Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

Short answer: both classic.

As for Robyn's solo stuff, I'd have to say its a mixed bad. In fact, I can't even point to one album that's all classic. But there's so much great stuff scrambled in there that its hard to dismiss any of them totally. Probablly my favorites would be GLOBE OF FROGS, EYE, ELEMENT OF LIGHT, and QUEEN ELVIS. That looks like mostly mid-period Hitchcock to me.

But for a career, I'd give Robyn in his various guises a CLASSIC.

Dud: Never heard a single solitary note, so I wdn't know. Naturally I hate him.

But Underwater Moonlight is somethig else. I Wanna Destroy You is an alltime winner. I also really like He's A Reptile.

haven't heard soft boys myself but will pick it up if i see it.

The Minor Fall, The Major Lift
http://intonation.blogspot.com/

The rest of The Soft Boys and Hitchcock's output is very hit and miss.

The only Hitchcock album that I have heard that is consistent front to back is "Globe of Frogs". I used to have a few others from that time period, but there would generally only be a song or two worth hearing and the rest pretty dull. It has been a long time since I have heard any of this music.

Hitchcock seemed to put out a record every six months for a few years back in the day, which is probably a primary reason why they are kind of spotty.

(Wonder why I never posted on this thread before? Been listening to the Rykodisc reissues and the 2-disc overview of Soft Boys stuffage all week.)

Anyone knocked out by the new Gillian Welch collab?

I guess I like "Element of Light" all right, and there are times I put on "Mossy Liquor" or "Moss Elixor" or whatever that's called depending on whether you have the LP or CD. RH is good, kind of a one-trick drugged pony ride though. I probably still prefer Syd Barrett or John Lennon, though.

It's kinda strange. I do like it - not necessarily knocked out though. It had this implicit "this is Robyn's grown-up serious record" feeling to it. Almost if it's in reaction to the relatively freewheeling Luxor album.

i'd say that the best way to experience robyn these days is to see him live--he's got such a wealth of great songs at this stage in his career. And usually, the more recent songs sound better in person than they do on record. there are a few live shows on archive.org's live music database if you're curious.

also worth seeking out is the soft boys' live at portland arms LP (some of which is on the ryko overview). hilarious and unplugged.

and ned, it sounds as though we were probably at the same mccabes show in 1995--i think my friend and i were the only teenagers in the house. if you ever digitize your tape, i'd love to relive it.

He's one of two people I ever asked for an autograph. Philip Glass was not in a good mood when I walked up, 15 years old & nervous, having spotted him in the lobby during the intermission to the Knee Plays... can't blame him for scowling at me. Robyn on the other hand was impossibly cool about the awkward situation, saying while signing my copy of Trains "well y'know it's no good having heroes, especially once you get to know them and realize they have all the same problems..." I assured him that was the point.

http://s25.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1VM7K048PQ0GF268VGEO0NXEHR

As for Robyn Hitchcock, his first album, Black Snake Diamond Role continued the Soft Boys course honorably - "Acid Bird" especially is classic. Also, his third, I Often Dreamt of Trains is excellent too. Hilarious (and very British) songs like "Uncorrected Personality Traits" and "Sometimes I Wish I Were a Pretty Girl" (..so I could ---- myself in the shower..) sit next to absolutely gorgeous quiet and sad songs. His 80s and 90s stuff gets a bit too slick for my tastes, losing its classic edge - some good moments though. Haven't heard his most recent stuff...mixed bag, as other said.

anyway: classic. i heard solo hitchcock first, and have always had a preference for the early stuff, though i did snag a copy of "spooked" and found it quite entertaining. the 90's stuff often bores me, though certainly "moss elixir" has it moments. but "trains" and "fegmania!" are my favorites.

soft boys, also classic. picked up the matador rerelease of "underwater moonlight" when it came out and loved it. played that this evening in lieu of "i often dream of trains".

He played at Oberlin when I was there to a small crowd and encored with Autumn is Your Last Chance.

I also have a severe soft-spot for Queen Elvis.

i haven't gotten to Element of Light yet!

getting very close though, will be later tonight i think

I think “out of the picture” is the most soft boys thing on black snake. Either that or I watch the cars

For me his “bonus tracks” are forever cemented as the ones Rhino put on the 90s reissues (and though element of light may or may not be his best album, the rhino cd of it with bonus tracks is certainly his best cd, IMO)

Karl you spun me out into creating my definitive fake rh box set and I spent all day on it (sorry employer)

Of course it’s mp3s in folders rather than a “playlist”

I’ve got all the tracks selected and I’m grouping them now. It’s too long though, I want to make another pass and see if I can get to an under four hour (“3cd”) version

xp yeah the live version of "airscape" on the rhino reissue is beyond beautiful. don't think it's on anything else ... can't even find it on youtube.

