From troche@... Sun Feb 9 07:08:29 2003 From: troche@... (Tom Roche) Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 01:08:29 -0500 Subject: a Melt-Banana story I wrote Message-ID: I asked a friend yesterday what she thought of the article I'd written, and she didn't know what I was talking about. I realized that while I'm quick to send out all sorts of stories by other writers, I usually forget to distribute pieces I've written myself. The following appeared in the most recent issue of Atlanta's STOMP AND STAMMER magazine. I had sent this out to just 3 or 4 people and I have forgotten to whom... so if you had it already sorry you get it again. Cheers, tom. MELT-BANANA REDEFINES EVERYTHING YOU KNOW by Tom Roche Stomp And Stammer Magazine January 03 EAST ATLANTA - It's 3AM Monday night, The Echo Lounge has closed up, and we have sauntered home in a state of sonic shellshock. No, I don't want to write about Melt-Banana. Not tonight. Not ever. There are a finite number of words and linguistic tricks in music writer's toolbox, and the good ones have been used up. Repeatedly. Ad nauseum. There's little left to say that can do this band justice. An unforgettable night for all, but just another night on the road for Melt-Banana. "Unlistenable noise" say some. "F-----g awesome" say others. Melt-Banana is both. Melt-Banana is neither. No confusion there: everything has been re-defined. The thesaurus goes in the digital trash can. To explain Melt-Banana a new language is needed, and there ain't one around. They are two gals, two guys. From Japan. The fastest band you will likely ever see. Every generation thinks they have discovered fast. Yeah, what about 90's speedcore? And before that, what about Mahavisnu Orchestra? And before that, Jimi Hendrix? And before that, Lionel Hampton? And on and on back through time. Well good bye to all that. A word as basic as "fast" is now re-defined. The house lights dim, they take the stage. Guitar, bass, drums and a smiling girl. OK, fine. Big deal. Lead vocalist Yasuko "Yako" Onuki takes center stage. "Heh-looo!" Big smile. "Wee-arhŠ meltbananaŠ frum tokeeyojapan." How cute. How sweet. We might even be in for some Pizzicato Five sort of silliness. And then the swirl of raging noise begins. Her smile turns neutral. She holds the mic stand at arm's length, stirring it slowly, slowly, eyes transfixed on a vague spot in the back of the room. Swirl redefined. Onslaught redefined. Thunder redefined. This could be trouble. Building. Towering. Louder. LouderŠ BAMbamstopstartstopstartyellwhispertellscreechtwangsirenstopstartrumbg= renstopstartrumblecascadetwichscreechtwangSTOP. Pause. She pulls the mic to her lips. "PLOT IN A POT! PLOT IN A POT! BANKRUPT'S BIRTHDAY! BURNING BANQUET! PLOT IN A POT! PLOT IN A POT!" Pause. Stic-stic-stick. ROARRRR-blam-yelling-pleading-whisper-yes-no-yes-no-blam. Siren-screech-twang-slam-roar-twang-STOP. "BLOODSHOT BUSMAN! BREAKS UP BUS STOP! PLUG IT IN PUT IT OUT! PLUG IT IN PUT IT OUT! GRATING SEEDS CRAZE! PLOT IN A POT! Screeech-yes-no-yes-no-yes-no-stopstartnobassroarfuzzscreechŠ. "SEEDS CAN TELL YOU HOW TO POP OUT!" stop! Pause. Silence. Smile. Meekly: "Thenk-yoo." Stunned applause. My God. My God! What just happened? Newcomers are reduced to 50's flying saucer movie dialog: Where did they come from? What do they want? The initial entre-nous to the Melt-Banana world for many, it must be admitted, is comic spectacle. "Early Husker Dü fronted by a ferocious Chihuahua," said one review. "They make Atari Teenage Riot seem like Barry Manilow," said another. "A slight Japanese woman has screamed at me all nightŠ." And so on. I mean, what nerve, what balls, to blast an extended blipvert of musical noise under random caterwauling/ chirping, and expect to get away with it. Hilarious. Hey, do that again - it'll be funny too. Go on, hit me. But soon it is the 10th song, the 20th song. Err, um, this joke isn't funny anymore. This is nowhere near as random and scattered as once thought. This is densely ordered chaos, sprung from an orderly culture. This is jaw-dropping precision, unclockable speed. These kids mean business. We have entered the strata of pure art, undiluted by any discernable influence. Sure there are probably obscure influences in their little Japanese-avant-thash universe at home, The Boredoms maybe, but realistically speaking they are out there all alone. Pioneering trailblazers no one has ever caught up with. This is a band that puts in the miles, and then some. A 2002 