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I saw German Meat Tax open for Kraftwerk at the Elektro Dungeon in Dusseldorf in '73
Their Glam Fußball sound was too far ahead of its time
RT if you are eager to read my 1973 German dungeon tour memoirs
Since you insist: flashback, December 1972. I was a go-getting A&R rep at Polysutra Records in LA, when I brought Polysutra head honcho Sid Kushnik a tape of my latest discovery: Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. 1/
This was 2 years before BD&Hs would dominate the pop charts with the monster hit 'Billy Don't Be a Hero.' At the time, though, they were an obscure experimental acid jazz trio from Youngstown OH, playing Sunset Blvd dives. 2/
They were ready to pack their flugelhorns and head back to Ohio, when one night I saw them shred to an almost empty house at the Psychedelic Tomato on Melrose. I knew I had something here, so I asked for a demo tape to take to Sid. 3/
"Sid Kushnik? You mean that guy from Sid Kushnik's Midnite Rock & Roll Submarine on TV?" said Ronny Grozko, the group's spokesman and lead Theramin player. "No thanks man, we ain't gonna compromise our art for some Hollywood pop star bullshit." 4/
I assured all the Heywoods I knew how to handle Sid, and they would get complete creative control. But Ronny Grozko was right: after I played their tape for Sid, he immediately wanted to groom their image and sound for pop stardom. 5/
"Oy yoy yoy, enough with the banging and screaming and trombones," yelled Sid. "I'll never get this album on the radio or in Kresge's. But they got the good looks and that big hair the girls like, so wash 'em up and ink 'em to a 2 album deal." 6/
Classic Sid. he demanded they exclusively record songs from his catalog, take choreography lessons, and wear matching Sidwear leisure suits. "Take my advice Burgie, this electric fugelnoise stuff is a passing fad," he said. "It'll never get 'em a guest cameo on Mannix." 7/
Of course I refused. I had given my word to Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods that I would never let Sid's star-making schemes compromise their sonic creativity. I walked out of Sid's office on the spot, my last day at Polysutra Records. 8/
"You'll rue the day, Burge! You'll never get any of your acts on the Midnite Rock & Roll Submarine again!" he yelled as I left. But I saw something that biz dinosaurs like Sid couldn't: there was a freeform Theramin Artjazz Jamrock revolution coming, and had the brass ring. 9/
The next day I formed my own label, Burgetone, and signed Bo and the boys as my first act. A 12 album deal with complete creative control, and a 20 city tour. There was some risk, but I had never been so sure of anything like this during my previous 20 years at Polysutra. 10/
To finance the deal, I sold my house in the Hollywood hills and 3-week old Ferrari Daytona, and moved into a studio apartment in Van Nuys that was walking distance to the Tommy Krankle's legendary Krankleland studio where their first album would be recorded. 11/
In February '73 the Heywoods began laying tracks at Krankleland. I hired Tommy K as producer, based on the groundbreaking wall-of-random sound he engineered for groups like Corduroy Headband, Wombat, and Fart. 12/
None of those previous efforts had charted, but they all got rave reviews from Lester Bangs in Concussion!? Magazine. I figured with Bo & the Heywoods' creativity and Tommy K behind the board, we had an international #1 in the bag. 13/
But all was not well in Krankleland. Almost immediately the band and Tommy K began butting heads. On the first cut, "Grzzlsprunk Suite," the boys wanted to have a chorus of Mongolian throat singers, while Tommy wanted overdubs of stockyards. 14/
This led to an all-night screaming argument between them, which by mistake ended up as cut #2 on the album. Studio fistfights and Theramin bashings became a daily event, exacerbated by the Nyquil & Tang highballs we all were taking. 15/
As the studio bills were piling up, I tried to play peacemaker, but after a few days they all locked out of the studio. They only allowed me back in when I brought more Nyquil & Tang to fuel their all-night angry jam sessions. 16/
"Get your ass to Vons and get us some more NyTang!" Ronny Grozko would yell at me from behind the studio glass, in one of his frequent Theramin-smashing rages. I would meekly comply, because Ronny was a musical genius and the last thing I needed was more Theramin bills. 17/
One time I was at Vons buying a case of Nyquil for Tommy and the band, when I met a flirty young starlet named Farrah Fawcett who gave me her number. I never called because without my Ferrari, I'd have to pick her up by bus. 18/
Intermission. Tomorrow: Chapter 2 - the German Dungeon Tour 19/
