The Recommended Records Sampler. 25th Anniversary Edition
SIDE 1
1. ROBEL VOGEL. Bottle Train (Vogel)
Nagel Shlegel: percussion
Lu: percussion, backing vocals
Vogel: drums, vocals, keyboards, percussion
Recorded at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg.
Robel is now apparently living in Italy but we have been unable to contact him.
2. FAUST. The Voice of the Pumpkin. (Extract V from Faust Party 3)
Zappi Diermier: drums
Rudolf Sosna: guitar
Joachim Irmler: keyboards
Gunther Wusthof: saxes
Jean-Herve Peron: bass, trumpet
Recorded at Wumme 8-track between 1972-3 with Uwe Nettelbeck and Kurt Graupner.
Virgin had kicked us out around 1974, as had "Polydor" a few years earlier. After this we recorded in Munich and got arrested because we couldn't pay for the studio or the hotel we stayed in. The recordings remained unmixed. We dispersed, made children, did some incognito concerts. Then, in 1978, "Recommended Records" reissued our old LPs, along with a lot of unreleased material from the Wiimme and Munich sessions. Thus the "Faust" legend grew. In October 1990 Jean-Herve (
www.art-errorist.de; www.avantgardefestival.de) and Zappi (
www.zappi-w-diermaier.com; www.derschlaeger.de) re-united "Faust" at the Prinzenbar in Hamburg, then at the Marquee Club in London. Soon Jochen (
www.klangbad.de; www.klangbadfestival-scheer.de) rejoined, after which "Faust" toured with various line-ups all over Europe and America, recording two new albums. In 1997, "Faust" split into two "Fausts", since when both incarnations have been successfully touring the world (with changing personnel), producing festivals and releasing solo- and group- albums on their own labels.
- Jean-Herve Peron -
•Gunther Wusthoff left, for no particular reason and his whereabouts are now unknown.
•Rudolph Sosna died in 1996.
•Uwe Nettelbeck, with his wife Petra Krause, wrote and edited the regular book-format critical journal, Die Republik. He died in 2007.
•Kurt Graupner is still busy and working mostly in the film industry.
www.faust-pages.com3. ART BEARS. All Hail! (Cutler/Frith)
Dagmar Krause: voice
Fred Frith: bass, guitar, piano
Chris Cutler: drums
Recorded at Kaleidophon, London with David Vorhaus, Winter 1980.
The group disbanded in 1979 after making three CDs and completing one tour. Chris and Fred have played as a duo - and in many of each other's projects - ever since, and all three members continued to collaborate over the following years in various combinations. In 2008, on the occasion of the group's 30th anniversary, Fred and Chris - with Zeena Parkins, Carla Kilstehd, Jewlia Rosenberg and Kristin Slipp - performed with the Artbears Songbook at The 25th Victoriaville Festival in Canada.
•Chris (
www.ccutler.com) and Fred (
www.fredfrith.com) have both been continuously busy with a huge variety of their own projects.
•Dagmar has pursued a solo career, interpreting Brecht and working in a number of collaborative projects, including a television opera, concerts with a reformed "Slapphappy" and, most recently, making records and concerts with Marie Goyette.
4. STORMY SIX. RepartO Novita (lyrics: Umberto Fiori; music: Pino Martini)
Umberto Fiori: voice
Franco Fabbri: guitar, voice
Tommaso Leddi: keyboards
Pino Martini: bass
Salvatore Garau: drums
"Stormy Six" disbanded in 1983, reforming a decade later with all the musicians listed above plus Carlo De Martini (violin, who had been in the band between 1973-1978).
•Franco Fabbri is a university teacher and musicologist. He twice chaired the International Association for the Study of Popular Music,
www.francofabbri.net•Umberto Fiori is a poet and teacher. He has written texts and librettos for, amongst others, composer Luca Francesconi, with whom he was awarded the Prix Italia.
•Salvatore Garau is a visual artist whose paintings have been shown in exhibitions and galleries around the world.
•Tommaso Leddi composes music for theatre, exhibitions and performances, and is chief sound and computer engineer at the Studio Azzurro.
•Pino Martini is a teacher and record producer and for the past ten years he has led the band Tancaruja, which mixes Sardinian folk music with contemporary sounds.
- Franco Fabbri -
www.italianprog.com/a_stormysix.htm5. THE HOMOSEXUALS. Walk Before Imitate (The Homosexuals)
The Homosexuals broke up in the early '80s.