As a result I came across a previously unlistened to track from a VA compilation- “Crumble To Dust” - which fucking slays

Waittaminit Tyler - are you sure that’s on rhino? Mine has the b-sides, a couple of demos, and THE CAN OPENER

these are the ones on my rhino CD

Rhino CD reissue bonus tracks
"The Black Crow Knows"
"The Crawling"
"The Leopard"
"Tell Me About Your Drugs"
"The Can Opener"
"Raymond Chandler Evening" (Demo)
"The President" (Demo)
"If You Were a Priest" (Demo)
"Airscape" (Live)
"The Leopard" (Demo)

the "raymond chandler evening" demo is insanely great too

Jesus did I not rip that track back in the day when I imported EoL or something? I totally forgot it existed!

Yes, the Raymond chandler demo is my preferred version

The horns <3

I'm getting drunk inside my house again.

yeah, Element of Light rules, a standout for me so far. i was listening without looking at the playlist, and about a minute into "Airscape" i knew what it was. That's going to be an instant fave of mine as well, i think, i love it. it's one of those songs that i swear i had heard before, but i hadn't. it reminds me of "Tonight" from Underwater Moonlight in that quality, in that it sounds like this massive pop hit that we all love and remember or something. it sounds like the soundtrack to the end of a movie where the people you're rooting for win and they actually deserve it without any sort of cruel twisted dagger of irony that makes it hard for you to enjoy their victory. no, they just win because they deserved and "Airscape" plays as it goes to credits. also, it has the title of the album in it, and you know what that means.

"Somewhere Apart" reminds me very much of "Remember" from Plastic Ono Band, with the same chords and kind of relentless stomp, and of course, RH (which, to be clear, stands for Radiohead) sounding quite a bit like Lennon himself. i love Lennon's voice and I love this song too. RH gives a very good performance. Lennon got very lazy and boring and drunk, very quickly, i think. this is like when he still gave a shit. reminds me a bit of nilsson as well for similar reasons.

i still haven't read through much of this thread, but i saw morbs early on and smiled. i also smiled as i listened to "The President". i bet morbs liked that one. :)

i like the guitar solo at 4:00 into Lady Waters, rock and roll!

"The Leopard" is really, really good - it shares a partial melody with the Stone Roses' "Waterfall", and the snare kicks in at just the right time. mmhmm. i also really like the harmonies/multitracked backup vox throughout. Soft Boys / Egyptians vocal harmonies are generally really great, going back to the beginning.

anyway, going to bed but i'll definitely be revisiting Element of Light.

has there ever been a soft boys / hitchcock giganto poll?

oh, also "If you were a priest" is a cool opener, i love it. the single from the LP, i think?

Yeah, backed with The Crawling

"If You Were a Priest" already shows signs of writing to character but what a riff, as ever.

There’s never been an RH/SB ballot poll. I’ve contemplated doing a song by song thread

That (song by song) was done quite well over on the Hoffman board. Definitely an insider or two participated.

oh i'll read that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_-88nKetZA

fegmania! is really something else. i mean, it is, on many levels, just flatly ridiculous. they write "heaven", a song which, sitting here 35 years later listening to it for the first time, sounds like it belongs on mid-80s radio, a stratospheric hit. the chorus even kind of annoys me a little bit - it starts to sound a little too MOR for me. but regardless, the chorus bugs me in a way that should point toward sacrifices made for popular appeal.

and then, they put the shepard tone in. the audio illusion that sounds like the frequency is getting higher and higher (even as lower frequencies are always being reintroduced and faded in as the higher ones fade). not once. not twice. but THREE FUCKING TIMES, the SHEPARD TONE! that is a level of commitment that is just kind of mindboggling, and they did it on their chance at a big pop hit! i fucking love that

then, following that, you have a straight up rip of the beatles "if i needed someone" which, just before you check to see if it's a straight up cover, quickly shifts into the land of byrds 12-strings and harmonies land, which is already what the Rubber Soul Beatles were referencing

"my wife and my dead wife" is just something else, too. very odd song, and it reminds me very much of Magazine.

i went looking for Christgau's opinion of RH and the soft boys. all he has is a [scissors icon] rating for Jewels for Sophia, which he rated [scissors icon], and then the following entry from his 1980s "Subjects for Further Research", which seems to be referencing the above. doesn't look like he ever further researched:

Hitchcock is the kind of English eccentric who becomes impossible to bear when he's taken up by American Anglophiles. I admired the Soft Boys' 1980 Underwater Moonlight and Robyn's own 1981 Black Snake Diamond Role from a distance, but my enthusiasm dimmed as he and his Egyptians became college-radio idols, and once I noticed the one about the guy who keeps his wife's corpse around for company, his considerable talent meant nothing to me. I have no doubt that scattered among his albums are songs strong enough to withstand his professional-oddball attentions, and if I were more spiritually advanced I might even swallow my prejudices and learn to enjoy him for what he is. Which is what? A rock and roll cross between H.P. Lovecraft and Kingsley Amis? Way too kind, but that's as much thought as I intend to give the matter.

