Last year we were celebrating Norton Records' 25th anniversary, this year they're struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy. I spent two days this week helping out, cleaning discs on the volunteer assembly line. It's a daunting task, two hundred thousand + records destroyed, jackets ruined - although some of the discs can be salvaged, hence the assembly line, but they need some help.
I go way back with the Norton Records people - Billy Miller and Miriam Linna. Before Norton Records, before the Zantees, before Kicks, Bad Seed and Flamin' Groovies monthly magazines even. Back to another time, back when it seemed like there were maybe a dozen or so people in the whole world that liked the type of sounds Norton has brought to the world - Esquirita, Hasil Adkins, Jack Starr, et al. Now it seems like everyone knows who they are. Last night a friend texted me - his daughter was playing on WFMU at that exact moment. I tuned in to hear the kid, and she and her friends are warbling their way through a Charlie Feathers tune! My, things have changed. If there was one factor in bringing great rock'n'roll to the world, it was Norton Records. Now they're fighting for their life, Hurricane Sandy (obviously named for the Dion tune) destroyed their warehouse, taking out records, personal items like most of Miriam's fabled paperback collection, Billy's 78RPM's, master tapes, fanzines, Kicks Books, etc. If there was ever a good cause, this is it. You can donate money at the Norton website or time or both.
Reasons you should head to Norton headquarters and volunteer:
*For one thing, it's a good cause, maybe the best cause ever. Norton Records has long been at the forefront of what some of us think of as rock'n'roll, and they're just about the only ones who still do it.
*Free pizza and beer. And rubber gloves....
*Its' where all the cool people are, the ones who hardly ever go out anymore (like me and my wife....). I saw some of my favorite people in the world there this week.
*Despite the tragic and stressful conditions, Billy Miller is still one of the funniest people in the world.
*You'll earn indulgences to get to heaven, or where ever you plan on spending your afterlife.
*Learn the record business from the ground up.
*Learn about the hazards of global climate change and how it affects you and your Hasil Adkins records.
*Meet folks from all over the world, study their habits and learn to recognize their accents.
*More fun than it looks, in fact more fun that most NYC clubs these days.
To volunteer call the Norton office (718-789-4438) or Billy's cell (917) 671-7185 or email nortonrec@aol.com with the word Volunteer in the subject box.
When I opened my first record store in the early 90s, in Columbia, Missouri, Norton Records was the label on which the whole store pivoted, at least in my heart. Crypt had the best contemporary bands and the Back from the Grave comps and an essential persona of hilarious anger and resentment. Estrus and Sympathy had their own West Coast garage punk thing and the attractive graphic design. In the Red had the weirdos, Goner were the weirdos, and Telstar and Bag of Hammers and Ripoff and others were important to an overall healthy rock and roll presentation. But Norton Records not only had some of the best records - it had the point of view and the sense of humor that most explicitly dovetailed with and informed my own idea of what rock and roll was and why it deserved to be celebrated in all of its crazy permutations.
The Revelators play in front of Whizz! Records ca. 1996 or so.
It helped that they were the label that put out local heroes the Untamed Youth. This put Columbia, MO in the rock and roll game, and it was to my mind essential that we keep their records in a position of prominence at all times. This meant frequently ordering directly from Norton, since none of my other distributors reliably kept deep Norton catalog in stock. You could pick up the latest from Matador or get a 35% fill from Get Hip, but if you wanted to make sure you got exactly what you wanted you went straight to the phone and talked to Miriam. Plus they'd keep me in stock on the Youth's notorious "banned" Sophisticated International Playboys EP, which you couldn't get anywhere else. (You should check out Deke Dickerson's remembrances of his early experiences with Norton here.)
BANNED!
I quickly discovered Norton was waaaay more than Untamed Youth - more than any other label I could or can think of, Norton epitomized rock and roll as a point of view, a way of life, a pair of shades through which you could view the world. The best bands are as much about fully realized, manifested personas as they are about the music (prime Stones, Dolls, Ramones, Cheater Slicks, Menster Phip & the Phips), and Norton was an entire label that managed to project that attitude of a larger-than-life entity strolling through the world casting illumination on all things rockin'. From the perspective of a record guy in the middle of Missouri (and now North Carolina), Norton Records was not just Billy Miller and Miriam Linna - even if it really is just Billy and Miriam most of the time. Billy and Miriam had a baby and it named itself rock and roll.
The Norton attitude was clearly flash-fried in the same kind of yuk-up-yer-sleeve Mad Magazine attitude as me, while at the same time, Norton obviously took the important things seriously - the Link Wray Missing Links series, f'rinstance, is some of the most deadly stuff released by anyone ever. Another label might have presented a wildman like Hasil Adkins as a novelty act, but Norton accorded him the respect and awe he truly deserved. At the same time, it also gave props and perspective on the stupidest records ever created and really opened up my mind to the vast scope and wonderful ridiculousness of rock and roll. The notion that, oh, I dunno, the Slough Boys and the Real Kids were part of the same continuity, that Wade Curtis's "Puddy Tat" and the Twiliter's "Rollerland" and Bobby Fuller's El Paso Recordings had an equal place in the rock and roll firmament was, if not exactly alien to me, brought into better focus because of Norton.
I learned that it was all about chickens.
