Every Crass release you ever see has been designed by Gee Vaucher
UPDATE: Except bootlegs like this one. Oops!
There’s something you should know. If you start a “thing,” and it becomes more than you thought it would be, the people involved are going to start bitching about their share and it’s going to blow up in your face. There are exceptions to this rule. One third of marriages do just fine and apparently, the Rolling Stones never broke up. That’s about it. Siblings and your immediate family used to be the only group you couldn’t have a permanent falling out with, but now even that rule is broken on a daily basis. I used to think Crass were another rare exception to this rule, but recent goings-on indicate they have the same problems the rest of us do.
When cassettes came out Gee had to resize everything from vinyl which was near impossible when it came to the posters. She did the same again when CDs came out. I’m not sure the rest of the band even knows this.
Recently, Penny and the people at Crass’ distributor, Southern, decided to take advantage of the technology that’s come out since Crass was put to CD and remastered some of the old recordings. They’ve always split the profits evenly with each member of the band despite the fact that some did a lot more than others. To release a remastered box set of all the Crass albums seemed like a no-brainer. Who could object?
Lots of people, it turns out. First of all, Crass bassist Pete Wright decided the albums could not come out. Now, I should make it clear I have not talked to Pete and have no idea what his true motives are. I’ve heard he didn’t like the remastering. I’ve heard he said Crass was a lie and to do anything to the past was to, I don’t know, disturb it like some Indian burial ground. Maybe he has plenty to say. The fact remains however, you can see 100% of Penny’s side on Southern’s website and on PunkNews.org. All Pete has publicly done is demand a public apology, to which Penny responded with, “I am deeply sorry that I felt it necessary to write the [Southern post] in the first place, and that in this context my apologies are both public and heartfelt.”
Wright back in the day
If it was me, I’d just say to Pete Wright, “Well, you’re getting an even portion of the profits so go fuck yourself.” What lawyer is going to take on a case where a guy is getting his fair share, but still objects? Why are we even talking about lawyers? Gross.
This is the fate of all bands that make any kind of impact or money or both. Mötley Crüe used to brag about how they’d be the new Rolling Stones and never break up. Soon after they kicked out Vince Neil and became grunge, only to beg him to come back so they could play covers of all their old songs and NOT blow all the cash on drugs.
The secret to this dilemna is simple. When you start a “thing,” you write out on a big piece of paper, all the possible things that could go wrong over the next infinity years:
“What if we make ten million dollars tomorrow?”
“What if one of us stops doing his share and another does 80% of the work?”
“What if we have an opportunity to remaster the albums, but one of us objects?”
“What if one of us violates one of these precedents?”
“What if I end up hating you?”
This list doesn’t need a lawyer. It can be written in crayon. But once all the worst case scenarios are written out, you can always go back to it and point out the signature that justifies everything you’re doing. This is also the number one rule of business. Agree on a fee BEFORE you do the work. If you did work for free and didn’t get paid you can’t bitch about how you deserve $500 and even that would be cheap because you put in at least 50 hours of blah blah blah. I can guarantee you your idea of what’s fair is not the same as his.
Listening to the remixes and following along with the new booklets – late at night, in the kitchen.
I’ve heard the Crass remixes and they sound pretty fucking good to me. I can hear every word Steve Ignorant is saying and the BOOM that happens when “the system dropped its bomb” has never sounded more explosive. All of a sudden you realize some of these songs are pretty catchy. I never realized “What Do You Want” was such a fucking jam. I also like the new tricks like when “Punk Is Dead” is looped for three minutes straight. There’s never-before-heard tracks in there and plenty of outtakes from various recordings that help give a sense of the dynamic between each member of the band. They’re also beautifully laid out. Gee has added a book inside each CD that has all the lyrics neatly printed out with visuals for each song. Even the quotes on the back are great. Remember “They said that we were trash / but the name’s Crass not Clash / They can stuff their punk credentials / It’s them that takes the cash”? Well, there’s a fucking Joe Strummer quote on the back. I’m paraphrasing but it’s something like, “Crass. They really did it didn’t they. But they overdid it. Who’s going to hear you when you’re that DIY? Nobody. It’s like a storm in a teacup. That should be the name of their next record Storm in a Teacup.”
Why the fuck am I not allowed to buy this and add it to my collection? Why can’t this come out? How does it nullify the previous recordings? These new CDs would go alongside the old ones. They don’t make all the old vinyl blow up into a puff of smoke.
Apparently, Pete feels Crass hid the fact that they often fought and to pretend it was one big happy commune is a continuation of a big lie. This may or may not be true. Who fucking gives a shit? Who cares if the members of Crass got along? Did anyone sit and listen to these records thinking, “These guys are all friends and that rules”? They’re not called the Get-a-long Gang. I never once thought about how well this band behaves in their living quarters. I thought about how, “Black man’s got his problems and his way to deal with it / So don’t fool yourself you’re helping with your white liberal shit. / If you care to take a closer look at the way things really stand / You’d see we’re all just niggers to the rulers of this land.”
