1984: First issues, cassettes, Blanks Enterprises.
Master tapes for both albums are lost – so they are out of print.
Band Memoirs
This was a tragic period in Blanks history. After New Years in Tokyo, we had found a new creativity and I think we were proud of our achievements and studio innovations, etc. When we went to start recording American Dream or Doom's Day Celebration, whichever one came first, we were relaxed, comfortable, and confident.
We didn't have the same drawn out recording process that we used with New Years in Tokyo, but we definitely brought the same spirit of creativity. We weren't the strict Trash Rockers that we had once been, and began to use more Pop-style melodies in our songs. Some songs that are a little more well known from that period still exist today. “Five Long Days” was one of those songs. It wasn't until four years later that people really got the chance to hear that song. It's hard to imagine now, but back in '84 we had two full-length albums with songs of roughly the same quality. “Get a Job” from Live to the Spirit World is another song recorded during that creative burst. Hell, we even tried our hand at Hip Hop.
Things outside the studio, however, were chaotic as usual. One thing that happened as a result of our early lack of fame and fan recognition on any large scale was that we formed a type of bond. The whole ordeal of being under-appreciated weeded out people like Mark Miller and Kone, who were fine individuals but didn't have the exact same division as Kar, Ran, or I as far as the direction of the band. We never knew for sure whether those guys were going to show up for recording sessions, or if they did, exactly what their contribution to the music was going to be. Eventually, we asked Mark to leave, and he founded his own band. Kone just kind of disappeared, and there was never really that much said about it. All of those hardships and the uncertainty of the early days let us know that basically the three of us would be calling all the shots. We were the only ones that had been there for every bit of the ridicule, the personnel changes, and the tiny bit of recognition that we received.
Obviously we weren't opposed to using guest performers when it would help the project we were working on, but the band seemed set as a three piece. Then along came Christopher Araha Arohadej. He brought an exciting energy, and was willing to sing. I think in public Christopher was more outgoing than the rest of us, and we figured that would be good for the band as well. I had usually been the singer, but wanted to concentrate more on drums, and felt that my voice wasn't as strong as it should be. After a few recording sessions, and live tour dates with Christopher, we began to rethink our idea of having The Blanks limited to just a three person band. This was a huge move for us.
We were in the middle of this creative explosion, and had done a lot with just the three of us, but we really wanted Christopher there as well, because we thought he would add a lot to whatever we working on. He kept not being able to show up and delaying things. Finally, he told us that he quit the band. He went on to say that he was the main force within The Blanks and that we wouldn't be anything without him, etc. We held our own press conference to denounce him, and proclaim that we were still going on without our former spiritual guru, Christopher, who we denounced as a fraud. This didn't stop us or Christopher from getting together about a week later to record the successful EP, 10 Minute Tape At Chris's.
This was only one blow we suffered during this period. We had also made a single called “Sweet Valley High.” After listening to it, we foolishly scrapped the whole master recording because we didn't like it. Later after it was too late, we realized that the song wasn't bad at all, that it could have really been something special. But now it was gone. We were crushed. To make matters worse, I had lost the master tapes to Doom's Day Celebration and American Dream. At this time it was believed that Where's the Phone? was also lost. I think all of these things were too much to handle and we broke up around this time. It just didn't seem like it was in the cards for The Blanks.
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