Category: Crain

Slamdek Singles

March 24, 1993

Slamdek Singles
compiled seven inches and cassette EP’s plus unreleased material, 1989-1992
various artists two-cassette set
[SDK-32] transparent color copied covers, books-on-tape long box with inserted 8-page booklet

The Slamdek Singles box set was a great idea with beautiful packaging, but also a victim of bad circumstances. Its length of 35 songs in 101 minutes, took an average of nearly a half hour of machine time to record each set. Its expensive, transparent, full color packaging increased its price even more than its two tapes did. It became a specialty item as it had to be kept on the store counter. Its small size and high price tag of around $16 made it too easy to steal.

The diversity of the material it included took several months to compile and assemble for release as a single unit. Slamdek Singles had been in the works since late 1992. Its liner notes include the lyrics to all 35 songs, as well as complete discography, personnel, and production listings for each group. And other than the convenience and novelty of putting all the songs together, the set had a purpose.

“The Slamdek Singles two tape set is the result of several years of dedication, emotion, and hard work by many people. The short 101 minutes that it plays are miniscule in comparison to the time and effort needed to reach this milestone. The songs compiled here are provided as either previously unavailable, currently out of print, or never before issued on cassette. They have all been transferred directly from the original digital masters.”

Slamdek Singles compiled all of Slamdek’s essential EP’s released between 1989 and 1992. This consisted of: the Crain/Deathwatch 7″, the first Endpoint/Sunspring 7″, the Your Face cassette, Sunspring’s Slinky 7″, Ennui’s Olive 7″, and the Jawbox cassette. Its previously unavailable material consisted of two tracks by Sister Shannon, plus one from Christmas 1990; two tracks by LG&E, plus one from Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers; and two tracks from Ennui, combined with their track from Rockers and their Olive 7″, thus presenting all seven songs they recorded. And the Ennui tracks are incidentally presented in the order in which they were recorded, rather than in the sequence of their seven inch. Are you getting all this?

A production snag occurred when the Sister Shannon DAT could not be located. The unreleased Sister Shannon tracks were one of my main interests in putting the collection together. After several days of phone calls, it turned up at DSL. Another snag came up when one of my two DAT machines was not working properly. I asked John Kampschaefer for his assistance at the last minute, and he graciously obliged. A majority of the digital sequence editing was done in John Kampschaefer’s parents’ basement.

There are some Slamdek EP’s released between ’89 and ’92 which are missing from the collection. They are, the Cerebellum cassette, which was still in print when Slamdek Singles was created, and three EP’s which were left off of the compilation because they had been released to cater to the special interests of selective audiences, Crawdad’s Loaded, the 7 More Seconds cassette, and Sunspring’s $1.50 Demo. The back outside panel of the package has a brief historical introduction, “The Slamdek Record Company began in November 1986 with the release of a cassette by Pink Aftershock. Since then, a combination of thirty-one more cassettes, seven inches, digital audio tapes, videocassettes, and compact discs have been released encompassing a wide range of sounds and ideas. This two tape set compiles most of the cassette EP’s and all the seven inches from the past four years. Also included is a valuable amount of previously unissued material, as well as photographs and the lyrics to all thirty-five songs. Slamdek Singles is the small result of the huge amount of dedication the bands in Louisville (and beyond) share. The time, effort, emotion, and memories that are part of this milestone are things on which no one could ever put a price.”

The lengthy liner notes are synopsized here. And naturally, the discographies are no longer current. Any clarifications and lyrical excerpts are [in brackets]:


The very expensive, full color, transparent books-on-tape long box packaging of Slamdek Singles helped the two tape set meet an early demise. Back cover photo is of Robin Wallace, Todd Smith, and Scott Ritcher at Juniper Hill during the Your Face session in 1988.

SIDE ONE:

Deathwatch: Ignorance Downfall, Wool, Dignity.
Rob Pennington vocals, Duncan Barlow guitar, Greg Carmichael guitar, Rusty Sohm drums, Jason Graff bass.

These songs: Recorded at ARS, Barret Avenue, February 1988. Released as one side of the Crain/Deathwatch split 7″. The record was a limited edition of 300 copies which were given away at a Crain, Endpoint, and Sister Shannon show at the Zodiac Club, September 7, 1990. Deathwatch became Endpoint later in 1988.

Deathwatch Discography:
•Deathwatch cassette, self-released, February 1988, out of print
•Crain/Deathwatch split 7″, Slamdek No. 9790, September 1990, limited edition

[“Punk rock is now a fashion show. You’ve got your boots, so black they glow. Hair stuck up with a can of spray. Punk rock, hardcore, it’s all the same. You’ve got your boots, but what’s to show?”]

Endpoint: Promise, Priorities.
Rob Pennington vocals, Duncan Barlow guitar, Chad Castetter guitar, Lee Fetzer drums, Jason Hayden bass.

These songs: Recorded at Sound On Sound, Frankfort Avenue, November 1990. Produced by Howie Gano and the EPA. Released on the Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″

Endpoint Discography:
•If The Spirits Are Willing cassette/DAT, Slamdek No. 9 (prev. 1797), June 1989
•Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″, Slamdek No. 21, March 1991
•In A Time Of Hate LP/cassette, Conversion No. 10, June 1991
•Catharsis LP/CD, Doghouse No. 10, August 1992
•EP2 live 7″, Break Even Point No. 7, November 1992
•Idiots 7″ of cover songs, Doghouse No. 15, December 1992, limited edition

[“Love is gone, locked from your heart. Lust is strong, it’s all you feel. Close your mind to all commitment, you broke her will. Relationship, a mountain we climbed, fell to an immoral world.”]

Your Face: Magenta Bent, Old Hat New Hat.
Robin Wallace vocals, Greta Ritcher guitar, Tishy Quesenberry drums, Dawn Hill bass.

These songs: Recorded at Juniper Hill Creative Audio, December 1988. Released as a cassette single, this was their only release.

Your Face Discography:
•Magenta Bent cassette single, Slamdek No. 1550, January 1989, out of print.

[“Would it make you feel good to see tears running down his face? Howling with a mad delight, you put him in his place. Revenge is something you can touch, the water in his eyes. Throw it back into his lap, all those little lies.”]

Sister Shannon: Carolina, Haint, Goreman.
Robin Wallace vocals, Greta Ritcher guitar, Kevin Coultas drums, David Ernst bass.

These songs: Recorded in Kevin’s parents’ basement live to digital two track [DAT], December 1990. Produced by K. Scott Ritcher and Dave Ernst. “Goreman” appeared on the 1990 Slamdek Christmas tape, and the band broke up in early 1991. [Sister
Shannon was named after Sacred Heart Academy’s Dean of Students, Sister Shannon Maguire.]

Sister Shannon Discography:
•none released

[“Tied on her back, down on a quilt, where fear becomes a sweat stain. That’s all I know about tacks and thumbs. It’s the same as sex or being raped. The hot metal of his weapon says go girl go girl go girl. Dig the pelvic ditch. Carolina… The fetid swamp sits there on the fact that should be fiction. This cracked man dips into his gun powder, dipping in the handfuls of sweet sweet misery, to eat like rock candy and rot her teeth. Carolina… Too close now to examine the heat from his fingers. He pouts into the metal of his misogynist weapon, no one sees his mercy. This cracked man, oh this cracked man. Gonna take me down. Carolina…”]

SIDE TWO:

Sunspring: Don’t Just Stand There, Silver Spring, Kendall, Faceless, Magnet, Christmas Morning, Street.
K. Scott Ritcher guitar/vocals, John Weiss drums, Chad Castetter bass on 1-3, Jason Hayden bass on 4-7.

