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 Human Switchboard "Distemper"

The Human Switchboard
The Human Switchboard
7" EP
(Rug Records, 1977)

My friend Elizabeth was/is a big fan of neo garage wavers The Human Switchboard, and I ended up buying their lone studio LP, Who's Landing in My Hangar?, partly 'cause o' her evil influence. Thank goodness it's a great record; I would've hated having to kill her.

One day, I was shopping at Yesterday and Today Records, when they were still a brick'n'mortar operation, and stumbled upon a 7" record by The Human Switchboard. I had no idea such a thing existed! As it turned out, they released three of the suckers before the LP mentioned above. Today's song is the second song from side one of their first little record.

TV Toy "Monofunk"

TV Toy
Building with Assurance
7" EP
(Permanent Records, 1981)

I first heard of TV Toy when it was announced in 1979 (?) that their drummer, Steve Peer, would be joining Bill Nelson's Red Noise for touring. The name stuck with me, but I didn't ever see anything in print about them again, and Red Noise didn't last long as a band, live or otherwise.

On a record shopping trip to Manhattan in the mid-1980s, however, I came across a 7" record by TV Toy, so I bought it, took it home, put it on the record player, listened to it, and found it was good. It was hard-edged new wave with a bit of a prog rock edge, and quite catchy. Sadly, I don't recall which one it was, though it seems most likely it was their second EP, (Don't Blame It on the) Weekend. Future shopping trips yielded three more little records.

2005 saw the release of Shards 1977-1983, a nifty collection of both released and unreleased material. Monofunk appears on Shards, but in a live version, rather than studio. On this here jukebox, it's the studio version, from their third EP, Building with Assurance.

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I had to get fancy on this one! I have two copies, but neither is in perfect condition. I recorded both to wav files and edited the best bits together. Unfortunately, some parts of the record were a bit noisy on both copies, so there's still a bit of surface noise. Please, no lawsuits.

Human Sexual Response "Pound" (Extended version)

Human Sexual Response
Pound
12" single
(Passport Records, 1981)

The non-extended version appears on their second album, In a Roman Mood.

Split Enz "Shark Attack"

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Split Enz
History Never Repeats
7" single
(A&M Records, 1981)

I bought Split Enz' fifth album, True Colours, when I was in high school, 'cause it had this awesome laser-etching thing going on. I'd long been aware of them, thanks to magazine adverts for their third album, Dizrythmia, but had no clue what they sounded like. Nonetheless, the laser thing was more than I could resist!

Citizen 23 "Janie's Got a Black Eye"

Citizen 23
The Taj Mahal Present$
No Room to Dance
compilation LP
(Blue Wave Records, 1980)

These days, Mr. Don Fleming is a big time record producer. He's also most likely still very tall.

I once said to Thurston Moore, many, many years ago, that he, Don, and Steve Michener (then in Dumptruck, following a stint in the Volcano Suns) should form a band, since they're all so tall. Of course, Steve plays bass, so he was not involved with the Dim Stars, since Richard Hell sang and played bass, but Don and Thurston were both there.

Freaky, man!

Don was, at the time of the aforementioned conversation with Mr. Moore, still leading the Velvet Monkeys and playing in Half Japanese. His roots went back further, though.

The Velvet Monkeys were based in the Washington, DC area. Prior to that, however, they lived in Tidewater, VA, and played under the name Citizen 23. Their only release, to the best of my knowledge, was the three songs on this compilation album. Don sang one, "American Neutron," and Elaine Barnes sang the other two. Since "American Neutron" appears on the Homework #9 compilation CDR (according to the track listing on the Hyped to Death website), I decided to go with one of Elaine's. There are no writing credits anywhere, so I don't know if she wrote it, or Don did, or they collaborated, or someone else did.

Prior to Citizen 23, Don was a member of The Stroke Band, from Valdosta, GA. They released an LP called Green and Yellow in 1978, and I've been looking for a copy for over twenty years. Any help would be appreciated!

Host "First Kiss"

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Host
Tryal
LP
(Changeling Music, 1983)

Screw U2. Horslips and Thin Lizzy are the most important Irish bands. After Horslips split in the very early '80s, the members all continued to play music. Three of them (John, Charles and Eamon) played together as Host and released this album, plus some singles.

The sound is on the new wave end of things, a direction Horslips had started heading with their album The Man Who Built America. Like The Táin, Horslips' second album, Tryal is a concept album. In this case, though, it's the true story of Bridget Cleary, who was murdered by her husband Michael in 1895, rather than an ancient Irish legend.

Michael was convinced she was a fairy changeling, who had replaced his actual wife. The town tried her (this included torture) but found she was human. Undeterred, Michael continued to interrogate her, then threw her on an open fire, doused her with lamp oil, and watched her burn to death. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years.

The Findells "Breaking into People's Cars"

The Findells
The Radiators Are Bleeding
LP
(self-released, 1983)

My roommates my third year of college, Dale and Maynard, were big fans of The Findells, but I never saw them, though they were somewhat local, being from tiny Staunton, VA (20 or so miles away). I vaguely remembered hearing and liking the song "Parking Meters," so when I found a copy of this album six or seven years later, I snapped it up, and I'm mighty pleased I did.

Nurses "D.Y.F."

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Nurses
Extant
5 x 7" single box set
(Dacoit, 1983)

The Nurses were yet another great band from my DC-area teenagerhood. Vocalist/bassist Howard Wuelfling has been in a number of bands over the years, and currently runs the PR firm Howlin Wuelf Media. In addition to the Nurses, he was most notably a member of the best band in the history of music, Half Japanese, and also The Slickee Boys.

Bill Nelson's Red Noise "Stay Young"

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Bill Nelson's
Red Noise
Revolt into Style
12" single
(Harvest, 1979)

This one's for Влад. Happy birthday! ^_^

RF7 "No One to Trust"

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RF7
Futurerock
compilation LP
(La Habra Music, 1981)

RF7 are a kickass, long-running, but not as well known SoCal hardcore band. Their first release on their own was a 7" EP called Acts of Defiance; I have been looking for a copy for around 25 years now, with no luck (it's been reissued recently, but I want the real deal). When their discography comes up, however, this release is conspicuously absent.

For one thing, that cover! OMG, the worst aspects of early 80s graphic design all rolled into one, deliciously horrific piece of "art." The other, and more likely main, reason is this song is not hardcore. Not even close. I don't know if they started as a new wave band and changed, or if this song is an anomoly. I used to think it was awful, but now I kinda like it. So sue me.

Their latest album, last year's Hatred on the Rise, is pretty raging, btw.