40-city tour in 51 days, in a NYC/Seattle/LA/Georgia/NYC loop. Back and forth across America, over and over. Europe too. Together for 9 years. Swish pan. Wide shot. Exterior, twilight. A COUPLE at a pay phone just off the highway in Montclair New Jersey. Cut to Close-up. A question is asked: Q: So your tour ended yesterday at the Knitting Factory and you're flying back to Japan? A: Ahh, no. (traffic noise) One gig tonight in Montclair then we fly back home. This was 5th US tour. Yako has agreed to an interview. Q Who travels with the band? A: The four members and a T-shirt guy. Stay at mostly cheap hotel, sometime friend house. Share driving. Q: You cover huge distances, repeatedly. Why tour? A: We like to tour and also for it's good to tour because we can play in front of the people our music. We can show the people directly our music. This time Seattle was good and also San Francisco and Austin. Q: How do you compose your lyrics? A: I read dictionary and pick words from pronunciation, and also meaning. I get idea and develop song. Q: Americans have a stereotype that the Japanese are very hard workers... A: HA-HA-HA Q: ...like the businessman who works 15 hours and gets on the Tokyo subway... A: We actually, we are kind of lazy, ha ha. But playing music on stage is fun. So it is half fun, half work. Q: There's another stereotype that Japanese are humble. A: "Hom-ble"? Q: Not extra proud. What I mean is when a reviewer says Melt-Banana is one of the best bands around how do you react? A: We say thank you. It is, ummm, good to hear those kind of things from people. We thank the people who understand our music. Q: But do you think you are among the best? A: We try to make good music so if people say that we are happy. Yako's limited English serves her well, giving her answers a clarity you'd not find in responses 5 times as long. Interestingly, Insound.com conducted an interview in 2001 with Yako and guitarist Agata Ichiro in Japanese, and then translated it: How do you fit in with the Japanese music scene? Agata: We like playing with all kinds of bands. We play with fastcore/grind bands a lot and, also, alternative style bands, emo bands. There are also times when we play with noise bands. But we don't have situations where we play with, like, jazz bands. You know? Yako: We run all over the place. We don't stay put. So, there's an emo scene in Japan? Agata: Emo is really popular right now. Yako: It's really big. Agata: There are bands like Blood Thirsty Butchers or Number Girl. Number Girl is so popular they'll draw one thousand people to a show, easily. This band Envy, too. They're an "emo grind" band. So, it's really fast but they are still crying. [laughter] How was it at the beginning? Agata: I really couldn't play the guitar when I started. Instead of trying to learn to play the right way I thought, 'How could I play without working too hard and still sound like somebody who can really play?' I started by changing from regular tuning to open tuning, so even if I couldn't hold regular chords I could hold these ones. And I couldn't move my hands quickly, so I f-----d around with the slide. [laughs] After a while, I started using the top part of the neck. I guess I started practicing the guitar after that. Yako: When we started playing people thought we sounded avant-garde. We didn't really think we sounded that way but people grouped us together with the noise and avant-garde scene. After we put out a split record with D.A., we started playing shows with hardcore and grindcore bands. We started getting more influenced by that stuff. It is well past midnight and we are now we are well into the set. The audience is 9/10 transfixed, 1/10 slam-dancing. Agata carries the most beat up Gibson SG ever played, one that's been marched, literally, through a thousand dark clubs and string changes. A worn out axe, redefined. He stands still for a time, then bounces around like a nutcase in a padded cell. Every song is bludgeoned to pulp yet he always parachutes onto a sonic thumbtack at the end. There's a dozen Japanese mystery-circuit black boxes at his feet (with details at http://www.guitargeek.com/rigview/262/ ) "All the guitar sounds, a very important part in this band, "says Yako. "But these days he got too many pedals and out of control (laughs.) For this tour three more, and he sees more sound pedals he is interested in. So when he gets back to Japan he'll go to equipment store and get some more." One guitar sounding like ten. Oh, lets guess 