― Robin Carmody, Sunday, 17 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tom, Sunday, 17 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― pauls, Sunday, 17 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I heard Mark E. Smith sneer this and thought it was the triumph of the record, then found out it was by the Monks, never got to hear anymore but have always been desperate too, that and the Seeds, but now I have all the Seeds, the same feeling of hearing and needing to have.
― Maryann, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― duane Z., Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― gareth, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― mark s, Monday, 18 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mark, Sunday, 30 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― dave day havlicek, Friday, 29 October 2004 12:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― TOMBOT, Friday, 29 October 2004 14:16 (nineteen years ago) link
For a brief second I was totally surprised at TOMBOT's love, then the obviousness of it became apparent.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 October 2004 14:18 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.the-monks.com/roger.htm
http://www.the-monks.com/tes_roger.html
http://www.the-monks.com/images/haircut_roger.jpg
http://www.the-monks.com/album/t_roger.jpg
RIP
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― don, Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:56 (nineteen years ago) link
http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/pscholtes/2004/11/15
― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 15 November 2004 23:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 15 November 2004 23:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 November 2004 23:41 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu8qGjUfpTw
And now I must own everything from this wonderful band.
1966. Holy mother of fuck. God bless, em.
― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Monday, 24 April 2006 07:20 (eighteen years ago) link
The "Five Upstart Americans" is good for background 'Study'.
"Let's start a beat" is the heartwarming 'end of the movie' moment. Less essential naturally, but nice.
And you have to get the book. It's worth the effort.
And all the youtube stuff...
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 24 April 2006 07:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Monday, 24 April 2006 07:46 (eighteen years ago) link
The Monks vids from YouTube - Classic or Dud?
There is no such thing as too much Monks love.
― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 24 April 2006 09:59 (eighteen years ago) link
videos still unavailable.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 11 January 2008 01:23 (sixteen years ago) link
better than the sonics
― S-, Friday, 11 January 2008 01:42 (sixteen years ago) link
true, and the sonics fucking ruled.
― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Friday, 11 January 2008 10:04 (sixteen years ago) link
I am so glad the absolutely wretched "Nice Legs" isn't the REAL Monks, because I honestly wasn't sure (well, obviously I knew it wasn't the proper lineup, but I thought it might be a Kokomo moment, you know?).
I guess this thread all that time ago (it was something on 2000/2001-ILM or one of the associated blogs, anyway) got me to pick up Five Upstart Americans, which was pretty neat but not quite as neat as I was hoping. I really should get Black Monk Time, which I still hope is where things really are that neat.
Sort of figured I must be the only ILMer not to have heard BMT, which I've been aware is a shameful hole in my musical education for some time, so I'm surprised this thread isn't a good deal longer. Maybe it all just went without saying?
― a passing spacecadet, Friday, 11 January 2008 10:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I dig the shit out of the Monks.
― Helltime Redux, Friday, 11 January 2008 18:32 (sixteen years ago) link
My friend saw Transatlantic Feedback, the movie about the Monks, in Chicago sometime in the last year or two. I'd really love to see that. Any info on upcoming screenings or DVD release?
― Trip Maker, Friday, 11 January 2008 18:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Black Monk Time is amaaaaaaaazing
― jessie monster, Friday, 11 January 2008 18:49 (sixteen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 11 January 2008 18:54 (sixteen years ago) link
(er, Dave Day has passed)
He's going to be buried in the same cemetery as Jimi Hendrix.
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 19:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Bless you Dave Day. You never knew who I was and not nearly enough people knew who you were but your music meant the world to me.
I'm a Monk. You're a Monk. We're all Monks...
It's Monk Time.
― NYCNative, Saturday, 12 January 2008 05:10 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm beginning to wonder if this ain't the wrong board for this...
― PappaWheelie V, Saturday, 12 January 2008 05:12 (sixteen years ago) link
New documentary out !
http://www.playloud.org/themonks.html
― oscar, Thursday, 30 October 2008 22:27 (fifteen years ago) link
This screened at the WFMU fair, apparently. Too bad I was 3,000 miles away. According to that link the dvd release is postponed indefinitely, though it looks to be touring around the country from movie house to movie house--why the hell not in LA??
