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{{Infobox album
{{Infobox album
| name = Beat Happening
| name = Beat Happening
| type = [[Album]]
| type = [[Album]]
| artist = [[Beat Happening]]
| artist = [[Beat Happening]]
| cover = BeatHappeningAlbum.jpg
| cover = BeatHappeningAlbum.jpg
| alt = A drawing of a kitten riding on a rocket ship against a yellow background with the band's name at the top
| alt = A drawing of a kitten riding on a rocket ship against a yellow background with the band's name at the top
| released = November 1985
| released = November 1985
| recorded = 1983–1985
| recorded = 1983–1985
| venue = <!-- listed under venue for the live recording of "Bad Seeds" -->13th Precinct, [[Portland, Oregon]]
| venue = <!-- listed under venue for the live recording of "Bad Seeds" -->13th Precinct, [[Portland, Oregon]]
| studio = {{flatlist|
| studio = {{flatlist|
* Yoyo
* Yoyo
* Martin Apartments
* Martin Apartments
Line 16: Line 16:
* Recital hall, [[Olympia, Washington]]
* Recital hall, [[Olympia, Washington]]
}}
}}
| genre =
| genre =
*<!-- sourced in composition section -->[[Indie pop]]
*<!-- sourced in composition section -->[[Indie pop]]
* [[jangle pop]]
* [[jangle pop]]
| length = 19:01 <small>(original LP)</small><br>51:13 <small>(1990 reissue)</small>
| length = 19:01 <small>(original LP)</small><br>51:13 <small>(1990 reissue)</small>
| label = [[K Records|K]]
| label = [[K Records|K]]
| producer = [[Greg Sage]]
| producer = [[Greg Sage]]
| prev_title = Three Tea Breakfast
| prev_title = Three Tea Breakfast
| prev_year = 1984
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = [[Jamboree (Beat Happening album)|Jamboree]]
| next_title = [[Jamboree (Beat Happening album)|Jamboree]]
| next_year = 1988
| next_year = 1988
}}
}}

'''''Beat Happening''''' is the debut album by American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Beat Happening]], released in November 1985 through [[K Records]]. After the end of their previous group and guitarist [[Calvin Johnson (musician)|Calvin Johnson]] and drummer [[Heather Lewis (musician)|Heather Lewis]] formed Beat Happening. To help with a gig, guitarist [[Bret Lunsford]] joined them soon after. Between November 1983 and February 1985, the band recorded several tracks that subsequently appeared on different versions of their debut album. Two of the recording sessions were produced by [[Greg Sage]] of the [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]], taking place at The Firehouse and Yoyo, both places located in [[Olympia, Washington]]. Other tracks were done at Johnson's residence at the Martin Apartments and with friend Pat Maley in a recital hall on the campus of [[Evergreen State College]].
'''''Beat Happening''''' is the debut album of the American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Beat Happening]] that was released in November 1985 through [[K Records]]. After the end of their previous band, guitarist [[Calvin Johnson (musician)|Calvin Johnson]] and drummer [[Heather Lewis (musician)|Heather Lewis]] formed Beat Happening, and guitarist [[Bret Lunsford]] joined them soon after. Between November 1983 and February 1985, the band recorded several tracks that appeared on different versions of their debut album. [[Greg Sage]] of the [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]] produced two of the recording sessions, which occurred at the studios [[The Firehouse]] and [[Yoyo]], both of which are in [[Olympia, Washington]]. Other tracks were recorded at Johnson's residence at the Martin Apartments and with friend Pat Maley in a recital hall at [[Evergreen State College]].


Described as [[indie pop]] and [[jangle pop]], ''Beat Happening'' was compared to the work of [[the Cramps]] with its simplistic guitar work. The artwork for it, with its basic design, previously adorned gig flyers that Johnson had printed up. Photographs of the band in the album sleeve were taken at [[Capitol Lake]] in Olympia. They issued two cassettes of songs from the album's sessions in 1984 and 1985 prior to the album. Johnson and company personally sold copies of the vinyl LP to record stores while traveling across the country. Through the help of journalist [[Everett True|Jerry Thackray]], [[Rough Trade Records]] issued the album in late 1986.
Described as [[indie pop]] and [[jangle pop]], ''Beat Happening'' was compared to the work of [[the Cramps]] with its simplistic guitar work. The artwork for it, with its basic design, previously adorned gig flyers that Johnson had printed up. Photographs of the band in the album sleeve were taken at [[Capitol Lake]] in Olympia. They issued two cassettes of songs from the album's sessions in 1984 and 1985 prior to the album. Johnson and company personally sold copies of the vinyl LP to record stores while traveling across the country. Through the help of journalist [[Everett True|Jerry Thackray]], [[Rough Trade Records]] issued the album in late 1986.

