The Coming of Sound Systember

 

Those of you familiar with this back-water blog know that I often dedicate the month of September to Dub music. Every year the viewer results are fantastic, the visit rate is all-time high, the comments are abundant, & a good time is had by most. Every year I try to out-do myself & this year will be no exception. 

My plan is to call the month Sound Systember. I am going to try & show how Sound System culure created the environment that led to the rise & might of UK Dub.

Since the story of Sound System culture in the UK precedes Dub & since September is dedicated to Dub. I decided to share this beginning chapter now, as a run-up & preview of events to come.

Sound Systems were already big in JA & the rest of the Caribbean when HMT Empire Windrush brought one of the first large groups of post-war West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom & entered into history.

------------------------------------------------------------
Windrush

HMT Empire Windrush carried 1027 passengers & two stowaways on a voyage from Jamaica to London in 1948. Of these, more than 800 passengers gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean. Jamaica was the most popular country of origin (539 people), followed by Bermuda (139), Trinidad (73), British Guiana (44) & other Caribbean countries.

The reception in London was a major event that ended with a live performance from Calypso singer Aldwyn 'Lord Kitchener' Roberts singing the specially-written song "London is the Place for Me".
 
However, all was not as it appeared on the surface. The very poor couldn't leave Jamaica. They had to pay £28 for their passage & have another £5 on them when they sailed. This was an insurmountable number to the truly poor of the islands. 236 people arrived with no place to stay & were temporarily housed in the deep-level air raid shelter in Clapham Common. The nearest employment exchange to the shelter was in Brixton; so many of the original migrants eventually found accommodation in that area.

Also, just two days after the Windrush docked, a group of 11 Labour MPs wrote to Prime Minister Clement Attlee calling for a halt to the "influx of coloured people".

                        ____________________________________________________

One of the main ways to relieve the stress of a new-found land was immering in the culture of the islands. & one of the first things that was noticeably missing was music, mainly Calypso & soca played on the Sound Systems in the dancehalls & street of the immigrants native lands. For many of these immigrants, British pubs & clubs were hostile environments. (It was the era of  'No Dogs, No Blacks, No Irish'). British radio stations refused to play Jamaican music. So the Sound System began to make its slow rise in underground circuits through makeshift Dancehalls & word-of-mouth parties.

The first Sound System in the UK was Duke Vin's Tickler. Duke Vin was born Vincent George Forbes. He moved to London in 1954. Forbes, along with his two friends, Wilbert Augustus Campbell (DJ Count Suckle) & Lenny Fry stowed away on a cargo boat carrying bananas from Jamaica to England. After four days at sea, eating only the green bananas they found in the hold, they passed Cuba & emerged on to the deck, knowing that it would be too late for the captain to take them back.

Vin had learned his way around a Sound System by working for Tom 'the Great' Sebastian in Kingston, JA. With a fantastic collection of Jamaican music & US soul, Duke Vin built the first Sound System in England, the Tickler, in 1955 because he couldn’t find any dances like the ones he experienced in Kingston. 

 

He set up his first System at Ladbroke Grove in London & bought his records from a West London record shop owner named Daddy Peckings, who carried vinyl from Sir Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label. Record stores were the center of the Sound System growth at the time

Peckings Record Shop was the cornerstone in the history of reggae music in the UK. Like so many others, George Price, AKA Mr. Peckings, travelled in the early 1960s from Kingston in Jamaica to London, via Southampton. With him he brought the music of the Studio One Records label; without question one the most influential reggae record labels of all time.

Peckings Record Shop on Askew Road, Shepherd's Bush, was for many years the sole distributor of Studio One Records in the UK. This gives a clue to the huge influence this shop had on early Sound System culture in London.

This record gives a glimpse into the music Mr. Peckings would listen to himself, when working in the shop.

 

Various Artists - Tribute to Peckings, Jamaica Recording, 2015.
all decryption codes in comments

Ting a Ling - The Heptones
Send Me Some Loving - Cornell Campbell
Wise Words - Freddie McGregor
Meditation - R. Alexander
Major Walk - Ernest Ranglin
How Much I Love You - Owen Grey
Things Getting Hard - Lloyd Charmers
Everyday Is a Holiday - The Silvertones
I Don't Know - Freddie McGregor
Time Marches On - Owen Grey
La La Means I Love You - Winston Francis
Every Night - Don D. Junior
Over Flow - Lilly White & Sound Dimension
Roland Alphonso - Last Call - Roland Alphonso
Corn Meal Duckunu - Sammy Davis

 

 

 

 

Duke Vin continued deejaying for the rest of his life, spinning at the Marquee Club, the Flamingo, Brixton Town Hall, the Ram Jam Club, the Roaring Twenties, & Stoke Newington Hall. In true Jamaican fashion, he engaged in Sound System clashes with fellow deejays. His primary rival was Count Suckle.

Count Suckle, whose real name was Wilbert Augustus Campbell, stowed away on the same boat as Vin. Just as he had followed Vin to England, he followed in suit & started his own Sound System shortly after the Tickler. He called his Count Suckle's Sound System & he was shortly in huge demand at parties all over London. He made it his business to source the sounds that people wanted to hear. As he built up a reputation on the London party circuit, he would contact Randy's Record Shop in Gallatin, Tennessee. They would post to him the latest discs on the Sun, Chess, & Modern/RPM labels. He also obtained records from Jamaica. In 1958, on the first night of the Notting Hill riots, he was playing at a party in a street off Ladbroke Grove when the house was set on fire by a petrol bomb. The police had to escort Suckle & the revellers to safety while an angry mob of white working-class men stood outside shouting, "Kill the niggers! Send them back home!"

 

 

Feeling the fear of the times, Wilbert went legit, kinda. Suckle became a regular DJ at the Flamingo Club, in Soho's Wardour Street, where Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames had a residency in the early 1960s. Somebody told the owner, Rik Gunnell, that if he wanted to fill the club they needed to find Suckle. They did & from then on James Brown's Night Train, Sam Cooke's Night Beat & other African-American imports, as well as West Indian ska & calypso records, throbbed through the streets of Soho.

Eventually he secured residency at the Roaring Twenties on the West End of London. Count Suckle played his records between sets by a live band that played to a mixed white & black crowd. They came together for the music, R&B & ska, which was unlike anything else played in London at the time. Count Suckle opened his own club in 1962, called the Cue (later Q) Club, on Praed Street, Paddington. 

