Helter Stupid

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Helter Stupid
Helter Stupid cover
Studio album by Negativland
Released 1989
Recorded  ???
Genre Experimental
Length 47:26
Label SST
Producer(s) Negativland?
Professional reviews
Negativland chronology
Escape From Noise
(1987)
Helter Stupid
(1989)
Free
(1993)


Helter Stupid, Negativland's second album on SST Records, was released in 1989 (see 1989 in music). It was Negativland's first attempt at a concept album.

The first half is composed of the tracks "Prologue" and "Helter Stupid". The two together form an extended piece lasting over 22 minutes. The concept, and much of the material, came from a San Francisco television news program that was taken in by a media hoax perpetrated by Negativland while promoting its previous album, Escape From Noise. Other samples used included those from Rev. Estus Pirkle (further samples from the same sermon used in the band's signature song, "Christianity Is Stupid"); an interview with Charles Manson; and what was the band's most brazenly unauthorized sample to date: "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles.

Much of the "Perfect Cut" tracks on Side 2 draws from samples of "The Winning Score", a 1977 presentation by TM Century, producers of radio jingles and imaging. The source material can be heard here.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Prologue"
  2. "Helter Stupid"
  3. "The Perfect Cut (Canned Music)"
  4. "The Perfect Cut (Rooty Poops)"
  5. "The Perfect Cut (Good As Gold)"
  6. "The Perfect Cut (Piece of Meat)"
  7. "The Perfect Cut (White Rabbit And A Dog Named Gidget)"
  8. "The Perfect Cut (11 Minutes)"
  9. "The Perfect Cut (48 Hours)"

[edit] Personnel

  • Richard Lyons (credited as "Dick Vaughn")
  • David Wills (uncredited)
  • Don Joyce (uncredited)
  • Mark Hosler (uncredited)
  • Chris Grigg (uncredited)