ISMO

The world's only FREE weekly music magazine

Issue 21: 25th January 1999

C O N T E N T S:

THE GOSSIPPING HEN: The Rolling Stones, Kula Shaker, Blur, Spice Girls
OBITUARIES: John Baker Saunders
FEATURE: Athenrye
NEWS: Ancient Elvis, Bible Hits, Lesbian Movie Furore in India
BOOKSHELF: "Renegade Sisters" by Bev Zalcock
MISSING LINKS: Rolling Stones stuff ya can get for nowt
TWITCHY THE TRAMP: visits a Tramp pub
RECORD REVIEWS: Fred `Thelonius` Baker, The Temptations, Prince, E-17
WHAT`S COMING NEXT..... wait and see

EDITED AND COMPILED BY Mr Slutto, Siggsworthy Craggs and Atilla the Hen
With contributions from The Sexiest lady in Cyberspace over in the US of A


THE GOSSIPING HEN

EACH WEEK ATILLA - OUR INTREPID CAPON - REVEALS THE RESULTS OF A FEW DAYS SPENT HANGING AROUND IN BARS WITH CELEBRITIES, LISTENING AT WINDOWS, AND BLAGGING DRINKS OFF P.R. MEN

It seems that this week is Rolling Stones week here at ISMO Mansions - it all started when the sexiest lady in cyberspace sent us this news story:

Jagger may contest divorce on grounds the couple never married. January 18, 1999

LONDON (AP) -- Mick Jagger's publicity agency has come up with a novel argument to contest Jerry Hall's divorce petition: The couple was never legally married. Lawyers for Hall, 42, said Friday that she has begun proceedings to end the tumultuous eight-year marriage to the Rolling Stones singer.

Although the statement from LD Publicity gave no further details on the claim, Britain's national news agency, Press Association, said it related to allegations Jagger and Hall's marriage at a Hindu wedding ceremony on the Indonesian island of Bali was not legal. Lawyers for the 55-year-old Jagger are expected to argue that the religious part of the marriage ceremony was completed but not the civil part, and that consequently the marriage is not legally recognized in Indonesia and so cannot be recognized in Britain, Press Association reported.

Though their wedding took place in 1990, Jagger and Hall have been together for 21 years and have four children: Elizabeth, 14, James, 13, Georgia May, 6, and Gabriel, 1. Hall's divorce proceedings followed newspaper reports about a 29-year-old Brazilian model, Luciana Giminez Mora, who claims she is five months pregnant with Jagger's child.

Jagger was divorced from his first wife, Bianca Jagger, in 1979.

* If that wasn`t weird enough, the news came upon the UK Channel 4 Teletext service that Keith Richard had finally joined the establishment...... He has been part of a succesful campaign to stop the building of a new road past his country house in Sussex. The important question here is..

Is Keef

a: being a groovy road protester type trying to save the environment?

b: being a selfish landowner trying to halt the march of progress because it will cause him personal problems?

c: Are both a and b essentially the same?

d: None of the above?

e: Does anyone care anyway?

Probably not.

* Rumours are once again rife that The Spice Girls are about to go their separate ways. Although they are booked up until the end of the year, smart money says that their new Year`s Eve gig is gonna be their last. Various solo projects are in the pipeline (everyone except for Victoria who can`t sing anyway is making a solo album), and although they have reassured their legions of fans (and people like me who aren`t at all fans but take a vicarious interest in the spicy soap opera which surrounds the biggest marketing coup of recent years, that the solo work won`t be released before their (as yet untitled) third album, many folk expect that this will be their last.

* Things to watch out for in 1999 -

- New albums from Kula Shaker and Blur. Will the former manage to diss the rumours that they are purely a one trick pony by releasing a credible follow upto the excellent `K` album? Will the latter be able to pull out all the stops and make another record which sounds much like the last ones?

- A new band called `Gay Dad` (great name huh?) is being touted as this year`s big thing but as we haven`t actually heard them as yet it is hard to comment..


WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE GOLDMINE

Peculiar music/art news from around the world

ELVIS SONGS TO BE RECORDED -- IN ANCIENT SUMARIAN

(January 21, 1999)

A Finnish academic known for recording Elvis Presley songs in Latin is planning a new record of eternal hits - this time in the ancient Sumerian language.

Jukka Ammondt told Reuters on Thursday he intends to bring out a Sumerian single in the next few months and an album in the autumn. He has been practising with "Blue Suede Shoes" - translated into the cuneiform language of Babylonia that died out around 2000 BC.

