Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Poly Styrene in Slash

The February 1978 issue of Slash Magazine opened with the assertion, “We ain’t stupid, we know that glamorous women sell more magazines, so what else could we do but put the lovely Poly Styrene on it?” At this point, as Slash was entering its second year of documenting the burgeoning punk and new wave scenes across Los Angeles and beyond, the magazine had already gained a reputation for its unapologetically bold stance against disco, Elvis, and concept albums. It declared, “Enough is enough, partner! About time we squeezed the pus out and sent the filthy rich old farts of rock ‘n’ roll to retirement homes in Florida where they belong.”

Founded in Los Angeles in 1977 by Steve Samiof and Melanie Nissen, Slash magazine covered a broad spectrum of genres tied to the underground rock scene of the time. Beyond punk and new wave, it also provided coverage of rockabilly, reggae, and blues. Over its run, Slash published 29 issues before it folded in 1980. However, its legacy lived on through Slash Records, a punk label that was eventually acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1999. The February 1978 issue epitomized what made Slash iconic within the early punk scene. With feature sections like “Local Shit”, “Dread Greats”. a lively “Letters from Readers” column, and the beloved comic strip Jimbo by Gary Panter, the magazine set the stage for its signature interviews with punk musicians.

A poem in the February 1978 issue of Slash.

The highlight of this issue was undoubtedly the interview with Poly Styrene (born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), the lead singer of the London punk band X-Ray Spex. Born from a Scottish-Irish mother and a Somali father, Styrene began writing and playing music at 15, eventually becoming the embodiment of punk’s youthful, creative energy. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, Poly stepped into a predominantly white, male-dominated punk scene. Her identity as a biracial teenage girl with thick braces and wild curly locks made her a strikingly radical figure in a movement that celebrated its defiant and unconventional image.

Poly Styrene in action.

In the interview, held at a Shepperton bar, Poly talks about X-Ray Spex’s activities in a blunt and indifferent tone, typical of 1970s punk attitude.

Slash: So when was X-Ray Spex formed?

Poly: About Christmas, around January.

Slash: So it’s just been a year-a pretty amazing year, eh?

Poly: Yeah, I s’pose so, pretty good.

Slash: Did you ever expect X-Ray Spex to get this big? You must be knocked out by what’s happening.

Poly: I don’t really think about it–I never thought about it, and I still don’t. I just carry on.

Poly also shares fascinating details of her life in music, including how she came up with her punk moniker, the evolution of the band, her passion for fashion, and why so many young people in the late 1970s had grown bored with mainstream music.

Read the full interview in the RILM Archive of Popular Music Magazines.

Below is a fan-made video for the X-Ray Spex song Oh bondage! Up yours!

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Filed under Literature, Music magazines, Popular music

The traveling organ

When the congregation of the Catholic Heilig-Geist-Kirche in the historic Hanseatic town of Lemgo, North Rhine-Westphalia, embarked on a renovation project from 2021 to 2023, they sought to replace their aging electronic organ with a proper pipe organ but were constrained by budget limitations. An opportunity arose to acquire a nearly century-old Wurlitzer Style D theater organ, built by the Wurlitzer factory in North Tonawanda, New York (near Niagara Falls), in 1924. The organ was first acquired in the late 1940s by Dr. Howard C. Stocker for his personal use in Los Angeles. By 1955, Stocker had moved the organ to San Bernardino (just east of Los Angeles), installing it in a custom-built home specially adapted to accommodate the instrument’s size and requirements. The house soon became a popular venue for concerts. In 1987, tragedy struck when a fire destroyed the entire house–but remarkably, the organ survived. Despite the unfortunate event, Stocker was quite relieved because he believed a house could be rebuilt, but the Style D organ was irreplaceable.

After Stocker’s death in 1993, the organ was temporarily stored in Kansas before being transported to Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany. There, cinema organ enthusiast Friedhelm Fleiter–who had long sought a Wurlitzer Style D–discovered it. For many years, Fleiter preserved and maintained the instrument as a personal passion project. To ensure its functionality, several components were carefully restored and modified for use in the church; however, preserving the original organ’s design and architectural integrity remained the top priority.

When the organ was relocated to the church, preserving the original Wurlitzer Style D façade proved impossible. Instead, a new organ case was designed to complement the church’s architectural style. The organ’s structure consists of two vertically stacked, roughly cube-shaped sections, along with a freestanding console. The upper section houses the pipework and features swell doors on two sides, which remain closed when the organ is not in use to ensure the enclosed pipes stay in tune. Although the new organ cannot fully replicate the musical fidelity of the original, it serves its purpose well in worship settings, particularly for accompanying congregational singing.

