ARTIFACTS/yclept 1970-1981 SCOPIX NECRO

Analog Music from a Lost World This is a simple documentary survey of a very particular time and place; From the beginning too, we felt that we differed a sliver of a local culture — made in imitation of, or perhaps as a salute from other regional scenes because of our abiding to the work of musicologist, Dick Spottswood, one of our heroes. The best interest in and exposure to the world of music stories can’t be told in this amount of space, but here’s an outline: outside of Pop: Free Jazz, Musique Concrete, Gamelan and much more. “...in Richmond, or in any Southern city for that matter, you do see types now and then which depart from the norm. By the time the earliest Artifacts bands, Titfield The South is full of eccentric characters; it still fosters Thunderbolt, Big Naptar, Frozen Horizons, individuality. And the most individualistic are of course Les Ultratones and others, took the stage, from the land, from the out of the way places.” the peace and love Sixties were collapsing, the government was still trying to draft us into the — Henry Miller, Vietnam War and a permanent, and in some “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare” (1945) cases debilitating, cynicism had infected us all. The oddest of us were, to be sure, not from the So much so, that even at the end of the following Big City, but while many here came from places like decade, Network/R.M. Keller, from his studio Boones Mill, Roanoke, Martinsville, Clarksville in Cairo, still felt a need to disavow the insipid and Culpeper in Virginia, and Winston-Salem notions of Flower Power by grumbling, “Shit on and Greensboro in North Carolina, nearly half the Age of Aquarius” (Onoonanism on Disc 1). came from the D.C. suburbs, all converging on In 1970 Stymie the Hermit and Key Ring Torch the urban scene around the art school at Virginia launched the five-piece Titfield Thunderbolt, Commonwealth University in the late 1960’s. a band whose act was fundamentally more And, if the South is indeed full of “eccentric conceptual event than rehearsed performance. characters,” what is art school, if not a universally Their unpredictable stage shows included the potent magnet for creative misfits? There isn’t a use of costumes, sparklers, card games, phoned- person on these two discs who ever intended to in solos, keyboards played with live lobsters, be what the Japanese call a “salary man,” and though drums pounded with frozen fish, walkie-talkies, most succeeded in that intention, some inevitably stylophones, short wave radios — almost anything succumbed, while more than a few died resisting that would make a noise. Later that year in a major in their own way (see the list, please) — and others just coup, they were asked to open for Frank Zappa’s disappeared. Straight label’s hot new band, Alice Cooper; Richmond is less than 100 miles from Our Nation’s and in 1971 the band held a show in a city park in Capital, which in pre-digital days was still worlds which they played unseen inside a bamboo thicket. away from the major centers of the Counter Deke Naptar arrived in 1968 to attend Culture on the West Coast and in NYC, and that drama school, but quickly dropped out and remove forced us to interpret and synthesize a take embarked on a decade of homeless drifting, on the zeitgeist that was uniquely our own. multiple misdemeanor arrests and local fame Key Ring Torch (court-bound in short-hair wig) & Stymie the Hermit Mike Sizer (AKA: Deke Naptar, Rodney Maynard, Mr. Megaton)

“Too many X-chromosones floating around inside of me.” Titfield Thunderbolt: Stymie the Hermit & Key Ring Torch Key Ring Torch Big Naptar: Dwayne Ward, Michael Maurice Garrett, Steve Bernard, Bill Altice, Frank Daniel

