I am having the great debate with myself on releasing what I want to/what is cool/what will sell. It is hard. I would like to get back something of my investment in these releases. I see folks selling my stuff on eBone (mostly promos mailed out for Press/Booking or as Gifts over the years) and someone is making $$ offa my "labors of love", but I ain't makin' sheeittt from it. Free downloads and MP3 rips (fortunately not my stuff) has pretty much taken what was once a cool indie business market into, "What can I get fer Nuthin'" on-line. I buy stuff from bands who come through town when I can, and put out the stuff I wish would be out there, but in this "Downmarket Economy" it is like "pissing in the wind without a raincoat"! It just gets tiresome, once the novelty wears off. I ain't quitting though, because no-one else will release what I want out there. I have some new things that will be "Ultra Limited Releases" (300 units and no more) on both CD and vinyl. Cool stuff! Hopefully someone will dig it! Mole said:

State Records aren't exactly broke, but cash flow is soooooo tight!! Our problem is that so far we've only put out 7" vinyl, which is super-cool, but so many people are reluctant to take it cos there's no real profit to be made etc., and you've gotta shift so many copies to start recouping. But as many comments on here support, it's a labour of love and I don't believe anyone runs any indie/niche/cult/whatever-you-wanna-call-it label SPECIFICALLY to make money, they do it for the love of the music, and also there's a buzz to having total control over your output. Stick with it guys, the more the merrier!!


Ghosts Run Wild/Thee Haints said:

Definitely broke here. For all of the work we put into releasing things, sure it would be really cool to at least break even. And we haven't given up on that. But like some others have said, this is more of an obsession type thing. You don't really get involved in making/releasing this type of music for money. I'm not suggesting that you are or anything. I think the best we can do is try to support the small labels that we like. The other part is, you can't give up. The more good stuff you release, the more people should eventually find out about your label and buy stuff from it. Which equals you putting out more. There are some places that have made a success out of putting out niche music, look at Norton.

This makes me Laugh! http://www.thisistrue.com/picture_this_7215.html Erik 4-A said:

Yeah Andy, I have been battling Rich Eagan and his California Vagrant Records since 1991. They sold their soul to TeeVee Tunes so they could sign folks like the Get Up Kids, Alkiline Trio, MXPX and even Paul Westerberg and Rev Horton Heat to multi-record deals. I have had to deal with lots of confusion (and some real leagal Bullshit) over the years which drained both my engergy and resouces away from the Music I Love and Support here in the Pac NW. Fortunately I have cut my expenses way down to the bone and live for what I do. I had an opportunity to purchase the building my recording studio is located in and that actually kept my expenses down and brought in more income. It was a trade off though for years I couldn't tour or perform live because I was always recording some band for cash. Now the income from the studio (and the fact that I have other engineers working at my studio) have allowed me to put out albums again. I got lucky though. I still need to find folks to purchase what I have in my back catalog so I can get rolling again.

Another issue with being an Indie label is the lifetime of most bands isn't that long. In order to sell enough product by them to break even you have to have folks buy first pressing out right away before the band implodes. I have had so many bands break up right after I press things, that I had to wait almost too long before releasing some products (or not release them at all on CD/Vinyl but CDRs in small runs instead) due to my "wait and see so I won't get burned" skittishness. I know many of you out there have similar experiences like this. All your excess cash gets tied up in "The Next Big Thing" for your label and you worry "Is it gonna happen?" or "Are they gonna break-up" just as I press things up and have 1,000 beer coasters/xmas orniments?

Lemme Know. Post it here!

State Records aren't exactly broke, but cash flow is soooooo tight!! Our problem is that so far we've only put out 7" vinyl, which is super-cool, but so many people are reluctant to take it cos there's no real profit to be made etc., and you've gotta shift so many copies to start recouping. But as many comments on here support, it's a labour of love and I don't believe anyone runs any indie/niche/cult/whatever-you-wanna-call-it label SPECIFICALLY to make money, they do it for the love of the music, and also there's a buzz to having total control over your output. Stick with it guys, the more the merrier!! Ghosts Run Wild/Thee Haints said:

Definitely broke here. For all of the work we put into releasing things, sure it would be really cool to at least break even. And we haven't given up on that. But like some others have said, this is more of an obsession type thing. You don't really get involved in making/releasing this type of music for money. I'm not suggesting that you are or anything. I think the best we can do is try to support the small labels that we like. The other part is, you can't give up. The more good stuff you release, the more people should eventually find out about your label and buy stuff from it. Which equals you putting out more. There are some places that have made a success out of putting out niche music, look at Norton.

