The Chrysanthemums

Surfing the internet I discovered there is little bandwidth devoted to my favorite pop band. Granted, they did a pretty good job at staying obscure (or keeping mum as it were) - and providing great amounts of misinformation on the rare occasions they were noted - but they deserve better.

Alan Jenkins and Terry Burrows were the main forces behind the band. The two musicians met around 1986 - Jenkins was in a band called THE DEEP FREEZE MICE and Burrows had released several solo discs under a variety of monikers. They got together over a couple of weekends in Burrows' studio and produced what would become the first Chrysanthemums album Is That A Fish On Your Shoulder Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me (1987). Influences as varied as 60's pop (The Beatles and The Zombies), absurdist surreal rock (The Mothers of Invention and The Bonzo Dog Band ) and lo-fi maverick R. Stevie Moore (who actually appears on the album) blend with that particularly British cheeky humor to create an awesome pop album.

Fish is a fantastic collection of ultra-catchy psychedelic pop and contains a number of what might be considered Chrysanthemums "standards", including the great "I Wish Marvin Gaye's Father Had Killed Me Instead". Jenkins and Burrows played all the instruments on the songs but on the album sleeve credited several nonexistent band members to give the appearance of a real band. Burrows also took on his alter ego Yukio Yung, which he has used as his primary recording identity to this day. Among the many gems are the catchy "Buzzing Unobtrusively" and "Glouchestershire Is Just An Illusion" with its memorable opening line: "Someone drowned himself in his own urine." And has the word "bullshit" ever been in a song as deliriously hooky as "Bullshit"? The playing is strong and the recording is suitably lo-fi and captures the spirit of their influences. Not bad for a couple days work. Highly recommended though tricky to find - I've never seen the CD in 15 years of looking.

Shortly thereafter, they recruited Martin Howell to play bass and he took on the identity of the imaginary bass player from the first disc, Vladimir Zajkowiecz. This group released the brilliant THE XXXX SESSIONS (1988), the cover a clever parody of the Peel Sessions series. If one ever needed a funny band name, there are hundreds of possibilities provided on the cover. The music is as good or better than that of Fish and the second side of the album is work of art - literally - it's got the lyrics to the songs on side one etched into the vinyl. Try doing that with a CD.

This was followed by their masterpiece: a sprawling double album Little Flecks Of Foam Around Barking (1988). Flecks is as a bizarre concept album based on the Egyptian Book Of The Dead (supposedly) thought the only conceptual connection in the songs appears to be in the liner notes and even that has little to do with the aforementioned tome. Originally a double album, it's packed to the rafters with brilliant pop tunes. There are more good songs and ideas (and laughs) on this album than in most bands entire catalogs. Absolutely essential listening.

Both Flecks and Fish have hilarious liner notes (I'm guessing Jenkins had a big hand in them based on a reading of Jenkins fantastic booklet "How to be in a Pop Group"). The first album is especially entertaining as it includes the entire future history of the group, including the names of albums they later recorded and songs which appear on those subsequent albums. Talk about planning for the future.

Next out of the gates was a 12" EP Picasso's Problem/Live At the London Palladium (1989) . One side ("Side Swingin'") has two new tunes: "Picasso's Problem" and "(Like Industrious Elves) We Stopped"; "Side Dodgy" is a fake live show with three new songs and a bizarre medley of Kraftwerk's "Showroom Dummies" and John Coltrane's "Ascension". That same year they also managed to release another minor masterpiece: a truly inspired cover version of the entire Zombie's Odessey and Oracle. The disc uses a grab bag of musical styles on the Zombies' masterwork, adds a slew of bonus tracks from Zombies' singles and which manages to work brilliantly. One of the only examples of a great album covered entirely by another band and producing a second great album.

Their final studio release was a CD single called Porcupine Quills with four completely different versions of the title song in various psychedelic styles. By this time they had added Jonathan Lemon as a touring keyboard player and had become quite popular in Germany along with a growing cult status in native England. They disbanded in 1991, acrimoniously by all accounts and Burrows and Jenkins haven't' recorded together since. A pair of live Chrysanthemums albums, Go Germany: Insekt! Insekt! and Go Germany: Two Big Tins Of Banana Puree (Really Bad Coffee and Several Vegetable Steamers Creating Interesting Light Patterns) (1993), document their last tour. Insekt! is the CD version and Two Big Tins the vinyl version and it's worth noting there are significant content differences between the two, so both are really worth owning.

