Γεωργία Συλλαίου/Σάκης Παπαδημητρίου "Ύμνος Ετη Μούσαν"

Γεωργία Συλλαίου/Σάκης Παπαδημητρίου
Ανοιχτές Διαδρομές
Εννέα Τραγούδια με Ιστορία
CD
(Ano Kato/ῥεῖ Records, 1997)

Pianist Σάκης Παπαδημητρίου (Sakis Papadimitriou) has been featured on the Jukebox before, but only as a solo artiste. In addition to his solo work and various sessions with other players, he and his wife Γεωργία Συλλαίου (Georgia Sylleou) have recorded three albums together as a duo, with her singing and him tinkling the ivories and tickling the steel.

Today's selection comes from their second album, Ανοιχτές Διαδρομές/Εννέα Τραγούδια με Ιστορία (Open Routes/Nine Storied Songs). The lyrics for "Ύμνος Ετη Μούσαν" (Hymn to the Muse) were written ca. 200 AD by Διονυσίου Αλικαρνασσέως (Dionyssios Halicarnasseas). While the entire album is wonderful, "Ύμνος Ετη Μούσαν" is my favorite track. Παπαδημητρίου's unconventional playing on this piece sets a dark, smokey, slightly menacing mood for Συλλαίου's languorous vocals.

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Hymn to the Muse

Chant, my dear Muse
and introduce my song
let the breeze
from your groves
vibrate my mind

Come forward and be good to me

Damon Edge "I'm a Gentleman"

Damon Edge
I'm a Gentleman
7" single
(New Rose Records, 1985)

There's an old saying about the sum of something being greater than its parts. This is often true of bands, and few more glaringingly so than San Francisco proto cyber punks Chrome. From their early days spitting out ice cold, metallic, chopped up weirdness on albums like Alien Soundtracks and Half Machine Lip Moves, to the final days of doom-laden, danceable whomp on thumpers like 3rd from the Sun and the two volumes of The Chronicles, the duo of Damon Edge and Helios Creed could do little wrong.

Unfortunately, they went their separate ways in the early '80s, with band founder Edge moving to France and retaining the Chrome name 'til his death in 1995 and both releasing music as solo artists. I used to slavishly buy any new release by either, always hoping that something would live up to their past glories. Sadly, nothing I ever heard did. I ended up ditching all that I had by both save this one, kickin' little single by Damon, from his first solo album, Alliance. I love, love, love this song. Maybe one day I'll revist the stuff I sold and discover I was wrong (I won't say things like that have never happened to me), but 'til that happens, I'll be spinning this puppy.

Creed revived the Chrome moniker for a few albums after Edge departed this mortal coil, but what I heard of them was little, if any, better than the near dozen that Edge released without him.

Be·Bop Deluxe "Teenage Archangel"

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Be·Bop Deluxe
Teenage Archangel
7" single
(Smile Records, 1973)

Be-Bop Deluxe jumped out at me through the FM radio waves back in 1978. I'd heard of them, having seen their records in stores, but had never actually heard them. Their new album at the time was Drastic Plastic, and its hard, new wave sound turned out to be delectable ear candy to 14-year-old me (still is, too), even though I mostly listened to metal at the time (and thought punk rock sucked because Johnny Ramone didn't play any guitar solos when the Ramones were on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert).

The singles Panic in the World and Electrical Language got regular airplay where I lived, and I loved them so much I had to buy the album. It wasn't too long before I snapped up the rest of what was out there on LP, and was a happy, happy camper, despite the earlier albums being quite different: more prog rock than new wave and gobs and gobs and gobs of fantastic guitar.

At some point, I learned that Be·Bop Deluxe had released a single on their own label back in 1973, before signing with Harvest Records, home of Kevin Ayers, Syd Barrett, and other assorted weirdo geniuses. Luckily, in mid-1978 my family moved from northern Louisiana to the Washington, D.C. area, which had much better record stores. I tracked down a copy of the single at Yesterday & Today Records,which was the store in town if you were looking for obscurish punk, new wave, oddball, and/or heavy metal records. There were lots of other good stores, mind you, but Y&T was the epicenter, so to speak. The owner, Skip Groff, was incredibly supportive of the local underground scene. He produced sessions for local bands, had his own label, Limp Records (as opposed to the UK's Stiff Records, you see), and employed many of the local punk rockers of note at the store.

