The Minor Fall, The Major Lifthttp://intonation.blogspot.com/
― TMFTML (TMFTML), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 14:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
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.
― earlnash, Tuesday, 24 September 2002 17:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 27 September 2002 22:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
(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.)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Trip Maker (Sean Witzman), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:42 (nineteen years ago) link
Anyone knocked out by the new Gillian Welch collab?
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― danh (danh), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 January 2005 18:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 21 January 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 21 January 2005 19:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― danh (danh), Friday, 21 January 2005 19:10 (nineteen years ago) link
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.
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Friday, 21 January 2005 19:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 21 January 2005 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link
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.
― Gator Magoon (Chris Barrus), Friday, 21 January 2005 23:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gator Magoon (Chris Barrus), Friday, 21 January 2005 23:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tom May (Tom May), Friday, 21 January 2005 23:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Cunga (Cunga), Wednesday, 6 July 2005 23:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ian Riese-Moraine has been xeroxed into a conduit! (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 7 July 2005 00:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 7 July 2005 00:21 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― tylerw, Thursday, 7 July 2005 01:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― tylerw, Thursday, 7 July 2005 01:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jamey Lewis (Jameys Burning), Thursday, 7 July 2005 02:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― chief of chaff (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 7 July 2005 02:24 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― milton parker (Jon L), Thursday, 7 July 2005 06:23 (eighteen years ago) link
http://s25.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1VM7K048PQ0GF268VGEO0NXEHR
― Cunga (Cunga), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 08:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― zeus, Tuesday, 30 August 2005 08:21 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― Nick Wilson, Friday, 2 June 2006 05:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 2 June 2006 09:20 (seventeen years ago) link
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".
― Emily B (Emily B), Friday, 15 September 2006 05:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 15 September 2006 18:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Friday, 15 September 2006 20:35 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 15 September 2006 20:58 (seventeen years ago) link
― Randall Weeber (yoyoweb), Saturday, 16 September 2006 01:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Saturday, 16 September 2006 03:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― zeus (zeus), Saturday, 16 September 2006 10:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― clotpoll (Clotpoll), Saturday, 16 September 2006 16:01 (seventeen years ago) link
Soft Boys: Of course Underwater, and I really liked Nextdoorland, but their earliest stuff is too raw for me.
― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Saturday, 16 September 2006 17:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 16 September 2006 18:35 (seventeen years ago) link
I'm not the first one to mention it...I think Trouser Press says this too, but Respect is kind of a great lost RH album and a great comeback after the overproduced Perspex Island. (Recently downloaded the Perspex demos, and am finally enjoying these songs stripped of some of the gloss.)
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:14 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:18 (seventeen years ago) link
I was just going to ask you where you found the Perspex demos. I saw him in LA a couple times when he was still working on the Perspex material and I've always like the original versions better than what turned up on the album.
― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 16 September 2006 22:44 (seventeen years ago) link
Two words: Paul Fox.
― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 17 September 2006 02:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ficky Stingers (Bimble...), Sunday, 17 September 2006 08:42 (seventeen years ago) link
Well I got word he's to have a new album out with a new band. It's called Ole Tarantula I think, something like that.
― Ficky Stingers (Bimble...), Sunday, 17 September 2006 08:44 (seventeen years ago) link
― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Monday, 18 September 2006 00:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― dan. (dan.), Monday, 9 October 2006 14:17 (seventeen years ago) link
I blathered on and on (without saying much at all) about it here. Normally I don't self-promote, but I didn't feel like rehashing it all in condensed form.
― EZ Snappin (EZSnappin), Monday, 9 October 2006 15:08 (seventeen years 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
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:
!
― 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 (eight months ago) link
Awfully tragic -- did see note indicates she had a brother.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 13 August 2023 16:49 (eight 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 (eight months ago) link
Oh how sad, I was hoping she could beat it.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 13 August 2023 19:33 (eight 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 (eight 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 (eight months ago) link
Brutal, so sad.
― tylerw, Sunday, 13 August 2023 22:05 (eight 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 (eight months ago) link
that is so beautiful
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Sunday, 13 August 2023 22:53 (eight 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 (eight months ago) link
What a remarkable tribute
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Monday, 14 August 2023 01:41 (eight 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 (seven months ago) link