FLLR MB001 - Savage Republic, KPFK-FM broadcast, 1983-11-29 [FM0]
While the focus of Tape Filler is always what lies between what you wanted and the end of the tape, it's also worthwhile to present a better-quality copy (two, actually!) of the main course while you're at it.
This was recorded off-air by my associate bcingyou at the time it originally aired and improves on the Nth gen copy which Fr. Image shared.
This to me is *the* seminal recording of independent origin for anybody who values both this group and So. Cal post-punk overall. One of the tracks was released on a single, a "tenth anniversary commemorative souvenir"...looks like I own one of the green vinyl copies. Don't ask me where it is at present, hopefully in alphabetical order on a shelf.
The first filler track is a Flesh Eaters (or "Flesheaters", I've seen both spellings) track, also played on the 5th of December broadcast, but "Pony Dress" and not what ended up on the release. I have links to a couple other versions, the video being the original 1979 version, and have also linked this to their 2019 remake.
This is followed by a track from Associates called "Australia", which wouldn't appear officially until the Sulk 40th anniversary release, here titled "Musing In Australia". This version was taken from a Peel Session from 3 June 1982, and is nearly two minutes longer than the release, and has been turned into a dub platter.
Next up we have one track that Content-ID identified, here labelled as the "screaming cowboy song". This is actually a track by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy called Paralyzed, which has frequently appeared on YouTube, pick any of these three to listen to it on.
To quote, "Norman Carl Odam, known professionally as The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, is an outsider performer who is considered one of the pioneers of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s."
To quote, "Norman Carl Odam, known professionally as The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, is an outsider performer who is considered one of the pioneers of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s."
Next up, we have a live version (unknown date/venue) of Avengers' "Car Crash", there being live versions online with Mr. Houston singing, spanning from 1978, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2024.
This is followed by Nig-Heist's "Walking Down The Street", though the title given for it by Markie works too. This was (re-)released in 2018 on Drag City records.
Vice Magazine interviewed vocalist Steve "Mugger" Corbin, about 15 years ago, in perhaps one of the most self-effacing and interesting ones I've read in quite a while. Here's a taste...
Did that ever come up? You singing for Flag?No, we’re in the van and I’m singing and I can’t sing. I’m tone deaf. If I had any musical abilities I would’ve done a lot more. But I couldn’t sing. You hear it on that record. At one time they tried to have me play drums for them. I played drums maybe five times in my life. They had me practice with them three or four times, but I didn’t have the instructions or the skills to just pick it up on my own. I have limitations and those are my limitations.
Punk would incorporate anything and everything that sniffed of "outsider music", from tuneless (remember, his own description) gorms having a put-on to proto-psychobilly, to...LA's original doom-weirdos...The Doors...prefaced with an unknown female voice singing...slash me open / slit me through / turn my cups into a fa-fanny / cuz luv u thru and thru...followed by Jim Morrison and one of his live tirades, taken from a bootleg LP
You're all a bunch of f**king idiots, how long are you going to push you around...you love it...you're all a bunch of slaves...a bunch of slaves...whaddya gonna do about it (repeated a few times)....hey, I'm not talking about no revolution, I'm not talking about no demonstration, I'm not talking about getting off the street, I'm talking about having some fun, I'm talking about dancing, I'm talking about love your neighbor till it hurts, I'm talking about grab your friend, I'm talking about love, love, love, love...
Hey, listen, I'm lonely. I need some love, y'all. Ain't nobody gonna love my ass, c'mon! Alright, I need you. There's so many out there, nobody's gonna love me sweetheart, c'mon. Hey, there's a bunch of people way back there that I didn't even notice. Hey, how about 50-60 people come up here and love my ass, c'mon. Yeaaaah, I love you, c'mon.
Pasting some of these lyrics to search on gave me a recommendation to dial 988, so I'll just trust YouTube's Content-ID on this one.
Then we have The Meatmen and a live version of "Mr Tapeworm".
Then we have The Meatmen and a live version of "Mr Tapeworm".
There's a few live versions as well, one from 1983 at Wilson Center...different than the one played on KPFK...
And a version from City Gardens at Trenton NJ...on a videotape which looked to have been close to disintegrating...
Lastly, before we have a couple of Andrea 'Enthal backannounces...mysteriously paired with the songs themselves, so I guess these is "filler filler", we have Thomas Leer's "International"...which appears on 1985's THE SCALE OF TEN.
Wait, if this track is on an 1985 album, and a 1984 single before that, how is it being played in 1983?
Ah, you need to grok the full gestalt of tape filler. While the *tape* was recorded back at the end of November 1983, it was likely only duplicated a few months afterwards, and it seems all the filler tracks may date from then as our compiler wanted to ensure that the recipient received a full tape of goodies of interest, so it appears he taped more songs off the radio station, which we are hearing...
