On April 20, Fire Records will reissue the 1980 debut by lo-fi rock experimentalists Half Japanese, Half Gentlemen/Not Beasts. Brothers Jad and David Fair began their journey towards becoming home recording cult icons with this massive triple-LP, which included all manners of weird noise, plus deconstructed covers of tracks by Bob Dylan, the Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman, Buddy Holly, and the Temptations.
Fire's four-LP (or three-CD) reissue comes as a box set with a whole LP (or CD) of bonus material, including the 1977 Calling All Girls EP and previously unreleased tracks. (Check out the unreleased track "Fool's Paradise" above.) It also comes with a poster, 32-page book, new packaging, art, and liner notes.
Fire plans to reissue the entire Half Japanese discography in 2013.
Half Gentleman/Not Beasts:
LP 1:
Side A:
01 No Direct Line From My Brain to My Heart
02 10th Ave. Freezeout
03 Ta Sheri Ta Ta
04 My Girlfriend Lives Like a Beatnik
05 Her Parents Come Home
06 Shhh/ Shhh/ Shhh
07 Girls Like That
08 RRRRRRRR
09 No More Beatle Mania
Side B:
10 Tangled Up in Blue
11 Patti Smith
12 School of Love
13 Jodi Foster
14 Shy Around Girls
15 Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
16 Bogue Millionaires / Cool Millionaires
17 Tn Tn Tn Tn KI
LP 2:
Side A:
01 I Can't Stand It Any More
02 I Love Oriental Girls
03 Dream Date
04 Du Du Du / Du Du Du
05 Ain't Too Proud to Beg
06 Ann Arbor. Mi.
07 I'm Going to the Zoo
08 Shi Yi Yi
09 Rave On
10 I Ta Nasi Si Na Mi Eee
11 Till Victory
12 Rip My Shirt to Shreds
Side B:
13 I Don't Want to Have Mono No More
14 She Cracked
15 BBBBBBBB/ BBBBBBBB
16 Funky Broadway Melody
17 I'm Sorry
18 T / T / T / T / T
19 The Worst I'd Ever Do
20 Live in Baltimore Md.
21 Live in Washington DC
22 Battle of the Bands
23 Worst I'd Ever Do
LP 3:
Side A:
01 Live in Baltimore Md.
Side B:
01 Live in Washington DC
LP 4:
Side A:
01 Fool’s Paradise
02 Don't You Know That
03 Foggy Notion
04 If You're So Smart
05 Jad Interview
06 Wildman
07 Lo and Behold
08 UFO
09 Anything I Can Do
10 Hey Romeo
11 10th Avenue Freezeout
12 downdududown
13 Man of Mystery
14 One More Day
Side B:
15 Battle of the Bands
16 Worst I'd Ever Do
17 Ann Arbor, Mi
18 School of Love
19 Her Parents Came Home
20 Shy Around Girls
21 Dream Date
22 Cool Millionaires / Bogue Millionaires
23 Knock on Wood
24 Top Secret
25 Guitar Solo
26 Calling All Girls
27 Nobody
28 Stooges Medley
29 Wild Party
30 Babylon
