Showing posts with label Punk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Punk. Show all posts

Wednesday, 1 August 2018

ANDREA LIBEROVICI "LIBEROVICI" (1980)

Piccola mia, dormi ancora che è presto
dormi ancora, il sole è lontano
Piccola mia, no, non voglio svegliarti
voglio solo accarezzarti

Il sole è nato, ancora addormentata
la tua pelle è tutta sudata
La casa è di amici, il letto ad ore
fatto apposta per fare l'amore

Ho diciassett'anni, tu se il mio grande amore
voglio darti la mia vita, il mio colore
Voglio spiegarti che non so come amarti
vorrei dirti mille cose, vorrei toccarti

Voglio svegliarmi insieme a te voglio volare
insieme a te voglio ridere e giocare
Voglio, voglio, quante cose voglio
non riesco mai ad accontentarmi

Parlare con te mi fa sentire più grande
un posto mio e tuo è solo un sogno
Il sole và via, la sera si avvicina
e siamo solo un bambino e una bambina

Voglio amarti, occhi di Luna voglio amarti
su una stella voglio portarti
Voglio scappare con te, voglio scappare
andare avanti e non tornare

Voglio amarti, occhi di Luna voglio amarti
Voglio scappare con te, voglio scappare
andare avanti e non tornare...


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep on sleeping my little baby, it is still early
keep on sleeping, the sun is faraway
No my little baby, I don't want to wake you up
I just want to caress you

The sun is born, you're still sleeping
and your skin is all sweaty
At a friend's place, a bed by the hour
tailor-made for making love

I am seventeen years old and you're my great love
I want to give you my life and my colours
I want to explain you that I don't know how to love you
I would like to tell you a thousand things, I would like to touch you

I want to wake up with you, I want to fly with you
I want to laugh and play with you
I want, I want, I want so many things
I can never be satisfied

Talking to you makes me feel more grown up
a place of our own is just a dream
The sun has gone away, the night is getting closer
and we're still a little boy and a little girl

I want to love you Moon Eyes, I want to love you
I want to take you on a star
I want to run away with you, I want to run away
move forward and never come back

I want to love you Moon Eyes, I want to love you
I want to run away with you, I want to run away
move forward and never come back...


[from the lyrics of "Occhi di Luna" / "Moon Eyes"]



Well-known Italian musician, composer and director Andrea Liberovici was born in 1962 in Venice, where he spent his youth before moving to Genoa.

Son of Sergio Liberovici (one of the most active musicians in the Italian music scene after World War II and founder - along with Michele Straniero - of the Cantacronache group, prime movers of the folk music revival and important representatives of the new political song movement in Italy) and of Margherita Galante Garrone (better known as Margot, singer-songwriter and also part of the Cantacronache), Andrea grew up in a stimulating environment and easily followed his parents' footsteps.

Liberovici studied composition, violin and viola at the Venice and Turin conservatories, acting at the Scuola del Teatro Stabile in Genoa and singing with Cathy Berberian at the International Festival in Montalcino.



Anyway, legend has it that he discovered Rock music when he was twelve years old, while on holidays in London, after attending a Rolling Stones concert. So, feverish of rock, he didn't hesitate a moment to join a few groups that used to play in pubs in the city. Back in his home town, Liberovici bought the whole Stones discography and spent the winter listening to the records inside and out. During his next holidays he flew again to London for three months and, just like most of the artists on the road, he earned a living playing violin in the London Underground and found a roof occupying houses with other youngsters like him... [1]

Years later, as composer and director, he co-founded the Teatro del suono (Theatre of sound) in 1996, with the poet Edoardo Sanguineti and Ottavia Fusco. Over the last decade Liberovici has created a lot of projects which have explored the relationship between music, poetry, theatre and technology, in collaboration with such renowned artists as Peter Greenaway, Claudia Cardinale, Aldo Nove, Judith Malina, Vittorio Gassman, Giorgio Albertazzi, Enrico Ghezzi, Ivry Gitlis and Regina Carter.


"Liberovici", original inner sleeve"

More recently, his music has been performed by Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montreal), Toscanini Orchestra, Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra and others. These works have also been presented and produced by landmark cultural institutions such as Teatro di Roma, La Fenice in Venice and Salle Olivier Messiaen in Grenoble.