Revision as of 23:38, 19 June 2024

Beat Happening
A drawing of a kitten riding on a rocket ship against a yellow background with the band's name at the top
Studio album by
Beat Happening
ReleasedNovember 1985
Recorded1983–1985
Venue13th Precinct, Portland, Oregon
Studio
Genre
Length19:01 (original LP)
51:13 (1990 reissue)
LabelK
ProducerGreg Sage
Beat Happening chronology
Three Tea Breakfast
(1984) 		Beat Happening
(1985) 		Jamboree
(1988)

Beat Happening is the debut album of the American rock band Beat Happening that was released in November 1985 through K Records. After the end of their previous band, guitarist Calvin Johnson and drummer Heather Lewis formed Beat Happening, and guitarist Bret Lunsford joined them soon after. Between November 1983 and February 1985, the band recorded several tracks that appeared on different versions of their debut album. Greg Sage of the Wipers produced two of the recording sessions, which occurred at the studios The Firehouse and Yoyo, both of which are in Olympia, Washington. Other tracks were recorded at Johnson's residence at the Martin Apartments and with friend Pat Maley in a recital hall at Evergreen State College.

Described as indie pop and jangle pop, Beat Happening was compared to the work of the Cramps with its simplistic guitar work. The artwork for it, with its basic design, previously adorned gig flyers that Johnson had printed up. Photographs of the band in the album sleeve were taken at Capitol Lake in Olympia. They issued two cassettes of songs from the album's sessions in 1984 and 1985 prior to the album. Johnson and company personally sold copies of the vinyl LP to record stores while traveling across the country. Through the help of journalist Jerry Thackray, Rough Trade Records issued the album in late 1986.

Beat Happening was met with positive reviews, with contemporary critics praising the songwriting, while retrospective commentators focused on the production of the album. Melody Maker included the album in their list of the top 30 releases from the year. Tracks from all of the album's recording sessions were featured on the 1983–85 compilation; Beat Happening has been issued several times over the years, standalone and as part of box sets. Musicians such as Ian MacKaye and Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie have expressed admiration for the album, while artists like Ben Gibbard, Scrawl, and Seaweed covered tracks from it.

Background

In early 1983, Calvin Johnson (vocalist and guitarist) and Heather Lewis (drummer) performed with Laura Carter (guitarist) as Laura, Heather and Calvin.[1] Johnson and Lewis had met the year before at a college party where Lewis' band the Supreme Cool Beings were playing.[2][nb 1]

Bret Lunsford (guitarist) booked Laura, Heather and Calvin for a show in Anacortes, Washington, after having seen them perform.[5] By the time of the gig, Carter had moved to Olympia, Washington, and Laura, Heather and Calvin had stopped playing together.[6] Consequently, Lunsford was drafted in to play alongside Johnson and Lewis.[7] Sources differ on whether Lunsford was formally asked to join Beat Happening before or after the performance. Either way, it was the first occasion that all members of Beat Happening were on one stage.[8][nb 2]

Johnson invited Lunsford to join the band, with Lunsford responding that he would only join if they went to Japan.[9][nb 3] Following this, in September 1983, Lewis relocated to Seattle, Washington, and Lunsford moved to Olympia.[8]

The band had minor local success when one of their tracks appeared on a Sub Pop cassette compilation, and when they opened for the Wipers.[11] Around this time, Wipers' frontman Greg Sage visited Johnson, then living at the Ray Apartments in Olympia, and showed him newly-written Wipers songs. Sage mentioned that he was constructing his own recording facility in Portland, Oregon, and was scouting for acts to record there. Beat Happening was still in their embryonic form, so Johnson did not take Sage up on his proposal to record the band.[12]

Sessions

1983 recordings

In November 1983 Beat Happening made their first recording, the song "Fourteen", at the Ray Apartments.[13] By the following month, the band decided they had enough rehearsed material to contact Sage about his recording offer. Sage was still building his studio, but said he would visit Olympia to record them there.[12]

There was a former firehouse on campus at Olympia's Evergreen State College that students were permitted to use to prevent loud band rehearsals in dorms.[14] This became the site of Beat Happening's first sessions with Sage.[15] Bradley Sweek, frontman of another band who used the rehearsal space, the Young Pioneers, had become friends with Johnson and Sage. He assisted with the recording.[12]

Sage was supportive of Beat Happening's experimentation, having worked similarly himself on the Wipers' on Youth of America (1981). He built a reputation for helping to record acts without wanting any money in return.[15]

On December 11, 1983, the band recorded "Down at the Sea", "I Love You", "Our Secret" and "What's Important". They followed this with a live performance of "Run Down the Stairs" for campus radio station KAOS.[16]

Shure SM57 microphones were used to track the guitar and drums as they were played live. Sage had a Neumann tube microphone for the vocals, recorded on reel-to-reel tape using a four-track machine borrowed from another college student.[17]

While recording "Our Secret", Johnson watched Lewis and Lunsford track their parts and gestured to them to stop when he felt there was enough to sing over. When he tried to record his vocals, the tape ran out partway through, ending the session suddenly and leaving two verses out of the final recording.[18]

