Gary Joseph Lachman (born December 24, 1955), also known as Gary Valentine, is an American writer and musician. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s as the bass guitarist for rock band Blondie. Since the 1990s, Lachman has written full-time, often about mysticism and occultism.
Lachman joined Blondie in spring 1975 after original bassist Fred Smith left to join Television amid founding bassist Richard Hell's departure. He wrote the music to the band's first single, "X-Offender", and popularized the band's sixties-retro look. In 1977 he left the group to form his own band and was replaced by Nigel Harrison, just as Blondie were starting to gain recognition. His song "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" was a UK top ten hit in 1978,[2] and was subsequently recorded by Tracey Ullman and Annie Lennox.
After Blondie, Lachman moved to Los Angeles and in 1978 released a single, 'The First One / Tomorrow Belongs to You' on Beat Records. Shortly after this he formed The Know, with Joel Turrisi and Richard d'Andrea who were the first band to play the infamous Madame Wong's Chinese restaurant-turned-new wave venue. After a year and a half Joel left the band and was replaced by drummer John McGarvey. In 1980 The Know released a single 'I Like Girls / Dreams' on Planet Records and were the only bi-coastal US "power pop" band, developing large followings in New York and Los Angeles. Failing to secure an album deal, he disbanded The Know and in 1981 played guitar with Iggy Pop.
In 1996, after moving to London, he was asked to participate in the Blondie re-union, and in November of that year he recorded one of his songs, "Amor Fati", with Blondie, for their 'comeback' album. In 1997 he performed with Blondie at several major festival concerts in the US. Back in London Lachman worked with former X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic. In 1998 he formed Fire Escape together with violinist Ruth Vaughn and performed songs he had written for the Blondie reunion album (they had not been used due to the band ultimately excluding him from the recording process and the reunion tour). They released an EP to little fanfare and went on a permanent hiatus after two years.
A compilation of Lachman's work in music entitled 'Tomorrow Belongs to You' featuring recordings by The Know and Fire Escape, was released in 2003 on the UK label Overground Records. In 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a former member of Blondie, although vocalist Debbie Harry prohibited Lachman and other ex-members from performing with the current line-up at the ceremony. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
It was in the vibrant Meridian, Mississippi music scene, among such compatriots as Steve Forbert, Chris Ethridge and Paul Davis that Lowry Hamner founded The Cryers. After completing demos with Kyle Lehning, who later produced Randy Travis, opportunities as a solo artist opened up for Hamner, but his commitment to The Cryers instead motivated a move to New York City's East Village.
Playing such legendary New York clubs as CBGB's and Max's Kansas City led to Hamner and The Cryers being signed to Mercury Records by Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat and Tears, and The Blues Project fame, where they recorded two highly praised albums. The Band's Garth Hudson played with Lowry Hamner and the Cryers on the second of their two albums recorded for the Mercury label, 'Midnight Run' (the first one was titled 'The Cryers', a true power pop masterpiece one track from which one track, called "Shake It
Up (Ain't It Time?)" was featured on Rhino's DIY compilation of
American power Pop Vol.2 entitled 'Shake It Up'). [SOURCE: THE BAND]
British guitarist Fred Frith moved to N.Y.C. in 1979, and within a year had formed Massacre, a challenging but quirkily charming "power trio" consisting of Frith, bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher, all of whom had already established themselves as movers and shakers in the experimental-music world. The group released 'Killing Time' in 1981 and then called it quits a year later. Frith and Laswell rejoined, this time with drummer Charles Hayward, in 1998 to record an album in the same vein, under the Massacre name. 'Funny Valentine' was released on the Tzadik label later that same year. In 2001 the group released 'Meltdown', a six-track set recorded at Robert Wyatt's Meltdown Festival in London in June 2001, followed by 2007's 'Lonely Heart', which was recorded live at two festivals in Europe in January and June 2003. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
One of Bill Laswell's many projects, Deadline is a collaboration with drummer Phillip Wilson -not without the usual Laswell cohorts, of course with an interesting blend of industrial DMX beats and live percussion, African influences and Western funk, with saxophonist Manu Dibango invoking memories of his Laswell-produced album 'Electric Africa'.
