12-16-98

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: you love yourself have we become what we wanted? you go ahead, I'll love myself more. -From LOVE AND ME MAKE THREE -Submitted by asliney (am i the only person that likes this song?) ************************************************************************ TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): Dec. 29- 8:30 pm, Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA, $17.50 (P,T) ($0.25 of each ticket goes to charity) Dec. 30- 9:00 pm, The Boathouse, Norfolk, VA, $15.00 (T) Dec. 31- 7:30, Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA 52.50 Plus 6.75 service charge for phone orders!!! Call 800-551-7328 to order (O,P) (With Pietasters and Squirrel Nut Zippers) **Jan 22-8:00 pm,The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV (T)** NOTA BENE: 'O' stands for the Official homepage 'P' stands for Pollstar 'T' stands for Ticketmaster 'I' stands for Insider Info All other references are subscribers To book a show, contact Monterey Peninsula Artists. Serious inquiries only. ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone else on the list also going? Check here first! Philadelphia, PA ---------------- JMES4249 (Jennifer) ************************************************************************ ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC ************************************************************************ WEB PAGES: Official: http://www.vfemmes.com Unofficial: http://vf.lasvegasweekly.com/ http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6918 http://members.aol.com/kittricken/index.html VF Message Board: http://red.cscwc.pima.edu/~cstaley/femmes/board.html Yahoo Chat: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/newtimesviolentfemmesclub Past Tour Dates: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/1725/femmes/femmes.html Guitar: http://www.angelfire.com/hi/VFemmes http://www.smug.adelaide.edu.au/~therapy/violent_femmes/ MP3's http://members.tripod.com/~GasolineFumes/music.html Glenn Gano's Page: http://www.alaska.net/~ggano Charm Records: http://www.charmrec.com ************************************************************************ In Today's Issue: Happy Holidays RE: Other Bands Re: Social Commentary RE: Never Tell Re: He Likes American Music Arizona... List Them All Cheap CD's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Holidays ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + * **$ ***** **@**** ********% &*****#**** ***@******^** ||| |=====| |_____| Just wishing every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year :) Smilyaus -Pat. Says: I was going to save this till next week, but then decided it would be a good excuse to wish all of you a Happy Chanukah as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Other Bands ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HI, I forgot to include one of my favorite bands on my favorite band list. Cornershop!! Indian lead singer, they are from Britain and they have some incredible combinations of instruments. Kind of like Indian rap funk. They are just too good for me to have forgotten. Marylee Rubaiyat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Re: Social Commentary ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >I was just wondering if Jeff has ever hear the following songs by the >Femmes: Dahmer is Dead, Dating Days, World We're Living In, Lies, Lack >of Knowledge, Old Mother Reagan, No Killing, I'm Nothing, Mirror Mirror >(debatable on whether it fits in this list)...... I am sure there are >other clever social commentaries by the Femmes that I just forgot, but >don't these fit the bill? Maybe 'social commentary' was the wrong term, but I don't believe that any of these songs contain a message or deeper reference of any sort, other than their superficial theme. Yes, I have heard them all, hundreds of times. I own every Femmes album, and I love every song. In comparing them to TMBG, though, as I was, I wouldn't say that "We don't want no killing, Lord" is anywhere close to the brilliant social attacks of TMBG in songs such as "Purple Toupee." (Though if one excludes the comma, that line could have quite a clever double-meaning, but I don't think that was intended.) Dahmer is dead. Yeah. He lived in their town. He was a bad person, and got only what he deserved. They don't say any more than that. That song is not intended to encompass all criminals or ethics or the judicial system, it is just a song about a famous psychopath who lived near them. "Dating Days", "World We're Living In", etc., etc., are not much more than songs about sex in the postmodern world, and not to be taken as any kind of deep existential insight. I still think that one of their most clever lyrics is the "seperate my rights from my wrongs" line in "This Island Life," though the rest of that song doesn't suggest that even Gordon was fully aware of the cleverness of that play-on-words. Don't get me wrong, they're all incredibly cool songs and I love every one of them, but that's all they are: songs. The emphasis is more on the music and on what sounds right then on conveying any message. Nothing Gordon sings about is original in any way, but it does have a special charm that none of us can deny. This is his Style, something that we can't pin down that keeps drawing us back to buying album after album and listening to Add It Up until our speakers disintegrate and playing See My Ships over headphones late at night with the volume turned all the way up and sitting on the floor in the pitch darkness and letting the tears well up as you think about everything emotional that has ever happened to you... This is what the Femmes are for. Not to point out social injustices or flaws in the political system or even to be able phrase a sentence so it's grammatically correct, but to simply connect. To make you feel that there is at least one voice that understands, though it need not represent an actual person, and that no matter what happens in life, "Outside the Palace" is