The Jazz Butcher
The Jazz Butcher Releases Bloody Nonsense
Details

Media: Compilation
Country: USA, Canada, Australia
Label: BigTime
Catalogue: 10014-1
Released: Apr1986
Recorded: in England, Late 1983/Early 1986
A-Side
The Human Jungle
Southern Mark Smith (Original)
President Reagan's Birthday Present
The Jazz Butcher Meets the Prime Minister
Partytime
Jazz Butcher -v- Count Dracula (Cassette only)
Grooving In The Bus Lane
B-Side
Death Dentist
Big Saturday
Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present
D.R.I.N.K.
Rain
Real Men (Cassette only)
The Devil Is My Friend

Credits

Credits
Pat Fish - Vocals, Guitar
Max Eider - Guitar, Vocals
Owen Jones - Drums, Vocals
Felix Ray - Bass, Vocals
David J. - Bass, Vocals
Rolo McGinty - Bass on Southern Mark Smith
Kevin Haskins - Drums on Southern Mark Smith
Alice Thompson - Organ on Southern Mark Smith
Paul Taylor - Trombone on D.R.I.N.K.
John A. Rivers - producer
David E. Barker - producer
Tony Harris - producer
The Conspiracy - producer
Mitch Jenkins - photography
Alastair Indge - photography
Jeff Price - sleeve
Lendon Flanagan - sleeve
Liner Notes
The Jazz Butcher first appeared in Bohemian London in 1983, clutching a battered acoustic guitar called Lenin and looking for a place to stay. His origins remain unclear to this day. Some say that he swam to safety from the wreck of doomed Liberian supertanker Gonzolo; others that he had been planted by Speznaz to subject the English legal profession. The most credible theory is that he had formerly been hiding out in darkest rural Northamptonshire.. plotting. What was in his mind is only too blatantly set forth within the grooves of this disc: A semi-literate pub-crawl through the swamp of rock's rich tapestry, laced with self-destructive recreational pursuits and maddened by the buzzing of a thousand punk rock guitars. Not that the sound of the Jazz Butcher and his Sikkorskis from hell (for it is they that are likely to relate to your scrambled transatlantic notions of what constitutes Le Pernk). Press him on the subject and he will sputter through the special brew, "of course we're a punk group - because we do what we want to do" fair. As they say, enough. To me, though, the Butcher's axe grinds somewhere along the non-existent fusion between soul music and the sort of dirty pop that failed to make the Velvet Underground famous. Not that this would take into account the skiffy suicide that constitutes President Reagan's Birthday Present , or the bittersweet cushioning that cradels the decidedly neurotic Big Saturday . And Max Eider's D.R.I.N.K. (dedicated to his hobby) is another sack of potatoes altogether. The Jazz Butcher and his group are not in the business of belonging; they are too old and too obstreperous to conform to some attention-seeking image or commercially viable formula. Rather, they bring their not inconsiderable talents to bear on whatever happens to be in the way at the time. The results can only be described as essential.

