HEATHER PERKINS - "The Hamster Wheel" (1988)

 Here's another great tape from Heather Perkins that she released in 1988 called "The Hamster Wheel!" 

If this isn't enough for you, there's plenty more of Heather in the:
Land-O-Newts!

It's been 30 years, and "The Hamster Wheel" is still as relevant as the first time I heard it!!

Heather Perkins - "Hamster Wheel"

SURVIVE BEHIND BARS - Various Artists Compilation From Israel (1990)

It was always a thrill to get to participate on one of these international various artists compilation tapes, and this one from Israel was probably the most international one we contributed to. Besides us, there were five other bands from the U.S.A, (This info note is hand written so forgive me if I get your band name wrong) A Speed Guillotine, Crawling With Tarts, Detox, Teen Lesbians and Animals, and Gregorzan George. From what was then known as West Germany, there was Nostalgie Eternelle and some guy named Lord Litter. X Ray Pop and Neva were from France, and Esta Noche Tampoco was from Spain, and from South Africa, here's some stuff from:

Carnage Visors - "Killing Now"

ANIMATION FESTIVAL - "exalted..." (1988)

Animation Festival was a 1988 "Harsh Reality" release by Michael Behaviour. The ten cuts start with "Exalted I" and end with "Exalted X."

ANIMATION FESTIVAL - "Exalted I"

HERMANOS GUZANOS - "Bombs From Heaven" (1992)

I can't hardly stand to listen to much of these bombs any more, but I always did like the ending of this short little catastrophic ditty! The cover by my pal Gary Wray is one of my favorites! So here you go, just in time for X-Mas......
HERMANOS GUZANOS - "Nuclear Swamp"

HERMANOS GUZANOS - "The Rejects" (1991)

I'm struggling to get anything done this month, and I don't know why, but I completely forget about our own music, but for some reason, after eating a massive amount of garlic for lunch, I've regained my senses, so here's a song off our tape we called "The Rejects," because it was full of songs we didn't use on any of our other tapes. The funny thing is that I've had more than one person tell me that this was their favorite of our tapes. Go figger!! This is the only one of our tapes that used one of my drawings on the cover. Gary did the color and the finishing touches!

HERMANOS GUZANOS - "If I Gave You Money"

PAIN CLINIC & REGICIDE BUREAU - "Sing A Song Of Sutures" (1992)

 Pain Clinic & Regicide Bureau were Alex Cook from Louisiana and Thomas Sutter from Missouri. Together they made a whole lot of noise!

 Alex was responsible for Percussion, synth, flute, ocarina, dijer-kazoo, loops and keyboards, and Thomas was in charge of Guitar, bass, synth, loops, violin and tapes. Geoff Caruso did the Mixing and turntables on this cut that was recorded "Live" on KLSU-FM on 9-25-1992. I'm sure anybody who was listening had no idea what the Hell was going on unless they were involved!

Here is an excerpt from that broadcast!

PAIN CLINIC & REGICIDE BUREAU - "Night Of The Long Knives"

SWINEBOLT 45 - "Wank" (1989)

I swear I thought the name of the band was Wank for the longest time, but it's actually Swinebolt 45 if everybody else is right! I got this Harsh Reality label tape sometime in 1989. The insert says all sounds generated (or mashed by Roimo

Guitars, Bass and Banjitar built by Solid Body Music, Memphis.

SWINEBOLT 45 - "Wank # 1 Free Form"

MARK HANLEY - Room 101 (1987)

 This was a tape I got from Mark Hanley in 1988. It featured his two main projects with other people, The Room 101, and Sister Ray, when he wasn't making his solo tapes!

