''Dead City Radio'' is a musical album by

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

author

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

, which was released by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

in 1990. It was dedicated to

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

. The CD is a collection of readings by Burroughs set to a broad range of musical compositions. It was produced by

Hal Willner Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...

and Nelson Lyon, with musical accompaniment from

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his w ...

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...

, and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

, among others. Although not Burroughs' first album—he released his first spoken word album '' Call Me Burroughs'' in the 1960s and was a fixture on the

Giorno Poetry Systems Founded in 1965, Giorno Poetry Systems was an American artist collective, record label, and non-profit organisation founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno with the direct aim to connect poetry and related art forms to a larger audience ...

collections of the 1970s and 1980s—this was the first release to receive wide public attention. Most of the recordings of Burroughs readings were made at his home in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

between December 12 and 15 1988, with further recordings taking place on June 24, 1989. The music was added at a later date. During these sessions Burroughs was captured singing the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

standard ''"Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt"'' ( ''Falling in Love Again''), a song associated with

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

. This recording was included as a bonus track and is the only commercially available track as of 2012 to depict the author actually singing. The material performed by Burroughs on the album included excerpts from some of his famous works such as ''

Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (sometimes ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, intended by Burroughs to be read in any order. The reader follows the narr ...

'', as well as a couple of items from his 1989 short story collection ''

Tornado Alley Tornado Alley is a loosely defined area of the central United States where tornadoes are most frequent. The term was first used in 1952 as the title of a research project to study severe weather in areas of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, So ...

''. The track ''"Kill the Badger!"'' is an excerpt from Burroughs' novella '' The Cat Inside''. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was created Burroughs' reading of ''"A Thanksgiving Prayer"'' (a poem from ''Tornado Alley''); the reading (like the book from which it came) is dedicated to

John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He led the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and ...

. Burroughs prefaces his reading of the short story "Where He Was Going" with a brief discussion of its inspiration and origins. The brief narrative "Brion Gysin's All-Purpose Bedtime Story" is taken from ''

Ghost of Chance ''Ghost of Chance'' is a novella by William S. Burroughs. The story was first published in 1991 in a special limited edition by the Library Fellows of the Whitney Museum of American Art; this was followed by a mass market hardcover edition in 199 ...

'', a novella Burroughs would publish in 1991. Several tracks include Burroughs discussing elements of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

The Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in a conversational style, and one track has Burroughs reciting the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...

while adding editorial comment. The track ''"Ah Pook the Destroyer"'' was later used as the soundtrack for the acclaimed animated short film '' Ah Pook Is Here''. Burroughs' song ''"Falling in Love Again"'' plays over the closing credits of the film.

Track listing

# "William's Welcome (What Are You Here For?)" (featuring

, music by

) # " A Thanksgiving Prayer" (music by Frank Denning) # "''

'' Excerpts (You Got Any Eggs for Fats?)/Dinner Conversation (The Snakes)" (music by Frank Denning) # "Ah Pook the Destroyer/

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

's All-Purpose Bedtime Story" (featuring

) # "After-Diner Conversation (An Atrocious Conceit)/ Where He Was Going" (music by Frank Denning) # "Kill the Badger!" (music by Buryl Reed) # "A New Standard by Which to Measure Infamy" (featuring

) # "The

1 (WSB Reads The Good Book)" (music by Lenny Pickett) # "No More Stalins, No More

Hitlers The Hitler family comprises the relatives and ancestors of Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945), an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party. He was the dictator of Germany, holding the title Chancellor of ...

" (featuring John Cale) # "The Sermon on the Mount 2" (music by Lenny Pickett) # "Scandal at the Jungle Hiltons" (featuring

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

) # "The Sermon on the Mount 3" (music by Lenny Pickett) # "Love Your Enemies" (featuring John Cale) # "Dr. Benway's House" (featuring Sonic Youth) # "

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

" (music by Bill Giant, Eugene Cines, Frank Denning, Ray Ellis) # "

The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

" (featuring

& Sonic Youth) # " Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt (Falling in Love Again)" ( Friedrich Hollander)

Personnel

* William S. Burroughs - Primary Artist, Vocals, Voices * Maxine Neuman - Cello *

- Clarinet, Track Performer, Woodwind, arranger *

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...

- French Horn *

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...

- Performing Ensemble * Cheryl Hardwick - Organ, Piano, Track Performer *

Bobby Previte Bobby Previte (born July 16, 1951 in Niagara Falls, New York) is a drummer, composer, and bandleader. He earned a degree in economics from the University at Buffalo, where he also studied percussion. He moved to New York City in 1979 and began ...

- Percussion *

- Track Performer *

- Track Performer * Dennis Martin - Vocals * Leslie Miller - Vocals *

Frank Simms Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

- Vocals, Technical Credits * Arlene Martel - Vocals *

- Contributor *

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

- Contributor *

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

- Contributor *

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

- Contributor * Adrian Boot - Cover Photo * Joe Ferla - Engineer *

Chris Laidlaw Christopher Robert Laidlaw (born 16 November 1943) is a New Zealand politician and former rugby union player, Rhodes Scholar, public servant, diplomat and radio host. Early life Laidlaw was born in Dunedin and schooled at King's High School f ...

- Engineer *

- Engineer, Liner Notes, Producer * Nelson Lyon - Producer * Jack Adelman - Mastering *Executive producer: Les Michaels *Associate producer:

James Grauerholz James Grauerholz (born December 14, 1953) is a writer and editor. He is the bibliographer and literary executor of the estate of William S. Burroughs. Life and career Grauerholz was born in Coffeyville, Kansas and attended the University of Kans ...

External links

* * {{Authority control 1990 albums William S. Burroughs albums Albums produced by Hal Willner Island Records albums