Old Lady Drivers - Old Lady Drivers (1988)

"Wisdom Lost" by Old Lady Drivers

James Plotkin's "Event Horizon" is track 7 on The Miracle of Levitation. By 1995, Plotkin had established himself as an ambient/experimental musician, but he started recording as a member of the parodic grindcore band Regurgitation that then became Old Lady Drivers. Old Lady Drivers released their debut album Old Lady Drivers in 1988 on Earache Records. (It seems like these underground noise outfits found better audiences via international record labels—the UK in this case.)

Old Lady Drivers sound as the name implies. Perhaps Alan Dubin's harsh vocals had been compared to raging elderly motorists so often that the concept of writing songs from that perspective was too good a fit to pass up. Early on, Dubin and Plotnick seemed to rely on the perspective of characters to craft songs. Their signature song as Regurgitation "Bathrooms Rule"—which also made it onto the O.L.D. debut—comes from a ridiculous high schooler describing the disgusting opportunities a bathroom can entertain. "Supermarket Monstrosity" takes the perspective of a child at the grocery store horrified by another customer in the frozen food aisle. The pitched-up vocals and syncopation feel like a proto-South Park gag. "Wisdom Lost" is the most notable song from the point of view of an old lady (driver.) The song is darkly funny and unsettling in its portrayal of senile citizens. It's just as much a caricature of the antiquated and helpless as a fear of what future they portend.

Having a whole album, let alone a band, dedicated to this one concept of performance wears thin after a few songs even for the band members themselves. Although the characters might have provided lyrical fodder and humor to lampoon their chosen musical genre, the band members seem to find a more rewarding creative outlet in experimenting with song structures and the mixing of other eighties sounds into the hardcore palette (a turn that has come into style lately.) The result is a jarring combination that pokes fun at efforts of pretension and indulges crudity in a fashion where form meets function.

Here is the discography surrounding Old Lady Drivers's debut album:

Organic Backwash (1986 demo as Regurgitation)

Bathrooms Rule (1987 demo as Regurgitation)

Total Hag Demo (1988 demo)

Old Lady Drivers

Bathrooms Rule! (2000 compilation as Regurgitation)

Complete Recordings 1986/1987 (2016 compilation as Regurgitation)

"Supermarket Monstrosity" by Old Lady Drivers

"Bathrooms Rule" by Old Lady Drivers

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Liquid Hippos - Shellac the Bozak (1988)

"Rosetta Stone" by Liquid Hippos

John Curley owned and operated Ultrasuede Studio where Lizard 99 recorded their debut (which he also engineered.)  A further extension of his DIY ethos had Curley creating his own label, also called Ultrasuede, that released the only album by Liquid Hippos, Shellac the Bozak, in 1988.

It's often amazing how deep and powerful rock and roll can be despite and because of how young the musicians are.  Even immaturity can find resonance and beauty in the zeitgeist... or it can be produce some of the stupidest lyrics put to wax.  Shellac the Bozak is an obscure album (with only one song available online) and there's not much use in bringing it up for rediscovery.  Although the band is musically adept and their sound dances the line between 80s alternative and indie music, everything about the album, from production to lyrics, sounds like a practice run for putting out a record without any intention of it leaving the safety of the Cleveland music scene.

The lyrics are the bane of the album: confused when hiding in nonsense and laughable when they make sense.  Every song seems to have a line meant to surprise for its sheer absurdity but those lyrics stand apart, aren't funny and do the songs no favors.  The liner notes chronicle each song but one, the closing song "Unicorn Hop" which gives it the feel of a "hidden track."  Where all the other songs carry an air of seriousness, this one was meant to be a lark.  For posterity, I will go out of my way to chronicle one stanza from the song:

This old man he played one, he played knick knack on my thumb!

This old man he played two, he played knick knack on my shoe!

This old man he played three, he played knick knack on my knee!

This old man he played four; he played knick knack on my BOOTY!!!

Miraculous.

I'm still shocked that line exists, but sometimes youthful creativity takes you to some truly stupid places.

Here is the Liquid Hippos discography:

Shellac the Bozak

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Afghan Whigs - Big Top Halloween (1988)

"But Listen" by Afghan Whigs


The first years of Guided by Voices recordings are self-produced and independently released, so it's a fairly insular history early on.  However, their debut recording, the Forever Since Breakfast EP, was not home-produced and was released on I Wanna Records.  It was produced by Wayne Hartman who built a small body of recordings by working with Ohio-area bands.  Guided by Voices were from Dayton, and he also produced the 1988 debut album Big Top Halloween by Afghan Whigs who hailed from Cincinnati.

