Monday, December 29, 2008

THE LEGENDARY TAKE IT! FLEXI

(This is a re-post of our April 3rd, 2007 post)

Other than my copies of FORCED EXPOSURE, the one 1980s fanzine I intend to take to the grave with me is the 1982 issue of TAKE IT! magazine, with CHRIS D. and the FLESH EATERS on the cover & nothing but quality on the inside. The magazine perfectly captured the rock n roll zeitgeist of the post-punk, mid-hardcore era, with heavy attention to outstanding bands like The Flesh Eaters, Half Japanese, The Fall etc. & great reviews & columns by the likes of Byron Coley and Don Howland, along with publisher Michael Koenig. It emanated from Florida (!), and this is the only copy I've ever seen or owned.

This is a magazine that on at least two occassions arrived with a "flexidisc" inside, as was fairly popular at the time. This particular flexi is a marvel. It features one of the most crazed tracks ever recorded by TEX & THE HORSEHEADS, with Jeffrey Lee Pierce on guitar. It contains an incredible MEAT PUPPETS track, "Teenager(s)", which features the greatest opening two seconds in the history of music, and which perfectly positions the band between their berzerk-core debut album and their country-fried masterpiece "Meat Puppets II". Finally, a live FLESH EATERS track from the height of their powers, apparently when they shared the stage with DIE KREUZEN on their quote-unquote "Toolin' for Beaver" tour. All copyright 1982. I've taken the Tex & the Flesh Eaters tracks directly from the flexi, but you get the Meat Puppets one from the CD reissue of "Meat Puppets II" (with loads of extra tracks), because - believe it or not - it sounds better. Enjoy!

Play Tex & The Horseheads "Got Love If You Want It"


Download TEX AND THE HORSEHEADS - "Got Love If You Want It"
Download MEAT PUPPETS - "Teenager(s)"
Download THE FLESH EATERS - "River Of Fever" (live 1982)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

...maybe a little late because this is a re-post...

I know this is all about the music but in this case it would be cool to show some of the awesome layout of TAKE IT! fanzine. I bought this same issue in 1983 in Florida and was blown away by the great photos and the two-colored graphics of the FLESH EATERS piece in the middle. If you`d like, I`d be glad to help out with some scans. My issue is still in great shape.

Best wishes
Andreas

Donna Lethal said...

I had this. Saw the Horseheads in Boston as they seemed to play there quite a bit and Chris D/Flesheaters/Horsemen were always a favorite of the Forced Exposure guys.