THE RESIDENTS - THE THIRD REICH 'N' ROLL @ 45

 

 

In February of 1976, 45 years ago this month, The Residents released their 2nd official LP, The Third Reich 'n' Roll. While it was actually the third album they recorded, it was the second released as their prior LP was originally intended to be withheld form release as a conceptual exercise based on its title, Not Available. Thus Third Reich 'n' Roll became album 2 and NA was release a few years later.  

 

The origins of the album began back in 1972 with the filming of a short featuring the band on a set and in costumes made entirely of newspaper, which was eventually used to create the short "music video" version of Swastikas on Parade in 1974, the full version of which was also recorded that year. The second half of the album, Hitler Was a Vegetarian, was recorded in 1975. 

 

The concept for the album grew from an idea to do a collection of cover versions of pop songs from the 50s & 60s. As the group delved into this idea more, they began to understand the fascistic nature of popular music and the way in which it was designed, promoted and sold. Record labels imposed strict control over product and artists, manipulating and restricting their creative expressions in order to maximize commercial potential and also reinforce cultural stereotypes and norms as a means of maintaining the status quo within the civilization. To reflect this, the group made the controversial decision to incorporate Nazi symbols and iconography into the packaging and promotional materials, which included a bizarre swastika filled display window at a local San Francisco record shop that garnered much criticism and outrage. At this point in their career, they were barely a blip on the alternative music radar, but the record's achievements were enough to garner them some press. In the 31st of December 1977 issue of Sounds Magazine, Jon Savage described the album as "Funny – and frightening" and Peter Silverton described it as The Residents "One unqualified masterpiece", and the best party game of the 70s. 

 

Since its release, it has remained one of The Residents most iconic and eccentric releases, seeing numerous reissues in a multitude of occasionally elaborate and excessive packages. Personally, it's always been one of my all-time favorite albums from the group as it takes the hooks and accessibility of pop music and twists them into forms so exceptionally weird, one's sense of reality begins to unravel. It truly stands alone as one of the greatest experimental albums ever released.

BE BOP DELUXE - SUNBURST FINISH @ 45

 

Also celebrating 45 years on the shelves this month is Be Bop Deluxe's 3rd LP, Sunburst Finish, release in February of 1976.

This was the album where all the pieces of the BBD puzzle came together in their fully optimized forms. The band lineup had settled into a four piece with Andy Clark coming in on keyboards to work with Charles Tumahai on bass and Simon Fox on drums. With the band sorted out, front man and guitarist, Bill Nelson was free to focus on his songwriting and, for this album, managed to both find his own voice, leaving the pseudo-Bowie allusions behind, while also reigning in some of his more bombastic guitar indulgences, which had been a hallmark of their previous LP. There was still a lot of drama, detail and complexity to the music, but it all seemed to be better balanced and didn't obscure the focus of the tight hooks and evocative lyrics. For a progressive rock band, on Sunburst Finish, BBD managed to weave their virtuosity around infectious and memorable music that never went too far into self-indulgence. This LP also marked the arrival of John Leckie as producer, who would go on to work on all the subsequent group albums as well as the post BBD Red Noise project.

While Bill has often been somewhat ambivalent about the album cover, it does present a very memorable image and the perspex tube seen in the photos did translate into their stage show for the tour to promote the LP. Three such tubes were used on tour with Bill, Andy and Charles beginning each show from inside a tube filled with dry ice. As the show began, the tubes would rise into the ceiling, revealing the band. There was one memorable instance, however, when this staging provided a real life "Spinal Tap" experience as the tubes failed to rise and the band remained trapped in them as the show began!

For me, this album has continuously grown in my esteem over the years. When I first got it, I had backed into Be Bop Deluxe after discovering Red Noise at the peak of the "new wave" era of the late 1970s. As such, the progressive rock styles of earlier BBD were a bit outside my preferences, but it didn't take long for these albums to reveal their charms and seduce my senses. Throughout the ensuing years, Sunburst Finish has continuously illuminated more depths to itself as I rediscover it again every few years. The subtlety of the arrangements, the attention to detail, the irresistible hooks and the heartfelt romanticism of the lyrics continue to flower with new layers of meaning. Like a fine wine, this is one of those albums that keeps getting better with age.

BRIAN ENO & DAVID BYRNE - MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS @ 40

 

Another February anniversary of note is the Brian Eno & David Byrne collaboration, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which was released 40 years ago in February of 1981.

The album was recorded during a hiatus from Talking Heads between 1979-1980, following the completion of Fear of Music and prior to recording Remain In Light. The album was release after Remain in Light, however, due to the time it took to secure legal clearances to use the multitude of voice samples which were at the core of the project. While it was not entirely unheard of for experimental artists to use so-called "found vocals" (Holger Czukay had done it as early as 1969 on his Canaxis LP), no one had done it so extensively and with such emphasis as Eno & Byrne did for this LP, essentially turning these recordings into the lead vocals for each composition. Musically, the heavily African influenced rhythms also utilized a lot of sampling and looping and the entirety of this process became hugely influential in subsequent musical movements from hip-hop to techno to ambient and beyond. This was certainly one of the first albums I heard which used such techniques so prominently.

The work done on Bush of Ghosts was an essential paving of the way towards what would happen with Talking Heads' Remain In Light album following the completion of this project. Many of the compositional and technical approaches developed on MLitBoG were foundational for RiL. There's a clearly audible progression and connection between the two records, making them stand together as musical cousins, if not direct siblings. Though there was a tendency to downplay the significance of the album at the time of its release as being merely an indulgence for a couple of creative minds at loose ends between projects, time has born witness to the significance of this album as its influence has extended into popular music. Sampling, in our times, is ubiquitous and taken for granted, but back when this album was released, it was almost unheard of and certainly no one had attempted to realize its potential to the degree that was achieved by Brian and David.