This single wasn't released with a picture sleeve, to the best of my knowledge, so that's my protective plastic sleeve holding it in the pic. I supposed I could've scanned it sans-sleeve, but I didn't want to risk damaging the record. I know the sound is a bit muddy, but that's the way it's sounded since the day I bought it. The song on the b-side, Jets at Dawn, was re-recorded for their first album, Axe Victim, but Teenage Archangel never made it beyond this little slab o' black wax.

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NOTA BENE: Your eyes are not deceiving you; the band name above is written both as Be·Bop Deluxe and Be-Bop Deluxe; it changed from release-to-release. It was also written Be+Bop Deluxe, BE BOP deluxe, Be Bop Deluxe, and Funky Phaser and His Unearthly Merchandise (seriously! but just for the song Shine on the b-side of the Kiss of Light single).

I like actual comments . . . not libelous propaganda

I deleted a comment this morning; I've never done that before in the year-and-a-half that I've been doing this blog.

Like most any blogger out here, I enjoy getting comments. When I got a notification this morning that I had a comment for the first time in three weeks, I was happy. Until I read the comment itself, that is:

Did you know that homosexuals make up only 3% of the population, yet they account for 40 to 50% of all child molestations? True Fact!

Firstly, the jury is still out on what percentage of the population is homosexual. Estimates have ranged from 1% to 10% over the years since Alfred Kinsey first reported the 10% figure in Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, published in 1948. Since there is still considerable social stigma associated with being gay or bisexual, many people hide their orientation. Worse, many attempt to hide it by attacking those who do not. Just take a look at all of the anti-gay politicians and religious leaders who've been, to borrow a song title from the Dead Boys, caught with the meat in [their] mouth[s]. It has long been my gut feeling that, if the stigma was completely eliminated, the 10% estimate may, in fact, be too conservative.

As for the claim that 40 to 50% of all child molestations are commited by homosexuals? From the American Psychological Association's on-line article Child sexual abuse: What parents should know:

Who are the perpetrators of child sexual abuse?

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• Most children are abused by someone they know and trust.
• An estimated 60% of perpetrators of sexual abuse are known to the child but are not family members, e.g., family friends, babysitters, childcare providers, neighbors.
• About 30% of perpetrators are family members, e.g., fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins.
• Just 10% of perpetrators are strangers to the child.
• In most cases, the perpetrator is male regardless of whether the victim is a boy or girl. Heterosexual and gay men are equally likely to sexually abuse children. A perception that most perpetrators are gay men is a myth and harmful stereotype.
• Some perpetrators are female -- It is estimated that women are the abusers in about 14% of cases reported among boys and 6% of cases reported among girls.
• Child pornographers and other abusers who are strangers may make contact with children via the Internet.
• Not all perpetrators are adults - an estimated 23% of reported cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by individuals under the age of 18.
• Other common characteristics of perpetrators include:
  1. a history of abuse (either physical or sexual)
  2. alcohol or drug abuse
  3. little satisfaction with sexual relationships with adults
  4. lack of control over their emotions
  5. mental illness in some cases

I have no desire to start moderating comments, but any comments of a similar nature (i.e., false propaganda directed toward any group) will be deleted in future with no comment from me.

Juliet "My First Hardcore Song"

Juliet
My First Hardcore Song
digital single
(self-released via iTunes, 2012)

UPDATE: Holy crap! This thing has exploded! The video below was posted on January 19, and, as of 9:45 a.m. EST January 22, it's rapidly approaching eleven-and-a-half million views on YouTube. The song is now available as a download from iTunes (please, see button above), and there's a already a website where you can buy t-shirts.

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The original post:

Sorry for the lack of posts! In the meantime, I've watched this video so many times over the past few days, I should probably see a doctor.

