From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest)
Subject: Level42 Digest V96 #27

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                          D   I   G   E   S   T

Level42 Digest                                          Volume 96 : Issue 27
                                                        253 subscribers
Today's topics:
   On {A,The} Level compilations, cd-video           Vince Mora
   Re: Early Tapes LP cover                          Vince Mora
   A CD in the cupboard.                             Laurence Green
   CD Bronzing                                       WALTFRA @ frmail.rosemount>>
   Re: Level42 Digest V96 #26                        Daniel James
   Re: Lenny Henry                                   Simon J Bone
   Further philosophy on twee... (and other nonsen>> Amanda Paulette
   I'm dumb                                          LittleHalo @ aol.com
   Re: Level42 Digest V96 #26                        EasyE1 @ aol.com
   Too Much L42?                                     RolfieV @ aol.com
   Various Level Ramblings                           LittleHalo @ aol.com
   stuff                                             TTrudell @ aol.com
   twee, labels, compilations, etc.                  Vince Mora

------------------------------

Subject: On {A,The} Level compilations, cd-video
From: Vince Mora <synth @ swcp.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 10:16:39 -0700 (MST)

Lazlo writes:

> First off, I noticed last night that my
> copy of On The Level (the compilation CD) is bronzing!  Does anyone else
> with this disc have this problem?

Oh, lovely.  I *just* picked up On The Level and On A Level at a record
shop in south Florida, and wondered what was up with the funky bronze
shading on On The Level ... :-(  Seems to play okay, though ...

> > Video/Audio CD for Something About You that includes the video, and 3 audio
> > only remixes of the song.. Has anyone heard of this or seen it before?
> 
> Yes -- this was even released in the US, believe it or not:
> [...]
> Strange note: the video does *not* have the scream sound in that shot where
> the camera whizzes backwards from Mark...

Neither does the US "Level Best" laserdisc ... :-(

> > Does anyone know FOR SURE what the difference is between the regular and
> > Japanese Pursuit?  Takeo?  Anyone?
> 
> Takeo's track list makes it sound like the Japanese pressing is pretty much
> the same as everyone else's, right down to the dropout in the remix of "The
> Chinese Way".  (Is that sound glitch on the 12" too?)

Do we know that the glitch has been cleaned up on "The Remixes"?  (Sorry if
this has already been discussed.)

Vince

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Early Tapes LP cover
From: Vince Mora <synth @ swcp.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 09:42:10 -0700 (MST)

Howdy folks ... been out of town, so I'm catching up on digests:

Lazlo writes:
> >Early Tapes... Vince has the Japanese LP and I remember it as having
> >much nicer artwork than the cheesy CD art.)

Pat writes:
> So, Vince, what's it look like? I've seen the aforementioned cheesy CD art,
> and cheesy is a decent word for it.

I should probably scan this puppy in for the Lyrics section on the homepage.
It's a black cover, with the "Susan Sarandon" girl (who da hell came up
with that nickname, anyway? :-) bathed in orange and green, a glowing
neon cube floating in space next to her, and a laser beam coming out of
her mouth ... hmmm, basically this one's pretty cheesy too. :-)  I like it
though.

Vince

------------------------------

Subject: A CD in the cupboard.
From: Laurence Green <lgreen @ pine.shu.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:12:38 PST

