MIA

I realize my presence around here has been minimal as of late. I know everyone is waiting for the next Chapter of the Gareth Sager saga with bated breath. It will be appearing here post haste, but I want to let you all know what I’ve been doing with my time.

Any of you who are regulars to NSS probably know that I used to edit a ‘zine called EAT POOP! with a rag-tag punch o’ punks in the late 80s/early 90s in San Jose,CA. We tried to support the punk musick scene, reviewing bands & releases of local artists as well as putting on shows at various venues, giving the acts a stage to present their mayhem.

By the late 90s, San JoHaze was going through the usual fuck-punk gentrification that its Silicon Valley wealth was financing. One by one bands & friends left the cesspool for hopefully greener pastures. We pulled the plug on EAT POOP! & me & mine moved to Sacramento to pursue more agricultural ventures.

Fast forward to 2016.

Food King (this time in the guise of War Baby), original EAT POOP! co-founder, artist & musickian, now living in Austin, TX decided it would be a fitting punishment for San Jose to have a reunion show of his band, the ByProducts at one of our ol' watering holes.

I dreamt up the idea of reviving EAT POOP! with a special edition. The venue was procured, the Caravan Lounge, & the date was finalized, October 22. The line-up was: Talky Tina, Bombs for Whitey, & The ByProducts with poetry slam by Frank Bella (who also drew the poster below).

So for most of September & October leading up to that glorious night, nearly every free moment I had went into said project.

The following is an article that appeared in the San Jose newspaper The Metro, penned by staff writer & long-time friend Gary Singh.

The ‘zine came together without too many missteps. The bands, though geographically challenged, managed to get in enough practice time to play top-notch sets. It was a chance for us all to revisit old friends we had not seen in years. A great time was had by all. (If ya wanna see or hear some of it, try https://www.facebook.com/events/1565289477112291 or search on youtube).

Bombs for Whitey

I Don’t Need a Reason

1995

No Respect

Standing on My Head

Everything Comes & Goes

All My Heroes are Dead

Lost Generation

In My Head

Some Things Never Change

Tightrope

The ByProducts

Terri

Smarter than Me

Two Notes

Grow Up

Shopping at Lucky’s

Good Day

Santa Cruz (1989)

Food King

To Me

Bottom’s Up

Shifting Gears

Fat

Santa Cruz (1990)

Suicide

Waste

Enjoy,

NØ

CHAPTER THREE: GARETH SAGER GETS PREGNANT

Rich Beale formed a band called Apache Dropout after Head broke up, and recorded an album for Postcard Records in 1993, but it went unreleased.  Abandoning both his commercial aspirations and his sanity, Beale rejoined Gareth Sager in a new band called Pregnant, and they produced a 1997 album called Unusual Lover.  Jonathan Seal ("the sixth Head") was a member of Pregnant, as was Dave Hunter.   

"I've been very unwell," Beale confesses, "in the rock and roll sense of the word."  Head's lyrics had mostly been written by Sager; but in Pregnant, Beale indulged his gift for loony lyrical improvisation.   He rambles about John Cooper Powys, Biggie Smalls, and Gary U.S. Bonds, and begs Bono to "leave Eno alone".   

One reviewer wrote that listening to Beale is "like being locked up in a padded cell with someone who can mimic the voices of a thousand rock stars."   Another wrote, "Explaining the charms of Pregnant would be rather like explaining a magic trick -- it can only cheapen it."  Pregnant delivered a wide-ranging repetoire of rock, reggae, funk and suave R&B balladry.  The influence of sea shanties is once again evident in "O'Cassey's Minibar".

The last three songs are from Rich Beale's group Apache Dropout, his trip-hop duo Receiver (1996-2001), and the band Applecraft (2000-2004).  Beale adopted the alias Don Mandarin in Applecraft, and released a Don Mandarin solo album in 2000 called This Was Quo Country.  Sager soldiered on post-partum with a new group of comrades.

