ELECTRIC CHAIRS – So Many Ways

Description

Expanded to 12″ including hot edits / reworks by GARETH GODDARD aka CHERRYSTONES.
In 1979, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs – the legendary punk–rock band – recorded their third album, Things Your Mother Never Told You, in London. It was produced by David Cunningham of the Flying Lizards, famous also for his work with This Heat, Michael Nyman, etc. He also played synthesizer on some of the tracks. Often compared to Bowie’s Low and Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life, the album combined the no–frills punk–rock sound of the band with the experimental production of Cunningham, showing his love for dub music and cut’n’paste / electronica. After a tour promoting the album, vocalist Wayne County along with guitar player Eliot Michaels departed the band and returned to New York, where County later emerged as Jayne County.
The remaining Electric Chairs members – Val Haller, JJ Johnson and Henry Padovani (ex–Police!) – decided to continue under the Electric Chairs name. Their record label gave them just a month to find a replacement singer and write material for an album. After rehearsing with a few singers, none of which were suitable, the trio decided to go into the studio and record some tracks with Cunningham as producer. The result was the “So Many Ways” / “J’Attends Les Marines” 45, released in November 1979 by Safari Records. Here, Cunningham applied his most experimental production techniques, using electronic treatments on drums, rhythms and vocals.
“So Many Ways”, featuring Val on lead vocals, was far from anything else the band had previously done: an hypnotic punk–funk / no wave / synthetic pop hybrid that still sounds years ahead of its time. In 2013, it was included on the compilation “Under The Influence” by famous DJ James Glass.
“J’Attends Les Marines” was a rework of “Waiting For The Marines” from the Things Your Mother album but adding a cool dub / experimental touch.
Here’s the first ever vinyl reissue of this sought after punk–funk / no wave 45, featuring the original artwork but expanded to 12″ format for maximum sound quality and including two exclusive edits / reworks by Electric Chairs fan and mix/edit wizard Gareth Goddard aka Cherrystones.