Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: The Birthday Party/The Boys Next Door

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Down The Rabbit Hole: 

The Birthday Party/The Boys Next Door

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the history and music of the influential Australian band The Birthday Party/The Boys Next Door.

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From Wikipedia and other sources:

The Birthday Party/The Boys Next Door were an Australian post-punk band, active from 1977 to 1983. They began life as The Boys Next Door, but then changed their name to when  they headed for London in 1980. The nucleus of the band first met at the private boys school Caulfield Grammar School, in suburban Melbourne, in the early seventies. A rock group was formed in 1973, with Nick Cave (vocals), Mick Harvey (guitar), and Phill Calvert (drums), with other students filling in various roles. Most were also members of the school choir. The band played under various names at parties and school functions with a mixed repertoire of glam rock.

After their final school year in 1975 the band decided to continue as a four-piece group, with friend Tracy Pew picking up the bass. Greatly affected by the punk explosion of 1976, The Boys Next Door, as they were now called, began performing punk and proto-punk cover versions. The Boys' second guitarist, Rowland S. Howard, joined in 1978, and about this time the group's sound changed dramatically with the introduction of the use of audio feedback. Their sound drew upon punk, rockabilly, free jazz and blues, defying categorization.

In producer/engineer Tony Cohen they found a sympathetic collaborator who encouraged experimentation. In manager Keith Glass they found an enthusiastic financial backer and a record label. Glass' label Missing Link Records released all of the group's early records. The Boys Next Door's best known song, Shivers, written by Howard, and first performed and recorded by his band The Young Charlatans, was banned by radio stations because of a reference to suicide.

After numerous live gigs, recordings and having found moderate success in Australia, the group moved to London in 1980, prompting a name change. Their new environment launched a period of innovative and aggressive music-making. However, they quickly grew disillusioned with the state of the music scene in London, only finding like-minded groups in the Fall and the Pop Group. 

After tours in the UK, Australia and the US, the group relocated to West Berlin in 1982. Here, their sound became noisier, with Nick Cave barely being heard above the din. Though Cave drew on earlier rock and roll shriekers such as Iggy Pop and Suicide's Alan Vega, his singing with the Birthday Party remained powerful and distinct, with his lyrics also drawing on the likes of Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire.

Their single Release the Bats came out during the emergence of the gothic scene. The song, about "vampire sex" was promoted by an advertisement with the words "Dirtiness is next to antigodliness". The group's 1982 album Junkyard was inspired by American Southern Gothic imagery.

Then the band was rocked by several changes. Calvert was ejected from in 1982 due to his inability to "nail down the beats". Harvey then moved to drums. Then Pew was jailed for drunk driving and petty theft. He would rejoin the band in July of 1982.

After a one-off recording project with Lydia Lunch, which Cave and Harvey disavowed, the group toured in January of 1983. They soon found themselves whittled down to a four-piece. By this point, tensions between Howard and Cave had grown intense, leading to Harvey's departure from the group. 

The Birthday Party played their final show at the Crystal Ballroom in St Kilda on 9 June 1983 and disbanded not long after, due in part to the split between Cave and Howard, as well as work and drug-related exhaustion.

 

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These Boots Are Made For Walking - The Boys Next Door

Shivers - The Boys Next Door

Nick, The Stripper - The Birthday Party

Release The Bats - The Birthday Party

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Weekend Onesie: Humpe Humpe

Weekend Onesie:

Humpe & Humpe

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the history and music of the Humpe sisters, Annette and Inga.

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From Wikipedia and other sources:

The Humpe sisters, Annette and Inga, spent their childhood in Herdecke and Bad Pyrmont. After high school and following six semesters of studying composition and piano in Cologne, Annette moved to Berlin in 1974, where she started performing in various bands. Her younger sister Inga soon followed and the sisters naturally found themselves collaborating on various musical projects.

They first achieved first commercial successes in 1979 with the band Neonbabies, founded by the sisters. The sisters released their debut album in 1981, with Inga on lead vocals.

