Who gives a fuck what I look like?

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

Just when you all thought you'd gotten rid of me ...

>Date: Thu, 14 Aug 86 12:00:49 EST
>From: hsut@ec.purdue.edu (Bill Hsu)
>Subject: a movie question

>For those of you with long memories, the movie Out of Bounds, which
>has been out for awhile now, was mentioned in lovehounds months ago
>by Greg Earle. The interesting points were:

>1) Siouxsie and the Banshees are in it
>2) Greg Earle and zillions of punks were paid to stand around at this
>   one scene to watch Siouxsie

>Since I shall probably see this movie soon (only to see Siouxsie, of
>course), does anyone know if Greg Earle is actually visible in any
>scene, and if he is, what a post-punk JPL computer scientist would
>look like?

Sorry, sports fans, but I (and most of the rest of the extras) ended up on
the cutting room floor ...  Seriously, didya expect the filmmakers to waste
precious celluloid on Sioux and the crowd when they can show Paul Michael
Tilson Thomas (or whatever the $^%$ that lead kid's name is) all the time??
I don't care.  I got paid to see S&TB and that's all that matters to me.
BTW if you live in a `market' suitable to such things (like yer local kiddie
korps radio station is molded on the RAK OF TH' EIGHTIES type shit), you
might see a small pic of Sioux and the boyz in the ads for the movie ...
this picture was taken about a block from my abode ... they are stradling
some railroad tracks that run between two buildings, the Wrigley's Fun Fact
being that the building in the right side of the pic is none other than the
famous Nate Starkman building, home of Bruce Licher/Savage Republic/Independant 
Project Records office ... Also if you want to find out what I look like
that bad, be at any Savage Republic gig and look for the weenie in the
Official Savage Republic `Trudge' workshirt, or the black `Factory' band
T-shirt ...  yep, that's me ...
What I look like ... hmmm, well, let me sum this up by saying:
I wish I looked like Matt Marello of Executive Slacks (who is the absolute
Last Word in looking Ultimately Cool and BEING Ultimately Cool - an
extremely rare combo these daze - girls, if you're near Philly you should
look this dude up, I swar Billy Bob), but unfortunately I've been condemned
to look like Steve Albini of Big Black ...

Now that that's out of the way, some bug fixes and info:

-----
>Date: 15-Aug-1986 0921
>From: juitt%ultra.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM  (Dave Juitt)
>Subject: March Violets Info

>>Does anyone know anything about the March Violets?  I've heard
>>a coupla songs, I think "Walk Into the Sun" may have been the title.
>>Maybe off the *Electric Shades* album?  Anyway, what's the scoop on
>>these guys.  The music is kind of overly accessible, (read: close to Top 40)
>>but the tune has sorta stuck with me for a few daze.

>Date:     Tue, 19 Aug 86 9:50:18 EDT
>From: Susanne E Trowbridge <umcp-cs!jhunix!ins_aset@seismo.CSS.GOV>

>The March Violets are a band from Leeds (home of lots of fabbo bands
>like the Sisters of Mercy, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, etc.) who started
>off with a male and a female vocalist, which led to a bit of X-style
>interplay.  In this form, the Violets released three 12" singles ("Crow
>Baby," "Snake Dance," and "Walk Into The Sun") and an album, "Natural
>History."  Then Simon, the male vox, left to form his own band, the
>Batfish Boys.  The female, Cleo, now does all the vocals, which has
>made the band a bit less interesting in my opinion.  I saw them live
>just a few weeks after Simon had left; I didn't even know he was gone,
>and I was rather horrified to note that the band had taken a turn towards
>heavy metal (urgh), and had replaced their drum machine wireal
>drummer (nothing against real drums, but the Violets sounded cool with
>a drum machine).  Nevertheless, I bought their single, "Deep," a few
>weeks later, which is actually not bad.

