THE PLASMATICS "BEYOND THE VALLEY OF 1984" 1981 STIFF VG+/NM W/GATEFOLD PUNK LP

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TWO YEARS AGO I LOST ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS TO CANCER, HE WAS A COOL MUSICIAN A DRUMMER BY TRADE, ORIGINALLY FROM SEATTLE, BUT RELOCATED TO L.A. IN 1985, HE AMASSED A VERY LARGE MUSIC COLLECTION, AND HAD KILLER TASTE FOR ROCK & ROLL, SADLY I AM SELLING OFF A LOT OF HIS COLLECTION ON BEHALF OF HIS WIDOW TO HELP PAY OFF DEBTS INCLUDING HOSPITAL BILLS, TAXES AND STORAGE UNIT FEES. I AM NOT TAKING ANYTHING FOR THIS SERVICE, DOING IT FOR MY FRIEND (MISS YOU DAVE!). THIS ITEM IS FROM HIS COLLECTION.

THE PHOTO'S MAY BE A LITTLE BLURRY, HAVE A LITTLE GLARE, SOME REFLECTIONS OR IN SOME CASES YOU MAY SEE SPECKS OF DUST. BUT THE PHOTO'S ARE OF THE ACTUAL ITEM YOU ARE BIDDING ON. I DO COMBINE SHIPPING. BUT I DO NOT ACCEPT “BEST OFFERS”, THE MONIES GO TO MY FRIENDS WIDOW.

THESE ARE VISUALLY & PLAY GRADED.

ARTISTS: THE PLASMATICS

TITLE: “BEYOND THE VALLEY OF 1984”

TRACK LISTING: SEE BELOW

Companies, etc.

• Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Terre Haute
• Phonographic Copyright (p) – Stiff America
• Copyright (c) – Stiff America
• Published By – Venus Bros. Tunes, Ltd.
• Published By – Power Pop Tunes Ltd.

Credits

• Bass Guitar, Piano, Synthesizer – Jean Beauvoir
• Concept By, Management – Rod Swenson
• Drums, Guest – Neal Smith
• Engineer [Mix] – Eddie Ciletti
• Lead Guitar – Richard Stotts*
• Photography By – Butch Star
• Producer – The Plasmatics*, Rod Swenson
• Rhythm Guitar – Wes Beach*
• Vocals – Wendy Orlean Williams*

Notes

Barcode and Other Identifiers

• Matrix / Runout (Side 1 Label): WOW II A
• Matrix / Runout (Side 2 Label): WOW II B
• Matrix / Runout (Side 1 etched): WOW II A-1D HEADBANGER YOU'VE GOT YOUR BRAINS FRENCH FRIED T1
• Matrix / Runout (Side 2 etched): WOW II B-1D DEATH TO THE STATUS QUO T1
• Rights Society: ASCAP

LABEL: STIFF RECORDS

CAT.#: WOW II

YEAR: 1981

RECORD CONDITION: ALL RECORDS ARE VISUALLY & PLAY GRADED.THIS RECORD IS IN EX/VG++ CONDITION. NICE SHINY LUSTER TO THE VINYL, NO LINES, SCRATCHES, SMUDGES, FINGERPRINTS ETC. THE SONGS SOUND SUPER CLEAN. AUDIO BETWEEN THE TRACKS IS VERY CLEAN. THERE IS SOME LIGHT VISIBLE WEAR TO THE RECORD, MAINLY ON SIDE TWO, A COUPLE OF “LINES” ALSO WHAT LOOKS LIKE SOM IMPERFECTIONS IN THE VINYL, THERE'S LIGHT AUDIO IN THE LEAD IN GROOVES, SONGS PLAY VERY CLEAN.

SLEEVE CONDITION: THE GATEFOLD JACKET IS IN NM CONDITION THERE'S NO WRITING ON THE JACKET. STRAIGHT EDGES, NO WRITING, TEARS, WRINKLES OR SEAM SPLITS, ETC.ETC.

