RAMONES - ROCKET TO RUSSIA @ 45

 

Released on November 4th, 1977, the Ramones third LP, Rocket to Russia, is celebrating its 45th anniversary today. The album continued the band’s quest for a commercial breakthrough, but despite improved production values, evolved songwriting skills and consistent critical praise, the album failed to generate significant sales and kept the group rutted in the “punk” gutter. Even though they were at the height of their powers and were knocking out songs which should have been taking the charts by storm, the "dog had a bad name" and the band squarely blamed the Sex Pistols for creating a hostile environment within the AM radio industry for anything often lazily labeled “punk”. Radio programmers tarred anyone associated with the genre with the same brush and simply weren’t willing to give the band the chance they so desperately deserved.

The album would be the last to feature original drummer Tommy (Erdelyi) on the skins, though he would return as producer for the next LP, Road To Ruin. His clashes with Johnny were enough that he felt that it was for the good of the band’s moral for him to focus on the production side. The label put up somewhere near $30K for the album and most of that was spent on production while recording was done as quickly as possible to minimize the cost of studio time. The production credits list Tony Bongiovi and Tommy Ramone as head producers, but in reality, the majority of the work landed in the lap of engineer Ed Stasium. Bongiovi, who is the cousin of Jon Bon Jovi, had a reputation for being difficult to work with and Johnny often insisted on only recording when he wasn’t in the studio. Johnny was also the main driver in pushing the production emphasis, going so far as to bring in a copy of the Sex Pistols single, God Save the Queen, at the start of production and stating that they’d ripped off the Ramones and their next album MUST exceed the production values of the Pistols.

Musically, the band went in a more surf & bubblegum pop direction, albeit with their patented buzz-saw edge. Thematically the lyrics focused on humour, often referencing mental disorders and psychiatry. The band were broadening their palette of styles as well, so it wasn’t all rapid-fire tempos all the time for this outing. Critics were enthusiastic for the variety and evolution in the band’s sound. The legacy of the album, like so much of the band’s output, particularly with the first half dozen LPs, is that they left behind an incalculably infectious canon of work which has succeeded in infiltrating popular culture over the ensuing decades, becoming touchstones for a generation and beyond. It’s only sad that they could never reach those heights while they were around to enjoy the success. As the Stranglers said, “everybody loves you when you’re dead”.

HARMONIA 76 - TRACKS & TRACES @ 25

 

Released 25 years ago today, on November 4th, 1997, the material for Harmonia & Eno’s “Tracks and Traces” album was originally recorded in 1976, but remained shelved for over 20 years before it was salvaged from oblivion and finally published.

After hearing Harmonia in the early 1970s, which was a collaboration between Cluster’s Dieter Moebius & Hans-Joachim Roedelius and NEU! guitarist Michael Rother, Brian Eno proclaimed them the “most important group in the world.” Eno promised to come work with them and finally kept that promise in 1976, though they’d already split up by then. Nonetheless, they agreed to reunite with Eno and began recording together. At the time, those recordings ended up being set aside as Eno moved on to his collaboration with David Bowie for what would become the “Berlin Trilogy” albums: Low, "Heroes" & Lodger.

In the 1990s, Roedelius retrieved the master tapes from Eno and did a bit of work on them to create the 1997 edition of the album. Further to this, Michael Rother contributed additional material from his cassette archives for the 2009 reissue. Those tracks could now be included because the digital restoration process was sophisticated enough that Rother’s tapes could be cleaned up to remove noise and enhance the sound quality. This resulted in three bonus tracks being added to the release.

Stylistically, the collaboration with Eno traded some of the flair of the previous Harmonia albums for a more muted ambience, but it was a fair trade-off and the results were a kind of music that was well ahead of its time, being produced by four creative masters who were in their prime. It's only frustrating that it took two decades for these recordings to finally find the light of day.

THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THROBBING GRISTLE @ 45

 

Forty five years ago this month, in November of 1977, The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle hit the record shops in the UK in its first edition of exactly 785 copies. Independently released by the band’s own imprint, Industrial Records, the run was precisely how much they could afford to press with their limited, self financed budget. It was the first major release from Industrial Records and would become the cornerstone for an entirely new genre of popular music.

