# Scatology ![[Scatology (1984 Vinyl) Cover.jpg|700]] | | | | --- | --- | | __Title__: | Scatology | | __Type__: | Studio Album | | __Legitimacy__: | Official | | __Release date:__ | 1985-02-?? | | __Label:__ | [[Some Bizzare Records]] | | __Original__: | | | __Derivative__: | [[Scatology (1988 CD Version)]] | --- *__Scatology__* is the debut studio album by Coil, originally released in February 1985[^1] by [[Some Bizzare Records]] under the sub-label K.422. Like all Coil releases up to and including [[Horse Rotorvator]], it was attributed to the Coil-specific vanity label [[Force & Form]]. ## Background Although previous songs under the Coil name had been published on the album [[Transparent]], these were created almost entirely without input from [[Peter Christopherson]], unlike most Coil material. While Christopherson provided live mixing for the live portion of the album and performed on the live track [[Silence & Secrecy (section) (live at Magenta Club, London 5.VIII.1983)|Silence & Secrecy]], the majority of the initial material created under the Coil name was written entirely by [[Jhonn Balance]]. The first recordings by Coil as a duo occurred in February 1984, at Britannia Row Studios in London. Two songs were recorded during this session: [[Songs/How to Destroy Angels|How to Destroy Angels]], released as a single in 1984, and [[The Sewage Worker’s Birthday Party]], which incorporated samples from the former song and would eventually see release on what would become Scatology. [^2] ## Recording Working titles for the album include *Poisons* and *The Erotic Form of Hatred*.[^3] Recording sessions for *The Sewage Worker’s Birthday Party* took place at Britannia Row Studios in February 1984. Additional recording sessions for the album took place over the course of 1984 at Wave Studios and Aosis Studios.[^2] In a 1983 interview with *Grok*, [[Jhonn Balance]] discussed a number of song titles that did not end up appearing on the final album: *The Day and Night of the Body*, *Assuming the Posture of Death*, *Thermid’or* ,[^4] *Lock*[^5] and *Cyclic*.[^6] It is unknown whether these were working titles for songs that did end up on *Scatology*, or completely different songs. At the time of May 1984, [[Homage to Sewage]] and [[The Wheel]] were also planned to be included on the album, but would not end up on the final release. Additional recordings from the sessions for the album can be found on the [[Live Coil Archive]]‘s [[Scatology Sessions]] bootleg. ## Release The album was initially planned for release under [[Jhonn Balance]]‘s existing label __Hearsay and Heresy__, which had already released the compilation cassette __Bethel__, but instead, it ended up being attributed as the first release of the new Coil-specific vanity label [[Force & Form]]. Two versions of the album are known to have been planned but left unrealized: A ‘skidmark’ color vinyl, and a version with an additional unspecified 7” record from German Label __Record Vox__.[^7] The release of the album was followed by a single for [[Panic ∕ Tainted Love|Panic]], backed with a cover of [[Tainted Love]]. ### Packaging The cover of the original, LP-only, release features the “Black Sun” icon on plain off-white paper, with the artist and album name at the top. Around the front and back cover are extensive liner notes for each song, as well as the following introductory paragraph: > ‘SCATOLOGY’ (n) frequent reference to excretory processes in literature; study of fossil excrement; gross obscenity <br> - extract from the Penguin English Dictionary > The Humanism of the Arsehole. “…A psychoanalyst, knowing that gold and excrement are akin in the subconscious, would not have been surprised…that I used my shit - like the hen’s golden eggs, the droppings of the Golden Ass, or Danäe’s