Monte Cazazza

The work of controversial performance artist Monte Cazazza has been sampled in numerous books, films, and recordings over the years. Hailing from Oakland, CA, Cazazza spent the early '70s experimenting with his art, often indulging in such gross-out acts as burning a partially decomposed, maggot-infested cat, which would often shock his audience to the point of physically illness. Cazazza caught a break when members of industrial rock groundbreakers Throbbing Gristle came across an issue of the appropriately titled Vile Magazine in 1974, a Valentine's Day edition which modeled Cazazza on the cover, holding up to the camera a bloody heart that was made to look as if it was torn out of his chest. The up-and-coming artist befriended industrial rockers Throbbing Gristle, as it was Cazazza who supposedly coined the band's now-trademark phrase, "Industrial Music for Industrial People." In 1977, Cazazza traveled to England, where he recorded several songs (which featured the sounds of roaring chainsaw, as well as hammers beating on the insides of a piano), including such titles as "Busted Kneecaps" "Hate" and "P.S. (Plastic Surgery)". Cazazza also starred in several obscure films around this time as well (including one in which he and a young boy are electrocuted), and contributed to such books as "Pranks", "Modern Primitives", and "The Industrial Culture Handbook", all of which explore his outlandish antics. In addition, Cazazza was an early member of the Throbbing Gristle off-shot group Psychic TV, and has issued several full-length solo albums over the years, including the 1996 compilation, 'The Worst of Monte Cazazza'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]