Recently, my pal Henry Owings (of Chunklet Magazine fame) sent me the above scan. The demo tape fell into his hands in about September of 1992, when he was working as a writer for the Flagpole in Athens, Georgia. This is the first publicly circulated studio recording of Man... or Astro-Man?. It was a cassette only demo release that came out in 1992, and it was touted as being a pre-release version of a record that was going to be called Supersonic Toothbrush Helmut. It was single-sided and it contained the following eight songs:
“Invasion of the Dragonmen”
“Organ Smash”
“Nitrous Burnout”
“Adios Johnny Bravo”
“Cowboy Playing Dead”
“Alien Visitors”
“Sadie Hawkins Atomic Bomb”
“Taxidermist Surf”
The song “Adios Johnny Bravo” ended up on the B-side of the first 7-inch, Possession by Remote Control. The other songs ended up on the first full-length LP, Is It . . . Man or Astro-Man?. I only have the artwork, so I have no idea if these are the same songs that ended up on the later releases or if they are versions from earlier recording sessions. What is clear, though, is that half of the songs that would end up on the first LP existed in some recorded form the year prior to their official release on Estrus.
There is no copyright information or recording date listed to let us know when this gem first saw the light of day. Pinning down an exact release date is a little tricky, but here’s what I have been able to surmise. None of these songs ended up on the actual Supersonic Toothbrush Helmet EP that came out on Lance Rock records in 1993. Those songs, “Bermuda Triangle Shorts”, “the Vortex Beyond”, “Caffeine Trip” and “The Heavies,” were recorded at Zero Return on 3/20/1993, at least six months after this demo started to circulate. They in no way match the songs on this cassette. Also, the version of “Adios Johnny Bravo” that appears here has to predate the version that appeared on Possession by Remote Control. Why? Because the Possession version was recorded on Halloween 1992, and this tape was already in Owings’ hands in September or early October of 1992. We know this for sure because he used the blank side of the cassette to record one of MOAM?’s first ever gigs in Georgia—a performance that took place at Club Fred in Athens on 10/08/1992.
Some information as to the recording and personnel can be taken from a comment left on this page by one Grand Master Useless in March of 2013. He stated:
"I was around for the conceptual stages of MOA, and for playing the first few gigs. I was in no way prepared for the career that was about to ensue, so Deleto was brought in over the summer of 92. The first album was recorded shortly after that at the original Zero Return. If I remember right, the album was recorded before the deal with Estrus. So, these demos and the first album were all from Zero return, and likely all from the first session. Deleto was there to record everything, but I came in towards the end to add a few things.
Crunch wrote everything, but I remember bringing him a rough version of the Sadie bass-line and he arranged and wrote the rest of the song from there. So, it must have been a something of a parting gift for me to record it."
At some point we may be able to pressure Owings to encode the cassette so we can post it here. In the mean time, take solace in the fact that I don’t have a copy either, and I thought I had everything.
UPDATE: Henry has posted the demo to Chunklet.com.
CLICK HERE TO LINK TO HIS DOWNLOAD PAGE
Here is a scan of the cassette itself:
Wow I too had no idea of the existence of this cassette.Henry please do us this favor! Us Astro freaks have needs.
ReplyDeleteI do know that Supersonic Toothbrush Helmet was actually originally going to be the title of their first full length. Due to the fact that getting signed with Estrus came around, a lot of plans changed. My memory is hazy, but I believe these were actually the original recordings that were intended for that full length but they were rerecorded during the time it took to get the first album released.
ReplyDeleteI'll encode it soon enough. But yes, these were their very first recordings. I don't even know if Jim Marrer recorded it. I think it might've been done elsewhere. But yeah, their first gig in Georgia is on the flip. Never would've guessed that this was my introduction to some of my best friends of.....wow, almost 20 years.
ReplyDeleteNice Kirby-esque illo for the cover. Any significance in Helmut rather than Helmet. And isn't 'Henry Owings' very, very, very, very very very closely connected to the MOA? collective?
ReplyDeleteOwings has been a friend of the band for some time, and this tape was his introduction to their music. He put out the UFO 7-inch and was involved in the Sound Screen Design single that came out recently. He also put out an air freshener. Birdstuff was a writer at Henry's magazine and website for years as well. A lot of history between the two camps.
ReplyDeleteNo idea on the spelling of Helmut. Maybe they thought people would listen to the tape if they thought it was German speed metal . . .