MORE INFO: THIS RECORD IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT. "HIDDEN MESSAGES" ETCHED IN DEAD WAX (SEE ABOVE)

MORE INFO ON THE ARTISTS/RELEASE:

Plasmatics were an American punk rock and heavy metal band formed by Rod Swenson and Wendy O. Williams in New York City, New York, in 1977. The band was a controversial group known for wild live shows that broke countless taboos. These included chainsawing guitars, blowing up speaker cabinets, sledgehammering television sets, and blowing up automobiles live on stage. Williams was arrested in Milwaukee by the Milwaukee police before being charged with public indecency. 

The Plasmatics' career spanned five studio albums and multiple EPs. The band was composed of vocalist/front person Wendy O. Williams and various other musicians rotated behind her over time. Aside from Wendy and manager Rod Swenson, guitarist Wes Beech was the only other permanent member of the group. Guitarist Richie Stotts was a co-founder of the band and a mainstay of the pre-breakup core group (1978–1983). After the full breakup of the band following the release of Coup d'etat, Richie was edited out of band videos and was not referred to by name in a 2006 compilation DVD released by Plasmatics Media LLC (via plasmatics.com).

Formation and early years (1977–1979)[edit]

In 1977, Rod Swenson, who received his Master of Fine Arts in 1969[8] from Yale where he specialized in conceptual, performance, and neo-dadaist art, held the view that the measure of true or high art is how confrontational it is. He began a series of counter-culture projects which, by the mid-'70s, found him in the heart of Times Square producing experimental counter-culture theater as well as video and shows with the likes of the then-little-known bands The Dead Boys, The Ramones, Patti Smith, and others. It was there that he met Wendy O. Williams (her actual birth-given name, the O. standing for Orlean and her initials spelling "WOW") after Wendy happened upon a copy of Show Business Weekly someone had discarded on the bus station floor. The issue lay open to a page with an ad in the casting calls section for Rod's theater show Captain Kink's Sex Fantasy Theater. She answered the ad and applied for a job.

Wendy and Rod began auditioning potential band members in 1977 and, in July 1978, the "Plasmatics" gave their first public performance at what would later become the rock shrine CBGB on New York City's Bowery. The earliest version of the band was a three-piece put together with a strong emphasis on visuals. The band quickly realized they needed another guitarist to hold them together musically. Guitarist Wes Beech joined the group; he would become, after Wendy, the only permanent member of the group playing or touring behind or involved in the production of every Plasmatics and Wendy O. Williams record ever recorded.

From their initial gig at CBGB, the Plasmatics quickly rose in the New York City punk underground scene of the time. From playing a single weekday night, they moved quickly to playing repeated stands of four nights straight with two sold-out shows each night. They had lines stretching around the block and brought more fans into CBGB during this time than any other band in its history. The group quickly outgrew CBGB, largely because there were no intermediate rock venues to play in New York City at that time. The band's stage show soon became notorious, with acts such as chainsawing guitars in half part of their performance. Jim Farber of Sounds described the show: "Lead singer/ex-porn star/current weightlifter Wendy Orleans Williams (W.O.W. for short) spends most of the Plasmatics' show fondling her family size breasts, scratching her sweaty snatch and eating the drum kit, among other playful events". 

Rod Swenson soon made a deal to book what was then a little-known polka hall called Irving Plaza from the Polish War Veterans who ran it at the time. The band repeatedly sold out the venue, with the Plasmatics helping to give Irving Plaza national recognition and launch it on the path to becoming an established rock venue in New York City. Having then caught the full attention of the most important people in the entertainment world of New York City, the Plasmatics headlined the Palladium on November 16, 1979, the first group in history to do so at full ticket prices and without a major label recording contract. 

