Category: 1990

December 17, 1990

Christmas 1990 part 2

Christmas 1990

PART TWO

continued from pervious page
click here to read the first page

“The nineteenth song will become very important to many people, but unfortunately, those who should hear it probably never will. It’s another Pope Lick song and it’s called ‘Bardstown Road’. As the true story goes… for years, a private church parking lot at 1700 Bardstown Road became a meeting place for you alternate ones like ourselves. There was no violence, no vandalism, no ignorance; just a huge group of friends who would meet and hang out and talk. Depending on the night, it could be twenty people discussing life after death, forty people playing kick ball, or fifteen people having a Taco Bell picnic. In any event, it always seemed so real. No barriers or demands.

“For some reason, one night a Louisville Police Officer by the name of Reed drove into this private lot. Which in itself was not unusual. Louisville Police often visited us; sometimes to tell us to keep it down, sometimes to just see if everything was OK, other times just to assume and accuse without knowing how innocent innocence can be (even when innocence dresses funny). The side of the car always says, ‘Louisville Police Care’ and on occasion they really showed it. Genuinely. But not this time.

“Tonight this Officer Reed proceeded to tell us that we were not to be there, and that we were to leave and never return. When asked any question, like ‘why?’, he avoided them all at every opportunity. Furthermore, he told us that he didn’t need a reason to tell us to leave, because he was a police officer. It didn’t matter that he was crossing onto private property or that we weren’t breaking any laws; because, as he said, ‘I can go anywhere I want and tell you to leave… this is my parking lot.’ All the while, beyond his knowledge, he was being videotaped.

“Several months before, he had strip searched one of us (without any cause) behind K’s Food Mart at Speed Avenue. We have tried a slight few times to return to the Parking Lot since summer with no luck. The minister had offered us soft drinks and invited us to come inside the church before; but now the police tell us that it’s the church’s decision that we are to leave and never come back.

“And while this song, ‘Bardstown Road’, will bring back hundreds of great memories and meanings, it’s a shame that all it really amounts to is a victory for that one police officer and whatever the obstacle in his mind is which he overcomes by forcing people to act on his commands.

[In late July 1989, about a year prior to this incident, Danielle Dostal and I visited City Hall during Mayor’s Night In. On this monthly designated night, any Louisville resident with a concern could stop by and sign in to talk with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson. Mayor Abramson would stay until he had spoken, individually in his office, with everyone who came. We came to him with the problem that there was no place to hold all ages punk shows. As ludicrous as this may seem as a potential concern of the Mayor, it was a valid problem because it offered young people the opportunity to create useful things other than trouble.

[At the end of the summer, Danielle went away to college. Mayor Abramson put me in touch with Catherine Ashabraner and Lynn Rippy who worked with Operation Brightside as well as people in City government who worked in Economic Development, and Housing & Urban Development, to put together a think tank. They were all to pool their resources to see if a Highlands area City-owned abandoned building could be converted (with City money and punk rock manpower) into a facility at which all ages shows and other such events could be held on a regular basis. The thinking was that if the City had a stake in it, the Police would cooperate with it rather than aggravate it, parents would feel safe letting their kids go there, and it would be a big win-win situation for everybody. It would certainly make the Mayor look good, too.

[Louisville Police, and the City in general, had suffered a big PR blow July 14, 1989, at the Cafe Dog. The small, one room cafe, 713 South First Street at Broadway, had bands play on weekends. As the packed room could only hold about 30 people, this Friday when Crain, King Kong and Slint were scheduled to play, about 150 people showed up, and the overflow stood on the sidewalk. This was truly an all ages crowd as there were many adults in the mix. Suddenly police were coming in from every direction, acting as if there was a riot going on. First Street was blocked off and thirteen squad cars squealed in to disperse the crowd. A Courier-Journal headline read, ‘3 teens arrested at cafe officials closed; some say police used undue force.’

Quoting now from the same 7/16/89 article: “The cafe, which does not serve alcohol, caters primarily to teenagers and features entertainment by groups that play punk, rap and other contemporary music styles. But police said people in the crowd were drinking beer and were disorderly. … ‘It wasn’t disorderly until the police came. They themselves were acting in a disorderly manner,’ said co-owner Michaelle Warner. … Several witnesses said police singled out black patrons in the mostly white crowd when they first arrived, provoking the confrontation. After police line up a group of people in the alley, another person – a youth who was due to go into the cafe to perform – began to question the officers, according to P.J. Medley, a patron. The performer was dragged away, thrown to the ground and struck in the hip with a night stick before being arrested, Medley said. ‘The officer’s manner was out of line,’ said Guy Furnish, who was at the cafe with his wife and three children ages 12 to 18. ‘The situation very quickly became ugly. Frankly, I think most of the ugliness was on the part of the police,’ Furnish said.” Guy Furnish is Tim, Kristen, and Simon’s father.