Their first album, 'Down By Law' (1985), includes the ten-minute-plus killer track "Makossa Rock," which combines clever, funky rhythms, an irresistible synth bassline, Steve Turre's haunting didgeridoo, scratching-like sounds by Laswell and Robert Musso, plus solos by Dibango, bluesman Paul Butterfield on harmonica, and bass legend Jaco Pastorius. The other tracks, including the abstract, percussive pieces "Gammatron" (reminding of Material's "Heritage") and "Doo Rot," never let go of their fierce rhythmic edge either. While "Makossa Rock" may be worth the price of the album alone, the other tracks should not be neglected.
The next album, 'Dissident' (1991), features three bass players, that under normal circumstances, would be completely out of the question. But when the three are Bill Laswell, Jonas Hellborg and Bootsy Collins, well...at least you need to give a listen. And in this case, the sound of common sense being thrown out the window has never been so sweet. Aiding and abetting our three bass-playing overachievers on this album are keyboardists Jens Johanssen and Bernie Worrell, percussionist Aib Dieng and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, most of whom have worked together on other projects and all of whom share a penchant for the funkily experimental. Not surprisingly, bass is the dominant voice here: Laswell's is deep and funky, Hellborg's is virtuosic and mystical, and Bootsy's, no surprise, is just plain weird. And funky. The band explores all kinds of interesting musical terrain, from the dark, industrial angst of "World Disorder" to the murmuring electronic jungle of "Who's Who." This is lots of fun, though those unfamiliar with the work of Laswell, Hellborg and Collins in other areas may be a bit mystified at first. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
A longtime linchpin of the New York City underground music scene, Bill Laswell has been among the most prolific artists in contemporary music. As a performer, producer, and label chief, his imprint is on literally hundreds of albums, the majority of them characterized by a signature sound fusing the energy of punk with the bone-rattling rhythms of funk and dub. However, he's also known for immersive ambient explorations, as well as fusions of disparate genres including traditional Indian music, opera, klezmer, hip-hop, jazz, and seemingly every other genre known to humanity. Laswell has been a staple of the downtown New York music scene since the late '70s, when he founded Material, a rotating ensemble whose output ranged from angular art-funk (1981's 'Memory Serves') to club-friendly, futuristic electro-pop (1982's 'One Down'). Laswell's commercial breakthrough came when he co-wrote and produced Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking 1983 electro track "Rockit." Throughout the decades, he has participated in many musical projects as a bassist, including Last Exit, an avant-jazz-rock supergroup, and has produced dozens of records for a staggering array of artists including Mick Jagger, Nona Hendryx, and Iggy Pop. During the '90s, Laswell founded and ran the Axiom label to release ambient, dub, and electronic outings. He also helmed a series of remix and reconstruction projects, kicked off by the release of 'Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974'. In the early aughts he explored Indian music with suppergroup Tabla Beat Science, and founded futurist drum'n'bass ensembles Method of Defiance with Submerged. Throughout the 2010s, he ran M.O.D. Technologies, a genre-defying label that released albums by avant-jazz artists including Milford Graves and Rudresh Mahanthappa.
Born on February 12, 1955, in Salem, Illinois, he initially played guitar, but soon switched to bass. Raised primarily in the Detroit area, he honed his skills in local funk outfits before relocating to New York in 1978. There Laswell formed Material, an outlet for his experimental approach toward sounds ranging from jazz to hip-hop to worldbeat. Originally the backup unit for Daevid Allen, the group soon began working on its own, issuing its debut EP 'Temporary Music' in 1979. While Material's early work was more esoteric, they soon released more accessible, pop-influenced music, including the club classic "Bustin' Out" (featuring Nona Hendryx) and the full-length 'One Down', which included one of Whitney Houston's first lead vocal performances.
In addition to fronting Material, Laswell also mounted a solo career, issuing 'Baselines' in 1983 on Celluloid, a label he partly owned and operated. Appearances on key recordings by the likes of David Byrne, John Zorn, Fred Frith, and The Golden Palominos established Laswell as a virtual nexus of the downtown N.Y.C. community, and he broke into the mainstream with his production work on Herbie Hancock's 1983 smash "Rockit," which he also co-wrote; the follow-up LP, 'Sound-System', won him a Grammy. Throughout the mid-'80s Laswell was everywhere, playing bass on LPs from artists including Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel, Yoko Ono, and Laurie Anderson; he also joined the avant group Curlew, and produced a number of African acts.
