aguirre, wrath of god

in search of gold, not yage. the unhinged klaus kinski.

Given that Floarian Fricke's Popol Vuh took their name from a manuscript setting out the mythology of the Post-Classic Quiché Maya in Guatemala, it is especially fitting that their first collaboration with German director, Werner Herzog was for his 1972 epic filmed on location in the steaming Amazonian rainforests of South America.

Virtually from their inception in 1970 - until Fricke's death in December, 2001 - Popol Vuh had forged an almost symbiotic working relationship with the independent auteur. It is virtually impossible to visualise many of Herzog's greatest films existing outwith those haunting soundtracks created by Fricke to mesmerising effect.

All the more surprising then when one considers that much of the music featured on this album bears little resemblance to the music in those films. "Music From The Film, Aguirre" was not released in its original form until 1974 on Ohr Records, and 1975 on Barclay Records; and of those five tracks included on that first issue, only two appeared in Herzog's cinematic masterpiece. Allegedly, some of the music from "Aguirre" is utilised in an entirely separate movie, "Before Night Falls", a film about the cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas - persecuted for his sexuality - directed by Julian Schnabel in 2000.

Produced by Popol Vuh. Written and aranged by Florian Fricke. Recorded at Bavaria Tonstudio, Munich.

Florian Fricke: piano, mellotron; Daniel Fichelscher: electric & acoustic guitars, drums; Dyong Yun: vocals; Robert Eliscu: oboe, pan pipes.

▼ POPOL VUH: AGUIRRE i from "Music From The Film, Aguirre" LP (Ohr) 1974 (Germany)

▼ POPOL VUH: AGNUS DEI from "Music From The Film, Aguirre" LP (Ohr) 1974 (Germany)

PURCHASE AGUIRRE REMASTERED

rolling stones: stupid girl

When I busked "Lady Jane" about thirty years ago in Edinburgh - during the Festival, admittedly - I had pretty young girls from Tel Aviv hanging all over my fretboard. Following me into the dank accesses of an open alleyway normally barricaded with decaying wrought iron.

And yesterday's papers. I like Jewish Princesses. Oh, yes. Long silky hair like an urban Rapunzel. Look out, Amy Winehouse; I'm on your tail.

Anyway. I already told you about my Robert Crumb fixation.

Produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Engineered by David Hassinger. Piano by Ian Stewart. Released April, 1966.

▼ THE ROLLING STONES: STUPID GIRL from "Aftermath" LP (Decca) 1966 (UK)

PURCHASE AFTERMATH

less than zero

forget the LP, BUY 11.

Produced by Nick Lowe. Written and performed by Declan Patrick MacManus, whose dad - Ross MacManus, singer with Joe Loss - moved his family from London to Liverpool in 1971.

This has always been my favourite Elvis 45.

▼ ELVIS COSTELLO: LESS THAN ZERO from "Less Than Zero b/w Radio Sweetheart" 45 (Stiff) 1977 (UK)

PURCHASE MY AIM IS TRUE REMASTERED + BONUS DISC

ghosts: hi-tungsten filament

a ghost in the field of nephallim ? no. it's a charcoal berner.

Begg and MacDonald. Chancers. Soap-dodgers. Ghosts of the Rolling Stones ? Or gibbering in the drool of Jack Daniels and pulling on a neck of Wild Turkey. Dust.

▼ THE GHOSTS: HI-TUNGSTEN FILAMENT from "Hitler's Watercolours: 56 Gower Street (1989-1993)" Teac Demos (Maryjane) 1993 (UK)

GHOSTS: THE FABLED LOST ALBUM (MARYJANE)

mick jagger: memo from turner

vince whirlwind: memo from turner.

Paranoia. And descent into schizophrenic ambivalence. Directed by Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg. Ugly. Faggy. Good shit, Brushback.

Recorded on 17 November 1968. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richard. Boris and Dirt.

▼ MICK JAGGER: MEMO FROM TURNER from "Performance (OST)" LP (Warner Bros.) 1970 (UK)

PURCHASE STONES: METAMORPHOSIS (COMPILATION: 1975)

eight miles high: avalon ballroom

area 51.