[A subsequent public hearing at Jefferson Community College brought members of the crowd, many of whom were respected adults of the community, together with the Police Chief Dotson. This escalated the story to more newspaper coverage and every television news broadcast in town. With this wealth of bad press, the City was anxious to bury it with the opposite.

[Lynn Rippy and I set up a series of meetings with which we hoped to devise a plan to begin attaining the goal of a permanent, City-sponsored all ages facility. Joey Mudd, Sean Garrison, Danny Maron, and his mother, were among those that attended the preliminary brainstorming sessions at Operation Brightside’s downtown offices. The project was called Positive Youth For Louisville (closely named after the organization Joey’s previous band Spot sang of, ‘Positive Youth For Unity’). And while nothing in the Highlands ever materialized, during the process of the meetings, the doors opened at the Zodiac Club on Main Street. The meetings, while still going on the following summer at the time of the Parking Lot incident, ultimately proved fruitless in achieving the final goal.

[I worked with the City in the summer of 1990 in establishing the Mayor’s Youth Outreach Line. The YO-Line was a toll free number that kids could call to find out what type of events were going on in a specified week. A television commercial was shot for the YO-Line. I wrote and programmed the music for 10- and 30-second rap songs, as the City wanted it to have an urban feel. It was an upbeat tune assembled on an Emulator drum machine that included subtle Minor Threat and Public Enemy samples. Community activist Tony Lindauer’s assistance was enlisted for the script and lyrics. The entire project was fun, and virtually a parody of itself. Members of the rap group KAOS (who had played a City-sponsored June 1990 show at the Louisville Zoo with Crain) did the vocal track. Have you got a question, or got a problem? Well I’ve got a number for you. Call 625-4321, 625-4321, 625-4321, the number’s 625-4321. Yo! The audio was recorded at Todd Smith’s parents’ house on 8-track, as Juniper Hill had already closed. And the video for the spot was shot by the folks at Videobred. The images were of active youths throwing frisbees in Cherokee Park, hanging out on the streets, skateboarding, and all that. One split second shot was a cameo of me wearing a Slamdek shirt, sitting with a bunch of little kids on a bench at the corner of Douglass Boulevard and Bardstown Road, as another kid skateboarded across the screen. The commercial ran all summer on local TV, and had a separate radio version for which
SSDigital duplicated the copies. The YO-Line itself often included info about Kinghorse and other all ages shows.]

“Next is the twentieth song which, by titles, makes this the fattest Slamdek tape ever (until Sideburnin’ comes out, that is). This is the Doodangers who have blended ’50’s roots rock’n’roll with ’90’s militant veganism in this Vegan Reich cover, ‘I, The Jury’. This is a practice cassette from August 27, 1990, and is the Doodangers’ only available song. With Tishy Quesenberry on drums and Scott Ritcher playing piano and singing, there are no plans for studio, record, or show engagements. Tishy was in Your Face and played on the Magenta Bent single. Of course, neither of them is a militant vegan, the words just seemed to fit with the song.

[Another entry for Louisville’s evolving genre of hardcore parody? Sure! Tishy and I couldn’t get things to gel for our early 1990 version of Sunspring, but we still wanted to collaborate and play together. Our music was simply piano, drums and vocals, and aspired to be a slower, tame Jerry Lee Lewis. Several practices of the Doodangers produced a lot of fun and this one unlikely cover song. “I’m through with tolerance, no more acceptance of your crimes. I don’t care about your freedom because your action restricts mine. The rights of those you step on everyday as drag down all in your way, to slowly self decay. And what of those who are killed or maimed when you drink and drive as if it’s a game? Or the third world peasants forced to make your cocaine, enslaved and impoverished by the choices you’ve made to feed your weakness, another vice. To satisfy your hunger you’ll never thing twice of the pain it causes others. You just talk about your rights as you eat the flesh of another that you denied life.”]

