Viscera was Debbie Jaffe and Hal McGee (Dog As Master), from Indianapolis. They also ran the cassette label Cause And Effect. Deborah Jaffe is the mastermind of the industrial musical entity Master/Slave Relationship. For twenty years she has self-produced a unique brand of industrial music. In that time she's released more than ten cassettes, one vinyl LP, five compact discs and one CD-ROM with no government grants or federal funds of any sort, thus maintaining TRUE independence of content and spirit. Hal McGee is an American experimental artist and producer, active since 1981. He is widely considered as one of the most important and seminal members of an early homemade cassettes musical movement in USA. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Un Département was a French Minimal Wave and Experimental Rock trio formed in 1980 in Orléans and disbanded in 1985. Members were Marcel Kanche (saxophone, vocals), Phil Gaz (bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards) and Bruno Tollard. They released one 7” and one 12” 1981, one tape in 1984 and one LP in 1985 (‘Le Album’). After Un Département disbanded Marcel Kanche was in various punk bands that allowed him share stage with, among others, Les Rita Mitsouko, Pere Ubu, Alan Vega or The Cure.
Toy Love were a New Zealand new wave band that grew out of the country's first punk band of note, The Enemy. And while their small number of recordings were pretty much by-the-numbers new wave pop with a few moments of inspiration, Toy Love (and especially their founding member Chris Knox) proved to be an important starting point for New Zealand's alternative rock scene of the '80s.
The Enemy was formed in 1977 in Dunedin by singer / songwriter Chris Knox (who also attempted bass for a short time), guitarist Alec Bathgate, drummer Mike Dooley, and guitarist Chris Pendergast. Pendergast was replaced shortly by a friend and former collaborator of Knox's, Mick Dawson. The band built a cult following, playing gigs throughout 1978 in Dunedin and Christchurch -Knox's reputation for wild on-stage antics (such as self-mutilation) drew much attention. Dawson left the band by year's end and was replaced for a short time by Phil Judd (ex-Split Enz), but the band decided to call it quits by January of 1979.
Remaining members Knox, Bathgate, and Dooley recruited keyboardist Jane Walker and bassist Paul Kean to complete the lineup for their new band, Toy Love. WEA New Zealand signed the band for a single, 'Rebel / Squeeze', in July 1979. The single received a lot of critical attention in New Zealand and probably stands as their finest recorded moment. In 1980, they recorded another single, 'Don't Ask Me', for the independent Deluxe. The band were received well in their homeland, but an attempt to break in Australia failed, and constant touring took its toll on the band. They recorded one self-titled album before internal disputes forced the band to break up in late 1980. Though an artistic failure for the most part, the album and the single, 'Bride of Frankenstein', saw some moderate success in New Zealand. The band broke up shortly after the release. Knox went on to a successful solo career and (along with Bathgate) formed Tall Dwarf, Flying Nun Records' first recording act. Kean later joined The Bats.
For the next 25 years, very few of the band's recordings were readily available (the band's sole LP became a much-sought-after collectible), but a couple of their tracks were made available on various CD compilations -"Rebel" can be found on 'It's Bigger Than Both of Us', and radio session versions of "Squeeze" and "Frogs" were released on 'AK79'. In 2005, Flying Nun released the definitive Toy Love collection which combined their entire recorded works over two discs. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Smersh was the duo of Mike Mangino and Chris Shepard, who started writing music together in the late 1970s. They were uninterested in traditional notions of songwriting or live performance. Everything they needed was in Piscataway NJ: a basement full of musical toys and instruments, novelty space microphones, a TR-606 (the same "Roland" who was listed as a member of Big Black), a SH-09 (Cabaret Voltaire's favorite synth), and -perhaps most importantly- a couple of tape recorders. Most Monday nights, they would write a new song from scratch. A couple hours later, the song was recorded, never to be performed again.
By 1981, this dedication to spontaneous creativity had already produced countless recordings, and the duo began releasing cassettes as Smersh via their own Atlas King label. A definitive Smersh discography may not even be possible, but one lists more than 30 Atlas King cassettes. As these tapes traded their way across continents, Smersh developed a devoted following in places far beyond Piscataway, leading to releases on dozens of other labels from around the globe.
Smersh's sound is a lush hybrid of techno, industrial, dance, and experimental. Sometimes easy, sometime not. Most songs revolve around driving EBM style beats, intricate industrial noise manipulation and synth melodies. The Smersh sound has so many faces it doesn't fall into any one category.
