11-24-97

AMERICAN MUSIC: THE VIOLENT FEMMES MAILING LIST currently run by Pat. Wary ************************************************************************** The Quote Of The Day: How come Bobby Dylan and Louie Reed They're never seen in short sleeves. Hey the sixties everybody's going to heaven. Sixty-nine, sixty-eight, sixty-seven. The things we were doing got me under the rugs. We be doing the death drugs. -From Death Drugs -Submitted by send your VF quotes to ************************************************************************** TRADE, SELL OR BUY When your wishes are fulfilled, please email to have your name removed from this section. This feature will run on Mondays only. ------------------- Would like boots of the following shows: 9/95 Maritime Days 1/96 Winterfest, Icehouse (first show) 7/4/96 Summerfest, Marcus Amphitheatre 8/97 Waukesha County Fair Plus, I know there was a guy with a video camera at the Winterfest show. ----------------------- Wanted: a copy of Film Noir, or any other VF material. Will trade a good quality '89 show at the Metro in Chicago. ------------------ Wanted: boots from Brian Ritchie solo projects. Will trade for VF stuff; write for details. Also wanted: boot of November 14, 1996 University of Maine Orono show. ------------------- Wanting to buy: a pre-New Times violent femmes poster. I will also offer free copies of "The Mercy Seat" to all who ask. ------------------ Wanting to buy: a boot of the Lisle gig in IL. ------------------- Wanted: any VF boots, particularly the 9/16/97 Palace show in Hollywood. Will trade for the following boots: 8/1/83 New Orleans, LA 1/20/85 Berkeley, CA 9/27/91 Seattle, WA "Film Noir" ---------------------- Wanted: any VF boots. Will trade for the following boots: 50 Replacements and Paul Westerberg shows 1 Jonathan Richman Big Star Pixies OR will trade 2 blank tapes for each show. ----------------- Wanted: any VF boots. Will trade for the following boots: 3 Nirvana 1 Sonic Youth 1 Sex Pistols 2 Rolling Stones 1 Who -------------------- Wanted: boot of the Carrol College show (WI), end of 96. Will trade copy of Tom Waits singing a Jack Kerouac song at the Allen Ginsberg Memorial show earlier this year, or will pay cash. ------------------ Wanted: boot from the Nov. 8th show at House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista. Will trade whatever I have.... ------------------------- Wanted: a video released in 83 or 84, Femmes live, called "No, Let's Start Over." I think that this was actually a legit release from WB that never took off. Also, I'm STILL looking for a poster of the original femmes. Will offer free cassette copies of "Film Noir" and "Kiss Off", both live in europe 1984. --------------- Wanted: Violent Femmes MP3's. I have Blister in the Sun. -------------- Wanted: Violent Femmes bumper stickers. ************************************************************************** ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO ************************************************************************** WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~mmerry2/femmes.html Guitar: http://www.bucknell.edu/~wtorres/violent_femmes/ TAB DIGEST: The tab digest is give and take; remember to share what you have. ************************************************************************** In Today's Issue: RE: The New Orleans Show RE: The New Orleans Show The Coimbra Show..Moshing..the Homepage RE: Lobsters RE: Where Do They Live? A Story A Story A Story Missing Lyrics Missing Lyrics..Moshing..Drugs Gross Point Blank..Musical Tastes Vary the Encores Shrimp Whistles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: The New Orleans Show ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I also caught the show in New Orleans and thought that they were great. A smaller venue may have been better but they still put on one hell of a show. I hope to see them again real soon. Isaac ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: The New Orleans Show ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <> Yah, I admit they didn't seem very pleased with the crowd and they did keep shaking their heads, but they came on stage and played for about 45 minutes without a pause, so thats what I meant by energy. Plus, when they played 'Out the Window' and 'American Music', it was like nothing I've ever heard. I really enjoyed the show and thought it was awesome, but it was clear that Gordon and Brian were disappointed in the crowd's responses. Guy really never seemed to get really into it, and I've read in concert reviews that he has little or no stage presence. Any thoughts on this? Grand Kaiser -Pat. Says: I've seen Guy very into it at concerts. I'd say he has a very good stage presence, when the mood hits him. It seems tho that he can be very moody. