THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #304 - May 16, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Friday, May 16 1997 Volume 01 : Number 304
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Usenet Group
John jacob jingleheimerschmidt..
Sassy name
Foldsies
My world has ended
Solemn Faces or Angry Dwarfs for the last time...
T-shirts...
Jellyfish?!?!?!
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #303
HORDE dates, Issue 300, etc.
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #303
Everything and anything
Japan tour notes
Alice sighting
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 21:14:53 -0400
From: Zach Walker <bagheera@pipeline.com>
Subject: Usenet Group
Hey guys,
I am currently in the process of creating a usenet group for BFF. It will
take at least a week and probably longer. WHen it is up it will be
alt.music.benfoldsfive
What I need you to do is send me, personally, email saying that you want a
BFF group. I need some "testimonials" so that it will be approved and what
not. Thanks a bunch.
- --
"Like everyone else I know, I'm just looking for the cure."--JPopper
Pax et cloaca,
Zach
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 21:46:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Yoda90210@aol.com
Subject: John jacob jingleheimerschmidt..
What the hell is our name going to be already??
The most original and fantabulous (hello, my friend in australia) ideas i've
heard spark up so far have been the angry dwarves and some reference to the
art of folding.
If "angry dwarves" is a definite no, perhaps we can combine a couple ideas
(since we're such an eclectic group, damn it) and come up with one great
name....
like "the folding chairs"..
lv,
s.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 22:11:58 -0500 (CDT)
From: sam jacob lewis <sjlewis@students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Sassy name
High five to Daniel Halifax, the man who suggested the "High Fives" as
our nickname as fans. I think that name is original, a nice play on the
bands name and we all feel high when we hear BFF. Nice one!
If we all decide on a name, which we probably won't, I wanna be a high
five! Who's with me?
Anyone hear of self? Good band, check 'em out...
Sammy
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the desk of Samuel Lewis - The know nothing know it all
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 20:20:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Eric <ejmatsuda@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Foldsies
Hey, I always thought we should be called Foldsies. Kind of like folkies
(what Neil Young or Tom Petty is often referred to as), but it also kind
of sounds like "pansies". I don't know, maybe thats good or bad. I don't
know if someone suggested this already.
Eric Matsuda ejmatsuda@ucdavis.edu
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Instead of including a meaningless song lyric quote, why don't we *
* just do what we all really mean to do anyway...just turn our *
* .sigs into a billboard advertising every single name that we want *
* to be associated with, to establish our credibility in the eyes of *
* everyone else. Having said that... *
* *
* The following things rule *
* Blur - Faith No More - The Simpsons - Oasis - Neil Young w/ Crazy *
* Horse - Cake - Los Angeles Dodgers - Skankin' Pickle - Ben Folds *
* Five - The Mr. T Experience - - Boomhauer (King Of The Hill) - *
* Hideo Nomo - west coast - Bobby Slayton - Blind Melon - folkies *
* *
* The following things suck *
* No Doubt - Bush - jocks - big long .sig files - Stussy - The *
* Atlanta Braves - The San Francisco 49ers - The Utah Jazz - People *
* who give a shit if you're too quiet. - most of the people in my *
* dorm - most of the people in my high school - most people *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 22:55:42 CDT
From: rachel703@orleans.email.net
Subject: My world has ended
It's the end of civilization as I know it down here. The ONLY station in
New Orleans that played Ben Folds has now changed their format to
COUNTRY! I am so mad.
Does anyone know if a band will still tour in a city where they are
getting ZERO airplay?
Depressed and Disappointed.
p.s. HI ED!!!!!!!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 02:13:15 EDT
From: john_oc@juno.com
Subject: Solemn Faces or Angry Dwarfs for the last time...
There have been very good arguments for both sides these last couple of
days. I no longer take the stance that Solemn Faces is the better name.
