Be Ready to Fucking Burn -- The GG Allin Interview

"I kill everything I fuck" -- "I Kill Everything I Fuck"

This interview was originally published in one of my 'zines and then was stolen by a glossy magazine, which no longer exists.  It is not my favorite interview I have ever done for several reasons.  First and foremost is because it was done through the mail.  At the time of this interview (1992), Allin was in prison, and all my phone calls with him were repeatedly cut short.  He and I both agreed that rather than break up an interview over several weeks (and possibly having to recap everything), it would be best to do it via the mail.  The second reason was because of his answers.  Granted, my questions are not the best.  It is far easier to interview someone when you are working off an actual conversation (and our conversations, as one could imagine, were pretty varied in topic).  Instead, I had to think of questions that I hoped he would give interesting answers to.  If you ever listened to Allin speak, a lot of what he said was the same thing over and over.  His usual cliches came out with almost every question, and that is the case here as well.  I think we are both to blame for that one.

You'll notice that one of the questions I asked was about Allin's feelings toward Nazi skinheads.  There was a reason for this.  When I first heard of Allin it was through some white power skinheads I knew.  They hated him, and they were planning a mission to kill him at a show in New York.  I figured anyone who got them that riled up had to be worth looking into.  I was right.  Enjoy a decidedly lame interview, conducted via mail while Allin was in prison in 1992.  (If you've never read or listened to one of his interviews, you may actually find this interesting as an examination of danger personified.)

Doug:  What are you in prison for?

"Watch me kill the Boston Girl" -- "Watch Me Kill"

GG:  Because of the war I have waged against society through my rock 'n' roll mission.  Because I can generate my own visions and live by my own fucking laws.  They fear the realities in which I live because I am in touch with my inner demons and run wild with them without fear.  They know I'm the real motherfucking nonconformist that cannot be bought and sold.  Not a puppet of the industry.  I'm the real one man army warrior.  That's the bottom line as to why I am in prison.

Doug:  Why did you go on Geraldo?

GG:  Geraldo's producer called for us to be on the show.  I went on to say what I had to fucking say.  I don't change for anybody.  But I knew my appearance would piss off a lot of people, so that's why I went on.  When you see the show, you'll know what I mean.

Doug:  What do you think of Nazi skins?

GG:  I believe in the alliance of violence.  I take from the left and of the right and use whoever I have to use to get where I have to go.  My only concern is w/myself and my own mission.  Your [sic] either part of it, or your [sic] the fucking enemy.

Doug:  What gave you your ideas?  What made you you?

GG:  My fucking chaotic life and desires of lawlessness.

Doug:  Why hasn't anyone killed you yet?  Enough people hate you.

GG:  I have had threats on my life for the past 10-15 years.  But I'm still out there in the battle zone.  Most people are all fucking talk.  So if anyone tells you they plan on killing me tell them I'll see them on the road in '93.  I'll fucking be ready.  Will they?

"My demons lay beside me as I kiss them one by one" -- "Son of Evil"

Doug:  Whatever happened to that girl you set fire to?  Was that true?

GG:  Yes and who gives a fuck what happened to that useless cunt?  You play with GG Allin and put yourself on the GG Allin altar, then you better be ready to fucking burn with the master of diabolical deeds.

Doug:  Explain your mission.

GG:  Revolution.  Destroy those in the power seats.  Destroy those who are trying to institutionalize rock 'n' roll.  I want to return the rock 'n' roll underground to its original purpose: to be a dangerous threat to society and [illegible] and a terrorism towards morals and values that are forced upon us by our legal system and those who try and brainwash us from birth.  Destroy r 'n' r as it now stands and rebuild it in the name of GG Allin.

Doug:  What are your plans once you are released?

GG:  Revenge.  To take the GG Allin mission back on the road and to the streets.  To create havok [sic], chaos, violence, destruction.  A war if you will.  The blood must be spilled in the name of the GG All R 'n' R Revolution.  It has to be fucking real.

Doug:  Explain some of your sexual adventures.

GG:  There are way to [sic] many to get into.

"I'm here to wipe you out" -- "Fuck Off, We Murder"

Doug:  Who will be the next band you perform with?

GG:  The Murder Junkies.

Doug:  Are you still planning the suicide?

