Message-ID: From: Susan Elizabeth Shepard To: Subject: mp3s Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 02:50:06 -0500 Wow, I don't remember who was requesting Jandek mp3s the other day, but I was just dicking around on "macster," and boy, there's more than I would have dreamed. Mostly thanks to one member of this list, but at least 4 unique users have Jandek tracks available at this very moment. I can't wait to snoop and see what else they've got . . . Message-ID: <2b.6975394.266d6c4d@aol.com> From: Summersteps@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Jandek tribute Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 16:49:17 EDT Hello, Eric of Summersteps Records here. Final lineup for the Cd is just about ready. I'm no longer accepting submissions. Cd is being shipped out to be pressed at the end of the month. Final track listing is coming in the next week or two. The cd will be called "Naked in the Afternoon - A tribute to Jandek". Corwood has approved of the title, and provided the cover photo. I would like to thank everyone who has sent me submissions. Everyone has done a great job, but sadly not everyone has made it due to time constraints. Rest assured a second volume is going to happen eventually to round things up. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date on this project. I almost forgot. I will begin taking preorders for the CD after I have shipped it to be pressed. I will get back to the group with more info next week. Thanks. Eric Schlittler Summersteps Records Message-ID: From: "David Miller" To: Subject: site Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 09:17:49 -0500 this site, which someone mailed to the list as - possibly - sterling smith (as the gentleman's name that owned the page was sterling smith) is now gone. kaput. home.earthlink.net/~sylver/biopage.html the man looked like pictures of jandek, but at a different angle... and he worked for compaq computers out of houston - as the katy vine article from the texas monthly said something about how he worked at some computer company... anyway, just thought the stalkers out there might be into it... xoxoxo david Message-Id: From: Ian Kasley To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 10:37:43 -0700 In-Reply-To: At 9:17 AM -0500 6/10/00, David Miller wrote: >this site, which someone mailed to the list as - possibly - sterling smith >(as the gentleman's name that owned the page >was sterling smith) is now gone. kaput. > >the man looked like pictures of jandek, but at a different angle... >and he worked for compaq computers out of houston - as the katy vine >article from the texas monthly >said something about how he worked at some computer company... >anyway, just thought the stalkers out there might be into it... >xoxoxo >david i've put up an archived copy on my server... http://kasley.com/jandek/~sylver/ and yes, to everyone who's wondering, the mp3s are still offline. i'll dig up another drive and put them back up there eventually... or if there's anyone who wants to donate server space? -ian Message-ID: <20000611025221.85110.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "josh ." To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 20:52:21 MDT regarding the previous messages. that is not Jandek. just some guy. look at the photo. http://kasley.com/jandek/~sylver/biopage.html having listened to and view almost all the Jandek Lp's I can be pretty certain about that. so don't get too excited folks. Message-ID: <394309AB.B65DDFDF@libcom.com> From: langel@libcom.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 23:38:19 -0400 I'm curious to know what others think. I think it might be him. GL Message-ID: From: Dickinson Thomas W To: langel@libcom.com cc: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 21:44:20 -0600 (MDT) In-Reply-To: <394309AB.B65DDFDF@libcom.com> Hi, Personally, I don't think the photo on the Sterling Smith page looks anything at all like Jandek on the album cover photos. Further, I think the guy in the photo looks like he would have been maybe 10 when Ready for the House came out. I think its almost certain that this Sterling Smith guy is not Jandek, but does anyone know if he (Sterling Smith) does have some connection with Jandek or any Houston music scenes? Is there speculation that he is Jandek's friend or spokesperson or whatever? Is he relevant to Jandekiana at all and how did he end up in the Katy Vine article? +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Tom Dickinson (303)545-5503 email: Thomas.Dickinson@colorado.edu website: http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~dickintw Message-ID: From: NCR13@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 16:36:50 EDT The question is, are we sure that the musician and the guy in the pictures is the same person? If Jandek wants to remain so anonymous, it's kind of hard to believe that he would put pictures of himself all over his records. We know that Katy Vine met a guy who looks like the one in the pictures, but it isn't necessarily Sterling that she was talking about since she couldn't print his name. Thoughts anyone?. Message-ID: <20000612031119.71520.