I also don't take the position that Angry Dwarfs is a good name. Both
names should be scrapped. The arguments against both are strong, and
respectable. Thanks for the constructive criticism on my points
advocating Solemn Faces. The best name has been overlooked. And we all
have Frank to thank. Why do we need to change the name, we are the
subscribers to the Magical Armchair. We are Armchair Quarterbacks in the
land and BFF-dom.
Clarification on tour dates...
June 1st, Pittsburgh, PA
June 2nd, Cincinnati, OH(Bogarts)
I am going to both shows.
Thanks,
John Boyer
WOBN-FM 101.5 the ROCK
Asst. Music Director, Triple A Dir. and Research Dir.
Email: John_OC@juno.com Phone: (614) 823-2969
Westerville, Ohio(Just north of Columbus)
"The cruelest lies are often told without a word, the kindest truths are
often spoken, never heard" --Ben Folds
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 02:13:15 EDT
From: john_oc@juno.com
Subject: T-shirts...
Hello to all...
Well, the T-shirts are on hold...for two reasons.
1.(Less importantly) Solemn Faces is no longer a valid nickname, so I
have to take sometime to modify the design.
2.(More importantly) Legal trouble. I am proud to see that the bands
manager, Alan Womark has personally e-mailed me saying that there may be
negative reprocussions on the band because of the sale of my shirts. I
discussed this at length with him, like everything about the fact that I
do not intend to make money off of it, and that they will not be for sale
at the shows as to not detract business from Ben's merchandise, but Alan
said there might still be some problems, like I can't actually use the
bands name, and may have to supplement it with bf5 or bff or something.
I apologize to all those interested for the hold on production. As soon
as I get the green light I will work on a new design. I have held the
addresses of all those who have already written me, 53 in all!!!
I will keep you posted via e-mail and the armchair. Thanks for your
support!!
John Boyer
WOBN-FM 101.5 the ROCK
Asst. Music Director, Triple A Dir. and Research Dir.
Email: John_OC@juno.com Phone: (614) 823-2969
Westerville, Ohio(Just north of Columbus)
"It's not that you can't tell the forest from the trees, it's just that
you've never been out in the woods alone." --Ben Folds
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 11:57:42 +0100
From: Richard Lee <rgl@xara.net>
Subject: Jellyfish?!?!?!
A while back I asked if anyone could reccomend any bands that are similar to
BFF a lot of people told me I should check out Jellyfish so I did and I was
disapointed, they are nothing like BFF, as far as I'm concerned BFF are in a
leauge of their own and I just can't wait for the next album, is there any
other English fans out there? Is it true that they're playing Glastonbury?
Rich
P.S. Can anyone explain just what it is about BFF that is so good, I'm not
usually into this kind of music but I can quite honestly say they are my
favourite act ever, BLOODY HELL 'Kate' has just come on Radio 1!!!! I've never
heard BFF on the Radio before, spooky dooky.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 08:30:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jfishhead@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #303
In a message dated 5/15/97 2:23:20 AM, Joel wrote:
> If you listen to "Smoke" in headphones, you'll notice some kind
>of washboard sound. Who knows what this is?
I believe it's Ben strumming on the piano strings.
Dustin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 09:30:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Frank Maynard <maynard@mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: HORDE dates, Issue 300, etc.
A big thanks to everyone as the automated Armchair gets cleaner and
cleaner. Yesterday we had no unsub requests in the digest and no excessive
quoting, and precious little off-topic material. As always, if you are
having trouble dealing with Majordomo, you can e-mail me privately and
we'll work it out.
Mitch, thanks for noticing us reaching Issue #300. Admittedly, the
reaching of that milestone may be denoted in the record books with an
asterisk because at least one of the issues since Majordomo started
contained only a previous issue quoted in its entirety with the notation
"unsubscribe" appended. That one will be removed from the archive, which
I'm about three weeks behind on. Several other issues had entire digest
quotes and lots of unsubs, and I'll try to filter those out of the archive
as well. I also plan to include the layout of the tape tree that Shaun
Gilmour is running, so if you made it onto the tree you can check to see
who your branches and leaves are. (I should reiterate that the tree is
closed and Shaun is not taking any more additions so don't e-mail him, me
or the list asking to join. There will be other trees.)
