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Hi there Sorry Staters. Here we are with a newsletter coming out on the eve of the US election. Is this the eve of destruction or the beginning of a new era of hope and positivity? I’m feeling election anxiety and fear for the future. As a legal resident but non-citizen (yet) of the United States, I unfortunately do not have the right to vote, although I get to pay taxes. Let’s hope that enough of the people that can vote do and the world can finally be rid of the orange scum that has been poisoning our lives for the last ten years or so.
I missed the deadline for the Halloween week newsletter last time out, but am writing this on Halloween day here at the store, where Jeff has a custom themed video playlist set up with a TV screen on the counter so customers can shop and watch and listen to cool horror videos. Nice. For the record, my favorite horror character is Dracula. I like the Hammer House Of Horror films best, but also love horror comedies like Shaun Of The Dead and Young Frankenstein.
For my pick this week I’d like to recommend The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy: Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury album released in 1992. I’ve been listening to it recently, inspired by the current political and social landscape and because we recently had a used copy come through the store. What a great mix of hip-hop and rock this record is. Perhaps you’ll remember the MTV “hit” Television, The Drug Of The Nation, which continued from where Gil Scott-Heron left off with his The Revolution Will Not Be Televised from two decades previously. Both songs were ahead of their time and stand up equally today as they did when first recorded.
Heroes consisted of Michael Franti and Rono Tse, who formed after the end of their previous group the Beatnigs, which were an experimental industrial group who also fused rock with hip-hop. Michael Franti, of course, became more widely known with his next band, Spearhead.
Undoubtedly, the brilliant Television track stands out as a highlight of the album, a song they brought with them from The Beatnigs, but they cover other social and political issues across the other cuts on the record. Racial identity and sexual identity are subjects tackled and done well. Many people have written that they were inspired and changed after hearing these songs. I’ve read that college professors would quote lyrics from the album to demonstrate a point that they were trying to get across to their students. Certainly, one could still learn a lot from playing this album. Music, be it hip-hop or punk or whatever else, can be like a newspaper or a textbook teaching us and informing us. As a dumb white kid coming up during this era, I can certainly vouch for the educational benefit of listening to records like this.
There is also a cover on the album. A nice working of Dead Kennedys’ California Über Alles updated to reference the then Governor of California Pete Wilson. Added to some copies of the album was an additional one sided 12” with the track Rock The Vote (Exercise Your Rights), which was to encourage voter turnout in the 1992 elections. It’s a bangin’ cut and hopefully influenced some would-be voters. I’m not sure whether the track targeted the US elections or worldwide, but the 12” and vinyl editions of the album only appeared in the UK and Europe. As far as I can tell, there is no US vinyl pressing. Although I remember buying the album on CD when it came out, I can’t recall hearing the Rock The Vote track until I found a vinyl copy years later.
The group, although being critically well received, didn’t break through to big commercial heights, although as mentioned before, the track Television was a minor hit. During this period, they toured with a lot of big groups and opened for U2 on their Zoo TV tour and featured prominently. They also opened for Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine.
Fans of guitarist Charlie Hunter might know that he got his professional start with the group. He’s featured on the album and played for a while in their touring band before moving on to his own projects.
If you dig sample based hip-hop from the golden age with a production value like the Bomb Squad or Public Enemy mixed with Alternative Tentacles vibes, then this album will be right up your street. If you aren’t already familiar, of course. Even if you are familiar, now is a good time to pull this one off the shelf and give it a spin or to dial it up on your preferred streaming platform. I’ve added a couple of YouTube links there for you to check out and will leave you with a great clip taken from the Save Our Cities Rally in Washington, D.C. back in 1992, which has the group play Rock The Vote, California Uber Alles and Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury, another key cut from the album. Click here to watch that.
Alright, that’s all from me. The rest of the world, please pray for us all over here in America that our national nightmare ends this Tuesday. Probably going to be a shit show, but wish us luck anyway.
Cheers - Dom