Stay Fanatic!!! Vol. 2: Jovial bloviations for the vinyl inspired

By Henry Rollins

Fanatic! Here we are with the second volume of Stay Fanatic!!! Thank you so much for checking it out.

Work on this book started at the same time as the previous volume. The writing ends up being the easiest part. It’s the transcribing, editing, gathering of source materials and scanning them that seems like it’s never going to end. The “stay at home” order that was implemented in early 2020 allowed me to work on this book at all hours, which had me putting in some interesting shifts. The 2200 hrs. - 0430 hrs. scanning marathons kept things strange.

A lot of travel in this volume, Fanatic! I hope you enjoy multi-continental crawl. I tried to put in as many images as I could, thus making it quite challenging for Dave, our layout boss. At some odd hour, having cleared the 400+ scan mark, I realized that he was going to have quite a time.

The next volume is already underway. Yes, Fanatic, I’m wincing too. If I could stop I would. --Henry

• Language: English
• Publisher: 2.13.61
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781880985564

Henry Rollins

Originally from Washington DC, Henry Rollins fronted the Los Angeles-based punk band Black Flag and is well-known for his hard-hitting writing, music, and acting.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Checking All Systems

Fanatic! Here we are with the second volume of Stay Fanatic!!! Thank you so much for checking it out.

Work on this book started at the same time as the previous volume. The writing ends up being the easiest part. It’s the transcribing, editing, gathering of source materials and scanning them that seems like it’s never going to end. The stay at home order that was implemented in early 2020 allowed me to work on this book at all hours, which had me putting in some interesting shifts. The 2200 hrs. - 0430 hrs. scanning marathons kept things strange.

A lot of travel in this volume, Fanatic! I hope you enjoy multi-continental crawl. I tried to put in as many images as I could, thus making it quite challenging for Dave, our layout boss. At some odd hour, having cleared the 400+ scan mark, I realized that he was going to have quite a time.

The next volume is already underway. Yes, Fanatic, I’m wincing too. If I could stop I would.

—Henry 06-07-20 Los Angeles, CA

The airless box in which the radio show voice work is done

Yesterday & Today Records Feb. 2002. Skip Groff was a Fanatic’s Fanatic.

CHAPTER 1

January 2016

01-02-16 Berlin Germany: 2302 hrs. Fanatic! It’s Saturday night in Berlin. I’m at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 3. All the local coffee places seem to close at 2100 hrs. Weak! I’m not in the right neighborhood for late night shops. It’s mostly hotels and souvenir opportunities.

For the last two nights, I’ve walked the streets around here because it’s Berlin. Fanatic, you know how people wear sports jerseys of teams they like or how some wear shirts of bands they’re fans of? I do that with cities. I’m a fan of cities. There’s no shirt I need to put on but there’s almost always music to be played.

This is yet another example of how perfect music is. You can find it almost everywhere and it can take you almost anywhere. For me, listening to music in the area where it was made is ultimate Fanatic action.

I cannot explain to you how big a deal Berlin is for me. It’s more than a city. It’s a state of mind. It’s one of the most interesting and evocative places I’ve ever been to. I’m not afraid to say that I’ve romanticized Berlin to a certain extent. What could be wrong with that? It’s just an idea, just the imagination doing its thing.

Whenever I’m here, I always think about the first time I came to Berlin with Black Flag in February of 1983. I’ve told you about that. I was struck by how many buildings partially destroyed in WWII had been left standing. Mainly it was the atmosphere. There was something here that I wasn’t aware of being anywhere else. Some of the streets looked like movie sets. It was all quite intoxicating to my young mind. I think it’s great whenever you can have experiences like this. Life goes fast and soon enough, you’re set in your ways and everything is how it is, etc. I fight that point of view with everything I’ve got. It’s your mind, so change it.

I think it was the presence of the wall that made the city different than any place I had ever been. The tension was real and it led to a lot of great art and music. I’m not good at describing the barely describable but the wall was like a living thing. It was with you at all times, reminding you of its presence but it made you look inside yourself as well. It gave the city a feeling of compression. It wasn’t anything you made up, it was real, you felt it. All the shows Black Flag ever did here were intense.