This song reminds me a lot of a Larry Coryell jam, and features Mark on guitar and bass, and Robert Shields on the drums! It's pretty tight, and right on time !
Mark Hanley  - The Room 101 - "Another Holiday"

JOHN BARTLES - "EI - EI - EIO" (1987-1991)

 If there are any gamblers out there, I am willing to bet that John Bartles was, or is, the most prolific audio artist in history! I know because I have every fucking tape and cd he has ever made, and frankly, these days, I can't even count that high without getting dizzy or confused! I am never going to get around to telling you about each and every one of John's releases, so here's a little collage to give you an idea. John was very busy during the 80's and 90's making cassettes, but since the advent of cd's, I think he has probably released another 100 albums! Usually, the artwork is done by John himself! A couple of months ago I told you about his classic tape called "Flat Animal," so here's another incredible song from that amazing tape! Get ready!
JOHN BARTLES - "Frank's Farm"

I DIDN'T DO THIS TO IMPRESS YOU - Various Artists Compilation (1989)

This photo disturbs me because even if it isn't, it reminds me of the Munich Olympic terrorists from 1972, and if you don't know what I'm talking about then you didn't have good history teachers.

"I Didn't Do This To Impress You" was a various artists compilation tape on the Zadfruc Tapes label in Oak Park, Illinois that we had four songs on. The other artists involved were Terror X-Non-Tense Corpusse,  Ashes Of The Dead, Buckle Mutants, Stelch, Rake Wounds, Savior, and our featured artiste from this tape....The....

DEADLY ORCHIDS - "Another Obsession"

Here's the cover of a booklet that was included with this tape and also included art by Gary Wray!

  Here's a mixed up jam by Gary of his "Weirdo Ugly Art Contest" winning art, and some other bits of his stuff that was inside the booklet!

THE GRAVEYARDS ARE SINGING YOUR NAME - Various Artists Compilation (1989)

"The Graveyards Are Singing Your Name" was one of many various artists compilation cassettes put out by Mike Tetrault on his Epitapes label out of Sunderland, Ma. Hermanos Guzanos had a couple of tunes on this tape along with Minóy Zannóy, Lions Minoy, Masters Of The Obvious, Black Flowers, Nihil, Gay Animal Women, Amanda Man, MT, Factor X, Horse Falls, Warworld, Shadow Of A Doubt, Wild Nixon, Biel Oliver, Oka/Iko, Sociedades En Tetrabrik, Prope Cante Homine, and Radiotron!

"OPEN STRANGE DOORS"
 Here are a couple of samples!
HERMANOS GUZANOS - "Zombie Hurricane"
MT - "Ho!"

AL PERRY'S "Faves From TheVaults......" (1989)

I love the music of Al Perry, and he's got a bunch of krazy musical friends. This is a tape I don't think you're going to find in any online database because I think Al made it just for friends. The inner sleeve is not a copy but something that was created with a typewriter and glued together. He it called "Faves From The Vaults" and included tunes by Al and his pals like Kevin Daly, Fish Karma, Fred North, D Cell, Rich Hardesty, Hellfire, Shiva Bob Pop, The Sloppy Guitarist, The Cattle, Microchip Orchestra, and Black Sun Ensemble. It's your lucky day! Here are two great treats from Al's Vaults......

FISH KARMA - "Die Like A Dog"

and

FRED NORTH - "Get A Skill"

ST 37 - "billygoat nothinghead" (1987)

In my humble opinion, the three greatest bands of all time to come out of Texas were, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Butthole Surfers, and ST 37. This cassette by St 37 came out in 1987, and was titled "billygoat nothinghead." St 37 was Joel Crutcher - Guitar, Carlton Cructcher - Vox, Tapes, S.L. Telles - Bass, Vox, and John Foxworth on Drums. Also "this summer's guest super-star" - Jonathan Torn - Synthesizers. I loved trading tapes with these guys because their music would always be full of surprises of some sort. Here's a fine sample from these fellows from Austin:

ST 37 - "Hollywood Cemetary"

DONALD CAMPAU - "Paralyzed By The Very Thought" (1986)

The first tape I ever got from Don Campau was his two tape masterpiece called "Piñata Party,"

but if I'm not mistaken (And I easily could be), "Paralyzed By The Very Thought" was his actual first widely distributed tape. What can I tell you about Don Campau that you don't already know? Although we've written many, many times, I've never met him in person, but I did have a dream one time that he was hitting on my girlfriend before she became my wife! How's that? Don is still going strong these days, and from what I've heard on Lord Litter's radio shows, somehow or another, like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age! Here's a fun song off this tape that reflects quite succinctly how a lot of us felt in the 80's!!

