the Devil and Daniel Johnston... and me
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 3:46 am
I don't know whether to post this here under music or under flicks.
I just watched one documentary that has links to my own past, with another on cue.
The movie I just watched was "the Devil and Daniel Johnston" and the movie in cue is "Hated: GG allin and the murder junkies."
The GG Allin thing is pretty obvious-- Lisa Suckdog got her fame from him, and I got mine from her.
The Daniel Johnston thing would not be quite as obvious unless you were part of the Austin Underground Music scene in the mid and late eighties.
Both Daniel and I arrived in Austin in 1985. Both us us were quirky, mentally ill, home tape freaks who gave our stuff away on the streets.
Daniel sold most of his music through the iconic Austin record store "Sound Exchange," as did I.
We both had a connection with the Butthole Surfers too. Daniel used to hang out with Gibby Haynes, and one of my biggest fans was King Coffee's boyfriend Craig Stewart, who also ran the record label they were out on.
I saw Daniel Johnston at the Varsity Theater opening up for the Texas Instruments. I also saw him at various poetry readings at Paperbacks Plus, better known as Voltaire's Basement.
That was where I also met "the God of Hell Fire," Arthur Brown.
We had a lot of the same supporters, Daniel and I.
Ken Lieck and Jeff Tartakov are long time listeners who reviewed us and supported us.
the degree to which Sound exchange promoted our music can not be overstressed. They put his mural up at Sound Exchange, and one of the employees wrote a glowing review of my music in the 1987 Christmas edition of the Austin Chronicle.
What really floored me was the DNL's article was not part of any regular music review column!
It was, in fact, part of a list of "Best Christmas Presents for 1987."
Austin Chronicle 1987: "Coz pillages the right sources, mostly early Bowie and Syd Barrett. He may lack in skill, but he has a wonderfully strange mind. A mind that comes up with songs like Are you gonna be my bride or are you just gonna be the other end of my orgasm? and We're gonna ruin about ten different people can't be all bad. Classic weirdness. A younger Roky?" (D.N.L.)
The connection I have with Daniel Johnston is pretty evident to most veterans of the Austin music scene too. Here's a review of one of my "Girl Robots" albums from 2000, that was a pretty obvious tip:
Austin Chronicle 2000: "Ever since savant toy pianist Danny Johnston left Austin for serener pastures, squeezing purity out of Austin music is like getting butter from a duck. Fortunately, we still have Coz the Shroom.
A lot of that footage really takes me back.
One of the people interviewed was my drummer Mike "Thor" Harris.
Ken Lieck I am particularly fond of too. The three of us (Ken, Daniel, and myself) all contributed to a cassette compilation called Coalescence. Ken actually had two contributions, one with his band "Buster and the Crabbes" and one where he recorded, satirically, as "Not Daniel Johnston."
"Buster and the Crabbes" was the first band I ever saw in Austin. Ken had bright orange hair and Terry Lord played drums.
Also from the film is a little footage from Woodshock 1985.
Woodshock was an outdoor punk rock festival that ran for a few years. I attended the 1985 show.
I think there are two reasons why Daniel Johnston had more success than I did, although we were doing the same thing and running neck and neck against each other back in the early days.
Daniel had confidence and social skills. I was awkward and shy. He went to all the right parties and met all the right people. I lurked in the background and came off as an arrogant prick because I never talked with anybody... in reality, I was just too intimidated by all these brilliant people I met to engage them in conversation.
The other reason is that Daniel was trying to be accessible. He wanted to be the Beatles. I wanted to be Johnny Rotten. My goal was to shock, alienate, and confuse.
Daniel wanted to be loved. And he was.
I just watched one documentary that has links to my own past, with another on cue.
The movie I just watched was "the Devil and Daniel Johnston" and the movie in cue is "Hated: GG allin and the murder junkies."
The GG Allin thing is pretty obvious-- Lisa Suckdog got her fame from him, and I got mine from her.
The Daniel Johnston thing would not be quite as obvious unless you were part of the Austin Underground Music scene in the mid and late eighties.
Both Daniel and I arrived in Austin in 1985. Both us us were quirky, mentally ill, home tape freaks who gave our stuff away on the streets.
Daniel sold most of his music through the iconic Austin record store "Sound Exchange," as did I.
We both had a connection with the Butthole Surfers too. Daniel used to hang out with Gibby Haynes, and one of my biggest fans was King Coffee's boyfriend Craig Stewart, who also ran the record label they were out on.
I saw Daniel Johnston at the Varsity Theater opening up for the Texas Instruments. I also saw him at various poetry readings at Paperbacks Plus, better known as Voltaire's Basement.
That was where I also met "the God of Hell Fire," Arthur Brown.
We had a lot of the same supporters, Daniel and I.
Ken Lieck and Jeff Tartakov are long time listeners who reviewed us and supported us.
the degree to which Sound exchange promoted our music can not be overstressed. They put his mural up at Sound Exchange, and one of the employees wrote a glowing review of my music in the 1987 Christmas edition of the Austin Chronicle.
What really floored me was the DNL's article was not part of any regular music review column!
It was, in fact, part of a list of "Best Christmas Presents for 1987."
Austin Chronicle 1987: "Coz pillages the right sources, mostly early Bowie and Syd Barrett. He may lack in skill, but he has a wonderfully strange mind. A mind that comes up with songs like Are you gonna be my bride or are you just gonna be the other end of my orgasm? and We're gonna ruin about ten different people can't be all bad. Classic weirdness. A younger Roky?" (D.N.L.)
The connection I have with Daniel Johnston is pretty evident to most veterans of the Austin music scene too. Here's a review of one of my "Girl Robots" albums from 2000, that was a pretty obvious tip:
Austin Chronicle 2000: "Ever since savant toy pianist Danny Johnston left Austin for serener pastures, squeezing purity out of Austin music is like getting butter from a duck. Fortunately, we still have Coz the Shroom.
A lot of that footage really takes me back.
One of the people interviewed was my drummer Mike "Thor" Harris.
Ken Lieck I am particularly fond of too. The three of us (Ken, Daniel, and myself) all contributed to a cassette compilation called Coalescence. Ken actually had two contributions, one with his band "Buster and the Crabbes" and one where he recorded, satirically, as "Not Daniel Johnston."
"Buster and the Crabbes" was the first band I ever saw in Austin. Ken had bright orange hair and Terry Lord played drums.
Also from the film is a little footage from Woodshock 1985.
Woodshock was an outdoor punk rock festival that ran for a few years. I attended the 1985 show.
I think there are two reasons why Daniel Johnston had more success than I did, although we were doing the same thing and running neck and neck against each other back in the early days.
Daniel had confidence and social skills. I was awkward and shy. He went to all the right parties and met all the right people. I lurked in the background and came off as an arrogant prick because I never talked with anybody... in reality, I was just too intimidated by all these brilliant people I met to engage them in conversation.
The other reason is that Daniel was trying to be accessible. He wanted to be the Beatles. I wanted to be Johnny Rotten. My goal was to shock, alienate, and confuse.
Daniel wanted to be loved. And he was.