Written by Gene Clark; Roger McGuinn; David Crosby.

Soundboard recording courtesy of Captain's Dead.

▼ THE BYRDS: EIGHT MILES HIGH (LIVE) from "Live: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA (11/02/68)" CD (Bootleg) 1968 (US)

PURCHASE FIFTH DIMENSION (1966) REMASTERED + BONUS TRACKS

buddy miles: down by the river

them changes.

An absolutely stunning cover of the Neil Young standard by the late Buddy Miles, drummer and vocalist with Electric Flag and - more famously - with Jimi's Band of Gypsies. A collaborator, too, with the great Carlos Santana. This cut also features Miles on guitar.

I do not recall where this vinyl rip originally hails from, but it is certainly worth sharing of a late sunny Sunday afternoon.

I'm keen to hear the bright, shiny remastered take on this, though.

▼ BUDDY MILES: DOWN BY THE RIVER from "Them Changes" LP (Mercury) 1970 (US)

PURCHASE THEM CHANGES REMASTERED

better than digging a ditch

the good sister presents.



building new roads. immaculate heart of mary. class of 1929.



building new roads, 1929.

Recorded at Olympic Studios, London, England, March 17th - June 28th, 1968. Overdubbed and mixed at Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, USA, July 6th - July 25th, 1968.

Produced by Jimmy Miller. Engineered by Glyn Johns and Eddie Kramer.

Piano by the outrageously gifted Nicky Hopkins.

▼ THE ROLLING STONES: JIG-SAW PUZZLE from "Beggars Banquet" LP (Decca) 1968 (UK)

▼ THE ROLLING STONES: JIG-SAW PUZZLE from "Sympathy For The Devil: Beggars Banquet Outtakes" LP (The Good Sister Presents) 1968 (UK)

PURCHASE BEGGARS BANQUET

wreckless eric: BUY 16

a bunch of stiffs. SEEZ 2.


Wreckless Eric: vocals; Steve Golding: drums; Nick Lowe: guitar; bass. Written by Wreckless Eric. Produced by Nick Lowe.

stiff BUY 16.

▼ WRECKLESS ERIC: WHOLE WIDE WORLD from "Whole Wide World b/w Semaphore Signals" 45 (Stiff) 1977 (UK)

PURCHASE WRECKLESS ERIC GREATEST HITS
STIFF RECORDS OFFICIAL WEBSITE

fire and water

photograph by danuta, poland.

Written by Paul Rodgers and Paul Kossoff.

Produced by Bob Clearmountain.

▼ FREE: OH, I WEPT (ALTERNATIVE TAKE: BONUS) from "Fire And Water" CD (Island) 1970 (UK)

PURCHASE FREE REMASTERED + BONUS TRACKS

promised land

photograph by troy paiva.

A magnificent reworking of Chuck Berry's classic by South Louisiana's king of Acadia, Johnnie Allan. Cajun coupling with rock n' roll.

This was a huge hit in the UK on Oval Records, distributed by Virgin, in 1974, as a split single with Shelton Dunaway on the reverse. My friend, Gus, picked it up in a junk shop in Dundee that same year.

Originally recorded for Jin & Swallow Records in Ville Platte, Louisiana, at KLEB Radio Station in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. JIN 244. Accordion by Belton Richard. Produced by Floyd Soileau.

Stiff Records would re-release this one in 1978.

▼ JOHNNIE ALLAN: THE PROMISED LAND from "The Promised Land b/w Somewhere On Skid Row" 45 (Jin & Swallow) 1971 (US)

PURCHASE PROMISED LAND ON ACE RECORDS

son of a bitch

I am brushing
the RTA which
is my mouth,
my
teeth, when I glimpse
myself
in the bathroom
mirror.

God Damn.

If it wasn't
for the mildewed spots
like a cancer
on the glass
I might almost be a

handsome son of a bitch.

bile

figure 6b. bowel gas obscuring gallstones.

I am inordinately fond of
venting my spleen.

However.

I am often quite squeamish
when it comes to
picking up the pieces.