C. C. Dämmerung, Sinful Beat Magazine

A message from the Jazz Butcher: Hey, America, I Slept With Your Wife

Reviews
The Bell Ringer, Montgomery Bell Academy The Jazz Butcher Bloody Nonsense (Nashville, Tennessee, USA), Tue, Sep 2nd 1986
The McGill Daily #76 The Jazz Butcher (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Tue, Sep 2nd 1986
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  • Bloody Nonsense
    phorplae[at]-remove-gmail.com - Todd
    8Jan2016 5:01 PM (7 years 270 days ago)
    Loved this album, needs to be on a CD...I still have a tape copy from the 80's. Don't know if I still have the vinyl...think I lent it to a college buddy back then...but I always taped them and listened to tapes...ahhh the days when a Walkman was HIGH Tech.
  • BN on CD
    dougenglish[at]-remove-hotmail.com - DE, Arlington, VA
    4Jan2012 6:58 AM (11 years 275 days ago)
    Can always burn it onto CD from the fine vinyl, which is what I've done. Then transfer to the ol' iPod and somehow what kept you alive in 1986 is still mysteriously doing its important work in 2012.
  • No CD ,,, bloody nonsense if you ask me.
    thomas.hazlett[at]-remove-ntlworld.com - Tom, UK (ex-New Zealand)
    29Nov2011 2:21 PM (11 years 311 days ago)
    Another vote for a CD release of this great album which I listened to via a tape a mate recorded from his album in the late 80s early 90s, until it was stolen from my car ... BUGGER.
  • David J
    aikea71[at]-remove-yahoo.com - Jennifer, Charlotte, NC, USA
    19Nov2011 8:08 AM (11 years 321 days ago)
    Hi. Dunno who actually reads this cyberbabble, but I thought I'd give the written word a try. I Met Mr. Pat Fish & Max Eider several moons ago in Chapel Hill, NC. (I arranged the sneaky surprise with David J before the show.) ANYHOOOOOOO, one question: can you PLEASE either release "Bloody Nonsense" or kill me now?! Just let me know which to expect. Thanks. x to the o
  • CD please!
    jamintopjimmi[at]-remove-yahoo.com - Jimmi - Calif. USA
    11Jun2010 2:37 AM (13 years 117 days ago)
    I sat in my 79' Nova listening to this tape on my lunch break almost every day. The tape got eaten by my player. I loved this tape. For the love of all that is conspiratorial release it on CD!!!
  • CD Please
    lordgrazer[at]-remove-live.ca - Lord Grazer Edmonton
    15Jan2010 8:28 AM (13 years 264 days ago)
    please release Bloody nonsense on CD, I have many of your albums on CD and it is a shame that this wonderful compilation hasnt joined them in my collection. I have a cassette version. Also anyone know where there are CD copies of A gift of Music parts I & II?
  • Blatant Need
    meowsome! - Susan
    20Nov2009 6:35 PM (13 years 319 days ago)
    Now that I have had various songs from this stuck in my head on and off for the last few months I really need you to release this on CD. Begging is not something I usually stoop to but this would be worth it. Please. Please. Pretty pretty pretty pretty please. One little CD release.
    Please?
  • Bloody Nonsense CD needed
    michaelbivens[at]-remove-gmail.com - Michael, Indianapolis
    7May2009 9:21 AM (14 years 152 days ago)
    Ummm, yeah, we're going to need you to release Bloody Nonsense on CD, OK? Yeah... OK. Good talk, good talk.

    PS: I understand the reasons for not releasing it on CD before (not the dumb ones, but the ones that used to make sense), but it's 2009 now. So... off you go.
  • I still Miss This
    tom[at]-remove-sp8sman.fsnet.co.uk - Tom, Wilts (NZ Import)
    13Sep2008 12:37 PM (15 years 23 days ago)
    My mate gave me a tape of this in the late 80s he recorded off his album. What a great set of tracks - it disappeared when my car was burgled mid-90s and I've never been the same since. CD ?
  • Oh! The Pain.....
    grasscutter4[at]-remove-hotmail.com - Roger Winnipeg
    17Jun2008 7:52 PM (15 years 110 days ago)
    I had Bloody Nonsense on cassette.
    Played it all summer (1986) long. Somehow it got away from me. Finally I decided to go on one last search through my stuff. I was on a mission! After an hour or so, I found a bag with a bunch of old tapes in it. And there it was...or so I thought.The case was empty!!!!!
    Please release this on CD!
  • Pleeeeeze
    jpvanvleck[at]-remove-yahoo.com - J2V - Over the rainbow
    1Mar2008 7:41 PM (15 years 218 days ago)
    Bloody nonsense, bloody 'ell - the world, not too mention me, needs this one now!
  • Bloody Nuisance
    pete1001[at]-remove-comcast.net - Pete in Richmond, VA
    21Feb2008 9:35 PM (15 years 227 days ago)
    OK and blah blah. This is the JB album that so many of us heard first. Can someone kindly explain why it is impossible to release this on CD? I know it is a compilation but so what?! So is Abba Gold and I see that shit everywhere. Just put it out -- charge $20 bucks if you want to. I am so tired of playing my LP once a year to keep it from wearing out too soon. I got $20 -- and I am dying to give it to the JB in exchange for this CD. Make it happen, Powers That Be and I'll get off my soapbox about why in God's name this record is like the only one never printed on CD in the entire history of CDs.
  • On CD?
    chris[at]-remove-mhmerch.com - chris brookfield, illinois, usa
    26Jan2007 9:18 AM (16 years 254 days ago)
    When will this great album be released on CD? My sister stole my LP years ago and I just want this on CD
  • Music/The Jazz Butcher
    kellerdx[at]-remove-comcast.net - Dan Detroit
    10Oct2006 5:12 PM (16 years 362 days ago)
    HELP! Where can get a copy.....preferably CD? Nowhere to be found....I've been trying for over 15 years.
  • Bloody Brilliant
    leviride[at]-remove-gmail.com - Paul -- Toronto, Canada
    1Sep2006 12:42 PM (17 years 36 days ago)
    I fell in love with Bloody Nonsense when it was introduced to me as a 14 yr old, living in Toronto. My pal Ian got turned onto the album (vinyl was still the thing then to a greater degree) and it was he in turn that made me listen to it. I was immediately fascinated with the bizarre lyrical content as well as being drawn to the infectious melodies.