Hi Everyone,
	Are You Hearing (What I Hear)? well Heather, just for you in 
order to get a copy of this video, you have to know someone who was 
such a die hard Level 42 fan even at that early stage in the bands 
career that they stayed up to watch a music show that plays videos 
that are about to be released and may make the top 40. Unfortunatly 
Are You Hearing, didnt make the top 40. But my friend kept the video 
and made me a copy. There are also videos for Out Of Sight, Out Of 
Mind, and Weave your spell.
	On the promo interview  LP for Staring At The Sun, Mark said 
out of all the stuff they do, not everything gets used? Hmmmm, I 
wonder what sort of stuff lays undiscovered in Polydor vaults?
	At This Great Distance, appears on the Tracie Elliot Amps. 
Demonstration CD and not ALSO AVAILABLE IN GREEN, I have written 
to Audiophile asking for verification on the track by Mark on that album, 
I suspect it is a previosly unreleased song. Mark has an album's worth 
of material that he recorded with Gary Husband which was to be 
released by the both of them, but they had a huge row (why Gary left 
the group) and the music is unreleased. This maybe the track on this 
album.
    On line chat for Level 42 fans is a great idea, but I have no idea how 
that would work, what if you went there and there was no-one else 
there, would you have to talk to yourself?
	Never mind all this talk about bronzing, my copy of True 
Colours has evolved into a living being, it has grown legs and is 
studying a masters degree in agricultural engineering at the bottom of 
my cupbaoard. Has anyone else had the fault with their CD? It's 
beginning to communicate with other CD's, I fear a rebellion or some 
sort of mutiny could take place. Oh no here he comes, he has a sharp 
pecil and hes going for my throa

RIGHT LISTEN UP AND LISTEN GOOD. THIS IS LOZS TRUE COLOURS 
CD TALKING HERE. LOZ IS IN A CRITICAL CONDITION BUT STABLE. IF 
YOU HAVENT SENT HIM ALL YOUR RAREST VINYL, CD AND TAPE BY 
TWO DAYS FROM NOW YOU WILL NEVER HEAR FROM HIM AGAIN. 
THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

------------------------------

Subject: CD Bronzing
From: WALTFRA @ frmail.rosemount.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 08:48:07 -0600

Lazzlo wrote:
Virtually all known cases of "bronzing" to date were caused by a defective
lacquer formula on certain discs pressed by PDO around 1989 and 1990.  PDO
are in fact repressing some out-of-print titles in order to offer
replacements.  Your best bet if you have a bronzing disc is to contact PDO
directly; contact info is in the rec.music.marketplace/collecting FAQ as I
mentioned a couple digests back.

---

Lazzlo, I did not find the mentioned digest, nor the collecting FAQ.
Could you send me (us) the address of PDO?

Walter

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #26
From: djames @ statsci.com (Daniel James)
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 11:03:43 -0800 (PST)

> Subject: Pilgrimage
> From: ROBINS MATTHEW DAVID <RM511 @ greenwich.ac.uk>

I think I have this recorded somewhere, but what was the date of this
"event" again?  I've been dying to head across the waters, and this might
just give me the excuse that I've been looking for.  I know there's a
mention of this place in the faq, but I can't remember if it states the
location as well.

> Subject: Answer for Angel
> From: lolita @ interserv.com
> 
> Angel - If you are referring to the song I think you are, Life Will Never Be 
> The Same is from Mike Lindup's solo album, Changes.  This album is a MUST buy 
> (I know Eric would agree :-)).  I actually have the song Changes in my head 
> right now, and it is very catchy.  Buying Changes, one of Wally's solo 
> efforts, and Influences would give a person a full perspective of who wrote 
> which songs [ex: after buying Wally's EP, I knew immediately he must have 
> written the music for World Machine (the song)].  Just a thought.

Interesting.  The only album I have of Wally's is Words of a Mountain,
which is very mellow (actually I like it quite a bit, although I think I
may have lost it somewhere).  Are his other albums quite a bit different
from this one?

> OK, it looks like (from both private and posted mail) there is enough
> interest in shirts for me to start looking into it. I'll generate a couple
> designs this weekend and post them to...hmm. How can I do this so everybody
> gets a chance to see the designs? Can I post them to the L42 page?
> Otherwise I can possibly send the files as mail attachments (stuffed and
> binhexed)...

I would say that zipped and uuencoded might be better.  Although Aladdin
has finally released a windows version of the Extractor, most people
probably don't have it.  I think it's easier for us Mac people to use the
tools that Windows people have.  Unless you're talking about files with a
resource fork, then the windoze format should be fine.  Also, for those of
you with Windows machines, I recommend the Stuffit Extractor.  It's a
freebie, and with one program, you get a multitude of formats (uuencode,
zip, etc, plus the Mac StuffIt, BinHex and Compactor formats).  It can be
found on Alladin's Web Site.  [Level 42 mode back on]

> Subject: Prioritizing a list, Icehouse
> From: ncc1701d @ iaccess.com.au (Cliff Gorian)
> 
> (b) Compare the first item with each of the items BELOW it in your list.
> For each pair being compared, place a tick against the one which would be
> your first choice.

