ZE records was created in 1978 in New York by Englishman Michael Zilkha, ( Z ), and Frenchman Michel Esteban ( E ). Between 1975 and 1976, Esteban published ROCK NEWS, the first punk magazine, which covered the birth of the movement in London, New York and later, Paris. Esteban had also published in Patti Smith's WITT and The Night, two poetry books, in 1977.
When Esteban went into music producing and signed French new wave band Marie Et Les Garcons in 1977, he asked John Cale to produce the single. Cale had been introduced to Michel by Patti Smith, around the time he was producing Horses. John Cale produced the cult French single "Re bop" in N.Y., and when he decided to start a record label with Jane Friedman (John and Patti's manager), he called upon Esteban and introduced Michael Zilkha to him. Esteban and Zilkha, both long time fans of The Velvet Underground, launched the label SPY Records, along with Friedman and Cale. Marie Et Les Garcons' single was originally released on SPY, along with other singles, all produced by John Cale, including releases from: Harry Toledo, The Necessaries, the pope of rock critics, Lester Bangs, and Bob Dylan's black eminence, Bobby Neuwirth.
This collaboration lasted several months, then Zilkha and Esteban decided to start their own label and left to create ZE records. After the late '70s new wave and punk explosion, a new bunch of inspiring musicians, often writers, painters, movie-makers and drifters met and created a deviant musical scene that rejected the traditional ways of the music business; and ZE provided a crazy cocoon and lab for this urban tribe to explore, search & destroy. A year later Chris "Tycoon" Blackwell joined in and through a licensing deal with his major label Island Records, gave ZE a worldwide exposure.
In only a few years, Ze developed an independent and surrealist entity with a very particular aesthetic line -- a chaotic but coherent universe, refuge to all the arty New York underground scenes and the strong individualities that composed it. For some people at that time, ZE was simply "the best independent record label in the world," quoting John Pell in Melody Maker (1980). In THE FACE, Robert Elms wrote in the March 1981 issue: "The most sane part of advice that this young scribe edge offer at present is this -- IF IT'S ON ZE, BUY IT." In the same magazine in January 1982, Paul Tickell said of the label: "Ze Records is the most fashionable label in the world." The rest is history. Featuring fantastic reissues of ZE staples and innovators such as Lizzy Mercier Descloux, James White & The Blacks, Cristina, Lio, Lydia Lunch, Was (Not Was) and much more.
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ZE 032CD
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Michael Dracula is a group led by Emily MacLaren, an American girl living in Glasgow, and this is her debut album. In The Red is a selection of songs Emily MacLaren had composed and been playing live with the various incarnations of Michael Dracula as it has evolved over the past 4 years. Although it was two years in the making, and was first conceived as a sort of obituary to the first four years of Michael Dracula, In The Red (so named due to blighted finances and two weeks spent mixing in a freezing November with no heat due to French utilities supplier's "red days") will always be a sort of work in progress, as much of the recording technique and style was really just a mix of instinct and accident. The idea behind this recording was based on a frustration about what seemed to be standard production for most modern albums: a production where every instrument sounds punchy and powerful, where there is a bland democracy in the mix which renders everything clear and equally present, no mistakes or even happy accidents. So, even though they were recording everything onto computer, the idea was to stay away -- as much as possible -- from using it to clean up any live takes, maximize drums, or add sound effects. Instead, they just placed microphones all over the room -- which, in a 500-year-old villa, was incredibly vast and reflective. Even cardboard boxes and pillows were used as percussion. The result is just what was expected: driving rhythms on an out-of-tune piano, repetitive drums with minimal fills, Motown and dub bass lines played by a white girl from Ohio, five guitar parts all playing the same wrong note while the ghost of an organ hums a tune on the periphery of your hearing, and a chorus of backing vocals chant from the bathroom, all providing the backing track for songs about the complexities of human relationships, and getting fucked up.
