Magazine @ Whisky A Go Go 1979-08-31

 

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Magazine
The Whisky
West Hollywood, California
August 31, 1979
RG Master Cassette via JEMS
New Wave LA Series Vol. 21

Recording equipment: unknown mics and recorder

JEMS 2020 Transfer: RG Master Cassette > Nakamichi RX-505 (azimuth adjustment) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > CD Wave > ffmpeg > FLAC

early set
01 Definitive Gaze
02 Touch and Go
03 Burst
04 Cut Out Shapes
05 My Tulpa
06 I Wanted Your Heart
07 Motorcade
08 Boredom

late set
09 Back to Nature
10 Give Me Everything
11 The Great Beautician in the Sky
12 Parade
13 Rhythm of Cruelty
14 Permafrost
15 The Light Pours Out of Me
16 Shot by Both Sides
17 Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Sly Stone cover)
18 I Love You, You Big Dummy

JEMS is pleased to continue a series of historic recordings made by our longtime friend and diehard music collector RG. He was on the scene in LA as a teenager, began recording shows in 1977 and continued on well into the 2000s. Our series will focus on tapes he made between 1977 and 1987.

What sort of music was he into? Well, one simple way to put it is KROQ music, meaning the bands that LA’s “world famous” new wave radio station was playing were the bands he saw and recorded. First wave if you will, with forays into indie and punk(ish) artists. The early years are dominated by UK artists breaking in the US. Over time his work expands to US bands in the second wave. Some of the artists RG taped include:

Siouxsie & the Banshees (Vol. 4)
Madness (Vol. 8)
The Specials (Vol. 6)
OMD (Vol. 10)
The Damned
The Stranglers (Vol. 1)
Public Image Limited (Vol. 3)
John Cale (Vol. 9)
Magazine (Vol. 21)
The Buzzcocks (Vol. 7)
Orange Juice (Vol. 13)
U2
Wreckless Eric
The Cramps
Johnny Thunders (Vol. 18)
Talking Heads
Iggy Pop
XTC (Vol. 2)
The Jam
The Only Ones (Vol. 19)
The Undertones (Vol. 17)
Boomtown Rats (Vol. 5)
The Birthday Party (Vol. 15)
The Penetrators
The Bluebells (Vol. 12)
The Plimsouls (Vol. 11)
Athletico Spizz '80
Killing Joke (Vol. 14)
Jonathan Richman (Vol. 16)
The Records (Vol. 20)

Later on he caught The Smiths, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and many more.

RG used good, not Millard-level recording gear, which means his tapes are mostly solid and listenable, with the occasional very good one and also sorta crappy one. What makes his tapes compelling is that RG was recording in a particularly vital window of time. In many instances these were the first or second times these acts played Los Angeles. Some never did proper US tours, only playing select dates in key markets like LA or NYC. Also, for many of these gigs, RG was the only taper. He grabbed a few local radio broadcasts along the way, too. 

Because these shows were almost exclusively at clubs like The Whisky and The Roxy, the sets are generally short, 45 to 60 minutes because that's what you did at The Whisky. On occasion, RG would copy his own masters to save tape and we have done our best to distinguish what’s a true master and what’s a first generation copy. If there’s a doubt, we will note it. Regardless, the series will offer the lowest generation copies available of his recordings, digitized directly for the first time from RG’s tapes which had been stored in boxes for the last 15+ years.

Volume 21 continues the very busy year of 1979 for RG, this time recording Magazine, featuring Howard Devoto and future Bad Seed Barry Adamson on bass. Magazine came through Los Angeles in support of their sophomore album Secondhand Daylight on what I believe was their first US headlining tour. The split early and late sets draw heavily from Magazine's first and second albums plus two special additions. The first is a "cover" The Buzzcocks' "Boredom," which dates back to their Sprial Scratch EP before Devoto left to form Magazine. The second an ambitious and inspired interpretation of Sly & The Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

The quality of RG's capture is on par with the majority of recordings in the series, relatively clear with a little bit of over modulation during the loudest parts of the show, but still highly listenable. Samples provided. 

In case you are wondering, Magazine does have a live album called Live And Intermittent that includes songs recorded at the Whisky in 1979, but those songs were recorded the next night, September 1, not from this August 31 show.

We’re grateful to RG for letting JEMS dig through his tape boxes and pull out the assets for this series. He witnessed amazing LA music history. Tip of the hat as well to cpscps who volunteered to handle post-production on our series which is a huge help to us and makes it possible to get more music in your hands. Stay tuned for more New Wave in LA.

BK for JEMS