8-Eyed Spy
Encyclopedia
8-Eyed Spy was a late 1970s No Wave
/Post-punk
band featuring Lydia Lunch
, Jim Sclavunos
, Pat Irwin
, Michael Paumgardhen and George Scott III
. They covered the Swamp rock classic "Run Through the Jungle
" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
and Jefferson Airplane
's "White Rabbit
". Their music was infectiously rhythmic and visceral, using throbbing bass guitar
, lugubrious saxophone playing and Lunch's petulant vocals. The band recorded only briefly, and released a live album. 8-Eyed Spy broke up shortly after the death of bass player George Scott III (1953-1980), who died of a heroin overdose.
The 8-Eyed Spy recordings featured on Lunch's retrospective album Hysterie open with the instrumental track "Swamp" and features the folksy song "Diddy Wah Diddy
" (Willie Dixon
/Ellas McDaniel) which Lunch adds No Wave effects to by screaming alternated with alienated howling. 8-Eyed Spy was a fusion of Swamp rock and what was at the time, more fashionable No Wave
style. In the song "Dead Me, You Beside", Lunch mimics the sharp vocal and lyrical style of No Wave
singer Bobby Swope and stop-start "Peter Gunn
"-style guitar playing featured in Lunch and Swope's band, Beirut Slump.
Another cover performed by 8-Eyed Spy was "Lightning's Girl" (Nancy Sinatra
/Lee Hazelwood), sung in a Southern U.S. accent which suggestively states a lover's warning of when her tough boyfriend would return.
Liner notes on the Hysterie compilation describe the "frantic patchwork" of 8-Eyed Spy. The band's motif was an octopus and the 8-Eyed Spy LP cover features a pen and ink drawing of a bohemian
man wearing a pork pie hat, suggesting a mid-twentieth century roots musician of South Eastern U.S.A., but not specifying a particular style of music.
At the time of the band's existence, George Scott stated that 8-Eyed Spy referred to the U.S. intelligence nickname for a mid 20th-Century Chinese espionage cadre, one consisting of four men operating in the U.S. The face portrayed on the LP cover represents one of these four. The icon in the lower right of the jacket symbolizes four sets of binoculars looking outward. There are four tiny figures running in the background. George Scott's first band had been called Jack Ruby, which he referred to in his pseudonym on the Lydia Lunch
LP Queen Of Siam. The original Jack Ruby's connection to Oswald & conspiracy theories, combined with the idea of Communist spies operating in the U.S. shows a taste for the aesthetics of paranoia, very prevalent at the time of No Wave.
Lunch and Sclavunos later rejoined on Lunch's In Limbo mini LP, with Thurston Moore
, Pat Place and Kristian Hoffmann.
"8 Eyed Spy" TrackList:
Credits:
Bass - George Scott
Drums - Jim Sclavunos
Guitar - Michael Paumgarden
Guitar, Saxophone - Pat Irwin
Vocals - Lydia Lunch
Notes:
Recorded October 1980, Blank Tape Studios, NYC USA.
Tracks 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 7 Recorded Live at Hurrah's, NYC March 8, 1980.
Track 4 Recorded live at Loring Park, Minneapolis, July 7, 1980.
Track 8 Recorded live at Mabuhay, San Francisco, September 2, 1980.
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
/Post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band featuring Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, Jim Sclavunos
Jim Sclavunos
Jim Sclavunos is an American rock music drummer, percussionist and producer.Sclavunos, a half-Greek and half-Italian from Brooklyn, New York , is well-known for his exceptional height at 6'7". Sclavunos has performed with Sonic Youth, Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Lydia Lunch and was a member of 8...
, Pat Irwin
Pat Irwin
Pat Irwin is an American composer and musician, who was a founding member of a number of groups that grew out of New York City's No Wave scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including 8-Eyed Spy and Raybeats. He has composed the scores for numerous films and cartoons...
, Michael Paumgardhen and George Scott III
George Scott III
George Scott III was a bass player for several New York City bands during the No Wave era. He was a founding member of 8-Eyed Spy and the Raybeats, and he worked with James Chance and the Contortions, James White and the Blacks, Human Switchboard, and John Cale, among others.- Biography :George...
. They covered the Swamp rock classic "Run Through the Jungle
Run Through the Jungle
"Run Through the Jungle" is a 1970 rock song recorded by the North American band Creedence Clearwater Revival.-History:The song was written by the Creedence's lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, John Fogerty. It was included on their 1970 album Cosmo's Factory, the group's fifth album...
" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
's "White Rabbit
White Rabbit (song)
"White Rabbit" is a song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single and became the band's second top ten success, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100...
". Their music was infectiously rhythmic and visceral, using throbbing bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, lugubrious saxophone playing and Lunch's petulant vocals. The band recorded only briefly, and released a live album. 8-Eyed Spy broke up shortly after the death of bass player George Scott III (1953-1980), who died of a heroin overdose.
The 8-Eyed Spy recordings featured on Lunch's retrospective album Hysterie open with the instrumental track "Swamp" and features the folksy song "Diddy Wah Diddy
Diddy Wah Diddy
"Diddy Wah Diddy" is a song written by Willie Dixon and Ellas McDaniel—known as Bo Diddley—and recorded by the latter in 1956. Over the years, the song has been covered by many bands and artists, including The Astronauts, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, The Remains, The Twilights, Taj Mahal,...
" (Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
/Ellas McDaniel) which Lunch adds No Wave effects to by screaming alternated with alienated howling. 8-Eyed Spy was a fusion of Swamp rock and what was at the time, more fashionable No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
style. In the song "Dead Me, You Beside", Lunch mimics the sharp vocal and lyrical style of No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
singer Bobby Swope and stop-start "Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator was Blake Edwards...
"-style guitar playing featured in Lunch and Swope's band, Beirut Slump.
Another cover performed by 8-Eyed Spy was "Lightning's Girl" (Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
/Lee Hazelwood), sung in a Southern U.S. accent which suggestively states a lover's warning of when her tough boyfriend would return.
Liner notes on the Hysterie compilation describe the "frantic patchwork" of 8-Eyed Spy. The band's motif was an octopus and the 8-Eyed Spy LP cover features a pen and ink drawing of a bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
man wearing a pork pie hat, suggesting a mid-twentieth century roots musician of South Eastern U.S.A., but not specifying a particular style of music.
At the time of the band's existence, George Scott stated that 8-Eyed Spy referred to the U.S. intelligence nickname for a mid 20th-Century Chinese espionage cadre, one consisting of four men operating in the U.S. The face portrayed on the LP cover represents one of these four. The icon in the lower right of the jacket symbolizes four sets of binoculars looking outward. There are four tiny figures running in the background. George Scott's first band had been called Jack Ruby, which he referred to in his pseudonym on the Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
LP Queen Of Siam. The original Jack Ruby's connection to Oswald & conspiracy theories, combined with the idea of Communist spies operating in the U.S. shows a taste for the aesthetics of paranoia, very prevalent at the time of No Wave.
Lunch and Sclavunos later rejoined on Lunch's In Limbo mini LP, with Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, Pat Place and Kristian Hoffmann.
Discography
- Diddy Wah Diddy 7" (Fetish Records) 1980
- Live Cassette (ROIRROIRROIR , or Reach Out International Records, is a New York City-based record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper.ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label exclusively distributed its releases in cassette format...
) 1981 - 8 Eyed Spy LP (Fetish Records FR2003) 1981
- 8 Eyed Spy CD (Atavistic) 1995
- Live CD (Atavistic) 1997
"8 Eyed Spy" TrackList:
- "Diddy Wah Diddy" (2:19)
- "Lazy In Love" (2:28)
- "Love Split" (2:10)
- "Dead You B Side Me" (3:40)
- "Swamp" (0:57)
- "Run Through The Jungle" (5:26)
- "Motor Oil Shanty" (4:30)
- "You Twist I Shout" (2:31)
- "Looking For Someone" (2:40)
- "Lightning's Girl" (3:07)
- "Innocence" (1:25)
- "Boy Meets Girl" (1:58)
- "2 Square" (2:36)
- "I Want Candy" (2:05)
- "Ran Away Dark" (1:51)
Credits:
Bass - George Scott
Drums - Jim Sclavunos
Guitar - Michael Paumgarden
Guitar, Saxophone - Pat Irwin
Vocals - Lydia Lunch
Notes:
Recorded October 1980, Blank Tape Studios, NYC USA.
Tracks 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 7 Recorded Live at Hurrah's, NYC March 8, 1980.
Track 4 Recorded live at Loring Park, Minneapolis, July 7, 1980.
Track 8 Recorded live at Mabuhay, San Francisco, September 2, 1980.