1.Leatherface
Gary Cope, Flying Nun 'accountant',
had a pirate VHS of The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, a film banned
in NZ at the time. It was a
corrupted copy of a copy of
a copy and viewing was definitely
more aural than visual. Funny
thing was when I finally got
to see a legit version; the
picture clarity made it less
scary- would be horror filmmakers
take note.
Leatherface is the chainsaw-wielding
star of TTCM. We usually played
this song last in our set because
the drumming always threatened
to kill Michael.
2.Pay The Piper
Roughly speaking, our set
divided into either noise tracks
or train tracks. This is a
bit of both, train in the verses,
noise in the chorus.
3.Lynch
This was recorded in Auckland
at Progressive studios with
Terry King and Doug Hood. There
were no recording studios in
Christchurch so we grabbed
the opportunity to record while
up there for a New Year's Eve
1984 show at the Windsor Pub,
Parnell.
4.Son Of A Gun
Michael's drumming on this
one always puts me in mind
of Gary Glitter's Rock and
Roll. Seeing The Glitter Band,
minus Gary but with two drummers,
at the Christchurch Town Hall
had been a seminal moment for
me as a thirteen-year old.
Although written when Ronnie
Reagan was President, with
GW in the White House, Son
Of A Gun still has a point.
5.Anthem
'Video games good training
for future soldiers' - prophetic
or what? Sure back then it
was Space Invaders but I read
somewhere recently that the
consoles of new generation
US army tanks are designed
in conformance to Play Station
hardware. On Anthem, Michael
plays a milk can that was an
integral part of his drum kit.
We stole it from the Christchurch
Hospital on a midnight commando
raid that involved a mid-winter
wade up the Avon River - an
obvious strategy for keeping
the bloodhounds off our trail.
6.Self Destruct
No idea what this one is about
really. Sounds like a self-help
guide. I like Grant's bass
bit and that it's short, snappy
and sans chorus.
7.Waltz
Grant came up with the idea
for this one, a song in 3/4
time. Enjoyed playing it live,
when I could remember my part.
It was a nice counterpoint
to our otherwise, four on the
floor, songbook.
8.Hype
One of our noise songs. The
start of it sounds like a tractor
engine firing up.
9.Black Train
The ultimate destination for
our train songs. It was really
only ever a work in progress,
but we enjoyed the groove so
included it in our later sets.
10.AC/DC
Ascension Descension. Robin
Neate used to do our live sound
and suggested using the chanting
of Gregorian Monks in a song.
We recorded it by winding a
record backwards on his turntable.
11.Paleface
The voice is from a TV documentary
on Survivalists. At the time
VHS machines were rare beasts
but I managed to borrow a video
copy from the Religious Studies
department at Canterbury University.
The minister who loaned it
to me was broad minded enough
to regard the crucifix/swastika
I wore ironically as an earring
as 'an interesting combination'.
12.Rolling Thunder
Our anti-war song, told from
the POV of a redneck pilot.
Operation Rolling Thunder was
the code name for the US napalm
campaign in Vietnam. The thunder
in this song was provided by
a spring reverb unit that I
used to kick mercilessly across
the stage. Disturbingly, if
you substituted the lyric,
'good red' with 'good towelhead',
the sentiments of this song
would have more political currency
than they ever did on the night.
13.Ricochet
Despite furnishing the title
for this CD, I wouldn't describe
this track as being emblematic.
The reason we chose it as a
title was that we liked the
idea of these songs bouncing
back after twenty-one years.
We used to open with Ricochet
and it was always a freewheeling
noise fest, including me hitting
my bass with a drumstick. I
always thought Grant's blues
riff near the end was just
a dead cool piss-take.
14.Emperor's New Clothes
This was recorded at Progressive
Studios. Although it was listed
on the Between Two Thieves
EP, we decided to drop it off
the vinyl because it slowed
down too much.
15.Scarlip
Michael wrote the words for
this one and Grant used to
sing them. No idea what part
I played, judging from the
mix nothing. I have a sneaking
suspicion that this song was
my opportunity to get a beer
from the bar.
16.Outlook
Grant recently told me that
the only reason he sang this
song was because I threw a
tantrum complaining about having
to do everything. I don't recall
this exchange but patently
I was wrong. My contribution
to the overall sound of YFC
was often minimal. I do, however,
remember enjoying the stops
and starts of Outlook and not
having to sing.
Jonathan Ogilvie
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