 

 Count Suckle sez:

     "We've always moved with the times . . . when we opened ska music was the thing, Prince Buster, Don Drummond, Reco, Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, Baba Brooks, y'know. They all played here when they toured London. We played all the latest things and the new dances caught on quick." 

 

He also founded a record label, Q Records, an imprint of Trojan.

But the early Sound Systems weren't the volume monsters of a few years later. The loudness & the heaviness of the bass had yet to become prevalent. Serving up some of that sweet soul music for the island folks was key to Duke & the Count. Here's a set of their sounds...quite different from the Sound System culture soon to come.

 

 

Various - Duke Vin & Count Suckle present Sound System UK: the Beginning, NØ Comp., 2024.

Intro
Honky Tonk Part 1 & 2 - Bill Doggett
Leona - Donnie Elbert
High School Dance - Larry Williams
Oh Gee-Oo-Wee - Charlie & Ray
Please Don’t Go - Count Suckle & the Rudies
Hey Boy Hey Girl - Oscar McLollie & Jeanette Baker
Ska Town - Prince Buster
Hot Ginger - Bill Doggett
My Boy Lollypop - Barbie Gale
Outro

 

 

Other Jamaican deejays in England during the 1950s & 1960s were the Coleman Brothers (Arnold & Cecil), Ossie Holt, Count Shelley, Sir Dick, Count Myrie, Duke Brown, & Count C. They played everywhere from garages to ballrooms. They played at clubs like the Ram Jam Club in Brixton or the 007 in Dalston. They played music imported from Jamaica, as well as records from their own collections that they had brought with them, or they found music in Britian as more & more British labels sprang up: Blue Beat, Island, Planitone, Orbitone, Trojan, & Pama Records.

Here's an example... 

 

 

Various - More Early Sound System Sounds, NØ Comp., 2024.

 

Forward March - Derrick Morgan
Don't Throw Stones - Prince Buster
A Message to You Rudi - Levi Roots
Riverflow - Clancy Eccles
I'm in the Mood for Ska - Lord Tanamo
Eye for an Eye - Prince Buster
Man in the Street - Don Drummond
Guns of Navarone - The Skatalites
Cool Breeze - Bunny & Skitter
Chinaman Ska - Prince Buster

 

See you in September,
NØ

Prompted by Other Blogs, Part 13

 

I'm always cruising around the interweb, looking for interesting music. I’ll see or hear something out there that sets me on a path. 

I haven't done this series in a long time but today I was visiting A Few Good Times in My Life blog. Walter was reminiscing about UB40's first release Signing Off. Commentors were lamenting the sad decline of the band after their first three albums. 

I'll be the first to admit that they put out a bunch of Live albums & lost direction discs & tapered off from their heyday, but I always thought that they had enough chestnuts throughout their catalogue to keep them vital. For me, one in particular...

Case in point.

UB40 - Homegrown, DEP International DEPCD22, 2003.
decryption code in comments

So Destructive    
I Knew You    
Drop on By    
Someone like Me    
Freestyler    
Everything is Better Now
Just Be Good (Bushman Dub)    
Young Guns    
Hand That Rocks the Cradle    
Nothing Without You
Nothing Without You (Dub)
bonus track -     
Swing Low

& since I’m nothin’ without you (original & Dub), let me know what you think.

Enjoy,
NØ

Centeneray WLFC

 

Fitting in perfectly with the last two months worth of items I recovered from Siblingshot On the Bleachers & Digital Meltd0wn is this treasure from We're Late for Class. I've followed WLFC ever since I first started NSS back in 2007. They are still going strong & just released their 100th album.

We're Late for Class is an improvisational psychedelic college collective made up of Cats & Kittens who are so busy working out their improvised jams that they're often later for class, all for their own & then our entertainment.

I am proud of the fact that this is the only blog that I have everything they ever shared & then some. Previously on NSS they can be found here & here.

All their greatness can be found here including jam sessions, party tapes, various releases by Art Jackson’s Atrocity or The Manipulators. They're all free at 320Kbps or in anyavailable lossless formats (WAV, FLAC, AIFF, etc) over at bandcamp for $1.

Their latest, the BIG #100 is called Steal this Download & is free in any format. WLFC sez: "To steal Steal This Download at Bandcamp, there's a "name your price" option. But all you need to do is just input "$0" and it's yours. We did this so you don't even have to cough up your email address for a freebie. After all, Abbie Hoffman never demanded your email address, so why should we? “

A 23 track, 3 hour, 20 minute compilation...

We’re Late for Class - Steal This Download mp3 files, 2024.

1. Seasonal Care & Feeding Of Tony Conrad's Surviving Cats (14:33)
2. Swimming With Sharks (5:06)
3. Caterwaul (5:20)
4. Blood Queen Of Sun Ra (8:21)
5. "Is This Phase 2...?" (Moon Mix) (11:04)
6. The Original King Heroin (8:06)
7. Message From Fornax (Pre-JMST Instrumental) (14:01)
8. Wind Of The Hawk (4:20)
9. 67 (4:23)
10. Stanley's Sun Ra Conga Line Experience (7:09)
11. Checkers (5:41)
12. Live In The Theatre Of DisBelief, Episode II (26:18)
13. Him Tome (4:28)
14. The 10:50 That Followed (10:47)
15. Soundtrack To A German Existential Student Art Film, Pt. 2 (4:40)
16. Venusian Caravan Mirage (3:08)
17. Reptilian Manner (3:24)
18. Ruptured Disk (Take One) (2:40)
19. The Monolith Monsters (aka Monster Magnet Remix) (8:19)
20. Pantscrappers (10:09)

PLUS 2 TRACKS PREVIOUSLY ONLY AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE...
21. A Pregnant Tight Rope Walker in Santa Ana (bonus) (3:58)
22. 'Set The Controls...' (middle section/mike-floyd edit) (bonus) (9:44)

UNRELEASED soundseight...
23. soundseight - cannabinol (23:58)

Enjoy,
NØ

The End of the Line

 

NØ sez:
     Saved the wackiest for last. Probably one of the weirdest records as far as the back story behind it!