still a really cool song. Jeffrey_Wilson -Pat. Says: I haven't stated my views on this subject for fear of killing one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking threads we've had in a long while, but I do need to respond to some things you said a while back: <>(12-09-98) <> (12-11-98) Gordon and Brian are in fact very intelligent people. Yes, it's true that neither went to college, unlike the Johns, but the reason for that was that they were too busy being rock stars, not for any lack of ability. Gordon, in fact, was a member of the Honor Society in High School, and last time I checked it was not so easy to be inducted into that. Further, I suspect that a test of Brian's IQ would yield a result very nearly in, if not firmly in, the genius range. Despite the lack of regimented higher education, both obviously chose to extend their knowledge in many areas independently of some mentor's recommendation, which can be a good thing. It forces one to experience his or her own impressions of something, rather than having to be force- fed someone else's opinions. I for one can tell you that it was very annoying to be given a poor grade on an analysis of some literary work simply because my views did not coincide with that of the instructor, or being forced to read a work somebody else highly admired but which I considered to be nothing more than a big pile of horse poopy. At any rate, try to keep in mind the distinction between not being able to do something, and being able but choosing not to do something. If, as you maintain, Gordon's lyrics are superficial, that does not at all mean that he is incapable of writing any other way. One more thing. I only have one TMBG album, so I can't speak authoritatively, but there's always the possibility of reading a wee bit too much into the meaning of a song. That is all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Never Tell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After reading the different ideas about what 'Never Tell' is about I decided to listen to it and see what my own thoughts were. I relized one thing.....don't try to figure out violent femmes songs. Joel TeamEnos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Re: He Likes American Music ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Josh, I think you made a good decision by giving your friend Hallowed Ground (assuming he'll return it to you). Hallowed Ground and The Blind Leading the Naked are my 2 favorite Femmes albums. One American musical genre missing from them is jazz- I mean I know that blues are a form of jazz, but certainly not the only form. Catherine Eor24 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arizona... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hullo all. This isn't about the femmes as much as it's about how much better the arizona concert scene has gotten. Last night(monday night, during finals week no less) I got what I had been waiting for for a looong time: Depeche Mode. It was a bitching show, they did two encores and played a song from "Speak and Spell"(something they said they'd never do). Anyway, I saw DM just two months(or so) after seeing the Femmes here. And they were here TWICE(tuscon then tempe). I also realized something important: most concerts are the same. The femmes concert was filled with drunken frat boys there to hear blister(and it made my day when they opened with "Hey Nonnie Nonnie"). DM was the same. There was an entire row drunken 20-somethings dancing badly and complaining when they won't play "Personal Jesus." Anyway, this was just me bitching, and bragging about getting to see Martin and Andy and Dave. Hey, speaking of. Dave is lead guitar for DM, and he is shockingly like Brian R. both play a wide variety of instruments and really contrast well to the lead vocals' presence. Okay, I'm done. No, one more thing. Does anyone else think that "The Stranger" and "1984" are too similar for comfort. anyway, I'm gone. no, one more thing: if I could only see erasure and the cure before I die, it would be nice. later, -jason jholt1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Them All ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just a couple of general questions for those of us who have had to spend the last couple years in learning free and listening free evironments. First, would you mind listing all Violent Femmes US and if possible, UK, releases. Copyright Laws in GB sometimes allow for greater latitude when choosing live recordings for compilation laws. Second, I read in some magazine before my prolonged expatriation that Gordon was working with another band. For some reason, I have come up with fifty mutations of the name, but for the life of me, I can't seem to get right. If you happened to know the label that this other band used, that would be helpful also. Finally, I am relocating to Boston area. Despite having had tickets several times, I have never managed to see them play. Since the move came up suddenly, I have not ascertained through observation whether they play frequently in Boston or not. I like the quotes at the beginning, but I would enjoy having the quotes put into context. Why are the quotes important to the person who submitted them? Thanks, Leean Lirker ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cheap CD's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello All! I was internet surfing when I ran into a site with the URL: http://www.when.com If you register (it's free!) then you can get $10 off of any purchase at Music Boulevard. I registered about 5 days ago and ordered the Violent Femmes CD "3" which I got in the mail today. It only cost me $2.99 shipping because of the $10 credit (CD was FREE!) and I am listening to it right now! (It's making me giddy!) They have lots of CD's there if you already have completed your VF collection:) Check it out! The calender service is a little dumb, but you don't have to use it. Just sign up for the credit! :) Nicole nwinn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~