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KID
CONGO POWERS
ORAL HISTORY
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KID
CONGO POWERS ORAL HISTORY
Pt 1
Kid sat down with New
York Night Train on October 19 and 20, 2005 to talk about
his life and music.. Here you will find both MP3s and text
transcriptions of the discussion.
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1. “Rock And Roll High School”:
Kid Grows Up Punk (1960 – 1979) |
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Kid
discusses his musical upbringing: his teenage presidency
of the Ramones fan club in 1976, his voyage to London in 1977
to witness the punk explosion (and get a punk haircut), his
no wave and punk rock experiences in New York in 1977 and
1978, Lydia Lunch, Bradley Field, and the early Los Angeles
punk scene.
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2. “Preachin'
the Blues”: The Gun Club Pt 1:
The Gun Club's Genesis (1979
– 1980) |
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Kid discusses the first two incarnations of the Gun Club:
meeting Jeffrey Lee, the band’s primal days as Creeping
Ritual, the ideas behind the band, their songs (most of which
appeared on Fire of Love), their performances, how
they became The Gun Club as we know it, and his departure to
join The Cramps. |
3. "Green
Fuzz”: The Cramps Pt 1: Becoming KCP in the Psychedelic
Jungle (1980 – 1981) |
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Kid discusses his experiences as a new member of the Cramps:
joining the band, the intricate process of becoming a Cramp,
adopting the name "Kid Congo Powers," replacing Bryan
Gregory, and recording Psychedelic Jungle. |
4.“New Kind of Kick”: The
Cramps Pt 2 - The Road and the Studio (1981 - 1984) |
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Kid discusses
his
next three years with The Cramps:
touring, the inner-workings of the band, recording “Save
It” and “New Kind of Kick,” the recording
Smell of Female, and his departure from the band. |
5. "Walkin’
With the Beast”: The Gun Club Pt 2 - The Las
Vegas Story (1984) |
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Kid discusses his return to the Gun Club: his reunion
with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the music and literature that informed
the band’s new aesthetic, touring Australia, recording
The Las Vegas Story, the non-stop tours that followed,
and his second departure from the band. |
6. “Plunder
the Tombs”: The London Years (1984 – 1986) |
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Kid discusses the two years in the UK between leaving the Gun
Club and joining Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: moving
to London, playing with the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, forming
the Fur Bible with the leftover Gun Club members Patricia Morrison
and Desperate, the brief tenure of the Beast of Bourbon’s
Tex Perkins in the band, becoming a vocalist, recording the
Fur Bible’s self-titled New Rose EP with Jim Thirwell
(Foetus), touring with Siouxsie and the Banshees, and his invitation
to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. |
©
New York Night Train , 2005
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