Rat Music for Rat People, vol. 1

Greetings,

Having not heard this record in a while, I thought
I'd record it from vinyl. I think the result is
good! I hope you do as well. Also, of all of the
~5000 records that I own, this one is the thickest
vinyl! BEEFY! Enjoy!

-Gantz

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Here's some text from the cover:

R A T
M U S I C
F O R
R A T
PE O P LE

(Factual data: The music on this record is 90%
new: mostly recorded live at huge parties (gigs?)
over the past six years at locations in the bay
area like the ex-people's temple. The original
Fillmore Auditorium, and a variety of ethnic/pri-
vate halls and churches. While keeping one step
ahead of the noise police, the perpetrator of
these experiments in social deviance calls him-
self PAUL RAT.)

On the back:

Side one
D.O.A.: America the Beautiful: Fuck Up Ronnie
Oct 31, 1981 Elite Club, San Francisco
Flipper: Life
Oct 31, 1981 Elite Club, San Francisco
Circle Jerks: Live Fast, Die Young
May 24, 1982 Elite Club, San Francisco
[The Circle Jerks appear courtesy Faulty Products]
Bad Brains: How Low Can a Punk Get?: You
March 20, 1982 Elite Club, San Francisco
Crucifix: Steel Case Enclosure
Aug 3, 1982 Secret Studios, San Francisco

Side two
Dead Kennedys: Forward to Death: I Am the Owl
March 20, 1982 Elite Club, San Francisco
Black Flag: Scream
July 24, 1982 On Broadway, San Francisco
T.S.O.L.: Weathered Statues: Sounds of Laughter
March 20, 1982 Elite Club, San Francisco
Avengers: Cheap Tragedies
May 10, 1979 Peter Miller Studios, San Fancisco
Dils: Blow Up
1977 San Francisco

And then this poignant mesage:

Control Through Time and Patterns

-We are controlled in time by patterns: Any
good prison can illustrate this, and any good
assassin or policeman knows that to make a suc-
cessful Hit, he must first study his victim's pat-
terns. Those who move in patterns can be
controlled... or terminated.
Music has become a control process. It can
function to make boring routine work bearable
(like muzak), to market products (things or peo-
ple), as a status ritual (opera), or as a safety
valve for the known percentage of rebels in a
given society (punk rock, raggae). To function,
this music depends upon predictable patterns...
which reinforce the control process...
It is necessary to escape any and all patterns.
The way out is through the imagination and
dreams -- To pay attention to them, to translate
them into actions. And as time runs out we want
more out of time: we crave experience that is
genuine. We want to feel a pounding of blood, a
rush of adrenalin through our veins that cor-
responds to our imaginative visions of a real
adventure. And somewhere along the way we
lost the right to a trance state without censor-
ship, among allies -- That trance state which
served to disrupt, and break up rigid patterns of
body and mind.
In a society without meaningful symbols, goals
or adventure, it is necessar to elude any and
all patterns. What was freedom yesterday is
control today. What you hear on this record is
an attempt to go out of control. These are exper-
imental escape routes, part of the continuing
battle for psychic freedom in a world without
dreams... A world whose territory and time is
being used up fast. It's time to go and stay out of
control...
-Vale



Produced by:
Paul Rat
David Ferguson

Recording:
Jim Keylor

Mixing:
East Bay Ray
Chris Michie
Scott Chandler
Gary Menkor
Gary Hirstus

Mastering:
Fantasy studios, Berkeley,
California by George Hown

Cover:
Olga Gerrard

Photography:
Erich Mueller

Typesetting:
Research Typography

Album Coordination:
Gerry Gerrard

Special Thanks:
Joel Turtle, Carol Stuart, Ian Ed, Ken Lester, Mike Vraney, Spike, Bill and Scott, Crystal, Joe, SST,
Target Video, KPOO, KUSF, KLAX, KFJC, KPFA, KDVS, Big Jim, Rosh Richard, Dream, Aaron, Jerry, Mike, Space Productions,
Dog, Mugger, Microwave, Jeff

1982, Go! records