In the Morning.

armand schaubroeck: independent hitter

armand schaubroeck publicity shot, 1978. mirror records.



alternative cover to "ratf@cker", from publicity shot. ib design.

You may have already noticed the posting of "The Independent Hitter" by Armand Schaubroeck Steals from earlier today. For more background, photographs, video footage and information on a 1991 telephone interview with Schaubroeck - subsequently worked up into an erudite article by Dr. Elwood Mole in conjunction with one Julian Cope - see Jason Hall's web page on inmate #24145.

Armand Schaubroeck was a class act who began a checkered career in music in 1965 as leader of The Churchmice after a spell in prison for grand larceny.

"In 1962, after a series of 32 burglaries that included groceries, hardware stores, schools and a church, seventeen year old Armand Schaubroeck was sentenced to three years in jail. He was charged with safecracking and thrown in the Elmira State Reformatory, a maximum security prison in New York. He would get out a year and a half later on parole but the impression would remain vivid in his mind. Apparently his imprisonment acted as a catalyst to the birth of his very unique and somewhat deranged rock 'n roll persona- he named his band Armand Schaubroeck Steals and all his music seemed to be a cathartic exorcise to the obsessions that haunted him."

- Dr. Elwood Mole, "The Illustrated Armand Schaubroeck".

Despite a number of singles and LP's chronicling Schaubroeck's singular jaundiced vision, considerable financial success has been generated instead from the "well-known music store he owns and operates in upstate New York", seemingly initiated as a means of turning a dollar by selling guitars from his mother's basement in 1964. A rapidly expanding family business:

"... with a shop doing annual sales in excess of 7 million dollars he seems to have lost the craving to record his own brand of inspired bile."

More from Armand at a later date. Guaranteed. Q: Would you buy a guitar from this man ? A: Only if I got a motherf@cking discount, pal.

JASON HALL: INMATE #24145

humpty dumpty in oakland* (for frank c.)

Two slices of white.
Blank, like a newly
stretched
canvas. Rye. Sesame.
Lightly toasted
on one side.

Squeezed.
Pinched.
Kneaded.

She is a woman
of unshakable conviction.
Of doughy complexion.
Evangelical.
Unleavened.

Curled at the edges now, not
so easily
buttered up.

Frankly, my dear...

it takes a brave man to play
ball
and try to put his life
together
again.

* the title, "Humpty Dumpty in Oakland", is borrowed from an early novel by Philip K. Dick, a writer of relentless fortitude in pursuit of the rent.

CEO bonus points

there ain't no such thing as a free market.

"48 Crash" ? Too subtle, apparently. Try this on for size.

▼ ARMAND SCHAUBROECK STEALS: THE INDEPENDENT HITTER from "Ratf@cker" LP (Mirror) 1978 (US)

OUT OF PRINT

balls

a famously priapic street sign.

The following is from a comment I left over at Dope City Free Press:

I heard the last part of a very interesting interview on the BBC World Service with a market speculator from New York worth $9.3 billion. His personal fortune, I gather. This guy was very candid and had a more pronounced New York accent than Joey Ramone. Or Arthur Kane.

He sounded like a stone cold killer. And no doubt that is a valid characterization.

He defined short selling something like this:

"It's a lot like walking through a burning warehouse. You think of 1,000 ways to kill a business - 2,000 ways - and you do the math. You get bloodied. Catching falling knives.

You buy up oil when everybody tells you it will never go beyond $40 a barrel. When it gets to $180 per barrel you grit your teeth. When it's $230 per barrel, you sell.

Sell it all.

You go to bed at night with headphones on. Listening to market analyses. You sit down and read an annual report instead of a novel. It's all about calculating how many ways there are to kill a business."

I was half asleep as I listened to him lay it out. He had balls, all right. A Wall Street assassin. I doubt that f@cker ever sleeps.

And if he does, you can safely wager it's with one eye open.

Like a crocodile.

That statue on Wall Street is so much bullshit. It's always the matador who steps out the ring; smiling. All the rest is just dead meat.

beale street rust

photograph by sly parrish.

