Hello, oh those vindictive Russians murdering not just a nasty spy but his close family too, clearly a message to those thinking of selling out to the 'west', that said the guy -apparently had ruined many a life and thereby created lot's of serious enemies... Meanwhile little Britain is stamping it's feet with the BBC leading the way ahhh...they must be trembling in Moscow...
Today's artists an English/American gothic rock supergroup with a line-up consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. Launched in 1981, the band had moderate chart success prior to their dissolution in 1989...........N'Joy
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Formed in 1981, the Lords of the New Church had a formidable intercontinental punk rock pedigree. Singer Stiv Bators and guitarist Brian James were founding members of Cleveland's Dead Boys and London's the Damned, respectively, both successful and influential punk pioneers. Bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Nick Turner were veterans of Sham 69 and the Barracudas, which were less seminal but still well-known. More melodic and slickly produced than most punk, their music both reached a broader audience than that of many bands in the genre and alienated hardcore punk fans. The band presented a stylized tribal identity around their appearance and their music that fans embraced: the writer Dave Thompson asserts this represented "the first time since the Sex Pistols' Bromley Contingent fanbase [that] a band had succeeded in grafting its own identity onto its audience without first paying obeisance to the gods of highstreet fashion. Their stage antics became notorious early in their career, with Bators stunts on one occasion reportedly resulting in his clinical death for several minutes.
The genesis of the Lords was in 1980 when Bators and James, having split from their previous bands, renewed an aqcuaintance that began when the Dead Boys opened for the Damned on CBGB dates and an English tour. The two experimented for a time with different rhythm sections, rehearsing briefly with ex-Generation X bassist Tony James and ex-Clash drummer Terry Chimes (how's that for a punk rock supergroup?). A lineup of Bators, James, Tregunna, and Damned drummer Rat Scabies played a single 1980 gig as the "Dead Damned Sham Band." But by the time the Lords' self-titled debut album appeared in 1982, Turner had replaced Scabies to form the lineup that would remain fixed throughout the band's most productive years.
Though the album was well-received, the Lords became more notorious for their live shows, or more specifically for Bators's crazed abandon as a performer. A devotee of Iggy Pop, Bators had in his Dead Boys days developed a reputation for being unafraid to risk his life in pursuit of rock & roll glory. He suffered innumerable on-stage injuries during his career, the most famous being the time he reportedly nearly hung himself during a Lords show. As the story goes, a favorite stunt of Bators' where he looped the mic cord around his neck went awry, resulting in his being clinically dead for several minutes. Nonetheless, Bators survived to record two more successful albums with the Lords, 1983's Is Nothing Sacred? and 1984's The Method to Our Madness. After this, though, the Lords appeared to lose their creative impetus.
They continued to record sporadically including an amusing single where they violated Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and two excellent new tracks for the best-of Killer Lords, but by 1985, the Lords had slowly begun to disintegrate. Tregunna left, was replaced for a time by Grant Fleming, and then returned. A second guitarist, Alistair Simmons, was added and then sacked. Turner quit and was replaced by Danny Fury. After 1988, Bators back injury led James to advertise for a replacement singer -- a temporary one, he claimed -- the Lords split acrimoniously, but not before Bators played the encore of his last show wearing a T-shirt that bore an enlargement of James' newspaper ad. Possibilities of any future Lords reunions were quashed when Bators died in 1990 of injuries sustained when he was struck by a car in the streets of Paris.
The band was re-established in 2003 when vocalist Adam Becvare (The Lustkillers) joined original members James and Tregunna. This configuration of the band produced the album Hang On.
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Although their roots were in punk rock, their debut album announced to the world that the Lords of the New Church were not your average punk band. They had ambitions: they would be the last beacon of truth in a world nearing its end. And while you can't call The Lords of the New Church entirely successful -- for every high point like "Open Your Eyes" or "Russian Roulette" there's a clunker like "Portobello" or "Eat Your Heart Out" -- you can't fault their effort. Guitarist Brian James and the Tregunna/Turner rhythm section provide a wide-screen setting, with guest musicians adding synths and horns to the guitar bass, and drums foundation. But the face, mouth, and heart of the Lords was Stiv Bators, who casts himself here in the role of rock & roll poet/preacher/prophet. He was no Bob Dylan, to be sure, but on The Lords of the New Church Bators demonstrates lyrical maturity surprising to anyone who ever heard Dead Boys songs like "I Need Lunch." Consider these few lines from "New Church," which may not be high art, but make their point and also serve as a neat summary of the Lords ethos: "Truth can't be found on the television/Throw away youth ya gotta take a stand/Music is your only weapon/Spanners in the works go start your gang...." Lords of the New Church is very much an artifact of the Reagan era and somewhat dated in its approach, but Bators' core message of personal freedom, and the fervor and sincerity with which he delivered it, have retained their resonance across the years.
