The Red Eye/Black Eye Thread

This is a thread dedicated to the Red Eye Records/Black Eye Records scene that took Australia by storm in the 1980's and tangentially, the world. Ostensibly an underground musical movement Red Eye Records began in the mid 1980's under the direction of John Foy. Bands such as the Beasts of Bourbon, The James Baker Experience, and Salamander Jim were all in the Red Eye stable.

By the late Eighties Foy saw the need for an offshoot label that catered to the more unusual bands and created Black Eye. Bands like Lubricated Goat, Thug, The Butcher Shop, and Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, were signed to this label.

For those unfamiliar with these bands, I offer you what was most probably the most inventive period of Australian Underground music.

Remember Grunge?

Well meet the forerunner:

Everett True: "Wasn't grunge™ your fault?"

Mark Arm: Did you ever read that book by Clark Humphrey, Loser, about the Seattle music scene? In it, the writer has dug up some letter I wrote to a local fanzine, and in the litany of words I use to describe my band, one of the words is "grungy." Obviously, I didn't make that up. I got it from someone else. The term was already being thrown around in Australia in the mid-'80s to describe bands like King Snake Roost, the Scientists, Salamander Jim, and Beasts of Bourbon. In fact, Tex Perkins was crowned the High Priest of Grunge in some local magazine. If anybody said that to him then, he would beat the s**t out of them. I guess the only difference was that in Seattle we kind of took to it.

Link

The Beasts of Bourbon 'Psycho'

The James Baker Experience 'Born to be Punched'

Lubricated Goat 'In the Raw' (Warning! Some bum shots)

Kim Salmon and the Surrealists 'I Won't Tell'

For those interested in looking into this scene a bit more, I will recommend cousincreeps excellent blog The Black Eye Records Jukebox







[edit on 12/6/2008 by Beelzebubba]