Audio of the Week: Interview with Ed Bahlman, founder of 99 Records

99 Records storefront, MacDougal St, NYC, by Ian Robb

A short, interesting interview with 99 Records founder & owner, Ed Bahlman. Unfortunately I don't know the date or origin of the interview, but it obviously dates to the early 80's as he's speaking of the bands in the present tense. It definitely pre-dates ESG's debut album.

Bush Tetras announce 35th anniversary show at LPR with special guests

Our pals the Bush Tetras have announced a 35th anniversary show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC on May 1. Special guests included Hugo Burnham (Gang of Four), and Don Fleming. Support comes from the Karyn Kuhl Band. Details available here & here.

Instant Collection: 99 Records!

The rarest of the rare. A Liquid Liquid 7" (Bellhead) that was never issued and is very difficult to find (7" single, 1981)

More goodies are up on eBay now. I thought this lot might be of interest as they're all 99 Records-related. Click each photo to view that item specifically, and see all of my eBay items here.

Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps (7" single, 1980)

Maximum Joy - Stretch (this is a Y Records 7" issue, but 99 released a 12", 1981)

Y Pants - Off The Hook (Includes insert, 7" EP, produced by Glenn Branca, 1980)

ESG - You're No Good (7" EP as issued by Factory Records, 1981)

Congo (The Congos in disguise) - At The Feast (12" EP, 1981)

Singers & Players - War of Worlds (Originally issued by On-U Sound, and produced by Adrian Sherwood, LP, 1981)

ESG - Dance To The Beat of Moody (12" EP, 1982)

Liquid Liquid - GroupMeGroup (Includes insert, 12" EP, 1981)

Liquid Liquid - Dig We Must (12" EP, 1984)

Just for kicks, here is the insert that comes with Liquid Liquid's GroupMeGroup EP (above)

Pat Place opens at 33 Orchard on March 28th

Pat Place, Sky (group of 9), 2014, color photographs, 15 x 21 in.

Pat Place

Skies: 2008-2014

 

33 Orchard

33B Orchard Street (Hester + Canal St)

NYC 10002

www.33orchard.com

347.278.1500

Opening reception: Friday, March 28, 2014 from 6-8 pm

March 28 - May 4, 2014

GALLERY HOURS

Wed - Sun // 11AM-6PM

Jane Kim and 33 Orchard are pleased to present Skies: 2008-2014, an exhibition of recent work by Pat Place. The opening reception is Friday, March 28th from 6 to 8 pm and the show will be on view until May 4, 2014. Place’s body of work is comprised of groupings from a personal archive of thousands of iPhone photographs of the sky. The colored lines of both the clouds and sky are used in the same manner as expressionist brushstrokes, creating flow and movement within the grid-like patterns of the work. Themes of impermanence and time within the pieces are made visible, while the compositions echo the sky’s constant change.

Pat Place, primarily known for her contributions to music and the New York No Wave scene, graduated from Northern Illinois University, IL with a BFA in Painting & Sculpture. Place moved to New York in 1975 and was a founding member and guitarist of The Contortions and Bush Tetras, whom she continues to tour with. Place has been showing her visual art in New York galleries since 1977. 

Her work has been included in the recent group exhibitions at AI Earthling Gallery, Woodstock, New York (2013), Harper’s Bookstore, East Hampton, New York (2012), Julie Keyes Art Projects, New York (2011), and ILLE Arts, Amagansett, New York (2012). Her last one-person exhibition of photographs “The End, 1981 - Infinity” (2008) was at Jane Kim/Thrust Projects, NY. Place, who was born in Chicago in 1953, currently resides in New York and continues to work on her art and music.

Shot by: Judy Sipowicz

The Bush Tetras' Pat Place keeps it all in perspective.

Bush Tetras & Bongos

ROIR loves you!

Our friends at the ROIR label are offering a 10 track compilation for free download for Valentines Day. It includes James Chance's "Melt Yourself Down" from the Lost Chance album as well as many other like-minded favorites...Grab it here.

Stupefied: The Pat Place Playlist

Pat Place shot by Tim Broun, 2011

Happy new year all! This week's Stupefied (our first post of 2013) brings us some aural delights as selected by Pat Place - best known as the guitarist of the Bush Tetras, as well as an original member of the Contortions, and long a big fave 'round these parts. The Bush Tetras recently released Happy - an album that had sort of lost its way for about 15 years, but finally found a home thanks to the efforts of the ROIR label. The BT's celebrated with a release party gig in front of a packed house at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC at the end of November, and will be playing in Los Angeles on February 3 at the Echoplex. Be sure to catch them if you can! 

