In the early 1980s, San Franciscan label Go! Records, ran by Olga Carpmill-Gerrard and husband Gerry, published a handfull of discs by Canadian new wave band Moev, as well as compilation LPs documenting various SF new wave and punk-rock bands (see discogs). The Savoy Sound Wave Goodbye compilation is one of them, and includes bands who played at the short-lived Savoy Tivoli concert venue on Grant Avenue (1980-81). It includes, among others, bands from Subterranean, Adolescent and Ralph Records.
♫ The two Tuxedomoon tracks are brilliant reminders of how the band sounded on stage before they left for Europe. The following acts are less polished than Tuxedomoon and closer to what we know today as post-punk. Somewhere between punk-rock and progressive rock, The Sleepers‘ epic, 9mn track blends Zenith and Theory, two excerpts from their 1981 LP on Adolescent Records titled “Painless Nights”. The reggae of Earl Zero and Skankin’ Babylonian will be a distraction for many, yet the publishers of this record decided it was part of the legacy of The Savoy. Charles MacMahon performs a solo on didgeridoo with added sound effects and also appears on the following track, Snakefinger‘s Culprit Victim. The Mutants ‘ track Furniture is a hi-energy punk-rock song – readers of this blog might remember The Mutants featured John Gullak, founder of A.R.P.H. tapes and the Audio Arm cassette series (see previous post). It all ends with a lock groove of an exquisite synthesizer loop by Eazy Teeth (see their Car Noise video below).
[Thanks to reader Jim for the correction.]
01 Tuxedomoon Music #1 (3:07)
02 Tuxedomoon Jinx (4:51)
03 Cipher Cymetic Mambo (4:06)
04 The Sleepers Zenith/Theory (9:17)
05 Earl Zero Visions of Love (7:00)
06 Skankin’ Babylonians Rough Rider (2:50)
07 Ultrasheen Inferno/Raceway (4:40)
08 Charles McMahon Journey Home (1:57)
09 Snakefinger Culprit Victim (1:57)
10 Mutants Furniture (2:38)
11 Eazy Teeth Taste for Space (4:00)
Total time 47:40
LP released by Go! Records, San Francisco, USA, 1981
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Above: Eazy Teeth – Car Noise, 7in, Dental Records, 1980 (b-side here)
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Actually the venue was the Savoy Tivoli (or rather, the windowless, airless back room of the still-operating Savoy Tivoli), on Grant Avenue, about six doors up from (at that time) the U.S. outlet of Rough Trade Records.
Thanks for the correction, Jim.
Whooo… Mille mercis et toujours aussi impressionant continuo.
You’re welcome.
unfortunately, the cd version has omitted “zenith”. it is actually “theory”; and the song titled “theory” is a previously unreleased composition titled “long song”. the soprano sax player on those songs is benjamin bossi, from romeo void.
this information i am quite sure of. i am mike white, and i played guitar in the reformed lineup of sleepers which also included ron & brian macleod.
incredible gem.your work is simply amazing,thanx from argentina
Mike White, thanks for that info. But assuming the spotify version is the same as the CD, it appears that both tracks are previously unreleased ie. the track labeled “Zenith” is not “Theory” but something else entirely.
I was actually excited to discover high-quality recordings unreleased tracks by the Sleepers on the spotify version of the album.