The first Suicide album is downtown, all jittery speed-inflected machine rhythms and the froggy intonations of ghost of Sal Mineo contestant Alan Vega. Vega's yelps leap out of the sound field at you, as though he suddenly is much closer to you than you realized. It was an album I liked, but one I wouldn't put on in some circumstances, for example when I was alone. On vinyl, you had to steel yourself for exposure to the threatening undertone of the group, and sometimes the record frightened me.
This is an excellent article. Thank you for the thorough and balanced way you covered Ric Ocasek's involvement in Suicide's career. I love Panorama, and I wish the Cars allowed more of their appreciation for Suicide influence their subsequent records.
You're right, Marshall.....I had the debut in the day ('77, Red Star Records, I was 22), and never wanted to listen to it alone! As a very song-oriented rock'n'pop lover, I was on Suicide (and "had to" get the album) only because the rock press o' the day was all over them, and the band was easily and frequently talked about in the same breath as the CBGB bunch, and anything else punk and new wave....and, I was fine with that! I guess it was fun collecting everyone in this burgeoning new genre!
The depth of all the players was breath-taking: Television to Blondie to The Paley Bros. to Tuff Darts to Suicide, and so many others! Something for everyone...meanwhile, disco was rapidly devolving into a cesspool of sameness at the very same moment!
Frankly, I'd never heard any more from them after that debut (a lot of that had to do with my moving-on life, as well as moving-on musical tastes)! I certainly wasn't aware Ocasek cared, and produced! Thanks for bringing me up to speed, Marshall, and thanks for writing about an influential band who is all but buried in the cobweb of time!
This is an excellent article. Thank you for the thorough and balanced way you covered Ric Ocasek's involvement in Suicide's career. I love Panorama, and I wish the Cars allowed more of their appreciation for Suicide influence their subsequent records.
You're right, Marshall.....I had the debut in the day ('77, Red Star Records, I was 22), and never wanted to listen to it alone! As a very song-oriented rock'n'pop lover, I was on Suicide (and "had to" get the album) only because the rock press o' the day was all over them, and the band was easily and frequently talked about in the same breath as the CBGB bunch, and anything else punk and new wave....and, I was fine with that! I guess it was fun collecting everyone in this burgeoning new genre!
The depth of all the players was breath-taking: Television to Blondie to The Paley Bros. to Tuff Darts to Suicide, and so many others! Something for everyone...meanwhile, disco was rapidly devolving into a cesspool of sameness at the very same moment!
Frankly, I'd never heard any more from them after that debut (a lot of that had to do with my moving-on life, as well as moving-on musical tastes)! I certainly wasn't aware Ocasek cared, and produced! Thanks for bringing me up to speed, Marshall, and thanks for writing about an influential band who is all but buried in the cobweb of time!