DONALD CAMPAU - "Another Stupid Video"

CRIPPLED HIPPO - "A Casio Instrumental" (1988)

I can't remember anything about this tape, and there's not much information on it either except for I-V.... A Free Tape...."Get Jungle, Get Jungle Fresh.".....P.O. Box 6013. E. Lansing Mi. 48823.....Late Spring 1988. There are no song titles, and it's basically what I call Casio noodling! Here you go! You come to your own conclusions!

Crippled Hippo - "A Casio Instrumental"

THIS WINDOW - "(Land Of) Hope" (1988)

I don't remember much about this cassette. I do know that a lot of artists like us were searching for a means of distributing our music, and so things like Missing Link Music, and Kentucky Fried Royalty came up. I show I sent a tape to KFR in the U.K., and this is also a KFR release from England, so I think somebody there sent it to me as a sample of what the label was up to.....

 ......Mostly because this little note was inside! It must have been Stephen Parsons!

This Window - "(Land Of ) Hope"

DOS BOZOS - "Chile Peckers" (2003)

Everything eventually fell apart for Hermanos Guzanos, first it was the public access TV show "Offbeat" and then a krazy thrillride into the world of trying to make movies. The days of the one gig computer and a 14K modem were come and gone, and Gary and I got together in my garage for only a couple of nights, but with new technology, I thought we created a couple of new and interesting instrumentals, and if I don't put them up here, nobody will ever hear them, so here's a pensive little ditty I call.......

Dos Bozos - "Chile Peckers"

MITCH RUSHTON - "The Bridges Of Time" (1989)

"The Bridges Of Time" by Mitch Rushton was a 1989 release on the Harsh Reality label. Despite all the brotherly love of the 80's tape scene, I always felt like Guzanos were just a bunch of guys on the outside wanking off that didn't fit in compared to artists like those on labels like Harsh Reality who seemed so serious, but in the long run I guess, what difference did it make? We still all ended up together! On this tape Mitch uses an AKAI x7000, a MOOG OPUS 3 SYNTHESISER, a YAMAHA DX1000 SYNTHESISER, A KORG MONO/POLY SYNTHESISER, a CASIO RZ1 RHYTHM COMPOSER, and a DIGITEC DX99 DIGITAL DELAY! The cover artwork was done by Mark Lyden!

Mitch Rushton - "Thirty Centuries (Tara's Theme)"

BUNKER - "Tears Souvenirs" (1989)

HAYOON LIMIT ? was one of the first International contacts I made! If I recall right, they added our first tape "The Worm's Turn" to their roster, and would send me groovy tapes like this once in a while. 

 

It was a pretty good gig! HAYOON LIMIT ? was also one of the first groups to use all kinds of alternative packaging. 

 

This tape has an almost transparent/parchment paper cover. Innovative, and sturdy!

 

So, this was HAYOON LIMIT ? tape # ?04 by a pretty cool French band named BUNKER! Bon Appétit!

BUNKER - "Le Retour Du Roi"

MAYHEM STEAMROLLER - "Radio Active" (1991)

This was a tape I got from Ray Carmen in Ohio! It was one of his side projects. I'm pretty sure, but there are not exactly any credits on the tape. This is an interesting piece using samples from the Hindenburg radio broadcast. Instruments involved were a Casio Sk-1, Digital Delay/Reverb, Casio MT-240 and a Roland D-50.

MAYHEM STEAMROLLER - "LEAD ZEPPELIN"

THEY LIE... WE DIE!! - Various Artists - "War Is Good Business...Invest Your Son" (1990)

This was a Hand of Doom tapes release titled "They Lie...We Die!" It was an international various artists punk rock compilation protest/benefit cassette from the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee from San Francisco, Calif. in 1990. It featured bands from all over the world like Sound Pollution from Greece, Slowjam from the UK, Lesson of Vigilance from Canada, Disrupt from the USA, Adam Kates from Canada, Vonny Bratchnies from the US, Infect from Canada, Lethal Overdose from Australia, Flounder from Finland, Twerp from the UK, Hate That Smile from the UK, Lost from the US, Green Thumb from parts unknown, and the band of the hour, from (West) Germany...

