Monday 2 April 2012

Big Dog / Rip Chords - Second Coming / The Need to Laugh in Uncertain Times (1984)




Remember how we were scratching our heads last week about how the Rip Chords bio on Peter Moller's website referenced three pieces of vinyl from the band? Well, we cleared things up a bit when we remembered this split LP in the Golden Rock archives/clutter.

It looks like this was put out in 1984, shortly before View From Above. Like all the best split LPs, it has two sets of art- the Big Dog side repurposes the art from their 1982 tape, while the Rip Chords side channels... the Clash? We don't know.

What we do know (or suspect at least) is that Big Dog at some point became Rip Chords, with guitarist Rodney (Max) Brisson, bassist Richard McDowell and drummer Peter Moller forming the constant centre between the two bands.

Or, at least, that's our educated guess.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dead as the buffalo that became the frozen burgers in my freezer.

Anonymous said...

GIVE ME REAL DOWNLOAD LINKS PLEASE!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!

Max said...

Rip Chords were actually going strong by then. Big Dog got a Canada council grant to make an album and they hired / traded us one side to be their back up band. It was a hoot.
Max

Unknown said...

Oh bullshit. (and Hi to Max). Here's the 'real' story. In-fighting in Big Dog (not the original name, but that's a story I'll keep to myself, save to say there was only ONE band we're all talking about and they did NOT 'morph' into the Rip Chords) caused the release by Paul and (mostly) Brian of a 'non' Big Dog 'Big Dog' (the split album with the Rip Chords) and honestly I don't know (or much care) how extensively that got remixed with replacement musicians from the Rip Chords; there's no link or info here I can check and I was so pissed with the inner dynamic at that point that I never even picked up a copy of the recording, so who knows who's playing what at that point. The songs evolved out of the original crew on the tape. Call it Paul and Brian's government financed Rip Chords if you want but it's not Big Dog (apparently). With all due respect to those two guys whom I will love to the end of time, with all due respect to the Rip Chords, who were seminal, don't fuck with the Dogs. It's not a morph. It's not either band. It's a total re-write and should of had a different name altogether. The Rip Chords 'B' side with special guest artists would have ben perfucked.

Unknown said...

Hi max!!!!!!! <3