Tuxedomoon + MX-80 Sound @ San Francisco, CA 1979-12-03

 


LIMITED TIME / LAST TIME

https://pixeldrain.com/l/8schYh1Z

Tuxedomoon
Ralph Records 'Subterranean Modern' Record Release Party
Boarding House
San Francisco, CA
1980-12-03 (Wednesday)

THTP Release 61

Recording chain: 
Stage mics > splitter (split to house snake/SBD and TH snake) > TH dedicated snake >
Peavy MkII 12 channel mixing board (10 channels snake, 2 channels audience mics) > 
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape

Archival Process: 
1999: Sony TC-KA3ES > TDK SA-90 tapes playback (NO Dolby) > BBE 462 Sonic Maximizer (to clean up tapes) >
Tascam DA-30 DAT > HHb DAT-125 DAT tape
2002: HHb CDR-850 Professional CD Recorder (In real time) > HHb CDR74 Gold 100 year archival grade CDRs
2005: Transfered to HDD in AIFF file format

Dime release processing: AIFF Master Files > FFMPEG > 16 bit FLAC 8 > tagging, cover artwork, checksums.

Recorded, preserved, and master AIFF files provided by: Terry Hammer

Setlist:
01. Jay Clem (from Ralph Records) intro >
02. sound check
03. What Use
04. Seven Years
05. Volo Vivace
06. 59 To 1
07. 5th Column
08. Family Man
09. Loneliness
10. Nervous Guy
11. Pinheads On The Move

Length: 57:20

Band:
Blaine L. Reininger - electronic violin, vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, guitar 
Steven Brown - saxophone, vocals, synthesizer, keyboards 
Peter Principle (Peter Dachert) - bass, guitar, percussion [electronic percussion]

Notes:
* RIP Peter Principle/Dachert 2017.
* Note that their 'sound check' was really itself an experiment. I'm told that what you hear on this sound check was roughly how they might create songs, except the process would be much longer, but you can hear that creativity easily.
* About band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxedomoon
"Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, originally consisting of Steven Brown (born Steven Allan Brown on August 23, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois) and Blaine L. Reininger, used electronic violins, guitars, screaming vocals and synthesizers to develop a unique "cabaret no-wave" sound. Bassist Peter Principle (Peter Dachert, 1954–2017) joined the band and in 1979 they released the single "No Tears", which remains a post-punk cult classic. That year they signed to Ralph Records and released their first album, Half-Mute. Eventually, Reininger left the group and Tuxedomoon relocated to Europe,
...
In 1977, Tuxedomoon formed out of The Angels of Light, an artist collective and commune, a group in which Steven Brown was involved. He met Blaine L. Reininger in an electronic music class at San Francisco City College.
...
They started playing music together in the mid-1970s, when punk rock became popular in the underground music scene. "The only rule was the tacit understanding that anything that sounded like anyone else was taboo", stated Brown on the band aiming the create music that sounded unlike anything else before.
...
The band created new performances for each concert, creating theatrical performances and being described as "theatrical electronic cabaret"."
* About Steven Brown: https://www.discogs.com/artist/84675-Steven-Brown
"Born 1952-08-23 in Berwyn, Illinois, United States. Musician, vocalist and composer. Founding member of Tuxedomoon, and longtime collaborator with Blaine L. Reininger. Also member of The Angels Of Light, Nine Rain. Presently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. "
* About Blaine L. Reininger: https://www.discogs.com/artist/41123-Blaine-L-Reininger
"Blaine L. Reininger (born Blaine Leslie Reininger, 1953, Pueblo, Colorado, United States) is an American post-punk, new-wave and alternative pop singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist (particularly violin), writer and performer. He is known for being a member of the group Tuxedomoon since 1977 after co-founding it with Steven Brown"
* In terms of their goal of not sounding like anyone else, Tuxedomoon was certainly totally successful, and thus found a welcoming home on Ralph Records, the Resident's own record label.
* This performance was part of a Ralph Records record release party for their LP Subterranean Modern. Tuxedo moon played before Snakefinger. Tuxedo moon was an amazing band to see live back then, every performance was like going to a surreal musical theatre piece.  MX-80 Sound also played this night.
* Ralph Records was another of those labels where you knew roughly what you were going to get if you saw a new album or single in a record store. If you wanted strange, challenging, complicated, unsafe music, Ralph was your go-to source for it. While started by the Residents to be their record label, they also recorded other artists equally challenging, like Snakefinger, Tuxedomoon, and the Club Foot Orchestra. These groups formed sort of the arty outer extreme edges of the 'punk' scene'
* The description above, "band created new performances for each concert", is how I remember them back then, every performance was unique, like a surreal theatre piece.
* About the Boarding House: 
http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/boarding-house-960-bush-st-san.html
"David Allen, the genial New Jersey-born nightclub operator, assumed the lease [of the building] in 1972 and opened the 300-seat Boarding House (960 Bush, at Taylor). He booked many music and comedy stars early in their careers, including Steve Martin, who's first three albums, Let's Get Small, A Wild and Crazy Guy, and Comedy Is Not Pretty were recorded there, in whole or in part. Bette Midler, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin, the Pointer Sisters and Dolly Parton. In addition to a wide range of rock, country and folk performers the club also put on comedy shows.
When the end came, it was real estate developers who did him in, sending the three hundred and thirty pound Allen and his toy train collection that decorated the downstairs bar out looking for a new location he could ill afford in May, 1980."
Which means this show was about 5 months before this location of the Boarding House closed. It re-opened on Columbus, stayed open a few years, then Bill Graham bought it, and turned it into Wolfgang's.
* Images included.

