Only date I’ve found with both was Ministry opening for them on 10/19/84. There’s probably another date or two on the 82/83 tours.
I think that’s why I love the “early trax” cd. It’s the perfect bridge between WS and Twitch. At times, I like songs like Nature of Love (which has quickly become one of my favorite Ministry tracks) better than songs on Twitch (like the Angel for example)
Duran Duran members, John Taylor in particular, mentioned DD being founded on the principle of wanting to be the perfect hybrid–the aggression of the Sex Pistols but with the dancable funk of Chic.
I think Al was striving for something similar originally on this side of the pond just a little darker. Maybe early Cure or Warsaw (the punkier, pre-Joy Division) meets Chic? Or the more recognizable moments of Cabaret Voltaire (Nag Nag Nag) or Throbbing Gristle (Hot on the Wheels of Love) + Chic?
At any rate, the current (and very tired) 666-shootin’ Hellbilly persona was likely the LAST thing on Al’s mind at the time.
I also think there was a fair amount of interest in early hip hop (ala Henry Rollins/Malcolm McLaren/Thomas Dolby/Blondie) there as well. There’s just simply no way that a whitey Swede/Cuban DJ could ever have gotten the labels (even WT) at the time to OK anything more than the handful of scratches on Halloween or the little rapped sing song bit in IWTTH. Anyone know if Al was a closet hiphop head back in the day? I’ve always suspected he was.
A no-bullshit, no holds-barred, all-jokes-aside interview with Al would be fascinating. Truth is, he’s Dubya-esque in his elusiveness and evasiveness about his musical past & roots.
Personally, I’d like to know the story behind the Hentai cover for the Work for Love 12"
I wouldn’t be surprised if Al was a early hip hop head. Look at “Rapper’s Delight”, which was Chic’s “Good Times” . Somehow, everything can tie together. And yes, good point about the scratches in Halloween. And since he was a DJ, he HAD to have some sort of knowledge of the rising form of music known as hip hop.
Hell, there’s a SP promo shot from 85/86 with one of cevin key wearing a Def Jam shirt [cool]
Don’t forget Lee Chubby King!! Kevin & co. were REALLY down with hip hop on that one [:P]
Some SP songs–Dig It immediately comes to mind–have a VERY distinct mid 80’s hiphop rhythmic influence.
Also, for a STUNNING remix and surprising crossover (again) of SP & true hiphop, check out Guru’s (GangStarr/Jazzmatazz) remix of Censor on Remix Dys Temper.
that’s true…here I am, all these years, thinking it isn’t THE guru from gangstarr but some unknown producer. That’s fucking awesome that he did that remix cause it’s great (I’m a huge gang starr fan too)
A no-bullshit, no holds-barred, all-jokes-aside interview with Al would be fascinating. Truth is, he’s Dubya-esque in his elusiveness and evasiveness about his musical past & roots.
Excellent point. What’s he afraid of anyway? It’s not like there’s legions of speed metal fans that would suddenly disown 90s Ministry if Al talked frankly about his evolution from 1981 to modern day.
In his early interviews he sounds bright and introspective on a variety of topics. Most of his post-Psalm 69 interviews are inane and seem to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator.
What makes the whole Ministry catalog enjoyable is that for a long time, Al seemed to stay one step ahead of the curve, and he always had time to poke fun at the whole thing (e.g., Revco). However, bring up “With Sympathy” and it’s another case of “don’t go there” and various denials.
Honestly, I don’t think Al will ever open up.
maybe, eventually after Ministry is put to rest, he’ll give us that one interview we’re looking for.
Also, for a STUNNING remix and surprising crossover (again) of SP & true hiphop, check out Guru’s (GangStarr/Jazzmatazz) remix of Censor on Remix Dys Temper.
Yeah, that’s one of the best on that album, and an interesting fusion of talents. Makes me wonder if the influence goes both ways. I know Outkast (Andre 3000 at least) has mentioned Squarepusher and Aphex Twin in interviews before. Perhaps some hip hop heads out there got love for Ministry and SP too.
