When Suicide Reigned Supreme

Alright dudes, I've been writing this blog too stiffly. Now we're just gonna do it right and less like an informational pamphlet.

Who they are:
Two artists hanging out in the old school soulful uber dirty dangerous NY came together to form one of the noisest, meanest, most infuential bands of all time. That's right I'm talking about Suicide. Yes I know it sounds like a metal band or even a punk band, but here's the thing they are an electronic act. A strange one at that.
They formed around 1973 around the time the NY Dolls were setting the stage for what would become punk rock. Of course it was Suicide who actually coined the term on some of their early fliers. For a the next few years you could walk down the street and here these two guys were making a racket/creating musical history in whichever building they were squatting in.

Lineup:
Martin Rev: Synths/Electronics
Alan Vega: Vocals

What you should get/when they owned it
Suicide's first two albums are definitely must owns. The first self titled album came out in early 1977 right in the middle of the Punk explosion in NY and the UK. And in fact nothing may have been more in your face than Suicide. Here's why. About 10 bands in the world were using synths at the time, let alone using synths in a 10 minute song about a man who kills his wife, baby and himself. Strangely enough it was this song, Frankie Teardrop, that made Bruce Springsteen an early fan of the band.
Now don't let that scare you off, the rest off the album is a strange mix of 50's rock and roll style vocals,dark moody electronics, and a minimalist low ebb for a drum machine. The best example of this comes in the form of the first two tracks, Ghost Rider and Rocket USA. It's here you get the beautiful essence of what the band does best. Not to mention the classic Cheree, which brilliantly soundtracks Basquiat getting the girl at the end of classic no wave film Downtown 81.
Suicide's second release, essentially knows as The Second Album or Suicide 2, was produced by none other than Ric Ocasek of The Cars. He not only added abit more atmospherics and gloss to the production, but he ultimately became one of the few champions of the band during it's heyday. The thing is every synth pop album you've ever heard, sounds like Suicide 2. Unlike the low ebb off the first album, Suicide 2 actually moves.(As jazz players would say it swings.)
Shadazz, Diamonds Fur Coat and Champaign, Dream Baby Dream, move with the kind of stiff rhythm that Devo and Soft Cell would've killed for. Of course the lyrics stayed just as dark, and the rock and roll crooner persona Vega was an even bigger part of the sound.
Oh and if you really wanna here how pissed off/how much people didn't get it you can hear the classic 23 minutes over Brussels where they fight with the crowd Fear style while doing these dark ass electronic tunes.

So What Happened: They never got as dance as Cabaret Voltaire or Kraftwerk and they weren't goth enough to be industrial or punks, so ultimately Suicide got left behind by many music fans. They just didn't really fit in anywhere. They did have more fans in Europe, but it didn't matter. The band was more underground legend than massive stars. Sporadically they would do small tours, and release an album once every few years. Time finally caught up to their sound, and Suicide actually gained some long deserved respect, but to this day they still do the same thing. They disappear, do a solo album, an art show, then they FINALLY put out an album and some 6 date tour.


What does it all mean
There are certain levels in the hierarchy of electronic music. And when you are looking at the top, Suicide is up there with Cabaret Voltaire, Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, and Tomita in the land of influencing and pioneering lots of shit.

Availability:
Suicide albums made a triumphant return back into print around 01' so you can still find the stuff, just on a limited scale. And there should be some with it peeps that have it uploaded somewhere.

Vids
Ghost Fuckin Rider


Dream Baby Dream from their appearance on the Cars primetime special.(Yes u read that right, a network special for the cars and they put suicide on it. Didn't tv used to be awesome.)