THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #1103 - July 7, 1998
Magical Armchair Digest Tuesday, July 7 1998 Volume 01 : Number 1103
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Glastonbury Festival
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Goo goo ga joob
BFF Cover....new generation Billy
once upon a time i had a good subject line...
July 4th Concert on MP3! Billy Joel Covers & Semisonic
Piano Man cover
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
ABC Concert thingy
The Evils of ABC...
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Bf5 covers - lets hear some grunge!
Lack of research
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 21:57:03 EDT
From: Fantine222@aol.com
Subject: Glastonbury Festival
Allo!
I watched the ABC concert and it was excellent. It kind of irritated me
though that everyone else got two numbers and BFF only got one, but it was
cool that it was "Last Polka". Anyway, if anyone wants a copy of the entire
thing or just BFF let me know and we can work something out. (Amy, I've got
you covered)
Cheerio,
cait
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 21:59:34 EDT
From: Ben4me123@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Something very strange... and not at all funny... happened. I look at
RockOnTv about every two days. I saw that they were going to be on for the
Independence Day concert and I was very happy. But then I "checked my local
listings" and they weren't there. I was pissed off, so i called the station.
Turns out they wanted to disrupt normal programming as little as possible and
were not going to show it. I had to miss it because some fatcat hates
alternative music and didn't want to show it on "his" tv station.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 22:35:01 EDT
From: Beatles050@aol.com
Subject: Goo goo ga joob
Hey hey everyone-
Once again I have come up with more ideas for covers that BFF could do.
(yea!) First off...whoever suggested "I Am The Walrus"...good idea. I didn't
think of that one. "Girls" by Beastie Boys was also a good suggestion I
thought.
--Okay...while I think that we the people of the MA should try to come up
with more covers other than those of BIlly Joel / Elton John songs, (Simply
because they are also all piano)...let me say that "Bennie and the Jets" would
be awesome!
--How about a cover of a Weezer song? (Whatever happened to those guys
anyway?) "Holiday" would be my first choice.
--I might be entering "forbidden" territory for this one; how bout a Led
Zepplin song. Hey, if Puff Daddy can do it...
That's it for now. If I come up with any more (bad) ideas...rest assured I
will voice them.
Daryl
"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together."
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 19:47:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kevin Tyburski <tyburski@rocketmail.com>
Subject: BFF Cover....new generation Billy
Hey all armchairers(or somethin')
well about covers, i think ben and the gang could
really take any song and turn it into something
great. but i like the idea of not doing a big band
or not a well known song, like Twin Falls. Great
song, but i'd never heard of the band in my life that
did the original. i would like to see Ben take
something from Billy Joel, just to see what he would
turn it into, adopt the lyrics, through in a solo or
whatever.
being a huge billy joel fan, because that's when i
started playing, it would just be cool to see BFF do
that. maybe, Stilletto, Scenes from an Itl.
Rest.(change the lyrics or something) i like the
Pre/Angry Young man theory, my fav. joel song. or
maybe a song not many have heard of Summer, Highland
Falls, Laura or really anything. anywayi'm rambling.
really anything BFF does is great. later,
===
Kevin Tyburski
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 19:40:57 PDT
From: "chrissy cramer" <rccmeg@hotmail.com>
Subject: once upon a time i had a good subject line...
well time for me to pop out of the shadows of just scanning the
armchair. there are several topics to adress in my somewhat abscence,
caused by the huge overload of work.
1. the barenaked ladies. who knows what they are thought of in canada
(for us americans or uk people anyway) and i must say that i dont care.
i like them, they rock my world and i am going to fregging camp out at
the record store on the 7th to get my copy of the new record. i think
that a lot of the people who like bff like the barenaked ladies becuase
tehy have a sense of humor and a great musicianship. if you listen to
both bff and barenaked ladies i myself if nothing else notice the drop
dead brilliant lyrics and catchy and original music. i myself like
groups that dont take themselves too seriously.
2. favorite piano solo - well the one that i think is the prettiest is
the ending of emaline. the one that makes me dance every time is right
before the 'youll be sorry one day, yes you will yes you will' bit in
oad.
3. the twin falls guy - i think twin falls is brilliant and a while back
i asked what ben was signing... 'touched her thumb' or 'touched her
palm'.. because our boy is not exactly the best at singing clearly
sometimes and well... sometimes he just dont know the words. (ex:
bacharach special.) and there was HUGE reaction, personally and on the
armchair saying that they loved it and telling me what the word was. i
think twin falls is my favorite song on nbp, but i always jump between
that and emaline.
