Dead Fingers Talk "Nobody Loves You When You're Old and Gay"

Dead Fingers Talk
Storm the Reality Studios
LP
(Pye Records, 1978)

I'd been aware of this band for many years when I read Naked Lunch in 1991. One of the many things that jumped out at me was all the band names and song titles therein.

There it was, near the top of page 199 of my copy: "Only dead fingers talk in braille. . . ."

Seven or eight years later, my friend Aaron was thinning his record collection a bit while I was visiting. He offered me his copy of Storm the Reality Studios, and I excitedly took it. From what I'd read, they were one of the few punk/new wave bands that sang about gay life in the mid/late-1970s (the only other one I know of was the Tom Robinson Band, and DFT were far better, in my opinion). Other than that, I knew nothing about them. As it turned out, the album is fantastic!

Like many other bands of the mid/late-70s punk era, their formation pre-dated 1976 by quite a stretch. The core of the band started playing together in the band Bone in 1969! This probably accounts for the obvious Lou Reed and David Bowie influences, as opposed to, say, Iggy and the Stooges and/or the MC5.

Though lead singer/primary songwriter Bobo Phoenix wrote and sang about gay life, guitarist Jeff Parsons says in the liner notes to the (absolutely essential) 2000 CD reissue:

None of the band were gay, but there was a sense of relating to those who were out of society's norm. It was powerful, and in those days still quite shocking subject and we felt we tapped into something in the minds of our audience who could relate to that.

Bobo was not interviewed for the liner notes, however, so there's no way of knowing for certain if Parsons is correct.

About the aforementioned reissue: It adds both sides of the non-LP "This Crazy World" single, plus another six previously unreleased tunes. Had I made a "favorite reissues" list in 2000, it probably would've been at the top.

The Reactions "Marianne"

The Reactions
Official Release
7" EP
(Reaction Records, 1980)

I love getting freebies when I buy stuff. Around 25 years ago, I think, I got the second 7" EP by The Reactions, The Reactions Love You, as a bonus when I bought something via mailorder. I wanna say it was in an order from Solid Eye, but don't hold me to that OK? Thanks.

It was a rockin' little slab of pop punk and was a most welcome surprise. The scant liner notes on the back indicated there was a previous record called Official Release, so on the hunt I went. I scored a copy and it was just as sweet. "Marianne" appeared on both EPs, for some reason. I prefer the earlier version, so here 'tis. Dig it, OK? Thanks.

---

UPDATE [Feb 21, 2012]: Cheap Rewards Records has released a full LP of archival material by The Reactions! You can stream the whole thing on their Bandcamp page (and it's pretty darn kickin'), plus you can order the LP direct from the label. Interestingly, the one song missing from the LP is this jukebox entry. You're welcome.

Les Sales Combles "Papa Bricole"

Les Sales Combles
Les Salles Vides
12" EP
(self-released, 1989)

Some friends and I stayed at the apartment of Christian "Dodo" Addor for a night back in 1990. In the morning, I was chatting with him and looking through his record collection when Débile Menthol came up (I think I spied their albums on his shelf). I only knew his first name at that point, so I had no idea he was a member!

After Dinner "Glass Tube"

After Dinner
Souvenir Cassette
cassette
(RēR Megacorp, 1988)

My longest-running roommate back in my college days, Brian, bought the eponymous After Dinner LP released by Recommended Records when we were on a record buying trip once, most likely with our friend Mike. The local stores were OK, but one generally had to drive to Richmond, VA or Washington, D.C. to get the good stuff, and to Manhattan and Hoboken for the even better stuff. Brian thought the packaging for the album was really cool, and I agree. Unfortunately, he decided after a while that he just didn't much care for the music, so he passed the LP along to me. I wasn't sure what I thought at first, but it quickly grew on me. Very quickly.

Kevin Ayers "Animals"

Kevin Ayers
Animals
7" single
(Columbia [Spain], 1982)

Around twenty years ago, my friend Audrey made a compilation tape of Kevin Ayers stuff for me, thinking I would like it.

I did. A lot. I knew the name, but had no idea who he was or what his music was like.

I started getting what I could find and eventually, several years later, found a website with a fairly extensive discography. This might be the rarest of the lot, though I don't know for certain. I do know, however, that it was released only in Spain, where Ayers was living at the time, in Deià. I also know that the first time I saw a copy come up on eBay, the winning bid was around $200! I just checked Quicken, and I paid $13.19 for my copy, shipping from Spain included.

HA!

There are no musician credits, but if that's not Kev's usual cohort, the amazing Ollie Halsall, on guitar, I'll eat my hat. I get to choose which hat, though.

割礼「太陽の真ん中のリフ」

割礼
『ネイルフラン』
CD
(Invitation, 1989)

Translations:

• 割礼 = Katsurei = Circumcision
  
• ネイルフラン = Neirufuran = Nail Franc (??)
  
• 太陽の真ん中のリフ = Riff in the Middle of the Sun

I won a CD by 黒百合姉妹 on eBay a few years back. I asked the seller if he had anything else on the SSE Communications label, and, in fact, he did. I bought every title he had that I didn't own already. When the package arrived, from France, I found that he'd tossed in a CD by 割礼, Live9091, as he didn't know who they were (the band name was written only in Japanese). It turned out to be really cool, so I started looking for more and won this one in an auction on Yahoo! Japan. They have a bunch more, but almost everything is out of print. Actually, until the beginning of this year, everything was OOP. Early in the year, their first record, Paradise K, was reissued in a deluxe version with a lot of bonus material. Then, last month, they released their first new album since, I think, 2003: 『星を見る』. It's fantastic.