The money generously donated to the ‘Flowers Fade’ fund totalled over £ 4,200 and in July was given to the orphanage in Thailand. Thank you all so much, you’ve made a big difference to some very needy kids. You can see their work at http://www.baangerda.org.

Lastly, as a small tribute to the anniversary of his departure, the Threshold House elves leave you with a few pictures of his joyous life in the Eastern Lands……

Even then MTV was but a distant hope, despite them ripping Coil off several times in their trailers and indy-rock theme tunes – Somehow Industrial Light and Gay Rock were just about acceptable if it meant Nine Inch Nails and Queen, but anything with a bit more psychic spice was too strong for their delicate palates.

“Are you sure these boys are all over 18?” we said anxiously to the manager? “Definitely” he said and showed us a cupboard overflowing with fading photocopies of their ID cards like its was art directed by Merchant & Ivory.

We started shooting at 3pm at which time most of the lads had only just got up, but despite multiple takes, all took the shoot in their stride, and in the years that followed, always serenaded us with their version of Geff’s final howl, whenever we went back. I still occasional see one of the lads who was in the video, around town. By now he is a muscle bound 40 year old, probably pushing a happy octogenarian millionaire in a wheelchair, but he still remembers the Love’s Secret Domain shoot, as a highlight of their year.

Geff and I sent William Burroughs a postcard which just read “The Wild Boys are alive and well, and living at the Super A Club, Bangkok!” but by that time, Bill was rather too stuck on his weekly jaunts from Lawrence to Kansas City for his legal top-up shot, to worry about drinking “from the lips of Cupid” (or indeed any other part of him!), even though they would have been delighted to oblige…

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Download LSD (MP4)   

Thanks as ever to Fiz and Adam for making it happen in the heat.

Running time: 4 minutes.

Categories:COIL, Bangkok underworld

By UnkleSleazy

In the first of (what was to be) an occasional series…

UnkleSleazy looks at charming local Thai festival and wonders if it might not be so local or even global in its significance.

Running time: 8 minutes

Categories: The Human Spirit, The Dalai Whicker, Festivals where All may not be As it Seems.

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Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson quietly passed away while he slept in his Bangkok home.

He left the way he would have wished to go, in the country he loved,

in his own bed and not alone.

He would have also loved the fact his body wasn’t taken away in an ambulance but, by the Poh Teck Tung.

A week-long traditional Thai ceremony will be held at Bangkok temple,

after which his cremation will take place.

He will be missed but never forgotten.

Either we could bow to Gen’s seemingly senseless and out-of-the-blue decision and pull the tour completely, and so be jointly responsible for all the money paid out, to get us to London, and round Europe, put us up in in hotels etc, or we could play the remaining shows as best we were able (albeit at a reduced fee since Genesis chose not to be there) to lessen our joint losses….

Fortunately, to our great gratitude, and the relief and appreciation of the fans who showed up (amounting to some 99% of ticket holders – very few were only there to see Gen it seems), what Chris, Cosey and I did as X-TG was greeted with just as much enthusiasm as TG had been in the past.

Apparently the public share our interest in “Chamber Music for the Coming Hard Times”, and, despite missing the jumping-up-and-down-encore factor led by our undoubtly-skillful and curious looking, trans-dressing (though not trans-gendered) figure head – everyone said X-TG was just as good, if not better, than the old style TG.

On her website Genesis is keen to point out she only left THAT tour and still considers herself part of TG. For anyone that is interested, her included, I can confirm that TG will continue to complete all existing contracts, sales, ongoing negotiations and the recording/delivery obligations already in place, but it’s clear neither Gen nor the rest of TG have the interest, time, energy (or even spare cash) to risk pursuing further live performances together, fraught as they are with the possible problems we all suffer from: concerns about health, unequal treatment or contribution, availability of the appropriate medications for pain, stress or lack of sleep, not to mention our own outside/personal commitments…

Also about the future of TG live, I do not regard it as possible for any changed band or variation of personel to perform live as Throbbing Gristle without all the original four of us on stage. If Chris, Cosey and I play live together again it will be as X-TG to make it clear it is a new entity, despite its Provenance which will draw on our own individual work and interests, just as much as any TG reference, which feel to me at least, tired, though the approach to music composition, remains as unique and exclusive to us, as any band I have ever come across….

