Andy Fogarty, Dublin asks :

<yes there is a 10 inch and they're selling it on the euro tour... word of mouth only ! ...so tell tell tell 2 oxes - 4 arab on radar... .>

...I knew something was wrong with this picture... The Arab On Radar side of this 10" is actually Oxes, once again prooving how much "smarter" than you and me they are. Enjoy, suckers! ...I think Arab On Radar are more than a little angry and bummed out about this. I don't particularly care either way...

- Dr. Weasel.

Andy Fogarty, Dublin writes:

"i still aint heard it - my record players broken........ my mate was driving them around the uk said they were acting all 'odd about it' and i did find it kinda odd that theres no arab on radar picture on it...... oh those pesky oxes! and to think i only bought it for the arab on radar side......(should i say 'syche' here nat? hoho) "

Maybe you and everyone else should beat them up or get your money back. That'd be clever wouldn't it!

-- Dr. Walter

MP Lockwood of America asks:

> Okay, I have the record. When I bought it, the record store dude said that he thought it wasn't Arab on Radar on it... that just made me more curious and I bought it anyway. I suppose there's a big hint right on the record sleeve, in that the Oxes are pictured on both sides. Also, the Arab on Radar songs sound curiously like parodies of AOR song titles. ("Fallopian Boobs?") But then, the Oxes songs also sound like they could be parody titles. ("Say Something to Bees About Not Praying and Don't Bothering") When you listen to it, there's no reason to think that it's NOT Arab on Radar. Oxes' imitation of them is pretty damn good. In fact, I'd say they wrote some really great Arab on Radar songs! The songs on the Oxes side are okay but not really amazing, not as good as any of the tracks on their album. I'd say the Arab on Radar songs are much better than the Oxes' own songs, so who is the joke on here? Me? Arab on Radar? Or the Oxes themselves? If I were in Arab on Radar, I'd "cover" these songs on our next album, and list them as re-recorded versions. Or just take the tracks off the record outright and add them as bonus tracks, then advertise the album as including the tracks from the Oxes split 10". Maybe you can suggest this to them Weasel. Conclusion: the music on the record is good. Download the tracks from Napster and send your 6 bucks to Arab on Radar instead. -M*P*Lockwood .>

Wow. What will the Oxes do next? _Prove_ they can ape and mimic Black Dice? Flying Luttenbachers? Shave 2? The Locust? Wow!!! I have nothing against the Oxes boys - in fact I like them just fine - but I think this whole thing is utterly fucking retarded and ass-backwards. I can only infer what the Oxes mean by this... if it's a compliment, it's pretty back-handed, considering how upset AOR seem to be about it. If they are trying to prove that "anyone can do what Arab On Radar can do", I propose that almost anyone can do what Oxes can do, which brings us back to "what's the point?" If they are picking on AOR because they think AOR are somehow unwarranting of what tiny little recognition they've gotten (and I mean VERY little in the way of press, money or acceptance), they'd be better off picking on Britney Spears.

Of course, I'm a guy who has played in a Motley Crue tribute band and I've been in an Adam and the Ants "historical reenactment" using the same name to deliberately confuse and we even went as far as re-recording and re-pressing a very close facsimile of their first single... I think the point was pretty obvious with these things. I just think Oxes are somewhat misguided in their cynicism and self-righteousness in general. It would be better off directed at people who actually suck and deserve grief. I'm all for that.

I would say the joke may be on the Oxes. I personally greatly prefer Arab On Radar's compositional style anyways. Maybe the oxes should "sell out" and "follow the trend".

Doc Walta

Nat Fowler of Euro-Ellicott City, Euro-Maryland asks:

> So Weasle, we did this because it hasnt been done before, not because we wanted to seem smarter, oh i mean "smarter." <

...and you are wrong about that, so, maybe it was actually pointless. I did this two years ago. I would say the joke may be on the Oxes. I personally greatly prefer Arab On Radar's compositional style anyways. Maybe the oxes should "sell out" and "follow the trend".

>I wont go into anyotherreasons because its more interesting to see what everyone else thinks about it. <

I agree. If you did anything sucessfully, you got people thinking. Is it "wrong" or "right" (the quotes come from the fact that this is not my personal lexicon but a simple publicly-minded one, Nat)? Who knows? I'm not really going to pass judgement. I just think that your excess of energy might be better served by writing some more of your own songs (or making your old ones better). That's why I stopped fucking around recently. But I guess I'm me and you're glad you're not.

> ps- no one here has mentioned one important thing: no where on the record does it say "ARAB ON RADAR." It simply says JVPVJ NO qVJV written upside-down. <

That's actually amusing (and clever) though!

> I donīt think[the release]was ironic at all, but if it was, then why didnt someone do this in 1999, hmm??! :) <

Try Adam and the Ants hoax, dumbasso!!! We did this in 1999 but you weren't paying any attention. We rerecorded and re-released their first single using the original art, etc. Not original!!! Nat's not original! HAHA!!!

love to love ya baby,

Doctora Weaselo

No One In Particalar from Everywhere writes:

::Weasle,

Has this been done before? I don't know anything. Knowledge is power and I am nothing unless I know everything that ever happened. I request to consume more information.::

I'm sure if we put our heads together, we can communally come up with plenty of hoax records recorded by one artist purporting to be another. Off the bat, several that come to mind are a spate of faux Japanese noise records done by Stomach Ache in the early '90s, long before Shellac was even a gleam in Nat Fowler's brown eye.

