Mark Perry – Random Stuff 1978 – 1980

Bit complicated this tape…it was sent to me by ATV / Mark Perry manager Leigh Goorney, 21 years ago (or thereabouts). Leigh basically stuck two and a half tapes (An Ye As Well / Tapezine 2 / Music And Movement) onto one C90. Indebted to Leigh for the original tape. Details of the tracks are on the letter above, but for simplicity I will try to rewrite it below. Please check out the amazing and also the best versions of ‘Viva Le Rock And Roll’ and ‘Splitting In Two’ I have heard.

Tape name, bands and gig venues are:

An Ye As Well Cassette

1 – ATV – Queens College, Notting Hill, London, early 1978

2 – The Good Missionaries – Y.M.C.A – Tottenham Court Road, London, August 1979

3 – The Good Missionaries – Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square, London, May 1979

Music And Movement Cassette

4 – Door And The Window – Centro Iberico, Westbourne Park, London, May 1980

5 – Door And The Window – Notre Dame Hall, Leicester Square, London, November 1979

Still Life 1 / Love Lies Limp 1 / Strange Place This 2 / Going Around In Circles 1 / The Good Missionary 3 / Action Time Vision 1 / Viva La Rock And Roll 1 / Jane Suck On My Mind 2

Lost In Room 3 / Nasty Little Lonely 1 / Splitting In Two 1 / TAPEZINE 2 – INTERVIEW WITH MARK PERRY / Sticks And Stones 4 / Death Looks Down 4 / Scare Each Other 4 / Subculture 5 (part) a dozen or so tracks not on this recording (see letter above)

Review of The Good Missionaries at Empire Ballrom, Leicester Square, London below

HEARD THE ONE ABOUT THE GOOD MISSIONARIES

London Empire Ballroom

Opening the proceedings, The Good Missionaries were just ridiculously good. The wise addition of Henry Badowski on drums / percussion has lent an all-important binding factor to the sound; where at Greenwich, the sound was perhaps too de-centralized, now the output is far more solid, far more tangible, most importantly, this Empire Ballroom performance demonstrated perfectly adequately that Mark Perry has the proverbial finger on the button: so much so that ‘people’ just can’t come to terms with the fact. Alternative TV were bound and gagged by ‘image’ and “reputation” none of which was of their own making. Now in ‘The Good Missionary’, he sings ‘Smash Alternative Television’ and he does just that.

Instruments are literally raffled and swapped throughout, between Perry himself and Dave George, whose role within The Good Missionaries is becoming progressively more functional and active: his incensed contribution to ‘The Force Is Blind’ is nothing less than crucial . . . . and the following rocker ‘Lost In Room’, allows him space to concoct simplistic, cutting guitar lines. It climaxes chaotically.

Also present . . . Dennis Burns, seated, creating rumbling bass undercurrents, striving to fold himself into the background . . . and Gillian, occasional vocals, she stands with hands thrust into pockets and appears somewhat unsure, though she had only ‘joined’ a matter of days previously.

‘Release The Natives’ is stark, more aggressive than on the album; there’s also a stripped down ‘Nasty Little Lonely’ which stems into improvised areas, fixing and astounding.

And finally the masterstroke. For ‘The Good Missionary’, Sam, Mandy and Simon from the Transmitters stroll onto the stage, as does Genesis P Orridge, who takes over the drum seat. Drums, sax three guitars, two basses, keyboards . . . the sound is massively stirring and dense. Destroying his own ‘heritage’, Perry guides the unit through self-destruct re-vamps of ‘Action Time Vision’, ‘How Much Longer’. ‘Action Time Banana . . . and the onstage glee is automatically injected into the crowd.

The Good Missionaries project is steadily becoming more self-assured, more positive, more radical. Gradually the name Perry is becoming less synonymous with The Good Missionaries: the frontiers are being broken down step by step, This was some performance, That’s beyond contention.

Chris Westwood, Record Mirror, May 19 1979.