©1981~2026 Stiff Records / Stiff America / Plasmatics Media, Inc.
℗2026 Hipper Than Hell Records
I - "Beyond The Valley Of 1984"
01 - Incantation
02 - Masterplan
03 - Headbanger
04 - Summer Nite
05 - Nothing
06 - Fast Food Service
07 - Hitman (Live Milan)
08 - Living Dead
09 - Sex Junkie
10 - Plasma Jam (Live Milan)
11 - Pig Is A Pig
"Beyond the Valley of 1984" - An Essay
The
cover of this Plasmatics album appears to show Wendy in sexy attire
and a car being blown apart. Of course, as is usually the case with
the Plasmatics, things are not quite what they seem ...
The title of the album seems to combine "1984", i. e. the suppression of the individual by the state, and Hollywood film title "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", a 1960s production concerned with sexual morality in America. It is most unlikely that this is coincidental. The use of the word "valley" also implies a low point in human affairs, as if 1984 represents a situation from which mankind will pass. But towards what?
The Plasmatics, as pictured on the cover are intended to represent the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This symbolism originates in the Book of Revelation, when God will make his final judgement of man. This classical image has been portrayed, with surprising attention to detail, in the scenes depicted. The action takes place in a valley, which ties in with the album title and also suggests Death Valley. The photographs were taken when the sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows across the ground. The tall cactus tree suggests fingers, and its shadow subtly suggests the finger of death. The Four Horsemen classically represent war, civil strife, hunger and death. All these are clearly shown on the cover. War is represented by the gas masks and helicopter, civil strife by the burning car, hunger by the bleak desert location and death by the bodies on the ground. The gatefold cover, when opened out, gives four images; this reinforces the biblical reference. All four images are of the same size. The colours of the horses, in Revelation are red, white, black and pale. It would be rather too much to expect such animals to have been obtained for the photo session, and it would also have made the imagery rather too obvious. Nonetheless, these colours are clearly present; the album title is written in red and white lettering and the credits etc on the back are in red, the car is white, black appears in the clothing and the band's name is shown in pale silver letters against a pale blue sky.
The
Plasmatics do not look at the camera, i.e. at their listener, until
the inset photo on the rear cover. This shot was taken at the end of
the sequence, with black smoke rising from the destroyed car and a
bleak desert background. This symbolises the situation at the Day of
Judgement. The posture of the band in this shot seems to he saying to
the listener "The rest of society has been judged and found
wanting, and you are next". The facial expressions are
consistent with this. Wendy seems to be less hostile than the others.
"Sex Junkie" is another moralistic song. A fascinating aspect of Wendy Williams' stage persona is that it mocks that part of the audience that is attracted to the band by her semi-clothed body. This is entirely consistent with the classic attitude of the dominatrix toward her clients who are humiliated by and subservient to her. The lyrics are highly explicit and critical, not just of the sex junkie in the song, but of two hundred million people (presumably, the entire American adult population).
"Plasma
Jam", an instrumental, follows. This could be included as a
straightforward piece of rock music, but it is virtually at the end
of the album. The songs are therefore contained-between "Incantation"
and "Plasma Jam", encapsulating them. The album finishes
with "Pig is a Pig". This number almost shouts at us "if
you missed the message in the previous songs, here it is plain and
simple!" It strongly continues the album's theme. It says
"Everyone else is like you", the same theme as that in Sex
Junkie.
The songs on this album are, without exception, an expansion of the "Day of Judgement" theme of the album cover. And if anyone has any remaining doubts about the meaning of "Beyond the Valley of 1984" they should look at the dead and dying figures on the album cover. They are wearing what looks like white laboratory assistant's coats. Why should they be dressed like this, out in the desert? The answer is in the book of Revelation, Chapter 6. Following the description of the four horsemen, the scripture goes on to say in Verse 11: "And white robes were given unto every one of them".
All in all, a quite extraordinary album.
II - "Metal Priestess"
12 - Lunacy
13 - Doom Song
14 - Sex Junkie (Live)
15 - Black Leather Monster
16 - 12 Noon
17 - Masterplan (Live)
"Metal Priestess" - An Essay
The Metal Priestess six-track EP is the companion volume to the Beyond the Valley of 1984 album. Both were released in 1981.
On
the cover, Wendy is pictured on stage on her knees, leaning
backwards. At first sight this is simply a good photo - and a sexy
one! But it has a religious aspect. Wendy - the priestess - can be
seen as subordinate to a superior being or set of beliefs.
The next track - Doom Song - maintains the religious theme with an organ introduction. Doom Song is a kind of alternative Lord's Prayer. The priestess - Wendy - is administering a form of eucharist. Casual listening to the record can lead to the mistaken impression that she is swnmoning up dark forces, but the opposite is actually the case. The condemnation of hypocrites echoes the words of Jesus, and the priestess has been given considerable power to use some force against the enemies of good. The hypocrites are described as "filthy", and some mysterious crawling, oozing, slimy "something" is going to deal with them.
