09-22-00

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The Quote Of The Day:

Oh my body has been punished
Lord I think I’ve had enough
-From I Know it’s True, but I’m Sorry to Say

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WEB PAGES:

Unofficial: http://www.townserver.com/planetblue
-or-
http://townserver.com/planetblue
http://www.bigfoot.com/~planetblue
http://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Show/6806/
http://www.violentfemmes.net
http://www.homestead.com/lucylittleland/vf.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/campus/bates/377/
http://www.geocities.com/thefemmeking/

Yahoo Chat: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/newtimesviolentfemmesclub

Message Board:
http://www.insidetheweb.com/messageboard/mbs.cgi?acct=mb870757&TL=

Discussion Group: http://www.egroups.com/invite/vf2000
and click the “JOIN” button

Past Tour Dates:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes/femmes.html

Guitar: http://therapy.lost.net.au/femmes
http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes

Glenn Gano’s Page: http://www.alaska.net/~ggano

Charm Records: http://www.charmrec.com

Victor DeLorenzo’s Page: http://victordelorenzo.com

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ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO
AMUSIC
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In Today’s Issue:

Concert Date
The American Music Hall of Fame
Re: Punk?
RE: Femmes License Plates
RE: First Femmes Experience
RE: First Femmes Experience
“Way of the Gun,” etc.
Add it up / Way of the Gun / Undressed
VF in the Mainstream?
A New Album Out in November???

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Concert Date
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Well it’s not a Femmes show but at least it’s one concert date for the
list.
El Destroyo With Brian Ritchie Of the Violent Femmes, On bass.
Cafe Du Nord San Francisco
Friday, September 22

ddearry

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The American Music Hall of Fame
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Sorry for the long time between issues. The person with whom I share
my job left suddenly, but not before removing most computer files and
training manuals related to our job. The bitch. Since part of her job
entailed writing letters from our doctors to other doctors, I have had
to give myself a crash course in ophthalmology, and try to recreate
those lost files. I have also been training others to take over the
days vacated, and as a side venture have been designing and printing
flyers for a small business. I may be a bit busy for another week yet,
but hope to have things back to normal soon.
OK, so here’s today’s hall of famers. Remember, these are subscribers
who have stuck around through thick and thin since I took over as
moderator over three years ago. If your name is listed here, please
take some time to send something, anything at all related to the
Violent Femmes. Sorry for the long wait between issues…

erikk
fangor
feigenba
FEMME0829
fhess
freak
FreeDarwin
freek
fvlierop
Gargime114
gburnsid
Gene4

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Re: Punk?
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I just wanted to take the time to share with all the fans out there my
thoughts on the Violent Femmes. I’ve been a fan now since ’83 when I
first heard “Prove My Love” on a local radio station (still my favorite
song). I am, however, not a Hall of Famer because these newfangled
things such as the internet and computers are still quite new to me.
The Femmes have always been Avant-garde, and their fusion of gospel,
blues, jazz, country, and good old-fashioned rock and roll is just as
unique today as it always has been.
So it struck me as quite odd when I recently read in “American Music”
that many people consider the Femmes punk music. The level of
musicianship in the band is not commonly found in much punk music.
In fact, that very level of musicianship, combined with the band’s
sometimes open-ended, improvisational jamming has made them a favorite
among the Jam-band scene. For those who do not know, Jam music is the
modern equivalent of ‘hippie music’. I absolutely love the Femmes,
have for almost 20 years now, and my other favorite contemporary bands
include Phish, Widespread Panic, and other Jam-oriented blues-based
bands. So to confine the music of the Violent Femmes to the sometimes
exclusive world of punk music seems almost an injustice to me. I’ve
attended over 30 Femmes shows, and I sincerely hope I”ll be seeing
them out on the road again soon. I just wanted everybody out there to
know that there are many VF fans out here in the ‘hippie scene’ and we
can’t wait to see you all out there listening to this great American
music

Peace and Love
Dedhed611

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RE: Femmes License Plates
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Last year I also tried to get a “Femmes” license plate for my 75 Norton
motorcycle but I was informed that you can’t get personalized plates
for motorcycles. The same held true for my pickup truck which has farm
plates on it. Since my Norton and the Femmes are 2 of my 3 passions in
life, I thought it appropriate to try to tie them together. I will
have to take my third passion for a ride one of these days.

