The Muffins Box Set

[aith01]

Phantasmagoria was later a club and record store, run by a great guy named Bobby who was also my. boss in my second record store job!

I saw and also put on a number of shows at the club: Mose Allison, Porcupine Tree, Flower Kings, Gong, The Muffins, Curlew, Boud Deun, Bread Van (Peter Blegvad, John Greaves, Chris Cutler), Present (their very first North American show and the first show in what became 'The Great Inhumane Adventure), Anekdoten, Danny Gatton, etc etc etc all played there.

Plus a gazillion punk bands.

There are two pieces from the Muffins show at Phantasmagoria on CD #9!

Awesome!

[mkewlms]

For some reason, I have two vinyl copies of M/M on vinyl, along with a nice, minty copy of this:

Scott and Feigenbaum.jpg

[Mister Triscuits]

along with a nice, minty copy of this:

Scott and Feigenbaum.jpg

I'm holding out for the Balloons for the Dog box set.

[Steve F.]

I'm holding out for the Balloons for the Dog box set.

There are, sadly, no other studio recordings by BFTD besides the single, which is major too bad; they were a very strange and great concoction of new wave song + Mahavishnu shred.

[Steve F.]

Here is what is on CD #7 in the box: Note that tracks 1-8 are the entire contents of the only band rehearsal tape that have survived the 40 years...

Disc 7
1. Under Dali’s Wing (false start)
2. Under Dali’s Wing
3. Horsebones
4. Horsebones
5. Zoom Resume
6. Boxed and Crossed
7. Zoom Resume
8. Bit Hand
9. Wonder World
10. Not Alone solo
11. silence
12. Chrestomathy
13. Through Shawn’s Lens
14. Father Tongue
15. Dirty Trousers

Dave Newhouse – Rhodes, organ, woodwinds, percussion
Tom Scott – saxes, clarinets, flutes, bell tree
Paul Sears – drums and percussion, soprano sax
Billy Swann – bass, guitar, percussion, tenor sax, radio, vocals
Steve Feigenbaum – guitar (8)
Scott Raffell – alto sax (12–15)

1–8 recorded January 1979 during rehearsal at the band house, Rockville, MD.
9–10 recorded April 14, 1979 at American University, Washington, DC by Colleen Scott.
12–15 recorded May 16, 1980 at W.A.F.U. Coffeehouse, Washington, DC.

[oddly normal]

Finally some Steve Feigenbaum guitar!

[Steve F.]

Finally some Steve Feigenbaum guitar!

That's the extent of my musical appearance on the box. Glad I'm there, happy with this track (which was found on the same tape as the rehearsal - same session? different session? I dunno. It was a long time ago)

[Scrotum Scissor]

Steve, can you recollect approx. how many copies were pressed and distributed of Manna/Mirage back on release? And did that album itself make any waves other than among the already converted fanbase around? Did it garner any media attention or reviews at all on a larger scale, or was it primarily regional/local or whatever?

For my money it stands out as a completely magical moment of youthful language and deviant transgressive colours of creative lust in a mostly hostile environment of cultural and temporal leverage, the repercussions still felt through rock-historical ignorance and blunt revisionism even nowadays. The Muffins really captured the glow of Samla's and (sometimes) Zappa's seductively refined melodicism and the cerebral lingeries of Canterbury (Hatfield and Softs in particular) - but always converting it into a framework of their own authenticity and reference. They must have been a wonder to behold in concert at the time; one of very few American 70s progressive rock groups who generate a spontaneous energy of sweaty pulse and decisive chaos-sensitivity normally confined to 60s free jazz or the later NY Downtown scene.

I was always fascinated by the mesmerizing levels of the Chronometers recordings, seeing as they were demos and ditties and still display a sense of visionary craftsmanship which was rare even by 70s standards. That lengthy title-track alone is sheer revelation.

[Steve F.]

Steve, can you recollect approx. how many copies were pressed and distributed of Manna/Mirage back on release? And did that album itself make any waves other than among the already converted fanbase around? Did it garner any media attention or reviews at all on a larger scale, or was it primarily regional/local or whatever?

My reasonably accurate recollection is that we made (and mostly sold) 3,000 copies - there were three pressings of 1,000 copies each over the lifetime of Random Radar of that record.

Manna/Mirage got one really good review in a national 'rock' magazine whose name escapes me now - I seem to recall it was reviewed along with a Happy The Man album and something else.

But I can't say that anything that we did at that time got into the national press; our distribution was too poor and our promotion was too weak.

Having said that, 2,500 copies or more sold in 4 years or so, is pretty good. MANY Cuneiform releases never hit near that.

For my money it stands out as a completely magical moment of youthful language and deviant transgressive colours of creative lust in a mostly hostile environment of cultural and temporal leverage, the repercussions still felt through rock-historical ignorance and blunt revisionism even nowadays. The Muffins really captured the glow of Samla's and (sometimes) Zappa's seductively refined melodicism and the cerebral lingeries of Canterbury (Hatfield and Softs in particular) - but always converting it into a framework of their own authenticity and reference. They must have been a wonder to behold in concert at the time; one of very few American 70s progressive rock groups who generate a spontaneous energy of sweaty pulse and decisive chaos-sensitivity normally confined to 60s free jazz or the later NY Downtown scene.

Well....there was a pretty good scene in DC and I don't remember us feeling cultural 'hostility' as much as frustration at how to reach more folks, who generally seemed to like it aok IF they managed to hear it.

