15 June 2008

What the F? - part 3

 UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/30/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

Most of the time (other than original poetry & fiction by yours truly) I just write about the particular musick I've uploaded in a mish-mash of: facts I've garnered from various sources; my own opinions; information from covers, inserts, liners, etc. from the album itself; my own opinion; & any random esoterica I might know.
Most of the time...

Most of the time I don't get all, like...PERSONAL...

Most of the time...

Right now, I just want to say...

If you don't GET (understand, comprende, verstehen, get) this awesome slab of vinyl...4 raging sides of the most glorious musick you'll ever hear, if you don't get what Flipper mean, if you don't get the supreme power of "If I Can't Be Drunk", then just...

Go somewhere else. Go check out some other blog & don't bother coming back.

I'm Fuckin' SERIOUS!

Is that, like...PERSONAL enough?

Public Flipper Limited...that kinda reminds me of Public Image Limited, so what's the deal?
























First, Flipper released their debut (brilliant, unbeatable) album, Album - Generic Flipper, in 1982. It has a plain yellow cover that made it look like so many no-name grocery items.
























Then, a few years later, PIL released their Album (or Cassette or CD) with a plain white cover that looked like so many no-name grocery items. Well, John Lydon (nee Rotten) & Public Image Limited (PIL) were accused by many of stealing Flipper's idea for an album title.

So as a bit of retort, in 1986, Flipper retaliated for this apparent act of concept theft by releasing a live album entitled Public Flipper Limited Live 1980-1985. There was no legal battle or anything, but it's an interesting story.

Public Flipper Limited is a collection of crusty live tracks recorded over a few years while Flipper toured, did a lot of drugs, & played a lot of tunes. It features tons of hilarious stage patter, half-assed songs that start somewhere & go nowhere, everyone getting off rhythm, recordings so hilariously skewed that all you can hear is Ted smashing the hell out of his guitar, drug references aplenty, obscenity, noise, yelling -- in shorts, CHAOS & ANARCHY. Nowhere else will you find Flipper so hilariously loose & stupid. The 14-minute version of "Sex Bomb" is as good as it gets, & an equally long version of "Shine" (on the same record side, strangely) sounds quite tight...as tight as any Flipper song could be in those days.You'll find some Flipper tracks here that never appeared on their studio albums. If you've been dying to hear "Southern California" or "If I Can't Be Drunk", this might be the only place you ever get to hear them.



Flipper - Public Flipper Limited Live 1980-1985 ,Subterranean Records SUB 53, 1986.
all decryption codes are in comments

Side 1 -

New Rules No Rules (Target,San Francisco,CA,2/24/80)
Hard Cold World (9:30 Club,Washington,DC.,3/14/82)
I'm Fighting (Target,San Francisco,CA,2/24/80)
The Game's Got a Price (Target,San Francisco,CA,11/15/80)
[outtake from the soundtrack to the film "Emerald Cities" by Rick Schmidt]

Side 2 -

Love Canal (Berkeley Square,Berkeley,CA,9/6/80)
Oh-Oh-Ay-Oh (Target,San Francisco,CA,2/24/80)
We Don't Understand (On Broadway,San Francisco,CA,2/6/82)
[originally broadcast live on KUSF,San Francisco,CA.]
If I Can't Be Drunk (On Broadway,San Francisco,CA,6/22/82)

Side 3 -

Sex Bomb (CBGB's,New York,NY,12/31/84)
Brainwash (9:30 Club,Washington,DC.,3/14/82)
Shine (On Broadway,San Francisco,CA.,4/1/82)

Side 4 -

Southern California (On Klub,Los Angeles,CA.,1/26/85)
Life (Ruthie's Inn,Berkeley,CA.,8/6/83)
The Wheel (On Broadway,San Francisco,CA.,2/6/82)
Flipper Blues (Larry's Hideaway,Toronto,ONT.,1/5/85)




















An additional FUN!!! part of the album is the packaging itself. Public Flipper Limited has its own off-the-wall packaging concept. The cover folds out into a large game board, with cards inside that are intended to be cut up & shuffled to play the game. Some cards read: "Spend the day sober. Minus 5 points. Go back 3 spaces."; or "Ted disappears for 3 days, walks into club just as band goes on stage. Plus 10 points."; or "Band busted for looking weird. Minus 10 points. Go to New Jersey." (man, minus 10 points & go to NJ, bummer). It's a lot of fun to play with your friends while listening to the songs & over-indulging in your favorite over-indulgence.



















Enjoy,



p.s.---check the comments for more great Flipper from around the blogsphere.

p.s.s.---most of the links in the comments are long gone. Here are a couple more.





7 comments:

  1. fuck yeah! everyones posting flipper!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, Anon...

    Thanks for the comment. Since you didn't leave any further info, I had to dig around...

    Here's what I found:

    Generic Flipper From Swan Fungus;

    American Grayfishy & Unreleased (studio session tape 1982) from DownUnderground from 27 May 2008;

    & from
    Punk Not Profit
    :

    "HONEST ANARCHY
    This blog is anti-trend, anti-fashion. It is pro-truth & pro-originality through the sound of individualism. With the hope to expose the masses to the power of honest sound. Discover & support the artists.
    ***
    If anyone wants to repost our links, please link back to our blog. Some of us put a lot of work into tracking down certain records &/or trading them, & is also why we created this blog...to show gratitude for sharing music that has been sadly out of print, dismissed, rare/limited edition imports, etc...
    ***"

    Sex Bomb Baby from Punk Not Profit

    Check them all out, leave some comments, & most of all...
    Enjoy,

    ReplyDelete
  3. I humbly offer my own post:
    http://bleedinout.blogspot.com/search/label/flipper

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you dear chap for the spiffin flipper.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gotta love FLIPPER. They're doing a FREE show on Friday, July 11 at Oakland Museum.

    be there or be somewhere....

    ReplyDelete
  6. GODDAMIT thanx for this -- have been looking for a digital copy for ages and I'm not smart enough to be able to burn records to my comp. YOU ROCK.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MEGA decryption codes
    Public Flipper Limited
    Ucoo8CpF8RfuX6YEzw5cIiRU85Afry55rzNJhaVhIK0
    American Grafishy
    HmNtZhyCMoEoO3F3EnhICiDxDasnNlhmajQ43FryzE4
    Sex Bomb Baby!
    AI2m1V2l-JROsevEFzHKXWDI1xVhN9NjTL1jyXds-Nk

    ReplyDelete