"Driving in my big black car
Nothing can go wrong
I'm going and I don't know how far
So. so long

Maybe I'll sleep in a Holiday Inn

Nothing can hurt me
Nothing can touch me
Why should I care ?
Driving's a gas
It ain't gonna last

Sunny day, high
If it rains it's all the same
I can't feel the pain
I can't feel a thing."

- Alex Chilton.

Another DUI. Or maybe just an insurance number.

Shiny Happy People Holding Hands in the back seat. A ribbon of charred tape. Roaches in the ash tray. A black hole in the dashboard where the cigarette lighter ought to be. Copper wiring.

▼ BIG STAR: BACK OF A CAR (ALTERNATIVE TAKE '74) from "Beale Street Green" CD (Balboa Pop) 1996 (US)

▼ BIG STAR: BIG BLACK CAR from "Third: Sister Lovers" LP (PVC) 1975 (US)

PURCHASE BEALE STREET GREEN
PURCHASE THIRD / SISTER LOVERS

clovis, new mexico, 1957

coral 9 - 61885.

Side B: Written by Charles Hardin and Norman Petty. Recorded at Norman Petty Studio, 1313 West 7th Street, Clovis, New Mexico on May 29th, 1957.

Buddy Holly: vocal, acoustic guitar; Jerry Allison: knee slapping; Joe B. Mauldin: string bass; Vi Petty: celeste.

Originally released 20th September, 1957.

▼ BUDDY HOLLY: EVERYDAY from "Peggy Sue b/w Everyday" 45 (Coral) 1957 (US)

PURCHASE THE BUDDY HOLLY COLLECTION

24 hours from tulsa

new mexico. photograph by danny lyon.

More Hal David and Burt Bacharach. Perhaps an Italian image - something from Naples - would have been more appropriate, but this does it like the version plays in my head. MS-3015. I don't have a Spanish version of "Tulsa", but if you do please get in touch.

▼ GENE PITNEY: A POCHE ORA DA TE (24 HOURS FROM TULSA) from "Gene: Italiano" LP (Musicor) 1964 (US)

PURCHASE GENE ITALIANO / NESSUNO MI PUO GIUDICARE

daevid allen: hope you feel okay

BYG 529.029. magick sibling, daevid allen. note the lower case.



'armed' with dustbin lids, students face down the police. gare de lyon train station, may 1968. on the cusp of toppling de gaulle.



smyth & allen remain in france following the riots of 1968, when workers and students join hands to present a unified front.

I don't have a guru to help take care of my ills and woes, but if I did it might well be Daevid Allen; antipodean mystic and one-time Soft Machinist. Mind you, I don't think Mr. Allen would dream of setting himself up for the fall. Good thing too.

This post is a kind of companion piece to an earlier entry from the same LP. Written and performed by Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth. Produced by Jean Georgakarakos and Jean-Luc Young.

Recorded September & October 1969 Studio ETA, Studio Europa Sonor, Paris. Plucked and pulled from the ether with intuitive guile.

I feel already better for hearing this again. Seriously. And I hope you do too. It's an ill wind, indeed, that blows no good.

Brushback; if you give this a whirl, you will find echoes of Big Star, Chilton and Bell. Beautiful.

▼ GONG: (FABLE OF A FREDFISH) HOPE YOU FEEL OK from "Magick Brother" LP (BYG Actuel) 1969 (France)

▼ GONG: COS YOU GOT GREEN HAIR from "Magick Brother" LP (BYG Actuel) 1969 (France)

PURCHASE MAGICK BROTHER REISSUED ON CD

self asphyxiation, slowly

I'm prepared to finally admit my bad back is probably due to my insistence on curling up most nights on a sagging couch. The tightness in my chest and the chronic bronchitis of late is no doubt down to the plentiful supply of counterfeit cigarettes. Ditto the occasional stabbing pains in my ankles.

After reading Beer's "Bundled Up In Blankets", and the entertaining banter running back and forth between himself and Jon, I will add this.

When I go I want it to be with both hands around the neck of the f@cker pointing the gun.

It occurs to me, however, that it may prove impractical to hope to exert sufficient pressure in a stranglehold and hold on to a firearm at one and the same time.