GG:  When I am released [the] final date will be set up.  But first I have to create my alliance.  All battles must be fought.  When the time is right, then I will take my life my own way.

Doug:  Most fucked up incident to happen to you?

GG:  Nothing to me is a fucked up incident.  Everything that happens to me just makes me stronger.  I seek tragic situations.  I accelerate danger.  I put myself through torture every fucking day.  That's why I can face any situation I am confronted with.

Doug:  Last words ...

GG:  It's time to fucking wake up and realize that my mission is the only fucking real rock 'n' roll mission that really does matter.  If we are to remain the true nonconformists rebels that our government seeks to destroy, we must be willing to stand up and fight.  It's better to die standing up than to live on your knees. -- GG Allin 206045

Who Runs This Dump -- Al's Bar '82 Misfits Bootleg

As I readied myself for a day of nonsense, I put on my vinyl copy of the Misfits bootleg Al's Bar '82.  If you are a Misfits fan, you've probably heard this, and maybe own it as I believe there are actually bootlegs of the bootleg.

My copy is a clear blue or purple vinyl (I'm color blind, so it may even be aqua).  The sound quality is pretty good compared to many other Misfits bootlegs.  Of course, you get the usual Danzig banter between songs, which is always nice, and the song selection is a solid blast of Misfits goodness ("Bullet," "Attitude," "Horror Hotel," "Devil's Whorehouse" and many more).  As noted by the title, it was recorded at Al's Bar in Los Angeles back in 1982 (apparently, from my research, April 17).

Of all the bootlegs I own (not pirated music of legitmate releases, but actually bootlegs on vinyl, cassette or CD), I own more Misfits stuff than anything else.  I'm a bit partial to it.  There was a time I would make regular pilgrimages to some dive record store in Scranton, PA to get whatever Misfits bootleg tapes the owner had in stock.  He was getting these shows from some source that would put a show or two on a black cassette, give it a name, and then do a photocopied cover using either a Misfits picture or some "eerie" photos or artwork.  The sound quality on these was piss poor, and more than one was the exact copy of another release with a different name.  Since few had song lists, there was no real way to tell what you were getting, but I didn't care.  The Misfits was the Misfits, and even if they copied one another, there was sometimes an extra song on one that was left off the other.  It made for a frustrating, but kind of fun search, and the price was right at between five and eight bucks a pop.

Long gone are those days, but I still have all those bootlegs to break out when the mood is right ... like this morning.  A day of nonsense that will be made a bit better by "Ghouls Night Out."

Eating People With the Juke Joint Pimps

 If you read my other blogs, you know I've been prepping my cannibal manuscript for the Kindle.  When I write I tend to listen to a lot of music.  This song, by the Juke Joint Pimps, has been played more than once ... for the more pleasant moments in the manuscript.

Music is important to viewers while watching a movie.  For some writers, the process of creation practically requires music for it to feel complete.  The other manuscript I'm working on, one that involves a complex mix of sex and violence, has a classic rock soundtrack.  Everything I listen to while writing it is stuff that can be found on classic rock stations.  The Rolling Stones, Edgar Winter, Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad.  You name it.  If it's appeared on a classic rock station, I probably listened to it.

The reason I blast music while writing creatively (for the record, I have CNN on as I write this) is to help set the mood.  Sometimes I find that the rhythm of my writing matches the music, and the scene I'm writing will match the music.  It not only helps set the mood in the story, but it keeps the atmosphere forefront in my mind, as well.  When I listened to the Juke Joint Pimps while working on the cannibal manuscript, it invoked certain feelings, as did old country music and a select few other bands.  It enabled me to stay in the right frame of mind to make sure my characters had the certain swagger I wanted.

Writers are split on whether or not you should listen to music while writing.  Some find it distracting.  Some thinks it actually takes away from the experience.  Others, like myself, find that aids either the creative process or the actual "work" aspect of writing.  To each their own.  I'm going to stick with the Juke Joint Pimps as I edit the scenes where captured teens are being told their fate.  It just feels ... right.


