The Third Reich 'n' Roll

The album that put the Residents on the collective map...

** Side One:  Swastikas on Parade

** Side Two:  Hitler Was A Vegetarian

* Note German censorship of album cover

Noted psychoanalyst Erik Erikson professed that humans go through eight stages of psychosocial development in their lifetime; the most significant stages, obviously, being the earliest.  According to Erikson, all early stages were meant to prepare the human for stage seven: Middle Adulthood (35-55). 

When I was eight years old, my Uncle Larry (AKA: Donald to you) felt it time to introduce a 'proper music education'.  In his infinite wisdom, the first album he ever played for me was the Residents' Third Reich 'n' Roll.  Within minutes, I became so disturbed that I began to cry.  His reaction, at least initially, was to turn up the volume and laugh at me.

Being ten years older than myself, I have no doubt that the end result that day was exactly what he intended.  Teenagers, after all, have cruel streaks in them.  Had he known that his act of sonic terrorism would set me on a bohemian-laced, avant gardening path, he probably would have been twice as pleased with himself.

We all could use an Uncle Larry in our lives.

The Come On Story

Or... Obscurity never sounded so good.

Artists do their purest work in obscurity, with minimum feedback from any kind of audience. With no audience to consider, artists are free to create work that is true to their own vision.

- N. Senada's Theory of Obscurity

In an attempt to educate my daughter without the benefit of spoken word (because the spoken word is passe these days), I went through a spell several years ago where I wrote mini blurbs on the various musicians I feel important enough to share with her.  Considering I have only gotten her into two point five of the artists featured, I am leaning towards learning Sign Language as means of communication.

I could probably get more across.

R-L: George Elliott, Ralf Mann, Jamie Kaufman, Elena Glasberg, Page Wood

One such blubbering blurb that caught her eyes and ears concerned the '70s No/New Wave band Come On.  Actually, she thought Elena Glasberg cute enough to give them a try.    "She's surrounded by boys!"              "I bet they made her wear that shirt..."

Chloraseptic® Dreams

... Or:  When Memories Punch Back


While surfing around looking for local band information from the 'good old days', I stumbled across a funky slice of nostalgia. 

I liken it to gazing into a mirror, then getting punched in the teeth by your own reflection...

Dana Sixty and the Pistol Grips / Public Execution - Split 7" on Attila Records 1999

In the late 80s a couple of buddies and I formed a Parma hardcore band - Public Execution.  As locals bands like LEK, R.F.I., and Domestic Crisis were so much cooler than us on the Social Idiot Index, we figured we would give it a whirl.  We stuck it out for about a year, wrote some nifty tunes, finally got a decent sound down (thanks to second drummer Jim Konya), then broke it up for reasons best left unsaid.

Retro Gaming Blast from the Past!

The other night my youngest had a school choir recital.  It was a very nice program.

But my eldest and her friend (the bigger sister to a friend of the youngest), were bored out of their minds. Being resourceful kids, they pulled out a notebook and started playing games, writing notes back and forth - the typical girl stuff. 

It reminded me of what I used to do when bored out of my skull at their age.  When we returned home I promptly showed my wife.  She laughed at my ingenuity.  Or my idiocy.
I am not too sure.


The Mechanics:

• Take a piece of paper and a sharpened pencil with a good eraser.
• Balance and angle the tip of the pencil onto the paper just so, with your index finger lightly on the eraser.
• Gently push the eraser downward so that a straight line shoots off the skidding pencil onto the paper.

... And how to make it Better.

When last I left off, I was trying to used car salesman Adam Ryland's Wrestling Spirit 2 as a viable entry to any gaming library. But like all used car salesmen, I wasn't entirely up front concerning the less than shinier bits.

While there are several tournament-type modes in Wrestling Spirit, the drawing card of the game is in its Career Mode. It is there that you have the option of either starting your own wrestler from scratch, or taking on an existing wrestler and guiding their career. Promotional inner workings (card lineups, title matches, hirings and firings, etc.) was largely built off the core of Ryland's Total Extreme Wrestling 2004.

Frankly, it never really worked for me. Besides the actual 'fight engine', for lack of a better phrase, the single most important aspect to a wrestling game needs to be a logical method of match-making.

Mr. Ryland's booking engine works... for Total Extreme Wrestling. After all, the player is doing the booking of their own promotion in that series. What the AI-controlled promotions do is always on the peripheral - and even when studied, makes enough sense.

