EARLY GIRLS ON FIRE
Photo of Leslie Singer, 2018, by Laura Cottingham
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Leslie Singer
recalls the roots of Girls On Fire through memories and documents of her childhood artistic background and two early bands: From Far Away, Beauty? and Psychodrama based on questions and research by and conversations with Hal McGee |
age 2
I was born May 25, 1963 in Washington, D.C.
I lived in DC from ages 0-6. I have distinct memories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the riots that followed in DC thereafter. |
age 6
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My full birth name is Leslie Siobhan Singer.
My mother picked both my first name and middle name. My mother named me after both of her favorite actors, Leslie Howard and Siobhán McKenna. Then in the '70's a biography came out on Leslie Howard and she found out that he was a "womanizer" and she said that she felt funny naming me after him. I think that he was a wonderful actor and really great in The Petrified Forest and Of Human Bondage, both with Bette Davis. Nowadays, I think that he mostly well-known for being in Gone with the Wind. Siobhán McKenna was more well-known as a stage actress and used to have a plaque dedicated to her in the lobby of the Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC.
My mother picked both my first name and middle name. My mother named me after both of her favorite actors, Leslie Howard and Siobhán McKenna. Then in the '70's a biography came out on Leslie Howard and she found out that he was a "womanizer" and she said that she felt funny naming me after him. I think that he was a wonderful actor and really great in The Petrified Forest and Of Human Bondage, both with Bette Davis. Nowadays, I think that he mostly well-known for being in Gone with the Wind. Siobhán McKenna was more well-known as a stage actress and used to have a plaque dedicated to her in the lobby of the Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC.
age 13
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In 1969, as part of the white flight that was taking place back then, my family moved to Alexandria, Virginia. I lived there until October 1982 when I drove across the USA to SF. I lived in SF from 1982 until 1994.
In the summer of 1994, I moved to NYC where I have resided ever since. Initially, I thought that being an art administrator was just going to be a short-term job but, in keeping with how life can work, it has become a 24 going on 25 year career. |
My father's family are Russian Jews who came over during the beginning of the 20th Century to escape the progroms in Russia. Both of my father's parents came over on the boat as very small children. Everyone grew up in Maryland. My mother's family is from England (Episcopalian) and came over in the mid 19th Century. Pioneer/settlers in Minnesota and Texas. My mother was an army brat and spent time in post-war Germany and then in Northern Virginia.
My parents (both worked for the federal government) listened to classical guitar and Joan Baez. Both mom and dad had frustrated artistic ambitions -- mother wanted to be a playwright while dad played classical guitar, cello and piano. They both encouraged my musical and artistic interests.
My parents (both worked for the federal government) listened to classical guitar and Joan Baez. Both mom and dad had frustrated artistic ambitions -- mother wanted to be a playwright while dad played classical guitar, cello and piano. They both encouraged my musical and artistic interests.
Leslie, age 15, with her Fender Stratocaster guitar
Here are two pics of me with my Strat in 1978. They were taken by my mother in my bedroom at 308 Summers Drive in Alexandria. My mother used to refer to my Fender Stratocaster as "Leslie's Fenderstrato". She took me to the guitar store to purchase my first real amp, a Fender Reverb, a Deluxe as I recall. (It was a smaller Fender amp but could drive a Fender cabinet when necessary.)
Editor's Note: The yellow cover of Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience can be seen in the box of records underneath her record player.
Editor's Note: The yellow cover of Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience can be seen in the box of records underneath her record player.
I have two sisters -- both younger. I thought that somewhere on one of the GOF recordings, you can hear a snippet of Darcey at age five or six coming into my room to complain that I'm flooding the world with terrible noise.
Christmas 1980, just a few months before Leslie joined From Far Away, Beauty?
Frankly, I think that my relationship with both of my parents was as good as anyone that I know has had with theirs. Unfortunately, my mother had a number of mental and physical health issues
(bi-polar/manic depression/cancer) that begin when I was circa 13 or 14. Now looking back on it, I see that my dad struggled with health and self-esteem issues. From about the age 14 until I was 30 (he passed away in 1993) he and I had many deep, philosophical talks that I still think about and treasure to this day.
As a I child I enjoyed drawing, making and looking at art. Both of my parents encouraged this. However, once I got to high school, my dad encouraged me to study whatever business courses were being offered such as shorthand and typing. He said that if I had those kinds of skills, I would always be employable and be able to tell any man to "Fuck Off" -- including my husband! Well, I followed his advice on all of it and he was right!
