Faust are coming!

9-10-12          Faust are coming!

Singer / Songwriter Jose Feliciano born 1945; on 9-9-72 Slade “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” 45 was No. 1 in England; on 9-9-78 Boney M “Night Flight To Venus” LP was No. 1 in England; on 9-8-79 Led Zeppelin “In Through The Out Door” LP was No. 1 in England; 9-10-83 XTC “Mummer” LP charts at No. 51 in England.

From 1971 to 1973, probably my favorite post-Bealtes band was the German band Faust.  Their original discography is a simple one:

1. Faust (Polydor Germany LP 1971) clear vinyl
2. So Far (Polydor Germany LP 1972)
3. It’s A Bit Of A Pain (Polydor UK 45 1972)
4. The Faust Tapes (Virgin UK LP 1973) with Bridget Riley artwork
5. Faust IV (Virgin UK LP 1973)

It was announced that the band had split, after the release of “Faust IV”.  Yes, I know a re-formed of the band has been active for some time now, but…it is these original 4 albums that have always intrigued me.

On October 19^th, 2012 – a version of this band will play at the Redcat Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.  Yes, I already have my tickets.  I am not expecting anything comparable to any of these original albums, but I am still interested to see them, as they never came to the U.S. during 1971 – 1973 – that I am aware of.

Many years ago, I was given a cassette of “Faust V” – the record they were working on, after finishing “Faust IV”.  It was not great quality, and it definitely wasn’t finished / produced.  ‘Demos’, more like.

The four albums still sound revolutionary to me.  All are properly on CD in 2012.  They didn’t seem to owe much to what had come before – whatever that was.  The British press always seemed to enjoy comparing them to Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, but I don’t hear it.  Probably due to my huge Zappa fandom.

But I will definitely be interested to see what they are up to in 2012.  I believe 2 or 3 original members of the band are still active in the group.

This music has been with me for 2/3 of my life.  They were 100% my favorite band at age 15 (almost 40 years ago).  I always liked Faust better than any other German band, and, believe me – I liked more than a few German bands in my time.