From Crowley to Chickens: The 19 controversial artists Throbbing Gristle thought everyone should know about
Subversive, confrontational, and often downright weird, Throbbing Gristle were truly in a league of their own back in the 1970s, so much so that it feels odd to even refer to them as ‘a band’ – they seemed to transcend all conventions of music.
It was during the 1970s, in the age of punk rock revolution, that Throbbing Gristle made their first marks on the underground music scene of Britain, but their sound never had much in common with buzzsaw guitars, safety pins, or surface-level political dissent. In virtually every aspect of their existence, the band sought to challenge, subvert, and confront expectations of music and acceptability. Their 1978 debut album, D.o.A. The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle, for instance, sounded unlike anything else at that time.
Abrasive, unnerving, and at times genuinely frightening, that album paved the way for the entire landscape of industrial music. A vast, incredibly experimental scene typified by avant-garde influences and a penchant for electronica, industrial music reflected the bleak, concrete surroundings of late-1970s Britain, warts and all.
Unlike other music scenes of the time, though, industrial music didn’t take its core influences from a previous class of musicians. Sure, it was indebted to the groundbreaking work of musique concrète composers, early experimental music, and even the likes of The Velvet Underground, but various philosophers, performance artists, and countercultural figures were just as influential – if not more so – on Throbbing Gristle than any musician. After all, their output was much more about art and experimentation than music.
Luckily for those wishing to dig deeper into the enigmatic world of the Gristle, Genesis P-Orridge left behind a handbook of artists, musicians, and controversial figures which gives an unparalleled insight into the motivations, influences, and experimentations of her work with Throbbing Gristle.
Published in 1983’s Industrial Culture Handbook, P-Orridge’s list includes a few of the names you might expect, namely The Velvet Underground and Kraftwerk, both of whom played an essential role in developing experimental and subversive music during the 1960s and 1970s.
Aside from those two, however, the list is chock full of unexpected, bizarre, and controversial figures, including multiple serial killers in the form of Edmund Kemper, Gary Gilmore, and Charles Manson, as well as Adolf Hitler. Infamous occultist Aleister Crowley is also namedropped, owing to P-Orridge’s unwavering interest in the dark world of the occult, and, for a bit of light with that shade, Brian Jones’ favourites, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, are also included.
It is difficult to know what to make of the list, all in all. Were the likes of Gilmore and Hitler included only a means of reflecting P-Orridge’s usual subversive shock tactics, or did Throbbing Gristle genuinely sit around listening to cassette tapes of Nazi speeches? Honestly, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they did, when you listen to a song like ‘Hamburger Lady’ for reference.
Either way, the artist’s list of 19 figures and groups does provide an incredibly insightful look at the early days of industrial music, and the vast experimentation and cultural subversion which first birthed the genre back in the 1970s. Maybe just regulate how much of these sounds you consume on a daily basis, lest you risk losing your innocence.
The 19 ‘artists’ Throbbing Gristle thought everyone should know about:
- Alain Presencer
- The Velvet Underground
- Master Musicians Of Jajouka
- Kraftwerk
- Edmund Emil Kemper
- Gary Gilmore
- Charles Manson
- Aleister Crowley
- William S Burroughs
- Brion Gysin
- Konstantin Raudive
- Adolf Hitler
- Psychic TV
- Mongolian Gongs
- Moroccan Music
- New Guinea
- New York Poetique
- Richard Chase
- Gay Chickens
