THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #752 - January 14, 1998
Magical Armchair Digest Wednesday, January 14 1998 Volume 01 : Number 752
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Finally, a positive review of NBP
SNL.. and waiting at 3 am in the morning
Houston Tickets?
BAD TRADER ALERT
Bad trader
Assorted stuff
I just have to say....
NBP
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #748
Caroline Records contest
a review in kc...pitch weekly again
NYC on sale date
DC show
Japanese Sit-Com
Snl and others
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 17:29:47 PST
From: "Maria P" <goldibunny@hotmail.com>
Subject: Finally, a positive review of NBP
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Tom Moon) provides the following, I believe
the first good review of NBP outside of the Armchair, and I quote:
"Though pianist/composer Ben Fold and his trio, Ben Folds Five, have
issued only two studio albums, they've generated more than enough
material to warrant this collection of odds and ends and outtakes.
Included are several live performances that capture the balance of force
and finesse that defines this guitarless band, as well as some
adolescent goofing-off jamming (the metal riffs "The Ultimate Sacrifice"
and "Satan Is My Master") that may be interesting only to serious fans.
But there are some early singles (the spirited "Jackson Cannery")
and studio titles that were lopped off the band's eponymous debut, and
they are priceless. According to Folds' liner notes, several of the
cutting-room-floor victims were songs the band felt strongly about,
particularly the soaring "Emaline," a glorious piece of songwriting that
could easily have been a single."
So at least some reviewers get it.
Entertainment Weekly and SNL can Kiss my Ass!
Mari a
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 20:58:26 EST
From: FunShnBear <FunShnBear@aol.com>
Subject: SNL.. and waiting at 3 am in the morning
So, I went to New York, so I could show my true obsessive fan side. Anyway, I
had to wait at 3 in the frickin' morning to get tickets, and it was COLD!!
Besides the fact that I had to go to this deli, and get hit on by all these
guys. But back to Ben Folds Five. Anyway, I didn't see anyone who ACTUALLY
knew who Ben Folds Five was in the line. They were all like, yeah.. they're
that one band, that sings that one song, Brick.. right? And then I got some
really bad off key interperations of the song, which kinda made me cringe. So
finally I got my tickets, and went back to the hotel, where I patientally
waited till' 3. Well.. the band supposedly starts practicing at 3.. or around
there, but we ended up not seeing them til' like 5. Where there was this mob
of like 13 year old girls who JUMPED Ben to get his picture. And poor Darren
stood off all alone, I don't even think they recognized who they were. :( I
talked to Robert, because he recognized me from Lawrence, and then they had to
go. Well, I got into the dress rehearsal, and they played *2* songs. Dwarf,
and Brick. And on OAD, Ben said: "Don't Give Me That Doo-Doo". It was quite
funny :) The crowd didn't give them very much applause, so maybe that was why
they only got 1 song. They cut a LOT out of the skits though, believe me, they
were even more unbearable than they were on the real show. Went and waited at
1 for the to come out, they never showed, but I did get to see Molly Shannon,
and she said she has been a fan of theirs for quite a while. (The reason, she
was talkin' to Ben, and the other guys.)
Anyway, sorry for my ramblings, just thought I could share them with you :)
- - Katie
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:13:12 EST
From: RECWreck <RECWreck@aol.com>
Subject: Houston Tickets?
Hey all, have the houston BF5 tickets gone on sale yet? thanks.
Ryan
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:15:08 -0500
From: "R.C." <rchallen@clemson.campus.mci.net>
Subject: BAD TRADER ALERT
Armchair Kids,
As promised, the whistle is blown. The bad trader is:
Jason A. Masi
luckyday6@juno.com
He has posted to the Armchair before, touting the virtues of his
bootleg collection. He will ask you to send your tapes 1st, "ASAP," then
claim he never received them. Future attempts to contact him will
provide futile. I've already received confirmation from two other
Armchair-ites so we know he's pulled his scam on at least 3 people. In
short: DO NOT trade with this man!!!
