Maercks, Owen - Teenage Sex Therapist vinyl lp with download card (due to size and weight, this price for the USA only. Outside of the USA, the price will be adjusted as needed)
SKU
05-FTR 153LP
Guitarist/composer/singer Owen Maercks was one of Henry Kaiser's first musical associates, meeting up with him while Henry was in college and had just started playing. He and Henry co-led the lengendary Monster Island, who released one vinyl EP in the early 70s. This record dates from 1978.
I've had this fabulous, rare treasure for more than 30 years, since I was given a copy by Henry Kaiser. It is a funny, goofy, musically clever release that fuses new-wave, no-wave, rock, pop, and hard-core free/squonk noises in a way that predates the downtown/Knitting Factory scene that came along doing much of the same thing significantly later..
It was pressed in a limited edition (Henry thinks it was 150, but he doesn't really remember) to try and interest labels in it, but nothing ever came of it and it was forgotten and never available commercially to the public until now!.
The band is:
Owen Maercks-vocals and guitar
David Bolle-drums
Fred Chalenor-bass
Henry Kaiser-guitar
Chris Muir-electronic 'guitars'
with guest sax yelpings/squealings from John Gruntfest, Larry Ochs, John Oswald.
Conditionally hugely/highly/strongly recommended. Even the tastemakers agree with me!
"Owen Maercks' Teenage Sex Therapist LP is one of the forgotten twisted pop masterpieces of the 20th century. Owen had been in Monster Island with Henry Kaiser, who proposed he do a solo album of his songs. Henry had moved back west by this time, so Owen went out and recorded this album there. Henry produced, and added amazing horn parts by Jon Oswald, Larry Ochs and John Gruntfest. The album was mixed, pressed and distributed exclusively to radio stations, record labels and the like, in the hopes of getting Owen signed. The music didn't fit any extant pigeonhole, however, so no deal was in the offing. About the only note of its passing was made by an A&R guy at Elektra, who swiped the arrangement (and lyric rearrangement) of "Little Black Egg" (originally by the Nightcrawlers) for use by his prot�g�es, The Cars. Well, fuck them. Teenage Sex Therapist is ripe with jaw-drop moves. Flashes of Eno, Beefheart, Lou Reed, the Bonzos, and various of Owen's other obsessions, fight each other for air-time. And everyone goes away a winner. If this one doesn't make your teeth wiggle, you need a new jaw."-Byron Coley
- LabelFeeding Tube
- UPC794504030617