1984 and 1985 recordings

In January 1984 Sweek organized an event, "Olympia Goes to Portland", at Portland venue 13th Precinct. The lineup featured Young Pioneers, Beat Happening and Rich Jensen. Jensen was known as a documentarian of the local community and, using a Panasonic recorder, taped Beat Happening playing "Bad Seeds".[19][nb 4]

When they were in Japan, they recorded five tracks – "Don't Mix the Colors", "The Fall", "Honey Pot", "In My Memory" and "Youth" – using superior boombox models that were unavailable in the US.[20]

In November 1984, "Fourteen" was recorded again, this time by Evergreen alumnus Pat Maley.[21][nb 5] He borrowed equipment for the session using a media loan, moving the gear from the college's library to a recital hall on campus. Maley used a reel-to-reel tape machine and dubbed the track on to a cassette. He lost the master reel before he was able to edit the recording, meaning the version that ended up on the finished album has not been fully mixed, just equalized for balance.[21]

That same month, a further five tracks were recorded in sessions at Maley's Yoyo Studio in Olympia, located in a chicken coop-turned-communal housing building.[23][24] These make up the whole of the first side of the original Beat Happening LP, with the fact that they were all recording together giving them a consistent production tone.[24] Maley invited Beat Happening to record at his studio after being impressed with Johnson's music knowledge at an audio class Maley started teaching at Yoyo.[25] Though Maley preferred psychedelic music, he enjoyed "strange music" enough to want to work with Beat Happening.[26]

Maley was displeased when the band showed up with Sage, having been under the impression that he would be in charge of producing and engineering the session at his studio.[27] He nonetheless helped Sage throughout recording, getting any equipment he needed; Maley recalled Sage rarely talked unless he wanted a particular piece of gear.

The session used a TASCAM 38 eight-track reel-to-reel recorder running half-inch tape, and a TASCAM mixing board with eight output slots and 12 inputs. Digital reverb was used, heard most prominently on the finger snapping on "Bad Seeds".[24] Lewis handles vocals on "Foggy Eyes", "I Let Him Get to Me" and "Run Down the Stairs", while Johnson sings "Bad Seeds" and "I Spy".[24]

On February 13, 1985 the record's final track, "In Love with You Thing" was put to tape. It was recorded at in Johnson's room at the Martin Apartments complex in Olympia, using a portable cassette player he had from his high school days.[28]

Composition and lyrics

AllMusic reviewer Nitsuh Abebe described the sound of Beat Happening as indie pop "in its purest form: fuzzy bedroom recordings of simplistic, cutesy songs, with intentionally innocent and juvenile lyrics," that Johnson sings over with "one of the most endearingly bad voices in music history."[29] Pitchfork contributor Quinn Moreland commented that the album's material switched between "barely-there lo-fi ballads and ’60s jangle-pop ditties".[30]

In Bryan Parker's 33 1/3 book about the record, he made comparisons to the Cramps, a band Johnson cited as an influence. Parker said that while the Cramps "embrace a more overt darkness and sexuality in their sinister psychobilly songs, Beat Happening frequently traffics in double-entendres, and both bands thrive on simple, distorted guitar lines."[31] He wrote that the sequencing behind side one "embodies an Olympian egalitarianism" with Johnson and Lewis alternating on which tracks they sing.[32]

Lewis said of Johnson's lyrics: "Things are articulated in these unusual and creative ways. They're layered, and it can be interpreted in different ways. My songs are much more like the open wound. He's more guarded. I'm more spilling out."[33] She explained that in her tracks, "My emotions are right there on my sleeve".[33]

Songs on the original LP

The opening track to the album, "Foggy Eyes", opens with Johnson counting for the guitar and drums to come in. Parker thought it was the first track as it "unsurprisingly ... showcases the band at its most mature to date."[34] After 20 seconds into it, he wrote that Beat Happening distinctly "delineate their practice of challenging conventions and reevaluating the world" in the lyrics, and continued this sentiment in "Bad Seeds".[35] Of the tracks from the second session with Sage, Parker said "Bad Seeds" had the "fullest instrumentation", and noted that it was the sole track on the album to feature cymbals. Bongos, performed by Maley, can be heard on the song, but are drowned out by the cymbal and tom hits.[24] On "I Spy", Johnson's voice evokes 1960s musicians Lee Hazlewood and Scott Walker. Parker said between the music and the lyrics, the song comes across as a child's version of a theme song to a lesser-quality spy film. He mentioned that with the last line in the track, the average "listener might miss the indictment of conventional masculinity, those in-tune heard it loud and clear."[34] Journalist and musician Alan Larsen, of K Records act Some Velvet Sidewalk,[36] saw the song's narrator lamenting typical masculine roles that young males fit into.[37] Larsen said the lyrics spoke to him about being older and "manhood. That was what culture was doing to you as a male. That was your archetype. I thought of that work as something that could talk to me about gender."[38]