He has also worked in residence at INA-GRM and France Culture in Paris, STEIM Center for research and development in Amsterdam and GMEM National Centre of Musical Creation in Marseille. His music and shows have been presented in Italy and in international cities such as New York, Paris, Athens and Montreal.


"Liberovici", original inner sleeve"

«I was born in Giudecca (...one of the islands in the Venetian Lagoon...) and I spent my entire youth in the city, studying at the Conservatory. I was a curious and restless spirit, before my sixteenth birthday I released my first album, "Oro" (..."Gold", already covered here...), which included songs of a transgressive nature, entirely composed by me, which were born from precocious musical experiences I had along with friends of mine when I used to play in the streets. The venetian producer Ermanno Velludo, also a great engineer, took care of production. A milanese producer passing by Venice produced the following album "Liberovici" (1980), but from that moment I decided to change direction, in controversy with the power of the record labels that often constrain the creativity of an artist.» [2]


"Liberovici", original insert - page 1

«Our home, in Venice, was populated by artists; the full Living Theatre lineup used to pay a visit. My playmate and buddy-buddy, both as a child and as an adolescent, was Serena Nono - daughter of Luigi - now a painter. She was my next-door neighbor and her home, as you would easily guess, was just as full of music and of meetings. Let's say that I was very lucky! My anarchist-creative spirit was not censored, but indeed profoundly encouraged by the people around me (friends, relatives and strangers).»

«I always played a bit of everything, before and during the Conservatory: from guitar to piano and flutes. I started the Conservatory when I was in junior high school and attended it, more or less, until the age of sixteeen. In the meantime I began to record and release my first albums, so I left the Conservatory for about one year. I took it up again when I was eighteen for three years, no longer in Venice but in Turin, studying violin and viola. Later in Turin I continued the study of the instrument and also began to study composition. I never finished the Conservatory and even if for a long time I felt this interruption as a sort of personal failure, now I'm proud of it.»

«My true icons were Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and then Patti Smith. I was fascinated by their singing style.» [3]


"Liberovici", original insert - page 2

«I think that "Oro" is a small declaration of absolute candour and amazement. I wrote it, lyrics and music, at the age of fourteen, but this wouldn't mean much. Indeed, generally speaking, the more you're young and the more you're inclined to refer to models. Instead I think that this album was, although born of many influences, very personal and, therefore, inevitably sincere. I love it very much. It's one of my creations that I love the most.»

«The "Liberovici" album was the beginning of disaffection. Music-industry executives, producers, press agents... At the age of seventeen I was touring Italy as a young star, with driver, fans, etc., and living in a Milan hotel suite. Above all I had no creative autonomy. My every intuition was examined, sifted through and censored. I still remember with horror the fights to the death (I was not easy to tame), with hunger strikes, locked inside the toilets of my record company, because they had rejected a song or mine or, even more serious, because they were putting on me an image that didn't belong to me. I even dared to refuse, with great dismay of the executives, the chance to go to San Remo festival. I literally told them to fuck off and I escaped to London to play my violin in the subway to survive.» [3]


"Liberovici", original insert - page 3

«I've been very lucky with my parents. All three. My mother Margot, an author, singer and puppeteer, my father Sergio, a composer and teacher with whom I lived for just a short time, and Giovanni Morelli, a musicologist who passed away some years ago, with whom I grew up. It was a wonderful family that deliberately throwed me into a magic potion cauldron, just like Obelix, filled with music and theatre. I came out from that pot (...at one point I was about to drown...) with many efforts and also with a great indigestion. Once digested, I found myself in the cauldron again, but with a joyful gratitude for those wonderful flowers who have placed me in the world and that have chosen art literacy from the world for me.» [4]


"Liberovici", original insert - page 4

Sources:

[1] translated from a short feature/interview published on "Albo Varietà Motori" magazine, 1980

[2] translated from a feature/interview by Riccardo Petito published in "Il Gazzettino", n. 174, 25th July 2004

[3] translated from the book "Officine Liberovici" published by Marsilio Editori, Venice, October 2006

[4] translated from an interview conducted by Filippo Bordignon, 2012


Andrea Liberovici performing live, circa 1979-80


"Liberovici" contains the following tracks:

