DISCOGRAPHY

On a mid-summer after noon in 1974, Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw came to visit the Hill Street apartment where Niagara and I lived. The house sat across the street from the infamous former White Panther Party headquarters. Our front living room was modied into an apocalyptic theater with murals and props, a set where we made lms and held midnight theater performances. During that first meeting we argued about the merits of Salvador Dalis painting versus his sell-out personality. We also decided to meet up again and work on creating music together. After a lming session at Hill Street, Mike, Jim, Niagara and I rejoined around the corner at a small party held at Ingrid Goods Forest Court commune. Just as we were leaving, Lincoln Yako spoke about looking for a band to play a New Years Eve event at a comic book distribution center. We decided this would be an auspicious rst gig. We then needed to come up with a name and Jim Shaw said, Destroy All Monsters and we all agreed. I remember, with surprising detail, the first DAM gig. It was New Years Eve 74, at a comic book warehouse run by my pals, the Donahoe brothers. It

was comprised of Cary, Niags, Shaw, Kelley and Roger Miller on drums. Tim Donahoe asked that you announce the name of yr group before you began performance, so there was a hurried conference between Cary, Shaw and Kelley, then Cary announced, thru the mic, Um, we are Destroy All Monsters.the warehouse was on North Main St., Cary played guitar, Niags on broken violin, and Shaw or Kelley had a vacuum cleaner Naigs sang, and am pretty sure you all performed You cant kill kill (cuz it doesnt happen twice) which I thot was very funny. I remember it sounded great, altho the audience gave it a mixed receptionwhich was pretty good, all things considered from a letter by Lincoln Yako (ne Dr. Zero) I remember somewhat differently that we played a noise version of Iron Man at the comic book party for about 10 minutes and then were unceremoniously unplugged and thrown out. I think this kind of reaction was common whenever we performed and confirmed we were on the right track.

Jim played noise guitar fed through a multitude of effects and synthesizers that would repeat patterns formed by an echoplex, a heavy black machine box that looped sound on recording tape. Mike created loops on old tape recorders and would often hot rod old electronic toys and voice boxes by soldering them to " plugs that could go into amps or played with other effects. He also assembled an arsenal of childrens squeeze toys and percussion effects from area thrift stores and the annual Kiwanis sales. We had an early cheap electronic drum box, several damaged keyboards and a stripped down drum kit that Mike played. Practices were open events and area musicians would sometimes stop by. John Reed was an old friend of Kelleys and a talented guitarist who also lived at Gods Oasis and played with us often. Live performances were rare and Jim was especially shy about playing in public. We reveled in the death of rock. We gave up straight rock instrumentation by playing mostly old electronic cast-offs, tape recorders and noise makers, but we felt no qualms about using standard rock instruments eitheror playing rock cover

versions, albeit very fucked up ones. We had slightly artistic and avant-garde pretensions, we were in your face but we also had a sense of humoralbeit a very sour one. Mike Kelley, To the Throne of Chaos Where The Thin Flutes Pipe Mindlessly, liner notes for a three CD box set, 1993 In 1975, Niagara and I moved into a house on Woodlawn street just a few blocks away from Gods Oasis. There we assembled the rst DAM release, a simple cassette tape made with two low-end dupe recorders. Titled Destroy All Monsters Greatest Hits, the tape was a C-60 minute cassette on yellow Made in Mexico cassettes available at K-mart, 3 for a dollar. About 30 copies were produced, sold mainly by mail order advertisements that appeared in Lightworks and the DAM magazine. The band dissolved in the summer of 1976, with a notorious rummage sale held at Gods Oasis ,that produced a mountain of relics in the backyard. That fall Mike and Jim left for Cal Arts near Los Angeles to complete their masters degrees and Niagara and I soon began to reform the band with Ben, Laurence and Roger Miller. Practices were

held in the basement of the Millers Felch street house. Cary and Niagara would drop in unannounced at our [Empool] jam sessions and request we do their stuff; two and three chord songs with lyricsthe exact opposite of what we were doing. Perhaps by default from the fact that we were all outcasts of the music scene, the two groups eventually fused together into the second incarnation of Destroy All Monsters; a plodding garage punk sound with a lot of psychedelia hanging on the outer fringe. This was the fun version of the band where artistic intention was high. Band members were interchangeable and songs were not nailed down. Ben Miller, trackMarx interview The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton had been spending most of his time at home in a funk after the split up of his New Order band. After some persuasion (and a six pack of Colt 45) Ron came to hear us perform at the Underground Bar in Ypsilanti. He then came to sit in on DAM practices and to collaborate on songs as a new punk-fueled direction began.

