Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance

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Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance
Greattruckin'songs.jpg
Studio album by
Released26 September 1988
Recorded
  • Platinum Studios May 1987, January–March 1988
  • Trees Studios, Melbourne 3RRR Studios, Electric Leakland Premises
  • The Venue, St. Kilda 5 February 1988
  • Trade Union Club, Sydney 11–12 December 1987
GenreAlternative rock
Length69:48
LabelElvis
ProducerTISM
TISM chronology
Form and Meaning reach Ultimate Communion
(1986)
Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance
(1988)
Hot Dogma
(1990)
Singles from Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance
  1. "40 Years - Then Death"
    Released: 23 September 1987
  2. "The Ballad of John Bonham's Coke Roadie"
    Released: May 1988
  3. "I'm Interested in Apathy"
    Released: September 1988
  4. "Saturday Night Palsy"
    Released: January 1989
  5. "Martin Scorsese Is Really Quite a Jovial Fellow"
    Released: June 1989

Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance is the debut album by the Australian band TISM. The title was suggested by Leek Van Vlalen's friend, the Sydney University philosopher, Michaelis Michael. Originally released on vinyl as a double album on 26 September 1988. The album peaked at No. 48 on the ARIA Charts in October 1988.[1]

The vinyl version has a different vocal mix on the track, "Saturday Night Palsy", including an alternate line of lyrics, with the line "I want to shoot heroin through the eye" replaced by "I want to shove a red-hot poker through the eye" on the CD.

Singles[]

  • "40 Years – Then Death" was released in September 1987 as the album's lead single. The song details an early-twenties male's despondent view of his remaining sex life: 40 more years of "living" then "death".[citation needed]
  • "The Ballad of John Bonham's Coke Roadie" was released in May 1988. The song deals with the assistant to Led Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham, whose job was to procure cocaine for the musician. Throughout the song the musician compares his life to that of an ordinary person whose life is racked with misery and spousal unfaithfulness, contrasted with that of the roadie, whose only concern is the acquisition of cocaine.[citation needed]
  • "Saturday Night Palsy" was released in January 1989 as the fourth single. The song focuses on a man who has the inability to decide on matters, particularly, in which manner to harm himself. The song continues through with various opposing scenarios offered by the man, but at the end nothing has been resolved.[citation needed] A music video was directed by Peter Bain-Hog and featured a handsome man spending his day getting ready to go out dancing. Eventually he finds himself outside of a TISM concert and denied entry, at the end of the video, he is so dejected by the experience that he commits suicide by hanging himself in a nearby alley.[3] TISM performed the song Australian variety TV show, Hey Hey It's Saturday.[3]
  • "Martin Scorsese Is Really Quite a Jovial Fellow" was released in June 1989 as the album's fifth and final single. The song deals with the dark and often depressing nature of Scorsese's subjects and the way that a normally happy or perky person would also be quite depressed after watching one of his films.[citation needed]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[4]

The Age's Shaun Carney, in September 1988, described Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance as "a fine piece of work. Clever clever they might be on occasions, but if a few more bands applied even half the humor, social observation and melodic intervention that TISM seems to simply toss off, the world would be a, um, groovier place."[5]

Jonathan Lewis of AllMusic rated the album as four-and-a-half stars out of five, he explained "Completely tasteless and musically mediocre, the album was nonetheless fresh, witty, and extremely funny. The album is more or less standard guitar rock, but it is the song lyrics that make this album great."[4]

In December 2004 FasterLouder's Kathryn Kernohan felt the group had "always written simple, direct pop songs... [their] basic structure has remained the same – danceable guitar and keyboard lines coupled with catchy choruses. The band’s ability to write a ridiculously good pop song is second-to-none and this is no better exemplified than in Great Truckin’ Songs opening tracks."[6] She noticed that "The second record of the double-vinyl set (it's not as much fun on CD, is it?) contains various odds and ends, including snippets of a Triple R interview in which the band rode into the studio on lawnmowers."[6]