    It's hard to pick one track over another in terms of a personal favourite, but I still catch myself now and again humming "Human Jungle", "Death Dentist", or "Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present" (which I didn't know was originally titled "Ronald Regan's ..." in reference to the downing of KAL 007 over the Soviet Union back in the good ol' Cold War days).

    This album has staying power. It had a huge influence on me as an aspiring singer/songwriter and its reverberations echo still.

    I'd love to see you visit Toronto Pat. I never had the pleasure back in the day. If you need a local opening act ... www.myspace.com/leviride

    Cheers
  • I'm digitizing this tape...can't find it anywhere.
    clambake[at]-remove-moonmonkeys.com - Orange County, Calif.
    10Nov2005 9:43 PM (17 years 330 days ago)
    I have the American tape and it lists it as:

    Side One:
    The Human Jungle
    Southern Mark Smith
    President Reagan's Birthday Present
    Jazz Buthcher vs. Prime Minister
    Partytime
    Grooving in the Bus Lane
    Count Dracula

    Side Two:
    Death Dentist
    Big Saturday
    Caline Wheeler's Birthday Present
    Drink
    Rain
    The Devil is my Friend
    Real Men

    AllMusic.com lists it as:

    The Human Jungle
    Southern Mark Smith
    Real Men
    Soul Happy Hour
    Hard
    Water
    Death Dentist
    Big Saturday
    Caline Wheeler's Birthday Present
    Partytime
    Girlfriend
    Grooving in the Bus Lane
    The Devil is my Friend