“Then there’s Crawdad who clocks in with two songs. Both of them were recorded on cassette through the mixing board at the Zodiac, December 3, 1990, the Earthquake Party. Crawdad hadn’t performed together fro 366 days before this show. The first song is called ‘Limbs’ and this is the first real recording of it with words. The second is called ‘Wally’ and was as spontaneous as it may sound. It’s a Louisville punk rock standard (for anyone unaware) as it is the last song on the Spot Proud cassette. This moment of Breck and Joey being reunited on stage after a year could only be so triumphant (if you like that sorta thing). Crawdad’s Loaded cassette is a limited edition of only 80 copies and a very few still remain. It came in five different colors (16 of each): white, maroon, army green, light blue, and red. Copies #41 through #80 are numbered. How’s all that for collector shit! Crawdad was: Kevin Coultas on drums, Joey Mudd singing, Breck Pipes on guitar, and Dave Ernst bassing.

[“I am a singular, an ordinary one. Unnecessary appendages for the said and done. Unnecessary. You can have them, you can take them. Take my limbs, take them, use them the best you can. Good news to the man with only two, or four. Mine are used in vein. I’ll give them to you, and more. I do not build with them. I only break with them. I do not mold with them. I only scold with them. I know you’re not an ordinary person. You take things to the extremes. I am an ordinary one, a singular one. Unnecessary appendages for the said and done.”

[The version of ‘Wally’ was very lengthy and began with Joey’s dedication, ‘This is for Jon Cook, he’s in school right now.’ The words to the song are simply the name ‘Wally’ repeated over and over. Joey improvised these additions, Well he’s a groovy dude. He goes to school in Antioch. He is so cool. He’s my friend with the beard, he’s my friend with the beard, he’s my friend with the beard. He plays bass in Crain. Wally! Before it was all over, it included a chorus from Deep Purple’s ‘My Woman From Tokyo,’ a verse from Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby,’ several wahwah parts, funky bass, a brief James Brown tribute, a ‘Bring it down, boys,’ a guitar solo in which Breck drops his pick, an audience participation segment, and more improvised lyrics.]

“Finally, the twenty-third song is ‘Angels Crawl’ from Daisybrain. It was written in late 1989 in a stairwell and recorded on 4-track in October 1990. This is their only tune in circulation so far, and the Shelby County trio plans to move towards getting more music into your ears soon. Daisybrain is: Brad Bowman on guitar and vocals, Scott Sedlaczek on guitar and harmonica, and Jeff Hinton on bass and backing vocals. The original words started out with the line, ‘lick my ass…’ before it developed into what you’re hearing now.

[As Jeff and I were headed in different directions, this became the last contribution he would make to Slamdek. Scott Sedlaczek wrote to Slamdek in 1993, inquiring about contributing to another Christmas tape, but one wasn’t being created that year. This track has a mellow, early U2 feel to it, with a lot of acoustic guitar and harmonica. “Work so hard for nothing. Work so far and go nowhere. This country’s so clean, I can’t see far in front of me. Other words, different story, bridges burn, and there’s empty air. I’m falling for you. I’m falling to you.”]

TRACK LISTING:

Side one:
SISTER SHANNON Goreman
DOWNPOUR Defense*
CRAIN Drain
SLAMBANG VANILLA Ricky!
BUSH LEAGUE Bain
SPOT Paving Your Way (1987 Version)
POPE LICK Is That The Easter Bunny?*
HOPSCOTCH ARMY Sundown
LETTUCE PREY Undermine (live)
THE RAIN CHORUS Michael (live)
ENDPOINT Endpoint Outro

Side two:
7 MORE SECONDS In Your Face
PRE-CEREBELLUM Grimace
LUNGE ENGAGE Ode To A Chick
KING G & THE J KREW Did I Do Something Wrong? (live)
KILL THE MAN WITH THE BALL Christmas Straightedge
THE INSIDE OF A SHOE The Inside Of A Shoe
DEATHWATCH Invent A Law
POPE LICK Bardstown Road*
THE DOODANGERS – I, The Jury
CRAWDAD Limbs (live)
CRAWDAD Wally (live)
DAISYBRAIN Angels Crawl

All material previously unreleased (except *). Special thanks to John Kampschaefer, John Timmons, Simon Furnish, Ken Burton, Susanne Butler, Howie Gano, Julie Purcell, Dave Ellenberger, Dennis Remsing, EJ, Kim Coletta, Russ Honican, Christi Canfield, Kendall Costich, and everyone else who has helped design, create, photograph, inspire, coordinate, and assemble records and shows this year. Merry Christmas!

