'The Modern Dance' from Pere Ubu's 1977 album 'The Modern Dance'. Buy 'The Modern Dance' here: iTunes: bit.ly/NjsldL Amazon (CD): amzn.to/QLDUj0 Amazon (Digital): amzn.to/O3DiDL / official.ubu
Only 3 minutes and probably the best 3 minutes of rock music. The modern dance is the "dance" of the modern society. One of the greatest rock masterpiece.
I saw them play iat the Boston Opera House in 1978 with a great local band called The Girls. When they played this song Dave was banging the hammers and missed, hitting his thumb. He bellowed in pain and went offstage, coming back with the thumb bandaged. A class act.
+georgeharrison70 The people manufacturing the records thought it was accidental leakage and were going to trash the recordings. The band was like "Um, it's supposed to sound like that." Truth.
Listening to this for the first time ever, in 2023, 46 years after the record came out. I feel like it would fit mixed in with some early or mid-70s David Bowie material.
Never heard this before! I’m here as this is mentioned in the lyrics of OMD’s new single Bauhaus Staircase. Agree with the other comment that it is reminiscent of mid-70s era Bowie. I like it!
I haven't treated myself to this for SO long - Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance, inspiring stuff - and they went on to amaze me by reinventing themselves as a band with every album. I always wanted to send a complete set of this band's work to the truly innovative and open-minded composer Gyorgy Ligeti, but I wasn't as wealthy back then as I seem to be now, while he has since left the planet. Oh well.
Apologies for waiting so long to respond but your posting is passionate. Very good. One question though your comment: "I wasn't as wealthy then as I seem to be now..." You seem to be unsure. Possibly a "wealth of experience" we acquired, by living through those heady days. Today's snowflakes have so many entertainment options that MUSIC IS NOT IMPORTANT TO THEM. For any of us around for The Beatles until the late 80's MUSIC IS SUSTENANCE. Every bit as important as food or water - the difference being you can hold out a bit longer.
There isn't a whole lot like it today, either. IMO that is why this album is so timeless, nothing else sounds like it. And it's hypnotic as fuck when you are high on weed.
The Rolling Stone Record Guide (2d edition) introduced me to Pere Ubu - in the first edition , Dave Marsh (a terrific writer but not very apt with non-mainstream sounds) said that Ubu was "anti-rock for anti-rockers". Pity. But the second edition said among other things that Ubu's original guitarist, Tom Herman, played all the right notes in all the wrong places, and I wasn't quite sure what that meant until I heard this cut. 2:29
Down to the bus Into the town Our poor boy can't get around Eight fifty-five Down at the show She leaves early He'll never know 'Cause our poor boy Believes in chance He'll never get the modern dance Under the door there's an eye on the place He watches for the shadows race Watch real close Look real fast He's in touch It'll never last 'Cause our poor boy Believes in chance He'll never get the modern dance
no way, not until now did i notice that. thanks for pointing that out. if you feel the need to do so, might i suggest you call a loved one or close to kin and inform them of your acute observation.
UbuProjex notes: "Tim [Wright] was Rocket From The Tomb's soundman. He didn't play anything but David [Thomas] thought he should be in his next band. Tim volunteered to learn bass, bought a Dan Electro six-string bass and within a few weeks was playing great. The rest of Ubu was to be constructed around him." (!) Tim Wright was part of the *original* version of 'The Modern Dance', known as 'Untitled', recorded in June 1976 and first released on the 1978 EP "Datapanik In The Year Zero" (and later on the 1985 compilation "Terminal Tower", 1995 singles compilation "The Hearpen Singles" and 1996 overview "Datapanik In The Year Zero"). It would seem obvious that Tim Wright played bass on 'Untitled', but the instrumentation notes state Tom Herman played both bass and guitar on 'Untitled', while Tim Wright only played guitar (and I'd *guess* rhythm guitar). Tim Wright's contributions to four other early Pere Ubu tracks are as noted: '30 Seconds Over Tokyo' & 'Heart of Darkness' (phynancial guitar, bass guitar, whisper); 'Final Solution' (bass guitar, w/Tom Herman on guitar) and 'Cloud 149' (lead guitar, w/Tom Herman on bass guitar [and probably rhythm guitar]). Tim Wright had left the band when the *original mix* of 'The Modern Dance' was recorded in January, 1977 -- with Tom Herman on guitar and Tony Maimone on bass, keyboards -- and was released on the 1977 single Hearthan - HR 104 (also on the 1995 collection "The Hearpen Singles"). The *original mix* of 'The Modern Dance' had different instrumentation placement, plus the metallic strike heard throughout has a chirping bird characteristic. The performance was remixed for Pere Ubu's 1978 debut album "The Modern Dance". It is not clear why Tim Wright left Pere Ubu in late 1976 or if he was part of any band then, but he was part of the second version of no-wave band DNA when they recorded their 1980 EP "A Taste of DNA". The first version of DNA (including organist Robin Crutchfield and no bassist) had previously released a single in 1978, plus recorded four tracks that were part of the 1978 no-wave compilation "No New York". One additional note is that two Pere Ubu founding members Tim Wright and Peter Laughner had writing credits for 'Love Love Love', but this was first recorded for the 1989 Pere Ubu album "Cloudland".
Down at the bus (merdre, merdre) Into the town (merdre, merdre) Our poor boy Can't get around (merdre, merdre) Eight fifty-five (merdre, merdre) Down at the show (merdre, merdre) She leaves early He'll never know (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance (merdre, merdre) He'll never get The modern dance Under the door (merdre, merdre) An eye on the place (merdre, merdre) He watches for The shadows race (merdre, merdre) Watch real close (merdre, merdre) Look real fast (merdre, merdre) He's in touch It'll never last (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance He'll never get The modern dance
This is clearly a very good song but imo they’re at their best with even more shall we say radically disjointed textures and rhythms, as in the third album
I still don’t get “it” measure, measure. I want to smoke reefer, eat chili and feel better about myself. In that order from “Battle Cry: A Novel by James Outwah.
Heads up to all anti-misogynists out there: the lead singer of this band makes shitty comments about women between songs during shows, and the rest of the band goes along with it
lmao you should do a podcast where you screech about it, I'm sure all 14 of your twitter mufos would subscribe to the patreon. Ep 2 should be about how nick mullen is bad.
I keep looking for support for your claim, and I don't find it. If you're going to say this, back it up. Otherwise, people won't take it seriously, and we don't need people dismissing misogyny as some "SJW delusion."
Down at the bus (merdre, merdre) Into the town (merdre, merdre) Our poor boy Can't get around (merdre, merdre) Eight fifty-five (merdre, merdre) Down at the show (merdre, merdre) She leaves early He'll never know (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance (merdre, merdre) He'll never get The modern dance Under the door (merdre, merdre) An eye on the place (merdre, merdre) He watches for The shadows race (merdre, merdre) Watch real close (merdre, merdre) Look real fast (merdre, merdre) He's in touch It'll never last (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance He'll never get The modern dance
Down at the bus (merdre, merdre) Into the town (merdre, merdre) Our poor boy Can't get around (merdre, merdre) Eight fifty-five (merdre, merdre) Down at the show (merdre, merdre) She leaves early He'll never know (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance (merdre, merdre) He'll never get The modern dance Under the door (merdre, merdre) An eye on the place (merdre, merdre) He watches for The shadows race (merdre, merdre) Watch real close (merdre, merdre) Look real fast (merdre, merdre) He's in touch It'll never last (merdre, merdre) Cuz our poor boy (merdre, merdre) Believes in chance He'll never get The modern dance
