Wednesday, March 13, 2013

SLUGGISHA:200 DISASTERS LATER! (SL200)



Way back in the early 90's ,when Sluggisha was still an underground ,mail-order cassette label,this was the 200th release in the catalog.Featuring some of the best bands and/or songs ,up to that point,plus some of the latest stuff being recorded by local Ft.Myers,FL bands.As you can see from the cover art ,above,there were also bands from other areas of the United States,who were sending in tapes to be sold thru Sluggisha's distribution system.The songs that appear here were some of the most requested during gigs ,or on the underground ,pirate radio show on W.G.O.D. Many styles and types of music are featured ,which all fall under the punk umbrella.The catalog could be had thru ads in zines like Flipside,MRR,Rodent Cake ,and more obscure rags. The people who were lucky enough to have ordered cassettes from the catalog back then,were astounded by the revelation of real underground music,coming out of the deep south,as well as from our compatriots across the U.S. Yeah,some of the recordings are shit,but the bands worked with what they had,which in many cases ,was not very much.The Ft. Myers scene ,was very incestuous,with bands switching members ,and forming new bands ,constantly.Unfortunately many great bands never made recordings,or even if they played live gigs,they were sparsley attended.The earlier compilation,"The Ft. Myers Underground",featured pre-Sluggisha bands (mid-to-late 80's) ,with many people who continued to carry the torch into the 90's and beyond.A handful of the original scene is still recording music ,and doing various projects,to this day.The new kids who came in after the demise of downtown,(which we cracked open ,playing gigs,poetry slams) ,had no place left to play,as the top 40 type bands began to play downtown,and the scene dwindled.This is a document of a better time,when you could get a double mochaccino,smoke countless cigarettes,stand in the street in underwear and combat boots,drink booze,smoke dope,and wreak havoc.Ft.Myers sucks! It did then ,and it's a million times worse now.We had little record stores and comic shops we could play at,but sadly they never made enough revenue to keep on going. The Draft House (owned by Rick,and later Gary),The Main St. Coffee House(Cindy Bruce,who also owned a great thrift store ,right next door),The Indigo Club,Offbeat Records (Samskull in the Patio DeLeon),Record Trader(Ralph Tarantino) ,and oldies radio d.j. Doug Shannon ,all deserve to be in the history books ,with a resounding ,never-ending applause track,playing on to infinity.Thanks to everyone in the scene back then.You helped shape the town,and in turn the Sluggisha legacy,and I love you all.
Please listen with sincerity,and tell me what you think of our scene! Thank you.
CLICK HERE :  https://sluggishatapes.bandcamp.com/album/sluggisha-200-disasters-later 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

yessss

kaagootaabaa said...

fuckin awesome /!/ what year is this tape from?