This brings up another idea. In case you are wondering how everything
works, your posts are accumulated at the Majordomo site and are mailed
out every evening around 8 PM. Majordomo assembles a digest by attaching
messages from the spool until the length exceeds a preset value
(currently set at 19,000 characters). At that point it sends the digest
and starts building another one, until the spool is empty. This explains
why you may receive several issues in one day. I have done this because
some people's mailers have trouble with long messages, and it is
generally accepted net policy to limit digest lengths to 15-20k. I would
gladly raise the character limit so that only one digest per day goes
out, regardless of length, if nobody had any objection to receiving an
occasional long digest. Over the past month or so, the longest issue
would have been around 60k. If you have any comments about this, e-mail
me privately (don't post it to the list!).
Ian, the show at Pine Knob in Clarkston (Detroit) on June 5 is actually
the R.O.A.R. tour, not the H.O.R.D.E. tour. The latter is slated for July
27 and 28 at Pine Knob, according to some rather tenuous information I've
picked up from a couple websites and mailing lists. There has been no
official announcement of the entire HORDE schedule, but what is known or
rumored has been added to the Tour Dates page at http://oeonline.com/bff/
as of yesterday. Don't take it as gospel, but check the dates with the
venue or in your local media before you make your plans.
Also on the Tour Dates page are the confirmed dates for the North
American tour from May 27-June 8, and the Europe dates from June 27-July
4. This info is from CEC, the band's management company.
Michael Beam had a question about the Cincinnati date. The date that we
have, June 2nd at Bogart's, is confirmed as correct by CEC. So go get your
tickets! If it's listed otherwise on the Sony site (bffweb.com), it's
probably old information.
To Dan Cherney, welcome to the Armchair. You seem to have come up to
speed very quickly on Ben Folds Five. Glad you finally figured out that
tune that's been rattling around in your head for the last year.
Finally, remember the change in the domain name for traffic to the
Armchair. The new address for posts is armchair@maillist.il.fontys.nl and
not @maillist.il.ft.hse.nl anymore. The old domain will work for a month
or so, but change your address book entry at the earliest opportunity.
- -fjm
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 10:37:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: bobafett@ekx.infi.net (Boba Fett)
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #303
>Hey guys--
>
> I was just curious...people on the list have been sayin' BFF are coming
>to Bogart's on June 2nd (someone originally said June 5th...but now
>someone said the 2nd)...but the official page says they are playing in
>Pittsburgh, PA on the 2nd...and nothing's scheduled for the 5th....so
>are BFF really comin to Bogart's and when?
>
>Michael Beam
>hardhead@underworld.net
>administer for the underworld networking systems
I was kinda wondering about this too. I looked on the page and saw the same
thing... Someone also told me that the boys were coming to louisville
too...but they didn't know when.
thanks...
Jessica
Jessica B. Musselwhite
bobafett@ekx.infi.net
"Why am I the witness? And when I capture it on film, will it mean that its
the end ...and I'm alone?" - Mark (from Jonathan Larson's "Rent")
"The kindest truths are often spoke, but never heard." -Ben Folds Five,
"Last Polka"
"What's with you, today? Yesterday you were normal, today you're like the
chinese guy from Karate Kid" -"Empire Records"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 16:06:40 +0100
From: Mark Piper (PWA) <pipermf@ugs1.ph.bham.ac.uk>
Subject: Everything and anything
Hello, good evening, and welcome....
Has come to that time again to ramble on endlessly about everything that's come my way recently.