December 17, 1990

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 …

September 7, 1990

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

The Slamdek Record Companyslamdek.com
K Composite Media,

May 22, 1990

Crawdad – Loaded

May 22, 1990
Crawdad
Loaded cassette
[SDK-1702] color copied inserts (six different color variations), dot matrix labels

Released just one week after the Jawbox cassette, and five months after the band had broken up, Crawdad’s Loaded cassette demonstrated the personality and versatility Slamdek enjoyed by being a small label of friends. Rather than continuing to record and rerecord a live tape for their friends, Joey and I decided to issue a limited edition cassette. Crawdad had broken up when guitarist Breck Pipes moved to Jacksonville, Florida in December 1989 (the rest of the group was Joey Mudd singing, David Ernst on bass, and Kevin Coultas on drums). The band was only together a little less than seven months, and never had the opportunity to visit a recording studio. As a result, a live recording I made at the St. Francis Battle of the Bands, December 2, 1989, was unfortunately the best document of Crawdad’s work.

The recording had its pros and cons. It was a DAT, so it had a good degree of clarity. But my stereophonic microphone wasn’t functioning properly, and a single vocal microphone, placed to the side of the room, had to be used. The show was with Endpoint, Kinghorse, and Oblong Box, and a legendary stunt Kinghorse pulled prevented running a direct line from the mixing board to the DAT recorder. Before this story is told, however, it should be noted that when verified for this book, Kinghorse singer Sean Garrison reported never having known that it happened. But he also said that it wouldn’t surprise him if the story was true.

All the bands arrived at the school during the afternoon. Although it was allegedly a Battle of the Bands, it was fairly obvious to everyone involved that it was a normal show, and Kinghorse was headlining. Kinghorse set up all their equipment on stage, as they would be playing last, and proceeded to do their sound check. Everything went off without a hitch and, after a lengthy sound check, sounded great. As soon as everything was set, though, there was suddenly a mysterious problem with the mixing board. It was almost showtime, and there wasn’t much time to spare in fixing the problem or locating another mixing board. Thank heavens that Sean Garrison’s smaller mixing board was not too far away. He quickly went out and got it while Crawdad set up on stage in front of Kinghorse’s gear. With the new board, Crawdad did a quick sound check as the kids were coming in the door. The show began, Crawdad played, then Oblong Box, then Endpoint, then Kinghorse. But for some reason, the sound system sounded so much louder and clearer when Kinghorse played. When, lo and behold, a trip to the mixing board revealed that the first mixing board (the “broken” one on which Kinghorse had set all their levels) had miraculously been cured.

December 2, 1989, Crawdad at St. Francis High School:
David Ernst, Kevin Coultas, Breck Pipes.

In any event, the recording of the show ended up being monophonic. Loaded is comprised of five songs taken from their eight song performance. While the quality of the recording leaves a little to be desired, it was never intended to be released on its own. It was, however, intended to be the audio track to a video cassette. Crawdad’s performance was videotaped from three different angles, which were to be later edited into a single program. Partially as a result of the low audio quality, and partially due to some musical flubs, the raw video was never edited. At the beginning of the unedited tapes, Joey announces, “Please stay clear of the video cameras and don’t mind them. They’re for your enjoyment later.” The tapes create more of a picture of it being just Breck’s farewell show, rather than the band’s. After the sixth song, Joey says, “As some of you may know, we’re Crawdad. And, Breck Pipes,” a swell of cheers comes up from the crowd chanting “Breck! Breck! Breck!,” “Give him credit. Keep going if you want. But, my longtime friend and bandmate for four years is now moving to Florida,” the crowd boos. “So, live it up.” In the middle of “Soul,” the song breaks down to a guitar wahwah part, and the crowd goes nuts.

Crawdad was a straight ahead, formula rock band with heavy, memorable songs. The guitar, bass, drums, and vocals were each, individually the most important and characteristic part of the group. If they had stayed together another year or two, when other honest, gritty, no frills groups like Nirvana took off, they would have likely become very rich.

The Crawdad cassette was limited to 80 copies, the latter 40 of which were numbered “… of 80.”