Track listing[]

No.TitleLength
1.""I'm Interested in Apathy""2:55
2."Saturday Night Palsy"3:21
3."The Mystery of the Artist Explained"3:09
4."If You're Creative, Get Stuffed"3:01
5."40 Years – Then Death"4:18
6."Anarchy Means Crossing When It Says "Don't Walk""1:31
7."The Ballad of John Bonham's Coke Roadie"2:37
8."Choose Bad Smack"3:00
9."The Fosters Car Park Boogie"2:37
10."Martin Scorsese Is Really Quite a Jovial Fellow"3:01
11."I Drive a Truck"2:12
12."Defecate on My Face"4:42
This Record Isn't As Good As the Other One / Disc 2
No.TitleLength
13."Kill Americans"2:16
14."Volare"0:58
15."The Penis is Mightier than the Sword"2:17
16."Slave to the Economist"0:52
17."I Shit Me"2:47
18."Doug Parkinson Sings Christie Allen"0:55
19."Gimme Gimme Nervous Breakdown"2:31
20."The Ballad of the Semitic Nazi"0:39
21."And the Ass Said to the Angel: "Wanna Play Kick-to-Kick"?"3:59
22."The Mordialloc Road Duplicator"3:41
23."Jack Elliot's Turf Whinge"1:12
24."Ezra Pound-Axe King"1:35
25."Johnny To B. Or Not To B. Goode"0:26
26."Morrison Hostel"7:48
27.Untitled (titled on online releases as “The Ted Commandments”)1:08
digital bonus tracks (2009)
No.TitleLength
28."The Back Upon Which Jezza Jumped" (Demo tape version)4:18
29."Get Thee in My Behind, Satan" (Live at the Corner Hotel, 30 May 1988)3:14
30."Babies Bite Back" (ditto)3:16
31."(I think I've got) Mick Jagger Worked Out" (ditto)3:03
32."ExistentialTISM"3:38
33."Opium is the Religion of the Masses"5:34

Personnel[]

  • Ron Hitler-Barassi (Peter Minack) - lead vocals
  • Humphrey B. Flaubert (Damian Cowell) - lead vocals, drum programming, drums, backing vocals
  • Jock Cheese (John Holt) - bass, backing vocals
  • Eugene de la Hot Croix Bun (Eugene Cester) - keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Leek Van Vlalen (Sean Kelly) - guitar, backing vocals
  • John St. Peenis (Mark Fessey) - saxophone, lead vocals, backing vocals

Crew[]

  • Damian Cowell (Humphrey B. Flaubert) - vocals, drums
  • John Holt (Jock Cheese) - guitar, bass
  • Eugene Cester (Eugene de la Hot-Croix Bun) - keyboards
  • Genre B. Goode - backing vocals

Charts[]

Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 48

Release history[]

Region Date Format(s) Edition Label Catalogue
Australia 26 September 1988
Standard Elvis/ Musicland ER1206 / MUS CD 2001 / MUS LP 2001
1991 Re-issue Shock Records SHOCK CD 0011
2001
  • CD
Genre B.Goode / Festival Mushroom Records TISM003
October 2009 Genre B.Goode N/A

References[]

  1. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Discography TISM". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  2. ^ "ARIA Awards Best Independent Release". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b ""TISM – The History of This Is Serious Mum (1989)". TISM. 18 February 2001. Archived from the original on 18 February 2001. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, Jonathan. "Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance – T.I.S.M." AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  5. ^ Carney, Shaun (30 September 1988). "The Age - Google News Archive Search". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Kernohan, Kathryn (5 December 2004). "TISM – Great Truckin' Songs of the Renaissance". FasterLouder. Junkee Media. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Australiancharts.com – TISM – Great Trucking Songs Of The Renaissance". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 Jne 2021.
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