h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...as the author of this entry A3100285 I feel duty bound to ask you about your tag-line, wot I noticed while exploring the nether regions of Ask... are you perchance a fan of the band?

RF

I love 'em, but am a fan in a shamefully peripheral way, as I only own Fossil Fuel (I had a copy of Nonsuch on vinyl but that disappeared into the ether years ago). Having said that, about every six months one of the Fossil Fuel discs finds its way into my personal stereo and resides there for several weeks, remining me that I really should delve a bit deeper.

I did used to be in a band that covered the Primus cover of Making Plans..., and find it shocking that The Police went on to such hugeness and XTC have largely been forgotten.

Right, I'm off to read your entry.

Well, as you're in London, this may interest you. Or not. But I like 'em, and have seen them several times...

http://www.x-static.org/

RF

Fantastic entry - filled in some HUGE caps in my knowledge (but no mention of them appearing on some Channel 4 Prisoner based shenanigans with Jools Holland wandering about being weird, and Andy Partridge brandishing a telescope). I'd forgotten that I used to own The Big Express aswell. It was marvellous.

'Four blokes and some difficult chords'. Super. I may have to make my way to Camden, but may have difficulty talking any friends into it!

And you're spot on about Employment - it is currently occupying the space in my MP3 player recently vacated by Fossil Fuel.

Nice one on all counts!

Well, if you've a mind to meet up with another of those weirdo internet freaks who hang around this site I'd be partial to a pint or two.

Andy Partridge has done so many side projects, and other weird stuff, that I took the decision to leave them *all* out. They're an entry on their own!

RF

Yep, I'm up for a bit of that (assuming I survive Gastonbury. Wouldn't that be a thing - a fully reformed XTC headlining Glasters on the Friday night. It'd be interesting to see how many people would be watching!)

I once heard that Andy Partridge had a habit of scaring the living daylights out of engineers by virtue of all-round weirdness. Do you know if there's any truth in this? (Although having read your entry I suspect it may have been a story put about by Todd Rundgren. Could still be true though).

Dunno, but he probably weirds them out with his obsessive perfectionism.

Don't think they will ever reform with even the line-up of three (technically they still exist, just wish they'd bloody record something instead of recycling all their old stuff) and they will never, ever play live again. Thank Bob I saw them in 1981.

Anyway, hope to see you there. If you want to know what I look like, check out Azahar's friends' photo site (handily linked to here: http://public.fotki.com/azahar/h2g2_friends/page5.html - I'm at the bottom of the page - and here: http://public.fotki.com/azahar/h2g2_friends/page8.html , with girlfriend Lucky Star, of this parish.

RF