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Jason Cooley" To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: site Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 20:11:18 PDT a few months back I put forth my opinion that the man with the website who works for Compaq named Sterling Smith is not Jandek, but maybe a relative, perhaps a brother or cousin. No one seemed to agree with me. I still think the resemblance is pretty obvious. But there is almost no way that the Compaq Sterling Smith is the person making these records. This guy is just too neat and clean cut. I'm trying not to use the word "dorky". Maybe it's all just a really well-executed red herring. Also, I think the guy featured on the records is consciously aware that he's posing for album covers. Not in all the pictures, but definitely some. Message-Id: <200006121409.JAA09687@harper.uchicago.edu> From: Ben Evans To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Sterling Smith Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 09:11:18 -0500 In-Reply-To: <20000612031119.71520.qmail@hotmail.com> I agree. The man with the website who works for Compaq named Sterling Smith is not Jandek. He could be a relative. He could also be some guy with a name which Jandek liked and decided to use as another alias. Jandek could have found him by searching the web. Or he could be someone Jandek worked with. But all this is just conjecture of course. The name Sterling Smith makes me think of a character from a 1930s radio show or something. Maybe it just reminds me of Street & Smith the pulp novel publishers(BTW, Street & Smith authors, including writers like Upton Sinclair, and Jack London were often disguised by house pseudonyms). We aren't sure that the musician and the guy in the pictures is the same person. And we aren't sure how many people are involved in the Jandek project. We can guess based on the sounds, the guitar style and the voices, etc. But we don't know how many people are working to create the impression that it's one lonely musician. Speaking of which, what do you all think of "The Legendary Marvin Pontiac"? In some ways he is a poor imitation of Jandek, ...IMHO. http://www.strangeandbeautiful.com/marvin/index.html -Ben www.dragking.org Message-ID: <61.46a9b43.26766f53@aol.com> From: NCR13@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Sterling Smith Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 12:52:35 EDT The name Sterling Smith has been connected with Jandek for a long time now (early '80s according to Irwin Chusid). It's my opinion that there have been 5-7 different people on the records, if you believe that the songs are recorded live without overdubs: 1)"Jandek"-Guitar, vocals 2)"Nancy"- Vocals 3)"John" - Drums 4) The second guitarist on late 80s-early '90s records 5) Bassist (VERY rarely shows up) 6) The great folk-style guitarist on Lost Cause and Follow Your Footsteps (this COULD be one of the people already listed, maybe Jandek himself, or they could be two different people. This type of playing is way different than the other two guitarists you hear on the albums, but maybe that's deliberate). 7) Another male singer (probably also one of the people listed above) Message-ID: <20000614030154.81631.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Oliver Alden" To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Jandek vs Jagger Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 23:01:54 EDT Hi. Now that "Six and Six" has been out on the reissue market for a bit, I wonder if anybody out there could confirm/deny a suspicion of mine. The lyrics on the northwestern website for the song "Hilltop Serenade" are written up as employing a character named "Mr. Genry". When I listened to this number, I was sure as shinola that the character's name was "Mr. Jimmy". That reminded me of this verse from the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want"(from Let It Bleed, '69): I went down to the Chelsea drugstore To get your prescription filled I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy And man, did he look pretty ill We decided that we would have a soda My favorite flavor, cherry red I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead" I can't remember any longer which signifigant person "Mr. Jimmy" was supposed to represent in the Stones' song (some label head, I think?). Anyone out there know some more? Any takers on the possibility of Jandek making a specific reference? Thanks. - Oliver Alden Message-ID: <3947746F.2316917@ntlworld.com> From: Mark Dobson To: Jandek Mailing List Subject: Is this thing on? - Of course it is! Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 13:02:56 +0100 Hiya people, All I know about Jandek is what I've read out of Irwin Chusid's book "Songs in the Key of Z" and Mr. Tisue's pages. I'm a Captain Beefheart fan myself, but I'm very intrigued. Is there anyone that distributes these albums in the UK? Furthermore, I'd like your opinions on a good one to start with. Thanks in advance. Bye! Message-ID: <20000614150950.24814.qmail@cs.nwu.edu> From: AKelly1971@aol.com To: , Subject: Re: Sterling Smith Date: Wed Jun 14 11:09:19 2000 I did locate a Sterling Smith who is a principal in a chain of restaurants throughout the nation, travels to the restaurants, and is in the right age range to be Jandek. I found him through an internet search. His stats agree with the person mentioned in the Texas Monthly article. There's no contact information, though, and it could be coincidence. ~Amy Message-ID: <20000614183148.44038.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Christina Carter" To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Jandek vs Jagger Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 13:31:48 CDT Yes, there is the mention of the Jimmy Reed song (that the Rolling Stones covered?) already on the site. Also there is a reference to Catch the Wind (I think) by Donovan on the first album, "Nancy" sings the line 'go to work be a jerk' that is from Frank Zappa We're Only In It For The Money (I think), Jandek sings a reference to the " 'I got blisters on my fingers' line from the end of Helter Skelter, the cellar in the lyrics is possibly from Bob Dylan. Must be more but that is all I can think of right now. Sorry, if this is a repeat of anything already posted. Christina Message-ID: <4a.6cc9c48.267a6fd0@aol.com> From: NCR13@aol.com To: flowerparade@hotmail.com CC: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Jandek vs Jagger Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 13:43:44 EDT In a message dated 6/14/00 2:32:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time, flowerparade@hotmail.com writes: > the cellar in the lyrics is possibly from Bob Dylan Do you mean the song "Cellar" off Lost Cause, or is there a cellar mentioned in another song? I'm just curious, because there's a theme that has popped up a few times related to this song, i.e. the death of "Little Randy". "Alehouse Blues" has similar lyrics, but also mentions running from the cops after a bar fight, and "Collection" has the line "Keep an eye on Uncle Randy...Oh Randolph, you broke your collarbone". I always figured this was some personal trauma on Jandek's part, but it's interesting if it's lifted from Dylan... Message-Id: From: Ian Kasley To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Jandek vs Jagger Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 14:27:42 -0700 In-Reply-To: <4a.6cc9c48.267a6fd0@aol.com> hmm... i hadn't made the connection before, but there's also mention of Randolph Scott in "Slinky Parade" from The Living End... Jesus Christ, Randolph Scott, Bob Dylan and his mother, Dusty Springfield Came on the road one day Marched a slinky parade into my eye (etc.) -ian Message-ID: <20000615231301.51298.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Christina Carter" To: NCR13@aol.com Cc: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Jandek vs Jagger Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 18:13:00 CDT Sorry, I meant to say vault not cellar. "Native Land" from Twelfth Apostle has the line: It's not my fault I live in a vault. "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" by Dylan has the line: But I mean no harm nor put no fault on anyone that lives in a vault. Christina Message-Id: From: Charles Gillett To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Is this thing on? - Of course it is! Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 19:35:29 -0500 (CDT) In-Reply-To: <3947746F.2316917@ntlworld.com> On Wed, 14 Jun 2000, Mark Dobson wrote: > All I know about Jandek is what I've read out of Irwin Chusid's book > "Songs in the Key of Z" and Mr. Tisue's pages. I'm a Captain Beefheart > fan myself, but I'm very intrigued. Is there anyone that distributes > these albums in the UK? Furthermore, I'd like your opinions on a good > one to start with. Thanks in advance. I don't think anyone distributes Jandek product as such. I think certain suppliers (Forced Exposure, Other Music) buy them just like everyone else, perhaps utilizing the $80-for-20 deal--I just noticed that Forced Exposure undercuts Jandek's per-CD price by a buck. A phony savings, since you still have to pay shipping. I would check out whatever the UK version of these retailers are, or you could just order from the US guys--or from Jandek directly, add 10% for inter- national orders, $8 per CD. There's a good argument for starting with the first album, _Ready For The House_. That way, you can attempt to replicate Chusid's epiphany. I just got Chusid's book yesterday, and I'm about halfway through it. For those who haven't seen it yet, the Jandek chapter is pretty much exactly the same as the version that showed up on wfmu.org