DESPERATE BICYCLES “Occupied Territory” and “The Medium Was Tedium” singles (Refill Records, ’78, ’79). I heard about DESPERATE BICYCLES through a friend of mine, and I trust this guy’s opinion on music so much that even though I had never heard DB before, I didn’t think even twice about dropping the $50 it took to get both of these from a UK seller. Honestly, it was one of the best recent record purchasing risks I’ve ever taken, ‘cause these singles hit me really hard. I guess the best way I could describe DESPERATE BICYCLES music would be to have you imagine THE FALL if they were worshipping old ESP Disk “folk” groups (THE FUGS, GODZ, HMR, etc.) instead of CAN. Think really top notch authentic UK post-punk, but lacking any of the obnoxious pitfalls that genre is often guilty of (artistic pretension, watered down lyrics snatched from LOU REED’S wastebasket, aggrandized sense of importance, and general whiney, explicitly anti-rock and roll mentalities). DESPERATE BICYCLES stand head and shoulders above the competition by actually writing good songs which were rich in melody, but also very minimal in arrangement and experimental in their production approach. Take the farfisa and tambourine driven “Medium Was Tedium” single contrasted to the lofi borderline-garage punk of “Skill,” contrasted still with the languid and schizophrenic flipside “Occupied Territory.” These guys cram more original ideas in one song than most bands do in their entire existence, but somehow the songs really are pleasant to listen to without remotely being obtrusively avant-garde like many of their peers.
It should also be noted that DESPERATE BICYCLES wrote lyrics which will give anyone involved in pressing independent records, or seriously pursuing any form of artistic expression, for that matter, a serious hard on. Two of three songs on these two singles DIRECTLY relate to the do-it-yourself ethic of making music. This line from “Skill” pretty much sums up the DESPERATE BICYCLES ETHOS: “You don’t need skill, just the desire/the interest and desire to do what you believe in,” and of course the “It was easy it was cheap GO AND DO IT!!!” chorus/battle cry of “The Medium Was Tedium” speaks volumes as well.
As it stands there is no DESPERATE BICYCLES anthology, or singles collection. The records have never been repressed (to my knowledge this is as per the band’s request) and to my knowledge never even bootlegged. If you find any of their stuff (they had about three or four other singles and an LP) expect to pay a fair price for it, but trust me, it’s a rewarding investment.
― M. Colin Tappe, Sunday, 10 October 2004 01:42 (nineteen years ago) link
cause their stock in cool points goes down when more people get into obscure bands with oop records
You're really directing that sentiment to the wrong group of people. Please tell me you're not aiming that at me in repsonse to my posts above.
And can I make the obvious analogy. If you specifically told the public you didn't want anyone to repress the best of M. Colin Tappe Greatest Hits CD, but somebody went ahead and did it without your permission, AND is making money off of it, that'd be perfectly cool?
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 10 October 2004 07:42 (nineteen years ago) link
That someone was me. Does that mean I don't have SIMV? Anyway, my point being Ian Mackaye is not and has never been in the Desp.Bikes, so his opinion, which I share, is not necessarily the DB's standpoint.
I actually don't know who IMcKaye is anyway, and Ray Cappo is also lost on me. But that's not important. Is it?
― mark grout (mark grout), Sunday, 10 October 2004 15:09 (nineteen years ago) link
I've only heard 'The Medium Was Tedium', and now I can hear the rest of their songs.
If a remastered CD comes out I'll buy that.
Who's losing money (apart from Derek E) out of this, you fucking naysayers.
― Sasha (sgh), Monday, 11 October 2004 03:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 11 October 2004 14:45 (nineteen years ago) link
It's a shame that there's certain music that people can't here because the records are prohibitively expensive and there is no cheap reissue, but that doesn't make it ok to go against the bands wishes. The fans don't have some kind of right to the music that supercedes the artists desire to not have their music out there for whatever reason.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 14:53 (nineteen years ago) link
I dunno. I hypocrit cuz I downloaded the tracks? Maybe they don't want to be looked on as 'historical' or what they do nowadays would be 'spoiled' by 'immature daubings' or whatever?
I dunno, I havent played it yet.
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 11 October 2004 14:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 11 October 2004 15:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 11 October 2004 15:41 (nineteen years ago) link
They did release it then, and they have the right to not release it now. Releasing it then doesn't make it public domain. As I mentioned above, there's lots of grey areas...I never said nobody should be allowed to hear them, I've probably done more then anybody in spreading their music because I thought people should hear these great records, all the time confident that the people I was giving these CDs to would buy the records given the chance and would def. buy a reissue should it happen. I was just naive enough to think nobody would bootleg it. They did, and I felt guilty and still do, so now I fall on the side of not freely trading music that doesn't belong to me. Or I'm more likely to make mix tapes then compile "The complete..." because once you do that, it just makes the bootleggers jobs easier.
