Conference noted::sf

    I've always been interested by the idea of filk, but I've never
    actually heard any.  What's the best way to get one's feet wet?  Given
    Sturgeon's law, I could jump right in but I'd probably never go back. 
    Any chance we could get Spencer to make up a demo tape of the good
    stuff to pass around?  Anyone else interested in this?  I would suspect
    it would be OK under copyright because it's not full-scale pirating of
    entire tapes, but merely (oh, how does that go?) brief excerpts for the
    purposes of a review.  If filk is as good as 'they' say it is, this
    would actually increase sales across the genre, which would be good all
    around.  I sure don't want to spend $700 to see if I like it, and
    there aren't many radio stations in the area that carry it... :+}
    
    Willie

Since I know many of the performers and writers personally, I'd be willing
to ask their permission and could put together some demo tapes.  They
should be quite willing, as this is analogous to a lending library.  It
would be impolite for each borrower to duplicate the tape for their own
use, but only selling the copies would be legally actionable.

There are no filk police and most filkers would be insulted by the idea of
one since the accepted way to learn new songs is by taping the
performances.  (In some cases, such as with a work-in-progress, the
performer/author may ask that tape recorders be turned off.  You don't
have to sneak them in.)

The problem is, what might appeal?  There are several distinct subgenres. 
Are you interested in the space program?  The works of Marian Zimmer
Bradley (aka Darkover)?  Arthurian legends?  How about C.J. Cherryh (Union,
Alliance, Earth, Hani, faded sun, etc.)?  War stories?  Celtic myths? 
Lovecraft?  Star Trek?  Star Wars?  Tolkein?  Kipling?  This barely
scratches the surface.  In particular, filks celebrating the antics and
misadventures of SF fans are probably only interesting to those who go to
cons, pub fanzines, or otherwise engage in fanac.

I am willing to put together up to 4 demo tapes if I receive feedback about
the SF interests of people who would like to listen to them.  Can we send
them through Digital mail?  Otherwise, I think postage would be a
reasonable lending fee (perhaps to the next borrower?).

I can also recommend commercially available tapes that are particularly
good examples of their type.  I'd particularly recommend "Minus Ten and
Counting", subtitled "Songs of the Space Age".  The tape and associated
songbook were available from Off Centaur; I don't know at this time if it
is currently available from Firebird, but there might still be copies in
stock at some SF bookstores (e.g., Tales from the While Hart", in
Baltimore).  I'll check around.

I can also circulate lyrics, especially when the tunes are well known. 
This I can do via e-mail; I'd rather not post them in this notefile.

Sheet music is generally too intimidating for most potential fans, but I
could also supply that in many cases.  Most filk authors would be flattered
to be asked for this permission.  (This group doesn't get a lot of respect,
but that is changing.)

						-- Spencer

There's a discussion of Filk in the Folk Music Conference (COOKIE::FOLK_MUSIC)
topic number 56.  There hasn't been much activity in the topic lately.
Interested parties may add the conference to their notebooks with the KP7
key.

See you there!
BobW_Folk_Music_co-mod  

>Are you interested in the space program?  The works of Marian Zimmer
>Bradley (aka Darkover)?  Arthurian legends?  How about C.J. Cherryh (Union,
>Alliance, Earth, Hani, faded sun, etc.)?  War stories?  Celtic myths? 
>Lovecraft?  Star Trek?  Star Wars?  Tolkein?  Kipling?  This barely
>scratches the surface.  In particular, filks celebrating the antics and
>misadventures of SF fans are probably only interesting to those who go to
>cons, pub fanzines, or otherwise engage in fanac.
    
    Well, I dunno, make up a tape set with one of your favorites from each
    sub-genre.  If it helps, I'd be interested the space program primarily,
    but I've no idea what else might appeal.
    
    I would think intercompany mail would be OK (other official DEC clubs
    use it with permission), though postage to the next person on the list
    wouldn't be onerous if the Mail Police object.
    
    I've heard good things about "Minus Ten And Counting", and would really
    like to get a copy, any idea where I could get it?
    
    Lyrics might be fun, and I might even know some people who could read
    sheet music, but I suspect we might start with tapes...
    
    Put me first on the list for the tapes!
    
    Willie
    

    Back in the late '70s, when I was in fandom, I was fondest of the
    "improvised" stuff.  I think I still remember some verses for "Give Me
    That Old-Time Religion":
    
    We'll bow down and worship Loki
    As the room starts turning smokey
    He thinks Thor's a little hokey
    But he's good enough for me!
    
    Let us worship Aphrodite
    As she dances in her nightie
    She may seem a trifle flighty
    But she's good enough for me!
    
    
    Yep, guess I do.  (: >,)
    Ray

There's a version of "Old Time Religion" that sounds a lot like that that's
been recorded by Pete Seeger...unfortunately, I don't have the album to tell
you which one.

BobW

    Happy birth-day
    Oh, happy birth-day
    Gloom, mis'ry and dispair
    People dying ev'rywhere
    Happy birthday
    
    K.C.

    The preceeding is to be sung to the tune of "Song of the Volga
    Boatman".
    
    --- jerry

    Thank you Jerry!  
    
    Its too bad that sound can't be added to NOTES.  I KNEW the tune, but
    not its name!
    
    My circle has long since substituted this for the traditional "Happy
    Birthday".  (Its REAL funny at restaurants!)
    
    K.C.  

    Larry Niven's Dream Park novels include some fairly good filk songs,
    including quite a few verses of "Old-TIme Religion".
    
    -dave

Not sure whether this counts as a filk song -- it's from "Boat of a 
Million Years," by Poul Anderson.  Sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies 
Over the Ocean":

  Black bodies give off radiation,
  And ought to continuously.
  Black bodies give off radiation,
  But do it by Planck's theory.

  Chorus:

  Bring back, bring back,
  Oh, bring back that old continuity!
  Bring back, bring back,
  Oh, bring back Clerk Maxwell to me.

  Though now we have Schr�dinger functions,
  Dividing up h by 2 Pi
  That damn differential equation
  Still has no solution for Psi.

  (Refrain)

  Well, Heisenberg came to the rescue,
  Intending to make all secure.
  What is the result of his efforts?
  We are absolutely unsure.

  (Refrain)

  Dirac spoke of energy levels,
  Both minus and plus. Oh, how droll!
  And now, just because of his teaching,
  We don't know our mass from a hole.

  (Refrain)

    At the hospitality suites at the convention I spent the weekend at,
    someone was wandering around singing "Happy Earth Day to you" - would
    have been even funnier to the alternative tune!
    
    /Charlotte

    Please put me on the list for distribution.
    
    As for preferences, how about your selection of the songs which we'd be
    most likely to encounter at a convention. I've never been, and would
    like to go, and would like to be able to join in. If I was telling a
    foreigner how to prepare for a fortysomething's bonfire singalong, I'd
    suggest "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Koobayah" (sp?) and "If I had a
    Hammer" and so on. (Of course, if you're twenty years younger than me,
    than these cultural benchmarks mean nothing to you and I'm not making
    myself clear!?!)
    
    If the set of familiar songs is too big, go for funny; within funny, go
    for things which deal with science (I liked the physics philk
    preceding!) and/or famous scifi works (Grok Around the Clock) or
    authors.
    
    This sounds like fun!
    
    - Hoyt

re .10 by SUBWAY::BOWERS "Dave Bowers @WHO"

>    Larry Niven's Dream Park novels include some fairly good filk songs,
>    including quite a few verses of "Old-TIme Religion".


Yes, indeedy.  And for those unfortunates who don't own this nifty little
book, I present excerpts here.  Chorus omitted for reasons of laziness :-)

 /\
/--\ndy

	"It was good enough for Odin,
	Though that croakin' was forebodin',
	Till at last the Giants rode in;
	Still it's good enough for me!"

	"Montezuma liked to start out
	Rites by carrying a part out
	That would really tear your heart out,
	And it's good enough for me!"

	"It was good enough for Kali;
	Though embracing her is folly,
	She'd be quite an armful, golly!
	So it's good enough for me."

