Queen Elvis has some duds, but I love "wax doll," "veins of the queen" and "swirling" in addition to the ones you mentioned.
I think its absence on streaming is just that A&M is kind of a mess rights-wise? That's why those Robyn A&M records have never been reissued.
― tylerw, Thursday, 22 September 2022 17:14 (one year ago) link
Exactly. That’s a strong list KM! You have good taste in RH songs!
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 22 September 2022 18:47 (one year ago) link
thank you! it's hard to go wrong with RH, though. i came away very impressed with his consistency over the years. even the lesser ones generally have at least a few really strong tracks that make it worth revisiting
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 22 September 2022 18:55 (one year ago) link
I'm always finding stuff in his catalog that I've overlooked — like this week, I was blown away by this one, a late 80s outtake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DqdrUrgqPc
― tylerw, Thursday, 22 September 2022 19:05 (one year ago) link
oh and hey, I interviewed Robyn this week! Last time I did that was 20 years ago!
― tylerw, Thursday, 22 September 2022 19:06 (one year ago) link
Those Yep Roc box sets were supposedly great. I wasn't yet a fan so I settled for getting the album reissues one by one as I got to know his music.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 22 September 2022 19:28 (one year ago) link
yeah, they're pretty nicely done — his stuff has been reissued so much over the years, it's hard to say what the "definitive" versions of a bunch of his albums really are. But the yep roc ones are pretty close?
― tylerw, Thursday, 22 September 2022 19:45 (one year ago) link
for me the rhino series is definitive. The Yep Roc are good except the egyptians studio items are too louderized - i don't want morris' kick drum to momentarily wipe out the sustain of every other instrument every time it hits. If you had the yep roc boxes and the rhinos of fegmania and element you'd be sitting pretty IMO
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 22 September 2022 21:36 (one year ago) link
tyler where is the interview gonna be... and do you have any shareable thoughts on Shufflemania?
So Karl when you announced your RH jag earlier this summer i got inspired to try to make my definitive RH/SBs comp. This became a two month obsessive hitch-hole in which I went through several cycles of culling. I never did get it down to a single CD or even a double CD. I made it to 53 tracks before it became too excruciating to delete anything more.
Here is the tracklist for A Deck Of Cones - The Best Of Robyn Hitchcock:
I Want To Be An Anglepoise Lamp (7" version) (Soft Boys 1976-1981 2CD)Salamander (Soft Boys 1976-1981 2CD)Human Music (A Can Of Bees)The Pigworker (A Can Of Bees)The Asking Tree (Invisible Hits)Insanely Jealous (Underwater Moonlight)Underwater Moonlight (Underwater Moonlight)Only The Stones Remain (Underwater Moonlight bonus)The Lizard (Black Snake Diamond Role)Acid Bird (Black Snake Diamond Role)Mr. Deadly (Invisible Hitchcock or I Wanna Go Backwards)Flavor of Night (I Often Dream Of Trains)Sounds Great When You're Dead (I Often Dream Of Trains)Winter Love (I Often Dream Of Trains)Autumn Is Your Last Chance (I Often Dream Of Trains)I Often Dream Of Trains (I Often Dream Of Trains)Victorian Squid (You and Oblivion or I Wanna Go Backwards)I'm Only You (Fegmania!)Insect Mother (Fegmania!)The Cars She Used To Drive (live Gotta Let This Hen Out)52 Stations (Kershaw Sessions version)The Abandoned Brain (Invisible Hitchcock)Winchester (Element Of Light)Airscape (Element Of Light)The Leopard (Element Of Light bonus)The Ghost Ship (You and Oblivion)She Reached For A Light (You and Oblivion)Chinese Bones (A Globe Of Frogs)A Globe Of Frogs (A Globe Of Frogs)Wax Doll (Queen Elvis)Freeze (Queen Elvis)Aquarium (Eye)Lysander (Perspex Island)Birds In Perspex (Kershaw Sessions version)Arms Of Love (Respect)Egyptian Cream (live version from Rhino ed. of Fegmania - or live version from Live At Cambridge Folk Festival)Filthy Bird (Moss Elixir)I Am Not Me (Moss Elixir)Glass Hotel (Storefront Hitchcock)1974 (A Star For Bram)I Feel Beautiful (Jewels For Sophia)No, I Don't Remember Guildford (Jewels For Sophia)Mr. Kennedy (Nextdoorland)Creeped Out (Spooked)Sometimes A Blonde (Spooked)Museum of Sex (Ole Tarantula)Goodnight Oslo (Goodnight Oslo)John in the Air (Propellor Time)The Abyss (Tromso Kaptein)Strawberries Dress (Live at the Troubadour LA from archive.org because the production on the Love From London version sucks - killer song though)Mad Shelley's Letterbox (Robyn Hitchcock)Autumn Sunglasses (Robyn Hitchcock)
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:01 (one year ago) link
nice! thanks for sharing
― budo jeru, Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:29 (one year ago) link
robyn interview will be on aquarium drunkard in a couple weeks. shufflemania is good! maybe one or two songs I'm not wild about, but good overall production, really nice vocals. he sounds pretty lively!