One was a mock Gerogerigegege 7" that was so utterly hilarious and pathetic. The title escapes me, but I did own it, thinking it was the real band before I figured it out. The other one was called "A.N.A" or something like "American Noise Artists versus Japanese Noise Artists" that essentially had Merzbow, Masonna and Jo Jo from Hijo Kaidan 'against' Peter Sotos and some other guys. It was, of course, revealed as bullshit (the red herrings were the song titles like "I wish I were David Public so I could suck Masami Akita's Dick" or something like that). These records existed and I'm sure there is an on-line discography of the label somewhere.

I have heard that there's a fake Whitehouse record too.

I did a show in Minneapolis in '97 that was billed as You Fantastic! that was Thymme Jones, myself and Chuck Falzone, with the latter two non-members playing in ski masks and imitating the "disjunct rock" m.o. of the band in an attempt to 'fool' people. We apparently did. I have also done a 'fake' Devil Bell Hippies' show where no member of the actual band was present -- the real band wanted to go see another show instead, so I decided they would all be replaced and no one would know the difference.

I own a European CD by the Sweet that is labeled "Greatest Hits". All of their hit songs are on there alright, except that the recordings are by some faceless studio band containing no actual member of the Sweet. This is painfully obvious -- it's not any of their singing or distinctive musicianship. The producers failed to replicate the production standards of the original recordings using the latest cheesy digital technology. Scam CDs like this one are actually prevalent in Europe, particularly at truck stops where they can be bought at a budget price. Maybe Nat should pick up the Abba one for 10 DM himself and hear how behind the times his revolutionary idea is!!! Nyah nyah!!

doc ww

Stephen Kozlowski of Greatland, Universe writes:

>>Weasel, What exactly you did you do 2 years ago? I don't recall you recording songs "in the style of" a contemporary band and subsequently releasing the recording as the genuine article. Releasing a fake norwiegen LOD bootleg isn't quite the same is it?

I think the fact that AOR is an active touring band and the fact that they wrote songs that could pass as AOR makes the fake ten inch a bit more interesting than the Adam and the Ants thing... I mean who was buying that 7" ? people who came to see the historical reenactment and where already in on the joke I assume. <<

re: Adam and the Ants. Please read all of your emails before making redundant accusations that have already been acounted for. I don't consider that LOD record to be on the topic at all and I never said that, so I'm not sure what you think you're talking about.

Wrong. We presold a LOT of tickets for our empty bottle show (Bow Wow Wow -- the "real" one had just played there). Needless to say, many people were left scratching their heads. We played about 15 shows in two years and rerecorded and broadcast their first three peel sessions as well as rerecording and rereleasing their first seven inch. I can hardly believe that you are talking about scale degrees of obscurity. My friend, you have NO argument here. It's simple -- Nat's "original" idea has already been done, and I'm certainly not claiming I did it first. Period.

dokka dubya

No One In Particalar from Everywhere writes:

><Oxes once talked about being total music revolutionaries to you at their friend's house because they tend to joke in that way. They patted themselves on the back in front of you to crack each other up. Could you show me by writing a list how you took them too seriously when they did this?<>

1. I like the Oxes as people. I have NO personal problem with them. I think they are slightly more clever and talented than the bulk of "rock" bands these days but I am unmoved to listen to their records as a matter of personal musical preference. I also think they waste a lot of time patting themselves on the back, usually with the somewhat deluded claim that they are some how musically revolutionary. There are plenty of precedents for what the Oxes do and many of their sonic influences and/or "clever" musical references are extremely obvious. Which brings us to case two:

2. Nat's only defenses offered seem to be that the record is a "joke" and that they were doing something "original". Their idea of recording songs in the style of another contemporary band is uncommon, but not at all in any way original. This is pure fact, and I site the Jello Biafra/Plainfield split 12" hoax as the end of this topic, period. I do believe the Oxes defense that it's just a joke. I think it's only pretty much a joke to them and a few others at the expense of Arab On Radar. Arab On Radar (the Oxes "friends") are not currently laughing at it, I'm not and Aaron Burgess is not and there are billions of people in the world who couldn't give less of a fuck.

3. I do not think the Oxes are "wrong" for doing this. As a person who generally only laughs at his own stupid jokes that no one else thinks are remotely funny, it would be utterly hypocritical of me to say this. I'm just calling a duck a duck and not much more. If indeed, like Nat says, it says nowhere on the record the words "Arab On Radar" and if the Oxes never directly lead anyone to believe that they were buying an "Oxes/Arab On Radar split", then really, there is nothing to discuss!!! Then those songs are merely Oxes songs, pure and simple. There's no law against lampooning someone else's musical style. It might be a pointless waste of time, but it ain't a crime.