Lord L.Ron Hubbard, known to his followers as The Source, assembled this funky jazz ensemble from members of Sea Org aboard the flagship of their fleet, The Apollo, originally named The Royal Scotman (supposed to be The Royal Scotsman, but typos & no spell-check in those days). The Sea Org is a unit of the Church of Scientology, comprising the church's most dedicated members. It was established on August 12, 1967 by Commodore L.Ron Hubbard, the Science Fiction church's founder. They initially resided on board three ships, the Diana, the Athena, & the Apollo because they where banned from nearly every country around the globe. In 1971, Sea Org assumed responsibility for the ecclesiastical development of the church, particularly the upper levels of its training known as Operating Thetan or OT. The band itself played a strange semi-skilled brand of garage jazz. The fact is that this band was assembled to gather recruits for Scientology with free "rock concerts" around the world.

The musick on this album was primarily imagined by L.Ron, honed to its razor sharp mediocrity aboard the Apollo. Then the musick was recorded over a period of days, recording 14 to 15 hours at a crack, directed by Hubbard. Hubbard had rented a movie theater in Portugal as the recording venue. As the Stars recorded, they were constantly badgered by Hubbard to fit their styles within the narrow confines of Hubbard's vision. He charged them a dollar for every wrong note they played (still, many wrong notes made it into the final recording). When it was over, the Stars owed Hubbard hundreds of dollars for their mis-playing.

If you are interested in things Scientological, read on…

Excerpt taken from Bare-Faced Messiah, a unauthorized biography of L. Ron Hubbard & Scientology by Russell Miller. The Church fought this book in the courts, but in the end lost their case. However, they have used their incredible influence to make sure copies of it are extremely hard to come by (& expensive). Pdf files can be found around the interweb, however. Read on…:

First, some Naval background data on Mr Hubbard, quoted from one of his spurious 'official' biographies: 'He served in the South Pacific and in 1942 was relieved by fifteen officers of rank and was rushed home to take part in the 1942 battle against German submarines as Commanding Officer of a Corvette serving in the North Atlantic. In 1943 he was made Commodore of Corvette squadrons and in 1944 he worked with amphibious forces.' Following was a list of seventeen medals awarded to Mr Hubbard, including the Purple Heart and the Navy Commendation Medal, many of them with bronze stars.

Miller writes: "On 18 June, the Navy Department replied, enclosing the four routine medals awarded to former Lieutenant Lafayette R. Hubbard, US Naval Reserve, and noting, 'The records in this Bureau fail to establish Mr Hubbard's entitlement to the other medals and awards listed in your request.'

The Commodore apparently had no difficulty circumventing this little problem: he quickly put into circulation an eight-by-ten color photograph of twenty-one medals and palms he had won during the war. Some were missing, he explained to the crew. He had actually won twenty-eight medals, but the remainder were awarded to him in secret because naval command were embarrassed that he had sunk a couple of subs in their own 'back yard'.

In the summer, the Commodore turned his attention from his own image to that of his ship. He was taken with an idea to improve the Apollo's public relations by staging free concerts and dance performances for the local residents at her regular ports of call. After hours of watching television in Queens, he considered himself an expert on popular music and modern dance and believed he had made important 'discoveries' about the nature of rock music and the need for a strong heavy beat. He often demonstrated his theories to a mystified Jim Dincalci. On the ship, he was able to put his ideas into practice with his own band, the 'Apollo Stars', made up of volunteers from the crew chosen at auditions conducted by the Commodore with all the confidence and aplomb of a man who had spent a lifetime in show business.

Ken Urquhart, who probably knew more about music than anyone on board, resolutely refused to become involved. 'My favourite composer was Mozart, not the horrible, raucous noise they were making. They practiced on the deck most afternoons, playing music made up by LRH with a very primitive, animal beat. There was no way I was going to go near them.' Mike Goldstein, who had played drums in a semi-professional group while he was at university, volunteered to play with the Apollo Stars in order to get out of the RPF (Rehabilitation Project Force). 'LRH had said anyone in the RPF who was accepted for the band or the dance troupe would be let out. I volunteered because I thought anything was better than running around in a black boiler suit. I was wrong. The band was terrible, awful; it was the most embarrassing thing I have ever done.'

Hubbard's idea was that the Apollo Stars would be playing on the aft well deck each time the ship entered a harbor and that bookings for both the band and dance troupe would be arranged in advance at every port of call. Since he would be making appearances himself, he had a new uniform designed with a suitably theatrical flair. It featured a powder blue kepi with a lavishly gold-braided peak and a cloak in the same hue, lined with scarlet silk. He looked, Urquhart reported, 'most peculiar'.

Quentin Hubbard, now twenty, began rehearsing with the dance troupe and enjoyed it so much he made the mistake of telling his father he would like to be a dancer. 'Oh no you wouldn't,' Hubbard replied. 'I have other plans for you.' There was no further discussion and Quentin was no longer allowed to perform. Not long afterwards, he made a feeble attempt at suicide while the ship was docked at Funchal in Madeira.

'He'd gone missing ashore for a while,' said his friend Doreen Smith, 'and while people were out looking for him he just walked back on board. I went to see him in his cabin to make sure he was OK and found him lying on his bunk. He smiled at me and I said, 'Hi, how are you feeling?' He said, 'Not so good, my stomach's real upset.' Then he said, 'Doreen, I've done the most awful thing. I've taken a whole lot of pills.' I said, 'Oh shit. Get out of the bunk and don't go to sleep.' I began walking him around the cabin and said, 'You know I'm going to have to tell your Dad, don't you?' He nodded and said, 'I know. He'll know what to do.'

Doreen ran to the Commodore's cabin and said 'Quentin's taken some pills.' Hubbard did not need it spelled out. He told Doreen to fetch some mustard from the galley and mixed it into a drink which he made Quentin gulp down. The boy vomited repeatedly and was taken to the sick bay to recover. His father sent down a message that as soon Quentin was well enough to leave the sick bay, he was to be assigned to the RPF. Mary Sue Hubbard, Hubbard’s third wife, who had a reputation for protecting her children against the excesses of the ship's regime, was powerless to intervene. She was supposed to be responsible for welfare on board -- indeed, she had won a special dispensation from the Commodore to allow married couples in the RPF to spend one night together a week -- but knew her husband was in a towering rage over Quentin and there was nothing she could do.

Rebecca Goldstein was among the inmates of the RPF when Quentin arrived. 'It was real tough for him,' she said. 'He was very delicate and refined, not at all self-important, very unlike his father. He had hardly any facial or body hair and it was very hard to say whether he had started shaving. There were rumors that he'd attempted suicide before. He cringed from his father, he was completely overwhelmed by him.'