― tylerw, Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:40 (one year ago) link
!
― budo jeru, Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:40 (one year ago) link
xp cool, link it here when up plz
― budo jeru, Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:41 (one year ago) link
Awesome, Jon! That’s for a bunch of songs I can’t immediately remember, I will be going through that today and tomorrow looking for gold :)
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 22 September 2022 22:52 (one year ago) link
I rely on my brother for all my Robyn Hitchcock knowledge, and I've only heard like 1/3 of these songs, but one that I really like that I haven't seen mentioned is "Solpadeine."
― Lear, Tolstoy, and the Jack of Hearts (Lily Dale), Thursday, 22 September 2022 23:55 (one year ago) link
That’s for a bunch of songs I can’t immediately remember...
this is one of the most confusing things i've ever written, and that is hard to do. sorry about that!
what i meant was, there are a bunch of songs in your playlist that I don't think I'm familiar with, so I'll be looking forward to listening!
― Karl Malone, Friday, 23 September 2022 00:02 (one year ago) link
"veins of the queen"
Forgot to say, having this song in my head over the past week led me back to Queen Elvis! Would love if somehow A&M allows a deluxe edition sometime, given how good the live versions of these songs can be.
― The self-titled drags (Eazy), Friday, 23 September 2022 17:25 (one year ago) link
Yeah, the live stuff from the "Luminous Groove" box is ace.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 23 September 2022 19:03 (one year ago) link
Also the B-side from that album, “Ruling Class”… rules
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Friday, 23 September 2022 19:33 (one year ago) link
Other odds and ends I'd recommend:
Innocent Boy (Soft Boys)The Face of Death (live Gotta Let This Hen Out)ToadboyAugust HairThe Beauty of Earl's CourtDe Chirico Street (alt version from Mossy Liquor)Each of Her Silver WandsPulse of My Heart (Soft Boys - Nextdoorland)I'm FallingSan Francisco PatrolTime Coast
― JoeStork, Friday, 23 September 2022 21:13 (one year ago) link
seconding "san francisco patrol" — I think that's my favorite song of his from the past decade or so...
― tylerw, Friday, 23 September 2022 21:22 (one year ago) link
where is "Do Policemen Sing?" u savages
these later period recommendations are helpful, thx
both the Yep Roc boxes rule, I have 'em
― sleeve, Friday, 23 September 2022 21:29 (one year ago) link
Oh yeah Do Policemen Sing rules.
― JoeStork, Friday, 23 September 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
at long last — https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2022/11/07/robyn-hitchcock-the-aquarium-drunkard-interview-2/
I think it turned out OK!
― tylerw, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:19 (one year ago) link
how's the new album? I guess I could listen to it.
― akm, Monday, 7 November 2022 17:15 (one year ago) link
when is someone gonna reissue the Soft Boys "Live At The Portland Arms" record? I love that thing and it's never even been on CD.
― sleeve, Monday, 7 November 2022 17:16 (one year ago) link
thought the new one was pretty middling tbh
― ciderpress, Monday, 7 November 2022 17:17 (one year ago) link
Tyler - great interview, particularly liked the question and his answer about singing songs written 40 years ago. I've had other songwriters say basically the same thing to me, that the best songs reveal different aspects as the years go by.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 7 November 2022 20:34 (one year ago) link
Thanks! Love talking to Robyn, he's definitely a thoughtful guy.
I think his new one is a grower maybe — a handful of duds, but that's sort of par for the course. Really love "The Man Who Loves The Rain" and "Feathery Serpent God" ...
― tylerw, Tuesday, 8 November 2022 20:01 (one year ago) link
Maisie, Robyn’s only child, has passed away four years after a stage 4 ovarian cancer diagnosis; she was 47. He wrote something beautiful and devastating on Instagram.