Erm, well, a little errata here ..... the Violets *did* do 3 12"
singles, but at least 2 ("Crow Baby", "S.D.") also came in 7" form; `Crow Baby'
came out in 7" long before they put out the twelve inch.  They also put out a 
7" single only, but Sue likely didn't know because it's so rare ... I quote
myself:
>Date: Tue, 1 Apr 86 16:19:08 pst
>From: ia-sun2!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (Greg Earle)
...
>- March Violets "Grooving In Green" 45 - $20

Also, although they always had a female vox, the original female vocalist
was named Rosie, and she was replaced by Cleo before the recording of the
`Walk Into The Sun' single ...
You really should refer to these folks as `March Violets Mk. I and II' 
because after Simon left the difference is like night and day.  M.V. Mk. II
have actually admitted that they `booted out' Simon (he, of course,
disagrees with this assessment) so they could mersh out and go Comercial ...
I also saw their first West Coast tour, they were sans-Simon, and all the
new material was horrible ... the most memorable thing about the show was
watching the weenies in the front row swoon whenever Cleo lifted her arms,
because she was wearing this short-length blouse and no erm,
`superstructure', yeah, that's the ticket, underneath; thus providing a
rather ample view of her charms on occasion.  They are playing in L.A.
again (coincidence strikes again) on Labor Day - think I'll pass.  But
for you boyz out there, the irrefutable fax are that Cleo is Certifiably
Gorgeous (even the ladies were admitting this - she's a former model), so
go just to swoon ...

Discography for March Violets Mark I follows:

Grooving In Green / Steam - Merciful Release MR 017 7"
Crow Baby / 1 2 I Love You - Rebirth RB 18 7"
Crow Baby / 1 2 I love You // Long Pig / Crow Bait - Rebirth RB 18 12  12"
Snake Dance / It's Hot - Rebirth RB 21  7"
Snake Dance / It's Hot // Sn. D. (ext.) / Slow Drip Lizard - Rebirth RB 2112
Natural History LP - Rebirth VRB 25 [** Ed. Note - This is AWESOME **]
Walk Into The Sun // Lights Go Out / Essence - Rebirth Int. VRB 2412
`Radiant Boys' on "The Angels Are Coming" - Pleasantly Surprised 002 (a 
double cassette compilation)

You know about the US `Electric Shades' comp., and `Deep' 12" for Mark II;
I think they just had a new 12" out but I dunnae care anymore ...

-----
>>"The Drain Train" New Cabaret Voltaire. Kirk and Mallinder up to their
>>old tricks. I hated "Red Mecca" but liked the direction they took in "Micro-
>>phonies" and "The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord".
>I too prefer the funky Cabs, but I think their recordings are getting
>a touch monotonous.

Sorry, I couldn't let this pass ...  if you hate Red Mecca and actually like
any post-`Microphonies' CabVol, you desperately need your ears re-tuned ...
Can you say `Sensoria Mark 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (repeat as necessary)'?  Sure ...

-----
Sue T. again:
>CBS records are an EVIL CONGLOMERATE.   Just try to get a copy of the
>Woodentops' "Giant," and chances are you won't be able to get your hands
>on one for love or money.
...
>Anyway, the reason it was such a fuss was that CBS has BANNED the import of
>this fine LP from our shores.

Sue just barely touches it here, but I can't believe I haven't seen any
discussion of this subject - especially since I consider it to be FAR MORE
DANGEROUS than the PMRC .....  whatzat you say??  WELL, apparently, most if
not all of the Majur Laybelles have decided to CRACK DOWN on the little
independant record distributors ... in order to do this, most of them have
now installed a `get-tough' policy, that, roughly speaking, is:
- They have BANNED the importation of ANY record from any country (for us
in the U.S., UK imports are the most obviously affected) that is a record
made by an artist under THEIR aegis, or overseas record company, or on
ANY DISTRIBUTED LABELS that that conglomerate may own, IF they plan or EVEN
MAYBE plan to release said person/group's product here in the U.S.
Already, Caroline have been threatened with a lawsuit, and have closed down
their West Coast office ... in other words, the labels are threatening to
sue these little distributors up the yinyang if they defy the ban ...
This Woodentops' LP is one of those affected ... try to get an import
copy of Siouxsie's `Tinderbox' and see what your local Hip Record
Emporium tells ya ...
Can you say `Restraint Of Free Trade' and other such things?

-----

Come along Sherman, set the Way Back for Early 1986 ... we went through
the door, and as usual the reliable Way Back machine had placed us squarely
inside Old Love Hounds territory ...

>Date: Sun, 29 Jun 86 15:59:23 EDT
>From: nessus (Doug Alan)
>Subject: Big Country, Ministry, Test Dept., etc.

>Speaking of Test Dept., on the radio I heard a stunning track by them
>called "Fist".  It sounded a lot like The Revolting Cocks, only better
>and more rhythmically interesting.  Does anyone have any Test Dept.
>recommendations?  What should one start with if one liked "Fist"?
 