These songs: Recorded at Sound On Sound. “Don’t Just Stand There,” “Silver Spring,” and “Kendall” produced by Howie Gano and K. Scott Ritcher, March 1991. Released on the Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″. The other four songs produced by Howie Gano, November 1991. Released as the Slinky 7″.

Sunspring Discography:
•$1.50 Demo cassette, Slamdek No. 3950, April 1990, out of print
•Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″, Slamdek No. 21, March 1991
•Sun cassette, Slamdek No. 24, August 1991
•Slinky 7″, Slamdek No. 26, March 1992
•Action Eleven cassette, Slamdek No. 29, October 1992, limited edition
•Poppy CD/cassette, Slamdek No. 31, April 1993 [actual release in June]
•Poppy LP, Break Even Point No. 931213, April 1993 [actual release in September]

[“I want so much to own nothing. Give me just a piece of just what I want. I’ve had it easy but I’ve made it hard. I’ve thwarted my very own efforts. You are no one, you are nothing. I always knew you hated me. You were easy but I made you hard. I made you a street that I avoided. We are everything we want to be. We never stop to think. I was sure you were the mine I thought you were, but now I’m caught with my foot on the trigger.”]

LG&E: First, Second, Third.
Duncan Barlow instruments/vocals, K. Scott Ritcher instruments/vocals.

These songs: Recorded at Slamdek, Eastern Parkway, October 1992. Produced by LG&E, except “Third” recorded March 1993 on 4 track. “First” appears on Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers cassette, 1992.

LG&E Discography:
•none released

[“In the open fields, kissed by fall’s cool winds, a boy shatters the horizon. Short and somewhat stalky, his red hair blazes like fire against the charcoal gray skies that hang over the field. The rain promised a better harvest for the townsfolk, but the harvest of the boy’s soul is dry and weary. A raindrop falls on his nose, breaking his world of tranquility,
but never his realm of fascination.”]

SIDE THREE:
Ennui: Slugs, Two Headed Cow, Ennui, Gun?, Alkaline, 34 Page Book, Translucent.
Matt Ronay vocals, Lane Sparber guitar, Tim Houchin bass, Forrest Kuhn drums.

These songs: Recorded at WGNS, 13th Street (Arlington, VA), May 1992. Produced by Geoff Turner and K. Scott Ritcher. “Alkaline,” “34 Page Book,” “Ennui,” and “Translucent” comprise the Olive 7″. “Gun?” appears on Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers cassette, 1992. “Two Headed Cow” and “Slugs” are previously unavailable. Ennui disbanded during summer 1992.

Ennui Discography:
•Olive 7″, Slamdek No. 27, September 1992

[“Sometimes when I wanna go, I stop and stare and reflect back to the times when I was switching body parts on G.I. Joe’s and killing birds with guns. Leah’s birthday’s brownies we rolled them up, put them on a chair. Lunch ladies’ eyes always bearing down on us. Disobedient, carefree, irresponsible, and burning slugs with Tim.”]

SIDE FOUR:
Jawbox: Twister, Ballast, Bullet Park, Tools & Chrome, Secret History.
Jay Robbins guitar/vocals, Kim Coletta bass, Adam Wade drums.

These songs: Recorded at Upland Studio (Arlington, VA), January 1990. Recorded by Barret Jones, produced by Alferd Packer. All songs except “Bullet Park” comprised the first Jawbox 7″ on DeSoto Records which was released simultaneously with the Slamdek cassette. Slamdek’s extra cut is a tambourine-less mix of its recording for a Maximumrocknroll compilation. Jawbox is, so far, the only non-Louisville band to be released on Slamdek.

Jawbox Discography:
•Jawbox cassette, Slamdek No. 1782, April 1990, out of print
•Jawbox 7″, DeSoto No. 2, May 1990, out of print
•Grippe LP/cassette/CD, Dischord No. 52, June 1991
•Ones + Zeros 7″, Dischord No. 61, March 1992
•Novelty LP/cassette/CD, Dischord No. 69, August 1992
•Tar/Jawbox Static split 7″, Touch and Go/Dischord, February 1993
•Jackpot Plus! 7″, Dischord No. 77, February 1993

[“Blood marks the road where the animal left its life behind, in a red stain that the rain will wash away. Fall of night foretold, sky colors like a bruise, and I think of ones I used to know and the paths they had to choose. For we are born and we remain forever trapped inside our heads, alone. No human chords are struck without a resonance in other lives, but the echoes we hold onto seem as arbitrary as the times.”]

Crain: The Fuse, Proposed Production.
Joey Mudd vocals on “Proposed Production,” Tim Furnish guitar, Jon Cook bass, Will Chatham drums, Drew Daniel vocals on “The Fuse”

These songs: Recorded at Sound On Sound, January 1990. Recorded by Howie Gano. Released on the Crain/Deathwatch split 7″. Three other songs from this same 17-song session were part of the Rocket 7″ released later.

Crain Discography:
•Crain/Deathwatch split 7″, Slamdek No. 9790, September 1990, limited edition
•Rocket 7″, Automatic (Liability) No. 1, April 1991, out of print
•Speed LP/cassette, Automatic (Liability) No. 3, May 1992

[“They said the newspaper, it could never lie, but they hid the truth about the way she died. Asked mother how it happened, she said she wasn’t sure. It’s a strange disease that finds its own cure. I can project my own reasons, I can speculate, how grandmother fell into such a state. Mother made me swear I wouldn’t go that way. A promise is a promise is a promise that I shouldn’t have made.”]

After the four months it took to assemble, Slamdek Singles met an early fate after about two months of release. Fewer than fifty units of it had been manufactured when Sunspring’s upcoming Poppy CD helped to do it in, in more ways than one. The first way was financially, as virtually all the money coming in from sales of all Slamdek releases was being allocated to help pay for manufacturing the very costly Poppy discs, the first CD fully funded by the label. Another way the Poppy CD cut the life of Slamdek Singles was by duplicating all seven of its Sunspring songs. Additionally, the Grippe CD on Dischord was inclusive of four of the five Jawbox songs.

Slamdek Singles was then essentially desired only for its twelve exclusive cuts. This was hardly enough to warrant its elaborate transparent, full color packaging with twenty-three other songs. Each unit cost about $6.50 each to manufacture, the wholesale price was $10.75, and the few dozen units that were made sold for about $15.00. I stole the idea for the colorful, transparent packaging from the British CD single of “True Love Will Find You In The End” and the limited CD version of Soul Kiss, both by Spectrum. The same two CD’s were later sampled on Sunspring’s Poppy and Metroschifter’s New Mexico Drum Machine Demos.

The Endpoint and Deathwatch songs eventually ended up on the CD version of If The Spirits Are Willing the following year. LG&E’s tracks resurfaced on the LG&E cassette in December 1993. The exclusive songs by Ennui, Jawbox, and Sister Shannon disappeared from print, as did the reissued tracks by Your Face and Crain.

ADDITIONAL LINER NOTES:

Back cover photo: Greg Lynch. • Special assistance: Robin Wallace, Carrie Osborne, Matthew M. Ronay, Duncan Barlow, Jon Cook, David A. Stewart, Mark Ritcher, Mike Baker, and Chad Castetter. • Compilation and packaging: K. Scott Ritcher. • Additional digital sequencing: John F. Kampschaefer. • Thanks also to DeSoto Records, Automatic Wreckords, DSL, and Cosmic Software, for their much appreciated cooperation in this release.

Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers

December 12, 1992

Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers
various artists cassette
[SDK-29] color copied covers, books-on-tape long box with inserted 6-page booklet, laser printed labels

The 1992 Christmas tape documented several notable beginnings, but was ultimately more a product of habit than inspiration. Following the previous year’s super-creative Christmas effort was a tall order. And 1991 also had the advantage of a consistent sound by having its nine songs uniformly recorded in the same studio. But with or without comparison to the Louisville covers on 1991’s Merry Christmas cassette, 1992’s Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers fell short of the mark.

