The Del-Byzanteens
The Del-Byzanteens was a New York-based no wave band active in the early 1980s. The band comprised Phil Kline (vocals, guitar); Jim Jarmusch (vocals, keyboards); Philippe Hagen (bass); Josh Braun (percussion, drums); and Dan Braun (drums, percussion). Lucy Sante wrote lyrics to some of their songs, while James Nares sometimes contributed as a percussionist, and occasionally John Lurie performed with them on stage.[1]
They released a 12" EP: Girl's Imagination (1981), an LP: Lies to Live By (1982), and a 7" single: Draft Riot (1982). In 1985-86 they recorded two more songs ("The Last Time" and "Fascination"), which were never finished or officially released.[2]
"At that time everyone in New York had a band," Jarmusch recalled in an interview for The Washington Post (1984). "The idea was that you didn't have to be a virtuoso musician to have a band. The spirit was more important than having technical expertise, and that influenced a lot of filmmakers."[3] According to Sante, they were "a band that insouciantly blended high and low, virtuosity and amateurism, calypso and science fiction, pots and pans and drones and the Supremes. They released several records, on a British label, which did very well in the former Yugoslavia."[4]
They played a number of concerts at clubs such as
Their back catalogue has never been re-issued on CD, and Del-Byzanteens vinyl is a rare sight on the second-hand market. However, "Girl's Imagination" was featured on the Beggars Banquet's 1999 compilation
References
- ^ David Pescovitz (Jul 21, 2008) Del-Byzanteens, featuring Jim Jarmusch and John Lurie. BoingBoing.net, accessed 12 July 2022
- ^ The Jim Jarmusch Resource Page Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Interview posted at the Jim Jarmusch Resource Page Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "DRAM: Notes for "Phil Kline: Glow in the Dark"". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ Christine Heise, "Lies, Sweet Lies - Jim Jarmusch ist kein Rockstar", in Jim Jarmusch, edited by Rolf Aurich and Stefan Reinecke von Bertz
- ^ "del Byzanteenz". Retrieved 1 January 2016.
Further reading
- Christine Heise, "Lies, Sweet Lies - Jim Jarmusch ist kein Rockstar", in Jim Jarmusch, edited by Rolf Aurich and Stefan Reinecke von Bertz (Bertz + Fischer, 2001). ISBN 3-929470-80-2. Also available as a pdf-file at https://www.scribd.com/doc/4074370/null.
External links
- The Del-Byzanteens at MySpace
- The Del-Byzanteens at The Jim Jarmusch Resource Page
- http://limitedcontrol.posterous.com/the-del-byzanteens-moving-slow
- The Del-Byzanteens at Allmusic