640 beats per minute. Again words fail. Thanks to Agata the standard guitar-god cliché's have truly done dried up and blow'd away now. Sonic hurricane, anyone? What a joke. A hurricane needs a week to develop and roar ashore. He does it in 90 seconds. Over and over. Category 5. Agata Ichiro has mastered his instrument. There's only one word left that fits, a word never used lightly. The H-word. Not since Hendrix have such an endless parade of amazing textures and finely detailed noise experiments come flying out with seemingly effortless abandon. Agata dons a surgical mask over his mouth for every gig. As Yako explained in an interview at antburg.tripod.com in 1999, "When he was 3-5? I'm not sure-years old, he suddenly got a disease, a serious blood condition. His bone marrow is not good; it can not make good-conditioned blood. Inferior blood. Unfortunately, any treatment of this disease has not been found yet. Anyway, he has disease, and I guess one of the reasons he wears mask is from disease. He needs to rest a lot because his body takes a longer time to recover from tiredness. And he need to stay away from getting cold. If he got fever, he can hardly move because of exhaustion." This year, from the payphone, she adds, " But these days he is doing good so no problem so far." To Ighiro's right, Rika Chang is off in her world, at the peak of her prowess, her fingers a blur on a bass guitar almost as tall as her. She is the cornerstone of some of the most complex rock ever made. You see her play in her quasi-anonymous corner and you wish that the next time she is in a 7-11 in Kansas the clerk will say "Sweet Jesus Rika you are the fastest bassist in the word, that Slurpee is on the house!" Yako again: "She works very hard. She is very small and how do you say her hand is very small. But she try hard and it's all good." MB has had a variety of drummers, on their latest tour was New Jersey's Dave Witte, lately from Burt By The Sun, providing metronomic fun and games. In the center of it all, Yako O is relentless. She admits she is a "me first" woman. She founded the band, the lyrics are all her own. Under the spotlight she is in charge. She is slender with short auburn hair but by no means androgynous. She is out there in her own orbit. The onslaught stops and starts with the furrow of her brow. This is control. This is passion. This is power. This is sexy. What? Sexy noisecore? Sexy thrash? She isn't even trying to come off this way. Sexier still. Q: Yako, what do you do to keep from getting bored? A: Bored? (Japanese discussion, traffic noise) We go shopping! Or we change the set. In L.A. Buzz from The Melvins took us to a store where you can buy human skull and we were about to buy it but it was kind of expensive so we gave up.. Q: Does it get lonely on the road? A: Lon-lee? (Japanese Discussion) Ahh, no. Why? Q: I was wondering how often young college boys ask you out on a date? A: Ha ha ha ha! No. Not at all! Uhhhh, maybe no time. Q: Are you homesick? A: Ummm not really. But I need my fish. Q: You need some fish? A: Yeh, no, I have a fish at home. A small copperfish is waiting for me. And tonight, on the final encore, the four are all smiles. A fan runs to the stage after the end of the second encore, in search of a coveted set list perhaps taped to the floor. Here is a gig where seemingly 20, 30, 40, individual songs have flown by, who can tell. And there is no set list. Once again, "set list" redefined. This punishing music, this punishing life on the road. There can't be a lot of money in this. But, says Yako, translated, "You experience things at a live show that can't be expressed on a CD or something. Sometimes you can't understand why this or that music exists when you hear a recording but you get a greater understanding of that music when you experience it live." She's right. There's a couple of CD's and a prolific discography of dozens and dozens of singles, little labels, you know where to look. Every one of them a tasty snack. But the live show is the main course. So when they come round these parts again go see 'em for yerself so I don't have to struggle to write any more about Melt-Banana. (c) 2003 Stomp and Stammer Melt-Banana's entire live set from BBC radio last year can be heard by typing or pasting this address into RealPlayer (can't click, must PASTE): rtsp://rmv7.bbc.net.uk/radio1/g2/djs/peel/melt_banana_mv_oct2001.rm From troche@... Fri Feb 21 05:12:18 2003 From: troche@... (Tom Roche) Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 