[reply]The only bandmember fired and replaced from the '83 band was Shay Jones, and she wasn’t really a fulltime member anyhow. If by ‘fired’ you mean ‘stopped paying’, then you might be on to something. [sly]
Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. Good point. Actually, it’s kind of hard to imagine Al being in charge of payroll for any extended period of time. It’s just strange that he sounds rather confident about future of the band in that interview (with Dick Skinner), and the possibility of the tour band continuing on without him.
One question I’ve wanted to ask was how/why did Arista portray Ministry as a duo of Al and Stevo? Was the contract only with Al and Stevo?[/reply]
Just prior to the Arista signing, there were only 4 band members…AJ, Stevo, Roberts and Davis (JD). The hard fact about JD was, he wasn’t much of a player. He could reproduce what was taught him, but really didn’t have the chops. Al was never really satisfied with him and always wanted to replace him. So that leaves only 3.
Roberts wanted no part of the contract unless he himself had a guaranteed cut. As it turned out, he did the right thing at the time because most of the Artista contract was spent on the recording of WS and Al sold the songrights to cover ‘other’ expenses anyway. At least Roberts was well paid during the tour.
This explains why Roberts was MIA when the sessions for WS began. When Al realized that he couldn’t record WFL, or Revenge, or Effigy or any of the other material the band had been playing regularly without Roberts, Al flew him out to Boston and paid for his expenses while he was there. The same for the tour in '83.
I can tell you too, that Roberts was always a bit pissed that he never got songwriting credits for the material that had been written prior to the WS sessions. If you doubt that Roberts had much to do with the early material all you have to do is notice the difference between the songs that were written while he was in the band (Revenge, Effigy, WFL, IWTTH, etc.) and the stuff that Al singlehandedly wrote in the studio during the WS sessions (Say You’re Sorry, Should Have Known Better, etc.).
With Davis out and Roberts reluctant to sign a piece of paper that essentially meant nothing…you have the reason why Ministry was only Al & Stevo.
awesome, thanks for the insight!
as for andre3k stating he liked aphex twin and squarepusher, that doesn’t surprise me. “my favorite things” on the love below album sounds like some cool drum and bass or something.
another point on hip hop with Ministry, and I can’t believe I forgot to mention it…Test!!
Duran Duran members, John Taylor in particular, mentioned DD being founded on the principle of wanting to be the perfect hybrid–the aggression of the Sex Pistols but with the dancable funk of Chic.
I think Al was striving for something similar originally on this side of the pond just a little darker. Maybe early Cure or Warsaw (the punkier, pre-Joy Division) meets Chic? Or the more recognizable moments of Cabaret Voltaire (Nag Nag Nag) or Throbbing Gristle (Hot on the Wheels of Love) + Chic?
Personally, I’d like to know the story behind the Hentai cover for the Work for Love 12"
I think you’re very close in your assessment. The fact that Al dj’d, worked in a record store and had a very close friendship with Jim Nash had a lot to do with his musical tastes at the time.
The influence of ‘Chicago House’ music was everywhere in Chicago in the early 80’s too. There was no escaping it, especially if you worked as a DJ/Record Store Employee. That’s probably were Al got his influences of stuff like early hip-hop and funk and disco, to some extent.
I do seem to remember Al listening to a lot of music based on production value, and not necessarily because he like the vibe that the band gave off. Simple Minds, ABC and yes, even Duran Duran fell into this category.
But obviously, The Cure and Joy Division/New Order and bands like Yazoo were influences of his. Another band that got a lot of play was Japan.
The hentai cover? I know that Al had a liking for Japanese clothing and the aforementioned band ‘Japan’. I remember him wearing Japanese slippers as shoes, a lot of people did. We used to buy them from an import/export store on Belmont, just west of Clark Street. Maybe that had something to do with it.