Even if they didn't understand what I was doing artistically, both of my parents were supportive. Just as long as I had a job and was able to "keep the wolf away from the door" to quote my father.
When I was pondering moving to SF, my father suggested that I stay in the Washington, D.C. area, get a job in the government and form a rockabilly band. Frankly, this suggestion put me in tears at the time. I'm not sure what seemed more of a come down to me -- working for the government or forming a rockabilly band?
A close childhood friend of mine had two older sisters so that is how I got introduced to 70's pop and rock in 1975. I listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 religiously from 1975 to 1976. I was also reading Rolling Stone magazine at the public library. It is hard to remember now but Rolling Stone was an important publication back in the '70's. That is when I started to find out about something called "Punk Rock" that was brewing in London and NYC. By early 1977, I had gone from the Beatles and Wings to Cream and Hendrix. That is when I got my first electric guitars and effects pedals.
(bi-polar/manic depression/cancer) that begin when I was circa 13 or 14. Now looking back on it, I see that my dad struggled with health and self-esteem issues. From about the age 14 until I was 30 (he passed away in 1993) he and I had many deep, philosophical talks that I still think about and treasure to this day.
As a I child I enjoyed drawing, making and looking at art. Both of my parents encouraged this. However, once I got to high school, my dad encouraged me to study whatever business courses were being offered such as shorthand and typing. He said that if I had those kinds of skills, I would always be employable and be able to tell any man to "Fuck Off" -- including my husband! Well, I followed his advice on all of it and he was right!
Even if they didn't understand what I was doing artistically, both of my parents were supportive. Just as long as I had a job and was able to "keep the wolf away from the door" to quote my father.
When I was pondering moving to SF, my father suggested that I stay in the Washington, D.C. area, get a job in the government and form a rockabilly band. Frankly, this suggestion put me in tears at the time. I'm not sure what seemed more of a come down to me -- working for the government or forming a rockabilly band?
A close childhood friend of mine had two older sisters so that is how I got introduced to 70's pop and rock in 1975. I listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 religiously from 1975 to 1976. I was also reading Rolling Stone magazine at the public library. It is hard to remember now but Rolling Stone was an important publication back in the '70's. That is when I started to find out about something called "Punk Rock" that was brewing in London and NYC. By early 1977, I had gone from the Beatles and Wings to Cream and Hendrix. That is when I got my first electric guitars and effects pedals.
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I remember thinking that something was missing from today's music then and punk sounded like it could be answer.
And yes it was for me! In the summer of 1977 I found and early bought Caroline Coon's book on punk. In addition to being a music journalist and activist, she was also the manager for The Clash. The book was a compilation of articles that she had written in the NME about the London punk scene of 1976. How that one copy of that book made to a chain book store in Northern Virginia is still a mystery to me but it was the I Ching to me. |
From there I discovered one of the best college radio stations ever, WGTB, Georgetown University radio station. This was late '77/early '78. I'll never forget hearing the Ramones (the first album),
X-Ray Spex ("Oh Bondage Up Yours!"), Iggy Pop (The Idiot), The Mumps ("Crocodile Tears"), and so much more.
My father was amused by the punks and took Carrie and me to see Rock 'n' Roll High School when it came out. He thought it was great. He especially liked Mary Woronov as the principal and thought the Ramones' torn jeans were hilarious. Later on, he was a big fan of the movie, Sid & Nancy. After seeing that film he and I discussed the philosophical differences between the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.
While things at home could be unstable and drama filled, we were okay economically. I had regular babysitting jobs in the neighborhood so I could earn $ for records. I remember my friend Carrie and I going on the bus and then the part of the DC Metro that was built by 1979/1980 on Saturday mornings to all the record stores in the Georgetown section of DC. There were at least two or three stores in that area then that we would stop by to buy the records that we heard on WGTB or WMUC or read about in New York Rocker.
X-Ray Spex ("Oh Bondage Up Yours!"), Iggy Pop (The Idiot), The Mumps ("Crocodile Tears"), and so much more.
My father was amused by the punks and took Carrie and me to see Rock 'n' Roll High School when it came out. He thought it was great. He especially liked Mary Woronov as the principal and thought the Ramones' torn jeans were hilarious. Later on, he was a big fan of the movie, Sid & Nancy. After seeing that film he and I discussed the philosophical differences between the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.
While things at home could be unstable and drama filled, we were okay economically. I had regular babysitting jobs in the neighborhood so I could earn $ for records. I remember my friend Carrie and I going on the bus and then the part of the DC Metro that was built by 1979/1980 on Saturday mornings to all the record stores in the Georgetown section of DC. There were at least two or three stores in that area then that we would stop by to buy the records that we heard on WGTB or WMUC or read about in New York Rocker.