For a few years now there's been someone selling Prefects CDs of Peel Sessions and live stuff, as well as tons of other punk stuff, all at considerable profit. I hope even people who are aware of his site still find it worthwhile to buy Acute's forthcoming Prefects CD, if only for the liner notes and the fact that money will go to the band.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 11 October 2004 16:05 (nineteen years ago) link
I even got a copy of the CD directly to Duran Duran's PR agent who said she'd give it directly to John Taylor, as they grew out of the same Birmingham punk scene. Haven't heard back from Mr. Taylor yet though! At the least I hope he'll find it a kick, in the nostalgic sense.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 16:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 11 October 2004 17:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 17:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 11 October 2004 20:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 11 October 2004 20:29 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.carparkrecords.com/acute_US.html
or buy it from our distributor Mordam, or Forced Exposure, Other Music, whatever your favorite retailer is. iTunes and other trustworthy digital downloaders as well.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 20:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 11 October 2004 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 11 October 2004 21:19 (nineteen years ago) link
I might be pretty dumb, and I don't understand this.
― Sasha (sgh), Monday, 11 October 2004 23:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 06:26 (nineteen years ago) link
Sasha, you are correct in your disunderstandment.
If the music is more accessible, more people will get it from the 'free' source, and less people will illegally profit from it. Hray.
But, if the music is more accessible from a free source, the list of people who will not profit from it includes the original artists. Boo.
So now I have the CD, I most probably would not buy the properly remastered version. But I probably would not have anyway.
― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 08:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― M. Colin Tappe, Thursday, 21 October 2004 05:03 (nineteen years ago) link
― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 21 October 2004 06:21 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/headtohead/show.php?show=message&id=229475
The reviewer doesn't seem to know who's in the Nightingales, apart from Robert Lloyd, but correctly guesses that Alan Apperley is a lecturer.
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 21 October 2004 08:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 21 October 2004 14:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 21 October 2004 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 21 October 2004 15:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 21 October 2004 15:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 21 October 2004 15:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 21 October 2004 16:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― chris gilles, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 06:18 (nineteen years ago) link
Derek Erdman is not responsible for the actions of people who are not Derek Erdman, except the hordes of slime-gods who reign in the center of the Earth, of whom he secretly has control.
― mype ness, Sunday, 14 November 2004 16:55 (nineteen years ago) link
You don't think I should be allowed to hear them, so up yours Mr. Selzer-Water.
― Sasha (sgh), Monday, 15 November 2004 00:39 (nineteen years ago) link
Please then tell me why we have any copyright laws whatsoever?
Please, more people have heard of the Desperate Bicycles because of me, in some small part in addition to the likes of Johan Kugelberg, Chuck Warner, Richard Mason etc. I have spent the better part of the last 5 or 6 years making people aware of the Desperate Bicycles, I don't take kindly to the suggestion that I don't think people should be allowed to hear them.
Copying the music for someone you may know personally, and making it available to anyone who has access to google, I think are two different things. I never apologized for the hundreds of Desperate Bicycles CDs I made for people...untill I saw somebody selling them. I still make copies of the CD for friends and people I trust.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 15 November 2004 01:14 (nineteen years ago) link
wait. you downloaded this? you are nothing but a common criminal
― john'n'chcicago, Monday, 15 November 2004 01:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 15 November 2004 09:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― dave papworth, Sunday, 21 November 2004 18:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 21 November 2004 23:03 (nineteen years ago) link
Didn't you admit that you should have sent Derek a copy but apparently forgot to, as well as kept the money that he sent for postage?
To me that's the worst kind of bootlegger. Unless of course it was a "handling charge".
― Charlie Beucher, Monday, 22 November 2004 05:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Monday, 22 November 2004 05:36 (nineteen years ago) link
I usually don't equate someone who is not a professional retailer of music that misplaced a blank cd case with 3 dollars in cash with "the worst kind of bootlegger". I apologized to Derek publically, and offered to send him something else. Not to beat another point to the ground, but I asked for a SASE, because it is very hard for me deal with the lines at local post office branch during my lunch break, and instead got cash. Had I received the requested SASE, I would've sent it out sooner, most likely.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 22 November 2004 06:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jason Adolf, Monday, 31 January 2005 21:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― ste burkey, Friday, 11 February 2005 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― keith m (keithmcl), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Half japanese, Saturday, 26 February 2005 15:35 (nineteen years ago) link
...aaaand order cancelled as product is no longer available
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Friday, 11 October 2013 13:01 (ten years ago) link
same here.
― stirmonster, Friday, 11 October 2013 13:02 (ten years ago) link
and sold out everywhere else too. bah!
― stirmonster, Friday, 11 October 2013 13:03 (ten years ago) link
Hmm, what are the chances Paco still has a couple of these in his gig distro box... I may be going to one of his gigs tonight...
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Friday, 11 October 2013 13:06 (ten years ago) link
more of a desperate buy cycle amirite
― gotta lol geir (NickB), Friday, 11 October 2013 13:12 (ten years ago) link
I didn't want it anyway.
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Friday, 11 October 2013 13:14 (ten years ago) link
Oh great, I just saw this. Three hours and sold out? Bahhhhhhhh.
― emil.y, Friday, 11 October 2013 13:19 (ten years ago) link
And £24.99, while not cheap, is not an awful price for originals, seeing as reissues tend to go 'full artefact' and cost easily that much these days. Obviously if it's a boot then it's a rip-off.
― emil.y, Friday, 11 October 2013 13:20 (ten years ago) link