"Alien Boy" is the seventh song on the first Wipers album, ''

Is This Real? ''Is This Real?'' is the debut studio album by the Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records. The album was reissued on CD by Sub Pop in 1993, augmented by the three tracks ...

'' (Park Avenue Records), released in 1980. ''Alien Boy'' is also the title of a 1980 Wipers EP, with "Alien Boy" on side A, and three outtakes from the ''Is This Real?'' album sessions on side B. In 1993, the tracks were added to the

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

reissue of the album ''Is This Real?''. The ''Alien Boy'' EP cover art featured on the back of the Sub Pop version of ''Is This Real?'' was not the original; instead, Sub Pop used the cover art of the German version of the ''Alien Boy'' EP, released in 1987 on the label Weird System, a special limited edition of 2,000 numbered copies on green vinyl. According to frontman

Greg Sage Greg Sage (born October 21, 1951) is an American songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, regarded as an important influence on many punk rock and post-punk artists. Sage is best known as the principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist of the infl ...

's statement on the Zeno Records website, James Chasse, also called "Jim Jim", was the subject of "Alien Boy". Sage noted, "Jim Jim's conversations with me and his powerful sense of vision painted uncanny, powerful visions in my head that became a huge influence for a few songs that were later recorded for the ''Is This Real?'' LP." Chasse died after being arrested by police officers in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in September 2006. He is the subject of the documentary film '' Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse.''

Track listing

# "Alien Boy" – 3:28 # "Image of Man" – 2:31 # "Telepathic Love" – 1:32 # "Voices in the Rain" – 1:23

References

External links

What Happened to James Chasse
nbsp;– a compendium of documents and articles about the killing of James Chasse

nbsp;– by Greg Sage (Via Wayback Machine) 1980 EPs Wipers albums {{1980s-punk-album-stub