Genossen - "Wehrt Euch" (Defend Yourselves)

JOHN BARTLES - "Flat Animal" (1987)

John Bartles is a friend of mine, and probably the most prolific independent artist on the planet! I just did a quick inventory, and I have something like 30 cassettes and 60 CD's that John has sent me over the years. I just got another CD a couple of days ago. I think I really need to change the splash title to from 1987 to 1993 and beyond, because people like John have never quit! If I'm ever going to get done with this project, I'm going to have to start featuring John's music on a more regular basis!

"Flat Animal" was one of the first tapes I ever got from John, and it's a good one! Like most people, John doesn't like pollution, and he's not afraid to write songs about it! This tune features Gary Holt on bass and effects, and Ward Parker on guitar! The artwork was done by John himself!

John Bartles - "Van Lare"

INTIMACIES - "Austin Poets Audio Anthology Project Vol 01"

This tape was sent to me by one of the poets who are on it, I just can't remember which one! It's a fairly commercially produced cassette because they had some financial help from the Austin Arts Commission, and features local poets and musicians from the Austin, Texas area! The paper insert says 1988, but the date on the tape itself is 1990. The artistes involved were Susan Bright, Albert Huffstickler, Eleanor Crockett, Arlene Jackson, w D'Jaima Garnier (guitar), Hedwig Gorski (who also did the cover artwork) w/East of Eden Band, and.....

Raul Salinas w/ Richard Rodriguez (Trumpet) - "Casting My Vote"

THE SOMEDAY PEOPLE - "Very Silly!!" (1989)

I received this tape from Tony R. Boles in late 1989. I think he had read about us in some magazine! Tony and The Someday People hailed out of Front Royal, Virginia.

 This cassette is titled "Very Silly!"

 This is a prime example of people just having fun, and it's very silly!

The Someday People - "Kraftwerk Vs. Tarzan"

GAJOOB SAMPLER - Issue #9, Sampler #3 (1993)

GAJOOB Magazine online! -The Independent Mind!!

Making tapes and sending them all over the world is one thing, but you've really gotta admire a guy like Bryan Baker who took on the chore of putting out a full-scale magazine like GAJOOB. And if putting out a magazine wasn't enough work it itself, Bryan also started releasing compilation tapes to go along with each issue! When I started this blog, I wasn't really expecting too many people to still be doing this kind of stuff, but before I started writing this, I looked it up, and Bryan's still around. I really wouldn't have expected anything less!  This is GAJOOB Sampler #3 from Issue #9, and it features artwork by my pal and fellow worm, Gary Wray. The musicians who contributed to this tape were Stegor, Ellen Mizellen, K.D. Schmitz, Dairy Queen Empire, David Paul, Cassie Adkinson, Don Malone, Ebbinghaus, Bat Lenny & Limpid Green, Tom Wright, Lisa Power, The Ragin Mantras, John M. Bennett & Rotcod Zzaj, Stirlitz, and......

DUTCH PROVOS - "Love Lane"

3 MEN PISSING IN THE RAIN - (1988)

 This 1988 cassette by 3 Men Pissing In The Rain from Germany has hit a blind spot in my memory bank. I traded so many tapes with German artists, and I always got extra stuff because everybody was always trying to also promote their friends. There's no information or song list on the tape insert, and I actually found the title of the song on Discogs.com 

which is an amazing resource site for this kind of stuff! I do remember one thing, and that is this was always one of my favorite band names! Other than that, the only name on the tape is Lars Schuy and it looks like he was from Karlsruhe, (West) Germany.

Here's a pretty cool pop song by........

