Liner Notes from Complete Studio Recordings 1982-1986
A SHORT HISTORY OF KRAUTreported by Mr. Moderation
Summer 1981. The Clash were in New York City to play a week at Bond's Casino on Broadway & 45th St. The hottest gigs of the summer, these shows had already gained national attention as the Clash's only American appearances that year. Then the infamous ticket scandal broke -- Bond's had oversold every show to double capacity -- and both the club and the Clash became evening news items. The Clash themselves solved the problem, by volunteering to play twice as many shows in order to accommodate all the fans who had bought tickets. "More dates added," announced the media. "More support bands needed!" thought every musician and agent in Manhattan. Don Cowan, bassist for the newly formed punk band KRAUT, decided that this was the ideal situation for the band's debut... what a laugh it would be if they actually got the gig. With fellow KRAUT'S, Dave Gunner (vocals), Doug Holland (guitars) and Johnny Feedback (drums), Don quickly recorded and submitted a 3-song demo tape. "Mick Jones likes it!" "Are they Nazis? No? Good!" That got the gig. And so on June 11, KRAUT made their first-ever public appearance, opening for the Clash at Bond's, and from that point on, there's been no turning back. Though young (Johnny 14, Dave 16, Doug 18, Don 22), they committed themselves to an irreversible course of action. They next played at A7 (a club named for its location on the corner of Avenue A & 7th St.), where they eventually did numerous gigs -- and Doug even tended bar after awhile! In August '81, KRAUT released their first single, KILL FOR CASH b/w TRUE COLOR and JUST CABBAGE (the songs from the original demo, newly recorded with producer engineer Ryk Oakley), which quickly sold out its 1000-copy pressing. More gigs followed, and in December they released a second 45, UNEMPLOYED/LAST CHANCE/MATINEE. (Also recorded at the same session were GETAWAY -- released on ROIR's NEW YORK THRASH cassette compilation -- ABORTION, which would appear on their first LP, and a version of DON'T BELIEVE which was only aired publicly once, on Tim Sommers' "Noise the Show" on WNYU-FM). This time they pressed -- and sold -- 5000 copies. UNEMPLOYED established KRAUT as one of New York's top punk bands, and brought them to cable TV, performing the song on "New York Dance Stand". KRAUT gigs became more frequent and noteworthy. In June 1982 they opened for the Professionals at the Channel in Boston (completing the bill were T.S.O.L., one of California's top punk bands). The Professionals fetured 2 ex-Sex Pistols, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, and were greatly admired by KRAUT. At sound check, Jones took an immediate liking to this young band, especially Doug's guitar playing. When the Professionals came to New York and played at the Ritz, KRAUT were there. A week later Doug ran into Jones on the street; the rest oof the Professionals had returned to England, but Jones wanted to check out New York. KRAUT were working on their first LP, and Jones accepted their invitation to play on 3 cuts (ONWARD, SELLOUT and tthe KILL FOR CASH remake). This led to Jones living with Donny and Douglas and doing several live appearances with KRAUT, joining them onstage to close the set with the LP tracks on which he'd played. Some lucky audiences were also treated to a red hot encore of BODIES (Jones' favorite Sex Pistol song), and it is available "Live" on KRAUT "Night of Rage", (New Red Archives NRA 03).
KRAUT decided that they needed help putting out their LP and were introduced to Gary Valitri of Faulty Productions/IRS. Faulty liked what they heard, and in January of 1983, AN ADJUSTMENT TO SOCIETY was released. Critics liked it, and it sold very well. In February, the band shot a video for ALL TWISTED, the LP's opening track, which was distributed to all the clubs and underground TV stations. Things were going very well.
Spring 1983. Like the seasons, KRAUT's luck changed. The British ADJUSTMENT LP was lost in limbo. Then Faulty Products went out of business. Down but not out, KRAUT reverted to their original "do it yourself" approach; with Ryk, they ran their own career entirely. They kept themselves in the public eye by touring America in the summer. Self-financed, the tour lost money but gained exposure. Bakc in New York, KRAUT played every gig they could get, and began recording new material.
In December 83, fate flipped a coin, and it was "heads up" for KRAUT. The ALL TWISTED video was put into rotation on MTV and hailed by the rock press as one of the definiteve punk videos, and I might add, the first independent band to ever be put into rotation on MTV. KRAUT continued writing and recording through the winter of '84. Taking the tapes they'd made over the previous 10 months, they assembled their second 12" release, WHETTING THE SCYTHE, released on Enigma Records in November 1984. A short tour of California and points west with Channel 3 in January 1985 saw the New Year in right. But all was not right. Doug Holland began to feel restless. He wasn't happy with the niche KRAUT carved for itself in the music world. After much soul-searching, in April, Doug left the band that he and Donny started, to join the CRO-MAGS. Donny, Dave and John decided to carry on and began looking for a guitarist. They found one pretty quickly, Chris Smith, formerly of BATTALION OF SAINTS. After gigs at CBGB'S, Pyramid, and Danceteria the new line-up was intact and sounding great. In Summer '85 -- KRAUT went back into the studio to finish 4 songs they started before Doug left (3 of which are included on this CD). Chris added his virtuoso guitar playing to these tapes. A great combo Doug and Chris!! KRAUT began writing new material and rehearsing 11 through '85, yet fate was not through with KRAUT. On February 8, 1986, after band rehearsal and one week before they were to record KRAUT's third album, Chris Smith died in a freak accident slipping in his bathtup and drowning. That was just about all Donny, Davey and John could take. After a few more Auditions,
Davey and John left fo form the Gutter Boys and Donny retired to his Country Estate in Bogota, Columbia. Only to surface to help put this CD together. But no one ever said it was The End!!
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