But more seriously, all this talk about our femmes breaking up is
getting me down. Is there anything we can do as fans to show our
support for the band? And also, I don’t think that Viva Wisconsin was
a waste of time. Actually I think it is their best music to date. I
just love that acoustic sound ! And I haven’t seen them play live
often enough yet.

Glenn
pwnordic

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RE: First Femmes Experience
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I sit in my cubicle at my incredibly boring job so as long as we are
sharing our first Femmes experience . . . when I was in 5th grade I
went along with my buddy on a ski trip that his church group was
sponsoring up at Haystack Mountain (I can’t remember if its in NH or
VT), but we had to drive up from Connecticut.
We drove up with one of the chaperones, who was a college student at
the time, and on the way there he was listening to Violent Femmes. I
had no idea what it was, but instantly wanted to hear more. I asked
him who the band was, and he told me that he probably shouldn’t let us
listen to them, but they were the Violent Femmes. Earlier in the ride
he had been turning down the stereo down during any parts he thought
our Fifth grade ears shouldn’t hear, but after I expressed interest he
just let the album play. I have been a fan ever since.
I can’t remember the name of the guy who first introduced me to the
Femmes, but am eternally grateful. I have been listening to the
Femmes all these years and it wasn’t until they came to play the
Spring Weekend of my college (Stonehill) during my sophomore year of
1996 that anyone was interested. After that everyone was asking who
the band was and was asking to borrow my CD’s, although most of my
friends just wanted to hear Blister . . . as a side note last week at
this bar in Boston (Sunset Grill and Tap) not far from my apt I
actually heard them play “Black Girls” I couldn’t believe it.

matt
m.bromley

i first heard the violent femmes when i was about fifteen. the girl
next door was listening to the self-titled album very loudly in the
backyard. the incredibly nasal whine that was emanating from her radio
woke me from a nice afternoon nap. i went into her yard and asked her
which cat was dying. she explained what it was, and i went back home
to shut my windows and put pillows over my head so that i might be able
to get back to sleep. i vowed never to listen to the violent femmes.
(then again, at that age, i vowed to listen to poison and motley crue
forever…go figure) three years later, i was dating a rather strange
young lady whose clothes and music would now be referred to as “goth”.
she was off in another room being pointedly depressed, so her friend
(who was female and much less depressed) and i decided to have a
shot-drinking contest. after thirteen shots, she passed out cold. i,
myself, desperately needed to lie down. i lay down on the ottoman,
which suddenly seemed quite comfortable. I lay there, with my back
arched in the most horrendously improbable way, until the young lady
i was dating emerged from some gloomy corner of the apartment with a
large steak knife. she then proceeded to drive the knife into my
chest. i felt no pain, being monstrously drunk, but i do remember
thinking it was very strange that my girlfriend was doing such things.
she then drank the blood that was oozing from my chest as i counted
ceiling tiles. at some point, she got bored and went to sleep in her
friend’s bed. after i stopped bleeding and sobered some, i began to
notice that the ottoman was not as comfy as it initially appeared,
and i resolved to get into bed myself. walking towards the bedroom,
i tripped over her friend’s unconscious form still laying face-down on
the kitchen’s orange linoleum. i decided to be somewhat heroic, and
carried her into her room, placing her somewhat gently on the left
edge of her waterbed. i climbed between them, and tried to sleep.
after a few moments, i heard someone scream “THE VIOLENT FEMMES…
THEY BRING ALL THEIR EQUIPMENT ON THE BUS…(you all know the rest).
i looked across the room, horrified to see that the continuous play
tape deck was indeed rolling the Add It Up album. now, the two young
ladies were deeply snoring, and to move while on a waterbed would
surely wake them, so i remained motionless. the album played in its
entirety, and i was thoroughly disgusted. The second time it played
through, however, i found myself enjoying Kiss Off, American Music,
and Country Death Song. the third time, i was singing along with
most of the songs. by the fourth and fifth times, i knew nearly
every word and hummed along. the next day, i went out and bought
three femmes albums, which were the only three the record store had
in stock. i had all the studio albums two weeks after that night.
i have the Add It Up album cover tattooed on my back. i learned to
play bass, and gradually learned nearly all of brian’s lines and
solos. i picked up guitar for the express purpose of playing and
singing femmes songs when i didn’t have any band members handy. my
band never played a set without at least two femmes covers. when i
look back on my hatred for the femmes, i am in absolute awe that i
didn’t take to them right off the bat. maybe it was because i
hated the girl next door…maybe it was because guys in spandex and
makeup epitomized masculinity at the time…i don’t know. but i am
their biggest fan now, and i will continue to tell people who catch
rides with me that it’s my car, so don’t talk about my music.