― realistic pillow (Jon not Jon), Sunday, 13 August 2023 16:18 (ten months ago) link
Awfully tragic -- did see note indicates she had a brother.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 13 August 2023 16:49 (ten months ago) link
I read that, it was very sweet and sad. Don't know anything about his personal life beyond his current relationship with Emma Swift, but I like to imagine he was a fun dad.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 13 August 2023 18:11 (ten months ago) link
Oh how sad, I was hoping she could beat it.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 13 August 2023 19:33 (ten months ago) link
I remember some strange interview way back when between Robyn and a teenage Maisie, it was in Spin Magazine or something similar, they seemed to have a lovely mutual appreciation of the surreal.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 13 August 2023 20:39 (ten months ago) link
yeah, nickn pasted from facebook to Rolling Obits, where there was no response so far, deserves to be preserved here:
From his fb post:Maisie Hitchcock 1976 - 2023My daughter Maisie Emerald Hitchcock passed gently out of this life on the evening of Wednesday August 9th. She was born on the first warm day of the year, April 17th, in Cambridge, and died as night fell in Sussex last week. She had Peritoneal Cancer, a rare form of Ovarian.Maisie was vital. From the perspective of only three days, I can feel how unique she was: very much her own person with her own take on life. There was no filter between her feelings and the outside world. Her undiluted Maisie-ness and her deep dark eyes gave her a magical charisma which attracted her many friends. She was fiery at times, almost combustible: she didn’t just smoulder - she was an ingot of crimson heat, and so she loved to douse herself in water, swimming in lakes and pools and oceans. Maisie fed on art, music, thought and the wild open air. And comedy: she and I spent many hours together in Python Land, and she introduced me to the Mighty Boosh. I have lost, too, my fellow Ferry connoisseur - we did a *lot* of Bryan Ferry over the decades.But Maisie also fed on food (she loved her food, so she did), and one of the sad and terrible effects of the cancer that she held at bay for nearly three years (despite being diagnosed with Stage 4 in autumn 2020) was that she could eat less and less. She remained feisty and optimistic for the longest time, until this summer she bravely faced up to the inevitable and discontinued her chemotherapy treatment. I was glad to be able to visit her most days in her final two months. We had some laughs, some arguments and a lot of philosophy: Mais and I could both wander the labyrinths of the mind for hours.Almost the last word she said to me was “Pangolin” before she curled away and sank back into her morphine cocoon. My phone revealed this to be an endangered species of anteater, with a scaly dragon tail. Pangolin! I mean - jeez, what an utterance - what way to go…Tears are back in my eyes. Thank you for being my daughter, Mais. You were special, vibrant and lovely.I’m sending out love to all who loved and cared for Maisie, especially her mum Rosalind and brother Jack. Also the nurses and doctors at the Wiltshaw Ward in the Marsden Hospital in Chelsea and then at St. Peter & St. James Hospice in Sussex.“Is there a heaven? I’d like to think so.”
Maisie Hitchcock 1976 - 2023My daughter Maisie Emerald Hitchcock passed gently out of this life on the evening of Wednesday August 9th. She was born on the first warm day of the year, April 17th, in Cambridge, and died as night fell in Sussex last week. She had Peritoneal Cancer, a rare form of Ovarian.Maisie was vital. From the perspective of only three days, I can feel how unique she was: very much her own person with her own take on life. There was no filter between her feelings and the outside world. Her undiluted Maisie-ness and her deep dark eyes gave her a magical charisma which attracted her many friends. She was fiery at times, almost combustible: she didn’t just smoulder - she was an ingot of crimson heat, and so she loved to douse herself in water, swimming in lakes and pools and oceans. Maisie fed on art, music, thought and the wild open air. And comedy: she and I spent many hours together in Python Land, and she introduced me to the Mighty Boosh. I have lost, too, my fellow Ferry connoisseur - we did a *lot* of Bryan Ferry over the decades.
But Maisie also fed on food (she loved her food, so she did), and one of the sad and terrible effects of the cancer that she held at bay for nearly three years (despite being diagnosed with Stage 4 in autumn 2020) was that she could eat less and less. She remained feisty and optimistic for the longest time, until this summer she bravely faced up to the inevitable and discontinued her chemotherapy treatment. I was glad to be able to visit her most days in her final two months. We had some laughs, some arguments and a lot of philosophy: Mais and I could both wander the labyrinths of the mind for hours.
Almost the last word she said to me was “Pangolin” before she curled away and sank back into her morphine cocoon. My phone revealed this to be an endangered species of anteater, with a scaly dragon tail. Pangolin! I mean - jeez, what an utterance - what way to go…Tears are back in my eyes. Thank you for being my daughter, Mais. You were special, vibrant and lovely.
I’m sending out love to all who loved and cared for Maisie, especially her mum Rosalind and brother Jack. Also the nurses and doctors at the Wiltshaw Ward in the Marsden Hospital in Chelsea and then at St. Peter & St. James Hospice in Sussex.
“Is there a heaven? I’d like to think so.”
― dow, Sunday, 13 August 2023 21:47 (ten months ago) link
Brutal, so sad.
― tylerw, Sunday, 13 August 2023 22:05 (ten months ago) link
Yeah--in part because of the beauty, his most expressive writing that I've seen---didn't know anything about her, but I feel like I do now. Rock on Maisie, pangolin and all!
― dow, Sunday, 13 August 2023 22:42 (ten months ago) link
that is so beautiful
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 13 August 2023 22:53 (ten months ago) link
Ach, I'm crying. So sad. Thanks for posting.
― three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Sunday, 13 August 2023 23:32 (ten months ago) link
What a remarkable tribute
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Monday, 14 August 2023 01:41 (ten months ago) link
Good lord, what an awful year for the family.
My lovely wife has been through hell this summer. Please read this thread. https://t.co/DtGMqmWsux— Robyn Hitchcock (@RobynHitchcock) September 28, 2023
― JoeStork, Friday, 29 September 2023 23:12 (eight months ago) link