It took three years to get back to here after the last Black Flag show in 1984. This is a photo the LA Times ran from one of the two shows we did here that summer.

All that time, Berlin was on my mind. I made mix tapes of what little German music I had, along with bands I associated with Berlin, like the Birthday Party, Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Lou Reed. I had cut out the classic Mick Rock photo of the three of them taken at the Dorchester Hotel in London in 1972 and pasted it into one of my notebooks.

Berlin, Germany

This was a Berlin of the mind and not much to do with the city itself. I would look through my copy of Iggy’s autobiography I Need More

at Esther Friedman’s photographs of him on the streets here and think that they had built the city just for him and Bowie. Gentlemen, here’s a city called West Berlin. You’re surrounded by a wall. I know, crazy, right? Go live dangerously and be incredibly cool in it. We’ll be listening for the results.

The Iggy/Bowie/Berlin thing is an endless, unceasing supply of Fanatic source materials. It’s one of the coolest creative teams ever. I definitely include Berlin as one of the collaborators.

As I’ve been writing to you I’ve had music playing, of course. I started with The Idiot

and am now a few tracks into Low

. Any city is good for listening to these records of course, but Berlin is the ultimate Fanatic location. I know that neither album was completely recorded or written here but parts of them were and that’s working for me right now.

What’s known as Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy, Low

, Heroes

and Lodger

, were not all recorded in Berlin. Lodger

was made all over the place and by then, the idea of these records being Berlin based or thirds of a larger idea were completely in the minds of fans and music writers. I don’t think it matters if the term has little or no grounding in reality. The music got made and you, Fanatic, are at liberty to write in the rest.

NYC, London, DC and Berlin are the most music-wired cities in the world for me. I walk the streets of any of them and the memories come back as my imagination goes tearing all over.

Backstage at the Berlin Loft

I played in Berlin a lot of times. It was usually crazy. The audience was always a bit aggressive but they showed up. They seemed simultaneously into it and not into it, like they had paid to get in so they could disapprove of what we were doing. They watched as we knocked ourselves out and between songs, would do strange stuff. Some would clap, some would tell us to hurry up. One night, a man came all the way across the venue, right up to the front to throw his beer at me. I could never figure them out.

This is a shot of our backstage area at the Berlin Loft in 1988, I think. Mick Harvey, Kid Congo, Chris Haskett. I don’t know who the other guy is.

This is the woman who ran the place, Monica. One of the more charismatic people we met on tour. Theo is in the back with the bottle.

We had some great nights in Berlin. 0006 hrs.

01-03-16 Berlin Germany: 0128 hrs. Fanatic! I took a break as jet lag was creeping up on me. It’s still Saturday night as far as I’m concerned.

There were a few years where I didn’t think of Berlin in the context of Einsturzende Neubauten, the local bands, Iggy, Bowie, etc. After the wall came down, Berlin changed. From my uninformed point of view as an infrequent visitor, Berlin became just another amazing city in Germany. Without the wall, the tension was gone. So, the Berlin I knew now resides completely in my mind. It’s a great place to go with playlists and albums. In this respect, I enjoy it as much as ever. 0140 hrs.

01-08-16 Frankfurt Germany: 1841 hrs. Fanatic! It’s Friday, finally. Not only is it Friday night in Frankfurt but the first of the three shows I’m doing, subbing for Iggy on BBC Radio 6 Music, starts tonight.