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Letters from GG Allin 9

Another letter from the rock 'n' roll terrorist, GG Allin.  You may notice that in the opening of the letter he asks for some money for "Geraldo."  The "Geraldo" in question was the one who now has a show on Fox.  I had wanted a copy of the show Allin appeared on.  I did actually send money while Allin was in prison, and I never got the tape.  When Allin got out I asked him about it, and he told me that his brother, Merle, had probably just took the money.  Then he told me he would make a copy of it that weekend.  Unfortunately, death took him before that happened.  No matter.  He would've forgot anyway.

Doug,

If you want Geraldo, send some money ... if you want to do the interview -- send the questions ... but only if you are serious about putting it out.

Your friend sounds like one stupid fuck who has lived a very shallow life.  Ozzy is nothing but a fucking pussy assed family man dork phoney.  What a fucking moron.

Also-don't send a tape.  They won't let it in.  No tapes allowed in prison.  Wait until I get out.  I do like what you represent.  Sex, violence, political assassination.

Legalize Murder,

GG Allin

The friend in question had sad Ozzy was far more outrageous and that Allin was a "pussy."  I tried to point out dozens of ways Allin had Ozzy beat, but Allin's antics were so outrageous that my friend couldn't comprehend it.  As for the Geraldo bit ... it's on YouTube.

Music to Murder By

I've been listening to Skinny Puppy since the late '80s.  It was a mainstay in the Walkman on the way to school, an outlet from the human misery that was high school.  The sounds swirling in my brain were nothing short of a nightmare.  There were rumors (I have no idea if they were true or not) that Jeffrey Dahmer looked for victims at Skinny Puppy shows.

That seems about right.

These days I listen to the band on the way to work as part of my "meet, greet and beat" the day routine. Tonight I was blasting a little of the industrial mayhem when I got a call from a friend.  He could hear the music in the background and surmised that I was either writing or carving up some door to door salesman because, as he put it, "Skinny Puppy is music to murder by."  Hell, it beats reggae.

Skinny Puppy is by no means an easy band to digest.  You aren't going to listen to it while trying to study for a big final or paint landscapes (unless those landscapes are what Vlad the Impaler saw from his bedroom window).  It's not that it's too bleak or violent (though it is), it's because it really is a nightmare made audible.



I remember when I first had a fairly decent stereo system in my room.  There were speakers in every corner, and playing Skinny Puppy on it and sitting in the middle of the room was quite the trip.  My brother's girlfriend came over, and while waiting for my brother to show up she made the offhand comment that she didn't think I could scare her.  (She didn't like me much, as I often made fun of her love of Air Supply, but if there's one thing I do well, it's scare people.  I will go that extra mile to get the desired result.)  So I took her up on the challenge.

I placed a chair in the middle of my room.  I had her sit down.  I turned out the lights and put on Too Dark Park, which is a classic.  I let her know all she had to do was say she was scared and I'd turn off the music and turn on the lights.  She said the music was weird, but it wasn't scaring her.  I didn't think it would, but the things I started whispering in her ear did.  Wonderfully dark and forbidden things.   By the time we made it halfway through the second song, "Tormentor," she was done.  She was shaking, and she never really talked to me again.  I proved my point.  She was wrong.



I don't always listen to Skinny Puppy while writing.  I typically only listen to it when I'm writing certain scenes, as I can't see making it a soundtrack to a manuscript.  (There is a scene in Melinda that was written under the influence of Skinny Puppy.  If you've read the story and have listened to the band, you can probably guess it.  The story itself does not seem like it is inspired by the band's music, and it's not, but that scene has a Skinny Puppy feel to it, and the way I wrote it directly corresponded to the song I was playing as I wrote it.  The song was "Testure (God Lives Underwater Remix)," if you were curious.)  It is too busy to center an entire novel around, but as a scene setter few can beat it.

I wasn't murdering anything but characters tonight, but Skinny Puppy was playing.  Had a door-to-door salesman come to the door, however, I can't guarantee I wouldn't screwed with him just a bit.  Maybe said some of those dark and forbidden things.  And people think hip hop is dangerous...


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Embarrassing Musical Moments

I was 10.  In my hands I held an 8-track I was supremely excited to own.  The Christmas Gods had bestowed it upon me.  I wanted it for ELO.  Years later, looking back on it, the Xanadu soundtrack is probably a lot better than I give it credit for now.