01. L'eroe e l'eroina [The Hero and the Heroin] (3:46)
02. Ammorissimmo Mmio [Suupeer Loovee of Mmine] (3:04)
03. Padre Pio [Father Pio] (2:03)
04. Ciuff ciuff [Choo-Choo] (3:04)
05. Carino carina [Cute boy, pretty girl] (3:58)
06. Tira tira tira [Pull pull pull] (6:34)
07. Vorrei [I Would] (4:47)
08. Occhi di Luna [Moon Eyes] (4:26)
09. Uh caramellina uh uh [Uh Little Candy Uh Uh] (3:03)

All tracks were remastered in July 2018, they include complete artwork reconstruction and printable PDF files. For my remaster of this album I used audio tracks sourced from the rare CD re-release.

24.11.2018 Update: sorry guys, no downloads and no audio previews are available for this release...



Recorded the previous year, "Liberovici" was released by CGD in Italy sometime in early 1980, probably in January, with catalogue number CGD 20194. The album was re-released on CD sometime during the mid-90s, probably in 1996. Although not a limited edition, this digital version has been unavailable since many years and rarely surfaces on the second hand market.

I came into possession of my vinyl copy of the album in 1987. It was part of a stock of LPs given to me by my older brother, who in turn had got them as a gift from someone else who wanted to get rid of them... Sigh, poor discarded and homeless vinyls, how can people treat you with so much cruelty? My little babies, I'll keep you warm and safe...

Ehm, in 1987 I was 17 years old, just the same age that Andrea Liberovici was in 1979 when he recorded this provocative second album and I couldn't help but identify with many of the verses of the songs included on it.



Given the young age of the musician, and aware that the LP was simply entitled with the author's surname, at that time I thought that "Liberovici" was his first and only album... Since I had enjoyed that record so much, a great joy filled me one year later as I discovered that Andrea had released his debut LP back in 1978: "Oro". I already dedicated a post to it and I almost can't believe that more than five years have already passed since I promised to offer you his second effort...

The difference between the two albums is clear right from the cover: while Oro" showed him offering a beautiful smile under a huge pair of glasses, a guitar over his shoulder and a nice "No Nukes" button, on "Liberovici" Andrea appears almost emaciated, gazing at us with a mixture of challenge and resignation.

   
Andrea Liberovici, feature on 'Albo Varietà Motori' issue 14, April 1980

L'Altritalia has already written the perfect review of this album and I truly hope they won't mind if I include it here below. I completely agree with them about the nature of "Liberovici", which in my opinion is absolutely not a trash album.

«Ridicule can be tragic, and tragic is often sublime. Andrea Liberovici was 18 in 1980. Son of Sergio, composer and etnomusicologist, he was kind of an infant prodigy, having released his first album "Oro" (Gold) in 1978, at the age of 15.

This first effort was sort of an end-of-course essay for a precocious, brilliant child musician who had studied at two different conservatories and had a great talent for theatre as well. The work of a teenager trying to impress the world, attempting to be profound and provocative, while he mostly sounded naive, and eventually innocuous. The music is a mash up of Canterbury-like pop with rockish rushes and some avant tricks. The whole album is actually interesting, but the one track that stands out is "Risotto", which is also a strong link, both musically and lirically, to his incredible second record.

Liberovici came out just at the beginning of what was later called riflusso (“reflow”): after more than twenty years of massive political engagement, the revolutionary movement was rapidly disbanding, and collective issues were soon replaced by individual commitment. La marcia dei quarantamila (“The march of the the forty-thousand”) is a milestone in Italy's contemporary history. More than 40.000 employees and managers from FIAT demonstrated against trade unions power and for a “return to order” in the factories. Restoration was coming. In the meantime, heroin consumption was reaching a peak, and terroristic attacks got more and more indiscriminate and useless.

The conflict was still there, but became a private issue. Something for your analyst, if you could afford one. Or something to sing at, if you were a musician.

The album reflected this end-of-an-era climate, being hysterical, confused, disturbing. It summarized seventies' glam, funk rock, new wave, cantautore style in a way that was already pure eighties' postmodernism. The lyrics as well were a collection of the past decade's alternative culture slogan and clichés: drugs, sex, new social and family relations, spirituality. Everything's fluorescent and overilluminated; exaggerated and yet stylized.