I bought Black Monk Time about a month ago and it is easily one of the best things I've picked up all year.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 31 October 2008 06:18 (fifteen years ago) link
That's hard to do: It's out of print, and hardly ever turns up second-hand. EEspecially the 'infinite zero' one with all the singles/extra tracks.
― Mark G, Friday, 31 October 2008 07:16 (fifteen years ago) link
I've got the release on Retribution Records. Am I missing anything?
I'm so excited about this film coming to Seattle!!!!
― The Ungrateful Dead (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Saturday, 1 November 2008 06:15 (fifteen years ago) link
ILX love the Monks:
Monks: The Transatlantic FeedbackThe Monks' Dave Day RIPthe monks: INTERVIEWED!Monks documentaryThe Monks vids from YouTube - Classic or Dud?Silver Monk Time - Monks tribute CDit's BEAT time, it's HOP time, it's POLL time !!! (The Monks)When you first heared the Monks, did you love it straightaway? Of course you did.
― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 20 March 2009 02:02 (fifteen years ago) link
By way of warm up for... the news that the Monks music is back in print! (Just got an eight in Spin. Geez, what does it take to get a nine or ten?)
https://lightintheattic.net/buy/item.php?product_id=523
― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 20 March 2009 02:05 (fifteen years ago) link
BTW, I posted a 2004 link above about Roger Johnston that has since been broken (ugh, City Pages), so here's that post again:
http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2004/11/death_of_a_monk.php
― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 20 March 2009 02:09 (fifteen years ago) link
The documentary is apparently now available on dvd, too.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 20 March 2009 03:15 (fifteen years ago) link
I was all set to preorder both CDs from Light in the Attic but now I can't find any mention of the planned Black Monk Time reissue- not on their front page, in their store, anywhere. I hope they didn't run into last-minute rights issues or some such bullshit.
― Telephone thing, Friday, 20 March 2009 04:28 (fifteen years ago) link
BMT has been on eMusic for months now... not much help if you don't use eMusic, though.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 20 March 2009 06:08 (fifteen years ago) link
i love every last song i've heard from this band.
― billstevejim, Friday, 20 March 2009 06:10 (fifteen years ago) link
me too. i wish there was more of the late singles and such, stuff like "cuckoo" and "i can't get over you"
― kamerad, Friday, 20 March 2009 06:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Light in the Attic confirms April 14 as release date for both BMT and The Early Years, with premium vinyl versions due out in May.
― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 20 March 2009 21:16 (fifteen years ago) link
Is the BMT version the same as the old Infinite Zero version or is it like the slightly inferior Repertoire version?
― Alex in SF, Friday, 20 March 2009 21:19 (fifteen years ago) link
"He went down to the Sea" is friggin incredible.
― Trip Maker, Friday, 20 March 2009 21:20 (fifteen years ago) link
What was the difference? Sound quality or bonus tracks? I've only ever heard the Repertoire disc myself, if this ends up sounding better I'll be extremely happy.
On a side note, has anyone heard Light in the Attic's Melody Nelson remaster yet?
― Telephone thing, Friday, 20 March 2009 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
Bonus tracks definitely. I'm not so much of an audiophile that I can tell the difference.
― Alex in SF, Friday, 20 March 2009 21:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, bonus tracks.
That version was my singular best purchase last time I was in New York. Mondo Kims.
Gonna be back soon! :)
― Mark G, Saturday, 21 March 2009 00:07 (fifteen years ago) link
(most memorable)
― meisenfek, Monday, 4 October 2010 10:01 (thirteen years ago) link
So it seems like Eddie wrote another book a few years ago but it doesn't look like it ever got published.
― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 January 2013 22:54 (eleven years ago) link
I don't know if these interview were linked anywhere else but I never saw them before today so: http://larecord.com/interviews/2009/05/20/the-monks-we-all-wanna-die-in-a-hail-of-bullets
― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
Also if you never heard the most excellent holiday parody "It's Reindeer Time," by MIke Fornatale you can find it here : http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/13856. So good that it got him a gig as replacement singer and auxiliary member when Gary lost his voice. Now he is doing something similar for The Left Banke.
― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 January 2013 23:43 (eleven years ago) link
The videos of The Monks playing that German TV show... Man. Seeing them for the first time was like seeing God create the universe.
There's a thread devoted just to those videos here, IIRC.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Sunday, 27 January 2013 13:35 (eleven years ago) link
You mean this:The Monks vids from YouTube - Classic or Dud?
― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 January 2013 13:58 (eleven years ago) link
Yes.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Sunday, 27 January 2013 14:19 (eleven years ago) link
Just realized how many of these tunes feature a "Truck Driver's Gear Change" but what else were they gonna do?
― Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 27 January 2013 21:57 (eleven years ago) link
That's true, but rather an ersatz mood boost, it's a shift into the deranged - tends to make you want to edge away slowly than have you punching the air.
― Say Bo to a (Fizzles), Monday, 28 January 2013 07:41 (eleven years ago) link
Gary Burger has passed away. :(
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/03/gary-burger-of-the-monks-passes-away/
― KCB (Kent Burt), Saturday, 15 March 2014 00:02 (ten years ago) link
Aw, RIP.
― emil.y, Saturday, 15 March 2014 00:11 (ten years ago) link
Its that 'oh, this thread got revived? Uh oh..' monk time
"Ok, now his name was Gary.."
― Mark G, Saturday, 15 March 2014 00:15 (ten years ago) link
RIP, The Monks were amazing, way ahead of their time. Hell, they are STILL ahead of our time imo.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 15 March 2014 00:17 (ten years ago) link
What they did almost 50 years ago still brings out fresh, creative responses on the '07 tribute album, where Gary memorably materializes, still on top of things: http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-06-05/music/silver-monk-time-a-tribute-to-the-monks/full/ Still sounds good. Never did see the doc.
― dow, Saturday, 15 March 2014 01:27 (ten years ago) link
True hero of musicRIP
― gimme the lute (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 15 March 2014 02:54 (ten years ago) link
RIP. I remember first hearing about the Monks in a WFMU catalog and got the Repertoire reissue shortly afterwards, and I've listened to it pretty consistently since. Dude was great. Love his crazy voice and that guitar sound is still awesome.
― brains hangin (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 15 March 2014 07:05 (ten years ago) link
Sad news. Thank you for the music Gary.
― Hinklepicker, Saturday, 15 March 2014 07:23 (ten years ago) link
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 15 March 2014 08:50 (ten years ago) link
Most recent post on The Monks' message board is kind of poignant
― I Forgot More Than You'll Ever POLL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 15 March 2014 12:37 (ten years ago) link
This was one of the albums Henry Rollins reissued on his short-lived Infinite Zero imprint...1995-ish I guess? Anyway, it was a revelation to twenty-something me.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 15 March 2014 16:34 (ten years ago) link
That documentary is really great, too. Nice to revisit all those guys when they are older and they are totally the most normal, nicest people just living in their little towns maybe singing w the church, etc. They are so humble and chill and yet the music they made in the 60s was just sooooooo off the leash, just wild, wild stuff. They combined punk, industrial, alt country, krautrock, and genres into a rad electro-acoustic minimalist garage rock stomp that no one has come close to topping.
― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 15 March 2014 16:43 (ten years ago) link
i meant "and genres yet undiscovered"
Yeah, I tracked down the Infinite Zero reissue in Mondo Kim's. That's what New York is for!
― Mark G, Saturday, 15 March 2014 20:35 (ten years ago) link
Missed this until now. Gary was so hugely generous and kind, and amazing live. When I saw him with the "Mock Monks" at the Bryant-Lake Bowl circa the Iraq War he growled "George Bush, who the hell is he?" This was after my article came out about them, and when I shook hands with him before the show, he smiled and said, "I have something for you," and gave me an honorary noose, which I put around the collar of my black shirt.
― Peter Scholtes, Thursday, 7 August 2014 20:41 (nine years ago) link
THIRD MAN RECORDS ANNOUNCESTHE MONKS' HAMBURG RECORDINGS 1967FEATURES FIVE UNHEARD TRACKSAND NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PHOTOS
NEW TRACK "I'M WATCHING YOU" PREMIERED VIA DANGEROUS MINDS
HAMBURG RECORDINGS 1967 TO BE RELEASED JUNE 23, 2017
Third Man Records is excited to announce The Monks' Hamburg Tapes 1967, featuring five unheard tracks from the legendary group. To ring in the announcement, Dangerous Minds has premiered the new track "I'm Watching You," noting that "these songs aren't just some forgotten cast-offs, they're as vital and as punchy as everything else the Monks recorded." The album will see a vinyl and CD release on June 23.