We all have these releases we were thrilled to get and then, as time passes, we wonder what the hell we were thinking.  If you don't have some embarrassing musical tragedy, you are lying.  I'm laying mine out on the table, like an autopsy gone haywire.  Xanadu 8-track.  A soundtrack to a movie that I found to be god-awful even back then.  (I know it has developed a fevered fan/cult following, but that doesn't give the film any real kind of value or integrity.)  I wouldn't buy this now.  I shouldn't have wanted it then, but I wasn't the only one who wanted it, either.  That thing sold like GHB at a frat party.

There are other albums I've owned that are equally perplexing.  This one, however, takes the cake.  I can't explain it, other than I've always had a soft spot for ELO.  I can't justify it.  And, if put under torture, I can't remember any songs other than the popular ones (and even those memories are sketchy).  I loved it, though.  I played that thing over and over on my stereo and portable 8-track player.  I whispered its name as I fell asleep.  "Xanadu ..."  It sounds almost like a spell or a DC comic book.  (In reality, Marvel put out the comic book, and DC has a character called "Madame Xanadu."  Tell me, though, that it doesn't sound like it should be a DC comic.)

I've come clean on my shameful moment.  Now I'd like to hear from some of my readers.  What releases are/were you embarrassed to own?


Mandatory FTC Disclaimer: Clicking on a link could get me a small commission.  I promise to use my money to only buy worthy releases that I won't mock thirty years from now.

Skinhead Justice and a Lion's Heart

Youth on the Street, Pressure Point's 1998 release, holds up pretty damn good.  It is a solid release filled with angry and inspiring street punk performed by a multi-racial band of misfits and skins.  That's important to note because when one hears a song like "Skinhead Justice" and "Strength Thru Oi!" (a horrible song title) the alarms go off.

"Heart Like a Lion" opens the CD with what has become an iconic line "See that girl walking down the street/Boots and braces, she looks so sweet."  It's a great song about a woman who sticks by the singer "no matter what [he's] done."  With a "heart like a lion," this girl is "always there when the others hide."  If singer Mike Erickson is growling about one woman in particular, he doesn't call it out.  Based on his description, it's obviously a skin chick, and having known several of those females throughout my life, I would say "heart like a lion" is a fairly accurate description.

The second track is a cover of "Never 'Ad Nothin'" by the Angelic Upstarts.  The final track on the CD, "So Ends Our Night," is also a cover.  This time by Last Rights.  Both are competent songs, but the Sacramento-based Pressure Point really shines when it does its own songs.  Oddly enough, "Blue Collar" is not indicated as a cover song, but it sounds like it is.  I believe I've heard this before (perhaps it's the traditional Jamaican sound throughout the song that can also be briefly heard on "Youth on the Street"), but can find no indication it isn't an original Pressure Point tune.  It is so unlike anything else on the release, yet it fits right in.  

"Skinhead Justice," "Guts Alone," "Pride & Glory," and "Strength Thru Oi!" all have titles that invoke the feeling that people get when they hear of skinheads.  These songs have zero to do with race, and everything to do with honor, the working class, unity and how the classes are played against each other.  "Pride & Glory" is the most blatant when it comes to pointing these issues out.  "When we fight each other/We're just pawns in their game/Black versus white/They treat us all the same/You can fight me, and I can fight you/When we fight each other/We do what they want us to do."  It continues, "Right wing, left wing, I got no choice/The bastards in power give me no voice/Token promises are never kept/Working class souls finance their debt."

Pressure Point is liberty spikes and shaved heads united against hypocrisy and deceit.  It's a hard order to fill, but this release shows the band is more than capable of putting up a fight against it.  It speaks some hard truths, and its only fault is that it can be easily ignored by people who come to the table with their prejudices already firmly in place.  Yes, the lyrics speak of violence, but not the violence you expect, and that is probably the most pleasant surprise of Youth on the Street.  It is intelligent and thought-provoking while at the same time avoiding all the stereotypes far too many people associate with this brand of music.


Mandatory FTC Disclaimer:  Yeah, I got this to review (for free) way back when it came out.  I reviewed it at the time in my 'zine, and decided to revisit it here to see if it held up.  It does.  Clicking on a link may earn me a commission, too.