Single Bullet Theory: Frank Daniel (d. 2004), Gary Alan Holmes, Bernard L. Stephens (summer in Richmond, Michael Maurice Garrett, Dennis Madigan, & Davey Wynn look at the temperature) as an impulsive performer who never stopped Hermit (now Corvus Crorson) moved to D.C. performing, on stage or off. Big Naptar was for work, where he later started and continues to originally put together just to provide Deke with record with Bomis Prendin (see the famous Nurse a launching pad, but the band soon abandoned with Wound List), while Key Ring Torch lingered that effort and left to perform their own material. in Richmond calling his low-profile solo act Group improvisation, everyone’s original modus Wm. Burke’s Hideous Truth. operandi, soon began to incorporate structure and Besides X-Breed, the Mid-Seventies belonged song writing, but the search for spontaneous mostly to The N.Y. Dux, self-described “militant invention always prevailed, simply because none jazz snobs who played enough gigs to earn a middle of us were inclined to play the same thing twice. class wage,”and who truly did seem to be be playing All the earliest bands were, in fact, consciously all the time. The band also served as the last group trending towards what the Lounge Lizards, ten brave enough to periodically put the unpredictably years later, would call “Fake Jazz”, or what the NYC volatile Deke Naptar on stage as a front man. music press in the early 80’s would label “No Wave.” New exploratory ensembles, Idio-Savant (Shakers While collectors in cities across America are still in a Tantrum Landscape), The Tom and Marty Band uncovering and re-releasing lost, self-produced (Afraid to Go to Sleep) and The Orthotonics followed 45s and LPs from this same era, no one here had in the late Seventies, while X-Breed morphed the wherewithal to even consider going into a into more mainstream local favorite, Single professional studio. We were busy though, creating Bullet Theory, who toured the country with our own culture on the fly and recording it as The Stranglers, and opened for The Pretenders, best we could as we went. Those early efforts filled The Ramones, The Romantics and others, and numerous cardboard boxes with countless “low-fi” cut an LP for a major label, before (before anyone ever thought of calling it that) calling it quits in the cassette and reel-to-reel tapes from which much early Eighties. of this collection has been mined. The Titfield Thunderbolt single, “Born on the Wrong Planet” b/w “In the Can” (1970), pressed as part of a Commercial Art class assignment and culled from live recordings, was the only piece of real vinyl produced until The Single Bullet Theory, Idio-Savant and The Orthotonics paid to be recorded in the very late Seventies. By late fall of 1972, Big Naptar had split and the remaining musicians formed X-Breed. Stymie the N.Y. Dux: Terry Loughan (d. 2004), Hank Miller, Rob Reisinger Born out of Idio-Savant, The Orthotonics first recorded a cassette-only release, “Accessible as Gravity” and later two albums for Fred Frith,“Wake Up You Must Remember” and “Luminous Bipeds.” Members have since played with a list of bands too long to include here, among them Sparklehorse, Curlew, And the Wiremen and Rattlemouth.

Somewhere around the turn of the millennium, J.W. Burke, Jr. (Key Ring Torch) moved out to the suburbs, where he isolated and immersed himself in a world of Irish breakfast teas, guns and conspiracy theories.

And on Mother’s Day in 1981, Rodney Michael Sizer (AKA Deke Naptar, Rodney Maynard and Mr. Megaton), wearing borrowed clothes, crawled through the ventilation system of his ex-wife’s house, then sat on the The Orthotonics edge of her bed and smoked six cigarettes, before lying down and shooting himself once through the heart with a .22 pistol. (Bang! Brackets Closed: 1970-1981) — Bill Altice, Richmond, VA 2009

