Luthor Maggot Meets The Grumpy Punk! (#63)

If you just listen hard enough, you can find the forefathers of our scene in your own backyard. And when I started listening to Luthor Maggot at the Corvallis Experiments In Noise shows, I realized that this was exactly the kind of person that I’m always on the lookout for.  Luthor – or Jim Whittemore, as he is also known – is a musician, engineer, producer, and artist that has been working in music since the early ’70’s, and was a member of the punk outfit The Scientific Americans from Northampton, MA, and helped run / produce records for their Tekno Tunes label.  And yet, that barely scratches the surface of his amazing (and fascinating) career, which involves no less that inventing his own job as a fraud investigator.

In fact, Jim is so full of stories that this show is dedicated to his reminisces, and in that regard, we have a show full of great moments from the east coast scene, as well as an overview of this overlooked record label. Between platters we shuck and we jive, but we mostly enjoy great punk stories of a time that feels long since past.  And we get to hear incredible music, too, as he brought in rare recordings, records that have probably never been heard on this coast, and in two cases, we played the original masters for one of their records (mastered by Bob Ludwig, no less)!

And that’s not all. Jim is such and incredible personality that we couldn’t possibly cram everything into just one show, and if you need evidence, check out his previous appearance on the program, where he tells other stories that were not on this program, discusses his career selling synths, and plays a vintage Synthi (among other things) on the air.  It was an incredible show, and I knew I had to get him back, if for no other reason than to tell stories.

And that we did.

From here on out I’ll let the Maggot do the talking.

Enjoy.

 

 

Spinitron Playlist

Luthor Maggot Meets The Grumpy Punk! (TBA)

HOUR 1

Part I: Kids Today Know Where It’s At

01.) Austin FM Theme * Paco Jones * Austin FM Theme * Self-Released (2016)
02.) Interview Part 1 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)
03.) Kids Today Know Where It’s At * WKGB * Kids Today Know Where It’s At * Previously Unreleased (????)
04.) Eep, Oop, Ork, Ah-Ha * The Scientific Americans * Beyond Rational Thought EP * Tekno Tunes (1979)
05.) G-Stalt * The Scientific Americans * Beyond Rational Thought EP * Tekno Tunes (1979)
06.) Empty Hole * The Scientific Americans * Beyond Rational Thought EP * Tekno Tunes (1979)

Part II: Beyond Rational Thought

07.) Interview Part 2 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)

Part III:  Taking In The Summer

08.) Interview Part 3 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)
09.) Taking In the Summer * The Higher Primates * Taking In the Summer * Tekno Tunes (1980)
10.) I Thought You Knew * Paper Dolls * I Shouldn’t Do This To Me * Tekno Tunes (1980)
11.) I Don’t Want To Be Like Elvis, Anymore * No Strings * I Don’t Want To Be Like Elvis, Anymore * Tekno Tunes (1981)

Part IV: I Don’t Want To Be Like Elvis, Anymore

12.) Interview Part 4 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)

HOUR 2

Part V: For What It’s Worth

13.) Interview Part 5 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)
14.) Taking Time * The Scientific Americans * Beyond Fiscal Distress EP * Tekno Tunes (1980)
15.) U235 * WKGB * U235 * Previously Unreleased (????)
16.) Non-Stop * WKGB * Non-Stop * Fetish Records (1980)
17.) New York, New York * DeeKay Jones * Jones Comin’ Down * Shaddock Records (2013)
18.) For What It’s Worth * TV Toy * For What It’s Worth * Permanent Records (1979)
19.) WKGB * The Scientific Americans * Load & Go * ROiR (1982)

Part VI: Non-Stop

20.) Interview Part 6 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)
21.) U235 * The Scientific Americans * Load & Go * ROiR (1982)

Part VII: The Payback

22.) Interview Part 7 * Luthor Maggot & Austin Rich * 4 August 2017 * Mid-Valley Mutations (2017)
23.) The Payback * James Brown * The Payback * Polydor Records (1973)