BBC Radio 6 Music

Henry Rollins in for Iggy Pop - #01/03

08 January 2016

01.  Stooges - Down On The Street / Fun House

02.  David Bowie - Hang On To Yourself / Bowie At The Beeb

03.  Le Butcherettes - The Devil Lived / Chaos Is Usual (split 10" w/ Melvins)

04.  Prince Jammy & Scientist - The Crushing Of The Stormtroopers / Strike Back!

05.  EL Guapo - Underground / Fake French

06.  Alan Vega - The Kiss / Dujang Prang

07.  Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin - I Wear Black / Reverse Shark Attack

08.  Adverts - My Place / Adverts Singles Collection

09.  The Ruts - In A Rut / Ruts Singles Collection

10.  Terrible Truths - Lift Weights / Lift Weights

11.  Egg Hunt - Me And You / 7"

12.  Thee Oh Sees - Put Some Reverb On My Brother / Drop

13.  Mississippi Fred McDowell - Shake ‘Em On Down / Mississippi Fred McDowell

14.  The JB’s - Hot Pants Road / Live At The Apollo Vol. 4 (download)

15.  Reverend A.W. Nix - Black Diamond Express Train To Hell Pt. 1 / Complete Recorded

16.  Felt Letters - 600,000 Bands / 7"

17.  Olivia Neutron-John - Death-Tango / download

18.  Aias - Una Setmana Sencera / A La Piscina

19.  The Penetrators - Teenage Lifestyle / Basement Anthology 1976-84

20.  The Weirdos - Life Of Crime / Weird World: Volume 1

21.  Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Mudzimu Ndiringe / Chicken Run

22.  Batrider - Homie Gnomie / Why We Can’t Be Together

23.  Vum - The Jungle / Night Sun

24.  Chrissy Zebby Tembo - My Ancestors / My Ancestors

25.  Dee Dee Ramone (w/ Lux Interior) - Bad Horoscope / Zonked!

26.  Pere Ubu - Nonalignment Pact / The Modern Dance

27.  Lost Animal - Don’t Litter / Ex Tropical

28.  Negative Trend - How Ya Feelin’ / EP

29.  Albert Ayler - New Ghosts / New Grass

Great to be on the BBC. I have no idea what Iggy’s listeners will make of me or the tracks. I think it’s a good list. I wish I could be on the BBC all the time. 1853 hrs.

01-09-16 Bristol UK: 2249 hrs. Fanatic! It’s the end of a Saturday night. For some reason, there wasn’t a show.

The hotel in which we’re stationed, the Radisson Blu on Broad Quay, didn’t have any good coffee related hangout opportunities and the weather wasn’t all that conducive to walking around. I came back here and set up in the lobby for some listening and writing. The hotel, like the streets outside, has a lot of loud drunks, so I fell back to the room where exhaustion suddenly overtook me. Some night off! I know.

After paying tribute to the UK and Saturday night by listening to Another Music In A Different Kitchen

by Buzzcocks and Damned Damned Damned

by the Damned, I submitted to my cravings and have been listening to Les Rallizes Dénudés ever since.

Every time I listen to Takashi Mizutani, it occurs to me that he’s easily on my top five favorite guitar players list. The music is at once compositionally simple, extraordinarily idiosyncratic but also quite complex. It’s Mizutani’s howling, bent guitar over oddly sympathetic chord structures, often accompanied by his high, thin, voice. What the music is, comes completely from what Mizutani wants to put out there on any given night. Most of the recordings are live bootlegs, so you can hear one song played many different times. It’s about where he’s at which determines what the show will be. For me, connecting with his music has been strangely personal. What he’s doing is so much more than music. Fanatic, all I can do is suggest that you check him out online and see what you think. For me, it’s some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard. 2305 hrs.

01-13-16 London UK: 1728 hrs. Fanatic. First off, my apologies for reporting so late. Monday morning, 01-11-16, I woke up on the bus in Newcastle, went to the front, opened up the laptop to see if there was a network I could jump on. I was able to utilize the guest wi-fi of a hotel across the street.

I went to Huffington Post UK to see who was mad at the President. The headline across the screen read, Golden Years. I knew what that meant. I became dizzy. Road Manager Ward came in. I said, Good morning, sir. David Bowie is dead.

As I was still taking in the enormity of this, RMW asked if I wanted to hear Mr. Bowie’s latest album, Blackstar

. He had it on his computer. We started listening to Bowie’s disembodied voice on the title track that opens the album, which was haunting enough but then it hit me that this was a dead man singing.

As I listened, I would forget that he had died because the record was so incredibly good but then he would sing something so heart wrenching, it would bring me back to the present. By the end of the last track, I Can’t Give Everything Away, I felt empty and sad.

