The Morlocks between the covers

Detail: Morlocks: Proofs from Time magazine shoot (collection Jeff Lucas)More video from the original Morlocks has emerged on YouTube, including covers of songs by the 13th Floor Elevators, Q65 and the Count Five.

Exhibit A is a video by Eric Predoehl of the Morlocks performing the 13th Floor Elevators’ “You Don’t Know.” According to the post, it’s from an event produced by KFJC Radio and I.B.S. at the Works Gallery in San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 22, 1985:

This footage features the original Morlocks lineup: Leighton Koizumi (vocals); Jeff Lucas (bass); Tommy Clarke (lead guitar); Mark Mullen (drums); and Ted Friedman (rhythm guitar).

Next up, our own Ray Brandes uploads two more tracks from the band’s 1986 performance at San Francisco’s Stone: the Count Five’s “Double-Decker Bus” and Q65’s “Cry in the Night”:

Check out photos of the original Morlocks!

Old-school Morlocks flyers!

This show included Jordan Tarlow (later of the Fuzztones) on rhythm guitar, replacing Ted Friedman.

Exclusive MP3s from the original Morlocks:

15 thoughts on “The Morlocks between the covers

  1. Well that was a nice Sunday wake up how do you do…………..

    I knew there had to be more video out there.

    I do not remember this show at all, don’t remember going to San Jose with the Morlocks. Oh well

    Any way to find out if anymore of that show is on video?

    0
  2. >>Any way to find out if anymore of that show is on video?

    Mark: According to the YouTube page:

    This video is courtesy of Eric Predoehl, who shot this footage, and has been sitting on it all these years. It wasn’t quite up to his usual standards, but he was convinced by some friends to share it on YouTube, simply because it captures a historic moment that nobody else had.

    Check out what else E.P. is up to by visiting:
    http://www.octalouie.com
    http://www.louielouie.net/blog

    I presume Mr. Predoehl and his magic video can be contacted via those channels.

    While we’re at it … Out of more than 10,000 people visiting this site in March, does anybody else have unreleased video of the Morlocks or any of the other bands we’ve documented here?

    Video cameras were rare back in those simpler times, and anything you’ve got will be precious to us.

    0
  3. Matt,

    I did contact him and he sent me back a message saying he posted it a few years ago and was shocked that it got no response. He said he does have more and that he was going to contact me a some point.

    I will turn him on to the site.

    Thanks for the call for more video, it has to be out there.

    0
  4. >>I did contact him and he sent me back a message saying he posted it a few years ago and was shocked that it got no response.

    Mark: Surprising, since we’ve been scouring YouTube and other online sources pretty hard … Maybe it was buried under a lot of H.G. Wells! 🙂

    I’m excited to see the rest … It feels more up close and personal than the Stone performance, and the lack of lame video effects is a major plus …

    0
  5. I have 6 reels of half inch video, shot by Carl Rusk, The problem is, that it wasn’t labeled and alot of it is just trashy footage. It is from 1980 at the Mod House mostly. It must be restored before being put in a machine, that is expensive, some tapes are 2 hours of Carl’s Father’s patients. Those, are probably the best ones : )

    0
  6. He said he posted it on the Morlock page 2 years ago?

    I never go out to the New Morlock site, but thought we would of caught that?

    Come one, you don’t like the video effects? Ha

    0
  7. Hey folks! Tis I -- the one who posted the video, which I guess I did 10 months ago, not two years ago. Hard to keep track of the time sometimes…

    I shot this footage on a crappy borrowed VHS camera that used old tube technology -- not a great choice for low-light, but the best I had at the time. I do have more of the Morlocks on video, so now that I know there’s folks that appreciate it, I’ll post more…

    Here’s a link to the other bands that played that night…
    http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C793BA7138900577

    You folks have an excellent site here! I was especially tickled to see vintage footage of the man who would transform himself into Country Dick Montana

    stay tuned…

    0
  8. AND I have an original reel-to-reel of Injection studio tape…same problem as Lou….lot’s of money to bake tape before it’s played or it turns to goo!!

    0
  9. i hung out with leighton a lot during that time but saw them play once. i think i told him that i liked being around him more when he wasn’t screaming into a mike! anyway, it’s a trip to me to see him in that persona, since he was always my soft spoken, silly, smartass friend.

    recently we had a “conversation” of quotes from silence of the lambs, so seeing “between the covers” makes me snicker a little.

    love the footage… crazy to think that was 25 years ago.

    0
  10. >>anyway, it’s a trip to me to see him in that persona, since he was always my soft spoken, silly, smartass friend.

    In my mind, Leighton and Chris Gast will always be sweet 15-year-old kids.

    And to me, the Answers and Wallflowers were at least as important progenitors of the Morlocks as the Gravedigger V were. (This sentence in the Morlocks’ Wikipedia bio bugs me: “The Morlocks began performing together in late August 1984 when the already assembled core band of Jeff Lucas, Tom Clarke, and Mark Mullen, were able to entice former Gravedigger Five members Leighton Koizumi and Ted Friedman into joining the band.” Did Jeff, Tom and Mark have their pockets full of candy or something?)

    0
  11. Candy or something?

    I think it was the something…………………..

    I see that quote as silly too. I have read so many things like this like Jeff leaving the band the night before the Cult show. Jeff played the Cult show, wish we had video to prove it…hint hint.

    0
  12. I generally question the use of the term “supergroup” unless it’s at least a little tongue in cheek, but the Morlocks were obviously an amalgam of powerful talent from a few bands that I found very important to San Diego in 1984. The Gravedigger V had gotten signed, but I would not say they were the most seasoned or aesthetically developed of the three groups that contributed members (two of which dissolved in the process).

    Much love to Gravediggers living and not, but I dispute strongly the way history has been rewritten to represent the Morlocks as the GDV Mach II.

    I second Mark’s hint: More video, please! 🙂

    0
  13. While the blog has an ironclad rule about not telling tales others won’t tell about themselves, Leighton Koizumi opens up to LA Weekly about his prison stint during the period many of us thought he was deceased.

    An interesting footnote to Leighton’s biography of which I was unaware.

    0

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

The Che Underground