Wipers

Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, along with drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. The group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion were hailed as extremely influential by numerous critics and musicians. The band is considered the first Pacific Northwest punk band.

History

Origins

Sage's intense interest in music began with cutting records at home as an adolescent.

Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Sage soon picked up the guitar, and in 1971, at age 17, he played on an eponymous album by professional wrestler Beauregarde.

Foundation, early years

Sage founded the Wipers in Portland in 1977 along with drummer Henry and bassist Koupal, originally just as a recording project. The plan was to record 15 albums in 10 years without touring or promotion. Sage thought that the mystique built from the lack of playing traditional rock 'n' roll would make people listen to their recordings much deeper with only their imagination to go by. He thought it would be easy to avoid press, shows, pictures and interviews. He looked at music as art rather than entertainment; he thought music was personal to the listener rather than a commodity.

Greg Sage

Greg Sage (born 1952) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Between 1977 and 1988, Sage was the principal songwriter of the influential Portland, Oregon-based band Wipers.

The mood of Sage's lyrics is frequently dark, and rife with references to confusion and severe alienation. His song structures often take unexpected turns and are typified by fractured melodic passages punctuated by massive, intricate guitar parts, usually played on a Gibson SG.

Sage has been involved in music professionally since the age of 17, when he worked on an full-length album by the professional wrestler Beauregarde (Beauregard, 1971; re-released 2004).

Since the demise of Wipers, Sage has also recorded several albums as a solo musician and operates his own label, Zeno Records, based in Phoenix, Arizona. He also builds musical equipment, including his own studio.

Sage is also notable as a rare example of someone who plays guitar left-handed even though he is a natural right hander.

Youth of America

Youth of America is the second studio album by Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers. It was released in 1981 by record label Park Avenue.

Background

The album marked a distinctive change in the band's sound. Compared to its predecessor, Is This Real?, which was composed mostly of raw, sleek and relatively traditional songs, Youth of America featured much longer and complex compositions; the title track alone clocks in at over 10 minutes. According to frontman Greg Sage, this change of pace was a deliberate counter-reaction against the trend of releasing short songs, which many punk bands did at the time.

Reception

According to Sage, the album was not well received in the United States at the time of its release, but fared better in Europe.

Reissue

Youth of America was later reissued on record labels Backbone and Restless, with different covers for each, and on Sage's own Zeno Records as disc 2 of the Wipers Box Set, albeit with a different running order to the original vinyl issue.

Alien Boy

"Alien Boy" was the seventh song on the first Wipers album, Is This Real? (Park Avenue Records), released in 1980.

Alien Boy is also the title of a 1980 Wipers EP, with "Alien Boy" on side A, and three outtakes from the Is This Real? album sessions on side B. In 1993, the tracks were added to the Sub Pop reissue of the album Is This Real?.

The Alien Boy EP cover art featured on the back of the Sub Pop version of Is This Real? was not the original; instead, Sub Pop used the cover art of the German version of the Alien Boy EP, released in 1987 on the label Weird System, a special limited edition of 2,000 numbered copies on green vinyl.

According to frontman Greg Sage's statement on the Zeno Records website, James Chasse, also called "Jim Jim", was the subject of "Alien Boy". Sage noted, "Jim Jim's conversations with me and his powerful sense of vision painted uncanny, powerful visions in my head that became a huge influence for a few songs that were later recorded for the Is This Real? LP." Chasse was murdered by police officers in Portland, Oregon in September 2006, and he is the subject of the documentary film Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse.

Is This Real?

Is This Real? is the debut studio album by the Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records.

The album was reissued on CD by Sub Pop in 1993, augmented by the three tracks from the Alien Boy EP.

In 2001, it was digitally remastered by Sage and reissued again on his own Zeno Records as part of a 3-CD set, with the track list altered so that the song "Alien Boy" appeared together with the other three tracks from the Alien Boy EP, after "Wait a Minute".

It was reissued on LP by Jackpot Records in 2006, remastered again from the original tapes that Sage provided to the label.

Release and reception

Initially wanting to put it out through his own Trap Records, Sage decided to release the album through Park Avenue Records, hoping that it would give them slightly wider distribution. Before it was released, Park Avenue insisted that the band re-record the album at a professional studio, as it was originally recorded at the band's rehearsal studio on a 4-track recorder. When finally released, the album was not promoted and received little attention, only developing a cult following in the band's hometown. The album (and the band's music in general) gained a slightly wider audience during the early 1990s when grunge band Nirvana covered the songs "Return of the Rat" and "D-7" on a Wipers tribute album and the group's Hormoaning EP. In 1993, Nirvana vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain listed Is This Real? at No. 46 in the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his Journals.BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel stated in a 1993 interview that it was one of his top 20 favorite albums, and "Wait a Minute" was covered by My Vitriol on their "Cemented Shoes" single in 2000.