23:12:18 -0500 Subject: Ananova - BBC orders naked man to cover up for interview Message-ID: Ananova - BBC orders naked man to cover up for interview X-URL: http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_752663.html?menu= BBC orders naked man to cover up for interview John Peel failed to get a radio interview with a nude rights campaigner because the BBC ordered him to cover up. Bosses would not allow Steve Gough to walk naked through their offices in Southampton because it might have offended staff. Mr Gough, 43, believes being in his birthday suit is a human right. He was in reception at the BBC South studios, ready to record a piece for Peel's popular Radio 4 show Home Truths, when he was banned. The campaigner had cycled naked through Southampton city centre in the cold from his Eastleigh home five miles away to go to the interview. He had been given a name badge when the BBC ordered the cover-up. Mr Gough refused and was told the interview was off. Father-of two Mr Gough was then arrested by police when he arrived home. A Radio 4 spokeswoman said the interview would have been done by John Peel in London through a link. Mr Gough was released on police bail to return on February 26. Story filed: 13:44 Thursday 20th February 2003 Copyright (c) 2003 Ananova Ltd From troche@... Sun Feb 23 20:14:32 2003 From: troche@... (Tom Roche) Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 14:14:32 -0500 Subject: Off topic Brit culture question Message-ID: I am reading the current Private Eye and once again they have referred to Queen Elizabeth as "Brenda." What's the origin of that? tom in atlanta From rbrwr@... Sun Feb 23 22:26:40 2003 From: rbrwr@... (Rob Brewer) Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 21:26:40 +0000 Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5.1.1.5.1.20030223212437.01f7aa60@...> At 14:14 23/02/03 -0500, Tom Roche wrote: >I am reading the current Private Eye and once again they have referred to >Queen Elizabeth as "Brenda." What's the origin of that? I don't know, but it goes back over twenty years. At one time they had a full set of pseudonyms for the Royals - Charles and Diana were "Brian and Cheryl", if I recall correctly... Rob From frances@... Mon Feb 24 13:14:54 2003 From: frances@... (Frances Castle) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 12:14:54 -0000 Subject: Off topic Brit culture question Message-ID: <415C917D807AD411B72C00805FF7330B04E9A499@MAILSRV> Brenda is short for elizabeth.. so I guess it comes from that From rbrwr@... Mon Feb 24 13:47:52 2003 From: rbrwr@... (Rob Brewer) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 12:47:52 +0000 Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question In-Reply-To: <415C917D807AD411B72C00805FF7330B04E9A499@MAILSRV> Message-ID: <5.1.1.5.1.20030224123909.02baeca0@...> At 12:14 24/02/03 +0000, Frances Castle wrote: >Brenda is short for elizabeth.. so I guess it comes from that Er, what? I really didn't expect to be doing a survey of baby-naming web sites today, but they seem to agree that "Elizabeth" is from Hebrew, meaning "God is bountiful", while "Brenda" is from Norse, meaning "sword", or Gaelic, meaning "raven". How did Brenda get to be short for Elizabeth? Anyway, they also called Prince Charles "Brian", Pricess Di "Cheryl" and Princess Margaret "Yvonne". Explain those ;-) Fun fact: I share my birthday with the actress who plays Brenda on Six Feet Under. Rob From me@... Mon Feb 24 14:53:25 2003 From: me@... (Ed Blackmore) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:53:25 -0000 Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question In-Reply-To: <5.1.1.5.1.20030224123909.02baeca0@...> References: <415C917D807AD411B72C00805FF7330B04E9A499@MAILSRV> Message-ID: <3E5A23D5.7514.1E5F9C22@localhost> > At 12:14 24/02/03 +0000, Frances Castle wrote: > > >Brenda is short for elizabeth.. so I guess it comes from that > > Er, what? > > I really didn't expect to be doing a survey of baby-naming web > sites today, but they seem to agree that "Elizabeth" is from Hebrew, > meaning "God is bountiful", while "Brenda" is from Norse, meaning > "sword", or Gaelic, meaning "raven". How did Brenda get to be short > for Elizabeth? > > Anyway, they also called Prince Charles "Brian", Pricess Di "Cheryl" > and Princess Margaret "Yvonne". Explain those ;-) > > Fun fact: I share my birthday with the actress who plays Brenda on > Six Feet Under. > > > Rob > > Kershaw called the Queen Brenda in the 08/11/2002 show, when talking about 'Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around'. Ed -- Ed Blackmore http://www.edblackmore.net From vicarage@... Mon Feb 24 15:03:49 2003 From: vicarage@... (Jon) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 14:03:49 +0000 Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question References: <5.1.1.5.1.20030223212437.01f7aa60@...