"Elvis would have liked the idea because the ancient Sumerians had big parties and drums and rattles, and the roots of rock may go back to man's earliest efforts to get a grip on life," said Ammondt, who has produced two records of Elvis songs in Latin.

A SERIALIZED BIBLE IS A STORMY BRITISH HIT

(November 30, 1998)

The slim, pocket-size paperback, its elegantly austere cover depicting a bent shadowy figure, appears to be a book of hip, post-modern poetry. But it is Job, one of 12 books of the Bible that a tiny Edinburgh publishing house brought out last month with enormous success - 900,000 in print - and in a nationwide storm of controversy. The furor is over the contemporary introduction, in which a best-selling British author, Louis de Bernieres, argues that God comes out of the tale "looking like an unpleasantly sarcastic megalomaniac."

Each book has commentary by a well-known personality. Rights have been sold around the world. For an American edition next spring Grove/Atlantic is known to have approached writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Annie Proulx to write introductions. In Britain only two commentators describe themselves as Christians.

"Printing a contemporary commentary alongside the text of the King James Authorized Version is an exciting mix of the sacred and the secular," says Jamie Byng, head of Canongate Books, the publisher.

In the United States, the marketing concept of a repackaged, rebranded Bible will be the same: attractively designed, attractively priced ($1.60 in Britain, cheap enough for an impulse

buyer), and typeset for readability, with the text laid out across the full page in paragraphs, providing a coherent, modern narrative in bite-sized chunks.

The intention will be the same too: "We are going to stir things up," says one editor at Grove/Atlantic, predicting a brouhaha over the introductions to the American editions.

In Britain, the commentaries, including one by the bad boy of British letters, former heroin addict Will Self, have angered some Christian groups.

"I fail to see the point of people not sympathetic to the text of the Bible commenting on it to people outside the church," says Canon Jack McGinley, a parish priest in Nottinghamshire. "They could have chosen people who would have taken an enlightening approach."

But a bid by fundamentalist Christians to persuade the Scottish Bible Board to revoke Canongate's license to print the King James Version failed. "The Church is very broad," says Andrew Kerr, clerk to the board.

"And there is also a view that the initiative (to publish the Bible this way) was a welcome one." Indeed some Anglican priests have praised Canongate. "It gives the opportunity to nonbelievers to look carefully at the text of Scripture," says the Rev. Willem Zwalf, a vicar from Cambridgeshire.

"It is certainly one way of getting some people who would never ever have picked up a Bible to read the Scriptures."

Such as Prof. Steven Rose, "an ex-Orthodox Jew, an atheist and a biologist to boot," as he describes himself in his introduction to Genesis. Yet this behavioral scientist found that the message of Genesis still "underlie(s) many of the presuppositions of our assumedly post-religious, rationalist and reductionist modern science."

The modern arguments among evolutionary psychologists, for example, as to whether human behavior is fixed by "selfish genes" or whether we can transcend them, goes back to the debate over free will and predestination that began with the story of the fall of man in the second chapter of Genesis.

Other agnostics, such as the novelist A.N. Wilson, who introduces the Gospel according to St. Matthew, also urge readers to think outside their rational boxes when they read about the miracles of Jesus.

"By rejecting this Gospel, you will reject one of the most disturbing and extraordinary books ever written," he warns; "not, as you might think, on intelligent grounds, but because you (and I, alas) are too hemmed in by our imaginative limitations to see the sort of things this book is doing."

Most of the introductions are by noted authors, underscoring Canongate's presentation of the works as literature. The magnificent King James Version "possibly more than any other work in history, has had an influence in shaping the language we speak and write today," says the introduction to each work, encouraging the reader "to approach them as literary works in their own right."

There can be no doubt as to the quality of the language, even if most churches in Britain no longer use the King James Version, having switched to more easily comprehensible translations. As Doris Lessing writes in her introduction to the incomparable verse of Ecclesiastes, "We are very much the poorer because the Bible is no longer a book to be found in every home, and heard every week."

But "by approaching the Bible primarily as a work of literature you do not deny the spiritual interpretation," insists the publisher, Byng. He is marketing his editions mainly to non-Christians because "in this day and age there are an increasing number of secular people who have strong moral beliefs nonetheless." Next year, Canongate intends to bring out another 12 books. Given the spectacular marketing success the first ones have enjoyed, Byng boasts that "we will be bringing the Bible to more new readers than any other version this century."- The Christian Science Monitor

(NOTE: Slutto is still waiting for the Gangsta Rap version....)