Sounds like the old Bubble-Sort method :)
> Daniel James recently said something that I thought was rather interesting;
> he said he liked how Level 42's videos have a lot of little things going on in
> them to keep you interested - I think he called them 'little complexities' or
> something like that.
> I've always thought one of the reasons I've NEVER, EVER gotten tired of any
> of Level 42's songs is that the songs themselves have lots of little things
> going on in them, whether we're talking about (and it'll become obvious here
> very quickly that I'm NOT a musician; I don't know the terminology for these
> things) various instruments or keyboard-sounds, etc.  Basically, I've always
> found I could listen to a Level 42 song for the ump-teenth time ...snip

Yes, I agree with this also.  Every now and then, I hear a new Boon riff
in a song, and that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.  I just got the CD
for the Early Tapes after having listened to a 2nd generation tape for
years.  Listening to this CD with headphones on has been a real treat.
There's lots of his playing that I never noticed before.  Breeds new life
into some old favorites.

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Lenny Henry
From: ee21sb @ ee.surrey.ac.uk (Simon J Bone)
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:06:52 +0000 (GMT)

Yes Marcus, indeed it is true I did see Lenny Henry at the Albert Hall. 
Although I did see him at the end of the concert not the begining as you 
said (sorry to pick you up on that one). Can anyone through any light on 
Lenny Henry's connection with the band? (He's a British comedian if 
anyone doesn't know).

------------------------------

Subject: Further philosophy on twee... (and other nonsense, of course)
From: apaulet @ CLEMSON.EDU (Amanda Paulette)
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:34:24 -0500 (EST)

My man Nigel submits the following wisdom on the ever-elusive "twee:"
>'cute' or homely. May I suggest an alternative meaning for the word twee -
>"the distance
>you have to walk between where you were standing at the front of a bus
>queue and where
>the door of the bus actually stops".

Hmmm, could be....I know the feeling well, but I hesitate to give it that
usage.  To me, "twee" is that sickeningly sweet, none-crinkled look Kathy
Lee Gifford gets on her face when she's about to talk about that damn
Cody...


Also, Cliff Gorian submits this for our approval:
>Anyone interested in participating in a poll of our favourite L42 songs
>and albums ?

Okay, _please_ don't think I'm being a killjoy, because I certainly don't
want to be.  But we've been down this road before, and I'm just of the
opinion that people's tastes change on this list a little too much for a
poll to be really all that valid.  (Although it would be interesting to see
where the much-maligned "Chinese Way" would place, hehe)

_And_, there are poor pathetic creatures such as myself, whose last L42
purchase was (*gulp*) 3 years ago [BUT...drum roll...I ordered Forever
Now+4!  Yippy skippy!  Now, if anyone could give me an idea of how long it
should take me, I would appreciate it much].

Could I maybe suggest another idea, if folks feel they would be willing to
volunteer this information to the list: if you had to choose any L42 song
as theme music to your life at this point in time, what would it be.  Okay,
me first: it would have to be "Micro Kid," in commemoration of the geek I'm
turning into.  Fun, isn't it?

Jus' something to think about.  Have a good weekend, kids--
        --Amanda

******************************************************************************
        Amanda K. Paulette -- Clemson University Document Design Lab
  ===>apaulet @ clemson.edu     http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~apaulet<===

"Being flamed is, what, the verbal equivalent of a drive-by shooting?"

--Douglas Adams
****************************************************************************
**

------------------------------

Subject: I'm dumb
From: LittleHalo @ aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 15:48:41 -0500

Can I just say I feel like an idiot?  I HAVE Mike's "Changes" and since that
song was an instrumental, I didn't remember it's name.  I should've done more
research before I opened up my big...um...fingers?  Thanks for the answers,
though.  Lolita's right, BTW, 
"Changes" is indeed a catchy tune.