The valiant attempts of the Apollo Stars and its associated dance troupe to win the hearts and minds of the Spanish and the Portuguese people did not meet with overwhelming success, although the political climate did not help. There had been a military coup in Portugal earlier in the year and the subsequent unease tended to make the Portuguese nervous of mysterious foreign ships calling at its ports for no apparent reason. The Apollo had also managed to upset the Spaniards by mistakenly attempting to enter a major naval base at El Firol.

The ship's real problem, however, was that its 'shore story' was wearing thin. Portuguese and Spanish port authorities were still being told that the Apollo was owned by a highly successful business consultancy firm, but all they could see was an old, rust-streaked ship, often festooned with ragged laundry and crewed by young people in tattered, ill-assorted uniforms. It was little wonder that suspicions mounted about its activities and rumors took hold that the ship was operated by the CIA.

Jim Dincalci, who had been put ashore to run a port office in Funchal, Madeira, became alarmed by the rumors. 'It seemed to be common knowledge in Madeira that the ship was not what it was supposed to be and most people seemed to think it was a CIA spy ship. I had made friends on the island and had contacts in local Communist cells. The word was that the Communists were out to get the ship next time she arrived in Madeira. I sent telexes to LRH warning him what was happening and advising him not come to Madeira until things had calmed down. I was absolutely shocked to see the ship come into the harbor.'

The Apollo arrived in Funchal on 7 October and moored in her usual berth. Emissaries were sent ashore to advertize a 'rock festival' to be held at the weekend, featuring the Apollo Stars. Late on the afternoon of Wednesday, 9 October, while Mary Sue and several members of the crew were ashore, a small crowd of young men began to gather on the quayside. By the way they were glowering and gesticulating at the ship, it was obvious to those on board that this was not a social call. Soon the crowd, which was growing all the time, began chanting 'C-I-A, C-I-A, C-I-A.'

Nervous Scientologists lining the rails of the ship tried chanting 'CIA' back at the crowd, but it did nothing to lower the tension. Then the first stone clanged against the Apollo's hull and a bottle smashed on the fore deck. More stones and bottles followed as the crowd's anger spread. The crew scattered to take shelter and began picking up the stones from the deck and throwing them back into the crowd. In a matter of moments it became a pitched battle.

Hubbard, who was watching what was going on from the bridge, got out a bullhorn and boomed 'Communista, Communista’ at the crowd. Then he began taking photographs of the stone-throwers with a flash unit, further inflaming their tempers. Several of the crew were hit by flying stones, including Kima Douglas, whose jaw was broken by a large lump of rock that hit her full in the face. On the quayside, one of the crowd opened his trousers, waggled his penis and took a direct hit with a well-aimed stone from the ship.

With stones and sticks and bottles flying in all directions, there was total confusion on board the Apollo. Some crew members would later describe the Commodore as being perfectly cool through the whole incident, others said he appeared to be terrified. Whatever his state, no one was taking charge and everyone was screaming orders. In one part of the ship someone was trying to get together a party to repel boarders; in another, the sea hoses were being run out and trained on the crowd in an attempt to persuade them to disperse.

Any remaining vestige of control among the rabble-rousers vanished when the ship turned its hoses on them. On the quayside there were several motor-cycles belonging to members of the crew and two of the ship's cars -- a Mini and a Fiat. All the motor-cycles were hurled into the harbor, then both cars were pushed over the edge of the quay, hitting the water with an enormous splash and quickly disappearing under the surface. Meanwhile, others in the crowd slipped the Apollo's mooring-lines from the bollards and she began to drift away from the quayside.

At this point, the Portuguese authorities belatedly appeared on the scene to restore order. Armed militia were put on board to provide protection, a pilot assisted with anchoring the ship in the harbor and a launch rescued those members of the crew who had been stranded ashore, including Mary Sue. The police demanded the film that Hubbard had been taking during the riot and the Commodore, mighty pleased with himself, dutifully handed over two rolls of unexposed film from cameras he had not been using. It was nightfall before the decks had been cleared of the broken glass and rubble.

Since it rather appeared as if the people of Madeira were no longer interested in a rock concert featuring the Apollo Stars, the ship sailed next day, leaving information with the harbor authorities in Funchal that she was heading for the Cape Verde Islands, 1500 miles to the south. She departed on a purposeful southerly course until she was out of sight. She then turned west, equally purposefully, prompting the crew to speculate with mounting excitement that the Commodore had decided to return to the United States.”

Then some more information on the actual making of this album.
From "The Apollo: Voyage of the Damned" by Neal Hamel:

Excerpt…

 I Write the Songs That Make the Whole World Gag
"The picture on the cover of the Apollo Stars album shows a peculiarly grim-faced L. Ron Hubbard sitting before the controls of the mixing board, surrounded by his retinue, technical people and musicians.

Hubbard had spent tens of thousands of dollars to obtain the very best recording equipment, yet the Apollo Stars music on this album is technically and musically sub-par. Apparently Hubbard did not understand the basics of mixing. The music on the album sounds as if he did the mix while listening through headphones with cotton in his ears, never bothering to listen to it through speakers. The sound, distorted and mixed in the wrong proportions, is bunched into the right and left channels, an amateur's gross mistake. The rhythm guitarist was mixed in just as loud as the soloists. This way one can clearly hear the same two chords over and over and over and over again (while the high voltage saxophone player plays the ten notes that he knew over and over and over again). The muses were battered and bruised.

Once they had finalized a song, the Stars were only allowed to play their songs one way, no variation in notes, tempo or feeling. Hubbard, satisfied with a rendition of one of their pieces of music would decree that that rendition was the LRH Approved Version. If Hubbard caught them changing the music as he listened to local radio broadcasts there would be hell to pay.

The Apollo Stars were a part of a public relations campaign organized by Hubbard to improve the image of the much beleaguered Apollo. Like all the elements of Hubbard's public relations campaign, it failed and failed dramatically.

Once while docked in a Caribbean port and certainly without Hubbard's permission, the Apollo Stars participated in an all-night jam session with local musicians. Away from the oppressiveness of their hemisemidemigod, reports one of the musicians involved, the music had, for one night away from Hubbard, become enjoyable.

