"Death Valley '69" is a song by American

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 ...

and featuring

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

. The song was written and sung by

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 ...

and fellow New York musician Lunch, and recorded by

Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Ang ...

in 1984. A demo version of the song was released in December 1984 on Iridescence Records. A re-recorded version was released in EP format with different artwork in June 1985; this version was featured on their second studio album, ''

Bad Moon Rising "Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album '' Green River'' and was released in April 16, 1969 four months before the album. The song peaked at No. ...

''.

Music video

The video for "Death Valley '69" was filmed in 1985 and was the first music video by Sonic Youth, directed by

Judith Barry Judith Barry (born 1954) is an American artist, writer, and educator best known for her installation and performance art and critical essays, but also known for her works in drawing and photography. She is a professor and the director of the MIT ...

and

Richard Kern Richard Kern (born 1954) is an American underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to prominence as part of the cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with erotic and experimental films like ...

. The video features the majority of the band in various states of bloody dismemberment interlaced with live footage of the band. It also stars alternative model

Lung Leg Lung Leg (born Elisabeth Carr; July 8, 1963, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American pin-up girl and actress perhaps best known for appearing on the cover of the Sonic Youth album ''EVOL''. During the 1980s, she gained fame as a model and s ...

. The video is the only one to feature both recently departed drummer

Bob Bert Robert Bertelli, better known as Bob Bert, is an American rock drummer. Biography Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Bert initially came to prominence as drummer for the experimental rock band Sonic Youth during the early to mid-1980s. Bert pla ...

and new member

Steve Shelley Steven Jay Shelley (born June 23, 1962) is an American drummer. He is best known as the longtime drummer of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, for whom he played from 1985 until their 2011 disbandment. Biography Shelley was born in Midland, ...

Critical reception

The song was ranked number 10 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1985 by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''.

Cover versions

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

' ''

Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid ''Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid'' is a compilation album by The Flaming Lips, collecting their first three studio albums ('' Hear It Is'', '' Oh My Gawd!!!'' and '' Telepathic Surgery'') alongside their self-titled debut EP ''The Flami ...

'' includes a live cover of the song.

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

included a sample of the song on the track Smokestack Lightning from the band's

Ultramega OK ''Ultramega OK'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on October 31, 1988 by SST Records. Following the release of the EPs ''Screaming Life'' (1987) and ''Fopp'' (1988), both for the Sub Pop record label, Soundga ...

album in 1988.

Yoshimi P-We Yoshimi (born on February 18, 1968) is a Japanese musician best known for her role as the longest consistent drummer in the Japanese rock band Boredoms. Alongside her drum playing skills with Boredoms, she performs the vocals for the all female ...

Yunnan Colorfree ''Yunnan Colorfree'' is a solo album by Yoshimi P-We (Boredoms/OOIOO/ Free Kitten) under the name Yoshimio. The music is a soundtrack to a documentary movie of the same name; the movie focuses on the women of Yunnan, a remote area in southern Chi ...

includes a cover version of the song.

Track listing

; 1984 version # "Death Valley '69" – 5:32 # "Brave Men Run (In My Family)" – 3:48 ; 1985 version # "Death Valley '69" # "I Dream I Dreamed" # "Inhuman" # "Brother James" # "Satan Is Boring"

Personnel

; Sonic Youth *

– guitar, lead vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

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 ...

– bass guitar, production, backing vocals *

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 ...

– guitar, backing vocals, production *

– drums, production ; Additional personnel *

– lead vocals, production ; Technical *

–

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, production * John Erskine – engineering, production *

Clint Ruin James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other names, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles. ...

– engineering, production

References

{{authority control Sonic Youth songs 1984 debut singles Experimental rock songs 1984 songs 1985 EPs Music videos directed by Richard Kern