In 1980, Annette Humpe also helped found Ideal along with Ernst Ulrich Deuker and Frank Jürgen Krüger. In the band, Annette served as a songwriter while performing lead vocals and keyboards. The group also recorded songs originally performed by Neonbabies including the highly popular Blaue Augen, which was written by Annette. That song became Ideal's highest-charting song and was also covered by various other artists.

In addition, the Ideal members were close friends of the band Trio, for whom Annette occasionally performed as a backing vocalist, most notably on the #1single Da Da Da.

When Ideal and Neonbabies both disbanded in 1983, Annette became a record producer. For the group DÖF, she co-wrote and produced the commercially successful single Codo, which was a #1 hit in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands and also reached #4 on the Swiss single charts. The song was performed by two Austrian comedians, Joesi Prokopetz and Manfred Tauchen along with Inga Humpe.

In addition, in 1984, Annette and Inga served as co-producers for the band Palais Schaumburg.

The sisters founded the duo Humpe & Humpe in 1985. They wrote and produced most of the songs released on their two studio albums. While the duo was widely known as Humpe & Humpe, their names appeared on the albums as Inga & Anete Humpe and Humpe – Humpe respectively. In the UK, the duo was known as Swimming with Sharks due to the potential sexual connotations of the name Humpe in English. 

Their first album contained the single Yamaha. The song was particularly successful in Japan during 1985, and it was released with a memorable split-screen video featuring the sisters. Their second album, and English language venture, featured two singles; No Longer Friends and Careless Love. They received significant airplay on BBC Radio One during 1987 and strong reviews from British music press, although this did not result in significant Chart success for the sisters. The single Careless Love reached the German single charts and peaked at #24.

As international success remained elusive, the duo went their separate ways.

During this time Annette continued to produce other artists including Rio Reiser and Heiner Pudelko. By 1990, with Humpe & Humpe in the rear view mirror, Annette released her first solo studio album called Solo. The album failed to chart. After the release of her solo album, Annette decided she was through with singing. She would concentrate exclusively on composing and producing over the following years.
 

Inga returned to England, where she sang as a featured vocalist for Johnny Logan and Howard Jones. Inga's first solo album was released in 1990 under the title Planet Oz. It included the single Riding into Blue (Cowboy Song), written and produced by Trevor Horn and became a minor hit.

In 1995 Inga returned to Germany and joined her sister, performing as the duo Bamby. They released the album Wall of Sugar.

Annette went on to find success as part of the group Ich + Ich, while Inga recorded several cover songs and became a frequent featured backing vocalist on various singles. In 2000, Inga formed the electronic duo 2raumwohnung with her life-partner Tommi Eckart.

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Geschrien Im Schlaf - Humpe & Humpe

Yamaha - Humpe & Humpe

Memories - Humpe & Humpe

Three Of Us - Humpe & Humpe

No Longer Friends - Humpe & Humpe

Careless Love - Humpe & Humpe

Don't Know Where I Belong - Humpe & Humpe

Belle Jar - Humpe & Humpe

Riding Into Blue (Cowboy Song) - Inga Humpe

 

Ich lass mich geh'n - Annette Humpe

Do I Have To - Inga Humpe

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Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 221 Rough Trade - Part 2 of 19

Acquired Tastes XLIII: 

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 221

Rough Trade

Part 2 of 19

Today, we take another look at the Rough Trade imprint.

Brought to you by the good people at Star Distributors, LTD., the Rough Trade imprint published 224 titles, from 1974-1990. Star Distributors, LTD. operated out of a P.O. Box at the Canal Street Station in New York City.

The imprint's numbering system begins with RT-401, and continues thusly. The book number only appears on the spine of the book.

All the books feature the imprint's distinctive Rough Trade logo in the upper left of the book's cover.  The books cover design consists of an all-caps (typically) title in a banner of orange or baby blue near the top. A frame is created by two white stripes descending from the top banner to a thin banner (orange or baby blue) containing the word 'Illustrated' - for the books are, with drawings throughout. At the center of the cover there is an explicit illustration - some ink/pencil, some woodcut/etching - all by various popular gay artists of the time, including Craig Esposito, Adam, Michael, etc.

