B.A.L.L. Hardball/B.A.L.L. Four 1990

 

Discogs

 

B.A.L.L. Biography

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

More infatuated with the image of pop music than its sound, B.A.L.L. set out to satirize bloated '70s rock in all of its glory. And it wasn't Dark Side of the Moon that was their target; it was George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, as well as T. Rex and Bob Dylan. The cover of their second album, Bird, lampooned the Beatles' "butcher cover" for Yesterday and Today.

Not surprisingly, B.A.L.L. featured two superstars of the American indie underground -- ex-Shockabilly guitarist Kramer, and former Half Japanese and Velvet Monkeys guitarist Don Fleming. Along with their two drummers, David Licht (also of Shockabilly) and Jay Spiegel (also of Half Japanese), the band cranked out four albums of driving guitars soaking in distortion with a relentless beat. After their final album in 1990, the group split with Kramer pursuing production work for his Shimmy Disc record label among other side projects like Bongwater; Fleming became a highly regarded record producer (Sonic Youth, the Posies, Alice Cooper) and formed another band, Gumball.

 

Tracklist

1		Hardball	3:57
2		She's Always Driving	3:33
3		Timmy The Toad, Man	4:15
4		Mary Jane	2:42
5		The Road To Heaven	6:04
6		Ball Four Prelude	2:41
7		Ball One	3:11
8		Ball Two	3:00
9		Ball Three	4:41
10		Ball Four	1:42
11		R.I.P.	5:31
12		Caveman	3:45
13		Bastard Baby Boy	1:49
14		Always	1:45
15		Billy And The Comets	1:46
16		Fuck The Law	1:57
17		The French	1:39
18		I Can Never Say	4:36
19		The Wildest Thing	1:12

VELVET MONKEYS Rake 1990

 

by request

Discogs

 

Velvet Monkeys Biography

by Kathleen C. Fennessy

Guitarist/producer Don Fleming and drummer Jay Spiegel formed the pop culture tribute band Velvet Monkeys in Washington, D.C., in the early '80s. Both were veterans of Jad Fair's long-running noise pop outfit Half Japanese, with whom they would continue to record throughout the 1980s (Fleming was also in the Stroke Band in the late '70s with Bruce Joyner of the Unknowns). Other members of their garage rock combo included Malcolm Riviera on guitar and keyboards, Elaine Barnes on keyboards and vocals, Charles Steck on bass, and numerous others (the lineup was fluid, to say the least). The group's first recorded appearance was on the 1981 compilation Connected (Limp Records). That same year, they released their first full-length, cassette-only Everything Is Right on their own Monkey Business label. It was followed by the similar-sounding garage-o-rama Future in 1983. In 1986, they split a cassette release, the avant-pop Big Big Sun, with old pals Half Japanese. The group then took a break, with Fleming and Spiegel moving to New York to join fellow musician/producer Kramer's pop-deconstruction unit B.A.L.L. During the sojourn, they issued a compilation of early material with Rotting Corpse Au-Go-Go (1989). Upon B.A.L.L.'s reportedly acrimonious demise, they re-formed Velvet Monkeys with guest musicians Thurston Moore, J Mascis, and Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz for 1990's concept album -- and swan song -- Rake, a take-off on the exploitation soundtracks of the 1970s (like Curtis Mayfield's Superfly). Fleming and Spiegel returned the favor by subsequently playing on and/or producing recordings by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Free Kitten. Velvet Monkeys also appeared on a number of compilations during the 1980s, including The Other, Sub Pop 9, Train to Disaster, Let's Sea, and Deadly Spawn. In addition, they released a single on Sub Pop (with the Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" on the flip) and a double-single of early '80s demos (Better Living) on Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. In 1990, Fleming, Spiegel, and Riviera morphed, as it were, into a new group: Gumball. Two years later, Rake's "They Call It Rock" was included on the soundtrack to Alison Anders' Gas Food Lodging (along with tracks by J Mascis and others). Six years later, House Party, which was recorded for -- but never released by -- SST in 1985 with Workdogs' Rob Kennedy and Scott Jarvis (two other Half Japanese vets), was released by God Bless. The highlight was a ten-minute version of the Stooges' minimalist dirge "Little Doll." Although they had been gone from the scene for five years by that point, Velvet Monkeys hadn't been completely forgotten, even if Fleming and Spiegel have since become better-known for the other bands with which they've been associated.

 

Tracklist

  1. We Call It Rock
  2. She's Not A Girl
  3. The Ballad of "Rake"
  4. Something's In The Air
  5. Velvet Monkey Theme Song
  6. Rock The Night
  7. Harmonica Hell House
  8. Love To Give
  9. 7 Angels
10. Rock Party
11. Velvet Monkey Theme (Assassin Mix)

DIM STARS self titled 1992

 Discogs

 

biography

[+] by Rovi

Formed in New York in 1991, Dim Stars is an occasional project featuring Richard Hell (b. Richard Meyers, 2 October 1949, Lexington, Kentucky, USA; vocals/bass), Don Fleming (ex-Velvet Monkeys; B.A.L.L. ; guitar/vocals) and two members of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore (guitar/vocals) and Steve Shelley (drums). A live three-single pack, Dim Stars, was issued that year on Sonic Youth’s Ecstatic Peace! label. It included a lengthy version of ‘You’ve Got To Lose’, first featured on Richard Hell And The Voidoid’s classic Blank Generation. Three Songs, an EP credited to ‘Richard Hell’, ensued, although this featured the Dim Stars’ line-up. The quartet’s eponymous album was an informal, but exciting, set, combining Hell’s visionary lyrics with the debauched ease of the Rolling Stones’ circa Exile On Main Street. Guitarist Robert Quine, formerly of the Voidoids, and Jad Fair assisted the proceedings, the highlight of which was a memorable take of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘The Natchez Burning’. Prior commitments to Sonic Youth preclude Dim Stars from becoming a permanent fixture, but the album proved to be an excellent reiteration of Richard Hell’s talent.

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Tracklist 

1	She Wants To Die	3:45
2	All My Witches Come True	3:01
3	Memo To Marty	2:06
4	Monkey	5:26
5	Natchez Burning	2:05
6	Stop Breakin' Down	5:03
7	Baby Huey (Do You Wanna Dance)	2:44
8	The Night Is Coming On	3:44
9	Downtown At Dawn	4:53
10	Try This	2:16
11	Incense Is The Essence	2:39
12	Weird Forest	3:40
13	Stray Cat Generation	2:37
14	Rip Off	5:41
15	Dim Star Theme	3:35