Out of Step (With the World)

I don't download a lot of music.  Sure, I'll buy a song here and there on Amazon, but it's usually songs I already have on vinyl or cassette.  I guess I'm helping the artists since I know there are scads of "pirates" downloading their shit for free because, you know, musicians should just serve the people and not get paid for their efforts.  In that case, I don't mind paying for something I already have because it's usually only a buck, and I believe people should be compensated for their efforts.

This isn't about the ethics of stealing music, however, this is about the days of my youth.  In particularly, what it was like trying to find new music.

Before the Internet gave you everything from bestiality to revolution with the click of a mouse, if you wanted new music you had to search for it.  This wasn't easy for a true music lover, a person who wanted to go beyond what was on the radio and MTV (back when it played videos).  This meant going on an expedition where everything avenue was explored.

I spent countless hours talking to music store employees, friends who had the same taste in music I did, and going through interviews with the bands I liked hoping a name would be dropped.  Not only did I read the interviews, but I read the thank you lists on releases and looked at photos of the band hoping someone would be wearing a t-shirt I didn't recognize.  (How many people found out about the Misfits because Metallica wore the band's shirts?  Cee Lo wasn't the first to wear one, you know.)  I read 'zines and traded tapes through the mail.  This was how I found out about new music.  I lived in an area that didn't have good record stores.  I relied on outside sources for just about everything I liked.  It was a lot harder than jumping online, but there was also something more satisfying about it.  It made the music mean something to me.  It added a sense of wonder to everything.  It's not like that now.

The Internet is a double-edged sword when it comes to music.  More people around the world can hear your band, but look at what shit is still sought after.  It's the same garbage that polluted the airwaves before.  Those who truly love music will still go out of their way to seek out quality material, but most of what gets mentioned is Ok Go.  If it weren't for an "amusing" Youtube video would anyone care about this band?  Unlikely.  This is what the Internet has done.

The good music is still out there.  Finding it now, however, means you have to swim through a sea of crap to get to it.  You have to go onto crowded Myspace pages, click on questionable links, and scour forums. You can still find the stuff if you try, but it seems like part of the thrill is gone.  When something is so easily obtained, does it hold any value for the listener?  Sadly, I think not, which is another reason stealing music irritates me.  The music has become what the major labels have been trying to make it for years -- product.  A product to be stolen and disposed of as easily as a pair of threadbare socks.

Enjoy the crap.

Here is Bald Truth ... Nailed to the Wax

Hipbone Slim and the Knee Tremblers.  Have Knees, Will Tremble.  This provided the soundtrack to tonight's editing of the cannibal manuscript.  It was fitting, to say the least.

I often listen to loud music when I write and edit.  There are times when the music fits the scene I'm writing, and that is magic.  If you've never experienced something like that, I can only tell you that it is unlike anything you could imagine. 

Voodoo Rhythm Records put this out oh-so-many years ago, and it holds up.  Described as traditional rockabilly meets swamp blues meets '60s beat, I can't think of a more apt description of a band's music.  And while the soundtrack I envision for the cannibal manuscript is mostly old country, this fit quite well.

"This record is a lesson for every teen-ager and a warning for every parent!"  That's what the cover says.  I doubt many teens are listening to this, as they are too absorbed with whatever shit passes for music these days.  This harkens to the past, a time when music was actually seen as dangerous and were never seen on the Today show with Al rocking out. 

If only they knew ...


Mandatory FTC Disclaimer: I received this for free to review.  Clicking on a link can get me a small commission.  Listening to the music can be liberating.

Info on the New Juke Joint Pimps Release

Regular readers know I'm a huge fan of Voodoo Rhythm Records and all it produces.  Here's the info I got on the new Juke Joint Pimps CD, Boogie The Church Down.  I expect this will be as awesome as every other release on the label.

The Juke Joint Pimps meet their alter Ego “the Gospel Pimps, TRASHED UP WILD FRANTIC RAW RHYTHM N BLUES CHICAGO STLYE meets holy grail preaching Gospel Louisiana Soul. Not only on this record, as well live on stage the Band Jumps into two Suits.. once into the BOOZE GUZZLLING SINNER PIMPS then got saved by the Holy .. THE GOSPEL PIMPS, incl. authentic Gospel Choir and Roman Catolic preacher uniforms, what does a sinner like you want more from live! The whole album starts up with EAT FOR ME, a song that could be written by R.L. BURNSIDE. It has slow songs as well like the I NEED MY BABY or SWEETEST HYMNS the flipside of the album is dominated by the gospel music of the early and mid 50’s THE STAPLE SINGERS the PEACOCK catalogue inspired them to do such a recording.. invited a gospel choir into the studio and start recording I FEE GUILTY is a fine example of very strange gospel and raw rhythm n blues .. sung by sinners for sinners and the outcast.

