Autumn begins at Max's

As previously mentioned, September is a big month for Max's Kansas City fans. September 10, 11, and 12 sees music events & reunions taking place at the Delancey Lounge & Otto's Shrunken Head. See the Facebook event page here.



And the special highlight of the month will be the book & exhibit launch at Steven Kasher Gallery on the 15th. Click the invite below for more info, and I'll see you there.

Daily Travels - West 8th Street

Outside and in - Electric Lady Studios, West 8th Street, NYC

Before and After: Looking At You

Before - MC5:


After - the Damned:

A Date With Elvis - the Cramps on the tube

Here's an excellent clip of the Cramps performing on the Tube in 1986. They were arguably at their commercial peak at the time having just released the great A Date With Elvis album on the Ace Records subsidiary label, Big Beat. They play "Hot Pearl Snatch," "Whats Inside A Girl?," and "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?"

Reading Stupefaction - new poll

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Robert Carrithers Photography

Tish & Snooky, members of the Sic F*cks and founders of Manic Panic

Although I am no longer involved in the planning for a certain event coming up here in the city this fall (no comment), one of the nice things that came out of my prior involvement has been meeting a few nice folks. One of them has been Robert Carrithers - a Berlin-based American photographer and film maker. Robert lived in NYC in the very early 80's and spent quite a bit of time documenting some of amazing nightlife happening at the time - namely at Club 57. I wanted to share some of his beautiful images here & steer you towards his website and his flickr page.


Underground film makers Scott and Beth B


Actress, all around performer, and Club 57 manager, Ann Magnuson


Diana Lillig (Pulsallama) in front of Dave's Luncheonette on Broadway and Canal


Country and Western night at Club 57. Where does one find all of that hay in the East Village of the early 80's?


Pulsallama member, Jean Caffeine


Fashion designer and Club 57 regular Stacey Elkin


Performer and East Village legend, John Sex

Before and After: Shakin' All Over

Before - Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. I couldn't find a copy of the original Johnny Kidd version so this will have to do:


Before reprise - Johnny Kidd & the Pirates:


During - the Who:


After - Generation X:

Before and After: Brand New Cadillac

Before - Vince Taylor:


After - the Clash:

Stupefaction on Facebook

If you happen to follow Stupefaction on Facebook (or would like to) please check the following: I'm migrating the blog from Networked Blogs to a Fan page. If you follow me please hit the "like" button right here. Thanks!

Before and After: Riffs, Pt. 6 (Train Kept A Rollin')

Before before - Tiny Bradshaw:


Before - Johnny Burnette:


During - the Yardbirds:


After - the Yardbirds "Stroll On" (from the film, Blow Up):


After After - Motorhead:

Jah Wobble remakes Blow Up

Following up his 2009 version of Roy Budd's iconic "Get Carter" theme (hear it here), Jah Wobble has recently had a go at making a film - this time directing & starring in a short version of Antonioni's 1966 classic, Blow Up. The smartest thing he did was to recruit Paul Gorman for styling. See the results below, and read all about it here.



Here's the theatrical trailer for the original:

Before and After: Junco Partner

Before - Professor Longhair:


During - Dr. John:


After - the Clash:

Friday Ephemera - Teardrop Explodes

Courtesy of my buddy Dave over at Fruitier Than Thou comes this entire 1981 tour booklet from the Teardrop Explodes. Dave saw the Teardrops at the Guildford Civic Hall on June 18, 1981.

Beat Jazz movie of the week - Contemporary Jazz Special (1965)

"Gole Gandom" performed by the Preston Kies Jazz Quartet. Thanks to In Dangerous Rhythm

The Gangs of New York

Gangs in New York City have long been a favorite subject of politicians, writers, and filmmakers, going as far back as 1928 when the Gangs of New York, by Herbert Asbury, was originally published (and 74 years later inspired Martin Scorsese's film of the same name). Likewise, writer Luc Sante's Low Life discussed much of the same, and has gained wide recognition since it's publication in the early 1990's.

For more contemporary gang history it's the documentarians who have taken up the cause, and the focus has been the South Bronx. Gary Weis released 80 Blocks From Tiffany's in 1979. Here it is in it's entirety, and its well worth the time:

80 Blocks From Tiffanys (1979):


And this fall, the film is seeing a reissue on DVD, making it available for the first time in 25 years. Here is the trailer:



Likewise, Flyin' Cut Sleeves (1993), directed by Style Wars maker Henry Chalfont, and based on the experiences of Bronx-based schoolteacher Rita Fecher in the sixties & seventies, saw a reissue last year, and is available here.