Bush Tetras at ROIR

Bush Tetras on Facebook

Bush Tetras on Amazon

01. Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
02. Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home

03. Keith Richards - Take It So Hard

04. Joni Mitchell - For The Roses
05. Derek & The Dominos - Anyday

06. Bloomfield, Kooper, Stills - Season of the Witch

07. Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice

08. The Stooges - Loose

09. The Kills - Fried My Little Brains

10. Wilson Pickett - Ninety Nine and One Half

11. Chris Whitley - Aerial

12. Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up

13. Tom Waits - Downtown Train

14. Neil Young - Don't Let It Bring You Down

15. Flipper - Sex Bomb

16. Traffic - Feelin' Alright

17. Willie Nelson - American Tune

18. Velvet Underground - All Tomorrows Parties

19. Cream - Politician

20. Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

21. Patti Smith - Dancing Barefoot

22. Prince - Sign O' The Times

Nightclubbing with the Bush Tetras

By all reports, last week's Bush Tetras record release gig at Le Poisson Rouge was a huge success. Who would have thought that this band could or would last 30 years? With the recent release of their latest album, Happy, via ROIR, the Bush Tetras are on a roll. This week, Pat & Emily from Nightclubbing look back at the early days of the band - when "Too Many Creeps" was a New York radio staple, and a finding a fur coat might mean paying your rent for a month or two instead of having to work a straight job while pursuing your art. Plus, we get to see the band performing at Danceteria in 1980...

BT's live at Hurrah (1980) by Eugene Merinov

“You don’t need a million to look like a million!” So went the tagline touting Ritz Furs in a ubiquitous late night commercial that ran throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Ladies were urged to sell their skins or buy them second-hand at a fraction of the price because, like the man said, “Some women ski in St. Moritz; other women just look that way.” Continued here.

 

Bush Tetras official Facebook

Bush Tetras on Amazon

ROIR Records

New Bush Tetras album coming soon on ROIR

 

Well...sort of new. The Bush Tetras' unreleased album, Happy, will finally see a release some fifteen years after it was recorded and mastered, with ROIR releasing the 12-song album on Nov. 13.

Happy was produced by Don Fleming (Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Screaming Trees, The Posies) and recorded in 1998 at Shelter Studios New York. The album was initially slated for release on Mercury Records, but after the label was sold the album was shelved indefinitely. Attempts by various labels to secure the rights to release the album were thwarted as one merger after another led to lost contacts and contractual questions. The rights to release the album were recently secured by ROIR, a label that has had a lengthy history with the Bush Tetras, dating back to the 1983 Wild Things cassette.

"Happy is the last cohesive body of work that the band made together and the first that we recorded with bass player Julia Murphy," explains Pat Place, guitarist for the Bush Tetras. "We had a great experience recording in the studio with producer Don Fleming. We are so 'happy' that Happy will finally be out in the world after being lost in record company crossfire for 15 years!"

The Bush Tetras formed in 1979, in the lower east side of Manhattan. Pioneers of the indie movement long before the term had been coined, the band's first 7" single on historic NYC label 99 Records (Liquid Liquid, ESG, Glenn Branca), "Too Many Creeps," landed the quirky, post-punk band on Billboard's dance chart. Straddling the line between No Wave, New Wave and Art-funk, the co-ed quartet's influence, and the band's distinctive guitar sounds, can still be heard today.

The band will perform two shows surrounding the release of Happy: Nov. 4 at Part Time Punks in Los Angeles and Nov. 29 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York (with Suicide).

Happy track list:
01. Heart Attack

02. Slap
03. Trip
04. Nails
05. Chinese Afro
06. Pretty Thing
07. You Don't Know Me
08. Buckets of Blood
09. Motorhead
10. Theremin
11. Ocean
12. Swamp Song

Bush Tetras - official Facebook

Suicide & Bush Tetras in NYC, Nov 29

Too many creeps? Lets hope so...Get your tickets here.

