Seventeen
years ago, in September 1981, New York City's most controversial underground
electro-punks were invited to celebrate their tenth anniversary by performing
in concert at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota - this now-legendary
concert was released by ROIR as cassette-only in 1986.
Today,
in 1998, Suicide's influence and presence on the electronic scene has
elevated them to a mentor status that their commercial career never realized.
Suicide
have just returned from performing in London as part of a pre-promotional
tour celebrating the March re-release of their very first eponymous LP,
on Red Star in 1977, now on Mute/Blast First Records as of mid-March.
While in London, they appeared with SPIRITUALIZED: "And a horde of slavering
pop stars, including PULP, NICK CAVE, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, PRIMAL
SCREAM, ORBITAL, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS and JONATHAN FIRE EATER charging
into Spiritualized's dressing room, rushed past Jason Pierce to lick a
new arsehole for some bunch of aging long-hair tossers called Suicide,
who were ever-so-slightly famous before you were born." NME 1/31/98
Why
all this adulation from their peers? Alan Vega and Marty Rev, back in
the late 60's and early 70's, virtually invented electronica. Constantly
performing in every armpit dive in lower Manhattan, they were laughed
at and reviled for their eccentric music. Graduating to CBGB's and Max's
Kansas City (now reopened), they were part of a growing scene that included
Richard Hell, The Ramones, Dead Boys, Blondie, Television, The New York
Dolls, Dictators, Wayne County, Cherry Vanilla and the itinerant Iggy
Pop.
Today,
still together for international gigs, they are lauded for being geniuses
in the forefront of the now faddish electronic era and for creating some
time honored classic songs that are as relevant today as ever.
