YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME (ALBUM)

'''You Give Love a Bad Name''' is the third studio album by the controversial punk rock singer, songwriter, and performance artist 'GG Allin', and is jointly credited to Allin and a one-time studio band named 'The Holy Men'.

Contents

History

Music

Recording tales

Bonus tracks

Track listing

Original 1987 LP

Side one

Side two

CD reissue

History

After the release of the ''Hated in the Nation'' compilation cassette by ROIR, as well as a series of letters written by Allin to such magazines as ''Maximum RockNRoll'' and ''Flipside'', Allin's stature in the punk rock underground had grown considerably. However, Allin's uncompromising, and increasingly transgressive performances, and his tendency towards extremely lowbrow lyrics, made him an unlikely prospect not only for most major labels, but for many of the otherwise "respectable" independent labels like SST, Touch and Go, and Alternative Tentacles. Allin had parted with his previous label, Black and Blue Records, after a falling out with label owner and co-producer Peter Yarmouth, accusing Yarmouth of not paying him royalties. "This is pure fantasy based on comments by GG on the GG Allin Eats his Own video. The truth is GG loved to trash any perceived or real authority including his record labels. I recall one show at The Populous Pudding in CT after the release of his second Homestead release where backstage GG pissed on my leg and yelled proudly that he now had pissed on both his labels. He said he pissed on Cosley's head. GG was that kind of guy, Regardless,GG, just as Merle is today, was compensated. Back in the early days I spent a lot of money advertising GG in music publications. No label after Black & Blue had to sell an unknown artist." Peter Yarmouth 4-25-2007
Enter Gerald Cosloy, who had already played rhythm guitar with Allin on the "new" recordings on ''Hated in the Nation''. Cosloy operated Homestead Records through a deal with record distributor Dutch East India, and had released records by Big Black, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr before those bands left for greener pastures. With room on the roster and a desire to work with Allin again, Cosloy courted the shock-rocker. Allin agreed almost immediately. Homestead would be the biggest label Allin would deal with up until this time.

Music

On May 18, 1987, Allin entered a low-budget studio called The Music Box, located on Avenue B in New York City's East Village, accompanied by a four-piece band that included Cosloy on second guitar, along with three other area musicians: lead guitarist Greg Bullock, bassist Mike Kirkland, and drummer Mike "Machine Gun" Edison. Allin dubbed the session band The Holy Men. Contracted to record ten songs for his first Homestead album, Allin actually came in with six original new songs of his own: "Swank Fuckin'", "Bloody Mary's Bloody Cunt", "Suck Dog", "Teenage Twats", "Stink Finger Clit", and "Scars on My Body - Scabs on My Dick". The remaining four songs compromised of two older songs that Allin had recorded with his post-Scumfucs backing band the Cedar Street Sluts, and two cover versions.
Musically, Allin eschewed the hyper hardcore punk tempos of his previous studio album ''E.M.F.'' in favor of rough mid-tempo rock reminiscent of the New York Dolls and the Rolling Stones (the latter of which Allin was a major fan of).
The two reworked originals were "Tough Fuckin' Shit" and "I'm a Rapest" (''sic''). The former appeared as the penultimate track on ''Hated in the Nation'' in a slower arrangement, while the latter track is actually the earlier Allin composition "Blood for You" with new lyrics (also appearing on ''Hated in the Nation'' in a new live version; the original electric version with the Cedar Street Sluts plus an acoustic demo version by Allin alone, would appear on the 1990 compilation album ''Doctrine of Mayhem'').
Of the two cover versions on the album, "Beer Picnic" is a faithful, if slower, version of a song by obscure NYC punk band Bad Tuna Experience. (G.G. asked for--but did not receive--permission to record the song; he bought a cassette tape from Bad Tuna members after reading the lyrics, written by Bad Tuna's Carolyn and No Thanks' Donna Damage, in Maximum RockNRoll sometime in the mid-1980s.) The other cover version, "Garbage Dump", was written and originally recorded by Charles Manson on his infamous ''Lie'' album.
While most of the song titles are self-explanatory, "Suck Dog" is reportedly about writer and performance artist Lisa Crystal Carver, then more well known under the stage name Lisa Suckdog. Carver had reportedly encountered and unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Allin earlier that year, then badmouthed him to the press.

Recording tales

During the sessions, recording engineer Jaques Kralian reportedly asked Allin (who co-engineered the recording) and Cosloy if they really were serious about releasing the sessions. His question was answered a few months later when Allin and Cosloy immortalized his inquiry - "You guys aren't planning on pressing this into a record, are you?" - on the back cover of the album.
All ten of the songs were rehearsed and recorded in one day-long session. Cosloy produced but did not take production credit, instead claiming on the liner notes that he "re-mixed, unmixed, and edited" the album as heard in its final form.

Bonus tracks

In 1992, while Allin was serving a prison sentence for parole violation in Jackson, Michigan, Awareness Records reissued ''You Give Love a Bad Name'', adding several tracks recorded on July 7, 1991 in Lowell, MA by Allin, with himself and then-collaborator Mark Sheenan playing all of the instruments (that were later released in Japan as the 7" EP ''GG Allin and the Murder Junkies'') plus an interview conducted over the phone from prison on March 4, 1991 with journalist Jeff Koch.

Track listing

Original 1987 LP

Side one

#"Swank Fuckin'"
#"Bloody Mary's Bloody Cunt"
#"Tough Fuckin' Shit"
#"I'm a Rapest"
#"Suck Dog"

Side two

#Teenage Twats
#Beer Picnic
#Stink Finger Clit
#Scars on My Body - Scabs on My Dick
#Garbage Dump

CD reissue

#Swank Fuckin'
#Bloody Mary's Bloody Cunt
#Tough Fuckin' Shit
#I'm a Rapest
#Suck Dog
#Teenage Twats
#Beer Picnic
#Stink Finger Clit
#Scars on My Body - Scabs on My Dick
#Garbage Dump
#Watch Me Kill the Boston Girl
#Castration Crucifixion
#Snakeman's Dance
#Slaughterhouse Deathcamp
#Feces and Blood
#Master Daddy
#Interview from Prison