Oh yeah, if he tries to badmouth me on the Armchair, I've got people
who can vouch for my tape-trade promptness AND quality. Not to mention
several other folks who'd like to kick his ass for disappearing with
their tapes.
Sorry to cast a pall on the Armchair. Please resume thinking happy
thoughts (not about SNL)...
- --rICH
p.s. oh yeah, about the whole "S/T" import thing, i.e.
>actually, if you will go to i think frank maynard's page and read the
>statement by ben about the CD, you will find out that every single >track, including the two that you mentioned, have never ever seen the >light of day until now......or am i wrong? if so, let me know....just >tryin' to help, but i know that i read him say that somewhere....
Here's what I can gather regarding Naked Baby Photos:
7 of the 16 tracks have been previously released...
- --"Eddie Walker" and the original "Jackson Cannery" on that 1st 7"
- --"Alice Childress" on the "Rare On Air Vol. 3" compilation
- --"Fannie Packs" on the "BOWCCL" import single
- --"Bad Idea (Original Demo)" on the "Kate" import single
- --"Underground" and "Satan" (Live) on the 2 "Underground" import singles
The other 9 are, indeed, unreleased, inc. the studio versions of
"Emaline" and "Tom & Mary." However, live versions of each DID appear on
the aforementioned "Summer" and "Walter" singles (now out-of-print).
IMHO, the live "Emaline" is just as good, if not better.
Sorry to be so anal... Hope that clears up any confusion I
(inadvertently) caused... And I still think $35 is too much to spend for
an import.
Visit The RICH Homepage and check out the brand-new CD,
LIFE/DEATH... 15 songs of romance and retribution...
Available independently from Desperate Man Records.
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stage/9035
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:34:45 -0500
From: cambot@juno.com
Subject: Bad trader
I'm sure that rICH has also posted about this sir already, but I figure
why not do it again? See, there's this one guy I sent a tape to about 3
or 4 weeks ago. I never got anything, so I e-mailed him a few times with
no response. Well, now it's payback time. It happens to be
luckyday6@juno.com. Don't trade with this guy until rICH & I say that
we've gotten our stuff. In case you forgot, Jason, I wanted the 11/4/97
show. Why is it that I'm always screwed by the Ben Folds Five fan
sceneone way or another? No offense to anyone on the 'chair (You're great
people, folks! And I don't know how this would offend anyone), but
everything I've tried to do involving Ben Folds Five gets screwed up in
some way. I tried to go to their show 11/1 & ended up buying the tickets
& not being able to go becuase of my parents, so I wasted $24 on nothing,
then I tried trading tapes 2 or 3 times with no luck, I ordered a shirt &
I got sent the wrong one (The Lemonheads) & a month later still haven't
gotten a replacement, my Whatever & Ever Amen album won't work in my
stereo & the people in my band hate Brick becuase it's overplayed!
ARRRRGGGHHH! Oh well, anyone honest want to trade tapes?
Steve!
PS - good thing: I got Naked Baby Photos one day in advance. Not as good
as the other 2 albums, but still a good album overall. I wanted to see
Video Killed the Radio star on it, though. I love the song Eddie Walker.
You will too, most likely.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:47:19 -0500 (EST)
From: KATY DEMCAK <KDEMCAK@WELLESLEY.EDU>
Subject: Assorted stuff
Anyone else catch Conan last week? Samuel L. Jackson was a guest, and at
the end Conan mentioned that he would be hosting SNL with musical guest BFF
, and added, "Hey, that's really great!" Maybe it was my own
interpretation, but it really seemed Conan meant BFF with that comment.
Someone asked what Entertainment Weekly gave WEAEA: an A. They loved it,
saying something like "this is everything you'd want in a band right now."
Also: what are those of you in Boston doing about the February tour?