"The Man with the Lightbulb Head" is just outstanding

love this soft boys photo

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/5207/Soft_Boys_picture1_1288611843.jpg

That’s the classic Morris pic. He looks like bad news!

Xgau goes too far but "My Wife and My Dead Wife" is kinda stupid tbh

Fegmania was my first one. It was new, Greg of Rockhead’s in downtown St Paul, who resembled John Waite and had urged Huskers on me, said I needed to have it. Slash Records cassette.

It’s such a color riot of quivering party psych

I associate it closely with The Top in some way

I guess it was never too likely that the Egyptians would retain a full time keybs guy for the long haul but I REALLY enjoy Roger’s contributions to this record.

I actually don’t have a ton of time for “Heaven” - for me “Cream” “Lightbulb” “Bubble” “Mother” and “Only” are the heart of the album

I mostly agree with Alfred on “Wife”. On almost every RH album there’s a song that’s just too cute for me. “Wife” does not make my best of, not even the “triple disc” version.

"If You Were a Priest" already shows signs of writing to character but what a riff, as ever.

I did not know until today that the Soft Boys also gave us Katrina and the Waves.

Well, yeah!

it's been said many a time, but Acid Bird is good. sounds good on Black Snake, but it also sounded great on this version with the egyptians on Whistle Test that i was watching, several years later

Fun in the sun, luck in the bloodstream
Shallow bodies writhing on the grass
Fun in the sun, hair in the slipstream
Tadpoles shooting through a hollow glass

i mean, what the fuck is going on here, but i love it. the melodies throughout are bonkers too

(Total aside, Jon not Jon, but I was discovering stuff at Rockheads around that time, when I was 14 or so. Bought Pere Abu's Song of the Bailing Man in the sale bin, and so much other stuff.)

Ha! That delights me truly!

Our itinerary every Saturday was St Paul Comics/Shinders/Rockheads/Town Square for food/wander around the skyways for hours

A long time ago, I saw a documentary on cable: RH & Venus 3, travelling around, playing gigs in tiny places---"backstage," if you can even call it that, more like "betweem the Men's Room and the fire exit," Buck was looking cross and sleepy and saying what a good time he was having without "my other band," who made such a big deal of everything. At one point, in his plush Seattle apartment, Robyn was waiting for him, speaking shyly to Mrs. B, and then Buck comes out of the bedroom looking all cross and sleepy and fat as hell, and then they go play another dive---anybody know what that is??? Pretty good!

ROBYN HITCHCOCK: SEX, FOOD, DEATH....AND INSECTS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNImdQfZolQ

Oh yes I forgot, classic. Gotta Let This Hen Out reissue spoiled a little by the extra tracks though, original verison all killer.

I’ve still not seen the film actually

Oh did you just post the whole thing lol

Everything is on YouTube as Borges predicted. I am watchiing it again right now, forgot all about this one.

Is that the one I was talking about?!

Oh yeah, looks right.

It's groovy. I never saw the Demme one tho, Storefront Hitchcock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtvbfC4NFY

this was just posted a few days ago. Santa Monica, April 25, 1993.

what's great about this thread is the outside chance that one of you may have been there!

and for the freaks out there, skip to 32 minutes in for extended stage banter riffing about donald fagen

that was just before I got into Robyn — I'd see him for the first time the next year ... in Santa Monica!

Dang, too bad! There are some fun shots of the crowd in the video, too. Seems like a blast to be there. Excellent “Waterloo sunset”, too.

this was just posted a few days ago. Santa Monica, April 25, 1993.

what's great about this thread is the outside chance that one of you may have been there!

I was there! I was a few minutes late (parking in Santa Monica is always terrible) so I was in the back - I think I saw the top of my head when the camera panned to the back during the Donald Fagen section.

i KNEW donald fagen would provide the crucial connection in time and space, somehow!

that's awesome! what a cool show. was that in addition to a show at a more traditional venue or in place of one?

Yah, this was a couple days before his show at The Palace in Hollywood that he refers to at the end (which was also a terrific show). I think he was living in Los Angeles at this time (1991-1993/4 or so) during his A&M Records era so I saw him a lot - this show, several times at McCabe's, The Whiskey, CSUF's coffee bar.