01-11-99

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen ************************************************************************ The Quote Of The Day: Well I'm likin' lickin' a lotta liquor I'm driving down the drink I'll take a toast to life But I drink the most When my devil starts to think... -From Don't Start Me on the Liquor -Submitted by Jeffrey_Wilson ************************************************************************ TOUR DATES (NEW TOUR DATES MARKED WITH **): Jan 21- 7:45 pm, Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA (P,O) $47.75, $38.75, $31.75 Jan 22- 8:00 pm,The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV (T,P) Jan 23- University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (O) Jan 24- Doubletree Ballroom, Boise, ID (P) Jan 25- 8:00 pm, Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA (T,P,O) Jan 26- 8:00 pm, Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA (T,P,O) Jan 28- The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (O,P) Jan 29- Pechanga Entertainment Center, Temecula, CA (P) Jan 30- Winterfest, San Diego, CA (O) Jan 31- 7 AND 9:30 pm, Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA (T) $22.50 ALSO: ----- Brian will be performing with Dr. Eugene Chadbourne on the following: Feb 5,6,7- Knitting Factory Old Office, New York, NY (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. ************************************************************************ WHO/WHERE Going to a VF concert? Want to know if anyone else on the list also going? Check here first! Universal City (Los Angeles) ----------------------------- mypen15 (Nick, who proudly possesses Pit Tickets) Las Vegas, NV ------------- welborn (James) Seattle, WA, 1-25 ----------------- LilBoek (Steve) Seattle, WA, 1-26 ----------------- LilBoek (Steve) San Francisco, CA ----------------- rcbarbato (Ryan) Stepheno (Stephen) San Juan Capistrano, CA ----------------------- poudertsg (Bob) ************************************************************************ 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: RE: Crowds Singing English Good More Compilations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you haven't checked out the Official Homepage lately, be sure to do so. Along with a new Believe it or Not section, there are also many new letters answered in the mail section. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RE: Crowds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I too have experienced that frustration. It's not fun getting kicked in the head by a pair of surfing doc martins. Chzbooger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Singing English Good ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First: I just got back from three weeks of computer-free winter break, so I apologize if I'm replying to messages that most of you read eons ago, but I'd like to catch up, so bear with me for just a minute. Anyway, Pat writes: > if Gordon visualizes > this person as an uneducated man, wouldn't it be silly to > have that person speak proper English? Yes, and I love how a (song)writer can use that every once in a while as a contrast to the writer's natural voice, and I have always thought this to be refreshingly artistic if used correctly, but most of the Femmes' songs only seem to suggest that the use of fourth-grade redneck grammar IS Gordon's natural voice. (Songwriting, I mean. Unfortunately, I have never heard him speak, other than a few lines during a concert.) (And apologies to all you redneck fourth-graders out there. No offense intended.) The Sound and The Fury would have been stupid if written in Chaucerian English, yes, but the only reason that Faulkner could work with language in that way is that he had more than sufficiently defined and proven his own style, so the dialogue of TSATF was justified by its sharp contrast with his voice, and only through this truly "in character." Gordon doesn't do that. Yes, some of his songs are intended to be narrated by a character other than Gordon, but he uses double-negatives (for instance) so often that they would not seem out of place in any of his songs. Please don't make me start collecting examples. It should be obvious that Gordon only has one voice that is used in every song, and that voice doesn't change, even when he is singing in character. I really don't mean any offense by this, but I find this to be quite an interesting discussion. Don't get me wrong. I love Gordon. I love the Femmes, and I love every song they have ever produced. (Yes, even Love and Me Makes Three. In a way.) I love Harlan Ellison too, but he couldn't write a song if Mefisto threatened him with ten thousand years in Purgatory watching the same three episodes of 'Perfect Strangers' if he didn't. Everyone has their own thing. Gordon Gano is a musician. Meaning and structure to the lyrics are secondary (or probably even tertiary) to what really is the essance of a Femmes song, which is how it sounds and the emotional response it can create. Okay? Are we cool now? I'd appreciate hearing what the rest of youse think, even if you can only agree with me. Later. - Jeff Jeffrey_Wilson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More Compilations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ hey pat blister in the sun is also on the cd: Just Can't get Enough: New wave Hits of the 80's vol.9 nick parr parr -Pat. Says: I guess Kathryn is compiling both solo and compilation lists on her webpage. Would you be so good as to add this one, please? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~