> Message-ID: <3E5A2645.A07681C8@...> Surely it's just meant to make them sound more (ahem) "working class", in order to break down the reverence which prevents us from seeing them as barnacles on the hull of Britain... Rob Brewer wrote: > > At 14:14 23/02/03 -0500, Tom Roche wrote: > > >I am reading the current Private Eye and once again they have referred to > >Queen Elizabeth as "Brenda." What's the origin of that? > > I don't know, but it goes back over twenty years. At one time they > had a full set of pseudonyms for the Royals - Charles and Diana were > "Brian and Cheryl", if I recall correctly... > > Rob > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From rbrwr@... Mon Feb 24 15:10:46 2003 From: rbrwr@... (Rob Brewer) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 14:10:46 +0000 Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question In-Reply-To: <3E5A2645.A07681C8@...> References: <5.1.1.5.1.20030223212437.01f7aa60@...> Message-ID: <5.1.1.5.1.20030224141008.02bab8e0@...> At 14:03 24/02/03 +0000, Jon wrote: >Surely it's just meant to make them sound more (ahem) "working class", >in order to break down the reverence which prevents us from seeing them >as barnacles on the hull of Britain... That would make sense, yes. Rob From markbursa@... Mon Feb 24 16:45:08 2003 From: markbursa@... (markbursa@...) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 10:45:08 EST Subject: [peel] Off topic Brit culture question Message-ID: <69.354233a7.2b8b9804@...> > >>Surely it's just meant to make them sound more (ahem) "working class", > >in order to break down the reverence which prevents us from seeing them > >as barnacles on the hull of Britain...<< Correct. They've been calling the Queen Brenda since at least the 70s, possibly before (I've only been reading the eye for about 23 years). The names were probably invented by Willie Rushton or Peter Cook. Mark From sete.colinas@... Mon Feb 24 19:50:48 2003 From: sete.colinas@... (Leo Gilbert) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 18:50:48 +0000 Subject: Focus In-Reply-To: <5.1.1.5.1.20030223212437.01f7aa60@...> Message-ID: Just to regain a little focus to this Peel newsgroup, I'm surprised that the emails haven't been flying about Crimea, who seem to be a great band. Peel clearly loves them, and I think he might be correct: they really do have something special. I'm going to see them this Friday, so I'll post a quick review. Leo On Sunday, Feb 23, 2003, at 21:26 Europe/London, Rob Brewer wrote: > At 14:14 23/02/03 -0500, Tom Roche wrote: > > > >I am reading the current Private Eye and once again they have > referred to > >Queen Elizabeth as "Brenda." What's the origin of that? > > I don't know, but it goes back over twenty years. At one time they > had a full set of pseudonyms for the Royals - Charles and Diana were > "Brian and Cheryl", if I recall correctly... > > > Rob > > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 1045 bytes Desc: not available URL: From festive50@... Mon Feb 24 23:33:20 2003 From: festive50@... (Phil Edwards) Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 22:33:20 -0000 Subject: [peel] Focus In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Just to regain a little focus to this Peel newsgroup, I'm surprised that the emails haven't been flying about Crimea, who seem to be a great band. Peel clearly loves them, and I think he might be correct: they really do have something special. I'm going to see them this Friday, so I'll post a quick review. Leo The only track I've heard from is the one Peely played on his 2002 Festive 50 show ie. 