In 1986, Laswell joined guitarist Sonny Sharrock, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann in the group Last Exit; a second solo LP, 'Hear No Evil', appeared two years later, and after a long hiatus he also resurrected Material in 1989 with 'Seven Souls'. Another project, the hip-hop-flavored Praxis, was resumed after almost a decade of inactivity with 1992's 'Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)'. In 1990, Laswell formed another label, Axiom, to explore his interest in the new sounds of ambient and techno; where in the past his work rarely appeared solely under his own name, by the middle of the decade he was issuing several solo records annually in a wide range of styles from dub to jazz. He also remained among the most prolific producers in the business, collaborating with the likes of Dub Syndicate, Pete Namlook, Buckethead, and DJ Spooky. In 1998 he released 'Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969–1974', a "remix translation" that won acclaim across the music world. In 2001 he issued one with Carlos Santana as its subject entitled 'Divine Light: Reconstructions & Mix Translation'.
In 2004, Laswell signed a multi-album label deal with the Sanctuary Records group. The deal spawned his new label, Nagual. He also began to collaborate on a series of drum'n'bass-styled recordings with Submerged (aka Kurt Gluck of the Ohm Resistance imprint), the first of these -attributed to Bill Laswell vs. Submerged- was entitled 'Brutal Calling' and issued by Avant in 2004 with contributions from Toshinori Kondo and Guy Licata. Through the Sanctuary label's earlier acquisition of the seminal reggae label Trojan, Laswell now had access to the Jamaican label's sizable back catalog. Picking some of his favorite cuts and remixing them, Laswell issued the Trojan-sourced 'Dub Massive: Chapter One' and 'Chapter Two' in May 2005.
Laswell and Submerged re-teamed under the Method of Defiance moniker for 2006's 'The Only Way to Go Is Down' on Sublight Records. This was followed by 2007's 'Inamorata', on Ohm Resistance. This date found the pair teaming various drum'n'bass producers -including Future Prophecies, Evol Intent, and SPL- with jazz, rock, and avant artists such as Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders, Nils Petter Molvaer, and Buckethead. That same year he issued the mix translation outing 'The Tony Williams Lifetime: Turn It Over (Redux)'. Laswell also released a collaboration with Finnish producer Fanu on Ohm Resistance titled 'Lodge', which includes contributions from Molvaer and Bernie Worrell. The notion of a live band created around the Method of Defiance structure was initiated with participation from Laswell, Worrell, Kondo, Licata, and Dr. Israel. The group was documented on 'Nihon' from the RareNoise imprint in 2009.
In 2010, Laswell initiated a new label called M.O.D. Technologies. Said to be centered around the principles of a solidified Method of Defiance lineup, the label released three albums that year: 'Method of Defiance's Jahbulon' (a reggae album featuring Hawk and Dr. Israel), the instrumental dub-centric 'Incunabula', and a live offering from Laswell's spouse, Gigi, with Material, entitled 'Mesgana Ethiopia'. Laswell also collaborated with Submerged (who had left Method of Defiance) for a new group called The Blood of Heroes, which also included Dr. Israel, Enduser, and Justin Broadrick. The band released a self-titled debut and remix album 'Remain' on Ohm Resistance in 2010.
Laswell collaborated with master reggae and Radical Jewish Culture bassist/composer David Gould on a dub version of the latter's 2009 album 'Feast of the Passover'. The new recording, titled 'Dub of the Passover', was issued by Tzadik in 2011. Metastation released 'Aspiration', an electronic album billed to Bill Laswell & Friends (including Alice Coltrane, Carlos Santana, Pharoah Sanders, and Zakir Hussain) -the tunes were dedicated to the ensemble members' own inspirational figures, including H.H. Dalai Lama XIV, Sonny Sharrock, Rumi, and Pattabhi Jois. The Blood of Heroes' second album, 'The Waking Nightmare', appeared in 2012. M.O.D. Technologies continued releasing material, including archival releases by Praxis as well as Laswell's collaborations with artists including DJ Krush, Milford Graves, and Wadada Leo Smith. In 2014, Laswell collaborated with several Hawaiian musicians for the album 'Kauai: The Arch of Heaven', which appeared on Metastation. Laswell and Submerged collaborated once again in 2016, when 'After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?' appeared on Ohm Resistance. Along with Masahiro Shimba, Laswell combined dub and opera on the ESP-Disk release 'Risurrezione'. He also released work with Japanese drummer Hideo Yamaki and avant-rock guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim.