"I Spy" is bookended by "I Let Him Get to Me" and "Run Down the Stairs", tracks that Parker felt highlighted the jangly guitar parts and consistent snare hits, with Lewis talking about relationship issues.[39] In Parker's dissection of "In Love with You Thing", he said Johnson was drawing out the syllables of the lyrics, as if he was trying to think of the next lyric as it was happening. Parker then highlights when each instrument is heard for the first time in the song; suggesting that the drum sound heard "might not even be a drum. ... Then, suddenly, there is a beat happening. The band's name asserts the present and the ongoing."[40] The lyrics deal with an unrequited love,[30] almost bordering on a cappella during its verses;[41] Parker highlighted one couplet of lyrics, "If I could touch those parted lips / Your swinging little hips just gotta be kissed", saying it exemplified the "suggestive sexuality Beat Happening would continue to use as a counterweight for their sugary sweet juvenilia" in later works.[42][nb 6]

In "Down at the Sea", Lewis reminisces about a party on a beach.[6] For "Fourteen", Parker commented on its varied sound quality, from how low the drums are placed in the mixing, to the guitars coming across as thin. He felt that it was the "soundtrack of audacious experimentation," showcasing students trying to arrange a song.[44] Maley explained that the tambura heard in the track was used to help keep time: "The thing that keeps time is the phase-shift sound in the tambura—that sort of wave had a certain timeframe that's very accurate." Because of his enthusiasm for psychedelic music, he proposed using the instrument.[45] Parker thought that the instrument was an "odd choice, but indicates the band's willingness to let music unfold organically. Pat's interest in the tambura also informs an important bit inconspicuous divide between Olympia's youth in the early 80s."[45] In the lyrics, Johnson has difficulty talking to his crush while the pair are giving food to a pet rabbit.[30] For the closing song, the live version of "Bad Seeds", Parker said the track "ambles through some rough spots, and the guitar's tuning is noticeably flat. Still, the live version is sneering and chaotic, full of punk rock ambition."[46]

Songs on other versions

Parker said "Our Secret" was a simplistic track that exemplified Beat Happening's best aspects: "a tom-centered beat, a repetitive yet catchy guitar line, and Calvin's baritone vocals."[47] The song's lyrics describe, as Moreland writes, "forbidden lovers [who] express their undying devotion over cups of tea."[30] Parts of it allude to locations in the local area of Olympia, referencing Smithfield Café and Capitol Lake.[47] For the next few tracks, Parker wrote that Japan acts as a character, in both audio samples and lyrics.[48] "In My Memory" begins with a sample of a street vendor from Nakemeguro talking in Japanese, until the guitar and handclaps come in.[48] "The Fall" has Johnson naming individuals in his near surroundings, who all laugh in response, as shown in the lyrics of "Bye bye, Mari and Momoe / Bye bye, Takaaki and / Bye bye, Ai in America and / Bye bye Heather." Parker wrote that the band use both the country and the room they were in to make an "artifact from the Japan trip that captures genuine fun with friends."[49]

The lyrics of "Youth" also refer to their time in Japan, and the mindset they had when organizing the trip.[48] "Don't Mix the Colors" concludes with a clip of the subway system in Tokyo and a voice in Japanese.[50] "Christmas" is, as Parker suggests, the "most overt confrontation of sex" in Beat Happening's catalog. A clicking sound can be heard throughout the track as Johnson gives a bleak description of the act.[42] Parker thought that the track's appeal was down to the contrast between "Christmas joy and the depression of dysfunctional sex."[51] In "Look Around", Moreland said Johnson eyes up a girl "before deciding to 'come between her thighs.'"[30]

Artwork and packaging

The artwork for Beat Happening shows a basic illustration on a yellow background of a kitten riding inside a rocket ship. Parker wrote that this "subtly embodied the band's influential sensibilities. Childishly adorable, the drawing induces an unavoidable smile from anyone who might find it in a record shelf."[52] Moreland said the depiction implies that the songs featured on the album were similarly childish.[30] Parker commented that the artwork was "so rudimentary, it almost begs to be added onto—maybe a few stars or a planet in the distance. Very likely, the band wouldn't mind at all."[52] Several flyers for the band's gigs included the cat illustration, which Johnson had drawn.[52] One version had the cat flying on a broom and another had the face of the cat on a container.[53] The final artwork was initially depicted on a gig flyer for the Tropicana club, with the Astrobright yellow color one of the choices available at the print shop Johnson used. Parker felt this "bright, primary color fit Beat Happening's aesthetic perfectly."[54] He added that the ultimate choice was "also ingenious, since the vibrant color worked to attract attention."[54]

