Louisville is for Lovers

louisville babylon 1994

louisville babylon 1994 (13th anniversery re-issue)this misfits covers album was origionally released in louisville, october 1994, by analog distillery records. this record includes covers by early 90’s louisville music greats such as rodan, crain, endpoint, falling forward and more! we have released this quintessential album in a small edition of 666.

track listing: 1. sunspring-where egales dare 2.crunchy cereal-london dungeon 3. endpoint-attitude 4. plunge-death comes ripping 5. cherube scurge-nike a go go 6. content zero-last caress 7. crain-teenagers from mars 8. leaf pile-20 eyes 9. deadline-return of the fly 10. da yodellin’ taxidermist-skulls 11.hulla hoop-20 eyes 12. falling forward-she 13. slate-die die die my darling 14. lg&e-some kind of hate15. 84 lumber-mommy, can i go out and kill tonight? 16. slo-pok-night of the living dead17. rodan-who killed marlyn? 18. hedge- halloween19.gravel blind-devil lock20. gyotaku-horror hotel(live) 21.munsen -braineaters from mars

• Hula Hoop – “20 Eyes” (Louisville Babylon 1994)

extended liner notes and additional information for the 1994 re-issue:

TRACK 21 MUNSON IS A MELODY OF “”BRAIN EATERS” AND “TEENAGERS FROM MARS” AND WAS ORIGiNALLY UNLISTED AND PARTIALLY OMITTED.THIS CD WAS PAINSTAKINGLY REMASTERED FROM 2SPLICED ORIGiNAL CASSETTE TAPES AT LOGAN ST.STUDIOS BY KENT O’BRYAN AND JOHN KING. ORIGINALLY RECORDED ON ALL KINDS OF CRAZY THINGS AND THEN THROWN AROUND FOR 13 YEARS. WE DID THE ABSOLULTLY BEST WE COULD. SOME HISS, FUZZ AND POPS ARE ONLY A TESTIMENT THAT ROCK N’ ROLL WILL NEVER DIE.PACKAGED BY HAND IN A LIMITED EDITION OF 666.THE USE OF THE TITLE ‘LOUISVILLE BABYLON’ AND THEREISSUE OF IT’S ORIGiNAL MATERIAL IS GRANTED BYEXSPRESSED AND WRITTEN PERMISSION BY HANK BAKER/ANALOG DISTILLERY .ORIGiNALLY RELEASED OCTOBER 1994 BY ANALOGDISTILLERY. THANKS TO ALL THE BANDS INVOLVED ON THIS COMPILATION AS WELL AS HANK BAKER, KELLY NICHOLS, DREW WILSON, PATRICK HULAHAN, KEVIN RATTERMAN, AND GLENN DANZIG.

louisville babylon cassette released 1994

additional information on LOUISVILLE BABYLON 1994 with forward by Hank Baker of Analog distillery:

Louisville Babylon after 13 Years

It’s hard for me to believe that 13 years later people out there still remember Louisville Babylon. Personally it’s very appropriate for me since, thanks to the magic of the interweb, I just got hold of the Misfits box set after ignoring it for over a decade. (Don’t tell Glenn.) Anyway, I am one of the two people who put out the original cassette back in August 1994. I did the organizing and logistics with the bands, which mainly consisted of calling and harassing them, and Kelly Nichols did all the graphic design (which he still does professionally) and wrote the liner notes. We split the financing 50/50 and we both mastered it at Herb Simrall’s brand-new Outer Limits Studio.

I got inspired to do the tape because I heard several Louisville bands cover Misfits songs live and, since I’d been weaned on the Misfits, I thought, “hey, let’s do a covers album.” I had seen Crain play an incendiary version of “Teenagers from Mars” with the Causey/Hayden lineup at the Machine in fall 1992 and I gotten a soundboard recording of it. No vocals, but the playing was top-notch, Jon Cook all over Jerry Only’s skronky basslines. They cut a different version for Louisville Babylon that included original singer Drew Daniel, now of Matmos fame. A lot of the other players on the cassette were fairly unknown at the time and have since made the mark on the local or national music scene. Crain, Rodan, Falling Forward, and Endpoint speak for themselves, but there were some names you might recognize today that were featured on the original tape:

• Da Yodelin’ Taxidermist was the one-off (and somewhat regrettable) name of Louisville songsmith Jeremy Podgursky, who has since done notable work with the Pennies and on his own as a classical composer.

• Slo-pok featured one Cassie Marrett on bass, who is now married to and plays with David Berman of the Silver Jews.

• Gravelblind was a pretty obscure hardcore band, but they included Lee Fetzer, Louisville hardcore stalwart known for work with the Enkindles, Endpoint, and Erchint.

• Rachel Grimes’ pre-Rachel’s band, Hula Hoop deserved all sorts of success and I hope that they haven’t been consigned to the dustbin of rock history. This quartet, which later merged with UK touring buddies Boyracer and morphed into Hulaboy, were skilled practitioners of that early nineties pop buzz that Pavement made famous. This track was actually the first contribution I received for Louisville Babylon and 13 years later remains one of my personal favorites.

