Sunday, February 28, 2010

Duggie Fields interview (on Syd)

"Steve" (melodylaughter) from Laughing Madcaps Syd Barrett Pink Floyd yahoo group at: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/madcapslaughing/ recently re-posted a great chunk of history. An interview with fab artist & ex-Syd Barrett roomie, Duggie Fields. Here is Steve's description and a link...

Duggie Fields interview

> Q: "do you still have that mashup and subsiquent audio?"

I dug it up. Hard to believe that was six years ago. We were still using
SHN files. Pete probably still has it, but I converted them to flac. It's
definitely smaller that way, the Lucy interview in particular.

Both of them are available in a .rar file here--
http://www.megaupload.com/?d= BH2UF6YT

The first interview is in the pub; that's the one I had to mess with. I
think 60% of it had to be cut, because it was Bolan this and Sex Pistols
that, and London in '77 instead of London in '67, and then back to Syd after
five or ten minutes off-topic.

The second one is in the Madcap room. Daniel's an excellent interviewer,
and by the end of it you feel they really have exhausted the subject.

I'm not sure these interviews broke as much new ground as we would have
liked, but it's great hearing it directly from Duggie rather than as a quote
somewhere in one of the Syd books. Enjoy.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

CHARLES BUKOWSKI'S SCARLET - Pamela "Cupcakes" Wood's memoir coming in May 2010

From bukowski.net at: http://bukowski.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6916

Photo: http://bukowski.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2083&stc=1&d=1266921890


Charles Bukowski's Scarlet coming in May 2010

HERE's some latest info on Pamela 'cupcakes' / 'scarlet' / 'Tammie' Wood's book about her relationship with Hank.

(The upcoming yearbook of the Buk-Society will include the first 3 chapters of this book in a slightly earlier state of the manuscript.)

Monday, February 22, 2010

LESLEY (MARRIOTT) ASHCROFT INTERVIEW

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=206577037536&topic=14434

Mick Taylor over at SMALL FACES: GROPING WITH A STOKER group recently interviewed Steve Marriott's daughter, Lesley. Here's a re-post & go check out the group too...

LESLEY (MARRIOTT) ASHCROFT INTERVIEW

Hi there, I'm Lesley, Steve Marriott's oldest offspring! (we think, although there could be more of us out there).

The late great Steve Marriott

I was born in North London, as Sarah Lisa Foulger and stayed with my mother Sally Foulger until I was 15 months old. Sally filed a paternity suit, naming Steve as my father, however after lots of publicity, she decided to drop it and have me adopted. So at 15 months old I went to a National Children's Home in Surrey and was luckily adopted at about 18 months old. I moved back to North London to Winchmore Hill, ironically 10 minutes away from where I was born. I grew up with two very caring parents and a lovely younger brother, Keith, who was also adopted.

I went to Latymer Grammar School, got 9 O levels and 3 A levels, then went on to study Human Resources at the London College of Technology. Sounds like I was a right swot, but I was actually always in trouble in school, and just managed to cram for my exams and somehow passed (more luck than anything else). I have to say that I rebelled against my very strict parents, was a bit of a party girl, had unsuitable boyfriends and enjoyed every minute of it . I moved out of home at 21, left a great job at Mitsubishi and the UK at 26 to do a ski season in Austria and met my husband Mike (who is the best thing that ever happened to me). We consequently travelled through Asia for 6 months with about 20 quid to our name (I got very skinny!) and ended up in NZ, Mike's home, and mine now. We have three hobbits and live happily by the beach in the North Island.

MICK: Hi Lesley many thanks for doing this interview. When did you first find out you were Steve Marriott's daughter?

LESLEY: When I found my mother again at age 18, she told me who my father was. Sally was just 16 when she had me and I consider myself very lucky not to have been one of the many flushed into the sewage system after a hot bath and a bottle of gin!!! Steve apparently knew about me and once rang Sally to get her to bring me round so he could see me……………however it was about 1am, so Sally decided to stay at home. He certainly wasn't ready to get tied to a bird with a kid!! He was just getting famous and who can blame him?

MICK: Have you ever met Steve or seen him?

LESLEY: Once I knew who he was (I had to go and look on an album cover), I went to see Steve play many times. He was with the Packet of Three then and was playing small gigs around London. Sometimes he'd be fantastic and sometimes he'd be crap…..but he was always entertaining. My boyfriend at the time did actually approach him once before a gig – Steve was at the bar having a beer – and told him I was there. His response was "what do you want me to do, mind me f*!&ing language" Hahaha, isn't that just so typical of him!!!

MICK: HaHa, yeah, typical Steve. When did you decide to get in touch with more of Steve's family/children? And how did you go about it?

LESLEY: I didn't make any further effort to contact him and strangely enough, I heard about his death on BBC1 news. About 3 years ago my best friend Kate went to London and brought me back the "All Too Beautiful" biography. It was fascinating for me as the more I read about him, the more similarities I found between myself and him and my children. I suddenly had this urge to meet his mum Kay, his sister and my siblings, all of whom I didn't even know about as I'd sort of closed the book on that chapter of my life. Anyway, I wrote to my grandmother Kay, helped by John Hellier and Iain McGonigle, and sent some photos. I got a lovely response back from his sister Kay saying that they'd both love to meet me. I was taking a trip back to the UK in September 2007, so that's when I first met Kay. After that meeting went well, it felt OK to contact Mollie, Tonya and Toby (facilitated by Mick Taylor!!). I felt that if Kay accepted me, then it would be OK to take it further. We had a laugh about that later as Mollie and Tonya both said "Well if you got past Nan, you must be for real".

MICK: The first of Steve's family you met was Steve's mother Kay – how did that go?

LESLEY: Kay lives about half an hour drive from my parents house, so off I went, with my 10 month old son Leo and drove to Sawbridgeworth, not with butterflies but with bloody great big pigeons flapping around in my stomach. She was at the window when I pulled up and then she opened the door and just gave me a huge hug. I found her to be warm, very switched on, and so very funny. She was only too happy to talk about Steve and how it was around the time I was born. She really didn't know I existed, as the whole paternity suit was dropped and there was never any proof. She said that she only had to look at me and Leo to know! She loved Leo and both her and Aunt Kay plied him with cake and chocolate continuously…..so of course he started bouncing off the walls and smashed one of her ornaments, but she just laughed. She is a very special lady.

MICK: Nice one. What was the reaction from Steve's children, Toby, Mollie and Tonya when they found out they had another sister? And who got in touch with you first?

