Telephone Free Landslide Victory

Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Studio album by Camper Van Beethoven
Released	June 1985
Recorded	January–February 1985
Studio	Sámurai Sound, Davis, California
Genre	Alternative rock, jangle pop
Length	39:37
Label	Independent Project
Camper Van Beethoven chronology
Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985) II & III (1986)

Telephone Free Landslide Victory is an album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Project Records and released in June 1985. ^[1] It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling". The album has sold over 60,000 copies. ^[2]

About

The band's lineup at the time of recording was David Lowery (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jonathan Segel (violin, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Chris Molla (guitar, backing vocals), Victor Krummenacher (bass, backing vocals), and Anthony Guess (drums). The album is the only Camper Van Beethoven record not to feature guitarist Greg Lisher. Lisher is actually listed in the album credits as a band member, but he did not join the band until after the album was recorded.

The reunited Camper Van Beethoven frequently features several of the album's songs in their set lists, including "Take the Skinheads Bowling", the countrified Black Flag cover "Wasted", the hardcore send-up "Club Med Sucks", "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon", "Ambiguity Song", and several of the instrumentals.

The band originally intended the album to be titled Telephone Tree Landslide Victory, but a friend who was producing advance copies of the LP on cassette mistakenly replaced "Tree" with "Free". ^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Blender	[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	7/10 [7]
The Village Voice	A− [8]

Michael Stipe named Telephone Free Landslide Victory one of his ten favorite albums of 1985 in a list he wrote for Rolling Stone . ^[9]

Track listing

Original 1985 version

Side one

1. "Border Ska" – 2:50
2. "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon" – 3:14
3. "Wasted" – 1:59 (Greg Ginn, Keith Morris)
4. "Yanqui Go Home" – 2:41
5. "Oh No!" – 1:54
6. "9 of Disks" – 2:36
7. "Payed Vacation: Greece" – 1:52
8. "Where the Hell Is Bill?" – 2:06
9. "Vladivostok" – 2:22

Side two

1. "Skinhead Stomp" – 1:48
2. "Tina" – 1:37 (The Tokens)
3. "Take the Skinheads Bowling" – 2:32
4. "Mao Reminisces About His Days in Southern China" – 1:59
5. "I Don't See You" – 2:23
6. "Balalaika Gap" – 2:13
7. "Opi Rides Again – Club Med Sucks" – 3:55
8. "Ambiguity Song" – 2:29

2004 CD reissue

1. "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon" – 3:14
2. "Border Ska" – 2:56
3. "Wasted" – 1:55
4. "Yanqui Go Home" – 2:41
5. "Oh No!" – 1:54
6. "9 of Disks" – 2:36
7. "Payed Vacation: Greece" – 1:52
8. "Where the Hell Is Bill?" – 2:05
9. "Wasting All Your Time" – 2:59
10. "Epigram #5" – 0:09
11. "At Kuda" – 2:14
12. "Epigram #2" – 0:21
13. "Cowboys From Hollywood (Original Version)" – 1:41
14. "Colonel Enrique Adolfo Bermudez" – 2:09
15. "Vladivostock" – 2:22
16. "Skinhead Stomp" – 1:47
17. "Tina" – 1:37
18. "Take the Skinheads Bowling" – 2:32
19. "Mao Reminisces About His Days in Southern China" – 1:59
20. "I Don't See You" – 2:23
21. "Balalaika Gap" – 2:13
22. "Opi Rides Again" – 0:50
23. "Club Med Sucks" – 3:05
24. "Ambiguity Song" – 2:30
25. "Heart (Remix)" – 3:07 (Hidden Track)

• Track 9 is a previously unreleased studio outtake.
• Tracks 10–14 originally released on the Take the Skinheads Bowling EP.

Personnel

Camper Van Beethoven

• David Lowery – lead vocals, guitars, drums
• Jonathan Segel – violin, backing vocals, keyboards, mandolin, noises
• Chris Molla – guitars, backing vocals, drums
• Victor Krummenacher – bass, backing vocals
• Anthony Guess – drums

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
UK Indie Chart [10]	30

References

1. Popoff, Martin (2009). Goldmine Record Album Price Guide. New York City: Penguin. ISBN   978-1-4402-2916-9.
2. Heim, Chris (November 10, 1989). "Count On More Surprises From Camper Van Beethoven". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved July 14, 2012.
3. Fricke, David (19 May 1988). "Camper Van Beethoven's Notes from the Underground". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 8 November 2018.
4. Raggett, Ned. "Telephone Free Landslide Victory – Camper Van Beethoven". AllMusic . Retrieved March 17, 2010.
5. Wolk, Douglas (May 2004). "Camper Van Beethoven: Telephone Free Landslide Victory / II & III / Camper Van Beethoven / Camper Vantiquities". Blender . Vol. 3, no. 4. pp. 141–142. Archived from the original on May 9, 2004. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
6. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Camper Van Beethoven". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York City: Simon & Schuster. pp.  132–133. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
7. Wyman, Bill (1995). "Camper Van Beethoven". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York City: Vintage Books. pp. 71–72. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
8. Christgau, Robert (April 1, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved April 11, 2019.
9. Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock . London, England: Rough Guides. pp.  1987. ISBN   9781858284576.
10. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.