LINER NOTES:

Kevin Coultas, drums
David Ernst, bass
Joey Mudd, vocals
Breck Pipes, guitar

Plays on both sides:
Soul
Mine
Gone
Keep Walking
Worship

May 15, 1990

Jawbox

May 15, 1990
Jawbox
cassette
[SDK-1782] color copied inserts, dot matrix labels

As As Slamdek’s fourteenth release, the debut cassette from Washington, DC’s Jawbox added a whole new slant to the label. Since the beginning, Slamdek had inadvertently been growing to become a label of bands from Louisville, most of whom were all friends. That continued as such following this release. By later in the following year, Slamdek catalogs and flyers advertised the label as one solely of Louisville bands. However, Jawbox’s non-Louisvillian stature served to add a bigger sense of credibility to the other work that Slamdek was doing at the time.

The late ’80’s were a heyday of classic releases from DC’s Dischord Records, and Louisville kids ate this stuff up. The connections that people in Louisville and DC shared, brought touring bands to town. Groups like Dag Nasty, Soul Side, King Face, and Fugazi, who played their first out of town show in Louisville, were always well received. The DC influence on the music of Louisville bands like Cerebellum is easy to recognize. Likewise, Louisville’s Solution Unknown recorded their album in DC at Inner Ear Studios, where nearly all Dischord records had been recorded. Dischord’s packaging and recordings were thought of as among the best, and the label was respected for always issuing quality goods. Mike Bucayu of Self Destruct Records, said at the time, that he thought of Slamdek as Louisville’s Dischord. As complementary as this was, I had always been terribly intimidated by Mike, and didn’t really know to take it. And in this era, it probably wouldn’t have been too hard to find a room full of kids who were intimidated by Mike Bucayu. I had the added burden of running a “competing” local label. The unspoken, imaginary walls that existed between Self Destruct people and Slamdek people had been in place for several years. Mike, who worked at ear X-tacy, listed the Endpoint cassette in his Top Five of the year in the store’s Christmas newsletter. This softened things up a bit. As did the release of the Jawbox cassette on Slamdek. It offered a middle ground by coming from a source everyone could relate to: Washington, DC. But it would still be another year and a half before people from either “side” would collaborate on a release.

Kim Coletta played bass for Jawbox and worked filling individual mail orders at Dischord. I was, of course, a big fan of DC bands and admired what Dischord had been able to accomplish independently. I often ordered stuff from Dischord and wrote my orders on scrap color copies or cassette inserts. In November 1989, the colorful graphics
caught Kim’s eye and she wrote a note on the back of a Dischord record list, “What is SLAMDEK/Scramdown? What do you do?” In my next order, I answered that it was a small record label, and that I also ran a cassette duplication service. Kim responded that she still didn’t quite understand the whole idea, but she thought the images looked great. She offered to trade some records of DC bands for some Slamdek stuff so she could get an idea of what it was all about. She also offered to throw in a demo cassette of her band, Jawbox, who had just formed in July 1989 with J. Robbins (ex-Government Issue) on guitar. The proposition that someone who worked at Dischord wanted to hear some Slamdek stuff blew me away. It was like being summoned.

We exchanged tapes through the mail. I sent her Cerebellum, Endpoint, and Slambang Vanilla (per usual, as a joke). She sent the Jawbox demo of eight songs they had recorded in their basement on a 4 track, along with some current Dischord stuff. We both enjoyed what the other had sent, and we began writing and talking on the phone. Within a month or so we had become good friends, and exchanged the stock token of punk rock friendship: mix tapes.

March 31, 1990, Jawbox at CDGraffitti’s:
Jay Robbins, Adam Wade, and Kim Coletta.

My former neighbor, Ben Godbey, who had previously moved to Western Kentucky University, had moved again to Frederick, Maryland, just outside of DC. Ben invited me to come visit him over New Year’s weekend. When Kim heard about this, she invited me to stop by the Jawbox house in Silver Spring, Maryland during the trip. The trip rolled around and I, accompanied by Joey Mudd, took off for the nation’s capitol very excited. We even brought a small cheese sampler to offer as a gift to Ian MacKaye of Dischord and Fugazi, should we meet him. Not only was he not in DC at the time, but we learned that Ian was a vegan, and vegans don’t eat cheese. Nonetheless, Ian’s code name became “The Cheese Sampler” whenever he or his bands were discussed among us. Though Ian didn’t know either one of us, many people had other names in our conversations.

