Video Disturbeo: Soft Cell.

Oh. My. I really don't think I've ever actually seen the original video for Soft Cell's "Sex Dwarf." I mean, I probably would have remembered seeing it; it's a fairly memorable affair. Directed by Tim Pope, the prolific British director who's responsible for some of the greatest Cure videos ever made, this little film of absolute madness is one of the strangest things we here at SDU HQ have laid our eyes on in recent times.


A naked lady is strapped to a hospital gurney. Dave Ball is smirking in the corner of the white room, playing the blades of a chainsaw like a cello, surrounded by hanging hunks of raw meat. Marc Almond, whilst caressing the struggling naked lady, crows the demented lyrics as the room fills with half-dressed and BDSM-attired people who then proceed to commence an orgy. AND – just when things can't get any whackier, a leather-bound midget (the "sex dwarf" in question, I'd reckon) enters the fray and begins throwing raw meat everywhere.


This is just wrong. But when we here at Second Drawer Up say "wrong," we mean it in a good way. And – hoo, boy – is it NSFW.


From their 1981 debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, here is "Sex Dwarf" by Soft Cell, in its original, uncensored form – the way it was meant to be seen. Fucking brilliant.

Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf (Original Video) from Sergio Diaz on Vimeo.

Gig Review: Nitzer Ebb.

NITZER EBB

26 SEPTEMBER 2010

FOLSOM STREET FAIR

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Do you pronounce it NIT-zer Ebb? Or NIGHT-zer Ebb? Doesn't matter, my good friends. Both are correct - just depends on the moment, really. The band says it both ways, and, by my reckoning, so should you.

On a spectacularly hot and (quite rare this year) sunny afternoon this last Sunday, Essex-based trio Nitzer Ebb was the headlining band for San Francisco's favourite BDSM festival, the one and only Folsom Street Fair. And what a day it was! A couple of friends of mine and I traversed Folsom from 12th Street to 8th, taking in the sights and sounds of a veritable shitload of gays, straights, lesbians, bears, leather daddies, tourists, locals, nudists, tops, bottoms, upsidedowns, slaves, owners, twinks, doms, trannies, transvestites, latex babes, and piercing affectionadoes (wow, could have sworn that was a word - but I like it, so I'm going to keep it) wandering around the streets and alleys of the SOMA district of downtown San Francisco ... and keeping it real, in a big fucking way.

And it was all good. We had a lovely time. Pretty much everybody under this great Sun of ours was represented, at least in some form or other. I quite like an atmosphere where everybody can be themselves, unmasked, around other like-minded folk, and in the process, everybody gets along. Isn't that the point of life? Getting along? That's what I think - but it's fucking appalling to me how many people out there just don't get it.

Where was I again? Oh yeah - Nitzer Ebb!

I'm not sure as to what exactly happened, but there seemed to have been some kind of a technical glitch that occured, so their set was delayed for 20 minutes. Which was a pretty hard-core fuckup on the part of the stage technicians, considering that all music had to cease and desist by 6 PM. This was especially bad in Nitzer Ebb's case, seeing as their set was supposed to begin at 5.05. Not good, not at all. Sure, we had San Francisco's own District 6 supervisor candidate Anna Conda (check out her site here) acting as a mildly amusing MC (think Guy Pierce in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - but not as cute), but I think the crowd was beginning to get a little restless. A hunched-over and naked old man to the right of us began to furtively masturbate, whilst a man wearing a goat mask backwards loomed nearby.

5.25 PM, and success! Nitzer Ebb - singer Douglas McCarthy and drummers Bon Harris and Jason Payne - took to the stage and wasted absolutely no time in breaking into their first number, "Getting Closer" from their 1990 album Showtime. Damn, their music packs such a punch! Think of a tractor-trailer painted the pitchest of black hurtling down an inclined interstate with absolutely no brakes, and you have there an idea of the beats being thrown out at the audience whilst McCarthy prowled the stage right to left and back again like a caged panther in militaristic garb, barking his lyrics as if they were orders to disgraceful subordinates. "I know what you buy / And it's wall to wall! / I know what you buy / I'm not gonna - TRY!"

