Mule
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The Fugs
Oct 24, 2008, 08:29
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Just discovered this Fugs box in HMV last night. Don't really know much about their music, though I enjoy dipping into Ed Sanders' 'Tales Of Beatnik Glory'. Anybody give me a steer?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Stop-Fugs/dp/B0017S3CYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224830426&sr=1-1
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Stevo
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Re: The Fugs
Oct 24, 2008, 10:04
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That's as good a place to start as any. Covers the 1st 2 lps plus a lot of outtakes and live stuff from the later era. If I'm thinking right the 1st lp is a scatological satirical acoustic lp backed by the Holy Modal Rounders and is a weird satellite of tuneful. 2nd lp has them going electric while keeping to a lot of the same themes. I think they had a more permanent instrumental line-up at the time.
Later they did 3 psychedelic lps that were compiled on Electronic Steamboat which Rhino Handmade put out about 5 years back. Do wish somebody like Water would reissue them individually. I have an MP3 disc of the set but it failed to tracklist right & came out alphabetical.
Zappa once said that the Fugs were the fathers of the Mothers. That is to say a scatological satirical rock band before Zappa took over the Soul Giants.
Ed Sanders one of the central 3 Fug members was previously the publisher of a fanzine called Fuck You a Magazine of the Arts a title (&I think a perspective) without precedent at the time. He later went on to write the Family the definitive book on the Manson killings.
Tuli Kupferberg was I think an established East Village poet at the time.
& Ken Weaver has had stories circulated about him being an undercover CIA/FBI operative. Not sure what the story is on that.
Stevo
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handofdave
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Re: The Fugs
Oct 24, 2008, 11:30
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Was just digitizing my copy of the first Fugs album last week... hadn't heard it in ages.
I've been singing 'Ah, Sunflower, Weary of Time' to myself since.
Great stuff... everything you want from a beatnik poet acid-eating band.. funny, scatalogical, playful, NOT slick.
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Popel Vooje
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Edited Jul 22, 2010, 14:26
Re: The Fugs
Oct 24, 2008, 16:33
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Mule wrote:
If you're willing and/or able to spend that much cash on a band you haven't heard, I'd say buy it. Everything Stevo says about it is more or less true.
If you fancy dipping a mere toe in the water first by buying one of the individual albums though, I'd advise going for "The Fugs' Second Album" as it's a stone cold classic from start to finish.
There are indeed parallels between them and the Mothers of Invention, both lyrically and in their use of cut-ups and bizarre musical juxtapositions. The crucial difference, however, is that even in the early days, Zappa always used virtuoso players whereas the Fugs' musical technique is far more primitive and unschooled (at least before they signed to Reprise). This isn't a bad thing at all - in fact it adds to the raw proto-punkiness of the music.
If you like the Deviants' "Ptoof" I think you'd like the early Fugs, as the former album oozes a very similar attitude and sardonic sense of humour(except of course that it's more British in tone.)
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caldervalium
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Re: The Fugs
Oct 29, 2008, 17:00
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You can listen to Tuli's spoken word album "No Deposit, No Return" here;
http://www.ubu.com/sound/kupferberg.html
It's rather amusing, I think.
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supercat
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Re: The Fugs
Oct 29, 2008, 23:01
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*ting! now i recognise their name. They're on the soundtrack of the film we saw tonight, Burn After Reading. I'm going to investigate. xx Thanks once again, Mule.
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Jim Tones
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Re: The Fugs
Oct 31, 2008, 11:24
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The only album I have somewhere by them is the marvellously monikered- "It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest" (1968).....and a corker of an album to boot!
The track 'Johnny Pissoff meets the Red Angel" is an absolute classic as well as being hilarious on repeated listens.
This album also features another gem in the track "Marijuana" - a hymn to their sacred herb, done as a gregorian chant!
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Popel Vooje
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Edited Oct 31, 2008, 15:21
Re: The Fugs
Oct 31, 2008, 15:20
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As Stevo said, it's a shame you can't get the Reprise albums individually these days, only as part of a 3-disc box. My friend Alex used to have that album on vinyl, but as I have no record player anymore I downloaded the best tracks (including "Johnny Pissoff...") from I-Tunes.
Notice there's also some extra Gregorian chanting at the beginning of "Crystal Liason" (with its obvious "Christe Eleison" pun) which wasn't on the LP.
There's also this fabulous (if much too quiet) clip of them performing it live, sounding like a raw, feisty, garage band, albeit one with a strong literary bent:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rWJKl_LSscs
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Stevo
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Re: The Fugs
Jul 22, 2010, 12:41
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Popel Vooje wrote:
If you like the Deviants' "Ptoof" I think you'd like the early Fugs, as the former album oozes a very similar attitude (except of course that it's a British counterpart.)
I think the Deviants relationship to the Fugs was conscious wasn't it? been years since I read Give The anarchist a Cigarette & a year since I read the Deviants/Pink fairies book.
Stevo
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mingtp
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Re: The Fugs
Jul 22, 2010, 15:11
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supercat wrote: *ting! now i recognise their name. They're on the soundtrack of the film we saw tonight, Burn After Reading. I'm going to investigate. xx Thanks once again, Mule.
Great film, great track. After I saw it I was hunting down The Fugs too.
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