LESLEY: Well, it was Mick Taylor who broke the news to Tonya and Mollie, and I think it was Tonya I spoke to first. We ran up a big phone bill with her in Canada and me in London. She was amazingly excited and happy about my appearance and I'll never forget that! Luckily for me, I was able to meet Mollie on that trip, just before I left for NZ. I met her, James (her lovely man) and her mum,Manon, in the Dorchester and we had tea (although I could've downed a bottle of wine). They were fantastic and welcoming and I felt very honoured to be accepted so readily.

MICK: Yeah, I was really chuffed for you. You arranged to meet Steve's other children in September 2008 – what was it like when you actually came face to face with them?

LESLEY: This was like the weirdest day of all – going to meet your brother and sister from a plane at Heathrow. Then we drove to Nans and stayed there, like we'd known each other for years. And that's the strangest thing – I do feel like I've known them for years. Of course they have all grown up knowing one another and are obviously really close, but I don't feel like an outsider. We all stayed at Mollie's before the Convention, and we had a great night out together – the first time with the four of us together. In fact we had horrible heads on that Sunday, then we all had Sunday lunch at Manon and Joe's before heading to the Convention. We are all so similar in the way we talk, the things we laugh at, even our dress sense……except Toby wouldn't look so good in a frock. Heehee, he's the loveliest guy and I feel like I've known him forever. We all stay in touch by phone and facebook and are planning a reunion soon.

MICK: Do you listen to a lot of your Dad's music?

LESLEY: Hmmmm, well I know I'm talking to the hardcore fans here and yes, I love Steve's music, but I don't listen to it an awful lot I have to admit. I have two daughters who blast out Lady GaGa, the Sugababes and even Green Day. Although they know every word to the Small Faces hits and are very proud, the good stuff has to wait until they've gone to bed. We all listen to Mollie's album with Dean Reese, "Sweet Felicity Arkwright" too – it rocks.

MICK: Yes, I love Dean's album myself and I recommend it to anyone. Mollie's vocals are outstanding! - Which of your Dad's music do you prefer? What's your favourite songs by your Dad? And what are your other musical tastes?

LESLEY: Really and truly, best of all I love the blues he used to play in those dingy old pubs. He'd grab his guitar, mutter (or shout) a few obscenities and then the magic would start and he'd just make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. His voice and stage presence were truly unique.

As far as other music is concerned I'm a bit mainstream I'm afraid. I started with Rolf Harris, moved on to the Bay City Rollers, then got really grown up and tuned into jazz-funk/soul, followed by acid house. Those were the days when you went out at midnight, drove around looking for the rave/club where it was happening, queued for a couple of hours, finally got in and then the police would do a drug raid and everyone would be sent home. Sod that!! In the nineties I was really into Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins.....and my all time favourites, the Red Hot Chili Peppers who I've seen live a few times. I used to love going to Ronnie Scotts (esp George Melly) and still go to as much live music as possible (but now have three little handbrakes). I still love any reggae, the Stones, Pink Floyd, Sting, Paul Weller and of course the Small Faces. New Zealand has some great sounds too, but not many make it internationally - Bic Runga perhaps and the Finn Brothers (Crowded House).

MICK: I couldn't agree more about your dad being unique - You, Toby, Mollie and Tonya all turned up at the Small Faces convention in 2008 – what did you think of the convention and the fans loyalties to your Dad. I believe you were signing autographs yourself as well, weren't you?

LESLEY: I was actually blown away by the Convention. It was like being on the set of Quadrophenia, without the rockers!! I found it really amazing that all the people there were there for him and the band, and obviously loved him so much. I like to think that he's up there somewhere knowing how much he is appreciated and that his talent is recognised, and I think he'd like that. I felt a bit of a fraud to be sought out for autographs, as who am I really? – but my friends thought it was highly amusing. I'd love to go to another one – the quality of the bands was great and I loved the atmosphere. It was great that John Hellier and the Small Fakers gave Steve jnr a chance to play guitar too. Awesome stuff.

MICK: Talking of Steve Jnr - we're putting an interview together so watch this space - What did your mother tell you about Steve?

LESLEY: My mother died soon after Steve and now there is so much I would have liked to ask her. She did tell me stuff about Steve and I remember looking through her photo album and seeing photos of her with the Who and the Stones (think she was a bit of a groupie). She certainly had some stories. Looking back, I wished I had tried a bit harder and got to know Steve, but I'm just so grateful that I've found such lovely additions to my family. We're all coming back to the UK in June, so we'll be visiting Kay snr, Kay jnr, Lucy, Steve, Mollie, James and my new niece Tabitha. We're trying to persuade Tonya to come too……and Toby promises he's saving for a trip to NZ.

MICK: Have you inherited any of your fathers talents? I've seen and heard Mollie singing on stage and on various albums and she has an outstanding voice especially like you say on the Dean Rees album. Toby is very talented on the guitar and vocal wise and ive seen and heard him do some good stuff. Tonya i've seen doing backing vocals at a small faces convention SO what about yourself? Do you sing or are you like me and only sing in the bath ha?

LESLEY: I adore music, love dancing and play a mean triangle, ...but if I ever try to sing, well, I get abuse from all directions. I have never been a singer. In fact I was even told to mime in the choir at Junior School. Sorry to disappoint but I am atrocious. Leave it to the experts is my motto - in my case that's Mollie and Toby, and I'm sure Tonya too.

MICK: Ha, so you're like me then ;0). Last but not least, is there anything you would like to add?

LESLEY: Although I didn't manage to inherit any musical talents from my father, I was still a big show off like him. I trained as a gymnast and did a lot of competitive stuff and just loved the limelight in that respect. I remember doing a floor routine at The Royal Albert Hall once, in a spotlight, on my own, to thousands and loving it, but put a microphone in my hand and I would have cleared the place in seconds.

Anyway, WAKE UP everyone, I've nearly finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to you all for keeping him, his music and everything around it alive. I think he put his heart and soul into everything he did, and I know that Toby, Mollie, Tonya and now me too, are really happy that he is still being so appreciated.

Cheers Lesley, thank you so much for doing this, you're a star. Speak to you very soon, love and hugs........................Mick xx

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Absence of the Hardback: New Buk from City Lights



From bukowski.net:
http://bukowski.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6887

Absence of the Hardback

Hello all:

Sorry I haven't checked in in a while--editorship at City Lights is wonderful, but pretty work-intensive, so I've been a little swamped of late.

In any case, you guys are going to kill me, but we've had to cancel the hardback version of Absence. The one of Portions didn't really work out for us; there were pre-orders for 500 off the top, ALL of which were returned. All of them. This was difficult to fathom, though I imagine the economy crashing during the season we published it was a factor. The other factor is that, when our distributor went around to bookstores with Absence, almost no one pre-ordered the hardback. Everyone wants the paper for price reasons. It's very disappointing because I thought the Portions hardback was a beautiful book and we seldom have the opportunity to publish hardbacks here.