The Lords Of The New Church - I (flac 229mb)
01 New Church 3:33
02 Russian Roulette 3:47
03 Question Of Temperature 2:56
04 Eat Your Heart Out 2:36
05 Portobello 2:40
06 Open Your Eyes 3:28
07 Livin' On Livin' 3:21
08 Li'l Boys Play With Dolls 3:42
09 Apocalypso 3:10
10 Holy War 4:23
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The shadow of the Rolling Stones, the classic role model for bands who embrace rock's scuzzy, dangerous, vaguely satanic side, looms large over Lords of the New Church's second album. The influence of Mick Jagger on Stiv Bators' lippy, sneering delivery has never been more apparent. Brian James emulates Keith Richards' rhythm-oriented guitar parts, leaving Dave Tregunna's bass as the lead instrument. Nicky Turner may not be Charlie Watts (who is?), but he provides a dependable backbeat. Is Nothing Sacred? even offers such Stones-y song titles as "Black Girl White Girl," "Goin' Downtown," and "Partners in Crime." You'd hope this was a conscious homage, but it sounds more like the Lords were having trouble deciding on a direction and fell back on old habits. Still, if Is Nothing Sacred? were a Stones album, it'd be a pretty good one, well played and entertaining throughout. "Dance with Me" -- funky, slinky, and goth-tinged with lyrics that invoke voodoo and bondage -- is one of the Lords' best songs and, coincidentally, one of their biggest hits. "Live for Today," a surprisingly straight cover of the Grass Roots classic with slick production and keyboards by Todd Rundgren, closes the album on an uplifting though incongruous note. As a follow-up to the Lords' promising debut, Is Nothing Sacred? isn't a disaster, but it is a small step backward rather than forward.
The Lords Of The New Church - Is Nothing Sacred (flac 294mb)
01 Dance With Me 3:24
02 Bad Timing 3:40
03 Johnny Too Bad 3:58
04 Don't Worry Children 3:43
05 The Night Is Calling 4:56
06 Black Girl White Girl 3:40
07 Goin' Downtown 3:50
08 Tale Of Two Cities 4:21
09 World Without End 5:26
10 Partners In Crime 2:41
11 Live For Today 3:42
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Although it was the Lords' third release, The Method to Our Madness sounds more like a debut. The band is bursting with energy and the production, by Chris Tsangerides, is much rawer than that on The Lords of the New Church or Is Nothing Sacred? The opening salvo is "Method to My Madness," a four-on-the-floor rocker with a vocal contribution by I.R.S. Records impresario Miles Copeland, who admonishes Stiv Bators, "Now don't go tellin' secrets/This record's gotta sell!" After that, the aggression level stays pretty high, dipping only for a couple of ballads, "I Never Believed" and "When Blood Runs Cold" (the latter of which uses a string section; Stiv Bators and strings -- who would have thought it?) The Method to Our Madness contains some of the Lords' best non-hits: the sinister, sexy, bass-driven "Murder Style" and "The Seducer," the tale of a figure who might be a messiah, might be an antichrist, probably not too far off from how Bators saw himself. The closer, "My Kingdom Come," sounds like an ending, and it was; the Lords would never again record at full power before their split in 1988.
The Lords Of The New Church - The Method To Our Madness (flac 292mb)
01 Method To My Madness 3:17
02 I Never Believed 3:38
03 Pretty Baby Scream 5:02
04 S.F. & T 3:34
05 When Blood Runs Cold 3:44
06 Fresh Flesh 3:35
07 Murder Style 4:12
08 The Seducer 4:12
09 Kiss Of Death 3:35
10 Do What Thou Wilt 4:11
11 My Kingdom Come 4:11
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Lords of the New Church took the punk/new wave types of sounds and combined them with heavy metal influences into a gothic-sounding but very accessible texture. The resulting music is showcased on this compilation disc, which includes tracks from the various LONC albums and some rarities. The group did plenty of cover cuts but made them all their own. In fact, in many cases, the covers really steal the show on this release; particularly "Dance With Me," "Live for Today," and the very funny and obnoxious take on Madonna's "Like a Virgin." Some of this material will definitely be objectionable to certain listeners, but to fans of the group, or of the early goth sound in general, this release is definitely a treat.