Personally, my experience has been, when someone has a gripe they’re reluctant to articulate, the truth of it is simply, “You don’t appreciate me.” I think most lawsuits have the same basis. “You don’t think I’m relevant so I’m going to pay a lawyer to show you exactly how much I matter.” It’s all about the anger derived from feeling powerless. If there’s a good reason for these not to come out, it has most certainly not been made public.
Lewis breathing new life into old Crass.
In the midst of all this conflict (that’s a foreshadowing pun) a few other tumors have sprouted. Jeffrey Lewis did a great album of Crass covers that he cleared with everyone and registered with the proper licensing companies etc. I think it’s sold about 20,000 copies, but when he asked Crass if they got their first check the answer was, “Huh?” Crass never registered their publishing and avoided even telling people who wrote what. (Though anyone who looks at the book of song lyrics “Crass: Love Songs” can see exactly who wrote what.) Turns out — are you ready for this? — Colin from Conflict had registered the songs in HIS name and had been taking all the songwriting royalties! This is the band with slogans like “Only Stupid Bastards Support EMI.” What in the fucking Jesus? Now, I’ve heard some say that Conflict did a lot of Crass covers and those live albums would have required credits to be submitted. Maybe Colin unwittingly threw his name down there without thinking. However, that only explains one check coming to your door. What about the ten minutes after that? I think it’s been five years since this “mistake” happened. Where’s the money Colin?
Conflict single on Crass records
Crass never copyrighted the logo or demanded anyone pay them for anything but record sales. Maybe this notion is unworkable. Maybe it’s naïve to think allowing everyone to prosper equally is going to allow everyone to prosper equally.
Colin wearing his “Only Stupid Bastards Support EMI” shirt
Penny and Gee both seem very sad and discouraged by all this. Gee didn’t want me to write about this right now and would rather wait a bit. I get the feeling she’s not into airing dirty laundry. Penny, on the other hand, is quite vocal with his frustration and, as I mentioned at the outset, has publicly explained his position again and again. More on that tomorrow.
NB: None of this has been endorsed by any member of Crass or Southern Records and is strictly my own opinion. However, it’s worth noting, I am almost always right.
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I really can’t wait for crass week to end.
09.03.09 at 12:29 pm
Shit blew up in they’re face.
You’ll soon see Crass tee’s at Hot Topic along with Misfits.
09.03.09 at 12:40 pm
The Trapt didn’t fight over all the t-shirt money they made at the reunion gig…
09.03.09 at 12:58 pm
Yeah but didn’t the Trapt kick out Les for not being cool enough or some shit?
09.03.09 at 1:10 pm
You might be almost always right, but Pete is always Wright.
09.03.09 at 1:25 pm
crasshole: fuck you
very true though, the fans ultimately don’t want to know how well the band members get along unless it’s some jonas brothers project or something, it actually takes from the experience to know too much I say, the more human it becomes, the more the entertainer/entertainee paradigm is broken. (regardless of wether or not you live in a cardboard box and eat plague rats for dinner and stay true to your PUNK ethics.. sorry, it’s still a form of entertainment, and you are an entertainer) that’s why, to hear that it’s the fucking bass player that has the issue, fuck, come on dude! a band, especially something like crass is in my opinion the sum being greater than it’s parts, it’s bigger than individual members, it’s a “thing” that turned into something amazing, this bass player holding everything back because he needs to cry about being true to his spikes, or needs everyone to know they all actually had disagreements from time to time, uh, it’s a band, you aren’t supposed to get along, DUH! artists are touchy, wow, how old are you? this despite the fact that he’s getting treated as an equal in this situation is unfair to anyone who loves Crass.
09.03.09 at 1:37 pm
Crass is a great band that is as relevant now as ever. Bands like Ninja Sonic have their place, but unless you’re hammered at a party they’re pretty retarded. Make time for bands like Crass. They have poignant things to say, and a remastering would be awesome.
09.03.09 at 1:48 pm
crass sucks
09.03.09 at 2:27 pm
I’ll take your CRASS SUCKS and I’ll up you one.
CONflict sucks.
I have now contributed wisdom to this discussion.
09.03.09 at 3:41 pm
Can somebody make Pete some tea and a sandwich?
09.03.09 at 3:47 pm
wow that jeffrey lewis shit is the worst
09.03.09 at 3:49 pm
wtf?music don’t own to nobody.so if somebody want to listen the old version of crass,well they just have to do it.but if someone want to listen the new version,well do it too!anyways,there’s always somebody who’s gona want the original….but if it’s a question of money,well fuck,i can’t imagine someone of this band want to stop things for MONEY!
like cindy says`money changes everything!`hehehehe….
take care!
09.03.09 at 3:51 pm
Gee and Penny, perhaps Pete can write something about his perspective on those years, any of you could if you haven’t or want to offer a different perspective and that can be included somehow. What could be more revolutionary than that. I think someone considering crass ought to read “crass is a lie” and “crass was a passion of my life” with equal interest. Cheers, a great fan.
09.03.09 at 4:06 pm
my mate at work has a mate who drums for chumbawumba and has a set set of these remasters, they’re ace apparantly, come on you lot, stop being rock stars, just release them.