The boy took the risk of turning himself into a comics' character. And in a way he was a comics' character: look at him on the cover. But the thing is, he sounded totally serious about what he was doing. Serious and intransigent as only a young man can be. It's the same attitude that made great Cannibale and Frigidaire, two of the most important and influential italian magazines of those years, and the people from The Great Complotto. Even when he dedicated to Padre Pio – now a saint – a love song which somehow reminds of “Je t’aime, moi non plus”, it was not comedy. There's a no-way-out feeling here, a sense of loss and hate which rescues even the most embarassing moments.

In the end, i disagree completely from pals at Orrore a 33 giri. [...their review of "Liberovici" is available here...] This is not a trash album. It’s a great piece of contemporary art.»

   
Andrea Liberovici, feature on 'Intrepido' issue 26, June 1980


Here's the credits and personnel list of "Liberovici":

Music and lyrics by Andrea Liberovici.

"L'eroe e l'eroina" lyrics by Andrea Liberovici and Marziano Fontana.

Arranged by Tony Mimms.

"L'eroe e l'eroina", "Padre Pio" and "Tira tira tira" arranged by Liberovici, Angelo Turotti and Rockstarter.

Produced by Liberovici.

Mixed by Gigi Venegoni and Gianfranco Longo.

"L'eroe e l'eroina" produced and mixed by Marziano Fontana, Silvio Puzzolu, Liberovici and Pino Vicari.

Recorded in 1979 at Idea Recording, Milan, Italy.

Engineered by Gianfranco Longo and Pino Vicari.

Andrea Liberovici: viola, Fender Telecaster

ROCKSTARTER:
Angelo Turotti: guitars
Roberto Possanzini: bass
Roberto Ricci: drums
Umberto Tenaglia: keyboards

William Marino, Dave Summer, Stefano De Carli, Giancarlo Brambilla: guitars
Michael Fraiser: keyboards
Michael Brill: bass
Andy Surdy, Fabio Amodio: drums
Tullio De Piscopo, Claudio Bassani: percussion
Bruno De Filippi: harmonica
Pierluigi Muccioli, Claudio Pascoli, Giovanni Capriolo: horns
Ornella Cherubini, Eloisa Francia, Marina & Monica Balestrieri: backing vocals

Backing vocals in "L'eroe e l'eroina": Rockstarter, Mixo and Silvio Puzzolu

Photography: Flavio Gallozzi

Cover and Logo Design: Marziano Fontana

   
Adverts for "Liberovici" on 'Il Discorriere' (CGD magazine), February 1980


A few original 1980 TV appearances which feature a short-haired Andrea Liberovici are included below courtesy of YouTube.








More information about Andrea Liberovici is available here:

http://www.liberovici.it/

http://www.teatrodelsuono.it/

http://www.facebook.com/liberovici

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Liberovici

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Liberovici

http://www.fitaveneto.org/2011/images/stories/fitainforma/dicembre_2012/fitainforma_dicembre_2012.pdf

http://www.riccardopetito.it/interviste/liberovici.htm

http://www.connessomagazine.it/andrea-liberovici-un-tuffo-nel-presente-artistico

http://digilander.libero.it/gianni61dgl/andrealiberovici.htm

http://laltritalia.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/music-andrea-liberovici-liberovici-1980/

http://www.lamette.it/modules.php?name=Live_News&func=LiveNewsStampa&nid=1955

http://www.orrorea33giri.com/2008/02/liberovici-liberovici-1980.html


If you have any useful information about Andrea Liberovici, or if you spot any dead links, please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

Friday, 14 December 2012

THE NOSEBLEEDS - TOBY TOMAN INTERVIEW BY CARL ASHWIN (27.11.2012)



Carl Ashwin of Dorset Music Guide and AIR Radio has recently conducted a vido interview with Toby Toman of Primal Scream fame. The first band Toby was involved with were The Nosebleeds: as a drummer he participated to the recordings of their one and only single "Ain't Bin To No Music School / Fascist Pigs" in 1977; you may remember I dedicated a couple of posts to the band.