Still More Letters From Doug Evil

I have not reproduced the band logo he is referencing here, as I think he may not like the logo now if he were to see it.  Doug Evil designed two logos for my band, JFK's Head.  I don't know if we ever used either because the band was pretty short lived.


Doug,

Here are 2 versions of your logo.  If there's anything you don't like just write.  It would be no problem to do another.  In the future I won't make you pay.  We can simply trade tapes or 'zines or stuff.  I feel guilty making you pay after you give me free ad space and free publicity.  I'll also give you my new address but if you don't get a reply right away then the mailman can't find Doug Evil in Pitts.  Also, I should soon be in a full band within the next 1 or two months.  Till then ...

Haplessly Yours, Doug Evil


I did not mind paying for the logo.  Artists need to be compensated for their work.  (Even the ones from whom you steal music.)  I don't remember what I paid him, but I do think we stopped writing soon after this letter ... as Doug disappeared for a while.

Letters from GG Allin 8

More letters from the man, the myth, the guy who bled everywhere ... GG "I Will Not Act Civilized" Allin.  Always fun.



Doug,

Got the article.

Mykel may or may not respond to you, but your best bet is to include a SASE.  I do still correspond with him occassionally, but not as often as I had in the past.  But we are still both very much in contact when we are in the same area.

The comp. idea sounds cool.  No objections on this end as long as it's put together right.  Try and find as many diff styles of torturous individuals + bands, etc..  Like maybe a fucking violin version of of "Drink Fight + Fuck" etc..  You get the picture.  Instead of bands trying to copy it the way it is on the records.  Let me know how it comes about.  Send #7 as soon as it's out.

GG Allin 206045


As you readers know, the compilation never came out.  We did get a few bands sending us stuff, and some of it was quite interesting.  Allin's death derailed the project, however.  I was not into the idea of looking like I was exploiting his death.

More Letters From Doug Evil

That's right.  Another missive from the man behind Orgy of One -- Doug Evil.  In this letter he writes a poetry anthology which I doubt I contributed to, as well hallucinations I was apparently having at the time.  I remember no such thing. 


Doug,

[Phone number censored for obvious reasons.]

I'm still only considering doing that poem anthology.  Send poems anyway.  Most likely I'll do it.  If I do the book will be called Severed Fairy Tails.

You've sparked real interest in me about your hallucinations.  Please go into further detail.  As for unbelievable ... I'm a vampire, remember?

How soon do you need that cover?  To be honest I haven't started it yet.  I have vacation from Dec 11 - Jan 11.  Can you wait until then?  If not I'll make time.

Get the light out of here!!!- Doug Evil


The only part of this letter that sounds remotely familiar to me is the cover of 'zine he was working on for me.  Other than that, I have no recollection of anything he is talking about.  Strange.

Give 'Em the Boot ... Again

Hellcat Records has some good music.  Not all of it, granted, but enough to warrant some attention.  One of the best ways to get an idea of what is being offered is from the Give 'Em the Boot series.  Back in 2004 the fourth part of this series came out, and it is worth looking into.
Opening with Rancid's "Killing Zone" is a good way to start any release.  Following it up with The Aggrolites' "Dirty Reggae" is a good way to kill it.  That is precisely why this CD does not see a lot of rotation in my stereo.  Yeah, I like The Slackers as much as the next guy, and you can't go wrong with the Dropkick Murphys or HorrorPops, but for all those good bands there's stuff like Chris Murray's "Let There Be Peace," which makes you wonder just what the hell you it is that happens to be coming out your speakers.

I know some can view Hellcast as boutique label for Tim Armstrong, and I have nothing wrong with that.  If that is the case, I do have to say that Armstrong's taste in music is very questionable in places.  Maybe he really, really likes Tiger Army.  I don't know.  I do know that this sampler makes me wonder what he is drinking.  I know this came out in 2004, but looking at the stuff on the label now shows that little has changed at this Epitaph offshoot.

