THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #825 - February 15, 1998
Magical Armchair Digest Sunday, February 15 1998 Volume 01 : Number 825
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Mailing List
TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS MAILING LIST
Send an e-mail message to:
armchair-request@maillist.il.fontys.nl
with the word
unsubscribe
in the message body. Please DO NOT POST UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS TO THE LIST
ITSELF! If you are having trouble, send mail to
owner-armchair@maillist.il.fontys.nl
and I will try to help you. To change your address, first unsub yourself from
your old address, then subscribe using your new account.
TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
dallas and houston
My stupid old 286 was my ticket out...
Half Naked Baby Photos...
120 Minutes!
HOLD THOSE TICKETS! Please!
Barry Black - didn't like it
A valentines Day Poem
A BFF sort of day
Burn Down The Mission...
ben folds at tufts???
chicago tix
Farewell Tour T's
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 19:47:27 -0600
From: Nikki <babylon666@earthlink.net>
Subject: dallas and houston
Ahhh.. on Feb. 11th I saw Ben Folds Five in Dallas and in Houston on the 12th. It
was absolutely glorious. These shows made the 6th and 7th times i've seen them i
think. I first saw them in November of '95 when they opened for Heather Nova.
Personally, I'm really glad they are finally getting a lot of recognition. This is
a band that deserves every ounce of appreciation they get. About the only problem
i have with them getting famous is if they get much more famous i won't be able to
talk to them after the shows anymore. Other than that i hope they end up playing
stadiums and rocking out thousands of people at a a time. Everyone has to start
their appreciation of a band somewhere. I think "Brick" is a great song to get
started on.
Okay.. reviews of the show. Dallas totally rocked!! I was really excited to hear
"Eddie Walker" and "Emaline." An old member of the armchair and pal of mine,
Michael Bluejay, got to join the band on stage and play "Best Imitation of Myself"
on the piano while Ben stood and sang. It was a great moment. Towards the end of
the show Ben hopped up on his piano and took his shirt off. He then proceeded to
climb on top on a large speaker stack and do his always perfect stool toss. I was
scared the stool was gonna ricochet off the piano and smack me in the head since i
was right in front of the piano. Luckily i escaped unmarred. :) Robert was
feeling a bit ill in Dallas but you couldn't really tell on stage. Darren busted a
drum at the very beginning of the show but it was fixed quickly of course. And he
drummed perfectly all night long if i do say so myself. Just to let everyone
know how great the people that work WITH the band are, Doug, their road manager was
a doll and helped out one of my friends who suffered an unfortunate incident. If
they still read these, THANKS DOUG!! It was an interesting sight to see the band
get mobbed outside of the venue after the show. I think before these shows the
biggest mob i ever saw around them was 10 people. Anyway, the houston show rocked
as well but unfortunately the club it was at was in a residential area and in
houston clubs in residential areas have to shut off loud music by a certain time so
the show in houston was a bit shorter than the show in Dallas. Thankfully Robert
was feeling better in houston.. so we got to watch him wiggle his butt all over
the stage and a few lucky audience members got to spank him. The band did a
signing near the tshirt booth after the houston show. Darren's grandmother was at
the houston show and apparently darren used to want to go to law school but his
grandmother encouraged him to continue with his drumming.. Thank you grandma!!
So.. i think i've rambled enough about the shows. I'll do the set lists now. in
random order because i'm doing this from memory...
Dallas
All of whatever and ever amen except Cigarette and Evaporated (damn it)
Jackson Cannery
boxing
julianne
underground
last polka
Eddie Walker
Emaline
Best Imitation o' Myself
philosophy
Uncle Walter
HOUSTON
Same songs on WAEA
She Don't use jelly
Jackson Cannery
philosophy
Julianne
underground
last polka
Eddie Walker
i think that's all of 'em.. plus of course the guys did quite a few improv songs
and goofed around a lot. :)
Okay, I'm REALLY done now.
Nikki
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 21:41:59 EST
From: FieryLox@aol.com
Subject: My stupid old 286 was my ticket out...
Hello Armchairites! I have missed reading this puppy SO much...I don't know
if a) anyone on here even remembers me, or b) if I can make it through the
inevitable increase in posts(I haven't actually gotten a digest yet...).
Well, just thought I'd drop a hello post and inform everyone (even though I
bet almost everyone knows by now...) that BFF is in the new Rolling Stone!
Personally, I thought that the article was long overdue and very underdone.
Am I just too big of a fan or was that article full of stuff that any BFF fan
already knows? (Except the big, LONG AWAITED Ben revelation) I guess that
the big ol' mainstream crowd wants to get in on all the cool stuff that we
loyalites already know...I'm so PROUD of Ben and the boys! OK, OK, long
enough...
Glad to be back,
Sara J. M.
PS...Anyone on the Armchair from Atlanta, GA? If so, don't you gee golly wish
that BF5 would come back through? Tilt me an e-mail!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 18:45:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Baldy Spice <wallmr@whitman.edu>
Subject: Half Naked Baby Photos...