So I'm not sure what to tell you all; the paperback of Portions is selling very well, but the hardback--after the initial flurry of the hardcore fans like yourselves--is just sitting there, costing us money due to warehousing the books and so on. They mock us with their future collectability, but right now, they sit there like stones.

In another note, yes the cover is still blue; the copies that have gone out so far are what we call galleys--an uncorrected advance copy in order for any writer to work on a review before it comes out--so those are all b&w to save money. Anyway--keep those galleys if you got 'em; there's only about 50 of them and there's a few typos subsequently corrected, making it a unique edition.

So again, I'm very sorry about the hardback; fire away your wrath at me, though bear in mind we really tried to make it happen, so try to cut us some slack. I think it's a pretty awesome book.

Also, to take some of the sting out of this, we're in the (very) preliminary stages of developing a third volume, but different from the others because it'll be entirely composed of Notes of a Dirty Old Man columns. Apparently there's a million of these that haven't been collected, so we thought something more focused than the more general uncollecteds we've done would be a good move at this point.

Alright--I'm outta here; let the beer bottles fly.

Best,
Garrett
City Lights
(2-18-10)

Friday, February 12, 2010

Syd Barrett - Old Shoes

A recent re-post from: http://www.sydbarrettpinkfloyd.com/2010/02/syd-barrett-old-shoes.html

Syd Barrett - Old Shoes



Something written by the Laughing Madcaps' own Jean-Grégoire Royer waaaaay back in 2000!

At least once in a lifetime you wake up and think now is the time: you are going to do something forever. Some get married, others stop smoking, and a very limited number of people actually have a real idea of their own. Among them, some create while others somehow create meaning out of the former’s creation; they try to make sense out of it. It is, of course, much more gratifying, as far as the historical record is concerned, to be part of the first group than of the second.

However, overall, it is also much less risky and tiring to belong to the second. No surgeon ever suffered as much as a mother giving birth did. The same thing applies to the critic. Furthermore, that second group is where the power lies. Creation is always too violent in itself. We need to be protected from it and what keeps us safe is the sense we make of it. Moreover, most of the time, the sense we make does not come directly from us but from the critics. They act like shields.

When I first came into contact with Syd Barrett, I had never heard such a thing before. It was strong, undiluted and dangerous. Moreover, whether because I needed a shield to be protected from that danger or because I was a daredevil and wanted to go further, I started looking for more about Syd Barrett. And as there is not much actually in the way of music, I had to make do with words or pictures.

All I know then is what I have been told, what I have read or seen. There are precious few interviews of Syd Barrett, some articles, one or two biographies, and a chapter at the beginning of each of the numerous books that have been written about the Pink Floyd. There are now quite a number of web sites, some offering copies or excerpts from the former, some boasting exclusive documents (there’s one interview of his nephew!). There have been bootlegs, pictures, T-shirts, badges. At one point you could even buy a box set with his first solo album, plus a beautiful collection of photographs, plus a yellow satin shirt like the one he wore on the rear cover of that very album. They have even gone so far as to release a best of ! Some day, somewhere, there may also be a Pink Floyd anthology, a statue and a museum and a Syd Barrett church or temple, who knows?

For the time being what I have at my disposal is a bunch of songs and some (not all) of the items quoted above. And what do you think I know that I did not know or could not have imagined the first time I listened to him? Well, there is Lindsay Korner. And the Mandrax incident. And the lost year. Stars. The bleeding finger. The cellar incident. And the Chelsea cloisters. The dust and guitars. The 1978 photo of a balding beer-bellied Roger. If you put it all together chronologically, it points out to a most extraordinary story. I mean what is more endearing than a fallen angel ? It is both utterly good and so evil. It is all so human after all.

I can remember a time when I was definitely obsessed with this story. Like any of us, I would sometimes dream about it. There was a mysterious record shop where they had all the unreleased tracks. And I bought everything, spent hours simply watching the sleeves, reading the notes (some pieces were part of the home-made demos!) before I listened to the songs themselves and that was far above anything you would imagine. Or was that, really? When I woke up there would be nothing left of course.

This dream was recurrent. It actually lasted until I went to Cambridge. What happened in fact is that I was in charge of a group of students on a holiday camp in the Fens. And there was this visit to Cambridge : punting, a picnic in a park, the visit of an art museum and about two hours of free time. The latter was all I had been waiting for. It started pretty well : there was a record fair on Marketsquare (imagine that, on Marketsquare !!!). Unfortunately, most of what you could find was legal recordings and, what’s more, mostly hits of the period (late 80’s, Sting, Phil Collins, that sort of thing…). There was only just one stall where they had " 60’s " stuff.

I browsed and browsed and found nothing of real interest. Kind of upset (I was losing precious time) I asked the guy if he had any recording by Syd Barrett (I’m French, it was the first time I had come to England and my English was still rather basic, so I pronounced Syd Beret). He looked at me like I had just arrived from outer space. " Pardon ?", he said. "Syd Beret", I insisted, "former member of Pink Floyd" ! And then the guy turned green, well light green actually, and upped it a bit so that everybody around stopped talking and looked at me : "Syd Barrett", he said, "he’s fallen off his trolley man, leave him alone". And that was it. He then he simply refused to listen to me.

I was as good as dead : cold sweat, blushing so hard as I stumbled my way out of the crowd. Next thing I realized I only had an hour and a half left. I walked past a post office, had second thoughts, made a U-turn and entered the office. Opened a directory. Barrett. There were like 40 people called Barrett in Cambridge. None of them Roger. Then I looked for "Andy’s records". I had heard that Syd was always welcome when he went there. It took me some time to locate it on a map but I finally found it and walked out of the office hurriedly, thinking things like "I’m treading the backward path" or "I’m going far further than you could possibly go". Imagine Syd Barrett walking up and down these very streets, high heeled boots, bell bottoms, an alligator leather coat, cropped hair. Then he enters the shop. Two floors. Lots and lots of records.

But forget it ! There is no Barrett record there. Not even the legal ones. So, I go out of the shop and I realize I have less than an hour left. And then there is this huge bookshop. I get in. There is a board telling you that there is a music and fanzine department on the lower ground floor. I browse again, hoping to come across an issue of Terrapin or Dark Globe or something. But there is nothing. So, I go to the counter and ask my question again, this time paying real attention to my accent. "Syd Barrett ? uh", the guy says, "Oh, I see ! Well, I’m afraid we do not have anything worthy of note here, but go to the hifi department and ask for Mark Richardson, he might have something". Thank you very much indeed, says I, thinking to myself that I have been undergoing some sort of test all the way. This is it now, I have passed the final test, I am going to be handed the pearl !

