Thought Sausage

I just got done reading the (semi) newly released Chris Connelly tell all. It's long-ish title "Concrete: Bulletproof, Invisible + Fried: My Life as a Revolting Cock" is quite apt.

Now, I know I've got some readers here who know exactly why this book is fucking awesome and exactly why I would be interested in it (derr....Gabe, Schmudde, Chuck, Jason, Adam, Jay etc etc etc...). Let me just say this to everyone else (those of you who clearly need to be enlightened in music that doesn't suck)- with the onslaught of tell-all bios from rockstars as of late, people such as myself have been entertained reading about all the excesses of Slash, Nikki Sixx, Eric Clapton and so on. All I have to say is that those guys ain't got shit on Al Jourgensen's court. Through Chris's eyes, he makes all those guys look like fucking chumps. And he does it right in Chicago, making the story that much more personal (my buddy Steve is always telling me about how Delilah's used to be The Crash Palace, where Al 'n co would hang out...now I have the specifics of what went on).

That said, I always knew Chris was a witty fellow (what with the gobs of stream of conscious lyrics). This book however, is so witty and so cleverly written the only thing I can think to compare it to is the Mixerman's Diary. His Scottish sense of humor is dripping off the pages which makes the stories all that much more vivid.

Basically, the book picks up with Chris plugging away in Fini Tribe circa 1985 or so and takes off with a chance meeting with Al in London which results in Chris going to Chicago and becoming a member of Rev Co for the next 7-8 years or so. We also hear about how Pigface got started, the ins and outs of touring on Mind is a Terrible Thing To Taste and the grandeur of Ministry's Psalm 69 tour. Chris paints Al like the raving yet-hard-working lunatic he probably actually was. The story drops off after 94 (Linger Fickin Good and the failed tour) or 95 and has some follow ups as to some of the early millennium Pigface reunions, Damage Manuel and Chris's opinions of what has become of Rev Co now.

I'll say this much, for the insane excesses and not-for-the-faint-of-heart activities that went on, Chris doesn't come off as preachy whatsoever. There's no "look how terrible we were" type things (Chris is a reformed family man nowadays). You feel like he looks back on the era as being a really good time, but that it's in the past.

Going into this, I THOUGHT I would be primarily interested in the Mind tour through Psalm 69 (or however those symbols are pronounced) because he DOES go into some details about how various songs came about, and how So What, Thieves and Jesus Built My Hotrod came along (apparently, Chris slaved away at actual lyrics and melodies for weeks and then Gibby Haynes came in all fucked up and babbled over it on a coke binge at like 6am and there ya go). There were plenty of other great antecdotes about the cast of characters (Al, Paul, Martin, Phildo, Bill, Tucker - the latter of which committed suicide in 1999 and that clearly was a big blow to everyone involved). However, I think my favorite part of the book was the early stuff. Reading about what it was like before Wax Trax had any money, and how everyone was broke and trying to make it. Chris spends a lot of time on this.

Run don't walk yer ass over to Amazon and buy this. Even if you don't know the music or the characters, the vivid images of touring in a semi-successful band in the mid 80's and a huge band in the 90's is utterly hilarious. I especially appreciate the logistics that go into carting the Cocks around the US (need for drugs, strippers and hair gel is punctuated all over the place).