It had all the typically big Slamdek names, Endpoint, Crain, Sunspring; it introduced several new bands, Rodan, The Pale Blue Star, and LG&E; and continued the work of others, Hopscotch Army, Ennui, Concrete, Lather, and Telephone Man. Its books-on-tape box packaging and full color cover were handsome, but costly, and it included a candy cane. Tim Furnish, who was DTP manager at Bardstown Road Kinko’s at Stevens Avenue, did the color scanning. And Carrie Osborne, Kim Sampson, and Mike Jarboe, who were also employed there, cut me a deal on the color copies for the covers. The color images were designed blindly on the black and white Macintosh Classic at my parents’ house, and printed on the 300 dpi color Tektronix printer at Kinko’s. There was now a 300 dpi black and white printer at the house, which was used for the black and white insert.

While the packaging was fairly elaborate, my apparent lack of enthusiasm for the release was demonstrated in the liner notes. “Traditionally, this pack of liner notes is filled with long-winded, overly informative ramblings that amount to a 95-paragraph pep talk essay on how great Louisville is and how cool our bands are. Since we’re all pretty much aware by now that Louisville’s shitty bands are much better than many other cities’ good bands, we’ll skip the speech this year. One major point that should be made, though, is that there are so many different kinds of bands doing so many different types of things here that narrowing it down to eleven songs is hardly fair. A lot of bands who wanted to be on the Christmas tape this year couldn’t because of scheduling problems and space limitations. To them we apologize. You can guarantee that next year’s will be much better scheduled and will be ALL Christmas songs!” [The following year’s Christmas tape was cancelled due to a lack of response from the bands. Pulse was the only one who actually completed a Christmas song for the tape, “Good King Wencheslas.” Endpoint was going to do “Silent Night,” Sunspring “Let It Snow,” etc.]


Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers insert, unfolded to 6 1/4 by 10 1/2 inches, copied on blue-gray speckled, recycled paper. Center photo above is from Christmas 1981, as Mark, Scott, and Greta Ritcher open their new Atari 2600 Video Computer System. Left photo below, from winter 1975, is Mark and Scott on a sled.

The back cover of Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers also had a brief, and slightly more enthusiastic and comprehensive introduction, “For five of the past six years, Louisville bands have come together on the annual Slamdek Christmas tape. 1992 is no different. It’s a tape of songs which are compiled just to be heard. Each song is very different from the others around it. They’re all written by different people and recorded in different places, but they all came from the hearts and minds of the angst-ridden, wound-up kids of Louisville, Kentucky. And while they’re not traditional Christmas Carols, they are Christmas songs because they’re the gifts of reassurance we give to each other every year.”
It should be noted that the title, Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers, is not a reference to the Slamdek Rockers field hockey team. That formed in late 1993, nearly a year later. If anything, perhaps the name of the cassette inspired the name of the team, but neither is directly responsible for the other. And, unusual for Slamdek releases, the tape also carries a dedication, “Dedicated to the four of us who left this year for the next life. You’re never forgotten.” The four, who were not named, were Karla Millan, Ramona Lutz, Shanda Sharer, and Tim Wunderlin.

The liner notes are straight to the point, and presented in a uniform order with band members [drummer, then guitarist, then singer, then bassist], products available [“available stuff” with postpaid prices and addresses], and each group’s plans [beginning with the word “And”]:

Sunspring “Roadburn”

Produced by Howie Gano at Sound On Sound on 16 tracks. Drums by Forrest Kuhn, guitar/vocals by K. Scott Ritcher, bass guitar by Jason Thompson, and guest sample by Layla Smith. Available stuff: Slinky 7″ or Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″ $3.50 each ppd, Sun cassette $6 ppd. [Slamdek’s address]. And they are working on an 11-song LP to be released on Break Even Point Records from Italy in Spring 1993.

[The LP referred to was Poppy, which became 12 songs and was recorded in January and February 1993. It came out as a Slamdek CD in June 1993, a Slamdek cassette the following month, and the European LP pressing on Break Even Point sailed in September. The guest sample is Layla saying, “I was walking down the street when I looked over at a brick wall that said Layla is fat and I laughed. Then I went home and I cried.”]

Crain “Coalmine #666”

Recorded on 4 track at the Rocket House by Jon Cook. Drums by John Causey, guitar/vocals by Jon Cook, guitar by Tim Furnish, and bass guitar by Jason Hayden. Available stuff: Speed LP $7.50 ppd. Monster 7″ $3 ppd. [Automatic Wreckords’ address]. And a CD of Speed plus lots of extra songs will also be out soon.

[The CD version of Speed never came out on Automatic. John Causey left the group
which soon signed with Restless Records. On Restless, they recorded and released a second album, Heater, named after a project band Causey, Cook, and Hayden had been in when Hayden joined Crain. The album Heater has Jon Cook playing drums, guitar, and singing, with Tim also playing guitar and singing, and Jason on bass and singing. The band Heater did two songs called “Crackhouse” and “Sleepwalker” on the 3 Little Girls cassette compilation Aftereffects of Insomnia. This same recording of “Coalmine #666” later appeared on Simple Machines Records’ Working Holiday 7″, October, with the Grifters on the other side.]

Telephone Man “Condensed”

Recorded on 8 track [cassette] by Tim Houchin at his house. Drum machine/bass by Tim Houchin, guitar/vocals by Matt Ronay. Available stuff: Telephone Man cassette $4.50 ppd [Cluewrench Tape Co. c/o Slamdek] see address under Sunspring. And they are planning a second tape for release in spring ’93.

[The second tape was never completed. Tim Houchin left to form Zugzwang with Ben Brantley. Zugzwang’s approach to recording was the same and they released a seven inch which became the only record on their own label, Sweetheart Records. Matt Ronay turned Telephone Man into a full band by changing the name to The Telephone Man, and adding Ashli State of Snakeater on bass, and Nick Hennies on drums. They recorded a self titled cassette for Slamdek in September 1993.]


Books-on-tape long box packaging. Special gift candy canes included inside Slamdek Merry Christmas Is For Rockers cassettes were purchased in bulk at Bigg’s Hypermarket in Middletown.

Lather “Sorry”

Recorded live at Tewligans. Drums by Brian Toth, guitar/vocals by Jeremy Podgursky, guitar by Sean Wolfson, and bass guitar/vocals by Brian Kaelin. Available stuff: Lather 7″ $3.50 ppd. Automatic Wreckords see address under Crain. And there is also an $8 ppd LP of Jeremy Podgursky and Brian Kaelin’s former band Dybbuk out from Self Destruct Records [address].

[Lather’s 7″ release was postponed and eventually came out on Self Destruct instead of Automatic. Between April and June of 1993, they recorded six more songs at Sound On Sound. Those tracks were compiled with their four 7″ songs as a CD on Self Destruct, A Modest Proposal, released in fall 1993. Lather broke up during the summer of 1994, having thanked Glenn Danzig on every release.]

Endpoint “Thought You Were” (alternate vocal take)

Recorded on digital 2 track by K. Scott Ritcher at Juniper Hill, an outtake from If The Spirits Are Willing, 1989, produced by Todd Smith. Drums by Rusty Sohm, guitar by Duncan Barlow, vocals by Rob Pennington, and bass guitar by Jason Graff. Available stuff:
If The Spirits Are Willing cassette $7 ppd and Endpoint/Sunspring split 7″ $3.50 ppd from Slamdek. Also: Catharsis LP $8 ppd, CD $10 ppd [Doghouse Records address]. And they have a 7″ picture disk of 4 cover songs coming out from Doghouse in 1993.