Check out the live Norton album Get in the Groove. It's emceed by Rudy Ray Moore with appearances by Andre Williams, Bettye Lavette, Nathaniel Mayer, Barrence Whitfield, The Might Hannible, The Great Gaylord, Lonnie Youngblood. I downloaded it on eMusic

Gloria Jones -Tainted Love
Bar Kays- Knucklehead
Dyke and The Blazers- Funky Bull
Baby Huey and The Babysitters- Runnin'
Otis Redding- Shake

That is a great list. Basically, look for the original versions of all the songs the Detroit Cobras cover, and you're off to a good start. Also, one of my favorite albums of modern soul would have to be the Now Time Delegation's LP (featuring the vocals of Lisa Kekaula of the BellRays). Black Joe Lewis is good, too (and he's playing in St. Louis next week). The screamin' Soul Preacher said:

Great great list Chessman !
Chessman said:

Well, some of these may be more 'proto-soul' then what you're after, but I still think they rate pretty high on the 'danceability' scale...

Lonnie Youngblood - African Twist pt.2
Smokey Johnson - Whip It Pts 1 & 2
Don Gardner - My Baby Likes To Boogaloo
Gino Washington - Come Monkey With Me
The Ideals - Go Go Gorilla
Eddie Kirk - The Hawg
James Brown - And I Do Just What I Want
Gary U.S. Bonds - I Wanna Holler
Otis Redding & The Pinetoppers - Shout Bama Lama
Dottie Campbell - He's About A Mover
Joe Tex - Ain't I A Mess
Jimmy Stokely & The Exiles - It's Alligator Time
Billy Lamont - Sweet Thing (w/h Hendrix on guit.)
Nathaniel Mayer - I Want Love And Affection (Not The House Of Correction)
J.C. Davis - The Chicken Scratch
Bo Diddley - Jo-Ann

Cheers,

Chessman

Great great list Chessman ! Chessman said:

Well, some of these may be more 'proto-soul' then what you're after, but I still think they rate pretty high on the 'danceability' scale...

Lonnie Youngblood - African Twist pt.2
Smokey Johnson - Whip It Pts 1 & 2
Don Gardner - My Baby Likes To Boogaloo
Gino Washington - Come Monkey With Me
The Ideals - Go Go Gorilla
Eddie Kirk - The Hawg
James Brown - And I Do Just What I Want
Gary U.S. Bonds - I Wanna Holler
Otis Redding & The Pinetoppers - Shout Bama Lama
Dottie Campbell - He's About A Mover
Joe Tex - Ain't I A Mess
Jimmy Stokely & The Exiles - It's Alligator Time
Billy Lamont - Sweet Thing (w/h Hendrix on guit.)
Nathaniel Mayer - I Want Love And Affection (Not The House Of Correction)
J.C. Davis - The Chicken Scratch
Bo Diddley - Jo-Ann

Cheers,

Chessman

I'm very happy to report that I had friends over for drinks last night and put on Hunx and his Punx, and they liked it!