Oddly, the early books in the series do not have a publisher's page. Price point for the books began at 2.25 and increased (by various increments) to $3.95. Typically, you can buy these books today for between $25-45.

The back covers sometimes feature a synopsis of the book to entice readers or advertisement for one of Star Distributors' other imprints. Ads also appear at the front or back of the book - offering books, videos, and sex toys.

Here are the next dozen titles. I lucked out and found something for all twelve.

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Rough Trade

 Author: James Marcus 

Rough Trade

 1974 

RT-413

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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The Cocky Cowboy

 Author: C.K. Anfuss 

Rough Trade

 1974 

RT-414

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Ten Time Hole

 Author: George Wilson 

Rough Trade

 1974 

RT-415

According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is "a prison story".

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Ride a Hot Marine

 Author: Peter Towers 

Rough Trade

 1974 

RT-416

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Pumping Rookie

 Author: Jack Minor 

Rough Trade

 1975 

RT-417

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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The Coach’s Boy

 Author: Chuck Brett 

Rough Trade

  1975 

RT-418

 According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is about a "swim team coach".

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The Cocky Repairman

 Author: Floyd Lawrence 

Rough Trade

 1975 

RT-419

This book would be republished as part of the Manhard Series under the title The Telephone Installer as MH-482.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Lessons

 Author: John Platt 

Rough Trade

 1975 

RT-420

According to Hommi Publishing's Big Ass List, this one is about "S&M in Provincetown".

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Whipping Boy

 Author: Terry Defoe 

Rough Trade

  1975 

RT-421

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Brothers

 Author: Michael Murry 

Rough Trade

 1975 

RT-422

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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 Humping Hustler

 Author: George Wilson 

Rough Trade

 1975 

RT-423

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Truck Stop Tricks

 Author: Bob Aaron 

Rough Trade

  1975 

RT-424

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And that's all for now.

Next up: a dozen more tantalizing titles from the Rough Trade imprint.

Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Whipping Boy - Elton John

Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: Modern Talking

 

Wonderland Burlesque's

Down The Rabbit Hole:

Modern Talking

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual or unknown to me that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the musical stylings of the super-successful German synth-duo Modern Talking.

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From Wikipedia and other sources:

Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, enjoying an initial string of five #1 singles while having a number of hit singles which reached the Top Five in numerous other countries. They were also one of the few pop acts allowed to sell music in the U.S.S.R.

Formed in 1983, the group released material steadily until 1987 when they disbanded. In 1998, they made a successful comeback, releasing singles with American rapper Eric Singleton and again found themselves hitting the Top Ten in Germany and elsewhere. This included a re-recorded version of You're My Heart, You're My Soul. By the duo's final break-up in 2003, their combined global sales (singles and albums) had reached 120 million.

Their first two albums were hugely successful selling 500,000 copies each in Germany alone. But by their sixth album, the magic was gone. Bohlen prematurely announced the duo's break-up during a German interview given while Anders was away in Los Angeles. The two had a long history of frequently butting heads and this only worsened the animosity between them. Bohlen cited Anders' then wife as the main reason for breaking up: she'd forbidden her husband from being interviewed by female reporters and repeatedly demanded major changes to shows, videos and recordings. After a last phone call, heavily-laden with profanity and insults, they broke off all contact for over ten years.

At the beginning of 1998, the duo got back together, performing in March on the German TV show Wetten, dass..?. Encouraged by the response, they released an album of re-recorded and remixed version of their past hits and found themselves back at the top of the European charts. The album, Back For Good, went on to sell 3 million copies in Europe, ensuring that the duo would win Best Selling German Band at the World Music Awards that year. The follow-up album, Alone, also went straight to #1 in Germany. The duo continued to release new material with great success until calling it quits once again in 2003.

