Our immoderator is putting attitudes in my mouth ( & Other Stories )

[elroy!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (Greg Earle)]

From:  Self-Righteous as HELL! <earle@smeagol.UUCP>

Destroy All Major Labels!!!  Yes that's Sonic Youth talkin, boy, and you
oughta Heed The Creed.
>[Our Man Alan:]
>Well good for you Greggie!  But I'd hardly consider any record company
>which owns their own airline and a record store the size of a Sears to
>be "independent".  

OK, OK, so I'll revise, add Dukes Of Stratosfear, The Cure, 
and the 2 Banshees 12" and come up with 6 or 7.

> ... But in any case, this attitude of "I'm only going
>to buy stuff on independent labels" really pisses me off!  Support
>*good* music, no matter what label it is on.  

WOAH, there, Chuck.  *Don't* put Attitudes in my mouth ...
I never said "I'm only going to buy stuff on Indie labels".  It just
*happened* that way.  There's probably *double* the amount of $$$$ 
I spent on records last year left in great music out on Indie labels.
We've only got so much cash to spend, and I don't feel morally obligated
to pad some fat-cat's wallet at a Major Label with it.  My comment was
designed to show that, in fact, most (if not all) Great Music happens
to emerge from an Indie Label, and this is not Coincidence;  therefore,
in appreciation of this fact, one should support and nuture these efforts,
rather than feeding the coffers of the Majors in appreciation for the
one good act they have on their roster ...

>If everyone with good
>taste boycotts major labels then major labels will never carry good
>music.  It will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and by not buying good
>music on major labels, you will be actually helping to proliferate
>junk, rather than helping to get rid of it.

Well, Don Quixote, if you want to tilt at Major Label Windmills, go right
ahead.  I'll be RIGHT BEHIND you ... :-)
You *actually* think you can "get rid of junk"??  Pardon me while I recover
from laughing.  The 1st generation punks thought so too (my, but we *were*
a wee bit naive in those days).  Notice how quickly they all got sucked
up by the UK Majors, and wonder why they all say "Erm, well, for me, punk
pretty much had died by late '78"....
I couldn't give two shits if the Majors ever carry "Good Music".  Their
aim to to Maximize Profit, not Disseminate Worthwhile Music from Good Bands
like the Indies do.  I'd rather take my $7 and buy a Rubella Ballet LP
so I can help support good musicians (when I know they're fucking starving 
in some squat somewhere in England) than feed 
WarnerBrothersElektraAsylumCBSPolygramGeffen MegaRecords Ltd.  Profit Sheets.
I (and You, and everybody else) have a limited amount of $$$$ to spend on
records and concerts and such.  Well, I'm Self-Righteous as all hell
and I don't give a shit about what you buy or what he/she buys or about
any little Support Good Music On Majors Movement there is going, because
that sucks money out of my funds for buying what I want to buy and so be it.

>(And what's this?  You didn't get HoL!)
Oh Shit!  Horrors!  Can I go home now?

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Factionalism Rules OK!!!!!
Oh shit, looks like it's time for the Tao Of
Musical Opinions again ...

Danielle Dax' last was "Yummer Yummer Man // Bad Miss M / Fizzing Human Bomb", 
FYI Sue ...  And the Elpees (yes they are LP's) are of course
Pop-Eyes and Jesus Egg That Wept.  You should obtain all of them and
find out that she has as much to do with Nina Hagen as the shit on my stick.
Wrigley's Fun Fact - she also does the cover painting on the latest
Shock Headed Peters "Life Extinguisher" 12".

What does it mean to "XXXX" out?  The Chris and Cosey *I* saw take no
prisoners ...

Tuxedomoon (vers. 1986) slipped into L.A. quietly last Sat.  No concessions
to previous triumphs ("Back Catalogue?  What back catalogue?") except
for a funki-fried workout on "59 to 1" as an encore (I call it the A Certain
Ratio-ized version).  Only Steven Brown and Peter Principle still there
to provide the continuity for us Old Fogues.  They've added two kids on
synth, trumpet, bass, etc., and some Bowie wannabe has taken the Winston Tong
position (projections on the walls, backing vocals, Silly Walks, and general
poserama).  They were pretty good and drew an Artsy Fartsy crowd.  The hit
to miss ratio for their new material was about 50%.