New Hope for the Wretched, Beyond the Valley of 1984 and Metal Priestess (1980–1981)[edit]

The Plasmatics were soon selling out shows in Philadelphia, Boston, venues in New Jersey, and elsewhere in the Northeast. Chris Knowles of Classic Rock magazine wrote: the Plasmatics "were the biggest live attraction in New York... and the media was on them like white on rice... It's one thing to play at subversiveness, but The Plasmatics, unlike other Punk bands... put their Punk philosophy into action." Many U.S. record labels were afraid to sign the band; The band was signed by Stiff Records, a British label, in March 1980, and appeared on the cover of Sounds in June that year.Artists and Repertoire (A&R) from Stiff Records flew to New York City to see a show in person to determine if what they had been reading and hearing could possibly be real. The day after seeing the performance, Stiff put in an offer and a deal was inked within a month. A few months later, The Plasmatics began to record songs in New York City for what would become the album New Hope for the Wretched. As creative decisions go Stiff's choice to ask long-time Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller to be behind the console for these recordings was not the best. The Stones were pre-washed musical æthestics compared to the demands of The Plasmatics and a convenient substance abuse on Miller's part allowed the disbandment of his contractual liaison. 

In addition to songs like "Corruption" and "Living Dead" – linked to TV smashing and automobile destruction – "Butcher Baby" featured a chainsaw sawing through a guitar, in place of a guitar solo, which was replicated during live shows. The Plasmatics visited the UK for a tour, which met with opposition from some quarters including the Greater London Council (GLC), particularly for their intention to blow up a car on stage and Williams' semi-nudity. The GLC canceled the band's show at the Hammersmith Odeon after fire inspectors decided the show would not meet safety requirements, although police had already arrived to disperse the gathering crowd before the decision had officially been taken.(Williams, recalled Debbie Harry in 2014, "was such a big deal back then. She showed her tits and she blew up cars on stage and broke TVs – and now it would just be normal." Released as a single by Stiff Records, "Butcher Baby" reached No. 55 on the UK Singles Chart. 

Stiff America had scheduled a release and a US tour. To capitalize on the band's popularity, the US edition of the album was packaged with a poster for the canceled Hammersmith Odeon show and an insert for the Plasmatics Secret Service, the official fan club. The album reached No. 55 on the UK Albums Chart. The band was set to tour the West Coast for the first time after the London cancellation and get their momentum back. To kick off the tour, Wendy drove a Cadillac towards a stage at a free concert on New York City's Pier 62 loaded with explosives, jumping out moments before the car would hit the stage, blowing up all the equipment. The permits needed for this were hard to get and only allowed for an estimated 5-6,000 people. The day of the performance, 10,000 showed up, jamming the downtown streets and lining the rooftops. Even though it cost virtually the entire advance for the US release of New Hope for the Wretched to do it, Wendy was quoted by a reporter from the Associated Press as saying, "It was worth it because it showed that these are just things and... people shouldn't worship them," a point she'd repeat more than once.

The Plasmatics' debut in Los Angeles was at the famed Whisky a Go Go. The show was originally planned for only 2 nights but was later expanded to 4 due to large sold-out crowds. 

The ABC show Fridays, which was looking to be a more cutting-edge version of Saturday Night Live, booked Wendy and the Plasmatics to appear in late December to go live on national TV. 

In January 1981, Wiliams' stage performance in Milwaukee led to her arrest on charges of indecency after she reportedly "simulated masturbation with a sledge hammer in front of an audience". After objecting to being searched she was thrown to the ground and reportedly kicked in the face (later requiring a dozen stitches), with manager Rod Swenson also beaten unconscious when he tried to intervene. Williams was charged with battery of a police officer, resisting arrest, and "conduct in violation of a Milwaukee city ordinance pertaining to establishments that sell liquor", with Swenson also charged, but both were later cleared of all charges. A subsequent performance at the Palm Club sold out, and passed without incident, although the venue was raided after the show by the vice squad, with more than 30 police officers in attendance in case of trouble. Williams was also arrested on obscenity charges in Cleveland, but she was again acquitted. 