I went to a few record stores with RMW. One of my favorites in England is Beatdown Records, Unit 1, Clarendon House, Bewick Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, which of course we went to but it wasn’t all that fun considering the situation. There were a lot of great records there but I was too distracted to check them out with much interest.

Eventually, I hit a gym and went to the venue. I had to turn in the next LA Weekly column. It was obvious what the topic would be.

As I worked on it, I listened to Blackstar

two more times. On the third play, when Bowie’s voice trailed off on I Can’t Give Everything Away, the truth of his passing, the finality of it, made it hard to breathe. I took it personally, like he was leaving me, as I sat alone in that room. This incredible artist whose music has been such an unconditional friend for so long, was gone. It was surreal to listen to him and at the same time, know that from now on, his physical presence was no longer in the world, the music was all there was left.

Ironically, Blackstar

is currently my favorite album, although I can’t bring myself to listen to it. This has never happened before.

I went online and found a couple of pressings of the Boys Keep Swinging/Fantastic Voyage 7" I didn’t have so I could think about Bowie as an ongoing, continuing concept. I’m completely aware of how lame that is. For those moments, it was much better than thinking of him in the past tense.

I sat in the cold, depressing dressing room, wondering how I was going to go onstage in less than two hours. For several minutes, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do the show. After awhile, it occurred to me that the only thing I wanted to do was be onstage. The show went well. The Newcastle audience never disappoints.

After the show, Mike Vest came backstage to say hello. I’m such a fan of Bong and all his other bands. I wish the circumstances had been better.

By the time I was on the bus heading to Manchester, I was able to think more clearly. When I first learned of David Bowie’s passing, it was like staring at a blank space and being told it wasn’t blank. You look again but still can’t see anything because what you’re looking at is so big, you can’t wrap your head around it. Finally, I was able to size it down slightly and get some perspective. It was a relief to not feel so completely overwhelmed and awful.

Sitting here now, I’m somewhat better able to articulate what’s been on my mind. When David Bowie died, he took a universe with him but left a universe behind. Since his body of work defies genre, he’s more than a musician. Bowie is unto himself, which is one of the reasons why his passing is so hard to take. Obviously, there’s no one that can replace him. The void he leaves, that’s where so much sadness comes spilling in. I preferred the world with David Bowie in it but am mature enough to know that eventually, everyone dies. Still.

Earlier today, I thought about Iggy and wondered what he made of Bowie’s passing. Over the last few years, Iggy’s lost quite a few of the people who figure into his life. What he and Bowie achieved, the impact they had on music and culture, is bigger than either man. For myself, I’m unable to think of one without thinking of the other.

A few hours ago, I was doing an interview with a woman in Finland. She asked me what I thought about David Bowie. I told her I thought the reason his death struck such a global nerve was because Bowie led with his vulnerabilities. He wrote from his paranoia, fear and isolation. Some of the photos of him from the 1970s, where he was skeletal, proves he wasn’t afraid to show his pain, to not look great or be happy all the time. He was the cracked actor. I think it’s for reasons like these, his music resonates with so many. He was the alien who, by his out-of-body experience of being here, showed you your humanity. He was able to express the beautiful, nervous fragility of a person’s life on this planet. I think he tapped in perfectly to the human condition – the alienation from others, from self, from the world – and did it so well, he became a close yet infinitely distant ally in trying to cope with existence. I don’t know how the passing of other music icons will be assessed but David Bowie’s has made me wonder which one of these huge names will be next. I can’t bear to think these thoughts.

Now that David Bowie is gone, it’s possible to be awed by his music in a completely different manner. We’re allowed to be amazed in a way that previously we weren’t permitted because he was alive. We have the final chapter of the incredible story. Blackstar

. We can now consider a body of work with a beginning, a middle and an end. We can look at this staggering output and be truly stunned. He really was the man who fell to earth. David Bowie and Iggy Pop will continue to be my go-to guys no matter what!

