Chrome: C or D?

3rd from the Sun, the vocals start to bug at this point and it's not as fucked as earlier, but yeah, the guitars & the basic sound still miles ahead.

Chrome Box out of print, but Anthology 1979-1983 is still in print and has all the tracks from the Subterranean Modern compilation... Half Machine / Alien Soundtracks still the one place to start though. they're much more than just a cult band, their time's still to come

In 1976, Damon Edge and Gary Spain formed Chrome in San Francisco. According to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, the line-up for the recording of The Visitation consisted of John Lambdin (vocals, guitar, bass), Gary Spain (vocals, guitar, bass), Mike Low (guitar, synthesizer, bass) and Damon Edge (guitar,synthesizer, drums). John was the only one with any "experience" having performed with the Flower Travellin' Band, an early '70s Japanese psychedelic group.

After recording Visitation, Mike Low left and auditions were held to fill the void. Chrome did not like H at first since he showed up to the audition dressed in some kind of pirate outfit. After jamming for some time (hours-weeks?) it was clear to Damon that H was "the one" and he then convinced the other band members.

Helios added something to the group that was missing, and the albums that poured out over the next several years all have a similar "Chrome" sound to them.

John Lambdin disapeared after Alien Soundtracks. It was during this period that Chrome really only consisted of Damon and Helios. Gary Spain was only credited on two of the songs on their next release, Half Machine Lip Moves. In fact, John L. Cyborg, a psuedonym for the drum machine, was created to make it look like there were others in the band.

The recording sessions for Blood on the Moon and 3rd From the Sun included brothers John and Hillary Stench, who had just ended their stint with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions which split up in late '80.

In 1981 a group of Italian fans urged Chrome to come to Italy and perform live. They must have made quite an offer, since Chrome had never performed live for an audience before. After a single practice gig in San Francisco at the Mabuhay Gardens, the show at the Palasport in Bologne on July 20th was the second and last Chrome concert. At least for a while. [ Correction: The Italian show was first, followed by the San Francisco show on August 21st. ]

Apparently, Damon and Helios slowly became estranged over the issue of touring. Helios wanted to go out and do live shows while Damon did not. San Francisco's Chrome came to a grinding halt when Damon moved to Berlin with his girlfriend(?) Fabienne Shine.

While in Europe, Damon released some albums under his own name, and also formed a new Chrome lineup. Damon apparently acquired the legal rights to the Chrome name and recordings. He re-released some of Chrome's earlier recordings, while producing additional material with his new band. The sound of Damon's Berliner Chrome was quite different from the original San Francisco incarnation. Two "live" albums were released durring this time, although it is disputed whether the material was really recorded live.

Meanwhile, Helios Creed formed his own band back in San Francisco. He lived in a modified school bus which was often seen parked on the streets bordering Golden Gate Park. H and his band toured endlessly world wide and had a diverse following (some of whom knew nothing of Chrome). HC hit the college charts and jumped genres between punk-metal-thrash and phych.

Damon Edge died in Los Angeles the summer of 1995 at an early age. The official cause of death was heart failure. Apparently distraught over his break up with Fabiene Shine, Damon had become an obese shut-in, drinking heavily. He lay dead in his apartment for almost a month before being discovered.

Tommy met him once or twice and had few phone conversations. After Damon died, Tommy purchased a bunch of his music equipment from Damon's sister, including his Moog Liberation with the last "real" Chrome set list still taped to the back.

Shortly after Damon's death, Helios decided that he wanted to restore Chrome to it's San Francisco roots. H contacted John and Hillary to do some new recordings as Chrome. The results were released in September '96 on the 3rd Seed from the Bud single.

Meanwhile, in the Spring of 1996, Tommy L. Cyborg (Hawkwind, Farflung) and Nova Cain recorded a song modeled after the original Chrome sound and sent it to Helios on DAT. Helios liked it. He added some vocals and perhaps a bit else, and the song later appeared as Fudge Bunny on Tidal Forces.

Nova Explains: "I of course was always a huge fan, my involvement basically came from my association w/ Tommy. I
had put out records by Farflung and we became good friends and discovered we were both huge Chrome fans. Tommy was friends w/ Helios, he got Helios to play guitar on the Nik Turner Space Ritual tour, when Helios wanted to do Chrome again he called Tommy, Tommy asked if I could come and played Helios this song we had recorded together. Helios liked it, said sure, we went and recorded. That song incidently is Fudge Bunny."

Tommy and Nova did some additional recording around Thanksgiving of '96. Asked if the material for Retro and Tidal were recorded at the same time, Nova responds:

"More or less, in fact if you listen really closely you can hear some of the same elements in both recordings.You see, when Tommy and I went the first time, H didn't really want to jam together and he had 5 or 6 songs nearly done. So Tommy and I did overdubs on them and then recorded 3 10 minute improv pieces. These sort of became songs on both albums."

