Genesis P-Orridge: Troubling Catalyst Who Loathed Rock Yet Changed it for Ever (Obituary)

The Guardian ^ | 3/15/2020 | Alexis Petridis

[nickcarraway]

With Throbbing Gristle, P-Orridge inadvertently helped invent an entire genre – industrial music

For someone who occasionally purported to hate rock music – it was, a homemade T-shirt s/he was fond of wearing in the 1970s proclaimed, “for arselickers” – Genesis Breyer P-Orridge ended up having a vast influence on it. With Throbbing Gristle, P-Orridge inadvertently helped invent an entire genre – industrial music, its name taken from the band’s Industrial record label – which, over the years, developed and mutated from a misunderstood and frequently reviled cult into a platinum-selling concern.

Intent on, as one writer put it, “bursting open the blistered lie [that] rock and roll culture was telling about rebellion and transgression”, virtually every one of Throbbing Gristle’s radical, confrontational ideas was gradually subsumed into something approaching the mainstream. Electronic producers queued up to pay homage to the band, whose resident technical wizard Chris Carter may or may not have invented the first sampler by dismantling a series of cassette recorders and linking them to bandmate Peter Christopherson’s keyboard: Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig named a 1991 EP Four Jazz Funk Classics in homage to TG’s 1979 album 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

Twenty years after they caused disquiet by writing songs about serial killers and toying with quasi-Nazi imagery, one of the biggest rock stars in the world was called Marilyn Manson: on his Antichrist Superstar tour, performed in front of a huge logo that looked remarkably similar to TG’s trademark thunderflash, with its echoes both of high-voltage warning signs and, more queasily, the symbol of the British Union of Fascists. If P-Orridge’s later work with Psychic TV is less celebrated, it nevertheless demonstrated h/er uncanny ability to think ahead of the curve, presaging everything from acid house to the ongoing conversation about gender fluidity.

P-Orridge formed h/er

[ClearCase_guy]

Very strange person. Probably not going to be long-remembered in the world of art, but definitely had a singular spot in music while it lasted. Never saw a performance back in the day, but I did see GG Allin, which is probably close enough.

[sushiman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1yr8w_vZ5E

[sushiman]

Thanks for sharing , Nick . Interesting character to say the least , very intelligent in a weird , eccentric sort of way . I bought some TG and PT records back in the day . I’ve listened to many of his talks , interviews on Youtube . Quite fascinating but at the same time a bit disturbing . A one off to be sure .

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I had a few TG records......thought they were a bit weird even by my standards. Never really caught on with me.

[nickcarraway]

How was it seeing GG Allin?

[SeafoodGumbo]

I can't remember if I ever had a CD by them or just had a song or two on a compilation, but I remember how they were always in that Mondo 2000 magazine. The band and Genesis always seemed to be one of those things that I would read about more than hear.

I used to love industrial music, but to a point. At a certain point the dissonance would go from weird/interesting/creative to annoying/disturbing/psychotic. It seems like the TG that I heard was beyond that point. I just went and put Psychic TV in youtube and "Sugarmorphoses" starts off really interesting but is starting to get annoying.

[ClearCase_guy]

I don’t remember it as very musical. Thrashing and swearing. It was a long time ago.

[a fool in paradise]

>> but I did see GG Allin, which is probably close enough.

then you probably can’t get the Coronavirus now

[sauropod]

.