Chris Shepard struggled with cystic fibrosis and passed away in 1995. Mike Mangino continues to make music as Super Flower. These and other Smersh-related projects are now available from Mike's cd-r label, Mirandette Popular. [SOURCE: DARK ENTRIES RECORDS]
Formed in London during the late '80s, Renegade Soundwave applied the punk and industrial ethic to both dub and dancefloor electronica, in good company with fellow sound terrorists throughout the decade, from Cabaret Voltaire to Skinny Puppy and Meat Beat Manifesto. The trio of Gary Asquith, Danny Briottet and Carl Bonnie debuted on Rhythm King with the 1987 single 'Kray Twins', and moved to Mute one year later for an EP, 'Biting My Nails'. Though Renegade Soundwave spent two years recording material for an album, the release of 'Soundclash' and 'In Dub' within six months vindicated them somewhat. The group's only hit, "Probably a Robbery" (from 'Soundclash'), made the British Top 40 early in 1990, but Bonnie left later that year for a solo career. Asquith and Briottet spent several years in isolation before emerging in 1994 with the 'Renegade Soundwave' single and the album 'HowYouDoin?' After playing their first live date in history during late 1994, the duo released 'Brixton' and 'The Next Chapter of Dub' the following year. The compilation 'RSW 87-95' emerged in 1996. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
One of the earlier punk bands on the San Diego scene, Pitchforkare most remembered for being the first collaboration between Drive Like Jehu guitarists John "Speedo" Reis and Rick Froberg (then calling himself Rick Fork). Influenced primarily by SST (Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü) and proto-emo bands (Rites of Spring, Squirrel Bait), Pitchfork formed circa 1985 or 1986, with a rhythm section featuring drummer Joey Piro and a bassist known -with typical punk informality- only as Nick. At first, Reis led this lineup as a trio; new lead vocalist and guitarist Froberg's arrival brought not only a beefed-up instrumental sound, but a greater dedication. Pitchfork signed with the indie label Nemesis and released their debut 7" single, 'Saturn Outhouse', in 1989; they'd already recorded a full-length album the year before, and it was finally released in 1990 under the title 'Eucalyptus'. By that time, Reis and Froberg had decided to pursue other projects. Reis founded and led major-label trash-punkers Rocket from the Crypt, and he and Froberg teamed with a new rhythm section to form the acclaimed, progressive post-hardcore band Drive Like Jehu. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Rob Storey is the one constant in 30-plus years of Murphy variations -Federation Murphy, Orchestre Murphy, The Murphy Love Experience, Murphy Patrol, Murphy Working Stiffs, Laboratoires Murphy, etc.. He had made a start as the Good For Nothings in about '77/78 and played sort of punk rock music with a line-up of Catherine O'Sullivan, Bing Selfish, Rodrigo Lodwick and Seamus Luttman-Johnson. They soon got tired of the straitjacket of the punk sound and started trying other things, 'fake jazz', more theatrical elements, improvisation and performance deconstruction –which resulted in some extremely antagonistic audience reactions. Chris Gray, Jim Whelton, Ted Barrow (who had all been associated with The Homosexuals), Lepke Buchwalter, David Doyle and Joe Torres (who were Milk from Cheltenham), Janey Haggar (Nancy Sesay), and Mick Hobbs (The Work), amongst others, became part of the pool of people who would do gigs, tours or recording sessions. It was a loose arrangement of players by the time they made '12 Minutes at the Hot Club Murphy'. [SOURCE: HYPED TO DEATH]
The Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor were an English band formed in 1979 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. The founding duo, consisting of John Mayfield (guitar, synthesizer, vocals) and Steve Bedford (drums, synthesizer, vocals), also incorporated backing tapes.
Early gigs were mostly Sheffield pubs, and later clubs. The Limit Club was an early gig for the duo. Only London gig was The Moonlight Club in 1980, marking the release of the first single ‘All The Naked Heroes.’
Played Rotherham Arts Centre, South Yorkshire, UK the same year with up and coming Sheffield band Pulp as support. This was Pulp’s first gig.
Steve Bedford left in early 1981 and Mayfield joined forces with two musicians, Craig Zelly (Drums) and Mark Sole (Bass). Both were former members of local Sheffield band The Scarborough Antelopes. Russell Fern was also added on keyboards.
This line-up attracted the attention of major record company Phonogram. The band recorded tracks for the label at Spaceward, Cambridgeshire, UK. Former school friend of Mayfield’s, John Basford, was added to the studio sessions for ‘live’ viola, cello and violin work.
The album, entitled ‘The Sea’s So Warm’ was never released.
The band’s most prestigious gig of this period was The Marquee Club in London’s Wardour Street.
Following two further single releases the band went their separate ways. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
The coldwave French unit Message formed in Brive-la-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Their members were Didier Brutus (vocals, guitar), Olivier Balet (keyboards, bass), Jean-François Saturnin (bass) and Jean-Philippe Lavallée (drums). They only released the 7” ‘Dernière Nuit’, in the Krezimikroïd label. Years later Olivier Valet played in the alternative rock band Gecko Palace, releasing the album ‘Tout Va Si Bien...’ in 2008.