Tunisia, 1973 The Tom & Marty Band: Marty McCavitt and Tom Campagnoli BRIEF LIVES: Frank Daniel Steve Potiet Dennis “The Rick Davis Drummer” Smith Vince Whitfield Terry Loughan Bruce Cliborne Ralph Harper Anne LeMasurier Matthew Rudisill Elaine LaGace Aaron Christiansen Sandy Gibbs Jim “Dr. Strangedrug” Stanley Garth Crutchfield This collection is dedicated to Z (Tom Zimmerman), who has done, Nancy Meade Chris Gibson and is still doing, everyone’s sound. Ed Gehring Craig Thompson Kay Hasty James “Yogi” Bair Hank Wilkins Michael Tierney Jim Bradford Harold Griggs Roger Metz Janet Bell Mike Metz Ernie Blanchard Cheri Fox Joe Sheets “Mad Martha” Cassidy Steve Podelewski Burt Peters Ralph Holmes Bruce DeJarnette Morris Yarowsky Chris Collier Kathryn Smiley Carol Jensen Don Rutherford (“Doc Poison”) Nonny Jones Thorn Wright Richard Soverino Jerry Pearlstein Tom Lacey Chuck Defenbaugh “Woody” Guthrie Teddy Hendershot Dick Carlyon Doug Trumbo Bill Jones Dicky Dodge Reid Taylor Baby Gherkin (Steffan Pirnat) Sailor Boy For David Sayles (1946-1970) Tuesday Morning (at the Trailer Court) (Bill Altice) (Steve Bernard) 1. It’s a long, long story... 1. I put a note in the mailbox, If it’s the one you want to hear about, It’s the twelfth from the end I’ll have to go back a long way And I come back in an hour, To draw the whole thing out. Her note says, “Baby, come on in.” Chorus: Her trailer sits in the dirt I know you remember that sailor boy, With all the toys in the yard. The one you went to school with. I step up on the stoop Yeah, he’s a cool, cool Sailor Boy now. And then I knock real hard. 2. We ran around ‘til he was 18 Chorus: And he went off to sea, It’s Tuesday morning But he didn’t go off to be something, (He’s at the trailer court) As much as it was something to be. Tuesday morning So, don’t tell me he “sailed off for glory,” (He’s at the trailer court) ‘Cause it just isn’t true. I never come without warning He spends most of his time staying drunk, Sweet Tuesday... ‘Cause he doesn’t know what else to do. (Repeat chorus) 2. She gives me kiss when I walk inside. The TV is blasting 3. David’s never been married. No, he’s never been “stung,” And the children are crying. And now he’s got girlfriends Then she gives me a Pibb Who speak in different tongues. From a cooler on the floor, We go back to the chamber. He looks at love in a different light We get down on the floor. and he won’t call them by name, Because he says they’re all one woman, (Repeat chorus) Just one and the same. Well, she’s always discreet... (Repeat chorus) (And I like that.) 4. Now, I might be in the same shape today, She can think on her feet... If I hadn’t got myself straightened out. (And I like that.) Sure, I might still be lost, And she’s easy to please... But I’d have more to talk about. (And I like that.) Chorus: She’s hardly modest, But would I still be your Lover Boy? She’s my Trailer Court Goddess. The one you like to fool with. If I was a cool, cool Sailor Boy now. Culture, Culture (Steve Bernard) 1. I went to the art show. I saw a picture of an eyeball. Picture look good, But I couldn't understand No fingers or no hands, No arms, no throat — Just an eyeball. 2. I went to the sculpture studio. The Fabulous Daturas: Little Lacy Polk, Sunset Lou Reimuller I saw a sculpture of a hot dog, & Swami Datura Morris Hot dog look good, But they put it in a jar And they filled it up with tar And you couldn't see the hot dog. Chorus: Culture, Culture, You know it will insult you. It goes without question, This stuff must be Western (Culture). 3. Up in New York City, Baby, They got the Culture, Culture. Network / R.M. Keller Culture at the crossroads. Moving to the sounds mystique, New York corner, Texas beat. (Repeat chorus) (Add to end:) Moving on the New York train, Gray on gray, common rain. Getting off at Chambers Street, Move up Church, then duck down Reade. Do it quickly and do it fast, Everybody kiss my ass. The Beex: Mike Tighe, Chris Gibson (d. 2007), Boo Smith, Craig Thompson (d.2005) & Richard Buchanan D I S C 1 Analog Music from a Lost World 01 (I was) Born on the Wrong Planet (Wall) — Titfield Thunderbolt > 1970 The band’s best-known song, recorded live, transposed from a degraded tape. Dedicated to Sun Ra. Stymie the Hermit – Vocal & Guitar; Key Ring Torch – Bass; Bo Janne Valvoline – Drums; Foot Fetish – Clavinet; Batman Sportswear - Percussion

02 Sailor Boy (Altice) — Big Naptar > 1970 Written for a high school friend who was killed in a motorcycle accident while on leave from the Navy. Bill Altice – Vocal & Guitar; Frank Daniel - Guitar; Steve Bernard - Bass; Mike Garrett – Alto Sax; Gene “Gone” Grimes – Tenor Sax; Dwayne Ward – Drums

