Miscellania

[FULIGIN%UMASS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu (Peter E. Lee)]

Just a couple of replies -
     First (in my book, at least) XTC -

>> [Peter E. Lee:] Todd [Rundgren] now claims that he originally
>> wanted 'Dear God' to be on the LP where 'Another Satellite' is now,
>> but that Andy insisted on having it his way.  This may be true, but
>> it runs completely counter to the 'no politics, just the seasons'
>> concept and would really disrupt the flow, as far as I can see - so
>> I think Todd just wants credit for the 'hit' really - who knows?

> [Steve Blore:] According to the Creem interview, Andy decided that
> another song of his (it might have been "Another Satellite," but I
> think it was "Mer- maid Smiled"--the song "Dear God" replaced on the
> second pressing of the LP) was better than "Dear God," so the latter
> was relegated to B-side status.  He didn't mention Rundgren at all
> in connection with this decision.

     Gee, I guess Rundgren really DID want Dear God on the LP, but was
talked out of it by Andy...  I've just read another article which says
the same as well.  I guess it just goes to show that Andy still can't
tell his good songs from his bad ones - especially as potential
singles!  The song that replaced Dear God on the original LP
definately was 'Another Satellite' though - Rundgren says as much on
the 'Warner Brothers' Music Show' interview disk for Skylarking...
Thanks for the info Steve!

     On The The 12"s - Dan Hall's listing is pretty good, but the
chronology is a bit off, and there are some alternate versions of some
of the singles as well...  'Sweet Bird Of Truth' was actually the
first single released from 'Infected' - but because it came out right
around the 'Libyan crisis' the record company basically killed it
because they thought it was too politically charged at the time.  Only
one pressing was made, as far as I know, and it got almost no (UK)
radio play.  It has now been re-issued since it's a good song, and the
political climate has calmed a bit.  The way to tell the first
pressing from the re-issues is that (A) the new release has a slight
green tint, where the first was bluer, and (B) the catalog number of
the original is 'Truth 1' where the new ones are 'Tense 2' (or three -
I only glanced briefly at the re-issue).  There are some editions of
'Heartland' that have 'Sweet Bird' on them as the b-side, rather than
'Flesh and Bones'.  Also, there are at least two versions of the
'Infected' 12" - the one mentioned by Dan, and one with 'Infected -
Energy Mix' and 'Disturbed' on the B-side.  I recall that the American
version has only the three 'Infected' versions.  There are also some
limited edition double pack 12"s that packaged 'Infected' 12"s with
12"s from "Soul Mining" - 'Perfect' and 'Giant' as I recall.  From
"Soul Mining" itself, in addition to "Uncertain Smile", at least "This
Is The Day" was released as a 12" remix, with a remix of "I've Been
Waiting For Tomorrow (All Of My Life)" on the B-side.  My guess is
that there was also a 12" for "Perfect" since it was never released on
the UK editions of the LP, but I don't know that for sure.  Final
piece of Matt Johnson (The The) trivia : the LP, CD, and 12" all
contain different versions of "Sweet Bird Of Truth."

                              'Just another western guy...
                                                  -Peter Lee
Fuligin%UMass.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu