...the Lush mailing list

The Lush mailing list first started in early-mid 1995. It was formed when its creator posted to the alt.music.4ad newsgroup asking if any Lush fans were interested in participating in a mailing list.

It was originally run from the XS4all server in The Netherlands, and was all done manually (!)

There were about fifteen subscribers after the first few days, few of whom are left now. The list did not get its name until about a month after it started, when a 'competition' was held to see what it would be called. Close contenders, if memory serves me correctly, were 'Desire Lines', 'Baby Talk' (which is now the name of a fanzine run by David Bluhm), and 'Downer'.

Soon after the name was bestowed upon the list, it was decided that it should be run from a 'Majordomo' automatic list-server at XS4all, but the cost proved to be prohibitive. The list moved to a 'Majordomo' server at best.com in the US, and but has since changed to a proprietory server called 'Bestserv'. It is maintained by a number of internet Lush luminaries.

There are over a hundred members of the list, with around twenty of those people being regular participants.