[This track was recorded on DAT while Rob was recording his vocals. It’s preceded and followed by short segments of dialog between Rob and Rusty who are talking with engineer Tom Mabe, who is in the control room. Endpoint was on tour in Europe when Slamdek Merry Christmas is for Rockers was released, and were surprised to see this song on it when they returned in January. The 7″ picture disk ended up being a standard 7″ called Idiots. Issued in a limited edition by Doghouse in 1993, it contains covers of “Building” by Embrace, “Attitude” by the Misfits, “Circus Of Pain” by Louisville’s Malignant Growth, and “Persistent Vision” by Rites of Spring. Doghouse reissued it on CD in late 1995… also to the band’s surprise.]

Concrete “Meaningless”

Recorded on 8 track [cassette] by Scott Walker in his basement. Drums by Scott Walker, guitar/vocals by John Causey, and bass guitar by Ramon [Scott] Bryant. Available stuff: Concrete/Sancred split 7″ $5 ppd John Causey Records [address]. And chances are you’ll be hearing more of their new sound during the new year.

[Concrete was a group John Causey formed after leaving Undermine. Both bands initially had a similar sound even though he played drums in Undermine and in Concrete he sang and played guitar. With “Meaningless” they introduced a revamped, less direct approach. It didn’t last long, as they were only together about a year, and this was near the end of their days.]

Hopscotch Army “If I Had That”

Produced by Dave Stewart at DSL on 16 tracks. Drums by Dave Hoback, guitar/vocals by Mark Ritcher, guitar by Jeff Goebel, and bass guitar by Scott Darrow. Available stuff: Belief or Blurry cassettes $6 each ppd, These Shallow Hours CD $9 ppd from Slamdek. And they have a new drummer, Kevin Coultas, who used to rock with Crawdad and Sister Shannon.

[Even though These Shallow Hours was completed and listed here as being available, it was never released. Kevin stayed with the group for about six months before leaving to play with Crain. Hopscotch Army played their last show May 8, 1993 at Butchertown Pub.]

LG&E “First”

Produced by LG&E at Slamdek [the Schuster Building apartment I shared with Chad] on 8 tracks [cassette]. Instruments and vocals by Duncan Barlow and Scott Ritcher. Available stuff: t-shirt $10 ppd from Slamdek. The Slamdek Singles EP compilation cassette box set, available in February ’93, will include two more LG&E songs.

[Duncan and I finally teamed up musically after knowing each other for five years, and I got the opportunity to use the name LG&E which I had been saving for a while. The duo featured dance-able drum machine rhythms overlaid with smoothly distorted guitars and whispered, reverb-soaked vocals. Slamdek Singles was released in March 1993 and included all three of our cleverly titled songs, “First,” “Second,” and “Third.” December 1993 we released a cassette on Slamdek.]

Ennui “Gun?”

Produced by Geoff Turner and K. Scott Ritcher at WGNS on 16 tracks. Drums by Forrest Kuhn, guitar by Lane Sparber, vocals by Matt Ronay, and bass guitar by Tim Houchin. Available stuff: Olive 7″ $3.50 ppd from Slamdek. Ennui is no longer together, but two more songs from this session will also be available in the Slamdek Singles set.

[This is one of seven songs recorded at WGNS in May 1992. Four others were on the Olive 7″, and all seven were on Slamdek Singles. “Gun?” was one of Ennui’s most
recent songs when it was recorded.]

Rodan “Toothfairy Retribution Manifesto”

Produced by Tony French and Rodan at the Hat Factory on 8 tracks. Drums by Jon Cook, guitar by Jeff Mueller, guitar by Jason Noble, and bass guitar/vocals by Tara O’Neil. Available stuff: Rodan 7″ $3.50 ppd, Jason and Jeff are also King G & J Krew members whose CD is $10 ppd. Automatic Wreckords see address under Crain. And they are also going to be on a 7″ compilation out from Simple Machines Records in January with Tsunami, Superchunk, and Unrest.

[This track appeared as their debut since changing their name to Rodan from King Kid International in early December. In fact, I had to reprint the master sheet for the tape cover to change it to their new name. The Simple Machines 7″, Inclined Plane, followed it, as did a self-released cassette, Aviary. John Weiss joined on drums after returning from American University for the Christmas holidays. Their 7″ on Automatic was cancelled and ended up as How The Winter Was Passed on 3 Little Girls Recordings. John Weiss plays on one side, and Jon Cook on the other. King G and the J Krew’s CD also moved off Automatic, and came to Slamdek in May ’93. Rodan went on to record an album for Chicago’s Quarterstick Records. Rusty garnered an unusual wealth of critical acclaim for the band, who toured the United States and Europe extensively in support of it. In the wake of Rodan’s success, King G and the J Krew fizzled out of existence. Rodan played their last show at the Lounge Axe in Chicago on September 25, 1994.]

The Pale Blue Star “I Fell”

Recorded on 4 track. Guitar/vocals by Joe Mudd. The band also now includes Bill Heideman on drums and Josh Peterson on bass guitar, though they are not on this song. As he’s an ex-member of Crain, you can hear Joe on the Speed LP. Expect shows and more recordings in 1993, and for more information write to Ford Records [address].

[The Pale Blue Star made their performance debut at Slamdek’s Louisville Summer Weekend at the Machine, July 1993. At that point, the band included Breck Pipes on guitar, Kevin Coultas on drums, and Jason Noble on bass. That line up didn’t last. Another arrangement, a year later, had Joe flanked by drummer Mark Ernst, and bassist Cassie Marrett. The band played a handful of stunning shows and evolved through some more members. Ford Records was a label Joe formed in 1991 which never released anything. The Pale Blue Star were scheduled to record a Slamdek 7″, SDK-40, but that was lost when the label folded in early 1995. See page 158.]

LINER NOTES:

Side one:
Sunspring Roadburn
Crain Coalmine #666
Telephone Man Condensed
Lather Sorry (live)
Endpoint Thought You Were (alt. vocal)
Concrete Meaningless

Side two:
Hopscotch Army If I Had That
LG&E First
Ennui Gun?
Rodan Toothfairy Retribution Manifesto
The Pale Blue Star I Fell

Digital master and sequence editing by Howie Gano at Sound On Sound, December 1992. Color photograph scans by Timothy R. Furnish. Assembly by Carrie Osborne, Chad Castetter, and Layla Smith. Package by K. Scott Ritcher. • Special thanks to: Tim Furnish, John Timmons and everyone at ear X-tacy, Guiliano Calza at Break Even Point Records, Sancred, Dirk from Doghouse Records, Ford Records, Automatic Wreckords, Mike B. and Self Destruct Records, Better Days, Mary and Allan Ritcher, J.F. Kampschaefer, Dave Gabe, Billy and Tewligans, Three Little Girls, Tucker Yingling, Sean Fawbush and Quest, Edward Lutz, Kim Coletta and DeSoto, and John Weiss.

Christmas 1990 part 1

December 17, 1990

Christmas 1990
various artists cassette
[SDK-2590] color copied inserts (six different designs), 2 1/2″ clear acetate square overlay, photocopied liner notes, on-shell cassette labeling

Part One of two parts

By the end of 1990, a Slamdek mini-community was beginning to take shape. After the successes of Slamdek events such as the Crain/Deathwatch 7″ giveaway and the Earthquake Party on December 3, Zodiac Club owner Dave Ellenberger and his partner Dhebi Barber were interested in doing more of the same type of thing on a regular basis. While settling up the night of the Earthquake Party, Dave offered me the opportunity to book Wednesday nights with whatever kind of stuff he thought would bring people in. As a weeknight, Wednesdays would have ordinarily found the club closed. From Dave and Dhebi’s perspective, any income was better than none. Wednesdays were dubbed Slamdek Nite at the Zodiac, and while the crowds were usually 50 or fewer people, these were amazing, intimate, incredibly fun and interactive shows.

