[Jandek] Introduction...

[djobe at uark.edu]

Oh yeah, I meant to respond to this to, since so many people on the list are new, and it's been a good two or three years since i last noted this.

My first intro to Janky was the infamous Spin article.  I was intrigued from the get-go, but quickly moved on to other things.  Then the same (once great) mag tagged him as one of the top influencers in music at that time, so I wrote his name down as a guy I had to get.

Finally...I was working at a University of Arkansas low band radio station and had my own show of pretty extreme stuff in the afternoons (Daniel Johnston, Swans, Sonic youth, live skull, Lou Reed, Brix era Fall) when I came across 'The Living End' and 'Somebody in the Snow' amongst the lp's.  The music manager at the time had a habit of circling the songs on a given album that he thought a good idea for radio play, and crossing out the songs he thought weren't so great.  Both Jandek albums had huge X's across the tracks (I meant to send scans of these to the Documentary guys, but sadly forgot about it.  Really is something to see), stating that NOTHING was suitable for play.  Naturally, I had to hear the stuff.  I took it to my best friend's house and put it on.  He was appalled. I didn't know what to do.  I took them home.  They beckoned me like a demonic text. I played them.  Over and over.  I became addicted to them.  I started slipping songs on people's comp tapes.  I ma
de "Om" into the song that began my show.  I played "License to Kill" almost every week.  I pretended that somebody was requesting the stuff.  This was not true. For whatever reason I did not get more albums, but when the station suddenly closed at the end of the semester, I took the albums (and, honestly, several others) home with me.  Who else could appreciate them?

Then, three years later, the net became a stable part of my life and I started ordering stuff from the early on-line "catalog style" indie stores.  The records "Blue Corpse" and "Follow Your Footsteps" showed up at my house. I wrote to Corwood demanding more and got my first few cd's.  I've been addicted ever since, corrupting people with "Blue Corpse" burns (from the lp) whenever possible, begging them to order more.

I'll be here to the end!


Danen