Vertigo

The oh so official and divinely sanctioned newsrag
and cheesy catalog of the Swirling Eddies Spinning Vortex
Fun Club and Mutual Admiration Society

Volume 5, Issue 7 Fall 1995

Finally!

All right! Settle down you unruly cretins. Your pathetic lives have meaning again. We've got a load of new CDs out and you're holding in your grubbing little paws a new issue of Vertigo. Yeah, we hate us too.
"What," you query, "was there some kind of planetary alignment or did Walt Disney thaw? What does it take to get some regularity out of these people?" A noble question. The answer? Roughage? Prune juice? Nein! Nyet! Non! Wampum, lettuce, greenbacks, semolians. CA$H!! There's your answer. We're broke, people. Again. And we're tired. Pooped. Have you any idea how much it costs to insure a maserati or to clean an Olympic-sized pool? Have you ever catered a listening party for 300 Hollywood big shots? No? well, neither have we, but the point is still valid. Whatever it might have been.
So, here we are, half way through 1995 and things are looking brighter each day here at Fun Club HQ. New CDs are now out and a few are in the works. The long awaited live disc from 1978, Preachers from outer space, was finally released in March. The new Swirling Eddies retrospective and the new DA record, Songs of the Heart should be available by the time you get this (see junkpile). The eastern sky is glowing pink with expectancy. This year, as some of you may realize, is Daniel Amos' 20th anniversary (our vicennial, if you will), and the fifth for STUNT records. We have been trying to position ourselves financiallyto finally make the big jump and produce all of Terry's new music as well as signing up-and-coming bands, like LOAM from San Diego, that we feel are kindred spirits. We intend to jump into the local SoCal music scene with elbows swinging and hopefully, we'll land a distribution deal and become the hottest label in the world and then we will RULE THE UNIVERSE!!!! Or at least make a living. It will most likely be a slow process, but we hope to begin this year. We'll keep you informed when things start to take off.

So, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the rest of this informative, vitally relevant, self serving rag... I mean, uh, newsletter, yeah.

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Daniel Amos has finished their twelfth record, entitled Songs of the Heart. A brilliantly moving concept album which traces the waning years of an elderly couple as they take their last vacation, take stock of their lives, rekindle their love, and say their last goodbyes. At times sentimental and sweet, at times disturbingly bizarre, this is a work of art that feels more like a fine foreign film than a rock & roll record. The first song is an absolutely killer cover of the Frankie Valli classic, "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You", and there's even a song called "Donna Nietzche and her Super-race of Kickboxing Uber Parrots". Go figure. Terry and the guys never fail to surprise us with each new release, and Songs of the Heart is a bold, fearless expression of what lacks in most modern music - hard-earned musical maturity and an evocative, visionary style.
This artwork and concept seemed haunted by some wonderful coincidences. The cover art is an actual record unearthed by our old friend Marc Sercomb. Terry happened to see the record one day and was struck by the cheesy but compelling innocence. The couple, Bob & Elsa Beckendorf, (they appear on the liner notes as Bud & Irma Akendorf for the sake of privacy) were a singing duo in the fifties and sixties in Sedona, Arizona, which happened to be the home of Terry's paternal grandparents. Then, during some final recording sessions, Tom Howard dropped by the studio for a visit and, after hearing the songs and the concept, announced that he remembered hearing the Beckendorfs sing at his church in 1961. He even remembered the song and graced us with his own rendition of "Meet Me in the Morning". Weird.

Meet Loam

We'd like to introduce you to the first new band that STUNT records has ever worked with. LOAM is a San Diego band that has made some tremendous waves in their first year. The group was formed in the spring of 1994 when Frank Lee Drennen, a San Diego acoustic artist, who has worked with Dave Sharp of the Alarm and the Williams Brothers, hooked up with his old friend, guitarist Chris Pacilio. After recruiting Clark Stacer on bass (formerly with San Diego blues great Robin Henkel) and drummer Trace Smith, the band began taking their folk-tinged alternative rock to the streets and hit the San Diego club and coffeehouse circuit with reckless abandon. After just three months, they recorded "Mega", a live EP CD (available in the junkpile), which captures their young talent and raw emotion in a very compelling and honest way. After a year of rave reviews and kudos from many of the movers and shakers in the San Diego music community, Loam was nominated for Best New Artist and "Mega" was nominated for Best Local Recording at the 1995 San Diego Music Awards.
During the Spring of '95 the band rented some recording equipment, hired a brilliant engineer and began recording their first full length project in their turn-of-the-century apartment in downtown San Diego. This new record will be mixed by Terry and Gene Eugene and will be available on STUNT early next year.
Those of you in the midwest already know that Loam is a farming term for rich, fertile soil, but for the rest of you, it simply means dirt. We like that. It conjurs up some wonderful imagery - roots, growth, life, death, health, decay, hiddenness bringing forth life and beauty, sustenance and emptiness. Something waiting for the holy saliva to bring forth miracles. Barren until grace pours down upon it to awaken the seeds of the untold possibilities. Or something trodden under foot and swept out of the back door. Our kind of name.
We're excited about working with these guys.