Heard most of SO in a reccid store.  I guess it means Snores Only.  Don't
Give Up sounds like <insert generic insipid mid-80's trend - The Big Stars
Male/Female Duet>.  Next day I heard most of Belinda BlowGo.  Easily rivals
SO as Aural Sominex material.

You should be buying Skinny Puppy "bites" instead of Ministry "Twitch".
Trust me.

"Posterity" is "Posterior" spelled sideways.  Sort-of.

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Why Is There Factionalism, Mommy, And What Can I Do About It?

Let's consider monetary constraints.
When you only have so much cash to waste on this Rock Fad, your taste
necessarily (as reflected in your Record Collection, which subsequently
can affect your purchasing selections) has to be constrained more than
your true desires.  Every time I go into a record store and make a purchase,
I can guarantee that when I walk outta there, there are a few records
left in that store that I just looked through that I would like to hear/wish
I could have bought, but couldn't due to money.  An example culled from real
life -
	My last two record excursions:

#1	The Art Barbeque	"Feet Hacked Rails" LP
	Abecedarians		"Eureka" mini-LP	(PETER LEE - WAKE UP)	
	SPK			"In Flagrant Delicto" 12"
	Play Dead		"Caught From Behind" Live LP
	The Mission		"Serpent's Kiss//Wake/Naked & Savage" 12"
	(This is Craig Adams & Wayne Hussey from Sisters Of Mercy BTW)

#2	Sonic Youth		"EVOL" LP
	Swans			"Greed" LP
	The Cure		"Boys Don't Cry '86 remix" 12"
	Scratch Acid		New Radicool Reflecto-Cover LP

Total price, sports fans, was around *$70*.  I walked out the first time
wishing I had the cash for the new The (nee' Youth) Brigade LP.  The 2nd
store didn't have it.  I walked out the 2nd time wishing I had the money
to buy <insert several domestic Indie releases here>.  The point is, I
spent 70 FUCKING DOLLARS on records in one week and STILL didn't cover
all the stuff I wanted.  How many of YOU blow that much cash on music
in one or two weeks time??  I thought so.  SO, naturally you apply
your own version of a Categorization Heuristic to the I WANT MORE / SORRY
SHITHEAD YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH problem.  Mine includes Records That I 
Expect Might Be A Collossal Pain In The Ass To Find After Next Month,
Records By Bands I Have Other Records Of And Like, Records That Have Such
Strange Covers and/or Strange Instrumentation That I Know I'll Love It
(cf. Art Barbeque - cover depicts person in Full Bondage Rubber clothing,
bent over in submissive position; instrumentation is "electronics, tapes,
tapes, tapes, guitar, rhythm tracks" - naturally, it's Awesome) etc. etc.
Everybody has their own Rulesets to apply.

Something has to give somewhere.

The land outside that somewhere is the land reserved for your vitriol and
spiteful hate; whether it be Hofmann's land of Art Rock Suffering ArTestes 
and Synth Trendioids and most things English; or Peter Alfke's land of
HardBore No Thank You; or Bob Krajewski's land of English You Ripped Us Off
Bands; etc. etc. AD NAUSEUM.

Fuck This Crap.

Bands play music.  You like it or you don't.  Bands have nothing to do
with other bands, it's all in your head - the pigeons need a place to SHIT,
so you build your little PIGEONHOLES for them to SHIT IN.
Country Of Origin doesn't mean FUCK ALL.

You want great bands??  I'll give you:
Yugoslavia - Laibach.
Italy - CCCP.  Raw Power.
France - Deux Filles.
Belgium - Skinny Puppy.
Australia - Birthday Party.  Scattered Order.  Severed Heads.  The Moodists.
	The Scientists. Dead Can Dance. And Plenty Of Others.
Netherlands - XYMOX.
Japan - Yas-Kaz.  Sakamoto.
U.S. - Plenty Of Them.
England - ""  ""  "" . So screw you Anglophobes.

None of these brief examples have anything to do (musically) with one
another.  I'm forgetting lots more.  You get the hint.

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All profanity in this article was included specifically to drive Greg
Skinner insane.

That oughta give you WANKERS something to chew on.  Bye.  See you next month.