4. the guy who said he thought we had underrated 'air' (this was a
while ago i know) - i really think that it is a great song. i appreciate
anything new ben wise and i dont care what brenden o brien does or
doesnt do. a good producer can only enhance a great musician. ex:
george martin and the beatles. neither had a CLUE of what the hell was
going on or what they wanted to do and yet they got 7 years of great
music. (counting 62 but not 70.. meaning that i dont count phil spector)
5. covers. i think that they should maybe cover some barenaked ladies.
i think 'i love you' would be fun if nothing else, especially because it
would have to be all three singing most of the time. (maybe robert
singing for jim? who knows!) i can just see it. 'isss lovess you.. and
youusss loves me..' but i also agree that 'alternative girlfriend'
would be great. it would kick ass especially if the bl covered
'underground'. one good laugh at people like that deserves another,
right? and i can tell you right now i seriously doubt that bff will
EVER cover elton john or billy joel just because of the press. so forget
that. a good not-so-known-and-heavily-covered beatles song would be
interesting. something not everyone does, like say 'babys in black' or
'its only love' or 'im so tired' or something like that. a good album
track is what im saying, but actually 'day tripper' would KICK ASS.
couldnt you just hear robert taking over that riff? that would be GREAT.
oh well i think im done rambling now.
'ill send my best...cause god knows youve seen my worst'
this is my story humble and true, take it to pieces and mend it with
glue.
everyones favorite chrissy(the silly old bananafish)
************************************************************
disturbing quote
'overcoming fear of strangers has been one of the greatest tasks of my
life. every time my mom walked into the dakota i would walk behind her,
just in case somebody shot me - i would take the bullet. these were the
kind of thoughts i would have when i was six or seven.'
- -sean lennon
************************************************************
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 23:10:03 -0400
From: Mike Baltus <merlin@advdata.net>
Subject: July 4th Concert on MP3! Billy Joel Covers & Semisonic
First off i would like to say that i to also found that the concert was
not on at the correct time. For me it was on at 2:00 in the morning.
But i got it on tape so i'm in the process of making an mp3 of Last
Polka (Which is the only song that they taped for ABC). It should be
done tommorow so keep your eyes peeled. I'm having trouble going fro
tape to computer. It was good but not amazing.
On the subject of Billy Joel covers: I already said that i am an avid
billy joel fan. And i know that the boys do unusual covers but tell me
the song pressure wouldn't be awesome. My sister plays that song and
her hand move soooo fast and its not fast enough. Ben would go nuts.
On the subject of Semisonic: Great Band. I bought the cd about 3 or 4
months ago the day i heard closing time which by the way is no where
near the best song on the cd. Its a great cd and i highly reccomend
it. The first cd entitled great divide is also good. But the trio
sounds much like the boys with a little electronic twist i guess. By
the way the new cd is entitled felling strangely fine. AWESOME CD BUY
IT!
Thanks for reading my rambling but i will have that mp3 up soon. :-)
Oh by the way i need someones page to put the mp3 on so if anyone has a
little space for share i'll just e-mail you the mp3 and you put it up`
but e-mail me saying you do.
Thanks,
- -Mike
- --
"I poured my heart out and it evaporated........see?"
-Ben Folds Five
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 23:44:59 -0400
From: enigma@voyager.net
Subject: Piano Man cover
this is to mike who commented on the piano man cover. Piano Man is
STRICTLY billy's song. It's like his trademark, you can't cover another
person's trademark. but i totally think the BFF could cover a less well
known song from billy.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 23:44:56 EDT
From: Luna1118@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
I saw it! Well, I taped it, It had Tori Amos which is off the subject, but
yeah, as was mentioned they showed "The Last Polka", I loved it of course, and
it was on at 2am here. (New York)
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 23:52:45 EDT
From: KamalaICB@aol.com
Subject: ABC Concert thingy
i saw it and have it on tape...
anyway
here's the deal...it was supposed to air at round 11:30 or 12:30, however, ABC
is the station that is carrying all of the World Cup Soccer games....the games
from that afternoon ran lon, thus everything on ABC's schedule got bumped
back....the local news on ABC here in philly didn't go on till round 1:45 or
so....then the concert was after that...Ben and co were on round 2:45
a.m.......i was working the whole time, so i caught all of ABC's wonderful
programming waiting around for it
they looked soooo tired....but alas....at leat the execs decided to show last
polka instead of...ahmm...BRick....it was a nice curve ball thay they
threw....
the rest of the concert footage was great as well...i esp loved that they
showed Blur doing Park life and Pulp doing Common People!!!!!
woo hoo
anyway
casey
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 23:10:23 -0500
From: The Tasler Family <sparky1@netins.net>
Subject: The Evils of ABC...
I noticed everyone upset about how a lot of people missed BF5 at Glastonbury
last night. (I missed it myself, even though it was my fault, basically...)