The Lowest Note (ak.a. The Lowest Note On The Organ, Low Note and The Low Notes) was a British Avant-Prog collaborative project formed by members Andy Bole (guitar, vocals), Bill Gilonis [aka Billy Rebel] (bass, guitar, clarinet, keyboards, vocals), Stéphane Karo [aka Stefan Van Karo] (drums), Catherine Jauniaux (vocals), Mick Hobbs (1/2 Japanese, Family Fodder, Officer!, Strobe Talbot, The Lo Yo Yo, The Momes, The Paddock, The Work), Rick Wilson (Family Fodder, People In Control, The Work) and Tim Hodgkinson.
Andy Bole is half of Tang, one of the guitarists in Daevid Allen's Glissando Guitar Orchestra and member of the duo Shankara. Bill Gilonis (born 1958) co-founded the gritty experimental rock group The Work in 1980 with Tim Hodgkinson. Tim Hodgkinson played alto in free-jazz poetry and happenings group met up with Fred Frith and formed Henry Cow in October 1968. Took up organ in 1969 at the insistence of drummer Andy Powell.
Later played briefly in Barcellona with OM and singer Pau Riba.
Stéphane Karo, born 1960 in Brussels, Belgium and died November 15, 2016 in Brussels, was co-inventor, artistic director and manager of Taraf de Haïdouks, Koçani Orkestar and Mahala Raï Banda. Catherine Jauniaux began her career as an actress in Belgium at the age of 15. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she sang with several experimental rock groups, including Aksak Maboul and The Work. In 1983 she teamed up with Tim Hodgkinson in London to record her first solo album, 'Fluvial'.
Katarina II was a new-wave rock band formed in 1982 in Belgrade as one of the two spin-offs of the new wave band Šarlo Akrobata. Soon after releasing their fist and only album 'Katarina II', Dragomir Mihajlović left the group, and they changed it's name to Ekatarina Velika. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Most known for being one of the first bands on Alan McGee's Creation label, The Jasmine Minks were formed in early-'80s London. Initially a trio centered around singer Jim Shepard, the band went through numerous lineup shuffles throughout their lengthy, bumpy, and ultimately resilient history. The band's diverse musical interests, which ranged from the punk end of the Buzzcocks and Subway Sect to the more experimental likes of Cabaret Voltaire and DAF and to the more classic likes of Motown and Love, prevented them from being a simple pop band.
Alan McGee signed the band on the strength of witnessing a lengthy rehearsal at the band's Waterloo hideout and picked the songs that would become the band's first single. With organ and production help from Joe Foster and Dave Musker from Television Personalities, the 'Think!' single was released in 1984. After another single, the '1234567 All Good Preachers Go to Heaven' EP was released, felt by many to be their finest moment. After plans for a split EP with The Smiths fell through, the Minks went on a European tour with the young Jesus and Mary Chain and McGee's own Biff Bang Pow!
Sessions for an EP, which the band felt enthusiastic about, were basically dropped and shaved down for a single. They recorded an LP's worth of material under the working title of 'Everybody Has Got to Grow Up Sometime', a fitting title for an album that leaned on the classicist songwriting of The Go-Betweens, even going so far as to include more intricate arrangements, horns, and acoustic guitars. However, some of the album was discarded in favor of songs from the preceding EP sessions, interrupting any sense of consistency that the thematic album once had. The 1985 release was eventually given an eponymous title.
Shepard soon found himself in a state of doldrums, unsure of the Minks' future. A young fan named Walter visited him and reinvigorated the band, becoming a new member. Several gigs and a BBC session expanded the Minks' small but dedicated fan base. Having difficulties with Creation boss McGee, the band opted to issue an EP featuring several live tracks on the Esurient label. A less labored process brought forth the 'Another Age' album, as Shepard delved into his love for gospel and 'Pet Sounds'-era Beach Boys with great focus, putting his own stamp on the influences he and his mates drew from. Gigging with labelmates Primal Scream, The Jazz Butcher, and The House of Love helped 'Another Age' become the band's most successful release.