On the upside, David Bowie was incredibly, and deservedly, successful and globally adored. He knew it. He had an amazing wife, children, fame, wealth and probably a good amount of fun. He met everybody! So many photos online. The Bob Gruen shot of him with Joey and Dee Dee with Danny Fields looking on is too much. Bowie was able to enjoy it all and for a long time. It’s sad that he’s gone but it looks like it was a full life. He did a lot of shows and no doubt felt the affection of all those people. It’s still tough news. 1912 hrs.

01-15-16 Birmingham UK: 1726 hrs. Fanatic. It’s Friday, finally. I’m backstage at the Birmingham Town Hall. I’ll be onstage in about two hours. I’m looking forward to the show as usual.

Heading into the first weekend without David Bowie. I read that his remains were cremated in New York City. For some reason, that made me feel slightly better as the finality of that allows me some breathing room. I’m still unable to listen to his music. I’m going to give myself a little more time.

Henry McGroggan (Iggy’s manager, who allowed me to fill in for Iggy’s Friday night BBC Radio 6 Music show) told me there’s a good chance that the show I did will be canceled to bring listeners music of David Bowie. If this is the case, I couldn’t agree with the decision more.

Something I wanted to tell you about because it made me very happy was after the show in London last night, Mr. Segs, Mr. Ruffy and Mr. Heggarty aka Ruts DC came backstage to visit for awhile. I gave my camera to someone to take photos. Said put-on-the-spot photographer was somewhat inebriated, so the photos came out less than great. Here’s one that isn’t three sheets to the wind but still a little wobbly. Steady!

As you know, Fanatic, I played with Segs, Ruffy and the sadly departed Paul Fox, the three remaining members of the Ruts, back in 2007. Because of the practice sessions and the show, we have become quite close.

With Ruts DC at Barbican

It’s always good to see them. I really like these guys. Segs and Ruffy have been on my play list since I was teenaged.

They look great. They’re making a new record and are very excited about it. They promised to send tracks when they had a chance. I actually felt happy as I sat and talked with them, which is pretty rare for me. It’s another example of how relationships through music are often so great. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to them. Ruffy is coming to the second London show tomorrow. Visiting with them was a much needed lift.

Practice session with Ruts DC

On other Fanatic fronts, we’ve been going to record stores almost every day. So far, the finds have been better on the European continent than here. Nothing amazing yet but great all the same. Road Manager Ward has been finding some cool Jazz and Prog records. He goes after the Nurse With Wound List releases, which are extremely hard to find. It’s time to get ready. Friday night in Birmingham, Fanatic! 1859 hrs.

01-17-16 Dublin Ireland: 1908 hrs. Fanatic! I’m backstage at Vicar Street yet again. I don’t know how many shows I’ve done here. A lot!

Earlier today, RMW and I went to visit Philomena Lynott, mother of Phil. She and I met at the ten year anniversary of Phil’s passing in 1996 and have kept in touch. She’s an amazing person. More charisma than she knows what to do with. Phil must have gotten it from her.

Weeks ago, when we started the tour, I met a couple in Germany who had just been to visit Philomena. They told me that I came up in their conversation and Philomena said it would be nice to see me. They gave me her phone number. I called her yesterday and set up a meeting for today.

The drive to her place is about 40 minutes out of Dublin. She lives in the house Phil bought her in 1980. It’s a nice place. The legendary White Horses.

We got out of the taxi and were greeted by Graeme, a man who looks after her. Philomena was waiting for us as we came around the corner to the side door. She looks great. She’s 86 and beautiful.

She took us into a room full of items sent to her over the years. Paintings, drawings, letters, you name it. She said things come in all the time from all over the world.

White Horses

What was of great interest to me was a shelf containing Phil’s LP collection. Philomena explained that some of her records were mixed in at the bottom, artists like Sinatra, but mostly, they were his.

Phil fandom

Fanatic, as you can imagine, I was all over that! With a long drive back, soundcheck and a show looming, I didn’t have nearly the time to look over everything as much as I wanted but I did pull out some really cool records to check out. The first was his copy of Houses Of The Holy

, which was in great condition. My eyes were flying over the titles as I took photos of the spines to read later. I came upon a copy of Road To Ruin

, which made me very happy. I took a photo of it next to a full size Phil cut out.

