Bongwater
Avant garde to perfection. (The Bus 3.48)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
Bongwater (1987-1992) was an American psychedelic rock band founded by performance artist/actress Ann Magnuson and Mark Kramer - multi-instrumentalist studio producer and founder of the independent label Shimmy-Disc.1 As much a ‘performance art troupe as a band,’ over five short years the duo produced some of the ‘funniest, smartest and messed-up ultra-psychedelia ever invented.’2
From the beginning of their collaboration, Magnuson and Kramer were an unusual duo even on the New York music scene. Surreal lyrics influenced by Magnuson’s diaries in which she recorded her ‘dreams about major celebrities and fellow downtown N.Y.C. denizens’ were set to Kramer’s music which he built around ‘lo-fi recordings mottled with dialogue fragments, sampled answering machine messages and television soundbites.’ The result was a new sort of psychedelia which soon gave Bongwater the reputation as being the ‘thinking person’s Eurythmics.’3
In their early days, Bongwater quickly became a popular fixture on the underground club scene in New York. Between the psychic clash of Kramer’s music and Magnuson’s ‘onstage attitude’, the band earned a ‘reputation for their anarchic live sets.’ In 1987, they recorded a six-track EP in Kramer’s Noise New York studios, Breaking No New Ground, which was soon followed by 1988’s ‘sprawling two-LP opus’ Double Bummer. On this album, Bongwater established what would become their calling card: it is a ‘wildly experimental collection peppered by bizarro-world’ covers, original work and media satires with titles such as ‘Decadent Iranian Country Club’ and ‘David Bowie Wants Ideas.’
The follow-up album, 1989’s Too Much Sleep, like the others containing songs ‘constructed around Magnuson’s rock dreams,’ also - in the context of Kramer’s ‘translucently sludgy’ originals - revealed that their songwriting abilities had ‘integrated … to even more troubling and hilarious ends, with sampled voices and head-spinning effects a specialty.’ A ‘thick, rich and satisfying’ album, it was followed by 1991’s The Power of Pussy, an album on which Bongwater ‘parodied sex in all its forms’ and which saw its greatest commercial success with several tracks featuring heavily on college radio playlists at the time.
Following a European tour, the ‘complex relationship’ - both personal and professional - between Kramer and Magnuson began to collapse. After a final record, The Big Sell-Out (1992), their relationship and partnership acrimoniously dissolved and was followed by a lengthy legal battle which ultimately led to Kramer’s Shimmy-Disc label being forced into bankruptcy. It was a sad ending to one of the late 80s/early 90s most avant garde bands.
Listening to their music is, of course, the best way to appreciate them, so today’s Sounds is a sample of five Bongwater tracks. If you like them, I’d strongly encourage a deeper dive.
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to Making a Skate Video, a short (4:12) mockumentary in which the (fictional) acclaimed skate video director Glen Larsen leads viewers behind the scenes of his latest masterpiece, Shred or Get Dead. It’s very well composed as it both makes fun of skateboarding while celebrating the sport at the same time. It’s also quite funny.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is mid90s (2018). Written and directed by Jonah Hill, the film tells the story of Stevie - a 13-year-old wannabe skater in 1990s Los Angeles who spends his summer navigating between a difficult home life where he is tormented by a borderline-psychopathic older brother and a group of new friends he meets at a skate shop. Judged by Rotten Tomatoes as a ‘clear-eyed yet nostalgic coming-of-age tale,’ the film is notable for capturing the time period - and the lifestyle of LA skate culture.
mid90s streams on various platforms.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a collection of five of my favourite Bongwater tracks:4 ‘Khomeini Died Tonight’ (Too Much Sleep, 1989), ‘Schmoozedance’ (The Big Sell-Out, 1992), and ‘Obscene & Pornographic Art’, ‘Nick Cave Dolls’, and ‘Kisses Sweeter than Wine’ (The Power of Pussy, 1990). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from the American journalist and author, Hunter S. Thompson:5
‘I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone’s imagination.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
For about ten years Shimmy-Disc was one of the most influential labels for bands popular on the college radio charts, including GWAR, King Missile, White Zombie, Daniel Johnston and - one of my all-time favourites - Ween.
A brief search produced no information whatsoever about any genre called ‘ultra psychedelia’. Rather, there’s neo-psychedelia which, as it originated in the 1970s, can hardly claim at first to be that different from the psychedelia of the few years previous, but it eventually finds an influence amongst many bands of the 1980s, 90s and beyond - though, interestingly, Bongwater does not appear on the Wikipedia list of said bands. Not that that matters, of course. I first became aware of Bongwater when I saw the name on a bumpersticker in the mid-90s and later when I was in a record shop (remember those?) I picked up The Power of Pussy - and it’s remained a favourite that comes out once in awhile. Not for everyone, of course, but that’s the joy of music. Sources for today’s Stop include Bongwater (Allmusic), Bongwater (Trouserpress) and Bongwater (Wikipedia).
The Eurythmics - Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart - are, of course, the producers of the ubiquitous (and quite good) ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ (1983).
These are all great tracks, but I’d argue that ‘Obscene & Pornographic Art’ is one of the best tracks of all time. In fact, it’s a permanent staple on my ‘Desert Islands Discs’ list - in no little part for the final section that begins around 2:07 when the suffragettes descend on an ‘old fashioned wooden deus ex machina’ - which has to be one of very few rock songs to reference this theatrical device. Absolutely brilliant.
Thompson (1937-2005) founded the so-called gonzo style of personal journalism. The author of numerous books, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971) and Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72 (1973), he is quite the figure in American letters. Thompson is on the master list of future Bus Stops, but in the meantime you can find more information about him here: Hunter S. Thompson.