But the reason why people missed it basically, is because the ABC affiliates
have the right to show their shows whenever they want. 11:30pm is a
suggested time, when ABC sends it over the satellite. But the affiliates
have the right to show it at midnight, or 1 am, or whenever. Or, in some
cases, not at all. "In Concert" is not a big ratings puller in some
regions, so they'll run shows like "Jerry Springer" or "Xena: Warrior
Princess." If I'm talking down to y'all, I apologize. I feel your pain. I
totally forgot about it. But I'm counting down to the night they're on
Conan... :)
Chris Tasler sparky1@netins.net
http://members.tripod.com/~Codemonkey
"You know, love is a happy time all throughout the universe. It's when a
male part of the species goes to the female part of the species, and says,
'Hey? You wanna go on a date?' And then, she would say, 'Why, yes, I'd
like to go on a date...' IF YOU'RE LUCKY! And then you go to a
restaurant, and she gets something called a 'salad.' And then he gets a
big piece of beef, that he eats. And that, to me, ladies and gentlemen,
is love. Kinda makes you cry, doesn't it?"
-Brak,
"Cartoon Planet"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 00:23:35 EDT
From: Pyser98@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
In a message dated 98-07-05 21:43:29 EDT, you write:
<< >to whoever said that bff should cover angry young man:
>you are way off....i know its your opinion, but its so not right for bff
to
>cover billy joel at al
This is based of course on the "I'm right and you're not" school of
thought right?
Soooooo, how is this person's OPINION wrong? >>
no, i based this on the "we dont want to cover songs that would be obvious
covers (like elton john and billy joel)"
if you read the rest of my post, i think youd understand...
i feel like a quote out of context
aaron
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 21:30:23 -0700
From: Brian Chan <gokou@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
At 02:00 AM 7/6/98 +0200, you wrote:
>Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 00:49:07 EDT
>From: Pyser98@aol.com
>Subject: Semisonic/Ben Folds Five
>
>to anyone who watches hbo late at night, they have this show called Reverb,
>and it has bands on their way to the big time...anyway, i had heard this
piano
>song on the radio, and then while i was flipping channels i heard it again
>last night...so i watch...and it turns out to be none other than Semisonic
>(the same ones that sing Closing Time)....anyway, this song, called Never You
>Mind is so bff like it is scary..there are 3 members of semisonic, and all 3
>play piano/keyboard...even the drummer, while he drums! (this is during
>closing time, which is very cool)..but in Never You Mind the lead singer
plays
>piano....then there is a bassist and a drummer....to any of you who have
heard
>it, does it not sound like ben folds five? i think it does.....i went and
>bought semisonics album, and never you mind is the best song on it..and so
>fold-esque its scary...the best song bff never released, so to speak
>
>just thought ya'll would like to know.........anyway, check the song...its
>semisonics next single (i think), so you'll all be hearing it soon..
>
>aaron
>
Yeah, Semisonic is quite cool. I seem to remember reading one article
about them that also made reference to BFF in terms of similar musical
styles. Never You Mind is the best song on that CD, no doubt, but actually
it reminded me more of The Beatles' Lady Madonna. I think both bands have
a pretty similar songwriting style. That whole CD is great, I think it's
still at Best Buy for $6.99 (!!!). Well, it was when I got it. Anyone
know if their first album is as good?
Brian Chan
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 00:46:26 EDT
From: SouperDv@aol.com
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1102
Y'know, Fl. Oz. are pretty decent, but I cant get into them because they are
just too much like the boys, and I cant hear the piano when I see them live
because it's an upright...the bass and drums drown it out big time. The leads
voice is almost a clone of Bens...its not like they rip off the boys..I dont
think...they just do the same thing as BF5, just not nearly as well...
Just my two cents
SUPERDAVE
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 00:56:02 EDT
From: SouperDv@aol.com
Subject: Bf5 covers - lets hear some grunge!
Ok ....more cents from me - I think the boys should do a loungy version of
"Fell on Black Days" by Soundgarden - the one band that stirs my soul like
BF5.
SUPERDAVE (The guy who sells knives for a living)
"The words you say never seem to live up to the one's inside your head"
- -Chris Cornell
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 00:53:01 -0400
From: Jessica Brandt <jbrandt@kent.edu>
Subject: Lack of research
As i was watching BFF on the abc independence day concert last night, i
said to my brother "I bet you a million bucks the next MA is going to be
filled with posts about how people set their VCRs and didn't get the show,
or it wasn't on."
I was right. yay! (no million $$ yet tho..)
Anyway, around here (cleveland) our ABC affiliate usually shows IN CONCERT
whenever the heck they feel lik eit. I had set my VCR to 11:30 like
RockOnTv said but when i got home I also saw there was a movie. Luckilly, i
found it to be on from 3:30 to 5 AM so i got to see BFF do "last polka"
(note: ben is lookin' awful shaggy...and my bro swears he was playing an
electric Yamaha grand)
Anyway, point is, your ABC affiliate, if you didn't catch it, either
decided not to run IN CONCERT or they showed it whenever they had time.
Don't clog up the 'Chair with auestions of "WHERE WAS IT??" cuz....well,
chill out, ABC in your town didn't show it.
Okay?
Jess
Dropping bits of wisdom, one turd at a time.
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------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1103
***************************************
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