Born Thomas Wishart, this Scottish musician continues to record to this day. I have to confess I haven't paid him close attention, though I have listened to the album that International appears on.
A review of THE SCALE OF TEN from @passionate reply
It looks like this entry has now taken a bit of a left turn. The name of the site/handle is presumably by the Ultravox song of the same name...which I recently listened to a 40th anniversary/Collection release...here presented in a new Steven Wilson remix.
Looking through this particular YouTube channel raises some interesting questions. I was a bit surprised seeing this was completely audio-only, and that all 53 video/audios seem to have been posted in a brief window from around the start of 2020 to some time in 2021...and then it...stopped.
It looks like this was a front for a Tumblr blog site...and it is *intensive*...starting back in January 11th, 2020, with this...
Reallllll quick and dirty pic of my record collection, to be the first post on my new music blog! Trying to get rid of these frames as I obviously suck at hanging shit straight. (Dexterity is my dump stat!) I’d really like to get back into record collecting, and hopefully actually meet some people who like good music in person…Right now I’m obsessing really hard over Vienna, ‘cause I’m going to see Midge perform in like three weeks, and he’s doing the whole album for its 40th anniversary! Completely crazy. Still can’t believe it’s real…and that I have a front row seat, and that it only set me back like $30???Anyway the weird Heaven 17 album is the real gem so far though. It is a “not for commercial release” promo meant to introduce American DJ’s to a very hot new band out of England, hahaha. Those Memphis colours! Aesthetic! It’s also got this…easy-open corner that makes it pentagon and not square shaped.Personally, I just love really old, beat-up looking records. They’re cheaper and more plentiful of course, but I love the feeling that they have a history, that they had previous owners, a whole past life, going on adventures to parties and dates and who knows what else. They were never around when I was growing up or anything like that, but the idea that music was this physical thing, something that existed as a object that got lugged around, traded, and used as a drink coaster, that just fascinates me. And I’m an art historian so I love the visual culture of album art as well.Wish me luck in adding to my family! :)#new wave #synthpop #vinyl #record collecting #ultravox #midge ure #bronski beat #kraftwerk #thomas dolby #gary numan #heaven 17
And ending on December 12, 2000, 532 pages later in Tumblr-space...with a Karl Bartos review...which mentions the loudness wars...and well as the early Internet and its impact on technology, which is about the time Communication came out...and I have to wonder if the reviewer was impacted by it enough to put this project on pause...or if life events affected her updates.
But it could have been that this was a time-bound or release-bound project and that it had reached its natural culmination, at least for this phase, as reading through her last video's comments, I did see someone post "I have very recently received a message from Passionate Reply letting me know that her channel has not ended, that she's resting and is just waiting for the right time to return.
But it could have been that this was a time-bound or release-bound project and that it had reached its natural culmination, at least for this phase, as reading through her last video's comments, I did see someone post "I have very recently received a message from Passionate Reply letting me know that her channel has not ended, that she's resting and is just waiting for the right time to return.
And then another single entry....in June 2025...so this person (in the Philadelphia area) is still buying records...and at least as of six months ago, was still out there.
Yesterday’s vinyl haul! This treasure trove came from Philadelphia’s Noise Pollution Records, which I am pleased to report is more or less my ideal vision of what a record store ought to be like. It’s small and cramped, cluttered with stacks of media, and smells like stale cardboard. It’s also reasonably priced for used vinyl and full of some relatively obscure and underrated masterpieces, although a lot less now that I’ve walked out the door! Lord knows I will be back again to get my fingers dirty. Reissues are well and good for some people, but I like the antiques, and I like the stories that they tell. (Like how “Enter the Angel” has an old price sticker on it that’s crossed out, and it used to be a dollar and change…talk about a “who the hell is John Foxx?” price, hahaha.)#new wave #synthpop #vinyl #record collecting #records #vinyl collecting #john foxx #ultravox! #ultravox #telex #abc #bill nelson
Her Instagram page reveals a handle, Valérian, which links to her YouTube, and a ko-fi link. She deserves some recognition for her efforts.
Anyway...where was I? Oh yeah, Savage Republic, KPFK.
Speaking of which, I ran into another 1983-era KPFK digitization which a YouTuber found on an 8 track, which seems to have been recorded around 7-9 July of that year.
Speaking of which, I ran into another 1983-era KPFK digitization which a YouTuber found on an 8 track, which seems to have been recorded around 7-9 July of that year.
Initially, I thought it was Andrea 'Enthal on the mic, but it was one of her underlings...who announced that she was quitting.
Here's links to both the 1983 and 1991 digitizations. The one on YouTube uses the 1983 version...as I find it a much more compelling as an original-era artifact than the 1991 replay, though that sounds better if you're looking for these tracks in the best quality.
FLLR MB001 - Savage Republic, KPFK-FM broadcast
FLLR MB001 - Savage Republic, KPFK-FM broadcast
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