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ZE 022CD
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Originally released in 1996, Wandatta is one of Lio's most personal albums. After a five-year gap from her previous release, "Wandatta" alludes to her given name, Wanda Maria de Vasconcelos, as the pop icon/actress attempted to shed her nymphette status while still remaining as provocative as ever. Recorded at Studio Musica & Studio de La Grande Armée, Wandatta was initially refused by her major label who did not understand their Lolita's sudden change of style and began complaining that Lio's new songs were far too removed from her media image. After a break from her label, Lio teamed up with renowned French song writer Boris Bergman, and the result is amazing: dark and sometimes disturbing, both the music and the lyrics are often paradoxical. Based upon a hypnotic set of percussions, "Manchette" and "J'te Frappe" are two heavy tracks with experimental touches, while "Cruauté Menthol" and "In Extremis" tackle the dirtier and more frenetic aspect of rock n' roll. Wandatta is an eclectic album fusing influences from Mexico and Japan, also expressing a deep melancholy inspired by Portuguese traditional fado. Lio said of this album: "I didn't want to kill Lio, but we had to find a certain balance." This assertion is exactly what makes this record so malleable and revealing.
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ZE 020CD
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This is Lio's fifth album, originally released in 1988, now remastered and reissued with four bonus tracks by Ze Records. The incredible success of Pop Model and its four amazing singles repositioned Lio as one of the most important French pop singers of her time. Intense promotion, multiple entreaties, heavy radio airplay, magazine covers, countless numbers of TV appearances without mentioning the three videos constantly broadcasted on musical networks, certainly kept Lio and her producer Michel Esteban busy. Nevertheless, Pop Model needed a worthy successor. With the aid of Jacques Duvall, Guillaume Israel (who wrote two wonderful tracks: "C'est Ça Ma Vie" and "Malaise Sur La Falaise"), Vincent Palmer and Yann Leker, Can Can set out to remold Lio in image and song. At the beginning, the concept behind this album was to be a tribute to the typically French state of mind symbolized by the famous can-can style. Born in the late 19th century at the notorious Moulin Rouge Parisian cabaret, the can-can is an exclusively feminine ritualized and provocative dance. This revolutionary, original, cheerful and politically- incorrect state of mind seemed to be the perfect lineage and the natural evolution of Lio's image initiated with Pop Model. Obviously, Can Can featured potential hits as much as Pop Model, however, the switch from energetic singles to the softer ballades of Can Can (like the single "Seules Les Filles Pleurent") was clearly misunderstood by the audience. Featuring anthemic rock, bubbling synth pop, burlesque-tinged siren songs and morose ballads, Can Can did not sell as well as her previously-released albums. However, Lio clearly remained a compelling personality caught in a marvellous and imaginative visual context, confirmed here by the album artwork done by legendary artist Hugo Pratt.
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ZE 021CD
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This is Lio's sixth album, originally released in 1991, now remastered and reissued with five bonus tracks by Ze Records. The electro-pop Lolita, French chanteuse and can-can diva travelled to London to record Des Fleurs Pour Un Caméléon which was produced under the general direction of famous French singer/producer Etienne Daho. The album is clearly influenced by the English pop-rock style of that time. Lio's performance on this record is tinged with soft and deep intonations, colored by her famous "joyful despair" approach. Without overshadowing her protégée's performance, Daho's universe is omnipresent: keyboards and guitars harmoniously intermingle until they reach a flawless climax and melodies are catchy without being oversweet. Lio's smoother voice perfectly compliments this atmosphere, whether it is on the electric "Je Me Tords," or the cover of "Girl From Ipanema," and the touch of producer Daho is impeccable, along with the collaboration of artists like Gota and Jacques Duvall. Des Fleurs Pour Un Caméléon wasn't as commercially successful as some of its predecessors, but sometimes, the chameleon is doing its job so perfectly that it remains unnoticed.
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ZE 026CD
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2016 restock. 2006 reissue. This is the third record Lizzy Mercier Descloux recorded, originally released by CBS Records (France-only) as Gazelles in 1984, now repackaged by Ze Records, including five bonus tracks. After having spent the previous few years promoting the Mambo Nassau album, Lizzy became enamoured of her trips to Africa and its music: highlife, Zairian rumba, Manu Dibango's makossa, King Sunny Adé's Juju music and Fela Kuti's Afrobeat and Julius Levine's African pop. The music you will hear on Zulu Rock is as diverse as the blend of ethnic groups in South Africa itself: it is mbaganga -- which literally means "the poor South-African stew," a musical blend of different local styles and Anglo-Saxon pop. A heavy and emphatic bass line characterizes this sound, with a technique inspired by Zulu guitars. Against all expectations, the record was very well received in France, both by the critics, who awarded it Best Rock Album of the Year, and by the public. "Mais oét Passé Les Gazelles?" went on to be the unlikely hit single of summer 1984. .