It so happens that the hifi department is not within the same building. It is another shop altogether, and not very far from Andy’s records, am I told! It is now a matter of minutes before I have to go back to my group of students. I start to run. I see the shop, I come in. Breathless. Mark Richardson please. Wait a minute please, he is not available right now. Then I hear someone flushing the toilet. Here comes my man. I tell him the whole story. The guy’s about Syd Barrett’s age I believe, kind of stiff upper lip. He remains silent for a few second and says, "I have a pamphlet at home. I could send it to you if you like. What is your address? ".

I offered to give him some stamps or some money. He bluntly refused. We shook hands and I raced back to my group and bus and Fens. A few weeks later, back home, I received a huge envelope through the mail. And this is what I found : the Making of the Madcap Laughs, by Malcolm Jones, two newspaper clippings from the early seventies covering the release of "Barrett " (one, headlined: "profile", appears inside the 1974 double album edition), and a badge with an octopus on it. Plus a short handwritten letter. It sort of boiled down to what I had been told at the record stall: “Leave him alone".

I immediately wrote back to Mark Richardson. A long letter. I wanted more. Actually, I wanted to understand why so many people in Cambridge had seemed reluctant to simply talk about Syd Barrett. Was there a sort of secret police in charge of his protection?

Mark Richardson never answered. And I thank him again, not only for sending me this “pamphlet” (back in 1989 you couldn’t find such a thing so easily), but primarily for keeping silent.

Silence does not mean consent. Silence makes good room for music. If you like Syd Barrett, listen to him. You need nothing and no one else. So I played the Madcap Laughs as I read Malcolm Jones’s account of its making. And everything it taught me was already there. Or almost. All this frenzied search for something else from or about Syd Barrett suddenly proved pointless. I should have stayed home and listened more carefully.

Still, something from Jones’s pamphlet caught my attention. He had added a few notes at the end of his text. The Pink Floyd recording sheet and the gig sheet to be precise. It is there that I learned there was quite a lot of unreleased Floyd material “still languishing in the vaults ". It dawned on me while peering at those sheets that no sooner had Piper been released than the Floyd began to rehearse new numbers with Syd, probably with a view to making another album. And this came as a shock. The common idea is that “if he had stayed with the Floyd, they’d have died an ignominious death” (1). You know what that means : Syd was supposedly unable to write new material, he couldn’t or wouldn’t play on stage but stood there staring blankly at the audience, refused to lip-synch Emily on American Bandstand, would spend hours dazed and confused, would sometimes have fits of anger… They had to get rid of him or simply disappear with him. But why talk of death or disappearance when a group is still booking studio time to rehearse and record new songs?

We have all heard some of these songs (One in a million, Scream thy Last Scream, Vegetable Man…). We like them, we cherish them but it is also very difficult, indeed almost impossible “to divorce them from their creator’s personal trauma ", as Brian Hogg put it as a conclusion to the liner notes accompanying the “Crazy Diamond " box set. In other words, these unreleased recordings, as well as those resulting from former and further sessions, have always been associated, consciously or not, with the notion of failure, owing especially and first of all to the Floyd’s repeated refusal to release them. The rumour has it that the last thing Syd’s Floyd rehearsed was a tune entitled " Have you got it yet ?" which Syd kept changing, supposedly so as to make it impossible for the rest of the band to follow him. Then the chorus would go (Syd) “Have you got it yet?” (the others) “No! No! No".

Whatever happened during this last rehearsal we will never know. And it is the critic’s duty to stick to the facts. The critic is not expected to start commenting other people’s comments. The time has come to ignore the rumour and pay closer attention to the bulk of unreleased material recorded by Syd Barrett. From that viewpoint, the initiative of the Laughing-Madcaps is probably the greatest Syd-related thing that has ever happened since he last walked out of a studio. For the first time we will have at our disposal a documented series of recordings covering the whole span of his career. It is most likely that this will come as a shock if only we listen to this music without prejudice.

Chronologically speaking, it all started without a doubt when the Pink Floyd recorded "Lucy Leave" and "King Bee" in 1965. Typical British Beat from that era, you would think, and yet most promising. Musically, the latter is very much akin to the Rolling Stones’ version, cut two years earlier, but also hints at a rather more mature, almost ambient approach to music. The former is an original number, reminiscent of the Pretty Things. It could easily have been featured on Pebbles vol.5, along with recordings by the Fairies for instance. At the same time, what immediately stands out at first hearing are the lyrics: as soon as Syd starts singing you realize something new is taking shape. Things are on the move.

Then we have the "Tonight Let’s all Make Love in London" soundtrack Two long instrumentals that do more than keep the promise of the 1965 recordings. The R&B patterns have given way to something unheard of at the time : free form ambient rock. It has often been underlined that the Floyd were not the first to develop that musical style. Some even said that those two instrumentals are directly influenced by an obscure underground group known as Amm. Amm were actually much closer to the French electronic avant-garde of the late 50’s (Pierre Henry…) than to the Rock scene. The early Pink Floyd sound actually bears more resemblance to mainstream sounds. Mick Farren, singer with the Deviants and Rock critic, once described it as an extended version of a middle section from a song by the Who. But anybody can also trace the origin of that sound back to the 1950’s and the Shadows. Syd’s guitar playing is as pure as Hank Marvin’s, only it is free from any rule.

At the same recording session, the Pink Floyd also cut " Arnold Layne " and "Let’s Roll another one". Both are close in content to the 1965 recordings. It is still a very basic R&B sound or Pop sound but it is as though that sound was living a life of its own, bridging a gap between the present and the future. And, once again, what stands out is the lyrics. Anybody who has tried to play these songs has no doubt realized the importance of the lyrics. If you do not sing along, the music does not seem to make much sense. I remember my guitar teacher’s reaction when I asked him to show me how to play "Astronomy Domine" and the rest of the Floyd’s early material. He would go like " Wow ! That is a riff ", and then "What does that mean ? There is one bar too many!".

It is striking that we never pay real attention to Syd Barrett’s songwriting. Throughout his short career, he remained a lyricist rather than a musician. It is true that his lyrics are for the greatest part so abstruse, as it were, that you will inevitably tend to take no heed of them, indeed sometimes ignore them. But from the creative viewpoint, they are the moving force behind his work. It is blatant with any song from the Piper. Even on Waters’ "Stethoscope ", his playing is modeled on the main melodic line and develops as a variation to it.

The Floyd spent the first half of 1967 recording that album and their second single. For some of their early fans, among which you could count Pete Townsend, the result was a definite anticlimax. Most of what had made them famous on the underground circuit now boiled down to very short instrumental sections ornamenting powerful pop songs. It stood as the clear evidence of a move on their part towards novelty. One of the last songs they recorded during the Piper sessions is "One in a million" a.k.a. "She was a millionaire" (18.4.67). It has supposedly been erased, but a live version from September 1967 (Star Club, Copenhagen) clearly indicates that at the very moment they were completing their first album, they were already making another move towards a new sound. Change returns success.

