Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid - Optimo
Over the years we've had some very exciting artists through our gates but this could potentially be the most exciting influential band Offset has announced yet! For Offset 2010 we're pleased to be flying Liquid Liquid over from New York for what will be their second-ever appearance in England.
New York in the late 70s was a hotbed of experimentation and anarchy if you moved in the right circles, you dig? So a bunch of kids recording ten-track 7”s meeting up with a young Sal P obsessing over poetry was not a noteworthy moment in their neighbourhood, but what they came to produce together eclipsed post-punk, hip-hop and early dance music and became one of the most influential releases on this globe.
Becoming Liquid Liquid once Sal P joined the punk improv band Liquid Idiot, they began playing music influenced by not only the punk and reggae they heard around them, but the upcoming post-punk and 99 Records bands around NYC at the time. Dropping a tape into label founder Ed Bahlman's shop found them signed to the now-legendary label, but their first release is amazing for its low budget yet timeless sound - three of the tracks were recorded live at a gig in 1981 yet can still be blasted through a 21st century soundsystem with no noticeable reduction in the quality of your set.
Stemming from the last truly bohemian NYC scene, the combination of different cultural groups and the punk movement led the lads to try what they could - as it turned out, it was a blisteringly danceable blend of bass n drums funk mixed with the DIY punk aesthetic. That first release on 99 Records is a yardstick for bridging the long-held divide between rock and dance.
Bringing together everything that made NYC such a focus of artistic endeavour at the time - the likes of Bush Tetras, Lydia Lunch, James Chance and ESG - Liquid Liquid crafted another slab of almost-jazz funk punk - 1981's ‘Successive Reflexes' EP. But it was their next, and ultimately doomed, EP, ‘Optimo' (1983) which reached perfection. Containing two of the most-heard and instantly recognisable basslines ever set down, the EP was massive even at the time. It sold 30,000 copies for 99 Records and yet ended up causing the death of two innovative record labels.
Sugarhill Records was the first label at the time to have commercial success with hip hop records, though its business practices were somewhat dubious and the laws on sampling music were unclear at the time. The Sugarhill Band re-recorded Liquid Liquid's backing track for their track ‘Cavern', a sizable club hit of the time. It was used to back Grandmaster Flash's global hit ‘White Lines', at which point 99 Records Ed Bahlman inquired about financial redress.
Suffice to say Sugarhill weren't forthcoming but Bahlman's persistence led to a landmark legal case ruling ultimately in the music creators and label's favour - Sugarhill were ordered to pay Bahlman but instead declared for bankruptcy. Ed Bahlman became disillusioned with the business and folded his label, Liquid Liquid imploded, though the band members themselves won a sizeable settlement from Duran Duran when they covered ‘White Lines'. Bahlman, however, didn't appear in that action and his whereabouts are still mysterious to this day.
They found time to release one last record together, just before the court case with Sugarhill reached its conclusion. Bahlman's production on the ‘Dig We Must' 12” is great but it was sadly the last thing put out by the small but seminal 99 Records.
All the band members have had active cultural impacts in the intervening years - bassist Richard McGuire is a renowned illustrator and designer; Dennis Young has released some great electronic records and vocalist Sal P is an internationally in-demand DJ, filmmaker and spoken word performer.
Scottish DJ duo Optimo (named after the classic Liquid Liquid track) finally brought the reformed band over to the Glasgow in 2003, and they returned to play the Barbican in 2008. And we're delighted the band have selected Offset 2010 so come and see a legendary slice of experimental, funky post-punk by the innovators themselves.