TG had been bubbling up from the basement of their “Death Factory” at 10 Martello Rd. in Hackney for about two years before the album was released, mutating out of the carcass of COUM Transmissions, a multimedia transgressive performance art collective which had been operating since 1969. After being essentially chased out of their home town of Hull by local authorities, Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti managed to pull in fellow pervert, Hipgnosis photographer/designer Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, and electronics wizard, Chris Carter, to complete the TG lineup before the end of 1975. After spending endless hours reinventing sound in their makeshift studio, the group began to perform live in 1976, kicking off their notoriety with the infamous Prostitution show at the ICA, which triggered off debate in the British parliament regarding the use of public funds for the arts. This also garnered them the infamous “wreckers of civilization” condemnation from one of the MPs.

Prior to the release of the album, a few cassette compilations were hand copied and unofficially circulated among friends until the group felt they’d got something worthy of pressing on vinyl. Side one of the album would mostly consist of extracts from four of their recent live performances, which had been recorded on stereo cassette. These would be edited together on 2 track reel-to-reel and augmented by a couple of studio tidbits. The side would end with a DJ from one of the live shows scolding the audience for their bad behavior. The second side of the album would consist of a single composition, the soundtrack to the COUM film, After Cease to Exist, recorded on 4 track reel-to-reel. The overall sound of the album ended up being a bubbling cauldron of murky noise, news radio & surveillance sound fragments and distorted vocals from Gen about things like Manson family style murdering as exemplified by a graphic description of a pregnant woman having her baby cut out of her belly. It was the ambience of dead factories and deserted streets mixed with images of suburban nightmares and it was deliberately as far away from the influence of American style blues and jazz as you could possibly conceive. Despite this, the group, on stage, still affected a kind of “rock band” configuration, using heavily processed, ineptly played guitar and bass, though without a drummer and accompanied by home made synths & electronics. The whole shebang was further processed through Chris’ custom made sound processors, the “Gristleizer”, giving it all a distinctly garbled modulation.

The album was presented in a plain white sleeve with a printed b&w sheet glued to the back containing a small photograph of the band and an extensive text detailing the product and its purpose. It was presented like a dry, clinical research paper from a soulless corporation of no particular distinction. Inside was included a long questionnaire which encouraged purchasers of the LP to complete and return to Industrial Records by mail. It was a tactical ploy to help the group establish both a kind of “fan club” correspondence and to develop internal data regarding their followers. The entire operation was quite brilliantly conceived to both parody corporate methodologies while leveraging their practical value for the groups own purposes.

Surprisingly, the LP quickly sold out and garnered some very favorable reviews, which took the group by surprise and brought them a level of credibility they’d not anticipated. The funds from the sale of the album were returned directly back into Industrial Records and used to finance further productions of records and singles. The master tapes for the first album were turned over to the founders of Fetish Records to use as a means of establishing their label. Fetish reissued the LP in a few different editions, including one where the record was remastered backwards and side two included an inadvertent addition to the audio in the form of some barely audible chamber music, which had been on a tape used for the remastering, but which was not properly erased and bled through the After Cease To Exist audio.

That particular backwards/chamber music version of the LP ended up being the record by TG which caused me to have my “epiphany” in terms of recognizing the importance of this music. It was on a night in December of 1984 when a friend and I dropped blotter acid called “Flash” (complete with a lightning bolt print on the tab) and listened to that album. It was during that experience when I comprehended that TG had done something much more fundamental than gone “primitive” with their music. They’d actually gone back into the DNA of sound itself and recombined it into something entirely new. Not that there weren’t precedents to this music prior to TG. The German experimental scene of the early 1970s had produced similar sounding recordings, but TG had identified something additional in terms of both the means of performing and the conceptual potential inherent therein. TG had created an entire methodology of presentation and packaging, as well as the use of transgressive, “taboo” subject matter. They devised a system of delivery which was constantly able to re-calibrate itself and apply contradictory juxtapositions in order to avoid any sense of predictability. Whatever the tangent, as soon as it was perceived as becoming “expected”, they’d swap things around and deliver something which seemed to oppose what went before.