During the summer of 1967 their music got slower and heavier, still merging R&B patterns and free form improvisations, but somehow turning them into something akin to what would then become the trademark of the New Yardbirds (listen to their early versions of "Dazed and Confused") and then Led Zeppelin. Other examples of such a move can be found on "Stoned Again" or "Reaction in G".

The question is, was this move a reaction indeed, or the first sign of Syd Barrett’s incapacity to cope with stardom and work the seam that had made his group famous? The answer, once more, is in the recordings. What we have next is a bunch of songs cut at the end of the summer of 1967, and then in late October of the same year. At that time the group had taken a break from their exhausting schedule and then made their first attempt in the USA. These events have been detailed elsewhere and there is no need to go back to them. So the first thing the Floyd came up with after the Piper was "Scream thy Last Scream". What is striking with this song, according to me, is that it stands as a turning point. The song itself is a whimsical ditty, somehow reminiscent of (or should I say heralding) the Beatles’ "What’s the new Maryjane" : if you compare the 3rd and 4th bars of Syd’s song to the recurrent melody of the latter, you will realize they are almost identical (and I am perfectly aware that this is going to start a new series of squabbles over Syd’s possibly taking part in the recording of "Maryjane" !). The arrangement on the other hand is closer to heavy metal than anything else the original Floyd ever recorded. At that point then the group seems to be torn apart.

Next come the Fall sessions, and the desperate search for a third single. Both "Millionaire" and "Old Woman with a Casket" (the original title for "Scream", it seems) had been mentioned as the possible A-side for that single. Why the group chose neither will remain a mystery. Nevertheless they went back to the studio and recorded "Apples and Oranges", once more a move away from the past. This one is a pearl. Everything about it is just about perfect. Only it is definitely not the sort of song you would choose for a single. Is this a mistake on the group’s part ? I would tend to think it is Syd Barrett’s" declaration of independence ", or rather a first draft of it.

At that time Syd was supposed to be totally zonked out of his brains. It has been reported that on the Jimi Hendrix package tour of December 1967, his collaboration to the group had virtually boiled down to nothing. On occasions, he was replaced by Nice lead guitarist David O’List. Still his playing on both sides of the third single as well as on the December Top Gear sessions is nothing less than powerful and purposeful. Or was this just a lull before his final collapse?
Well, then there’s the real "declaration of independence". "Vegetable man", to begin with. Definitely the song that paved the way for his future output: words, nothing but words, and music as a background. From then on indeed, his music would definitely tend towards a soundtrack. This song is impossible to play. It is as close as you can get to the spoken word without entirely crossing the barrier. And what message! "I ‘ve been looking all over the place for a place for me, but it isn’t anywhere, it just isn’t anywhere". Was this a way to announce that the band should split? Or simply asking for a break? Apparently the group then recorded more stuff: "Remember a Day", "John Latham", the soundtrack to the " Committee " (I am not absolutely sure whether Syd recorded it anyway) . There may have been no plan on Syd’s part to ruin things, perhaps only a desire to make it clear to the rest of the group that they needed to agree on which course to follow next.

But then there is the conspiracy. The three others were not going to let go of the goose that lays the golden eggs. They were neither patient enough to wait for Syd to recover. So they hired David Gilmour (Mason told him "things are on the move", but he should have known they had always been…) and one day simply forgot to pick Syd up on their way to the studio. Just like Brian Jones during the Beggar’s Banquet sessions six months later.

Only, Syd had left a message. In his so called "ultimate self diagnosis on a state of schizophrenia" (2), he sings: "I’m grateful to you that you threw away my old shoes and brought me here instead dressed in red". It has been reported that at the time he wrote these lines (October 1967), he was totally unable to look after himself and had to be taken care of by the Floyd. And maybe it was true or partially true. But why should he have written a song to tell the world that that was it, he was through with the band, for the latter is sake? This does not make sense. Instead what is intriguing is the details in Syd’s descriptions of the situation in "Jugband Blues". The band is a "Jugband", to begin with, something rather old fashioned, you would think, and above all ludicrous. And the singer and songwriter waves them goodbye, improvising a blues song of his own making. He has been dressed in red for this final performance. Red is just a colour. But it also happens to be the one that used to be associated with madness in the days of yore (the days when you would listen to jugband music for want of anything worthier of note). In other words, the band makes him out to be mad. And they take care of throwing away his old shoes.

Whadayamean? Maybe there were holes in his (yellow) shoes? Of course not! Every one of us remembers this: Syd used to wear sneakers as a sign of protest against the frivolousness of stardom (read " Groupie " again if you don’t recall this detail or simply watch the photos from 1967). He was no shallow person. Throwing away his shoes meant dishonest compromise. Meant he could not walk straight any longer but just "careen through life".

So he was ousted. And then "his band", for better or for worse, tried to make up for lost time. And they eventually managed to do it. It did not keep Syd from carrying on. The 1968 recordings saw him start work again with a bunch of songs he had supposedly written during the Floyd days. I’ve always wondered if "Clowns and Jugglers " is not actually an early rendition of the mysterious "In the Beechwoods": while the fair is going full swing (the music at that fair is not swing by the way but most probably jugband music…), while the clowns make faces and the jugglers blow hot air, it is definitely more pleasant to go away and hide. "Isn’t it good to be lost in the (beech) woods"?

Lost he was, or may have been, but he found his way back, back to the studio with Malcolm Jones. Jones lays the stress on Syd’s being totally "together" in 1969, even if still whimsical and a bit "offhand" (as Syd later put it himself) about things. His two official albums as well as Opel and the Crazy Diamond box set do not reveal him slowly "falling into an abyss" (3) but still carrying on with his search for a perfect balance between new words and new music. Syd once declared that he was absolutely satisfied with "Wolfpack", and with hindsight there is no denying that this is a masterpiece: mingling jet and statuesque. But he went one step further with "Word Song", and maybe one too far. If "Scream" was a turning point, then "Word Song" is a point of no return. It is his ultimate statement on the pointlessness of his search. Words are unrelated to each other. Meaning is a fraud. It is a truth, which no music whatsoever can hide.

Maybe he felt at that time that he was going nowhere. Then he went back home to Cambridge, got engaged, considered becoming a doctor, broke the engagement, owing to a dog, went back to London, and back to Cambridge, made several ill-starred attempts at a come back, and fell off his trolley.

Isn’t it sort of scary to think that the last thing he recorded with a name on it was entitled "If You Go, Don’t be Slow"?

