http://www.myspace.com/bbewitched
The Ballad of Bob Bert's Bewitched
In 1985, I quit this lil' combo called
Sonic Youth.
Why? This is a question I am frequently asked. No big story here. After years of sleeping on cat-pissed soaked floors around the world, I wanted to try other things. Thereafter,
Sonic Youth were back in London giving an interview to the
Melody Maker. When they asked him what I was up to,
Thurston Moore made up a story that me and our friend
Susanne Sasic (who at the time was their merch girl, later to become their lighting director, and from there moved on to work with
Nirvana, Stereolab, Beck, Tom Waits, REM and many more) had a new band called
Bewitched. Via
Paul Smith's Blast First Records, who
Sonic Youth hooked up with through their friend and partner in crime,
Lydia Lunch, offered to put out a record. Being influenced by ground-breaking music like
Einsturzende Neubauten, Big Stick (their 7" 'Drag Racing' was the shit) and the
Butthole Surfers, I entered
Wharton Tiers'
Fun City studio with Susanne on vocals/screams/moans,
Dave Rick (
Phantom Tollbooth, King Missile, Wide Right) on guitars,
Mark Cunningham (
Mars, Don King) on trumpets, my marimba, drums and recorded the 12" 'Chocolate Frenzy' and the no wave, Afro-beat inspired 'Swamp Shoot.' Paul Smith wanted to hear it remixed. I enlisted
J.G. Thirlwell (
Foetus) and
Roli Mosimann (
Swans), who at the time had a project called
Wiseblood. Paul decided against releasing it, so I released it myself on
Shove Records the label of
Pussy Galore, the band I had just joined that put out their first single,
Feel Good About Your Body and an EP called
Groovy Hate Fuck.
The first live performance of
Bewitched happened a year or so later at Maxwell's for a benefit for
Impulse magazine. I recorded a 15 minute eclectic, wall of noise & jumblin' thunderous beats tracks at
Fun City and enlisted
Sue Hanel (an early
Swans guitarist) and with a few drums and showering the audience and club in a rainbow of cereal.
The next few years were spent with
Pussy Galore. Around '89 or so, I started jamming with some
Maxwell's buddies,
Chris Ward on bass and
Jim Fu on guitar. I was offered a show opening for
Spaceman 3 at Maxwell's so we decided to turn
Bewitched into a "real band" to do the show. Someone had to be the singer/frontman, so I alternated between drums, gong and singing to a drum machine and tape loops. Chris brought in his friend Dave P on turntables (to eliminate the tapes) and I dubbed him
DJ 'Cream Of Wheat'.
Spaceman 3 didn't get into the country so our first show ended up being at Maxwell's with
STP, (all girl supergroup featuring
Julie Cafritz from Pussy Galore and
Sally Barry from the
Honeymoon Killers and future
Bewitched drummer).
Soon after when I was working at the record store,
Pier Platters and I met
Terry Tolkin (who worked at
Rough Trade at the time and later
Elektra, where he signed
Luna, Afghan Whigs and others) and who offered to put out our album on his label
No.6. We went back to Wharton's
Fun City and recorded our first album
Brain Eraser. With really cool artwork by legendary cartoonist,
Kaz,
Brain Eraser was released in 1990.
When
Sonic Youth signed to Geffen and released their album
Goo, they took
Bewitched and
STP on tour, which was your only opportunity to see me singing at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. After touring the east coast we got bumped off the rest of the tour for some band called
Nirvana that would never amount to anything. We did a bunch of shows with the
Jesus Lizard, the newly formed
the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and a host of others. We recorded a single for No.6 called '409' backed with 'Junket's Theme.' Shortly after Jim Fu quit the band he was replaced by
Art Reinitz. We recorded a second album called
Harshing My Mellow with
Steve Albini. Did a bout of tourin' 'round the USA. Our deejay split, so we enlisted
Sally Barry to play drums. We pretty much turned into a regular rock band, which was the last thing I wanted to happen. We did a six-week tour of the USA and Canada and when we returned the band disbanded.
That was the end of
Bewitched, as a live act. In 1992,
Sub Pop offered to release a
Bewitched 7'' for their
Single of the Month series.
Donna Croughn of the band,
Tiny Lights offered her talent on violin/bass/vocals and together we recorded 'Hey White Homey' and 'Troll Doll' with
Wharton Tiers. Later I was asked by an Italian Industrial rock band called
Meathead to do a split single. I was being asked to play with the
Chrome Cranks at this time, so I had them back me on a song left over from the last lineup of
Bewitched called 'Making Out With Satan.' - Bob Bert