The Fucking Champs
III
(2LP)
Drag City / 05244571
2x12 Inch
Double vinyl reissue of the 3rd album from The Fucking Champs, originally released in 1997.
In May of 1996, with a handful of releases under their belts, the kings of the insanity sound, then known simply as: The Champs, began recording their magnum opus, III. This time their sights were set beyond the still diminutive cassette format and trained squarely on a gatefold double album - the perfect medium for Total Music. Over the next year, in between touring up and down the west coast, the band began to mold their Kubrickian monolith. In May of 1997, after lugging a console, tape machines, speakers and a smattering of outboard gear up three flights of stairs, the band mixed the album in the bedroom of a third-floor apartment, directly overlooking the 280 freeway. Ultimately, the eclectic San Francisco label, Frenetic, took the plunge and generously emptied their modest coffers to fund the manufacture of III, which was released under the legally distinct band name: C4AM95. After the release of III, The Champs continued to tour the US, embarking on (and completing) six tours before the turn of the millennium. It was at this point the powers that be at Drag City International realised they could sit on the sidelines no longer and committed to release the band"s aptly titled follow-up, IV. However, one obstacle stood in the band"s way to global dissemination of Total Music: the seemingly benign moniker they had saddled themselves with so many years earlier. After much discussion and consultation with The Oracle, it was determined that adding the supplemental "Fucking" to The Champs name would clear up any confusion regarding another band of the same name from the 1950"s and provide lasting legal indemnification.[info sheet from distr.]