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

Precision Bearings - Roller Funk-Roller Bliss-Don't Fall Down 7" (1981)

If you haven't yet already, scroll down and read Menlo's excellent post on the Good Samaritans. It will provide some background information about the people involved with Precision Bearings and prevent me from having to reiterate a lot of the things he's already written.

As a follow-up to the Good Samaritans record, I have for you the one-and-only 7" by San Francisco's Precision Bearings, released on Fowl Records in 1981.  This is Fowl Records first release and probably the label's hardest record to pin-down musically.

As with most things on this blog, the information I have is skeletal, at best.  Most of the information I do have about this record comes from an interview of Precision Bearings/Black Humor member George Miller from the fanzine Z Gun, issue #1.  (The interview was originally posted on the now-defunct Dragnet Records website for those of you who may have read it there and didn't know it was available again.)  You can order Z Gun from S-S Records.

From what I understand, like Black Humor, Precision Bearings was more of a loose art collective than an actual band.  Besides George Miller, members included: Dan Houser - co-founder of Fowl Records, member of Black Humor and Good Samaritans; Mark Brendt - another BH contributor and GS member;  Patty Costa - same as above; and Quentin Llorente - also same as above.  Tom Mallon, who produced the GS record, is credited as recording and mixing the PB record (with the exception of Don't Fall Down which was mixed by Mike Fox at Subterranean) and designing the graphics.  Not to editorialize too much but it seems they really 'kept it in the family,' so to speak.

As eluded to above, this record is one bizarre musical exploration.  The record starts out with the aptly titled Roller Funk-a funky, progressive, upbeat, harp-laden instrumental number.  Although I can't tell if the music meant to be taken as ironic, I know the inspiration for the music is not.  According to the interview, Dan Houser was a huge Roller Derby fan.  In fact, at least the way George Miller describes it, Dan's primary mode of transportation around San Francisco was his roller skates.  As a side note, the Black Humor song To Stupid To Die is about Dan's parrot who he would sometimes let ride around on his shoulder when he'd go out skating.  On one unfortunate day, the parrot was blown off of Dan's shoulder and into the street where it got run over by a car.  In the end, the parrot lived.  I wonder if the parrot was the inspiration for the name Fowl Records.  I digress...

The next track entitled Roller Bliss shifts gears into industrial/ambient territory.  According to the sleeve this is essentially a solo effort by George, with him playing both keyboard and guitar in... well... blissful, shimmering, flange-washed repetition.  Very pleasing and-clocking in at only about 1:15-very to the point.

The final track entitled Don't Fall Down is the most like you'd expect from this collective: creepy vocals by Patty Costa chanting the track's title over spooky, sci-fi sounds and what could loosely be considered a beat(?).  Very much in a similar vein to the material on the b-side of the BH LP or to IXNA's Ixna Portal Exo track (see other post).  Probably my favorite out of the bunch.

George Miller currently lives in Berlin and performs/records under the name Das Verkannte Modul.  Check out his myspace page for more information.

According to his discogs.com entry, Dan Houser wrote some music featured in the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City video game.  When I poked around on the web to try and confirm this, I found contradicting information.  It seems that whoever added that piece of information to the discogs entry got this Dan Houser confused with the British video game producer and Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser.

As far as other relevant information goes, I found this Black Humor page, and their myspace page both which appear to be run by George.    

As always, if you can shed some more light on this record, the people involved or have any other relevant information, please share.

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

Enjoy.