Anyone heading to New York? I'm trying to figure out what my course of
action should be.
__________________
Katy Demcak
kdemcak@wellesley.edu http://wilbur.wellesley.edu/a-m/kdemcak/kdemcak.html
Omar: How do you know all this stuff anyway?
Jada: I read Entertainment Weekly.
--Scream 2
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:56:28 -0500 (EST)
From: Eric Patton <shirak@umich.edu>
Subject: I just have to say....
Frank, I love you, man!!!!! Even if you're a State fan, still
you're the most beautiful man I've never met. ;) Laters!
ERIC
_______________________________________________________________________________
"The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the
oak that will be cut to make the cradle of the babe who is destined to
kill me."
_______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:11:57 EST
From: Emmaline20 <Emmaline20@aol.com>
Subject: NBP
Well...I got my Entertainment Weekly today and saw the less than glowing
review of the cd. Obviously, the reviewer is on crack. At first, the review
bothered me, but then I figured who cares....if I like it, that's really all
that matters. Secondly...I walked into the local Strawberries tonight and
there, like an oasis in a desert, was Naked Baby Photos. So being the
obsessive fan I am, I snatched one right up..barely got out the door before I
was tearing the plastic off of it and immediately popped it into my cd player.
Ahhh...immediately, Eddie Walker. I'd never heard it before, and it's amazing.
All the songs are amazing! Plus, I was at the show that Ultimate Sacrifice was
taped at, so I can conjure up memories of them doing it and laugh my butt off
:) Listening to it, I suddenly didn't care whether critics liked it or not,
because they didn't put it together for them, they put it together for people
who care, the fans who will enjoy it in every possible way. I guess that's my
two cents for the night...oh yeah, still no information on this NYC thing yet?
I gotta know!! Have to make plans, driving from Amherst, MA..I need an idea of
times and tix, where to get them..yadda yadda yadda. Hopefully we all find out
soon, I'm kind of chomping at the bit if y'all know what I mean.
Sarah :)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:22:36 -0500
From: "nick doyle" <nickd@cfw.com>
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #748
well, this is my first post, but i need to correct some things...
> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 21:30:02 -0500
> From: "mike." <mikelawson@mindspring.com>
> Subject: Saturday Night live policies
>
> oh me oh my...misery.
> Saturday Night Live does indeed still suck. WHy would you not feature at
> least the cheerleaders skit when its theonly one that gets good press?
WHy
> would you screw a young band over on their first reeeeaaaly high profile
> gig on tv? and yes, playing snl is pretty damn big. Think of the
company
> they're with.
yeah, but they've also played letterman-and mtv-those shows probably get
much more exposure than snl, and letterman is probably more "prestigious"
(sp?)
> The other exception, Pearl Jam's appearence where they were the first
group
> to ever get to play three songs during the show. Of course, this was at
> the height of their poplularity during "Ten". I thought Smashing
Pumpkins
> would get to do the same but....only two. ANyway, the point is, BFF got
> the shaft.
also, pj was not the first to do this, nor were they in the middle of the
success for "ten". i remember back in '86 or so (based on comedy central
repeats), that james taylor played three songs. i believe paul simon did as
well...also, pearl jam played snl between "vs" and "vitalogy", because one
of the songs they played was "not for you"-which was from their upcoming
record-the other two were from "vs". i taped it way back when.
i know this has little bf5 content...but hey, the record comes out
tomorrow!
nick
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:28:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Frank Maynard <maynard@mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: Caroline Records contest
In case you haven't heard, Caroline Records is running a trivia contest in
conjunction with five of the BFF websites. Grand prize is a copy of "Naked
Baby Photos", an autographed laminated photo, and a copy of the import
"Where's Summer B?" single. There are other prizes as well for
runners-up. The contest starts today (Jan. 12) and ends next Monday, Jan.
19. Visit http://www.caroline.com/grandcentral/games.html for details on
how to enter.
