Various ArtistsFeaturing: John Giorno, William Burroughs, Peter Gordon, John Cage, Charlie Morrow, Patti Smith, Gary Snyder
Sugar, Alcohol, & Meat (The Dial-A-Poem Poets) 2LP
** Original copies of this rarity. Factory sealed. Few copies available ** A pioneer of performance poetry—one of the leading cultural trends of the nineties—John Giorno has fashioned a signature style of intense, highly amplified, repetitive verse, with subtle shifts of phrasing, volume, and pitch to alter time and sense. Giorno has also been crucial to expanding the range of avant-garde poetry and music via new media technologies - and this compilation, also including five John Cage's tracks, recorded 1975-1980 at various locations in NYC, is no less.
"I don't know which one is Sugar, Alcohol,or Meat, but the writers pictured on the cover are ready for a cosy evening of Poetry Roulette. Set your MP3 player to shuffle and see what pops up. Some you win, some you lose, but unlike a real gambling establishment you win more than you lose. One turn you get Patti Smith.....lose.....the next you get Kathy Acker.....a win.
I suppose, if one was to assign each poet one of the three coping mechanisms for modern livin', John Ashbery, bottom right, would be Alcohol, as he looks like an alcoholic;Giorno would be Sugar,because there's far too much of it;and lastly, Burroughs would be the Meat, for obvious reasons, as thats what he writes about. The meat on your fork and where it came from and where it's going.
The modern epidemic of crypto veganism is, of course very concerned with the subject of Meat,but in a very different way to the Burroughsian slant.For the modern 'Vegan', in inverted commas, seem to be more concerned with moral oneupmanship,than actually giving a shit about animals in general,outside of the cute and cuddly pet angle. The latest thing is how they are, in fact, saving the planet. Not eating meat means less cows farting out greenhouse gases, means more room for the blight of Soya crops for Human consumption.....which is virtually organic tarmacing,and doesn't recognise the mass extinction problem that the globe faces;and they still drive,fly,buy tofu in plastic packages,and fart more because of their veggie diet.
So the Vegan's Naked Lunch,is the moment that they realise whats on the end of their fork,and the facts that they are Iron deficient,B12 lacking, essential Amino Acid less Extinction enabling fellow polluters,who are desperate to justify their,admittedly, free choice to be on a higher plane,looking down on vegetarians, omnivores (humans), and Carnivores (their animal chums),and proclaim this at every opportunity and puff out their chests with pride and superiority. Then they don't understand why they get such bad press?
As a shunned Vegetarian/Flexitarian,i have no problem with Veganism,just do it quietly and stop kidding yourselves that you're now saving the planet.....we should all be sooooo grateful,Thank you all.
PS we're DOOOOMED anyway." Die or D.I.Y
A1 - Peter Gordon: Excerpt from "Extended Niceties", performed by Peter Gordon & David Van Tieghem (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, January 1979)
A2 - John Giorno: I Resigned Myself To Being Here (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, May 1980)
A3 - John Cage: Alex & Gretchen Corazzo, The 6th Patriach Of Zen Buddhism, Once I Was Visiting My Aunt Marge, Dorothy Invited Me, One Of Suzuki's (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1971)
A4 - Tom Carey: Good Night Irene (The Saint Mark’s Church Fire Benefit at C.B.G.B.’s, New York, October 26, 1978)
A5 - Andreí Vosnesensky: I Am Goya, Song of Moscow Ancient Church Bells (The Saint Mark’s Church Fire Benefit at C.B.G.B.’s, New York, October 28, 1978)
Side Two
B1 - Miguel Pinero: New York City Hard Times Blues (The Nuyorican Poets Café 5th Anniversary at Poets At The Public, New York Shakespeare Festival, October 8, 1979)
B2 - Miguel Algarin: Setenta Y Cinco Abriles (The Nuyorican Poets Café 5th Anniversary at Poets At The Public, New York Shakespeare Festival, October 8, 1979)
B3 - Mitchell Kreigman: In The Bathtub (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, July 1979)
B4 - William S. Burroughs: From Nova Express: I was traveling with The Intolerable Kid on The Nova Lark (The Mudd Club, New York, April 4, 1979)
B5 - William S. Burroughs Jr.: Translucent Boy, An Excellent Time, & For Neal Cassidy (The Jack Kerouac School for Disembodied Poetics, Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado, August 15, 1979)
B6 - Charlie Morrow: Oh Yeh—Don't Die (New Wilderness Foundation, New York, March 1980)
B7 - Ted Berrigan: To Jack Kerouac (The Saint Mark’s Church Fire Benefit at C.B.G.B.’s, New York, October 28, 1978)
C1 - Charlotte Carter: Six Months In Brooklyn (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
C2 - Patti Smith: Parade (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, New York, January 1, 1975)
C3 - Cliff Fyman: Coffee (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
C4 - Robin Messing: 3 Subway Poems from "Temporary Worker" (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
C5 - Paul Violi: Whalefeathers (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
C6 - Bob Holman: RAP IT UP (The Saint Mark’s Poetry Project Benefit, Town Hall, New York, April 19, 1980)
C7 - Allen Ginsberg: C.I.A. Dope Calypso (The Saint Mark’s Church Fire Benefit at C.B.G.B.’s, New York, October 27, 1978)
C8 - Anne Waldman: Lady Tactics (University of Texas at Austin, April 19, 1979)
C9 - John Ashbery: Litany, excerpt from Part II, with Ann Lauterbach (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, June 1979)
C10 - Beth Anderson: I Can't Stand It (The Kitchen, New York, May 5, 1979)
C11 - Rene Ricard: Rene Ricard Famous at 20 (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit at Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
C12 - Barbara Barg: Chicks (The Saint Mark’s Poetry Project Benefit at Town Hall, New York, April 19, 1980)
C13 - Ned Sublette: Nice Young Mormons (Steve Cellum, New York, April 13, 1980)
C14 - Kathy Acker: I Was Walking Down The Street (One of the fairytales the whores of Montmartre tell each other to sleep after a hard night's work in "The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec") (The Saint Mark’s Church Fire Benefit at C.B.G.B.’s, New York, October 26, 1978)
C15 - Eileen Myles: Lorna & Vicki (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
Side Four
D1 - Barbara Barg: So Fine, With Chassler (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
D2 - Didi Susan Dubelyew: Who Needs Exercise (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
D3 - Rochelle Kraut: New Born Sleep (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
D4 - Gary Snyder: What You Should Know To Be A Poet (University of Texas at Austin, April 19, 1979)
D5 - Daniela Gioseffi: Eggs (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, December 1977)
D6 - Regina Beck: Message From Confucius (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
D7 - Bernard Heidsieck: Canal Street, No 4. (Text 1973, registered 1976, Paris, France)
D8 - Charles Bernstein: Wall As (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s “No Reading”, Parish Hall, New York, January 1, 1980)
D9 - Steve McCaffery: Viking Log Part 2, with Ted Moses on sax (Toronto, Canada, January 18, 1979)
D10 - Ron Padgett: Zzzzz (The Saint Mark’s Church New Year’s Benefit, Entermedia Theater, New York, January 1, 1979)
Photographs: Robert Mapplethorpe
