Robyn Hitchcock Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mark Kaufman, Feb 15, 2010.

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  1. MEMark

    MEMark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maine
    Question for the group: I listened to Chronology, which appears to be a digital-only best-of of Robyn. The version of Queen Elvis on Chronology seems to be different from the version on Eye. I think it is, at least! Can anybody tell me where else the Chronology version can be found, assuming it is a distinct version? THANKS!!!
     
  2. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    Is this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chronololo...41693584&sr=8-2&keywords=robyn+hitchcock+best the same thing?
    Can't tell a difference here, though it was probably a song left of the Egyptians LP of the same name so maybe several solo versions were recorded first.
    Also - the box set reissue of Black Snake has a different version of The Man Who Invented Himself from the original, no idea why.
     
  3. MEMark

    MEMark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maine
    That's it!
     
  4. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone."

    Location:
    Maryland
    New Robyn dates! Coming to DC area in April!
     
  5. DeeThomaz

    DeeThomaz Senior Member

    Location:
    In The Felony Room
    Robyn Hitchcock's catalog can be positively bewildering to someone with only a casual familiarity with the material. Is there a recommended website that explains all the various oddball variations?
     
  6. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

    Location:
    Three Rivers, CA
    Robin Hitchcock is a true artist and is not afraid to try out new things. He sort of has his feet in a few different camps from 1960's psychedelic to folk and whatever. He is really a prolific songwriter and due to the boilerplate formula of today's popular music in often overlooked. Had he come out just a few years earlier, I believe he would have been a household name. Unfortunately for him. his artistic abilities are just a bit of now being born in his time.
     
    stefane likes this.
  7. arob71

    arob71 Capitol JAX

    I believe that version is available on his Obliteration Pie CD that came out in Japan in 2005. I bought a copy on eBay last year for GBP 50 plus shipping, which was the cheapest I'd ever seen it.

    Robyn Hitchcock - Obliteration Pie
     
  8. MEMark

    MEMark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maine
    Thanks! And BOOO!! on those prices. It's a great version.
     
  9. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    Yes, I just found my copy (which I bought for about £10 in 2005!). Strange album, coming between Spooked and the Venus 3 ones, as you said made for the Japanese market and featuring lyrics in Japanese including some of the between-songs raps.
    Talking of which, there's a totally bizarre (hilarious) Japanese cover band version of the 1978 Soft Boys song 'Return of the Sacred Crab' on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uSZr_-furk
     
  10. I just looked through my CD's to find it on Obliteration Pie then saw somebody else beat me to it. What a great CD!

     
  11. qrysdonnell

    qrysdonnell Forum Resident

    For what it's worth, the Eye version of Queen Elvis is the original. The Obliteration Pie/Chronology versions were rerecorded with Tim Keegan. Tim can be seen in Storefront Hitchcock. I'm not sure if he was working with him around the time Obliteration Pie was released. Obliteration Pie, of course, is a bit of an odd beast.
     
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  12. qrysdonnell

    qrysdonnell Forum Resident

    Besides Chronology there are other compilations there is the oddly titles 'Greatest Hits' A&M CD - which does have what surely must count as his highest charting songs, but it's really more a singles/b-sides/rarities collection. This is also all that remains of the A&M releases as far as Spotify is concerned, which makes the online services a strange way to look at his catalog.

    There was also a Rhino release called Uncorrected Personality Traits around the time they did their round of rereleases of his non-A&M stuff. That isn't available on Spotify, but the songs on it probably are.

    And rounding out 'major'ish compilations there was a 1995 Sequel records 10-song compilation called 'Robyn Hitchcock' which was notable at the time for having 'Statue With A Walkman' on it.

    I think that's it for something attempting to be a 'best of' comp.

    His online catalogs are all a little weird due to the lack of the A&M albums which is pretty major (Nextdoorland is missing too). Also albums like A Star For Bram end up with equal billing to Jewels for Sophia - likewise with Moss Elixir and Mossy Liquor. Also, most of the albums have been reconfigured to get the extra tracks that had ended up on various releases like Invisible Hitchcock and such and they're all so much longer than they used to be!
     