In Wrestling Spirit, the AI controls all promotions; your character takes the bookings assigned to them. Sometimes those bookings make sense. Sometimes not so much.

Adam Ryland's Wrestling Spirit 2...

Adam Ryland is known as the King of Text Based Wrestling Games. It's true. You can ask him yourself.

If modesty prevents him from admitting as much, his fans will certainly back it up.

Mr. Ryland started his ascent to the throne by way of his freeware Extreme Warfare series of text-based wrestling promotion simulators. After hooking his fans with a heroin-like addiction, he would eventually tire of providing freebies to the masses. Total Extreme Warfare, released in 2004 out of the now defunct .400 Software Studios, was his commercial breakthrough.

The following year, and to incredulous looks by no man, Ryland would cement his status as the wisest of the wise. Not only would he jump from .400 Studios to Grey Dog Software - a much more stable company, he would also change the completely inappropriate name of his series to Total Extreme Wrestling. The TEW series, as it would come to be known, would see updates in 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Never one to beat a dead horse - unless the glue factory demanded it, Ryland released part one of the Wrestling Spirit trilogy in 2004. Rather than plot a successful wrestling promotion, Wrestling Spirit focused on the individual's career in the 'Sport of Kings', as Mr. Gordon Solie called it. Being text-based, the game was an imagination-fueled depiction of life as a professional wrestler; finding bookings, making friends backstage, earning money from fight purses... basically everything a fan of kayfabe wrestling 'believed' to be true of the 'sport' (wink, wink - nudge, nudge).

The game pretty much sank like a rock*.


* = in relative, uninformed comparison to Mr. Ryland's previous titles.

Death of the Territories, aka 'The Wrestling Game'

Prologue:

An interesting cat named Charlie Warren runs an even more interesting blog entitled, The Semi-Retired Gamer. As the name implies, Mr. Warren is an old school gamer (and game designer), mainly focusing on tabletop role-playing games. His recent discussions on game design have provoked a lot of thought amongst his followers; myself, included.

One thing his musings have inspired me to do is to finally post this here bloggy bit. I've kept it in dock for several years now simply because it clashed with the disjointed (and low key) concept here.

Tip of the hat, Mr. Warren.

_____________________________________


Games have pretty much been in my blood for as long as I can remember.

My father inspired in me a great love of dice and chits and game boards. Countless games were played between us during my more formative years; Stratego, Dogfight, Mille Bornes, Dungeons & Dragons, Brian Blume's Boot Hill, and TSR's Vampyre: Game of the Hunt for Dracula; Frankly, I've forgotten more titles than I can remember.

Another thing the old man gave me was a healthy dose of do-it-yourself creativity.

The Chorus declares, "Barest of Bones!"

** spoken in the voice of Homer Flynn of The Residents **

You smell that sound? Huh... Do ya?

It's anger. Pure, unapologetic anger.

Look around! Anger in the news. Anger in music. Anger in comments left at the Betty Crocker forum. Anger in the half-played axis and allies game board collecting dust on a forgotten table somewhere.

Even in the eyes of your 40 year old Teddy Bear.

And he's pissed.

It's scary, man. But I've got a plan.

I'm gonna collect all those people that matter to me; all those people that I love. I'm gonna collect them and tell them there ain't no more anger. Or bitterness. Or cynicism.

Those days as an angry young dog are behind me.

Are they behind you?

.
.
.

But then I get to thinkin'.

Hey, Dad! Remember the time you were called in to pick me up at the Parma Police station at 3 o'clock one Saturday morning? Remember how you spit in my face and declared me a disgust?

I do.

I remember it like one of those grainy VHS tapes of something recorded off late-night t.v.; low contrasted and jagged-edged with just a whisper of disjointed sound crackling through the static.

Still... I do have to admit my admiration. With nothing but Colt 45 and saliva, you managed to create a black hole.

There isn't a scientist alive who can say the same.

I kid myself more than I kid you all.

The angry young dog will always morph into a mistrustful hog, rooting not for truffles - but for fragmented memories.

Finding slim pickings, self-consumption typically begins with the tail and ends at the snout.

But...

But I do got a plan.

I'm gonna collect all those people that mattered to me; all those people that I loved. I'm gonna collect them and bury them like a dog does his bone.

Those days as an angry young hog are behind me.

Are they behind you?

Short Attention Span Theatre #2: A Case of the Punks!

Probably my all-time favorite song ever put to vinyl: Ashtray Heart by Beefheart and the Magic Band. Don Van Vliet dynamites the punks and new wavers for essentially ripping him off - in particular the 'Man on the Porcupine Fence', Johnny Rotten.

