Recent book

 Erik Bauer: Had to Be There; A Visual History of the Explosive Pittsburgh Underground (1979-1994)

Purchased at Fungus Books and Records

I have a confession to make, which I'll mention from the start. I would have bought this book anyway, but I looked through it quickly on purchase to see if I was in it. I am not. The closest I come is having Watershed mentioned in the back of the book, my band from 1990-2000. I won't go into the story about the minor name changes from Watershed to Water Shed to Water Shed 5tet. It's not interesting and ultimately I wish I had pushed harder to change the name entirely.

Twice in the writing this blog, the artist whose record I mentioned has responded in some way. Most recently it was concerning Orchid Spangiafora, as recent postings will note. My posting on Microwaves was also discovered by members of the band. I didn't expect that but it also didn't come as too much of a surprise. (I have occasionally played with Microwaves and appear on their previous LP.)

I write this because here's this book about the local scene in a particular time period, and there's a good chance someone involved might come across what I've written. If so, I probably know them in some respect. I think I have nothing damaging or mean to say, I don't intend insult, but I reserve the right to criticize too.

Erik Bauer is someone I only knew from the edges of my circle of friends. Someone I knew to say hello to, probably chatted with a few times. I remember that there was something written about him somewhere about being a serious collector, having for example a copy of the Throbbing Gristle 24 Hours suitcase of cassettes. Last time I ran into Erik was, well, I was going to say 8-9 years ago, but it was 2009. He came to see Thoth Trio play the main branch at the public library, but dashed as soon as we finished. He later told me via email he wanted to see the Yes Men at CMU later that afternoon.

Erik was never a musician himself (as far as I know) but was a common fixture in the local scene, with camera in hand. This book collects the heat of the moment of gigs throughout Pittsburgh of the local music scene. Some of the groups are better remembered, in part because there's actually recordings of their music: The Five, Cardboards, Carsickness, The Cynics. Some, I don't know at all: The Usss, The Beach Bunnies, The Trend. 

The book, visually, traces some changes and developments in the local scene through the years. The weirder, more No-Wavish groups giving way to hardcore punk rock, and then however the scene developed from there. There are collected setlists, and the scenes remind someone like me of venues long gone. I don't know that any location here is still a place to see shows.

Each gig or setting is given two to six pages. Many photos take up an entire page, or in some cases two. That would be a criticism: while some of the big splash pages are great and even necessary, I would have loved to have seen more. Some pages with collections of smaller images, to fit in more content. The title itself comes from a Dress Up As Natives song, yet there's not images of them in this book.

But then, I don't know what's available. I know that what I want or expect isn't the reality of this book. What is true is that it's a small miracle it exists at all. Some scenes are very well documented, both in recordings and photographically: New York, LA, San Francisco, DC. Not so with Pittsburgh, and there was a viable and lively scene there. There are some records, but many in their original issues command serious money. There's Stephanie Beroes' Debt Begins at 20, the semifictional short film valuable for showing live basement performances from 1980. There were things happening in this country between the two coasts.

I'd hate to think such things were lost to time. So for whatever I might have wanted to see in this book, I'm grateful for what it is.

And seriously, I don't mind that I'm not in it. It might even be better that I'm not.