"A harsh truth for you. The Stooges' 'Raw Power' was not the biggest, toughest and ugliest recording of the pre-punk 70's. It was by comparison to Cleveland, Ohio contemporaries the Electric Eels, the work of a bunch of namby-pamby asthmatic tabby cats, who couldn't rock if their field-mousey little lives depended on it." ( Jim Wirth, N M E , March 1998 )



...Yeah, — me again — and it's just like the Omniscient One says; one minute I'm murdering the Music Machine's "Talk Talk" in Lenny Lariviere's rec room and the next I've got a whole bunch of new goals to hide from the band. And you're right, that song is three years old; but it's the group's concession to me in exchange for my agreeing to add "Honky Tonk Woman" to the playlist ... which I've not yet done, and now, thankfully, won't ever have to do. Under my hat, strategies for ensemble building are duking it out in a series of single-round all-comers bouts even as I trade a little dungeon dark for a bit of the old sunlight Mrs. L. just cheerfully suggested can be found above grade. I figure I'll give the match another fifteen minutes or so and then announce a winner.

43


THE FORMULA's methodology remains fundamentally the same in the 20th Century as when first applied in history. Give or take a generation, I trace its origins back to around 460 BC, or a short time following the introduction of the 2nd and 3rd actors into Greek theatre. While the cut of its cultural jib impresses me initially, what further recommends the technique for recruiting the as-yet-unnamed Electric Eels is its stellar record of success. Granted, the docket discloses THE FORMULA 's been anything but a frequent choice among modern mainstream artists; nevertheless, it's been steadily employed since the Renaissance by the enigmatic fringe. Well, that's good enough for me and every single one of my pretensions!

Easier than making a bomb, only two simple active ingredients are needed: equal parts (1) chance operations and (2) the theory that soulmates make the best collaborators. These elements are, in my version, suspended in an alchohol base. The delivery system goes something like this: You're sitting around closing your favorite dive, staring blankly into your "last call". You chase your Kessler's (or whatever the brand) with a chuga cold beer, but then instead of getting up to relieve yourself you turn to whatever friend's at your side and say, "Hey, wanna start a band?"

According to the articles of THE FORMULA, it doesn't matter that your pal can't play — he can learn. And if your friend's a girl, all the better — she can play the bass. The important thing, again, is recognizing that you've already got a great thing going on that supercedes chops! Friendship's a very musical thing, ya know!