Laura Kennedy memorial - Bowery Electric 12.28.11

Laura Kennedy RIP

As mentioned several times here, last night saw the NYC memorial for the Bush Tetras' Laura Kennedy at the Bowery Electric. It was a casual but touching affair which saw tributes from friends like former Mudd Club doorman Richard Boch, and writer Linda Yablonsky, as well as fine mini-sets from the Bush Tetras themselves (with longtime member Julia Murphy on bass), BT drummer Dee Pop's other band - the free jamming Radio I-Ching, Band of Outsiders, and Jean Caffeine. Beautiful black & white photos, like the one above were shown on a giant screen - many of them by Lisa Genet, and several by Laura Levine. DJ Delphine Blue spun some fine tunes throughout the evening, and the whole night was topped off with a couple of songs by Lenny Kaye.

Overall, a beautiful tribute to someone who meant a whole lot to all whom she met, and then some! Read a nice review by Weasel Walter here.

Bush Tetras

Shot By: Godlis, Bush Tetras at Bowery Electric 12.28.11

Cynthia Sley

All images ©Godlis - visit Godlis.com for more information. Thanks DG!

Pat Place

Bush Tetras

Dee Pop

Too Many Creeps at the Peppermint Lounge 1980

In honor of Laura Kennedy of the Bush Tetras (memorial service tomorrow night), here is a recently unearthed live video of the band performing the classic "Too Many Creeps" at the 45th Street location of the Peppermint Lounge in 1980. Prime! Thanks to NYC club video guy, DCortex, for posting it!

Laura Kennedy Memorial next week

As mentioned about a month ago, the NYC memorial for the Bush Tetras' Laura Kennedy will take place this coming Wednesday, 12/28, at Bowery Electric. The Bush Tetras will headline with Band of Outsiders, Radio I-Ching, Jean Caffeine and Lenny Kaye, amongst others, making appearances.

The Bowery Electric
327 Bowery (between 2nd and 3rd Sts)

Wednesday 12/28 at 7:00PM
(212) 228-0228
theboweryelectric.com

Pat Place interview now up at Perfect Sound Forever

The Pat Place interview I did back in September is now up online in the new issue of Perfect Sound Forever. Jump to the interview here, or check out the entire issue here. Hope you like it!

Pat Place art at Keyes Art Projects

Friend of the blog, Pat Place, will be participating in this art exhibit from Dec. 3 through January 3 at Keyes Art Projects. In other Bush Tetras-related news, look out for my interview with her coming soon at Perfect Sound Forever. Also, I should have more info soon regarding the Laura Kennedy memorial in NYC at the end of December.

Laura Kennedy memorial scheduled for NYC

A NYC memorial for the Bush Tetras' Laura Kennedy has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 28. Most likely at Bowery Electric. Keep an eye on this space for further details.

Catch a few snaps of the scene at yesterday's memorial that took place in Minneapolis at This Ain't The Summer of Love. Bush Tetras above courtesy of Hank Grebe.

Laura Kennedy memorial tomorrow in Minneapolis

Courtesy of City Pages: A memorial for Laura Kennedy will take place at Nick and Eddie this Saturday morning, November 19, from 11 a.m. to noon. Nick and Eddie will also be opening the kitchen early for lunch service after the memorial. Nick and Eddie is at 1612 Harmon Place, Minneapolis 55403.

Thanks to This Ain't the Summer of Love for the tip.

In memory of Laura Kennedy

Bush Tetras at Hurrah, 1980, shot by Eugene Merinov

 Laura wasn't the only bass player to ever play as part of the Bush Tetras, but she was the one who counted. It was her sly & subtle funk lines that graced the two most well known tunes that the NYC based post punk band wrote & recorded: "Too Many Creeps" and "Can't Be Funky." No collection of post punk would be complete without these recordings. With a HUGE outpouring of condolences today on Facebook, it was obvious how many people's lives she had touched.

As the obituary in the Minneapolis City Pages, her recent home's newspaper, said, "Though she hasn't performed publicly for years, Kennedy's legacy will always be tied to her time in New York in the late '70s and '80s. Bush Tetras were one of the first female punk bands to gain notoreity in that era, and Kennedy's bass playing can be heard providing a creeping counter melody to Pat Place's angular guitar riffs in their best-known hit, 1980's "Too Many Creeps." Leave a note for Laura on the Bush Tetras Facebook page.

Written for the Vinyl District.