▼ DAVID CROSBY: LAUGHING from "If Only I Could Remember My Name" LP (Atlantic) 1971 (US)

▼ THE RESIDENTS: LAUGHING SONG from "Duck Stab / Buster And Glen" LP (Ralph) 1978 (US)

PURCHASE IF ONLY I COULD REMEMBER MY NAME
PURCHASE DUCK STAB / BUSTER & GLEN
THE RESIDENTS OFFICIAL WEB SITE

couldn't get it right

SBT 195 A.

SBT 105 B.

A kissing cousin of sorts to Stretch's "Why Did You Do It ?", this single made #3 on the US Hot 100 a year later in 1977. Formed in Stafford, England in 1968 the original sextet featured Derek Holt (Guitar); Peter Haycock (Guitar); Arthur Wood (Keyboards); Richard Jones (Bass); George Newsome (Drums); Colin Cooper (Vocals & Saxophone).

▼ CLIMAX BLUES BAND: COULDN'T GET IT RIGHT from "Couldn't Get It Right b/w Fat Maybelline" 45 (BTM) 1976 (UK)

CLIMAX BLUES BAND OFFICIAL SITE
PURCHASE GOLD PLATED REMASTERED

sherbet: howzat

EPC 4574 .



Soft Rock from Sydney, Australia. I always liked this, but Climax Blues Band won the toss that particular weekend when it came to laying out the cash for a single. Unlikely as it seems.

"English-born guitarist Clive Shakespeare formed the original Sherbet in April 1969, combining the remnants of his earlier group, Downtown Roll Band, and another band, Clapham Junction."

Tony Mitchell (Bass); Alan Sandow (Drums); Daryl Braithwaite (Vocals); Harvey James (Guitar); Garth Porter (Keyboards).

Written by Garth Porter and Tony Mitchell. Produced by Richard Lush and Sherbet.

The perfect soundtrack to a cocaine deal gone sour.

▼ SHERBET: HOWZAT from "Howzat b/w Motor Of Love" 45 (Epic) 1976 (Australia)

PURCHASE SHERBET: HOWZAT

lawful deputies, new mexico, 1879

l to r : billy the kid; doc holliday; jesse james; charles bowdre.
photograph from the ellison collection.†

"Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday were all in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879 which is when I believe this photo was taken. The photo depicts four deputised men, one wearing a badge and the other three wearing white bandanas hanging from their pockets representing that they are Peace Officers as the white flag is a symbol of truce. I have done an enormous amount of research on this photo and am still in the process of identifying these men but I am 99% sure they are who I have identified them as being.
Thanks to the help of many viewers to this website and several historical societies I have been pointed to Doc Holliday and Charlie Bowdre whom I would have overlooked. I was unaware that Doc Holliday was in Las Vegas, NM in 1879 until I was given that information. Las Vegas was the hotbed of activity for outlaws at that time and nearly every well known outlaw went there to carous or even to be peace officers as ranchers were looking for protection for their families and land. Jesse James had a good reason for going to Las Vegas, Scott Moore and his wife Minne owned the Old Adobe Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Scott Moore was a life long friend of Jesse James having grown up in St. Joseph, Missouri. Jesse James had grown restless in Tennessee and was looking for a new gang and where better to go than were the outlaws are especially when you already have a connection in that town. Billy the Kid was said to have a son, Telesfor Jaramillo."

- Greg Ellison.

Special thanks to Brendan at The Rising Storm for turning me on to Bobby Charles in the first instance. Read his excellent review here.

Written by Bobby Charles. Produced by Bobby Charles, John Simon and Rick Danko.

On an interesting note to admirers of Greenwich Village's Left Banke, Mike Brown's father - session musician and producer, Harry Lookofsky - contributes violin to the album, as do members of The Band; Butterfield Blues Band; Full Tilt Boogie Band; and the backing band for Dr. John.

Pedal Steel on this track is by Ben Keith of Hungry Chick.