• Leafpile was current NYC music writer and Louisville music partisan and native Joel Hunt’s music project. Check his blog “The Other Side of Life” out. (Go on, don’t be lazy, punch it into Google and don’t click on links to the Moody Blues album of the same name.)

• Munsen was a tongue-in-cheek joke band that later became infamous for playing Sancred’s “reunion” in 1995. (A portion of the racket they created was later released on Case of Psionic Awareness, see below.) This track is also a joke and was added to round out a “21 gun salute” (e.g., 21 bands) to the Misfits concept. It was played by Adam Colvin and Chip Ludwig who would later form Front Porch Campaign and Richard Vier, drummer about town whose projects included the late, great Wino.

Growing up in the early/mid-nineties in Louisville was, from a pop music standpoint, a pretty great experience. Rodan, Crain, and Endpoint, were all coming into their own. The mighty Kinghorse was still around. The same stoned-out Fern Creek scene that gave rise to Evergreen also begat bands like the Auditory Clang, Snakeater, the Quiz, the Pale Horse Riders, and the Caffeines. The Web was starting up. Louisville transplants and indie rock emissaries Nastanovich and Lowenstein were always hanging around and bringing members of their bands to backyard barbecues, all-ages shows, and late-night parties. Dischord and Touch and Go bands seemed to be a constant feature on the all-ages circuit — I remember seeing Didjits, Jesus Lizard, and the original Laughing Hyenas in the space of about three months. Mule played Louisville before they had a record out. Nation of Ulysses, Circus Lupus, Lungfish, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy all played early Louisville shows. There were never any consistent clubs (it still doesn’t seem like there are any): shows were at Zodiac/City Lights/Mercury Paw, Another Place Sandwich Shop, the Bar with No Name, the hallowed Tewligan’s/Snagilwet, and of course CD Graffiti’s/the Enterprise/the Machine, but the best shows were always in people’s basements and at parties. They were great times to be a teenager or in one’s early twenties and have a lot of free time and a minimal disposable income. And there are so many great undocumented bands — for example, Experimental Pollen never put out a definitive EP. Nor did the Quiz or the Caffeines. Nor did Auditory Clang. Nor did any of the Front Porch Campaign/Dome Deevz/Das Kapitan variations (full disclosure: members are good friends with the author). I’d even argue that Crain never put out what could have been their definitive album. Cassette compilations ruled the day: I remember eagerly awaiting the release of the first two Aftereffects of Insomnia tapes and later, Jason Hayden’s Majestick Musik for your Soul inspired me to continue to try to document Louisville’s spontaneous and protean scene.

To that end, 1996 saw very limited release of Case of Psionic Awareness, a showcase of lo-fi noise rock designed to be listened to at the tail end of Louisville’s very liberal bar closing hours. Admittedly very hard to listen to, it contained tracks by Church of Astronauts, Wino, Auditory Clang, Zig Zag Way, Pale Horse Riders, and early Vrktm. 1998 saw the compilation of Redneck Buddhas, which was a more coherent, if long, album, but unfortunately I moved to Baltimore before we could really promote or distribute it enough. The lineup included: Parlor, Evergreen (the musique concrete version, not the full-on rock version), Speed to Roam, Front Porch Campaign, Caffeines, Wino, Tony Bailey solo, The Belgian Waffles, and so forth. In hindsight, the times probably demanded that this be released on CD.

Looking back after a decade and more, easy access to such a rich pop culture scene made growing up in Louisville fun and unique. Here’s to The River City’s tradition of wild music, and here’s to saluting a crew of art-damaged New Jersey goofballs whose pop hooks and hard rock remain inescapable 30 years on.

Hank Baker

September 2007

liner notes from the original 1994 cassette packaging:

Everyone’s got to go back to their roots at one time or another. Well, it’s about time for Louisville to acknowledge it’s punk rock heritage. So the folks here at the Analog Distillery thought, “What better way to pay homage to the ideals of punk rock than to produce a compilation of local bands covering songs by the Misfits?” Why not? Most everyone in these bands has at least heard of the Misfits. Many have been devout followers and some still are. With that we decided to release a cassette of bands covering their favorite Misfit songs, each performed in the manner that they saw fit. As far as style is concerned, most of these songs are considerably different than their original counterparts. It ranges from techno to dance to pop to noise to old fashioned punk. The sound comes full circle. Remember, there are no Distillery employees on their tape. We aren’t doing this for recognition or self-promotion. We’re doing it for the appreciation of the bands, including the Misfits, that have helped us to develop our own individual tastes.