•Amos went on to found the "It's War Boys" label, made many records and is currently active in "Die Trip Computer Die" and making programmes for "Resonance" FM radio.
•Bruno and Anton recently got back together for a handful of concerts.
www.myspace.com/thehomosexuals6. JOSEPH RACAILLE and PATRICK PORTELLA. On ne peut plus compter sur ses doigts (Racaille)
Patrick Portella: clarinets
Joseph Racaille: voice, piano
•Joseph is a full time composer, arranger and producer. He also performs still with the Ukulele-Club de Paris,
http://lesevolutionnaires.free.fr/pages/RACAILLE/racaille.htm•Patrick is now an internationally active composer and ethnographer,
http://patrickportella.free.fr7. FELIU GASUL. * (Gasul)
Feliu went on to make many records, working with Maria del Mar Bonet, Toti Soler and others, becoming one of Spain's major league guitarists and composers.
SIDE 2
9. THE BLACK SHEEP. Strangelove (The Black Sheep)
Red Phantome (Aloijsius Van Saus): Trumpet, Voice
Rock Steady (Colin McClure): Tuba
Daddy Long Legs (Geoff Leigh): Guitar, Drums, Mix
Anna Perksize (Zeena Perkins): Backing Vocals
Al Kemist (Chris Wangro): Clarinet, Backing Vocals
Recorded at MCCB, Rotterdam, 1982.
After 'Strangelove', "the Black Sheep" toured with various guest musicians for 5 years in Eastern and Western Europe.
•The Red Phantome published a children's book and with his wife Kathie diStefano started the children's theatre company Lawine, also introducing 'Theatre Sports' to Holland.
www.lawinetheater.nl &
www.theatresports.org•Rock Steady played in many Rotterdam groups and now works as a sound technician in several clubs and theatres in the city.
•Daddy Longlegs moved away from experimental music and became more involved with world music. Recently he worked again with "Faust", and made some solo performances,
www.myspace.com/geoffleigh•Al Kemist ran an alternative circus, for many years organized all the events in New York's parks and now masterminds huge projects of all sorts all over the planet.
•Anna Perksize went on to join "News From Babel", "Skeleton Crew", "No Safety" and "Keep The Dog" and soon became a fixture on the New York Scene as a composer, sound artist, improviser and harpist to the stars.
www.zeenaparkins. com
10. UNIVERS ZERO. Influences (Kirk)
Daniel Denis: drums
Dirk Descheermaeker: clarinets
Andy Kirk: keyboards, guitar
Guy Segers: bass
Alan Ward: violin
Recorded at Hennuyeres with Eric Faes, January 1982.
This track was one of the few made by this line-up, though it lasted a long time and toured extensively before disbanding in 1983. A radically revised group continued to tour and record until 1986, when it too disbanded. It was 11 years before a new Univers Zero re-formed for a single concert at Victoriaville. Several studio-based CDs followed until, in 2004, Daniel Denis and Michel Berckmans formed a new UZ which, a little later, Andy Kirk joined. A new CD/DVD is planned for 2009, as well as the release of a collection of unheard material from the mid '80s.
- Renato Moraes, UZ webmaster -
•Alan Ward and Guy Segers set up the "Carbon 7" label in 1992.
•Dirk Descheemaecker has become one of the most active clarinet players in Belgium, working (among others) with Wim Mertens and the "Ictus Ensemble".
www. univers-zero. com
11. AKSAK MAB0UL/H0NEYM00N KILLERS. Bosse de crosses (Hollander/Vromman - arr. Honeymoon Killers)
Yvon Vromman: guitar, vocals
Veronique Vincent: vocals
Marc Hollander: keyboards, bass clarinet, melodica, tapes
Gerald Fenerberg: guitar
Vincent Kenis: bass
Jeanf Jones Jacob III: drums
Produced by Aksak Maboul in 1981, engineered by Eric Faes
•Gerald the guitarist-judoka-rocker has become a producer/sound engineer and composes film scores.
•Jeanf is a painter and an actor.
•Veronique is a painter, she also writes, and sings occasionally,
www.crammed.be/craworld/crw42/index.htm•Aksak Maboul leader Marc Hollander founded "Crammed Discs" in 1981 and still runs the label,
www.crammed.be•Vincent travels a lot to Africa to record various bands, and doubles as the "Crammed" webmaster and house producer.
www.crammed.be/craworld/crw29/index.htm•Yvon went back to being a poker player and painter, wrote a dozen new songs, and died tragically in 1989.
