I've spent the last few hours listening to Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. These two bands (although Psychic TV is really several bands) where massively influential in their time.
I was lucky enough to see PTV in my first year at Uni on 12th February 1986 at the Warehouse in Leeds. The only bands I had really seen before uni where the likes of Marillion, Peter Gabriel and Jethro Tull so the bands I got to see that year really opened my eyes. The PTV gig was looking back one of the strangest - naked pierced people on stage, Genesis P-Orridge kissing people in the front row, projectors, noise, chaos...
Listening back over the cd's its clear that they really had something special - there is a large amount of crap as you will find with any band that records and puts out almost everything (whilst under the influence of copious amounts of drugs to boot) they do but there are moments of absolute brilliance - the start of PTV Live at the berlin wall, Dreams Less Sweet, 20 Jazz Funk Greats and more.
Its also interesting how they "productised" their output utilising all sorts of commercial strategies in the release of their music particularly compared to how all music is seen this way now and has yet somehow lost its soul.
Genesis P'Orridge is a deeply strange man but has been responsible for some extraordinary music.
Posted by Mark at February 7, 2003 03:30 PM