The ill-produced 'Scratch the Surface' surfaced in 1989, which floundered in the shop racks. Despite containing some of Shepard's finest and darkest songwriting, the record wasn't able to build on the momentum of 'Another Age'. With frustration coming to a head, Shepard broke his band up. Nine years later, Shepard brought some of his mates back together. A few shows inspired new recordings, including a couple singles released in 2000, as well as the full-length 'Veritas', released on Genius Move. Re-teaming with Alan McGee on his Poptones label, 'Popartglory' was issued in 2001. After an EP for Bus Stop ('I Heard I Wish It Would Be Rain') in 2002, the band went back on the shelf. Though their past was excavated expertly by Cherry Red in 2004 with the double-disc 'The Revenge Of...' retrospective, the band didn't take advantage by re-forming again. They waited until 2010 to reappear with an EP ('Poppy White') for the tiny Oatcake label (which was actually made up of unreleased demos from the early '90s), then the next year played a couple shows in London. Their 1985 lineup also played at the Indietracks festival in 2012. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Illusion Of Safety has existed and persisted since 1983, and like many projects of a certain age it frustrates attempts at pat summation. It began after Daniel Burke, a visual artist and music fan from Chicago’s northern suburbs, drew from Throbbing Gristle’s farewell concerts the impetus to make sound his vehicle for confrontation, self-discovery, connection, and transcendence. He first partnered with Mitch Enderle over their shared interest in grimy industrial sounds that articulated the grimness of Midwestern America’s hollowed-out manufacturing zones, but early concerts also included Thymme Jones, Chris Block, Jef Bek, and Rross Feller, all members of the rock band Dot Dot Dot, who were attracted to an opportunity to play music that wasn’t bound by genre conventions. The line-up, then and ever after, was fluid; members came and went and came back, In 1985 Mark Klein and Mark Sorensen joined for a time. Then in 1986 Jones and Burke formed the Complacency label and proceeded to document Illusion Of Safety on a series of cassettes; two years later the imprint released the first IOS LP 'More Violence And Geography' and a DePaul University music major named Jim O’Rourke joined up. He brought an exacting ear, a precocious command of studiocraft, and patience that tempered Burke’s more impetuous, aggressive approach. After five years and six CDs that ran the gamut from 'Inside Agitator’s bracing blasts of samples to 'Probe’s immaculately paced contrasts between unidentifiable, subliminal sound and shattering instrumental events, he left to pursue his own projects.
A series of sympathetic but strong-willed collaborators joined Burke on stage and in the studio throughout the 90s, among them the revenants Thymme Jones and Mark Klein, the exacting Kurt Griesch, and the sphinx-like tabletop guitar maestro Kevin Drumm. IOS’s music from this period drew on elements of ambient and free improv without falling exclusively into any genre. Labels like Staalplat, Korm Plastics, and Mort Aux Vaches stepped up to facilitate the brisk flow of releases. 1997 was an especially productive year; Burke played 28 live shows, lectured at Mills College, and played some non-IOS shows with Thomas DiMuzio.
After the millennium turned Burke did an extensive European tour with Drumm that yielded another non-IOS collaborative CD released by Mort Aux Vaches. Now free to pursue liaisons outside of Illusion Of Safety and armed with the enormous resources of a laptop computer, Burke turned IOS into a mainly solo venture. He also placed it on a much more fitful schedule; between 2003 and 2008 he released nothing and performed quite sporadically. Since 2008 Burke has ramped up his activities both in and out of Illusion Of Safety. He’s made collaborative recordings with DiMuzio, Travis Bird, and the trio Tertium Quid with Bill Horist and Dave Abramson; toured for a season in his old mate Thymme Jones’ band Cheer Accident; performed concerts with Olivia Block and Jon Mueller; and revived Complacency to release the LP 'Offstrings: Inventions For Guitar'. IOS’s new recordings, most notably the gorgeous 10” 'Sedation & Quell', distill the motives and methods that Burke has practiced throughout his career to their essence.
Notable recent performances include No Fun 2008, the Wroclaw Industrial Music Festival 2009, Sonic Circuits in 2010, and collaboration with Shen Wei Dance Arts performed live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in June 2011. [SOURCE: ILLUSIONOFSAFETY.NET]
If someone in the middle of a group of people discussing classic electro tracks suddenly blurted out, "It's tiiiiiiiiiime!" or "Just feel it!" in a quasi-cyborg voice, odds are everyone in that group would instantly know what that person was going on about. They might not know the title of the song or the artist behind it, however; "Al Naafiysh (The Soul)" is the title, and Hashim is the artist. Like Man Parrish's "Hip-Hop Be Bop," Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," Cybotron's "Clear," and Newcleus' "Jam on It," "Al Naafiysh (The Soul)" is an exemplary slice of early-'80s electro-funk. Had it been titled "It's Time," there's no denying that it would be wider recognized as such.
Hashim was the work of Jerry Calliste Jr.. He became involved with music as a teenager; he was DJ'ing at the age of 12, and in the early '80s, while still a teenager, he promoted parties. Just a little later on, his graffiti work on a banner for Tommy Boy helped him attain a part-time gig doing custodial work at that label's offices. Having taught himself how to play keyboard on a cheap Casio, he produced "Al Naafiysh" and released it with the help of Aldo and Amado Marin. 99's Ed Bahlman initially wanted to release the single, but Calliste negotiated a deal with Aldo Marin, who was starting a label called Cutting. "Al Naafiysh" became Cutting's first release in November of 1983, and Calliste became the label's vice president. Thanks in great part to Hashim's popularity and his in-house production work, the label became one of the most prominent dance independents in the U.S., with releases from 2 In A Room ("Wiggle It"), Nitro Deluxe, and Masters at Work sustaining its heft.