The local press was not hostile although I don't recall lit as being especially friendly either. Mostly it was 'unaware'.

We did get this, though, somehow

image.jpg

[Steve F.]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

P.S. at the time they were going originally, NO ONE in the Muffins or the Random Radar orbit was aware of Samla, probably until about 1980 and Gravity!

[chalkpie]

Steve Feigenbaum – guitar (8)

8 guitars? Wow...I suck at playing just one!

[interbellum]

In the early 90's I started reviewing for a Dutch progressive magazine and with my background as a lover of jazzrock and related styles I received a lot of promotional copies of the (often) rereleases on the Cuneiform-label. It opened a whole new world, because most of the original LP's were hardly available in Europe when they were released. I'm not suggesting I liked (or understood) it all, but there were a few, like Chronometers and Curlew's A Beautiful Western Saddle I adored.

[Mister Triscuits]

Manna/Mirage got one really good review in a national 'rock' magazine whose name escapes me now - I seem to recall it was reviewed along with a Happy The Man album and something else.

But I can't say that anything that we did at that time got into the national press; our distribution was too poor and our promotion was too weak.

I originally knew about the Muffins from the Sampler, of course, and I think I heard about Manna/Mirage from an ad in Trouser Press. Don't remember if they ran a review, though.

[Steve F.]

I originally knew about the Muffins from the Sampler, of course, and I think I heard about Manna/Mirage from an ad in Trouser Press. Don't remember if they ran a review, though.

Trouser Press was the only publication we used to advertise in. I don't think that they reviewed it, but I just don't remember...

[NogbadTheBad]

I'm really enjoying this thread, nothing else to contribute, thank you and carry on.

[Scrotum Scissor]

The local press was not hostile although I don't recall lit as being especially friendly either. Mostly it was 'unaware'.

We did get this, though, somehow

image.jpg

Thanks for posting that! And 'unaware' was somewhat the battlecry of folly fortunes already to begin with, I guess. Silly yet true. As for Muff unaware of Szamla, that's arguably a bit obvious but all the more telling as to how emotional charge in "youthful language" overrides immediate access and drops in from instinct, treasures of the brain and devotion.

Or something. Probably more "something" than that other thing I wrote.

Interesting to note how they first came to know of the Zamlas through shared dealings on the Frith record, as he appears to have somehow written several of those tunes with specific contextual differences, settings and musicians in mind. Let's face it; side A has very much of the Zamla spirit to it (Frith being outspokenly in awe of Hollmer already), whereas there's much more "song" to side 2 than what was usual with the Muffs - yet you can easily identify their role in nurturing aims and objectives in arrangement and sound as such. Frith's input on 185 and Open City testify to more of it, although a couple of those songs don't really resemble earlier Muff either - they're simply just, well/er... so distinctly them with oddball avant-gardist added.

[Steve F.]

Frith's input on 185 and Open City testify to more of it, although a couple of those songs don't really resemble earlier Muff either - they're simply just, well/er... so distinctly them with oddball avant-gardist added.

Well….

Fred’s ‘work’ on Open City is strictly confined to him letting me use two outtakes of the Muffin side of Gravity. So, his input there is as project leader, just as it was on Gravity, but only on two songs.

As far as <185> goes, the band was just beginning to get desperate with their situation by 1980. Whatever popularity they enjoyed in 1977-78 was pretty much gone in light of where popular rock music was headed by 1980-81, and by the time they were ready to do <185>, they were heading towards falling apart, and someone(s) had the idea to choose FF, who they all liked and respected, to produce, in order to keep bickering during expensive studio time to a minimum. Which he did, but also at the cost of (imo) making the final record not sound like what they actually sounded like. Again, imo.

Which for a band as accomplished and rehearsed as they were, was a real shame.

[Steve F.]

I'm really enjoying this thread, nothing else to contribute, thank you and carry on.

Thanks for saying so.

The set is going to be great and the booklet is truly fun and great.

[Steve F.]

In the early 90's I started reviewing for a Dutch progressive magazine and with my background as a lover of jazzrock and related styles I received a lot of promotional copies of the (often) rereleases on the Cuneiform-label. It opened a whole new world, because most of the original LP's were hardly available in Europe when they were released. I'm not suggesting I liked (or understood) it all, but there were a few, like Chronometers and Curlew's A Beautiful Western Saddle I adored.

Just thought I’d mention that both of the releases that you mentioned were not reissues! Reissues were a very small part of what Cuneiform accomplished (10% or less), which I am particularly proud of.

[aith01]

This thread has been an enjoyable read so far. I never knew much about the Muffins, but this discussion is making me eager to hear this box set when it comes out.

[Mister Triscuits]

Trouser Press was the only publication we used to advertise in. I don't think that they reviewed it, but I just don't remember...

They did!

IMG_4007.jpg

I also found a fairly baffled capsule review of Parchesi Pie--in its entirety: "Lots of absurdist babbling and some weird futuristic music here and there. I don't know what to make of it."

[moecurlythanu]

^ They now write for PA.

[Steve F.]

^^^^^[

Thanks, Michael. I do remember it now. Not terrible, but also not a lot of love…

[MudShark22]

They did!

IMG_4007.jpg

I also found a fairly baffled capsule review of Parchesi Pie--in its entirety: "Lots of absurdist babbling and some weird futuristic music here and there. I don't know what to make of it."

Next to a review of Trevor Rabin solo!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[Mister Triscuits]

Next to a review of Trevor Rabin solo!

Notice that the Trevor Rabin review directly follows a Yes review. Prescient!