The decline of the Apollo Stars is a metaphor for the final year of the Apollo. Advance men would arrange free concerts for the locals as part of the arrival of the Apollo into ports. The official concerts deteriorated into lackluster affairs attended by bored locals. Finally the Stars were just abandoned as Hubbard reassigned the musicians to other duties. As things got more and more desperate, Hubbard sent a message to the US Guardian's Office head (DGUS), ordering that a land base be established as there were no places left for the Apollo to go. Hubbard said he was running out of time. The DGUS dispatched an assistant from his office in California to Florida and under the business name of Southern Land Development Corporation arranged the transfer of the Sea Org to a "Land Base".

The 'Voyage of the Damned' was over, but the on-shore migration ushered in another chapter in the sorry history of the Sea Org."

 

The Apollo Stars - The Power of Source, Source Records SE1001, 1974
decryption code in comments

Side 1 –
The Power of Source
Summertime

Side 2 –
We're Moving In
Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
My Dear Portugal(Meu Querido Portugal)

That's the end of my Meltd0wn...the very final post there,
NØ

Joining the Purple Image of Death

 

Zero_ii sez:
     Black Merda emerged during the late 60s as a group that blended funk & psychedelic rock. Before forming Black Merda, the three friends Anthony Hawkins, VC L. Veasey, & Tyrone Hite all worked independently of one another as session musicians. Eventually they performed together as The Impacts, backing up several soul & R&B acts affialiated with Motown / Brunswick Records. In 1965 Edwin Starr hired the trio to perform as the backing band for the single "Agent Double-O Soul" (here). Starr was so impressed that he decided to hire the group as his permanent backing band afterwards, dubbing them the Soul Agents.

In the latter half of the 60s the group started undergoing a series of changes, which would eventually culminate in the formation of Black Merda. In 1966 the group was introduced to Jimi Hendrix, who would have a profound influence on the trio's approach to music. They began to drift away from their previous sound, choosing to refashion themselves as a rock power trio in the same vein as The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In 1967 Anthony Hawkin's brother Charles was also inducted into the group as a second guitar player to broad the group's sound. The group would continue to evolve, drawing inspiration from the newly emerging hard funk & soul scenes.

In 1968 the group decided to move on from their Soul Agents moniker. They refashioned themselves as Black Merda, a psychedelic funk rock group with socially conscious lyrics. In 1969 the group received their big break after Chess Records signed Black Merda to their label based on the recommendation of the famous Temptations member Eddie Kendricks. Chess released Black Merda's self-titled album in 1970. Despite being well received, the album suffered from a lack of promotion due to management changes that were taking place at Chess. The group's follow up efforts were also poorly promoted, prompting the members to return to performing as session musicians to make a living.

Looking back in hindsight the group is fondly remembered as one of the pioneering groups of the black psychedelic rock / heavy funk scene, paving the way for groups that expanded on their idea, eventually eclipsing them in fame, such as Funkadelic or The Bar-Kays. I consider Black Merda's self-titled debute album to be their best. It ranks alongside some of my favorite forgotten groups that merged psychedelic rock with funk, soul and blues, such as Purple Image, the Cosmic Travelers, Blo, & Ofo the Black Company. 

 

Black Merda - Black Merda, Chess LPS-1551, 1970
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -
Prophet
Think of Me
Cynthy-Ruth
Over & Over
Ashamed

Side 2 -
Reality
Windsong
Good Luck
That's The Way it Goes
I Don't Want to Die
Set Me Free

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

I Feel Like a Lucky Monkey

 

NØ sez:
     Well, my attention deficit disorder is kicking in. I though it would help me organize my thoughts & determine my choices by posting musick in alphabetical order. Now I'm getting bored with the procedure. So today I'm hitting three letters all at once...I-ggy Pop, J-ames Williamson, & K-ill City.

After the second break-up of The Stooges (the first break-up & reformation added Williamson to The Stooges as Ron Asheton moved from guitar to bass & Dave Alexander moved from alcoholic to dead), Iggy & James recorded Kill City. This disc is somewhere in the no-mans land between The Stooges & Iggy's solo career. Although maligned by many (mostly for its less than stellar production values), this is by far my favorite post-Stooges work by Mr. Pop (& really damn good considering Iggy was in drug rehab at the time).

Released in 1977 by Bomp Records. All tunes written by Iggy Pop & James Williamson except "Master Charge" by James Williamson & Scott Thurston.

Players on this album are: Iggy Pop - vocals; James Williamson - guitar; Scott Thurston - keyboards, bass, backing vocals, special effects, & harmonica; Brian Glasscock - drums, congas, African beaters, backing vocals, & guiro; Steve Tranio - bass; Tony Sales - backing vocals & bass; Hunt Sales - backing vocals & drums; John Harden - saxophone; & Gayna (from the Count Dracula Society) - backing vocals on "Night Theme".

 

Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City, Bomp Records BLP-4001, 1977.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -
Kill City
Sell Your Love
Beyond the Law
I Got Nothin'
Johanna
Night Theme

Side 2 -
Night Theme (reprise)
Consolation Prizes
No Sense of Crime
Lucky Monkeys
Master Charge

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Jack of All Names

 

NØ sez:
     After TSOL & right before Tender Fury, True Sons vocalist & co-founder Jack Grisham (Jack Greggors in TSOL, here as Jack Loyd) joined up with Mike Patton & some other musickian friends to release the one-off Cathedral of Tears on Enigma.

In Jack's own words,

     "This is one of those mistakes you make that you can't take back. My dad died, I was going through a lot of shit...I stole the tapes. We had a record...we wrote a bunch of new songs, went in the studio & I stole the tapes. Our record company had said, 'There's no song here that will get radio play,' & I was like 'Bullshit, there is.' So I stole the tapes from the record company, took it to the radio station, & they were playing our song ("Black Emotion") while I was driving away. (laughs) & it turned out to be the number four requested song on the station that year. With no record out. & then Enigma finally put it out. They finally put it out, but it was too late. I had already done the damage by the time it came out."

Cathedral of Tears were: Jack Loyd (Grisham) - vocals; Mark Ford - guitar; Mike Patton - bass; Eddie Sedano - keyboards; & John Guerrero - drums; with additinal help from Mike Borens & Jon St. James - guitars; & Chaz Ramirez - backing vocals. 