The back cover of the album shows a black-and-white photograph of the band members, with their first names below. Lunsford said this tied in with Johnson's "minimalist vision" for how the band should be presented. The photo was shot at Budd Inlet, an area of Puget Sound, located north of the 4th Avenue bridge, which spans the downtown area of Olympia to its west side.[54] Also included are various photographs taken on a beach under a boardwalk around Capitol Lake:[55] one of Johnson and Lewis on a pavement next to a garden of roses, one of Lewis on the beach, and one of Lunsford outside the Capitol Theater in Olympia. Parker felt that the members "peer out at the listener from the album cover and present themselves without affectation."[56] The Rough Trade edition had an insert with two additional images of the band members, shot by friend Julie Fay. They document one of the band's earliest shows, taking place at the Smithfield Café; from left to right, Jensen is seen holding a microphone for Lewis, who is next to him on guitar, followed by Johnson on guitar and Lunsford behind the drums.[56] Parker summarized the innocence of the artwork as displaying Beat Happening's "music and characterizes its creator, the community in which they live, and the principles by which they act."[57]

Release

Pre-release and initial promotion

The four songs recorded with Sage during the December 1983 session, plus the live version of "Run Down the Stairs", were released on Beat Happening's debut self-titled (1984) cassette EP, limited to 100 copies.[16] "Our Secret" and "What's Important" were then released as the band's debut single in 1984.[58] Beat Happening went on a trip to Japan, despite not having any shows scheduled there. Johnson booked it through the Independent Living Contract at Evergreen under the guise of school credit, planning to spend his time writing for a zine.[59] They explored Toyko with the hopes of booking a show; they subsequently appeared at Yoyogi Park, which was a public space that had rock bands playing on Sundays. Another show saw them playing after hours at a high school in the area.[60] The band were then able to secure shows at local clubs, though were forced to sell the tickets by themselves. When they returned to the US, the tracks that were recorded using boomboxes there were released as the cassette EP Three Tea Breakfast.[48]

Between the opening and closure of the Tropicana club from February 1984 to January 1985, Beat Happening played there between six and ten times. Parker said the venue provided a space for the band's early repertoire, and in turn, built up hype before their debut album.[61] Beat Happening was released in November 1985 through K Records;[62] originally planned as a cassette, the album evolved into a vinyl LP.[nb 7] K-Disc mastered the album and cut the lacquers needed for pressing it, which was done by Bill Smith Custom Records, and Stoughton Printing made the cardboard jackets.[65] Johnson sequenced the album's track listing; Maley said he was enthusiastic when he learned that each side lasted under ten minutes in length. As K-Disc's services charged higher for albums with longer runtimes, Johnson saved money.[63] Hype surrounding the album meant that the band were able to shift around 300 vinyl records of the initial 700-print run to members of the local community, such as family and friends.

Johnson's brother Streator said he had sold several copies after demanding his friends to buy them. Despite lacking national distribution, the band exhausted the local area, leaving Johnson with over half of the remaining stock in boxes.[66] Undeterred by this prospect, he took them with him on a trip to Maryland around Christmas 1985 to visit his mother.[67] Accompanied by Streator and Fay, Johnson visited record shops on the drive and offered them copies of the album. Johnson said some stores purchased the album, though not all of them did, despite many being receptive to his proposal. He mentioned that some locations wanted to listen to the album first as a handful were only aware of the band through their single.[68] Parker wrote that some shops tried persuading Johnson to offer the album on consignment, "meaning that if he wanted to get paid, he'd have to keep tabs on the store and come back for reimbursement if the albums sold. 'No way,' Calvin would say in these instances."[68] Johnson, as Parker described, then informed the stores that he was in the area for a single day, and to "take or leave it."[68] The majority of these instances happened in January 1986 when they were returning to Olympia. Streator remained on the East Coast, leaving Fay and Johnson by themselves.[68] Fay said in addition to record shops, they tried radio stations, venues, and press outlets such as magazines and the homes of fanzine operators.[69]

Rough Trade and later editions

A man holding on to a microphone stand
Journalist Jerry Thackray played a part in widening the fan base of Beat Happening.

David Nichols, who learned about K Records, sent a letter to Johnson, who around the same time had sent a letter to Nichols after reading about him.[70] They became associates and upon visiting Johnson in spring 1986, Nichols took copies of the album and went to the UK. He showed it to Jerry Thackray, a journalist for British music publications Melody Maker and NME, whom Nichols was aware of through his zine The Legend!.[nb 8] Thackray in turn played it for staff at Rough Trade, who reacted positively towards it.[72] Label founder Geoff Travis contacted Johnson, who knew of Travis from producing the Raincoats, saying he was interested in releasing the album through Rough Trade.[73] Johnson then sent Travis the "Our Secret" single, and at the latter's suggestion, both of its tracks were added to the Rough Trade version. Though featuring previously issued singles on the following album was common practice, the original K Records' version of the album did not do this. Leading up to the release of the Rough Trade version in Europe, Thackray began writing about his admiration for the album in press outlets.[71] Thackray gave a considerable amount of columns to Beat Happening in The Legend!, and provided them a wider audience when writing about them for a June 1986 issue of NME.[74]