I was hoping for a Damned record in there somewhere but was unable to find one. I found Phil’s copy of Paranoid

and, as expected, Vertigo, swirl inner sleeve, great condition!

I pulled out his copy of Aladdin Sane

, also in amazing condition.

Phil had a jukebox loaded with Thin Lizzy and solo 7"s. I wonder if the vinyl is still in it?

Philomena said most of the tabs were written by Phil.

Philomena gave us a ton of information. It’s obvious she loves talking about her son. It was incredibly cool.

Come on! Fanatic, this was an epic day. She told us that she had Phil’s Thin Lizzy 7s in another room, so of course we asked to see them. They were in a closet, stacked like pancakes. No! We took them all into the sitting room and I went about organizing them chronologically. Who knows what had happened to his 7 collection over the years but what we saw today was good but not nearly complete. No acetates or test pressings or even any of the rarer variants. At some point, I want to go back and get all of them into protective sleeves as well as go through some of the rarer LPs, not to mention his Thin Lizzy LP collection, which we didn’t have time to get to.

Phil + Philomena’s records

Phil’s Paranoid Album

Phil’s jukebox

In a closet, again, stacked like pancakes, were a lot of master tapes. As far as I could tell, they were of Phil’s post-Lizzy band, Grand Slam, but there were others that weren’t marked. I recommended that she get them out of that closet and not stack them. I fear that she will pass away and all this will either deteriorate or go to the wrong people. I hope she has some plans in place.

I told her to never sell anything off and to make sure it all goes to a museum, a university or some place where it will be looked after. Talk about history! I would like the chance to help her with all that. I think she could use someone she could trust.

We were there for a couple of hours until we had to get going and get pre-show started. I wish we could have stayed longer, of course. Philomena is an amazing person. Many years ago, she told me she was my Irish grandmother.

On a Fanatic side note, I’ve never been a collector of Thin Lizzy 7"s. I have a lot of them but I’ve never been on it like other artists. I think part of it is because I’ve met some of the band and Philomena and Phil’s story is so sad because of how he went out, it kept me from searching for more of the rarer records. It’s not as if they don’t look cool. There are some really great ones. It’s the sadness factor I can’t get past. I listened to Thin Lizzy almost every day in the early 1990s. There’s a lot of bad memories from those times that makes it hard to want to dig deeper into the band’s catalog beyond the albums.

Fanatic, I’m onstage at 2030 hrs. and have to get ready. I still have to tell you about post show last night in London. More soon! 2005 hrs.

Philomena

Phil’s jukebox

01-22-16 Warszawa Poland: 1906 hrs. Fanatic! It’s Friday, finally. For some reason, I have no show. It’s very cold outside. I found a Caffè Nero open near the hotel. The patio is covered and has heat lamps. It’s a bit cold but so cool looking that it’s totally working for me. A night off in Warszawa, wow! Machine Gun Etiquette

is blasting away in the earphones.

Road Manager Ward and I got in several hours ago. We were met by Ania who works with Henry McGroggan. She helped us find some record stores. A few minutes after we got to our rooms, we dropped our gear and hit the street.

We went to five stores. The first one, called Hey Joe, located at Zlota 8, was the best of all of them but also the most expensive.

Damned MGE Rat Advert

Road Manager Ward was mission specific, looking for records by the Polish musician Czesiaw Niemen. I had never heard of him until a few days ago, but that isn’t surprising. RMW is on a level of music appreciation that I aspire to. He’s a warehouse of knowledge for bands and musicians I’ve never heard of but end up really liking once I check them out. I told him if he found doubles of any of the records he was looking for, let me know and I would get them. At the last stop of the day, he pulled two copies of Niemen Aerolit

and for a mere 37 zloty, about 10 USD. Score!

The other record of interest I found today was a version of a Punk compilation LP called Back-Stage Pass

. It was released in four territories: UK, Poland, Portugal and New Zealand between 1982 and 1986. I can’t find any release info on the pressing from New Zealand on the RTC label. This record turns up with fair frequency, especially the UK and Polish pressings. The one that still eludes me is the New Zealand pressing.