Which brings us to Brian Eno. The DJ's on WGTB said things like "Eno is God" and played tracks from Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain. Eno actually had and has a pretty big following in the DC area. Around this same time, I remember going into a mall chain store record and the staff had just put on Another Green World. They were all talking excitedly how weird and wonderful it was.
Some of my school friends were also getting into punk, new wave and Eno about this same time. Meanwhile thanks to WGTB I was finding out about '60's garage punk. Then I discovered the great monthly paper, NY Rocker and was reading it avidly.
That is when I found out about the No Wave scene and never looked back. I formed a bedroom/lo-fi band called the Hu-Femmes and we did a cover of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks' "The Closet."
Some of my school friends were also getting into punk, new wave and Eno about this same time. Meanwhile thanks to WGTB I was finding out about '60's garage punk. Then I discovered the great monthly paper, NY Rocker and was reading it avidly.
That is when I found out about the No Wave scene and never looked back. I formed a bedroom/lo-fi band called the Hu-Femmes and we did a cover of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks' "The Closet."
The Hu-Femmes was me. Sometimes my sister Danielle would put on a '60's dress and dance along and play tambourine. Sometimes my friend Carrie would stop by and hang out. I have got a snapshot of Danielle dancing along with me playing my Stratocaster (my back is to the camera). I assume that Carrie took the photo. In the background one can faintly see my box of records (just like in the Stratocaster photo) and on the wall several of my dada/surrealist influenced artworks. One is a tin metal work piece of a fly with a human head surrounded by 96 tears, entitled "The Human Fly" (definite Cramps influence there too as well.) The other is a black plastic work glove that I hung like a painting. I don't remember that title for that one. I don't remember what happened to either of this works.
I remember talking about getting us a gig at the punk clothes emporium in Georgetown, Commander Salamander, but being too shy at the time to call them or go in person to ask for a gig, much less be ready to perform in public. There aren't any Hu-Femmes recordings. That version of the "The Closet" that is on the Early Rarities tape is a good approximation of what I/we sounded like.
The name Hu-Femmes was supposed to be a feminist/riot girl revision of the word: human. I hadn't read any '70's feminist texts yet so I didn't know about the other non-patriarchal terms out there such as womyn. But I don't think I would've used any of those '70's feminists terms anyway. I would want to come up with my own term. Plus I thought it sounded very B-52's and I was very inspired by their song "52 Girls".
I remember talking about getting us a gig at the punk clothes emporium in Georgetown, Commander Salamander, but being too shy at the time to call them or go in person to ask for a gig, much less be ready to perform in public. There aren't any Hu-Femmes recordings. That version of the "The Closet" that is on the Early Rarities tape is a good approximation of what I/we sounded like.
The name Hu-Femmes was supposed to be a feminist/riot girl revision of the word: human. I hadn't read any '70's feminist texts yet so I didn't know about the other non-patriarchal terms out there such as womyn. But I don't think I would've used any of those '70's feminists terms anyway. I would want to come up with my own term. Plus I thought it sounded very B-52's and I was very inspired by their song "52 Girls".
Between Hu-Femmes and From Far Away, Beauty I was briefly in a new wave band was called the Neutered Kitty Bitches or NKB for short. We did covers of Blondie and that song by The Romantics, "What I Like About You." We only played one gig, the back porch of Mary Zanone's house.
Meanwhile to pay for all my new records and magazines, I was babysitting in the neighborhood. One of the families that I babysat for had a copy of Trout Mask Replica. I think that maybe someone gave it to them as joke? Who knows how or why things happen but now my life really changed.
I wasn't able to get my drivers license until I was 17. As soon as I did I put a classified ad in the local alternative DC arts/music paper, Unicorn Times, looking for fellow musicians to start a band.
I advertised myself as a guitar mangler. I listed my influences as Captain Beefheart, The Shaggs, Half Japanese, The Residents, and No New York. I only got one response but it came pretty quickly and it came from Jon Betts, who responded in writing very quickly. He then called to invite me to a rehearsal with his band, From Far Away, Beauty?.
I wasn't able to get my drivers license until I was 17. As soon as I did I put a classified ad in the local alternative DC arts/music paper, Unicorn Times, looking for fellow musicians to start a band.