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ZE 002-ACD
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2016 restock. U>Mutant Disco compilation, originally released in 2003 as a 2CD release, has now been separated at birth into two separate volumes (002A, 002B) of power-packed, explosive post-wave, post-punk, post-disco disco music. From 1978 to 1983 in New York City, a rare breed of label exploded in vibrant neon-color to forever change the perception of and push the limits to the definition of disco. The dancehall that was home to Ze's Mutant Disco revolution was ready to burst over the top with a perverse blend of over-the-top musical spectacular to complement the grainier, more underground pop. Mutant Disco acknowledged that disco was as absurdly adventurous and radical as anything emerging from rock orthodoxy. Disco alchemists like Arthur Russell and Larry Levan, labels like West End and Prelude subtly "discolated" the norm in as spectacular a way as The Pop Group and A Certain Ratio, Rough Trade and Factory. Ze's original Mutant Disco compilation came after the label's first few years of quiet artistic defiance, steadily releasing records from the U.S. and French underground resistance. The artists housed on this compilation became absolute Ze staples: Was (Not Was), Material & Nona Hendryx, Cristina, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Aural Exciters, James White & the Blacks, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Garçons, Don Armando's 2nd Av. Rhumba B. and Gichi Dan.
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ZE 002-BCD
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The Mutant Disco compilation, originally released in 2003 as a 2CD release, has now been separated at birth into two separate volumes (002A, 002B). This is the second volume of power-packed, explosive post-wave, post-punk, post-disco disco music. Featuring the Ze stable of out-there, irregular, revolutionary dance artists including Cristina, Coati Mundi, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Was (Not Was), Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Aural Exciters, Caroline Loeb, The Waitresses, Marie & Les Garçons, Garçons and Casino Music.
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ZE 014CD
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2016 restock. In 1981, when ZE Records first published the vinyl LP Mutant Disco there were only 6tracks on it. In 2003, when I decided to relaunch the label that Michael Zilkha and myself founded in New York in 1978, I transformed this mini album into a double CD with 25 tracks. It was as if Mutant Disco had become a style of its own in which musicians from different cultures and nationalities could find common ground. Between 1978 and 1983 in New York City, music from a wide range of styles developed based on a common denominator -- you could dance to it. The title of "garag"' comes from "Paradise Garage, " the now mythical club at 84 King Street, which was one of the focal points for New York gay and disco culture for 10 years (1977-1987). The turntables were under the magic touch of Larry Levan, one of the pioneers of NY Dance Music that some began calling garage, while his childhood friend Frankie Knuckles did pretty much the same in Chicago where certain people began to call his style House music. Larry Levan also promoted open and eclectic musical sources and many DJs today have drawn inspiration from this. The Sound System at Paradise Garage developed by Larry and Richard Long was reputed to be the best in NY. Many producers would test their mixes on the dance floor at the Garage. Many of the remixes at ZE, especially those by August Darnell were first played at the Garage before being produced. Larry remixed for August and Kid Creole & The Coconuts: 'Something Wrong in Paradise,' which certainly has its place in this third volume of Mutant Disco. In addition to this remix, Garage Sale includes several jewels from the ZE Records' back catalogue: the long play version of the sublime 'Dream Baby Dream' by Suicide; a remix of Alan Vega's 'Outlaw' by August Darnell; 'Techno-Freaks' by Junie Morrison, founding member of Funkadelic who brought out an excellent album, 'Evacuate Your Seats,' on ZE in 1983; a mix by Don Was of 'What's a Girl to Do' by Cristina. Don was also involved in the production of 'Dance or Die' by Sweet Pea Atkinson from his solo album Don't Walk Away (ZE Records 1982). Also present are 'Man Vs The Empire Brain Building' from the second album by Was (Not Was) for ZE in 1982, "Born to Laugh at Tornadoes" and "Read My Lips," another production by the Was (not) brothers under the pseudonym of 'A Thousand Points Of Night.' There is also the underground classic 'He's The Groove' by Snuky Tate, released on ZE in 1979 as a single and 12" single, plus the classic 'No Time to Stop Believing in Love', by Daisy Chain, in the international version. There are two excellent tracks from Ron Rogers, a very active member of the ZE dream team in the early 80s. Ron also took part in the sessions with Aural Exciters, Bob Blank's After Hours Party Band, with 'Maladie d'Amour.' As Kevin Pearce wrote in the liner notes to Mutant Disco Volume 1 & 2: "Yes, the urge to let our imagination run riot, and the need to dance to twisted sounds remains. The Mutant Disco, the haunted dancehall will never close down.