>                        -Doug

"Gee, Mr. Peabody, doesn't anyone keep archives anymore?"

>Date: Tue, 29 Apr 86 23:24:46 pdt
>From: elroy!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (Greg Earle)
...
>Pretty SAD if the new PG is the only thing you can talk about ... I'd 
>rather talk about the new TEST DEPT. LP - the one that gives you a HEADACHE 
>when you listen to it 'cuz there's so many BRILLIANT ideas going around 
>it makes your HEAD SWIM after a while.
...
>        Test Dept. "The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom" LP

Ahem.  Since `The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom' is making a travesty of the
Most PoliticoSocioTranscendant LP race of 1986, I thought I'd enlighten all
you folks with The Young Person's Guide To Test Department :

`Shockwork (live)' on "The Angels Are Coming" double cassette compilation
`Forward' on "The Last Supper" Adventures In Reality cassette compilation
`Gdansk' on "Rising From The Red Sand Vol. II" Third Mind cassette comp.
`Extract From Exercise Of Will' on "Rising From The Red Sand Vol. IV"
`Ecstacy Under Duress' LIVE cassette - Pleasantly Surprised PS 005
Compulsion / Pulsations - Some Bizarre Test 112  12"
Beating The Retreat box set - Some Bizarre Test 2-3  LP
Shoulder To Shoulder - Ministry Of Power/Some Bizarre MOP 1  LP
The Faces Of Freedom 1 / The Faces Of Freedom 2&3 - Min.Of Power MOP 12 1  12"
The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom - Ministry Of Power MOP 2  LP

They may also be on the Some Bizarre compilation LP from a couple of years
ago, but I don't recall or think so ...

BTW, Doug, `Fist' is on `The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom' ...

-----
>Date: Tue, 19 Aug 86 11:05:00 -0700
>From: J. Peter Alfke <alfke@csvax.caltech.edu>

>>Who or what the hell is "Princess Tinymeat" ??  I have seen two of his/her
>>records in the last week, and they both have kind of, um, disturbing covers.
>>Anyone familiar with this, uh, recording artist?

>Date:     Thu, 21 Aug 86  19:07:03 EDT
>From: JURGEN%UMass.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
>Subject:  Princess Tinymeat

>Princess Tinymeat is a partial re-incarnation of the late, great, Virgin
>Prunes. So i was told at Newbury Comix in Boston when i bought the 12"
>single "Sloblands" there about a year ago. I cannot, however, identify
>any of the artists as being identical to members of the Virgin Prunes, and
>also, VP just came out with another album after 3 years of nothing.
>The music (PT) is loud, obnoxious, innovative, and different. I like it,
>but it's not something you'd want to play at a dinner party. It consists of
>somewhat intelligible vocals, a heavy and simple drum beat, thoroughly
>distorted guitar, and various mixed-in background noises. The only real
>similarity i could find to VP was that it was recorded at the same studio.
>As to the new VP record - i thought it was a big disappointment. Their
>music used to be primitive, and yet sophisticated, cynical lyrics that
>mixed incredibly well with very simplistic melodies which were executed
>so well that you'd never be able to tell... Eccentric music, and true
>to the title of one of their larger projects, "A New Form of Beauty".
>Especially in their last album, before the long pause during which nothing
>was heard from them, entitled "If I die I die", the Virgin Prunes achieved
>a very polished, musical sound, of such eccentric originality that i doubt
>anything comparable will ever come out of that genre again.

>p.s.: if anybody knows more about the background of either of these
>     two bands, i'd be _extremely_ interested.

It's quite simple, Sherman my boy, they simply don't have the Disk Space ...