I still listen to Bauhaus now and then. It's funny... the Dirtbombs' version of "Kung Fu" (where they basically incorporate "Bela Lugosi's Dead" into a cover of Curtis Mayfield's classic soul number) actually got me listening to them again when Ultraglide in Black came out in 2001. Listened to that album right after it came out almost non-stop while driving to NYC just a month after 9/11 for Cavestomp. CLICK HERE to listen. I'd probably avoided Bauhaus since the mid-'80s before then. Tones on Tail, Lords of the New Church, Southern Death Cult, etc. I like Joy Division a lot, too. I remember having the "Black Planet" album by Sisters of Mercy back then, too, but I just can't listen to that stuff anymore without laughing. I guess the Damned could be considered goth punk, right? Still listen to them, although I've never been too crazy of their post-Strawberries stuff. Try Phantasmagoria, though. And once in a while I'll still listen to the Misfits, especially around Halloween (although I still prefer the Cramps). Do you like the Cramps? Not "goth" but they do sing about dead stuff, zombies, and whatnot. Kinda spooky! And the Mummies, haha! ;) But seriously, here are some bands you should seek out. The following aren't typically considered "goth," more like dark-themed garage, punk/rock'n'roll, art punk, black metal, swamp rock, avant-garde, etc., but you might like them: T.S.O.L. The Wipers Gun Club Hoodoo Gurus Satan's Cheerleaders The Fiends Wire Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds The Honeymoon Killers Poison 13 The Gories (Mick Collins' band before the Dirtbombs) Dwarves (Horror Stories or Lick It LPs) Dead Moon Destruction Unit The Hex Dispensers Lost Sounds Suicide Roky Erickson & the Aliens The Horrors (from Cedar Rapids on In The Red Records, not the UK band) The Hunches The Blowtops Mystery Girls Television Modey Lemon The Monsters (The Lightning/Reverend Beat-Man's band!) The Fuzztones The Priests New Salem Witch Hunters The Nomads Radio Birdman The Nevermores Rocket From the Tombs The Original Sins Demon's Claws Cheater Slicks Black Time The Deadly Snakes The Fall The Screamers Crime Brian Eno The Mirrors The Daily Void The Gris Gris Subsonics The Vipers Ty Segall Haunted George (ha!) And you'd probably like the Black Lips, too, although you've probably already heard them. Try their earlier stuff, though. And for '60s stuff, try the Monks, Sean Bonniwell's Music Machine, Love, the Seeds, 13th Floor Elevators, the Calico Wall, Electric Prunes, the Haunted, Can, the Velvet Underground, Zakary Thaks, Them, Stooges, Godz, Captain Beefheart, early (Syd Barrett-era) Pink Floyd, the Omens, Pebbles comps, and, yeah, ok, the Doors. Oh, and Screaming Jay Hawkins. ;) I keep more or less that list handy whenever someone asks me if I like goth rock. I realize it's all over the place, but seriously, check some of them out if you haven't already. You might get sucked in!

I love this awesome branch out of punk. Siouxsie and The Banshees and Bauhaus are fucking amazing! Anyone else like this stuff?

Anyone interested in doing short runs might consider Peter King out of New Zealand. He will do minimum runs of 20. His prices are pretty damned cheap as long as you do a small run (like 100 or less). Most people wouldn't want to do that, but I think it's great. Aside from the normal stuff he also does 5"s, 8"s, square records, triangles and custom shaped stuff. Everything he does is on clear vinyl.

He doesn't have a website, you have to call him or write him a letter for a quote. If anyone is interested I can email you his contact info. There are a few videos of him making records up on youtube, do a search for "peter king vinyl".

I was pretty happy with the records he did for me. They look great. I'd say the sound quality is a little lower than a regular record, but still really good in my opinion. He's a good option for smaller bands, and people interested in weird/novelty vinyl. Also he's just a really friendly and helpful guy.

that DOD classic fuzz is a total sleeper pedal. Johnny Danger said:

I'm digging the BYOC Leeds fuzz -- a Superfuzz clone in a kit. I reckon it's the beesknees and the cheapest way to get a superfuzz - if yer confidant with a soldering iron.

It was hard to find a good fuzz for my casio organ and found that the Dod Classic Fuzz FX52 is awesome on a variety of keyboards.

I love it, too. I especially love blasting it REALLY LOUD for my wife. Heh. liz DH said:

It's pretty much:
G, Bb, C, D for the intro, then: G, Bb repeated for ' you gotta treat a woman rough...' then G, Bb, D for the oh-oh-ohhh bit, then F, G for 'you gotta show a woman who wears the pants'... etc
I frickin' love this tune! we do it in my band the No-Brainers.

It's pretty much:
G, Bb, C, D for the intro, then: G, Bb repeated for ' you gotta treat a woman rough...' then G, Bb, D for the oh-oh-ohhh bit, then F, G for 'you gotta show a woman who wears the pants'... etc
I frickin' love this tune! we do it in my band the No-Brainers.

why should somebody smash a guitar?

or the pre-faded "concert tees" some mall conglomerate was selling for a while.

and it was always journey or foreigner or some other radio crap. I guess so 22 year old slack jawed himbo dudes into seether can feel like "i wuz there".

