Friday, January 19, 2007

Human Switchboard: Who's Landing in My Hangar? LP + 7"(USA 1977-1982)

Transplant the early Velvet Underground to the late '70s, trade that band's kinkier concerns for conventional male-female issues, and you've got Kent, Ohio's Human Switchboard in a nutshell. Repeated disclaimers aside, leader Bob Pfeifer sings in a dry, ironic style suggestive of young Lou Reed, and Myrna Marcarian's wobbly organ-playing adds an amateurish tint that evokes White Light/White Heat.
The Human Switchboard debuted with a junky-sounding 7-inch (mixed by Pere Ubu's David Thomas) whose four songs clearly (if ineptly) demonstrate the two sides of the trio's sound. "Distemper" and "Shake It, Boys" are straight garage rock, while "San Francisco Nights" is a total Lou Reed imitation.
On the Switchboard's sole studio album, Who's Landing in My Hangar?, Pfeifer creates a neurotic, high-strung persona that makes for gripping listening. Two uptempo cuts ("Book on Looks" and "(I Used to) Believe in You") celebrate the ups and downs of romance, while the LP's high point, "Refrigerator Door," carefully weaves an intriguing web of personal details. It all seems embarrassingly confessional, which is a pretty neat trick.
The Switchboard's other two releases are live recordings that overlap material extensively with Hangar; both are interesting, if redundant. The 1980 disc, an authorized bootleg, features Marcarian's haunting rendition of "Downtown." Coffee Break is from a November 1981 Cleveland radio broadcast.
Time mellows even a sourpuss like Pfeifer it seems. Without the Switchboard behind him (though ex-members of the defunct group appear on After Words), he's looser, more willing to play off the rhythms, which themselves are less constricted than before. Pfeifer's still got an obvious affinity for Lou Reed's plain-spoken approach to interpersonal tales, offering diary-like accounts in "She Always Smiled" and "I'm Better for You." In "Knock-Knock," he finally succumbs to the urge to do a straight Reed imitation. Otherwise, worthwhile.
Myrna Marcarian's solo EP may leave folks wishing she'd stepped out sooner. Apart from a track in a Switchboard vein that finds her sounding unpleasantly like Stevie Nicks, she successfully tackles some tough, driving rockers here, assisted by nimble guitarist Jack Johnson and ex-Switchboard drummer Ron Metz, more recently of the Schramms. Pfeifer went on to become an A&R man and then a record company president.
[Ira Robbins/Jon Young]http://www.trouserpress.com

Musicians:
Robert Pfeifer: vocals & guitars
Myrna Marcarian: farfisa organ, piano & vocals
Ron Metz: drums & percussion

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

An amazing posting. A criminally overlooked band, their career was killed by the collapse of IRS/Faulty records right after the release of their only studio LP. These are the first Switchboard mp3s I've ever seen on the 'net. When I got my USB Turntable, the first records I ripped for myself were these. I downloaded your mp3s to compare sound quality.

Besides the Who's Landing In My Hangar? LP, this collection contains:
"Fly In", "Distemper", "San Francisco Nights" from the 1st 7", missing "Shake It Boys".
"No!" from the 2nd 7", missing the A-side, I Gotta Know.
"Prime Of My Life" and "In My Room" from the 3rd 7"
"Time Time Time" from the Human Switchboard Live fan club LP
"You're Much Madder Than Me" from the compilation LP, Waves An Anthology Of New Music Vol. January 1979

Anonymous said...

My copy of this is totally unplayable from excessive playing. The vynil was never that good to begin with. Thanks so much for this. You asked for requests so I'll mention two on the NWW list that are so obscure you rarely find references to them. Both I believe are avant-free jazz excusions: Chamberpot & Dharma Quintet.

mutantsounds said...

well possibly mutantsounds has many stuff from the NWW list....but i'm not Steven Stapleton:)...i will try to find these and post them ASAP....

Anonymous said...

Thanks, it's just nice to know that someone is looking. I've exhausted every avenue that I know us. You must be related to S. Stapleton with the rarity of some of these items. Well gott go, thanks again.

Anonymous said...

"Pfeifer went on to become an A&R man and then a record company president." And guilty-pleading co-defendant of Anthony Pellicano.

That said: when people talk about "the best record you've never heard of," this is what they should be talking about.

Sure wish there were a recording of "Downtown."

Anonymous said...

Wow, kinda worthless when it's missing 4 or 5 songs. Sad.

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see if ole Bob Pfeifer spends more time in jail after the trial next month.

Luis Mayo said...

Thank you for this post, it was very useful for finding info for my radio show today!!! Please visit the blog for daily playlists and online show time info, greetings from Spain!

Anonymous said...

eyenoise... criminally overlooked band? was that an intended pun? I too wonder if Pfeifer will be sentenced to prison for his felonies he plead guilty to. vewwy intewesting.

Brainy Blonde said...

Bob Pfeifer will be sentenced (possibly facing more prison time yes) at the end of September.

He will be (or already is I believe) now a convicted felon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this stuff - have only just "discovered" Human switchboard so your generosity has been invaluable...

In case you still need to plug that gap, the entire I Gotta Know 7" is available at: http://www.mediafire.com/file/4y1ltzo0dyz/THE HUMAN SWITCHBOARD.rar

Great band! IBx

Anonymous said...

Kick ass!

velvet said...

Bob kicked ass alright. He got arrested for it (beating women) and is going to prison.