 

Cathedral of Tears - Cathedral of Tears, Enigma Records E-1045, 1984
decryption code in coments

This Side -
Trap
A Situation Of...
Calm Storm

The Other Side -
Black Emotion
Ballet
Whisper from the Deadland

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Qouth the Raver, Evermore

 

NØ sez:
     I guess I'll be disclosing my ancient age, but 1968 was a pivotal year in my life. The U.S. industrial-military complex decided that in order to expand & maintain their Imperialist war in Vietnam that it was necessary to institute a Draft Lottery for the inscription of young men into the War Machine. My lottery number was 40. I was destined for tropical Southeast Asia unless things in my life drastically changed. Donovan was a big influence on me at that time. Often mentioned together in musickal commentaries of the time, Dylan was the greater poet & probably the better musickian, but songs like "Universal Soldier" & "The War Drags On" put Donovan's humanity squarely into the minds of a generation, while classics like "Catch the Wind" & "Sunny Goodge Street" touched that deepest spot within our souls where we all desired to reside.

Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be is a compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan (Leitch) released in the U.S. on Hickory Records in April 1968. This was the second Hickory Records compilation using Donovan's 1965 Pye Records material, following the moderately successful The Real Donovan from 1966. By 1968, Donovan had released a string of hit singles & albums in both the U.S. & U.K.

Although most of the songs on Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be had been released on: What's Bin Did & What's Bin Hid (U.S. title: Catch the Wind); Fairytale; The Universal Soldier EP & the "Turquoise" single , the new compilation did contain "Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do" & a cover of Bert Jansch's "Do You Hear Me Now?", neither of which had been included on any of Donovan's U.S. lps.

The following are the original releases of each song:
"Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?" b-side of "Catch the Wind" released March 12, 1965;
"Josie" & "Catch the Wind" from What's Bin Did & What's Bin Hid released May 14, 1965;
"Summer Day Reflection Song", "Colours", "To Try for the Sun", & "Sunny Goodge Street" from Fairytale released October 22, 1965;
"Do You Hear Me Now?", "Universal Soldier", & “The War Drags On” from The Universal Soldier EP released August 15, 1965;
& "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)" b-side of "Turquoise" released October 30, 1965. 

 

Donovan - Like it Is, Was, & Evermore Shall Be, Hickory Records LPS143, 1968.
decryption code in comments

Side 1-
Summer Day Reflection Song
Do You Hear Me Now? (Bert Jansch cover)
Colours
Universal Soldier (Buffy Sainte-Marie cover)
Josie
Catch the Wind

Side 2-
Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do?
To Try for the Sun
Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)
The War Drags On
Sunny Goodge Street

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

32 VII 69 & 23 VIII 64

 

NØ sez:
     The Black Record is actually entitled 31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM Munich from Map of 49's Dream: The Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery; 23 VIII 64 2:50:45-3:11 AM the Volga Delta from Studies in The Bowed Disc. It is called more simply the Black Record after the album artwork done by La Monte's wife Marian Zazeela.

La Monte Young is one of the founding members of the genre of musick called Minimalism (a term which he despises). He is one of the greatest innovators of 20th century composition. His influence is everywhere in the world of modern musick. Unfortunately he is for the most part unheard & unknown outside a small circle of musickians & musick lovers.

Young & Zazeela recorded their first full length album in Munich for Heiner Friedrich's Edition X label. Released as a limited edition of 2000, the first 98 were signed & dated by the artists. Side one is a section of "Map of 49's Dream", performed by Young with sinewave drone & voice, with vocal accompaniment by Zazeela. Side two is an extract from "Study for the Bowed Disc" featuring the duo bowing a gong given to them by sculptor Robert Morris. Morris had made it for his dance piece "War" & asked Young to play it for the performance. Afterwards Morris presented the gong to Young, who began experimenting on it with double bass bows. Young recommended the listener turn the musick up (PLAY FUCKING LOUD), the resulting low drone being a spiritual tool. For the album artwork, Marian Zazeela embedded her calligraphic lettering & designs in black. The point is to focus on her artwork while concentrating on the vocal/sinewave drones of Young's dream music. 

 

La Monte Young - The Black Record, Edition X, 1969.

Side 1 -
31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM Munich from Map of 49‘s Dream: The Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery
Side 2 -
23 VIII 64 2:50:45 - 3:11 AM the Volga Delta from Studies in the Bowed Disc

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Wake Up, it’s Mañana

 

NØ sez:
     I've had a few Meth-lab experiences, but not like this one.  A Meth-Lab Experience is a brief sojourn, only five instrumental tracks, a short journey into the depths of the desert near Tijuana, lying in the back of a car under the influence of something seemingly more psychedelic than meth.

A Tijuana Trip was originally a one man band started in November 2005 in Lyon, France by Pierre Guilbert. He says he was influenced by a combination of American indie bands of the 80s & 90s (like Soundgarden, Hüsker Dü, Nirvana, Black Flag, Kyuss) & the Link Wray surf sound. Pierre has described it as "stoner surfing". ATT's first demo, from 2006 is called A Meth-Lab Experience. 

 

A Tijuana Trip - A Meth-Lab Experience, self-produced demo, 2006.

Opium
Bad Alcohol
Red Forest
Cocaïno Party
Ether Desert

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

In Saccharine We Trust

 

NØ sez:
     Saccharine Trust came out of the southern California SST scene that also included bands like Black Flag, SWA, Descendents, October Faction, DC3, Tom Troccoli's Dog & many many more. The band was started by singer Jack Brewer (Jack Brewer Band, Perfect Rat, w/Bazooka, w/Kava) & Joe Baiza (Universal Congress of..., October Faction, Natassya Filippovna, & Unknown Instructors[with Mike Watt & George Hurley of Minutemen fame]) in 1980. Original drummer Rob Holzman appeared on their 1981 debut Paganicons but left the band to play in Slovenly & was replaced by drummer Tony Cicero. Many musick luminaries including Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osborne, & Sonic Youth have named Sacchrine Trust as a major influence on their musick. Sonic Youth covered their song "I Am Right" on the SST compilation The Melting Plot. 

