Thursday, May 3, 2007

Junkyard

I was so blown away by this video the first time I saw it that I didn't realize that this is one of those "live" TV appearances that isn't really live at all - Nick is lip synching and the band is just pretending to play. Oh well. Still though, seeing Birthday Party sort of doing their thing at the height of their powers... well, this is a rare artifact for sure.

It's so strange, I'm not sure what to say about it... bass player Tracey Pew scares me, guitarist Rowland S. Howard is spazzing out in a very 80s sort of way that you just don't see anymore, and singer Nick Cave, even at such a young age, is already sporting a cocktail and cigarette foreshadowing his later loungey persona.

If you click through to YouTube, you'll see that there isn't much info about this clip except that it was from an appearance on a German TV show called Gotterdammerung (what a name!), shot in 1982. Imagine kicking back in your lederhosen for a stein or two, turning on the telly and seeing this! Gotterdammerung indeed!

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