 Larry Miller (guitars), Scott Cessna (vocals), Dave Gentner (bass) & Glenn Avery Briskie (drums) Photo courtesy of Glenn Avery Briskie. UNCLE SAM |
Uncle Sam - Heaven or Hollywood (Skellar
3M TA3) 1987 SIDE ONE |
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In 1988 I was living just off campus at Rochester Institute of Technology is Rochester, NY. This town actually had a pretty swingin' metal scene with some great metal clubs, the most popular of which was the Penny Archade. Uncle Sam were one of the more popular metal bands from the area. At the time I was working at Cavage's Records along with another long-haired friend from R.I.T. He just happened to be the new drummer for Uncle Sam, albeit a short lived stint with the band. Apparently his blonde hair and sweat pants didn't work with Uncle Sam's image. (see image above) In anycase, my friend scored me a new, sealed copy of this record as he had joined the band shortly after it was released. Uncle Sam were sleazy, American, bar metal with a huge punk influence. The band most certainly came out of the 80's, but have a big 1970's influence as well. Their sound was a combination of Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, Iggy & the Stooges and the New York Dolls. Vocalist Scott Cesna has a raspy howl and feverish punk delivery that works well with the band's greasy rock sound.
The original, independent vinyl comes with a foldout, black and white poster of the band with the lyrics printed on the reverse side.
Pictured above to the left is a "censored" version of the LP. Unfortunately I can't post the front cover uncensored as it features the woman fully naked from the waist down. When the records were sold new in the stores, there was a round white sticker that hid the woman's private parts, as pictured above. With my original vinyl copy I simply removed the round sticker off the shrink wrap and strategically placed it on a clear record sleeve. The sticker stated:
Uncle Sam
Heaven or Hollywood
"If you've ever experienced the feeling of waking in a sweat, with the
lingering existence of a tantalizing but somewhat foreboding presence
just beyond the corner of the darkness, and left all the lights off to
capture the moment, then this record should be played immediately.
Roger McCall
The CD reissue contains two bonus tracks, a cover of The Monkees "Steppin Stone" and Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept A Rollin'", a song that has been covered by many artists over the years. Uncle Sam's version is somewhat similar to Motorhead's version, with a speedy punk delivery. The CD version also has a modified cover with a slightly more tanned woman wearing panties (pictured above), as opposed to being completely naked on the vinyl version.