>Date: Thu, 27 Feb 86 19:12:08 pst
>Subject: ... Random 1986 Observations
...
>First Record of '86 that makes all other '86 releases completely
>irrelevant:
>	Princess Tinymeat - "Wigs On The Green" (B-side of "A Bun In The Oven")

>Date: Wed, 5 Mar 86 13:37:25 est
>From: David Oskard <dno@cvl.umd.edu>
>Subject: Princess Tinymeat?
>
>        Somebody tell me about Princess Tinymeat!  Sounds like a real winner.
>dno

>Date: Thu, 6 Mar 86 13:55:27 pst
>From: ia-sun2!smeagol!earle@csvax.caltech.edu (Greg Earle)
>Subject: Princess Tinymeat

>        Princess Tinymeat is a three person band from Ireland.  Members are
>Tom Rice, Sissy Box, and Biinti.  Front-person Biinti is a former member of
>the Virgin Prunes. Biinti is vocalist, the other two play the
>instruments, synths, and tapes.
>        They have put out a 12" single (1985), which was notorious for having
>two nekked pics of Biinti on the sleeve, with circular white stickers
>covering the Naughty Bits.  I am not at home, so I do not recall the tracks
>off the top of my head.  [SLOBLANDS is the A-side] Last month they released 
>a 7" single, with tracks
>A Bun In The Oven / Wigs On The Green.  Although I find the A-side a slight
>disappointment (*** Warning - Personal Opinion - Danger Will Robinson! ***)
>the B side makes a laughing stock of every other 1986 record I've heard.
>You have been warned ...

Updated Princess Tinymeat (et al.) note ... there are two P.T. tracks, as
well as Mark Stewart & Maffia, Sonic Effing Youth (A great live version of
`I Love Her All The Time'), and a cast of others, all on the recent
compilation LP called `You Bet We've Got Something Against You' ... Search
and Destroy ...

About the Virgin Prunes ... they are Truly Godhead ... Most of Ziggy's
comments I can't add to, I'd just point out he claims "If I Die, I Die"
to be their last album, with long silence following ... not true ...
`IIDID' came out around 82ish to 83 ... then next year there followed a
Truly Astounding package called `Heresie' put out by L'Invitation Au
Suicide.  This was 2 10" in a box, with various inserts ... one
record is Live In Paris 1982, contains versions of `Walls Of Jericho',
`Caucasian Walk', `Pagan Love Song', `Come To Daddy' + 1 other song that
have to heard to be believed ... other record is studio ... finally, in
'85 there was a `Rarities' LP released, not too exciting tho' ...
As I understand it, Guggi left to work on Computers (Hmmm ... small world
theory strikes again, eh?) and Dik is now riding motorcycles or something ...
so that leaves Gavin Friday (vox) and Dave-ID left of the originals; I
dunno about the other members, whether they be holdovers or not ... their
membership was always kinda fluid, anyhow.  I don't remember what the new
LP is called (has `moon' in the title) but will pick it up for old tymes
sake when I see it.  It got a good review in the NME (Oxymoron?) by
somebody who claimed `listening to the Virgin Prunes and band X made growing
up in Dublin bearable' or somesuch ... one of the bandmembers is the older
brother of U2's The Edge ...  Yes they started in Dublin, around '79-'80 ...
I have a very old 7" of theirs called `Greylight' ...

-----
Randomness:
	Why nobody mention the Throwing Muses LP is out on 4AD ... is it any
good ... saw it in Poo Bah but haven't been in a reccid store since ...
	Speaking of 4AD the Wolfgang Press LP `Standing Up Straight' is great,
no mentions of it seen here as well ...
	Heard some of the Roger Miller LP on the radio ... sounded to me like
Budd - cum - Fripperisms ...
	Saw `The Big Sky' video on Melba Moore's Love Songs ABC NETWORK Tee Vee
show ... pretty lame if you ask me, but I got a kick out of her doing the
old `Shake Yer Tits' act at the end ... not like Kate it would seem ...
	Hofmann said it years ago but I've laid low for 3 months, so I'll
reiterate ... You should all own Big Black `Atomizer' ... by far the most
rad American LP of the year ... new Exec Slacks `Fire And Ice' has got 
stiff competition when/if it makes it out to the reccid bins ...
	Buttholes are heading East, don't miss them if you know what's good
for you ... best show I've seen this year (along with Red Lorry Yellow
Lorry), and most outragious/rad/get crazy crowd I've seen in a long while ...

Last but not least - get out there and do something for your local scene ...
go promote a gig or something, only take my advice - don't do it on your
roof ... We started a `Club' called Acrophobia and held a gig on my roof
last Saturday, with Angel Of The Odd, Tex's (as in Tex & The Horseheads) Fun
Train, and Factory playing ... it got busted by the Pigs, Whirlypigs, and
our building manager before Factory got to play ... now I have in my not-so-
proud possession a `Three Day Notice To Quit' the premises ... so kiddies
don't try this at home, as they say ...

- Greg