Calliste eventually left Cutting and continued working as a promoter. He also went on to start Bassmint Music, an online label and shop based in Ohio. Sporadically, he continued to work on his own music. Throughout the years, his tracks have been sampled many times over. Tommy Boy, the same label that said no to releasing "Al Naafiysh" originally, included the song on their definitive 'Perfect Beats' series in 1995. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Gate is a free noise project of New Zealander Michael Morley, which began at the end of the 80's. Morley, who has also plays in Dead C and runs the Precious Metal label, performed the thick, sonic improvisations that are characteristic of Gate on a tour with Keiji Haino and Thurston Moore in 1994. One of Gate's more widely available recordings, 'Live in Boston / NYC 1994' (Poon Village), comes from that year and features Lee Ranaldo and Zeena Parkins. Ranaldo and Morley also recorded in the studio, although this material has yet to be released. Gate has several subsequent releases on the Table of the Elements label, including 'Monolake' (1997) and 'The Wisher Table' (1999), as well as other releases on smaller independent labels such as Go For It and Siltbreeze. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Francisco Lopez is one of the leading artists in electro-acoustic music in the 1990s. From a background in biology and ecology, he has created a singular and focused musical style centered around immersive sonic environments which are intended to strengthen and enhance the user's listening capabilities. His live performances are often performed in complete darkness and he has also been known to distribute blindfolds to the audience in order to reduce the visual impact of the performance, requiring the listener to concentrate more fully on the music itself. Although many of his pieces are based on drones in one way or another, the dynamics range from very loud to nearly inaudible. A prolific artist with over 100 releases on cassette, vinyl, and CD starting from the early '80s, Lopez continues to work the concept of "sound object" (objet sonore) described by musique concrete creator Pierre Schaefer in the 1960s. Although his most famous work, 'La Selva', shares a clearly recognizable framework with other soundscape artists like Eric LaCasa and Douglas Quin, Lopez has distanced himself from the soundscape as a concept based on R. Murray Schafer's book "The Tuning of the World" and the acoustic ecology movement that followed it.
Lopez' first releases were in the international independent cassette networks that started appearing in the 1980s, but his work that brought him to the attention of many listeners was the maiden release on Bernhard Gunter's Trente Oiseaux label, 'Warszawa Restaurant' in 1995. Since then, his CDs have appeared on many of the most prestigious electro-acoustic and new music labels, such as Staalplaat, Table of the Elements, Touch, and Alien8. Although his emphasis on pure sonic environments means that many of his releases have Spartan cover designs and no information about the recordings, his landmark release 'La Selva' is an essential soundscape recording of the Costa Rican rain forest with extensive liner notes about the recording and the philosophy behind it. His work 'Paris Hiss' is composed of many layers of tape hiss (and was released, appropriately, only on cassette). One of his more surprising releases is the 2000 release 'Untitled #104', which is alleged to have been composed from samples of heavy metal music. His collaboration with singer Amy Denio, 'Belle Confusion 00' uses only her voice for the origin of all the sounds on the piece. At the beginning of 2001, he started his own record label, .absolute., on which he intends to document his collaborations with other innovative musicians and sound artists from around the world. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Eleven Pond was James Tabbi (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jeff Gallea (drum programs, synthesizer, vocals), Jack Schaeffer (electric guitar) and Dan Brumley (synthesizer, samples, vocoder, melodica) from Rochester, NY, USA, who met in art school with a shared interest in 4AD and Factory Records. In 1986, they self-released their debut LP 'Bas Relief' before dissolving into obscurity. Long sought after by collectors, 'Bas Relief' was a one time pressing of 500 hand-numbered copies.
Their sound -a merging of post punk’s dark dance and synthpop’s melodic arrangements- reflected the originality of gifted songwriters. They seemed to take cues from Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division / early New Order, Fad Gadget, and Depeche Mode. In 2007 Dark Entries reached out to band member Jeff Gallea to reissue the 'Bas Relief' album on a vinyl LP. Today, James Tabbi is the CEO of Tabtronics and board member of other technology corporations while Jeff Gallea is a leather accessories designer and indie filmmaker living in Los Angeles. [SOURCE: DARK ENTRIES RECORDS]
Der Junge Hund was an experimental rock and free jazz band formed in Eindhoven, Netherlands, by Rens Zanderz (guitar, synthesizer, vocals), Ger Van De Beuken (guitar, and also Z'EV collaborator in the 'The Invisible Man / The Old Sweat' album), Horst Rickels (saxophone, also in Maciunas Ensemble) and Rik Van Iersel (drums, later in Beukorkest).
