1201 Records

Music — 1201 Records

Music, sound design, audio post-production

My "band", The Bohemian Fringe, consists of myself and whatever musician friends I can round up at any given time for performance or recording. I play bass and sing and occasionally play some guitar.

The first studio recordings from the Bohemian Fringe were made in 1986 with just myself on bass, vocals and odd percussion, plus Tony Gross on some guitar bits. Then I got a band together and in 1987 we released a 12-inch, four-song EP, Japanese Haiku Tour. The first full-length album followed in 1991 with "From Parts Unknown" and then... nothing until 2024.

    

The Bohemian Fringe — Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax

Artwork from 'Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax'

It's been over 30 years since the last Bohemian Fringe release. Where does the time go? Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax actually includes some songs recorded almost 30 years ago and never released, many of them recorded on 2-inch, 24-track analog tape. The two instrumental tracks were originally done while I was in grad school for projects I was doing while working on my master's degree (big shout-out to Don Maue at Duquesne University!) and included here in updated versions.

Other musicians on this album are: Michael Chan, Rob Cullivan, Mark Gifford, Jeanne Hinkelman, Barbara Johnston, "Lectric" Liz Lottman, Jason Mirwald, Michael J. Petrantoni, Denise Wearne (now Johannessen), Greg Weckesser, plus my brothers Alistair Roberts and Carl Roberts.

The album consists of 10 songs and runs 42-and-a-half minutes.

Online lyric sheet here

    

Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax is available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms. Click here for details.

Also available on CD
($10.00, including shipping in the US):

The Bohemian Fringe - Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax

1 Watertown
2 The Poet's Fulcrum
3 Grandfather Mountain
4 Dancin' Big
5 Persistence of Vision
6 Ahu Tongariki
7 Black Velvet Blues
8 Putting Up a Front
9 I Am the Way
10 (This Song's Title) Includes Parentheses

    

The Llama Situation — Unauthorized Music Event

Artwork from 'Unauthorized Music Event'

What did you do during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-21? Like many people, I decided to use the down time to accomplish something. I vowed to get back into music, revitalizing my playing and production skills. Unauthorized Music Event by the Llama Situation is the result.

This was originally planned as a Bohemian Fringe album and I thought I'd record some cover songs instead of originals, just to warm up first. But after a few songs I decided to create a new band just for cover tunes, The Llama Situation. I do the vocals and play all the instruments with one exception: I resurrected a 30-year-old analog master tape of myself and the late, great Joe Dady (violins and violas) covering the Pixies' Here Comes Your Man.

The album consists of 8 songs and runs just under 40 minutes.

Unauthorized Music Event is available on Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms. Click here for details.

Also available on CD
($10.00, including shipping in the US)

Order the CD for 10 dollars
The Llama Situation - Unauthorized Music Event

1 The World is Not Enough (Garbage)
2 Rio (Mike Nesmith)
3 Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner (Warren Zevon)
4 Here Comes Your Man (The Pixies)
5 Can't Let Go (Roxy Music)
6 Here Comes the Flood (Peter Gabriel)
7 Heartbreak Beat (The Psychedelic Furs)
8 The Garden (Rush)

    


The Bohemian Fringe — Japanese Haiku Tour

Artwork from 'Japanese Haiku Tour' EP, 1987 1986 was the year in which I made the first recordings under the name Bohemian Fringe, "Well of Life" and "Walk Around the Wall". They were done by just myself plus Tony Gross on some guitar bits.

In 1987 I got a band together for live gigs and we released a 12-inch, four-song EP, Japanese Haiku Tour, which included re-makes of "Well of Life" and "Walk Around the Wall". The latter included "free" backwards satanic messages (because the ridiculous fuss about such messages in mainstream rock was still in the news at the time). I'm not sure how we came up with the name for the disc. We'd definitely been discussing the structure of haiku poetry and Susan Moran's art work certainly seemed to evoke a kind of Asian vibe. But I have no idea where the "Tour" bit came from.

    

In 1988 we released a 7-inch vinyl single with the dance remix of "Walk Around the Wall" on the A-side and a reggae version(!) of Bruce Springsteen's "Cover Me" as the B-side.

    


The Bohemian Fringe — From Parts Unknown

Artwork from the 'From Parts Unknown' CD, 1991 1991 saw the first full-length The Bohemian Fringe album, titled "From Parts Unknown", after the way we were billed in a local concert series (the club had booked about a dozen out-of-town touring bands and us; they didn't want to let on that the Bohemian Fringe was a local band, because that would have lessened the prestige of the concert series, but they wouldn't simply lie and claim were from somewhere else, so this billing was their solution). This album included yet a third version of "Well of Life", but it's what I consider the definitive version of the song because it has the "Friends of the Fringe Choir" on the chorus.

Public performances took place with several varied line-ups and included musicians like Michael Chan, Jeff Cary, Barbara Johnston and Bobby Bond.

    


Arpad and the New Sons of the Industrial Revolution — Calm Down

Artwork from the "Calm Down" album by Arpad and the New Sons of the Industrial Revolution

I also produced projects for other artists, like a single by the Urban Squirrels ("Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore" b/w "Jesus at the Ground Round").

One of the highlights of my "beyond the Fringe" exploits was undoubtedly the album "Calm Down" by Arpad and the New Sons of the Industrial Revolution.

The Arpad project was pretty amazing as he was living in Canada at the time. He'd mail us a casette tape of two or three songs and the drummer and I would learn them (I was playing bass on this project, too) on our own. Then Arpad would come to town for a weekend of recording. At the end of one session we had time left so Arpad showed us his song "Flammable" and we we recorded it pretty much on the spot. While recording "Bitching Worker" we ran out of tape. This being the era of two-inch analog tape, we couldn't just pop out and buy another reel. So I improvised by mixing it "dance mix" style and cutting and splicing it to extend the length of the song.

I even performed with Arpad for a few live gigs after the album came out. A fun and unusual experience.

    

The 1201 Records Catalogue

YearTitleArtistMedia Type
1987Japanese Haiku TourThe Bohemian FringeEP - Vinyl
1988Walk Around the Wall/
Cover Me
The Bohemian Fringe45rpm single - Vinyl
1988Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore/
Jesus at the Ground Round
The Urban Squirrels45rpm single - Vinyl
1989Calm DownArpad and the New Sons of the Industrial RevolutionAlbum - Vinyl
1991From Parts UnknownThe Bohemian FringeAlbum - CD
2022Unauthorized Music EventThe Llama SituationAlbum - CD
2024Shoes and Ships and Sealing WaxThe Bohemian FringeAlbum - CD
Unauthorized Music Event and Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax are also available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and most other streaming platforms.

Copyright © Mark Roberts

 

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