The Lords Of The New Church - Killer Lords (flac 322mb)
01 Dance With Me 3:25
02 Hey Tonight 4:55
03 Russian Roullette 3:47
04 M-Style 4:12
05 Lord's Prayer 5:39
06 Live For Today 3:38
07 Method To My Madness 3:16
08 Open Your Eyes 3:27
09 I Never Believed 3:38
10 Black Girl White Girl 3:39
11 New Church 3:30
12 Like A Virgin 3:47
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's artists an English/American gothic rock supergroup with a line-up consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. Launched in 1981, the band had moderate chart success prior to their dissolution in 1989...........N'Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Formed in 1981, the Lords of the New Church had a formidable intercontinental punk rock pedigree. Singer Stiv Bators and guitarist Brian James were founding members of Cleveland's Dead Boys and London's the Damned, respectively, both successful and influential punk pioneers. Bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Nick Turner were veterans of Sham 69 and the Barracudas, which were less seminal but still well-known. More melodic and slickly produced than most punk, their music both reached a broader audience than that of many bands in the genre and alienated hardcore punk fans. The band presented a stylized tribal identity around their appearance and their music that fans embraced: the writer Dave Thompson asserts this represented "the first time since the Sex Pistols' Bromley Contingent fanbase [that] a band had succeeded in grafting its own identity onto its audience without first paying obeisance to the gods of highstreet fashion. Their stage antics became notorious early in their career, with Bators stunts on one occasion reportedly resulting in his clinical death for several minutes.
The genesis of the Lords was in 1980 when Bators and James, having split from their previous bands, renewed an aqcuaintance that began when the Dead Boys opened for the Damned on CBGB dates and an English tour. The two experimented for a time with different rhythm sections, rehearsing briefly with ex-Generation X bassist Tony James and ex-Clash drummer Terry Chimes (how's that for a punk rock supergroup?). A lineup of Bators, James, Tregunna, and Damned drummer Rat Scabies played a single 1980 gig as the "Dead Damned Sham Band." But by the time the Lords' self-titled debut album appeared in 1982, Turner had replaced Scabies to form the lineup that would remain fixed throughout the band's most productive years.
Though the album was well-received, the Lords became more notorious for their live shows, or more specifically for Bators's crazed abandon as a performer. A devotee of Iggy Pop, Bators had in his Dead Boys days developed a reputation for being unafraid to risk his life in pursuit of rock & roll glory. He suffered innumerable on-stage injuries during his career, the most famous being the time he reportedly nearly hung himself during a Lords show. As the story goes, a favorite stunt of Bators' where he looped the mic cord around his neck went awry, resulting in his being clinically dead for several minutes. Nonetheless, Bators survived to record two more successful albums with the Lords, 1983's Is Nothing Sacred? and 1984's The Method to Our Madness. After this, though, the Lords appeared to lose their creative impetus.
They continued to record sporadically including an amusing single where they violated Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and two excellent new tracks for the best-of Killer Lords, but by 1985, the Lords had slowly begun to disintegrate. Tregunna left, was replaced for a time by Grant Fleming, and then returned. A second guitarist, Alistair Simmons, was added and then sacked. Turner quit and was replaced by Danny Fury. After 1988, Bators back injury led James to advertise for a replacement singer -- a temporary one, he claimed -- the Lords split acrimoniously, but not before Bators played the encore of his last show wearing a T-shirt that bore an enlargement of James' newspaper ad. Possibilities of any future Lords reunions were quashed when Bators died in 1990 of injuries sustained when he was struck by a car in the streets of Paris.
The band was re-established in 2003 when vocalist Adam Becvare (The Lustkillers) joined original members James and Tregunna. This configuration of the band produced the album Hang On.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Although their roots were in punk rock, their debut album announced to the world that the Lords of the New Church were not your average punk band. They had ambitions: they would be the last beacon of truth in a world nearing its end. And while you can't call The Lords of the New Church entirely successful -- for every high point like "Open Your Eyes" or "Russian Roulette" there's a clunker like "Portobello" or "Eat Your Heart Out" -- you can't fault their effort. Guitarist Brian James and the Tregunna/Turner rhythm section provide a wide-screen setting, with guest musicians adding synths and horns to the guitar bass, and drums foundation. But the face, mouth, and heart of the Lords was Stiv Bators, who casts himself here in the role of rock & roll poet/preacher/prophet. He was no Bob Dylan, to be sure, but on The Lords of the New Church Bators demonstrates lyrical maturity surprising to anyone who ever heard Dead Boys songs like "I Need Lunch." Consider these few lines from "New Church," which may not be high art, but make their point and also serve as a neat summary of the Lords ethos: "Truth can't be found on the television/Throw away youth ya gotta take a stand/Music is your only weapon/Spanners in the works go start your gang...." Lords of the New Church is very much an artifact of the Reagan era and somewhat dated in its approach, but Bators' core message of personal freedom, and the fervor and sincerity with which he delivered it, have retained their resonance across the years.