Fair or not, the man had a point.

And Beefheart's word play in this one is simply off the charts.

"Make Invalids out of Supermen..."

You used me like an ashtray heart

Case of the punks. 
Right from the start

I feel like a glass shrimp in a pink panty

With a saccharine chaperone

Make invalids out of supermen

Call in a "shrink"

And pick you up in a girdle

You used me like an ashtray heart

Right from the start

Case of the punks

Another day, another way...

Somebody's had too much to think

Open up another case of the punks

Each pillow is touted like a rock

The mother / father figure

Somebody's had too much to think

Send your mother home your navel

Case of the punks

New hearts to the dining rooms

Violet heart cake

Dissolve in new cards, boards, throats, underwear

Ashtray heart

You picked me out, brushed me off

Crushed me while I was burning out

Then you picked me out

Like an ashtray heart

Hid behind the curtain

Waited for me to go out

A man on a porcupine fence

Used me for an ashtray heart

Hit me where the lover hangs out

Stood behind the curtain

While they crushed me out

You used me for an ashtray heart

You looked in the window when I went out

You used me like an ashtray heart.

- Van Vliet

Beast Cream For Doc

While I have long given up on the pastime of clamming through endless music blogs in search of pearls, I feel it worth the effort this time...

The good Captain Beefheart was soon to sail off into the none-set of mysterious illness. But not before digging through his back pages and delivering a three album return-to-form. Four, if you consider the original Bat Chain Puller recordings.

Great fan-made video

The 'Ice Cream For Crow' video that MTV felt was 'too weird' to air.

For as many brilliant artists as we've had throughout history, at least according to their doting fans, family and friends, it is a surprise we haven't risen to greater heights as a species. And no matter how many times I hear the 'genius' expression, it never gets old.

Hyperbole, after all, was laid off moons ago.


No. To me, there is no brilliance. There is no genius.

There is only Beefheart.

Bat Chain Puller - (Front), 1976
Never Officially Released
The Unheard Music blog

Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) - (Front), 1978
Warner Bros. Records #BSK 3256
Forest Roxx blog

Doc At The Radar Station (Front), 1980
Virgin Records (Canada) #VM 2209
Visionearz blog

Ice Cream For Crow - (Front), 1982
Epic Records #ARE 38274
FRGK blog

Short Attention Span Theatre #1: The Hot Fudge Show

Early mornings have never been the same...

Syndicated out of Detroit from 1976-1982, it's the Hot Fudge Show!

While the memories are fading, I am pretty sure WKYC (Channel 3) in Cleveland used to broadcast this at 7:00AM every weekday morning.



"Hot Fudge. Right on!"


Links of Interest:

* Hot Fudge Show - Official Site

40? Nope. No angst here.

First post in quite some time, but that is neither here nor there.

... Unless we're talking about Spot's CleSoul blog.

Updates at that place are like dentures to the gummy. Mad Dog to the rummy? I don't really know, but I enjoy that blog enough to stalk ... er, follow it for as long as Bob continues the education ride.

You see, I rode on the further most outskirts of Bob/Spot's social circles as a me-teen/young adult; a friends of friends type of deal.

The Normandy Freaks.
Domestic Crisis.
Doc's Shake Shoppe.

Essentially 'All of those kids cooler than I', or some such nonsensical truth.

I mooned over Kristi Huska for far longer than I dare admit, which - of course, tends to obscure all things. But that particular cast of characters did include many of the elite in the Parma punk scene: Jim Luppuci, Kristi, the Mysterious Mr. Konya... um... and a whole lot more, believe you me.

Oh, how I wanted to be like them. I'd hang around in my room pretending to be amputated, or a talented artist, or a frenzied mop of hair. Yet hiding behind the moron front I presented, the cool never did translate.

But I sure fell down a lot!

"Say it ain't so, Joe. Say it ain't so!"

One of the single most interesting of freaks in that entire scene was Spot.

The infamous Tony Erba was perhaps more gonzo to me; Jim Morgan and Mark Embrogno more directly influential; Corey Barnett more respected, but Spot... Spot was the King.

Just the mere mention of his name and the person opposite would frame a huge smile, chuckle to themselves, then let loose with the most amazing of stories you'd ever be likely to hear. Laughter and/or bafflement never ceased to follow.

Everyone - and I do mean everyone had a Spot Story they would pass amongst themselves. And not one of them mean-spirited. At least none that I ever heard or first-hand experienced.

