GIORNO, JOHN & GLENN BRANCA - Who You Staring At?

Original 1982 LP. Factory-sealed.

"American label set up in 1972 by the poet John Giorno. Mostly credited on releases as Giorno Poetry Systems records, Giorno Poetry Systems tapes and Giorno Poetry Systems video.
The earliest releases were exclusively poetry collections of the "Dial-A-Poets" (John Giorno, William S Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, John Cage etc.): "In 1961 I was a young poet who hung out with young artists like Andy Warhol, Bob Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, as well as with members of the Judson Dance Theatre. The use of modern mass media and technologies by these artists made me realize that poetry was 75 years behind painting and sculpture, dance and music. And I thought, if they can do it, why can't I do it for poetry. Why not try to connect with an audience using all the entertainments of ordinary life: television, the telephone, record albums, etc? It was the poet's job to invent new venues and make fresh contact with the audience. This inspiration gave rise to Giorno Poetry Systems" - Giorno Poetry Systems

"John Giorno (born 1935) started his Giorno Poetry Systems record label in 1972 with a series of ‘Dial-A-Poets’ LPs (see also UbuWeb for more GPS), a project he initiated in 1968 with friends William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Through GPS Giorno has championned a kind of DIY spoken word poetry embarking cut-ups, performance, rock guitar and electronic rhythms. If Burroughs foundness for tape recorder and tape splicing delights is well known, his relationship to rock appears a bit cynical and un-sincere. Giorno, on the other hand, was part of that Downtown scene where so many things had been happening since the 1960s – from Cage and Rauschenberg to No Wave frenzy. But chances are he envisionned rock music as a suitable medium for his poetry in the same way he used telephone to spread his poems. There’s pragmatism at work here. Some of the guests musicians on Glenn Branca‘s track appeared on his monumental ‘The Ascension’ LP on 99 Records published the year before (1981): Stephan Wischerth, David Rosenbloom, Ned Sublette and Lee Ranaldo. I more or less expected monolithic guitar walls, but this soundtrack to a dance performance is quite varied and structured into various moments, including sudden rhythm changes (at 8:15), quiet guitar feedback drones (at 11;30) alternating with fierce guitar parts, while drums are a prominent feature throughout. The whole track is very well conceived and entertaining from start to finish. The John Giorno side has 2 tracks of poetry reading along heavy beats. The poems are deliberately matter-of-fact and delivered in the typical Giorno high pitched voice. Nice slice of Downtown avant-whatever." - Continuo

Side One
1. Glenn Branca – Music for the dance "Bad Smells" choreographed by Twyla Tharp (Radio City Music Hall Studio, New York, 1982)

Side Two
1. John Giorno – Stretching It Wider
2. John Giorno – We Got Here Yesterday, We're Here Now, And I Can't Wait To Leave Tomorrow

Recorded at Skyline Studios, 39th Street Music Production, Song Shop, and 112 Greene Street Recording.