Thursday, June 03, 2010

Seeking the X-Negroes

Whoa. As if on cue to my original query below, an X-Negroes mp3 collection entitled "Euphemistic Castrations" was released some three weeks later, on June 22. I might have been the first person to buy it. It doesn't have all the songs I need to replace, but it contains some choice faves as well as songs I'd not heard before. Shortly after that, the original band members concocted their Web presence at http://xnegroes.com.

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If anyone who comes across these pages knows anything about a band from the late 80s (and early 90s?) called the X-Negroes, please let me know. I went to make MP3s of their demo sessions only discover that the tape is damaged (magnetically?). The sound is distorted and barely listenable. I'll continue to listen though until someone is able to help me find better recordings.

I know very little about them except that they were awesome. A friend passed their tapes to me 20 years ago or so. They were a black (all black?) group that played political and humorous punk/funk and other styles. Some of my favorite X-Negroes songs are "Funky Anus," "Dark World," "Can Head," and "Idiosyncratic," just to name a few. I think they were from Brooklyn and one of them may have been from Rochester, NY originally. I'm a little surprised that in this digital age, there are surprisingly few references to them anywhere. My most promising lead was from a blog that is now deleted. (See results of my Google search below).

FACTS MYTHS & LIES of D.I.Y. MUSIC 1987-93: X - NEGROES - "Mr Neo ...
Eddie Scales was my friend, played in a band with him. ... to the anonymous post that was looking for Eddie Scales (X-NEGROES) I know where Eddie is! ...
diycassettemusic.blogspot.com/.../x-negroes-mr-neo-naziballad-of-leonard.html

There is a link to a couple X-Negroes mp3s on a Rochester Punk/Hardcore Facebook page. Oddly, I had never heard either of those songs before, even though my tapes have at least 20 others. I want my X-Negroes back! Any help appreciated.