When Joey and I arrived in DC, we found Ben very, uh, drunk, or something. After driving around in circles in the freezing rain for several hours, Ben split and went to a party. Back at Ben’s apartment, Joey and I called Kim. We decided to meet the following day at Smash, a record store, because Ben knew where it was. After meeting, the rest of the weekend included a visit to the legendary Dischord house (where we spied Joe Lally of Fugazi quietly filling mail orders), lots of eating, watching Jawbox practice, record shopping, and ringing in the new year. We met the other members of Jawbox; guitarist and singer Jay Robbins, drummer Adam Wade, their friend Roseanne Divito, and their house mate Sohrab Habibion, who played in the band Edsel. While at the house, it occurred to Kim that they had been paying a lot of money for duplicates of their demo. I was doing cassette duplication work, so they decided to have me make some copies of the demo. They sent their DAT home with me. About ten minutes into the new year, I backed my car into a telephone pole at Erter’s Market across the street from the Jawbox house. A great way to start the year. Other than this incident, or accident, the trip turned out to be a good time for everyone.

Back in Louisville, after running off a couple orders of demos, in February 1990, I called Kim to see if the band would be interested in having the tape released on Slamdek. This way they could get as many of the tapes as they needed at no cost. The young band was already growing, though, and the demo was quickly becoming less representative of them. They didn’t really want to keep the demo around much longer. However, right after Joey and I had left DC, Jawbox had recorded five songs at Upland Studio. Four of these were intended for a self released 7″, and the other was to appear on a Maximumrocknroll compilation LP, They Don’t Get Laid, They Don’t Get Paid, But They Sure Do Work Hard. A few days later, Kim called back to see if I would be interested in doing a five song cassette version of their upcoming 7″ plus a different mix of the song from the compilation. Of course, I thought it was a great idea. Jay prepared a DAT with the five songs, in a different sequence than the 7″ would have, and sent it to me. The package also included some copies of the 7″ artwork and lyrics so they could be adapted for the cassette version.

The following month, Jawbox did their first set of road dates. One of these nine shows was in Louisville at CDGraffitti’s on March 23, 1990. The previous night, they opened for Rollins Band in Chicago, and Joey and I drove up to see them. Joey had just joined Crain, who would be opening for Jawbox in Louisville. A great deal of the trip to and from Chicago was spent learning and working out lyrics to Crain songs. By this point, Drew Daniel had left Crain and gone away to school in Berkeley, California. And the band had developed enough material that all the songs held over from Cerebellum had been disposed of. But Joey’s addition to the group still left the chemistry at 4/6 of Cerebellum.

When Jawbox arrived in Louisville they went straight to Jon Cook’s house where his mother had prepared a traditional spaghetti dinner. A David Grubbs project band, Sholonda, started the show. They were followed by Crain who played an hour long set that ended with a frenzied “cover” of Cerebellum’s “Calm.” Jawbox then played a heavy set, from which two pictures snapped by Russ Honican ended up inside their Grippe album (pronounced “grip” once and for all).

First edition Jawbox cassette cover, before the Dischord logo and handwritten spine were replaced.

The Jawbox 7″ was co-released by Dischord and DeSoto Records. DeSoto was a label name that Edsel made up for their self released debut 7″. As house mates, Jawbox continued the name DeSoto when self co-releasing their own 7″. Kim and Jay eventually issued records by other bands, transforming DeSoto into their own independent label. Bill Barbot got in on this, too, when he joined Jawbox in early 1991 as a second guitarist. The cassette version of the Jawbox 7″ was essentially an all-on-Slamdek release. But rather than have the cassette and 7″ have no common labeling, Kim and I decided to go ahead and tag the Dischord and DeSoto logos on the cassette packaging. While this initially seemed like a good idea because it would make the cassette and 7″ more identical (I loved the idea of having the Dischord and Slamdek logos side by side), it backfired. More often than not, people who hadn’t heard of Slamdek or Jawbox thought the cassette was a bootleg or unauthorized product, because it didn’t look characteristically like a Dischord tape. Luckily, the first batch of Jawbox tapes containing all three logos was only about 150 copies. The second printing included only the Slamdek snowflake logo. Additionally, the spine of the J-card was changed to large, bold graphics. This replaced the original version which had “Jawbox” written fairly small in Kim’s handwriting. A color photo of the band playing at CDGraffitti’s was also added to the inside.