-Marc Hollander -
12. THE WORK. Houdini (The Work)
Bill Gilonis: guitar
Tim Hodgkinson: hawaiian guitar
Mick Hobbs: bass
Rick Wilson: drums
Recorded and mixed at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg with Etienne Conod, 9 & 10 November 1981 assisted by Pete Bullen, Bubu Steiner and The Work.
After 1981 the Work took a long break whilst Rick Wilson (
www.eastorywilsound.co.uk/rick.htm) studied drumming in Kerala. A version of the group toured Japan in 1982 with Chris Cutler and Amos. The four original members met up again in late 1988 to consider a possible CD release. Tours and two more studio albums followed (1992). The last outing, in 1994, added Dominic Weeks on tuned percussion and Andy Diagram on electric trumpet, and the Work 'ended' in continuing restless self-renewal with settings of poetry by Thomas Hardy and Ossip Mandelstam. A live CD is scheduled for release next year on the Ad Hoc label.
- Tim Hodgkinson -
www.timhodgkinson.со.uk/www.myspace.com/workthe13. HENRY COW. Slice (Cooper)
14. HENRY COW. Viva Pa Ubu (Hodgkinson)
Georgie Born: bass
Lindsay Cooper: Bassoon, sopranino sax
Chris Cutler: drums
Fred Frith: guitar
Tim Hodgkinson: organ, alto sax, clarinet
Dagmar Krause: singing
Recorded at Sunrise Studio, Kirchberg in January and August 1978 with Etienne Conod.
Henry Cow disbanded in 1978. The various members subsequently worked together in various combinations on about 100 different projects. All are still active in music except Georgina Born, now Professor of Sociology, Anthropology and Music at Cambridge, and Lindsay Cooper, unhappily incapacitated with advanced MS. Etienne went to Australia, investigated wood chip energy and made cheese; he is now back in Zurich re-engaged with music.
www.ccutler.comwww.fredfrith.comwww.timhodgkinson.со.uk15. DECIBEL. Extract from radio broadcast (decibel)
Alejandro Sanchez: violin
Carlos Robledo: piano, synthesiser
Jaime Casteneda: drums, percussion
Chavier Baviera: clarinet
Walter Schmidt: bass guitar
Recorded in Mexico City radio station, 1979.
•Alejandro Sanchez later played with "Nazca and Ensemble" 1870 and is now in Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma's band "Saena".
•Chavier Baviera is a solo performer.
•Of Castaneda no news.
•Walter and Carlos formed a techno-pop band called "Casino Shanghai".They also, some years ago, reformed "Decibel" for a single concert in Mexico City.
SIDE 3
1. ART ZOYD. Simulacres (Hourbette)
Jean-Pierre Souarez: trumpet
Gerard Hourbette: violin
Thierry Zaboitzeff: bass
Frank Cardon: violin
Gilles Renard: saxophone
Patricia Dallio: piano
Alain Eckert: guitar
Art Zoyd are still active, after many personnel changes (only Patricia Dallio and Gerard Hourbette remain from the Sampler-era band). They are now based in Valenciennes, touring regularly in Europe and America, playing music for silent films and spectacles, mostly at large scale festivals and in museums. Jean-Pierre Souarez left in 1976 and Thierry Zaboitzeff (
www.zaboitzeff.org) in 1997, after which AZ worked for three years with the Orchestre National de Lille on the Dangereuses Visions project for symphony orchestra, music technology and video. Some years later they joined forces with the Belgian ensemble "Musiques Nouvelles" for a long term project: Experiences de Vol, offering residencies for artists and composers. Hourbette composed music for the National ballet in Nancy in 2001 and now AZ increasingly focuses on research, particularly with electronic instruments and interfaces with Kasper T. Toeplitz and others.
www.artzoyd.com2. THE MUFFINS. 2 from Chronometers (Muffins/Newhouse)
Stuart Abramowitz: drums
Dave Newhouse: electric piano, organ, voices
Tom Scott: woodwinds, voices
Billy Swann: bass, tape collage, voices
Michael Zentner: guitar, violin, voices
Recorded at Unconscious Quantum Laboratories, 1979. Mixed 1982 at CAB Studios.