===========================================================

No distribution in lossy formats!!
No selling!!
No bootlegging!!
No remastering!!
Yes sharing. Definitely share.

Support the artists when or if they play, and buy their records/merchandise.

Please correct any errors or oversights in this information in the comments section so the information can be as accurate as possible.

If you can find related materials like flyers, posters, ticket stubs, even photos, etc, please add them in a comment and I will add them to the main release folder, so that can be included on the next re-seeding. Every bit is welcome, and as I am time constrained on this project due to the amount of material, I cannot spend as much time on each release doing research as I would like, so if we can add to and improve the information and release contents during this series, that would be great.

Please make an effort to pick at least one of these THTP releases and keep it seeded for as long as you can, particularly the lesser known groups. That will really help out long term.

===========================================================
About Terry Hammer and the THTP:

Someone put my feelings very well about these recordings in the following quote. I can't really improve on their words beyond noting that these recordings sound absolutely and utterly stunning, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to present these to you here in their original, first generation, lossless hi-fidelity versions, for the first time ever.

"[These recordings were] recorded and preserved by collector/engineer Terry Hammer, for broadcast over the UC Berkeley station KALX and several others from the 1979 -1981 period. Anyone who spent a night at one of these clubs knows how chaotic the atmosphere was. That he was able to, not only get a decent feed from the sound mixing board, but was also able to get clean recordings was something of a miracle. And the fact this guy did it over and over again is pure dedication to the cause of preserving history for decades to come. Fortunately for everyone, he’s been making these gems of history available and their value as historic documents is inestimable. This is really exciting stuff and I am grateful for Terry’s foresight and deft skill."
src: https://pastdaily.com/2014/06/25/gang-four-live-american-indian-center-san-francisco-1980-nights-roundtable-concert-edition/ 

As Terry notes about the process of recording these shows: "Like all of my live recordings this was mixed direct to 2-Track Reel To Reel (and Cassette deck for backup and personal use) using headphones. Sitting in the club with the loud P.A. sound trying to drive the amp in my mixing board loud enough to hear what I was mixing.If you've ever been to a live concert,then,you know how loud it can be."

If you've ever been looking for an excuse to upgrade your sound system, these recordings certainly should provide you with some motivation, because they have incredible sound. And if you already have a quality sound system, you are in for a treat!! The audio goes straight to 20k hz, no losses I can detect. Due to the reality of tapes, even high end as used here, the low end starts at 47 hz.

And if you want to learn more about this incredible musical era, listen to the stuff you haven't heard, there are amazing gems in there.

Do we call these soundboards? Technically not precisely because this is not the house mix, these shows were mixed using a dedicated mixing board, with an additional 1 to 2 audience mics (1 for Mab because he needed 11 snake inputs), 2 at other clubs) in the mix. But I call it the Terry Hammer Tape Project (THTP) to make sure there is no doubt about the project's creator.

TECH:
Note that Terry made 2 master recordings (recording at the same time) when he mixed these shows live:
1: Reel to reel, for the radio stations: 
Technics RS-1500 Reel To Reel (mostly TDK Audua L-1800 & LB-1800 tape with back coating or Scotch 206 / 207 with back coating. Maybe a few Maxell UD-XL). All the KALX shows went to KALX, they supplied the reel to reel tape.

2: For his own use, and as backup in case something happened to the reels: 
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape

Terry isn't sure, but thinks the audience mics he used maybe were Electro Voice EV-DS35's.