 

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You're My Heart, You're My Soul - Modern Talking

You Can Win If You Want - Modern Talking

Cheri, Cheri Lady - Modern Talking

Brother Louie - Modern Talking

Atlantic Is Calling (S.O.S. For Love - Modern Talking

Geronimo's Cadillac - Modern Talking

Jet Airliner - Modern Talking

You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98 - Modern Talking

You're Not Alone - Modern Talking feat. Eric Singleton

China In Her Eyes - - Modern Talking feat. Eric Singleton

Win The Race - Modern Talking

Ready For The Victory - Modern Talking

TV Makes The Superstar - Modern Talking

Weekend Onesie: When Art Imitates Itself

Weekend Onesie: 

When Art Imitates Itself

Life is so circular.

So, in 1977, I'm reading this rave review in Rolling Stone magazine about the debut album of a new artist, Bruce Roberts. I can tell by what is said in the review that this is very much an album I would love. The review mentions that one of the songs (Starmaker) would be perfect for Streisand. Well, Starmaker did become a hit of sorts, but not for Streisand. No, instead she chose I Don't Break Easily (it's on her Songbird album). Anyway, I find a copy of Bruce Robert's debut album about six months later and it remains on my turntable for the next six. That is to say, I studied that damn thing like it was the bible of songwriting.

By the time his debut album came out, Bruce was an industry pro. He had released a few singles early on, on Bell Records, but they went nowhere. He was also the voice of Danny Bonoduce (of The Partridge Family) on Bonoduce's sole solo album. And, of course, before and after his two-album fling at Elektra, he was (and remains) a bona fide songwriter. He would work with Donna Summer (All Through The Night, Enough Is Enough (No More Tears), etc.). He even duets with her on the theme song for the Stallone film Daylight (Whenever There Is Love). He also wrote a bunch of hits for other artists: Laura Brannigan, The Pointer Sisters, Barbara Streisand, Gladys Knight, Rita Coolidge... it's a long list. And co-wrote with a lot of industry heavyweights, including Carole Bayer Sager. 

If interested, you should check out his superb 1995 album, Intimacy. The man has a voice that is amazingly flexible with the loveliest of tones. 

Okay, back to the subject of today's post...

That debut album... the album cover? 

I was puzzled. I was several years from graduating from high school and had no idea what to make of that big grey triangle in the background. Yes, as I was infatuated with the album's music, so I became fascinated by its cover. 

Fast forward to November of 2024 and I came upon this image... a vintage ad for socks or sock garters? I dunno. But... ping! 

And so, I wonder; was this the inspiration behind Bruce Roberts album cover? Did he happen to see it and want to replicate it or was this the work of his art direction team: Tony Lane, Todd Smith and Howard Carriker?

Indeed, it was. On the album sleeve's credits it states that it is in the style of E. Cole Phillips, the illustrator of the original ad. 

And so, a question that began in 1977, is finally answered in 2024. 

As for that big grey triangle? Well, I eventually stumbled on what that as all about... certainly nothing ever taught at my high school. 

I still have that album.

I play it at least once a year in its entirety and mourn the loss of the child who bought and studied it. 

Yes... life is so circular.

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I'd Rather Be Alone - Bruce Roberts

Wonderland Burlesque's Down The Rabbit Hole: Fox The Fox

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Down The Rabbit Hole:

Fox The Fox

Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.

Today, we take a look at the brief history of the electric R&B pop group Fox The Fox

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From Wikipedia and other sources:

 
Fox the Fox, was a Dutch funk band founded in 1981 by Berth Tamaëla and Sylvia Musmin (AKA: Silhouette Musmin). Among the members were bassist Gino Jansen, guitarist Kier van der Werf, keyboardist Roy Kuschel, and drummers Robbie Brans, Tjalling Bos and Han Langkamp. Musmin wrote all the lyrics, while and Tamaëla composed the music.

After working together for two years, the band finally released their first single, Flirting and Showing, which reached #40 in the Netherlands and Germany. A year later they released the single Precious Little Diamond. It snagged the #5 slot in Germany, #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, #11 in the Netherlands, #15 in France, #38 in Belgium and #86 in the UK.  

Two albums and six subsequent singles followed, but to little success.

With the departure of Tamaëla in 1990, the band split up.

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Flirting And Showing - Fox The Fox

Precious Little Diamonds - Fox The Fox

She Don't Mind - Fox The Fox

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