03 Ko-Ki-Ki (Big Naptar) — Big Naptar > 1971 Syncopated Acid-Dixieland-Funk-Drone. Bill Altice – Guitar; Frank Daniel - Guitar; Steve Bernard - Bass; Mike Garrett – Alto Sax; Gene “Gone” Grimes – Tenor Sax; Dwayne Ward – Drums; Tom Zimmerman – Trumpet

04 I Don’t Wanna Jam (Sizer) — Deke Naptar > 1976 He means what he says, every time he says it. Always remember, music’s just hobnob. Deke Naptar - Vocal; Bernard L. Stephens - Guitar

05 Baby Mallard Duck/SW Gecko Alert (Sizer) — Deke Naptar > 1976 Deke once sold sporting goods for a very short time — if that explains anything at all. Deke Naptar - Vocal; Bernard L. Stephens - Guitar

06 Peggy Got Her Eyes Full (Garrett) — X-Breed > 1976 Michael Maurice Garrett’s first song, a local standard from Big Naptar through the Single Bullet Theory. Michael Maurice Garrett - Vocal; Richard Buchanan - Guitar; Steve Riddle - Guitar; Frank Daniel - Bass; Dennis Madigan - Drums

07 Lies (Daniel) — Single Bullet Theory > 1979 From the “Etch-A-Sketch” EP. Always an Anglophile, Frank was really into the Move at this point. Frank Daniel - Vocal & Guitar; Michael Maurice Garrett - Saxophone; Gary Alan Holmes - Guitar; Davey Wynn - Bass; Dennis Madigan - Drums

08 Five Strings (Garrett) — Single Bullet Theory > 1979 That’s “Denmark Street.” From the unreleased Alpha Audio sessions, recorded in Richmond, Va. Michael Maurice Garrett - Vocal & Guitar; Barry Fitzgerald - Keyboards; Mick Muller - Bass; Gary Alan Holmes - Guitar; Dennis Madigan - Drums 09 Les Bonnes Chansons (Garrett) — Single Bullet Theory > 1979 Same sessions as No. 7. Makes me think of Huey P. Meaux. Go ahead, sing along. Michael Maurice Garrett - Vocal & Guitar; Davey Wynn - Bass; Frank Daniel - Piano, Organ & Guitar; Gary Holmes - Guitar; Dennis Madigan - Drums

10 Onoonanism (Keller) — Network / R.M. Keller > 1979 ABC News producer mixes street recordings from Beirut with musings about safe sex while under fire. R.M. Keller - Vocal & All Instruments

11 Tuesday Morning (at the Trailer Court) (Bernard) — Beatnik Worship > 1979 Is this the Ray Davies on Tobacco Road? Or the Velvet Underground on Clinch Mountain? Bernard L. Stephens - Vocal & Guitar; Ray Fralin - Guitar; David Lavelle - Guitar

12 Beat, Beat (Applegate) — Beex > 1979 Descended from X-Breed and the remains of Ricky and the White Boys — Nosehits, too. Chris Gibson - Vocal; Mike Tighe - Guitar; Richard Buchanan - Guitar; Craig Thompson - Bass; Boo Smith - Drums

13 Dinner with the Trees (Pirnat, Altice) — Baby Gherkin > 1979 Eight-year old sings about a post-concussion nightmare. Improvised in one take; drums just added. Baby Gherkin - Vocal; Bill Altice - Guitar; Pippin Barnett - Drums

14 Freight (Bernard) — Bernard L. Stephens > 1979 Do they still make Peugeots? Recorded at his first house in Boones Mill, Va. near the Callaway Speedway. Bernard L. Stephens - Vocal & Guitar; Bill Altice - Bass

15 Racket in a Bucket/Hit Kitty (Bernard) — I Saw a Bulldozer > 1979 No one can remember exactly what the “electronics” were, but they’re beautiful. Bernard L. Stephens - Vocal & Guitar; Bill Altice - Lead Guitar & Bass; Wm. Burke - Electronics; Eddie “Red” Smullen - Drums