During the interview Carl was kind enough to mention Stereo Candies as a source of information and Toby had the chance to properly listen to The Nosebleed' single for the first time in ages, this really made my day!

The complete article and interview are available here, you can also watch the interview here below.




More information about Toby Toman, The Nosebleeds, Ed Banger and the Manchester Punk scene is available here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Toman

http://www.dorsetmusicguide.com/toby-toman-interview/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Banger_and_the_Nosebleeds

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds2.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleedsinterview.htm

http://punkygibbon.co.uk/bands/n/nosebleeds.html

http://www.johncrumpton.co.uk/page15.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGsU2s7Yj1w

http://www.edbanger.net/

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77.html

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77b.html


If you have any other useful information concerning this post - or if you spot any dead links - please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

Saturday, 27 October 2012

THE NOSEBLEEDS - LIVE (AUDIENCE TAPE, UNKNOWN LOCATION, 1977)



The Nosebleeds formed in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England in 1976 under the name of Wild Ram. They changed their name to Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds in early 1977 with the following line-up: Edmund "Ed Banger" Garrity (vocals), Vincent "Vini" Reilly (guitar), Phillip "Toby" Tomanov (drums) and Pete Crooks (bass).

On July 25, 1977, the band released their one and only single: "Ain't Bin To No Music School / Fascist Pigs". The record was released by Rabid Records and was available both with silver and blue labels; it is reported that 10.000 copies were pressed and sold in total. Both songs on the single were written by Banger/Reilly:

Sadly The Nosebleeds didn't release any album: when Banger and Reilly left, Morrissey (...yes, him!) and Billy Duffy replaced them, but the band survived just for a limited time and no releases came out of that later lineup.

Before dissolving in late May of 1978, The Nosebleeds performed two concerts, one at the Ritz (supporting Magazine) and one at the Manchester Polytechnic for a Rabid Records benefit.

After the group split up Banger released a few solo singles and joined Slaughter and the Dogs during their period as Slaughter, Morrissey went on to form The Smiths, Toby appeared with Ludus, Blue Orchids and Primal Scream, and Pete Crooks joined up with Vini Reilly in the first incarnation of The Durutti Column under the "guide" of Tony Wilson.


The Nosebleeds performing live in 1977


Well, at last I was able to lay my hands on this rare live recording of The Nosebleeds. Location and exact date of recording are unknown but since Ed Banger is on vocals and unmistakable Vini Reilly is on the guitar I guess that this is 1977.

Technically speaking, the recording in my possession is not in the best shape and there are a few cuts here and there. I tried to make my best to enhance the quality, but miracles are beyond me.

Oddly enough, the two tracks published on the "Ain't Bin To No Music School / Fascist Pigs" single are performed at the beginning of the concert... Seeing that usually bands don't play their strongest material as opening numbers, I speculate that maybe the tracklist has been changed and that the original running order may well have been different.

Two songs are specially worthy of being mentioned because they offer succulent curiosities: the guitar solo at the beginning of "Don't Know" is very similar to the one featured on the earlier versions of Joy Division's "Interzone", while "Middle Class Suburban Creep" offers the same riff that Vini Reilly will use a few years later on "Jazz", a track included on his debut album "The Return of the Durutti Column".


Ed Banger performing live with The Nosebleeds in 1977, picture by John Crumpton


Here's the complete tracklist of this precious live document:

01. Ain't Bin To No Music School (2:21)
02. Fascist Pigs (2:24)
03. Uptight (2:07)
04. Rich Kid (2:35)
05. Don't Know (1:00)
06. Middle Class Suburban Creep (1:20)
07. Blackpool Rock (2:18)
08. Another Ounce of Rock (1:31)

All tracks were remastered in October 2012, they are available as a single FLAC lossless format file or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 file. Both formats include complete printable artwork as PDF files.

Before you burn this album on CD-R using the provided CUE file you will need to convert the original files to WAV format using an appropriate software. Here's an option for FLAC to WAV conversion and one for MP3 to WAV conversion.

As usual, please have a look at the comments for the download links.