I cringe, twitch and generally spaz out when thinking back on the things I've pulled over the years. Some of the funniest and more memorable, however, were inspired by the Spirit of Spot and his guerrilla theater of the absurd.

Twenty years down the road, Bob continues to serve as inspiration and entertainment.

And I'm still falling down.

Nope. No angst here!

Flipper Rules, OK?

Obligatory Cut and Paste job from Wikipedia and/or AllMusic.

.

.

.

.

Because research is for librarians and egghead kid sisters. And that's not punk. It is, however, borderline emo.

Which only goes to show you: librarians and kid sisters are emos.

You're so bored, cause you're boring!

- You Nought Me

Named after an infamous dolphin... Or birth defect babies... Or an insane band member's habit of naming every pet he ever owned 'Flipper', Dagwood Bum's Sled formed in San Francisco in 1979. Will Shatter, Bruce Lose, Ted Falconi, and Steve DePace quickly tired of having to explain the witty double entendre to hapless punk rockers like the Dead Ken-I-Gotta-Pees and Soupy Sales. So they went back to calling themselves Flipper.

It was a bold move in a career defined by bold moves. And drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

I guess you can say music, too. But music is so yesterday; Flipper is next Tuesday at 4:36PM EST!

Back (L-R): Steve DePace, drums - Ted Falconi, guitar

Front (L-R): Will Shatter, bass & vocals - Bruce Lose, bass & vocals

No less than respected punk legend Henry Rollins called Flipper, and I am quoting here:

"Blah Blah Look at my tattoos Blah Blah Denis Leary Blah Blah VH1 Blah Blah Heavier Than You!!!!"

And, well... if it is coming from Henry Rollins, you'd be silly not to take it as gospel. He is a spoken word artist, you know. Just like Jello Biafra!

And that crazy bag lady down the street who cries drunken soliloquies to her long dead child. But I don't see her getting her own VH1 show or college spoken word tours, you two-bit carnies.

How much are kids being charged to hear your live-action infomercials, anyways? Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll end up blaming Ticketmaster.

Set it and forget it!!

Love Canal b/w Ha, Ha, Ha 7" (Front), 1980

Subterranean Records #SUB 07

A Mayfly Link (@320kbps)

Album: Generic Flipper (Front), 1981

Subterranean Records #SUB 25

Christ Almartyr Blog

Blow'n Chunks (Front), 1984

ROIR Records #A-126

Hangover Heart Attack Blog

Gone Fishin' (Front), 1984

Subterranean Records #SUB 42

Christ Almartyr Blog (again)

Public Flipper Limited: Live 1980-85 (Front), 1986

Subterranean Records #SUB 53

Nothin' Sez Somethin' Blog

And now I'll take some questions from the readers. Sound fun?

Q - You claim to be a punk, yet insult everything about them in most of your blog postings. What the hell is up with that?

A - Thanks for your question.

Q - Do you think youre funny? What's with the post on Johnny Rotten man?

A - Whoa! One question at a time please.

Q - I didn't think your Sid Vicious joke in the post from Dec. 20th was funny. How dare you! #%$@ You and the horse you rode in on, buddy!!

A - I'm sorry. Was there a question in there?

Note: If you have a question that you would like answered, feel free to drop me a line. Comments are always welcomed. Henry would approve...

Ari-Up: Punky Reggae Queen of Many Names

Even before the breakup of all-girl punk outfit the Slits in 1981, Ariana Forster; aka Ari-Up (aka Ari Stepper; aka Baby Ari; aka Madussa; aka Whatever the hell she wants us to call her this week) began lending her extraordinary vocal talents to various ground-breaking earthbeat productions. Even if the press didn't see it, artists such as Nina Hagen, Talking Heads, Adrian Sherwood, and Neneh Cherry valued her contributions to their expanding world-view.

When one lays out the recorded work Ari-Up either fronted, contributed to, or appeared on from 1978 until disappearing to the dancehalls of Jamaica in 1983, it is perplexing that the woman's influence on the world music explosion of the mid-80s is not better noted by music scribes.

Then again, music critics, video DJs, and latent feminists proclaimed Paul Simon's wonderful Graceland (1986) as 'the most refreshing thing since oxygen tanks' in trying to celebrate that albums 'innovative use of world music in Tin Pan Alley Folk-Pop'. The hucksters.

After gushing their ignorance so blatantly, who can fault music historians for missing the boat so badly on Ari-Up. They've got the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to worry about. Not to mention the burden of perpetuating the myth of Björk's originality.

