08-26-98

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: Oh can't you hear me mother And don't you want to go And leave this world of trials And troubles here below -From Spiritual (From Kiss Off/Mind the Magic 'boot') -Submitted by thehappycyclops PLEASE send your VF quotes to amusic ************************************************************************ NEW TOUR DATES: Sept. 21- The Outback, Tucson, AZ (O) Sept. 22- Club Rio, Phoenix, AZ (O) Oct. 6- Youngstown State Univ, Niles, OH (O) Oct. 25- Barrymore Theater, Madison, WI (O) Oct. 26- Opera House, Oshkosh, WI (O) Oct 27- Grand Theater, Wausau, WI (O) Oct. 29- Hollywood Theater, LaCrosse, WI (O) Oct. 30- State Theater, Eau Claire, WI (O) Oct. 31- Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI (O) ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone else on the list also going? Check here first! Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ------------------------ thehappycyclops (Eric) Buffalo, NY ----------- SirBoutros (Joel) ************************************************************************ ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC ************************************************************************ WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://vf.scopemag.com if this doesn't work, try: http://206.103.163.50 http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6918 VF Message Board: http://red.cscwc.pima.edu/~cstaley/femmes/board.html Past Tour Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes.html Guitar: http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes http://www.smug.adelaide.edu.au/~therapy/violent_femmes/ http://www.olga.net MP3's http://members.tripod.com/~GasolineFumes/music.html Une banane:Send in your top five faves each week to: melancon HERE I AM: Tell me where you live for the Here I Am list. ************************************************************************ In Today's Issue: Guy Hoffman's Age Mercy Seat? RE: Hated Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Guy Hoffman's Age ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are exactly right, Pat. Guy is 44. According to "The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll," page 99, he was born on May 20, 1954. (This is under the BoDeans entry; the Femmes aren't in the book.) Chris Hatch chrishatch -Pat. Says: Excuse me, but how screwed up is that? I mean, I bought the first BoDeans album, the one with Guy, and while I like it just fine, it in no way can be compared with the first Violent Femmes album, or ANY Violent Femmes album for that matter, nor can the impact of the BoDeans on Rock music be compared with that of the Violent Femmes. Musicians cite the Violent Femmes as an influence on their music or on their decision to become musicians. I seriously doubt the same can be said for the BoDeans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mercy Seat? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What exactly is Mercy Seat and how obtainable are copies of it? 1djek3 dkubiak -Pat. Says: The Mercy Seat was a band Gordon was in during the time the Violent Femmes was on hiatus. It was a Gospel group, the lead singer being a woman by the name of Zena Von Heppinstall. Gordon played guitar and supplied backup vocals. The songs are very reminiscent of the gospel type songs Gordon writes for the Violent Femmes, although a glance at the album reveals that none of the songs seem to have been written by him. The only Mercy Seat album released was done so by Slash records in 1987. It can be found in used vinyl bins. I suppose it also came out on cassette. Apparently, there was enough Mercy Seat material available for a second album, but such was never made. I understand Gordon would still like this to be released. If you can find this album, I highly recommend you buy it, even if you're not into the Christian thing. It will probably be fairly difficult to find, so good luck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Hated Song ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have to agree with the ancient one here that New Times is a really great album. I think it flows so nicely. Not many bands can pull off all that experimental stuff and diversity and still come out sounding good. But what song do I hate? I hate "Nothing Worth Living For" I think Thanksgiving pulled off the same feeling much better. See here's the deal as I see it. The songs on the self titled album were all written during the high school years when Gordon was feeling pathetic and whiny. I mean listen to those songs. That is honest, pure, pathetic whine. I mean we've been talking about how "Please Do not Go" is so terribly self-pitying that it makes you want to reach through the CD player and slap him. Personally I love the song. Just because of that raw, unbridled emotion. So the first album focused on feeling bad for himself. It was pure emotion. "Hallowed Ground" came out and by then I think alot of those teen feelings were gone. Their songs were more music-oriented than lyric-oriented. Unfortunately this resulted in nobody liking the album. I like it. Most of you like it. Sigmund likes it best. Anyway so i think that for "The Blind Leading the Naked", Gordon tried to get more emotion out without sacrificing the music. And then on "3" they really tried to make another self titled, but it totally was a flop because they were all maturing and those high school self-loathing feelings were gone. I mean, like I said, "Nothing Worth Living For" is so forced, as is "See My Ships". I just don't think that Gordon felt as connected with that music as he did to his earlier stuff. Then along comes "Why Do Birds Sing". By this time Gordon actually started having fun with the music. I think it's regarded as their second best album because of just that. It wasn't the whiny emotions of the first album, but it certainly was upbeat and enthusiastic. And that carried over to "New Times" which took that energy into new dimensions and realms of music for the band. They started heading down different roads with their music as opposed to just taking different instruments and adapting them to their style of music. "Rock!!!!!" was the same thing. Just the band having fun. They weren't focusing on being whiny for those fans that couldn't get over "Blister in the Sun". They were staying true to themselves, and therefore turning out great music because of being happy with where they were and what they were doing. I haven't heard "Freak Magnet" although i think it's a stupid name for an album. I don't like the name "New Times" either to be honest. I liked all those 27 word titles. "The violent blind leading the naked femmes over hallowed ground past 3 trees full of birds that are singing even though no one knows why." That's going to be the name of my first album. No, actually it's "Drew Snyder: Live from the Kitchen" Maybe that'll be the name of my second album. -Drew -thenewkid ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~