Happy Go Licky- EP on Peterbilt Records
Man, has it been that long since I updated this thing? Haven't had anything I wanted to write about---so here's a gem from 25 years ago.
The Happy Go Licky EP on Guy Picciotto's own Peterbuilt Records. Only 1000 pressed and lovingly hand-assembled:
The tradition of weird packaging came about because when we were doing the first HGL 12" we were wracking our brain to think of a way to make a super cheap sleeve that didn't look like everything else. We came up with the concept of putting the records in a cut off 12" manila envelope with a sticker for cover art - a rubber stamp for the label info and a business card inside with track information. We had to cut 1000 manila envelopes in half with a paper cutter then stick on the stickers and stamp the backs - then we had to get the vinyl inside which was pretty tough to do cos they were so tight. i know that is one aspect of the records that frustrates people - how hard it is to get the records in and out of the sleeves. still, its become a tradition with all the Peterbilt vinyl releases to use the manila but honestly its a crazy pain in the ass assembling them by hand .it takes forever and
results in alot of paper cuts.---Guy Picciotto
When I first got this and heard it I'll admit it was totally over my 19 year-old head. I wanted the wild hardcore abandon of Rites of Spring (HGL has the same members as Rites of Spring (Guy, Eddie, Brendan and Mike Fellows) but came from a different place creatively)---this was total art damage, tape loops--wacky surreal lyrics "get the dog definitely". So I filed it away as a cool historical document, and didn't listen to it for ten years.
In 1997 Dischord Records (home of Guy's then active band Fugazi and keepers of the Rites of Spring back catalogue) issued Happy Go Licky on CD with with extra songs. I picked it up because I'm a total DC completist--it only took ten years for me to get Happy Go Licky---I was totally into the art damage, I had to be older to "get the dog" so to speak. Happy Go Licky never made it to the studio and their recorded output is from the seven or so shows HGL performed. The result is a tinny kinda flat sound--it's all that exists from this band, so I'll take it.
This record comes up on ebay every now and then and a copy from Jeff Nelson's (Dischord Records co-founder) collection sold this past Feb for $85--I guess because it mostly belonged to Jeff Nelson, but according to the Popsike website the median price for this record has been $47---holy smokes I got it for $5---well I'm not parting with my copy and unless you're a total punk rock historian/collector type with money to burn I can't see spending that much on six songs not even recorded in a studio. Dischord has the CD still in print--yeah it doesn't have the cache that vinyl does but you get more songs and you're supporting the artist and the label. Incidentally, it is a pain in the ass to get this record back in the jacket--I mostly listen to the CD.
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