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Coimbra Show..Moshing..the Homepage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Violent Femmes played a concert here in Coimbra a few weeks ago. Sure I had to be there! Well, I had to mosh my way to the tickets and at night, mosh my way into the pavillion. It was their first time in Portugal, I couldn't miss them! If they ever come back I'll be there to see them. The one thing I hated was the fact that the band that played before them could only play 5 or 6 themes. A lousy organization, I should add. In these newsletters I discovered the expression "mosh pit". There are always mosh nutties in every concert. It is natural. I'm one of them. Another thing: why the need to be big? I ain't really a gig guy (big for a Portugese ;-) ) but what I like in moshing is to go round and around and to be pushed in and out, Fighting my way to dizziness. So U wanted foreign guys and foreign opinions-U got them. Don't you think vfemmes.com tooo commercial? I mean compared to our first opinion about the band? Gustavo Baeta Coimbra, Portugal FREE EAST TIMOR!! -Pat. Says: When the homepage first came out, that is to say, before anyone knew about it except us because it hadn't officially gone online yet, it was very, shall we say kindly, homespun. Alright, it was pretty bad. In fact there was a debate going on as to whether the official homepage was in fact official or whether someone was conning us. It has improved greatly since then. The name of the person who is working on the page escapes me at the moment, but he is doing a very good job IMHO, at least imaginatively. If only he'd update it a bit more often... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Lobsters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i grew up on the east coast and my dad has made lobsters for many years. while, many people say they hear them scream, he has never heard one scream. i don't think that it is possible and people that care about what they're doing decide its important so they hear screaming. - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Where Do They Live? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Hey. Do any of you know if any of the Femmes live in Racine, WI? Nope, Victor De Lorenzo does NOT live in Racine. james ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, someone called for digging up those excruciating, embarrassing femmes-related memories. I had been repressing mine, but here goes: 7 years ago, I was a young lad in the 7th grade. I had this fairly good friend, Holly. We were in Junior Achievement together. Hey, I was never cool in school. Anyway, I heard this song on the radio as mom drove me to JA that night, so i felt like singing it. It went (in my mind) "Lemme go on, like a twister in the sun, lemme go on, big hands...etc". So i sang this. And Holly said, "That song goes blister in the sun, not twister." I had just heard that song and was pretty sure he was saying twister. So naturally we got in an argument, which turned into a big argument, and holly and I were never really friends ever, ever again! That much i can pretty much live with. The worst part is, that I WAS WRONG!!! Since then I've met other Hollies and learned my Femmes lyrics. The embarrassment lives on. Thanks for letting me relive the pain. Josh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ok, since we are sharing femmes stories now, I thought I would share mine. Which one to pick though is such a hard task. There are just countless numbers of them. I guess though that the best stories involved my senior week of high school (94) At this point I was a femmes fanatatic, still am, but I was still in the learning process. I got very drunk that night, and I remember lying down on the floor after doing shots, and singing "Dating Days" still one of my favorite songs. I was trying to convince everyone I wasn't drunk, so I whip out the verse, "It seems that no matter how much I drink...I seem to still stay sober..." and then I hear the next verse from across the hall, which was my friend who was doing shots with me. We both just got up and acted like drunken fools and finished singing the song, dancing all around the room, and having everyone at this party look at us in amazement. I wish I could remember some better stories besides that one, but when i do, i'll be sure to let everybody know. I do remember waiting for the bus at ocean city, which can take forever, and when we finally got on, all cramped in like sardines, i started singing that song (waiting for the bus) and i swear at least half of the bus joined in with me. I couldn't believe so many people knew that song. I was just so happy to share my drunkeness with other femmes fans. p.s. alcohol is dangerous, and should only be consumed in safe quantities and under the strict supervision of Bobby. Drinking and driving is BAD don't do it. pps. I heard nightmares the other week on WHFS, and I couldn't believe it. Actually they played a violent femmes block consisting of kiss of, blister in the sun, and nightmares. How many other songs are played over the radio. i have heard add it up and american music before, but that's about it. at least for DC/baltimore stations. i did hear eep opp ork ah ah while i was hiking the appalachian in pennsylvania. that was cool Bobby V. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK, I'll add my story. It was early summer 1984, and I had graduated from college in Dec. 1983, with my BS in Chemistry. I finally got my first interview, and they sent me money to rent a car so I could drive from Willimantic, CT to Burlington, MA (just outside Boston). I was very nervous. I mean shaking. I felt like my whole life depended on this interview, cause money was starting to run low even though I had a bit coming in with the continuing TL dating research I was doing over in the physics dept. So here I was, nervous as hell, driving through Boston in a rented car when I hadn't driven in about 4 years (and rolled a car that last time) when suddenly on the radio I heard Kiss Off. Like I said, this was '84, and the song was still relatively new. I had the album by that time of course, but suddenly upon hearing that song, all nervousness left me. I thought to myself, screw it, I'll get the job or not, If they don't like me, fuck 'em! Someone will hire me. And the result was: I aced the interview. They offered me a job on the spot. Well, the next day I got another, more attractive offer, and I took that one instead. The bottom line is, I have the Violent Femmes and that song to thank for helping me change my attitude during that difficult time. And I can't hear that song without thinking of that story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Missing Lyrics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does anybody know why "Balkan Falcon" and "Chinese Rocks" aren't included on the lyrics section of the Home page? -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Missing Lyrics..Moshing..Drugs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did anyone notice on the lyrics page that all the lyrics to Add it Up aren't there? (Yes, this is my first time looking at the lyrics page). Does anyone know why? I know that on the self titled, the full set of lyrics are there (i think..my cd got stolen). Ahhh moshing. It can be great. It can suck. At a concert I got kicked in the head by some stupid chic wearing heels while crowd surfing. I was extremely mad. At one point, I was leaving the pit and someone decided it'd be a great idea to shove me. I busted open my knee and luckily some guy reached down and snatched me up before I could be trampled. So, the next morn I wake up with a huge knot on my head that is cut, a split knee with blood, a bruised chest (got kicked), a sore ear where my earring almost got ripped out, and a slightly blackened eye. The result was I got out at the next concert and moshed some more. Combat boots are worn to protect your feet..and if anyone kicks you, you can boot them right back. I don't expect moshing at Femmes..they're too "come on and chill with us cuz we're rad" and kick back type. Offspring (which someone said they attended) there should be some major moshing. But, I think each band should set their own rules as to whether or not moshing should be permissible. And anyone not obeying should be kicked out. One more thing. Anyone know the Femmes opinion on drugs? Cuz, in gimme the car, Gorno says "I'm gonna make her cry..i'm gonna get her high" "What's wrong..what's right..I don't care when I hate my life" 28 days and counting till mi cumpleanos! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gross Point Blank..Musical Tastes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay guys....got a question for you experinced fans...but maybe the new fans could help out also (it sounds better than this fake fan thing). Would you recommend buying the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack? I've never heard Blister 2000 but I'm wondering if it is worth $16 to hear it. The only other band on the album I have much interest in is the Clash (although i am unfamiliar with many of the artists and it might turn out that like them). Well do you guys who own it recommend this album to others? I'm considering purchasing this but maybe I'd be better to buy 3 or Hallowed Ground since I dont have those 2 albums either. Thanks. While I'm at it...............top 5 1. Violent Femmes 2. Talking Heads (I saw David Byrne recently and he still has it....... hes a great performer 3. Pearl Jam....although I feel the dissention emanating from the screen i would take issue with those of you who group them with Bush and Matchbox20 category. 4. Beatles 5. Beck (one last note...it seems a lot of people here enjoy the group They Might Be Giants. I am borrowing a friend's Flood CD right now due to all the talk of them here. Maybe someone here can mail me with their thoughts on this strange band and give me information). Thanks again and goodbye. -Pat. Says: e-mail Helmsley2 about TMBG, not this letter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vary the Encores ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know about everyone else, but I for one am tired of Add it Up as the finale song. Now don't get me wrong, that is one of the greatest Femmes songs, but I would think they would vary the encores just a little like they do with the rest of their shows. I have seen the femmes 3 times and all three the encore was, I see a damsell and Add it Up. It is just too predictable. I want variety! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shrimp Whistles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Does anyone on the list know anything about Gordon's appearance on the Charm School children's release "Shrimp Whistles"? Details are appreciated. Thanks james -Pat. Says: I'm interested in that, too. My boys are 9 and 7, is this release too young for them? I think I'm already going to get them Larry Kirwan's (from Black 47) Celtic Kids, and would like to get them this, too, if it's not geared towards preschoolers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~