Cold Dogs In The Courtyard-Video Is Not Art 7" (1982)

I’ll admit that I happen to have a superman-strength tolerance for cheese ball New Wave. Well, that’s a bit misleading, I guess. A KBD Punk purist would call it tolerance, but rather I look at it as a positive…more a measurement of an enjoyment level. I’m super duper “pro-dork” and the geekier the better when it comes to New Wave, I say! (I’m using New Wave as the generic, catch all term here to generalize things.) Female vocals always get priority over male leads in my book. Crude early 80’s synth sounds, tinny/mechanical beats, and 8-bit samplers send me over the top. My enjoyment level takes a sharp turn downward when crummy disco style bass lines are throbbing through a whole song, and the "90% of the time awful" Power Pop/New Wave hybrid bands sound like crappy 80’s bar rock to these ears.

This record is a perfect example of something that will make most folks turn up their noses. I’d think that after initial release sales, this one was destined for budget bin lingering. That’s OK, leave stuff like this for me! With a fairly plain/unimaginative sleeve, minimal credits/info and no insert…the clues leave much to be desired. Usually a scan of a thank you list will at least leave hints if this is bad, small press AOR bar rock or at least has potential. This once drops no such hints. It could just as easily be a toss away Pig Bag style post-punk-funk piece o’ crud as it could be that lost Synth-Punk gem virtually nobody’s heard of. This was one of those total crap shoots. Sure, it wasn’t the gnarly Synth-Punk holy grail you always hope for, but I was pleased with my dollar purchase nonetheless.

They obviously took their name from mid 60’s Charles Bukowski book (See here for more info) and that’s about all I can tell you at this point. A web search only turns up three playlists from freeform/community radio stations WFMU (NJ), KDHX (St. Louis) and KDVS (Davis, CA). Every other hit was in reference to the Bukowski book that I could find. There was no band info at Discogs or the other usual starting points. The only info I could find was on a search for Jim Allington who played drums on the a-side of the single. I’m guessing he was more of a hired hand or friend rather than a core member…but really, who knows?. He’s shown as playing percussion on Larry Young’s Fuel-Spaceball LP, which is a Jazz album from 1976. He’s also listed as one of many people who play on the album Lights, Traps & Exploding Wires by avant garde guitarist Naux. The Naux album was released in 1982 on the Noise New York label and also has guitar genius Robert Quine’s involvement along with a large cast of NYC noise and art crowd types. (The Naux LP was posted this past February on the Fantod Under Glass blog if interested: direct link to Naux post )

OK, that’s I suppose that’s enough text on something that I really don’t know much about. The A-side is definitely the “hit” here. One of the other elements that draws me to obscure New Wave singles is subject matter that dates the band almost instantly. Sure, that’s not hard to find, but this one would certainly clue you in to the era even if there wasn’t a date on the back of the sleeve. Know something more about them? Please leave a comment and let us know!

Cold Dogs in the Courtyard-7” (NYC)

(1982-Orgonomic Functionalism Records)

Side A: Video Is Not Art

Side B: Nagisa Oshima

Ripped at 320kps with scans of both sides of the sleeve

MP3s Are Not Art