Later in the year, when Beat Happening needed transport for a tour, as none of them owned a car, they hired drive-away cars.[75] Lunsford explained, "You go to a drive-away place. You have to have everyone who is a driver be 21 and over. You're delivering a car from one location to another, and you have so many days to do that. So, if you do a lot of driving frontloaded, you have time to stay the night and play a show. Because they can only require you to drive 8 hours a day."[76] When Lewis relocated to Los Angeles, California temporarily, they needed a touring drummer, enlisting Lunsford's girlfriend Crowe. She did not know how to play drums until shortly before when she and Lunsford practiced until she could for the brief cross-country tour.[76] The Rough Trade edition of Beat Happening was released in November 1986,[77] with "Our Secret" and "What's Important" being placed between "Down at the Sea" and "Fourteen" in the track listing.[78][nb 9] The admiration from British publications built further hype around the band and allowed Johnson to have connections in a different section of the world.[81] Journalist Bruce Pavitt wrote about the self-titled album in his Sub/Pop column for The Rocket. In the December edition of his column, Pavitt was enthusiastic about both Johnson's work mindset and multiple K Records releases.[82][nb 10]

In 1990, K Records and Feel Good All Over jointly released the 1983–85 compilation, which included 27 tracks from all of the album's recording sessions.[84] K Records used an abridged, 23-song track listing of this edition for their 1996 vinyl re-press of Beat Happening.[85] This version was released on CD as part of the Crashing Through (2002) box set,[86] while it was included on vinyl as part of the Domino Recording Company-released box set We Are Beat Happening (2019).[87] "Our Secret", "Foggy Eyes", "Bad Seeds", "What's Important" and "Look Around" were featured on the best-of compilation Look Around (2015), which Domino also issued.[88] Live versions of "I Love You", "Foggy Eyes", "What's Important", "I Spy" and "Bad Seeds" recorded in Japan from May 1984 were issued as the Live in Japan EP in 1998.[89]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[29]
Alternative Rock6/10[90]>
Pitchfork9/10[30]

Contemporary reviews praised songwriting. Pavitt wrote about the self-titled album in his February 1986 column for The Rocket, saying that the release had "more character, more genuine personality, than anything I've heard all month."[91] He added that Johnson "swings his hips with an awkward deep baritone," before switching with Lewis for her songs, and summarized the band as a "positive force; sincere and willing to take risks, they show that it's just as radical to openly like someone as it is brutalize and degrade them through cheap sensationalism. Great record!"[82] Journalist Simon Reynolds, writing in the November 15, 1986 issue of Melody Maker, discussed aspects of the album's importance: "There's a delicate poise between pastiche and underlying seriousness here, that's delicious, almost camp," praising Beat Happening for having removed the "misogynist insolence" from the music and "reanimated [the songs] with a proto-feminist tenderness."[92]

Retrospective reviews focused on the production of the album. Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), wrote that the band's mission state was to create "records which retained the freshness of the ideas that spawned the songs in the first place. This lack of complication and contrivance would remain Beat Happening's touchstone for the remainder of their career."[90] Moreland called the album "a declaration of their undefined, instinctive, and fearless nature",[30] while Ira Robbins of Trouser Press said it was a "fresh breeze of one-take pop ingenuity," complete with tracks that were "remorselessly amateurish but loaded with charm and invention."[93] Abebe said that while their subsequent releases showed a marked improvement in song and production quality, their self-titled album was "as twee and charming as this type of music can get."[29] Parker said the Sage-produced tracks on side one "sound[ed] tighter and cleaner" in contrast to the other songs he worked on.[94]

Melody Maker ranked it at number 27 on their list of the year's 30 best albums, calling it "an unexpected masterpiece."[95] Spin included it on their list of 80 important albums from the 1980s.[96] Thompson noted that the 1983–85 version was "draining, but complete."[90] Reviewing the same version, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic remarked that the audio quality was "often poor, but the kinetic energy of the early sessions is palpable, and the wide-eyed charm of gems ... is undeniable."[97] Musicians such as Ian MacKaye and Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie have expressed admiration for the album, with the former saying that it "seemed so rudimentary. But also it has traction. Once you hear it, you know what it is."[98] Covers of "Our Secret", "Bad Seeds", "Foggy Eyes" and "Youth", by Leaky Chipmunk, Scrawl, Seaweed, and Fish & Roses, respectively, were included on the tribute album Fortune Cookie Prize: A Tribute to Beat Happening (1992).[99] Additional covers have been released: "Our Secret" by the Postal Service,[100] "Bad Seeds" by Barcelona Pavilion,[101] and others by Ben Gibbard and Teenage Fanclub.[102][103]

Track listing

All songs written by Calvin Johnson, Bret Lunsford and Heather Lewis.