Lesbian movie runs into right-wing protest in India

(Associated Press, December 2, 1998)

Dozens of right-wing activists stormed two theaters in Bombay today, prompting a movie distributor to suspend the showing of an internationally acclaimed film about a lesbian relationship. The protesters claim the movie "Fire," the first film from India to focus on lesbianism, distorts their culture. At least 100 activists with the right-wing Shiv Sena Party surrounded the theater managers and demanded the movie not be shown.

The movie's distributor, Shringar Films, suspended showing of the movie in Bombay, citing concern for audience safety. Shiv Sena activists have used violence to get their way on other issues.

"We will wait and watch. Ultimately, audience safety is more important," said Balkrishna Shroff, an owner of Shringar Films.

"Fire" has been packing theaters in the three weeks it has been running in Bombay. Angry ticket-holders lined up for a refund. "Why can't those who cannot stomach sensitive subjects not come for the films instead of stopping us from seeing good cinema," said Naina Fernandes, a college student.

OBITUARY

Seattle Times, Wednesday, January 20, 1999:

Mad Season bass player Baker dies of overdose

John Baker Saunders, 44, bassist for the Seattle-based rock band Mad Season, died Friday of a drug overdose, a spokesperson for Curtis Management has confirmed.

The King County Medical Examiner's office said toxicology tests are being conducted to determine the exact cause of death. The results will be known in four to six weeks, a spokesperson said.

Mad Season is a side project of Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. It released one album on Columbia Records in 1995 and contributed cuts to several compilation albums, including "Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon" and "Bite Back," made up of live performances recorded at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. Curtis Management represents Pearl Jam and McCready.

Saunders went by the single name Baker while in Mad Season, which also includes Layne Staley of Alice in Chains and Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees.

"Baker was a true blues player who lived it and played it with all his heart," McCready said. McCready met Saunders in 1994 while both were in a drug rehabilitation center in Minneapolis. Services have already been held.


MISSING LINKS

ROLLING STONES STUFF YOU CAN GET FOR NOTHING

The Rolling Stones are arguably the richest and longest standing rock and roll band on the planet, although their claim to be "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the world" may be at least two and a half decades out of date. However, they are stillone of the most popular bands in the world, and it is not surprising that there are thousands of web sites (Alta Vista came up with 15515 hits) for the band. However, amongst yer normal fan type sites there are a number of sites which offer unique services - and even for free! Here is a brief trawl through the sites of these philanthropist types......

The Rolling Stones Guitar Tablature site....

URL: www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/6162/tabs.html

The site includes the tablature for........

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
2000 Light Years From Home
Angie
Anybody Seen My Baby?
Citadel
Dandelion
Get Off Of My Cloud
Heart Of Stone
It's Only Rock And Roll (But I Like It)Updated!
Let's Spend The Night Together
Miss You - some bass tab
Out Of Time
Play With Fire
Shattered
She's So Coldmost of the 1st verse
Sympathy For The Devil
Time Is On My Side
some tab for Worried About You
You Can't Always Get What You Want

The Rolling Stones meet the Sands, Raleigh, NC 1965: A True Story!

The true story of how two young guys in a band got to meet their idols when the Rolling Stones played at Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina, on

URL: www.ascpublish.com/stones65/story.html

By November 1965, the Rolling Stones were tremendously popular in America. At the time, coming off the back-to-back mega-success of "Satisfaction" and "Get Off Of My Cloud," they were selling out large arenas in every major US city. So, why in the world did they include Raleigh, North Carolina, a complete nothing of a concert market in those days, as one of the dates on their Fall '65 tour?! Once they hit town, the Stones were probably wondering this as well.

Two guys who weren't complaining, though, were Larry Butterton and Steve Gaj, lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively, of Raleigh's most anglophilic garage combo, the Sands. What follows is the story of how two Stones-crazy 16-year olds got to meet their heroes, back when the Stones weren't too much older than that themselves!

Version 2.5 of the Rolling Stones Screen Saver.

"As you may be aware, many of the features you see in this version of the screen saver are the results of feedback from thousands of good folks who downloaded version 1 of the program. Some improvements this time round include:

1. Improved graphics
2. More screens
3. Faster loading
4. On this day feature
5. Screens that only pop up from time to time
6. And a bucket of others."

URL: http://www.concept.ie/rstones.html


PRICK UP YOUR EARS - THE ISMO FEATURE

ATHENRYE.... REBELS WITHOUT A PAUSE

Athenrye "The Dying Rebel" (Clan Music 04) *****

Wow.

This is a band of whom I have always been inordinately fond. To date they have released two CDs and two cassette only albums, and this is probably the best to date. Unlike previous offerings the emphasis is not so much on traditional Irish rebel songs but on contemporary material which often takes a less `cut & dried` stance than the more traditional songs like `Boys from the Old Brigade`.