What the Laughing Madcaps propose is the key to a mystery. What the Laughing Madcaps propose is what I have been dreaming about for so long I don’t even remember. What the Laughing Madcaps propose is a boon. That is why I am honoured to be one of the Laughing Madcaps. From a legal viewpoint this may not be allowable. But who pays for the lawyers apart from those who are responsible for the waste of Syd Barrett’s talent? What do the lawyers do apart from receiving stolen goods? What do they do apart from keeping Syd Barrett’s old shoes locked in a box since the Fall of 1967?

What the Laughing Madcaps propose is to tear open the box. Take the shoes, they are made for walking, put them on and walk on up the road to Syd Barrettdom. To everything there is a season. Today is the beginning of a new one: after the Fall, let it be the Rise.

Jean-Grégoire Royer, La Flèche , France, 12.21.2000

(1)David Gilmour in " Crazy diamond ".
(2)Mike Watkinson in " Crazy Diamond ".
(3)Julian Cope in " Crazy Diamond ".

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

"Spaghetti Westerns" (Classic Italian Soundtracks) Volumes 1-3

Twilightzone! is one of my favorite music blogs because we have similar tastes and they come up with the goodies. Stuff I have old vinyls of, stuff I have on ancient homemade cassettes, stuff I've been looking for, and new-to-me cool stuff that enlightens or makes me laugh. An example of of several facets are these Italian Spaghetti Western volumes I'm re-posting and sharing today. Thanks Twilight Zone!

From: http://twilightzone-rideyourpony.blogspot.com/2010/02/spaghetti-westerns-classic-italian.html

"Spaghetti Westerns" (Classic Italian Soundtracks) Vol. 1 - 1995

"Hi Ryp, Just uploaded this fantastic compilation of Spaghetti Westerns for you. I've uploaded Volumes 1, 2 and 3. There are other volumes out there so I'm kind of hoping that someone out there has this and wouldn't mind uploading it! Cheers" - Russ


Composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone, Pino Donaggio, Riz Ortolani, and others. Vocals by Katina Ranieri. Among the 28 films represented are "Duck You Sucker," "A Fist Goes West," "Wanted Johnny Texas," "Night of the Snakes."
I have a very extensive music collection, and was looking for something missing: that beautiful but haunted and lonely sound of Ennio Morricone's music: spaghetti westerns!
I was simply looking for all the soundtracks from those countless obscure Italian Westerns that where made in the 60s and 70s. But how to find them, or worse, the titles?
This collection, as well as Part 2, 3, and 4, hosts them probably all. It also has an extensive booklet with very good info on the music, as well as the movies that made them, or is it the other way around? This set is simply the best Italian Western music money can buy, and should be famous and sold-out! I recommend to buy all 4 sets! - By Martijn13Maart1970 (Husavik Iceland)


trax disc 1:
01 Jeff Bloom [From Shango (The Invincible Gun)] 02 Fiesta, Fiesta! [From Shango (The Invincible Gun)] 03 Pistole Che Scottano [From Shango (The Invincible Gun)] 04 Quanto Costa Morire [From Quanto Costa Morire] 05 Una Colt Bruciata [From Quanto Costa Morire] 06 C'E Sempre Una Vita [From Quanto Costa Morire] 07 Tema Di Clayton [From Amore Piombo E Furore] 08 Tema d'Amore [From Amore Piombo E Furore] 09 Just a Coward [From Ed Ora Raccomanda L'anima A Dio] 10 Just a Coward [#][From Ed Ora Raccomanda L'anima A Dio][Instrumental] 11 Main Titles [#][From Wanted_ Johnny Texas] 12 M 22 [#][From Wanted_ Johnny Texas] 13 Finale [#][From Wanted_ Johnny Texas] 14 Tema Per Una Vendetta [From Quei Disperati Che Puzzano Di Sudore E Di] 15 Oltre Il Confine [From Quei Disperati Che Puzzano di Sudore E di Mor] 16 Tema Per un Amore [From Quei Disperati Che Puzzano di Sudore E di Mor] 17 Cento Cavalleggeri [From Quei Disperati Che Puzzano Di Sudore E Di Mor] 18 Black Jack [From Kid Il Monello del West] 19 Main Titles [#][From Deserto di Fuoco] 20 Ombre Sulla Sabbia [#][From Deserto di Fuoco] 21 Finale [#][From Deserto di Fuoco] 22 Main Titles [#][From Carambola] 23 Mexican Cantina [#][From Carambola] 24 Finale [#][From Carambola] 25 Tema Principale [#][From Carambola Filotto Tutti in Buca] 26 Funny Town [#][From Carambola Filotto Tutti in Buca] 27 Let It Rain, Let It Pour [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 28 Un Passaggio Per Red Rock [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 29 Sensazioni [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 30 Ridendo E Scherzando [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 31 Addio, Sarah [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 32 Controluce [From Amico Stammi Lontano Almeno un Palmo] 33 GiĂ¹ la Testa [From Giu' La Testa]

trax disc 2:
01 Main Titles [From Uno Straniero A Paso Bravo][Version] 02 Main Titles [From Uno Straniero A Paso Bravo][Version] 03 Main Titles [#][From Uno Straniero A Paso Bravo][Version] 04 Main Titles [#][From Prega Dio E Scavati La Fossa] 05 M 26 III [#][From Prega Dio E Scavati La Fossa] 06 M 9 V [#][From Prega Dio E Scavati La Fossa] 07 Main Titles Xiii [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 08 Canzone VI [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 09 M2 I [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 10 M 38 XI [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 11 M 3 I [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 12 M 25_Xvii and M 42 II [#][From La Notte Dei Serpenti] 13 Sandstorm [From Requiem per en Gringo] 14 Twilight [From Requiem per en Gringo] 15 The Moon and You [From Requiem per en Gringo] 16 Pistols Galore [From Requiem per en Gringo] 17 Vado Vedo E Sparo [From Vado Vedo E Sparo] 18 Galoppa Susanna! [From Vado Vedo E Sparo] 19 Disco Western III [#][From Johnny West Il Mancino] 20 M 4 III and M 6 I [#][From Johnny West Il Mancino] 21 M 21 I and M 65 III [#][From Johnny West Il Mancino] 22 Finale [#][From Johnny West Il Mancino] 23 Suite [#][From Roy Colt & Winchester Jack] 24 M 6, M 7, and M 8 [#][From Sartana Nella Valle Degli Avvoltoi] 25 A King for a Day [From Sartana Nella Valle Degli Avvoltoi] 26 M 18 V [#][From Sartana Nella Valle Degli Avvoltoi] 27 M 5, M 9, M 15 and M33 III [#][From Ancora Dollari Per I Mcgregors] 28 M 9 and M 15 V [#][From La Collera del Vento] 29 M 34 [#][From Sella D'argento] 30 Fantasia Western [From Franco E Ciccio Sul Sentiero Di Guerra] 31 Main Titles [From I Quattro Dell'ave Maria] 32 Suite [From La Collina Degli Stivali] 33 Slow Violence [From I 4 Dell'apocalisse] 34 L' Estasi del Miracolo [From Occhio Alla Penna]
...served by Russ...
(see the comments at Twilightzone!'s original blogposting for each compilation for further instructions & links)