The Jawbox 7″ on DeSoto/Dischord contained all the songs on the cassette except “Bullet Park,” and was released about two weeks later. The difference between “Bullet Park” on the Slamdek tape and the Maximumrocknroll LP, is that the version on the compilation album has a tambourine track. The Jawbox cassette on Slamdek was around for a little over a year, and sold 302 copies. It came with a 2 1/2″ x 4″ Slamdek “SDK” vinyl sticker, and a miniature, illustrated Slamdek catalog of ten cassettes. Ultimately, it went out of print when the Grippe album came out on Dischord, the CD version of which included four of the five songs. The 7″ was also out of print by the end of 1991.

LINER NOTES:

Recorded by Barrett Jones at Upland Studio, Arlington, Va., Jan. 3 & 4, 1990. Produced by Alferd Packer. Photographs by Matt Welch and Bert Queiroz. Art by Jay and K Scott.

Thanks: Dischord, Edsel, Bullet Lavolta, Tom Johnston, Positive Force, Clay & Kelly at Freehand Press, Rob “Lethal Weapon” Tennant, SLAMDEK/Scramdown, all our friends & all who have taken an interest.

Dedicated, with maximum possible devotion, to Roseanne Divito.

Side one:
Twister
Ballast
Bullet Park

The Slamdek Record Companyslamdek.com
K Composite Media,

April 2, 1990

Sunspring – $1.50 Demo

April 2, 1990

Sunspring
$1.50 Demo cassette
[SDK-3950] color copied inserts, dot matrix labels

After becoming frustrated with the progress my bands Cold Mourning and McBand were making, I again took matters into my own hands. My previous “solo” cassettes carried on the name Pink Aftershock in 1988 after the demise of that band. But this time it became more of an action of starting something new, rather than continuing something old. The aptly titled $1.50 Demo (it sold for $1.50) materialized virtually over night. The six song cassette consists mostly of songs that were recorded as demos for McBand to learn. However, getting things done with McBand was sometimes like pulling teeth. And while the quality and variety of the recordings Cold Mourning had finished far surpasses that of the recordings on the $1.50 Demo, that material was stagnant. The time just seemed right to go out on a limb and start over with new people.

Cold Mourning recorded an entire album, In The Blue Attic, on the same borrowed Akai Betamax ten track machine Slambang Vanilla had used to record The Memphis Sessions. The Cold Mourning album was a mix of big Emulator drum machine sounds with chorused and overdriven guitar grit, backed with a 1960’s hollow body electric bass, and capped with Jeff Hinton’s slightly unsure vocals. Some songs were fast, heavy, pounding rock tunes, while others were simply a piano, synthesized strings, and vocals.

The ideas Jeff and I shared were slowly drifting apart. Our practices, with John Kampschaefer on drums, at John’s parents’ St. Matthews home off Cannons Lane, were becoming fewer and farther between. One day in late March 1990, I decided put some of the subpar demos I made for McBand on a cassette and sell it for a price anyone could try. The only problem was that McBand was hardly breathing, and no one from the group played on the tapes. While trying to think of new name, torn between Sundial and Pipespring, I combined them into Sunspring. I also like the name because it had “Sun” in it, like Sun Records, and “Spring,” like Rites Of Spring. I’ve always thought it was cheesy to name bands after other bands or song titles, so I never told anyone that was part of my idea behind the name. I guess the cat’s out of the bag now, eh? Within a month, the $1.50 Demo was in stores. It was in print for about six months and sold 59 copies, nearly all at ear X-tacy.

The $1.50 Demo introduced a lot of the themes and ideas that became mainstays in Sunspring’s style for years. Full volume one second and complete silence the next, siren-esque feedback, effects build ups that escalate then suddenly stop, lyrics about relationships sung from the throat, drastic changes in the EQ as if it’s an instrument, dialog samples, and a direct guitar that sounds as if it’s overloading every device recording it. The six songs on this cassette are all fairly similar, mid-tempo, overdriven, distorted, chorused, poorly recorded, and about two minutes each. When Cary Willis played “Desert Song” on WFPL fM’s The Flip Side, he commented, “It doesn’t sound like it’s very good for you, but I like it.” The guitar and vocal sounds seem to be beginning to take form. Most of the cassette is without a bass line. A couple songs have one that comes in the form of a regular guitar with an octave pedal on it. This didn’t work so well and the notes are up and down and everywhere.

