Massacre was founded in 1980 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by guitarist

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

, bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher as an

improvising Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

and experimental rock band. They performed live for just over a year and recorded a studio album, '' Killing Time'' (1981). Frith and Laswell reformed Massacre in 1998 with drummer Charles Hayward, and released four more albums, ''

Funny Valentine ''Funny Valentine'' is the second studio album by avant-rock, experimental trio Massacre, recorded 17 years after the first. For this album guitarist Fred Frith and bass guitarist Bill Laswell were joined by English drummer Charles Hayward, who r ...

'' (1998), ''

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'' (2001), '' Lonely Heart'' (2007) and ''Love Me Tender'' (2013). The last three albums were recorded live, the first in London, and the others at European festivals between 1999 and 2008. The

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described Massacre as "an unholy union of

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

, Derek Bailey and Funkadelic".

History

Guitarist Fred Frith, who was a co-founder of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow, moved to New York City in 1979 after Henry Cow split up. There he met and began performing with bassist Bill Laswell and drummer Fred Maher, both of the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

. In 1980, when Peter Blegvad was looking for an opening band for his Valentine's day concert at Soundscape in New York, Frith volunteered and invited Laswell and Maher to join him as a

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...

they called Massacre. The band was well received and soon began performing at venues all over New York City."The Frith Factor: Exploration in Sound", ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine, January 1983. Massacre was a high-energy experimental rock band, manipulating

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

and timbre freely. They intended to recapture the raw energy of early

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, adding elements of improvisational jazz. Frith told ''

'' magazine in 1982 (after Massacre had split up): Their live sets consisted of both composed and improvised numbers, often short but always loud. They toured the United States and Europe in 1980 and 1981, and their performances at

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

venues in France were well received. In 1981 Massacre released their only album ''Killing Time'', comprising studio recordings made at

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 ...

's studio in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, in June 1981, and live recordings from their

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

concerts in April 1981. They also featured on part of Frith's 1981 solo album '' Speechless''. Massacre's farewell performances took place at

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

's Inroads performance space over the course of a July 4 weekend in 1981 (July 2–4), after which Maher left and the band split up. In 1983 what was left of Massacre joined The Golden Palominos, founded by drummer

Anton Fier Anton Fier (June 20, 1956 – September 14, 2022) was an American drummer, producer, composer, and bandleader. Family Fier, known as Tony, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthe Marie Fier and Anton J. Fier Jr., a former Marine and electrician. ...

. The closest thing to another Massacre performance came at a concert, ''Two Against One'', in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in February 1985, when The Golden Palominos performed with only three members: Frith, Laswell and Fier on drums. They played as if they were Massacre, including a number of pieces from ''Killing Time'' in their set. This unit also played in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

around the same time. Massacre reformed in 1998 when Frith and Laswell asked

This Heat This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Willi ...

's drummer Charles Hayward to join them. The new line-up released ''

'' (1998), culled from studio improvisations, and three live albums, ''

'' (2001), a largely unedited concert recorded at

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

's 2001

Meltdown Festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

in London, '' Lonely Heart'' (2007), arranged from live recordings made in 2003 in Paris and Denmark, and ''Love Me Tender'' (2013), recorded in 1999 and 2008 in Europe. All four albums were released on

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

label.

Members

*Fred Frith – guitar, Casio, radio, voice, World War II pilot's

throat microphone A throat microphone, also called a laryngophone, is a type of contact microphone that absorbs vibrations directly from the wearer's throat by way of single or dual sensors worn against the neck. The sensors, called transducers, can pick up speec ...

*Bill Laswell – 4 and 6 string bass guitars, pocket trumpet *Fred Maher (1980–1981) – drums, percussion *Charles Hayward (1998–2008) – drums, voice, melodica

Discography

*'' Killing Time'' (1981, LP, Celluloid Records, France) *''

'' (1998, CD,

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

, U.S.) *''

'' (2001, CD, Tzadik Records, U.S.) *'' Lonely Heart'' (2007, CD, Tzadik Records, U.S.) *''Love Me Tender'' (2013, CD, Tzadik Records, U.S.) In 1993

RecRec Music RecRec Music was a Swiss independent record label created in 1983 by Daniel Waldner. The label was modeled on, and affiliated to, the British independent record label Recommended Records, but remained financially independent. The label went ba ...

reissued ''Killing Time'' on CD with six extra tracks (one of them coming from Frith's '' Speechless'' album). In 2005 Fred Frith released a remastered version of ''Killing Time'' on CD on his own label, Fred Records with the six extra tracks from the RecRec reissue, plus two previously unreleased tracks, "Third Street" and "F.B.I." (live Paris 1981). This edition includes the following note: "In contrast to previous CD and LP versions, the ''Killing Time'' LP cuts are heard here as originally intended, at the correct speed and pitch and without added reverb."

References

External links

FredFrith.com archive
''Fred Frith biography (archived)''.
The Tech
''"Two Against One" concert''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Massacre American experimental musical groups Free improvisation ensembles Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Fred Frith Tzadik Records artists 1980 establishments in New York City 2008 disestablishments in the United States