THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #235 - April 18, 1997
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR, Issue #235
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Topics for Today:
BFF in Australia
Sellout? What's that?
BFF
BFF, Enigma and Fanny Packs
Re: THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR, Issue #231
It's me again
Yo, CHICAGO SHOW!
Battle of Who Could Care Less B-Sides
florida fans and music midtown
Steven's Lyrics...
Re:my take on the new CD
mailing list and e-pal
Detroit Show April 25th
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 03:18:28 +1000
From: Cairns Family <cairns@c031.aone.net.au>
Subject: BFF in Australia
This is my first message as I only discovered "The Magical Armchair" a few
nights ago, while trying to get to the BFF web page(which, incidently, I am
having alot of trouble getting to - Can anyone help me?). Anyway, I was
reading in Issue #231 and Sarah mentioned that her flatmates sister said
that BFF were really popular in Australia. I thought that maybe you would
all be interested to know just how popular they are!
In Australia, we have a radio station called Triple J. It is a national
radio station, which reaches every capital city and hundreds of regional
areas. It is a government-run radio station but it is the leader in
independant music and is the highest rating radio station in the country.
Triple J picked up "Underground" with both hands and gave it heaps of
airtime. BFF have been a feature of the "Request Fest" (a nightly
programme where the listners pick the tunes) ever since and whatever Triple
J does, the commercial radio stations follow. Soon BFF was on every radio
station.
The biggest indication of BFF's popularity came at the end on the year
during the "Hot 100" (Triple J's countdown of the year's biggest songs, as
voted by the visitners). "Undergound" came in at No.3!!!! It was only
beaten by Tool and an Australian Band called Spiderbait. Now,
"Whatever..." has just been released and "Battle..." get played by the "J"
at least three or four times a day and is always on the "Request Fest". Us
Aussies can not get enough of these guys!
I envy you all who have seen BFF live. Any band that creates that much
energy on record must be amazing live. I only hope that the guys realise
the following they have Down Under and that they come and visit us soon.
Cheers (it's great to meet other BFF fans).
Janelle - cairns@c031.aone.net.au
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 14:53:05 -0500
From: Greg Gaspard <ggg@flash.net>
Subject: Sellout? What's that?
All this talk of "BFF should not go mainstream" is getting a little out of
hand. Peep this: Everybody who plays music wants as many people to dig
their stuff as possible. Period. I don't care how "indie" you are, if you
play music, you want people at your shows. You want to be able to afford to
make your living playing music, instead of pumping gas or slingin' hash.
Just because a group has tapped into the "mainstream" by getting a good
booking agent (oh, the shame), signing with a record company that knows how
to promote bands (how vulgar) and playing music that people actually LIKE
(how dare they), does NOT mean they sold their souls to Satan (or Sony, for
that matter). They are simply starting to enjoy success.
And guess what? By being grassroots and passing the music along to others
by word of mouth and even this list, WE started it all. If we had just kept
our fool mouths shut, nobody woulda even heard of BFF and the boys would be
working at the Gap in Chapel Hill right now. Great for us, but it would
suck for us. Musicians cannot make a living in obscurity, therefore they
have to work, instead of being able to work on their craft and improve as
musicians.
Dan (or Martha) in Chapel Hill bemoans the fact that some of the guys in
the Squirrel Nut Zippers had to quit their jobs working in a restaurant.
Such a blow for the food service industry, eh? I say, musicians should be
able to make a living playing music (which entails touring the world and
elsewhere). Asking musicians to stay in one town to play the same tired
clubs over and over and not earn a decent living is selfish, shortsighted
and greedy. Share your toys, kiddies...
My 5 cents (adjusted for inflation).
_______________________________________________________________________
"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. "
- Groucho Marx
"Why get your news from seasoned professionals when you can get
half-witted rumors from random strangers?"
