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"Long lost H-Bombs double ep"

(This is a follow-up to a set of postings that appeared a few days back (and are now further down the threads).)

The "Long lost H-Bombs double ep" was a 10" single that was unique because each side had a set of parallel grooves so that when you played one side there was two sets of lead-in grooves that each yielded a different group of songs. It's catalogue number was Car Records CRRL100. Side 1 featured studio tracks, while side 2 featured live tracks recorded at the Cat's Cradle on Feb. 29, 1978. The songs were- Side 1-A - "Decline and Fall" and "Big Black Truck". Side 1-AA- "You Told Me", "96 Second Blowout", and "Death Garage". Side 2-B- "'65 Comet" and "Mind Your Manners". Side 2-BB- "Bomb Scare" and "Twilight".

This disc was the focus of an extensive 2 page review in a Chapel Hill-Triangle fanzine called "Biohazard Informae" (Issue 1.12) in 1979. At the time there seemed to be quite a bit of controversy over this disc. The review was done while listening to a pre-release acetate of the ep, which (at the time-as the review states) had been returned to storage in an undisclosed location in Chatham County, NC. The review alludes to a discarded photo picture sleeve (referenced as the "banned grocer sleeve") that was replaced by a stock live-picture of the band instead. The review also mentions a court-battle over the disc because at the time, the record had not yet been released. There also seems to have been some issues concerning the title of the ep. One rejected title was "Nuclear Waste". Lastly, the review alludes to the existence of some further H-Bombs' recordings dubbed the "Basement Womb" tapes.

Re: "Long lost H-Bombs double ep"

While a novel concept, this item never became a physical reality but the songs listed were indeed H-Bombs components. In a similar vein, recall the early dBs references to Ride the Wild Tom Tom. See other post about press kit from Eva Destruction.

double groove is in the heart...

I'll add my two cents. I think we were very excited by a European issue of "Pop Muzik" by M that had double-grooving on it. At one point, the dB's also talked about releasing a single of "Dynamite" that was double-grooved with the demo version that appears on Tom Tom. None of it ever happened. You'll just have to make do with Monty Python "Matching Tie and Handkerchief" and old 78's of "Tubby the Tuba" if you want to experience the random joy of the double-grooved record. Now, does anyone else have any double-grooved records to contribute?

Re: double groove is in the heart...

There was actually a real-cool promo-only LP for Rush years ago. It was titled "Rush-ian Roulette" and had six (?or eight) different grooves which yielded different songs.

Re: Re: double groove is in the heart...

I double grooved once, but I think I was drunk and high when it happened.

Re: Re: Re: double groove is in the heart...

Well, since Keely has already weighed in and let the cat out of the bag, I'll 'fess up. The whole "Great Lost H-Bombs Double EP" was a hoax perpetrated by us at the Biohazard zine (Keely, Chamis, Pat Day, me, sometimes Peter too -- he and Keely started it early on to publicize H-Bombs gigs in fact). If I remember correctly, one day Peter and I culled some of Peter and Mitch's studio recordings (of H-Bombs material) on one side of a tape then put live stuff from my Cat's Cradle tape on the other side, and it was more or less intended as a "promo" for the band, one that never got too far along in its promotional duties since they broke up.

So when Robert and I were brainstorming what would become the legendary "green cover" issue of Biohazard, for the reviews section I decided to write up the old tape as a regular review -- of a so-called long-lost H-Bombs vinyl artifact. The Monty Python LP was clearly an inspiration, as no doubt various, er, herbs and spices that were being consumed back in those daze. One thing led to another and it became a complete 2-page feature/review about this so-called unreleased H-Bombs 10" acetate. We never bothered to tell the readers that it was a bogus review -- I guess you could say we had a kind of Lampoon/pre-The Onion mentality at Biohazard.

What's interesting is that the whole thing has passed into a kind of low-key rock urban legend: More than one person has contacted me over the years, having heard a rumor about the "vinyl" and wanting to know how to get a copy of it. And there have people who've sworn they've actually seen this record at swap meets or on collectors' listings no doubt confusing it with the Rittenhouse Square Record.

A few years ago I polled Robert, Peter and Chamis about maybe one day doing a REAL H-bombs record (or CD), and all seemed amenable. I also brought it up with Mitch a year or so ago and he seemed like it might be fun. Jonathan Sharpe and I have the live tapes, and Mitch probably has the original studio masters, so who knows? Anybody wanna fund such a project? (Sorry, I'm broke -- Xmas is looming and I have a 4-year old who's finally gone nuts for Cartoon Network marketing strategies...)

Too bad I don't have a scanner -- I could post both pages of the H-Bombs review as a PDF file. If I ever get a lot of extra time maybe I'll type the whole thing up for this forum.

Fred

Re: Re: Re: Re: double groove is in the heart...

I have a double grooved record.

Disco Volante by Mr. Bungle.

Re: Grooveless Groove

Not sure if this entirely fits this category, but it's at least related. I have a vinyl copy of Joe Jackson's "Big World," which is a 3-sided album. What, you say? Indeed. The album is actually a double album. Album 1 has tracks on both sides. Album 2, however, has tracks on only one side; the other side simply contains a groove with no recorded sound. Thus, the record "plays" like any other record, though there's nothing to be heard. (By the way, all of you dB's fans who are frustrated at not being able to find "Like This" or "The Sound of Music" or who have paid exorbitant prices for such on eBay, I recently purchased this Joe Jackson recording on CD for upwards of $100 from a seller in Japan.)

Re: Re: Grooveless Groove

I had a similar three sided album by Keith Jarrett. Unfortunately it was lost subsequent to a break up with an old girlfriend. Also lost was my original copy of The Beatles with Tony Sheridan on Savage Records AND my Paul McCartney Intervew Album. A painful memory....

Re: Re: Re: Grooveless Groove

Lest we forget "Second Winter" by Johnny Winter with the blank 4th side. Remember Columbia's ill-fated $.99 one sided singles?

Re: double groove is in the heart...

"It's a Gas", a cardboard-pressed record that came free in copies of Mad Magazine (1965?), had double grooves, although I think it was only at the end of the "song" (a stock sixties instrumental with belches every once in a while) and didn't really work, if I recall correctly -- once the needle had gotten used to going with one of the two grooves, it wanted to go to it every time.



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