01-23-98

AMERICAN MUSIC: THE VIOLENT FEMMES MAILING LIST
currently run by Pat. Wary

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TOUR DATES: (NEW DATES MARKED WITH A **)

Jan. 23-Miller Stage, San Diego, CA (P,O)
Jan. 24-The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA (T,P,O)
Jan. 26-The Joint, Las Vegas, NV (O)
Jan. 28-The Canyons Arena, Park City, UT (O)
Jan. 29-Union Block, Boise, ID (O)
Jan. 31-Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA (O)
Feb. 1-Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA (T,P,O)
Feb. 2-LaLuna, Portland, OR (T,P,O)
Feb. 4-The Vogue, Vancouver, BC, CA (O)
Feb. 5-SAME AS ABOVE, OPTIONAL DATE (O)
Feb. 7-Egan Civic & Convention Center,Anchorage,Alaska (O,P)
Feb. 8-same as above (O,P)
Feb 27-First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN (T)
THIS IS A 21 AND OVER SHOW ONLY
Mar. 1-Wayne State College, Wayne, NE (O)

NOTA BENE: ‘O’ stands for the Official homepage
‘P’ stands for Pollstar
‘T’ stands for Ticketmaster
‘I’ stands for Insider Info
All other references are subscribers

To book a show, contact Monterey Peninsula Artists.
Serious inquiries only.

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The Quote Of The Day:

Here’s this ring that he wore
It’s just another thing that he wore
But there’s something about this ring that I just can’t ignore-
So I keep it, though I don’t know what for.
-From Johnny
-Kindly submitted by

PLEASE send your VF quotes to
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WHO/WHERE
Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone
else on the list also going? Check here first!

San Diego, CA
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San Juan Capistrano, CA
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Las Vegas, NV
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Seattle, WA
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ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO

ANY AND ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO

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WEB PAGES:

Official: http://www.vfemmes.com
Unofficial: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~mmerry2/femmes.html
NEW ADDRESS: http://vf.scopemag.com
or try: http://206.103.163.50
Download the unofficial homepage:
http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~mmerry2/backup.zip
Auction News: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~mmerry2/bids.txt
Guitar: http://www.bucknell.edu/~wtorres/violent_femmes
http://www.olga.net
TAB DIGEST:
The tab digest is give and take; remember to share what
you have.
Une banane
dans l’oreille: Send in your top five faves each week to:
. They will periodically be compiled
and posted.
HERE I AM: write to me, , to add your name to this
list. Once it’s up and running, you can then write in
to find out who lives near you, or who lives in a town
you’ll be visiting.

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In Today’s Issue:

Waiting For a Paper
RE: International VF
RE: International VF
New Times Defense
RE: How’d They Do That?
RE: How’d They Do That?
RE: How’d They Do That?
RE: How’d They Do That?
RE: Phil Cody
RE: Phil Cody
BUTCHERERS!!!
San Diego Media Coverage?

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Waiting For a Paper
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I held off posting this today, because I thought there might be a
write-up on the Stanford show in their paper. All I found was a picture.
Now, I want you all to go to this site: http://daily.stanford.org/
and tell me what’s wrong with that picture. The caption identifies the
band member as Gordon, but I swear that’s Brian. They really ought to
be more careful.

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RE: International VF
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Well in my country, Denmark, the most popular album of the Femmes is
Add it up. The explanation is simple since it is the one easiest to get
a hold of in stores, but it is really not that easy and prices are
really high even though the femmes aren’t well known at all. And most
people seem to know Blister in the sun, even though they don’t know who
plays it. 2 of my friends and I are trying to familiarise other people
to the music and at my college we have played the tapes a lot. We have
created some fans but people are always very dissapointed when they find
out how hard it is to get any of the albums. Pat, I hope this answers
many of your questions.
Pernille

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RE: International VF
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In response to Becky’s observation regarding Channel One News…I went to
a small town highschool and was also “blessed” with watching Channel One
EVERY morning. Anyways, I remember the episode when Lisa Ling (your
favorite and mine–I’m sure) went to whatever country it was and
interviewed the kids there. If I remember right, what she said to them,
among other things, was, “Do you like American music?” meaning music from
the United States, and one of the kids (obviously more on the ball than
Lisa) said, “Violent Femmes!” What was that, 2 years ago? Anyway, I
caught it, too.