This according to “100 Jahre und kein bisschen leise: Eine Wurlitzer-Orgel (1924) für Lemgo” [100 years old and not a bit quiet: A Wurlitzer organ (1924) for Lemgo] by Ralf-Thomas Lindner (Organ: Journal für die Orgel 27/4 [2024] 26–30; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2024-20513).

Listen to Singing in the rain performed on a Wurlitzer Style D organ below. The second video features a different model Wurlitzer organ.

Related Bibliolore posts:

https://bibliolore.org/2022/08/04/the-fokker-organ/

https://bibliolore.org/2019/02/04/how-to-destroy-an-organ/

https://bibliolore.org/2011/03/29/the-wanamaker-organ/

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Filed under Europe, Instruments, Migrations, North America, Religious music

Metal Blade Records, pioneering heavy music label

Metal Blade Records was founded in 1982 by Brian Slagel, who felt that Los Angeles metal scene was not receiving the attention it deserved from the record industry. Slagel–then employed at the metal emporium, Oz Records, and developing one of the earliest metal fanzines, The New Heavy Metal Revue–enlisted friends to distribute a recorded compilation of unsigned acts. The label’s first release, The New Heavy Metal Revue Presents Metal Massacre, included Black ‘N’ Blue, Metallica, and Ratt. Although intended as a side project to promote his fanzine, favorable response spurred Slagel to release more Metal Blade compilations as well as separate LPs by bands such as Dark Angel, Demon Seed, Destruction, Fates Warning, Flotsam and Jetsam, Hellhammer (aka Celtic Frost), Lizzy Borden, The Obsessed, Omen, Sacred Reich, Slayer, Sodom, Trouble, and Voivod.

By the mid-1980s, the label was considered a linchpin of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, providing an alternative to the AM-friendly hard rock of Def Leppard, Motley Crue, and Quiet Riot. Metal Blade’s commercial potential was greatly enhanced by a distribution agreement with Enigma/Capitol Records in 1985. Not only was the label now able to better promote established artists, but its newly created subsidiary, Death Records, aggressively pursued cutting-edge talent, including Atheist, Cannibal Corpse, Corrosion of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter, and The Mentors. In addition, the company broadened its roster to encompass alternative and AOR fare as exemplified by the likes of Armored Saint, Goo Goo Dolls, Junk Monkeys, Nevada Beach, and Princess Pang.

In 1990 Metal Blade signed a multitiered distribution deal with Warner Bros. which freed the label to concentrate on artist development. Dissatisfaction with the arrangement, however, led Metal Blade to return to independent status with distribution by R.E.D. In the meantime, the company continued to cultivate talent, most notably Amon Amarth, Cradle of Filth, Goatwhore, 200 Stab Wounds, Crisis, The Crown, Cirith Ungol, God Dethroned, Whitechapel, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Six Feet Under, and The Black Dahlia Murder. It also helped facilitate the revival of powermetal by acquiring Destiny’s End, Labyrinth, and Sacred Steel.

Metal Blade celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. When asked about label’s longevity, Slagel said, “In the very beginning, none of us [in] the L.A. metal scene ever thought metal was going to get as big as it has. Looking back on it, it was just amazing to be in that city at that time. You had Mötley Crüe and Ratt on one front, and then Metallica, Slayer, and everything else on the other coming from the same city at the same time. We were all just dumb, young kids, and we loved the music. I couldn’t play an instrument, so I figured, well, I guess I’m going to try [doing a record label]. . . I think metal is in a really good spot now. There are a lot of new bands coming up that we’re pretty excited about.”

Read more in Encyclopedia of recorded sound (2005). Find it in RILM Music Encyclopedias (RME).

Below is a short documentary featuring Brian Slagel and others discussing the origins and significance of Metal Blade Records on heavy metal history.

Explore some previous related Bibliolore posts:

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Filed under Mass media, Popular music

Songs in the key of Los Angeles

songs in the key of l.a.

Songs in the key of Los Angeles: Sheet music from the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library (Santa Monica: Angel City, 2013) presents historical popular songs, including facsimiles of sheet music covers and original manuscripts, in hardcover and e-book form.

The book is an outgrowth of Songs in the key of Los Angeles, a multi-platform collaboration between the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Public Library, and USC professor Josh Kun that brings to life the Library’s extraordinary Southern California Sheet Music Collection.

Comprising sheet music pieces that range from the 1840s through the 1950s, the Collection offers a singular portrait of Los Angeles history and culture rendered in music and visual art.

Below, Lupe Vélez performs Chiapanecas, one of the songs included in the collection.

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Filed under New editions, Popular music