Horst Rickels (born 1947 in Westerstede, Germany) performed since 1961 with several ensembles as saxophone and piano player. Formerly a pianomaker, he studied Music teaching at the Music Academy in Kassel and, between 1972 and 1974, electronic music with Dick Raaijmakers at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag. Rickels taught at several musical institutes in the Netherlands and at the School for Industrial Design in Eindhoven. He developed new instruments and multi-media-projects. Horst Rickels lectures at the Royal Conservatory in Den Hague since 1991.
Der Junge Hund relased two albums, ‘Ridders’ (1981) and ‘Alte Und Idioten Werden Niecht Viel Gefragt’ (1982) and several tapes. They also recorded as Simulated Wood from 1983 to 1985, releasing the live tape ‘Simultaan’.
Chrystal Belle Scrodd is the stage name and solo musical project of Diana Rogerson, an occasional member and associate of British experimental group Nurse With Wound. Scrodd's first album, 'The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record', was released on the United Dairies label in 1985 and featured contributions from Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, Robert Haigh and Karl Blake, among others. A second album, 'Belle de Jour', was released in 1986.
The 1993 compilation 'Beastings' collects tracks from both releases, and the 1999 Nurse With Wound compilation 'The Swinging Reflective' collects three of these recordings (credited to Diana Rogerson). [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Milwaukee's Boy Dirt Car were their good city's preeminent punk-noise-industrial outfit who roamed the state and country from roughly 1981 'til 1989. Formed by the disgruntled duo of Eric Lunde and Darren Brown after being inspired by a local cacophonous Glenn Branca gig, they decided to gather a group of fellow miscreants from the Milwaukee punk scene with a mission to create a truly inspired, ungodly, riot-inducing racket. Roping in, amongst others, Dan Kubinski and Keith Brammer from local hardcore kings, Die Kreuzen, they formed Boy Dirt Car. With a sound approximating some sort of bizarre stew of Throbbing Gristle, early Sonic Youth, Birthday Party, AMM and Einsterzunde Neubauten, they set about documenting themselves through a slew of self-released cassettes. Playing the circuit with everyone from Fred Frith to Flipper to Shockabilly to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Boy Dirt Car caught the ear of noise aficionado, Ron Lessard, of the famed RRR label out of Massachusetts, who released the 1986 split LP with fellow Milwaukee space-rockers, F/i. Winning praise from the hipsters and running through a few pressings for its troubles, the band went and did it again in 1987 with their debut full-length, 'Winter'. [SOURCE: FORCED EXPOSURE]
Asylum Party were a French post-punk / coldwave band formed in 1985 in Courbevoie by guitarist-vocalist Philippe Planchon and bassist-vocalist Thierry Sobézyk. The duo later added keyboardist Pascale Macé. Their sound had gothic rock influences and was very similar to English post-punk bands. Asylum Party, along with fellow French coldwave bands of the same period such as Little Nemo and Mary Goes Round, were considered part of the "Touching Pop" movement (Sobézyk also played in the latter). [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Two Tracks was the experimental project of Jerry WX
(Jean-Pierre Poirier, 1956-2000).
Jerry WX started out with Chainsaw (the first punk band in Brussels and the French speaking part of Belgium) together with Micky Mike (aka Snowy Red). After only one 7" Chainsaw called it quits and Jerry moved on for a short stint in X-Pulsion with the Klang brothers (one split 7" with Streets).
Next step was away from punk with Digital Dance together with Streets keyboard player Jean-Marc Lederman (Weathermen).
After Digital Dance he went into different side projects (with ex-Digital DanceStephan Barbery and TVIC), to finally find his ultimate love in the garage rock band The Revenge.
Like his former partner in crime Micky Mike he also went into production and session work for many known an unknown Belgian bands, until his death in 2000. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Drag queen and cult-movie star Divine, born Harris Glenn Milstead, achieved immortality with the outrageously raunchy cult classic "Pink Flamingos", but will forever be remembered in gay discos for a string of campy and fun dance hits. In 1979, Divine released the 'Born to Be Cheap' single on Chicago's Wax Trax label. Delivering on the title, the song was too cheap-sounding to make much of an impression, but in 1982 Divine teamed with producer Bobby Orlando and released 'Shoot Your Shot', an instant gay club hit and a gold single in Holland. The follow-up, 'Shake It Up', failed to chart, but 1983's 'Love Reaction' was an instant smash. Bobby Orlando had stolen the bassline and melody from New Order's "Blue Monday" for the song, and while the producer claimed the band pursued legal action, New Order claim they never did; they even paid tribute to Divine by having a roadie dress in drag and sing "Love Reaction" at one of their concerts. 'You Think You're a Man' from 1984 ended up in the U.K.'s Top 20 and led to an appearance for Divine on the famous Top of the Pops television show. Divine was by-then working with the successful Stock, Aitken & Waterman production team, but the singles began to receive less attention and even less airplay. In 1988, Divine died suddenly of an enlarged heart at the age of 42, but his music still lives on in numerous compilations. In 2000, Music Video Distribution coupled two live Divine shows on the 'Shoot Your Shot / Live at the Hacienda' DVD. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Pankow are the pioneers of Italian EBM / industrial.