Original LP – 1985

Side one
No.TitleRecording locationLength
1."Foggy Eyes"Yoyo, Olympia2:46
2."Bad Seeds"Yoyo, Olympia1:50
3."I Let Him Get to Me"Yoyo, Olympia1:32
4."I Spy"Yoyo, Olympia1:50
5."Run Down the Stairs"Yoyo, Olympia1:55
Side two
No.TitleRecording locationLength
1."In Love with You Thing"Martin Apartments, Olympia1:11
2."I Love You"The Firehouse, Olympia2:45
3."Down at the Sea"The Firehouse, Olympia1:26
4."Fourteen"Recital hall, Olympia1:44
5."Bad Seeds (live)"13th Precinct, Portland2:02
Total length:19:01

1983–85 – 1990

1983–85 track listing
No.TitleRecording locationLength
1."Our Secret"The Firehouse, Olympia2:51
2."What's Important"The Firehouse, Olympia2:02
3."Down at the Sea"The Firehouse, Olympia1:26
4."I Love You"The Firehouse, Olympia2:04
5."Fourteen"Ray Apartments, Olympia1:50
6."Run Down the Stairs"KAOS, Olympia2:12
7."Primitives"Ray Apartments, Olympia1:33
8."I Spy"Ray Apartments, Olympia2:00
9."Bad Seeds (live)"13th Precinct, Portland2:02
10."Down at the Sea"Ray Apartments, Olympia1:37
11."In My Memory"Nakameguro, Tokyo2:04
12."Honey Pot"Nakameguro, Tokyo1:06
13."The Fall"Takashimadaira, Tokyo1:46
14."Youth"Nakameguro, Tokyo1:57
15."Don't Mix the Colors"Nakameguro, Tokyo3:04
16."Foggy Eyes"Yoyo, Olympia2:46
17."Bad Seeds"Yoyo, Olympia1:50
18."I Let Him Get to Me"Yoyo, Olympia1:32
19."I Spy"Yoyo, Olympia1:50
20."Run Down the Stairs"Yoyo, Olympia1:55
21."Christmas"Thompson Apartments, Olympia1:24
22."Fourteen"Recital hall, Olympia1:44
23."Let's Kiss"Martin Apartments, Olympia2:46
24."1, 2, 3"Martin Apartments, Olympia1:46
25."In Love with You Thing"Martin Apartments, Olympia1:11
26."Look Around"Martin Apartments, Olympia2:45
27.Untitled 0:10
Total length:51:13

Personnel

Adapted from original LP liner notes.