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ZE 013CD
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A compilation of Classic Covers by ZE original artists. "All the artists that record for ZE Records have made at least one cover version. It was a natural step forward to bring them together on this compilation. Coati Mundi has adapted Tropical Hot Dog Night, one of the most joyous songs ever written by Don Van Vliet for his band Captain Beefheart. Rueben Blades is present as a Latino guest star. Alan Vega pays a tribute to Gene Vincent with his version of Be Bop a Lua. Cristina revives her French roots and offers us a highly personal, Latin version of La Poupée qui fait Non produced by August Darnell from Michel Polnareff's first success. Casino Music, whose leader Gilles Riberolles parodies the French Lover on the previous track by Cristina offers an excellent cover of The Beat Goes On, written by Salvatore Bono & Cherilyn LaPiere, better known as Sonny & Cher. Their Frenchy compatriots Suicide Romeo have lent their influence to Needle in a Camel's Eye by Brian Eno, in a version that is cleverly close to the original. James White took up the challenge with a version of (Tropical) Heatwave by Irving Berlin (with Anya Phillips as the platinum blond) made popular by Marilyn Monroe in the film There's No Business Like Show Business. Lili Marlene by Marlene Dietrich is reviewed and adopted by Kid Creole & the Coconuts, sung in German by Adriana, accompanied on the piano by Stony Browder Jr., August Darnell's brother and co-founders of Dr Buzzard's Original Savannha Band. Aural Exciters, Bob Blank's After Hours Party Band offer their version of 'My Boy Lollipop', originally created by Jamaican teenager Millie Small, who brought the first N°1 in the British charts (N°2 in the USA) to a young producer called Chris Blackwell on his then new label, Island Records. 'My Boy Lollipop' is still today one of the top selling Reggae singles in the world. Lizzy Mercier Descloux gives her offbeat version of Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get it On', recorded in Rio de Janeiro during sessions for her One for the Soul album. Sweet Pea Atkinson in a duo with Caroll Hall, supported by Was (Not Was), cover Anyone who had a Heart by Burt Bacharach, originally made famous by Dionne Warwick. In 1980 LIO recorded Gillespie and Coots' You go to my Head, also interpreted famously by Billie Holiday, her version though remains fresh and visionary even. The newcomers to ZE in 2004 also rose to the challenge with pleasure. Miss OD backed by Gentleman's League pour out a very smooth version of Dindi by Jobim, originally interpreted by Astrud Gilberto and also sung magnificently by Sinatra. Bohemians Vs Cow Boys featuring Miss OD and Shuuko electrify Money, the Tamla Motown classic by Barret Strong. Finally LISI, a daughter of Cuban exiles in Miami rips into (with great class and style) Johnny Mercer and Harold Harlen's American classic 'Come Rain or Come Shine', made popular by numerous artists including Judy Garland, Sinatra and Billie Holiday. The difficulty in adapting a song lies in the capacity of breaking with its past history, its origins in order to take a hold of it, breathe a different life into it, reinvent it, even revolutionize it?injecting new emotion to a song that has already made its mark: what a challenge!! --Michel Esteban
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ZE 012CD
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2016 restock. First CD reissue of the 2nd and final Cristina album, originally issued in 1984. Deluxe foldout digipak reissue, with 6 bonus tracks. Produced by Don Was, with guest musicians including Marcus Melgrave & James Chance. "The singer fared better with her next collaborator, Don Was. 'It's completely in keeping with the ZE philosophy to put two extremely disparate elements together, and see what happens,' says the producer. Sleep It Off was a masterpiece, from its unsettling Jean Paul Goude cover, to the haunting acoustic ballad 'He Dines Out on Death.' In between, Cristina snarled the Sex Pistols-ish 'Don't Mutilate My Mink' ('We should've given John Lydon a writing credit,' says Was), the electro-funk of 'Ticket to the Tropics,' and a raucous romp through Van Morrison's 'Blue Money.' Her rendition of 'She Can't Say That Anymore' proved so sublime, hardly anyone realized it was a reinterpretation of 1980 country hit; 'I found the song very evocative of screen doors, mosquitoes and sweat, Deep South depravity.' 'The one thing that pop music has lost lately is its sense of irony,' Cristina lamented when Sleep It Off dropped in 1984. 'People either write dumb-funny novelty songs or dead-earnest serious songs. There's nothing around that combines elements of both. There's none of the real wit and self-humor of anyone from a Bertolt Brecht to a Cole Porter or an early Dylan.' 20 years later, Sleep It Off's producer, Don Was, still holds Cristina in the highest esteem. 'I didn't fully realize it at the time, but she achieved a certain artistic ideal. Sleep It Off is an incredibly honest representation of what she was about. Twenty years later, I've learned that that's what you want to do when you produce an album: Take a snapshot of somebody. Certainly, there were exaggerations -- everyone is more complex than they can express in a three-minute song -- but Sleep It Off is as accurate a portrait as Nick of Time."