A Humble Goodbye From,
Angel

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #26
From: EasyE1 @ aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 15:10:14 -0500

Hi there all! I just got my copy of "Forever Now +4" on Resurgence
Records....... Forgive me if someone has already pointed this out before, but
the +4 is really +6...

The Resurgence release of FN drops "All Over You" and "Tired of
Waiting"...... It adds 6 new songs to the mix for a total of 15 tracks - over
78 minutes of pure Level....

The New Tracks are:

2  The Bends
3  Play Me
5  Past Lives
7  Heart on the Line
9  Time Will Heal
10 Learn to Say No

The mix of "Billy's Gone" sounds a little different to me than that of the
RCA release... Has anyone else thought the same thing?

Eric B. Morson
Stamford, CT
EasyE1 @ aol.com

------------------------------

Subject: Too Much L42?
From: RolfieV @ aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 15:00:53 -0500

Hi everyone,

My wife is starting to complain that I play too much L42. Can you imagine?
She likes them but obviously not as much as I do. So, I decide to get my old
box of tapes out of the closet. (All my "non-L42" music has dust on it, or so
my wife would claim.) I enjoyed listening to some old Tears for Fears, Naked
Eyes and PM. Anybody else heard of PM? (Not PM Dawn) Their album (I believe
they had just the one) was released in 1988 on Warner Brother Records and the
single (the only one I heard on the radio) was called "Piece of Paradise.
They were the opening act for Chicago when I saw them. (This perfomance was
the reason I bought their tape) Anyone else heard of them? Please e-mail me.

Take Care,
Rolf

  

------------------------------

Subject: Various Level Ramblings
From: LittleHalo @ aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 15:26:44 -0500

Just wanted to share a few things with y'all:

First of all, my wonderful boyfriend, Kevin, figured out that the bassline in
the intro and mid verse sections of "Past Lives" is the same as the beginning
groove to Mark's bass solo on the "A Physical Presence" CD.  He's such a good
boy!  I was so proud that he figured that out before *I* did!  I wonder if
"Past Lives" came first or if his bass solo did?

Have any of you noticed that "Forever Now" seems louder than other songs on
the CD? I noticed this before but it's even more evident on FN+4-2 since it's
in amongst other songs.

A few weeks ago, my car CD player dropped out of my hands, the lid opened,
and out popped Mike's "Changes."  Sinful, I know.  Well, it rolled underneath
a Volkswagen bug and so what else could I do but do get on the ground, wet
with rain, do a one-handed push-up while I reached under the car to grab it?
 Ah, what I won't do for love.

Jan, you when you get Freedom a go-go, you must listen to it while driving.
 You'll wonder how you ever got through the last five minutes because you
won't be thinking about the road.  The song is just so bouncy, funky, and
fun.  It has that salsa feel to it.

Russell Brewes, If nobody has told you on Friday's digest, World Machine has
a U.S. version which came out later that omits Dream Crazy and I Sleep On My
Heart (as you said) and includes Hot Water and The Chant Has Begun instead.
  

While on the World Machine subject might I ask if the U.S. version has the
"Something About You" radio cut with the rap included or is it the same
version as the normal CD?  I only have the normal U.K. one and I might have
reason to get the U.S. if it has the rap.

Lastly, I already knew that February 11 was the 42nd day of the year since my
mom is proud to have that day be her birthday!  Lucky gal!

From Only One Girl In A Million,
Angel 

------------------------------

Subject: stuff
From: TTrudell @ aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 19:28:35 -0500

Some quick hits on a few recent threads . . .

1) Forever Wow really rocks . . . so many great songs! 

2) Thanks to the person who is compiling our top tens and top 5 albums. I
sent my stuff in . . .

3) I feel properly chastised about my previous bitching and moaning about CD
Now. Without them, its true, I wouldn't have been able to get this really
superior album easily.

4)HOWEVER, I first ordered it from them in November. It was on sale at
$12.97. No problem, I thought, even if it hasn't been released yet.