> hahaha!!! Folks, i've never really been able to pinpoint the exact moment when
> a band has become popular enough that fans become these crazy absurd weird
> people, but i think i've found the answer now: When they want to see the males
> topless.
>
> WHOO! That is nuts.
> - -jason
Just thought I'd add to the craziness that is BFF! :) (And help out any
teenyboppers who want to fawn over Ben's chest... Kidding! Don't flame me!
:)
Max
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 21:46:50 EST
From: BlueJellow@aol.com
Subject: 120 Minutes!
THey are hosting 120 minutes AND doing Leno?
I really don't think I can take much more of this!
Love and BFF
Lucy *Emaline*
P.S. Although I hate top 40 stations, I set my alarm clock to one, and on
Friday I woke up to Brick. It was the best way to wake up IN THE WORLD....
Cept maybe if Ben and the gang woke me up themselves :)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 21:56:58 -0500
From: jen chen <pickle@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: HOLD THOSE TICKETS! Please!
> Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 08:38:34 -0500
> From: Steve Deame <sdeame@iona.com>
> Subject: tickets for NY
>
> OK OK
>
> Don't overwhelm my inbox,
Ha! That's kind of impossible considering everybody and their mother is
looking for these tickets...
> but I have four extra tickets for the show next
> Friday(Ticketmaster sent me 8 tickets instead of 4)
How come Ticketmaster won't do this to me??!
> at the Hammerstein
> Ballroom in NYC. I would prefer to sell them to long standing fans.
> Not on
> the Brick Bandwagon.
I'm definitely not on the Brick bandwagon...more on this later
> Can't wait for the show. I officially go into double
> figures(10 times) at this show for seeing them live.
Unfortunately, I have never seen them live before. I wanted to see them
last year in January (I think), but due to school obligations, I
couldn't. And then this year they sold out *so* quickly! sigh...
> Email me and wow me with your knowledge of the band and maybe I will
> reply
>
> steve
And thus I will begin my wow-ing...
*I'd just like to mention that I decided to stay home on a Friday night
to write this...that's how much of a fan I am!*
First of all, some background info:
I first became a fan of Ben Folds Five after hearing
"Underground." (It's still one of my favorites.) I have been playing
piano since I was 5 years old, and I can play a couple of BFF's songs.
One thing though...I have to admit that I am NOT one of those people who
have all of the group's singles. I do, however, have 3 copies of all
the BFF's albums: one in my CD player, one for my car, and on my
computer in MP3 format. I don't have any bootlegs because bad quality
sound really annoys me (it's like a pet peeve). I have my "I was never
cool in school" t-shirt, and I wear it to school and everywhere else a
lot despite all the abuse I get!
Now for my knowledge of the band:
-Ben liked to beat the hell out of his piano when he was younger
(seems like Ben and I have something in common)
-They used Ben's voice for an episode of "Space Ghost: Coast to
Coast"
-Robert used to be in a band called Toxic Popsicle
(sounds like one deadly popsicle)
-There's a phone in "Steven's Last Night in Town"
-BMG calles Ben Folds Five "quirky rock"
-Ben missed his brother Chuck's wedding
-Ben says he would never grow a beard, but maybe a moustache
-BFF's first video was of "Underground"
-Ben likes Nirvana, Radiohead, R.E.M., Tori Amos, Liz Phair, and The
Divine Comedy
(great group, by the way!)
-BFF did an interview for the gay magazine Genre, in which Darren,
Robert, and Ben are ranked
in decreasing order of partial gayness
-Ben began in a band called Majosha, which later became Pots & Pans
-You can hear crickets in "Cigarette"
-In "Steven's Last Night in Town," Ben uses this keyboard thing
called a melodica.
-Ben only took piano lessons seriously for about a year!
(I think it took me a year to learn how to play Yankee Doodle)
-BFF chose to have their name "Ben Folds Five" instead of "Ben Folds
Three" because they thought the second one sounded like a jazz group
-The beginning of "Underground" is kind of based on Jesus Christ
Superstar
-Their music has served as background music for a lot of shows,
including "Party of Five"
I know more, but I can't really think of anymore at the moment! I hope
this is enough to convince you that I am a BIG fan of these wonderful
musicians. I have been trying to see BFF for a while now, and I need to
see them live to complete my BFF experience. I hope you can help
me...you would my friends and me the happiest people in the world.
One more thing, my birthday is February 23. NO lie! I'll send you my
birth certificate if you want. So this would be a great birthday
present!
Thanks a bunch!
Jen Chen
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:08:45 EST
From: YourPalCM@aol.com
Subject: Barry Black - didn't like it
I didn't care for the Barry Black CD AT ALL. If anyone wants it, feel free to
send me $7 and the appropriately sized SASE and the CD I paid $18 for is
yours! Ben plays drums on most of the tracks, but that wasn't enough to do
anything for me.