I advertised myself as a guitar mangler. I listed my influences as Captain Beefheart, The Shaggs, Half Japanese, The Residents, and No New York. I only got one response but it came pretty quickly and it came from Jon Betts, who responded in writing very quickly. He then called to invite me to a rehearsal with his band, From Far Away, Beauty?.
Unicorn Times, February 1981, page 45 extract, Classified Advertisements
That is where I met Brett Kerby. Brett had been in the legendary DC progressive rock band Bazilisk. I'm not sure how he and Jon met but you know how the fellow noise travelers can find each other -- even way before the internet. Between February 1981 and January 1982, that was when Brett and I were in From Far Away, Beauty? and working with other N. VA noisesters. And going to straight edge punk shows, to the 9:30 Club and d.c. space.
Read about Bazilisk
Read about Bazilisk
This was back in early 1981 as I recall discussing the reaction to Reagan's inauguration with a friend of one of Jon's roommates. As you can imagine it was a bit of a stoner house and the friend said that while watching the inauguration on TV, she was alternating between doing bong hits and screaming out the window in terror and disgust at the prospect of four years of Ronald Reagan. Little did we know that it would be more!
I also met Hank Lowman at From Far Away, Beauty? rehearsals. This would've been late February/early March. Hank would drop in now and then for rehearsals but nothing regular.
I remember that there was another singer there, Bob Karnes. Bob looked like a normal guy who worked in a office except he worked for one of the chain records stores in Northern Virginia. There were a few: Waxie Maxie's, Kemp Mill Records, and the Penguin Feather. I think that Bob worked at the Penguin Feather. Bob was a good looking guy and claimed that he was into singing about man/woman relationship stuff. Frankly, it was hard to tell what he was singing with all the racket Jon, Brett and I were making. He sounded like a manic version of Ian Curtis and whatever lyrics that of his I could hear sounded like an outtake from "The Telltale Heart" or "Annie of the Pansies" or something else by Edgar Allan Poe.
Bob was always having car trouble so he didn't make it to all the rehearsals. He seemed to be more of a friend of Jon's but he was friendly with Brett and me too. Bob was the first person who started talking about Prince and what a big star Prince was going to be. He was right about that!
So we rehearsed several nights a week in the basement of the house Jon was renting with some other folks. Then we did the gig with Norman Lederman and Dave Meschter at the school auditorium. Hank performed there as well -- as a solo artiste.
To promote the gig, we went on Marc Farre's late night prog rock rock show on American University's college rock station. American University is very close to Georgetown so before we showed up for the interview, we did some record shopping. I remember Jon buying The Fall's Grotesque and that PiL album recorded live in Paris. I bought My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. During the interview, I said "Hi Mom" so always after that whenever I saw Marc saw me at gigs, he would call me "Hi Mom". I remember that Alice Mann (vocalist of Bazilisk) called in during our interview (which didn't begin until 1 or 2 am in the morning) to request Brian Eno's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
As I recall now, the show took place in an assembly room of a school. As I think about it now, it was more of a community college than a high school. I think that Norman was the one who had the connection to the school -- maybe he was teaching there. It was somewhere in Northern Virginia. The room had rows of metal folding chairs. Norman and Dave set up in the front of the room. The Minitron, speakers, etc. As I recall FFAB set up on the side of the room. Brett decorated with it trash/weird stuff etc. We got to rehearse in the room several days leading up to the show. The show was on a Friday or Saturday night. We had about 40 to 50 people in the audience who were very receptive. Norman and Dave played first. As I recall it was very Fripp & Eno, Evening Star-ish.
Then the audience shifted their focus and we did about three of our longish FFAB pieces -- very Throbbing Gristle. In the middle, Hank did his free jazz influenced stuff with the cardboard tube horns. He would bop his head around like he was one of those 50's jazz fans digging the beat. For some reason, I was playing through my regular guitar amp and as I recall several folks came up to me afterwards to say that while they liked my guitar playing they could only hear now and then. FFAB wasn't that good about making sure all the instruments had a proper mix balance. I blame that on Jon's TG influence. Too much mushed out rumbling low end noise meant to shake up the guts. Jon would always be dragging out some ugly cheap three string bass guitar and put it through an octave divider pedal. That ended up on getting on Brett and my nerves. I felt like I was getting put through an octave divider!
To go along with all of the TG-ified mucky sound there was an attempt at the school auditorium show to incorporate some stagey, genderized gore imagery into the show. Bob (who was into Prince and TG) suggested that he and I do some weird skit as visuals to one of his horrorshow man/woman/relationship songs. As a 17 year old fan of the Theatre of Cruelty and endurance Performance art I went along with it to a point but I couldn't help but make sure the skit totally fell flat as it was both bad theatre and bad politics. That is a big no-no!