The Lords Of The New Church - I (flac 229mb)
01 New Church 3:33
02 Russian Roulette 3:47
03 Question Of Temperature 2:56
04 Eat Your Heart Out 2:36
05 Portobello 2:40
06 Open Your Eyes 3:28
07 Livin' On Livin' 3:21
08 Li'l Boys Play With Dolls 3:42
09 Apocalypso 3:10
10 Holy War 4:23
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The shadow of the Rolling Stones, the classic role model for bands who embrace rock's scuzzy, dangerous, vaguely satanic side, looms large over Lords of the New Church's second album. The influence of Mick Jagger on Stiv Bators' lippy, sneering delivery has never been more apparent. Brian James emulates Keith Richards' rhythm-oriented guitar parts, leaving Dave Tregunna's bass as the lead instrument. Nicky Turner may not be Charlie Watts (who is?), but he provides a dependable backbeat. Is Nothing Sacred? even offers such Stones-y song titles as "Black Girl White Girl," "Goin' Downtown," and "Partners in Crime." You'd hope this was a conscious homage, but it sounds more like the Lords were having trouble deciding on a direction and fell back on old habits. Still, if Is Nothing Sacred? were a Stones album, it'd be a pretty good one, well played and entertaining throughout. "Dance with Me" -- funky, slinky, and goth-tinged with lyrics that invoke voodoo and bondage -- is one of the Lords' best songs and, coincidentally, one of their biggest hits. "Live for Today," a surprisingly straight cover of the Grass Roots classic with slick production and keyboards by Todd Rundgren, closes the album on an uplifting though incongruous note. As a follow-up to the Lords' promising debut, Is Nothing Sacred? isn't a disaster, but it is a small step backward rather than forward.
The Lords Of The New Church - Is Nothing Sacred (flac 294mb)
01 Dance With Me 3:24
02 Bad Timing 3:40
03 Johnny Too Bad 3:58
04 Don't Worry Children 3:43
05 The Night Is Calling 4:56
06 Black Girl White Girl 3:40
07 Goin' Downtown 3:50
08 Tale Of Two Cities 4:21
09 World Without End 5:26
10 Partners In Crime 2:41
11 Live For Today 3:42
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Although it was the Lords' third release, The Method to Our Madness sounds more like a debut. The band is bursting with energy and the production, by Chris Tsangerides, is much rawer than that on The Lords of the New Church or Is Nothing Sacred? The opening salvo is "Method to My Madness," a four-on-the-floor rocker with a vocal contribution by I.R.S. Records impresario Miles Copeland, who admonishes Stiv Bators, "Now don't go tellin' secrets/This record's gotta sell!" After that, the aggression level stays pretty high, dipping only for a couple of ballads, "I Never Believed" and "When Blood Runs Cold" (the latter of which uses a string section; Stiv Bators and strings -- who would have thought it?) The Method to Our Madness contains some of the Lords' best non-hits: the sinister, sexy, bass-driven "Murder Style" and "The Seducer," the tale of a figure who might be a messiah, might be an antichrist, probably not too far off from how Bators saw himself. The closer, "My Kingdom Come," sounds like an ending, and it was; the Lords would never again record at full power before their split in 1988.
The Lords Of The New Church - The Method To Our Madness (flac 292mb)
01 Method To My Madness 3:17
02 I Never Believed 3:38
03 Pretty Baby Scream 5:02
04 S.F. & T 3:34
05 When Blood Runs Cold 3:44
06 Fresh Flesh 3:35
07 Murder Style 4:12
08 The Seducer 4:12
09 Kiss Of Death 3:35
10 Do What Thou Wilt 4:11
11 My Kingdom Come 4:11
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Lords of the New Church took the punk/new wave types of sounds and combined them with heavy metal influences into a gothic-sounding but very accessible texture. The resulting music is showcased on this compilation disc, which includes tracks from the various LONC albums and some rarities. The group did plenty of cover cuts but made them all their own. In fact, in many cases, the covers really steal the show on this release; particularly "Dance With Me," "Live for Today," and the very funny and obnoxious take on Madonna's "Like a Virgin." Some of this material will definitely be objectionable to certain listeners, but to fans of the group, or of the early goth sound in general, this release is definitely a treat.
The Lords Of The New Church - Killer Lords (flac 322mb)
01 Dance With Me 3:25
02 Hey Tonight 4:55
03 Russian Roullette 3:47
04 M-Style 4:12
05 Lord's Prayer 5:39
06 Live For Today 3:38
07 Method To My Madness 3:16
08 Open Your Eyes 3:27
09 I Never Believed 3:38
10 Black Girl White Girl 3:39
11 New Church 3:30
12 Like A Virgin 3:47
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Nice one Rho, Thanks
ReplyDeleteDear Rho,
ReplyDeleteYou made me quite happy today, talking about Stiv Bators
who was quite a character. We saw them live in 1982, we
got out of there totally deaf for 2 days, about the same
month we went to see The Gun Club.
Thank you very much.
a TRUE blast from the past (!) Thanks
ReplyDeleteNice post. Some nice moments from these guys.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rho. Any chance for a re-up? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteRho, thanks a lot for the re-up. Much appreciated.
ReplyDelete