Here is the discography surrounding Afghan Whigs's debut album:

Big Top Halloween

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Hothouse Flowers - People (1988)

"It'll Be Easier in the Morning" by Hothouse Flowers

In 1980, Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig started as members of the band The Complex along with Dave Conway and Liam Ó Maonlaí, who left the group in 1983 leaving the three remaining members to form My Bloody Valentine.  In 1985, Liam (vocals, keyboards, guitar) started busking with old schoolmate Fiachna Ó Braonáin (guitar, vocals).  When fellow street performer Peter O'Toole (bass) joined the group, it marked the beginning of Hothouse Flowers.  Leo Barnes (saxophone) and Jerry Fehily (drums) rounded out the band's early lineup.  The Flowers stood out with their gospel and celtic infused rock and quickly made their name as "the best unsigned band in Europe".  This publicity quickly turned around the band's fortunes, and they would release their debut album People in 1988.  The album went down as the best-selling debut by an Irish artist in Ireland.

Here is the discography surrounding Hothouse Flowers's debut album:

Love Don't Work This Way (1987 single)
Don't Go (1987 single)
Feet on the Ground (1987 single)
I'm Sorry (1988 single)
Easier in the Morning (1988 single)
People

"Don't Go" by Hothouse Flowers


"Saved" by Hothouse Flowers


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My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything (1988)

"Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside)" by My Bloody Valentine


When forming Catherine Wheel, Rob Dickinson and company had trouble holding down a bass player until they put down an advertisement for one.  "Band looking for bassist--influences Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, etc."

My Bloody Valentine is a shoegaze/alternative rock band from Dublin, Ireland formed in 1983 and headed by founders Kevin Shields (guitar, vocals) and Colm Ó Cíosóig (drums).  After meandering around in Dublin, the Netherlands, and Germany, their most famous line-up came together with the two joined by Bilinda Butcher (vocals, guitar) and Debbie Googe (bass).  With a consistent line-up, there came the solidification of the band's sound and a record deal with Creation Records that would help along the band's debut full length album Isn't Anything in November of 1988.

Here is the discography surrounding My Bloody Valentine's debut album:

This Is Your Bloody Valentine (1985 mini-album)
Man You Love to Hate - Live (1985 live album)
Geek! (1985 EP)
The New Record by My Bloody Valentine (1986 EP)
No Place to Go (1986 single)
Sunny Sundae Smile (1987 EP)
Sunny Sundae Smile (1987 single)
Strawberry Wine (1987 EP)
Ecstasy (1987 mini-album)
You Made Me Realise (1988 EP)
You Made Me Realise (1988 single)
Feed Me With Your Kiss (1988 EP)
Feed Me With Your Kiss (1988 single)
Peel Session (1988 live session)
Isn't Anything
Instrumental (1988 bonus single)
Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside) (1988 promo single)
Ecstasy and Wine (1989 compilation album)

"You Made Me Realise" by My Bloody Valentine


"No More Sorry" by My Bloody Valentine


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Jungle Brothers - Straight Out the Jungle (1988)

"What's Going On" by Jungle Brothers


De La Soul were one of the leading hip hop groups from the east coast alternative scene. Before even releasing their first record, they networked with two other hip hop groups that would form the creative nucleus of a collective called the Native Tongues posse. The posse supported each other, toured together, featured one another on select songs and remixes, and shared a common artistic and political perspective of hip hop and life. One of the other two groups in the collective, a group that also featured on De La Soul's single "Buddy", was Jungle Brothers.

Decked in bush gear, Jungle Brothers expounded on the metaphor of the city as a jungle first introduced by hip hop artist Afrika Bambaataa and his Universal Zulu Nation. Like De La Soul, Jungle Brothers is a trio of two MCs, Afrika Baby Bam (Nathaniel Hall in homage to Bambaataa) and Mike Gee (Michael Small), and a DJ, DJ Sammy B (Sammy Burwell). With the benefit of famous local disc jockey DJ Red Alert being Mike Gee's uncle and the group's manager, they signed with independent label Warlock Records on which they released several singles and their debut Straight Out the Jungle in 1988.

Their debut, like De La Soul's, is considered a landmark for alternative hip hop. Their energetic horn samples colored the album with a jazzy tone while Baby Bam and Mike Gee added light-hearted, humorous, and politically conscious lyrics. Their rhymes spoke out against street violence ("Straight Out the Jungle", "What's Going On"), foresaw ethnic advancement in society ('In time, I see a better black reality' from b-side "In Time"), promoted Afrocentric themes ("Black Is Black"), and parodied hip hop's stereotypical sexual themes ("Jimbrowski", "I'm Gonna Do You"). Still, the album is light and humorous and never takes itself too seriously. These qualities effectively make Straight Out the Jungle a prototype to De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising which came out a few months after. Although it might seem unfair, the Jungle Brothers's debut has since been overlooked by critics as alternative hip hop's landmark beginning in favor of De La Soul's debut. However, 3 Feet is considered a more concise album with better lyrics and a more innovative style of DJing for its time. Besides jazz rap, Jungle Brothers also ventured into "hip house" when they rapped over Terry Todd's "Can You Party". Their debut met to middling success but they were soon brought to national prominence with the success of their fellow Native Tongues members.

Here is the discography surrounding Jungle Brothers's debut album:

Jimbrowski / Braggin' & Boastin' (1987 single)
On the Run (1988 single)
I'll House You (1988 single)
Straight Out the Jungle
Straight Out the Jungle (1989 single)
Black Is Black (1989 single)



If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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