As a foundational document, The Second Annual Report of Throbbing Gristle stands as one of the most vitally revolutionary musical artifacts to come along in the latter half of the 20th century. It utterly changed the way I perceive sound and how I approach the creation and performance of “music”.

IGGY POP & JAMES WILLIAMSON - KILL CITY @ 45

 

Celebrating its 45th anniversary this month is Kill City by former Stooges band-mates, Iggy Pop and James Williamson, which was released in November of 1977. The material was originally recorded in 1975, after the Stooges split, as a demo to try to secure a new recording contract, but there were no takers at the time. Williamson subsequently managed to get funding and generate some interest for the material after the release of Iggy’s two Bowie produced solo LPs, The Idiot and Lust For Life, which were released earlier in 1977. With an advance from Bomp! Records, he went into the studio to remix the tracks and add some overdubs of guitars and sax. Pop’s vocals had been recorded in 1975 during day passes from the asylum he’d checked himself into while trying to kick his heroine addiction.

After the release of the original green vinyl version of the album, the master tapes were lost for many years and all subsequent reissues had to be mastered from a copy of that poorly pressed LP, which resulted in a rather murky sound for the material. However, in 2010, the masters would resurface and Williamson, along with engineer Ed Cherney, remixed the album once more for a cleaned up “restored” reissue.

Critically, the album has been widely praised and features some material which originated before the Stooges breakup. The original 1975 mix of the album has never been heard with the exception of three songs which have appeared on various compilation albums.

CAN - EGE BAMYASI @ 50

 

Marking half a century on the shelves this month is the third studio album from CAN, Ege Bamyasi, which was released in November of 1972. With the title and cover inspired by a can found by Jaki in a Turkish shop, Ege Bamyası translates as "Aegean okra”.

Prior to the release of the album, the song Spoon, was released as a single and became a German radio hit, reaching #6 on the charts by virtue of it being used as a the theme for a popular mini-series, Das Messer (The Knife). The success of the single helped to finance the lease of a large ex-cinema in Weilerswist near Cologne, which the band converted into part studio, part residence. The remainder of the album would be recorded there and the location would become their home base going forward, renamed “Inner Space”.

The album continued the group’s exploration of organic improvised jam sessions, with Holger Czukay handling the recording process. For this LP, vocalist Damo Suzuki remained as part of the band, though recording the album became somewhat sidetracked as Suzuki and keyboardist Irmin Schmidt became preoccupied by their obsessive chess games. This meant that recording became more frantic as time went on and the group ended up recording songs practically in real time. The single, Spoon, ended up being added to the album due to the shortfall of finished material in order to fill out the LP.

Despite the rushed nature of the album, critical reception was extremely enthusiastic and it has gone on to be recognized as one of the group’s finest LPs from this era. Over the last 50 years, it has become hugely influential in the realm of alternative rock music, inspiring artists around the world with its distinctive application of improvisation and rhythmic innovation.

REMEMBERING ANTON SZANDOR LAVEY

 

Twenty five years ago today, on October 29th, 1997, the most influential occult figure since Aleister Crowley passed when Anton Szandor LaVey died at the age of 67. Born Howard Stanton Levey on April 11, 1930, he would be responsible for defining the religious and philosophical system now known as modern Satanism. Though his writings were extensively derivative of ideas espoused in the pages of Ragnar Redbeard’s 1896 book, Might Is Right, from which major tracts were lifted verbatim, LaVey’s Satanic Bible nevertheless became the cornerstone of a distinctive culture and lifestyle which has blossomed over the years to become a notable force in political discourse as has been seen with the activism of groups like The Satanic Temple.

LaVey’s history and background is largely in question as much of it has been mythologized and little evidence to support his claims is available to corroborate the colorful background described by himself and his biographers. His claims of being a lion tamer and police crime photographer may be spurious, but what is certain is that he was a notable scholar of the occult, an accomplished musician, an adept public speaker and entertainer and one of the most idiosyncratic philosophers to emerge from the 20th century. Alternately reviled and respected, depending on who you’re talking to, even his children can’t agree on his virtues or vices, with some denouncing him while others preserve his legacy.