Yes, the unasked question has been answered: What if Carcass had been eight-year-old girls?

Sara Goes Pop "Sexy Terrorist"

Sara Goes Pop
Sara Goes Pop
2 x 7" EP
(It's War Boys, 1982)

Poor Sara! I hope popping didn't hurt too much. This was the only Sara Goes Pop record, to the best of my knowledge, so I'm guessing all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Sara together again. Pity the king didn't think to have any, say, surgeons.

Whenever I hear this song, I picture Jack Wild singing it. I do my best to not think about his creepy talking flute, though.

Yes, I loved H.R. Pufnstuf when I was a wee bairn.

Sid and Marty Krofft were the kings of hallucinogenic children's TV back in the 60s and 70s. I watched all their shows, even Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. That one was a bit of a challenge, however, since they chose to cast in the lead role the most horrible boy on TV: Johnny Whitaker, prince of the wussies.

The best Sid and Marty Krofft show, of course, was Land of the Lost. Sleestaks rule!

Jad Fair "Kristy"

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Jad Fair
Light Bulb Magazine Number Four:
The Emergency Cassette
2 x cassette compilation
(Los Angeles Free Music Society, 1981)

Kristy McNichol came out the other day, and the first thing I thought was, Poor Jad Fair must be crushed.

Here's Kristy today (right) with her other half of two decades, Martie Allen. From the blurb in People magazine:

McNichol, 49, who has lived with her partner Martie Allen, also 49, for the past two decades, decided to make a statement about her sexuality and share this photo because she is approaching 50 and wants to be open about who I am.

She is very sad about kids being bullied, her publicist Jeff Ballard tells PEOPLE. She hopes that coming out can help kids who need support. She would like to help others who feel different.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of very ugly comments in the People article. I'm not going to reprint any of them here, though. I just want to add my 2¢, that celebrities coming out does have a positive effect on young LGBT folk. So, bravo for Kristy!

There were nice comments, however, by folks who mentioned having crushes on Kristy when she was on TV back in the '70s and '80s. Sure, she was cute, but her older brother Jimmy was the one who caught my eye back then. No, I do not own the magazine with this pic. I did a Google image search, thankyouverymuch. If the results are at all indicative of reality, the poor boy owned very few shirts.

The Martha Dumptruck Massacre "Two"

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The Martha Dumptruck Massacre
The Atomic Plains
CDR EP
(Sleepglue Records, 2004)

Previously, on Lightning Jukebox: The Martha Dumptruck Massacre impressed Lightning (that's me!) with an unexpected, and great, live set at Lenny's.

You know one of the things I really hate? Disreputable club owners.

When The Martha Dumptruck Massacre returned to town a year or so later, they ended up playing at a club run by scumbags. I'm almost positive it was the same charlatans who ran a similar club that had recently closed. They expected bands to do all the promotion, then they paid bands based upon the number of people at the door who indicated they were there to see them. They generally charged $5 at the door and payed bands $1 or $2 for each tick mark at the end of the night. One of my old bands played there twice. First time, we got paid $10. Second time, a massive $4.

For local bands, this is a lousy deal, but, if one busts one's ass promoting, one can theoretically still get a decent turnout. The club did no print ads, by the way, and their website was rarely updated. So, no one would know you're coming, if you depended solely on the club to let people know.

Did the club inform touring bands of this?

NO

I spoke with bands who'd sent promo materials, such as tour posters, to the club, only to have said materials apparently just thrown away. I know there were two shows at that club where I was the entire paying audience for a touring band. When The Martha Dumptruck Massacre played this new club with the same modus operandi, I was, unsurprisingly, their entire paying audience. I felt horrible for them. On top of that, they were on a bill with a couple of (bad) teenage metal bands. Not exactly complementary, you know?

I bought all the merch they had that night (well, one of each thing I didn't already have, not their entire inventory), so they could hopefully at least get some food. The new release they had that night was the bearer of today's tune. It was a nifty three-song CDR EP in a hand letterpressed, gatefold, heavy, cardboard sleeve.