The tape opens with “Epitaph”/“Vision,” two songs with basically the same music at different rhythms. The only thing really keeping them from being a single song was the fact that I borrowed the lyrics to “Vision” from Susanne Butler. “Fade to black, never
come back. To lose all feeling, to fade to black. Always lost, never left, another step to fade to black. To give it all and have none back, to forget it all and fade to black.” A poppier tune, “Desert Song,” follows with an intro sampled from a 1967 Scholastic record, Curious George Takes A Job. “This is George. He lived in a zoo. He was a good little monkey, but he was very curious…”

“Decept” is next in line, and, again, has the same notes as “Epitaph” and “Vision,” but at a different tempo and rhythm. This time it’s slower and more dramatic, “If I could just have what I wanted, then wouldn’t tomorrow be great. Waking up alone and wasting my days, working towards an end. Looking at you and thinking then looking at you again. Begging for old friendships back, only wishing. If everything’s going for me, then what makes you go the other way? So now that it’s over, I guess I go on, looking and thinking, wondering and wishing. But always continuing, wanting.”

“Dez K. Collage,” is a seven minute array of strategically placed, split second splices from about three hundred popular, progressive, and alternative songs. One segment is all numbers, one is all vocalists introducing songs, one is drum fills, audiences, profanities, and so on.

The final song, “Implode,” is listed on the cassette label, but not on the J-card. “Implode unto myself when there’s nothing left. Imploded values, imploded hopes, explode from within to spread all over. Exploded corruption, exploded smiles. Contorted lives in the hands of a joke. Distorted visions floating off in smoke. Distance, an analysis. Ignorance is a catalyst. Move forward to move away. Move away from me. Indecency is a perspective. Contentness is an analysis. Ignorance is a catalyst to move forward, move away.” I later recorded a different version of “Implode” which was on a tape that won honorable mention in Spin Magazine’s New Sounds competition that December.

The tape ends with another Curious George sample that was intentionally recorded to be nearly inaudible. Most people who own a copy of the $1.50 Demo probably don’t even know it’s there. “‘I wonder what’s inside that big bottle.’ George was very curious. It smelled funny. Suddenly his head began to turn. Then he felt as if he were flying. Then rings and stars danced before his eyes. Then everything went dark.”

Throughout the summer of 1990, my efforts were mostly centered around trying to put a band called Sunspring together. The first version had Tishy Quesenberry (Your Face) on drums, Simon Furnish (Tim’s brother) on guitar, me singing and playing guitar, and no bass player. Other incarnations over the summer included Tim Furnish on bass, Will Chatham on drums, and Susan Leach on guitar. Each line up had a few practices then quickly fell apart. One night at a show at the Zodiac Club, I asked John Weiss of Downpour if he’d be interested in playing drums for Sunspring. John said he’d like to give it a shot, but he was in a band called Fullout, and that was his priority. But we exchanged phone numbers. Soon after, we asked our friend Chad Castetter (Endpoint) to play bass on a temporary basis until we could find a permanent bassist. Chad also accepted.

Practices were held at John’s parents’ house off Lime Kiln Lane and were initially of little substance. Chad picked up on things instantaneously, and usually became bored while John and I practiced and re-practiced the same things over and over. We also had practices without Chad, since we knew he could quickly pick up whatever we put together. We played our first show on December 3, 1990 at the Zodiac Club. It was a Monday night all ages Earthquake Party. Seismologists had predicted a major earthquake for this day in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Alas, there was no earthquake. The headliner was a Crawdad reunion and Sister Shannon played in the middle. John and I got to the club early, started sweating, and went through the six song set a few times on the sidewalk out front. Of course, Chad waltzed in after he got off work and soon after the sun went down, Sunspring took the stage for the first time. The shaky set included “Desert Song,” “Engage,” “4×4” (a two chord instrumental), “Silver Spring,” and a couple others. A crowd of about sixty people showed up. Not bad for a school night, when there was supposed to be an earthquake.

LINER NOTES:

Plays on both sides:
Epitaph/Vision
Desert Song
Decept
Roberts
Dez K. Collage
Implode (not listed)

K Scott Ritcher, instruments & vocals
(not listed)

Produced by Sunspring. “Vision” lyrics Susanne Butler. Thanks to Kim Coletta. Photo Jeff Hinton. Thanks Betsy Porter.