who ate all the pies ?
dig•i•tal•is |ˈdɪdʒɪˌteɪlɪs|
noun
a drug prepared from the dried leaves of foxglove and containing substances (notably digoxin and digitoxin) that stimulate the heart muscle.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from the modern Latin genus name of the foxglove, from digitalis (herba) ‘(plant) relating to the finger,’ from digitus ‘finger, toe’ ; suggested by German Fingerhut: ‘thimble or foxglove'.
When they appeared on the same stage as the Clash in the UK in 1977, Alan Vega and Martin Rev famously prompted howls of derision and an explosion of glass too close for comfort. That was a shame; although I suspect Ian Curtis and his triad of electronic subversives might have provoked a similar neanderthal response at that juncture.
To be expected, if not quite alright.
That first wave of brown shirts were not on ball for informed or distressed 'digitalis', as Jayne Casey would later observe. Sadly, it was their - the bondage trousered sheep's - loss.
More spastically muscular and incisive than Helios Creed and Damon Edge's Chrome, brittle New Yorkers, Suicide, fully deserve to be remembered for more than just their superlative 45, "Cheree" or the much covered, "Rocket U.S.A.".
There. I prohibit you - siblings and motherf@ckers - to remonstrate or otherwise disagree.
Produced by Craig Leon and Marty Thau.
▼ SUICIDE: FRANKIE TEARDROP from "Suicide" LP (Red Star) 1977 (US)
4 comments:
I guess I was in the camp of not getting them. My friends and I saw them live a few times, and they were always more impressed than I was. Not that I ever hated them enough to fire projectiles in their direction!
On record I only know the tracks that show up on punk compilations. This song is a new one to me.
That first LP is uniformly good. Oddly though, I never felt much like following up on Vega's solo output. I think Suicide may have made a follow-up release, too, but I haven't listened to that one either.
The remastered issue of that first recording, featuring the 12" version of "Cheree" is the one to plump for in a bind, I think.
Very interesting...
Cheers, Dentist Escondido.
Who knows; what with all the debris sailing through the air during that particular tour, there is a distinct possibility that either Martin Rev or Alan Vega may have required some sound dental treatment. God knows, I could benefit from some of the same these days. Of the cosmetic kind.
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