The Fire Records Half Japanese reissue series continues with the second volume, covering the three releases of Music to Strip By', Charmed Life'and The Band That Would Be King'released one a year from 1987 to 1989. Following the Record Store Day 2014 release, Volume 1: 1981-1985', the next three Half Japanese records come in their original release form, with the additional tracks that were later added to the CD releases over the years available via download code (see below for track lists).
The LPs are wrapped together in a heavy wide spine outer sleeve with a specially designed paper cut image by Jad Fair, who also provides more illustrations throughout the booklet, with words by David Fair. As per Volume 1', all three records are combined together in a 3CD package.
Be careful. You can't unlearn information. I think that the best that you can hope for is a bad memory, but our brains are very remarkable and it is very difficult to actually unlearn something. I came upon this realization too late to help me with visual arts. I had already been taught about proportions and perspective. It's very hard to draw someone in the background larger than their friend in the foreground. Anyone farther away would look smaller.
That is how our eyes see them and my brain knows this. I cannot turn off this knowledge and draw it the other way around. I can choose to ignore it, but that is not the same. That is a strategy for dealing with the situation, but not as freeing as simple ignorance would be. It is a nagging strategy that whispers the rules and acknowledges your participation in their breaking. Luckily, with music, I do not carry the burden of knowledge. I was not educated in its terms and rules. I am not bound by its limits. I know that I have guitar skills. I have played around with one enough to know what feels right to me. If I were to turn it upside down and attempt to play it in a left handed manner, my ability would feel awkward and diminished. I am not unskilled, I am merely untrained. For me, this is the ideal situation.
Others may prefer acquiring rules and limits. I prefer that my art be directed by my heart rather than my brain. I have played in bands for nearly 40 years. In all of that time I have only learned three chords. I have resisted acquiring more. If I continue at this rate I am at risk of knowing six chords forty years from now. Instead, I am consciously slowing down. Hopefully in four decades I will remember even less about music convention than I know today.
Forty years is a long time to wait. In the meantime, here's Half Japanese Vol 2. It might get better in the future, but Vol 2 is here already. David Fair.
Track listings : Music to Strip By'Disc 1: 1. Stripping for Cash 2. Thick and Thin 3. Diary 4. Big Mistake 5. Hot Dog and Hot Damn 6. The Price Was Right But The Door Was Wrong 7. Blue Monday 8. U.S.Teens are Spoiled Bums 9. Point / Counterpoint 10. Sex At Your Parent's House 11. The Last Straw 12. Gator Bait 13. La Bamba 14. Colleen 15. Ouija Board Summons Satan 16. You Must Obey Me 17. Salt and Pepper 18. Ancient Life 19. Silver and Katherine 20. Money To Burn 21. Hidden Charms 22. How 23. My Sordid Past 24. Silver And Katherine 25. Dusk to Dawn 26. Everybody Knows 27. Go Go Go Go Go 28. Scratch 29. Every Hour 30. Hey 31. Mongolian Stretcher 32. Colleen 33. Salt and Pepper 34. T For Texas 35. Terminator 36. Shiek of Araby.
Disc 2 : Charmed Life': 1. Said and Done 2. Penny In The Fountain 3. Evidence 4. Vietnam 5. Roman Candles 6. Love At First Sight 7. Snake Line 8. Bright Lights, Big City 9. Face Rake 10. Later In A Magazine 11. Red Dress 12. Charmed Life 13. Day And Night 14. One Million Kisses 15. Terminator 16. I'll Change My Style 17. Charmed Life 18. Trouble In The Water 19. Miracles Happen Every Day 20. Fortunate 21. Poetic License 22. Day And Night 23. One Million Kisses 24. Madonna Nude 25. I'll Change My Style 26. George Steele 27. Real Cool Time 28. How Many More Years 29. King Kong Burgundy 30. Something New In The Ring 31. Terminator
Disc 3 : The Band That Would Be King': 1. Open Your Eyes / Close Your Eyes 2. Daytona Beach 3. Lucky Star 4. Some Things Last A Long time 5. My Most Embarrassing Moment 6. Buried Treasure 7. Open Book 8. Little Records 9. Deadly Alien Spawn 10. Postcard From Far Away 11. Ventriloquism 12. Something in the Wind 13. Bingo's Not His Name-o 14. Put Some Sugar On It 15. What More Can I Do 16. Brand New Moon 17. Another World 18. Every Word Is True 19. I Live For Love 20. Werewolf 21. Ride Ride Ride 22. Sugarcane 23. I Wish I May 24. Ashes On The Ground 25. Curse of the Doll People 26. Horsesshoes 27. BlueBirds 28. Frankenstein Meets Billy the Kid 29. My Bucket's Got A Hole In It 30. Africans Built The Pyramids 31. Better Than Before 32. Daytona 33. Back Home 34. Mule Skinner Blues 35. Sugarcane 36. Jump Up 37. Postcard From Far Away 38. Big Wheels 39. Ordeal 40. Jump Down 41. Cowboys 42. Man Without A Head