NEWS From The Rear

Here's a quick run down on all the news you folks need to hear. Let's see, since last years newsletter,
1. Terry signed a publishing deal with Benson, which included them buying publishing rights to most of his back catalog.
2. Terry sang on Frontline's Alternative Worship CD with Gene Eugene and Mike Knott.
3. Started a new solo record called John Wayne, which is still unfinished.
4. Toured the East Coast and Mid-West with Lost Dogs in March.
5. DA recorded a very gritty cover version of "Strong Hand of Love" by Mark Heard for the Fingerprint tribute CD set, Orphans of God, an extended boxed set version of last years Strong Hand of Love CD on Myrrh.
6. Frontlines has released The Berry Vest of the Swirling Eddies, which includes the rare demo "Like Lazarus" and two new acoustic songs, "With the Tired Eyes of Faith" and "Glorious Dregs". The cassette also contains a bonus track of Camarillo Eddy reading some unbeleivable fan mail. Wild stuff, kids.
7. Daniel Amos has finished their twelfth record, entitled Songs of the Heart.

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Uncle Terry's Mailbag

This letter is indeed genuine, and is retyped exactly how it was scrawled on the letter. Don't ask us what it means, we were hoping one of you people could clue us in here.

To: Swirling Eddies
I was listening to my music 77s I asked for their Holy Ghost to come and protect, they were crushed, other atheist Ghost entered taking everything Holy. The tape almost drove me crazy until it was played without hearing as it was deceived, the wrath crushed every athiest Ghost. Though the combination and blessing, The Swirling Eddies, Altar Boys and 77s tracked to the Altar Boys collection, 3,000 people losing hope was recovered, the Swirling Eddies and Altar Boys held my sufferings to show what this music does. My. Dying Holy Ghost minds & Body. Spot a Christian world worth 48 million. That's a lot. I ask for 1 million for the advancement and suffering I had to go through to describe? Tapes are coming,
J.P.
Atascadero State, Hospital


This e-mail was forwarded to us from our good friend Toby Person in Oregon.

Subject: BACKMASKING - Terry Taylor/Da......
From: w------r@primenet.com (Steve W-----)
Date: 21 Jun 1995 01:48:34 GMT
Message-ID: <3s7tpi$oo@nnrp2.primenet.com>

Has anyone noticed that if you run Da's song "Like Lazarus" backwards, you get the following message from the chorus:

Settle down. We got along this day. Come outside because there is some sheep snot showing on my side.

I'm not kidding. It's as loud and clear (if not clearer) than any other backward message I've heard. I've got a sample saved on my hard drive. Anyone? Anyone?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Steve W-----
w-----r@primenet.com


And finally, the kind of letter that makes it all worth while. We love you, sweetheart.

Dear Swirling Eddies,
I like your music very much. I listen to your music a lot. The words of your songs make me think how I as a Christian should look at people in the world. I am 8 years old and my favorite songs are The Twist, Driving in England, God Went Bowling and Love Grapes. The Twist means to me that I have to follow Jesus and obey Him even when I don't want to. Driving in England means to me that I have to do things differently than other people. God loved me enough to leave Heaven and live on earth and die for me. Love Grapes reminds me to love others. I hope your music always honors God. Is there any thing I can pray about for you? God bless you and your familys.
In Christ,
Elizabeth Noelle Johnke


Many thanks to all of you who have written to us this past year. Your words of encouragement have been taken to heart and your words of rebuke have been passed around the office and scoffed at. We appreciate each and every one of you more than words can say. See you next year!

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Top 10 reasons why the
"Preachers" CD was delayed

10. Liner notes had to be retyped after our
proofreader, Kato, dropped the originals in
O.J.'s jacuzzi.
9. Lengthy litigation with the Weekly World News,
over "headline infringement".
8. Stunt fired its entire staff after that guy
on the radio said the world would end in September.
Spent months wooing them back from Burger King.
7. Baseball strike caused Ed to lock himself
in his garage with no nourishment other than
hot dogs and beer. (come to think of it, the strike
had absolutely no effect on Ed.)
6. Missing 18 minutes of Watergatetape found on
reel 3, right after Mary Baker Eddy.
5. Band spent months growing moustaches and getting
facelifts for the "70's looking" photos.
4. Baked tapes acoring to Doug's secret recipe,
but forgot to marinate overnight in white wine
and shallots.
3. Jerry developed Tourrette's syndrome. Spent
mastering money on soap to wash his mouth out.
2. Couldn't get that "worf" guy from Star Trek to
show up for the photo shoot.
1. Label feared Jan Crouch might take it too personally.

Attention Net Surfers

Stunt Records will soon have its own home page on the World Wide Web. Soon you will be able to see the newsletter, download lyrics, sound samples and graphics, and receive up-to-date info on new releases, concerts, and wacky merchandise. For those of you still living in the Paleolithic age, the Web is a branch of the Internet (that nutty superhighway thing) which allows you to view graphics and download sounds and basically browse through all the libraries in the world right from your bedroom. All you need is a computer with Internet Access and a fast modem.

Congratulations to long-time DA fan, Doug TenNapel, for hitting the big-time with his Sega video game Earthworm Jim and his Sunday morning cartoon on the Warner Bros. network. Doug did some of the artwork for BibleLand and has been a loyal fan for many years. We give Doug a heart "Whooaaah Nelly!!" and wish him the best.

The Lost Dogs toured the East Coast and part of the Midwest in March. We hope those of you fine people living in those areas were able to see the special unplugged show. There should be a new Dogs record early next year.