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Blanks IV – Trashrock Christmas With The Blanks

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Live double-LP Christmas recording.

Release Info
Cover Art
T-shirt
Band Memoirs

Release Info

Tracks

We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Have A Good Time
A Joke
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Introduction
You Are A Scum
Reading In The Insane Asylum
Do You Love Santa?
We Love The Little Man
Little Man's Dead
Won't Be Any Fun Without You
Little Man, You Are Alive
I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas
Ran's Pick Is Missing
Little Man Fell
Merry Christmas
Deck The Halls
Jingle Bells
Frosty The Snowman
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
Jingle Bell Rock / Trashrock Christmas
Silent Night / Heavenly Trashrock
Interlude
Feliz Navidad
Nana Nana Nana Na
DipDu Da (Little Man Is Here Again)
Dead Tomato
Little Man Has Fallen Again / Little Man Is Dead
Baseball Hotdogs (New Wave Version)
Sombrero
Mutilate Me
Merry Christmas / Good Night, Everybody / Little Man, Little Man, Why Are You Dead?

The Blanks: Dynamic Drew, Kar, and Ran
Guests: Bobby the Boxer, Four-Eyes Fred, Little Man, Sheriff Duffy, and Vick the Vet

Produced, and performed by The Blanks. All songs written by The Blanks; except the obvious, traditional Christmas songs. Recorded live to two-track in December 1983 at Old House Studios, Houston, TX. Mastered for reissue in 2006 by Kar at Lopwood Studios, Cypress, TX. Original cassette label art by Ran. Reissue package design by Kar.
©1983 The Blanks.

1983: First issue, cassette, Tone Master Records
2006: Remastered compact disc, Blanks Enterprises.

Cover Art

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Blanks IV CD

Blanks IV CD label

Blanks IV original cassette label

T-shirt

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Blanks IV T-shirt

Band Memoirs

This album just came about. It wasn't originally planned as an album really. Or maybe it was planned as an album, but we had also planned a party at the same time. Anyway, the two just somehow ended up being combined together. Sadly that combination proved fatal for Little Man. But I think having all these guests may have planted the seed for us to find a new singer. It was shortly after this that several of the guests on the album came in and auditioned for a place in the band.

I had heard Christmas with the Beatles on the radio, which wasn't one recording, but an edit of a bunch of different things I think. Anyway, the idea of bands doing Christmas albums wasn't unusual and to this day groups still put out Christmas albums.

I think also at this time, we had a body of work large enough to be labeled. That's how we got the Trash Rock label. Prior to this it seemed that we didn't fit anywhere or into any category. So for the first time, I think we as well as the general public could put at least some kind of label on what we were doing. We kind of felt like we were a movement. I don't mean this in any grand way, but New Wave was big then, and it's always cool to belong to something. So we belonged to, or formed, or were Trash Rock. Either way, it finally had a name.

Little Man's death loomed large, later, but at the time, I think we were more numb than anything else. We didn't really understand how to cope, so we just basically ignored it. Also, it was strange because there were all the rumors that he was murdered, and many have hinted, insinuated, or flat out stated that Ran was involved. It was a strange time. All I know is that Little Man was no more.

– Spike

This is an outstanding album. As Spike mentions, it just kind of came together. We had great guests; and the band covers some great Christmas classics, adding The Blanks trashrock touch.

The remastered version is now available. This was a difficult reissue. I spent a lot of time cleaning the sound of the original master, it had a lot of degradation; and our insistence to use cheap recording tape back in those days came back to haunt us. However, in the end, the CD is quite nice. Maybe not the best sonic offering, but the spirit is fantastic and I wouldn't change a thing about it (except maybe the audio glitch in the master that cuts “Sombrero” short).

– Kar