Unlike the Burning Bridge, The Atomic Plains is more of a chamber pop affair, with Joel on guitar and piano backed by viola and cello with minimal percussion. Today's track is the same song as yesterday's, in fact, in a completely new arrangement for this new configuration. This time 'round, however, it's entitled Two, rather than ____________. It's the second track on both releases, you see. Plus, it's version two of the song! :-D

Enjoy!

Sadly, since this release, the only thing I've heard about (and gotten, of course) was a CDR single with a gorgeous version of White Christmas. It even came with a Christmas card and a (probably now stale) candy cane.

the Martha Dumptruck Massacre "____________"

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the Martha Dumptruck Massacre
the Burning Bridge
CD
(Sleepglue Records, 2003)

Man, I wish I had a copy of the review I wrote of the first time I saw The Martha Dumptruck Massacre. I remember writing something like, Remember that quiet, cute boy at the back of your math class? The one you always wanted to talk to but were too shy? Well, The Martha Dumptruck Massacre is his band.

The first time I saw The Martha Dumptruck Massacre, it was not intentional. I'd gone to a now defunct local dive called Lenny's to see one of my favorite, also now defunct, local bands, Made in China. They were set to open, so I was going to watch them then head across town to another club to see another band who were doing a headlining set. As it turned out, the schedule got flipped (I think one of the MiC guys was late arriving or something, perhaps that was the night bassist/vocalist Rob Solomon auditioned for American Idol).

As a result, I ended up watching The Martha Dumptruck Massacre and being blown away. Many of their songs were low key indie rock, and some were more aggressiver (like today's song), but the one they played last, the nine minute epic Somewhere in the movie, had usually shyly reserved and slightly awkward leader/vocalist/guitar Joel Alter on his knees, banging the crap outta his guitar by the end. It was cathartic as a deleted expletive. I have my reasons for not posting it; they shall be revealed at a future date!

I bought the CD pictured above, the one containing today's song, that night plus a 7" EP.

Yes, the title of this song really is ____________, though I must admit I have estimated at the correct number of underscores (that estimate being 12, if you're keeping score).

They came back to town the next year, under very different circumstances.

To be continued . . .

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Rob's big moment! Apparently, the song shown here is the one he used at the pre-audition. He sang something else for Simon and the gang; reality TV, my ass! His singing in Made in China was pretty cool; it reminded me a bit of the vocalist for '70s UK art punkers The Homosexuals.

Double-O "You've Lost"

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OO
 OO
7" EP
(R&B Records/Dischord Records, 1983)

Sometimes, OK often, bands fall through the cracks of history. OO   is one of them. They featured former members of bands that appeared on the seminal harDCore (i.e., hardcore from Washington, D.C.) compilation album Flex Your Head†, and all four members went on to later bands of varying success‡. Aside from this one lil' 7" record, though, their recorded legacy is somewhat . . . scant.

photo: Sharon Cheslow

Sure, the band name on the cover is Double-O, but OO   is the way they wrote it. That's OO   as in two interlocking circles, as in unity. Yeah, they were emo-ish before the advent of emo. Back when emo was a music thing, that is, rather than a skinny jeans & guyliner thing. They explain it in more detail in this interview from the zine If This Goes On.

Musically, OO   were one of the earlier bands in the harDCore scene to incorporate such a marked heavy metal influence to their sound. They were also the first, to the best of my knowledge, to have a ballad in their repertoire: Funeral for a Friend. It's quite maudlin and far-and-away my least favorite track on this record. Still, I guess it has some historical significance, if nothing else. Sorta like smallpox. The other four songs on this platter are all ragers, though, and I picked my favorite for today's jukebox track.

NOTA BENE: As was traditional in D.C. at the time, the record was not released 'til after the band broke up.

VANTARSI: I was at the show from whence the above live pic comes. Prior to that, I'd never even heard of them.

