ROIR
Reachout International Records, Inc.
For Immediate Release: By Mykel Board - Producer
Available April 15, 1987 -- GG Allin "Hated In The Nation" (A-148)
GG Allin has an arrest record as long as the most jaded mafia member. He's been hospitalized in half a dozen states. At least two dozen clubs have banned him from their stage. He was a featured performer on the "You'll Hate This Record" record, a compilation of eight of the most hated bands or performers in America.
GG is a performer who lives his art. He never separates what he does from what he is.
For those who don't know, GG Allin is a rock and roller whose performances are so intense, whose stage personality is so vile, that he has been unable ever to complete a full set of his songs. He has been banned from clubs and performance spaces from Washington D.C. to Washington State. In New York, Steve Blush, the agent who booked his show at the famous Cat Club, was fired on the spot. The Village Voice compared his show to a "terrible car crash." For weeks following, the letters column of that paper was a hotbed of controversy about the twenty minute show.
More has been written about GG Allin during the last few years (he has been performing for eight years) than any other underground performer. He is obscene, vile, and utterly without redeeming social value. Yet, people are fascinated. He is more than a single guy abusing himself and his audience. GG is a symbol. He is a symbol of utter freedom. He is a symbol of letting go, chucking it all, living in complete and total abandonment, free from the normal fears of death or desires for love. He is a mutant id, unburdened by the ego or superego the rest of us carry around. Even those who hate him, feel a secret envy. Oh to live with no cares, no fears, able to do exactly what you want! Oh to live like GG Allin.
Karen Finley and other "extreme performance artists" are more accepted, because they somehow separate themselves from what they do. There is a safe distance between the person as a performer and the person as a human being. You could imagine having Karen over for dinner and lively conversation. You would never let GG within ten yards of your silverware. He is too real.
I produced this cassette as a "fake" live show. It is a show that could never be, simply because GG is too extreme to ever be allowed to play for 45 minutes. This tape is made up of snippets from the live shows, tapes, and records not available at your local K-Mart. Even if you are not easily offended, you will be offended by this tape. You will also wish you could have done the same.
Mykel Board
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