After spending much of the 1960s conducting research and educational lectures on occult practices, complete with ritual demonstrations, in 1966 he founded the Church of Satan and, in 1969, published the infamous Satanic Bible in order to codify his system of beliefs and set them apart from popular preconceptions of so-called “Devil worship”, a practice which was never part of his methodology. Within his views, Satan was not a deity to be bowed down to, but rather a symbol of natural human traits feared by the Christian church which LaVey reasoned were humanity’s true virtues and which should be pursued and emulated. Satan was the symbol of individuality and self-determination, not a “ruler” to be followed blindly. His philosophy encouraged rationality, independence and personal creativity without recourse to gods, demons or faith based spirituality. His system of “magic” was essentially a theatrical expression of applied psychology where the drama of the event was used to focus one’s thoughts and desires in a manner which would help one achieve self-actualization through visualization.

The effect of his efforts has been widespread and profound in the years since the founding of the Church. Initially, it was something of a trendy celebrity indulgence as people like Sammy Davis Jr. and Jane Mansfield were seen in his company and he did the rounds on talk shows like Donahue and The Tonight Show. With the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, his students began to take up the task of defending their religion from the baseless accusations of Christian fanatics. It’s a tactic which continues to be used by right wing conspiracy-mongers to this day as we have seen with entities like QAnon laying accusations against leftists of eating babies to gain magical powers.

LaVey largely withdrew from public appearances in later years, but would still occasionally do interviews and continued to publish books and even released recordings of his music. After his death from respiratory failure, a small invitation only secret Satanic funeral was held in Colma and he was cremated afterwards. His infamous “Black House” in San Francisco was sold and subsequently demolished. Leadership of the Church of Satan went through some struggles until it was stabilized by Peter H. Gilmour, but the aftermath of that saw adherents splinter into factions, a process which had been happening beforehand with sects like the Temple of Set lead by former CoS high priest, Michael Aquino. Whereas the CoS was not known for political activism, The Satanic Temple has become a notable force when it comes to advocating for the separation of church and state and has gained major headlines for their activities, even prompting a documentary feature film which garnered significant viewership on Netflix.

Because of LaVey, the conception of Satanism as a legitimate recognized religious system, even acknowledged and accommodated by the US military, has gained a stable foothold within western societies throughout north America and Europe. Its mainstreaming can even be seen by the presence of a self proclaimed LaVeyian Satanist in the main cast of Mike Judge’s extremely popular HBO comedy series, Silicon Valley. It has become an antidote to the fascistic disposition of many Christian sects, especially the Evangelicals, who have subsumed the Republican party in the US. Satanism stands as a rare, reason based counterpoint to fundamentalist faith based attempts to subvert the freedoms of democracy.

I first encountered LaVey’s brand of Satanism when I heard the 1985 12” single, Je T'Aime, my Genesis P-Orridge & The Angels Of Light. The B-side, Supermale, featured a long electronic dance drone which contained two different voice samples mixed into it. On one side was Karol Wojtyla, the Pope Johannes Paules II, and on the other was Anton LaVey. The content of what LaVey was saying intrigued me and, eventually, enticed me to go out and pick up a copy of the Satanic Bible. I subsequently read pretty much every book he published and it was a key influence on my exploration of other occult systems and authors, including Crowley. I didn’t agree with everything he had to say and I never felt compelled to become a card carrying CoS member, but I could be seen sporting a tasteful Baphomet or inverted pentagram pendant when out and about for many years, throughout the 1990s and beyond. The basic principals of rational self-interest have remained a core part of my ethics throughout my life. I have embellished upon those theories and found different aspects to comprehend, but the core belief in the primacy of individual freedom sustained by intellectual integrity remains an unshakeable bedrock for me and LaVey has a lot to do with that. Those ideas were directly responsible for me finally coming out as gay at the ripe old age of 27. They gave me the courage to demand that I be able to live my life as the person I was and insist on taking the freedom to live as I saw fit.