From: http://twilightzone-rideyourpony.blogspot.com/2010/02/spaghetti-westerns-classic-italian_04.html

"Spaghetti Westerns" (Classic Italian Soundtracks) Vol. 2 - 1995


While the first album contained lots and lots of great tracks, coupled with some merely pretty good ones, this album has almost only really great ones! There is hardly a single "pretty good" track here! This continues the tradition of a few better known tracks, such as the theme to Django and the Hellbenders, as well as plenty of lesser known film scores, in U.S.
For those of you keeping score, this is my second purchase in an attempt to locate music from Red Dead Revolver; I am happy to say that music from "A Man Called King" and "Death on High Hill" fit that bill.
This is a needed item for any kind of Spaghetti Western Music Collector. Any kind of fan of the Italian film genre will apreciate this album. This contains all the components for a quintessential spaghetti western CD: songs with the high, hauntingly beautiful backgrounds, clumsily translated lyrics, and of course, the inescapable Ennio Morricone. And, at the reasonable price, how could you resist? - By Colin "The Ninja Guy" (LA, CA)

trax disc 1:
01 100,00 for Ringo (Suite) [From 100.000 Dollari Per Ringo] 02 Main Titles [From I Due Gringos del Texas] 03 M 11 [From I Due Gringos del Texas] 04 M 54 [From I Due Gringos del Texas] 05 Main Titles [From Django, l'Ultimo Killer] 06 M 13 [From Django, l'Ultimo Killer] 07 M 14 [From Django, l'Ultimo Killer] 08 M 43 [From Django, l'Ultimo Killer] 09 Can Be Done [From Si Puo' Fare... Amigo!] 10 M 27 [From Si Puo' Fare... Amigo!] 11 Can Be Done [From Si Puo' Fare... Amigo!][#][Instrumental] 12 Viva la Revolucion [From Tepepa] 13 Main Titles [From Vamos A Matar, Companeros] 14 Main Titles [From Una Ragione Per Vivere E Una Per Morire] 15 Main Titles [From Io Non Perdono... Uccido] 16 M 28 [From Io Non Perdono... Uccido] 17 M 29 [From Io Non Perdono... Uccido] 18 Main Titles [From Killer, Adios!] 19 M 26 [From Killer, Adios!] 20 M 27 [From Killer, Adios!] 21 Theme Song [From Killer, Adios!] 22 Hellbenders [From I Crudeli] 23 What Am I Doing_ [From Che C'entriamo Noi Con La Rivoluzione_] 24 Greatest Robbery in the West [From La Piu' Grande Rapina del West] 25 Main Titles [From L'oro Dei Bravados] 26 A [From Il Grande Duello] 27 M 10 [From Il Grande Duello] 28 Main Titles- M 1 [From Nel Nome del Padre, del Figlio E Della Colt] 29 Alternate Main Titles [Beat Version] 30 Main Titles [From I Lunghi Giorni Della Vendetta]

trax disc 2:
01 My Name Is Nobody [From Il Mio Nome E' Nessuno] 02 Main Titles [From Quien Sabe_] 03 Texas Addio [From Texas Addio] 04 Seven Men [From Sette Winchester Per Un Massacro] 05 Main Titles [From Sugar Colt] 06 Main Titles [From I Quattro del Pater Noster] 07 M 33 [From I Quattro del Pater Noster] 08 M 20, M 43, M 24, and M 22 [From I Quattro del Pater Noster] 09 Professional Killers (Suite) [From Professionisti Per Un Massacro] 10 M 19 [From Monta in Sella, Figlio Di...] 11 M 3 and M 12 [From Monta in Sella, Figlio Di...] 12 M 34 [From Monta in Sella, Figlio Di...] 13 M 40 [From Monta in Sella, Figlio Di...] 14 Main Titles (Theme Song) [From Lo Chiamavano King] 15 Man Called King (Suite) [From Lo Chiamavano King] 16 M 11 [From La Morte Sull'alta Collina] 17 M 33 [From La Morte Sull'alta Collina] 18 Blue Eggs and Ham [From Partirono Preti E Tornarono Curati] 19 M-23 [From Partirono Preti E Tornarono Curati] 20 Blue Eggs and Ham [From Partirono Preti E Tornarono [From Partirono Pre 21 M 1 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 22 M2 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 23 M 15 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 24 M 17 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 25 M 20 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 26 M 24, M 25 and M 27 [From Un Buco in Fronte] 27 Crying (Main Theme) [From Un Buco in Fronte] 28 Main Titles [From Una Colt in Mano Al Diavolo] 29 M 16 [From Una Colt in Mano Al Diavolo] 30 Django [From Django] 31 Main Titles [From Se Incontri Sartana, Prega Per La Tua Morte] 32 Main Titles [Alternate Version] 33 Man Called Noon [From Lo Chiamavano Mezzogiorno]
...served by Russ...
(see the comments at Twilightzone!'s original blogposting for each compilation for further instructions & links)



From: http://twilightzone-rideyourpony.blogspot.com/2010/02/spaghetti-westerns-classic-italian_05.html

"Spaghetti Westerns" (Classic Italian Soundtracks) Vol. 3


This addition to DRG's Classic Italian Soundtracks series captures spaghetti Westerns at their eeriest and funniest. Ennio Morricone is predominant, of course, with tracks to such films as A Pistol for Ringo and Blood and Guns, and vocal themes to The Return of Ringo and Death Rides a Horse. A rarely heard voice-free version of "My Name Is Nobody" has the virtue of sounding like a soda pop commercial. Other pasta-and-pistols maestros such as Piero Piccioni ("I Don't Forget... I Kill"), Carlo Savina ("The Two Ringos from Texas"), and Luis Bacalov ("Gold of the Proud Ones") make an impressive showing, though there are some dull moments. In contrast to our domesticated Tiomkin-style Hollywood clichés, these eccentric to melancholy flourishes represent fantasies of the American West nurtured by a pastry-crazed European imagination. - Joseph Lanza