'Lottery Winners On Acid' This might be regarded as an insult to the band (in no way intended), but I think it a truly GREAT "POP SONG" as in the '60's when the charts were populated with great songs and not the shite that fills the charts these days. Not to worry, we still have Peely to play us the decent stuff. Talking of the Festive 50 I meant to post the following about the FF but never got round to sending it. On the whole I think this year's FF was better than last year's. My main reason for this, is the fact that only 4 tracks this year were, what I thought semi main-stream ie. featured on XFM (although, a halfway decent radio station based in London which is Ok when Peely's not on air, it's still playlist orientated). Compared to last year which contained 18 (Pulp, White Stripes, Pulp, Super Furry Animals, Strokes, Mercury Rev etc.) As for the No. 17. Asa-Chang & Junray - Hana (which he described as an extraordinary record). It truly was as an extraordinary and beautiful record. P.S. I agree about Brenda making her sound more (ahem) "working class"... Same as using names like Dennis, Malcolm, Tracy or Sharon. I believe Brenda goes back to late '60's. Phil From frances@... Tue Feb 25 12:04:02 2003 From: frances@... (Frances Castle) Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 11:04:02 -0000 Subject: [peel] Digest Number 590 Message-ID: <415C917D807AD411B72C00805FF7330B04E9A49F@MAILSRV> meaning "God is bountiful", while "Brenda" is from Norse, meaning "sword", or Gaelic, meaning "raven". How did Brenda get to be short for Elizabeth? I have no idea.. its one of those weird things unfathomable things but people christened Elizabeth are often nick named Brenda From stuart@... Tue Feb 25 12:14:19 2003 From: stuart@... (Stuart McHugh) Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 11:14:19 +0000 Subject: Focus In-Reply-To: <1046170415.242.95230.m12@yahoogroups.com> References: <1046170415.242.95230.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: >Just to regain a little focus to this Peel newsgroup, I'm surprised >that the emails haven't been flying about Crimea, who seem to be a >great band. Peel clearly loves them, and I think he might be correct: >they really do have something special. I'm going to see them this >Friday, so I'll post a quick review. I kind of imagined that the single might be a one-off - given it's 'novelty' title - so I was pleased to hear Peel play another track from them which was pretty darn good too. And that's my take on it. Speaking of Focus - anyone see them on the Old Grey Whistle Test re-runs? Anyone else heard Atomic Soul Experiences' electro remix of Hocus Pocus? S -- From d.mckinnon@... Tue Feb 25 12:22:35 2003 From: d.mckinnon@... (MCKINNON Dougal) Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 11:22:35 -0000 Subject: [peel] Digest Number 590 Message-ID: <1342AFEFF7609A42AD20DB9E0BF20DBF5FA809@...> > > > meaning "God is bountiful", while "Brenda" is from Norse, > meaning "sword", or Gaelic, meaning "raven". How did Brenda > get to be short for Elizabeth? > > > I have no idea.. its one of those weird things unfathomable > things but people christened Elizabeth are often nick named Brenda I can honestly say that I've known a few people called Elizabeth and heard them called many things, none of which have been Brenda. I've known a couple of people called Brenda because they were, well, called Brenda. I remember when Private Eye started calling Princess Diana "Cheryl". They just did. There was no reasoning behind it. It just somehow fitted. dougal mckinnon Tel: 01782 294832 E-mail: d.mckinnon@... The information in this email is confidential and is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, except for the purpose of delivery to the addressee, is prohibited and may be unlawful. Kindly notify the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your computer. From keith@... Tue Feb 25 12:30:17 2003 From: keith@... (keith hawley) Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 11:30:17 +0000 Subject: [peel] RE: Focus In-Reply-To: References: <1046170415.242.95230.m12@yahoogroups.com> <1046170415.242.95230.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <5.2.0.9.0.20030225112747.027c4770@...> >Speaking of Focus - anyone see them on the Old Grey Whistle Test re-runs? nope. but "hocus pocus" was featured on buzzcocks last week. and the singer was in the line-up... looking like a cross between elvis-as-he-would-be-now and van morrison! apparently Focus are still going.... From martinwheatley@... Tue Feb 25 23:55:55 2003 From: martinwheatley@... (Martin Wheatley) Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 22:55:55 +0000 Subject: Mr Airplane Man Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20030225225417.00c3cf50@...> Any one who is enjoying the Mr Airplane Man session on Peel tonight as I am may be interested to know that if you go to their website at www.airplaneman.com and click on the audio/visual link there are 8 MP3s for download martinw