16 Womanfish (Sharp, arranged by The Orthotonics) — The Orthotonics > 1979 The earliest version of one of their signature songs. Recorded by Bobby Read. Rebby Sharp - Vocal & Guitar; Paul Watson - Trumpet; Danny Finney - Saxophone; Phil Trumbo - Bass; Pippin Barnett - Drums

17 Accessible as Gravity (Orthotonics) — The Orthotonics > 1979 Designed to be accessible. From the “Accessible as Gravity” cassette-only release. Rebby Sharp - Vocal & Guitar; Paul Watson - Trumpet; Danny Finney - Saxophone; Phil Trumbo - Bass; Pippin Barnett - Drums; Bill Altice - Guest Guitar D I S C 2 Analog Music from a Lost World 01 Goddamn Dues (Sizer) — Deke Naptar > 1976 A worried man, singing about himself, most likely. Deke Naptar - Vocal

02 What is Wrong with You? (Stone) — Jeff Stone > 1970 The real thing: One of the last of the Piedmont blues men. Jeff wandered into our lives briefly and was soon gone. He rode a bicycle and worked for the city repairing streets. There are no photos. Recorded by Clay Sorrough. Jefferson Stone - Vocal & Guitar; Steve Bernard - Bass; Bill Altice - Harmonica

03 The Original Georgia Grind (Dabney) — The Fabulous Daturas > 1978 Richmond’s ragtime/jug band scene was here years before we were and part of it moved on to Eugene, Oregon. First recorded by Signor Grinderino for Victor in 1915. Sunset Lou Reimuller - National Steel Guitar & Tenor Kazoo; Swami Datura Morris - Banjo & Tenor Kazoo; Little Lacy Polk - Washboard & Alto Kazoo

04 Havin’ a Canipshun (Campagnoli, McCavitt) — The Tom & Marty Band > 1980 T & M call their stuff “Electronic Folk Music for the Entire Family.” This one’s just a mood thing. Tom Campagnoli - Vocals, Large Coffee Can, Toy Organ; Marty McCavitt - Bass2, Micromoog & Pianet

05 Cantagish (Finney) — The Orthotonics > 1981 Down to a trio at this point, but as potent as ever. Collaborative engineer/producer Fred Frith’s treatment shines. Rebby Sharp - Vocal & Keyboards; Danny Finney - Vocal & Saxophone; Pippin Barnett - Vocal & Drums

06 Jaybo (Powers) — Larry Powers & The N.Y. Dux > 1978 Graffiti seen on a wall of the school fence near the 1300 block of Floyd Avenue: “We real cool, we quit school, we jazz June, we die soon — Jaybo.” Larry, a local prodigy, wrote this for a composition class. Larry Powers - Guitar; Rob Reisinger - Bass; Terry Loughan - Tenor Saxophone; Hank Miller - Drums

07 Albert’s Island (Ayler, Monton, Mann, Strange) — N.Y. Dux > 1981 Responsible for manic conga lines every time it was played. This one was recorded live at R.A.W. Rob Reisinger - Bass; Terry Loughan - Tenor Saxophone; Hank Miller - Drums

08 In the Court of Louis XIV (Sizer) — Deke Naptar > 1978 Deke turns around to get a Miller High Life while he’s getting started. He paints the picture though, doesn’t he? Deke Naptar - Vocal; Philip Bernard - Saxophone; ? - Guitar 09 Culture, Culture (Bernard) — Deke Naptar > 1978 Deke screws up the lyrics but he owns the song anyway. Does art mean anything? Deke Naptar - Vocal; Steve Bernard - Guitar & Backup Vocal

10 Washing Machine (I Saw a Bulldozer) — I Saw a Bulldozer > 1979 John and Gussie had just split up and she’s not kidding here. Improvised under influences. Gussie Armeniox - Vocal; John Wilson - Zoom Bass; Steve Bernard - Bass; Bill Altice - Backup Vocal & Guitar; Eddie “Red” Smullen - Drums