Absolutely brilliant - the crowd (including our masturbating geriatric) was bouncing around like crazy, enthralled with the charisma flowing from the stage like magma. McCarthy, Harris, and Payne threw out as many songs as they could with their unfortunately truncated set; 1987's That Total Age, 1989's Belief, 1990's Showtime, and 1991's Ebbhead were represented in all their electro-industrial glory - as were a couple of songs from their first album in almost two decades, this year's Industrial Complex. "Down On Your Knees" was a glorious and ingeniously ferocious nod to their early pre-That Total Age days, and "Once You Say" (backing vocals on the album provided by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode!) fucking rocked, complete with hardcore thrashing guitars that brought to mind Motörhead.

But here's where I might get a little critical. Now, I don't mind backing tapes all that much. If you're specifically an electronic band in a particularly demanding setting, then backing tapes are probably a must. This was an outdoor festival under a non-elastic schedule, so I'm not griping about the fact that it was rather obvious that, for all the flailing of drumsticks that Harris and Payne did, not once did their beating sync with what we heard (but maybe the beating-off of our old buddy) - but it was very noticeable. I've seen Nitzer Ebb a couple of times before, and they do perform the percussion live under different circumstances - but, yeah, it was hard to ignore.

However, as my friend Michael so sagely put it later, McCarthy's charisma (and his reflective policeman shades) quite literally carried the show - or what was left of it after the 25-minute delay. Enough about that; I think there's something more important to say.

One of the major themes swimming about in Nitzer Ebb's songs has always been about empowerment. Back in the mid-to-late 80's, that empowerment was being preached to the young - "Forget all that you're told / You are young, they are old / Control is all they've got to give" from Showtime's "Fun To Be Had" (which probably was going to be on the set, but wasn't for obvious reasons) is a great example. But there, on the baking asphalt of downtown San Francisco that sunny Sunday afternoon, the lyrics took on a different power - especially with a group of people who had grown up (probably in high school, no less) with their music. No, this time I reckon the empowerment Nitzer Ebb's music conveyed had less to do with authority, per se, but with the fucking dimwitted bigots and haters who would love nothing more than to see beautiful street parties like this outlawed, once and for all.

And I think that's a message that carries on, and it's a fucking great thing indeed. Goddamn, I love music.

setlist

getting closer

down on your knees

shame

hearts & minds

once you say

lightning man

godhead

murderous

And now, for your amusement, here's McCarthy and friends with the rather dark and menacing track "Lightning Man" from Showtime. Enjoy!

Electro Classic Jukebox: Eurythmics.

As I was writing my recent review for the LCD Soundsystem show last week, I'd made the point that one of the tracks off their new album This Is Happening, "I Can Change," reminded me of early Eurythmics. What song was it, I asked myself, aware that I hadn't really listened to Annie Lennox and Dave Stewarts' deliciously icy pop in quite some time. Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued, so I pulled out my little collection of their first three albums - In The Garden, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), and Touch - and proceeded to have myself a sweet little Eurythmics listening party. Cool! I had completely forgotten what a rich treasure trove of material those two had put out during the first half of the 80's.

Cutting edge synths and beautiful orchestrations beautifully dovetailed with Lennox's silky alto voice on such choice tracks like "Who's That Girl?," "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)," and "Here Comes The Rain Again," propelling them to the top of the electro scene back in the day. After I realized what song LCD Soundsystem's single had reminded me of ("Love Is A Stranger" off of SD(AMOT), in case you were curious), I dutifully visited our dear friend YouTube and watched the video!

The video has it all: A mysterious chauffeur, a nighttime ride through the streets of London, a creepy puppet, and the one and only Lennox wearing BDSM-inspired clothing with a multitude of sexy wigs over her shock of bright red hair. Watch out for her (looking awfully damn sexy, by the way) writhing on a bathroom floor with a length of film - damn, she's freaking hot! And the lyrics themselves, in my own humble opinion, are really quite frank and honest in describing love itself. Here's a sample: "It's guilt-edged, glamorous and sleek by design/You know it's jealous by nature, false and unkind/It's hard and restrained and it's totally cool/It touches and it teases as you stumble in the debris" And it's absolutely fabulous when delivered by Lennox's smoky voice.

Also - watch for Dave Stewart (as the aforementioned chauffeur) pulling out a phone that looks suspiciously like an iPhone. See? They were ahead of their time!

So, with no further ado, here's the video for "Love Is A Stranger." Damn, I'm glad for my little listening party - their music will certainly continue in my ongoing shuffle!