Wikipedia

Discussion
1

Just browsed the Ministry entry on Wikipedia just for laffs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_(band)

Here are a couple of tidbits I did not know about, and I though I was up on most of the Ministry lore…

“Around 2001, Jourgensen almost lost an arm when he was bitten by a venomous spider.[4] According to Jourgensen, the realization that he could’ve lost his livelihood caused him to kick his heroin addiction and focus on music once again.”

Never heard this spiderbite story. Maybe he’s been hanging out with the Flaming Lips. I do know that Preston Hubbard relates a story of Al chasing a broken off syringe needle in the vein up his arm with a razor blade. Maybe this is the “spider” in question?

“Barker left the Ministry camp in 2003 due to dissatisfaction with the direction of his life. He stated that the trigger was his father dying while the band was wrapping up a summer tour in Europe, and also stated in early 2004 that his family life was his main focus at that particular time. Jourgensen then freely continued Ministry with Scaccia and a roundtable of fellow musicians.”

Never knew the precise details of Barker’s parting, athough I mourned it. My impression prior to reading this was that Barker left due to “artistic differences” with Al.

Any commentary on these Wikipedia statements?

Cheers.

2

Al mentioned the spider story on that Opie and Anthony radio show, didnt he?

3

yes but it was al’s leg and he has one toe amputated.

My impression prior to reading this was that Barker left due to “artistic differences” with Al.

that too. as max brody said in an interview last year, al and paul can’t stand each other now.

4

Just browsed the Ministry entry on Wikipedia just for laffs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_(band)

Here are a couple of tidbits I did not know about, and I though I was up on most of the Ministry lore…

“Around 2001, Jourgensen almost lost an arm when he was bitten by a venomous spider.[4] According to Jourgensen, the realization that he could’ve lost his livelihood caused him to kick his heroin addiction and focus on music once again.”

Never heard this spiderbite story. Maybe he’s been hanging out with the Flaming Lips. I do know that Preston Hubbard relates a story of Al chasing a broken off syringe needle in the vein up his arm with a razor blade. Maybe this is the “spider” in question?

“Barker left the Ministry camp in 2003 due to dissatisfaction with the direction of his life. He stated that the trigger was his father dying while the band was wrapping up a summer tour in Europe, and also stated in early 2004 that his family life was his main focus at that particular time. Jourgensen then freely continued Ministry with Scaccia and a roundtable of fellow musicians.”

Never knew the precise details of Barker’s parting, athough I mourned it. My impression prior to reading this was that Barker left due to “artistic differences” with Al.

Any commentary on these Wikipedia statements?

Cheers.

He did almost lose his arm don’t know if it was due to the recluse or not though because I believe it was the same opi and anthony show that he talked about it and then al rambled on because everyime he goes into a Hospital they always want to hack something off and then he offered up his toe as evidence.
Late,
grmpysmrf

5

I remember hearing the family reasons for Barker’s leaving several years ago, but I don’t recall the source.

6

yes, that too. all in all, it was death of his father, paul wanting more time with his family, and it seems there also was some mutual hatred or something. aaaaaaanimosityyyy. whatever. chris connelly said that. yep. and later, max brody.

7

Obviousley Mikeys pretty thick-skinned then [:P]

8

He has to be. “Crumbs” was written about Mike.

9

i guess al never told the whole story about his big toe being hacked off–perhaps he forgets that gibby haynes was at the hospital too.
yeah, al arguing with the medical staff that he was not a drug user.classic.

10

I just hope Mr. Barker doesn’t fuck it up for himself.
Like Grandpa Al is doing currently.

11

I finally burned a copy of Bisquit’s USSA show, and I was mildly impressed.

I think Paul is doing okay for himself.

12

I hope to Christ he is.

13

So Crumbs is about Mike Scaccia? And Bad Blood is Phildo… are any of the other songs attacks on former members that he ended up working with again?

14

bad blood is about phildo???

15

bad blood is about phildo???

Yeah, where did that little bit of info come from?? Knew about Scaccia. I just assumed everything about darkside was all Drug references. bad blood being a bad bad batch of Heroin.
Late,
grmpysmrf

16

Al said in an interview that he almost lost an arm to heroin. It was almost putrefied, and when he went to an hospital and they told him that they might have to amputate it, he said fuck, no way, left and, according to him, that’s when he decided to kick off the stuff for good and the arm healed itself.

17

Al said in an interview that he almost lost an arm to heroin. It was almost putrefied, and when he went to an hospital and they told him that they might have to amputate it, he said fuck, no way, left and, according to him, that’s when he decided to kick off the stuff for good and the arm healed itself.

Wow. Intriguing, for sure.

18

bad blood is about phildo???

That’s who I always thought the song was about. Here’s what this website has to say about it:

http://www.skatenigs.com/news.htm

Interestingly enough, “Bad Blood,” the MiNiSTRY track that appeared in advance of “Dark Side” on the “Matrix soundtrack” album, is said to be about rivalries among Jourgensen’s Texas compadres. So, is there any dirt on Owen and the 'NiGS, who opened for MiNiSTRY on several tours, and whose “Stupid People Shouldn’t Breed” album was anonymously produced by Jourgensen, in the song? Well, Phildo says that while there was a small “incident” between Jourgensen and himself in the past, he doesn’t think the song is in reference to him, and “if it is, it’s real loose.”

This is also mentioned in the biography for the Skatenigs at allmusic.com:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9fyxqe5ldje~T1

Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen produced the album, but refused to take credit for it, beginning a rift between himself and Owens. The music was a catchy mix of punk, metal, and industrial, but it never really caught on and soon they found themselves off of Megaforce. By 1994, tensions were quite high between Owens and Jourgensen, but the band managed to release What a Mangled Web We Leave on Red Force and toured behind it. The band remained rather inactive during the second half of the decade, reappearing in 2000 with a different lineup. Ministry wrote a song about all the bad blood between the group of musicians who used to gravitate around Jourgensen, and many believe that Owens was one of the song’s major targets. Owens denied this claim, instead trying to focus any attention he received on the new Skatenigs album, which still has not arrived.

I always thought the animosity stemmed from the death of the woman who sang vocals on “Chemical Imbalence”. She died of a heroine overdose, and Phildo blamed Al for getting her hooked on drugs.

Obviously, what ever the real story is, the two have long since made up.