Released
on August 16th, 1969, the debut studio album, Monster Movie, from
German Krautrock pioneers, CAN, turns 55 years old today.
The
band had formed the preceding year in Cologne, with founding members
Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboard), Jaki Liebezeit (drums)
and Michael Karoli (guitar). Czukay and Schmidt were both from academic
backgrounds and students of the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and
were fascinated by the possibilities of rock and roll. Before the year
was out, the quartet would add a fifth member with the recruitment of
American vocalist, Malcolm Mooney. Together, they'd record their first
album, Prepare to Meet Thy Pnoom, under the band name "Inner Space", but
attempts to sell the record to any label were universally rejected, so
the album was shelved and the group went back to the drawing board with a
mind to craft something a bit more accessible. That first album would
remain in the vaults until 1981, when it was finally released as "Delay
1968".
After abandoning their
first recording attempt, the group accepted an invitation from a friend
to move into his castle, Schloss Nörvenich, and use it as a recording
studio. They also decided to change their name, with Mooney coming up
with the suggestion to call themselves "CAN" because of its positive
meanings in various languages. "Inner Space" wouldn't be abandoned
completely, however, as it would become the official name for the band's
recording studio, in its various incarnations, going forward.
While
they were set up at the castle, they recorded their second album, which
would be their debut release, Monster Movie. The LP brought together
elements of psychedelic rock, blues, free jazz, world music and the
influence of the Velvet Underground, for starters. It also introduced
the band's distinctive approach to editing, with its side long track,
You Do Right, being distilled to its 20 minute version from a jam
session that originally ran for 8 hours. The end results were good
enough for them to snag a contract with Liberty Records, and the LP was
critically acclaimed upon its release. The image on the cover is a
retrace of Galactus, as originally depicted by Jack Kirby (inked by
Vince Colletta) in Marvel's Thor #134 - page 3, released in 1966.
Mooney's
tenure with the band would be short lived, after the release of the
album. He ended up suffering from e mental breakdown at one of their
gigs when he began repeatedly shouting "upstairs, downstairs" for three
hours, even after Can had stopped playing. On his psychiatrist's
advice, he left Can and returned to the US at the end of 1969. He'd
eventually return to the group, briefly, for their 1986 reunion album,
Rite Time, though the group would disband again after the release of
that album.
In terms of its
legacy, Monster Movie established CAN as one of the leaders of the
German experimental music scene of the 1970s, with their influence
playing a major role in the development of post-punk aesthetics and
styles in the wake of the punk rock explosion. Public Image Ltd's
mammoth masterpiece, Metal Box, could be seen as a direct homage of
sorts to their influence, especially with it being packaged in a metal
canister. It's an influence and impact that continues to resonate
through the outer reaches of contemporary alternative music to this day.
