Helter Stupid

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Helter Stupid
Studio album by Negativland
Released	1989
Recorded	???
Genre	Experimental
Length	47:26
Label	SST
Producer	Negativland?
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Blender
Negativland chronology
Escape From Noise (1987) Helter Stupid (1989) Over the Edge Vol. 2: Pastor Dick: Muriel's Purse Fund (1990)

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

[edit] Structure

The first half of the album 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.

In 2000, the band Chumbawamba, in reply to the EP The ABCs of Anarchism, used this album as one of the main sampling points of WYSIWYG.

[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)

v • d • e Negativland Mark Hosler | Don Joyce | David Wills | Johnathan Land | Richard "Pastor Dick" Lyons | Peter Conheim | Chris Grigg | Ian Allen Albums Negativland | Points | A Big 10-8 Place | Escape from Noise | Helter Stupid | Free | Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 | Dispepsi | These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit | Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak | No Business Live albums and DVDs Negativconcertland | Negativ(e)land: Live on Tour | It's All in Your Head FM | Our Favorite Things EPs U2 | Guns | The Letter U and the Numeral 2 | Truth in Advertising | Happy Heroes | The ABCs of Anarchism Over The Edge Over the Edge radio series | Over the Edge Vol. 1 | Over the Edge Vol. 1½ | Over the Edge Vol. 2 | Over The Edge Vol. 3 | Over The Edge Vol. 4 | Over the Edge Vol. 5 | Over the Edge Vol. 6 | Over the Edge Vol. 7 | Over The Edge Vol. 8