When Roger Miller moved to Boston (later to form the Space Negroes and Mission of Burma,) we brought drummer Rob King and bassist Michael Davis into the group. Practices were held all summer at Lou Longswhere Rob kept his drums and on occasion worked for Longs tree trimming service. On June 26 th 1977, a seven piece DAM line up performed at Second Chance in Ann Arbor with the Sonic Rondezvous Band and the Ramones. The concert was lmed with a port-a-pack Sony video recorder but a tape has yet to surface. There was a lot of band drama during the second half of 1977. Niagara hooked up with Asheton and I began missing gigs and was voted out of the band. A few months after I left the rst single was released. Youre Gonna Die/Bored (Fig. 1), 7". Youre Gonna Die w: Niagara /m: Cary Loren/Ron Asheton. Bored w: Niagara /m: Ron Asheton. Personnel: Ron Asheton, Niagara, Mike Davis, Ben Miller, Lawrence Miller, and Rob King. Produced by DB Keeps. Picture sleeve by Niagara. IDBI, 1977. Cherry Red records reissue, 1978.

Destroy All Monsters band was just too many personalities tuggin and pullin for their own way, and there just wasnt anybody in the band who was strong enough to subdue the chaos. We did a lot of spacedout, rockin, jammin and harda s s ro c k a n d ro l l f u l l - b l a s t music. It was fun, a lot of fun doin it, we got around a bit. Michael Davis, I-94 Bar Interview In 1978, I put out some basement tapes on vinyl with the cooperation of Ben and Larry Miller. The Miller brothers and Rob King would quit DAM in 1979but just before their exit we released the Blackout in the City (Fig. 2) EP under the name Xanadu. DAM continued as a Ron Asheton led punk style group until sometime in the early 1980s. Days of Diamonds (Fig. 3) (Destroy All Monsters unauthorized Live EP). A1: Intro Ron Asheton. A2: Assassination Photograph w/m Cary Loren. A3: Dream Song w: Loren /m: Asheton. B1: Destroy AM w/m: Ben Miller. B2: It Never Ends w/m: Lawrence Miller. Personnel: Ron Asheton, Mike Davis, Rob King, Cary Loren, Ben Miller, and Laurence Miller. Engineered by

Paul Remley and the Miller brothers, produced by Loren. Sleeve art by Virgil Finlay, labels designed by Jim Shaw. Black Hole Records, Detroit #1855, 1978. The next DAM single featured the amazing Meet the Creeper written by Michael Davis and November 22nd, a song I had written with Ron Asheton in 77 but now it included some altered lyrics and was being credited to Niagara. It also became apparent that the Miller brothers contributions were being buried in the mixes and the studio recordings of their music (some of the most original in DAM) was being ignored and unreleased. Meet the Creeper/November 22 nd 1963, 7" single. Meet the Creeper w/m: Michael Davis. November 22 nd 1963 w: Niagra /m: Cary Loren/Ron Asheton. Personnel: Ron Asheton, Niagara, Mike Davis, Ben Miller, Laurence Miller, and Rob King. IDBI/ Cherry Red records, 1978. What Do I Get/Nobody Knows (Fig. 4), 7". w: Niagara /m: Ron Asheton. Personnel: Ron Asheton, Niagara, Mike Davis, and Rob King. Produced by DB Keeps. IDBI/Cherry Red records, 1979.

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After the band dissolved, a series of compilations began to be released: Ron Ashetons Destroy All Monsters/ Sonic Rendezvous Band split 12" LP. Listed Personnel: Ron Asheton, Mike Davis, Niagra, and Rob King. Revenge Records (bootleg), France, 1987. November 22, 1963, 12" LP. Revenge Records (bootleg), France, 1989. Destroy All Monsters Live , 12 LP. Fan Club (bootleg), France, 1989. Destroy All Monsters Bored, CD. Personal listed: Ron Asheton, Mike Davis, Niagra, Rob King. Contains all three of the IDBI singles, Cherry Red, CMDMRED#94, 1991. Reissued by Cherry Red, 2010. In 1994, Mike and I began talks about releasing some of the early DAM recordings. Assembled from cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, Kelley had the music balanced, sequenced and arranged the design of the boxed set. It included booklets with lyrics, photos and a fold-out poster. The boxed set led to a few reunion shows, a mini tour of Japan and a 1998 installation, concert and exploration of Detroit culture held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands under the title I Rip You, You Rip Me cu-

