I just returned from a Robyn Hitchcock show...

[Otters Walk Among Us]

I didn't know most of the songs he played, but familiarity isn't a necessity at his shows. He sings quite clearly, and the crowd is quiet and attentive, so you can actually understand the lyrcis to unfamiliar songs. Since I generally attend rock shows, this was a welcome novelty.

Anyway, he took lots of requests, told funny stories, claimed he wasn't really eccentric, just surrounded by bits of paper, and at one point strolled through the crowd singing a medly of "Rock Your Baby", "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman", "Sound and Vision", and "Kung Fu Fighting", occasionally substituting his own lyrics. Surprisingly, it worked rather well, mostly because he doesn't take himself seriously, he's just out having a good time.

Overall, he's worth seeing if he stops by your town. Republicans without a sense of humor, however, should stay away. His final number was introduced as a PSA and was a short anti-administration number that rhymed "the innocence of mice" with "Rumsfeld is the Anti-Christ."

And best of all, (showing my age here, although many of you are older), he started on time, played over 90 minutes, and still I was home by 9:45. It helps to live 90 seconds from the venue.

[skinnytie]

devildog recently turned me on to his "Fegmania!" album. Lots of good stuff on there, it's worth checking out. I can't say I'm familiar with any of his other stuff, or even his stuff with the Soft Boys, for that matter.

[hexicon]

I saw him in 1992 on a great double-bill with Matthew Sweet ("Girlfriend"--definitely a top 5!) I really like "Perspex Island."

[tenohtwo]

Robyn's cool - I love the song "Madonna Of The Wasps" from..89, I believe. Good stuff.

1002

[bpdp3]

I love Robyn; he's recorded some of the most beautiful songs in the English language if you ask me. "Winchester" and "Element of Light" are two of them.

[ghosty]

You should check out the two compilations available on Robyn Hitchcock. Rhino's "Uncorrected Personality Traits" and A&M's "Greatest Hits". Perfect starting points for one of the best yet the most underrated songwriter of the 80's.