After the show, we hung out in the space with Norman, Dave and Norman's very affectionate girlfriend. When I say affectionate, I mean that she was affectionate with me. She kept playing with my hair and complimented me on my red canvas sneakers. I got that fashion touch from the
B-52's.
More on From Far Away, Beauty? --
Jon was into having arguments. He thought they were intellectual discussions but they were more like negative roadblocks. For instance, he and I were driving up to the rehearsal space at Essex's and her husband's living room. There was some rush hour traffic and I was a young, inexperienced driver (17 years old). Instead of making sure that I focused on the road and helped navigate us there as smoothly and quickly as possible, he is fighting with me about the definition of "Industrial Music" and who was really industrial and who wasn't. I mentioned this to Brett and he was like "Yeah, Jon just likes to argue for the sake of arguing".
Truth told, I never was much into Throbbing Gristle and neither was Brett as I recall he and I were more into No Wave. The No Wavers did short songs and sang about their own screwed up feelings and observations. They were influenced by disco, punk, classical and modern music. These were all influences for Brett and me. I remember how, when Brett was trying to get us gigs in NYC (which led to us doing the show at CBGB's), he tried to call all the people shown and listed on the back of the No New York album. The one person that he managed to get through to was Nancy Arlen, the drummer of Mars. Nancy was a sculptor who worked in plastics. (She passed away in 2006. I remember reading her obituary and feeling bummed. There are a bunch of cool photos of her on-line.) Nancy had an answering machine (this is before everyone had one) so this was circa spring 1982. (Mykel Board had one too back then as I recall.). Her answering machine had crazy blown out jazz music on it. She actually called Brett back to ask how he found her. They had a nice conversation. She may have been the one who suggested CBGB's. Brett raved about the music on her machine so I called her number and listened to it. It was really good!
After the auditorium gig, Jon got kicked out of the house and eventually moved in with his girlfriend. So then we were looking for rehearsal spaces. Even as understanding and supportive as my parents were, there was no way we could rehearse in the basement of my house. My parents were too caught up in their marital dramas and didn't need my friends and me flooding the house with more noise. Brett found a basement in a row house in DC that we rented circa April/May. Then we lost that (gee, I wonder why???). I think that the racket that we were making was a bit too much for the nice older African American couple who were renting us the space. Brett placed an ad looking for rehearsal space.
I also met Hank Lowman at From Far Away, Beauty? rehearsals. This would've been late February/early March. Hank would drop in now and then for rehearsals but nothing regular.
I remember that there was another singer there, Bob Karnes. Bob looked like a normal guy who worked in a office except he worked for one of the chain records stores in Northern Virginia. There were a few: Waxie Maxie's, Kemp Mill Records, and the Penguin Feather. I think that Bob worked at the Penguin Feather. Bob was a good looking guy and claimed that he was into singing about man/woman relationship stuff. Frankly, it was hard to tell what he was singing with all the racket Jon, Brett and I were making. He sounded like a manic version of Ian Curtis and whatever lyrics that of his I could hear sounded like an outtake from "The Telltale Heart" or "Annie of the Pansies" or something else by Edgar Allan Poe.
Bob was always having car trouble so he didn't make it to all the rehearsals. He seemed to be more of a friend of Jon's but he was friendly with Brett and me too. Bob was the first person who started talking about Prince and what a big star Prince was going to be. He was right about that!
So we rehearsed several nights a week in the basement of the house Jon was renting with some other folks. Then we did the gig with Norman Lederman and Dave Meschter at the school auditorium. Hank performed there as well -- as a solo artiste.
To promote the gig, we went on Marc Farre's late night prog rock rock show on American University's college rock station. American University is very close to Georgetown so before we showed up for the interview, we did some record shopping. I remember Jon buying The Fall's Grotesque and that PiL album recorded live in Paris. I bought My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. During the interview, I said "Hi Mom" so always after that whenever I saw Marc saw me at gigs, he would call me "Hi Mom". I remember that Alice Mann (vocalist of Bazilisk) called in during our interview (which didn't begin until 1 or 2 am in the morning) to request Brian Eno's version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
As I recall now, the show took place in an assembly room of a school. As I think about it now, it was more of a community college than a high school. I think that Norman was the one who had the connection to the school -- maybe he was teaching there. It was somewhere in Northern Virginia. The room had rows of metal folding chairs. Norman and Dave set up in the front of the room. The Minitron, speakers, etc. As I recall FFAB set up on the side of the room. Brett decorated with it trash/weird stuff etc. We got to rehearse in the room several days leading up to the show. The show was on a Friday or Saturday night. We had about 40 to 50 people in the audience who were very receptive. Norman and Dave played first. As I recall it was very Fripp & Eno, Evening Star-ish.