A second album was long overdue but due to the ongoing legal battles and the Miller debacle with the first album, which was costly both in terms of time and money, it was agreed that this one had to be lean and mean. Bruce Kirkland at Stiff agreed to put up the funds as long as Rod produced and the album was done in less than 3 weeks at a quarter of the cost of the first.

Given the recent turn of events, Rod proposed the name Beyond the Valley of 1984. The tour, in 1981, became "The 1984 World Tour". In between touring drummers, Alice Cooper's Neal Smith was brought in to drum on the record.[11] The album, with its Orwellian and apocalyptic theme, and songs such as "Masterplan", "Pig is a Pig" and "Sex Junkie", was released a few months later. During the album's recording, the Plasmatics were booked on Tom Snyder's late night TV show, on which the host introduced them as possibly "the greatest punk rock band in the entire world." Recording engineer Eddie Ciletti mixed the record at the Ranch recording studio in New York as well as the TV sound for the Snyder performance.

The album cover for Beyond the Valley was photographed in the Arizona desert where Wendy appears on horseback with the band (without a drummer) as the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse".

Beyond the Valley of 1984 is the second album by punk-metal band The Plasmatics.

After the success of their first album and tour, the band began recording their follow-up album, Beyond the Valley of 1984. After the amount of time and money that was put into their last album, Bruce Kirkland at Stiff Records agreed to put up the funds as long as Rod produced and the album was done in less than 3 weeks at a quarter of the cost of the first.

Producer and manager Rod Swenson proposed the name Beyond the Valley of 1984 and the 1981 tour became "The 1984 World Tour". In between touring drummers, Alice Cooper's Neal Smith was brought in to do the drumming for the record, and the album, with its Orwellian and apocalyptic theme and songs such as "Masterplan", "Pig Is a Pig", and "Sex Junkie", were released a few months later.

The album was recorded at The Ranch in New York City, a studio owned by John Andrew "Andy" Parks, a singer-songwriter from Texas. A promotional tape exists with Andy doing the voice-over in an over-the-top Texan accent. The Ranch was equipped with a modified MCI JH-416 console, a 3M M-79 24-track and an Ampex ATR-102 1/4-inch two-track. Engineer Eddie Ciletti was brought in during the second phase to overdub guitars, vocals, electric chain saw and mix. Mixing was "unconventional," for a punk record due to rather "strict" parameters established by Rod. The record would not have any wide stereo panning, and it had to be mixed at a level low enough so that he could conduct business over the phone. The mix was done almost entirely on Auratone monitors. 

During recording for the album, The Plasmatics were booked on the Tom Snyder late night TV show, where Tom Snyder introduced them as "possibly the greatest punk rock band in the entire world". 

Beyond the Valley of 1984 would go on to spend 9 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at 142 in the summer of 1981. 

The album was re-released in 2000 by Plasmatics Media, Inc.

Editorial Reviews

Vinyl version of the Plasmatics' incredible 1981 release. This is their second album and features some of the best songwriting of their career, as well as a lean and tight sound combing metal, punk and hard rock. A truly ground breaking release that sums up everything the band stood for and still sounds completely fresh over 25 years after its release.

I DO COMBINE SHIPPING! THE $4 FLAT RATE ALSO INCLUDES THE MAILER WHICH COST OVER $1 EACH. THANKS!

ALL 12” RECORDS WILL BE MAILED OUT IN CARDBOARD MAILERS DESIGNED FOR SHIPPING WITH ADDITIONAL CARDBOARD SUPPORT. I DO COMBINE SHIPPING WITH OTHER LIKE SIZED ITEMS. ADDITIONAL LPs $1 EA. IN THE U.S. VIA MEDIA MAIL OR OTHER USPS SERVICES. INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING IS BASED ON WEIGHT AND COUNTRY. FOR THE U.S. THE $4 COST OF THE MEDIA MAIL INCLUDES MY COST OF THE MAILER, PACKING MATERIALS & TIME. THANKS! BOB

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