Classic Albums: The Human Jukebox by Scientists

Right now we up to the eighties again for my Thursday’s blog post and today just got to be back to Australia with Scientists. Kim Salmon’s greatest band and my fave of his/them all has always been the Human Jukebox album or the late recordings of this act from 1984 to 1986 as tell you on the front cover of this reissue from years and years ago. Googling it just now because there no date on the back of it, it’s early 2000’s. Off course now seeing again the boxset called A Place Called Bad released by Numero Group ‎late last year, that’s what I would buy now and oh god it looks great. Anyway before this one featured today I did have the 90’s Absolute comp album, I’m too young to have been around when everything did get released originally. I guess the first time around it was more an EP or mini-album in the 80’s.

Now I’m 98% sure the video clip for the song The Human Jukebox the very first Scientists and even Kim Salmon track I did heard, repeat myself again on the late night Aussie TV show Rage. I had it a VHS tape for a long time before finding the Absolute comp album. Now if you click play on the video, it’s pretty what hell is this moment if you never heard it before? Filed under punk, post-punk, garage rock etc and keeping with the theme of this week’s posts with 70’s The Pop Group yesterday and 60’s The Velvet Underground the day before and one more punky act tomorrow to finish off this set, any guess what it could be?

The two previous posts bands I never had the chance to see live but with Kim being a sandgroper and even Scientists since they reformed I’ve got to see them live more than once. Over the years I’ve seen Kim dozen’s of times but let’s see if I remember the gigs of the Scientists, The very last time was the earliest line-up of the band which did seen at The Bakery venue in Perth. Then it would be the ATP fest in Melbourne with the somewhat later line-up of around this album I’m suppose to be talking about today and then the Festival of Perth with Don’t Look Back show which was the middle line-up and playing Blood Red River album songs. Off course at some solo Salmon shows if you’re lucky he throws in Scientists number/s too.

Now all these tracks were their recording in the U.K. it was at London or Brixton studios plus one done in Brussels too. It was pretty much the beginning of the end for the whole band, breaking soon after it. You really can’t find anything more fuzzed-out guitar and primal drumming in the mid-80’s, it’s so ripped raw and overload madness. From what I tell the idea at the time was just to scare the shit out of the English crowds and destroy all the other bands they played with and burning a lot of bridges down too.

thescientist-491x400 — Scientists two main members over these years Tony Thewlis (left) and Kim Salmon.

Tony Thewlis was only other permanent member with Salmon over this time, losing three drummers at the each different sessions but even incorporating drum machines, tape loops and samples into their sound. Now I think this just the first appearance of Kim Salmon, he’s just got to pop up again in my CA list again. I did see somewhere he was writing an autobio but I don’t know if that is true or not? But it would be a great read if it is happening?

Who else loves Human Jukebox or Scientists or well even just Kim Salmon?

The Human Jukebox (1984-1986) Tracklisting and times:

1. Atom Bomb Baby – 3:00
2. It Came Out Of The Sky – 3:01
3. Lead Foot – 3:41
4. Hell Beach – 2:23
5. Psycho Cook Supreme – 2:57
6. Go Baby Go – 3:04
7. You Only Live Twice – 2:38
8. If It’s The Last Thing I Do – 3:56
9. Shine – 5:19
10. Distortion – 5:14
11. Braindead – 3:42
12. It Must Be Nice – 3:09
13. A Place Called Bad – 4:41
14. Human Jukebox – 4:55

All my Classic Albums posts are in that link or they’re all linked below too!

So the idea here is simply for me to write a post about each of my favourite albums that I consider total stone cold classics!

Please do leave a reply below and tell me what you think about this album and/or artist or whatever you’d like to say about it?

1 Comment

Cristian says:

April 17, 2017 at 1:24 am

I love Scientists and the Human Jukebox compilation. That video is such a classic, and the greatest use of aluminium foil ever. This is probably my favourite era of the band, but I love the swampy stuff too. I saw them at the ATP I’ll Be Your Mirror thing as well and they were on fire. I had seen them once before in the mid-2000s but I think ATP was the better performance.

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