The term trailblazer is often and unjustly overused. But when it comes to pop, glam, psych and punk music, Laurice is a true star (and diva) whose style and approach in the early 70s pre-dated punk disco.“When Christine Comes Around/I'm Gonna Smash Your Face In”, the 1973 pre-punk/glam single Laurice co-wrote/performed with Simon Godd under the name Grudge, has become a cult punk classic.In 1972, before moving to Toronto where he worked in disco, new age and smooth jazz, Laurice (under the pseudonym Paul St. John) recorded and released “Flying Saucers Have Landed/ Spaceship Lover”, two amazing pieces of spacey psych mixed with the pop of Bolan and Donovan.The tracks appear on Best of Laurice Vol 2, a new collection of songs, many previously unreleased, that demonstrate the versatility and originality of a singer-songwriter who challenged society's rules. We are stoked to premiere the 2015 video version (shot by Laurice’s partner Larry Dean Norton) of “Flying Saucers Have Landed”.Noisey: Hey Laurice. How are you?!
Laurice: I'm very well, guys. You? Have flying saucers landed? Have you seen them?
Yes. It was the very early 70s. When I graduated from university my songwriter friend Simon Godd, of “When Christine Comes Around" fame and his girlfriend and hundreds of other people went up this mountain one night to spot flying saucers that had been seen in the area. We were sent by the Flying Saucer Review to report if anything happened.It was quite an event at the time, because beneath this mountain was Great Britain's enormous stockpile of nuclear weapons. The mountain had been in fact hollowed out. All the BBC and ITV media were there. It was the middle of the night and was very rainy. The tension was really palpable. Suddenly I looked up at a parting in the clouds. It wasn't a very bright moonlit sky that night. And I saw a peculiar triangular purple shaped object with slowly flashing green lights that was gradually gliding across the break in the clouds. Then it was gone. Many people missed it, but it really sent a thrill through my whole body. It was such a traumatic experience that both Simon and I were soon afterwards featured in a BBC documentary about the flying saucer phenomenon. There I was on TV in my plastic chef-shaped hat with the rain pouring down and me explaining my sighting. Naturally my parents were horrified and didn't speak to me for weeks. They just didn't believe me. I like how the new video mixes jpegs with the gritty street scene of you in a graffitied alley. Where was it shot?
We shot the video in downtown Kelowna where we live, which is the largest interior city in British Columbia, Canada and a really beautiful resort area. When it came to the actual shooting I gave Larry some direction but Larry, who at first was really shaky with a camera, became quite expert at shooting at various angles and really came into his own. The jpegs and stock footage we used are, of course, copyrighted, and gave them all recognition in the film credits at the end of the video.You also had the hit “Disco Spaceship”. Extra-terrestrials have been a theme in your music.
Yes. I've always been fascinated by the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and in astronomy in general. I was secretary of the local astronomical society when I was a boy. I really think it is arrogant of humanity to think that we are the only forms of life in this vast universe - or the multiverse, if it comes to that. You’ve also said that there was a lot of LSD around back then!
Ha ha. It wasn't just LSD. It was all drugs everywhere in the 60s and 70s. I myself never encountered it in England, but when I got to North America it was all over the place. I never used drugs to get high when I was performing. My career was too important to me. But many of my friends, and many famous artists of the time suffered because of it. What would aliens think of “When Christine Comes Around?"
It depends on whether they are hostile or not. If they are, then they would probably love it. It has become a punk cult classic, and I didn't know about this until fairly recently. We even have the original demo of Christine which will be released by Mighty Mouth in due course. It has a different, almost surfer feel to it than the finished record. And the song has been covered many times. Apparently I was an early pioneer of punk because the song was punk before punk became punk.'Best of Laurice Vol 2'. is available June 16 through Mighty Mouth Music.
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Laurice: I'm very well, guys. You? Have flying saucers landed? Have you seen them?
Yes. It was the very early 70s. When I graduated from university my songwriter friend Simon Godd, of “When Christine Comes Around" fame and his girlfriend and hundreds of other people went up this mountain one night to spot flying saucers that had been seen in the area. We were sent by the Flying Saucer Review to report if anything happened.It was quite an event at the time, because beneath this mountain was Great Britain's enormous stockpile of nuclear weapons. The mountain had been in fact hollowed out. All the BBC and ITV media were there. It was the middle of the night and was very rainy. The tension was really palpable. Suddenly I looked up at a parting in the clouds. It wasn't a very bright moonlit sky that night. And I saw a peculiar triangular purple shaped object with slowly flashing green lights that was gradually gliding across the break in the clouds. Then it was gone. Many people missed it, but it really sent a thrill through my whole body. It was such a traumatic experience that both Simon and I were soon afterwards featured in a BBC documentary about the flying saucer phenomenon. There I was on TV in my plastic chef-shaped hat with the rain pouring down and me explaining my sighting. Naturally my parents were horrified and didn't speak to me for weeks. They just didn't believe me. I like how the new video mixes jpegs with the gritty street scene of you in a graffitied alley. Where was it shot?
We shot the video in downtown Kelowna where we live, which is the largest interior city in British Columbia, Canada and a really beautiful resort area. When it came to the actual shooting I gave Larry some direction but Larry, who at first was really shaky with a camera, became quite expert at shooting at various angles and really came into his own. The jpegs and stock footage we used are, of course, copyrighted, and gave them all recognition in the film credits at the end of the video.You also had the hit “Disco Spaceship”. Extra-terrestrials have been a theme in your music.
Yes. I've always been fascinated by the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and in astronomy in general. I was secretary of the local astronomical society when I was a boy. I really think it is arrogant of humanity to think that we are the only forms of life in this vast universe - or the multiverse, if it comes to that. You’ve also said that there was a lot of LSD around back then!
Ha ha. It wasn't just LSD. It was all drugs everywhere in the 60s and 70s. I myself never encountered it in England, but when I got to North America it was all over the place. I never used drugs to get high when I was performing. My career was too important to me. But many of my friends, and many famous artists of the time suffered because of it. What would aliens think of “When Christine Comes Around?"
It depends on whether they are hostile or not. If they are, then they would probably love it. It has become a punk cult classic, and I didn't know about this until fairly recently. We even have the original demo of Christine which will be released by Mighty Mouth in due course. It has a different, almost surfer feel to it than the finished record. And the song has been covered many times. Apparently I was an early pioneer of punk because the song was punk before punk became punk.'Best of Laurice Vol 2'. is available June 16 through Mighty Mouth Music.