I cam across Revenge of the Nerds while surfing the TV channels tonight. I am a child of the 80s and I loved this movie while going through high school, both as a cult movie and as an ultimate nerd revenge fantasy. Having endured my share of bullying and humiliation from the more popular kids in high school, the idea of getting revenge on those people resonated with me, as did the ending speech of the movie, about how there are more of us being put down than those on top putting us down.
There's also a nice group of 80s tunes running through the movie. Outside of the overt Devo references in the movie, most seen in the Lambda's musical number, with Lewis and Gilbert dressed up in yellow Tyvek radiation suits like the early incarnations of Devo, there's lots of great 80s tunes in the soundtrack. If you look closely too, Lewis and Gilbert have a Devo poster up in their first room at college. Then there's one that comes with a bit of a delay to it, The Gleaming Spires.
The Gleaming Spires were formed as a side project of the great new wave band Sparks. Formed first as a duo of Leslie Bohem and David Kendrick, they performed as Bates Motel, before recruiting two other members of Sparks, Jim Goodwin and Bob Haag. The Spires were short lived, only putting out three albums over their 5 year existence. Their best known song "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?" appeared on their debut album, Songs of the Spires, in 1981. It's also featured in the Lambda/Mu party scenes in Revenge of the Nerds.
So, where's the Devo connection. Well, after Alan Myers left Devo, the band recruited Spires member David Kendrick in the late 80s to replace him. Kendrick spent three albums with the band, ending in 1991's Smooth Noodle Maps, after which Devo broke up for 20 years. Kendrick was replaced with Josh Freese for Devo's comeback, Something for Everybody.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Covers Courageous #6: 1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut
In the most popular era of industrial music, the late 80s, it was the style to form side projects and super groups. All too often, collaborators would come together and form other groups for one off projects, or outlets for what they couldn't do with their main groups, due to pressure from record labels or the dynamics within their own groups. cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy was famous for this forming groups like Hilt, Download, Doubting Thomas and the Tear Garden. Bill Leeb had Intermix, Conjure One and Delerium. And Al Jorgenson of Ministry had 1000 Homo DJs, along with PTP, Pailhead, Acid Horse and Lard.
1000 Homo DJs just put out one EP, Supernaut, in 1990 on the powerhouse Wax Trax Records. The band was Jorgenson along with other Ministry cohorts like Bill Reiflin and Paul Barker. The album was recorded under pseudonyms, so it's difficult to tell who was playing on the album. The album had four songs and the best on the album was their cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut"
The original version appeared on Black Sabbath's 1972 album Vol. 4. The song was typical of Sabbath's style of metal at the time: loud, sludgy, drugged out psychedelic metal:
Jorgenson's version was much more bombastic and aggressive. Using samples to introduce the song turned it into a potent statement on counter culture. Jorgenson's own daliances with drugs only enhanced the other-worldly feel of the song. The 1000 Homo DJs version is industrial metal swagger, brutal, rhythmic and confrontrational.
The song got a lot of attention after appearing on the 1994 Nativity in Black compilation, featuring covers of Black Sabbath songs, featuring a nice selection of the days alt-metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath. Since then, the song has often been credited to Ministry themselves, adding some confusion to the mix.
One of industrial's enduring mysteries was a rumoured version of the song featuring Trent Reznor on vocals instead of Jorgenson. The rumour was that Reznor's label, TVT, had heard about the collaboration and refused to let Reznor's version be released, forcing a re-recording of the song. This was one of the many reasons Reznor broke his contract with TVT Records and went on to form Nothing Records, in order to have more creative control over his musical career. The Reznor version languished for years, only heard on obscure bootlegs, before being formally released in the massive Black Box box set put out by Wax Trax in 1994.
PS if any enterprising fan of this blog would like to get me a copy of Black Box as a gift, I would appreciate much! It's a highly sought after collector's item now!
1000 Homo DJs just put out one EP, Supernaut, in 1990 on the powerhouse Wax Trax Records. The band was Jorgenson along with other Ministry cohorts like Bill Reiflin and Paul Barker. The album was recorded under pseudonyms, so it's difficult to tell who was playing on the album. The album had four songs and the best on the album was their cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut"
The original version appeared on Black Sabbath's 1972 album Vol. 4. The song was typical of Sabbath's style of metal at the time: loud, sludgy, drugged out psychedelic metal:
Jorgenson's version was much more bombastic and aggressive. Using samples to introduce the song turned it into a potent statement on counter culture. Jorgenson's own daliances with drugs only enhanced the other-worldly feel of the song. The 1000 Homo DJs version is industrial metal swagger, brutal, rhythmic and confrontrational.
The song got a lot of attention after appearing on the 1994 Nativity in Black compilation, featuring covers of Black Sabbath songs, featuring a nice selection of the days alt-metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath. Since then, the song has often been credited to Ministry themselves, adding some confusion to the mix.
One of industrial's enduring mysteries was a rumoured version of the song featuring Trent Reznor on vocals instead of Jorgenson. The rumour was that Reznor's label, TVT, had heard about the collaboration and refused to let Reznor's version be released, forcing a re-recording of the song. This was one of the many reasons Reznor broke his contract with TVT Records and went on to form Nothing Records, in order to have more creative control over his musical career. The Reznor version languished for years, only heard on obscure bootlegs, before being formally released in the massive Black Box box set put out by Wax Trax in 1994.
PS if any enterprising fan of this blog would like to get me a copy of Black Box as a gift, I would appreciate much! It's a highly sought after collector's item now!
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