That's a big responsibility!

- The Slits (L-R), Viv Albertine, Tessa Pollitt, Ari-Up

It has been suggested by journalists interviewing the woman that Ari-Up's growing interest in reggae and dub during the late 70s was the catalyst of the shocking change in musical outlook of the Slits from sonically brash to the experimental. An interesting, if not butt-kissing assessment. I would tend to credit the many converging influences surrounding the Slits during the 1977-79 period - including, but not limited to legendary Roxy DJ Don Letts managing the band for a spell, Nora Forster, the mother of Ari, dating and eventually marrying reggae aficionado John Lydon, and the general influence of Public Image Limited's first two releases. But what do I know? I do not get paid for this!

Whatever the influences, the Slits' output during the bands lifetime was remarkably different from any of their first wave U.K. punk rock brethren. You know - the ones that got all of the press and after-thought recognition.

Good thing I do not trust anyone in the mainstream that reports on the many forms of entertainment we gorge ourselves on. If I did, I'd probably be blogging about Amy Winehouse. Or Metallica.

Or Caboose Supe.

He sold more records than Elvis and The Beatles, you know.

The recordings of Ari-Up, 1978-1983

Nina Hagen Band - S/T (Front), 1978 -- CBS Records #CBS 83136

Contribution: Music & Lyrics, Pank (track 11)

Frisian's Other Favorites Blog

The New Age Steppers - S/T (Front), 1981

On-U Sound Records #On-U LP 01

Contribution: Vocals

Not Rock On Blog

Rip Rig & Panic - God (Front), 1981

Virgin Records #V 2213

Contributions: Vocals (track 4)

Down Underground Blog

Creation Rebel & New Age Steppers - Threat to Creation, 1981

Cherry Red Records #BRED 21

Contributions: Piano, Organ

Global Groove Blog

Singers & Players - War of Words (Front), 1982

On-U Sound Records #ON-U LP 05

Contributions: Keyboard

Devotional Hooligan Blog

New Age Steppers - Action Battlefield (Front), 1982

Statik Records #STAT LP 02

Contributions: Vocals, Piano, Percussion

Rocket Remnants Blog

New Age Steppers - Foundation Steppers (Front), 1983

On-U Sound Records #ON-U LP 21

Contributions: Vocals

Rocket Remnants Blog

Note: Besides the Slits albums and Talking Heads' Fear of Music, which can be found elsewhere on this blog, the only Ari-Up appearances during the period in question I am unable to link to is the My Love 12" and 7" singles by New Age Steppers (both released in 1981) and Prince Far I & The Arab's Cry Tuff Dub Encounter Chapter III (1980) - which features Ari providing backing vocals on 'Shake the Nation'.

The Compilation Compost

Being a young music lover with a spartan budget, I typically ended up snagging compilation albums in the hopes of finding something new and improved.  

More often than not, I'd end up regretting the purchase.  

Too often, compilation albums are nothing more than a means for a record company to squeeze every last dime out of a song or artist before moving on to the next flavor of the month.  

But sometimes... sometimes you could strike gold.

- Rat Music For Rat People (Front), 1982 - Go! Records #GO 003

Not too long after I first began purchasing my own music, I stumbled across Rat Music For Rat People.  The title excited me.  Would there be songs about giant rats and their unwilling food source? 

Not as such.  

But the band listing was almost as interesting as the title: Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Circle Jerks... haha!  A band named Flipper?  Neat!  D.O.A., Crucifix, TSOL, Avengers, and The Dils.  

It was a risky purchase.  I knew of four of the ten bands, but had only actually listened to Black Flag and the Circle Jerks.  And it was a live album.  Even then I knew that live albums were never to be trusted. Unless it was Johnny Cash.  You could always trust Johnny Cash...

In the end, I swung the deal on the merits of the Dead Kennedys name.  That was sure to irk the hippie vampire.  

It ended up a wise purchase - and a sucker buy at the same time.  

- Cracks In the Sidewalk (Front), 1980 - New Alliance Records #NAR-001

The next four or five compilation purchases I would make were, for one reason or another, flat-out amazing...    

Cracks In the Sidewalk introduced me to the glory that is the Minutemen.  And the cover art genius of Raymond Pettibon.

From then on, I would buy every single album that featured a Pettibon cover.   

Did someone say sucker buy?  

The artists: Minutemen, Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, Kindled Imagination, Artless Entanglements, and Sharp Corners.  

Like any self-respecting (i.e., recovering) punk, I've still only heard of the first three bands.  

- Let Them Eat Jellybeans (Front), 1981 - Alternative Tentacles Records #Virus 4

Let Them Eat Jellybeans! would be the start of a long held appreciation of the Alternative Tentacles label.  It was also the high point of my compilation buying streak.

To this day, the track listing still blows me away.  It is amazing that Alternative Tentacles was able to put together the line-up:

Flipper, Ha Ha Ha -- D.O.A., The Prisoner -- Black Flag, Police Story (with Dez!) -- Bad Brains, Pay to Cum -- Dead Kennedys, Nazi Punks Fuck Off -- Circle Jerks, Paid Vacation -- Really Red, Prostitution -- The Feederz, Jesus Entering From The Rear -- The Subhumans, Slave to My Dick -- Geza X, Isotope Soap -- Bpeople, Persecution, That's My Song -- Wounds, An Object -- The Offs, Everyone's a Bigot -- Anonymous, Corporate Food -- Half Japanese, Fun Again -- Christian Lunch, Joke's On You -- Voice Farm, Sleep 

Great, great stuff.  

- The Blasting Concept (Front), 1983 - SST Records #SST 013

After snacking on Jellybeans, I immediately picked up The Blasting Concept.  After digesting that one, I would run out and buy the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime double LP.  It might well be the strongest back-to-back-to-back purchases I would ever make.

Four tracks by the Minutemen, three tracks by Black Flag (featuring all three of the Flag's lead singers up to that point), two tracks by the Meat Puppets, and individual cuts by Saccharine Trust, Overkill, the Stains, Würm, and the mighty Hüsker Dü; what was not to like?  

Not too damn much.

Unless you consider that SST Records would eventually bloat itself into a coma, Alternative Tentacles would ugly itself with petty infighting, New Alliance Records would die with Minutemen lead singer D. Boon, and Rat Music For Rat People would spawn two banal sequels.  

Go, Team Punk!

Links of Interest:

* Cracks In The Sidewalk, 1980 - Cosmic Hearse Blog

* Let Them Eat Jellybeans!, 1981 - Lucid Media Blog

* Rat Music For Rat People, 1982 - Stealingofanation Blog

* The Blasting Concept, 1983 - The Blasting Concept Blog

Zoogz Rift: Mix Tape Hero

Having stumbled across a post at an excellent blog the other day, I got to thinking about one of the more rewarding artists in my ever-bloating music library: Zoogz Rift.

Zoogie Whatsit?  

Oh yeah...

Described by crotch-less music critics as 'imaginative', 'stimulating', 'irritating', 'vitriolic', 'reactionary', 'paranoid', 'patience-defying', 'scrupulously obscene', and 'iconoclastic',  Zoogz Rift is as much an original as his self-admitted influences Captain Beefheart, Frankie Appaz, John Cage, Salvador Dalí, Lou Albano, Jerome 'Babe' Horwitz and Ayn 'The Lariat' Rand.  

And if you know at least four of the names on the above list, you are well on the path towards being a self-important, latte-drinking dolt. Congratulations!  I'll be sending out membership forms as soon as possible.

- Zoogz Rift (center) & The Amazing Shitheads

With a discography spanning 27 years and 763 albums, some might suggest that Zoogz Rift tilts a bit towards the prolific.  But don't you believe them.  Heck, don't even believe me!  Don't believe in your television, your dog, your fashion sense, your favorite record reviewers, or your schools; simply believe in yourself.  

And the fact that Zoogz Rift is best listened to in self-created mix tape form.

I'm not sure what it is about his music.  I own and cherish approximately 10 Rift albums.  With the possible exception of Amputees in Limbo (SST Records #122, 1985), I find it very difficult to listen to any of his albums in their entirety.  Yet I listen to each of them on a regular basis.       

The closest comparison I can make to the music of Rift would be to that of Beefheart, but only on a superficial level.  Structurally and lyrically, Rift shares a lot with the good Captain.  But while Beefheart & The Magic Band stayed within the blues framework, no matter how far out there they travelled, Zoogz Rift & His Amazing Shitheads veered over a much wider range; jazz, rock, punk, new wave, twerp pop, you name it.  

I guess it boils down to the duel edge of eclecticism.  If done well - and in small doses, musically eclectic outfits can be a rewarding challenge (see The Suburban Lawns).  More so than even the best of straight-forwards.  But if you are going to make an entire career out of being as varied as possible, expect a tight rope walk.  