Flyin' Cut Sleeves (trailer, 1993):


For a brand new take on the subject, the makers of Downtown Calling (yet to see general release) have already released a trailer for their next project, Rubble Kings. In a nice twist, Rubble Kings makes the connection between the era of NYC gangs covered in the above named films, the birth of hip hop, and the eventual huge influence on music and the arts in general. In that way, it should prove to be a nice companion piece to Downtown Calling.

Before and After: Police On My Back

Before - the Equals:


After - the Clash:

The loneliness of the long distance scottie

Via.

Before and After: Police and Thieves

Before - Junior Murvin:


After - the Clash:

Connecticut Hardcore: The Way We Were

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was in a band called Chappaquiddick +5 (which has been mentioned here before). One of the few out-of-town places we played with some regularity was a cool club in Stamford CT called the Anthrax. A few months ago, while browsing the shelves at Mast Books, I discovered a new book on the club called Everybody's Scene: The Story of Connecticut's Anthrax Club. The club later relocated to Norwalk CT, and managed to become a serious hub of activity for bands wanting to play somewhere different along the Boston-New York axis. They managed to carve out a nice little niche for themselves, and it obviously came to mean quite a lot to many folks who grew up punk rock here in the northeast. I recall many trips to the club, both with Chappaquiddick, and with Borscht, and it was always a lot of fun. Thinking back, there was definitely an atmosphere of no rules, which everyone seemed to respect, and I can barely recall any real adult supervision. What more could a rebellious teenager into loud/fast music want?

As I await my copy via mail order, I wanted to share this little bit of info with you as I haven't seen the book available in many places (i.e. book stores). Visit the official book website and order the book here.



ADDENDUM: It's the same day I posted this. I just received my copy of this book & leafed through it. In the back they actually have a list of all of the gigs that took place at the Anthrax. Its an amazing thing they kept track of this because I sure as hell can't remember the dates. So, for my own amusement, here you go:

1983 -
Saturday, Nov 26: Chronic Disorder, Borscht, No Milk On Tuesday
Friday, Dec 23: Chappaquiddick +5, Frank's Crime, Young Republicans

1984 -
Friday, Jan 13: AOD, Even Worse, Chappaquiddick +5
Saturday, Jan 31: AWOL, Borscht, Aggravated Harassment
Saturday, Feb 25: 76% Uncertain, Seizure, Chappaquiddick +5, The Not
Friday, July 27: Psycho, Chappaquiddick +5, Peasants With Pitchforks (Must have been our last gig. I always remembered July 4, 1984, at CBGB as our last show for some reason.)

The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid talks

The Brooklyn Paper recently ran a nice interview with friend of Stupefaction & publisher of the Big Takeover magazine, Jack Rabid. Read it here.

Upcoming gigs of note - Liquid Liquid, Pop Group, more

IN NYC - a very special show coming up this week:

Wednesday, August 25 at Bowery Electric: Three immortal no-wave front-girls who were doing it then, are doing it now, and still doing it new. Adele Bertei (Contortions, Bloods) backed by Jody Harris, Don Christiensen, and Pat Irwin (all ex-Raybeats and/or Contortions), and Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie) will be appearing along with Command V, and Faith (led by Felice Rosser).

As mentioned back in June, Command V is a new band featuring Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras) on vocals, Pat Irwin (Raybeats, Eight Eyed Spy, the B-52s) on guitar, and Rachel Dengiz on keyboards and vocals. The amazing rhythm section of Zack Alford (David Bowie, B-52s) and Sara Lee (B-52s, Gang of Four) join in for the live band. Command V's debut recording will be released on September 27 on ThisIsNotAnExit Records. Check out www.commandvmusic.com.

$10.00 gets you in the door at the Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery at 2nd Street, August 25th, showtime is at 9:00PM. That's THIS WEDNESDAY.

Command V will also be appearing separately at the following shows:

SEPTEMBER 24TH @ BOWERY ELECTIC - 327 BOWERY, 10PM
ALL AGES BENEFIT FOR HOWL FESTIVAL HEALTH FUND
WITH THE SEDIMENT CLUB & ESTHER BALLANT
$5

OCTOBER 16TH @ BROOKLYN BOWL - 61 WYTHE AVE, 9:30PM
WITH TOM TOM CLUB
$10

IN LONDON:

September 11 & 12 -

More info here.

October 30 -

More info here.