-fjm
You've done no wrong. Get out of my sight
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 21:41:47 -0600 (CST)
From: Elisabeth Osburn <c715454@showme.missouri.edu>
Subject: a review in kc...pitch weekly again
hey, it's me. i've been gone home and i was going to write in to complain
about the suddenly susan chick (yeah, i know. it's really a bad word to
use, but in this case, it fits), but you guys beat me to it. so instead
i'll write in about a nbp review i saw in the pitch here in kc. they said
that the quality was not as good as the other albums, but the reviewer
finished by saying "55 minutes of mediocre ben folds five is much better
than a whole day with most other bands." or something like that. which
totally reaffirmed my beliefs that the pitch is the coolest paper in the
entire world. by the way...i will certainly be in st. louis. even if i
have to go by myself. and i'm coming from columbia, so if any kc people
want to drive together or meet up or anything...let me know. and i'm so
excited to finally meet sandi! enough rambling.
- -bess
"When he lunged onto the hood, she stopped to tell him she'd been wrong.
He was thrown head-over-heels into the traffic coming on. But then, all is
fair, all is fair in love."
-Ben Folds Five
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:43:37 EST
From: HiGeary <HiGeary@aol.com>
Subject: NYC on sale date
Since people have been asking about the NYC show, here is the info:
The people at ticketmaster said tickets go on sale for the show at Hammerstein
Ballroom on Friday, January 16th at 12 noon.
See you all there!
Rachael
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:52:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Anna Louise Cavnar <acavnar@indiana.edu>
Subject: DC show
Hey all! I need help! my parents are giving me a trip to Washington DC
in February, and I am planning on going when Ben Folds Five is there, so
I'll get to see the show. For all of us under 21 here in Indiana,
concerts are just pipe dreams. But, I need to know when the tickets go on
sale, where to get them etc. My friends who live there are picking them
up for me, so I want to give them all the info. Please email me privatly
and as soon as possible. I'm buying my ticket soon and it would be
pointless to be there if the show was sold out. Thanks sooooooo much!
anna
acavnar@indiana.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:31:50 EST
From: YourPalCM <YourPalCM@aol.com>
Subject: Japanese Sit-Com
Someone asked about a Janpanese show with subtitles which mentioned Ben Folds
Five. I remember reading a article in a magazine called "Live!" about a year
ago where it was mentioned that BF5 had become so popular in Japan that there
is actually a Japanese Sit-Com where one of the on-going plots involved the
young girl in the Japanese family and her crush on Ben Folds. Perhaps this is
the show you saw. Anyone else have any info on this?
I also remember the article quoting Ben as saying that as a joke he would
someday like to go into a record store in Japan and have someone video tape
him as he says "Hello, I'm Ben Folds!" so he could take it home to show his
friends. Apparently the reaction result in Ben getting mobbed.
Your Pal,
Chris Mal
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 22:57:23 EST
From: SarahBF5 <SarahBF5@aol.com>
Subject: Snl and others
Hey all. I'm Sarah, a "newbie" to the list. However, i have loved BF5 for a
couple years now, I just didn't know about the list until a few days ago. As
it seems it did for everyone, SNL pissed me off so bad! I stayed home, taped
it, watched the whole crappy show...just to see them play them only ONE song!
This is like the first time a band has ever played only played one song..and
of course it had to be them! And, im extremyl tired of Brick..they have so
many better songs! But, i'll live. I can't wait to get NBP tommorrow, and i
have accumulated quite a BF5 following over here in Warren, ohio. If neone has
ne bootlegs, vids, etc..ne cool stuff like that...could u please email me
privately about it?? i need to get hooked up..i actually have money right
now!( a very rare occasion!) thanx a bunch. Also, is there more Feb concert
news for ohio? So far, there havne't been ne...but i keep praying every day
for one! Thanx again. See ya'll later!
- -Sarah
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #752
**************************************
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