    Pretty different lineup from (what I'm assuming is) the Canadian
    release. I hope this helps figure something out.
  • blood and nonsense
    el carnicero - NN1
    11Sep2005 4:58 PM (18 years 26 days ago)
    Yes, I know the story. Dave Barker at Glass signed separate
    licensing deals with Big Time in the USA and Polygram in
    Canada. Polygram were almost unique among Canadian majors
    at the time, inasmuch as they weren't just run as a minor
    appendage of the American parent company but actually had a
    policy of their own. Astonishingly, this involved signing the JBC,
    as two of the A&R staff up at Polygram had taken a severe shine
    to the band. Because of their own personal tastes and, perhaps,
    a better understanding of the market in the Great White North,
    they changed the tracklisting for the Bloody Nonsense
    compilation. Basically, the version with the mauve cover is the
    American issue, the one with the rather nicer deep blue cover
    the Canadian. The US version features the bouncy 45 version of
    Southern Mark Smith with Kevin on the drums and Rolo on the
    bass, whereas the Canadian version features the "Big Return"
    mix from the Scandal in Bohemia LP with Kevin's brother David
    on the bass and Owen on the drums. So there you have it: two
    nations, two versions of the same record, two different members
    of Bauhaus. The history of the JBC is rich and strange.
  • Bloody Nonsense about Bloody Nonsense
    allisondw[at]-remove-aol.com
    10Sep2005 1:00 PM (18 years 27 days ago)
    The songs on my copy of Bloody Nonsense do not match what this website claims is the list of songs on this album. Apparently there were at least two versions of this album produced. Does anyone know what the story is on this?
  • Bloody Nonsense
    you[at]-remove-195.97.228.114 - London UK
    9Aug2005 9:23 AM (18 years 59 days ago)
    My boyfriend taped this for me back when I was at McGill University in Montreal (Canada) in 1986. Haven't listened to it in years, but reading the lyrics to "Big Saturday" made my stomach go all funny, thinking about that wonderful time in my life. A bloody great album.
  • wow. just wow
    blackfrancis789 at aol dot com - Windham, ME USofA
    28Jan2005 10:10 AM (18 years 252 days ago)
    I am the lucky one I guess. this album was my first jazz butcher I ever heard. my favorite record store owner played it for me in the 80's, and I got a copy. since then I got another to hold on to for when mine wore out, as well as the beat up copy I first heard. I also found an import version with a blue cover and different songs I snatched up. so I have 4 copies in one form or another, and it's the first I will burn to cd for my own personal car use.
  • Lost in Australia
    you[at]-remove-205.144.73.254 - Chicago, USofA
    7Jan2005 2:38 PM (18 years 273 days ago)
    Lost my tape of this brilliant record on a 24-hour bus ride from Airlie Beach to Melbourne in 1990. I have been crying ever since....
  • Bloody nonsense
    fishguy28[at]-remove-yahoo.com - Boulder, CO, USA
    4Oct2004 9:30 PM (19 years 2 days ago)
    I can add to the sadness: Haven't heard the album in years, and I agree it is a freaking great album. I actually owned it twice...both times on cassette. One melted on my dashboard in Tucson, AZ. The other (bought days after the first one melted) remains at large somewhere in...I believe...the collection of someone who does not return things they borrow...
  • I found it
    you[at]-remove-207.34.50.19 - jasper fan
    29Jan2004 10:50 PM (19 years 251 days ago)
    I took a trip to victoria bc and found bloody nonsense on vinyl. It was a sweeeet find to say the least. I also recently purchased draining the glass, the 82-86 compilation. The search for hamburg continues however. I have a lead in vermont and am awaiting a reply. Cmon Pat you must have a copy laying around lol.
  • It's Only Heavy Drinking.....
    Ryptide82[at]-remove-Yahoo.com - Sixpac Fursur
    4Aug2003 8:27 PM (20 years 64 days ago)
    Long ago, I filched the cassette from the record store I was working at. I can't remeber how I first came to notice JB, but this quickly became a staple of my rotation of 'clever albums no one heard of'. I don't recall ever meeting anyone who enjoyed it as much as me. I bought other JB albums, and while OK, none of them approached "Bloody Non-Sense".
  • Bloody Awful
    dammitgirl[at]-remove-aol.com - Lorelei Melonia Jordan Jones
    31Jul2003 10:29 PM (20 years 68 days ago)
    This is without a doubt the best fucking album ever recorded. Notice I say album and not CD, godamit. My best memory of this album is wandering around Pikes Place Market in Seattle on a bright windy day, trying to ditch my parents, loving being alive, listening to bloody nonesent on my slightly battered walkman and wondering just what the fuck WAS Caroline Wheeler's birthday present. Ah, but I don't really want to know... it's like a Fellini movie, you don't really understand what the fuck that crazy Italion devil was trying to say but you wanted to watch the movie over and over and over anyway.
  • butcher
    you[at]-remove-207.34.50.15 - jasper fan
    16Mar2003 11:42 AM (20 years 206 days ago)
    I still have the cassette but it is in rough shape. I also have Hamburg on vinyl but it is near death. This music still means alot to me. I saw him live back in these days and would love to again!
  • Sad
    mike_stevenson[at]-remove-sympatico.ca - Mikey
    8Nov2002 8:38 AM (20 years 334 days ago)
    Just wanted to add my name to the list of saddened folks that can't get a copy Bloody Nonsense. Loved it back in school. Not a trace now (sniffle, tear).
  • no one knows how to get these cd's????
    theambassador[at]-remove-transcendence.com - miami
    5Apr2001 7:15 PM (22 years 185 days ago)
    is there not anyone who knows how to get these cd's?????
  • Bloody Nonsence
    meckilkelly[at]-remove-earthlink.net - killer
    7Mar2001 8:06 PM (22 years 214 days ago)
    I have been looking for a CD version of this release for quite some time now. I have never really been a strong supporter of napster but i was able to download every single song from this CD. I just completed my last download (Rain)
  • So much for that idea!
    Rob Elliott (monkeyboyart[at]-remove-hotmail.com) - Toronto, ON
    21Jul2000 8:36 AM (23 years 79 days ago)
    I was hoping there'd be cache of Bloody Nonsenses somewhere under the sun, but the rest of the writers seem to be in the same dilemma. You hear an album in college, you borrow it from a friend and tape it onto a cheaperino C-60, and you intend, intend, intend to buy your own copy someday. 14 years later, you're still singing "Soul Happy Hour" in the shower and wondering if that damn records on CD yet!