BY GREGG FOREMAN
The Gun Club were a Los Angeles based band who successfully fused punk and blues to create sounds of haunted, love lost highways. The band was started by Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo Powers (later of the Cramps, the Bad Seeds and the Pink Monkey Birds), and rumor was that they were initially called“The Creeping Ritual” but Pierce’s roommate (Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks and Off!) suggested they change the name to the Gun Club (he thought The Creeping Ritual was too goth). They agreed to exchange the name “The Gun Club” for Pierce’s song “Group Sex” (later to be used on a Circle Jerks LP of the same name).
The Gun Club– while underrated in their time– went on to be major influences on many other bands, such as The Bad Seeds, Scientists, White Stripes, and The Pixies. While the band had its ups and downs (troubles with excess, and inner band strife), they left a legacy. The music and excesses may have caught up with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who sadly passed in 1996, but the music and story of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and the Gun Club continue to live on. Musician Cypress Grove– along with Jim Sclavunous (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and others– helped reinterpret some of the lost works of Pierce in a project called “The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project.” The series enlisted some of Pierce’s old friends and bands mates such as Mick Harvey, Nick Cave , Debbie Harry, Kid Congo and Iggy Pop .
Now, let’s tune into the documentary Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club directed by filmmaker Kurt Voss. The film consists of interviews with the band and those close to Pierce. Following that is a conversation I had with Sir Kid Congo Powers from my radio show “The Pharmacy.” The show explores the origins of the Gun Club as well as Kid’s eras working with Nick Cave and The Cramps .
Enjoy!
Mr. Pharmacist. Los Angeles , CA 2015
The Pharmacy Radio featuring Kid Congo Powers:
From the documentary:
Mr. Pharmacist (Gregg Foreman) is a musician and DJ who has played for the likes of James Williamson, Pink Mountaintops, The Delta 72, The Black Ryder, The Meek and more. Since 2012 Gregg has been the musical director of Cat Power’s band. Gregg started dj’ing 60s Soul and Mod R&B 45’s in 1995 and has spun around the world. He currently lives in L.A. and divides his time between playing live music, producing records and dj’ing various clubs and parties from L.A. to Australia.
Foreman’s radio program, The Pharmacy is a music / talk show playing heavy soul, raw funk, 60′s psych, girl groups, Krautrock. French yé-yé, Hammond organ rituals, post-punk transmissions and “ghost on the highway” testimonials and interviews with the most interesting artists and music makers of our times…
PLAYLIST FOR KID CONGO POWERS EPISODE –
Mr.Pharmacist – The Fall
Shot Down – The Sonics
Bert’s Apple Crumble – The Quik
Rx Intro Part One – Blind Man Can See It – James Brown
Kid Congo Interview Part One
New Kind of Kick – The Cramps
Jaguar Shake – Les Jaguars
Akula Owu Onyeara – The Funkees
I Heard it Through the Grapevine – The Slits
Rx Intro Part 2 – Sliced Tomatoes – Just Brothers
Kid Congo Part Two
Preaching the Blues – The Gun Club
The Brother’s Gonna Work it Out – Willie Hutch
Stand Up and Be Counted – The Equals
Caress – The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Kid Congo Interview Part Three
Deanna – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Rx Intro Part – Jumping Jack Flash – Ananda Shankar
Kid Congo Interview Part Four
Bo Bo Boogaloo – Kid Congo + The Pink Monkey Birds
Liberation Conversation – Marlena Shaw
Justine – Don & Dewey
Oh Oh Mojo – Volcanoes
Rx Outro – Big City – Spacemen 3
Mr. Pharmacist – The Fall
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