divine diarrhea - to perform a phenomenal transmutation through the application of my Paranoia-Critical method.” <br> from “The Unspeakable Confessions of Salvador Dali”, Quartet Books, 1976 <br> The name “Coil”, first used by [[Jhonn Balance|John Balance]] in Autumn 1982 for his solo works, now represents him in collaboration with [[Peter Christopherson]]. The final paragraph is only present on the original LP version. ### Versions - Original release, 1984, LP-only: On the first pressing of this version, all 3000 copies have a postcard stuck over the central logo depicting the framed eponymous cover art for the [[Releases/The Anal Staircase|Anal Staircase]] EP. On the second pressing, a random selection of the 2000 copies have a different postcard attached, depicting another photograph referred to as “*Sexual Cathedral*”.[^8] - [[Scatology (1988 CD Version)]]: This version is distinguished by new cover art and contains the additional tracks, “*[[Restless Day]]*”, “*[[Aqua Regis]]*” and “*[[Tainted Love]]*”, the first originally from the 1985 compilation *[Devastate to Liberate](https://www.discogs.com/master/21583-Various-Devastate-To-Liberate)*, the other two from the [[Panic ∕ Tainted Love]] single. - 2001 CD Remaster: First of two remastered albums released in 2001, alongside [[Horse Rotorvator]]. Both albums were remastered by [[Thighpaulsandra]]. These remasters were created due to a dispute over unpaid royalties for the albums Coil released through [[Some Bizzare Records]]. This version features new cover art, but is otherwise identical in content. ![[Scatology (1984 Vinyl) Cover.jpg|200]] ![[Scatology (1988 CD Version) Cover.jpg|200]] ![[Scatology (2001 Remaster) Cover.jpg|200]] *Cover art for different releases of* Scatology. *From left to right: Original 1984 LP release, 1988 CD release, 2001 Remastered CD release* ### Tracklist #### Original LP Version 1. [[Ubu Noir]] 2. [[Panic]] 3. [[At The Heart Of It All]] 4. [[Tenderness of Wolves]] 5. [[The Spoiler]] 6. [[Clap]] 7. [[Solar Lodge]] 8. [[The Sewage Worker’s Birthday Party]] 9. [[Godhead⇔Deathead]] 10. [[Cathedral in Flames]] ^Scatology84Tracklist #### [[Scatology (1988 CD Version)|1988 CD Version]] 1. [[Ubu Noir]] 2. [[Panic]] 3. [[At The Heart Of It All]] 4. [[Tenderness of Wolves]] 5. [[The Spoiler]] 6. [[Clap]] 7. [[Restless Day]] 8. [[Aqua Regis]] 9. [[Solar Lodge]] 10. [[The Sewage Worker’s Birthday Party|The S.W.B.P.]] 11. [[Godhead⇔Deathead|Godhead=Deathhead]] 12. [[Tainted Love]] ^Scatology88Tracklist ## Personnel |Name|Credit| |---|---| |[[Peter Christopherson]] | Writer, Performer (All Songs) | |[[Jhonn Balance]] | Writer, Performer (All Songs) | |[[Songs/J.G. Thirlwell]] | Producer, Additional Sampling ([[Panic]]), Overdubs ([[At The Heart Of It All]]) | |[[Warne Livesey]] | Engineering | |[[Gavin Friday]] | Vocals ([[Tenderness of Wolves]]) | |[[Stephen Thrower]] | Clarinet ([[At The Heart Of It All]], [[Solar Lodge]]) | |[[Marc Almond]] (as “Raoul Revere”) | Guitar ([[Restless Day]]) | |[[Alex Fergusson]] | Guitar ([[Tenderness of Wolves]]) | ## References [Entry at Brainwashed](<http://brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/ffk1.php?site=coil08>) [^1]: c.f. *Live Coil Archive - Scatology Sessions* booklet, p. 2 [^2]: c.f. *Live Coil Archive - Scatology Sessions* booklet, p.1 [^3]: Nick Soulsby: *Everything Keeps Dissolving*, p. 64 [^4]: <http://brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/publications/coil-1983-grok.php?site=coil08> [^5]: Nick Soulsby: *Everything Keeps Dissolving*, p. 69 [^6]: Nick Soulsby: *Everything Keeps Dissolving*, p. 62 [^7]: <http://brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/ffk1.php?site=coil08> [^8]: see John Balance, ed. Clause Laufenburg: *The Cupboard under the Stars*, publ. Timeless, 2023