WE WERE LIVING IN CINCINNATI is the culmination of a long-idealized project from Peter Aaron of the Chrome Cranks, who amassed a large collection of Cincinnati-area records and demo tapes from the 70s & 80s, lots of which have never been comped before, and four of which are presented here on vinyl for the first time anywhere. We all love the incredible music from Ohio’s other more well-known punk spawning grounds, and Ohio is THE Mesopotamia of Punk after all, so it’s our great pleasure to release another lesser-known corner of the state’s rich underground music history for you, and man is it gonna change your mind about Cincinnati!
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check out the previously unreleased track “Sleeping Around” from THE DENTS (1979):
Hozac Books is proud to present our third art book, I’m Just The Drummer the Bob Bert artist compendium of photography and interviews, establishing his irreplaceable link between the 1970s No Wave movement and contemporary noise rock. Although Bert’s immediate work is best known drumming in his wide array of musical projects he’s been involved with (such as SONIC YOUTH, PUSSY GALORE, CHROME CRANKS, LYDIA LUNCH, and many more) since the early 1980s, the focus of his book isn’t drum-centric as it is an encapsulation of the artistic world he’s developed within. It’s not a drumming instructional guide, or a critical assessment of how the drummers in bands are treated, but a 200+ page guide through Bob’s musically adventurous life, and what a ride! Starting out with his teenage love of photography and his process of capturing the underground downtown figureheads as well as the emerging unknown No Wave bands, Bob was just as much of an enthusiastic fan of music as he was a fixture in some of the most crucial music of the 1980s, 90s, and beyond. And that’s what’s really important in the long run, as his excitement for music bursts from each page, providing the springboard to his long-running life in bands on the fringe of the mainstream.
HZB-008
200+ pages, paperback
SECOND EDITION of 400 copies
ISBN: 978-0-9963319-7-5
THERE WAS A LIGHT is an oral history containing new and archival interviews with those closest to Chris Bell and the Big Star circle: their friends, family, former bandmates—even some fans, exes, classmates and co-workers.
The varied cast of voices, many from the band’s hometown of Memphis, comprises all the members of Big Star, including: Chris Bell, the iconic Alex Chilton, Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens. In the following decades after its 1975 breakup, the obscure group somehow reached and inspired some of rock’s most important bands, including R.E.M., the Replacements, Yo La Tengo, Teenage Fanclub, Beck, and Wilco.
With Chris Bell at the center of the Big Star universe, this book carefully reveals the production of Big Star’s masterful 1972 debut LP, #1 Record, for Ardent/Stax Records. Despite stellar reviews in music magazines, the record saw abysmal sales. Soon after, toxic personality conflicts and turmoil tore Big Star apart while Bell battled drug abuse and clinical depression.
There Was A Light then delves into Big Star’s second and third albums, while recounting Bell’s second act as a struggling solo musician and devout born-again Christian. During several trips to Europe, he ambitiously recorded songs and pitched to record labels—even crossing paths with Paul McCartney. From this productive era arose Bell’s lone solo album, the posthumously released I Am the Cosmos LP—his swan song and masterpiece.
There Was A Light details the pop culture phenomenon that made Big Star legends and divulges how its staunch fanbase saved the band from obscurity.
The Sueves are coming to EUROPE with their new R.I.P. Clearance Event LP to make mincemeat out of you, and to carry their torch of bludgeoning rock’n roll right into your brains. See them at Get Lost Fest in Germany, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, FREAKENDER in England, Scotland, France, and Belgium, DO NOT MISS this crucial Midwest punk band!
HZB-006
1st edition of 300
240 Pages, Full color monograph
HoZac Pure Pop Playlist
HoZac Archival Playlist
HoZac Darkwave & Synth Punk Playlist
HoZac – Modern Filthy Grooves
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OUT NOW: Noise In My Head: Voices from the Ugly Australian Underground
(ORDER HERE) Dare To Be Stupid SOLD OUT Denim Delinquent 1971-76 SOLD OUT Jaguar Ride: Memoir of an electric eel by Brian McMahon SOLD OUT Four Strings, Phony Proof, and 300 45's by Sal Maida SOLD OUT Madman's Eye - Artwork of Mac Blackout
ORDER HERE There Was A Light: Chris Bell (BIG STAR) SOLD OUT I'm Just the Drummer - by Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Chrome Cranks, Pussy Galore) SOLD OUT Dodged & Burned -Photography 1976-84 by Brian Shanley SOLD OUT I Don't Fit In: My Wild Ride in The Nerves & The Beat by Paul Collins with Chuck Nolan SOLD OUT When Can I Fly? The Sleepers, Tuxedomoon & Beyond by Michael Belfer with Will York ORDER HERE The White Label Promo Preservation Society: 100 Flop Albums You Ought to Know - by Sal Maida, Mitchell Cohen & Friends ORDER HERE Where The Wild Gigs Were: A Trip Through America’s Legendary Underground Music Venues by Tim Hinely & Friends ORDER HERE
Disturbing The Peace- 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave by Bill Kopp ORDER HERE
COMING SOON:
Wicked Game: The True Story of James Calvin Wilsey - by Michael Goldberg Kill A Punk For Rock’n Roll – Photography by Marty Perez GUILTY! My Life as a Member of The Joneses - A Heroin Addict, A Bank Robber, and a Federal Inmate - by Jeff Drake Pull Down The Shades: Garage NZ Fanzine 1984-86 - by Richard Langston In The Blink Of An Eye – Photography by Tom Weschler BLEMISHES- Swell Maps/TV Personalities/Steve Treatment & solo era - by Jowe Head The Other Side of Reason by Peter Jefferies (Nocturnal Projections/This Kind of Punishment/Plagal Grind) Diary of An ADman: Rock, Punk & Underground Advertising - by Nathan Webber Canderson Photography Book ONE
UPCOMING HOZAC VINYL:
SPIDER/BLACK ORPHAN split EP
FULL LENGTH LPs BY:
THE RUBS Dust LP
BURNT ENVELOPE I'm Immature LP
DISCO JUNK debut LP
GENTILESKY debut LP
V/A- Trunk City Junk: Chicago 2003-07 LP
UPCOMING HoZac Archival LPs BY:
ADAM ROTH 'Down the Shore' sndtrk (1981 NJ)
THE REVELONS (1977-82 NYC)
THE MIRRORS (1973-75 Cleveland)
THE TERMINALS 'Disconnect' debut (1988, NZ)
LIVIN' SACRIFICE debut (1982 Sweden)
8 LIVING LEGS debut (1983 NZ/Flying Nun)
NEON LEON Singles & Rarities (1979-84 NYC)
MARS Village Gate: 1977(NYC)
SCREAMING URGE 1980 debut LP (OH)
JOHNNY DOLE & THE SCABS (1977 Australia)
ENGLAND'S GLORY (1973 UK pre-Only Ones)
GANGSTER (1977-78 Joliet)
FOX PASS 'Prized Possessions' (1974 Boston)
EPICYCLE 1978-81 volume 2
THE BRIDES Singles, Demos/Rare tracks
UPCOMING HoZac Archival 7″/EPs BY:
SUNDOG SUMMIT EP (1978 CHI)
VILETONES 'Look Back in Anger' (1979 CAN)
THE IMPORTS (1980 Chicago)
THE BRATS 'Criminal Guitar' (1973 NYC)
THE SLUGS 'Problem Child' (1979 NYC)
THE BOYS 'S.A.P.' (1979 UK)
SCRAPS 'Strike 3' (1981 Chicago)
MARY MONDAY & STREET PUNKS (1977 SF)
REMNANTS debut (1967 Chicago)