Stacy

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New Times Defense
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I’ve read in several places and heard from several people that New Times
is not one of the Femmes’ better albums, while others say it takes time
to grow on you. Personally, I’ve had it for awhile now, and I’ve loved it
since I got it. The album shows much diversity from the other Femmes
albums and certainly has a different feeling to it. I can certainly see
why some people might not enjoy it is much, simply because it is so
different. It’s not as blatantly angstful as ‘Violent Femmes’ nor as
dark and deep as most of ‘Hallowed Ground’. While not as religious as
most of ‘3’, I did notice that the majority of the songs have some sort
of connotation to God in them. I could also see that some people might
not like the new drummer (I personally like Guy better than Victor) or
miss the alterna-punk early days of the Femmes. To me, NEW TIMES shows
that the Femmes are a damn talented band and can and do produce
consistently even after over a decade. Songs like ‘Machine’ show that
they can play stuff besides the norm, ‘Mirror, Mirror’ has a great change
of tune to it, while ‘Im Nothing’ and ‘When Everybody’s Happy’ are
good little depressed songs, and ‘Dont Start Me on the Liquor’ could have
easily been on their first album. I played ‘Machine’ for a few of my
friends the other day, and they were amazed that that was The Femmes.
NEW TIMES is an album of diversity and is the proof that the Femmes can
make good music besides the style that made them famous. It’s similar to
what the Beatles did with ‘Revolver’, ‘Sgt Pepper…’ and ‘White’, in
that they evolved; tried new styles besides their usual and still made
good stuff. Overall, I’d say that NEW TIMES should be proof that the
Femmes are truly talented (not that I ever thought they weren’t) and have
longevity. NEW TIMES is a great album.
Anyone care to debate this with me or share their opinions?

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RE: How’d They Do That?
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emdididy doo- you mean it doesnt hit you in the face like a can of ripe
sardines that its not from the same recording? Funny that!

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RE: How’d They Do That?
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I am responding to the question as to why the “Lies” track on “Add It Up”
seems to morph. I have done recording and it can get pretty tiring as
well as annoying. My guess is that the first part of the recording was
great and then it flopped from there so they just edited in the live
version. I’m surprised that you had just brought that up. I was
listening to that last night and I realized for the first time that the
second part was a live version. There are several reasons they could
have put that there, or maybe they just “didn’t get a chance to jam” in
the studio:) I hope that helps:)

Lindsay

well because it does. it says in the booklet that the first half is from
the studio “3” and then the 2nd half is a live jam. i didn’t even notice
the change until a read the book. pretty good cutting techniquies i
would say…

james

“it turned out she drank the same tea as me
sometimes it don’t take more than that to start a conversation…”

Well I ‘m not sure why they chose to do that. I guess they wanted us to
hear the direct difference between the live version and the album
version. The other thing, in case you arent aware, is that the live
version has a sitar (indian instrument, huge odd looking) player. That
has a strange sound, the solo is not a guitar, and it’s not Gordon
playing it.

-Pat. Says: According to the liner notes, that’s Ashwin Batish playing,
and if I’m not mistaken, you can find recent pictures of him
and the band in the photo gallery of the Official Homepage.

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RE: Phil Cody
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Hi Everyone…
Someone mentioned Phil Cody as the opening act for the Femmes, and let
me tell you, back in September of last year down in Hollywood, I had to
sit through the most horrible, terrifying musical experience I’ve ever
had in my life, and guess who it was…PHIL CODY!!! He was opening for
the Femmes and much to my dismay he was really bad. He looked like Tom
Petty on crack and the music sucked. I don’t know where the Femmes
picked these maniacs up, but I sure hope they learn how to pick better
opening acts in the future. Possum Dixon was a great opening act for
the New Times tour. I enjoyed that concert so much more. Anyway, that’s
all I can say for now…enough griping on my part! 🙂
Ryan
“Without friends, we only have our butts!”

-Pat. Says: We all have our differences of opinion, but I have to say
that I saw Phil Cody with the VF in Oneonta, NY, and IMHO
they were the best opening band I’ve ever seen with the VF.
Hollywood might have been an off night for them…who knows?
At any rate, Phil opened several shows for the band last
year, and Guy even sat in with them in Oneonta. And in the
letters section of the Official Homepage, the band said that
they like Phil Cody. Like I said, We all have our differences
and tastes in music, and I respect your opinion. That said,
I would like to see Possum Dixon with them. But my dream
opening band would be the Levellers.

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RE: Phil Cody
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I thought that the opeining bands for the violent femmes were always a
local band. Am I right? If so, do they pick the bands, or are the bands
picked for them, and by whom?

Raylene

http://raylene.sru.edu

Pat. Says: Usually, but not always. Phil Cody are from Los Angeles,
originally from Ohio I think.

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BUTCHERERS!!!
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I just have a little question for all the cable TV fans out there. For
those of you who get the PREVUE channel, I think it’s in most areas, has
anyone seen a constantly running commercial for the HBO movie “HOUSE
ARREST”? If so, is anyone as annoyed and offended as I am after hearing
the atrocious, flamenco-esque guitar cover of BITS they use in it? It’s
really, really bad and I was just looking for someone to commiserate.

Along the same lines, it seems like every frat party I have attended
this year has had a band who insisted on covering BITS or KISS OFF or
AMERICAN MUSIC. (Worst case scenario, all three were done back to back
at one party.) It’s very annoying. I am not some obsessed vf
stalker-type fan with their lyrics and logos tattoed on various parts of
my anatomy, but sometimes I get a little cranky when I hear someone else
butchering the classics.

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San Diego Media Coverage?
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Does anyone know if there will be TV or online Real Audio radio coverage
of the San Diego show? I notice ESPN is doing a lot of coverage. If they
televise the street fest, I want to have the VCR ready for recording.

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