By the time the sampler was released "The Muffins" had ceased to exist - the version of the band that supplied this track having dissolved in 1976. It was superceded soon after by a new version of the group - its best known line-up - with Dave Newhouse, Tom Scott, Paul Sears and Billy Swann. After releasing 3 albums and backing Fred Frith on his first post-"Henry Cow" album, Gravity, this band broke up in mid 1981. "The Muffins" started to work together again in 1996 and have released four more albums, with a fifth on the way.
•Stuart Abramowitz seems to have moved beyond the ken of other band members.
•Michael Zentner is still musically active and busy with various projects.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=182840229www.themuffins.org3. HEINER GOEBBELS. Berlin - Kudamm 12 April 1981. (Goebbels)
Heiner Goebbels: synthesiser, rhythm machine, piano, cello, electric and acoustic guitars
Anne-Marie Roeloffs: trombone
Andreas Boje: trombone
Original tape recorded at a demonstration by 'Entenpool', broadcast in 'Journal in 3' Sender Freies, Berlin.
Heiner no longer performs, but is active on the international stage presenting large-scale music-theatre works, compositions and installations. He is also full time professor at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, The Justus Liebig University, Giessen.
www.heinergoebbels.com &
www.uni-giessen.de/fbll/theater/homepage.htmr\t"_blank"
4. AMOS and SARAH . Steer Clear of England (Sarah C, Amos, Chris Grey)
Recorded by Charles Bullen
•Amos - see Homosexuals entry.
•Rumour has it that Sarah became a bodybuilder in New York.
•Chris Grey has slipped from view.
5. CONVENTUM. Commerce Nostalgique (Duchesne)
Pierre Cartier: contrabasse
Jean Derome: flutes
Andre Duchese: guitars
Rene Lussier: guitars
Eduardo Pipman: drums
Recorded at Studio Tempo, Montreal, 26 feb 1982 by Bob Watson
This was the last recording by the last line-up of Conventum.
•Pierre Cartier worked a lot with Jean Derome in different projects. He also records his own projects,
www.actuelcd.com•Jean Derome worked for many years in a duo with Rene Lussier and now composes, performs and records prolifically with a number of his own bands, www3.sympatico.ca/jean.derome/
•Eduardo Pipman has his own long-established jazz quartet,
www.jazzlabmusic.com•Rene Lussier composed over 50 film soundtracks, mainly for animation and documentaries, recorded many CDs, won a number of prizes, and is still performing and recording in many contexts and all fields of music,
www.renelussier.com•Andre Duchesne formed "Quatre Guitaristes" de L'apocalypso-bar (which included Rene Lussier and other exmembers of "Conventum") continuing thereafter with other large-scale personal projects. Currently busy with Club Grenada,
www.andreduchesne.com6. HECTOR ZAZOU. Vera С (Zazou)
Rafael Giminez Fauvety: Guitars
Xavier le Masne: flute
Iseux Choix: cellos
Magali Leberre: oboe
Jean Bernard Duboisson: violins
Francois Verly: marimba
Recorded and mixed at Anagrame, Paris, by Hector Zazou and J. Botaud.
Zazou is still active with a series of concept driven albums, many of them mixing world musics and contemporary materials, with the likes of Jon Hassell, Manu Di Bango, Ryuichi Sakamoto, John Cale, Bill Laswell, Gerard Depardieu, Suzanne Vega, Bjork, Jane Birkin, Laurie Anderson and Peter Gabriel. He has also written commissions for film, string ensembles, dance performances and, in 1998, for the world cup football ceremony. He also works regularly as a producer.
SIDE 4
8. THIS HEAT. Pool (Bullen, Hayward, Williams)
Charles Bullen: guitar
Charles Hayward: drums
Gareth Williams: bass, keyboards
Recorded at Cold Storage.
This Heat split up in 1982
•Charles Hayward (
www.charleshayward.org) went on to work with "Camberwell Now" with Steve Rickard and Trevor Goronwy. This disbanded in 1987. He then embarked on a series of solo CDs, live projects and collaborations. Alongside the investigation of degrees of order and chaos in his music, he has sought working situations that range from dictator through autonomy to collaboration and occasionally sideman. Current projects include "Clear Frame" and "Jumpcuts+Crossfades".
•Charles Bullen has concentrated on studio production, releasing a number of records.
•Gareth Williams studied kathakali dance in India, returned to the UK and formed "Flaming Tunes" with Mary Currie. He died in 2001.
www.thisheat.co.uk9. THE RESIDENTS. Walter Westinghouse (The Residents)
Recorded at El Ralpho and The Crypt Studios, California Nov.76-Jan.77.
