Monday, June 18, 2007

Maybe He Should Be Called Genius P-Orridge!




Man, I love me some Psychic TV! I always have. Being a Throbbing Gristle freak, I was anxious to hear what Gen, Sleazy & friends had cooked up with PTV. When I heard their first album “Force the Hand of Chance” I fucking laughed my ass off. I still think one of the many things People don’t get about PTV was the humor that was a part of their multifaceted approach to music and art and live shows.
In 1986 PTV started a series of 23 live albums. The plan was to release one album each month. They actually ended up in the Guinness book of world records for putting out 18 albums in 12 months.
“Temporary Temple” is the 9th album in the series. Each of the first 9 albums included a voucher that when sent in as a set to the record company would allow the sender to receive the 10th album in the series for free. Redemption of the vouchers was the only way to get the album. Guess what? I collected all the vouchers & got the free album (it only cost me $15.00 for postage & handling from the UK, but that’s another story).
At some point I will post the 10th album. It has a great song featuring samples of John Lennon & Mark David Chapman.
“Temporary Temple” was recorded at a derelict building in Drayton Park, London on July 28 1984. The music is a long one-song jam. PTV live were kind of like the Grateful Dead. They played for hours and no 2 shows were the same. After having seen both bands several times each (2 for the Dead & 6 for PTV), I’ve got to say that I liked PTV’s music much better, but I must admit that Dead shows had better acid.

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