Burrows released several Yukio Yung discs during the 1990s including a terrific collaboration with R. Stevie Moore called Objectivity. In 1996, Burrows and Howell along with ex-Camel and occasional The Bevis Frond drummer Andy Ward, released a single and full album as Chrys&themums - 1000 Tiny Pieces and The Baby's Head. Baby is pretty fantastic although, admittedly, it doesn't don't quite reach the strange brilliance as The Chrysanthemums. Burrows is also a prolific writer and has a ton of books out, ranging from guitar instructional to computers. His most recent recording, as far as I am aware,is a second collaboration with R. Stevie Moore that came out in 2005. Current information is availvable at his MySpace page.

Jenkins, who had actually been in at least two other bands while in the Chrysanthemums, devoted most of his time to The Creams in the 1990s. They released 8 albums , their last disc in 1998. Jenkins continues to record prolifically; his current project is The Thurston Lava Tube, a psychedelic British surf band with elements of late 60's John Coltrane (yep, no shit). They recently released their fourth disc (or third, or fifth, or sixth, depending on how you count). He also runs a recording studio.

Finding anything released by The Chrysanthemums can be a daunting task. Not widely distributed in England, most of them had even more limited release in the USA. Currently the best bet is Alan Jenkins' Cordelia Records, which has what little is still available of the Chrysanthemums catalog along with most of Jenkins non-Chrysanthemums material and a couple LPs by Burrows. Cordelia has a downloadable sampler that's one of the best freebees on the 'net. The Germany label Jar Records has been known to have Yukio Yung's recordings occasionally and generally have the live Chrysanthemums CD. Burrows recordings with R. Stevie Moore discs can be purchased from R. Stevie Moore directly. There is also an Orgone Records page at the Onoma Research Store that has both the Yung and Moore Show and his Tonesucker project. Seek them out - you won't be sorry.

	Terry Burrows and Alan Jenkins Selected Discography The Chrysanthemums Another Sacred Day / Mouth Pain (Egg Plant 7"), 1986. Is That A Fish On Your Shoulder Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me (Egg Plant LP/CD), 1987. Promo Flexidisc of extracts from Is That A Fish... narrated by R. Stevie Moore, (included with initial copies of album?), 1987. The XXXX Sessions (Egg Plant 12"), 1987. Little Flecks Of Foam Around Barking (Egg Plant 2XLP/CD), 1988. Picasso's Problem / Live At The London Palladium (Egg Plant 12"), 1989. Odessey and Oracle (Madagascar LP/CD), 1989. Porcupine Quills (Madagascar 12"/CD single), 1990. Go Germany: Insekt! Insekt! (Pink Lemon CD), 1993. Go Germany: Two Big Tins Of Banana Puree (Pink Lemon LP + single), 1993. Terry Burrows Jung Analysts Sprockendidootch? (lp), 1985. Yukio Yung Art Pop Stupidity, 1993. A Brainless Deconstruction of the Popular Song , 1993. Keep the Black Flag Flying (single), 1993. (Mostly) Water (ep), 1996. Goodbye Pork Pie Brain (10" lp), 1996. Hello Pulsing Vein (10" lp), 1997. Chrys&themums 1000 Tiny Pieces (CD single), 1997. The Baby's Head , 1997. Yung & Moore (Yukio Yung and R. Stevie Moore) Objectivity, 1997. The Yung & Moore Show, 2005. Tonesucker Slaugherhouse, 2006. Alan Jenkins The Deep Freeze Mice My Geraniums Are Bulletproof, 1979. Teenage Head In My Refrigerator, 1981. The Gates Of Lunch, 1982. Saw A Ranch House Burning Last Night, 1983. I Love You Bobo With Your Delicate Golden Lions, 1984. Hang On Constance Let Me Hear The News, 1985. Live In Switzerland, 1985. War, Famine, Death, Pestilence and Miss Timberlake, 1987. The Tender Yellow Ponies of Insomnia, 1989. Ruth's Refrigerator "...suddenly a disfigured head parachuted", 1990. "A Lizard Is a Submarine On Grass, 1991. The Creams A Big Dog.n, 1991. Lords of the Gromet Canning Factory, 1992. "ie", 1993. The Creams and Nico, 1994. Pluto, 1995. Malcolm, 1996. Are You Real Or Just Some Sort Of Disgusting Fridge Magnet?, 1996. The All Night Bookman, 1999. Solo (credited to Alan Jenkins and the Thurston Lava Tube) Free Surf Music #1 (vinyl only), 2000. Pour Quoi Pas Moo (vinyl EP) Free Surf Music #2 (vinyl only) The Thurston Lava Tube Me Ka Nahuku, 2002. Move Over Rover, Let Clover Take Over, 2003. The Pink Elephant With Nipples For Tusks , 2005. Free Surf Music #3, 2006. Print Alan Jenkins - How To Be In A Pop Group, 1990 (revised 1994). Terry Burrows - Play Electric Guitar: From Beginner To Band In Three Months, 1999. Terry Burrows - Total Guitar, 2000.

Last updated: 2 March 2006.