The New Order – Same (1977)

The New Order was an American hard rock and protopunk band. The band was based in Los Angeles and existed from early 1975 to October 1976.

After The Stooges imploded in 1974, former Stooges lead guitarist Ron Asheton formed a new band, ultimately acquiring drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, bass player Jimmy Recca and keyboardist Scott Thurston. For a while, the new band shared rehearsal space at a house owned by Ray Manzarek, during his collaboration with Stooges’ lead singer Iggy Pop.

When The New Order’s first singer Jeff Spry was forced to quit the band (due to jail time incurred from a drinking/quaalude related DUI coupled with failure to perform community service), The New Order’s first drummer, K.J. Knight, recommended Dave Gilbert as a replacement. K.J. and Gilbert had both been veterans of the 1971/1972 incarnations of Ted Nugent’s Amboy Dukes. After keyboardist Scott Thurston quit, his position was filled by a second guitarist, Ray Gunn, another Detroit veteran who was recommended by Dennis Thompson.

Leading up to the making of The New Order’s first demo tapes, long time Blue Öyster Cult producer, Sandy Pearlman, was approached to produce the band but ultimately this didn’t come together. The back cover of the Declaration Of War album bears the inscription: “This album is dedicated to the CULT”, furthering the links with the Blue Öyster Cult.

A projected collaboration with ’60s and ’70s Rock impresario, Kim Fowley, was also talked about, but never came to fruition.

The New Order had at least one classic, the song Rock ‘n’ Roll Soldiers, later covered by The Hitmen and more recently covered by The Hellacopters. One of the lyrics from the song, the infamous battle-cry “The War Against The Jive”, is used as the heading to the liner-notes of Radio Birdman’s 2001 release, The Essential Radio Birdman (1974 – 1978). The exact heading is: “Total Victory: Radio Birdman’s War Against The Jive”.

The New Order recorded demos twice in Los Angeles: First in 1975 with Jeff Spry as lead singer and then in 1976 with Dave Gilbert as lead singer. Both recordings were later released with a production by Neil Merryweather in 1977 as a single album “The New Order”, on the Fun Records/Isadora label and distributed by RCA Records. The album’s lo-fi quality was the result of it being produced from Ron Asheton’s inferior cassette copies, instead of the original master tapes.  (by wkipedia)

Really this is just a selection of demos – i love the Stooges and there are some good song ideas on here, however nothing is of a quality that could really be enjoyed of its own merit. I have no doubts that the New Order would have been great, IF they had been produced/recorded properly though. (by Pete)

Okay … rough, loud and dirty ! The New Order … Brothers and sisters !

Personnel:
Ron Asheton (guitar)
Dave Gilbert (vocals on 05. – 07.)
Ray Gun (guitar)
Jimi Recca (bass)
Jeff Spry (vocals on 01. 04.)
Dennis Thompson (drums)
Scott Thurston (keyboards)

Tracklist:
01. Lucky Strike 3.52
02. Declaration Of War 2.48
03. Hollywood Holidays 3.53
04. Sidewinder 3.14
05. I Can’t Quit Ya 3.02
06. Rock ‘N’ Roll Soldiers 4.03
07. Of Another World 4.47

All Songs written by:

Tracks 01 – 04 (1975):
eton – Ray Gun – Jimi Recca – Jeff Spry – Dennis Thompson – Scott Thurston

Tracks 05 – 07. (1976):
on – Ray Gun – Jimi Recca – Dave Gilbert – Dennis Thompson – Scott Thurston

 

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