They formed in Florence in 1979 and started experimenting with electronic machines from 1981.
The second singer, Alex Spalck, has been the composer of all the lyrics from their first release, the EP on cassette 'Throw Out Rite' (1983), followed by the legendary first EP 'Pankow EP' on KinderGarten Records (1984) until 2007.
The first LP came in 1987 on Contempo Records, and was produced by Adrian Sherwood.
Pankow were the first Italian electronic band to gain wide success in Europe and the USA, they did a tour of 30 dates in the States at the beginning of the 90s'. In 1993 the band split up, Spalck went to live in Australia.
In 1996 released with Gianluca Becuzzi of Limbo the album named 'Pankow'.
Pankow returned in 2003 with Alex Spalck back as the front man and 2 new CDs: 'Life Is Offensive And Refuses To Apologise' out on Minus Habens and 'Great Minds Against Themselves Conspire' out on Wheesht.
The band is currently active and based in France / Belgium with the frontman singer Bram Declercq, the head of the band Maurizio Fasolo, Enzo Regi, Paolo Favati and Alessandro Gimignani. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Strike Under was an influential Chicago punk rock band of the early 1980s. It was started by Steve Bjorklund (vocals, guitar) after the demise of The Rabbits. The principal musicians, besides Bjorklund, were his brother Chris (guitar), Pierre Kezdy (bass), and Bob Furem (drums).
Strike Under was founded in 1979 or 1980. Although American punk is generally considered to have started four or five years earlier, punk and new wave music arrived in Chicago far later than on either coast, so that Strike Under is correctly still considered an "early" Chicago punk band. They can also be seen as one of the first and most important bands of the "second wave" of Chicago punk, as it turned toward a more hardcore scene and sound, and as an archetype of Chicago hardcore.
In 1981, Strike Under released a 5-song 12" EP record, 'Immediate Action', notable as the first release by the new label Wax Trax Records (the record is commonly known as WAX 001, although the actual catalog number is Wax Trax 103015X). The album cover resembled a book of matches (the band's name derives from the phrase commonly seen on cheap matchbooks). Songs included "Sunday Night Disorientation", "Context", "Closing In", "Elephant's Graveyard" (which later appeared on the Wax Trax Best of boxed set), and the title track. 'Immediate Action' received mixed reviews; however, as one of the first actual recordings by a local punk outfit in the Windy City, looms large in the memory of denizens of the early Chicago punk scene, and has been called an "integral document to the history of punk rock in Chicago".
Strike Under, besides releasing its own record, played out at clubs such as O'Banion's, and also appeared on the 1981 'Busted at Oz' LP, which is usually viewed as an historic document of the second wave of Chicago punk, recorded at the club Oz before it closed down.
Strike Under broke up in late 1981. Steve Bjorklund briefly formed another Chicago punk band, Terminal Beach, then ultimately relocated to Minneapolis to pursue playing and recording with various punk and industrial music bands, including Breaking Circus. The other three members formed Trial By Fire, which played throughout Chicago in 1982. After Trial By Fire broke up, Pierre Kezdy went on to play with Naked Raygun and Pegboy. Chris Bjorklund played first with Bloodsport and then with The Effigies during the mid and late 1980s, the latter being another leading 1980s Chicago hardcore band who happened to be fronted by Pierre Kezdy's brother, John Kezdy.
Strike Under was profiled in the 2007 documentary "You Weren't There". The film featured interviews with both Bjorklund brothers and Pierre Kezdy. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Although White Zombie received most of the credit for mixing tales of sex, Satan, and gore with a rock / dance beat (although admittedly with more of a heavy metal edge), Chicago's My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult specialized in similar territory for just as long. Originally formed in 1987 by Buzz McCoy (who had relocated from Boston) and Groovie Mann, the duo sought to create a worthy musical accompaniment that could be used as a soundtrack to trashy B-movies. The duo's initial project was to make a movie (in the style of Russ Meyer and John Waters) to be named "My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult". The movie never got off the ground, but McCoy and Mann used the aborted movie's title for the name of their just-formed group, as their over-the-top stage show was best described as "sensory overload" (featuring a revolving door of weird characters, props, and intense visuals). Signing on with Chicago's renowned industrial dance label Wax Trax!, Thrill Kill Kult issued several releases between 1989 and 1991: a self-titled EP, plus the full-lengths 'I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits', 'Kooler Than Jesus', 'Confessions of a Knife', and 'Sexplosion!'