The reference to the Prince of Darkness is curious. Superficially, Satan is being invoked, and that is why the song can easily be misinterpreted as a form of Black Mass. But the figure of Satan is always a baffling one; if Satan is in charge of Hell - the purpose of which is supposedly to punish sinners for all eternity - he is clearly acting on behalf of Ciod and is hardly the sinner's friend. In fact, Satan would be one of God's key workers, albeit with a rather hot and unpleasant working enviromnent! The concept of Hell does not derive from the Bible but from later ideas, and Satan is an ambivalent figure. It is possible that the "something" referred to above is Satan - and therefore the priestess, acting on Go&s authority, has summoned Satan from the underworld to punish the hypocrites. The reference to "YI"" at the end of the song, i.e. to Jehovah, confirms the fascinating religious theme of this song.
The third track - Sex Junkie - also appears in Beyond the Valley of 1984 and is a condemnation of sex-obsessed American culture (see the analysis of this song in the section about the 1984 album)
The fourth track - Black Leather Monster - follows the same theme as Sex Junkie. The meaning of the title refers is unclear; it could be a phallic reference, or maybe even to the priestess herself, the song being sung in the third person i.e. Wendy is taking the role of one of the sex junides who is at the mercy of the priestess/dominatrix.
The fifth track - 12 Noon - is in many ways a prologue for the excellent Maggots album that would follow some six years later. Wendy is describing the corruption and pollution in modern society. The song is very interesting because it takes the opposite line to the stereotypical warnings of "destruction just around the corner". For it is corruption and pollution - rather than civilised society - which is about to be destroyed. Whether this destruction will result in the restoration of morality, or simply the end of human life, isn't clear. In a way, the priestess may be giving the world an opportunity to confess sins and make peace with God before possible annihilation, the suggestion being that the world has been given 24 hours or so to do this.
The final song - Masterplan - is also on the Beyond the Valley of 1984 album and an analysis of the song is in the commentary on that album. The song suggests that society had it made, but ruined everything. This echoes the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Metal Priestess is very clearly an album with a strong religious theme. It can be interpreted as the priestess - Wendy - describing how mankind has been given the power to choose between Good and Evil, but has chosen Evil. She has summoned the forces of destruction to sweep the corruption away, and has given the world time to make peace with God and seek absolution of its sins.
III - "Coup d'Etat/Coup De Grace" (The Original Electric Lady Land Recordings )
18 - Put Your Love In Me
19 - Stop
20 - Rock 'N' Roll
21 - Just Like On TV
22 - Uniformed Guards
23 - No Class
24 - Mistress Of Passion
25 - Lightning Breaks
26 - Path Of Glory
27 - Country Fairs
28 - The Damned
"Coup de Grace" is a posthumous release by punk / metal band The Plasmatics in 2002. The album is the original demo of the album Coup d'Etat.
During the spring of 1982, the Plasmatics were signed to Capitol Records and Dan Hartman offered to produce a demo of the album for Capitol with Rod at Electric Lady Studios, Jimi Hendrix's old studio, in NY. The whole album was arranged, recorded and mixed within a week. Dieter Dierks, who had just come off a number one album with the Scorpions, also expressed interest in producing. Dan Hartman was soon replaced by Dieter.
The Hartman demo was released in 2002 under the name "Coup de Grace". This rawer version of Coup d'Etat took less than a tenth of the time and a fraction of the budget of the original.
Reception to the album is generally positive. Many fans of the band have stated that this version is the one they prefer due to its rawness.
"The Damned" lyrics
BLACK VISIONS FROM THE SATELLITE SKY
DEAF EARS HEAR NOT THEIR CRIES
FAT JACKALS HOWL AT THE MOON
FLIES BUZZING PLAYING DEATH'S TUNE
NIGHT ENDS BUT THE SUN IT DON'T RISE
TOMBS OPEN AND THE DEAD THEY WILL RISE
BLACK MARKET BUYS YOUR SOUL REAL CHEAP
NO ESCAPING WHAT YOU SOW YOU WILL REAP
PRISONERS OF THE DAMNED, FIND ANOTHER LAND
PLANET OF THE LOST, LAND OF FIRE AND FROST
PRISONERS OF THE DEAD, FEAR THE UNKNOWN DREAD
TIDAL WAVES AT SEA SET THE SERPENTS FREE
COUP D'ETAT ON A GLOBAL SCALE
OPOSITION LOCKED UP IN JAIL
DOMINATION THE GOONS ARE THE BOSS
HUMAN RACE NAILED TO A CROSS
Death of a rock star:
the suicide of Wendy O. Williams
Within days of the death of Frank Sinatra, record stores worldwide were full of Sinatra merchandise. The industry had been waiting for such an event: longstanding ill-health had given the men in suits ample opportunity to design the artwork and get everything ready for the word go. Or, to be more precise, the word goodbye. For, as in the case of so many deceased singers and musicians, death gives a massive boost to an artist with limited contemporary appeal.