As long as we're discussing the relationship of Henry Owings and MOAM?, I should mention this (in case anyone missed it):
ReplyDelete"So word has it that our homies in Man...or Astro-Man? are going up to record with Al Bundy in Chicago next month and we here at Chunklet will be lucky enough to put it out. Can y'believe it?!"
That comes from the Chunklet e-newsletter on March 28, 2011, so we can probably assume that Chuklet/Owings will be releasing a Astro-Man? single or long player in the coming months, probably recorded by Steve Albini.
And for Supersonic Toothbrush Helmut, I wonder if early member Grand Master Useless played on these recordings. Any guesses?
GMU played for sure on on the later versions of "Organ Smash" and "Sadie Hawkins". If I remember correctly, he played synth on one and bass on the other. Whether or not he was on these? We'll have to wait. I know H2O is planning on posting this to Chunklet.com at some point, and that may solve the mystery. Or if Teasley would just answer his emails . . .
ReplyDeleteJames, I'd wager that GMU played on this whole cassette, and that some of it is the same versions present on their first long player, because I doubt that GMU was present for sessions once Dr. Deleto was in the band, despite what the liner notes on those early releases might say.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting thing just appeared on Youtube, again courtesy Mr. Owings:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAty33AjdMc
It's MOAM? in Auburn, AL, in April(!), 1992, with what appears to be the elusive Grand Master Useless on the bass guitar. Also note that they do a number that doesn't appear anywhere else, and that Star Crunch is playing a non-surf-approved heavy metal dreck stick of the Jackson/Charvel/Kramer persuasion. Wow.
Upon further research, I believe that Grand Master Useless left the group because he was unwilling to play out of town shows, and that his Earth name is Dave Strength, although someone would have to substantiate this.
I'm ready to hear this cassette.
ALIII
H2O just posted it to his page. Check the post for a shortcut link!
ReplyDeleteSo it sounds to me like these tracks are the ones that differ from later versions:
ReplyDeleteInvasion of the Dragonmen
Adios Johnny Bravo
Cowboy Playing Dead
Taxidermist Surf
Alien Visitors sounds a bit different though too. Like there is an extra sample in there that isn't in the Is It... version or something.
My ears mostly agree, but I'd throw "Nitrous" on the list of non-"Is It..." versions.
ReplyDeleteInvasion of the Dragonmen
Nitrous Burn Out
Adios Johnny Bravo
Cowboy Playing Dead
Taxidermist Surf
Out of odd curiosity - sounds like everyone here got to hear all the tracks, but 2 of them are broken now (Dragonmen and Alein Visitors)... anyone know if there was a trick to downloading those two?
ReplyDeleteH20 says they're fixed now. Go download . . .
ReplyDeleteALIII wrote: "I'd wager that GMU played on this whole cassette, and that some of it is the same versions present on their first long player, because I doubt that GMU was present for sessions once Dr. Deleto was in the band"
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, I was looking at the liner notes to "Is it..." and noticed GMU is also credited as playing bass on the vinyl-only track Illidium Q-36. If what you're saying is true, that would suggest Illidium Q-36 was originally recorded as part of the demo tape sessions.
Funny, just yesterday Teasley posted some photos of the now abandoned original Zero Return studios. That got me searching into the history of what happened with that place, which led to me reading some MOA interviews and things, which led me here. I realize this post is a few years old, I’ll offer what I remember.
ReplyDeleteI was around for the conceptual stages of MOA, and for playing the first few gigs. I was in no way prepared for the career that was about to ensue, so Deleto was brought in over the summer of 92. The first album was recorded shortly after that at the original Zero Return. If I remember right, the album was recorded before the deal with Estrus. So, these demos and the first album were all from Zero return, and likely all from the first session. Deleto was there to record everything, but I came in towards the end to add a few things.
The only thing I remember playing was the organ on a couple of songs. According to the liner notes I played the bass on Sadie Hawkins and Illidium . Listening back to it and think that’s right. I’m not really sure why as Deleto had everything very tight by then. I seem to remember there was an issue of him transitioning to a pick or getting a bright enough tone from fingers early on. I also think I either over dubbed my keyboard tracks, or recorded many of them from the control room. So many projects went through Zero Return it’s hard to keep things straight.
Crunch wrote everything, but I remember bringing him a rough version of the Sadie bassline and he arranged and wrote the rest of the song from there. So, it must have been a something of a parting gift for me to record it.