09.03.09 at 4:09 pm
[...] THE.FEEDING.OF.THE.MASSES…. CRASS…RULES…little A BIG a??? There’s something you should know. If you start a “thing,” and it becomes more than you thought it would be, the people involved are going to start bitching about their share and it’s going to blow up in your face. There are exceptions to this rule. One third of marriages do just fine and apparently, the Rolling Stones never broke up. That’s about it. Siblings and your immediate family used to be the only group you couldn’t have a permanent falling out with, but now even that rule is broken on a daily basis. I used to think Crass were another rare exception to this rule, but recent goings-on indicate they have the same problems the rest of us do. FOR.THE.FULL.STORY.HEAD.OVER.2.STREETCARNAGE!!! [...]
09.03.09 at 5:04 pm
who woulda thought anarchists would keep their cassettes so neatly lined up?
09.03.09 at 5:44 pm
Crass is great. I’m glad Crass week exists. I’d love to hear the re-masters. On a side note, I was at a local street punk show recently and saw a leather jacket with Conflict’s liberate art with the cat being tested on painted on the back. That was bizarre.
09.03.09 at 7:28 pm
Boiling point, boiling over, boiling point, now its over
09.03.09 at 8:02 pm
What you should take from this is: The Rolling Stones are better than everyone, including Crass.
09.04.09 at 12:13 am
Ok so rewind to The Gala Ballroom,Norwich,England,1981,I’m 16 years old,straight out of school and I part with £1 to watch Crass,I can honestly say I was blown away by the whole experience,a multi media head fuck way ahead of it’s time,I still enjoy listening to them now,I’ve read the ‘History of Crass’,my view of the band doesn’t change and why the fuck shouldn’t I and others have the chance to listen to the re-worked stuff.
09.04.09 at 4:23 am
i like crass week.
09.04.09 at 7:58 am
Rimbaud and Wright should secretly meet up and snog each other.
Then all their problems would be immediately resolved.
09.04.09 at 11:42 am
When we were filming a Million in the Morning there was a fat chick who was in tears at the end because of all the horrible fat jokes I did throughout the doc. I had no fucking clue what she was talking about. We talked for over an hour with her getting into what high school was like etc. I explained that NONE of the jokes I had said earlier were directed at her and she had twisted their meanings to be about fatness. I eventually proved my point by saying, “Even if I was that evil, nobody else is so it wouldn’t make for a good movie. It wouldn’t sell. Making fun of a fat chick isn’t the kind of thing people want to rent.” She calmed down at the end but I realized, wait a minute, she got my undivided attention for over an hour. She got to talk about her whole life and have me at her beck and call. Maybe she didn’t feel violated at all. Maybe she just nailed herself to a cross as a passive-aggressive way to get attention and make me see her as important.
This is what I think Pete Wright is doing to Penny.
09.04.09 at 12:40 pm
What! There could be a few mentally unstable anarchists out there! perish the thought
09.04.09 at 6:50 pm
It’s true. This remastering thing has been a big issue for a number of years. I used to intern over at Southern Records (in Chicago) last year and they were talking about this even then. That was a fun internship. I got to hang out and drink tea while working in a warehouse full of legendary punk albums. Got a bunch of free Crass LP’s from it too. Whoo-hoo!
09.04.09 at 11:41 pm
this is a great article and contains a lot of sense.
not that anyone needs the reassurance from me, but sometimes you just have to say these things.
keep up the great work.
i want one of those street carnage t-shirts with the big pink rotten mouth etc.
facilitate this please
regards
beej
09.05.09 at 1:57 am
no comment
09.05.09 at 5:07 am
Penny and Pete,
Need to get together and love one another.
09.05.09 at 5:35 am
“Get-a-long Gang”
That’s funny
09.05.09 at 2:14 pm
You know what’s really funny about Conflict? Steve Ignorant was their best singer.
09.06.09 at 8:48 am
maybe “pete” just thinks that “penny” is a dick. move the fuck on.
09.06.09 at 9:38 pm
Its an F’n swastika. It was patented by the god damned third reich.
09.08.09 at 8:40 am
“wow that jeffrey lewis shit is the worst”
you’re not kidding. I’d rather hear emo phillips cover crass.
09.10.09 at 1:38 pm
I’m glad to read that some people have copies of the remasters. If they can never be officially released because of the Rimbaud/Wright thing, I trust those people to leak the tapes to the internet. A nice ‘Crass Remasters’ torrent would do the trick, no?
09.15.09 at 4:16 am
Conflct were and now, sadly more appplicable than any socialogical economic twaddle. What the fuck are we meant to do now ??????? thanx to the governing forces I’m unemployed and up to July 2010 they tell us unemployment is down by 8000. Christ on a stick what’s going on.
I want to get a band together anyone in Essex reply. I’m a crap guitarist but so what are you crap to.
elpedro13@hotmail.co.uk—-let’s have some fun n stir it up
They’re not playing so I think we should eh xxxxxxxx
09.19.10 at 6:00 pm
[...] luddites aren’t happy about this progress and even members of the band tried to prevent it from happening, but if you’ve ever wanted to hear the band that put the [...]
02.27.11 at 3:19 pm