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  13. qrysdonnell

    qrysdonnell Forum Resident

    Oh, and it's probably worth sharing here, a while back I decided to go through an exercise to try and make a playlist for RH representative of all of his major studio albums and give them three songs each, trying to focus mostly on songs that were popular at the time rather than songs that have become cult classics which I titled Robyn 101. Figure it's worth sharing here...

    Robyn 101, a playlist by Chris Donnell on Spotify
     
  14. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Not directly, but if you type any song title or lyrics into this, it will tell you all the albums it appears on and sometimes other info:
    The Asking Tree
     
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  15. JohnS

    JohnS Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    And this is great resource - all the info you need on alternate versions etc etc. Warning - it will have you buying more RH stuff before you know it!

    Songography
     
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  16. RTW

    RTW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I seem to recall the version with the horns is the original. Beginning with the first CD release and the concurrent (at that time) LP reissues, an alternate take was used. Rhino used the alternate; Yep Roc restored the original. Minor difference, both are good.
     
  17. Thrillsville

    Thrillsville Forum Resident

    Location:
    Port Coquitlam, BC
    Thanks for this! I knew about "The Asking Tree" site but this one is really good and laid out well.

    I'm going to be exploring it this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to fill in a few gaps and also figure out where stuff is doubled up and where it is unique.

    I just had a quick look at the "Obliteration Pie" entry. I've had it since it was released and have never found very much information on it. This breaks it down quite succinctly. Next up, the equally mysterious "Shadow Cat".

    Also, I was just looking at my Matador 3LP + 7" release of "Underwater Moonlight" and wondering what was unique to it and what was already released on the Ryko release and The Soft Boys' "1976-1981". This will help a lot!
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2018
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  18. Thrillsville

    Thrillsville Forum Resident

    Location:
    Port Coquitlam, BC
    I don't think Yep Roc restored it. I seem to remember people talking at the time about how it was still missing, unfortunately. I have both at home and will have to check later.

    The above "Songography" site backs this up
    Black Snake Diamond Role
     
  19. Thrillsville

    Thrillsville Forum Resident

    Location:
    Port Coquitlam, BC
    I know this is a long shot but does anybody have any information as to where to buy the two unique tracks "After The Bullfight" and "I'll See You" from the 2013 Record Store Day release "There Goes The Ice"? I'd like to get the whole thing but prices are very steep when taking into account exchange rates and shipping from Discogs or Amazon (US) where I've seen it available. Plus, I already have the other Phantom 45s from Robyn Hitchcock's site already.
     
  20. qrysdonnell

    qrysdonnell Forum Resident

    From what I recall the version that made it on the Rhino remasters is referred to as the 'Zinc Pear' version and was apparently an early name of BSDR (and an appropriate name for the cover art) and had been used as the original masters for the originally released version couldn't be found. The name may imply it might have been an earlier mix, but I'm not sure there was ever a substantial thing called 'Zinc Pear' - it's not like there was an unreleased album or anything.

    (And also this album started his tradition of naming albums after names/lyrics of other songs that aren't on the album, which certainly reached its peak with Queen Elvis.)
     
  21. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Thanks JohnS for the Songography link -- and yeah, darn now I am looking in vain for "Embryo Twirl".
     
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  22. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Those last two songs are on YouTube.
     
  23. RTW

    RTW Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    You are indeed correct and I had it backwards. The first CD version has the original version; all later remasters have the Zinc Pear version.
     
  24. Mr. Odd

    Mr. Odd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    There are, indeed, many little obscurities floating around Robyn's back catalog, only some of which are detailed on the web.

    "Madonna Of The Wasps" is one of those tracks that has a hidden extended version, as heard in the video:


    The extra intro is brilliant and adds to the overall feeling of the song. Fortunately, you can find it on the fantastic _Kershaw Sessions_ CD (though it's not the same as the video version).
     
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  25. Spacer22

    Spacer22 Forum Resident

    I'm trying to sort it all out, but so far I've only made it from the start of his career to the late 1980s:

    Albums That Should Exist: Robyn Hitchcock
     
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