Ron Dumont – “Glum”
Nevertell6
Got Poetry?

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“Way of the Gun,” etc.
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I was watching “Letterman” on Aug. 22 when a commercial came on for a
new action movie called “The Way of the Gun.” Nothing special about
that, except the entire backing music of the commercial was “Add It
Up.” Anyone else see this?

I’ve been reading in this newsletter about how the Femmes’ latest
record was ignored by the public. It is a shame, because I think the
“Freak Magnet” album recaptures a lot of what made the Femmes a fun,
great rock band. But I seem to remember the band being off somewhere
overseas when the album came out in March, and for quite some time
after that. I believe they could have really given their record sales
a boost if they’d bothered to tour the U.S. during the time of the
album’s release.

I must do a bit of bragging at this point to say that, for only $13.50
on eBay, I finally obtained the imported CD version of “The Blind
Leading the Naked,” with the bonus track “World Without Mercy.” Say
what you will about Victor’s singing, but this track is awesome!

Speaking of Victor, wasn’t his interview on http://www.milwaukeeonline.com
great? Gordon, Brian, Victor, PLEASE shake hands, make up and bring
the original Femmes back together sometime in the near future.
Guy just ain’t the guy.

Chris Hatch
chatch

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Add it up / Way of the Gun / Undressed
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I saw a commercial for that new movie, “The Way of the Gun”, and Add it
up was playing on it.
And…
I was flipping through the channels tonght waiting for the late late
show to get on, and i stopped on mtv. Undressed was on, and “In the
Dark” is playing in the background. So I kept listening and the next
song to play was “Rejoice and be Happy”. Just thought I’d let you guys
know in case there is anyone out there like me who likes to know about
weird little things like that.

Joel
TeamEnos

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VF in the Mainstream?
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Not sure if you are a football fan, but last week when Fox 5 pre-game
show was showing all the new young quarterbacks, the theme music was
“New Generation.”

Does this mean they are finally in the “mainstream”? Next thing you
know “Blister in the Sun” will be on an Oxy commercial. . .

Neil
neil

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Hammerstein?
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Any word on the tour that was scheduled for Oct 25, 2000 Hammerstein
Ballroom, New York, NY? I was planning on going to this and now don’t
see the tour listed on the Femmes site or on Pollsstar 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

— Ilana
inewby

-Pat. Says: Ticketmaster still lists it, but I don’t think it’s still
on.

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A New Album Out in November???
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Ok peoples here is the deal.. I am on a mailing list from england,
cookingvinyl and they have the femmes freak magnet album in the
catalog. OK anyways under the news-emails-addresses&websites it states
and i quote

VIOLENT FEMMES

Another live album “the rock” will be released on 02-10-00. Please
also check out theur website http://www.vfemmes.com

So does anyone know anything about this?? Is it true. or is it
possibly a miss print and they are just rereleasing rock and they made
a mistake thinking it was a new live album.

thanks tyler..

oh yeah the femmes made it onto the foxsports pregame show for NFL on
the first week of the season. They were talking about the new Qb’s in
the league and played New Generation i was very impressed.

tylerboa

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