PUBLIC COLLECTORS

A letter from Rob Nicholson of Cryptic Slaughter that I received in around late 1987 or early 1988. More recently, Rob has been playing with Ozzy Osbourne, which he discusses here. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

A short note from Rob Nicholson from the band Cryptic Slaughter, written on the back of a merchandise sheet that he mailed me in around 1987. You can listen to all of the album Money Talks on Youtube. As a 16 year old who bought this band’s cassettes from the local suburban chain record store, I can’t overstate how meaningful it was to me that I could simply write the band at an address on the tape and actually receive a response. I was just starting to publish a fanzine around this time and knowing that it was actually possible to directly connect with the bands I listened to was really important and exciting.

The front side of a folded merchandise sheet sent to me by the band Cryptic Slaughter back in around 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

A photocopied merchandise list for the band Cryptic Slaughter, mailed to be back in 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

Back in 1987 I developed a special love for the band Cryptic Slaughter, who played ridiculously fast hardcore with just enough slower grinding metal breaks to disrupt the sonic attack. I bought their first album Convicted on cassette at the old Wall to Wall Sound and Video in Suburban Square in the suburbs of Philly and was entranced. It must have been around this time that I wrote the band and exchanged a few letters with their bassist Rob (who recently has been playing with Ozzy, of all people). Here’s a merchandise sheet for the group that they sent me in October 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

This photo is from a performance / action that took place at a Pro-Choice Rally in Washington D.C. I am not sure of the year but believe I attended this protest in 1991. You can see all eleven photos on Flickr here.

The performance featured a group of drummers and row of women wearing black who fell to the ground after being confronted by a person dressed as the Grim Reaper. Upon falling, volunteers drew outlines around their bodies in chalk.

The message of the performance is not clearly remembered, nor do I remember if a speech was delivered in conjunction with the piece. I suspect the intention was to comment on deaths from illegal abortions and to challenge the risks that women would face if abortion rights were overturned. It’s amazing how resilient so many of these performance strategies remain at contemporary protests, even while feeling somewhat dated over twenty years ago. Unfortunately, challenges to women’s reproductive rights are equally constant so consider donating to Planned Parenthood, eh?

A letter printed in the October 1985 issue of Hit Parader defending Udo Dirkschneider of the German hard rock band Accept. More letters from Hit Parader discussing similar matters of critical importance here.

An undated letter (circa 1986) that I received from PolyGram in response to a forgotten complaint about the quality of a copy of the Rush album Power Windows. I would have been 15 years old when I sent that letter. I’m imagining that there was some kind of manufacturing defect, but really it’s the bland songs, horrible slick 80s production, and cheesy synth and drum sounds that should have been to blame. I’ve removed my full address because I know what Rush fans are capable of and the last thing my mom needs is a group of dudes showing up on her doorstep playing air glockenspiel.

Old issues of Hit Parader magazine are a pretty intense battleground where fans sort out the minutia of what constitutes talent, who has better hair, and how many chords are necessary for real rock. Here, in the August 1984 issue, a Canadian music lover has some strong words for Motley Crue. More from Hit Parader on Public Collectors here.

Thumbing through the April 1988 issue of Metal Mania magazine I was pretty surprised to see the a member of the Japanese hard rock band E-Z-O sporting an Einstürzende Neubauten shirt. While I suppose there’s some industrial action going on in this video, still, who would have guessed?!

A response, from Maureen Fulton, to a letter I wrote to People weekly back in 1985 when I would have been 14 years old. I’m guessing that I strongly disagreed with their account of rock music in the September 16, 1985 issue which had a cover story on controversial rock bands. I don’t have a record of the letter I sent the magazine, but you can read the article - which details the P.M.R.C. (Parents Music Resource Center) and their usual list of suspects here.

Two old snapshots of the band GWAR, given to me and presumably taken by my friend Eric Weiss in around 1989 from a show somewhere in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area.

A flyer, probably from 1989, for a show with Token Entry, Voice of Reason, Food For Thought, Batman’s Brother Ed, “and a D.C. band” at Unisound Recording Studio in Reading, Pennsylvania. You can see some more flyers from Unisound at this link. I did not attend this show but did see at least one gig at Unisound. I believe it was Judge and Integrity playing on the same bill if memory serves. This was, in my view, a horribly macho period of east coast hardcore, and shows at this time were filled with all of the jocks I wanted nothing to do with in high school. Unisound was a curious place otherwise, as they had a big indoor half-pipe for skating, which was used during shows.

A flyer for Outburst, Upperhand, Beyond Control, and Throne of Corruption at G-Willikers in Pennsauken, New Jersey. I believe this show would have happened in 1989. From an old mailing of material from my friend Eric Weiss (who I haven’t heard from in about as many years).

I continue to unearth bits of music ephemera in old letters from friends and other various stockpiles of my crap. Here’s a photocopied flyer for a Fugazi show, organized by WKDU at Drexel University in Philadelphia that took place in 1989. Also playing were Scram and 200 Stitches. It’s worth noting as well that the show was a benefit for ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). I had already moved from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh at this point but my friend Eric Weiss saved this for me. In these early Fugazi shows, people were still trying to bill them as “x Minor Threat”, though that went away eventually.