11 Death to Thieves (Bernard) — Beatnik Worship > 1979 The best song written by any of us. Recorded in the shadow of House Rock Mountain. Bernard L. Stephens - Vocal & Guitar; Ray Fralin - Guitar; David Lavelle - Guitar

12 BBTTTB (Fawcett, 1740) — Titfield Thunderbolt > 1970 Richmond’s MC5? Well, not exactly. Foot Fetish - Vocal & Keyboards; Stymie the Hermit - Vocal; Key Ring Torch - Vocal; Batman Sportswear - Vocal & Trumpet; Bo Janne Valvoline - drums

13 Some Jungle Music (Titfield Thunderbolt) — Titfield Thunderbolt > 1970 Same session as “BBTTTB,” live on reel-to-reel from an art opening at the Carillon. Recorded by Jake Dance. Stymie the Hermit - Bass; Key Ring Torch - Walkie-talkies; Foot Fetish - Keyboards, Duck Call; Batman Sportswear - Cowbell; Bo Janne Valvoline - Drums

14 Startling Nature (Idio-Savant) — Idio-Savant > 1978 Weaned on Albert Ayler. Recorded at Soundbox in Arlington by Malcom Peplow. Danny Finney - Saxophone; Paul Watson - Trumpet; Marty McCavitt - Keyboards; Pippin Barnett - Drums

15 Water, Only Water (Idio-Savant) — Idio-Savant > 1978 Same band, different speed. Or is this another language altogether? Danny Finney - Saxophone; Paul Watson - Trumpet; Marty McCavitt - Keyboards; Pippin Barnett - Drums. The band also employs a variety of other things.

16 Preludes (Campagnoli, McCavitt) — The Tom & Marty Band > 1979 Inspired by movies: Ennio Morricone, Maurice Jarre, and even the music to be seated by in more civilized times. Tom Campagnoli - Pig Nose Feedback, Toy Organ, Drum Machine; Marty McCavitt - Micromoog, Pianet

17 Thrumper (Altice, Lindsay) — Mayak B.A. > 1979 The father of “modern singing poetry” remixed; from “The Chinese Nightingale.” Dedicated to Holger Czukay. Bill Altice - All Instruments; Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) - Vocal D I S C 2 (continued) Analog Music from a Lost World 19 The Giant Electromagnet (Pirnat, Altice, Wall) — Baby Gherkin > 1979 He’d recently seen “Invaders from Mars” on the big screen. Steffan Pirnat - Vocal; Bill Altice – Guitar; Corvus Crorson - Toy Synthesizer

20 Born on the Wrong Planet 79 (Wall) — Bomis Prendin > 1979 A song from the recent past, played in a future that’s now passed too. Corvus Crorson - Guitar; Miles Anderson - Guitar Hidden Track: 21 Young White Male (Sizer) — Deke Naptar & The NY Dux > 1972 Like he says, he tried to warn us. Deke Naptar - Vocal; Rob Reisinger - Guitar; Hank Miller - Tenor Saxophone; Gary Morgan - Bass; Roger Bianchini - Drums; Wm. Burke - Keyboards

SPECIAL THANKS to Bo Jacob, Steve Wall, Z (Tom Zimmerman), Rob Reisinger and Roger Bianchini. A necroscopy is a post-mortem examination; a rarely used medical term for autopsy.

I Saw a Bulldozer: Wm. Burke, Bill Altice, Bernard L. Stephens & Eddie “Red” Smullen

NECRO SCOPIX ARTIFACTS/yclept 1970-1981 n Stephens L. Bernard i k r e h G y b a B p i h s Beex r o W k i n t a e B y r o e h T t Keller e R.M. / Network l l u B e l g n i S X-Breed r a t p a N e k e D t l o b r e d n u Naptar Big h T d l e i f t i T om & Marty Band n a B y t r a Dux N.Y. The M & m To e h T Daturas Fabulous The e n o t S f f e J r e z o d l Orthotonics The l u B a w a S I n i d n e r P s i m o B B.A. Mayak t n a v a S - o i d I Analog Music from a Lost World Lost a from Music Analog