Ohh Nina!

 
I'm listening to old records from my collection. Records as in LP's. And old as in I bought them a long time ago! Here's NINA HAGEN's "Nunsexmonkrock" album from 1982. Check out the (my) writing on the back of the record: "Jack 1984"!!! That was 40 years ago! I bet you weren't even born in 1984! 

I haven't listened to this LP for a really long time (i.e. not since the 80s!!). And that was silly of me cos it's a fantastic record. I'm rediscovering Nina Hagen these days. I listened to her "Angstlos" and "Universelles Radio" LP's the other day (the latter I bought in a country that doesn't even exist anymore!). She was sooo inventive and alternative. Nothing square about Nina at all. She's also the only East German (that I know of) who was actually kicked O-U-T of East Germany. Usually East Germans had to try and escape and risk getting gunned down while climbing that dreaded Berlin wall. Nina was too wild for the East. 

Some of her early records exist in both German and English editions. I think there's only one version of "Nunsexmonkrock". The tracks are in a mix of German and English, and two versions of the album wouldn't make any sense anyway. "My father was a junkie. Wir waren sehr arm. My brother was in the Vietnam war..."

There's a lyric sheet but it's all done in Nina's hand scribbles and slightly hard to read unless you pay attention. But then again, you *should* pay attention to Nina. Incidentally, a great chunk of the lyrics to the opening track isn't listed. Nina gives her more or less direct rendition of the story of Jesus meeting the Devil in the desert. I wonder why it's left out. Maybe she did reckon better to leave it out since the record would be for sale in the States as well and she considered the risk of being deemed blasphemous and have it banned. Who knows. But great record. I have no idea what she's up to these days and I haven't got any of her post 1980s records. My cousin Ronny (who has since disappeared) was a big Nina Hagen fan as well. We shared a big love of Nina Hagen, Toyah and Unknown Gender (obscure band, now completely forgotten). I lent him "Angstlos" and had a hard time getting it back! Haha

I mentioned the intro track to "Nunsexmonkrock". Here it is in all its glory on YouTube:

Always different, always the same

 

"Over the years, THE FALL have given me more pleasure than any other band and, when people ask me why, I always say, 'they are always different, they are always the same' and 'The Fall, a band by which, in our house all others are judged"

(JOHN PEEL)

I remember taping some of John Peel's sessions of The Fall from Radio One when I lived in Barons Keep in Barons Court in London in 1990. This was 34 years ago! At one point he replayed all of them during several weeks - and I got to tape half of them (and missed the other half, silly me).

Of course, now I don't need to pull out the old cassette tapes (still got 'em, though) as I have the complete cd box set. 

Other bands would be asked to record the one, maybe two sessions. The Fall recorded twenty-four session from 1978-2004. The set contains them all. And ONE bonus track: The Fall recorded a happy tune (just kidding) for his birthday in 2004 (a couple of months before John passed away).

I played disc 1 today, which contains the first four sessions. You can't do them all in one go so I reckon I'll do a disk a day, six days. There's also a spiffy booklet of info about the various recordings. I have no idea if this set is still in print. But great stuff.

Remembering JEFFREY LEE PIERCE - 27. June 1958 - 31. March 1996

L-R: Kid Congo Powers & Jeffrey Lee Pierce.
Photo by Richard Dumas

Here's a great photo of JEFFREY LEE PIERCE and KID CONGO POWERS of THE GUN CLUB (posted on facebook by Powers who was also in another awesome band, THE CRAMPS). Jeffrey Lee died today in 1996.

I got to see The Gun Club at the Town and Country Club in London in 1990 when they had reformed. Jeffrey was probably a tortured soul but his records are great. I bought my first Gun Club records in 1987 (both on the same day and incidentally their best and their worst!). Gone too soon.

THE CRAMPS interview (Moshable zine, Denmark, 1998)

 

I bought every issue of Moshable when it ran from 1987 thru to 2000. 20 issues out of which 19 were in English and one (#1) was in Danish. In the early days the zine was totally punk rock but later they discovered garage rock and punk 'n' roll. Needless to say they also discovered THE CRAMPS and Crypt Records (and a ton of Crypt bands). One of the editors is now running Bad Afro Records. I've scanned this in 300 dpi. 

Yet ANOTHER blog on trashy FILIPINO cinema from Andrew Leavold!

In complete contradiction to yours truly Andrew Leavold is staying on course ALL THE TIME, EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY ALL THE TIME!!!!! 

That course of course being the TRASHY FORGOTTEN IGNORED MISTREATED FILIPINO FILMS COURSE, needless to say. Hahaha. 

And he keeps putting up new blogs about these films. Here's his latest: THE BAMBOO GODS PROJECT. I've just now discovered this so you're on your own finding out the ins and outs. I'm confident it's gonna be super cool and interesting. That man is a walking Filipino film encyclopedia!

Go here: THE BAMBOO GODS PROJECT blog