a while back. Chusid does seem overly negative towards Jandek, but then again he does seem to regard his early encounters with Jandek and his music as very important in his evolution as an "outsider" music aficionado. He seems to similarly dislike Wesley Willis, but the Willis chapter is largely positive because so many people know and like Wesley as a person. Jandek has no such luck. -- Charles Message-ID: From: "b&p" To: Subject: re: Marvin Pontiac Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 19:29:34 -0400 Checked a couple of Marvin Pontiac tracks on the website--not half bad, certainly more formally musical than Jandek, but because of that, maybe not quite as subject to wild speculation. Nice discovery, though.... Paul Message-ID: <000a01bfd742$fd22e880$b20ccc3f@pacbell.net> From: Ron Dulin To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Chusid Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 20:28:50 -0700 I started looking into Irwin Chusid's book after the recent related posts. Following some links from the book's site, I came across the following passage: He came across a company willing to set his poems for a mere 20 bucks. It was called STERLING MUSIC and located in Texas. Chuck sent in his two poems and his 40 bucks (nothing about "free appraisal" at Sterling; you sent in the money, they set your words to music). The tape he got back was quite something. The house composer at Sterling sang both of Chuck's songs-- acapella. 'Sang' might be the wrong word; they were sort of chanted, in what sounded to me like the Texas equivalent of someone doing a Peter Lorre impression. It was actually kind of scary. When it was over, Chuck excitedly told me, "And for another 20 bucks, he'll add a GUITAR TRACK with [he glanced at the cover letter] AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL CHORD PROGRESSION. Sterling Music? Texas? Chanted? Peter Lorre impersonation? You see where I'm headed... -Ron Message-ID: <2b.7195281.267af9ad@aol.com> From: NCR13@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: Is this thing on? - Of course it is! Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 23:31:57 EDT > There's a good argument for starting with the first album, _Ready > For The House_. That way, you can attempt to replicate Chusid's > epiphany. Does this mean that as a result you too will have a smug, condescending attitude towards Jandek's music? ;) Message-ID: <20000616034154.89123.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Jason Cooley" To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: "b&p": re: Marvin Pontiac Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 20:41:54 PDT you're all aware that "Marvin Pontiac" is really John Lurie, right? (Lounge Lizards, "Down By Law", "Fishing With John") Message-ID: <20000616044636.62641.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Jason Cooley" To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: Chusid Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 21:46:36 PDT just reread the Chusid article. Yeah. He's a little harsh. But he's not as condescending as he is exaggerating. He makes it sound as if Jandek is the most unlistenable thing on earth! This is so far from the truth. Irwin: I have a record with Brenton Wood ("Gimme Little Sign", "The Oogum Boogum Song") covering "Psychotic Reaction" (he sings over the original Count Five instrumental track as if he has a shotgun to his face) that gives new meaning to word "unlistenable". Have you ever heard this? Message-ID: From: "David Miller" To: Subject: Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 12:03:57 -0500 two things... i've noticed talk about references and everything... but has anyone ever considered that maybe jandek just does it as he sees it should be done? with no 'artistic' references and all... similar to what i hear about david lynch and his movies - that he just does certain scenes to help the story line - no 'artistic' meaning behind it all - whether or not we may find it? just a thought... next, i asked my girlfriend if the pictures in the two pages look alike... http://kasley.com/jandek/~sylver/biopage.html http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Gala/8418/jandek.html what she pointed out i would never have noticed, that in both pictures, over the eyebrows on the forehead, it protrudes just a bit to where the eyebrows are... hard to notice and harder to describe but take a look. this makes me think even more that the person here is one and the same... alright, that's that. david Message-ID: <20000618081217.49211.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Christina Carter" To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: "sterling smith" homepage Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 03:12:17 CDT hi It has been mentioned before that this Sterling Smith is probably too young. He graduated college in 1987 which would make him approx. 