trax:
1. Gunfight at Red Sands [A Gringo Like Me] 2. Pistol for Ringo (Main Titles) 3. Seven Guns for the Mac Gregors [Santa FĂ© Express] 4. Return of Ringo [The Return of Ringo] 5. Death Rides a Horse [From Death Rides a Horse] 6. Days of Violence (Finale) [The Days of Violence] 7. I Don't Foget...I Kill [I Don't Forget...I Kill] 8. Two Ringos From Texas [The Two Ringos from Texas] 9. Seven Guns for a Killing 10. Sugar Colt: Sugar Colt [Orchestal Suite] 11. Blood and Guns [Alternate Version] 12. Rose [Alternative Version][Alternate Take] 13. Professional Gun (Main Titles) 14. Face to Face (Main Titles) 15. Gold of the Proud Ones 16. Companeros (Main Titles) [Alternative Version] 17. Life Is Tough, Eh Provodence? (Main Titles) 18. My Name Is Shanghai Joe (Departure) 19. Man Called Noon (Suite) 20. My Name Is Nobody [Alternative Version][Alternate Take]
...served by Russ...
(see the comments at Twilightzone!'s original blogposting for each compilation for further instructions & links)

Fasbinder 62's Collection of Quotable Cramps Quotes

Fasbinder 62 from the Staysick Yahoo Group at: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/staysick/ recently posted a collection of Cramps quotes he saved.


(Image from Miriam Linna's kicksville 66 blog at: http://kicksville66.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-first-band-cramps-1976-pt-1.html)



"Here's some clips from various Cramps articles and interviews I have collected (and then brilliantly lost) over the years..."
--Fasbinder 62
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/Zombies_ March_On/


Cramps, the: Interview (june 1980 ZigZag) – Lux trembles with glee at
the memory of a night in Bristol, where they played an old church "It
was in the cellar, there was no floor. So they had this tarpaulin
where the floorboards used to be. You could see the church through
the holes and there was the Lord's Prayer behind us, it was great."
That night Lux was compelled to indulge in some of his notorious
onstage lunacy and got hold of some wires hanging down to swing out
over the punters. He made it back onto the stage by walking on their
shoulders. "They were all going, step on my shoulder, hurt me!"


Interview (4 jan 86, NME) "Nick's been to every Raiders game this
season," beams Lux. "The Raiders are more rock'n roll than 99 out of
100 groups today. Wherever they go people are frightened to death of
them…" Ivy "They're a bunch of hoodlums. There's a clichĂ© about
sport; it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.
But their motto is just `Win, Baby!'"
Lux "The truth of the matter is they just want to go in and destroy
the other team… Their uniform is silver and black with skull and
crossbones. Anyplace they play they can sell out the stadium because
people know there's gonna be fights. When the Raiders play, they
say `Your mother's a fuckin' bitch you fuckin' asshole!" They scream
at other players, they antagonise them. It's not like morale-
building, good natured sports, it's way beyond."
Lux "I feel like I've been surfing, I've listened to enough surf
records. I think there's something more deviant about surf records
than really had to do with surf music. All the best surf music was
made in our part of town, a whole way away from the beach. That
becomes suspect in my mind because all these records are so, like,
Manic. Maybe the girls in their bikini's caused all this manic
activity. But I think it had to do with something more involved than
that." He trails off mysteriously.
"Ecstasy is really great!" proclaims Lux. "Have you ever taken
ecstasy? It's LSD, heroin… it makes you lurve your fellow man. Can
you imagine a drug that makes you lurve your fellow man?" his
beatific grin quickly evaporates into a mock responsible expression
following a warning glance from Ivy.
"Yeah," she says "It'll give you Parkinson's disease."
Lux says "It's too bad they're not legal cos anybody can make `em and
anything can happen."


Clipping - "I wish I could make my new stuff sound as different as
the Cramps are to Status Quo, but I can't." Frank Black.


3 reviews of Flamejob – The Cramps also ritually abuse `Route 66' in
a way that makes the Stones sound like the safe old English drips
that they are, treating it with the same reverence as their version
of `Heartbreak Hotel' – that is, with all the respect of a PCP crazed
drunk starting a fight at the Queen Mothers funeral. / Lux Interior
once memorably stated that he spends 95% of his time having sex and
the other 5% thinking about having it. / Signing to hip indie label
Creation was a most unlikely but highly clever move.


Interview (Halloween 1989) The album's title was originally the catch-
phrase of an obscure `60s TV horror host in Cleveland who went by the
name of Ghoulardi. Lux, who was a teenager at the time, remembers his
performances well. "He was really great! He'd say `Stay Sick!,' `Turn
Blue!' and `Purple Knif' which is fink spelt backwards. Everybody
drank these big Ghoulardi shakes which had every flavour imaginable
mixed into them… and then green dye! That guy was intense. On TV he
had this wavering little halo around him and one spot light under his
face. He'd blow things up on TV. They'd be showing a horror movie and
then, after the commercial break, he'd have a model of a split-level
house with a car and mom and dad waving to each other in the front
garden… then he'd blow it up on TV. That guy was like Hitler or
something, he was really something different."
On Date with Elvis not being released in the States… "All these A+R
departments in America are a buncha scared bunny Rabbits" sneers Lux
in disgust "all hoping they can hold onto their pay-cheques for one
more week. There are a lot of record companies that have tied up a
lot of our time over the years, going out to dinner with us, talking
with us… But when it comes round to the real thing, they're all
groupies. Some people talk about it and some people do it!"


Interview (City Limits) "You can see a film like Naughty Dallas and
the strippers really existed. It happened. There was no concept or
anything. These are things that interest us because they're to deal
with real people." Opines the striking Mr Interior as a way of
expressing his disgust at those who see the band as a two-dimensional
cartoon. "We have 3000 films on video-tape and we're looking for
stuff all the time."


Interview – "We're the Kings and Queens of Rock
and Roll." Says Ivy "We don't take life seriously, we take ourselves
seriously, and what we do, we're just totally committed to
it." "We've already dominated the world" snarls Lux "If only they'd
just come to that realisation. "


Interview (Poison Ivy on her self-image) – What image do you have of
yourself? "Flaky and incredibly disorganised. I also think that I am
completely normal and it is the rest of the world which isn't. A lot
of values that are really valued in contemporary society I don't
have. I'm spaced out most of the time. I like it that way, being on a
different wavelength." What image are you trying to achieve? "That of
a well-decorated Christmas tree." Do you wear make up? "People think
I wear too much but I don't think that's possible. I hate the natural
look."

Friday, February 5, 2010

Record Collector-April '88: Syd article by Mark Patriss

Mark Jones from the mapcaplaughs yahoo group at: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/madcapslaughing/ has been scanning Syd Barrett articles from Record Collector Magazine. Today, we re-post an article pertaining to Syd Barrett & the early Floyd by Mark Patress from April 1988...