I for one bear Genesis no ill will, though it would be nice to recieve some communication explaining what happened, rationally, and accepting that her precipitous actions had consequences for all of us, even though I am still several thousand pounds worse off than when we all agreed to do these dates…Money I can ill-afford to lose at this point…

As luck would have it, the “doors” Genesis opened by flying home, and out of the way unexpectedly, have revealed hitherto unseen paths into the future that are both interesting, exciting, as well as being ones I would probably not have pursued, if I’d just been Harry Pottering around in Bangkok with my HouseBoys…

So I thank you all for that, from the bottom of my heart!

Sathu, Sathu, Sathu….

Nobody knows the future, after all…. All we can do is try to make it as enjoyable, inspiring, helpful, encouraging and illuminating for everyone as possible, in the time that we have left.

In my book that means not only remembering the past and music of 30 years ago, (whether or not it’s good enough to satisfy drunken Americans!) BUT NOT REPEATING IT, no matter how easy.

best2all
unklesleazy

The record fulfils all ones expectations for long-time progeny of Coil but with a totally up-to-date feel. By all means buy the deluxe heavy-weight vinyl edition from the Cyclobe website esp. if you are a vinyl person – the artwork by American Artist Fred Tomaselli reproduced LP size is worth the money alone, but I hear on the grapevine the album will be available as a download from Cyclobe’s own Greedbag store soon. Check their webssite for details.

The album came out on the 1st November with a limited edition insert containing a piece written by Geoff Cox-Dorée. This editon is available through the Cyclobe website on 180grm white vinyl. Residents of the Far Colonies can save excessive postage charges by ordering via Forced Exposure, or Cargo.

I havent sen all the drawings as yet, but looking forward to it. I’ll probably be there on the 7th.

PS Shame about Gen going home early from the present dates. Your reliable old unkle and Chris & Cosey will still be playing something new there. More than that I cannot say, but it certainly will be interesting!

Love to all
unkle sleazy

This follows a series of 3 remaining TG shows in Prague, Bologna, and Oporto. See here for details of venues, tickets, times etc. Hopefully we will get it together to record these shows and make one or more available by download (see the TG website in a week or so). Our recording of the first show failed prematurely unfortunately – possibly the result of levels of fluctuating air-pressure more often found in pressure vessels such as submarines, aircraft, and elevators, after suffering profound systems failure!

And I though Black Sabbath were loud! fuck me!

N.B. (please use equal emphasis on both these last two words, unless you are hot, male, & Thai in which case lay the stress where you like… LOL…) Sorry I’ve been away from “the compound” a week now!

Luckily there are a few t-shirts available from the London Village Underground TG show, so even if you could not make the event, you can still get the unique souvenir! Go quickly to the TG store site, where the remaining stock is being sold off.

Despite the immense volume, most people loved the show, describing it as Chamber Music for the Coming Hard Times.

 Dark clouds having silver linings, even more impressive, than pink fluffy ones, after all!

Best2all
unkle sleazy

Thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to be involved with Coil. My contributions were relatively small in comparison to the profound impact that the experience has had on me, an influence which has been far greater than I realised at the time.

Very Best Wishes
Love
Mike

“Box well received and it is Magnificent.

Gonna enjoy this for a long time.”

Jurgen

“I wish there were words to describe how wonderful I find this package.  I never had a chance to see Coil live, but (mostly thanks to DJ Leslie in Ottawa) I have had some of the most powerful altered experiences of my life to Coil, and generally just really loved the music at all times.”

SquidPants

“It´s been quite an emotional experience for me going through it´s contents, so I cant even begin to understand how it must have been for you, putting the whole thing together and all , and being part of it for real.“

André

“It’s overwhelming, such a tribute and a totem of more than half of my feeble life.

‘Thank You For The Musick’.”

p6

“You can be immensely proud of bookending the mighty Coil legacy with this stunning artefact, Peter.

With my deepest respect,

Grant”