34 years old (following the "normal" age at graduation). Or another way to look at it: he was 13 when Ready For The House came out. Also, he has initials on the page SMS. Corwood's Smith calls himself Sterling R. I don't know if the references are "supposed" to be found or not; but they are there. Interests me because they seem to be from a general time period of the mid to late 60s. Maybe those are just the ones that I have noticed. Christina Message-ID: <20000618154527.27418.qmail@hotmail.com> From: "Jason Cooley" To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Re: "sterling smith" homepage Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 08:45:27 PDT Now I'm starting to think it's either the website guy's father or his uncle. A lot of those pictures look like they were taken in the late 60's, early-to-mid 70's. "Six and Six" could be mid-60's. "White Box Requiem" looks like mid-70's. The difference in middle initials makes me think this as well. Maybe Nancy is his mother. I don't know. Message-ID: <5a.6e18f7b.268312ef@aol.com> From: NCR13@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: another (possible) Dylan reference? Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 02:57:51 EDT I was listening to The Beginning CD tonight, and the first line of Lonesome Bridge jumped out at me: I heard this from the management "Don't think twice, just pay the rent" For some reason it seemed to me like a response to Dylan's "Please Mrs. Henry" off the Basement Tapes, using a sarcastic rephrasing of "Don't think twice, it's alright" as well.... It's a little far-fetched, but at the same time I hear the influence of that LP in the late-80s Jandek albums (the "rootsy blues-rock" era). Thoughts anyone? Message-ID: <6c.85d8da.2687bac1@aol.com> From: JackSkellington1@aol.com To: jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: Telegraph Melts Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 15:42:57 EDT Hello everyone- I am new to the group, been lurking for a couple months now. I currently have all of the re-issues, and of course, am also intrigued by the creativity and output by"Jandek". Whenever I have ordered from Corwood, I also enclose a small letter, usually asking a basic question, to which, I get a very minimal response in blue ink that was of course, something I already knew. My last question was an inquiry as to the possible future re-release of Blue Corpse. The response was: "Blue Corpse will be re-released, we are re-releasing them all"...Kinda silly, but I seem to be hitting brick walls, and my questions are only enlarging my collection of Corwood catalogs. Anyway, I still have a few thoughts about the albums themselves, but Im further examining everything so my opinions reach somewhat valid points....On another note, I was wondering if anyone here would be so kind as to tape me a copy of "Telegraph Melts"? I would gladly trade something non-Jandekian, or pay in cash, either way, I really want this album and not prepared to wait for the reissue or pay some enormous amount on Ebay. I would very much appreciate the help. Thank you, and nice to meet you all, Mike Message-ID: <2f.73039b5.268a2bf0@aol.com> From: Oogsab@aol.com To: Jandek@cs.northwestern.edu Subject: A Jandek Story Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:10:24 EDT I heard a first-hand account of a (more or less) brush with Jandek the other day... Miroslav Wanek, who sings, plays guitar and keyboards, and composes for the experimental Czech punk band Uz Jsme Doma, was in Chicago this past weekend for a performance with his band, and I spoke with him for a while after the show... One of the topics that came up (and when doesn't it?) was music, and I mentioned that I had been listening to a lot of Jandek lately... Wanek said at first that he had never heard the name before... I began to describe what the music was like... Wanek, smiling, then corrected himself... About a year and a half ago, he said, a package was sent to his home in Prague from Jandek in Texas, containing a CD and a short letter which asked for something of a critique on the music, and wondering if there was any possibility of a collaboration between Jandek and Uz Jsme Doma... Wanek continued that he had listened to the CD and found the music to be more or less uninteresting and "very sloppy," as he put it... He wrote a letter back to Jandek in which he politely declined any collaborative affairs and avoided commenting on the music altogether... And that was it... Pretty weird, if you ask me... If you've ever heard Uz Jsme Doma's music before, you would be hard-pressed to explain where the common ground lies between their work and Jandek's, but maybe the point was that there was none... I've been toying with this following idea over the past few days, though... Wanek is currently (I think) the only non-Eyeball that has had anything to do with the musical activites of the Residents for quite some time... Maybe Jandek was looking for someone who he knew could keep his secret...