And long falls when you take a misstep.          

One thing that I can say about Rift and his band that might sell them to those on the fence:  Snag Idiots On The Miniature Golf Course (reissue: SST Records #123, 1987) and check out The Great Apes Ate Grapes.  Tell me that isn't one of the greatest little songs you've never heard.  

On and on, Rift & The Shitheads create some of the more memorable riffs you'll ever get stuck in your head: My Daddy Works for the Secret Marines, Evil Eye (both off Amputees in Limbo), Sit Down & Shut Up (off of Ipecac), Dense Rain-Black Forest and Asphyxiated (from Villagers)... 

Wonderful Mix Tape material.   

Links of Interest:

* The Official (and crappy) Zoogz Rift website

* Enough Zoogz Rift to choke the Son of Sam's dog - Feelin' Kinda Froggy Blog

* Amputees in Limbo: Deluxe European Edition - Dr. Faustroll Blog

PiL: The Commercial Zone Funhouse

After releasing Flowers of Romance in October of 1981, Public Image Limited found itself in a state of entropy.  

Whether it was darker drugs revealing fangs, John Lydon's lessened involvement due to outside interests, or power plays by both guitarist Keith Levene and on-again-off-again drummer Martin Atkins, the Limited Corporation mirage that all parties had strived so hard to present as viable since their foundation in 1978 threatened to splinter.  

Frankly, when one considers all that the band had to go through in their first few years, it is a surprise they survived as long as they had:

* A seemingly never-ending legal tussle between Lydon and former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren set the table for...

* A crippling lack of funds, which resulted in guerilla production, performance and management methods that more often than not pissed off fans and...

* A hostile press which attacked the band - and in particular Lydon at almost every opportunity.  Pay back for Lydon acting such a jerk to them during the Pistols days?  You betcha.

- Public Image Ltd., Phase One - (L-R) Keith Levene, Jah Wobble, Johnny Rotten

When you also factor in the loss of founding member and bass sculptor Jah Wobble in 1980, the four baseless police raids in a little over a years time, the infamous American Bandstand, Tom Snyder, and Ritz nightclub appearances - not to mention Warner Brothers Records dropping the band in early 1982 and the band's fateful decision to forgo touring, a state of entropy was probably to be expected.  

After all, these were 20-something year old kids on the proverbial chopping block.  The most grounded of adults tend to crack under such immense pressures; asking and expecting it of someone so young is a cracked mirror reflection of our own seemingly low-key and unimportant lives.

 

The 20th century taught us to throw entertainment figures on lavish pedestals. And we complied.  Lucky Lindy, Houdini, Frankie, Elvis, Bobby Zimmerman, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, Little Michael, Madonna, Britney, Princess Diana's Car & Anna Nichole's Corpse... on and on and on; an endless parade of cultural icons for our purchasing pleasure.  

You know they are cultural icons because keychains, tee-shirts, and Rolling Stone Magazine would never lie.   Would they?  

Then again, who is at fault?  The con man who sells the snake oil, or the sucker who constantly buys it?

- Commercial Zone: Limited Edition (Front), 1984 - PiL Records Inc. #XYZ007

 

To the members of Public Image Limited, the snake oil was becoming a hemlock.

The partnership between band (and corporate) visionaries Lydon and Levene began to deteriorate to the point of no return during early 1983.  The official story is that arguments over mixing the This is Not a Love Song 7" single (Virgin Records #VS 529, September 1983) would lead to Levene's departure from the group.  Of course, He said/She said also points towards Levene's escalating drug problems, Lydon's selling out the 'PiL Ideals', and Atkins' spiteful power plays as the true culprits.  Who really knows.   

It has been argued that Keith Levene's departure from Public Image Limited significantly impacted the creative output for the remainder of the band's run.  Isolationists... er, I mean Purists will even suggest that PiL essentially died with Levene.  

Perhaps.  Perhaps the charges are nothing more than a case of sour grapes.  The same type of sour grapes that saw the PiL debut release and first line-up slandered to high heaven by a large segment of fans as not being 'Punk' enough.  And the same type of sour grapes that contemporary Lydon champions chew on during their 'Never Judge Eras' slants.

It is always best to judge for oneself.              

  

- This is What You Want...This is What You Get (Front), 1984 - Virgin Records #V2309  

Five of the recordings that the band had been working on at the time of Levene's departure would eventually be rerecorded for the eventual (and official) This is What You Want... This is What You Get album (released: July, 1984).  

