Morris and the Minors-State The Obvious 7"ep (1979)

So, here’s my debut post on Controversial Trousers. I had a hard time deciding what to start with, so I just chose one of the newest additions to the piles since it was fresh in my mind. I came across this EP by a UK D.I.Y. band named after the Morris Minor automobile a short while ago at a record show. It was buried deep in the boxes of a dealer of mainly 70’s rock. Lotso’ import singles had me double check for something just like this. It was the only thing that turned up, but it was certainly worth the effort.

Morris and the Minors-State the Obvious 7”ep

1979-Square Records

According to the first edition of the Volume guide, Morris and the Minors turned into Madness. If you’ve ever paged through the first book Volume published, you’ll know it’s riddled with mistakes. I’m guessing Madness used the same name or similar in an early incarnation or something along those lines. Mario Panciera’s 45 Revolutions book lists this as their only vinyl release and quotes a few period reviews that range from brilliant to crud. I think it’s brilliant, personally.

It’s definitely more on the same brain wave as the Television Personalities then the art pop noise of The Digital Dinosaurs or Instant Automatons. It also has its goofy charms like the use of kazoo on two of the songs. A drum machine is a great addition to “Can’t Smoke A Fag in the Rain”. Little factual information to clue us in on the identities of the members is standard for D.I.Y. records and this one’s no exception. The inside of the sleeve has five pictures of everyday looking street shots with a few of them showing three guys in non descript dark trousers and jackets. The two pictures where you can see all or part of a face or two have the eyes scribbled out with a pen. The line up is: Guitar-Morris, Singing-Morris, Drum-Morris. Contact address is Charlton, England….and that’s about it.

Side A:

Emily

Falling Asleep

Side B:

Scared

Can’t Smoke A Fag in the Rain

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

Get minor with Morris

Billy Synth - Hartzdale Drive Destruction/Indigestion/4200 7" (1980)

I finally had some time to catch my breath and update this post.  I don't know what took me so long, I don't have that much information to share with you anyway.  Sorry for the delay.

Next up we have the Billy Synth 7" on the French experimental/industrial label Sordide Sentimental.  This is a fantastic collaboration between Jad and David Fair of Half Japanese, Bernie of (Billy Synth and) the Janitors and the somewhat legendary, outsider musician Billy Synth.  Three fantastic, noisy, blistering songs with Bernie spewing almost stream of conscience lyrics over a bizarre backdrop of drunken, sci-fi synth and early-Half Japanese guitar and drums calamity.  On the song Indigestion, Bernie even belches loudly over the music for appropriate effect.  From what I understand, all the music was completely improvised and recorded in a single take.

Released in 1980 in an edition of 1537 (mine is # 917), this record is packaged beautifully with a 3 panel fold-out booklet with writing by Sordide Sentimental co-founder Yves Von Bontee, pictures, lyrics with dates and writing credits and a separate insert with German and English translations all contained in a plastic bag emblazoned with a two color SS logo.   

This is strictly conjecture, but the cover art looks to be by underground/comic artist and frequent ESDS (Elles Sont De Sortie) contributor Bruno Richard.  There is some kind of signature on the back cover, but it's partially scratched out and hard to make out the letters.

For more information on Sordide Sentimental and its releases, please refer to the label's website and discogs listing.

Please also take the time to check out the Billy Synth post from the Cake and Polka Parade and to read the Legend Of The Punk Rock Janitors thread on :30 Under DC.  The latter sheds light on the insert photo of Bernie wearing tights.

Other than the general information about the label and a list of other Billy Synth projects, I don't really have any background information about how this specific record came to be.  I am very curious as to how two blue collar, garage-punk dudes from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania got matched up with the cerebral chaos of DC's Half Japanese.

If anyone has any further information on this record, Billy Synth, or a Billy Synth discography (which does not currently exist online), please share.  I look forward to your comments.

Now on to the music...

Zip includes 320kbs rip from the original vinyl and high quality scans of ALL the packaging.

Enjoy.