In 2018, Laswell collaborated with drummer Simon Barker, guitarist Henry Kaiser, and saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa on 'Mudang Rock', an album inspired by the Shamanic ritual music of Korea. The following year, Laswell teamed with Jah Wobble to release the group offering 'Realm of Spells' with guitarist Martin Chung, keyboardist George King, alternating drummers Mark Layton-Bennett and Hideo Yamaki, and guest Peter Apfelbaum on saxophone and flute. Before year's end, he cut the single 'Showing Up / The Power of the Vote' with Dave Douglas, and released the 2017 Sonar session featuring electric guitarist David Torn.
In April 2020, Laswell released 'Against Empire', an electro-acoustic offering issued by MOD Reloaded. His sidemen on the session included Sanders and Apfelbaum on saxes and flutes, Herbie Hancock on electric piano, drummers Jerry Marotta, Chad Smith, Satoyasu Shomura, and Yamaki, and Adam Rudolph on percussion. In October he collaborated with guitarist Mike Sopko and drummer Tyshawn Sorey on the power trio outing 'On Common Ground'. Freely improvised, it was inspired by the live albums of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
They could've been contenders had they stayed together long enough, but The Nerves, despite their brief existence, were one of the most exciting bands in power pop. Formed by Jack Lee, Peter Case, and Paul Collins in 1975, their career was over by 1978, but they produced a great EP that featured the power pop classic "Hanging on the Telephone," which was later recorded (and brilliantly so) by Blondie. Ultimately, having three talented songwriters in one band hurried the demise of The Nerves, and all three principals found greater happiness and success with their new bands; although Jack Lee (arguably the most talented songwriter of the three) had the shortest career and eventually dropped out of sight after a fine solo record ('Jack Lee's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1') in 1981. Case went on to form The Plimsouls, who recorded two good records and a transcendent pop song, "A Million Miles Away." After breaking up in 1984, Case recorded as a roots rock solo act for the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Collins would later go on to form The Beat (also known as Paul Collins' Beat). [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Although born from the '80s New York garage scene, The Optic Nerve had nothing whatsoever in common with the movement other than their single-minded idealism to act as if the '80s and the synthesized music that surrounded them was not happening. Rather than using the blaring fuzz tones and screaming the "put down" anthems of the garage rock revival, they took the jangling motifs of The Byrds, The Beatles, and a hint of the mid-'60s protest singers to create a sound that, if spawned in 1965, would have brought them success. In the mid-'80s however, '60s-styled folk-rock was not a huge seller -even with fans of the neo-garage scene. Acts like The Fuzztones, The Cynics, and The Lyres may have achieved cult underground status, releasing a number of records between them and touring across Europe, but The Optic Nerve only released two singles during their brief existence and rarely played outside of Brooklyn. Bobby Belfiore (main songwriter and singer) formed the nucleus of the band in 1985. Over their two-year tenure, a number of musicians went in and out of their ranks -including members of garage bands The Fuzztones and Gravedigger V. However, lead guitarist and harmony vocalist Tony Matura was a mainstay, and the combination of his and Belfiore's sweet harmonies and folk-rock jangling gave The Optic Nerve their distinct quality. In 1993 and 1994, both Screaming Apple and Get Hip released an album, each consisting of Optic Nerve demos recorded throughout the mid- to late '80s. Every song deserved to be released at the time of recording, but in an era when garage revival and paisley pop were so popular, The Optic Nerve's country-tinged folk-rock was out of sync with both movements and caused little attention. Thankfully, these albums have gained some belated exposure. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
United States Of Existence were one of earliest neo–psychedelic groups from the US. Born in Baltimore in 1978 out of the ashes of prog–rock outfit Klangfarb, their goal was to reproduce the sound of their favourite 60s psych bands.
They consisted of Paul Rieger (guitar, bass and electric sitar), Bob Tiefenwerth (organ, electric harpsichord and piano), Dennis Davison –of Jigsaw Seen fame– (lead vocals, acoustic guitar and theremin) and Gary Schwartz (on drums and harmony vocals). The group used vintage instruments and antiquated recording techniques to fully embrace the sounds of the first psychedelic era (1967–68). They never got to play live, preferring to spend their time recording in their basement studio or going on record–buying binges at all the discount stores, searching for obscure psychedelic albums with weird names like Harumi, Phulph, Bohemian Vendetta…
They were championed by Greg Shaw (Bomp!) who chose one of their first recordings, the killer "Return To The Psychedelic", as the opening track for the seminal ‘Battle Of The Garages’ LP compilation (1981). They also appeared in another famous compilation, ‘The Rebel Kind’ (1983).