Digitally mastered at Outer Limits on 7/21/94 by Herb Simrall.Cover image by Ben Chang & Brett MuzzeyLayout by Kelly Nichols.Thanks to Scott Ritcher, Herb Simrall, Tim Furnish, Steve Durm, Kevin Coultas, Ben Chang, Brett Muzzey, Susan Baker, Krista Loeffler, Drew Wilson, Hank Banker, Kelly Nichols, the bands involved, and Glenn Danzig.call now! order additional copies of this cassette!

Sunspring “Where Eagles Dare” – Scott Ritcher, Jason Thompson, Carrie Osbourne, Matt Ronay, John Weiss. Recorded at Slamdek in September ‘93 by Scott Ritcher.

Crunchy Cereal – “London Dungeon” – Steve Durm, Kirk Yates, Brock Yates, Bryan Smith. Recorded at DSL on 10.1.93 by Mike Baker.

Endpoint “Attitude” – Rob Pennington, Duncan Barlow, Kyle Noltemeyer, Chad Castetter, Lee Fetzer. Recorded at Mom’s in early fall of ‘92 by Howie Gano (previously released on the Idiots 7″)

Plunge “Death Comes Ripping” – Evan Bailey, Eric Stephenson, Chad Johnson, Sean Bailey. Recorded at Outer Limits in spring ‘94 by Herb Simrall.

cherub Scourge “Nike A Go Go” – Brent Starkey, Rankin Mapother, Dave Higes, Jamie Lieb. Recorded at DSL on 3/12/94 by Mike Baker.

Content Zero “Last Caress” – Ben Chang, Brett Muzzy, Natalie Axton, Stephanie Keown. Recorded at Tohmnei Goraha Studios in spring ‘94 by Ben Chang. (previously released on their self-titled cassette)

Crain “Teenagers From Mars” – jon Cook, Tim Furnish, Todd Cook, Drew Daniel. Recorded at the Rocket House on 7/16/94 by Jon Cook.

Leafpile “Twenty Eyes” – Joel Hunt, Jesse Lebus, Recorded at the Rocket House in November ‘93 by Jason Lowenstein

Deadline “Return of the fly” – Jay Listein, Matt Evans, Eric Baldwin, Tom Haile. Recorded at Outer Limits on 5/6/94 by Herb Simrall.

Da Yodelin’ Taxidermist “Skulls” – Jeremy Podgursky. Recorded at Jeremy’s house on 7/19/94 by Jeremy Podgursky.

Hula Hoop – “Twenty Eyes” – Eric Stoess, Rachel Grimes, Chukka Geisler, Stephen Jones. Recorded at Haunted 8 Studios on 10/31/93 by Wardie Kidwell & Jaybird.

Falling Forward “She” – Ben Lord, Chris Higdon, Benyn Clark, Jonathan Mobley, Gary Bell. Recorded at Ben’s House in January ‘94 by Falling Forward.

Slate “Die Die My Darling” – Mike Konrad. Recorded at Mike’s house in December ‘93 by Mike Konrad.

LG&E “Some Kinda Hate” – Duncan Barlow, Scott Ritcher, Chad Castetter. Recorded at Slamdek in october ‘93 by LG&E. (originally released on their cassette “No.28″)

84 Lumber “Mommy, Can I go out & kill tonight?” – boyd McGinnis, Nathan Shumaker, Rick Redman, Matt Sanford. Recorded in Brantley’s room in May ‘94 by Bill Stevens.

Slo-pok”Night Of The Living dead” – Alex Charland, Cassie Marret, Lance Minnis, Drew Smith. recorded at DSL in spring ‘94 by Mike Baker.

Rodan “Who Killed Marilyn?” – Jeffery Mueller, Tara Jane O’Neill. Recorded at the Rocket House in April ‘94 by Jeffery Mueller & Tara Jane O’Neil.

Hedge “Halloween” – Ryan Stratton, Greg Livingston, Dave Bird, Brian Eisery. Recorded at Outer Limits in February ‘94 by Herb Simrall. (previously released on their self titled cassette)

Gravelblind “devilock” – Lee Fetzer, Kley Welsh, Brandon Ayers, Mike Campbell, Zach Dorsett. Recorded at Outer Limits on 5/25/94 by Herb Simrall.

Gyotaku “Horror Hotel” – Noel Hawkins, Chris Wunderich, Chea Beckloy, John King, Matt Button. Recorded live at Highland Grounds on 2/28/94.

All songs written and originally performed by the Misfits.Last Minute Update:… a new band, Munsen, has been added to “Louisville babylon”, covering a unique medley of “Braineaters” and “Teenagers From Mars”. unfortunantly, only a portion of the track appears due to limited space. Little is known about this band, other than the line-up and the title:Munsen “Braineaters From Mars” – The Gimp:left guitar, vocals, vomit. Buger Lompson: right guitar. Ozzie DuWetzel: guest percussionist.Also due to scheduling difficulties, Pulse did not appear with their rendition of “London Dungeon”. We offor our apologies to Michel and the gang and we still think that Pulse is smokin’. Check out their single on Three Little Girls; it rocks. Otherwise, have a nice day, and write/call if you feel the need to.