I call BS

I did really bad in Hight School.  Like bottom of my class bad.. but that story is for another day. 

I got into Rutgers on the G.I. bill…. Not really.  I got in through the back door with a personal interview on academic probation and it worked out O.K.

When I graduated my parents gave me $1200 so I could fulfill my dream of being like one of my heroes and start a record label like Epitaph and put out stuff by all my friends!

Although, I had put out the two P.E.D. singles on my own so I guess that counts as two releases.

I called my label COMPLEX after the fanzine Complex Lies that Dave Wilson and I started and that I eventually took over and shortened to COMPLEX.

It was fitting since I think everyone is out to get me to the point that I have a COMPLEX. 

My first release was a compilation called Search and Annoy in honor of my Frenemy Henry Rollins and his big Ole Back Tattoo.  

I had given copies to my buddies The Jesus Lizard and what do you know.. that line ended up in one of their songs… small world indeed, 

Complex 02 was Loose “Come Through Gently.”  

I thought Loose was the shit.  They had it all.  Paul hit his height as both a musician and song writer… Mike could sing his ass off and the songs were pop-punk perfection.   I was positive they were the chosen ones.. Them and Lucy Brown and My friends from Seattle Hammerbox.  

My prognostication skills just are not all there.  

Actually that’s not it all.  

All three of these bands got totally fucked by humans.  

Managers, Labels, Egos… Fate… Bad Timing.   Luck.. You name it.  They all coulda been “IT”

They were all great people.  Wonderful folks to hang out with.  Focused musicians.  They just got Fucked by fate.

And then some of them really went down a black hole and never came back up, and to me that is the greatest tragedy of this whole mess of the 90s underground Nirvana Music scene mess.  The road while we all know was not paved with good intentions.  It was paved with dead and broken bodies. 

Complex 003 was Ugly Bill

https://www.discogs.com/release/2007197-The-Bouncing-Souls-Ugly-Bill

Years after it came out… I got a call from of all people… My parents, which could only mean one thing…A jewish holiday was approaching!

Uhmmmm Shmuel… A couple of boxes arrived for you today, can you come pick them up as soon as possible.

Well this was quite intriguing, as why would I send anything (Yeah.. even that) to my parents house)

So when I did get over there I found two large boxes from the record pressing plant that I had used for the Complex Singles. 

Intriguing I thought.  Boy, someone sure must have fucked the pooch on this one and sent me the wrong order.  

Even stranger, I had read about the complete chaos that had ensued when said plant had suddenly shut down and gone bankrupt leaving many labels in the lurch for their money and their records!

A whole bunch of little labels and distributors folded because of this clusterfuck as well.

I popped open one of the boxes and you know what was inside. 

Complex Records 003 The Bouncing Souls Single, but without the insert. 

Even weirder, these copies were on BLACK VINYL!  We had only had them printed (to my knowledge on Green Vinyl)

What must have happened was the record plant started pressing them on black, caught the mistake, threw them in the back (mind you this is pure speculation) resumed the order on Green Vinyl and forgot about it. 

I’d like to think that some nice person found them while they were cleaning up, stuck some postage on them and shipped em off to me.  

Maybe clearing all records out of the back that were already made was part of the bankruptcy agreement!

But here I had a bunch of Black Vinyl Ugly Bill Singles.  

So I did the smart thing. 

I grabbed a handful and threw the rest up in a closet in my parent’s attic where I keep the P.E.D. Master Tapes cause we all know how valuable those are! 

Mind you, this is still a few years away from either the Vinyl feeding frenzy the ensued… or the Bouncing, I mean the B.S. band becoming beloved elder statesman that they now are. 

I would take a couple of singles every once in a while to a local record store and swap em for some  new releases, saving this obsessive collector a couple of bucks here and there.  I was careful not to flood the market.. They usually ended up going for about $10, I got a bunch of CD’s and in the interim I pretty much broke even eventually with all the money I sunk into my label.  I never had enough coming in at anytime to put out another record.. but between the 3 shows we did at Maxwells and my vinyl windfall.. I would say God Made Me Whole.

The End. 

Post Script.

How many Black B.S. singles were there Total.

Not Many.   Less than 100.   Probably less than 75.  

I never really kept track of them.  Like I Said.  I traded them,  gave em aways… made ashtrays etc, 

I have like one copy for myself (maybe) but since I threw everything in my attic it’s probably melted by now along with The Blisters and P.E.D. album.

I used to give them away to people I met who were B.S. fans I met along the way, students of mine… random people at record stores etc.  I was like the B.S. record fairy.