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| Pagan Day | |
|---|---|
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| Studio album by | |
| Released | December 23, 1984 |
| Label | Temple Records TOPY 003 |
| Pagan Day | |
 TOPY 017 1986, black vinyl | |
Pagan Day (originally released as A Pagan Day (Pages From a Notebook)) is a 1984 album by English experimental band Psychic TV. The cover photograph is of Caresse P-Orridge taken by Andrew Rawling.
All music was recorded on a 4-track cassette machine under the guidance of Alex Fergusson, an original co-founder of the group, with Genesis P-Orridge. A Pagan Day was subtitled Pages From a Notebook as the material was a sketch of the songs, revealing of the process itself.
All songs were written by Genesis P-Orridge and Alex Ferguson, with the exception of "Translucent Carriages" written by Tom Rapp of the group Pearls Before Swine.
"Cold Steel" is a demo version (with vocals by Fergusson) of "The Orchids", originally released on 1983's Dreams Less Sweet. Different arrangements of "We Kiss" and "Baby's Gone Away", and a completely rearranged "New Sexuality" with new lyrics (retitled "She Was Surprised") appeared on 1988's Allegory and Self. [1]
This recording was first released as TOPY 003 on 23 December 1984 at 11pm (the 23rd hour of the 23rd day) as a picture disc, limited to 999 copies. It was only available at the Rough Trade record shop in London. [1]
One side of the original vinyl was a full-color photograph of Carresse P-Orridge as a baby, the other side had text in red on white. It was only available to shops and distributors between 11 am and 12 am on launch day. The 1984 picture disc release was limited to 999 copies (TOPY 003) and had the scratched message "Just Like Arcadia". High collector prices being paid for the original picture disc. [2]
In 1986, the band re-released the album in a non-limited edition. The 1986 black vinyl unlimited edition (TOPY 017) had the scratched message "TOPY 017: for Alex".
Cleopatra Records records re-released it in 1994 as "Genesis P-Orridge & Psychic TV – Pagan Day", with a cover incorrectly noting the original release date as 25 December 1986 (CLEO94692).
Pagan Day and the related 1988 album Allegory and Self were re-released in 2017 by Sacred Bones Records and Dais Records. [1]
AllMusic described the album as "less extreme" than previous albums, writing "Song structure is observed, and Orridge and cohort Alex Ferguson keep a fairly tight rein on things. The 14 songs include two untitled fragments originally released as a seven-inch single with early copies of the album, and most of them have a clearly defined musical logic and progression. Fans of Psychic TV's more out-there work might find this distressingly restrained, but it's a remarkable performance nonetheless." [3] Pitchfork, reviewing the 2017 re-issue noted that Pagan Day (1984) and Allegory and Self (1988) represent extremities in the early Psychic TV catalog—the former was once the rarest and rawest of their recordings, the latter was their most pop-oriented and commercially successful. But these two oppositional records share a significant amount of DNA". [1]
All tracks composed by Genesis P-Orridge and Alex Fergusson; except where indicated
| Pagan Day | |
|---|---|
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| Studio album | |
| Label | Cleopatra Records CD, CLEO 94692,1994 |
Bonus Tracks (listed on sticker on shrinkwrap only):
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolving from the experimental performance art group COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle made their public debut in October 1976 on COUM exhibition Prostitution, and released their debut single "United/Zyklon B Zombie" and debut album The Second Annual Report the following year. Lyrical themes mainly revolved around mysticism, extremist political ideologies, sexuality, dark or underground aspects of society, and idiosyncratic manipulation of language.
Alternative TV are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules".
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notability as the founder of the COUM Transmissions artistic collective and lead vocalist of seminal industrial band Throbbing Gristle. P-Orridge was also a founding member of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth occult group, and fronted the experimental pop rock band Psychic TV.
Coil were an experimental music group, founded in 1982 in London, England and concluded in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance, Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner Peter Christopherson. Balance and Christopherson were the only constant members; other contributors throughout the band's career included Stephen Thrower, Danny Hyde, Drew McDowall, William Breeze, Thighpaulsandra, and Ossian Brown. Coil's work explored themes related to alchemy, the occult, and sexuality, influencing genres such as goth rock, neofolk, and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."
Psychic TV were an English experimental video art and music group, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson in 1981 after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle.
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth or TOPY was a fellowship founded in 1981 by members of Psychic TV and a number of other individuals. The network is a loosely federated group of people operating as a blend of artistic collective and Chaos magic practitioners.
Paula P-Orridge, also known as Alaura O'Dell, is an English musician, writer, and entrepreneur.
Allegory and Self is a LP released by Psychic TV in 1988 that comprises a varied selection of their work.
The discography of the experimental music group Psychic TV consists of over 100 full-length albums, over 15 compilation albums and over 30 singles and EPs.
Force the Hand of Chance is the debut studio album by English experimental group Psychic TV, released in 1982 by record label Some Bizzare. The first 5,000 pressings came with a bonus album, Themes.
Dreams Less Sweet is the second studio album by English experimental band Psychic TV, released in 1983. It was the last Psychic TV album to feature co-founder Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson.
Themes 2, also referred to as Themes, Vol. 2, is a studio album by a multimedia collective Psychic TV, released by Temple Records in 1985. It is the second album in the Themes series, predeced by Themes – initially an accompanying release to Force the Hand of Chance – and followed up by Themes 3, and was recorded as a soundtrack for videos by a British filmmaker Derek Jarman.
Thee Majesty was a British industrial music group.
Jack the Tab/Tekno Acid Beat is an album of material by Psychic TV released under the guise of a various artists compilation album. The album is compiled from the releases Jack the Tab – Acid Tablets Volume One and Tekno Acid Beat.
Towards Thee Infinite Beat is an album by Psychic TV. It was followed by the remix album Beyond Thee Infinite Beat.
Godstar is the name of a song and several releases by Psychic TV in 1985. The releases feature the band The Angels of Light. Two compilations, Godstar: Thee Director's Cut and Godstar: The Singles - Pt. 2, were later released. The song was about the life of Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, with whom Genesis P-Orridge had a peculiar fascination.
The song was covered by Television Personalities on their album Don't Cry Baby, It's Only A Movie.
"Roman P" is a song by Psychic TV about director Roman Polanski.
Peak Hour is an album by Psychic TV.
Snakes is a 2014 album by avant-garde music group Psychic TV. It was written after Genesis P-Orridge's trip to Benin and is lyrically focused on the voodoo culture.
Alienist is the final studio album by avant-garde music group Psychic TV. It was announced on 11 August 2016, and released on 16 September 2016, by Angry Love Productions.