Kicks set the standard for hyper-hyphenated ultra-injokey but passionate and informative rock and roll writing. And don't get me started on how awesome their old print catalogs were. Distributed records (who knows where they came from?) like the Big Itch series clarified that the ocean of insane music was too big to ever get a true handle on, that it was impossible to ever run out of new noise, even if that meant digging deeper into the past rather than keeping a both eyes on the future. Which was fine with me.
Without these records of unknown origin, the world would be a much poorer place!
I remember when Do You Feel It? The Captivating Sound of Question Mark and the Mysterians came into the shop fresh on its release. This record defied every notion of what a reunited 60s band was supposed to sound like in the 90s - how could so many of those songs actually sound BETTER in '96 than in '66? I actually brought this question to Miriam in an e-mail to restock the album, and she replied "I don't know what to tell you about how it happened, all I know is that it just is, and that's what makes it so wonderful, darling!"
And while you can fill in the timeline on the actual history of the Norton empire, like Question Mark and the Mysterians topping their two "real" albums on one crazy night in Coney Island in front of a room of 50 people at three in the morning (I think that's the deets), it's harder to get a grasp on how all the pieces fell into place to become the inspiration, the resource, and the outlet for so much great stuff. How many of the labels I mentioned at the top of this post were inspired or at least influenced by Norton records, and how many of them are still even around? Would we have Ugly Things magazine without Kicks? Would Sundazed and the entire model of US rock and roll reissue labels even exist without Norton? Would Ichiban?
Thinking about the entire Norton catalog, along with their legendary archive of print memorabilia, master tapes, Kicks books, and God knows what other irreplaceable bits of the culture, all waterlogged and/or destroyed when the warehouse got swept up in the Sandy surge breaks my heart AND my jaw. That place was a museum waiting to happen, and the loss seems immeasurable. But Billy and Miriam, proud and determined parents that they are, aren't giving up. They aren't throwing out the baby with the flood water, but they need your help nursing it back to health.
Norton Records needs to be saved. Norton Records has to survive and to continue, because the world needs Norton Records. And Norton needs volunteers and it needs donations. If you're visiting this blog or listening to Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban, remember - Norton Records is your heritage as much as it is anything else.
You can find out the latest on how best to volunteer your time in this recent update on the situation, and you can donate here.
We are still at it here at Norton Records, trying to recover from the total destruction of Norton Records warehouse. The volunteers have been amazing - there's even Norton artists cleaning their own records! Sony Records, United Record Pressing and Discwashers have donated a ton of supplies for salvage purposes and we can't thank them enough. The Discwasher machines are speeding up the salvaging process immensely. Volunteers are still needed. E-mail nortonrec@aol.com with VOLUNTEER in the subject line or call 917-671-7185 (my cell phone) but no text or Facebook responses. we will be setting up a second crew at Brooklyn Phono in Sunset Park. Tom at Brooklyn Phono has been a saint and this second location will surely help speed things up. He's come up with some insane mad scientist way of saving 45s. If you want in on that, please put VOLUNTEER SUNSET PARK in the subject.
I'm sure you've heard by now. Norton Records has suffered a terrible blow in the shape of hurricane Sandy. I'd like to thank all the "first responders" who have been helping out down at the warehouse, and at Norton H.Q., removing and drying records. It's the kind of physical help that leaves you feeling like you're making a difference. It's also the kind of help that folks in the Brooklyn, NY area are more equipped to provide. But the norton family spreads out far past the five boroughs in every direction! And the rest of us can help too. By making a contribution. This contribution will help to restore Norton's supply of jackets and sleeves for the salvaged LP's and 45's. I remember once having a conversation with Miriam about the beginning of the label and where it has progressed to today. It was while she and Billy were graciously housing the band at their home during the recording of the Mary Weiss album. She remarked that "Norton isn't just a company or a label, it is it's own being with a heart and soul." Nurtured and reared by a family of wild Rock and Roll fans all over the world! And it is so true. And now Norton needs our help. Your help. So that it may remain a home to superb music for generations to come. Donate now!
You can also email nortonrec@aol.com for more info on how to lend a hand in Brooklyn. Stay tuned for upcoming benefit concerts for Norton as well as a 1 day WFMU record fair that will include a Norton table with new stuff for sale!!
Your help is still desperately needed here at Norton HQ to assist in our recovery from the destruction of Norton’s Red Hook warehouse at the hands of Hurricane Sandy. There are more records that can be saved, but we are still racing the clock to salvage them before they dry. If you want to help with Norton Records salvaging effort at our office in Prospect Heights (Brooklyn, NY), please contact us ASAP at nortonrec@aol.com with VOLUNTEER in the subject line or call 917 671-7185 (Billy) or 718 789-4438 (office). We will reply with info. Please alert NY friends. We have had a great deal of help but we can use much more!! Thanks The Norton staff
Originally scheduled to perform at the WFMU Record Fair, Tokyo’s Stompin’ Riff Raffs will make good on their commitment to lowbrow sounds this Saturday on Fool’s Paradise with Rex. Thrill to the sounds of lead man Nao and his merry band of Fujiyama Mamas Rie, Saori, Miku. Expect to hear many Fool’s Paradise Favorites covered by these spirited trans-continental teens! If you’ve got a grudge against the whole square world—tune in to Fool’s Paradise with Rex this Saturday from 1-3 PM EST!! Archive