One song in particular, "The Sniper`s Promise" is particularly interesting as it agonises over the moral position of an IRA sniper who has just shot a member of a British Army foot patrol. It takes a far more sensitive view of the issues than songs like "The Armargh Sniper" on the previous CD (`My Last Farewell`).

Musically there are also changes - the sound is less piano driven than before and the production is both warmer and far more accomplished. We look forward with interest to the release of the live material later in the year. Atilla The Hen.

THE PRESS RELEASE

From the mean streets of Glasgow...to the Streets of New York. From West Palm Beach to West Belfast.

Irish Rebel Ballad group Athenrye have been there and back again, taking with them the history of Ireland in song and story. Their rousing rebel ballads celebrate the great patriots, leaders, and events that have shaped modern Ireland.

From the 1790 Rebellion, Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy, The 1916 Easter Rising, Padraig Pearse, Joseph Plunkett and James Connolly, to the Long flesh Hunger Strikes of 1901, Athenrye live shows and concerts are a musical history of Ireland's struggle against oppression, famine and her search for peace, justice and freedom.

Since the formation of the band in 1990, Athenrye have travelled many miles, all over Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. The U.S.A - New York, Boston, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Connecticut and Florida! to Canada, Niagara Falls and Toronto, making many new friends along the way. They have shared the stage, and a few drinks, with many of Irelands leading balladeers including The Dublin City Ramblers, The Clancys, Paddy Rielly and of course The Wolfe Tones.

Athenrye have recorded four bestselling albums of Irish rebel ballads arid recently recorded a live video which is due for release in March 1999.

Their busy tour schedule continues right through 1999 when they are scheduled to tour the USA in March, August & September. This is in addition to a two month tour of Ireland in June & July as well as nation-wide tour of England Scotland and Wales.

The lads still harbour the same enthusiasm today for the music of Ireland's history that they did when they set out all those years ago. Whether singing a patriotic ballad such as James Connolly or a rousing chorus of The Boys of the Old Brigade, one thing is evident - these lads believe in what they do and say. One word sums it all up.. Honesty.

While other bands may be content in keeping a low profile, Athenrye have stood up, sung out, spoke out fought, rebelled and campaigned for what they believe in.

Who fears to speak? Not Athenrye.

Check out their web site at http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~athenrye


THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNLISTENABLE

(CD REVIEWS)

***** Fuck-off Brilliant
**** Pretty damn Good
*** Average but no Cigar, Mr President
** Could do better
* Shite

Fred Thelonious Baker "Missing Link" (Blueprint BP-245-CD) ****

Mainly solo electric bass tracks, spanning raunch, blues, grunge, spacey and abstract, all very effectively done. In places this album reminds me of John Martyn but without the drum machine. Here, Baker doesn't need a drum machine, though: he generates plenty of sound and rhythm on his own. Baker has a diverse musical pedigree: he's featured on many jazz albums, is a member of fusion band Incahoots, played with Rick Sanders and others in the folk/rock field, and soon will be recording a concerto specially written for him. And, he's one of the select few who's played Atilla the Hen's own guitar! A very enjoyable album. - Slutto

The Temptations "Phoenix Rising" (Motown 530 937 2) ****

"Q" - a magazine which has become seriously patchy in recent years described this record as "That difficult 54th album!" The thing which is particularly amazing about this is that unlike so many of their peers whose `new` albums tend to be retreads of the songs from their glory days with a smattering of cover versions of current hits thrown in for good measure this album is actually what it purports to be - a collection of new songs which sound as fresh and inspiring as any contemporary soul music. This is an extremely impressive album and has pride of place on my CD shelf alongside Motown records from twenty and thirty years ago. Atilla the Hen

The Artist formerly known as Prince "New Power Soul" (NPG 74321 60598 2) *****

Prince (or `spud` as I believe he is calling himself now), is a highly prolific artist whose masterial in recent years has been eclectic in the extreme. I have a sneaking suspicion that over the next few months (at least until the end of the year) we are all gonna be hearytily sick of his 1999 ditty, which thankfully ain`t on this album which was released last summer but only turned up upon the ISMO reviewing mat relatively recently. It is a logical progresion from the material on the massive 3CD "Emancipation" set of a year or two ago and even re-vamps one of the songs - "Jam of the Year" with guest vocals by Chaka Khan. This is one hell of an album, and one only hopes that yer man ain`t gonna be too involved in promoting and repromoting the various versions of `1999` (8 according to rumour) over the next three months to record a follow up. Rumour also has it that there is another 3-CD set in the pipeline, and possibly a double live album as well, so we have a lot to look forward to. Atilla the Hen