QUEEN - NEWS OF THE WORLD @ 45

 

Celebrating 45 years on the racks today is the 6th studio album by Queen, News of the World, which was released this day on October 28th, 1977. After hitting the heights with Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975 and its parent album, A Night At the Opera, 1976’s A Day at the Races was met with some ambivalence, a situation which put the band against the wall and “under pressure” (wink) to prove they were yet to hit their high water mark. Not that …Races wasn’t a success, but it was not quite as successful as …Opera and, in the fickle minds of the music press, any hint of weakness was enough to start sharpening knives for the feast. Critics were merciless with ...Races, calling it “boring” and dismissing it as a rehash of what had come before. No one loves to tear down idols more than those who put them on their pedestals to being with. 

 

With the previous album, the band had continued along the path of studio excess established with Rhapsody and pushed the embellishments even further in some cases. But by 1977, the punk aesthetic was challenging the “dinosaurs” of rock and their indulgences and Queen were looking a little bloated by the standards of leaner and meaner bands like the Sex Pistols. There’s even an infamous anecdote about Freddie Mercury having a run-in with Sid Vicious during the recording of NotW when both bands happened to be working in the same studio. Sid popped his head in the room Mercury was in and quipped, “Still trying to spread ballet to the masses?” Not that it ruffled Mercury’s feathers at all, but the zeitgeist of the day was all about simplifying and going for something much more minimal. Queen weren’t averse to this, however, as they’d begun to feel like they’d exhausted themselves on overproduction and were more than ready to get back to something primal. 

 

The album opens with a 1-2 punch of songs which would be released as a double A-side single, We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. The first track, a May composition, was intended as something which could be used during live shows to encourage audience participation. May sussed out what he thought an audience could do in unison at a show and came up with the “stomp-stomp-clap” rhythm, which defined the track and required no more than the feet and hands of the fans. The rest of it was all Mercury’s vocal with a ripping great guitar solo to wrap it up. We Are the Champions, on the other hand, was Mercury’s baby. It comes off, at first, like a bit of braggadocio, but the reality of it is that the spirit evoked by Mercury is inclusive, not exclusive. Freddie doesn’t sing “I am the Champion”. It’s that “we” part that encompasses the band’s fans and stands as a statement of mutual support within that collective against the ridicule and dismissal of those who questioned the group’s abilities and the dedication of their admirers. 

 

The remainder of the album offers a wide variety of styles and moods, though with a determinedly restrained, edgier feel, especially with the more rocking songs. Sheer Heart Attack, a Taylor song, was a holdover from the LP of the same name, but it got dropped back then in favor of other songs. It seems to have been for the best as the version on NotW couldn’t be more perfectly timed to be a response to the “punk” sensibilities of the times. It’s simply one of the most ripping, ferocious rockers the band ever put on record. 

 

The final iconic element of this album is the cover, something that has scared more than one impressionable child over the years. It was inspired by an old 1953 anthology book of science fiction short stories. Roger suggested it and the group managed to track down the original artist to do a variation, which included the band. I remember my little cousin being particularly disturbed by it and me having to tell her that it was just ketchup on that dead-eyed robot's finger. Years later, when Family Guy would do an episode where Stewie is totally freaked out by the image, I knew that this was something which must have happened to a lot of kids after the album was released. 

 

The album and lead single would prove to be the perfect response to critics who were ready to write the band off, though this pattern would repeat itself throughout the bands career. Still, News of the World would bring the band to new heights of success, especially in the US. I'd only discovered Queen a little more than a year earlier when I saw a video of them on the Midnight Special performing Tie Your Mother Down from A Day at the Races. In that brief time I'd backtracked to pick up all their previous LPs and was at the peak of my obsession with the band when NotW landed in the shops. It served to bolster my commitment to them and had me buying posters, T-shirts, badges, belt buckles and fan club memberships for the next couple of years. I guess it was kinda ironic for a deeply closeted gay kid to be running around his high school covered in Queen paraphernalia! HELLO!!!