Pere Ubu  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

True portrait of Monsieur Ubu (1896) is a woodcut frontispiece for Ubu Roi. It represents Ubu, a fictional character from Jarry's eponymous play

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Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant. The group is named after Père Ubu ("father Ubu"), the protagonist of Ubu Roi ("Ubu, the King"), a play by French writer Alfred Jarry.

Their debut single was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (1975).

Discography

Studio albums

• The Modern Dance (1978)
• Dub Housing (1978)
• New Picnic Time (1979)
• The Art of Walking (1980)
• Song of the Bailing Man (1982)
• The Tenement Year (1988)
• Cloudland (1989)
• Worlds in Collision (1991)
• Story of My Life (1993)
• Ray Gun Suitcase (1995)
• Pennsylvania (1998)
• St. Arkansas (2002)
• Why I Hate Women (2006)
• Long Live Père Ubu! (2009, with Sarah Jane Morris)
• Lady from Shanghai (2013)
• Carnival of Souls (2014)
• 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo (2017)
• The Long Goodbye (2019)

Live albums

• 390° of Simulated Stereo (1981) - Collection of live tracks recorded between 1976 and 1979
• One Man Drives While the Other Man Screams (1989) - Collection of live tracks recorded between 1978 and 1981
• Apocalypse Now (1999) - Recorded December 12, 1991 at Shuba's (Chicago/USA)
• The Shape of Things (2000) - Recorded April 7, 1976 at The Mistake (Cleveland/USA)
• London Texas (2009) - Recorded March 16, 1989 at The Mean Fiddler (London/GB)
• Live at the Longhorn (2013) - Recorded April 1, 1978 at Jay's Longhorn (Minneapolis/USA)
• The Pere Ubu Moon Unit (2015) - Recorded November 21, 2014 at Brudenell Social Club (Leeds/GB)
• By Order of Mayor Pawlicki (2020) - Recorded mainly July 15, 2017 at Scena Rynek Festival (Jarocin/Poland)

Digital-only live albums

• In the Shadow of the Aeronautical Shot Peening Co. (2021) - Recorded by David Thomas on a cassette at the Pirate's Cove, Old River Road, Cleveland, Ohio, on June 2, 1977.
• Manhattan 1977 (2021) - Recorded at Max's Kansas City, New York City, 1977.
• Theatre 140 (2021) - Recorded in Brussels, Belgium, on May 5, 1978. A different version was available in Datapanik in Year Zero (1996)
• On The Beach (2021) - Recorded during a private party in Bratenahl, Ohio, on July 4, 1978.
• The Avant Garage (2021) - Recorded during the 1st International Garage Exhibition, Cleveland, Ohio, on March 2, 1979.
• Robson Square Theater (2021) - Recorded in Vancouver, Canada, on June 27, 1979.
• Road to URGH! (2021) - Recorded at the Fox Warfield Theater, San Francisco, California, on August 15, 1980.
• Conde Duque, The Long Goodbye (2021) - Recorded in Madrid, Spain, on January 15, 2020.
• Walking in Bremen (2021) - Recorded at Uni-Mensa in Bremen, Germany, on February 21, 1981.
• Taking Shape (2021) - Recorded at The Mistake, Cleveland, Ohio, on April 7, 1976, or May 5, 1976 (there is some uncertainty). A different recording of the show was available in The Shape of Things (2000) live album.
• Fiddler on the Desk (2021) - Recorded at The Mean Fiddler, London, England, on March 16, 1989.
• Sidewalks in Texas (2021) - Recorded at The Mistake, Cleveland, Ohio, early 1980 (date unknown).
• On the Road to the Lost Album (2021) - Recorded at The Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 14, 1981.
• Oh, Pennsylvania, I Do Remember Thee (2021) - Collection of live recordings (1998 & 2003) originally compiled by David Thomas as an aide-memoire in preparation for a Pere Ubu Tour.
• Band on the Wall (2021) - Recorded at Band on the Vall, Manchester, England, on April 18, 2013.
• MuBuC5 (2021) - Recorded during the Fall Of The Magnetic Empire Festival at The Knitting Factory, New York City, on September 13, 1996. Featuring Wayne Kramer on guitar.