 

Saccharine Trust - The Great One is Dead, Hazelwood Records HAZ 015, 2001
decryption code in comments

The Sinister Rain
Grotian Phraseology
The Sadness of Apollo
Legends Die Behind the Wheel, at Least
Neruda's Wave
Birthing the Ancestors
Antecedent Satisfaction
This is Wilmington
Nocturnal Ballets
Reggie's Plateau
Untitled No.2 (I Gave Another Dimension the Slip)
Ordinary Calvinistic
Untitled No.1 (The Creative Fluctuation)
The Great One is Dead
Water on the Dancefloor
Against Faustus
Resuscitate the Worm
Now that You're Dead

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Eat More Dant

 

NØ sez:
     In March, 2011, when a massive earthquake caused a devastating tsunami in Japan, I posted a cassette by Karasyozoku entitled Mischievous Sigyn 1923. They are a hard noise band from Japan. That release was on the great Lust Vessel label. At the time I stated that I had other material from Lust Vessel in case anyone was interested. Well, DM founder Zer0_ii replied that he would like to hear more, but the request got shuttled to the back burner. As I was re-uploading lost files recently, I noticed his comment. Thought nearly two years later I might just oblige…kinda.

Mordant Karma has released material on Lust Vessel, but Devour was released in 2012 on White Centipede Noise. Mordant Karma is an obscure solo noise project from Japan that started recording in 2008, using home-made metal junk instruments to make nonstop earsplitting feedback. The wall-of-sound from this inhospitable harsh noise is intended to strongly stimulate your libido.

Really a great release from this little-known Japanese project. Multilayered harsh noise paired with annoying, clean feedback, producing "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even human intention, using primarily feedback, vocals, & various electronics. 

 

Mordant Karma - Devour cassette, White Centipede Noise – WCN011, 2012.

Side A:
Untitled
Side B:
Untitled

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Styles

 

NØ sez:
     "Want to look good for the arms race? At the Nuclear Beauty Parlor you can curl up & dye. Have an MX perm with B1 curls. You can be the envy of all the girls." 

This is some avant-garde weirdness from the early 80s that needs to be heard. It seems most appropriately at home at Digital Meltd0wn (or here...NØ).

In the early 80s in San Francisco there were a group of art fags acting in performance art troupes like Monster Girls or Nuclear Beauty Parlor. This single is the second release from NBP. Both sides were written basically by Vicki Krohn.

Re Styles (of The Tubes fame) sings the A-side while Vicki & some friends do the B-side. There are some other now famous musicians on this gem: Larry Batiste; Clayton (aka Claytoven) Richardson; & Will Kennedy. The cover illustration & design was done by Sub-Genii Paul Mavrides. 

 

Re Styles & the Final Rinse b/w V.K & Sci-Fi - The Nuclear Beauty Parlor,
NBP Records TFS 0002, 1983

Side A...Re Styles & the Final Rinse - The Nuclear Beauty Parlor
Side B...V.K. & SCI-FI - Awake

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Who Said, Port Said

 

NØ sez:
     What could be a better excuse for me to post up something by one of my favorite bands Muslimgauze, the non de guerre of Bryn Jones.

Bryn used his musick to paint a statement about the conditions in the Arab world. He used the artwork of his covers to paint a picture of rebellion. Although an outsider from Manchester, England, Bryn faithfully & honestly presented those same feeling of unrest through his music.

The ultra-prolific Bryn Jones was infatuated with the politics, music, sound, & feel of the Middle East. Almost every single release of his has sampled Middle Eastern speech, percussion, instruments, etc. to make some of the most incredible music out there, ranging from noise to dub to hip hop to ambient to.. well, whatever Port Said is.

Since this is a very limited release, I thought it would be excellent to post here. Although it is named after Egypt’s famous port, Port Said is unique among Jones’ releases in that it's one of few Muslimgauze releases with absolutely NO Middle Eastern influence. 

 

Muzlimgauze(sp) - Port Said, Audio.NL 004, 1999
decryption code in comments

Side a -
Port Said 1

Side b -
Port Said 2

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

The Harvester of Souls

 

NØ sez:
     The electronic spawn of Godzilla is about to funktify your fuzzface. Yes, indeed, it is none other than Bootsy Collins in one of his many various personalities...this time Zillatron Fuzzface Bootsy, the Lord of the Harvest (of souls, we might ask???).

Describing the musick on this album is no simple matter. There are elements of metal, funk metal, funk, hip-hop & some leftfield type stuff as might be expected with Bill Laswell, Buckethead, & Bernie Worrell having their hands in this album. This is one of the earlier projects featuring these cats, much in line with later releases by Praxis or other Bill Laswell releases. Fans of Bootsy's work with Praxis should definitely enjoy this, but it still packs enough straight forward funk punch for more diehard Rubber Band fans.

A great concept for Bootsy has him playing bass as only he can. The theme of paranoia, both from within & without, is excellent. An extremely ambitious project utilizing: some heavy HEAVY fuzz bass; funked up guitar sounds from Buckethead; vocal samples from the film Naked Lunch; & other high weirdness. Zillatron lays down a coherent (if chaotic) landscape of funk fused with almost industrial music. It is very futuristic-sounding 'Cyberfunk' with snatches of techno, rock, & spaced-out ambient sounds all vying for supremacy. All the weirdness is capped off by a real zinger of a song, the hauntingly beautiful finale "The Passion Continues", a song that reverently references some great lines from some great ParliaFunkaRubber songs of the past.

Take the time to really listen to this album, both musickally & lyrically. You will not be disappointed.

"This Record is Dedicated to Eddie Hazel - The Maggot Brain of Funkadelic"

Zillatron is: Bootsy Collins - bass, sampler, & vocals; Buckethead - guitar; Bernie Worrell - piano, organ, & synthesizer; Bill Laswell - noises; Brenda Holloway, Debra Barsha, Kristen Gray, Momma Collins, & Patti Willis - backing vocals; & Grandmaster Melle Mel & Umar Bin Hassan (of the legendary Last Poets) - rapping & chanting. Recorded at Greenpoint Studio & Bootzilla Studio. 

 

Zillatron - Lord of the Harvest, Rykodisc RCD 10301, 1993
decryption code in comments

C.B.I. Files (Central Bug Intelligence)
Bugg Lite
Fuzz Face
Exterminate
Smell the Secrets
Count Zero
Bootsy & the Beast
No Fly Zone (The Devil's Playground)
The Passion Continues

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

You Say In, I Say Un

 

NØ sez:
     This time it's New York City's Unsane. If you’re not familiar with them, then where the fuck have you been? They play aggressive noise rock. In their earliest incarnation as a power trio, Unsane have a driving rhythm section, a screaming Telecaster howl, & distorted vocals. This line-up included: Chris Spencer (vocals, guitar); Pete Shore (bass); & Charles Ondras (drums). They began playing NYC low-life clubs in 1989. It was at clubs like CBGB's that the band developed their trademark sound.