Then the audience shifted their focus and we did about three of our longish FFAB pieces -- very Throbbing Gristle. In the middle, Hank did his free jazz influenced stuff with the cardboard tube horns. He would bop his head around like he was one of those 50's jazz fans digging the beat. For some reason, I was playing through my regular guitar amp and as I recall several folks came up to me afterwards to say that while they liked my guitar playing they could only hear now and then. FFAB wasn't that good about making sure all the instruments had a proper mix balance. I blame that on Jon's TG influence. Too much mushed out rumbling low end noise meant to shake up the guts. Jon would always be dragging out some ugly cheap three string bass guitar and put it through an octave divider pedal. That ended up on getting on Brett and my nerves. I felt like I was getting put through an octave divider!
To go along with all of the TG-ified mucky sound there was an attempt at the school auditorium show to incorporate some stagey, genderized gore imagery into the show. Bob (who was into Prince and TG) suggested that he and I do some weird skit as visuals to one of his horrorshow man/woman/relationship songs. As a 17 year old fan of the Theatre of Cruelty and endurance Performance art I went along with it to a point but I couldn't help but make sure the skit totally fell flat as it was both bad theatre and bad politics. That is a big no-no!
After the show, we hung out in the space with Norman, Dave and Norman's very affectionate girlfriend. When I say affectionate, I mean that she was affectionate with me. She kept playing with my hair and complimented me on my red canvas sneakers. I got that fashion touch from the
B-52's.
More on From Far Away, Beauty? --
Jon was into having arguments. He thought they were intellectual discussions but they were more like negative roadblocks. For instance, he and I were driving up to the rehearsal space at Essex's and her husband's living room. There was some rush hour traffic and I was a young, inexperienced driver (17 years old). Instead of making sure that I focused on the road and helped navigate us there as smoothly and quickly as possible, he is fighting with me about the definition of "Industrial Music" and who was really industrial and who wasn't. I mentioned this to Brett and he was like "Yeah, Jon just likes to argue for the sake of arguing".
Truth told, I never was much into Throbbing Gristle and neither was Brett as I recall he and I were more into No Wave. The No Wavers did short songs and sang about their own screwed up feelings and observations. They were influenced by disco, punk, classical and modern music. These were all influences for Brett and me. I remember how, when Brett was trying to get us gigs in NYC (which led to us doing the show at CBGB's), he tried to call all the people shown and listed on the back of the No New York album. The one person that he managed to get through to was Nancy Arlen, the drummer of Mars. Nancy was a sculptor who worked in plastics. (She passed away in 2006. I remember reading her obituary and feeling bummed. There are a bunch of cool photos of her on-line.) Nancy had an answering machine (this is before everyone had one) so this was circa spring 1982. (Mykel Board had one too back then as I recall.). Her answering machine had crazy blown out jazz music on it. She actually called Brett back to ask how he found her. They had a nice conversation. She may have been the one who suggested CBGB's. Brett raved about the music on her machine so I called her number and listened to it. It was really good!
After the auditorium gig, Jon got kicked out of the house and eventually moved in with his girlfriend. So then we were looking for rehearsal spaces. Even as understanding and supportive as my parents were, there was no way we could rehearse in the basement of my house. My parents were too caught up in their marital dramas and didn't need my friends and me flooding the house with more noise. Brett found a basement in a row house in DC that we rented circa April/May. Then we lost that (gee, I wonder why???). I think that the racket that we were making was a bit too much for the nice older African American couple who were renting us the space. Brett placed an ad looking for rehearsal space.
June - September 1981: Now we were in the FFAB live show hiatus period. I graduated from high school. Brett and I were going to hardcore punk shows at various locations and shows at the 9:30 Club. Instead of going to my senior high school prom, I went to the 9:30 Club on my own and saw a performance by David Van Tieghem, the drummer/percussionist who appeared on the original recording of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians. David, during this period, was also working with Laurie Anderson and on the new wave scene.
Jon had a medical textbook with the all the textbook gory pictures but that somehow never made it to the stage (thank god). I remember while FFAB was on hiatus from doing shows (this period will become more clear when I do the 11 month timeline), I made some flyers to try to keep the FFAB name out there and used the de rigueur concentration camp and other misery of this worldly existence imagery. I put the flyers up near the Washington Project for the Arts and throughout Georgetown. The flyers did get some exposure as one of Jon's friends commented on seeing the flyer but being disappointed that no gig was listed. I think that I was trying to be a good team player but my heart really wasn't into it.
