Celebrating its 20th anniversary today is the CD reissue box set by Throbbing Gristle, TG24. It was a completely remastered collection of live TG performances covering the period from their first appearance on July 6th, 1976, at the Air Gallery, to their Goldsmith College performance on March 13th, 1980.
Originally, in 1980, TG released a limited run of cassette box sets called 24 Hours of Throbbing Gristle. The set included live recordings of their first 25 performances (IRC 03 contained two short shows, one per side). The set also included two additional tapes of radio interviews, a personalized collage and group photographs. This was all packaged in a black attache case. These editions were hand duplicated using facilities at Industrial Records studio, therefore the number of editions issued was extremely limited. Individual editions of some select live shows from this set were later sold separately by Industrial Records, as well as being licensed to other labels or bootlegged to create various live LP releases over the years.
Sometime after the turn of the new millennia, Mute Records began negotiating with TG to remaster and reissue their back catalog, which included discussions of their live recording archive. Eventually, a decision was made to reconstruct the 24 Hrs box set as a deluxe CD limited edition. The process for doing this meant spending months trying to source the best possible versions of the original recordings which could be obtained, rummaging through the archives of all four band members. TG recorded all their live performances on regular stereo cassettes, rather than reel-to-reel, some of which were in less than ideal condition by the time Chris Carter got around to trying to identify suitable versions to use for remastering. In some cases, tapes were damaged and, in others, the actual recording had some technical issues which necessitated seeking out alternates. For some performances, multiple simultaneous recordings were made. One may have been direct from the mixing board while the other may have been an open mic recording to capture the sound in the audience. The members of TG reviewed all alternative recordings to determine which version best captured the show and then selected that, even if it may have been of somewhat lesser quality, technically. For the mastering Chris only employed minimal processing to adjust some output levels, though avoided using any compression. Some digital noise reduction was employed in select recordings when the noise level was deemed distracting, but some noise was left in as its removal made the recording sound artificially “clean”.
During the process of putting the set together, Chris Carter initially gave up on including IRC-26 (Scala Cinema) because of insurmountable technical issues. The ion generator used during TG’s live shows had a habit of discharging unexpectedly at times, throwing off sparks, and was so intense at this particular performance that it effected the cassette deck, ruining the second side of the tape with electronic interference. An alternative show, IRC29 was selected to substitute. The set of 24 CDs was already duplicated & packaged when the original master cassette was finally unearthed and found to have minimal issues with the recording. An additional CD was then rushed into production so that the set ended up coming with a bonus 25th CD, added at the last minute.
For the packaging of the CD edition, a special cloth bound box was created and embossed with the TG24 logo on the top. Inside, along with the CDs - each of which was packaged in cardboard slip cases with printed graphics, the set included a large wax sealed envelope. This was packed with an Industrial News magazine, numerous postcards, photos, badges and patches. An authentication card was also included and signed by all four band members. To launch the CDs, Mute set up a special art exhibit of TG memorabilia in a London gallery. The exhibit featured such items as the original TG designer camouflage uniforms, custom audio equipment like Chris Carter’s “Gristlizer” sound processors and Sleazy’s cassette based “sampler” mini keyboard, along with press cuttings, posters and photographs.
Getting my hands on a copy of this set was one of the big WOW moments of my days of indulging in collectible musical products. It was rather overwhelming to be suddenly in possession of so much TG music, much of which was completely unfamiliar to me. Their live shows were never repetitive. Certainly, as the group matured, some pieces found themselves performed live more than once, but they never sounded the same from show to show. For the most part, each performance from each show was its own entity. Working through them all for an initial listen was a process that took a couple of weeks of exploring, usually one CD per day, if possible. Live TG is not an “easy listening” experience, even in their “nicest” of incarnations. Even with Chris’ remastering, the recordings were still sourced from cassettes, sometimes recorded off a mixing board and sometimes recorded using a binaural microphone system (the infamous “head” on a mic stand in the audience you can see in some TG live photos). As such, the sound can be harsh, distorted and piercing, so you have to be in a certain state of mind to be able to appreciate what’s there. Sometimes a TG show can seem like a pot just sitting there simmering on the stove with no real sense of anything happening. Then, without warning, the BEAST can awaken and start tearing your ears apart. You can be bored one minute and enthralled the next. TG live was always like a conjuration of some kind of trans-dimensional entity breaking through with it’s Lovecraftian tentacles grasping at the audience’s perceptions. Sometimes the spell worked, sometimes it didn’t or lasted only for a brief moment before dispersing. But that was the magic of it all.
I don’t have the physical version of this set anymore, but I scanned and photographed it all and have digital files of all the audio. I had to sell it off when money was tight and costs of living took precedence. But it was a treasure while I had it and I tried to make sure it went to a good home when I did part with it. I can’t think of many other groups who could release something like this and make it seem essential rather than self-indulgence. A year after its release, a companion matching box set was issued to collect the remaining 10 live shows TG performed before their 1981 termination after their San Francisco final show. The two boxes sure looked nice together and I’ll always be happy I had them in my home for the years they were here.
Creating this box set would not only revive interest for fans of TG, it also proved to be a catalyst for the group to reform not long after its release. The process of putting the set together had managed to thaw the ice which had been long built up between certain members and, though some issues would remain contentious between them, the group did manage to enter into a highly productive second life until December of 2010, when Gen packed it in after their last live show in London and Sleazy passing beyond the veil shortly thereafter.