At least Armstrong is consistent.

The first in this series of CDs had much the same problem, but it felt fresher.  It felt like it mattered more.  Listening to this fourth one makes it sound like status quo.  That said, it is still a great introduction to the type of music you can expect to find on the label.  Just don't expect anything truly mind blowing to come out of the experience.



Mandatory FTC Disclaimer:  I received this to review, so it was free.  Clicking on a link can earn me a small commission, which I desperately need so I can quit my job.

The Voice

If you tune into NBC for more than three seconds you are bound to see a promo for The Voice, a show that claims to be nicer than American Idol.  What else sets it apart?  Judges nobody cares about and singers who may be ugly.  At least that's what I get from the commercials.  I haven't watched the show and have no desire to do so.  The TV ads tell me everything I need to know.

I know these talent shows appeal to a certain segment of society, and I know they help keep television writers out of work.  I know family and friends of contesants love tuning in to see if they'll win, and then get their towns to hold celebrations if their favored son or daughter moves up far enough in the competition.  The world loves an underdog.  The world hates George Michael.  It makes for compelling television on some level.  It has little to do with the music or the art behind it.  This is entertainment.

In the end, shows like The Voice are quite harmless.  They do their job, and the "artists" they produce are usually forgettable after a few years.  Some have gone on to some degree of fame, which makes you wonder if they would have ever had the opportunity otherwise (doubtful knowing how the world of music works).  For the most part, however, these souls are forgotten by the time the next inevitable season starts, only to merit a nod once the flashback episode arrives.

Will The Voice lead to a promising career for its winner?  The only person who cares about that is the soon-to-be champion.  The rest of the world will move on, and that is perhaps the truest lesson that can be learned from this show.  These musicians are disposable.  They are fodder.  They are the filler in between ads for Dodge Chargers and iPads.  They may think they are more than that, but in the end, that is all they are to the executives at NBC.  Who would've thought the world of television and music would have so much in common?



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The Purity of Disaster

I received the Foundation "Purity/Disaster" 7" for review way back in 1992.  I remember giving it a favorable review then, and after listening to it recently I have to say it holds up.

Foundation was out of NY, and while it was a hardcore band, the songs on this release have a certain emo feeling to them.  Real emo.  Not Hot Topic emo.  The 7" itself is on white vinly (classy), and it includes lyrics to the two songs.

I tried looking the band up on the Internet and found nothing really helpful.  Even Round Flat Records, which put this out, doesn't seem to have copies of it anymore.  Not surprising.  This is a solid release, and the band members (Bill Colgrove, John Drenning, Steve Korol and Mike Waney) have already probably moved onto to other things that are hopefully music related.  (No sense in wasting one's talent by working at a diner.)  Mike Waney as of 2/11 responded to a posting on the Coregasm blog, so he's at least around and checking out what the world has to say of his old band.

I never got to see Foundation live, but I imagine it would've been quite an energetic and positive show.  The sound these guys had is due for a resurgence in the next few years.  I doubt any of it will be as good as this 7" was, though. 

Letters from Doug Evil

Doug Evil was the man behind Orgy of One, a one-man band that did some Misfits covers and original tunes.  He designed my band's logo (JFK's Head, for those keeping score), and did a cover for one of my 'zines.  We wrote each other off and on and talked on the phone on occasion.  Below is a short letter he wrote about some distribution stuff and ad space in my 'zine (Chaos Into Power). 



Doug of C.I.P.,

Here is your order of Orgy 5 "Single" tapes plus Misfits cover tapes.  1 for you & 1 (one) for the Misfits themselves!  (If you get in contact with them.)

Please copy the ad I sent you to help with the distro process & enclose a copy of the Misfits cover album flyer with any order of my tape.

Also I'd like a list of names and addresses of people who buy my tape so I can send them flyers & shit.  If there are any problems call me at [phone number listed]. 

Haplessly Yours,
Doug Evil


I did send a copy to the Misfits, but I do not recall the reaction to it.  At the time, the Misfits hadn't signed Michael Graves or Dr. Chud yet, so it was in a state of flux.  I do remember talking to Doyle prior to sending it, and he was excited about hearing it.