- Joel Achenbach
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 16:20:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ace900@aol.com
Subject: BFF
Does anyone have any addresses of BFF bootleg tape traders? I'm looking to
start a collection, but I could only bargain with tapes from other bands or
two for one trades.
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 08:08:52 +1000
From: "Driver, Emma" <Emma.Driver@Butterworths.com.au>
Subject: BFF, Enigma and Fanny Packs
Might seem like a tenuous connection, but someone at my work had this
Engima CD (MCMXC A.D. "The Limited Edition") and she says to me, "I
think this might be Ben Folds Five." So I listen and sure enough the CD
ROM drive on my computer recognises it as "Ben Folds Five" and the CD
says it should be Enigma. Anyway, Penny from work gave me the CD because
it was, in her words, "like getting a cup of coffee when you asked for a
cup of tea." I can see the comparison: tea's a little staid and
civilised, but coffee wakes you up ... I don't know whether anyone else
had this happen to them but it's a very good kind of subversion ...
And by the way, if BFF play anything called "Fanny Packs" in Australia
they could be misinterpreted, considering what anatomical part 'fanny'
refers to over here (anyone who doesn't know can email me personally and
I'll break it to them gently) ...
ed
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 17:09:10 -0500
From: Jason Miller <jasonchibari@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR, Issue #231
> Okay, can anyone tell me the reasoning behind the word "Army" after the
> title "Kate" in the "Whatever" booklet?
>
This relates to the KISS army of the 70's. As in the band KISS
Jay Superstar Miller
jasonchibari@mindspring.com
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 22:48:27 +0100
From: paul.leung@virgin.net
Subject: It's me again
I wrote about two posts ago, mumbling my 2 pence like a mad man-I'm
still a madman, but some of my 2 pence has been returned-a certain anna
post mentioning that she played the piano, which was a response I was
looking for:I'm just wondering-is she alone? I too, play the piano and I
reckon that most of the people on here can also. It's only us that
really appreciate his technical skill and apparent wonderful abandon of
the Theoretical laws of harmony.
Anthony
P.S.It would be nice to acknowldge my existence this time-anybody!
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 19:32:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Yoda90210@aol.com
Subject: Yo, CHICAGO SHOW!
Chad has devised a system of catching up with eachother at the BFF show.. I
think taking a picture would be great, however, i don't know about the
Metro's camera-rules. I'm pretty sure they aren't allowed, but if anyone has
one they could bring along just in case, it'd be fun to take a board picture.
ANYHOW... i think, to meet up with eachother as we eagerly await the
promising show, we'll be doing some sort of Scooby-Dooing.
Whether it means shouting "ZOINKS!" or "Thelma is a studlet!!" at the top of
your lungs, or asking around for Shaggy, we'll be sure to find eachother.
Oh, yes.
lv,
s.
Rachels9: i think im gonna strap a bomb to myself and go do something
about this
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 18:47:19 -0400
From: Chad Sarles <wsarles@indiana.edu>
Subject: Battle of Who Could Care Less B-Sides
Hello All,
Who those of ya'll who don't have the free BOWCCL singles, I have put
the B-Sides (in mp3 format) on my page. I am sure that this will please
those who didn't get a chance to get the singles. Here is the URL:
http://php.indiana.edu/~wsarles/bffmp3.html
The weird thing is, I can only get the files to download under MS
Internet Explorer. I cannot get this page to work in Netscape at all.
The mp3 file comes up in text, which is very odd. If anyone has any
idea what the cause of this is, please tell me. I would like everyone
to be able to get these songs.
Later!
Chad
wsarles@indiana.edu
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 12:00:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jere Groover <groovej@ocps.k12.fl.us>
Subject: florida fans and music midtown
If there's anybody on the list going to the Atlanta show on May 3, email me
if you want to find a way to identify each other (name tags or buttons or
whatever) and maybe get together afterwards and do somethin' fun. Just an
idea...
You can email me privately (btw, i'm not Jere Groover, he's a generous
friend) if you're interested. If you're not, kiss off! i'm joking.
