Walls Of Genius Catalogue #6
The Gift Of The Geek
The title page (and “back” page for mailing addresses) features swirly artwork by Leo Goya. Leo was a sometimes participant in Walls Of Genius sessions and even had a piece named in his honor (“Blue Leos”). Overlaid on the artwork is a cut-out of the pointy-chinned pinhead face that had become iconic for Walls Of Genius. The lettering was created with stick-on letters outlined by a black pen.
Page 1 is the invitation to participate in the compilation tape Madness Lives! (aka “The Walls Of Genius compilation”). Everybody on our mailing list received this, there were no special or individual invitations. There were a lot of compilation tapes circulating among the underground at this time and we felt that we had a sufficiently large and eccentric network to produce a compilation ourselves. We would end up with so many submissions that a sequel was required to deal with them all. I describe what we are looking for (go psychologically naked, let it hand down to your knees, unleash your inhibitions, etc) and what we are not looking for (Joni Mitchell clones). I was especially anti-Joni in those days. Chris Norden, a sometimes WoG participant himself, had talked me into going to see Joni Mitchell at Red Rocks the previous summer when he was staying at my house in Eldorado Springs. I thought it was perhaps the most boring concert I had ever seen. The image on the page shows the Three Stooges at the wheel of something, with three Frankenstein-headed aliens running up behind them. The background art is a checkerboard that came from some magazine I saw at the CU Recreation Center, my place of employment.
Page 2 is the “Word From The Head Moron”. I refer to our “illustrious leader” and paraphrase him (Reagan) with the words “Here We Are Again!”. This time, I’ve got the catalog number correct (6). It’s been two years since the first Dirt Clods assemblage. At this point, about 400 WoG tapes are now out there in the world and we’ve played a number of gigs. The mailing list is up to 400 names, so at this point I explain that we need to update the list and if you want to remain on the list, you must either write us and request it, or simply buy a cassette and you’ll stay on the list. I talk a little bit about the new titles (Before …And After, The Mysterious Case of Pussy Lust) and the new project, the Madness Lives! compilation. Images appear on the page of “Natural Light” beer (I don’t even remember this brand…). Along the bottom, three faces appear: Dostoyevsky is listed as “Fyodor”, Reagan is listed as “Ass” and Big Boy is listed as “Big Bro”. These are ongoing themes, Little Fyodor, anti-Reagan propaganda and Big Boy as Big Brother. The background art is drawn from ancient Puebloan pottery and was used also on the cassette labels of Before …And After.
Pages 3 and 4 are the centerfold. On the left is the cover of Before …And After, with a number of reviews quoted. Dr. Demento, Cause & Effect, William Hooper (a former guitar-playing room-mate in Charlottesville VA), Eer Meet of Trent Radio (?), Objekt, Singing Sensation From The Id (?) and Barry (?). A face doodle of mine is also included, as well as a small picture of a pig and some cornstalks, the meaning of which escapes me.On the right, is the description of The Mysterious Case Of Pussy Lust. There is a lengthy biography where I link her to James Bond, Albert Einstein, Nikita Krushchev, Agent 86 (Maxwell Smart from Get Smart TV show), Siegfried (KAOS, from Get Smart TV show), the Ventures (surf-music band from the 60s), Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panther movies), Mr. Freeze and the Penguin (from Batman television show), Pat McGoohan (The Prisoner television show) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV show of same name). A picture of a woman holding her bikini top away from her breasts appears. The lower half of her bikini is hidden by the “Pussy Lust” lettering, making her appear naked. This is just one of numerous models in a swim-suit catalog I grabbed at my place of work, the CU Recreation Center. The background is text from the Sportsmanlike Driving book, where so many images were culled for the previous catalog (Bane Of The Buffoon).
Page 5 features descriptions of Crazed To The Core and Wanna Beer?, two ‘companion’ cassettes featuring our looniest excursions. Again, the background is ancient Puebloan pottery designs.
Page 6 features descriptions of Architects Office’s cassettes, Partitions and Dispensation. A famous photo of architects posing in skyscraper costumes appears below the description. We have four of the original painted box cassettes remaining in stock of Partitions. At this point, there would be no more of them due to our falling out with Joel Haertling, the so-called “master Architect”. These are serious descriptions with no humorous elements inserted. Below the A/O image is a list of cassettes currently available. There are notes about the Objekt #2 compilation (WoG contributed “Dracula & His Victim”), Winnie & Friends (issued by Ken Clinger), and Slave Ant Raid (issued by Al Margolis of Sound Of Pig). There is a credit for cover art to Leo Goya and a thank you to his companion, Jeanne S. (Strzelewicz) for the “extra special power hat”. She had made me what could only be described as a home-made hippie hat that almost fit me at the time. I would wear it in some future performances with Leo’s group, The Miracle. We wish them good luck out there on the road, because (I think) they had moved, temporarily, to Massachusetts for family reasons. The background is the checkerboard again.
