“I wanna live a life of suicides, I wanna be the type with crying eyes” – for NEGATIVE TREND’s singer bassist Shattner who died a few years after this words of the EP’s highpoint “Black and red”, these words seemed to be a morbid motto. Drug ridden, totally hopeless Junkie Punk from one of San Francisco’s best bands ever. Although I can’t stand “Mercenaries” with its disharmonic (not on purpose, my guess) chorus line and “”How ya feel” neither ain’t the best song ever, this 7″ still is among my all time faves. Two songs here on, “the aforementioned “Black and red” and “Meathouse”, just destroy! “I just got back from the meathouse, they got all our lovers hanging there. I took a look into the meathouse, they package all our heroes there”. The lyrics alone make you feel uncomfortable and the music is the perfect soundtrack to an early death. It’s also remarkable that this comes close to proto-HC of a slow tempo kind. You see, in 1978, something was in the air in California!
Pretty much everybody once was in NEGATIVE TREND. The 12″ repress of this 7″ (a very worthwhile investment!) includes a family tree which has to be seen to be believed.
Did you know that Rik L Rik, who claimed to have written some of these songs (I’m not sure, but I seem to remember some sort of controversy about the actual authorship), recorded his own versions of “Meathouse”, “Mercenaries” and “Black and red”, to be found on the marvellous “Beach Boulevard” Comp LP? Now that’s a comp you oughta have, I tell you!
Mercenaries.mp3
Meathouse.mp3
Black and red.mp3
How ya feeling?.mp3
26 Comments
Ha ha there’s going to be double post for this one :). Ripped it last week and it’s standing in the pile of records to be posted. Who care it’s a great record! CHEERS!!!! TAKE CARE!!!!!!!!!!
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haha, sorry Pjotr – now that you tell me, I remember that you wanted to run your own thingie on NT (note to readers: we meet twice a week in our bunker beneath the ground, from where we control punk rock).
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I knew punk was being controlled by someone, but I can’t believe you just admitted it. My friends told me I was just being paranoid. Who’s the idiot now, motherfuckers???
Oh, and Meathouse is the standout rocker.
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tooth and nail “mercenaries” is great
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I just bought this last week on Amazon. Its on Henry Rollin’s label. Weird. Used to own the 12 inch re-release of this on Subterranean as a teen. Mercenaries is my favorite track on this one. Didn’t notice as a teen how smacked out this one is but now I can really hear it.
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Classic band! Ok record. Anyone want to hear what they really sounded like check out the Rozz – With Negative Trend CD which included the 1978 Demo and has the early singer that was pictured in their interview in one of those early Search & Destroy issues.
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“What they really sounded like” you’re an idiot tom. as pointed out aboe this band had so many line-ups how can you YOU say “what they really sounded like”? is this ep less real? unreal? dumbfuck.
saw the trend in sf when the ep was released. incredible show! only flipper were a better live band butthe the commie punks came (dks) and pretty much ruined everything (their following did).
great blog. very diverse which is fine with me. that’s what punk was all about. diversity. love and hate.
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Xray your a dumbfuck! What I mean when I say that is when compared to the 1978 demo material with first singer the 7″ sucks assholes, really stinky ones too. I mean he sounds like some punk cowboy (before cowpunk became all the rage). Becareful what you say to me or I might have to come down there and do some “pranks” on you in my basement…all night long, with a hammer and sickle t-shirt on. Cheers. -Tom
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tom – you shouldn’t threat me unless you would give me the opportunity to really meeting you and spankin your little punk ass.
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Calm down, kids.
Tom – it’s really bizarre what you’re saying. You maybe shouldn’t approach music in such a religious way.
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Here’s a link to some interesting
info about Rik L Rik and his short
stint with Negative Trend.
http://www.punkvinyl.com/2004/12/17/selections-from-the-punk-vault-rik-l-rik/
The songs from “Tooth and Nail” are
from the same session as the Rik L Rik single “Meathouse”, with a
different mix.
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Bought the original record in the mid 80s on a fleamarket in germany for small money,needet money in the beginning of 2001 and sold it also for small money on ebay germany.(Sad but true)Absolutely great record.Anyone got the lyrics to Meathouse?
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too bad it’s not Will Shatter on this record, it’s Mikal Waters.
http://www.jneomarvin.com/scrapbook/pages/3G_PSD.htm
and here’s a photo as well.
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and oldie but classic.thanks!
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Finally I can listen to NT, thanks
I’ve read that Negative Trend opened for the Sex Pistols in Winterland, Jan ’78. Greil Marcus talks about it in ‘Lipstick traces’ if memory serves.
The Italian CCM played ‘Mercenaries’ live. A killer version can be heard on the ‘Last White Christmas’ tape (BCT), I think it’s still available
Tschüss
Fernando
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FUCK RIK! its all about ROOOOOZZZ!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!! M-16!
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Hi,
Somebody knows their “Meathouse” songs lyrics?
Sorry, I’m from non-English-speaking country and my English listening comprehension isn’t very good. And I haven’t own this record.
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anzor Reply:
December 8th, 2015 at 23:19
Meathouse
It was cold, I could see my breath
the light was blue and bare
and dancing up on the hooks
everyone was just hanging there
they moved so slow
they move so slow
but they got no reason to hurry
they’re not going anywhere.