The following video offers a rare chance to watch the band performing live on TV in 1977. Some sources mention this as being part of the "So It Goes" series hosted by Tony Wilson but I'm inclined to think that the programme was "Granada Report". Anyway, Tony appears several times in the video and we can see him receiving the warm attentions of Ed Banger... Horrible quality, but what a find!




More information about The Nosebleeds, Ed Banger and the Manchester Punk scene is available here:

http://www.dorsetmusicguide.com/toby-toman-interview/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Banger_and_the_Nosebleeds

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds2.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleedsinterview.htm

http://punkygibbon.co.uk/bands/n/nosebleeds.html

http://www.johncrumpton.co.uk/page15.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGsU2s7Yj1w

http://www.edbanger.net/

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77.html

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77b.html


If you have any other useful information concerning this post - or if you spot any dead links - please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

THE SHEEP RECORDS STORY #6: STEREO TOTAL "COVER GIRL EP" (1998)



Sheep Records was a Swiss underground label specialized in Garage-Rock, Surf, Lounge and other Rock'n'Roll oddities. Run by Christian Müller from Zürich, along with friends Andi Frick and Andreas Egi, it was active from 1996 to 2004 and published about 30 releases, mostly on 7" vinyl singles.



In october 2006, after about two years of hiatus, all the contents of the now defunct Sheep Records website were deleted from the Internet, and replaced with a blank page announcing that "Der Kebab ist gegessen" ("The kebab is eaten"), a last goodbye and a reference to the label's cataloguing system that included the prefix "kebab" for vinyl releases and "gigot" for CD releases.



The sixth Sheep Records release was an exclusive 7" by Stereo Total, which at the time were beginning to experience international success via their CD/LP releases on German label Bungalow. The single was limited to 1.000 copies - 700 on black vinyl and 300 on green vinyl - and was released in May 1998.

Side A offers two covers: "Tintarella di luna" was one of the first huge hits by Italian female singer Mina in 1959, while "In / Out" was released as "Qui Est In, Qui Est Out" by Serge Gainsbourg in 1966.

Side B features a French rendition of The Beatles' "You Can Drive My Car" and one more track entitled "Carte postale". I'm not sure if the latter is a cover of some obscure French '60s tune or an original Stereo Total composition, but I would lean towards the second option.

Enjoy the originals here below courtesy of YouTube:








Here's the track list for this 7" single:

01. Tintarella di luna (2:37)
02. In/Out (2:18)
03. Tu peux conduire ma bagnole (2:28)
04. Carte postale (2:13)

All tracks were remastered from vinyl in October 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include scans of the original item in PDF format. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.






Stereo Total? The best pop group in the world. They remind me of Shakespeare, Picasso and the 1960s. In certain times and places, the world of the royal court includes the energy of the people, formal experimentation embraces populist emotion, and the commercial reaches up to touch the sublime. Stereo Total fuse the dumb energy of pop culture with the elite salon fizz of high culture. Think of Lou Reed fusing his hack songwriting skills with the avant-gardism of Cale and Warhol, think of Joe Orton writing film scripts for the Beatles, think of the weird cleverness of shows like The Monkees and Batman, think (of course) of Gainsbourg melding left bank cabaret with the sounds of the latest anglo-saxon beat boom.

Stereo Total are a bottomless goldmine of clever ideas, populist yet unpretentious: songs about Satan’s house in London, France’s arterial roads, kleptomania. Françoise Cactus sounds forever young, hard and funny in her lyrics. Bretzel Göring has the genius of simplicity in his music, which revives lost pop tropes like gimmicky sampling, garagey guitar and crunchy distorted snare beats as if they were invented yesterday.

Sure, other bands sell more records with dull, formulaic lyrics and cliched, slick productions. Sure, other artists puzzle their audiences with ultra-minimalism and grey experimentalism. But they’re not as clever or funny as Stereo Total. Their attempts at commercialism and cool are sad in comparison, their lack of ideas and melodies glaringly obvious. Stereo Total – The Best Pop Group In The World – have nothing to declare but their genius.


["Stereo Total, The Best Pop Group In The World" by Momus, September 2001]


Stereo Total in an old East-Berlin swimming pool, 1998. Left to right: Françoise Cactus, San Reimo, Angie Reed and Brezel Göring.