	"It was good enough for Dagon,
	A conservative old pagan
	Who still votes for Ronald Reagan,
	And it's good enough for me!"

	"It was good enough for Isis:
	She will help us in a crisis,
	And she's never raised her prices,
	So she's good enough for me!"

I've always enjoyed listening in on filk-sings at SF conventions.  (You
wouldn't want me to participate--my voice is atrocious.)

Unfortunately, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.  There are
copyright laws and Digital doesn't want to run afoul of them, and, as
moderator, I have a responsibility under PP&P section 6.54 (go ahead--
look it up) to protect Digital in this conference.

For those of you who have already posted parts of filk songs.  Please
find out if they are copyrighted.  If they are, and the copyright owner
has given permission, please delete and repost giving proper credit
and indication of permission to copy.  For those which you can't find
permission, please delete them.

For those of you who are tempted to post filk songs here, please be
sure to obtain permission first, and if granted, post with the proper
credit and indication of your use with permission.

Short quotes should be okay to use under the principle of "fair use."
Still, proper attribution should be given when known.

Dave C.
Moderator, SF

As far as I have been able to determine, the tape Minus Ten and Counting is
out of print, although it may be possible to find a copy in dealer stock. 
The songbook is still available, but that may also be from stock; I haven't
been in touch with Firebird, yet.

I will make two demo tapes available in about two weeks.  Please contact me
by e-mail if you want to be in the distribution chains.  One tape will be
hard science fiction, ose (as in "ose, ose and morose"), and perhaps
kipling; the other will be computer filk, fantasy and lighter stuff.  There
will be liner notes which I will write explaining background information
about each song.  I am obtaining permission from the artists to allow
unlimited copying of each song; this is the primary gating factor.

This is not being too hard to obtain; the tape is effectively an
advertisement.

I am concerned about sending tapes through the Digital mail.  In addition
to the possible issue of Mail Police, will they survive?  (How deep do they
stack the mail?  Paper is heavy, but tapes in padded envelopes usually
survive the U.S. Snail.)  To ensure survival, I am thinking along lines of
sending the tapes in boxes, � la parcel post.  UPS rates are quite
reasonable (about $1.50).  Comments?

The Happy Birthday Song of the Volga Boatmen has at least 5 verses (Larry
Niven wandered into a PhilCon filksing some years ago, sang five verses
when it was his turn, and wandered out again a bit later).  I will post
them here as soon as I can obtain an attribution (and permission, as
appropriate).  Tracking this sort of stuff down in the filk field can be
quite time-consuming.

There is a filk convention next weekend (June 8th-10th) in Cherry Hill, NJ
(near Philadelphia).  I can e-mail a flier in DDIF or PostScript formats to
anyone who wants more information.  About 100 people are currently
expected.  Filk Lumimaries will include GOHs Kathy Mar and Linda Melnick,
as well as Greg Baker, Mara Brener, Marc Glasser, Barbara Higgins, Heather
Rose Jones, Bob Kanefsky, Bob Laurent (Wail Songs), Claire Meier, Roberta
Rogow, Kathy & Leo Sands (Tales From the White Hart), Mike Stein, Peter
Thiesen, and many others.  (The originally announced GOH, Julia Ecklar,
will not attend; Locus was never corrected.)

For the curious and the deprived, there will be a filksing from 2 p.m. to
sometime later on Sunday, 26 August 1990, at the MIT Student Center, room
407 (4th floor), 86 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge.  It is open to the
general public.

A few more details can be found in

   STARCH::USER2:[JSLOVE]FILK-ANNOUNCE.TEXT

Roughly the same text, plus directions and an unbelievably crude map (10
minutes with DECwrite) can be found in

   STARCH::USER2:[JSLOVE]FILK-ANNOUNCE.DOC

This is a DECwrite document; it can be displayed or converted to PostScript
and printed.  I am logged in from a character cell terminal at the moment,
but tomorrow I will create a .PS file.  These files are/will be world
readable.

All are welcome.  Furthermore, if you want to be on my mailing list to
receive future announcements of similar events, send me mail.

						-- Spencer