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ZE 010CD
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Previously unreleased live album, recorded Live aux Bains Douches; Paris May13,1980. Remastered 2004, Paris. Personnel: James Chance: (lead vocals, alto sax, organ); Ginger Lee: (vocals on 'I Danced with A Zombie'); Al Mac Dowell: (bass); Patrick Geoffrois: (guitar); Richard Harrisson: (drums); Lorenzo Wyche: (trumpet); Fred Wells: (guitar). Available for the first time ever on CD.
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ZE 009CD
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Reissue of this 1983 album, originally issued by Ze. "In the same vein as George Clinton, James becomes James Chance & the Contortions, then James White & the Blacks, and has a third incarnation as James White's Flaming Demonics. In four years, James will record his three best albums on Ze records. A considerable number of musicians participated in the adventure. James experimented the most adventurous combinations, Funk rhythmic sections, arty poseurs, rockers, a kaleidoscope of picturesque characters which we will discover later in many bands directly inherited from this experience: Bush Tetras, Raybeats, Defunk, 8 Eye-Spy, etc..." Includes deluxe 20 page booklet.
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ZE 1202
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"By the end of the seventies Bob Blank was one of the original respected young Disco producers of N.Y.C. Opening the famed Blank Tape Studios in New York in 1976 and producing hit records (with his wife Lola a former performer with the James Brown revue) such as Over Like A Fat Rat by Fonda Rae. Blank tape was ZE records favorite studio. Bob was going to records there some of the best No wave and Mutant disco albums. First efforts by Kid Creole & the Coconuts, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, James White & the Blacks, Lydia Lunch, The Contortions, Cristina, Garcons, Casino Music, everyone was recording at Blank Tapes Studios, with Bob as chief engineer or sometime co-producer. Perhaps more than any other Mutant Disco artifact, the Aural Exciters's record features a special spider's web of links and lineages. Besides, the aforementioned August Darnell connections, who was also one of Aural Exciters's main composer, the gang featured Taana Gardner, who later sang on 'Heartbeat', her awesome West End disco classic. Most of the girls you could find on any Prelude records, like Chris Wiltshire were also invited to the party. August Darnell even used Aural Exciters for experimentation on various material to be founded on future Kid Creole's albums. Songs like 'Mr. Softee', 'Gina, Gina', 'Maladie d'amour', 'Broadway Rhythm', were first recorded by Aural Exciters. August also wrote the avant garde '<< Emile (Night Rate) >>', which was downbeat dub disco ten years before Massive Attack. Not to mention the evident wink to Amyl Nitrate well known by Poppers's fans."
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ZE 1203
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"This 12" single is the first release of a series called Zevolution whose the original idea was to ask various artists to cover one of their favorite songs from ZE records back catalogue. Twitch is brilliantly opening the ball."