SLAMDEK/Scramdown Christmas 1990 took the basic idea of Christmas 1989 and expanded it to non-profitable, yet very gift-like, proportions. It also expanded the envelope to include bands whose past and/or future recording plans did not include Slamdek. Only one of these such groups though, had other music readily available at the time. That being King G and the J Krew, whose Snug cassette was on their own label, Hell ’N’Ready Records, and manufactured by SSDigital. Christmas 1990 was a wide open canvas that many people created, and few ultimately enjoyed. For all the effort put forth, it sold only 101 copies. Its 75 minute playing time, color packaging, and on-shell labeling, made production costs virtually equal to the retail price and served as its self defeat. Rather than reissuing its and raising its price after Christmas, other projects took precedence and it had disappeared by February 1991. With twenty-one bands involved, there’s no quick way to summarize the entire picture of Christmas 1990. Its own outrageously lengthy liner notes perhaps tell its story best. Here they are with commentary and lyrical excerpts [in brackets].

“Merry Christmas and welcome to the 1990 SLAMDEK/Scramdown Christmas tape. Where to begin? Gee. Well, first, there are a few things you should be aware of so that you’ll kinda know what to expect. One thing is that very few of these songs were intended to go together. They’re all here for different reasons. Some because they have nowhere else to go, yet they must be heard; some because they’ll be of interest to followers and friends of these bands; some because they were recorded just for this cassette; and some because members of these bands who want to try something different can use the Christmas tape as an open forum to create whatever they like, and get a response.

“So all these songs for all these reasons have been assembled here as a gift. And above all else they’re here just to be heard. Unaltered and uncensored. They get loud when they want and they say ‘fuck’ when they want, and our free country puts no labels on them to help us decide what’s right.

“These songs will mean something different to every soul whose ears they pass by. And for less than four-cents-a-minute you run the risk of looking at something in a new way, discovering something you never knew existed, or just enjoying yourself. If you work or go to school everyday, there’s a big chance that picking a tape to listen to in the car takes longer than the life-and-death decision you make at every yellow light on the way.

“Songs have no monetary value to the listener, only to the buyer. It seems really unfair to put a $7 price tag on something that costs $2.25 to make. That cheats everybody. Especially the musicians who have given their music away just so it can be heard, and the listener who can only spend so much. It’s not usually funny to charge $24 for a record. Sometimes but not usually. [A reference to a Crain/Deathwatch 7” I put in ear X-tacy for $24.99, which never sold.]

“For these reasons, and several others, the annual SLAMDEK/Scramdown Christmas Extravaganza carries a silly little price tag called ‘two ninety-eight.’ This is it.

“Starting now, you’ll go through twenty-three songs by twenty-one bands. In just over seventy-five minutes, you’ll touch on the thoughts and emotions of fifty-five musicians; fifty-four of whom are from Louisville. No one older than 25. You’ll hear music that’s just a few weeks old, and some that’s just a few years. Dig deep into Louisville, this is its youth, this is its sound, this is its progression. This is its thanks. Merry Christmas.

“The first band is one who debuted as a two-piece on last year’s Christmas tape. Sister Shannon opens side one with ‘Goreman.’ This digital recording was made December 5, 1990 through a mixing board at their practice [the same method used for Crain and Substance as described on page 16]. Now with four members, Sister Shannon is Robin Wallace singing, Dave Ernst on bass, Greta Ritcher on guitar, and drummer Kevin Coultas. Besides this song, their only other release is ‘Romp’ on the Christmas 1989 cassette. Kevin and Dave were in Crawdad who have a limited edition live cassette out called Loaded. Greta and Robin were also in Your Face whose Magenta Bent is also still available. Sister Shannon plans to record soon and have either a 7″ or 10″ out in 1991 with a matching cassette version.

[Sister Shannon broke up in February 1991, having never recorded in a studio. This track and the other two recorded 12/5/90 appeared on the Slamdek Singles two-tape compilation in 1992. “This is the place where I lie down, this is the place where I think of you. This is the place where I wander alone, this is the place where I touch your face. Take me back, take me back. This is the place, the place is small. I am the place, I am tall, without you.”]

“Second is Downpour with the only song they ever documented, ‘Defense.’ This was
recorded at Studio 2002 in Jeffersonville (that’s right; the Hoosier State! Hey what’s a
virgin in Indiana? A girl that can run faster than her brothers! a ha ha ha!) But anyway, Downpour is unfortunately no longer together, and this song remains as their only release. Playing on this song are E. Dan Patterson on bass, Andrew Kincade singing, John Weiss drumming, William Greene on guitar, and backing vocals by C. Sprano and S. Rose. John Weiss is now in Sunspring.

[“Break down the defense, tear down the stone walls. No one here is a stone’s throw from perfect, but don’t kill yourself, don’t kid yourself. Security comes apart. Self righteousness turns condemnation, but I want more than a lie. Take a look, turn it down, why? Why? I’ll tell you why. You’re the one who brings you down. You’re the one who tears you down. Who controls your destiny? Who stripped you of your dignity? Who took away your integrity? Left you naked in the city? Is it enough to set you free? When you were a child, unaware of denial, sheltered by your own youth. Now that you’re tall, you’ve built a stone wall, but it’s set up by the truth. Don’t turn away, the stage is real.”]

“Next is Crain whose tune called ‘Drain’ was recorded on 16 tracks at Mom’s [Sound On Sound] in August 1990. Crain is still together and they feature Tim Furnish on guitar, Jon Cook on bass, singer Joey Mudd, and drummer Will Chatham who sometimes sings for the Didjits [at a 1990 Didjits show at the Zodiac, Will was invited on stage to sing a song and the joke began to introduce Will as ‘the singer of the Didjits’]. Crain appeared on a split 7″ given away at the Zodiac September 7, 1990 which was limited to 300 copies (the other side was Deathwatch). Another Crain record or two will be released in 1991 in much greater numbers and larger areas on Woodpile Records. Watch for it.

[Woodpile was Jon Cook’s label that, before its first release, became Automatic Wreckords. Named after an automobile accident from which insurance money paid for the release, Automatic issued a four song Crain 7″, the Rocket EP, in 1991. It contained three more songs from the 8/90 Sound On Sound session, “Monkeywrench,” “Skinminer Pastel,” and “Painful Answer,” as well as an excerpt of a spontaneous jam from my recording at Will’s house, “Nervous Woman Nervous Man.” “You feel it build, it’s something inside you, you know it’s there, it’s all in your pocket, or in your hand. Drill a hole inside your head. Let it spill, spill to your feet. You ask yourself, what is it that is making you, taking you down. Let loose. Cut loose. Escape. Let it drain.”]

“Fourth but not least is Slambang Vanilla. They’re bringin’ it home with ‘Ricky!’ an advance cut off their upcoming 98-song, two-tape set, Sideburnin’. SBV had two songs on last year’s Christmas Fiesta as well as their own tape The Memphis Sessions & A Smokin’ Word LP. ‘Ricky!’ was recorded at 1312 Everett Avenue in September 1990. Entertaining the troops on this hit selection are: Jesus Rosebud on instruments, and Goober The Baptist on instruments.