Also, any Florida fans who feel totally neglected can feel free to write me
too. If you're driving to the Atlanta show, great! Maybe we can get
directions from you, and if you're not, but you want to, but you don't have
a ride, well maybe we can work something out!
Kelly Alexander (not Groover)
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 00:38:37 -0400
From: Allan Hsu <animate2@broked.underworld.net>
Subject: Steven's Lyrics...
I don't know if this is what they're really saying, but I always thought
that refrain-type-thing was "Kick that sh*t sack!" I could very well be
wrong... non of my friends could tell me an alternate lyric;)
--
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 03:02:03 EDT
From: Stephen J Edge <caprikorn@juno.com>
Subject: Re:my take on the new CD
hello fellow armchair members. my name is stephen and this is my second
post. i have been reading the posts for the last three weeks and seen
that everybody has been dissecting every song and choosing their
favorites, least favorites, and the usual armchair stuff. i will admit i
am an obsessed fan, but i do not analyze every song, i just listen and
get shear enjoyment from hearing ben and the boys make some excellent
music. well anyway, my take on the new album is as follows: one of the
best cd's i have purchased in the last two years. i love all of the
songs, my favorites being "Steven's last night in town" (not just because
it has my name in it), "bowccl", "brick", "song for the dumped", "kate",
and "cigarette" ( listed in no particular order). i have no least
favorite songs. the cd has been getting rave reviews from almost every
magazine i have read. Spin gave it nine out of 10 (and i guarantee it
will be one of Spin's top 20 of the year, i'll put money on it!!!),
rolling stone gave it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, details gave them a 2 page
spread ( i guess that means they like them). the only magazine i have
seen that didn't like the new cd was a magazine called ray gun. listen
to this crap:
"they make it impossible not to sing along and bounce around like
a big dork. i'd love to
love them openly but god, i have only been at the cool table for
a few years myself"
Can you believe this sh*t!?!? this person (mindy labernz) also states
that the only reason bf5 is at the "cool table" is because the slipped in
on a technicality, being on caroline records. well do you know what?
SCREW MINDY LABERNZ AND THE DAMN COOL TABLE. BF5 WILL FIND ANOTHER TABLE
TO EAT AT!!!!!
man that felt good. that was all of the hostility left over from the
marilyn manson show in wpb the other night (saw them for the 4th time)
AWESOME!!!!!!
oh and anybody who reads this who is in charge of booking bf5 for shows
(if those guys read this)
PLEASE GET BF5 TO SOUTH FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!! How about the carefree
theater in west palm beach? bf5 was there last year. i must see them
live. thank you for your time.
well that is it
BURN THE COOL TABLE
from stephen (CapriKorn@juno.com)
==============================================================================
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:56:26 GMT+1000
From: AMITA TANDUKAR <atandu01@major-mitchell.mit.csu.edu.au>
Subject: mailing list and e-pal
Hi! I'm really impressed with the armchair, I think it's a great
idea. Me and my bro love BBF, both albums. My fav at the mo is Brick,
but that might change tomorrow!
I hope they come out to Australia soon, does anyone know if they are
planning to?
Also I was wondering if there is anyone out there in cyberspace that
would like to be my e-pal. I'm a 18 year old girl from Sydney,
Australia. I'm currently stuck in Bathurst, a country town, because I
go to uni here and frankly there isn't much to do. Except for
listening to BBF which isn't such a bad life! So I'll write
regularly.
I'd love to hear from anyone at: atandu01@postoffice.csu.edu.au.
Amita :)
Amita :)
atandu01@major-mitchell.mit.csu.edu.au
==============================================================================
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 08:20:11 -0400
From: Matt Davio <buoy12@earthlink.net>
Subject: Detroit Show April 25th
Anyone out there going to the Detroit show @ St. Andrew's and want to
meet before or after?
Matt
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Everyday she wears the same thing