Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle (formed on
September 3, 1975, in
London) is a British
experimental music and
industrial music group that evolved from the
performance art group
COUM Transmissions. The founding members of Throbbing Gristle were
Chris Carter,
Genesis P-Orridge,
Cosey Fanni Tutti and
Peter Christopherson (sometimes known as "Sleazy").
Their confrontational live performances and use of often disturbing imagery, including
pornography and photographs of
Nazi concentration camps, gave the group a notorious reputation. However the group always maintained that their mission was to challenge and explore the darker and obsessive sides of the human condition rather than to make attractive music. Throbbing Gristle pioneered the use of pre-recorded
samples, and made extensive use of special effects to produce a distinctive, highly distorted background, usually accompanied by lyrics or spoken-word performances by Genesis P-Orridge.
In
1977 they released their debut recording,
2nd Annual Report. Although pressed in a limited initial run of 786 copies on the band's own
Industrial Records label, it was later re-released due to high demand. Throbbing Gristle broke up in
1981, with founders Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson going on to form
Psychic TV, whilst Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter continued to record together under the name of
Chris and Cosey. Christopherson later went on to become half of the band
Coil with fellow
Psychic TV member
John Balance.
Throbbing Gristle was noted for its live performances, which were often experimental and quite different from their pre-recorded work. In addition to studio albums, a large number of recordings of live shows were released, of varying sound quality. A concise history of Throbbing Gristle and Coum Transmissions can be found in Simon Ford's book
Wreckers of Civilisation (ISBN 1901033600). A 24 CD boxed set, TG24, documenting many live Throbbing Gristle performances was released in December
2002. A follow-up to this boxset chronicling the last 10 performances was released as TG+ in January of
2004. These releases accumulated recordings that had originally been released on cassette-only boxed sets and individually released vinyl albums of official and bootleg status. Long out of circulation, the new releases sparked a renewed interest in the band.
Throbbing Gristle was scheduled to play a live show in May 2004 at the RE~TG festival, but the festival was cancelled due to rising costs and scheduling complications. They decided to play anyway and set up a show at The Astoria in London on Sunday May 16th 2004, which was the same day they were to play at RE~TG. The show was free but open only to those who had tickets to RE~TG, whether they had gotten a refund or transferred the ticket to Throbbing Gristle's final reunion show at
All Tomorrow's Parties, in December 2004. The show was filmed by the band, and is supposed to come out as a DVD sometime in the future. It was Throbbing Gristle's first live performance in nearly twenty-three years to the day.
The reformed band (with all four original members) then proceeded to play a concert in Italy in June 2005 and two concerts at the
Volksbühne, Berlin, Germany on December 31, 2005 and January 1, 2006. The first show was a live performance and the second an improvised live
soundtrack to
Derek Jarman's film 'In The Shadow Of The Sun'. On December 29, 2005, an exhibition entitled 'Industrial Annual Report' opened at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin-Mitte. It was a major retrospective exhibition of artworks and historical documents produced by Throbbing Gristle, curated by Markus Müller, in collaboration with
Cosey Fanni Tutti.
Whilst together in Berlin, the band also finished recording their first studio album in almost 25 years. Titled
Part Two. It was set to be released by
Mute in September
2006 but has since been delayed for unknown reasons.
The group's name is British (Hull)
slang for an erect
penis, though 'throbbing gristle' could also refer to the heart.
*
The Second Annual Report 1977
*
United" / "Zyklon B Zombie (7") 1978
*
D.o.A: The Third and Final Report 1978
*
We Hate You (Little Girls) / Five Knuckle Shuffle (7") 1979
*
20 Jazz Funk Greats 1979
*
Heathen Earth 1980
*
Adrenalin / Distant Dreams (Part Two) (7") 1980
*
Subhuman / Something Came Over Me (7") 1980
*
Greatest Hits - Entertainment Through Pain 1980
*
In the Shadow of the Sun 1981
*
Discipline (7") 1981
*
Mission of Dead Souls 1981
*
Thee Psychick Sacrifice 1981
*
Journey Through a Body 1982
*
TG24 (24xCD) 2002
*
TG+ (10xCD) 2004
*
TG Now (LP/CD) 2004
*
A Taste of TG (CD) 2004
*
Live December 2004, A Souvenir of Camber Sands (2xCDR) 2004
*
Mutant TG (2xLP/CD) 2004 (remix LP)Unofficial Releases:
*
Grief*
Assume Power Focus 1982
*
Blood Pressure (CD) 1995
*
First Annual Report (LP/CD) 2001
See also:*
post punk,
industrial music,
Coil,
Psychic TV,
Chris and Cosey*
RE/Search:
Industrial Culture Handbook* "Rip It up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984", Simon Reynolds
* "Wreckers of Civilization: The Story of Coum Transmissions and "Throbbing Gristle", Simon Ford, Black Dog Publishing, 2001
*
The official Throbbing Gristle site*
The best online Throbbing Gristle resource*
Interview with Throbbing Gristle, December 2002 (requires Flash)*
Throbbing Gristle Live Show/CD discussion group*
Official Coil site*
Another Coil site*
Genesis P-Orridge's official site*
Official site for Carter Tutti, CTI and Chris & Cosey*
Chris Carter's homepage*
Cosey Fanni Tutti's homepage*
'20 rap house greats' rap parody album of TG