Aerolit LP cover

Back-Stage Pass LP front cover

Back-Stage Pass LP back cover

What makes this record unique is that it has a UK Subs track that, as far as I can tell, is exclusive to this album. It’s from the band’s excellent Brand New Age

LP. Emotional Blackmail, on BNA

, is divided into Emotional Blackmail and Emotional Blackmail II. On Back-Stage Pass

, the two tracks play straight through without the fades that punctuate the LP versions. I must give credit where it’s due. It was Andrew Strehler, aka Andrew The Canadian Fanatic, who turned me onto this record. I had seen it in the bins for years but never looked at the track listing. I think I better write Nicky Garratt to see if he can shed any light on this matter. We must know, Fanatic. We must!

I wrote to the man and he got back to me. Before he answered the questions, he put some great information at the top. From Mr. Garratt:

Prelude/Overview

Emotional Blackmail and Teenage were the first songs written for Brand New Age. I wrote Emotional Blackmail (music) right after Another Kind Of Blues and prior to that album’s release. Charlie’s Teenage was even earlier but I’d partitioned to keep that off the first album as I thought there were just too many 12 Bar songs. (As an act of Blues rebellion I added the passing Bm and C#m chords at the end of the verses and made the solo 13 Bars.) Anyway Emotional Blackmail took shape and we were playing it live way before the 2nd album was released, perhaps with alternative lyrics at first.

HR: When did you come up with the idea to split Emotional Blackmail into two parts for Brand New Age

NG: During recording I believe.

HR: Conceptually, what was the thinking behind it?

NG: I have always been interested in records that maintain a feel throughout and a reprise has long been an established device to tie an album together. I think I originally was going to bookend the record with the split version of Emotional Blackmail, but the odd You Can’t Take it Anymore, which developed out of a stage jam, might have broken the flow of the album. So instead I bookended side two with it. With a reprise all the work has been done, think of it like a movie sequel where most of the characters need no development and one can dive right into the story. So one is plunged right into the action, the mood having been set. It was a small gamble and as an album device it seems to work, but I was left hungry for the uncut version.

HR: Did you have the song as a single piece of work and just fade in and out for the LP?

NG: Yes.

HR: What can you remember about the Back-Stage Pass LP deal, the choice of that song in its full, unedited format?

NG: We had been using a P.A. hire company from York called Supermusic. They became our de facto crew from around 1978 due to our excessive tour schedule. They didn’t work exclusively for us and on the rare occasions we were not on the road they worked with other acts like those listed on the jacket. Dave Leaper was the owner and reprised his role as our sound engineer on the infamous 1983 Polish tour. Chutch, who was introduced to us through Supermusic became our long suffering roady in those early years. You can see the beat up and patched together PA on the back of the LP Jacket. Dave decided to memorialize his clients by asking each for a track for this compilation. I thought it might be nice to offer something special to our buddies who we worked with so much. They got a unique version of Emotional Blackmail and I appeased my anal retentive nature by reuniting the two halves.

HR: Back-Stage Pass is the only way to hear Emotional Blackmail in this format, correct? Was there any thinking behind this, as in giving them a track that would be an exclusive?

NG: Save the numerous live versions yes. I’m not a great believer of rehashing stuff, but I do insist on, wherever possible, a feeling of closure.

HR: Was there ever any thought to use the track for inclusion on a reissue of Brand New Age, like on CD?

NG: I think that would be a fine idea. By now the old tapes are almost certainly unusable and I don’t believe Back Stage Pass ever came out on CD. I’m sure a decent job could be made using the digital mix and a virgin vinyl, (Which I have by the way), to glue over the fades. Not at all impossible. However due to the master copyright that is quite out of my hands at this time.

HR: For UK Subs fans, it’s a track they might not know about. Any thoughts on this?

NG: Perhaps younger fans may not know of this version. There was not much really lost between the fades - no Hendrix All Along The Watch Tower type solo.