In a preemptive strike, Levene would release the original recordings in the United States as Commercial Zone in November of 1983.  In August of the following year - and a month after This is What You Want... was released, Levene pressed 30,000 copies of the tweaked Commercial Zone: Limited Edition long player for European release.  

Lydon and Virgin Records, Public Image Limited's record company at the time, were not pleased.  Virgin going so far as to order all pressings of Commercial Zone: Limited Edition destroyed.

Thankfully enough copies of the album survived, as it offers fascinating contrast to the 'official' releases of the immediate post-Levene period -- This is What You Want... and the Live in Tokyo album, which was recorded mere months after Levene left.  

- Live in Tokyo (Front), 1983 - Virgin Records # VGD3508

One suggestion:  Follow the link, check out the blog that hosts it, then download Live in Toyko.  Afterwards, burn the mp3s onto a compact disc and promptly throw it out of a window.  Or force your Hannah Montana loving daughter to listen to it as punishment.  

It is about the only satisfaction you'll be able to muster after listening to such crap.

    

If you dig it, so be it.  Who am I to question anyone else's opinions.

I could end this with a joke about how it doesn't matter what you think, because everyone knows that PiL died after Wobble left; thereby making the entire piece a contradictory farce.  

Haha!  Isn't that a riot?  

Just like Johnny Rotten!!

Links of Interest:

* Fodderstompf -- A Communications Company.  Not a website.

* Commercial Zone (U.S. Pressing) -- Commercial Zone Blog

* This Is What You Want... & Live in Toyko -- kaR4aGin Blog

* The Ritz Nightclub Riot! -- The Mayfly

Note:  As an example of the emotions that Public Image Limited brought out in people, I've thrown out a link to the infamous Ritz nightclub riot.  I've pieced together various sources in an effort to replicate the events of the evening in as accurate form as possible. 

Enjoy.

King Sunny Adé & His African Beats

- Juju Music (Front), 1981 - Island Records #ILPS 9712

After the death of Bob Marley, certain record executives began scratching their heads in effort to replicate the money-making potential that a 'Voice of the Third World' could provide.  Granted, Marley never lit up the charts during his lifetime - but what did that matter?  Money was to be had.

They tried the living Wailers - and various other reggae talents, but that didn't work.

Peter Tosh's stance on the shit-stem would never allow it.  Bunny Wailer was too square.  Prince Far-I was too Heavy.  Burning Spear was too... well, I'm not sure why Burning Spear never caught on.  If anyone had a legit shot at chasing Marley's Ghost, it would have been Winston Rodney.  Too bad the sheer quality of the man's work diminished after Marley passed. 

Nope.  The suits decided to turn towards Africa itself.  

Who is more Third World than Africa, Bud? 

Um... I don't know.  Parts of Asia seem pretty bad.

Yeah.  But you can't shake your ass to xylophones and gongs. 

Why not, Bob?  My wife shakes her ass to lasagna cooking!  

Ha Ha!  No, seriously...

 

Arista Records opened the door by signing Nigerian Afrobeat sensation Fela Kuti.  Not to be outdone - and to forever prove to the world just how innovative they were, Island Records' Chris Blackwell, in turn, signed Nigerian Jùjú star King Sunny Adé. 

 

The clever little marketing execs had all bases covered, going so far as to dub Sunny Adé the 'African Bob Marley'.  Record reviewers would soon follow suit.  

Too bad neither of them helped the cause.

Whether or not it had to do with slumping sales figures, failed expectations or - as reported, Adé's refusal to include English into his music, Island Records would cut ties with him in 1984 after three powerful long-players.  

Say what you will about moronic record executives, but the short-lived marriage between King Sunny Adé and the mainstream produced brilliance; the Juju Music, Synchro System, and Aura albums are now considered Adé's trinity.

- Aura (Front), 1983 - Island Records UK #ILPS 9746

While those three albums are an excellent place to start, Adé's self-released Ijinle Odu (1982) and Ajoo (1983) brings the jùjú picture into better focus for the uninitiated.  

Someone once said that if you listen to King Sunny Adé & His African Beats and do not find yourself bopping to the rhythms, you must be dead.  

Or chronically white.

Nope.  No angst here.

Links of Interest:

* King Sunny Adé Discography

* Juju Music, 1981 -- Bravo Juju Blog

* Ijinle Odu, 1982 -- Snap, Crackle & Pop Blog

* Synchro System & Aura, 1983 -- Rho-Xs Blog

* Ajoo, 1983 -- No Condition is Permanent Blog