E-17 "Resurrection" Telstar (TCD3015) *

Brian Harvey is back from his drug folly related hiatus, sans his stupid hat. What a shame his musical aptitude remains so goddamm inept. Vocally he sound somewhere between Dale Winton and Theopholis P. Wildebeast. This band also boasts the most tedious lyrics since C.D.Boring, professor of boring things at Oxford University, went to the boring song words shop and was told "sorry we only have very, very, boring ones left". Why they bother to give the songs individual titles is baffling as the all sound exactly the bloody same. Avoid these no talent pussies like the plague. Siggsworthy Craggs


TWITCHY'S DITCH

Thoughts on life and music from Twitchy the Tramp in his tawdry little ditch.

(Note for US readers: a tramp = a bum; a pub = a bar and a fag = a cigarette...)

Belonging to the residium that is tramphood can have its downside. One of our chief problems is the lack of places to drink and socialise (apart from park benches, shop doors and public conveniences). Most pubs have banned all the tramps. This is the kind of mindless bigotry we face day after day merely because we vomit on the carpets, steal drinks and loudly and drunkenly sing obscene songs whilst trying to feel up other clientele.

** EDITOR`S NOTE - so do the Editor`s of ISMO - what`s the problem?

This problem has now been addressed as my friend and fellow tramp, Nestling Ronald, has opened the world's first tramp pub, The Mired Trotter. The pub is actually an abandoned unit on a derelict industrial estate/Business Park. Ronald has done it up a treat, with old pience of carpet from the council tip, bundles of soiled straw, and old potato sacks stuffed with that odd blue fluff one finds in one's belly button (I wonder why it's always blue).

By collecting old drink cans and bottles and by pouring all the sour dregs into buckets, Ronald has created a tramp beer he calls Ronald's Weeping Peculiar. The cigarette butts and pre-chewed gum add to the flavour. For the more refined tramp, cocktails are available. Here are a couple of examples:

A Camp Hill: 2 parts cooking sherry, one part Carlsberg "Special Brew" lager, and garnish with potato peel.

A Bobby Floorbanger: 2 parts cider, I part Babysham, a dash of Vimto (***) , and garnish with a half-sucked peardrop.

I am taking Mottled Claudia there tonight, as it is the special Incontinence Night.

(*** A bizarre soft Drink found only in Britain - no-one knows exactly what it's supposed to taste of........)


BOOKSHELF

"Renegade Sisters" by Bev Zalcock. Creation Books, 14.95

Creation are the kick up the arse publishing companies have needed for years. As well as publishing some fascinating books on minority-interest subjects, such as "Blood, sex and Madness in Japanese Cinema" and poetry and prose about the legendary horror author H. P. Lovecraft, they also deal with subjects other publishers would balk at.

"Renegade Sisters" charts the history of girl gangs and violent women in the cinema. Portrayed mainly as victims until the 50's, this shows the flip side of the coin - women perpetrating violence. Some may find this disturbing, but not me, I can tell you. The book is both intellectually and sexually stimulating and shows how quickly fashions can change. For example, in the 50's, films like "Girls on the Loose" and "High School Hellcats" seemed outrageous, but ten years down the line, the georgous Tura Satama was slaughtering all male-comers (in more ways than one) in Russ Meyers' masterpiece, "Faster Pussycat! Kill ! Kill !" This ultraviolent streak, I'm glad to say, has lasted right up to today, encompassing Derek Jarman's "Jubilee" and "Natural Born Killers".

Chapters include Girls in school, Girls in prison, Lesbianism and Devil worship in nunneries and convents, Outlaws, and Science fiction. There's even a film about a lesbian hockey team. This is a must for all lovers of violent women. As for me, I can't get enough of them... harder, mistress, harder! - Siggsworthy Craggs.

PS: Why not check out the excellent Creation Books website at www.pussycat.demon.co.uk


COMING SOON......

God knows. It all depends what the New Year brings, but we already have stuff planned on Maddy Prior, Prince, Portishead, Madder Rose and Jon Downes and the Amphibians from Outer Space (now THERE`S A SURPRISE).

....AND WHY THE HELL NOT?

Since we began in Cyberspace we have been reprinting a potted history of this project since its roots as a badly photocopied fanzine thingy a decade ago. If you still want to read this stuff you can access it thru our web-site. If you are heartily sick of it (as we are) you don`t have to.

ISMO MAGAZINE IS, AND WILL REMAIN FREE. HOWEVER OFFERS OF SPONSORSHIP, GIFTS OF CASH, FREE RECORDS OR NUDIE BUM BUM PICTURES ARE ALWAYS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED.

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