rated by artists Ronald Corneilson and Ben Schot. Destroy All Monsters 19741976 (Fig. 5), 3-CD boxed set. Edition of 2000, Ecstatic Peace!/Father Yod records, 1994. Reissued in an edition of 1000 by Compound Annex/ The End is Here, 2009. To celebrate the boxed set release, an exhibition of band artwork was held at the Book Beat gallery in Oak Park, Michigan. This coincided with Kelleys lecture held at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the publication of the bands archives in the book Destroy All Monsters: Geisha This (1995). The book was a remix of DAM magazines with additional artwork and articles. Reunion performances were held in Detroit, San Diego and Los Angeles. Grow Live Monsters (Fig. 6), tape cassette. Edition of 250, boxed cassette with End is Here booklet designed by Jim Shaw from 1976. Time Stereo, 1995. Flexi Disc EP #1 , flexi disc. My Cowboy Hero w: Niagra /m: Cary Loren. Calling All Girls w/m: Mike Kelley. Im Bored w/m: Cary Loren. Recorded in 1975. Flexi disc released inside Geisha This: Destroy All Monsters (Fig. 7). Released as

a numbered edition of 100 copies. Edition of 1000, The End is Here 01/ Time Stereo, 1995. Live in Detroit: Killing Me Softly/ Detroit Rock City 7" single. Trade edition of 1000, Ecstatic Peace/ The End is Here 02. Also released as a limited boxed edition of 200 on clear vinyl housed in black monkey fur box with photos and extras, The End is Here 04, 1995. Psychout . w/m: Cary Loren. DAM performs in a Chinese nightclub in an animated sequence in Smarty Pants a CD-ROM for children. Producer/writer Theresa Duncan. 1996. Backyard Monster Tube (Fig. 8), tape cassette. Time Stereo, 1996. Radio Teardrop (Fig. 9), CD. 45 minute live radio edits of DAM music. Edition of 500, created as an installation soundtrack for Deep Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. The End is Here 03, 1996. American entrepreneur Long Gone John came to hear us perform in San Diego (a concert that ended in a near riot). He bought a Niagara painting and released a single and full length CD on his SFTRI label. Paranoid of Blondes/I Want to Live (Fig. 10), 7". Live performances from

DAM reunion shows in Los Angeles. Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1996. Destroy All Monsters Silver Wedding Anniversary (Fig. 11), CD. Recordings from live reunion shows. Personnel: Niagara, Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Cary Loren, Dave Muller, Art Byington, and Xavier Boussiron. Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1996. Flexi Disc EP #2 , flexi disc. Typical Girl w/m: Cary Loren. Attack of the Chiggers w: Kelley /m: Cary Loren. Flexi disc recording released on black plastic inside Destroy All Monsters: Geisha This, third edition. Time Stereo/The End is Here, 1997. Released as a numbered edition of 100 packaged with a Jim Shaw monster blob bandana. Moms and Dads Pussy , Gummo soundtrack, CD compilation. London Records, 1997. Backyard Monster Tube and Pig (Fig. 12), CD. Recorded during practice sessions 1995, Los Angeles and live Pig track from the Deep gallery, Tokyo, Japan. The End is Here 07, 1998. Swamp Gas (Fig. 13), CD. Personnel: Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, and Carey Loren with Matthew Smith, Marnie

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Weber, Erika Hoffman, Warn Defever, Sun Ra, and Violent Onsen Geisha. Released with Swamp Gas Gazette UFO zine and cosmic blob stickers, trade and limited boxed edition. End is Here 014, 2002. The Detroit Oratorio (Fig. 14), CD. Recorded at DAM live shows in Rotterdam and Vienna, with special guests Scanner, Charlemagne Palestine, and Violent Onsen Geisha. Produced by Mike Kelley. Compound Annex 010, 2002. Live in Tokyo and Osaka 1966 (Fig. 15), CD. Recorded live in Japan with Art Byington, Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Dave Muller and Jim Shaw. Produced by Mike Kelley. Compound Annex 013, 2002. Coda, in the (Whitney Biennial Catalog) Soundworks CD, track #13. Abrams, New York, 2002. Broken Mirrors (Fig. 16), rehearsals & shows 19771978 , CD. Features songs written by Ben and Larry Miller. Personnel: Niagara, Ron Asheton, Michael Davis, Larry Miller, Ben Miller, and Rob King. Farfetched records, 2003. Heavy Metal Lagoon , on the God Came Between Us compilation, track a7 Japan. 777 records, 2005.

Destroy All Monsters (Fig. 17), 12" LP (same personnel and tracks as Cherry Red #94). Get Back, Italy, GET#31 (bootleg) 1998, GET #706 (bootleg), 2009.

VIDEO Grow Live Monsters (Fig. 18) selected early 8mm and 16mm lms, Cary Loren 19711976, DAM soundtrack, VHS. Released by Lobster World/ Book Beat, 1996. Reissued by MVD (on DVD), 2001. Shake a Lizard Tail or Rust Belt Rump (Fig. 19) , edited by Cary Loren, DAM soundtrack, VHS. Lobster World, 1996. Reissued by MVD in Grow Live Monsters, 2000. Clear Day (Fig. 20), live DAM concerts from 1996, edited by Cary Loren, VHS. Lobster World, 1998. Strange Fruit: Rock Apochrypha, a lm by Cary Loren for a DAM installation, VHS. Lobster World, 1998.