More information about Sheep Records and Stereo Total is available here:

http://www.surfnroll.de/interviews/sheep/sheep.html

http://stereototal.de

http://stereototal.stereototal.de

http://monokini.free.fr/index.html

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stereo+Total

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Total

http://www.facebook.com/StereoTotal

http://www.myspace.com/stereototal

http://soundcloud.com/stereototal


The Sheep Records story will continue in the next months. All your inputs are more than welcome, if you want to get in touch please write to stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

Saturday, 28 January 2012

THE NOSEBLEEDS "AIN'T BIN TO NO MUSIC SCHOOL" (1977)



The Nosebleed's "Ain't Bin To No Music School" is the very first documented recording that include the participation of guitar maestro Vini Reilly, who shortly after will join The Durutti Column and later will become the main member of the band along with drummer and friend Bruce Mitchell. This blog is going to feature some Durutti rarities in the future, so I think that it makes sense to start from this little punk record.



The Nosebleeds formed in Wythenshawe, Manchester, England in 1976 under the name of Wild Ram. They changed their name to Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds in early 1977 with the following line-up: Edmund "Ed Banger" Garrity (vocals), Vincent "Vini" Reilly (guitar), Phillip "Toby" Tomanov (drums) and Pete Crooks (bass).





On July 25, 1977, the band released their one and only single: "Ain't Bin To No Music School". The record was available both with silver and blue labels, it is reported that 10.000 copies were pressed and sold in total. Althought uncredited, the cover picture was taken by famous Mancunian photographer Kevin Cummins. Here's the track list, both songs were written by Banger/Reilly:

01. Ain't Bin To No Music School (2:55)
02. Fascist Pigs (2:06)

Both tracks were remastered from vinyl in January 2012 and are available in FLAC lossless format or high-quality 320 Kbps MP3 files, both formats include complete original artwork. Please have a look at the comments for the download links.



The Nosebleeds performing live in 1977, picture by John Crumpton

Sadly The Nosebleeds didn't release any album: when Banger and Reilly left, Morrissey (...yes, him!) and Billy Duffy replaced them, but the band survived just for a limited time and no releases came out of that later lineup. Here's how Bristish journalist Peter Frame reconstructed the recruitment of Morrissey:

"Billy knew this guy Morrissey, who ran the New York Dolls Fan Club and wrote lyrics - and got him to join The Nosebleeds, although he had never sung before. The pair of them dumped all the group's old songs and wrote an entirely new set like "Peppermint Heaven" and "I Think I'm Ready For the Electric Chair". The audience was perplexed; it was a strange band!"


Morrissey, circa 1977-78


Before dissolving in late May of 1978, The Nosebleeds performed two concerts, one at the Ritz (supporting Magazine) and one at the Manchester Polytechnic for a Rabid Records benefit.

After the group split up Banger released a few solo singles and joined Slaughter and the Dogs during their period as Slaughter, Morrissey went on to form The Smiths, Toby appeared with Ludus, Blue Orchids and Primal Scream, and Pete Crooks joined up with Vini Reilly in the first incarnation of The Durutti Column under the "guide" of Tony Wilson.

The following is an excerpt from John Crumtpon's foreword to his own video documentary "The Rise and Fall of The Nosebleeds":

"Unfortunately the band weren't able to capitalise on their brief moment in the spotlight and their failure to make money created further tensions. Without success they carried on regardless but the splits within the group were ever widening. Ed Banger and Vini Faal, the manager, were the most forthright in voicing their opinions as to what had been happening with the group's finances. Spinal Tap was still to come. With the exception of Vini Reilly who lived in upmarket Didsbury, the rest were Wythenshawe born and bred and more used to settling matters in a John Prescott way. In fact when Ed turned up for his interview he was sporting a black eye, the result of a frank exchange of views with his manager and was more than willing to spill the beans. We cross-cut between this disillusioned Ed and the delusional Vini shouting the odds about each others shortcomings. Finally we see and hear Vinnie Faal, content to hold onto Toby and Pete and heralding a new venture with a new guy 'I've got my eye on' and the new Nosebleeds would rise again from the ashes. They did. I heard recently that Stephen Morrissey joined the band briefly as Ed's replacement only to be fired later, after Vini Reilly had left - the latter to be the most successful of the ex-Nosebleeds with his Durutti Column and solo albums - a guitarist touched by genius in my view."



