Robyn Hitchcock: C/D, S/D, POX, Taking Sides versus....um....

she doesn't exist
glass hotel
uncorrected personality traits
i something you
egyptian cream
happy the golden prince

but don't really know enough about his substantial catalogue to be definitive..

Start from the beginning with The Soft Boys: 1976-1981 and hear the early demos, singles, the EP, etc. Continue with A Can of Bees, Underwater Moonlight, and anything else you can get your hands on. Then get his brilliant first solo record, Black Snake Diamond Role, and keep going from there.

Julian Cope??? I think a more worthy opponent would be Martin Phillipps of the Chills. That would be a tough call, but I would lean more toward the side of Hitchcock.

Picking only X will be tough. Gotta think about it a bit more.

Albums are pretty uneven -- the A&M period was especially patchy. From a POX/peak value standpoint, rates an edge over Cope, but Cope's albums are more consistently listenable. The 2CD of Dylan covers came off a lot better than I expected. Major points for even attempting a cover of 'Day in the Life' as that's pretty much an untouchable.

Arms Of Love
Oceanside
Raymond Chandler Evening
The Man Who Invented Himself
Chinese Bones
Trams Of Old London
Queen Elvis
Sweet Ghost Of Light
Ant Corridor
The Wreck Of The Arthur Lee

Also including two covers of great worth: "More Than This" and "Withered And Died"

Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

Firstly, Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians POXX, not including Soft Boys:
1 "Sleeping With Your Devil Mask"
2 "My Wife and my Dead Wife"
3 "She Doesn't Exist"
4 "Point it at Gran"
5 "Globe of Frogs" (electric version)
6 "Let There Be More Darkness"
7 "The Yip Song"
8 "Brenda's Iron Sledge"
9 "It's A Mystic Trip"
10 "Somewhere Apart"
11 "Driving Aloud (Radio Storm)"
12 "Bass"
13 "Sometimes I Wish I Was Pretty Girl"
14 "Listening to the Higsons"
15 "My Favourite Buildings"
16 "Tell Me About Your Drugs"
17 "Uncorrected Personality Traits"
18 "Furry Green Atom Bowl"
19 "Sounds Great When You're Dead"
20 "The Can Opener

So You Think You're In Love
Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis)
Airscape
Queen Elvis
Vegetable Friend
Glass Hotel
Uncorrected Personality Traits
I Often Dream of Trains
Balloon Man
Tell Me About Your Drugs

A terrific live performer when he unclenches and stops trying so damn hard to be funny. Also a phenomenal guitar soloist when he lets himself.

Granted, I haven't seen him perform in about ten years, but I find him effortlessly funny.

Yeah, I was gonna ask the same thing. If "non-wacky" is supposed to mean "serious," I'd argue that the vast majority of Hitchcock's songs are in fact non-wacky.

raymond chandler evening = not wacky

But then, like I said, I think the vast majority of his work is not wacky.

Err...."Sleepin with Your Devil Mask" is on Globe of Frogs, not Queen Elvis....and be fair...it is a bit wacky. Witness:

"Some things go in, some things go out and next time `round I'll be a trout."

"Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis)" would be on my POX, too, so there's some POII for you.

An unfortunate description.

Also, WTF is happening at the start of "English Girl"? Is something wrong with my CD?

search: "Kershaw Sessions" nice collection of alternate recordings with the Egyptians.
destroy: "Gravy Deco/Groovy Decay/Decoy" well, don't destroy my copy or anything, but even Robyn himself regards this as a misbegotten and uncouth beast in both its versions.

POX (as of this moment, anyway):
Acid Bird
Bass
The Lizard
The Man With the Light Bulb Head
Raymond Chandler Evening
She Doesn't Exist
Sinister But She Was Happy
Sleeping With Your Devil Mask
The Sound of Sound
Sweet Ghost of Light

V. Julian Cope: well, I've never felt drawn to Julian Cope and have nearly all that Robyn's done, so there's your answer.
------------------------
Also enjoying "Spooked," though so far the parts seem a bit more interesting than the whole -- several good lines sticking out jaggedly from songs that seem a bit undercooked (poorly filleted?). "Everybody Needs Love" in particular is a clunker. Then again I'm really liking "Sometimes a Blonde" and the little "Welcome to Earth" spoken bit.

and robyn is robyn. of course.

aha. i always wondered where exactly that was filmed. so what was that space at the time?

I've always thought the reason why Hitchcock connected so well with
American audiences was something to do with his quirky humor. I think most of the time when Brit acts try to be funny it ends up as something you'd pretty much have to be Brit to understand. Of course his "pop sensibility" certainly helped. I don't know that Newell has ever even had an U.S. record deal, has he?

Both have a cult following, if I can be called a cult following. A cult of one, anyway.

One disappointment with Storefront Hitchock - as far as I can tell, the only DVD released for it is panned and scanned, not widescreen. Maybe a widescreen edition was released, but I've never found it. Blah.

Also, after listening again to it recently, I will champion Moss Elixir as by far his most consistently good album, with "This Is How It Feels" possibly my favorite song of his. I mean, "You're a, sideways glance in a full-on world," yup.

Really tho, I sorta loathe the sound of "Element of Light" so I'm not expecting much agreement. I'll think about a POX.

Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus
We're Gonna Live in the Trees
My Wife and My Dead Wife
If You Were a Priest
Brenda's Iron Sledge
The Speed of Things
No, I Don't Remember Guildford
The President
Heaven
I Often Dream of Trains

I'm tempted to put on "The Can Opener," and the version of "The Yip Song" on Spectre, which is prefaced by a ridiculously convoluted explanation of the song's origins - apparently, a yippy dog, people consenting to unnecessary surgery, and Vera Lynn playing punk rock with the fin sticking out of her back.

hitchcock is amazing for having dozens of great songs and so few great consistent albums. I've never heard one that I've loved all the way through.

Robyn Hitchcock:
Acid Bird
Cathedral
Flavour of Night
I Often Dream of Trains
Fifty-Two Stations
If You Were A Priest

covers:
The Ghost in You (Psychedelic Furs)
A Day in the Life

I haven't heard anything after Globe of Frogs. Which albums since then are best?

Anybody else seen him be this good? I saw him before and it was sedate, nothing like this.

I'm willing to bet he's still as great live as sleeve says above. I caught him almost two years ago at a festival and enjoyed it far more than I really expected to.

"I've always found it perplexing why Eye just didn't turn out as well as it should have"

i feel this way about just about everyting he does. i've often felt that he just doesn't know when to leave things well enough alone. the same with the live sets i've seen. he starts great, but eventually ends up with a bunch of people using the worst guitar sounds ever concieved of and just muddying the waters. im sure with a tight and understated band hed be a thrill live. (indeed, the live disc of the dylan covers record is damned fine)

De Chirico Street
Veins Of the Queen
Raymond Chandler Evening
Let's Go Thundering (from Storefront Hitchcock)
Beautiful Girl
One Long Pair Of Eyes w/ spoken word intro (from that 12" promo)
Sleeping With Your Devil Mask
The Devil's Coachman
She Doesn't Exist
Kung Fu Fighting

Except for Fegmania!, I haven't fallen head-over-heels for him otherwise. Although he's one of those artists that will probably fall into place for me someday, like David Sylvian.