Info: http://www.bbesound.com/products/sonic-maximizers/482i.aspx

===========================================================
 - teetering











MX-80 Sound
Ralph Records 'Subterranean Modern' Record Release Party
Boarding House
San Francisco, CA
1979-12-03 (Wednesday)

THTP Release 93

Recording chain: 
Stage mics > splitter (split to house snake/SBD and TH snake) > TH dedicated snake >
Peavy MkII 12 channel mixing board (10 channels snake, 2 channels audience mics) > 
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape

Archival Process: 
1999: Sony TC-KA3ES > TDK SA-90 tapes playback (NO Dolby) > BBE 462 Sonic Maximizer (to clean up tapes) >
Tascam DA-30 DAT > HHb DAT-125 DAT tape
2002: HHb CDR-850 Professional CD Recorder (In real time) > HHb CDR74 Gold 100 year archival grade CDRs
2005: Transfered to HDD in AIFF file format

Dime release processing: AIFF Master Files > FFMPEG > 16 bit FLAC 8 > tagging, cover artwork, checksums.

Recorded, preserved, and master AIFF files provided by: Terry Hammer

Setlist:
01. Jay Clem intro > Frankie, I'm Sorry
02. Gary And Priscilla
03. Theme From Route 66
04. Fender Bender
05. It's Not My Fault
06. (title ?)
07. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
08. White Night
09. I Walk Among Them- Maybe Some Day You'll Be King
10. applause

Length: 39:02

Band:
Bruce Anderson - guitar
Dale Sophiea - bass
Rich Stim - vocals, guitar, sax
Kevin Teare - drums

Notes:
* Jay Clem is from Ralph Records.
* MX-80 Sound was formed in the same rough world as Pere Ubu, and at about the same time.
* Tuxedomoon (THTP 61) and Snakefinger (THTP 27) also played at the record release party.

* About band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MX-80
"MX-80 (also known as MX-80 Sound) is an American eclectic art-rock band founded in 1974 in Bloomington, Indiana by guitarist Bruce Anderson. Considered “one of the most out of step but prescient bands of its time," MX-80's signature sound consisted of breakneck metallic guitar combined with atonal chord structure, cross-rhythmic percussion and dispassionate vocals. Notoriously difficult to categorize—the band has been labeled noise rock, post-punk, acid punk, and heavy-metal
...
MX-80 relocated to San Francisco in 1978, a tumultuous year when the city reverberated from the Dan White shootings and subsequent riots (reflected in the track "White Night") and the Peoples Temple mass suicide (the band performed at the nearby Temple Beautiful soon after the tragedy, overlooking a parking lot filled with the victim's cars.) MX-80 also performed at prominent punk venues such as the Mabuhay Gardens, Deaf Club, and Savoy Tivoli but the local reception was not enthusiastic and the band was considered out of sync with the punk and new-wave sensibility of groups such as Germs, Dils, and Avengers. Disheartened by the reaction, drummer Jeff Armour soon departed, reducing the band to a quartet.
In 1979, The Residents signed MX-80 to their label, Ralph Records, and two releases followed. The first Ralph recording, Out of the Tunnel (1980), was recorded at Mobius Music Studios, again with Mark Bingham producing. The album's back cover art was photographed by Kim Torgerson at San Francisco's now-buried Ocean Beach tunnels. Ira Robbins, writing in Trouser Press, said "Out of the Tunnel may well be MX-80's high-tide-mark, featuring convoluted breakneck melodies, cross-fed musical genres and Anderson's white hot soloing."
Their second Ralph release, Crowd Control (1981), was recorded at New York's Celebration Studios and was their final collaboration with producer Mark Bingham. Though Crowd Control contained two love songs – "Obsessive Devotion" and "Promise of Love" – compared to Out of the Tunnel, it was considered “a darker album, from a much darker year,” and in general, “found the quartet simplifying some of the arrangements without losing the sense of crackling intensity and playful-while-being-serious performing of earlier efforts."

* This performance was part of a Ralph Records record release party for their LP Subterranean Modern. Tuxedo moon played before Snakefinger. Tuxedo moon was an amazing band to see live back then, every performance was like going to a surreal musical theatre piece.  MX-80 Sound also played this night.
* Ralph Records was another of those labels where you knew roughly what you were going to get if you saw a new album or single in a record store. If you wanted strange, challenging, complicated, unsafe music, Ralph was your go-to source for it. While started by the Residents to be their record label, they also recorded other artists equally challenging, like Snakefinger, Tuxedomoon, and the Club Foot Orchestra. These groups formed sort of the arty outer extreme edges of the 'punk' scene'
* The description above, "band created new performances for each concert", is how I remember them back then, every performance was unique, like a surreal theatre piece.