▼ BOBBY CHARLES: NEW MEXICO (BONUS TRACK) from "Bobby Charles" LP (Bearsville) 1971 (US)

† while the provenance of this photograph has been publicly contested, it has been included in the history channel's biographic, "jesse james' hidden treasure"; screening 6th and 7th December, 2009. See within the comments section below for further detail.

PURCHASE BOBBY CHARLES

one who yawns

geronimo (goyaałé: 'one who yawns'). chiricahua apache chief.
omaha, 1898. photograph by adolph f. muhr.

This post is prompted by all the bad news permeating through Tuesday. It is like a lunatic asylum out there. I turned on the radio and wanted to climb back into bed. I will fold my cheek into the pillow tonight and wish for a cool sea breeze blowing in from the west. And no dreams at all.

▼ JACK NITZCHE: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (OPENING THEME) from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (OST)" LP (Fantasy) 1975 (US)

PURCHASE ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST SOUNDTRACK

coronary waiting to happen

It's official. I am in a lousy mood. I have no idea why, precisely. Today I seem to have too many reasons. I want to pound some f@cker into the pavement. Like Johnny Boy in "Mean Streets". Like Tony Montana.

You know that saying, Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave ? Well. Some f@cker just yanked my chain. I can feel it in the way my neck is straining all to one side. My chest is all puffed out, and my veins are throbbing. There is too much cholesterol clogging up my blood.

Too many fast food takeaways, and too much easy f@cking laid out on my back with a woman on top.

Earlier today, a police car pulled a 360˚ loop in front of me without indicating. Right in front of me; this fat f@ck peering over the wheel like a pig in a white collared shirt. Little pink eyes in a Pillsbury dough face like a half-baked Halloween cake melting behind the windshield. Almost knocked me off my feet. Coming out my corner on wobbly knees.

It was all down hill from there.

suzi quatro, little bitch runaway

BELL 1302.

Bubblegum glam prom queen, Suzi Quatro - born 1950, Detroit, Michigan - is kitsch godmother to Kim Fowley's punk Runaways and real life aunt to actress, Sherilyn Fenn.

In an ironic 'Twin Peaks' blurring of actual events, she is possibly more famous in the United States in her honorary role as the Fonz's girlfriend, Pinky Tuscadero's younger sister.

Discovered by Donovan's manager and producer, Mickie Most, Quatro was huge in the UK and Australia between 1973 - 1974. Recording for Most's RAK label, the original leather 'Little Bitch Blue' delivered a tidy string of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn produced hits, but despite extensive touring in her native U.S. as opening act for superstar, Alice Cooper, success in her homeland eluded her. Just as frustratingly, while she and long-serving guitarist, Len Tuckey - who Quatro married in 1976 - proved themselves capable as songwriting partners, it was Chapman & Chinn's label penned compositions which won promotion as singles and secured Most's team all the royalties.

Suzi Creamcheese Tuscadero. Fun. And a tight little ass.

Just don't let Henry Winkler catch me saying that.

▼ SUZI QUATRO: CAN THE CAN from "Can The Can b/w Ain't Ya Somethin' Honey" 45 (RAK) 1973 (UK)

▼ SUZI QUATRO: 48 CRASH from "Suzi Quatro" LP (RAK / Bell) 1974 (US / UK)

PURCHASE SUZI QUATRO CAN THE CAN

sam gopal, going up

escalator, 1969.



UFO newspaper ad, 1967.



ian willis, centre, 1977. stiff records.

Named after their tabla player, Sam Gopal were another Ladbroke Grove outfit who hung out and played at London's UFO club in Tottenham Court Road where Hendrix roadie, Ian Willis furnished guitar and vocals to the quartet's trippy mix; an acid blues recipe with a heavy flavouring of middle eastern raga which owed much to Tyrannosaurus Rex's Steve 'Peregrine' Took.

Recorded in 1968, "Escalator" was originally released on Simon Stable's tiny imprint, Stable Records, which also issued The Deviants' "Disposable", and a handful of other LPs including the Victims Of Chance.

According to Ghost Gus, who knew Lemmy fairly well, Willis had an almost supernatural ability to stride into any unscouted bar, skint, and immediately score a round of drinks. While the drinks kept on flowing well past closing time, a hit record would continue to elude him for another decade at least.