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†Vocalist Eric L. had been in Red C and the rhythm section (Rich Moore & Bert Queiroz) had been in The Untouchables, as opposed to The Untouchables. Bert had also been in Youth Brigade, not to be confused with Youth Brigade.

‡Eric went on to E.N.B. (aka Eric's New Band) who eventually settled on the name Dove and got really mersh. Rich & Bert started Minor Threat Jr., aka Second Wind. Guitarist Jason went on to play with grating artpunkers 9353.

Tom Jones "Act of Mercy"

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Tom Jones
Do You Take This Man
LP
(EMI Columbia, 1979)

Yeah, I know . . . I've posted two Tom Jones songs already. I can't help it; I am obsessed.

The lil' goodie today comes from what would appear to be Tom's rarest album, Do You Take This Man. As you might guess from the cover, it's quite discofied. Normally, I can't stand disco, but I'll make the occasional exception.

It's impossible for me to say with absolute certainty that this his Tom's rarest, but I can say that it took me years to find a copy. For the longest time, based on the lack of information about it on the 'net, I thought it might be one of the 57 bazillion compilation albums out there. In addition, it was released in 1979, the same year that Rescue Me was released over here on my side of the pond from Wales. If you think the front cover's something, you should see the picture inside the gatefold. Tom is resplendent in chesty hirsuteness, and that belt buckle you can see on the front? It's enormous! The cover pic does not do it justice. It'd probably be quite handy for hand-to-hand combat. Oop! Pun not intended.

Much as I love Tom, I'm not sure if I would be able to decide between Do You Take This Man and Rescue Me which has the ickiest cover.

Anyhow, today's track was apparently originally done either by disco queen Vicki Sue Ring My Bell Robinson or Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison, formerly known as Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds; both released versions in 1976. I listened to a bit of a clip of VSR's recording on YouTube, and I have to say Tom's version is better. Then again, with Tom, that's usually the case.

Now, I'm just not familar enough with disco to know if the repeating string figure is common, or if Madonna flat out stole it for Vogue. I'll let you be the judge. Sorry the clip below isn't the original video, and is a different mix. Madonna won't allow embedding from YouTube, so we head to Vimeo for Robert Jeffrey's version:

I performed to MADONNA's VOGUE in the Summer of 1991 when my parents took me to Hampton Beach Casino in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. A business in the casino at the time gave tourists the chance to lip-synch to their favorite pop songs in front of a blue screen background, and I was lucky enough to partake that summer.

Alchemical Rowdies "Tour de Convulse"

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Alchemical Rowdies
Trans-Idio
LP
(Trans Museq, 1981)

Free improvisation! Yea! None's been featured for a while, so here's a nice selection from a fine platter from the Alchemical Rowdies. I'm guessing the album is entitled Trans-Idio 'cause it's a collaboration of Alabama's Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith, who've run the Trans Museq label since the mid-'70s, and ¾ of Virginia's Idio Savant, whom I featured here early last year (all of them are here but Marty McCavitt, who I suppose was too busy mutilating cattle).

This probably sounds like random noise to a lot of people; it sure did to me, at first. In fact, I sold my first copy of this 'cause I couldn't stand it. I'd bought it 'cause the same ¾ of Idio Savant that play on it were later in the fabulous Orthotonics, also featured here in the past. It sounded nothing like the Orthos, though, and my brain was still too small and unprepared. Full disclosure: I'd never even heard of Idio Savant at that point. It was several more years before I was able to really wrap my head around free improv.

Explaining why I like stuff like this isn't easy. I noticed when I was around nineteen or twenty that I was starting to really like music that was full of chaos, but chaos that had some sort of anchor, like a good beat amidst the noise, or that gelled in some other way. Good free improvisation is a dialog between musicians, the gel comes from the conversation: the players are listening and responding to each other. On the other hand, people in their own little worlds, playing away, and not paying attention to each other, tend to be considerably less interesting.

Line-up:

• J. Pippin Barnett - percussion
• Danny Finney - saxophones
• LaDonna Smith - violin, viola, voice
• Paul Watson - trumpets, alto horn
• Davey Williams - electric guitar