Notes

  1. ^ When working at KAOS, Johnson formed K Records in mid-1982 with the intent of promoting mainly bands local to the US Northwest with listeners around the world.[3] K's first release was the cassette EP Survival of the Coolest, a recording of a live set by the Supreme Cool Beings that had been performed on Johnson's show at KAOS.[4]
  2. ^ Lunsford said they played two improvised songs. Johnson was unhappy at the ramshackle nature of the gig.[8] He and Johnson grew closer when they saw a local punk act, an experience that influenced how Johnson thought about the importance of community centres on art and music.[7]
  3. ^ Weeks before this, Lunsford was in Alaska for several months, an excursion that allowed him to understand the world better.[10]
  4. ^ On the back sleeve of Beat Happening, there is a note that Parker said explains the value "placed on archiving cultural artifacts"; the note said the live recording was "preserved for posterity" by Jensen.[19]
  5. ^ In the following years, Maley got more involved with K Records, producing acts such as Mecca Normal and Some Velvet Sidewalk at Yoyo.[22]
  6. ^ Sex became a main topic in subsequent Beat Happening songs, with Parker saying their third and fourth studio albums, Black Candy (1989) and Dreamy (1991) were plentiful with allusions to sexual imagery in nearly all of the tracks.[43]
  7. ^ Though Beat Happening was K Records' first vinyl LP release, the KLP-001 catalog number was not assigned to the album until years afterwards.[63] According to Parker, Johnson "sort of counted back in his head, picked a number that sounded about right, and began applying numbers" to the label's back catalog.[64]
  8. ^ Parker said Nichols and Thackray both had intrinsic roles in helping to expand the fan base of Beat Happening, as well as making contacts from the US Northwest and the UK, where subsequent works from the band were issued. Alongside this, K Records issued albums from British and Scottish bands such as Heavenly, the Pastels and Talulah Gosh.[71]
  9. ^ Beat Happening later worked with a different British label, 53rd and 3rd, operated by members from the Shop Assistants, in the subsequent years. For Beat Happening, the label issued a flexi disc, consisting of "Honey Pot" and "Don't Mix the Colours", and the EP Crashing Through, both in 1988.[79] During this stage, music from the band and K Records was beginning to get released in Australia and Switzerland.[80]
  10. ^ Pavitt continued to give Beat Happening press coverage through to 1988, dedicating three columns, in March, April and July of that year to them.[82] When Sub/Pop morphed from a written piece into a record label, it issued later Beat Happening albums, such as Dreamy and 1992's You Turn Me On.[83]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Parker 2015, p. 16
  2. ^ Parker 2015, p. 59
  3. ^ Parker 2015, p. 97
  4. ^ Parker 2015, p. 59–60
  5. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 17, 20
  6. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 63
  7. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 17
  8. ^ a b c Parker 2015, p. 20
  9. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 20–21
  10. ^ Parker 2015, p. 21
  11. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 62–63
  12. ^ a b c Parker 2015, p. 49
  13. ^ Parker 2015, p. 99–100
  14. ^ Parker 2015, p. 47
  15. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 48
  16. ^ a b Parker 2015, pp. vii, 50
  17. ^ Parker 2015, p. 50
  18. ^ Parker 2015, p. 52
  19. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 122
  20. ^ Parker 2015, pp. vii, 77
  21. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 43
  22. ^ Parker 2015, p. 46
  23. ^ Parker 2015, p. 145
  24. ^ a b c d e Parker 2015, p. 147
  25. ^ Parker 2015, p. 29
  26. ^ Parker 2015, p. 146
  27. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 146–147
  28. ^ Parker 2015, p. 90
  29. ^ a b c Abebe, Nitsuh. "Beat Happening - Beat Happening Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h Moreland, Quinn (December 9, 2019). "Beat Happening: We Are Beat Happening". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  31. ^ Parker 2015, p. 139
  32. ^ Parker 2015, p. 149
  33. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 64
  34. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 148
  35. ^ Parker 2015, p. 4
  36. ^ Parker 2015, p. 87
  37. ^ Parker 2015, p. 88
  38. ^ Parker 2015, p. 89
  39. ^ Parker 2015, pp. v–vi, 148–149
  40. ^ Parker 2015, p. 14
  41. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 142–143
  42. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 143
  43. ^ Parker 2015, p. 142
  44. ^ Parker 2015, p. 44
  45. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 45
  46. ^ Parker 2015, p. 123
  47. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 51
  48. ^ a b c d Parker 2015, p. 77
  49. ^ Parker 2015, p. 78
  50. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 77–78
  51. ^ Parker 2015, p. 143–144
  52. ^ a b c Parker 2015, p. 150
  53. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 150–151
  54. ^ a b c Parker 2015, p. 151
  55. ^ Parker 2015, p. 105
  56. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 152
  57. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 152–153
  58. ^ Parker 2015, p. 50
  59. ^ Parker 2015, p. 74
  60. ^ Parker 2015, p. 76
  61. ^ Parker 2015, p. 131
  62. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 8, 131
  63. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 135
  64. ^ Parker 2015, p. 136
  65. ^ Parker 2015, p. 134
  66. ^ Parker 2015, p. 30
  67. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 30–31
  68. ^ a b c d Parker 2015, p. 31
  69. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 31–32
  70. ^ Parker 2015, p. 67
  71. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 69
  72. ^ Parker 2015, p. 68
  73. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 68–69
  74. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 69–70
  75. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 34–35
  76. ^ a b Parker 2015, p. 35
  77. ^ Henderson 1986, p. 10
  78. ^ Beat Happening (sleeve). Rough Trade Records. 1986. ROUGH 105. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  79. ^ Parker 2015, p. 72
  80. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 72–73
  81. ^ Parker 2015, p. 71–72
  82. ^ a b c Parker 2015, p. 127
  83. ^ Parker 2015, p. 126
  84. ^ 1983–85 (sleeve). K Records/Feel Good All Over. 1990. #1. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  85. ^ Beat Happening (sleeve). K Records. 1996. KLP 1. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  86. ^ Crashing Through (sleeve). K Records. 2002. KLP 115. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  87. ^ We Are Beat Happening (sleeve). Domino Recording Company. 2019. REWIGLP109X. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  88. ^ Look Around (sleeve). Domino Recording Company. 2015. REWIGCD100. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  89. ^ Live in Japan (sleeve). Rebel Beat Factory/K Records. 1998. RBFK-0021. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  90. ^ a b c Thompson 2000, p. 182
  91. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 126–127
  92. ^ Parker 2015, p. 70
  93. ^ Robbins, Ira. "Beat Happening". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  94. ^ Parker 2015, pp. 147–148
  95. ^ Parker 2015, p. 71
  96. ^ Coley 1990, p. 82
  97. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Beat Happening - 1983-85 Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  98. ^ Parker 2015, pp. xii–xiii, 139
  99. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Various Artists - Fortune Cookie Prize: A Tribute to Beat Happening Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  100. ^ Everything Will Change (sleeve). Sub Pop. 2023. SP1397. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  101. ^ Good Grooming for Girls (booklet). Permafrost Records. 2004. FROST 009. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  102. ^ "Free Again"/"Bad Seeds" (sleeve). Turntable Kitchen. 2017. TK0SD. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)
  103. ^ "Free Again" (sleeve). International Pop Underground. K Records. 1992. IPU 26. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |people= ignored (help)

Sources

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