* About the Boarding House: 
http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/boarding-house-960-bush-st-san.html
"David Allen, the genial New Jersey-born nightclub operator, assumed the lease [of the building] in 1972 and opened the 300-seat Boarding House (960 Bush, at Taylor). He booked many music and comedy stars early in their careers, including Steve Martin, who's first three albums, Let's Get Small, A Wild and Crazy Guy, and Comedy Is Not Pretty were recorded there, in whole or in part. Bette Midler, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin, the Pointer Sisters and Dolly Parton. In addition to a wide range of rock, country and folk performers the club also put on comedy shows.
When the end came, it was real estate developers who did him in, sending the three hundred and thirty pound Allen and his toy train collection that decorated the downstairs bar out looking for a new location he could ill afford in May, 1980."
Which means this show was about 5 months before this location of the Boarding House closed. It re-opened on Columbus, stayed open a few years, then Bill Graham bought it, and turned it into Wolfgang's.

* Includes photos.

===========================================================

No distribution in lossy formats!!
No selling!!
No bootlegging!!
No remastering!!
Yes sharing. Definitely share.

Support the artists when or if they play, and buy their records/merchandise.

Please correct any errors or oversights in this information in the comments section so the information can be as accurate as possible.

If you can find related materials like flyers, posters, ticket stubs, even photos, etc, please add them in a comment and I will add them to the main release folder, so that can be included on the next re-seeding. Every bit is welcome, and as I am time constrained on this project due to the amount of material, I cannot spend as much time on each release doing research as I would like, so if we can add to and improve the information and release contents during this series, that would be great.

Please make an effort to pick at least one of these THTP releases and keep it seeded for as long as you can, particularly the lesser known groups. That will really help out long term.

===========================================================
About Terry Hammer and the THTP:

Someone put my feelings very well about these recordings in the following quote. I can't really improve on their words beyond noting that these recordings sound absolutely and utterly stunning, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to present these to you here in their original, first generation, lossless hi-fidelity versions, for the first time ever.

"[These recordings were] recorded and preserved by collector/engineer Terry Hammer, for broadcast over the UC Berkeley station KALX and several others from the 1979 -1981 period. Anyone who spent a night at one of these clubs knows how chaotic the atmosphere was. That he was able to, not only get a decent feed from the sound mixing board, but was also able to get clean recordings was something of a miracle. And the fact this guy did it over and over again is pure dedication to the cause of preserving history for decades to come. Fortunately for everyone, he’s been making these gems of history available and their value as historic documents is inestimable. This is really exciting stuff and I am grateful for Terry’s foresight and deft skill."
src: https://pastdaily.com/2014/06/25/gang-four-live-american-indian-center-san-francisco-1980-nights-roundtable-concert-edition/ 

As Terry notes about the process of recording these shows: "Like all of my live recordings this was mixed direct to 2-Track Reel To Reel (and Cassette deck for backup and personal use) using headphones. Sitting in the club with the loud P.A. sound trying to drive the amp in my mixing board loud enough to hear what I was mixing.If you've ever been to a live concert,then,you know how loud it can be."

If you've ever been looking for an excuse to upgrade your sound system, these recordings certainly should provide you with some motivation, because they have incredible sound. And if you already have a quality sound system, you are in for a treat!! The audio goes straight to 20k hz, no losses I can detect. Due to the reality of tapes, even high end as used here, the low end starts at 47 hz.

And if you want to learn more about this incredible musical era, listen to the stuff you haven't heard, there are amazing gems in there.

Do we call these soundboards? Technically not precisely because this is not the house mix, these shows were mixed using a dedicated mixing board, with an additional 1 to 2 audience mics (1 for Mab because he needed 11 snake inputs), 2 at other clubs) in the mix. But I call it the Terry Hammer Tape Project (THTP) to make sure there is no doubt about the project's creator.

TECH:
Note that Terry made 2 master recordings (recording at the same time) when he mixed these shows live:
1: Reel to reel, for the radio stations: 
Technics RS-1500 Reel To Reel (mostly TDK Audua L-1800 & LB-1800 tape with back coating or Scotch 206 / 207 with back coating. Maybe a few Maxell UD-XL). All the KALX shows went to KALX, they supplied the reel to reel tape.

2: For his own use, and as backup in case something happened to the reels: 
AKAI GXC-570D Cassette Deck (Dolby B on) > TDK SA-90 tape

Terry isn't sure, but thinks the audience mics he used maybe were Electro Voice EV-DS35's.

Info: http://www.bbesound.com/products/sonic-maximizers/482i.aspx

===========================================================
 - teetering