‘Anything Goes!’, their first 45, saw the light in 1984, self–released on the band’s own label, U.S. Fidelity Sounds, and featuring members of The Association on backing vocals. In 1986, they caught the attention of the Bam Caruso label from the UK, where they released their only album, ‘Introducing: the United States of Existence’, in 1986.
The release of ‘The Psychedelic Yesterdays of Tomorrow’ via Guerssen Records is the first ever vinyl retrospective of this pioneering 80s psych band. [SOURCE: IT'S PSYCHEDELIC BABY MAGAZINE]
London-based The Aardvarks, purveyors of 60s influenced Brit-Pop extraordinaire, played their socks off over ten years. Formed whilst at high school, they played the clubs & pubs of London, Mod Rally's and European tours, with two German singles and an album on Delerium under their belt. 'Bargain' was licensed by Toy's Factory in Japan, and they played a support for Bonnie Tyler as part of Spain's Radio Onde ten year celebrations.
Line-up: Gary Pietronave (vocals), Mark Pietronave (guitar), Ian O'Sullivan (drums), Gavin Pearce (bass - ex), Jason Hobart (bass - ex), Kevin White (bass)
Co-founders Dennis Davison (ex-United States of Existence) and Jonathan Lea (ex-Revolver) originally met in 1986 after Lea answered an ad Davison had placed in a local paper. Davison had been looking for a lead guitarist to join his then-current band Playground, whose members had moved to L.A. from Maryland. The duo's friendship flourished into a longtime partnership thereafter. In 1989, Davison and Lea disbanded Playground and formed Jigsaw Seen. Drummer Teddy Freese (ex-Yipes!, who had a Top 100 hit with their cover of The Beach Boys' "Darlin'," ex-Spanic Boys) joined in 1993, followed by bassist David Nolte (ex-The Last) in 1996. They gigged around L.A., attracting the attention of the New Jersey-based Skyclad Records, which issued their debut album, 'Shortcut Through Clown Alley', in 1990. This was followed by a five-song EP, 'My Name Is Tom', in 1991. The band then toured the U.S. (The Smashing Pumpkins even opened for them once).
In 1993, Skyclad folded. At the time, Davison and Lea had been compiling 'Melody Fair: Bee Gees Tribute', a tribute to the early Bee Gees, which featured their cover of the title track. Davison and Lea then brought the project to the L.A.-based Eggbert Records and its successful release in 1994 led to future tribute projects. In the mid- to late '90s, in fact, Jigsaw Seen contributed to several various-artist tribute albums. In 1995, Eggbert released a Hollies tribute album, 'Sing Hollies in Reverse', which featured their splendid cover of "On a Carousel." They also recorded covers for two Del-Fi tributes: their CMJ-charting cover of "Baby Elephant Walk" was a highlight on Del-Fi's 1996 Henry Mancini tribute 'Shots in the Dark'; and in 1998, their version of "Luci Baines" (originally recorded by Arthur Lee's pre-Love band, American Four) appeared on 'Delphonic Sounds Today!', a compilation of contemporary artists paying tribute to vintage Del-Fi artists. Their version of The Left Banke's "Desiree" was the lead-off track on 1999's 'A Tribute to the Left Banke: Shadows Breaking Over Our Heads'.
Meanwhile, Jigsaw Seen had continued recording tracks for its second full-length album; unfortunately, it would be five years before critically acclaimed 'Zenith' would be released on the band's own Vibro-Phonic label (a year earlier, a various-artists compilation, 'Listen and Learn With Vibro-Phonic', had been issued to rave reviews). 'Zenith' was nominated for a Best Packaging Grammy and was picked up for distribution in the U.K. and Japan. In April 2001, Davison and Lea's acoustic tour of Great Britain resulted in a limited-edition six-song live CD, 'Perfformiad I Mewn Cymru (Performance in Wales)', released by Vibro-Phonic in August 2001. In addition to his role in Jigsaw Seen, Lea has also played with L.A. pop maven Kristian Hoffman and ex-Bongwater vocalist/actress Ann Magnuson. He also contributed guitar to unfinished Pete Ham studio demos for the posthumous release of 1997's '7 Park Avenue' and 1999's 'Golders Green'. Bassist David Nolte has produced and/or co-written albums by David Gray and Maria McKee. Lea and Nolte have also played in Rufus Wainwright's and Dave Davies' (of The Kinks) touring bands. 'Songs Mama Used to Sing' was released in 2002. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