December 1997: Buz Deadwax, former guitarist of the bands Seed and Smartyr (which included Aleph Kali on drums and Rodney Horihata on bass) was looking for a gig. He tells this story after meeting up with Galaxy Chamber:

"We didn't jive, but they mentioned that they knew H and that he was looking for a drummer for Chrome. I referred them to Aleph, who called H, who asked Aleph if he knew any bass players and Aleph called me and we freaked out for a while."

"Aleph, Rodney and I are all gigantic Chrome/Creed fans and own close to everything. Just for the fun of it, Rodney and I once lugged a ton of our own equipment to Gillman Street to do sound and vocal effects for a Creed show. At one point between songs, H starting saying something to the audience. We had fucked with the sound so much that he sounded like a mumbling obese dwarf on helium falling down a pit filled with roofing tar. I killed the effects so you could hear what he was saying and he looked up at me and said, "Hey man! Waderya doin?!" so I put the juice back on and he was happy again. I learned my lesson."

"Anyway, after the downers and coffee took hold, Aleph and I started to rehearse ALL the Chrome material (well the GOOD stuff, anyway) since H didn't tell us what songs he wanted to do. So in 4 rehearsals we learned everything and went up to Guernville where we found out we learned everything in the wrong key! NO, Chrome did not "tune down" or mess with the speed of the tapes (except where obvious). We had to talk him into doing "Subway" and a few others but the set came together pretty easily with lots of old stuff."

"H told us that he really wanted to "set the record straight" and regain Chrome's reputation from Damon. The breakup was apparently really bad and I think that neither one ever really got over it. Damon was the introvert-agoraphobic and Helios is the extrovert-claustrophobic so it was doomed to die at some point."

"H, Aleph and I practiced on weekends for a month or so. Tommy and Nova came up from LA and we played for one weekend with the whole band! We then left for the tour."

The tour ran through 19 American cities in March and April 1998. For details see the tour info section and Buz's report from the road.

In Decemer 1998, H contacted the touring group to try to get another record together and possibly another tour. Unfortunately, Buz had prior commitments and could not participate. Rodney Horihata was called in and rehearsed/recorded 13[!] new songs with Aleph. What became of those songs I do not know.

In early 2000 Helios got the itch to tour again and a short tour of the west coast was haphazardly planned and executed. There was little promotion compared to the previous tour and the turnout was poor at all the shows except for San Francisco. Most of the band members ended up subsidizing the tour out of their own pocket.

To be continued...

From the 'official' chrome site:
http://www.staticwhitesound.com/chrome/history.htm

Was looking through my rekkids at the weekend and pulled out the sleeve for Half Machine. Love the way they've created that strange vision of the future with so little resources. Had never really noticed that gangster movie going on in that shot before.

Any of those Creed solo recs any good?

John was the only one with any "experience" having performed with the Flower Travellin' Band, an early '70s Japanese psychedelic group.

whaaaaaa...?!

let's hear some LOVE for "the visitation," come on!

Surprised to see no contributions from NYC so far - Alex has just got to love this lot, hasn't he?

wow. what were you listening to at the time?

but the deal was settled on 'alien soundtracks', total cassette pause cut-up garage faust, about four minutes into 'pygmies in zee dark' where the song hollows out and suddenly it flips into this mutant lurch with a burning braindead guitar riff, and then that's followed up _instantly_ with 'slip it to the android'... it's just fuck yeah

at the time i was probably listening to...parliament? cab.vol?

throwing 'slip it to the android' on your mix CD

Anyway, Half Machine Lip Moves & Alien Soundtracks totally classic. 3rd from the Sun isn't quite up there but I've enjoyed it so far.

Maybe I'll go look for Helios Creed stuff on Slsk later, never heard any.

this is based solely on half machine lip moves/alien sdtrks. is this 3rd from the sun album worth it?

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0032,tracker_writer.inc,16664,.html

Hey, I used to own that Skin Yard debut on C/Z! It was during that brief post-Bleach/pre-Nevermind period when I bought just about ANYTHING Sub Pop-related. But I didn't play the Skin Yard much and eventually sold it. Then I found the CD used and reacquired it, only to find that the instrumental cut (my favourite) was now minus the saxophone track - WTF?!

Oh, and CLASSIC, obviously! Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves is truly fucked up.

Or, did I misunderstand? ;)

ILM patrons may be interested to know that David Tibet wants your Chrome rarities NOW - see the Durtro site for details.

ugh. wish i could just post my whim of the day on a website and have people send me cds and lps by the ton.

hahahaha. i first heard helios thru the amrep label, and the record i owned had singing along the lines of the above description. had a very "wtf?" vibe to it.

The first disc (best of) starts out with five great cuts from HMLM, but they are edited terribly. They add "Danger Zone" from the 12" single (1981); "Isolation" from Red Exposure; "The Need" and "Brain Scan" from Blood on the Moon; "Shadows of a Thousand Years" and "Future Ghosts" from 3rd from the Sun; plus "Gehenna Lion" and the great single "Anorexic Sacrifice".

