Re: Flipper

Hello. I wonder if anyone can find a way to get the old Flipper records reissued. I sent an e-mail to Rhino a few months back and am keeping my fingers crossed. I hope they do it, as they've done a fine job with the Ramones and The Stooges material.

Sadly, I'm not sure there's quite the demand for Flipper reissues as for the Ramones and the Stooges. And ROIR is probably not selling that Blow'n Chunks tape anymore either....

Rick Rubin @ American Records owns the master tapes to every Flipper release except the live ROIR release. I don't know why he's allowed the records go out of print (he's a huge fan, and his own band Hose was essentially a Flipper tribute group), but it's all been gone for awhile now. I don't think Rhino can reissue it (easily, anyway) since they're under Warner and American's a Universal company.

It's kind of a sad thing, actually. Subterranean Records, the label that originally released the albums, had the master tapes stolen out of their office by Flipper themselves in the early 1990s. Rubin bought everything from the band and then used powerful lawyers to crush Subterreanean's complaint that they still owned the rights to the albums.

I've seen "Album - Generic" and "American Grafishy" turn up in used bins here and there (both have been reissued several times). Everything else will be difficult to find. Infinite Zero (Rubin & Rollins' great but short-lived reissue label) did re-release the "Sex Bomb Baby" singles comp and were going to release "Gone Fishin" on CD for the first time too, but then the company died in 1997 amid American's financial crisis. I'd like it if Rubin got around to re-releasing everything again, but it doesn't look too promising.

Rollins' 2.13.61 label just reissued Negative Trend's "We Don't Play, We Riot" EP for the first time on CD. They were a pre-Flipper band that's well worth checking out.

i just downloaded "blowin chunks" on emusic during the fantastic 50 free downloads for free offer.

Thanks for the replies all.

That's good to know Matt. I've always been interested in and want to listen to Negative Trend.

Here's hoping that the Flipper material will get reissued. It's really sad and ridiculous that one of the best and most influential bands of it's time does not have their material available for this duration. Not having Flipper's material in print is like having the work of the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Minor Threat, and Circle Jerks unavailable. It's that important.

My band used to cover Ha-Ha, but never could get the the one line
We go downtown and do our shopping... ??get the pussy and wet??
Anyone?

sn´t life a blast
It´s just like living in the past
We go downtown to do our shopping
And we live in Suburbia
And I say
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho
He he he he he he he he
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
What is there to do she said
He said come on baby
And I´ll show you a good time
So they went on down
To one of those cheap motels
And they got all gushy and wet
And i say
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho
He he he he he he he he
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha



???

As usual, the misheard lyric is better.
My favorite is still my HS pal's, who thought Baba included:

'Out here in the fields
I fart from my meals'

It makes complete sense, for Roger is a very polite dinner guest.

My buddy and I used to do a cover of "Memphis Tennessee" in our coffee house set in the early 90s. I was responsible for the music; said buddy responsible for learning the words and singing. You know the line " 'cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall?" For years the uncle was excised from the song and replaced by a picturesque character named "Smallcoat." By the time I noticed how he was singing it, I was so captivated with the image of this fellow Smallcoat that I refused to let my buddy change the line. I envisioned a midget in a dinner jacket, jumping up and down yelling at Mr. Berry to come down the hall and see what had been scrawled on the parlor wall.

We also covered Astronomy Domine and our singer originally had some line about "over on the veranda with Auntie Tanya...

What?! Always thought it was "I'm a lucky cuss."

But some people have filthier imaginations then me. And that's sayin something.



Post Edited (01-30-06 01:52)

The major label grocery store behind my condo decided it would be okay to do major jackhammer construction about 10 feet from my bedroom at all hours of the night and morning. They got to listen to The Flipper (rick rubin reissue ) cd all the way up on repeat through an open window. Plus the sounds and feel of breaking glass. Ha Ha Ha Ha, Sacrifice.

james K

James K: Those are great songs. Listening to "Shed No Tears" and "(I Saw You) Shine", one could immediately tell that this was no typical punk band.



Post Edited (02-09-06 23:57)

william shatner rules!

I was in this band doing some fun stuff for a uni band comp and we were doing Highway To Hell and the singer sung "Hey Santa!": instead of "Hey Satan" and caused a mutiny.

In a similar vein, is it true that Captain Sensible managed to have a number one hit with Happy Talk despite sneaking in the line "talk about the boy, saying to the girl golly baby I'm a lucky cunt" or is it just an urban myth?

The marbled double wax album with the tour game !!! Flipper still rules, OK?

At this point Rubin probably sees the masters, rights, etc. more as an investment than anything else (i.e. he'll won't mind licensing them to someone else to reissue...for the right price).
If Tupper still had the masters, I don't think we'd still be waiting for the reissues....