So the release date got pushed back into late December, and CD Now sent me a
CANCELLATION notice of my order, because my order had gone 30 days without
being filled.

So when I reordered it from them. the price was 5 bucks higher. Hello??? Have
I been ripped off? So that's a legitimate complaint. Yet, who cares, because
it's a great album that I would have paid dearly for anyway.

5) Someone commented on the complexities of Level 42 songwriting. That truly
is the genius of this band, and the reason why Level 42 is the only band
whose songs I can repeat indefinitely. I write songs and record them in my
embryonic home studio - I deeply respect their songwriting. I would love to
have been present at some of the band's creative sessions, to see just how
perfection gets put together . . .

Anybody else on the list got a garage full of wanky toys they write songs
with???


Later y'all    - Tom

------------------------------

Subject: twee, labels, compilations, etc.
From: Vince Mora <synth @ swcp.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:33:52 -0700 (MST)

Pat writes:

> >3)  Pat, are you the one who introduced the term "twee"? 
> 
> I didn't introduce it. Actually, I first heard it used by Tom Jones, one
> of my idols (no sarcasm intended, I'm for real here), when he was
> talking about how so many bands today are more style than substance.

Tom Jones is da man!  I think he's timelessly cool too.

> think his words were something like "I don't need to poof my hair out and
> where all kinds of fluffy clothing. It's all so twee." I would say the 
> meaning of "twee" is the same as the meaning of "precious" when used with
> sarcasm.

God help me, it's stuck in my brain now too ...

--
Zak writes:

> if we all really want some labels, I can get them mass-produced at
> cost, which really isn't very much. All I would need is some good, clean
> artwork, (I can scan some myself, if I have to), and money and snail-mail
> addresses from anybody who's interested.

Count me in.  I can provide some logos for you, from the still-under-
contruction Gallery section of the L42 Home Page.  I hope JPEGs are
acceptable?  Or would your printer prefer TIFF?

> done however we want any shape, any size, we can even have them done
> transparent with the adhesive on the face, for putting on the inside of
> your car window. we can do bumper stickers, little round stickers,
> whatever.

Excellent.

> On another note, I can also get t-shirts done. Again, I can use any art
> from anything, as long as it's decent.

Are we ever going to get this off the ground??  Who are the resident 
graphic artists in da house, so we can get some designs going ...

--
Eric writes:

> 4.  new Level 42 Homepage.  What's the deal with this?

No comment. :-)

--
Pat writes:

> >This could develop into 'the most embarrasing CD I ever bought' 
> >thread'.  Remember Mel & Kim, or Johnny Hates Jazz?
> 
> Hey, I bought Johnny Hates Jazz, and it's not that bad, as far as Brit-pop
> goes.

Wow, I never thought I'd find even *one* other JHJ listener, here in
the States, ever.  Pat, you're a GOD.

--
April's friend writes:

> > And the Level 42 site was really nifty.  I dl'd all the wav files last
> > weekend,

Tell him that I'm glad he enjoyed the WAVs!  Thank Rob too.

> > 'On a Level'.  It was in the cut-out bin at Borders Bookstore!  Only $3.99!
> 
> Should I be jealous? I'm not sure. He's not even a true fan yet and has 
> found this diamond in the rough. I tellya, beginner's luck. 

He lucked out bigtime.  As I mentioned a few messages back, I just
picked up On A Level too, for $12.99, and I thought THAT was a steal
for an import!  Many stores just decide to eat their costs and get
rid of stuff, so it's purely luck to stumble upon a find like that.
I found the CD-single for "Forever Now" in a cutout bin at another
Florida store for $2.99 (!).

> I don't think I've ever heard anyone here talk about "On A Level". 
> Does anyone who has it like it?

I like it.  The "Physical Presence" track turned out to be a live version,
which was cool.  However, the rotting "On THE Level" (I'm listening to
it now, and I'm starting to get severe playback breakdown around track 14)
is much cooler: "World Machine" and "I Sleep On My Heart" are the US
remixes!  Totally not-mentioned in the liner notes.  A nice surprise.

Vince