HR: Were you aware of where Backstage Pass was being released?

(UK, Portugal, Poland, New Zealand)

NG: Dave is a shrewd business man. So that part is not surprising nor for that matte unwelcome.

Fanatic, I have but one question for you: HOW COOL WAS THAT?! The day has been made. Here’s a promo shot of Nicky.

Nicky Garratt promo photo

Les Rallizes Denudes Great White Wonder CD cover

There were some interesting LPs in the stores that made me wonder how they got there. The soundtrack for Ghosts Of The Civil Dead

, the first Rodney On The ROQ

comp. LP, Double Nickels On The Dime

, a German pressing of Diminished Responsibility

by the UK Subs and a Lungfish album but I forget the title. All in all, a pretty good afternoon of Fanatic exploration and acquisition. My expectations were neutral. I was just into going to record stores in Warszawa.

I’ve been doing my best to get as much pre-show listening done as I can. For the most part, it’s been Les Rallizes Dénudés. A lot of the releases are multi-CD sets, so it often takes a few days to get them played. I finished the Cable Hogue Soundtrack

in Dublin a few nights ago and have been working my way through The Great White Wonder

4 CD set on Univive.

Music can be hard to write about because it’s often so good, words can’t capture it. For me, Les Rallizes Dénudés is one of those bands. There’s a lot of their music online, so you can check it out. It’s not going to be for everyone but if you get it, then you have a lot of material to check out. Takashi Mizutani is like Eddie Hazel on that strange/amazing level, just incredible. The recordings aren’t always great in quality but they’re good enough to tell what’s happening. I’ve been trying to do at least an hour a night of his music on this tour in an effort to get an intermediate level grip on his work. Totally worth it.

In this cold weather, I’ve been listening to a lot of Raw Power

-era Stooges. I’ve been revisiting the Heavy Liquid

box set. Not all the tracks are all that great sound quality but they’re good enough and the playing is ripping. As crazy as those shows sound, it seems to me that the band were committed to playing well. They weren’t messing around and Iggy is always in great voice. I’ve seen him quite a few times and never heard him be anything less than excellent. Lux Interior was the same way, always sang incredibly well. Last time I saw Iggy in September 2015, he sang great and the band did a cool version of Mass Production. Okay, time to change location. 2057 hrs.

2133 hrs. Back at the hotel. Here’s the track list for the second BBC show I did, filling in for Mr. Pop.

BBC Radio 6 Music

Henry Rollins in for Iggy Pop - #02/03

22 January 2016

01.  The Stooges - Raw Power / Raw Power

02.  The Damned - Born To Kill / Damned Damned Damned

03.  Sonic’s Rendezvous Band - City Slang / Too Much Crank

04.  Slim Gaillard - Yip Roc Heresy / Sabros! Here’s Smorgasbord

05.  Tom Waits - The Return Of Jackie & Judy / Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

06.  Die Cheerleader - Massive Tangled Muscle / Son Of Filth

07.  The Fall - Two Librans / The Unutterable

08.  Al Eide - Life On The Edge / Wild Fury

09.  Panbers - Haai / Those Shocking, Shaking Days

10.  The Calico Wall - I’m A Living Sickness / Trash Box Vol. 3

11.  Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Medicine To Cure Medicine Sickness / 7"

12.  Buzzcocks - What Ever Happened To? / Singles Going Steady

13.  The Four Plugs - Wrong Treatment / 7"

14.  Pink Fairies - Do It (single version) / Never Never Land (CD version extra track)

15.  Wand - Stolen Footsteps / 1000 Days

16.  Savages - City’s Full / Silence Yourself

17.  Hisato Higuchi - Girl Sister / She

18.  Miriam Makeba - Click Song #1 / Pata Pata

19.  UK Subs - Same Thing / She’s Not There EP

20.  Joy Division - Transmission / BBC Recordings

21.  The Panik - Modern Politics / It Won’t Sell EP

22.  Kraftwerk - Dentaku / Computer World

23.  Drinks - Focus On The Street / Hermits On Holiday

24.  J Mascis - Every