1)This naming business. I'm going to have to be brave and jump on the "don't need a name" bandwagon. It's not like we're fighting an election or something. Anyway, we already have "The Magical Armchair". If we do have to have a name, then 2 things on the
points raised. John Boyer said something about not calling ourselves "Angry Dwarfs" because it would put us on a level with Ben. Well, I mean, sure, I think Ben is a genius, but he's not a God or anything. I'm not going to wash his feet. He's a regular gu
y, and I think he'd be pretty bemused if we didn't give ourselves a certain name just because it might imply that we're like him in any way. Next thing you know we'll be slaughtering small animals in sacrifice.
Second point is that everyone mentions the "Solemn Faces" being the people that tormented Ben. Who said anything about Ben being the subject of the song? Just cus the guy looks a bit weedy (go on, admit it, he does), doesn't mean to say he can't write a
song about someone else being tormented. Every time I've seen them play the song, Ben has said "This is a song about a guy, not me,.....", and in a small interview in Melody Maker just before the release of W&EA, he pointed out that he was doing the inter
view rounds to point out that the song wasn't about him. Hell, I reckon *Ben* was the school bully. Frightening small pupils with his ferocious piano playing....
2)Seeing Dan Cherney's post (congratulations Dan, an interesting post by a newbie >8), I always think that everyone should discover their favourite bands that way. I discovered R.E.M. that way (with Losing My Religion). If you love the song without the hy
pe, you *know* they're good. One surefire way to make me hate a band is to force them down my throat. I always think how lucky I am that someone decided to put a few BFF songs on the end of a tape for me. "Oh, I put some Ben Folds Five on the end, you mig
ht like it". The rest of the tape was DMB, and I thought that that was pretty dire (sorry Dan, sorry DMB fans....), but I got to the BFF, and I was blown away.
3)Don't you feel even more pissed off when the digest someone has just quoted in it's entirety contains four unsub requests?
4)The Kate single. For anyone who is interested, the Kate singles will feature
CD1: Kate (Dumbass Freebird Mix) (3:48)
Too Shy (2:32) (Not a cover, but the original Kajagoogoo track, with Ben-in the-shower overdubs)
Mary Had A Little Lamb (0:15) (That's Ben on kazoo, Robert on triangle, and Darren on drugs)
CD2: Kate (Tony Toni Tone Mix) (11:56)
For Those Y'all On The Mailing List (25:13) (Featuring a Rage Against The Machine sample: "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me", and 24 minutes of Ben asking "Robert, would you say my hands are too big?")
Theme from "Sesame Street" (1:23) (A regular live favourite in these parts)
Unfortunately, only available on mail order direct from my warped imagination.
>8)
That is all...
Mark
Looks, Brains and Everything - www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/5430/bff.html
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 12:20:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Frank Maynard <maynard@mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: Japan tour notes
Doug Goodman, BFF's tour manager, sent me these notes Monday about the Japan
tour:
Just a quick note from Fukuoka, Japan. We play here tonight. 4th date of
10. The tour is sold out. Actually it is over-sold. The last 2 nights they
opened with a version of Best Imitation that has Ben singing but not
playing piano. I hear that they used to do it a lot but it's the first
that I've seen/heard it. GREAT!
Also, there was a note on the last M.A. about the 1st Tokyo show being
short. We had some problems at the beginning of the show and had to
start 10 minutes late. This pushed us into a curfew problem. The
building had to be empty, no people, no equipment, no anything, 48
minutes after they finished playing. They would have played more, but I
made them cut it short. The evil tour manager.
The other shows don't have the same curfew so we should be OK.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 12:19:51 -0500 (CDT)
From: koenij22@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu
Subject: Alice sighting
Hey consumers(we all are),
Listening to the local college station yesterday. I heard an
awesome version of Alice Childress. I called up the station and the guy
told me that it was off some compilation some radio station puts out. I
guess bands come into the station and do live versions of their songs.
Hearing that made me day.
And why doesn't Ben and the boys play Evaporated?
Peace out people,
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
--airplane!!
JOEL the baker
Internet - KOENIJ22@uwosh.edu
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #304
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