[At this point, Joey and I had settled on our character names Jesus Rosebud and Goober The Baptist, respectively. The 98-song Sideburnin’ was never completed nor released, though we did actually record fifty songs for it. Yes, fifty songs, bringing SBV’s total works to a total of seventy songs! By now, the joke-turned-obsession was wildly out of control. “Slip me a mickey, or don’t. I get real sicky when I touch ya, you’re so sticky. Go on jump out the window, and cut my grass. Don’t take all day. Make it quickie, Ricky!”]

“Bush as in President, League as in baseball. Next is Bush League. This seven minute epic is called ‘Bain’ and was recorded in an analog fashion at Bush League practice December 6, 1990. Singing is Buzz Scumshit [Buzz Minnick], Rusty Sohm is on bass, Mike Borich is on guitar, and the drummer is Woody Delaney. This song is now their only release. They plan to go into the studio in January, though they don’t have any definite plans to put out a record any time soon. So just swallow this one for now.

[Months after the release of Christmas 1990, I learned that the track ‘Bain’ is not actually seven minutes, but rather was two songs played back to back. The second song which appeared on the cassette was ‘Close.’ They did record at Sound On Sound in early 1991 with temporary drummer David Pajo, released two seven inches on Better Days Records, and fizzled out of contention in 1993.]

“The sixth song is an earlier version of a Spot classic than the one most people are familiar with. The song is ‘Paving Your Way’ and was recorded on 8 tracks at Sound On Sound in August 1987. Playing on this song are Breck Pipes on guitar, Mark Ernst on drums, Chris Scott on bass, and vocalist Joey Mudd. There are no current plans to release the tape Go, Or I’ll Kill You! from which this song is taken. Their Proud cassette was released in April 1988 and will return to shelves this January. Jeanette Howerton, you’re first on the list!

[Jeanette Howerton was a mail order customer who had ordered the Proud cassette in the summer of 1990 when it was temporarily out of print. Her order was held for many months until it was finally filled the following year. Go, Or I’ll Kill You! contained the entire August 1987 session as well as a compilation of jam box recordings from Spot’s first practices and shows. It was finally released on cassette in April 1991 in a very limited edition and sold for 98¢. “When you pay the church, pay the priest. You’re paying for your soul to be released. Money hungry evangelists is what they are. Stealing your money so they can buy a car. Paying is paving your way. Give me some money, you’re sure to go to heaven. If not, you’ll burn in hell. Oh, well.]

“Pope Lick is a solo project by Drew Daniel who has been in Cerebellum and Crain. This song is called ‘Is That The Easter Bunny?’ and is best when your parents are home and you turn it all the way up. It was inspired by a scene in a movie where some passerby asks a gifted artist that painful question, ‘Is that the Easter Bunny?’ But as the story goes, we find that to be a big negatory. No. It’s not the Easter Bunny at all. Additional drums in some parts are played by Matthew Sussman. Except for about forty cassettes that Drew gave away, this song is only available here. It was recorded on 4-track during summer 1990 and mixed to DAT in August at Slamdek.

[Drew compiled a 90 minute cassette of a wide variety of styles of music he experimented with on his weathered and beaten 4-track. While mixing the songs at my parents’ house, he had to hold the 4-track’s power adapter cord in a certain position for it to operate. It ended up taking several days to mix all of the material. I then duplicated forty copies of it which Drew gave to friends before he went away to school in California.]

“Number eight is brand new Hopscotch Army. The song is called ‘Sundown’ and was mixed to digital from 16-track at Studio D in November 1990. It’s off an upcoming EP expected for spring. If you’re familiar with Hopscotch Army at all, you’ll notice that this is the first song they’ve ever recorded without keyboards. They had a live song called ‘Anesthesia’ on the Christmas 1989 Buffet, and a successful 12 song cassette and CD in August 1989 called Blurry. Playing bass is Scott Darrow, the guitarist is Jeff Goebel, singing and playing acoustic guitar is Mark Ritcher, and Dave Hoback is the drummer.

[Studio D is actually DSL after it moved from Juniper Hill to Jeffersontown, but before the name DSL had been officially chosen. The upcoming EP mentioned was Belief which came out in August 1991 on cassette and CD. Danny Flanigan had left the band and Jeff Goebel was brought in on guitar, making Mark the singular front man, and providing the group with a more unified sound. “Cold like morning, dark like night. Teeth are sinking, take one last bite. Wind’s a knife splitting bones. With heavy steps, stifle the moan. Rain falls hard on the dirt it pounds. Shaking air, the siren sounds. Boiling burns, like ice and fire. Reflex dull through mist and wire. I can see the sunset disappear. Somehow I know the end is near.”]

“Lettuce Prey is next with a song called ‘Undermine’. It’s a live cassette recording from the Red Barn in October 1990. Recorded off the mixing board, it’s monophonic! Lettuce Prey will be recording at the Zodiac on off days and is making plans for a release also in the spring. Playing on this song are Lionell Andrews on guitar, Mitchell Douglass singing, Richie Griley on bass guitar, and master drummer Brett Hosclaw. ‘Undermine’ is the only Lettuce Prey that you can get as of now.

[Lettuce Prey never got around to releasing anything before their demise in 1991. “I see there’s nothing new, I keep it all inside. It’s just my special way. You think you know me well, I’ve got you eating out of my hand. Before you know it’s too late to take advantage of my position. Feed you my dreams, things you can’t have. Still you never understand the mind of a selfish man. You can curse me, go on, curse me. But all stays the same, you can’t stay away.”]

“The tenth would be the Rain Chorus, recorded December 5, 1990 at Snagilwet, their second show. This one is called ‘Michael’ and is also a cassette recording off the mixing board. The Rain Chorus is shopping for a record deal, but have not recorded as of yet. They are: Dony Erwin on bass, drumming is Cary Shields, and Danny Flanigan is singing and playing guitar. Guest saxophone on this song is played by Reid Jahn.

[The Rain Chorus evolved through some member changes an eventually released a cassette and CD, Sun Over Rain, on their own label Ensemble Records in 1993. After the Rain Chorus split, Danny Flanigan’s song writing went on to be showcased in Danny Flanigan and Greathouse, who released a CD on Ensemble in early 1995. “Please don’t tell me it was all a lie. I remember you saying, one way or another, you were gonna win the fight. Now I can’t believe my ears, and won’t believe my eyes. Is it true what mamma told me? Michael, have you lost your mind? When it rains it pours, Michael.”]

“Side one ends with Endpoint’s ‘Endpoint Outro’ which is a digitally recorded practice tape from December 1990. It is one of six songs on this cassette that was recorded just for the purpose of being here. Endpoint has a seventeen song cassette from June 1989 called If The Spirits Are Willing which is still available. They recently recorded a 9-song LP in Cleveland for Conversion Records. In A Time Of Hate will be out nationwide on vinyl, cassette, and compact disc in January. Among other things, they’re sponsored by Vans and will be touring with Shelter next year. Guitars are Chad Castetter and Duncan Barlow, bass by Jason Hayden, Lee Fetzer on drums, and vocals by Rob Pennington.

[This was an instrumental track with the only vocal being Rob’s announcement at the end, ‘Merry Christmas, Louisville. From Endpoint.’ The vinyl on Conversion came out about eight months behind schedule in August 1991, the cassette several months later, and the CD didn’t make it until the following year. ‘Endpoint Outro’ was included on the Slamdek CD reissue of If The Spirits Are Willing in 1994.]

“The second side opens with a new band. Just as the Back Doors salute Jim Morrison, and Stairway to Heaven revive Led Zeppelin; let us introduce the 7 Seconds tribute band: 7 More Seconds. This song is called ‘In Your Face’ and appears here as 7 More Seconds’ debut recital. The legend is recaptured by singer/drummer Lee Fetzer, guitarist Duncan Barlow (back vocals), bassist K. Scott Ritcher (back vocals), and guitarist Chad Castetter. Since 7 Seconds broke up, the door is wide open. Anything is imaginable. It’s a digital practice tape, December 1990.

