[kj] UK / Europe - Lords of the New Church - Bootlegs Question(noKJ content

[TB]

"Christof hamille" wrote:


> Lords of the New Church is still one of m favorite throwback bands. 
> Listening to them right now on the iPod.

The Lords were one of my all time favorite bands. I saw them probably 20+ 
times from '82 through '87 and actually got to hang out with them after many 
of their gigs at small local LA and Long Beach clubs and bars between '85 - 
'86 when they lived in LA and had been dropped from IRS Records. One of my 
coolest memories of those times was hosting Stiv and one of the band's 
roadies / drug dealers at my apartment watching "Apocalypse Now"after a 
show. My best friend and I would always be right up front yelling at them 
between songs to play "Worlds Without End" or "Dreams and Desires," two 
obscure tracks which would almost always crack up drummer Nicky Turner.

Someone asked about Stiv being shot, I believe it happened in late 1983 in 
San Diego during a show when someone shot him with a shotgun full of 
buckshot which caught him in the chest and leg. There's actually a bootleg 
record album with a photo from a show a week or two later with Stiv 
performing from a wheelchair onstage:

http://i14.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/c9/81/83_1.JPG

To answer another question, about a year after Stiv broke up The Lords 
(onstage!), he was walking on a sidewalk in Paris and was accidentally hit 
by a speeding car. He refused an ambulance ride to a hospital and went home 
to his wife's apartment were he died that night in his sleep from internal 
bleeding in his brain. He was cremated in Paris and his ashes were split 
between his wife and a few close friends and the rest were scattered on the 
late Doors singer, Jim Morrison's grave (Stiv was a huge Morrison fan).

> With that said I cannot give the new attempt a chance.  Call ti something 
> else if you want.  But to do it again and not have evryone else on board 
> is bad enough.  It jsut smelled of "we have nothing else we can do that 
> will bring in any sort of £££ so why not".

There is a pretty nasty back story as to why Brian and original bassist Dave 
Tregunna even got back together under The Lord's moniker in 2001.

What happened is a Florida dj / fan named Steven Marque discovered in 2000 
the recording rights and copyright to the band name and identity had somehow 
lapsed into the public domain. He copyrighter the band name and identity for 
himself, somehow managed to get ahold of Brian James and convince James to 
"reform" the band with a new drummer, 2nd guitarist and himself as singer / 
songwriter. Dave Tregunna had been a long time friend of James and they'd 
been working together sporadically on an untitled project so Dave came on 
board and basically was the person who kept the project organized.

Everyone figured out very quickly that Steve Marque who had never sung in a 
band or been on a stage couldn't do either. So the 2nd guitarist who was a 
huge Stiv Bator fan basically sang all the "classic" songs in the set while 
Marque sang 3 new songs that they recorded in '01. Little to no interest was 
given to the lineup and everyone who saw the shows was pretty unanimous in 
slamming Marque on stage as being laughably awful. They did record 3 new 
songs that were actually fairly good despite Marque's ham-fisted writing and 
off-key singing style. Still, it did reek of cashing in on the Lord's name.

A good friend of mine Adam Becvare was trying to get his band "Lust Killers" 
a support gig with the Lords on a short UK tour for '02 however the drummer 
and guitarist/singer quit the band so Brian asked Adam to basically front 
the band and record an album with them in early '02. Adam along with yet 
another new drummer joined, did a chaotic tour of Europe and the UK's clubs, 
and managed to record a full length album that remains unreleased to this 
day. During this time, Marque was having pirated Lords shirts and other 
apparel made and sold through his "Lords" website and eBay. Marque also had 
his "vocals" if you can call them that (think Sesame Street's "Cookie 
Monster" meets The Simpson's Krusty The Clown), added to the new studio 
album after it was finished in an almost karaoke fashion that ruined many of 
the actually decent songs.

> They were supposedd to come Stateside.  From what I heard though 
> everything fell apart.  Last I checked the site is gone.  I just couldn't 
> bring myself to support it.  I love Brian James as a guitarist/songwriter. 
> I think he is kind of scraping the bottom fo the barrel for survival.

Yeah, after the UK tour in '02, there were plans to play stateside but the 
band was already falling apart (Dave broke Marque's nose in a fight during 
one of the first rehearsals) plus, one of the members couldn't get a Visa to 
enter the US.

By late '02 early '03, the rest of the band convinced Brian to cut ties with 
Marque despite the fact he (and Dave) might get cut out of any further 
Lord's royalties, significant because they managed to re-release they 3 
original 80's albums on Track Records in late '02. However, several fans 
with ties to the entertainment legal community have fought to return the 
rights of the band to it's original members and because of the hassle as 
well as the cost, it appears Steve Marque no longer can leech off the band's 
name. Brian who hasn't been in the best mental or physical shape for years 
anyway (picture Ozzy at his most incoherent but still able to wail on 
guitar) recently finished a solo album with Dave as well as Exene from the 
LA punk band "X" on vocals on some songs. Adam joined the excellent rock n' 
roll band The Black Halos last year and has been touring relentlessly with 
them ever since (right now they're in France).

While I have about a dozen Lords shows on video as well as a few on audio 
along with stuff I've picked up from those in the band over the years, I 
have nothing from the '02 - '03 tour. Even Adam Becvare who was in the band 
has asked me for bootlegs of any show he was involved with because the band 
didn't film anything themselves.

BTW, here's a great Lords site for those interested:

http://www.angelsinexile.i12.com/lords/html/index.htm

I also moderate the Lords mailing list over on YahooGroups and welcome 
anyone who wants to join.

T.B.