Day: July 23, 2010

You wouldn't recognize me but I'm in this MC 900 Ft Jesus video on YouTube (blurry face in crowd wearing x-ray specs).

It was filmed at State Bar when I was living in Dallas. I remember being offended by the MTV cameraman's low rise leather pants but he didn't do such a bad job--the blurry psychedelic swirl effects hide much of the cheesiness. "I'm Going Straight to Heaven" appeared on the first MC9FJ album so DJ Zero is still spinning the wheels of steel--his cutup textures and dynamic swoops added a lot to the early sound. The label didn't quite know how to promote these uncategorizable artists but something must have worked since the first two records are still in print.

Also of interest is the self-produced vinyl version of "Too Bad," released before major label signing and reworked slightly for the first LP. A very creepy song where the listener takes the POV of a stalker/killer. MC 900 Ft Jesus (aka Mark Griffin) told me he was inspired by a guy he saw out on the street ranting through a busted, distorted microphone, which is why these early raps sound like this. By the time of "The City Sleeps," Griffin was using his natural voice.

With MC9FJ, the New Bohemians, and others, Dallas was briefly poised to be a big "music city" in 1989 or so (label talent scouts were sniffing around) but then Kurt Cobain happened and the nation turned its eyes to plaid shirts and the Pacific north woods.