Suicide was an American musical duo composed of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, intermittently active between 1970 and 2016. The group's pioneering music used minimalist electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers and primitive drum machines, and their early performances were confrontational and often ended in violence. They were among the first acts to use the phrase "punk music" in an advertisement for a concert in 1970—during their very brief stint as a three-piece including Paul Liebegott.
John Michael Stipe is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M.
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
David James Ball is an English producer and electronic musician, who has played in bands such as Soft Cell and the Grid, and collaborated with other producers including Ingo Vauk and Chris Braide. He is usually called Dave Ball on record sleeves.
Alan Bermowitz, known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic proto-punk duo Suicide.
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the influential Underwater Moonlight, Hitchcock launched a prolific solo career.
"Orange Crush" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Green, in 1988. It was not commercially released in the U.S. despite reaching number one as a promotional single on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks. It peaked at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's then-highest chart hit in Britain, where they promoted the song by making their debut appearance on Top of the Pops.
"Nightswimming" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in July 1993 by Warner Bros. as the fifth single from the band's eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The song is a ballad featuring singer Michael Stipe accompanied only by bassist Mike Mills on piano, a string arrangement by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and a prominent oboe by Deborah Workman in the latter part of the piece. Stipe sings about a group of friends who go skinny dipping at night, which draws from similar experiences in the band's early days. The music video for the song was directed by Jem Cohen.
Hard Volume is the second studio album by American rock band Rollins Band, released in 1989. It was reissued with previously unreleased tracks in 1999 through Buddah Records.
Suicide is the debut studio album from the American rock band Suicide. It was released in 1977 on Red Star Records and produced by Craig Leon and Marty Thau. The album was recorded in four days at Ultima Sound Studios in New York and featured Martin Rev's minimalist electronics and harsh, repetitive rhythms paired with Alan Vega's rock and roll-inspired vocals and depictions of urban life.
"Paperlate" is a song by the British rock band Genesis from their second of two EPs. The EP, titled 3×3, peaked at No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart in mid-1982. The success of the EP led to an appearance on Top of the Pops. In the US and Europe, "Paperlate" was released as a standard single, backed by "You Might Recall". It was also featured on the U.S. version of the band's Three Sides Live album, of which all three tracks from the 3×3 EP are included on side four.
Hot Animal Machine is the debut solo album by Henry Rollins which served as a precursor to the Rollins Band. It is only available now in the same 2-in-one package as Drive by Shooting. It is notable for a number of cover songs; Suicide's "Ghost Rider", Richard Berry's "Crazy Lover" and The Velvet Underground's "I'm Gonna Move Right In". The cover was drawn by Mark Mothersbaugh, the frontman of the popular 1980s group Devo.
"Midnight Rider" is a song by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was the second single from their second studio album, Idlewild South (1970), released on Capricorn Records. The song was primarily written by vocalist Gregg Allman, who first began composing it at a rented cabin outside Macon, Georgia. He enlisted the help of roadie Robert Kim Payne to complete the song's lyrics. He and Payne broke into Capricorn Sound Studios to complete a demo of the song.
"Tearing" is a 1992 single by the American rock band Rollins Band, from the album The End of Silence.
"Frankie Teardrop" is a song by Suicide from the band's self-titled debut album, released in 1977.
"Auf Wiedersehen" is a song co-written by Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson and first released on the band's 1978 album Heaven Tonight. It was also released as a single as the B-side of "Surrender". Since its original release, it has also been released by Cheap Trick on several live and compilation albums, including Budokan II; Sex, America, Cheap Trick; The Essential Cheap Trick, and the 30th Anniversary Edition of Cheap Trick at Budokan, which also includes a DVD with a video performance of the song. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as one of the peaks of Heaven Tonight and as one of Cheap Trick's "stone-cold classics." It has often been used by the band to close their concerts. Since its original release, it has been covered by Anthrax, Cell, John Easdale, and Steel Pole Bath Tub.
Green is the sixth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released on November 7, 1988, by Warner Bros. Records. The second album to be produced by the band and Scott Litt, it continued to explore political issues both in its lyrics and packaging. The band experimented on the album, writing major-key rock songs and incorporating new instruments into their sound including the mandolin, as well as switching their original instruments on other songs.
21½ Minutes in Berlin/23 Minutes in Brussels is a live performance album by Suicide, released in 1978 by Red Star Records. The B-side of the album is infamous for the audience's raucous revulsion toward the duo's performance, providing "some indication of the public's reaction to this confrontational duo in their heyday". 23 Minutes in Brussels remained largely unheard until its release in 1998 with the reissue of the band's self-titled debut album. 21½ Minutes in Berlin remains out of print.
Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series is a series of eight EPs with contributions from various artists paying tribute to Alan Vega and his band Suicide. The individual 10" vinyl EPs were pressed in limited quantities and released through the London-based label Blast First Petite. According to the project's press release, the series was originally intended to be a monthly year-long series across 12 EPs, but ended up being released periodically over three years starting in 2008, continuing into 2010. The series launched with simultaneous releases of Dream Baby Dream and Shadazz on October 28, 2008. Each EP features one or two artists covering either a Suicide or Alan Vega solo track, paired with either a previously unreleased live or demo version of a Suicide or Vega solo song. Most releases in the series featured what Blast First referred to as a "major" artist and also an "upcoming" artist. Most of the EPs were also released digitally around the time of the 10" vinyl release, with some seeing limited-edition CD releases as well.