The Residents are still highly active, making records and films and the occasional stage spectacular.
www.residents.com10. R.STEVIE MOORE. Pedestrian Hop (R.S.Moore)
11. R.STEVIE MOORE. Follow Me (R.S.Moore)
Recorded at home by RSM.
Stevie roared on and roars on still. He is unstoppable, and still marching to his own drum. There are many CDs to prove it.
www.rsteviemoore.com12. RON PATE/RAUDELUNAS. I talk to my haircut (Pate)
Ron Pate, Doc Bob Cash, Omar Bhagdadi, Bill the Kid, Abdul Ben Camel, Cyd Cherise, D.P.B.Smith, Rev. Fred Lane, Hat, Dick Foote, Johnny Fant Lister, Rotor Hobson, Rip McBoutie,Dimples La Croix
•Craig (Pate) makes extraordinary furniture and wood sculptures. He just had a 30 year retrospective of his work at the Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama,
www.craignutt.com•Rev. Fred Lane (T.R. Reed) is a sculptor,
www.odd-creachter.com•Dick Foote (Roger Hagerty) "I've been wasting away in obscurity, leading a life of quiet desperation".
•Abdul "Ben" Camel,
www.myspace.com/abdulquotbenquotcamelgroups•Cyd Charise (Davey Williams) is still active and busy with improvised music, ".did, didn't do, refrained from, began, continued and expanded, abandoned, thought of, remembered, forgot, ignored, embraced, enjoyed, disliked, was ambivalent about or ignorant of; profoundly appreciated, only later came to appreciate, regretted, lost, found, met, briefly knew, still am close to, was reunited with, never knew, imagined, loved, still love, never cared one way or the other for, remained interested and involved in, made, made with, tried half-heartedly to, worked diligently to, didn't bother with, never quite understood, heard, played, learned, became, still am, haven't yet but will eventually, am glad for, hope to, intend to, am doing...(back to top of list)..."
www.the-improvisor.com/transmuseq/davey13. PICCHIO DAL POZZO. Uccelini del Bosco (Marco/Scalzi)
Aldo di Marco: drums, chincagleria, vibraphone, organ
Andrea Ceccon: bass, trombone, guitar, voice
Robert Romani: tenor sax, flute, clarinet
Paulo Griguolo: guitar, flute, voice
Recorded at Studio G, Genova, 1981.
PdP broke up by the end of 1981.
•Aldo Di Marco splits his time between architecture (his main job) and music.
•Paulo Griguolo worked with several Italian bands and artists, made some 'bread and butter7 musical work (cruises, night-clubs...) and wrote some original material. He now lives in the Caribbean.
•Aldo De Scalzi became quite famous writing soundtrack for Italian films.
•Claudio Lugo teaches composition at the Alessandria Academy of Music and is busy with improvised music performances.
•In 2002 Aldo De Scalzi, Claudio Lugo, Aldo Di Marco and Paulo Griguolo decided to record a new PdP album based on some original tapes of Demetrio Stratos' voice, and are working on a DVD.
14. ROBERT WYATT. The Internationale (Pottier, De Geyter)
Recorded at Wave Studio, Twickenham with Ian Solomon 28,29 August 1981.
•Robert has continued and continues to make exquisite records.
CREDITS
The "Recommended Sampler" started life in 1978, a year after the establishment of the "Recommended" and "ReR" labels and "Recommended Distribution" (now all amalgamated under the umbrella of ReR Megacorp). It was commissioned, edited and compiled by Chris Cutler and first released as a double LP (Cat. No. RR 8 & 9) in 1982. The original tapes were mastered by Jon Jacobs at Air London.
From the LP: Special thanks to Nick Wilton and Rough Trade - and to Negativeland, who missed the Sampler by bad Luck.
For this reissue, the analogue to digital tape transfer from original reels was made by Randy Miotke at Eye In The Sky, and William Sharp at Dys - and all the tracks were subsequently re-mastered by Bob Drake at studio Midi-Pyrenees in the Spring of 2008.
The original cover design - a manipulated silkscreen print - was made by E.M.Thomas with help from Graham Keatley, Neil Renard, Paul Nichols, Mick Hobbs, Amos and Suzie. The inside jigsaw was made by Chris Cutler, the mosaic by Graham Keatley, and the new layout is by Tim Schwartz @ OnionProductions.
