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[Dan Hooper]

Greetings Listees,

Kt788 at aol.com asked for suggestions of cult bands old and new that maybe
haven't or never really made it big, but should or should have, for a radio
show. The perfect band for this would be Sweetwater. VH1 in the US just did
their first original movie about them. They were the first electric band to
play at Woodstock 69. They were a mutiracial band from Los Angeles playing
a very cool fusion of psychedlic pop jazz rock. They had no guitar players,
instead they used flute and cello keyboards, bass, drums, and congas. They
were just on the verge of becoming famous when Nansi Nevin, their lead
singer, was hit by a drunk driver, resulting in a 30 day coma, and an
operation that cost her a vocal cord. Needless to say, they have been a
mere footnote in rock history as the keyboard player became a construction
forman, the bass player did orchestral arrangements for Yanni, the cello
player died in a freak elevator accident in germany, and Nansi did the
decent in to drugs and alcohol until she became an English teacher at a Los
Angeles college. Their music is really cool, and stands up pretty well
today. The VH1 show had lots of it, which was very cool too.

Another really good band, which is a cult band, and one that I think people
who like Belle and Sebastian would really like, are from San Francisco,
write really good songs, and are called Box Set. Even their initials are
the same as B & S, well, except for the ampersand. This is a different Box
Set than the Box Set from England (I have never heard them, so I can't say
. . .). You can learn a lot more about them and order their CD's from their
website: WWW.boxset.com.

Socks are very important, and not something to be taken lightly (except in
summer). I have a friend who only washes a pair of socks once. He wears
them oncewhen they are new (at their best according to him) and once after
they've been washed. Then he throws them out because they aren't as soft an
nice as they used to be. Personally, I'm in the process of replacing all my
socks with cashmere. They are very expensive, I know. But they are very
comfortable and nice on the feet and they come in the best colors. So far,
the best cashmere socks I've found come from N. Peal Cashmere. They use
only scottish cashmere, which is softer and nicer than the chinese chasmere
they sell at Macy's. My friends think I'm crazy spending so much money on
cashmere socks, but I tell them life is short and we should indulge
ourselves as much as possible while we're here. Cuz, in heaven there is no
cashmere (or everything is cashmere which is pretty much the same as
nothing being cashmere). But what do I know, except that cashmere socks are
really nice on your feet.

Wow, I just realized I captured two points that have been touched on by
Arantxa: socks and cashmere. I have to say she won my heart when she said a
couple weeks ago that she was going to spend her student fee check on a
cashmere sweater. That's my kind of girl, no wonder I have a cru . . .oops.

In my last post I was all aglee having just received a box with all the B &
S LP's and EP's. Well not a day has gone by since that one or more of them
have not been spinning on my turntable. And though my love and appreciation
of B & S's has only deepened (I still like TBWTAS the best, but maybe
that's because first love is the deepest), a stange thing occurred. I was
going to Amoeba Records on Haight Street to see what I could find (I ended
up buying Looper's Up a Tree), and my housemate (the one who had made some
disparaging remarks about that "wimpy music" or some such thing) asked me
if I would pick up "Are You Feeling Sinister" for her. I looked at her
strangely, and she said she really liked TBWTAS and had the CD in her car.
I was gobsmacked (I like that term, it really does capture a certain
feeling and facial expression, doesn't it?). So I purchased the CD for her
and she now cruises around San Francisco blasting "Dylan in the Movies"
really really loudly. Another convert made.

I see too that the ranks of NorCal B & S fans have swollen by one, now that
Laura Llew is amoungst us. Welcome to our little corner of the world Laura,
you couldn't have come at a better time. The weather is nice . . . and not
much else is going on. Be sure to visit the city. Amoeba Records has lots
of B & S in stock and lots of other cool stuff too. Besides it's fun to
shop in an old bowling alley, and the Haight is an interesting way to spend
a Saturday with a little lunch in the Park.

Though I like them both, the Beatles were way better than the Beach Boys.
You see, the Beatles did not have Mike Love. And the Beatles stopped before
they sucked. But I just bought the newly released "True Stereo" version of
Pet Sounds, and it is truely a masterpiece. Much much better than the mono
version. No wonder Paul McCartney was inspired to create Sgt. Pepper after
hearing it. But the Beatles seem to wear better. Or is it that I'm from
California and every summer "the Radio's blasting and we're grooving just
as fast as we can now" to those old tracks?

Thanks to those of you who turned me on to Marine Research, though you
probably didn't realise you were doing it. I bought their new LP on my
recent trip to Amoeba records (when I got my housemate her copy of IYFS). I
really like it a lot. Thanks.

Anyway, my tubes and turntable are calling out to bring forth the sounds of
B & S from my speakers into my livingroom, and that's a long way away from
my computer so . . . I must hed the call.

All the best
Daniel Hooper







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