The Monks - a strange, rare group with a story that sounds like a drunk friend's generous hyperbole. A group of American G.I.s stationed in Germany on the precipice of Western cultural revolution starts playing music loosely connected to the rock n' roll craze, contrastingly incorporating a critical and often offensive avant-garde edge. Nothing was off limits - screeching vocals, dark aesthetics, staccato-strummed banjo, sardonic lyricism, critiques of the Vietnam War and full monk costuming down to the tonsure. When viewed on the whole, it seems like an art school student's senior thesis on what the craze means and its future possibilities. Due in large part to original Polydor vinyl collectability and years in the word-of-mouth hype machine, their legend and cult status has steadily blossomed since their last shows in 1967.
Fast forward to 2017, the crew at Third Man, already huge fans, are presented with an honest-to God treasure trove of original Monks photos, newspaper clippings, business cards, letterhead, contracts, postcards and, yes, analog tapes, containing trailblazing, wild compositions completely unheard by public ears.
"I'm Watching You" would have been recorded on February 28th, 1967 at the same sessions that would produce the Monks' final single "Love Can Tame the Wild" b/w "He Went Down to the Sea." The remaining four songs were recorded after hours in the Top Ten Club later that year, just prior to the break-up of the band.
These songs have been unreleased for 50 years and are quite possibly the last music left to be heard by this legendary band. Hamburg Recordings 1967 track list:
1. I'm Watching You2. Julia3. P.O. Box 32914. I Need U Shatzi5. Yellow Grass
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 19:31 (seven years ago) link
http://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1purPOW-3L._SL1500_.jpg
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 19:38 (seven years ago) link
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1purPOW-3L._SL1500_.jpg
Absolute capital C-classic! Thank whomevers responsible that the Beat Club footage of them is still around. They were a very charismatic and entertaining live act. And prolly thank my beloved Fall for helping repopularize them in the 90s. And that one album BMT is a stone avant garage groove from back to front. Addendum re: pic above, wow! Gonna have to get that. Thanx for the tip, NYCnative.
― VyrnaKnowlIsAHeadbanger, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 19:41 (seven years ago) link
Yeah!
― Mark G, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:43 (seven years ago) link
thank the germans for not being the bbc! _all_ the beat club stuff still exists, afaik, including unbroadcast material.
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:52 (seven years ago) link
by the way, has anyone actually heard dave day's "don't ha ha" that he released as a 7" at some point?
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:53 (seven years ago) link
Was the Rollins reissue of Black Monk Time before the Fall cover?
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:56 (seven years ago) link
nah, extricate was 1990, infinite zero issue was '97. apparently the first cd issue of it was an israeli pirate on israphon in 1990.
― increasingly bonkers (rushomancy), Wednesday, 10 May 2017 22:58 (seven years ago) link
I believe its a version of "Don't you just know it" with 'authentic' laughing in the chorus.
― Mark G, Thursday, 11 May 2017 06:28 (seven years ago) link
What?
― Trelayne Staley (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 11 May 2017 15:19 (seven years ago) link
Oh i see
pretty psyched for this tbh. just curious about the cover art. i thought by these final sessions they had ditched the haircuts and uniform.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 11 May 2017 18:44 (seven years ago) link
Never knew about this Raincoats cover single until just now.
― Some Dusty in Here (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 February 2018 21:50 (six years ago) link
Also can’t remember if I commented on this thread that Eddie seems to have been named after Lawrence of Arabia
― Some Dusty in Here (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 February 2018 22:20 (six years ago) link
it's from the tribute album "silver monk time", has some good stuff on there including gary burger with faust (not sure which faust). there's also a nice live show from around that time (2006 or so) of the monks in berlin with the raincoats, the recently departed mark e. smith, etc., guesting.
― Arnold Schoenberg Steals (rushomancy), Sunday, 4 February 2018 22:53 (six years ago) link
It’s BEAT time, it’s HOP time, it’s *BUMP* time!
― Quit It And Hit It Sideways (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 8 September 2020 16:49 (three years ago) link
Just watched the doc with my mother- and sister-in-law. Both loved the band so much.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Tuesday, 13 October 2020 04:48 (three years ago) link
HI DERE!
― Gary Gets His Tonsure Out (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 1 March 2022 17:24 (two years ago) link