By this time, the group had attracted the attention of Interscope Records, which signed up Thrill Kill Kult and reissued 'Sexplosion!', which had spawned perhaps the group's best-known song, "Sex on Wheelz" (the track would also be featured in director Ralph Bakshi's animated movie "Cool World"). The group only issued one more release for Interscope, 1994's '13 Above the Night', before switching to the Rykodisc label and issuing further releases such as 1995's 'Hit & Run Holiday' (a concept album of sorts, which told the tale of "rebellious vixen" Krystal Starlust and her "fatal attraction" to a drifter named Apollo) and 1997's 'Crime for All Seasons'.
The Thrill Kill Kult failed to issue any new studio recordings from 1998 through 2000, while a collection of 18 remixes, 'Dirty Little Secrets', saw the light of day in 1999. But by 2001, the band had reappeared once more, issuing 2001's 'The Reincarnation of Luna' and 2002's 'Golden Pillz: The Luna Remixes' for yet another new record label, Invisible. In 2004, the Ryko label acquired most of Wax Trax!'s releases, including early albums from the Kult. That same year they reissued the band's first three albums and released a new compilation, 'The Be(a)st of TKK', along with a set of remixes named 'Diamonds & Daggerz'. An album dedicated to the disco era that had sat on the shelves for a decade finally saw the light of day in 2005 when 'Gay, Black & Married' hit the shelves. Two years later, the lounge-styled 'Filthiest Show in Town' appeared.
In 2009, the band introduced their own label SleazeBox with the album 'Death Threat', plus the remix / re-recordings collection 'Sinister Whisperz: The Wax Trax Years'. A lineup still anchored by McCoy and Mann toured the U.S. in 2012 for their 25th anniversary, and also released their 12th album, 'Spooky Tricks', in 2014. In 2017, Thrill Kill Kult mounted a complete run through their first two albums on the 30th anniversary of their founding.
In addition to their own releases, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult have contributed tracks to several film soundtracks, including Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls", Gregg Araki's "Nowhere", and the hit movie "The Crow" (the group made a cameo appearance in the latter). Over the years, they've toured with such renowned (and similarly styled) bands as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Lords of Acid, EMF, and Marilyn Manson. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Yet another branch in the rather large and twisted family tree that Ministry spawned, Acid Horse was a one-off single collaboration between Ministry's Al Jourgensen (Ministry side project nickname this time around: Alien Dog Star), Chris Connelly (Gallopin' Scorpionsaddlebutt), Bill Rieflin (Biff), and Cabaret Voltaire's Stephen Mallinder and Richard H. Kirk (for this project, named Tennessee King and Harold Sandoz, respectively). Acid Horse recorded their 'No Name, No Slogan' single for Wax Trax in 1989; on the single, the same song was performed differently on each side, one side more like Ministry, and the other more like Cabaret Voltaire. Given the myriad of projects Jourgensen and company had going on at this time, it is no surprise that Acid Horse didn't pursue any further collaboration. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The industrial band PTP (Programming the PsychoDrill) was a short-lived side project of Ministry's Al Jourgensen.
The first PTP track, "Show Me Your Spine," was recorded in 1987. Written by Jourgensen, Paul Barker and Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy, it marked the first collaboration between the three. The track appeared briefly during the club scene in the first "RoboCop" movie (1987) but did not appear on the soundtrack. The song was not commercially released until 2004 when it appeared on Ministry's 'Side Trax' compilation. Musically, it is representative of the early Wax Trax sound, featuring arpeggio melodies, loud drums, sampled orchestral hits and Ogre's heavily distorted vocals.
PTP released the 'Rubber Glove Seduction' single in 1989 on Wax Trax. It was reissued in 1993 on TVT. The b-side was a song titled "My Favorite Things." Both were written by Jourgensen, Barker and Chris Connelly. "Rubber Glove Seduction" became a club hit with Connelly's deadpan lyrics. "My Favorite Things" featured a throbbing bass line and a guitar solo. The CD liner notes were cryptic. The listed band personnel were:
$corpio (Chris Connelly): big bass drum, vocals; Alien Dog Star (Alain Jourgensen): pan flute, finger cymbals; and
Frenchie l'Amour (Paul Barker, also of Ministry): Spanish guitars.
The liner notes state "Another Luxa/Pan Production" credit, a mention of the engineer (Littlefellow) and the studio (ursini/hyams recorders). A slogan "where you always save more money" is also included, a reference to a popular low-budget Chicago commercial from the 1980s for the Celozzi-Ettleson Chevrolet car dealership. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
