Here are several recently discovered & rarely seen shots of the original Contortions. They were sent to James Chance from James Nares, an original member of the band. Here is what James Chance had to say about them:
Here are the photos James Nares sent me. Besides being an artist & filmmaker, James Nares
was the guitarist in the very first edition of the Contortions circa
late 1977 to early '78.
The photo above was taken in late Jan or early Feb '78. By that time, our original bassist, Reck, had been forced to return home to Tokyo when his visa expired, and been replaced on bass by George Scott, who played with a group called the Jack Ruby Band and was introduced to me by Lydia Lunch. The lineup on the top photo from Max's, left to right, is myself, George Scott, Adele Bertei, James Nares, Pat Place & Chiko. This lineup did 1 Max's date and a weekend at CBGB opening for the Cramps before Chiko also had to go back to Japan and James Nares also decided to leave.
The picture taken in the garage (below) was, I believe, our first photo session - one of the other shots from it was used on the flyer for the first ever Contortions gig at Max's Kansas City in early Dec 1977. The personnel in the garage shot is, left to right, Adele Bertei, James Nares, myself, Pat Place, & Reck, our Japanese bassist. There was also a Japanese drummer, Chiko, who was also the original bassist in Teenage Jesus & the Jerks. The other 3 shots (above) were taken in the dressing room at Max's, and it's very likely also at that first gig. Unfortunately, James doesn't seem to know who took these photos.
The photo above was taken in late Jan or early Feb '78. By that time, our original bassist, Reck, had been forced to return home to Tokyo when his visa expired, and been replaced on bass by George Scott, who played with a group called the Jack Ruby Band and was introduced to me by Lydia Lunch. The lineup on the top photo from Max's, left to right, is myself, George Scott, Adele Bertei, James Nares, Pat Place & Chiko. This lineup did 1 Max's date and a weekend at CBGB opening for the Cramps before Chiko also had to go back to Japan and James Nares also decided to leave.
The picture taken in the garage (below) was, I believe, our first photo session - one of the other shots from it was used on the flyer for the first ever Contortions gig at Max's Kansas City in early Dec 1977. The personnel in the garage shot is, left to right, Adele Bertei, James Nares, myself, Pat Place, & Reck, our Japanese bassist. There was also a Japanese drummer, Chiko, who was also the original bassist in Teenage Jesus & the Jerks. The other 3 shots (above) were taken in the dressing room at Max's, and it's very likely also at that first gig. Unfortunately, James doesn't seem to know who took these photos.
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| Contort Yourself: (from left) Adele Bertei, James Nares, James Chance, Pat Place, and Reck |
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