix.
They are all signed based on how good they will look in the Videos.
What is the music industry about now? It's about selling a package to 13
year old girls that would make them gladdly stab their parents to death
with a corkscrew if they thought there was a chance they might be
deflowered by "the really cute one" in that hot new boy band. It's about
cock teasing 13 year old boys so that they'll see the fresh young face of
that new female pop sensation as they experience the crimson thrill of
their first wet dream.
There's no place for talent now adays. Talent is only going to get in the
way.
The only talent in the mainstreme music industry now adays are the
producers who turn mediocre singers into the diva-of-the-moment and the
marketers and image consultants who construct the final product for mass
consumption.
> Thank you very much
> Sorry for english mistakes
That's okay, for a second language you're not doing too bad. You should
see some of the embarassing mistakes I've made speaking in Japanese (my
second language). Like when I meant to comment on all the red soil (akai
no tsuchi) of Prince Edward Island and instead ended up commenting on all
the red vaginas (akai no chitsu).
CRACKERS
(Do I sound bitter from hell!!!!!!)
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 16:02:19 -0500 (EST)
From: CRACKERS <crackers@hwcn.org>
Subject: Re: Alloy: Names for a Rock Band
On Sat, 10 Mar 2001, Keith Stansell wrote:
>
> At the time I was there, I was living in Salt Lake City Utah which had a
> small town named Magna and so I pictured it also as referring to some
> unspeakable thing that happens in Magna Utah.
Those damn Mormons are at it again.
At first I thought you had writen "Manga Sin" (Manga is japanese for
"comicbook"). There are certainly a lot of H-Manga that would fall under
the heading of "manga sin".
CRACKERS
(Sukebe jugoku de!!!!!)
------------------------------
End of alloy-digest V6 #63
**************************