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about
Stimulators (1979-1983) - "At The Blackout"
New York's first hardcore band, Stimulators, who were the bridge from punk to the newly-created genre, experienced the famous New York blackout in 1977 which crippled the city and quickly caused wide-spread pandemonium and mayhem. The song was initially composed to reflect on the incident, but more so to imagine what will happen to all of us should a permanent blackout occur. "At The Blackout" was a live staple of the band’s set from 1980 to 1983, but it was never recorded.
In 2017, the song was updated and certain lyrics revised to fit the Internet era. The 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic currently impacting the entire world with global shutdowns, economic collapse, death, fear, and societal alienation seems to be a preview of the terrifying and inevitable chaos that will occur should we as a society ever lose our electrical power through an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse)--as mentioned in the song--or some other catastrophic event.
Special thanks to: Patrick Mack (RIP), Frankie Pawlowski
Themi Kyriazis: Producer & Engineer
Recorded at Metronome Music Studio, Queens NY
Cover Art: Nick Marden
Paul duGré: Digital Mastering
Frontier Records: Digital Distribution
lyrics
“At the Blackout”
(Mercedes, Mack, Marden, Flanagan)
At the blackout
At the blackout
A raging jungle
At the blackout
Say goodbye to the things you know
Say farewell to your everyday world
No more mediocrity
No more solidarity
Instantly gone: your online pages
Hurl you back into the Dark Ages
No more living other people’s lies
Thru hypnotic TV eyes
We’ll meet you after the blackout
When the lights go out for good
We’ll take a look at our anarchy
On that first black morn
Social networks down the drain
Off the grid, feel the pain
No more selfies, no more blogs
See how important you really are…
No more rocket ships to Mars
No more getting trashed in bars
No more shopping day & night
No one cares about your plight
We’re gonna hate this blackout
When children carry guns
As our machines they break down
The rats will carry on…
When the EMP comes down
No more lights in your town
Things will be different then
When the EMP comes down
Animals lived without it for millions of years
When the power goes they won’t share our fears
Can you handle the nightmare dark?
When your batteries and candles run out
What life is after the blackout?
All the rules kicked out the door
We’ll see then what shape we’re in
We’ll find out who gets what…?
Leave the memory far behind
Glittering modern world so kind
All desires – within one’s grasp
Slipped thru your fingers – it’s gone…
Say goodbye to the things you know
Say farewell to your everyday world
No more mediocrity
No more solidarity
credits
released April 13, 2020
Written by Mercedes/Mack/Marden/Flanagan, 1980, revised 2017. Recorded 2017. (P) 1980 Denise Mercedes, Patrick Mack, Nick Marden, Harley Flanagan; (C) 2020 Stimulators/Frontier Records. Published by Denise Mercedes (BMI); Nicholas Brice Marden III (BMI); Savoia NYC Incorporated (ASCAP); Themi Kyriazis (BMI).
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