{"id":8236,"date":"2017-05-08T10:56:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T09:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/?p=8236"},"modified":"2017-05-08T10:57:47","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T09:57:47","slug":"perfect-past-the-complete-doctors-of-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/perfect-past-the-complete-doctors-of-madness\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Past: The Complete Doctors of Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Cherry Red Icons<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Perfect Past: The Complete Doctors of Madness (RPM 3-CD set, RPMBX534)<\/p>\n

The long-overdue repackaging of the Doctors of Madness\u2019 three seminal LPs arrives, and for once, the smart clamshell box and photo-packed booklet are worth the trouble.<\/p>\n

Their formation in 1974 in a Brixton cellar seems completely appropriate, given lead guitarist and singer Richard (Kid) Strange\u2019s predilection for drama and Burroughsian poetry possessing a strong whiff of subterranean menace. Joining him were the magnificently monikered violinist Urban Blitz, bassist Stoner and drummer Peter di Lemma, all contributing to something far greater than the sum of their talents.<\/p>\n

Signed to the street savvy Polydor label, \u2018Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms\u2019 arrived in 1976, fully formed and ready to take on all comers. The opener, \u2018Waiting\u2019 hits the ground running, with all the urgency and bluster of punk. \u2018Afterglow\u2019s mournful violin, Eastern stylings and slow, reflective lyric throws the listener, expecting perhaps more of the flash and clatter of \u2018Waiting\u2019. Instead, something more akin to psychedelic rock takes over, continuing the Eastern stylings in the melancholic \u2018Mitzi\u2019s Cure\u2019. \u2018I Think we\u2019re Alone\u2019 lacks the lyrical majesty that the instrumentation has in spades, but it\u2019s hard not to get caught up in its romantic mood. \u2018The Noises of The Evening\u2019s scratchy, sawing violin intro is backed up well by a spiky guitar solo, leading into an epic, shambolic, piece that is worth the price of the LP alone.<\/p>\n

Over on side 2 of the original LP, \u2018Billy Watch Out\u2019 begins with a gentle acoustic guitar figure and edgy violin, as Richard unrolls his kitchen sink tale, ironically soaring with the violin\u2019s sound. \u2018B-Movie Bedtime\u2019s lively, punky sound has all the speedball excitement of the era, set off by suitably aggressive lyrics. Ending with the epic 15 minute \u2018Mainlines\u2019, a heady stew of Burroughsian lyrics, hypersensitive delivery, and camply melancholic backing, it should have made their reputation, and perhaps in some parallel universe, it did.<\/p>\n

The CD is extended to include a wild, screeching outtake, \u2018Doctors of Madness\u2019 and The Doctors\u2019 shambolic take on \u2018Ballad of a Thin Man\u2019, a basement level punk thrash that could not have done the band\u2019s reputation any favours. The \u2018We Don\u2019t Get Back\u2019 demo has an interesting feel, but although lacking an engaging vocal performance, nevertheless suggests something that could be built on. The \u2018B-Movie Bedtime\u2019 demo is punkier than its final form, and may well have been left alone, rather than over-polished. \u2018Out\u2019 is the best demo here, its horror-movie siren sound and snidely delivery working well here. \u2018Figments of Emancipation\u2019, also released in 1976, opens with the melodic, slightly folksy intro of \u2018Brothers\u2019, but quickly descends into a hellish rock maelstrom, a style that continues in \u2018Suicide City\u2019s skyscraper guitars and Bowiesque sci-fi lyrics. The languorous, melancholic feel of \u2018Perfect Past\u2019 is proof that the Doctors were not all strum und drang; they had a sensitivity that could have been worth further exploration. Metaphorically flipping over to side 2, \u2018Marie and Joe\u2019 sees up back in kitchen sink drama territory, but who can complain about those rises and falls? The instant, up and at \u2018em feel of \u2018In Camera\u2019 should perhaps have been the opening track, Richard\u2019s slap-down delivery and Urban Blitz\u2019s violin screeches shaking the listener by the neck, then soaring into a glorious, rising Olympian riff that couldn\u2019t have been bettered by any of the rag-tag of rival bands of that mid-seventies period.<\/p>\n