As far as The Visitation, I am still fond of the phaser-drenched instrumental waltz, "Nova Feedback". But Alien Soundtracks was a HUGE step forward... or s'ways.

If you were listening to Cabaret Voltaire back then, you could have put "Nag Nag Nag" on a mix tape with Half Machine Lip Moves!

I think the songs on the Visitation were initially recorded as a porno movie soundtrack (no joke!)

how is liquid forest and no humans allowed?

anyone?

No Humans rules.

I really prefer contemporaries like VON LMO, the Twinkeyz, and Todd Tamanend Clark.

(sorry, not to those records but to Chrome in general)

I love Chrome

we are familiar with your wrongness on this issue, tim.

and your defensiveness!

oops i forgot the link http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-germany-mw0000898384

I don't like much post-Helios Chrome but there's a decent track or two among the skronk-less minefield.

can't get enough of this band, even 13 years on from discovering them. wish more people made music like 'em.

soooo Half Machine From The Sun is out now!

http://www.popmatters.com/review/173372-chrome-half-machine-from-the-sun-the-lost-chrome-tapes-79-80/

Great! Only about seven months late, with nothing shipped to those of us who had pre-ordered it through pledge music.com.

OK I am one and a half tracks in and this is amazing.

I finally got my CD today (even though I had the digital files some time ago).

The shit that Damon and Helios left on the cutting room floor a quarter century ago sounds more vibrant and relevant than most contemporary releases.

yep

track five, still amazing

where is Milton, he needs to hear this

this is excellent and all on youtube for anyone curious.

this might be my AOTY

have played it a few times since I got a copy. sound is exactly halfway between the 70's rock of The Visitation and the complete acid meltdown of Alien Soundtracks. nowhere as weird or finessed as the latter just yet, so you can see why these got left behind -- plays through a little more like an archive than an album, but track by track these are definitely not outtakes

cd packaging is AUTHENTIC

hmm I was getting serious hits of Red Exposure on my first listen, but there were some pretty weird diversions and I only got to track 6 or so

re CD packaging, I shook my head with a mixture of admiration and horror

and yes these are missing the freaky chaos tape splicing vibe, but everything has THAT SOUND, drums sound amazing on this

My appreciation of Chrome really does come down to THAT SOUND.

awesome stuff, especially THAT SOUND - such an awesome track

fuck you

"he shit that Damon and Helios left on the cutting room floor a quarter century ago sounds more vibrant and relevant than most contemporary releases."

sad but true

humorless
xpost?

that came off as mocking, not a joke - apologies if I misread you

have you heard this? do you have any further input or are you just gonna start another poll?

i think i'll start another poll

likes the sincere apology though

Has anyone seen the current tour? I'm going tomorrow, might pick up the lost album at the gig, they also have a new one out called Feel It Like A Scientist - anyone heard that yet?

why aren't they playing SF?

Got the album but not yet given an ear. The cover art feels more Helios twenty years back than Chrome but hey.

why aren't they playing SF?

Because no-one asked them to, I assume.

Yeah, I have the album too but haven't worked up the nerve to play it. I haven't really cared about much of anything Chrome- or Creed-related since Lactating Purple.

Has anyone seen the current tour? I'm going tomorrow, might pick up the lost album at the gig, they also have a new one out called Feel It Like A Scientist - anyone heard that yet?

They were absolutely bloody deadly at Primavera last month, one of the highlights of the weekend by miles

New album's pretty good. It helps to keep the original Chrome out of mind when listening to this, that sound's never going to be made again. I think it fits better next to stuff like Gary War, and I'm always open for more weirdo sounds.

Always classic, more evil than anything black metal's managed to come up with so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LI1NgmdGg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9tX6bKI0WQ

this song kicks ass. wish more bands went down this territory. i mean, with the whole "lol occult" trend over the past few years, i don't see how bands wouldn't want to cop this shit. alas, there's only one Chrome.

Does anyone know why if I open Chrome and a pair of tabs, then check Task Manager, there are half a dozen instances of it running?

Hah oh wrong thread.

"Dozen Tabs Running" was a Helios Creed b-side, not Chrome, IIRC.

LOL tabs and Chrome seem to belong together.

was gonna say

Apologies for consumerist query, but has anyone seen/heard Cleopatra's 7LP Chrome Box reissue from last year? I haven't been able to dig up any information beyond what the label says about it.

Chrome US tour from mid-May to mid-June.

http://scontent.fphl2-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30531552_10160536427735227_7728194264991006720_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=30584895122caff4353caaaff2eeecc0&oe=5B29588C

Barring hell or high water, I shall be at the Philly date.

this band is good

Just remembered I was going to look up a Chrome thread and mention that the Stench brothers played with Jorma Kaukonen in his late 70s solo band which I only found out from reading his memoir.
Haven't heard what they sound like with him yet though.

I want to know more about the circumstances of John Lambdin playing with Flower Travellin' Band before Chrome (see top of thread). I love that there's a connection.