Gareth Sager – Gets Pregnant

tracklist –

Refuel at Hamburg 

The Romance of Rock

Higher Type of Mind 

O'Cassey's Minibar

Wicked Tongue

Moodmaster

Rock of Rice Scum

Fallen for Bowey

Red West Coast Sunsets

Electric God

Bono Leave Eno Alone

Bewigged Unmarried Bizarre Car

It's Time for the Plants to Talk

God's Chosen Language

Francis (by Apache Dropout)

O'Driscoll's Curse (by Receiver)

The Benefactor (by Applecraft)

Enjoy,

jonder

CHAPTER TWO: GARETH SAGER GETS CC'ed

After the breakup of Head, "Sager didn’t spend all the 90’s hoovering and changing nappies," according to Bristol Archives.  “HEY DAD WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE 90’s?” one of Sager's sons asked.  “EAT TRIPE HOP AND EXCRETE BRIT PLOP, SON,” he replied.  Massive Attack and Portishead had set sail from Bristol, and Brittania's airwaves were ruled by the "lad rock" of Oasis.   

Sager produced and played on a 1990 Rough Trade release by singer/songwriter Craig Davies called Groovin' On A Shaft Cycle, along with Head guitarist Nick Sheppard and RR&P drummer Steve Noble (who has since become a prolific jazz drummer). 

Sager adopted the name CC Sager for a 1991 EP called "Fats Hustles The Pros and Cons".   Bristol Archives later included that track on a digital CC Sager collection called Hey, Dad What Do Poets Eat For Tea?  Pork and Opium Son, Pork and Opium.  Dave Hunter played bass, and Steve Noble manned the drums.  Head's Rich Beale sings two of the songs.

A second CC Sager set on Bristol Archives, called Prophylactic Fingertips, Cherry Lips & Other Unsung Songs, is less bluesy and more introspective than What Do Poets Eat For Tea. 

The Creeping Bent label released the third CC Sager album, The Last Second Of Normal Time, on CD in 2003.  Susie Hug of the band Katydids sang on the album.  She was married to Katydids/CC Sager bassist Dave Hunter.  

In 2006, Creeping Bent issued a digital album (under Gareth Sager's own name) called Slack Slack Music.  Davy Henderson sings three of the songs, and the spirit of Beefheart is at play.  The final track on this compilation ("So Fired Up") sounds like a classic Head song of drunken celebration.

CC Sager – Hey Dad

tracklist –

01 Fats Hustles The Pros and Cons

02 I Took It As Gospel

03 Hey Freaky Don't Paint It Blue

04 Roman Rust On the Out of Town Bus

05 Drive After Midnight

06 Keeping The Dancefloor Warm

07 Blown Bridges Blues – from Hey, Dad What Do Poets Eat For Tea?

08 Coming Out Of The Fifteenth Round

09 Beyond My Fathers Charms

10 Deathbed Lullaby – from Prophylactic Fingertips, Cherry Lips and Other Unsung Songs

11 The Johnny Bristol Flu

12 Honeypot Swarm

13 Hanging Lo With The Hi Waisters

14 Dumping My Roller Once The Ashtrays Are Full – from The Last Second of Normal Time

15 King Tubby In His Kitchen

16 Me The Broken Stink And The Piccadilly Kid

17 Hot Hits Vol. 27

18 So Fired Up – from Slack Slack Music

Enjoy,

Jonder

Mish Mash

First off, by request…

Alvarius B & Cerberus Shoal – The Vim & Vigour of…, North East Indie NEI0027, 2002.
decryption codes in comments

tracklist –

Ding

Blood Baby

Viking Christmas – Alvarius B

Blood Baby

Viking Christmas

The Real Ding – Cerberus Shoal

A couple alternate versions of Leaving Rome (side two here) by Two Badcard that were not on the Hustling Ability release…

Two Badcard – Leaving Rome, On-U Sound ON-U DP 33, 1995

Side One –

Leaving Rome (vocal version)

Leaving Rome (trumpet version)

Side Two –

Leaving Rome (Dennis Alcapone DJ version)

Leaving Rome (melodica version)

Also, from Aston 'Family Man' Barrett…

Aston 'Family Man' Barrett & the Rebel Arms – Family Man Skank b/w Dub Combination 7",
Cobra re-issue 2014 (recorded 1981).

Side A –

Family Man Skank

Side B –

Dub Combination

Lastly, after a revival in 2013, Chron Gen are back at it, touring & rippin’ it up. Search out this disc & purchase it for yourself. Their first in 28 years. Here’s a taste:

From Chron Gen – This is the Age

track 4 –

Ready to Overreact

bonus –

Chron Gen – Puppets of War 45rpm EP, Fresh Records FRESH 36, 1981.

Side A –

Mindless Few

Chronic Generation

Side B –

Lies

Puppets of War

Enjoy,

NØ