So in keeping with my cranky post yesterday about feeling like a crotchedy old man who fails to realize that his generation's music really belongs to everybody (despite the hippyish claptrap stigma of that sentiment), I'm taking a new leap with this site in the hopes of transforming you -- the lucky reader -- ideally into you -- the lucky LISTENER! Perhaps the first of too many or possibly a one-time deal, I've decided to disregard prudence and better judgment and post an mp3! HONEY, WAKE THE KIDS!
So, onto today's song -- and, I should point out, any mp3s offered are here for a limited time. If you are or represent an artist whose music I've posted and you do not want it shared, let me know - it will be removed immediately. The music is here to for evaluation purposes. I will always link to a place the music can be purchased if one is available. Today's song of the day comes from a criminally obscure little trio once known as BELFEGORE. Comprised of one German, one Yank and one Canadian, Belfegore (named after a Teutonic demon on a German television program...for kids) had a very brief run, only managing to release two albums (the first, A Dog is Born being especially hard to find). Their eponymous second LP (see the "hello, sailor" album cover above) surfaced in 1984. It caught my attention via the startling video for the song I'm serving up to you, "All That I Wanted." Directed by maverick lensman, Zbigniew Rybczynski, the clip for this amazing track was a gloriously nauseating four minutes and fifteen seconds of dizzying motion, following a horde of terrified citizens running down a pier in Lower Manhattan from some unseen, unspeakable menace. While I was busy patting myself on the back for the idea of posting this song, a simple Googling swiftly revealed my abject lack of originality, as Eric of "Lost Bands" beat me to it by a good year and change. Oh well. As Eric rightly points out, Belfegore went the way of all flesh not too long after that album's release (rumour has it that the band's vocalist, Meikel Clauss, is now a physical therapist). Belfegore has, as of yet, never been released on compact disc (purportedly due to some royalty disputes between band members). "All That I Wanted," however, has surfaced on the (very) occasional compilation (notably the promo-only Blast - Modern Rock Sampler Volume 38 and the recently-released Retro: Active, Vol. 4 Rare and Remixed, although in both instances in remixed form).
While Eric nicely suggests that Belfegore's influence on the "Goth and progressive rock bands that followed is undeniable," I'd beg to differ on that point. As galvanizing as Belfegore's racket is, I wouldn't call their music especially original (being that they lift heavily from the likes of the mighty Killing Joke, with whom they shared the assistance of lauded Krautrock producer, Conny Plank). That bit of pilferage notwithstanding, "All That I Wanted" has long been an absolute favorite of mine that still gets me grinning today.
Enough of my yappin'.
Download belfegore_all_that_i_wanted.mp3
Incidentally, if you enjoy this track -- and, dammit, you oughta -- you can purchase it in remixed form on the afore-mentioned compilation, Retro: Active, Vol. 4 Rare and Remixed.
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