If \u2018Doctors of Madness\u2019 galloping riff doesn\u2019t get you up, I suspect you may be clinically dead. \u2018Out\u2019 appears to have received the same injection untrammeledled excitement that the previous track\u2019s early demo did, and represents a winning closer to an assured second LP. Extended further by \u2018Frustration\u2019s standard punk with added sheen, \u2018I Make Plans\u2019 sounds more final than the demo it is credited to be, and could easily have worked as a contrasting track on the original LP. \u2018Triple Vision\u2019s demo shows the Doctors could also be a little behind the times, and throw in a truly comical rhyme into the midst of a promising delivery.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sons of Survival\u2019 would prove to be the Doctors\u2019 final LP, and perhaps their best, as they found themselves in an increasingly hostile musical world. \u201850\u2019s Kids\u2019 starts off in familiar violin-torturing style, quickly leaping into a punky riff and sneering delivery of rather forgettable lyrics. \u2018Into The Strange\u2019 has the Stooges-like slow crawl that was such a template for the punk generation, and the wailing violin once again sets off the song beautifully. Richard\u2019s dry-throat, angry delivery is text book punk, and the song is easily the best on offer here. \u2018No Limits\u2019 plodding riff and mockney voice do the worried piece no favours. The single \u2018Bulletin\u2019 has the feel of a punk Fairport Convention piece, unlikely to appeal to the legion of spikies and snotties who were taking over the reins of rock by then. \u2018Network\u2019s phased guitar sound, crashing drums and bass and herald of doom vocals would work well today, and closes side 1 creditably.<\/p>\n

Over on our imagined Side 2, title track, \u2018Sons of Survival\u2019 lays down a great, chopping riff enriched with strong guitars, while the sawing violin serves as a warning, as Richard spits out his tale of disappointment and distress. \u2018Back from the Dead\u2019 thunders along like crazy, shooting guitars and slicing violin challenging the listener to last the course. \u2018Triple Vision\u2019 reappears, fully infused with bile and energy, barely recognisable from its own, folky demo. \u2018Kiss Goodbye Tomorrow\u2019 returns us to the kind of romantic melancholy the Doctors obviously still thought had some mileage left in it. Our original closer, \u2018Cool\u2019 (live in the Satin Subway) is standard gob along punk, riding on a hell for leather violin screech, enriched with \u2018Oi\u2019s from the audience. Added bonuses include \u2018Don\u2019t Panic England\u2019, recorded with short-lived member Dave Vanian, whose distinctive voice adds a little, but not enough to matter. The William Burroughs intro tape to the last Doctors of Madness gig (Camden\u2019s Music Machine 26\/10\/1978) is atmospheric enough, and their version of \u2018Trouble\u2019 from this momentous occasion is an appropriately fuzzy, nasty and nothing to lose treatment that would pass muster today. \u2018Making Machines\u2019 robotic beat and wailing guitars is another highlight from this epitaph concert, the desperate vocals provided by TV Smith. Finally, \u2018Who Cries For Me? a lament with a lullaby-like delivery, is a good place to leave this particular party.<\/p>\n

The Doctors of Madness had a lot going for them; great musicianship, imaginative lyrics, grandiose backing and a striking image that set them apart from the rest of the late-period prog rockers they initially shared airspace with. What they didn\u2019t have was luck. They were the missing strand of DNA between glam and punk, with the latter\u2019s more mutant strain of bands quickly grabbing all the attention that should have been theirs. Too weird for the jaded musical conservatism that prog was turning into and too melodic and disciplined for the young punks who viewed everyone older than themselves with suspicion. Initially playing to their strengths and then adjusting to the prevailing mood, the Doctors of Madness imploded before they got the fair hearing they deserved. They\u2019re back on tour this month, so you can decide for yourself.<\/p>\n

BUY YOUR COPY HERE!<\/a><\/h3>\n

Scenester<\/strong>
\n8\/5\/17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Cherry Red Icons<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Perfect Past: The Complete Doctors of Madness (RPM 3-CD set, RPMBX534) The long-overdue repackaging of the Doctors of Madness\u2019 three seminal LPs arrives, and for once, the smart clamshell box and photo-packed booklet are worth the trouble. Their formation in 1974 in a Brixton cellar seems completely appropriate, given lead guitarist and singer Richard (Kid) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,60,71,1063,74],"tags":[1367,1148],"series":[769],"class_list":["post-8236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-eyeplugs","category-music","category-psychedelic","category-reviews","tag-doctors-of-madness","tag-the-mighty-scenester","series-cherry-red-icons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8236"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8244,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8236\/revisions\/8244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8236"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=8236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}