![]() This meant that in theory “all” they could do was adjust the volume of the three main channels and adjust the effects channels but things didn’t run so smoothly. Craig had a previous production engagement to fulfil in LA and left the other four with rough monitor mixes. If the session initially started off like a dream, things soon began to fray however. He explains: “It was actually the same kind of set-up except the dub method fed back on itself more.” The band were unaware of the Caribbean connection but oddly enough, says Craig Leon, both Suicide and Scratch may have shared a similar root inspiration for the use of delay on the vocals: Sun Records, the original home of Elvis Presley. These were essentially hardcore dub techniques he learned on his previous job working in Jamaica with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Bob Marley. The really breath-taking vocal effects were created live on the desk by Craig Leon, assisted by Thau, who used the studio’s tape-delay slapback and an Eventide digital delay unit instead of the standard practice of using a Roland Space Echo, sending all of the effects back to be “printed” on other free channels. I don’t even think he had any love for the project.” Craig Leon is dismissive about his involvement saying: “I think he had minimal input… he was very hands off. Martin remembers him as being a “great guy” but says that he was taken aback by some of the extreme audio experiments that Marty Thau was instigating. Larry Alexander was the in-house engineer who had previously cut his own album: an all-synthesizer version of Tchaikovsky’s ‘1812 Overture’ and ‘The Nutcracker Suite’, but it’s unclear what effect - if any - he had on the process. And then the monumental ‘Frankie Teardrop Detective’ and the sepulchral lament to the death of 60s idealism, ‘Che’, both bound for side two. Their set, played in order, was ‘Ghost Rider’, ‘Rocket U.S.A.’, the tender-hearted ‘Cheree’, the 21st Century rockabilly pulse of ‘Johnny’ and the torrid, nightmarish R&B of ‘Girl’ which were destined for side one. It took us the amount of time it takes you to listen to the album for us to record it. ![]() Martin confirms how simple the actual recording was: “There was no conversation saying, ‘Oh ‘Rocket U.S.A.’ should be the first track on the album.’ We just recorded our set live in the studio, exactly as we had been playing it for years, all in the order that you hear it on the album. All other production was either done live via the desk (by printing effects directly across into other channels) or later in the mix. There was another send straight from the Rhythm Prince bypassing the effects and into a second channel and there was a third channel for vocals. Martin had his Seeburg Rhythm Prince drum machine and a Farfisa keyboard run through two Electro Harmonix distortion pedals in a chain with a small transistor radio (used to devastating effect on ‘Frankie Teardrop Detective’) all running into a Fender top and then straight into one channel on the desk. It didn’t have much separation but there was “a booth” set up for Alan with Martin set up in the main room.” The console was extremely microphonic the equalisation was tuned in octaves of A and you could really overdrive sends if you wanted and this actually helped sound. It was totally analog of course, with a couple of delays. It was very typical of the day and had very little in the way of effects. Earlier that decade while the space was still known as 914 Sound Studios, future Suicide fan, Bruce Springsteen recorded tracks there for Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle and Born To Run.Ĭraig Leon says: “I think it used to be a bowling alley. It was a small, slightly dingy building with one recording room and a compact control room containing a custom built console. ![]() Early in 1977, Suicide, along with manager Marty Thau, producer Craig Leon and engineer Larry Alexander, finally went to record their debut album at Ultima Studios, in Upper New York.
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