Throbbing Gristle - D.O.A: The Third And Final Report

Throbbing Gristle are notorious as one of the most purposely shocking experimental bands of all time. For a while they played eccentric electro songs that people like Le Tigre and Tracy & The Plastics have since copied, but then for a while they also did extreme noise-scapes that have been re-created a million times over by underground bands and performers since.

What you have to remember about Throbbing Gristle is that all of this took place in the mid-70s. Punk had just appeared, and Britain was shocked just by kids shaving their heads and putting pins through their ears... so you can imagine what the general public would make of Throbbing Gristle. Genesis P.Orridge, bass/vocals/violins, was at the time a Nazi-uniform-wearing-cross-dresser who has since had the operation to become a full-time woman. Guitarist, Cosey Fanni Tutti, was a famous porn-star who performed in strip-clubs and dirty movies to fund the band. The cover and inlay of D.O.A have photographs of a small child in her underwear lying on a bed. They sing about burns victims and death. They made headlines regularly, with the government calling them (and I quote) "wreckers of civilisation".

The song Hamburger Lady was inspired by part of a letter from Dr. Al Ackerman from Portland, USA, about a patient on his ward. You have to read it while you listen to the track to really get why this track is so disturbing, so I scanned it in for you all to have a look at if you're interested.

I know bands since have tried to be more shocking, and have probably succeeded, but you have to remember that, for their time, Throbbing Gristle were breaking boundaries that nobody had even considered touching before.



Hamburger Lady
We Hate You (Little Girls)

Expired