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:
- Faust (Polydor Germany LP 1971) clear vinyl
- So Far (Polydor Germany LP 1972)
- It’s A Bit Of A Pain (Polydor UK 45 1972)
- The Faust Tapes (Virgin UK LP 1973) with Bridget Riley artwork
- 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 19th, 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.
We will ALL be awaiting yor “review” of the live sho… trust me!
Of couse, I meant “show” !