I do believe there is a law against representing one's self as someone else to make a financial transaction eg. selling records. If the Oxes told even one person "This is a split 10" between Oxes and AOR", then the so-called law has actually been broken. It doesn't matter that the Oxes aren't "making any money" on the release -- as any good cop will tell you, ignorance of the law is no excuse (I guess I'll be hearing from Adam Ant's lawyer soon). What purpose does it actually serve? Are they helping or hindering AOR? I honestly don't really think it's helping -- AOR have their own records out and if Oxes like them so much, why didn't they take a box of the real thing on the road and sell it? If the Oxes AOR songs suck worse than the real thing, there might be another another disservice. Blah blah blah. I'm a big fat bore, right? Whatever.

I don't think this is the end if the world, I just think that the Oxes waste a lot of energy and time fucking around when I see big room for improvement in their own musical agenda.

incwedibal weasel phd.

Kris Pochacho of Weedland asks:

^really its a clear case that these songs could pass to those who didnt know it was a scam. insound has fallen for it, europeans have fallen for it, (someone said none of them even knew who aor was but they just toured europe too so who knows) and for people who dont spend a quarter of their free time on the internet have fallen for it too. i asked eorl (brians sg helper) what he thought of it and he had no idea, told me "no its a split" and "my freind says its the best stuff AOR did yet" which is pretty sad. personally i cannot take offense to this swindle cuz im not in either band nor and i friends with them (although jeff shneider offered me a backrub because i emailed him and told himi think arab on radar gave me pneumonia)but i do see how everyone could be so worked up over it i dont see why nat is acting like he didnt expect this to happen, with no permission from the band it seems like a likely thing to be upset about liked the quite mark threw in of what the band thought of this faux release though ^

I heard the songs on the internet a few days ago and it further supports my point that maybe the Oxes should stop copying Shellac and get a new musical agenda. They can ably mimic "Soak The Saddle" AOR (or even improve on the modus operandi), but guess what? AOR don't do that stuff any more. They made that record years ago and they'll never make it again, from a musical or production standard. AOR are busy trying to progress and grow and survive while bitter, competitive little bitches like Nat Fowler WASTE TIME (I guess it was only a 'baked' afternoon, right?) proving something to no one and wallowing in cynical delusions. Love ya Nat, but you fucked up big time. If you look at the motivation of the individual parties it becomes extremely clear who the losers are here.

doctor weasle

Seth Rocker of Atlanta, GA writes:

> hey, tell wolf eyes they owe me a fifth of canadian mist. those fools swiped it from me while my band was playing in atlanta last week. lousy rock stars. they rock the house, and they think they can take what they want afterwards. tell them i still loved their set though. <

Will do. I can only condone my own behavior!! By the way the Oxes rule!!! They are totally the best band and everything they do is so awesome, rocking and original!!! Wow! They manage to be totally conceited and delusional! Rock! Wow! "It doesn't say 'Arab On Radar' on their record!' Right!!! Go Nat! You're the greatest musical mind of all time! So smart! So rocking! More nonsensical replies that don't mean anything, Nat!!!

Doctor "Lash Out" Weasle

Nat Fowler of Euro-Ellicott City asks:

> okay, so why is what we did wrong then? It is commentqary on mainstream america just like all underground releases. <

BULLSHIT. The reason why what you did was 'wrong' (not my term) is because you fucked with a band some of us really care about to further your self-aggrandizing agenda and apparently only that. All you are doing is damage to Arab On Radar. You are having a laugh at their expense.

Weasle "Tell it like it REALLY is even though it isnt this way at all" Walter, Phd.

chuck writes:

> Oh, damn it all.... Can't we just agree that we're all delusionary & super conceited genius' and get this over with?

Talk about stifling a yawn... sheesh!! You guys are worse than the 3rd graders that pass our house everyday.... "No, *you're* a stinkhead..."

"Am not!"

<

Weasle responds Sun, 25 Mar 2001 12:38:26 -0600

I agree with you unfortunately. I'm so over this topic.

ww

Rjyan Kidwell writes on Thu, 29 Mar 2001 01:24:25 -0500:

i saw that page about the oxes 10". i like it but i have 1 suggestion: you should maybe remind us one more time about the adam and the ants thing you did. you know, where you did that idea and no one remembered but now they should remember because the oxes did something and people actually cared. remind us about that again. and maybe also on the page you should write about that show where you got kidnapped and how the only reason that show was not just one huge yawn at the self indulgent weird guys was because you got kidnapped.

rk

Weasle responds:

Hi. I can tell this isn't really worth reading, so why don't you kiss my ass you little butthead.

ww

Nick Sakes writes on MAY 6TH 20001

So, what do you guys usually talk about and stuff. US Maple? I know those guys. I knew them back when they were Shorty and The Mercury Players. That was a awesome time! Man...O'Cayz and the Blind Pig that one time and Cicero's. Man...that was a time. Anyway, bye. Nick

Weasle Sprawlter responds on Mon, 7 May 2001 01:47:53 -0500

Hi Nick. It's Weasel. We usually talk about this amazing band called the Oxes and how they've changed music forever. That's about it really.

ww