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ZE 006CD
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2016 restock. First release of this compilation of original Was (Not Was) extended 12" mixes and remixes. "It's not hard to understand why Michael Zilkha & Michel Esteban's ZE Records and the whole punk-funk, disco-not-disco thang of the early 80s has been rediscovered by a new generation looking for their own answers to music's eternal mind-body problem. ZE offered a seductive vision of the world where style collided with substance, where deconstruction made a reconciliation with melody and hooks, where groove embraced distortion, where punk's outcast geek was transformed by the fairy godmother of disco into a 'Halston, Gucci... Fiorucci' clad suavecito with a social conscience and a brain... Left to their own devices, Was (Not Was) were like The Bonzo Dog Band, the Merry Pranksters and Gang of Four on a New Orleans funeral parade led by Parliafunkadelicment. On their extended remixes, though, their music became more streamlined and honed down to a razor smoothness. The remix process and the dancefloor forced Fagenson and Weiss to focus on one idea rather than the 30 they had running around their heads. Their wild eclecticism was restrained as was their tartness. Where most remixes are created simply to get more bodies on to the dancefloor, the mixes collected on (The Woodwork) Squeaks actually shed light on the messages of the songs rather than merely their grooves. Of course, the goal of the best dance music is to get you to think with your entire body and that's exactly what Was (Not Was) succeeded in doing. After all, it's not merely the détourned words of Ronald Reagan that let you know that 'Tell Me That I'm Dreaming' is not your ordinary hands-in-the-air disco stomper; it's the astringent guitar riff, the dub alienation, the comedic voices, the sibilant hi-hat that would soon become the hallmark of house music." --Peter Shapiro, London December 2003
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ZE 005CD
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2016 restock. First reissue of this 1981 debut album. "Don Was (Donald Fagenson) & David Was (David Weiss) grew up in the musical and cultural thrall of Detroit, raised on the timeless soul of Motown artists as well as on such anarchic rockers as the MC5 and the Stooges. According to legend David and Don became friends when both were ratted on in an 8th grade gym class incident in suburban Detroit. Their debut album was released in June 1981 in the UK, Was (Not Was), was immediately recognized as a wildly unique confabulation of R & B, funk, rock and theater of the absurd. Referred to by one early published account as 'The Beat That Devoured Detroit, the funk-mutation experiment that wrecked the lab and boogied off into the night,' Was (Not Was) brought more than just a whacked-out-yet- utterly danceable sensibility to pop music. It also introduced the listening public to such striking musical voices as frontman Sweet Pea Atkinson, the former Detroit auto worker whose rich vocal qualities recall Otis Redding or Sam Cooke.
Following release of their first self-titled album in the summer of 1981, the daft Out Come the Freaks reached the disco top 20. The smooth dance sound of 'Tell Me That I'm Dreaming' broke them into the dance top 5 in early 1982. The Was (Not Was) sound could often be mistaken for classic R & B with a dance beat if not for topical and sometimes overtly nutty lyrics. Shattering the imaginary divisions between 'black music' and 'white music', Detroiters David (Weiss; sax, flute, keyboards, vocals) and Don (Fagenson; bass, keyboards, guitar) Was use undated soul and funk as a flexible backdrop for their alternately serious and sarcastic commentary. The historical problem with a lot of dance music has been its rabid dissociation from intellect; more than almost any other group, Was (Not Was) obliterates that gap. The first album's material, while drawing on such familiar sources as Grace Jones and Stevie Wonder, blends in enough humor and cleverness to make virtually every song an original gem, including the disco hits 'Out Come the Freaks' and 'Tell Me That I'm Dreaming' (which includes mutilated found vocals by Ronald Reagan). The remarkable cast of players is a disparate mix of rock and funk.
In addition to the welcome sounds of Sweet Pea and Sir Harry, the album was stocked with a wickedly confusing assortment of guest stars. It featured Mitch Ryder, Ozzy Osbourne, Doug Fieger of The Knack -- and most remarkably -- rock hating jazz singer Mel Torme. Ozzy was dragged into the studio to record the vocals for 'Shake Your Head' for which the 'brothers' had originally used Madonna as vocalist. But Don was not convinced that anyone outside of New York would ever hear of her... President Nixon was apparently asked to play piano for '(Return To The Valley Of) Out Come The Freaks', but refused. In the USA, for some inexplicable reason the record was issued with side two as side one. Although fans were once again bowled over by the band's irresistible beat and genre-bounding eclecticism, the group proved to be a marketing nightmare -- too rock to be thought of as an urban act, and yet too urban to be thought of as a rock band.
To be continued..."
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