Steve McGarry's poster for a gig at The Oaks in Chorlton,1977, signed by Ed Banger and Vini Reilly in 2005

Here's how Vini Reilly remembers the band's live attitude:

"I'd told the rest of the band that we'd be confrontationalists. So for example when we played the Roxy in London, which was THE venue to play, even though we had a full set of songs, I said 'No, we're just going to play two songs all night, that's it, and keep playing the same two songs and wind them up' which we did. The audience went absolutely beserk, and consequently we were asked to play again and again, because that was what was required. But I would also do things like sit with my back to the audience and play a very melodic guitar piece, which was what I'd always been doing all my life anyway, and the punks were totally confused by this, and baffled and maybe hostile, but at least it was a reaction, and I thought that was valid."


Anyway, it seems like their habits were not so appealing, here's what one Tim Lott wrote about the same Roxy concert:

Nosebleeds are no fun - Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds live at the Roxy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"MOVE YER f**king feet." Why bother? It's just an admission of defeat begging, screaming at the crowd to dance. It's dumb. If they don't dance it's because you're not good enough to make them want to. Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds, despite their gripping name aren't good enough. They barely raised a clap. They're are a pooonk band from up North and they don't really have the vaguest idea. Ed Banger looked like just an ever so slightly adapted computer operator and the Nosebleeds are far too Sweet. Nothing wrong with that of course, if The Goods were to manifest. They don't. Ed Banger tries hard to look and sing mean but ends up just another grunta demipunk sounding like he was dredged up from the end of last year sometime from the bottom of the pile. They had energy and once that was enough, when it had been missing from the scene so long. Now every band gets let off with the excuse they were 'energetic'. That let out isn't enough for Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds. They were boring. If you're interested they have a single out on Rabid Records which is quite unlikely to have you foaming at the mouth. They did 'Jumpin Jack Flash' as well. You know, I reckon they were hippies with their hair cut off. But then, aren't they all."



Poster for a gig at the Ritz in Manchester, 1978

The new lineup encountered the favour of Paul Morley, the following short feature is taken from the 3 June, 1978 issue of the New Musical Express:

"The Nosebleeds have also noticeably metamorphosed, though probably due more to personnel changes than anything else. Last year they were the entirely forgettable Ed Banger and The Nosebleeds (who 'created' the dirge-like single "Ain't Bin To No Music School" for Rabid Records); now Banger has gone his own so-called eccentric way. The Nosebleeds re-surface boasting A Front Man With Charisma, always an advantage. Lead singer is now minor local legend Steve Morrisson, who, in his own way, is at least aware that rock'n'roll is about magic, and inspiration. So The Nosebleeds are now a more obvious rock'n'roll group than they've ever been. Only their name can prevent them being this year's surprise."


A live bootleg recording of The Nosebleeds seems to be available online at Retro Records, it includes songs like "Ain’t Bin To No Music School", "Fascist Pigs", "Middle Class Suburban Creep", "Blackpool Rock" and others. According to the information I gathered this should be the first incarnation of the band, with Ed Bangers on vocals and Vini Reilly on guitar.

The following video shows the band playing live on TV in 1977. Some sources mention this as being part of the "So It Goes" series hosted by Tony Wilson but I'm inclined to think that the programme was "Granada Report". Anyway, Tony appears several times in the video and we can see him receiving the warm attentions of Ed Banger... Horrible quality, but what a find!




More information about The Nosebleeds, Ed Banger and the Manchester Punk scene is available here:

http://www.dorsetmusicguide.com/toby-toman-interview/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Banger_and_the_Nosebleeds

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleeds2.htm

http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/nosebleedsinterview.htm

http://punkygibbon.co.uk/bands/n/nosebleeds.html

http://www.johncrumpton.co.uk/page15.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGsU2s7Yj1w

http://www.edbanger.net/

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77.html

http://punkrocker.org.uk/punkscene/manchester77b.html


If you have any other useful information concerning this post - or if you spot any dead links - please get in touch with me at stereocandies [at] hotmail [dot] com or leave a comment in the box below, thank you!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...