Nothing really turned up until several acquaintances of Brett offered to let us rehearse in their living room in Maryland near the DC line, provided that we let them join the group. They were a married couple. The woman's name was Essex. That wasn't her legal name but that is what she liked to be called because she was from Essex, Maryland. I forget her husband's name. He looked kind of like a hippie. Essex was into Nina Hagen. She would do her make up like Nina Hagen and sing like her. We did one gig at d.c. space with Essex and her husband. I think Rob had joined in by then as well. This would've been the early fall of 1981. Our songs were more like extended set pieces/jams. The From Far Away, Beauty? song on the Early Rarities tape is a good example of what they all sounded like.
Jon had a medical textbook with the all the textbook gory pictures but that somehow never made it to the stage (thank god). I remember while FFAB was on hiatus from doing shows (this period will become more clear when I do the 11 month timeline), I made some flyers to try to keep the FFAB name out there and used the de rigueur concentration camp and other misery of this worldly existence imagery. I put the flyers up near the Washington Project for the Arts and throughout Georgetown. The flyers did get some exposure as one of Jon's friends commented on seeing the flyer but being disappointed that no gig was listed. I think that I was trying to be a good team player but my heart really wasn't into it.
Nothing really turned up until several acquaintances of Brett offered to let us rehearse in their living room in Maryland near the DC line, provided that we let them join the group. They were a married couple. The woman's name was Essex. That wasn't her legal name but that is what she liked to be called because she was from Essex, Maryland. I forget her husband's name. He looked kind of like a hippie. Essex was into Nina Hagen. She would do her make up like Nina Hagen and sing like her. We did one gig at d.c. space with Essex and her husband. I think Rob had joined in by then as well. This would've been the early fall of 1981. Our songs were more like extended set pieces/jams. The From Far Away, Beauty? song on the Early Rarities tape is a good example of what they all sounded like.
Brett dubbed this song by From Far Away, Beauty? onto the Early Rarities tape, and it has Brett on vocals and Farfisa organ. I’m on the plonky detuned guitar. I think that Jon Betts or another member, Bob Karnes, was on synthesizer and noise guitar.
Jon was totally into Throbbing Gristle and treated all their albums like the Bible. Brett used to joke about it. So our songs ended up being similar to some of the live stuff I've heard from TG. I was writing songs in my bedroom and tried to bring one of them to a FFAB rehearsal but Jon rejected it. The song was called "The Ballad of Laurie Anderson." I have still have the lyric sheet for that song. Jon said that we couldn't do any songs about living people. Brett jumped to my defense and said that we could. He cited David Bowie's songs about Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan (from Hunky Dory) as good examples of songs about living people. Jon wouldn't have any of it. This began the period of gradual disenchantment with Jon that Brett and I started to feel.
Jon was totally into Throbbing Gristle and treated all their albums like the Bible. Brett used to joke about it. So our songs ended up being similar to some of the live stuff I've heard from TG. I was writing songs in my bedroom and tried to bring one of them to a FFAB rehearsal but Jon rejected it. The song was called "The Ballad of Laurie Anderson." I have still have the lyric sheet for that song. Jon said that we couldn't do any songs about living people. Brett jumped to my defense and said that we could. He cited David Bowie's songs about Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan (from Hunky Dory) as good examples of songs about living people. Jon wouldn't have any of it. This began the period of gradual disenchantment with Jon that Brett and I started to feel.
////////
Also during this era, we had collaborated with another noise musician on the Northern Virginia scene by the name of Hank Lowman. Hank was very influenced by the free jazzers and it was a gig that we were doing with him at d.c. space the night before John Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan and company that really sticks in my mind. I understand that supposedly no one knows where Hinckley was or what he did the night before the assassination attempt. To this day I'm convinced that he was at our show at d.c. space, which was just a few minutes from scene of the crime.
[Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981]
We were called Polytechnic. We didn't rehearse at all. We just showed up and jammed it out. As I recall the group was Hank, and a drummer friend of Hank's whose name I don't recall, me and possibly Brett. The drummer friend had short dark hair and a groomed beard. Brett may have been there too but I can't remember what instrument he played. He may have been just banging on a guitar or something. Anyway, Hank (who was about 5'6'', looked very nerdy with glasses, hush puppies and pressed slacks-- I never saw him in jeans) was banging on his toy piano, making weird vocalization noises and nonsensical lyrics into a microphone and jumping around, I was playing out of tune/Teenage Jesus guitar since I was a 17 year old teenager and the drummer was doing some sort of drumming thing. Hank was also tooting on his cardboard tube "horn." He ended up smashing that toy piano at the end of the performance. We used the amplifiers and drums of the punk band that was the "headliner." The band's name was the Laymen and they were older guys with a vibe about them that reminded me of the group, The Stranglers, minus the organ player. Barbara Rice didn't make it to the show and was bummed afterwards about it especially since Reagan got shot the next day.
I enjoyed playing with Hank because compared to From Far Away, Beauty? as it was easier for me to hear my guitar without all the other stuff blasting it out. His set up was more basic-- more No Wave -- more Cagean. There was room for at least a second of silence. But this was the only gig that we did together.
Hank could be a little supercilious and pretentious and talk about putting together shows and projects and then nothing would happen-- except for this gig at d.c. space! In his defense, he worked full time at a department store, lived with his parents and didn't have a car.
A current noise scene star has really gotten around in the last few years. Back in 2010, I saw him perform at John Zorn's old space in the East Village, The Stone. He was doing everything that Hank did except Hank was doing it in DC on Sunday, March 29, 1981 before he was probably out of diapers. I'm not trying to run him down, it's just when I saw his performance, that is when I realized how "avant-garde" Hank was for being in DC in 1980/1981 which I didn't really appreciate fully enough at the time.
Also during this era, we had collaborated with another noise musician on the Northern Virginia scene by the name of Hank Lowman. Hank was very influenced by the free jazzers and it was a gig that we were doing with him at d.c. space the night before John Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan and company that really sticks in my mind. I understand that supposedly no one knows where Hinckley was or what he did the night before the assassination attempt. To this day I'm convinced that he was at our show at d.c. space, which was just a few minutes from scene of the crime.
[Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981]
We were called Polytechnic. We didn't rehearse at all. We just showed up and jammed it out. As I recall the group was Hank, and a drummer friend of Hank's whose name I don't recall, me and possibly Brett. The drummer friend had short dark hair and a groomed beard. Brett may have been there too but I can't remember what instrument he played. He may have been just banging on a guitar or something. Anyway, Hank (who was about 5'6'', looked very nerdy with glasses, hush puppies and pressed slacks-- I never saw him in jeans) was banging on his toy piano, making weird vocalization noises and nonsensical lyrics into a microphone and jumping around, I was playing out of tune/Teenage Jesus guitar since I was a 17 year old teenager and the drummer was doing some sort of drumming thing. Hank was also tooting on his cardboard tube "horn." He ended up smashing that toy piano at the end of the performance. We used the amplifiers and drums of the punk band that was the "headliner." The band's name was the Laymen and they were older guys with a vibe about them that reminded me of the group, The Stranglers, minus the organ player. Barbara Rice didn't make it to the show and was bummed afterwards about it especially since Reagan got shot the next day.
I enjoyed playing with Hank because compared to From Far Away, Beauty? as it was easier for me to hear my guitar without all the other stuff blasting it out. His set up was more basic-- more No Wave -- more Cagean. There was room for at least a second of silence. But this was the only gig that we did together.
Hank could be a little supercilious and pretentious and talk about putting together shows and projects and then nothing would happen-- except for this gig at d.c. space! In his defense, he worked full time at a department store, lived with his parents and didn't have a car.
A current noise scene star has really gotten around in the last few years. Back in 2010, I saw him perform at John Zorn's old space in the East Village, The Stone. He was doing everything that Hank did except Hank was doing it in DC on Sunday, March 29, 1981 before he was probably out of diapers. I'm not trying to run him down, it's just when I saw his performance, that is when I realized how "avant-garde" Hank was for being in DC in 1980/1981 which I didn't really appreciate fully enough at the time.
After the From Far Away, Beauty? gig at d.c. space with Essex and her husband, Jon moved to NYC with his girlfriend. In December 1981 Brett confirmed that FFAB was over, and he and I continued on with Rob Lippard, who I think that we met at a From Far Away, Beauty? gig or some other event. Brett, Rob and I started rehearsing at Brett's farm house as Psychodrama. I don't know what happened to Jon. I think Bob Karnes came to several Psychodrama rehearsals after I was in SF but then I don't know what happened to him either.
I loved the band name, Psychodrama, and the prospect of continuing the Rock N Roll dream.
I loved the band name, Psychodrama, and the prospect of continuing the Rock N Roll dream.