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SELECTED SIDE PROJECTS MIKE KELLEY The Peristaltic Airwaves & Platos Cave, Rothkos Chapel, Lincolns Profile, High Performance Audio; 1987 (audiocassette), with Sonic Youth Dry Hump, Oostende, CD compilation, Bigg Truck Records; 1994 The Poetics, The Poetics: Remixes of Recordings 1977 to 1983 (Fig. 21), 3 CD box set. Compound Annex 01/02/03, 1997. The Poetics, Critical Inquiry in Green, CD. Compound Annex 04, 1997. Gobbler, Skin of Flesh All Mighty! (Fig. 22), CD. Compound Annex 05, 1997. Mike Kelley/Paul McCarthy/Violent Onsen Geisha, Sod and Sodie Sock (Fig. 23), CD. Released with Studio C. Compound Annex 07, 1998. Day is Done (Fig. 24) with Scott Benzel, CD. Compound Annex 014, 2005. CARY LOREN Xanadu, Blackout in the City , 7" EP. Released with Ben Miller, Laurence Miller, and Rob King. A1: No Change w/m: Laurence Miller. A2:

Time Bomb w/m: Cary Loren. B1: Switch the Topic w: Loren /m: Ben Miller. B2: Blackout in the City w/m: Cary Loren. Black Hole Records, 1979. Nightcrawlerz, Nightcrawlerz: The Third Mind,19791989 (Fig. 25), 2 CD set. Nightcrawlerz was an arts collective by artist-poet Barry Roth and Cary Loren. Released with booklet, postcards and stickers. The End is Here 011/012, 2002. Monster Island, From the Michigan Floor (Fig. 26), 12" LP. Edition of 500 copies, with lyric booklet, cover art by Carey Loren. Ecstatic Peace/ Father Yod/End is Here, 1998. Reissued as a CD with bonus tracks on The End is Here, 2007. Spoken word/Various, Music is Revolution, a White Panther Party spoken word history CD with radical speeches and underground news compiled from the John and Leni Sinclair collection in the Bentley Library, Ann Arbor. End is Here 010, 2000. Monster Island, Dream Tiger (Fig. 27), CD. The End is Here 013, 2001. Monster Island and John Sinclair, Peyotemind (Fig. 28), CD. Live performance at the Detroit Contemporary gallery. End is Here 014, 2002.

Monster Island, The Children of Mu (Fig. 29), 12" double LP. Edition of 500. Cover design by Gary Panter. The End is Here 016/017, 2007. NIAGARA Dark Carnival, The Last Great Ride, 12" LP/CD. Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1997. Dark Carnival and Destroy All Monsters, Niagara Beyond the Pale , 3 CD set. Amphetamine Reptile, 2003. Niagara and the Hitmen, St. Valentines Day Massacre , CD. Steel Cage, 2009. JIM SHAW The Dogz, Its Easter in my Brain/ Willy Nilly (Fig. 30), 7" single. Cameo Appearance Records, 1989. Jim Shaw, Good Looking Corpse, Oostende , CD. Compilation released on Bigg Truck Records. The Perfect Me with Marnie Weber, The Very Best of the Perfect Me , CD. The End is Here, 2002. BEN AND LAURENCE MILLER The Empty Set, Lost in a Ryptide , 12". LALA, 1986.

Sproton Layer, With Magnetic Fields Disrupted (Fig. 31), CD/LP/cassette tape. Recorded 1970. New Alliance 055, 1992. Laurence Miller in Larynx Zillions Novelty Shop, Songs of Recovery from Anything or Anyone (Fig. 32) , In Us God Trusts/All or Nothing, 7". Farfetched Records, 1992. Ben Miller in Third Border, Sun of Water, Sea of Light, CD. Radial, 2006. Ben, Laurence, and Roger Miller as M3, With Magnetic Fields Disrupted, CD. New Alliance Records, 1994. MICHAEL DAVIS The MC5, Big Bang: the Best of the MC5, CD. Atlantic, 2000. The MC5, Kick out the Jams (Fig. 33), DVD. A lm by Leni Sinclair and Cary Loren. MVD, 2005. The Lords of Altamont, The Altamont Sin, CD. Gearhead Records, 2004 RON ASHETON Iggy and the Stooges, Telluric Chaos, CD. Skydog, 2005. Iggy and the Stooges, Raw Power, 2 CD set. Sony Legacy, 2010.