S.W.A.T.-The Soundtrack To The New Police State (1994)


Artist: S.W.A.T.

Title: The Soundtrack To The New Police State

Label: Amphetamine Reptile

Format: 7"

Cat #: Scale 66

Year of Release: 1994

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1994 Blue Vinyl

Listed Condition: NM/NM

Sell Date: 12/12/20

Sell Price: $2.99

Discogs Last Sold: 8/26/20 $6.75

Low: $2.00

Median: $4.95

High:  $7.55

Current low price: $2.99 VG+/VG+

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 14

Have/Want: 164/42

Where Sold:  Fresno, CA

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: some short lived punk rock collective in the east village mid 90’s new

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: D+

Sad To See It Go: No

Masterminded by Producer Alan Parfrey, writer of Apocalypse Culture, this underground all star Poison Idea spin-off parody record features the sentiment of Answer Me! writer Jim Goad.   PI contributors were  Mondo and Thee Slayer Hippy, the recently deceased drummer.  The concept is music through the policeman's eye in light of the then recent LA riots.  The A-side is a reworking of "In The Ghetto" with more "cop-friendly" lyrics.   "In The Ghetto" in 2020 could be confused as MAGA talk radio music filler.  Funny to a particular point of view, offensive to another.  Boring and redundant to me, unlike Goad's writing. 

The B-side takes on "Shaft" with actual police radio audio sounds from the riot overlaying the music.  Unfortunately you can't get a stream of this,  you'll just have to throw down your five spot to hear it.  

Goad was always about laying bare the violent underbelly of  human nature.   Grumpy, nihilist, perhaps even downright psychologically abusive, but with a perverse sense of humor that humanized his writing.   Goad embodied hatred of the police state,  possibly aware that it leads to prisoner politics acting out in "society" at large in greater numbers.

In 1994, it was harder to gauge where this fit on the political spectrum because the title and the artwork shows this to be the soundtrack for this protest of power.  Proletariat reality as art.  Of course left and right blurs when labor unions are protecting worker interests while subsumed in the interest of the politically powerful and the financial elite.  

You could make a stronger case today that this plays to the populist right despite an anti-authority subtext and imagery more common with the left.  A right that evolved from fringe to “edgy” mainstream (Vice) to political reality (Tea Party to Trump to Marjorie Taylor Greene) in 15-20 years.  Back then Answer Me was the zine equivalent of true crime reporting and tabloid.   These "populist" politics were once a joke.  The Ed Anger column in the Weekly World News, a few AM talk radio shows evolving into Morton Downey Jr. on TV.  

Now it's an entrenched wing of US devolution.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bob Dylan-Blood On The Tracks (1975)

Image
  Artist:  Bob Dylan Title: Blood On The Tracks Label: Columbia Format: SACD Cat: CH 90323 Year of Release: 1975 Country and Year of Edition: US 2003 SACD Promo sticker over barcode Sell Price: $12.20 VG+/VG+ 7/15/24 Discogs Last Sold: 7/7/24 NM/VG+ $8.99 Low: $3.00 Median: $11.63 Average: $12.38 High: $27.00 Current low price: $1.99 F/G+, $9.98 VG/VG+ Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 27 Have/Want: 334/242 Where Sold: Ypsilanti, MI Time it took to sell: 11 years Where and When Purchased: promo Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A+ Sad To See It Go: No "I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form..." "And when finally the bottom fell out I became withdrawn..." Bob's public precursor to his own divorce has taken a strange turn in the public narrative over the years, whether reflecting domestic tranquility or turbulence.   Beyonc é  might tell you she flips pancakes or boils an egg to Blood On The Tracks on a Sunday morning.  Jakob Dylan might rail that ...
Read more

The Byrds-Live At The Fillmore-February 1969 (2000)

Image
  Artist: The Byrds Title: Live At The Fillmore February 1969 Label: Columbia/Legacy Format: CD Cat #: CK 65910 Year of Release: 2000 Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 2000 Listed Condition VG+/VG+: hole punch in UPC Sell Date: 5/6/24 Sell Price:$3.75 Discogs Last Sold: 4/25/24 $7.87 VG/VG Low: $1.75 Median: $4.24 Average: $4.28 High: $7.87 Current low price: $2.50 Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 30 Have/Want: 524/45 Where Sold:Charlotte, NC Time it took to sell: 12 years Where and When Bought: early aughts not sure where in NYC Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A- Sad To See It Go: No One of those releases that looks great on a shelf, but it took me 24 years after buying it to get around to paying any attention to this excellent live recording.  I guess that means I should force myself to read David Fricke's liner notes as well.  Sweetheart Of The Rodeo came out August 30, 1968 only 8 months after The Notorious Byrd Brothers and Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde came out a week before ...
Read more

Bob Dylan-Bob Dylan (1962)

Image
  Artist: Bob Dylan Title: Bob Dylan Label: Columbia Format: LP Cat #: PC 8579 Year of Release: 1962 Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1970's reissue Listed Condition VG/VG+ Sell Date: 5/2/24 Sell Price:$8.93 Discogs Last Sold: 3/5/24 NM/VG+ $9.00 Low: $3.98 M/VG+ Median: $12.49 Average: $12.81 High: $24.99 M/NM Current low price: $12.00 Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 16 Have/Want: 285/176 Where Sold: Minneapolis, MN Time it took to sell: 9 years Where and When Bought: Worcester used That's Entertainment mid 80's Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A Sad To See It Go: No "You're No Good!" the 3 year old Reverse Collector proclaimed to his mother.  "David! That's an awful thing to say!  Go to your room!"  I was just saying what was on the cover of the Bob Dylan song list on the album I had.  I was a fluent reader by age 3, as opposed to simply memorizing text my parents read to me when I was 2.  I understood the concept of "Good" and "Ba...
Read more