I just got back from the meathouse
I took a look into the meathouse
they got all our lovers hanging there.
I walked right down the line
saw every process every stage
all the cutting and the chopping
everyone was falling apart
I stopped real near the end
where they hang so still
every skinless face I saw
I’d seen somewhere some other time.
I just got back from the meathouse
I took a look into the meathouse
they package all our heroes there.
? ? ?
I just got back from the meathouse
I took a look into the meathouse
they got all our lovers hanging there.
I don’t like seeing old friends
it’s never quite the same
we used to have such fun
but somehow people always change
now they hang and I stare
and I can’t tell them apart
old friends or old enemies
or just people that I knew.
I just got back from the meathouse
I took a look into the meathouse
they package all our heroes there.
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i don’t know if anyone mentioned this yet, but Will Shatter isn’t singing on this ep, it’s Mikal Waters.
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THE NEGATIVE TREND REUNION LAST YEAR FUCKING SUCKED
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hey im the singer who sang on the 7 inch ep.i have 1 copy which im willing to part with. U can contact me on
jm waters1@bigpond.com.au
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Okay, just to clear a couple of things up. We did not open for the Sex Pistols but we were there being annoying. The CD Rozz and Negative Trend The Pop Sessions is not a Negative Trend CD, neither I or Will Shatter played on that CD. It is a Rozz solo CD. The only recording of the Rozz version of negative trend is on the Miners Benefit CD.The Rik L Rik stuff was recorded as Negative Trend and never meant to be his solo stuff.
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Robbie Fields Reply:
September 5th, 2011 at 07:38
I’m absolutely on the same page as Craig on this.
Though we include the Posh Boy Negative Trend recordings in Rik’s canon, they are now identified as Negative Trend.
Erich, I need to ask you one thing. Unless you can cite an attribution for the following throwaway :
“Did you know that Rik L Rik, who claimed to have written some of these songs (I’m not sure, but I seem to remember some sort of controversy about the actual authorship) …”
I would ask you to rephrase the otherwise highly complimentary statement of yours.
I cannot recall any disputes over songwriting credits involving these songs. Rik joined the band long after they were written, Rik did co-write other N.T. songs, like “Atomic Lawn” and “I Got Power”.
Craig Gray and I spent some time in 2010 going over songwriting credits for Negative Trend and Sleepers songs, to avoid just this type of unfounded allegation.
And, as you know, neither Rik or Will is around to give their $ .02.
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I’m actually kinda shocked to learn The Pop Sessions isn’t really Negative Trend. In my opinion its THE BEST unreleased album from the punk days. Better than the Screamers or Pure Hell. Maybe equal with the Electric Eels. But PUNK at its ferocious best. I wondered why none of the songs were on the Miners Benefit and I guess I know the answer. Craig, are there more Negative Trend demos? Personally I found the Miners set a bit tinny, a bit too off-the-cuff, like it was a very early stage of the band. And PS: Rik L Rik was too macho, too Doors to really fit NG. He wasn’t as foaming mad as Rozz or as deep and ominous as Mikal. PSS: are you pulling our legs? I just can’t imagine Pop Sessions as anyone else. Who did play? Why wasn’t it released at the time? WHEN was it recorded? PSSS: When my band does “I Can Laught About It Now”, the girls go nuts and the boys bang slow and hard.
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Rozz quit on the night a major label was coming to see us, I think his stuff was recorded after that. The only other recording of NT at that time is a rehearsal tape that Rozz sold to someone. I’m sure Rozz would love to about his songs. he’s on Facebook. We ahd been together 3 months when the Miners Benefit was recorded. There is some footage on Youtube of the Rozz era.
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mercenaries, how ya feel, and meat house sucked…black and red was a pretty good jam though…its actually one of my favorite songs right now
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So Rozz was never in negative trend ? I wanna see this family tree Hahah
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Based on the credits, Will wrote the words to all these songs despite Rik playing them on the lost album. I think that includes I Got Power and Atomic Lawn (which seems to be a reworked version of Welcome To My City from back when Rozz was in the band). If you want to hear Will sing lead on a NT song, the only recording I know of is Mercenaries off a limited edition official release of the Any Three Initials album that cam out last winter. What I’m wondering is if any of the other Tooth and Nail tracks survived in their original mix with Rik’s original vocals and Will’s bass intact.
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Robbie Fields Reply:
April 4th, 2012 at 00:08
@MikeS,
Go to bmi.com and use the repertoire search function to check songwriting credits.
You wrote :
“What I’m wondering is if any of the other Tooth and Nail tracks survived in their original mix with Rik’s original vocals and Will’s bass intact.”
“I Got Power”, as you know has different vocals on “Tooth and Nail”. As Rik “originally” recorded the vocals can be heard on the Beach Blvd. release.
On the other hand, the versions of “Mercenaries” and “I Got Power” on T&N do not have Jay Lansford overdubbing Will’s bass lines. As told elsewhere, N.T. arrived in L.A. for the recording session without instruments. The studio provided bass was little better than Lorna Doom’s, first offered to us at The Masque in its guise as a rehearsal facility.
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[…] and yet another version of “Mercenaries”. You’ve heard the band’s EP here, haven’t you. The MIDDLE CLASS turn up the speed and deliver the best song they ever recorded […]
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