[This could be candidate #2 for the joke-turned-obsession department. To this band’s dismay, the break up of the real 7 Seconds was apparently a rumor. However, 7 More Seconds did play a January 1991 show at the Zodiac Club and recorded the same night, and possibly set a record for turn around time between recording and release. The line up changed a little and, for their cassette, the band members took on the last names of the 7 Seconds members on The Crew. “You wanna be the way I am but you can never understand. You shave your fuckin’ head and turn your back on your best friends. It’s not just in my head it’s in my heart, and if I can give a fuck, you better start. So, use your head, be aware, give a fuck!”]

“The thirteenth song is a pre-Cerebellum jam box tape of a song that’s either called ‘Ditty’ or ‘Grimace’, depending on who you ask. It’s from April 3, 1988 with Tim Furnish on guitar, and Joey Mudd on bass. As a six member band, Cerebellum’s 5-song cassette came out in September 1989 and is still available. They broke up in May 1989, and four of the remaining members now comprise Crain.

[The song was listed as ‘Grimace’ and was an instrumental with a drum machine.]

“Song number fourteen is a Joey Mudd solo project called Lunge Engage. This song is a four track recording from April 1990 by the name of ‘Ode To A Chick’. At this point there are no definite plans for studio work or a Lunge Engage record. This song is the only release to date, but there may be some live shows to go with it. As mentioned above, Joey now sings for Crain.

[Joey played two great shows as Lunge Engage on Slamdek Nites at the Zodiac, December 26, 1990 with Lettuce Prey and Sunspring; and the very moving Acoustic Slamdek Nite, January 16, 1991, (the night George Bush declared war) with Simon Furnish, Andrew Kincade, Slambang Vanilla, and a very un-acoustic Kill The Man With The Ball. Joey never released anything other than this song under the Lunge Engage name. “I bounce back with a single throw. Touching the sky is my highest achievement. My goal is to penetrate the crust that bounds my flight. Cut it. Burn it. Break it.”]

“The next one is a live tune from King G and the J Krew’s Sung double album EP release party in August 1990. Sure, it’s digital. Although they’re a rap group, this is a thrash cover of an old commercial called ‘Did I Do Something Wrong?’ Their 89-minute debut cassette is still available from Hell ’N’Ready Records. Kicking out the jam are: King G (G-Man/King Mellow-D), J Kool J (M.C.E.T., M.C.2-Ripe), J-Ax (’Lectric Lick Master Lett), Kool J Kool (M.C. Diogenes/J-Sonic), and, of course, the legendary Secret Weapon! Guest drummer is Todd Osbourne. While they’re now broken up for schoolin’, King G and the J Krew plan to return with something devastating as soon as they’re educated.

[As you’ll see it develop later in the book, King G and the J Krew could easily take the cake for the joke-turned-obsession file. King G was Greg King, Kool J Kool was Jason Noble, Secret Weapon was John Hawpe, J Kool J was Jeff Mueller, and J-Ax was Alan Lett. The group evolved into King Kid International, which later became Rodan. “Hold it down I just got home. Can’t you see that I’m on the phone? Isn’t it enough that I work all day? I should have some time to get away. Dishes, diapers, dirty rags. Bosses, bills, and nag, nag, nag. Shut up, kid, you’re in the way. I’m so mad I could slap your face.”]

“Sixteenth by a long shot is the straight edge up-your-ass gospel of Kill The Man With The Ball! They’ve quickly become the most hated and feared hardcore band that Louisville youths have ever witnessed. The song, ‘Christmas Straightedge,’ is a remarkable taste of their evil and hard stance against alcohol, drugs, sex, and unseasonable tree pruning. Kill The Man With The Ball is: XCauseyX drums, XHaydenX guitar, XFetzerX bass, XBarlowX vocal assault, and XCastetterX guitar. This digital recording is their only example.

[What was wrong with everyone in late 1990? Was the Louisville scene trying to pioneer the genre of hardcore parodies? This chapter of musical chairs begins the golden age of Endpoint side bands. This song is sung to the tune of Danzig’s ‘Twist of Cain’. The group played some intentionally annoying shows in which they demonstrated their namesake by turning the pit into a huge version of the elementary school playground game Kill The Man With The Ball. Yes, this really happened. Many times. “Christmas Straightedge in your face! You drink that drink, do that dope. Can’t you see your life is a fuckin’ joke? Do that drink in your basement. You’re the loser of this game.”]

“The seventeenth band is a two-piecer called The Inside of a Shoe. The song they do goes by the same name. The music was recorded in Silver Spring, Maryland in June 1990, and the vocals in Louisville in December. This is The Inside of a Shoe’s only recording and/or release, and they have no plans to record or not to record. Playing drums is Jay Robbins of Jawbox whose first full length album will be released nationwide early next year on Dischord Records. They have a 5-song cassette and matching 4-song 7″ from May 1990 which are both still available. Playing guitar and singing is K. Scott Ritcher who is now in Sunspring. They have a 6-song cassette out called $1.50 Demo of which there are a few left. Sunspring plans to record at Studio D in 1991 and have a release shortly after.

[This was taken from a DAT of Jay and I goofing off, to which I later added vocals. Jawbox’s first album, Grippe, was released on Dischord in June 1991. Sunspring recorded in March 1991 at Sound On Sound for our first release as an actual band, a split 7″ with Endpoint. That record came out the following month on Slamdek. “Overlooked and under cooked. I don’t want to be caught with my guard down. Hit me next time and I’ll have an answer, take a step back to learn a new way. To screw the path, I’ve got nothing to say. Take a thought and make it yours. Grab a goal because it’s there.”]

“No. 18: Deathwatch ‘Invent A Law’. This song was mistakenly listed on the
Crain/Deathwatch 7″ when the song that appeared on the record was actually ‘Ignorance Downfall’. So here it is for anyone who wondered what it sounds like. This was recorded at Artists’ Recording Service in Louisville during February 1988. Off that 7-song ARS tape, only four songs now remain unreleased. Deathwatch later became Endpoint and ‘Invent A Law’ later became ‘Shattered Justice’ which is on the cassette If The Spirits Are Willing. Playing on this are: Rusty Sohm on drums, Jason Graff on bass, Rob Pennington singing, and guitarists Greg Carmichael and Duncan Barlow.

[“Invent, invent a law. See justice in action. Politicians only wishing, put down the kids in the final reaction. Foundation of our nation, invent a law for their satisfaction.”]

continued …

Crain & Deathwatch

September 7, 1990
Crain & Deathwatch
split seven inch
[SDK-9790] photocopied covers and inserts

In one of a half dozen attempts to reunite the ever-veering musical paths childhood friendships had taken in their young adult lives, one 1990 summer afternoon found Jon Cook, Duncan Barlow, and I putting together an idea. While cleaning up the Zodiac Club, the idea began to form as a show at which Crain and Endpoint would both play. Putting both bands on the same bill would attract a large and diverse crowd by combining their two draws. To make the event even more memorable, we would make a Slamdek cassette single for the show, with a song by each band, that would only be available at the show. Soon enough, the idea grew and grew until the three of us ended up at KT’s Restaurant. With all of us becoming very excited about the whole thing, it turned into a Crain/Endpoint split 7″. And then it turned into a Crain/Endpoint split 7″ that would be included in the $6 admission price, for the first 300 kids through the door. Most shows were $4 or $5, which was relatively steep anyway, but hopefully the bonus of a free 7″ would attract an even larger crowd. The working relationship we had all developed with Zodiac Club owner David Ellenberger, would make this possible. I had recently moved out of my parents’ house in Middletown to an efficiency apartment at 1312 Everett Avenue in the Highlands. Because of this, the money Slamdek had available was limited, and no huge risks could be taken. David and I worked out a plan to pay Slamdek for the records first, with money from the door, then pay the bands. Everyone agreed in making sure the records were paid for first.

