Earth Dies Burning/Zoogz Rift
Lhasa Club, Hollywood, CA
Friday, March 16, 1984
Admission $5.00
Time: 9:00 PM

Matt Karlsen - Vocals
Jeff Karlsen - Keyboards/Guitar
Brad Laner - Keyboards
Spencer Savage - Drums

Bored Teenager
Fish sticks
Another Six Year-Old
Bowling for Food
Saliva
60 Minutes/Duck and Cover
Soaps
Mr. Blue
Psychotic Reaction
Heroin

This has to be one of the hardest pieces I have ever attempted. It’s especially difficult when you were friends with the members of the group (one of them) and you want to accurately retell the story. So, let’s start at the beginning: I ride to Hollywood with two guys from school, Glen F. and Jacque L. It’s about a twenty minute to thirty minute ride, and we pull up and Matt Karlsen, Earth Dies Burning’s singer, is outside talking with the different people making their way into the club.

Right before I step into the place Matt asks me to show him some Michael Jackson moves to do mid-set. So, I do this weird move that I saw on MTV, and Matt duplicates it. With everyone off of the street and into the club, Matt tells me that they are going to cover Lou Reed’s Heroin, and right before going into the track he’s going to announce Reed’s passing. To which I reply “I hadn’t heard that.” Matt just smiles and says “No, but this is Hollywood, they’ll really be bummed out.” With that statement you know what to expect from Earth Dies Burning. Intelligent, but just a bit different than all the rest of the “alternative” groups in Los Angeles at the time.

So, we make our way into the Lhasa Club, on 1110 North Hudson, a pretty small club that left us standing throughout the set. Earth Dies Burning comes on at a few minutes after 9:00pm and sure enough, in the middle of one of their songs Matt does some extravagant Michael Jackson dance move, with the leg kicking up in the air. I don’t know what was more entertaining what was on stage or the audiences’ reactions.

Anyway, the set starts to wind down and Matt launches into a speech about a “very influential musician who died today, Mr. Lou Reed.” And again the crowd looks dumbfounded. The two guys I rode with looked over at me and just muttered, “Oh Shit, I didn’t know.” I didn’t tell them the truth until we were back in the car. Earth Dies Burning played for about twenty minutes, great set, and then the club pretty much emptied out after them.

Heroin
“I don’t know just where I’m going
But I’m going to try for the kingdom if I can
Cause it makes me feel like I’m a man
When I put a spike into my vein
Then I tell you things aren’t quite the same

When I’m rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus son
And I guess I just don’t know
And I guess that I just don’t know

I have made very big decision
I’m going to try to nullify my life
Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper’s neck
When I’m closing in on death

You cant help me not you guys
All you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess I just don’t know
And I guess I just don’t know

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that Id sailed the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
I put on a sailors suit and cap

Away from the big city
Where a man cannot be free
Of all the evils in this town
And of himself and those around
Oh, and I guess I just don’t know
Oh, and I guess I just don’t know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, its my wife and its my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I’m better off than dead

When the smack begins to flow
Then I really don’t care anymore
About all the Jim-jims in this town
And everybody putting everybody else down
And all of the politicians makin crazy sounds
All the dead bodies piled up in mounds, yeah

Wow, that heroin is in my blood
And the blood is in my head
Yeah, the gods good as dead
Ooohhh, God that I’m not aware
I just don’t care
And I guess I just don’t know
And I guess I just don’t know.”

The people I rode with decided to take off right after Earth Dies Burning finished. So, we missed Zoogz Rift, but in case you’re interested here’s a bit I was able to dig up on him:

The Trouser Press describes Zoogz Rift as “an iconoclastic original” who is “as imaginative and stimulating as he is irritating and vitriolic.” Rift was influenced by Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart as well as Salvador Dalí and Ayn Rand. Zoogz Rift began his recording career with the album Idiots on the Miniature Golf Course, released by Snout Records in 1979. His long-time collaborators include Richie Häss and John Trubee (the latter being famous for the songshark tune, “A Blind Man’s Penis”). Rift released several albums through SST Records during the 1980s. Keyboard Magazine, in a special “Experimental Music” issue, described Rift’s album The Island of Living Puke as “moments of outstanding free-form rock, sandwiched between scrupulously obscene interruptions.”

Zoogz Rift booked the UWF (Universal Wrestling Federation) in 1993. He left the promotion in March of 1994, but returned in May of 1995 to become Vice-President, alongside founder Herb Abrams. After Abrams died in 1996, the UWF promotion closed and Zoogz was left without a job. The show provides a weekly assessment of WWE and TNA promotions, with Zoogz giving insight on wrestling issues. His famous rants on the show include the pushing of former WWF superstar Warlord, and his fascination with possibly training 60-year-old Vince McMahon to become a main-event wrestler. With Zoogz’ former experience in wrestling, he claims he can train any man, via the techniques of the Golden Crab, as stated in Episode #3 of Puke-A-Mania. Puke-A-Mania videos are available via YouTube.

However, Zoogz returned to Puke-A-Mania on December 4. In that episode, Rift he again made claims to his “brother” Captain Lou Albano. Albano and other “relatives” apparently shaved Zoogz’ beard when he fell asleep after Thanksgiving dinner. He then challenged Albano to a match, to determine the “Greatest Wrestler of All-time.”

Rating: ***** five out of five stars.

The copyright on the flyer is retained by the artist J. Eucharist.