Sam Gopal (tabla, percussion); Roger D'Elia (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Ian "Lemmy" Willis (vocals, guitar); Phil Duke (bass).

If you want to hear Lemmy sing for his Garam Masala you'll need to buy the album. These two tracks feature Roger D'Elia on vocal duties. Nice.

▼ SAM GOPAL: THE SKY IS BURNING from "Escalator" LP (Stable) 1969 (UK)

▼ SAM GOPAL: GRASS from "Escalator" LP (Stable) 1969 (UK)

PURCHASE ESCALATOR REISSUED ON BREATHLESS

bela lugosi's dead

béla ferenc dezső blaskó.



teeny 2, 12".

I am not a huge fan of gothic rock. The lumpen angst and greasepaint. The tortured sucking in of cheeks. From Alien Sex Fiend to Beetlejuice and Marilyn Manson, I could generally live better without it.

But this one is assuredly different, in addition to being the defining moment which served as catalyst for a thousand paler imitations. This song has it all in spades. A creaking, brooding bitch of an epitaph with just the right amount of theatrical swagger. Shadows gliding on the walls; mildewed skins fluttering. And since I've been skirting around the same noise seemingly for the last couple of posts, it's perhaps fitting to blow the dust off it now.

"Bauhaus is a British rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The band took their name from the German Bauhaus art movement, originally going by the name Bauhaus 1919, dropping the latter portion within a year of the band's formation."

The debt to Can is apparent. As is equally true with regards veteran krautrockers, Faust and expressionist director, F. W. Murnau.

In homage to the great Hungarian actor, Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó - born in 1882 - who first portrayed Bram Stoker's Count in a Broadway production of 1927 before resurrecting the role on celluloid for Universal Studios in 1931.

Originally limited to 5,000 copies on white vinyl.

▼ BAUHAUS: BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD from "Bela Lugosi's Dead b/w Boys / Dark Entries" 12" 45 (Small Wonder) 1979 (UK)

OUT OF PRINT

high tea with uncle vernon

Tom Waits: Farfisa organ, vocals
Larry Taylor: double bass
Stephen Arvizu Taylor Hodges: parade drums
Michael Blair: percussion
William Shimmel: accordion
Bob Funk: trombone
Marc Ribot: guitar

▼ TOM WAITS: CEMETERY POLKA from "Rain Dogs" LP (Island) 1985 (US)

PURCHASE RAIN DOGS

i am damo suziki

Written by Mark E. Smith, Karl Burns, and the beautiful Brix Smith.

▼ THE FALL: I AM DAMO SUZUKI from "This Nation's Saving Grace" LP (Beggars Banquet) 1985 (UK)

PURCHASE THIS NATION'S SAVING GRACE

can: paper house

photograph by charles gatewood.

Holger Czukay: bass
Michael Karoli: guitar
Jaki Liebezeit: drums
Irmin Schmidt: keyboards
Damo Suzuki: vocals

Written and produced by Can. Engineered by Holger Czukay.

▼ CAN: PAPER HOUSE from "Tago Mago" LP (Spoon / Gema) 1971 (Germany)

PURCHASE TAGO MAGO REMASTERED
PURCHASE CHARLES GATEWOOD: BADLANDS

paper chain

I come awake in the middle of the night - this morning - on a memory so tangible I can smell it. It is Christmas 1966 or 7, and I am with my mother in a shop in Glasgow. The bell rings over the door and the heat hits us. An odor of tissue paper or sawdust. There is a sentence of words strung together like parcels tied with string that is somehow important, but even if I could remember it I don't suppose I would write it down.

It is not for sharing, perhaps, or it would mean nothing to you if I could. My father is not there with us. But he is close by. The man behind the shop counter is bored but feigns interest.

My father died long before my son was ever conceived. Like his own father before I came into this world. Bloody but mute.

▼ PLASTIC ONO BAND: REMEMBER from "Plastic Ono Band" LP (Apple) 1970 (UK)

PURCHASE PLASTIC ONO BAND REMASTERED