"know your audience"

Lame. This reminds me of fashion jean companies selling jeans with holes in the knees. What's next? Buying a wig of messed up hair? Just mess up your own damn hair!

Mike Humsgreen said:

If you pay $60 for a guitar won't it sound like shit before you smash it?

If you pay $60 for a guitar won't it sound like shit before you smash it?

For mediocre albums, they were much better than what would follow each year by any of these bands. I thought they were OK for what they were. Not counting Judas Priest, almost all follow ups (albums 2 or 3) were downright abysmal. This isn't a metal forum so I'm not even gonna defend these groups but for 1982-84 and not having a clue, I thought they were pretty fun. I'm just glad that I was able to wise up. Of course, I had to make new friends. ; ) MikeL said:

Well, I did buy some of that stuff, and I can attest that you didn't miss very much. Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" and Ratt's "Out of the Cellar" were incredibly mediocre albums. Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" was only slightly better. However, I still have fond memories of Twisted Sister's "Stay Hungry" and Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance." Judas Priest had an old school sensibility that I liked, and Twisted Sister was a fun band if you took them for the joke they were meant to be. Back then, I was a real metal fan, and I still like to hear those songs on occasion; I just have no desire nowadays to buy CDs, or download mp3s, or go to see those bands during one of those package tours they do every summer. Right now, I'm waiting for next month to see Devo here in Pittsburgh, and I'm going to NYC to see Prima Donna (a true glam rock band along the lines of the New York Dolls and Mott the Hoople). I may also go to Cleveland next month to see the Cynics. Oh, and I just remembered something else; Teenage Fanclub is coming to Pittsburgh this October.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Yeah, I'm not proud of it, but I was listening to Cum On Feel The Noize, We're Not Gonna Take It, Shout At The Devil, Rock You Like A Hurricane, You Got Another Thing Comin', Round And Round and other stuff like that mostly because I still hadn't found out about punk or garage revival and I wanted to hear stuff with guitars. At least I didn't buy the stuff (not that I'm putting down others who did, I just never had any money).
MikeL said:

I still like that song, although nowadays it's more of a guilty pleasure. Back then, I seriously thought it was the greatest song ever.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I have nothing to add to this but I just thought that Quiet Riot comment was classic. Statements like that just send me to the floor. (Because it's so true)

Well, I did buy some of that stuff, and I can attest that you didn't miss very much. Quiet Riot's "Metal Health" and Ratt's "Out of the Cellar" were incredibly mediocre albums. Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil" was only slightly better. However, I still have fond memories of Twisted Sister's "Stay Hungry" and Judas Priest's "Screaming for Vengeance." Judas Priest had an old school sensibility that I liked, and Twisted Sister was a fun band if you took them for the joke they were meant to be. Back then, I was a real metal fan, and I still like to hear those songs on occasion; I just have no desire nowadays to buy CDs, or download mp3s, or go to see those bands during one of those package tours they do every summer. Right now, I'm waiting for next month to see Devo here in Pittsburgh, and I'm going to NYC to see Prima Donna (a true glam rock band along the lines of the New York Dolls and Mott the Hoople). I may also go to Cleveland next month to see the Cynics. Oh, and I just remembered something else; Teenage Fanclub is coming to Pittsburgh this October. Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Yeah, I'm not proud of it, but I was listening to Cum On Feel The Noize, We're Not Gonna Take It, Shout At The Devil, Rock You Like A Hurricane, You Got Another Thing Comin', Round And Round and other stuff like that mostly because I still hadn't found out about punk or garage revival and I wanted to hear stuff with guitars. At least I didn't buy the stuff (not that I'm putting down others who did, I just never had any money).
MikeL said:

I still like that song, although nowadays it's more of a guilty pleasure. Back then, I seriously thought it was the greatest song ever.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I have nothing to add to this but I just thought that Quiet Riot comment was classic. Statements like that just send me to the floor. (Because it's so true)

Hey folks,

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Rest in Peace. Long live the Kinks!

The exact cause of death is unknown, but he had been undergoing kidney dialysis for over a decade. Quaife played on all of the early Kinks classics, including "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All of the Night," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" and "Waterloo Sunset," which also features his background vocals.

No not at all.. the versioni am lookingh for sounds actually almost like s& g did an alternate take..almost the same..till the fuzz comes in..very cool original 60ties flavour!! HELPPP!!!