Dada With Juice - Orange Juice to release box set

Isn't that a beautiful record cover? It's the artwork for Orange Juice's third (and last) full length release, The Orange Juice, from 1984. Today, Domino Records announced the upcoming release of Coals To Newcastle, a six disc + one DVD boxed set of everything OJ ever released plus! This may be the first time the band's entire discography has been available at once since the mid 80's.

From the label: Domino are very honoured to announce the upcoming release of Coals To Newcastle, a comprehensive seven-disc anthology of one of the finest groups of all-time, Orange Juice. Coals To Newcastle will be released on November 8th.

The release will be comprised of six audio compact discs and one DVD that will contain the band’s complete discography and other studio recordings as well as a collection of their BBC sessions. The DVD will contain the band’s two promotional clips for “Rip It Up” and “What Presence?!” (the latter directed by Derek Jarman), their four performances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and the rare posthumous concert video Dada With (The) Juice. In total, Coals To Newcastle includes 16 previously unreleased tracks with another 23 tracks previously unavailable digitally on earlier re-issues.

As a taster, I present for a your enjoyment below a youtube playlist comprised of all the videos that made up the Dada With Juice VHS collection. You can never have enough Juice.

Just Because - Major Lance

August 15, 1964. Via Billboarding Party.

What's that sound
(That's rhythm)
Everybody round
(Got rhythm)

There can be no beat
(Without rhythm)
Makes me wanna move
My feet (that's rhythm)

It's in my bones
Anytime the music carries on
I feel like rhythm

Max's Kansas City reunion nights in September

September is turning out to be Max's month. For more info go to the facebook event page.

Just Because - Elbow

Grace under pressure
Cooling palm across my brow
Eyes of an angel
Lay me down

Whatever happened to the future?

Courtesy of Dangerous Minds come these two incredible time capsules of Swinging London fashion. Priceless stuff this!

Swinging London

Fashion Of The Future

An intimate history of Rough Trade Records indeed

This morning's blogroll contained the extreme treat of this week's issue of the New Vulgate - the blog zine headed up by writer and former SST Records (amongst others) guy, Joe Carducci. In order to promote the publication of a new book about Rough Trade Records, Document And Eyewitness: An Intimate History of Rough Trade: The Rough Trade Story by Neil Taylor (so far only available from the UK), Joe has collated an incredible little group of stories remembering those heady days of the post punk era in the Bay area where Rough Trade first bloomed Stateside.

Besides Joe's, included are stories from Steve Beeho, Ray Farrell, and Johnny Myers. These guys were there and lived it, and were involved with the label on some level. If you're at all interested in indie label histories, this is absolutely required reading! Special thanks to Joe for use of a couple of ephemeral images. Read the whole thing right here.



Steve Beeho: Looking back on it now, the punk/post-punk idealistic vision of the transformative power of “alternative” music can seem like a massive delusion, where being “oppositional” ended up as an end in itself. But even if that’s true, the belief that something crucial was at stake and it really mattered, was a necessary collective delusion to inspire all that feverish activity.

Ray Farrell: Rough Trade wanted to establish a label and distribution system stateside. I was interviewed by a group of the RT staff in an S.F. apartment the evening of Dec 8, 1980 -- the day John Lennon was shot. On arrival, I tried to open the conversation expressing disbelief anyone would assassinate Lennon. There were blank stares, and someone chimed in that Lennon was dead well before that day. He was now part of the “dead rock geezer club” and his passing was insignificant. I half-remembered the slogan, “No Beatles, Stones or Seals & Crofts in 1977” and realized that some of these folks took their mission seriously.

Joe Carducci: By the time I wandered into Renaissance in late 1977 the shop was run primarily by Peter Handel. Peter was what NW folks recognize as a Reedie – a graduate of the semi-experimental Reed College. He was a stoner and really into the Stones and reggae, and also Patti Smith. He’s the one who began ordering the import 45s that Jem Records was offering (Sex Pistols, Clash, Jam, X-Ray Spex, Buzzcocks, etc.). I liked Peter and began to run the shop for three hours in the afternoon and close it up for him; I’d get one album or three 45s for pay. I have pretty cools records from that time. Peter was interested in checking out this reggae shop in London his ex-partner had told him about so he went over in 1978. Everything was changing fast in London and he was inspired by what Geoff Travis, Richard Scott, and the others had going on; it was hip and righteous and though increasingly involved in the kind of punk rock Peter didn’t particularly care for, he could tell it was culture going somewhere.