SOUNDTRACK: NEGATIVLAND-Helter Stupid (1989).
Helter Stupid was the follow-up to Negativland’s “smash hit” (maybe 10,000 copies sold? I have no idea) Escape from Noise.
It is a concept album based on a hoax that they perpetrated. Wikipedia summarizes:
In 1988, the group released a mock press release to suggest that the song “Christianity Is Stupid” was connected to murders by David Brom, and that the group was forced to cancel a planned tour in support of Escape from Noise. However, there were no connections with the murders, and the tour was cancelled only due to shortage of funds and free time. Their next album, Helter Stupid, made use of the event by sampling news reports of the controversy surrounding Negativland.
So they generated their own controversy and then made art from it. Can you imagine the attention that would get in 2019 compared to the minor coverage they got in 1989?
The first half of the album is composed of the tracks “Prologue” and “Helter Stupid” which form an extended piece lasting over 22 minutes. The concept, and some of the sampled material, came from a San Francisco television news program that was taken in by the media hoax. Other samples used included those from Rev. Estus Pirkle (further samples from the same sermon used in “Christianity Is Stupid”), an interview with Charles Manson, and “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles.
The disc opens with a man reciting lewd(ish) rock lyrics. Then comes clips of ads for murder movies–murder, mayhem, marauding!
The prologue continues with extended samples of the news reports that talks about them being connected to the murder case. At the end of the track a phone rings.
Song 2 begins with a call from Rolling Stone asking if there is any backward masking on “Christianity is Stupid.”
The rest of the 18 or so minutes is a mashup of all kinds of samples, spliced and cut up.
we don’t have enough data ; S-I-M-P-L-O-T ; murder and music–this isn’t the first time controversial music has been linked to tragedy. A lengthy quite from Charles Manson and one from John Lennon
There is section where engineers hear something on a tape when you run it backwards–play it backward and you hear (rather amusing) evil messages.
Then comes the riff of Helter Skelter with The Beatles singing Helter and then “Stupid” sampled over “Skelter.” The middle of the track goes on to emphasize how stupid the controversy is by continuing to use the “stupid” sample in all places
It’s believed night stalker suspect Richard Ramirez was influenced by AC/DC’s Highway to Stupid album. Ozzy Osborne song “Stupid Solution” became the focal point of an actual stupid case involving a Southern California teenager
And then a clever splice to create: “Christianity is triggering the murders.”
It’s intense and thought provoking and sometimes funny.
Side Two is completely different. There’s 7 tracks all called “The Perfect Cut” with different parenthetical names after each one. It’s introduced as Dick Vaughn’s Canned Music Moribund Music of the 70s, brought to you in authentic 70s stereophonic format with music, news reports, contests, and more. The tracks contain samples from “The Winning Score”, a 1977 presentation by TM Century, producers of radio jingles and imaging.
“The Perfect Cut (Canned Music)” talks about short IDs and promos for radio and loops the phrase “execute a perfect cut.”
“The Perfect Cut (Rooty Poops)” features someone talking about being the greatest radio personality in the world. He then says he spins the dial and finds nothing good–what a bunch of rooty poops. There’s lots of samples from 70s funk and the absurdly high note of “Loving You.” There’s also a bit of Casey Casem.
“The Perfect Cut (Good as Gold)” is all about “staying power and the announcer wondering who will still be around 7 years from now in 1992. Their list: Bruce Springsteen will not burn out’ Prince (unless he gets a whim and decides to drop out of music) ; Michael Jackson ; Lionel Ritchie ; U2 ; Bryan Adams ; Talking Heads; Eurhythmics. [That list was about half right]. There are samples of : Fragmentation and standardization.
“The Perfect Cut (Piece of Meat)” mostly features a sample of someone growling “I’d like a piece of meat.” And the admission that the music industry suffered from denationalization but it became big business. All of this over disco bass and strings.
“The Perfect Cut (White Rabbit And A Dog Named Gidget)” opens with a high school student saying “I’d like to become a lawyer and go to UCLA. I hear it’s got nice weather and lots cute guys. I’d like a white rabbit convertible a dog named Gidget. The most important thing in my life is to go to heaven when i die.” There’s more Casey Casem talking about learning to appreciate new music.
“The Perfect Cut (11 Minutes)” A Top 40 listener’s average listening span is only 11 minutes. Jingles need to be shorter and more frequent. A shotgun intro with accents on each of your call letters. I enjoyed hearing this promo.
LPs sale priced at $2.66. 8-track tape $4.44 including this Billboard toppers: The Jackson 5, The Carpenters, Elton John, Neil Young,Cat Stevens, Black Sabbath, James Taylor, Ike & Tina Turner.
There’s also this news headlines for Dec 1978–the average price of gas soars to 76 cents per gallon (!).
Dick Vaughn–From Jan 1, 1970 to Dec 31, 1979, we’ve got your moribund music.
“The Perfect Cut (48 Hours)” is inspired by an ad “You’ve got 48 hours to save a lot of money.”
Someone says it’s so annoying I used to shut the radio right off. Then there’s silence for 10 seconds followed by, “just when you thought it was safe to turn on your radio.” And the promise/threat: “Nothing happens until someone buys something.”
The Weatherman shows up to talk about “sewer mouth.”
And then there’s this gem: Take 2 high quality stereo LPs, put them in a full-color jacket, add a beautiful sexy gal on front and candid photos of the KQ jocks inside and you’ve got a bombshell [EXPLOSION].
This is a fun and interesting experiment. Some tracks do actually bear repeated listening to hear just what they’re trying to do.
Personnel: Richard Lyons (credited as “Dick Vaughn”) ; David Wills (uncredited) ; Don Joyce (uncredited) ; Mark Hosler (uncredited) ; Chris Grigg (uncredited)
Musical Samples The Beatles – “Helter Skelter” ; King Floyd – “Groove Me” ; Carol Douglas – “Doctor’s Orders” ; Minnie Riperton – “Lovin’ You” ; Tavares – “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel” & “It Only Takes a Minute” ; Zapp (unidentified) ; Brothers Johnson – “Strawberry Letter 23” ; Brick – “Dazz” ; Natalie Cole – “This Will Be” ; Joe Tex – “I Gotcha” ; Donna Summer – “Love to Love You Baby” ; Bebu Silvetti – “Spring Rain” ; Bill Summers & Summer Heat – “Jam the Box” ; Mungo Jerry – “In the Summertime”
[READ: April 20, 2019] “The Seven Circles”
This story started as one thing and then turned into something else very dramatically.
It begins with Vinod completing his B. Com and being told by his parents that he should get ready for marriage. They had the girl picked out and since he had no objection to her, they went ahead with the plans.
He found himself at his future in-laws looking at the gifts that his bride-to-be, Sheetal, would bring with her. He glanced at her during this surveying of the gifts and he was sure he saw her looking back at him with distaste.
He desperately tried to get her to look at him over the next few weeks, but even during the ceremony she would not look him in the eye. He thought about running away during “the seven circles” of the ceremony, but he went through with it.
That first wedding night was awkward as they slowly got to know each other. The had a little, but not much, in common. And he didn’t even consider doing anything physical. He did manage to get one kiss in before the night was over. (more…)
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SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