Crain had recorded eighteen songs at Sound On Sound in August. Their contribution to the seven inch could be easily taken from these recordings. Endpoint was scheduled to record their In A Time Of Hate album at Mars Studio in Cleveland for Conversion Records, also in August. They could record for this seven inch at the same time.

When Endpoint arrived in Cleveland to record, however, the circumstances were uncomfortable. Endpoint didn’t have the money to pay to record extra material for the seven inch, and Conversion’s Dennis Remsing wasn’t prepared to spend studio time and money for them to record something for another label. As a result, Endpoint returned to Louisville with nothing to offer for the Crain/Endpoint 7″. Because it would take a few weeks to get records back from the pressing plant, time was running out. The project seemed doomed.

Duncan devised a way to make it work. Endpoint’s previous incarnation as Deathwatch had recorded a demo at Artists’ Recording Service on Barrett Avenue. The lo-fi material from this session in February 1988 had been preserved for posterity on a normal bias cassette tape. Hardly master quality for a release, but it was punk. Duncan chose three songs from the cassette, which we then transferred to DAT in my apartment.

Crain’s side ended up being “The Fuse,” sung by Drew Daniel and adapted from a Cerebellum song; and “Proposed Production,” sung by Joey and later rerecorded for the Speed album on Jon’s Automatic label. The Deathwatch tracks were the original, lewd version of “Wool,” plus “Dignity” and “Ignorant Downfall” (incorrectly listed on the 7″ label as “Invent a Law”) which had both been recorded as Endpoint songs on If The Spirits Are Willing. We also added about a one second sampling of each song from the upcoming Endpoint album to the end of the 7″. This track was titled “Album Preview.”

Tim Furnish did the cover layouts, lyric sheets and label designs on the Macintosh. He put them on a floppy disk and had them printed out at Comp-Art on South First Street. I sent the master tapes and label designs off to QCA in Cincinnati. On September 5, 1990, two days before the show, word came that the records were ready. Jon accompanied me in my 1976 AMC Pacer for the 100 mile ride to the pressing plant. Since time was short, they opted not to do a test pressing. After arriving at the pressing plant, we went into a mastering reference room to hear the seven inch. Once in there, an elderly woman took the record from a stack. It was in a plain, white sleeve with ballpoint pen scrawled on it, “5) 10:54 AM. No Test. 9-5” She placed it on the turntable. After all the anticipation, Slamdek’s first vinyl sounded wonderful.

Tim had taken care of getting the covers and lyric sheets copied at the Kinko’s by U of L. When Jon and I arrived back in Louisville, we went to Everett Avenue. My apartment and Tim’s parents’ house were about a block away from each other. An assembly party soon commenced. Tim and his brother Simon brought Julie Purcell, who joined Jon, Crain drummer Will Chatham, John Kampschaefer, and myself in the assembly line. It was a simple process of folding the lyric sheets, folding the covers, coupling them with the records, adding a ten item Slamdek catalog, an ear X-tacy coupon, and sliding them into the poly sleeves. Outside of the assembly party, Joey and Duncan had each been individually hanging up several hundred flyers for the show. Sister Shannon had been added to make it a three band bill. By the following day, all 300 records were ready to go, and Bardstown Road had been flyered wall to wall.

When the show rolled around the next day, September 7, 1990, everyone involved knew it was going to be either a huge success, or a major flop. As set up and sound checks at the Zodiac went underway, a plan to efficiently and accurately distribute the seven inches to the first 300 kids was arranged. Each person would be handed an orange, numbered ticket when they paid Dave Ellenberger at the door. They would be instructed to go to a table along the left hand wall of the room, where I would take their ticket, mark it, and give them a record. After the performance, the club would pay Slamdek $2 per record, and the bands a percentage of profit, respectively. The tickets were numbered in the event that fewer than 300 people attended, the club would only pay for the exact number of records given away. Any left over records could be sold at ear X-tacy later, or through mail order. With this system in place and with Sister Shannon set up and ready to go, you could cut the anticipation with a knife. With the $6 door price, there was still that off handed chance that people wouldn’t understand the free record offer, and no one would show up.

Door time was 9:00, and it took a seeming eternity before people began pulling in. Around 8:30 it was like a bomb had gone off, and the sidewalk on Main Street in front of the Zodiac Club was suddenly packed. While minor adjustments were made inside, the steamy, humid air outside was soaking its last bits of summer into the sweaty mob. The heated crowd was getting restless, and soon got hosed down from behind the Zodiac’s iron outer gates. Everybody got into position and the doors were opened.

The ticketing system for the records worked out nicely. To my immense relief, over 500 people eventually showed up, making the pressing of 300 records quite ample. Of course, there were a few punks who tried to reuse their already marked tickets to get more than one record. They did not succeed, but you know, it only takes a few bad apples… 282 of them were distributed to the crowd and band members. Jon saved the first one out of the box, and I saved the sleeveless one marked, “No Test,” as well as nine others. As far as what happened to the other seven copies, either the pressing was short seven units, or they possibly got lost in the confusion. I don’t have ’em, that is, I thought nine extra copies was plenty to hoard. But I will admit that the copy of it in ear X-tacy for $24.99 was mine. Nobody bought it.

Both sides of the lyric sheet had short biographical introductions. The Deathwatch side read, “Death Watch formed in November of 1987 when Duncan, of Substance, got together with Kip, Jason, and Rob of Fist. The four decided to write a new style of cohesive music. This record contains three songs from the first try. This demo was recorded in February of the 88th year of the 20th century. The lineup at the time was: Jason (bass), Duncan (guitar), Rob (vocals), Greg Carmichel (guitar), and Rusty (drums). This demo was one of the many milestones we were to set. At the time this was recorded, the band was trying to produce a raw, energetic, and angry youth sound. Whether or not we accomplished this goal, it is up to you to decide. This is not only the first release from Death Watch, it is a symbol of the long lasting bond between the members of Endpoint and Crain. I think it is safe to say that both bands would like to share their whole past with you, but we are limited to a mere seven inches. We the members now proudly present a piece of our past to the Louisville scene. Enjoy.” Both bands made literary references on their lyric sheets. The bottom corner of the Deathwatch side had an Edgar Allan Poe quote, “Mere puppets they, who come and go at bidding of vast formless things that shift the scenery to and fro flapping from out their condor wings invisible woe!”

Crain’s introduction read, “Crain played its first show June Second Nineteen Eighty-Nine with Drew Daniel singing, Tim Furnish on guitar, Will Chatham on drums, and Jon Cook on bass. The band was formed as a vent for differing musical interest within Cerebellum (Cerebellum broke up the next day). Drew left the band in July and pursued collegiate studies, while Jon sang from July Two to November when Kristen Shelor was added as vocalist. She left in February and Joey Mudd replaced her. Drew Daniel sings ‘The Fuse’ and Joey Mudd sings ‘Proposed Production.’ Thank you. Special thanks to Endpoint.” At the bottom right corner of their lyric sheet, Crain’s literary reference was simply, “Read J.G. Ballard.”

The catalog number SDK-9790, was actually of some significance, for a change. SDK, of course, for Slamdek. And 9790, for the date, 9/7/90.

TRACK LISTING:

Crain side:
The Fuse
Proposed Production

Deathwatch side:
Dignity
Wool
Invent a Law (actually Ignorant Downfall)
Album Preview

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