 3 men pissing in the rain - "She Loves Me Not"

A FROG CROAKS "GERO! GERO!" - Various Artists Comp (1988)

"A FROG CROAKS "GERO! GERO!" was a 1988 various artists compilation cassette produced by the great Japanese guitarist Toshiyuki Hiraoka (Lord Litter has informed me that "Toshi is quite involved in soundtrack production for movies these days"). This super international tape was a thrill to be on because we were one of only four groups from America on it, Stinky Finger, Les Larmes, Wallmen, and Hermanos Guzanos. We had one song on each side of this tape, "Dance Like A Geek," and "Who'd Want To Do It." The other musicians included Angor Wat from Norway, Original Disease from France, Nostalgie Eternelle from (West) Germany, Kina from Italy, Paradox from Israel, Toshiyuki Hiraoka himself, and Tadashi Aioi (More Info from Lord Litter: Tadashi is still doing loud noisy underground with a  trio, and he once did a bizarre cover with a female vocal trio of one of my songs") .. from Japan! Besides all that, there was also a song by a guy who I am still in contact with today, straight outta (West) Germany (at the time)

Lord Litter - "Mega Star"

"Gero! Gero!" also had two songs on it by an obscure band from England called Chumbawaba! Boy, was I surprised when they had a big hit with "Tubthumping" some nine years later! Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for our chance to be Mega Stars! The irony of it all!
Chumbawaba - "Rich Pop Stars Make Good Socialists"

SET - "10 Original Funk-Rock Songs For A Social-Fervor Future!" (1988)

Get ready! Charles Rick Kelly is SET! 

Closet Studios, LTD 1988, Dallas, Texas

Cover art by Winifred Milius.

Set - "Skeleton Crew"

SPENT - Self-Titled (1992)

Spent was a good rockin' three piece band from Jersey City, NJ.

That's about all I got! I don't remember much else!

"recorded 10.04.092 at Snack Time, Hoboken, with Lyle & Fred."

Spent - "Postage Due"

PANDORA's LUNCHBOX - "Moody Yam" (1994)

I was getting pretty distracted by 1994, so I don't remember much about this tape! I can tell you that Pandora's Lunchbox were from Wilmington, NC and that this tape was recorded live to DAT on a cold black night in May '94 and this is a pretty wild song!

Pandora's Lunchbox - "Luther The Geek Falls In Love"

MADE IN U.S.A. VOLUME 1 - "Various Artists" (1994)

I always thought this was an interesting project, a various artists compilation tape from Red Neon Tapes in Belgium featuring only music from the United States. I had a song on this tape that might not have been too bad if it had been mixed decently, but it wasn't! This tape also featured music from some truly amazing talent that included MISS IN DIARY, NOMUZIC, TEEN MILK, SCREAMIN' POPEYES, BLACK LEATHER JESUS, NEXT RADIO, SUM-ER 4, PINEAL VENTANA, BEATBOX "D", CRAWL UNIT, DONALD CAMPAU, SHAKE MECHANICS, NEXT RADIO, and our featured and extremely talented artist with a message that is still pertinent some 30 years later! If life is fair, these guys are rich and famous by now! (This song is genuine social commentary, but unfortunately the language is still not permissible by current FCC regulations which is just fucking stupid!) "Make Music, Not Money!" From San Anselmo, Ca. I'm so fucking proud to present...

The New Improved Jook Savages - "It's So Fucked"

RED ASPHALT - "Egg & Anvil" (1993)

I had exchanged a couple of tapes with Scott Davey in the bay area, and I think he sent me this RED ASPHALT tape that says it was recorded in San Anselmo, Ca. 1982 - during the Flood. Scott was playing keyboards, and had some vocals on these early recordings. The other members of RED ASPHALT were Tina James, vocals, Ron Hanik, guitar, Bruno De Martes, bass, and Ted Johnson, percussion, vocals. It's a one-sided tape, but it's "repeated on side 1 for your convenience." People were so much more thoughtful in the 80's! This is a pretty cool tune!

RED ASPHALT - "Survival, Evasion, Escape"

MITCH FRIEDMAN - "Pop Corn" (1987)

 This tape is by Mitch Friedman and is broken down into three sections, WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE ('84 - '85), SCRAP - Collected bits from 1/84 thru 4/87, and EXCUSE ME ('85 - '87). The red shirt on the cover is hand colored! Recorded in Schenectady and Woodmere, NY, and performed entirely by Mitch Friedman, except for a couple of guest vocals. Your guess is as good as mine what this song is about!

Mitch Friedman - "Boan-Ga-Loar"

 The liner notes state that "Mitch Friedman is proficient at zero musical instruments," and I believe it!