Compilations

• Terminal Tower (1985) - Nonlp singles & b-sides 1975-1980
• The Hearpen Singles 1975-1977 (2016)
• Coed Jail! (2016) - A ten songs collection from the five first albums, 2 songs per album. Only sold during the Coed Jail! Tour (2016)

Box sets

• The Hearpen Singles (1995) - 45rpm box set including replicas of the four Hearpen Records singles
• Datapanik in Year Zero (1996)
• Elitism for the People 1975-1978 (2015) - Remastered vinyl box set including "The Hearpen Singles 1975-1977", "The Modern Dance", "Dub Housing" & "Manhattan", a bonus disc recorded live at Max's Kansas City (New York/USA) in 1977
• Architecture of Language 1979-1982 (2016) - Remastered vinyl box set including "New Picnic Time", "The Art Of Walking", "Song of The Bailing Man" & "Architectural Salvage", a bonus disc of nonlp singles & alternative mixes
• Drive, He Said 1994-2002 (2017) - Remastered vinyl box set including "Raygun Suitcase", "Pennsylvania", "St Arkansas" & "Back Roads", a bonus disc of songs that do not fit in the vinyl format, hidden tracks, alternative mixes & live track
• Les Haricots Sont Pas Salés 1987-1991 (2018) - Remastered vinyl box set including "The Tenement Year", "Cloudland", "Worlds In Collision" & "Songs from the Lost Album", a bonus disc of B-sides & two "Cloudland" songs that do not fit in the vinyl format

Singles and EPs

• 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (b/w Heart of Darkness) (1975) - First Hearpen Records single
• Final Solution (b/w Cloud 149) (1976) - Second Hearpen Records single
• Street Waves (b/w My Dark Ages (I Don't Get Around)) (1976) - Third Hearpen Records single
• The Modern Dance (b/w Heaven) (1977) - Fourth Hearpen Records single. This single version of "The Modern Dance" is not the same mix as the subsequent album and all reissues of the track (with the railroad spike). This makes this single (with the doll squeak) the only place to find the original mix
• Datapanik in the Year Zero (1978) Maxi-single including some songs from the Hearpen singles and an unreleased track, Untitled
• The Fabulous Sequel (Have Shoes Will Walk) (b/w Humor Me (Live) and The Book Is On The Table) (1979)
• Datapanik in the Year Zero-A (Final Solution b/w My Dark Ages (I Don't Get Around)) (1980)
• Not Happy (b/w Lonesome Cowboy Dave) (1981)
• We Have the Technology (1988) - All singles between 1988 and 1991 were released in différent formats (7", 12", cd-single) with multi-b-sides
• Waiting for Mary (What Are We Doing Here) (1989)
• Love Love Love (1989)
• Breath (1989)
• I Hear They Smoke the Barbecue (1990)
• Oh Catherine (1991)
• Folly of Youth See Dee + (1995) - Enhanced CD EP
• B Each B Oys See Dee + (1996) - Enhanced CD EP
• Slow Walking Daddy (b/w Sad-TXT (live)) (2002)
• Irene (b/w Moonstruck) (2014) - Digital-only single
• Golden Surf II (b/w Throb Array)(2014) - Digital-only single
• The Radio Shall Set You Free (Dark Radio Edit) (2021) - Digital-only single

Other releases & collaborations

• Soldier-Talk (1979) - Pere Ubu (Thomas-Herman-Krauss-Ravenstine-Maimone) as a backing-band in this Mayo Thompson's Red Crayola album
• Closer to the Wall (1988) - Guest appearance by Pere Ubu (Thomas-Ravenstine-Jones-Krauss-Cutler-Maimone) on this live track of the Miracle Legion album Glad. Recorded 11/7/1987 at The Ritz Ballroom (New York City/USA)
• The Geography of Sound in the Magnetic Age (2003) - A book written in English/Italian with a bonus cd-single with two unreleased live tracks : Humor Me (1978) and Birdies (1981)
• Why I Remix Women (2006) - Songs from Why I Hate Women remixed by members of the band. This is a companion to the studio album