:-(
Chris
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:15:09 -0500
From: jaedonely@juno.com
Subject: A valentines Day Poem
Although I hate this holiday, heres a poem: (3 stanzas! Its short!)
*to be read in a Barry White voice with a sexy funk background*
Yeah....Its Valentine's Day
Start a fight
stay out all night
listen to Barry White Ben Folds
related material
Its Valentines Day Fair is the
song
that I will play
Talk with your honey on my sad lonely
say something funny Valentines Day
spend BIG money
because its Valentine's Day
Shake your booty!
Meet a cutie
Its YOUR duty
On Valentine's Day
Yeah.....
_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:10:10 -0500
From: jaedonely@juno.com
Subject: A BFF sort of day
Today, February 13, 1998. First off, at school we ditched the catholic
school kid uniforms and busted out the red and white. I was so full of
joy...me and my friend Carolyn. We sang EVERYTHING from BFF today.
Caused a disruption in English singing Satan Is My Master...entertained
the popular kid in physics by singing Brick....maybe I have a good voice,
although I have a terrible cold right now (can we say, low hoarse and
sexy?ha!)
Then I went to see The Wedding Singer. Go see it. Too Cute. Adam
Sandler was cute, Drew Barrymore was ADORABLE! THe music was awesome and
I love Steve Buschemi. Video PLayed THe Radio Star, the Presidents
version, closed out the movie...left me yearing for the BFF
version....yearning!!!!!!!
Lastly, I went to Barnes and Noble and the brand spankin new CMJ was
there for me!!! OOOooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!It was lovely! I especially dig the
pictures. They all look great. and theres the little teeny one of
Darren in the corner on the last page. Darren is looking especially hot
lately. Another thing that I love about Ben Folds Five is the fact that
sometimes Robert's eyes can look sleepy and stoned in a picture, and I do
that a lot(my eyes do! I dont do that shit!), and other times, Ben is
making a silly face, and I do that a lot too. I feel like these guys are
my three friends.
A warm and fuzzy,(Its the Wedding Singer goddammit! I tell you!)
~Elisabeth
One more thing....heres some love to the DMB fans on the chair; Im
currently crushing on a really cute one named Sean......
_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 03:33:38 -0500
From: Richard Challen <rchallen@clemson.campus.mci.net>
Subject: Burn Down The Mission...
In the midst of the steady stream of Elton John-bashing, I just wanted
to point out that Mr. Folds is quoted in the recent Rolling Stones piece
as saying that the band used Elton's classic live album, "11-17-70," as
a blueprint for their own piano-bass-drums sound. Since I just picked up
the "11-17-70" CD this week, I considered his statement a neat piece of
serendipity.
Anyway, the point: Keep an open mind and check out the CD. You'll be
surprised. "Amoreena" or "Bad Side Of The Moon" could easily be the Five
if Ben decided to sing in a lower, more British soul register and Robert
turned off his Big Muff. I'll be the first to admit that Elton should've
killed himself in 1975 ("No One Saved My Life Tonight")--thereby freeing
us from years of bad wigs, cheesy videos, and "Candle In The Wind '98"--
but c'mon. Give the man a LITTLE credit. He wrote "Madman Across The
Water" and "Love Lies Bleeding," for Pete's sake... Let's just see how
well Fiona "Monsters Of Piano" Apple's compositions are holding up in
2025.
"We'll smack a ball of cake..."
- --rICH
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: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 08:38:57 -0500 (EST)
From: zestfully clean <mconnoll@emerald.tufts.edu>
Subject: ben folds at tufts???
hey, i've been reading posts for a long time now, but never had anything
important to contribute. i think i do now. i'm on the concert board for
tufts university's spring fling, which is the big concert we have before
finals. anyway, we made a list of bands that might appeal to a wide
variety of students: ben folds five was #2! unfortunately, ll cool j was
#1, and the indigo girls are #3. in any case, a bid to play at tufts has
been sent to ben folds five, so if they accept, they're coming here...and
i'm security (hee hee).
- -mike c
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 09:54:35 PST
From: "Emily Johns" <isasbff@hotmail.com>
Subject: chicago tix
hey, if any of you have extra tickets to the chicago show, please e-mail
me!!! I'm aware that it's tomorrow night, so this is unlikely, but if
there's any way to get me to the show I'd be very interested!!!
thanks a bunch :)
Isa
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 12:30:36 -0800 (PST)
From: bwjones <bwjones@scf.usc.edu>
Subject: Farewell Tour T's
I just had a quick question - The new T-shirts that say "Farewell Tour
1981", is there anything significant about the year 1981? I mean, it
could be that BF5 is just being funny, picking an aribitrary year to put
on their T-shirts. But then again, it could be an important year in their
lives or something... I was just curioius if anyone knew the story.
Brant
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #825
**************************************
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR - The Ben Folds Five Mailing List
Submit articles to: armchair@maillist.il.fontys.nl
Send administrative requests to: armchair-request@maillist.il.fontys.nl
WWW homepage: http://oeonline.com/bff
List archive: http://oeonline.com/bff/list/