The Raisins
A brief
history of the origin of the Psychodots. Hint: they started out as
the Raisins.
Their one studio album is
now available on CD from Strugglebaby
records. It was produced by
Adrian Belew (can you say "harbinger"?)
* these tracks are not available on the May 1983 vinyl release.
19th nervous breakdown by jagger/richards abkco music, all other songs by smorgaschord music.
When this album came out, I saw a review of it in Cream. It rated one star higher than the Rolling Stones album reviewed in the same issue. More proof that this is the greatest band you never heard. In fact, they were voted the top live band in Pensacola, Florida for 3 years in a row. Never mind the fact that they only played there one or two weeks out of the year. .
Teacher's Little Pet was paraphrased so that the teacher was female instead of male. Hmmmm.
Where have all The Raisins gone?
The Raisins also had a 3-cassette package called 'Everything and More'. This is no longer in print, but if you call Strugglebaby, mention that you want a copy. Warning: this is only for hard-core raisins fans that saw them live during this time period. The audio is poor quality, but if you have to hear Porkopolis, Subsistence Dance, Stealin' Dad's Beer, or The Bottom Line, , this is the only place you can find 'em. You can also find early renditions of You Gotta Wonder, King of Beers, Stella, Artichoke, Possum in the City, et. al. And even a great version of Hoy Hoy Hoy. There are a ton of songs on these 3 tapes, including the politically incorrect My Mommy, My Sister, My Wife, and the Hillbilly Break Dance, and Kansas City. Yee Hah!
There are also three singles out there, one of which contains "Interspecies Love" b/w "Sucker Punch"; another has "Valentine" b/w "Hoy Hoy Hoy", and a third has "Quarters" b/w "Tour Guide in Hell". When I can track these down, I'll put in more info.
According to MUZE, PMRC, the Bears label, no longer exists, and the Bears CDs are not available anymore. I dunno. Maybe Strugglebaby will have some info.
Produced by Adrian Belew. Figure it out was a swing at Tipper Gore's PMRC (Parent Music Resource Commission) from PMRC (Primitive Man Recording Company). Superboy was the first song that Rob and Adrian wrote together. None of the Above got its unlikely start as a Raisins song called 'Possum in the City'! Little known fact: Adrian says that he got the idea of bending the strings down by grabbing hold of the top of the guitar's body horn and pushing the headstock from...Rob Fetters!
This album got a favorable review in Rolling Stone, and had fantastic album cover artwork by Mort Drucker of Mad Magazine fame. When they were on this tour, Adrian had to keep telling people that this was a band , not the Adrian Belew show. My ticket at the Roxy in Hollywood still said "Adrian Belew", not "Bears". I saw Chris Squire at the show, and he was quite impressed. Of course, there were the hardcore Raisins fans, screaming out 'Porkopolis', and 'King of Beers'. They were ignored for the most part, but Adrian did acknowledge that Bob was, indeed, the King of Beers. Bob started playing his solid Acoustic bass this tour, and he definitely impressed a lot of LA bass players I knew that came to the show. This bass was later ripped off from the studio during the recording of 'On the Grid', along with 3 other basses and Rob's long time trademark '57 strat. May extreme karmic liability come to those rip-off artists.
Produced by Adrian Belew, arranged by the Bears. © 1988 CARB music. (Get it? Chris, Adrian, Rob, Bob...CARB?)... The weasels at PMRC gave the Bears a primitive budget, and they produced a video for "Aches and Pains", which got light MTV rotation. Rabbit Manor is a swing at Hugh Hefner, and is still a stronghold in the psychodots' set list. When played as a Psychodot song, Rabbit Manor has the mysteriously omitted third verse: "No, no, no, no commitments / Give give give 'til it hurts /Jaded gentry in jacuzzi / Inspiration comes in spurts". Robobo's beef got its start as You Gotta Wonder , an old Raisin song. Apparently our heroes were eating at a truck stop in Champaign Illinois, and saw a menu item called the "Robobo's Beef Puff Pastry". , and the rest is history. Bob stated that one reason for the cover (a simple graphic of a Japanese flag) was to save money. The prior tour, I saw them at the Roxy in Hollywood. This time, they played a much smaller venue, Bogart's in Long Beach. Before this gig, they started playing a game in the pool room wherein you fling a pool ball across the table at your guitarist's knuckles until he chickens out. Ouch. This is also the last Bears album before they broke up, which then gave us...
I wrote to Bob asking for another copy of "Everything and More", and he sent me this, the first psychodot album. Cool...Everyone writes songs, and everyone has their niche. Chris really shines on Less Blue and Another Reminder. Rob is at his poppy, quirky best on Enough, and fantastic on Water under the Bridge, and Bob is simply Bob. The lyrics and music are thoughtful, intelligent, ironic, and quirky. It is really nice to hear songs written by people that have read more than USA Today and John Grisham books.
SBD 6195 © 1995 Strubblebaby Recording Company. All songs published by Smorgaschord Music Co. Cool cover art by Chris Arduser. Chris Arduser - Drums, Mandolin, Voice; Rob Fetters - Guitar, Voice; Bob Nyswonger - Bass, Piano, Mellotron. Produced by the Dots. Here's the offical press release . The guys have done a great job of songwriting over the past couple of years, and this album really shows it. Tell your friends to get on the bandwagon now! Most of us have been on it for 15 years. Never have I seen a band that produces more loyal fans, and this is for a reason. Their live shows will convert anyone.
I've found out from other dots fans on the net that I'm not the only one that thinks that Chris has a death fixation. Bob did a little less writing for this album, but Rob did a ton, and it's all very good work. 'Joy and Madness' may even get some AAA airplay. 'Mattress' has a lick reminiscent of 'Dr. Robert', which was one of 2 songs (the other being 'The Problem') that Rob could not play with a broken string. The video for "Mattress" shows that Bob even looks good in a habit!
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Extra special thanks to Amy Steinkamp, Tony Nowikowski, Bob Nyswonger, KC, David Ash, Mike Brown, Rob Murphree, Geoff Keenan, Joe Riegler, Michael Wilson, Stan Hertzman, Jim Bosken, Rob Fetters, and everyone else who helped make this page what it is, an unending plethora of information for "The only band that matters"...
BTW, this page created by Ashley Morris. Hoy Hoy Hoy!