The death of Wendy Orlean Williams falls neither into the category of Sinatra, nor that of the younger casualties such as Kurt Cobain. Aged 48, her death was untimely yet, having retired from the music business ten years before, there is no sense of incompletion or of her career not having come to "full term" - Williams' work can be judged as a complete entity, neither dragged out into old age, nor cut short.
The Plasmatics' music and live act has been misconstrued a lot - in the actual music, and in its lyrics, themes and sentiments. Thus, the band laid the foundations for a music scene which would later serve as a vent for the hedonism of the disaffected, disenfranchised youth of the late 1980s. Yet all too often, people have tended to equate punk music with 'inability to play', for the Plasmatics' music can best be defined as thrash-punk - though it is and symbolises many other things besides. 'Coup d'Etat', the band's last recorded album (apart from the Maggots WOW/Plasmatics reunion album of 1987) showed a slightly more mature rock edge than their previous work, but the Plasamtics' punk ethic was never lost. Yet the stereotypical punk comparison does not hold - true, in the last few years there has been a proliferation of punk nouveau (most notably the early '90s grunge scene) influenced by the archetypal stroppy cartoon image brought to mind by the Adverts' "Gary Gilmore's Eyes", anything by the Ramones... but witness the lyrics, chord sequences and Richie Stotts et al's lead playing on many of the tracks...
Williams' solo work also shows a more melodic side, especially on tracks such as 'Opus in Cm7' and 'Legends Never Die'. Critics claim that these tracks are a 'non sequitur' on the otherwise decidedly 'don't fuck with me' W.O.W. album, yet it is here that Rod Swenson's musical sensibilites and Wendy's vocal talents combine to best effect.
Though the Plasmatics' songs are not best known for subtlety, the theme of Maggots is unclear. Drawing together many of the themes expressed in the rest of the Plasmatics' work, at one level it seems to relate to AIDS, and the sleeve liner includes a message to practise safe sex. It can be seen, in may ways, as a continuation of 'Just Like On TV' from Coup d'Etat: the ultimate horror story scenario... the end of Maggots no doubt symbolises the end of civilisation (many of Wendy's songs deal with this). "As she looks down the ten flights to the street below, [Cindy] sees a scene of chaos and pandemonium. Feeding on the people with uncontrollable lust are giant maggots... the sun is setting in the sky. It will be night time soon." Now, one cannot know whether Wendy had AIDS in mind, but many references throughout the album suggest it. Though it is, of course, always possible to see a posthumous significance or relevance in music, especially in the lyrics: see Hole's 1994 album "Live Through This".
The Maggots album, and several of the Plasmatics' other songs, can be seen as a condemnation of contemporary Amerian middle-class values. From the beginninng of Maggots, the atttitude is obvious: "We are in a middle class apartment in a middle class apartment building. The decor is shopping mall modern. The White family are sitting around a shiny formaica kitchen table eating dinner..." Fast Food Service and 12 Noon are also an expression of this.
The majority of the music press's reaction to Wendy's suicide has been to concentrate on certain 'stereotypical rock star' aspects of the band's career and live shows - aspects which should almost certainly be taken as, at least partly, tongue in cheek on the Plasmatics' part. (Their act "...featured chainsawing guitars and smashing televisions - as their popularity increased, the budget stretched to blowing up Chevrolets..." according to the NME, the week after reports came of Wendy's death.) The band's destructive nature onstage has been much misinterpreted - their gestures can be variously interpreted as materialistic or anti-... in many ways the Plasmatics, and Wendy, were the antithesis of the 1980s mindless materialism, especially that in the music business.
One of Wendy's recurring
themes is 'the
rock star', what it is to be one, the trappings of rock stardom and her
portrayal of the
nature of our here worship is pretty accurate: in Opus in Cm7 she asks
"Why do our
heroes all vanish? Why are our heroes all dead?" Legends Never Die is a
paean to the
characteristics of fame generally; having "been to hell and back" (It's
My Life)
Wendy was in a position to be able to talk about it. (It makes one
wonder why, if Wendy
was so against stardom, she became famous in the first place. It would
seem that the
Plasmatics' success happened almost by accident...) Pig Is A Pig is an
exploration of
human cowardice in the context of fame, and is "dedicated to a special
kind of person
- the kind of person who's hiding... behind a guise of
repectability..." This desire
for the authenticity, for the "real thing" was, in the end, one of the
contributing factors in Wendy's despondency: she could not bear the
"hypocrisies of
life" (as she called them) and her suicide note spoke of "a place where
there is
no self, only calm".
Essays by Anna Sthetic
These recordings were remastered from the Original Sterling Masters in 2026.
DOWNLOAD FLAC CONTAINER
Turn Me Up!™
To preserve the excitement, emotion and dynamics of the original performances this music video is intentionally quieter than some. For full enjoyment simply Turn Me Up! (www.TurnMeUp.org)
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. All rights to clips and music belong to their respective owners.
No comments:
Post a Comment