This, their self-titled debut, was recorded January 16, 1991 at Fun City & released on Matador Records in 1991. The cover is a photo of a decapitated man lying across train tracks, which sets the tone for the seething aggression of this album. In 1992, Unsane's drummer Charles Ondras died of a drug overdose & thing would never be quite the same for the band. 

 

Unsane - Unsane, Matador OLE 009-1, 1991
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Organ Donor
Bath
Maggot
Cracked Up
Slag
Exterminator

Side B -
Vandal-X
HLL
AZA-2000
Cut
Action Man
White Hand

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

From the Land of the Midnight Fun

 

NØ sez:
     Bram Tchaikovsky is the stage name of one Peter Bramall from Lincolnshire, England as well as the name of the group he fronted in the late 70s & early 80s. Peter had joined the Motors in 1977, a group headed up by songwriters Andy McMaster & Nick Garvey. Bram wanted a larger role in the overall musickal creation, so while waiting on pre-production work for the second Motors album, Tchaikovsky took the opportunity to do some recording of his own. The resulting single, "Sarah Smiles" gave him the confidence to leave the Motors & form his own band.

Bram Tchaikovsky, the band, consisted of: Bram, the man, on guitar & vocals; along with Mike Broadbent on bass & keyboards; & Keith Boyce on drums. They signed to the new Radar label in 1978 along with Stiff expatriates Nick Lowe & Elvis Costello. The band showed a great deal of promise with their first album, Strange Man Changed Man, fitting in nicely with the growing power pop movement. The unforgettable "Girl of My Dreams," a true high point of the time, became a minor hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Tchaikovsky continued on through rapid personnel changes for two more albums. Following the release of The Russians Are Coming (released in the U.S. as Pressure) in 1980, Broadbent left the band due to personal conflict with Bram. The band moved from Radar to sign with Arista. They recorded Funland in 1981.

Funland was produced by Nick Garvey & recorded at Rockfield studios in 1981 with a brand new line-up: Tchaikovsky; Denis Forbes; Lord Richard Itchingham; & Derek Ballard. These personnel changes had left the band without a suitable writing partner for Bramall or the vocal harmony that he desired. Although Funland may not be considered the band's best album, it is a very important piece in the journey of Bram Tchaikovsky. If you don't dig the vocals & guitar work on a song like "Egyptian Mummies", then you're deader than one. After Funland, the thrill was gone, & Tchaikovsky decided to dissolve the band & retire from the music business.

Funland: Bram Tchaikovsky sings lead vocals, plays lead guitar on tracks 6 & 7; all guitars on tracks 3 & 8; bass & rhythm guitar on track 2, 6, & 8; & sings backing vocals on all tracks but track 5; Denis Forbes plays lead guitar on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 11 & 12; acoustic guitar on tracks 7 & 9; & slide guitar on track 9; & sings backing vocals on tracks 4 & 5; Lord Richard Itchington plays bass on all but tracks 2, 6, & 8; Derek Ballard plays drums on all tracks; Bernie Clarke plays keyboard on tracks 1, 2, 7, 9, & 12; Lew Soloff plays trumpet solo on track 6; Nick Garvey plays piano & acoustic guitar on track 8 & adds additional backing vocals on tracks 4, 5, & 8; additional backing vocals by Andy McMaster on track 4: & additional percussion by Jimmy Maelen. 

 

Bram Tchaikovsky - Funland, Arista Records AB 4292, 1981
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -
Stand & Deliver
Shall We Dance
Heart of Stone
Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache
Model Girl

Side 2 -
Why Does My Mother ‘phone Me
Used to Be My Used to Be
Soul Surrender
Together My Love
Miracle Cure
Egyptian Mummies

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

My Skin is too Tight

 

NØ sez:
     By 1974, the Ohio Players had been together as a band for fifteen years. 1959 was before funk per se even existed. James Brown was still doing ballads. But by 1974 bands like Parliament-Funkadelic were starting to blow the roof off R&B with the sounds of FUNK. The Ohio Players were already there to help.

Starting with their 1971 album Pain, the Players garnered a reputation for their hot cover art, usually being so S&M-inspired, that many music stores refused to carry their albums. Albums like Pleasure, Ecstasy, Climax, & Orgasm continued the tradition, but the hits came at a slower rate. Finally, "Funky Worm" became a left-field hit in 1973 & the Players left their original record label Westbound Records for the bigger Mercury Records. Their first album for the new company was 1974s Skin Tight.

Skin tight it is. On the surface, with only six songs, this new album might not seem like a great deal, but with songs that all clock in at over 5 minutes, there is plenty here to like. & unless you're brain-dead & rigor mortis has set in, you won't be able to hold still.

Recorded at Paragon Studios in Chicago.

Here the Ohio Players are: Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner - guitar, percussion, lead vocals & backing vocals; Marshall Jones - bass; James 'Diamond' Williams - drums, percussion, lead vocals, & backing vocals; Billy Beck - piano, organ, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer, percussion, lead vocals & backing vocals; Clarence Satchell - saxophones, flute, percussion, lead vocals & backing vocals; Marvin 'Merv' Pierce - trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, & backing vocals; & Ralph 'Pee Wee' Middlebrooks - trumpet, trombone, & backing vocals. 

 

Ohio Players - Skin Tight, Mercury SRM-1-705, 1974.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -
Skin Tight
Streakin' Cheek to Cheek
It's Your Night / Words of Love

Side 2 -
Jive Turkey
Heaven Must Be Like This
Anybody Gonna Be Saved?

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ

Live inferno

 

Zero_ii sez:
     Earth Inferno is an incredible movingly profound live album by Fields of the Nephilim.
The first half of this show is a live rendition of the first half of the final studio album Elizium. The second half of the show covers some of their earlier work. This release was recorded live at the Brixton Academy June 10, 1990, Wolverhampton Civic Center March 8, 1990, & Hamburg BG Sportshalle June 11, 1990. If you enjoy their studio work, you have got to hear this amazing disc. 

 

Fields of the Nephilim - Earth Inferno, Beggars Banquet BEGA120CD, 1991.
decryption code in comments

Intro - (Dead but Dreaming),For Her Light,At the Gates of Silent Memory,(Paradise Regained)
Moonchild
Submission
Preacher Man
Love Under Will
Sumerland
Last Exit for the Lost
Psychonaut
Dawnrazor

I'm having a meltd0wn, a Digital Meltd0wn,
NØ