MERGE RECORDS BUYS RIGHTS TO GREY GHOST!!! TO PRODUCE BEST OF THE BAYOU COMPILATION SERIES!!! NEW MAIL-ORDER SUBSCRIPTION!!! MINDS ARE BLOWN!

HAHAHHA WTF?!?!? TWELVE IS THE LUCKIEST NUMBER!!! So it turns out that the long running Grey Ghost series has a fan that isn’t a regular poster on Hands Up. Nope, not by a long shot. According to an email we got from their promotion agency this morning, none other than Jake April, one of Merge Records’ A&R men, has been a long-running secret fan of both the concept and the recordings. Shocked, to say the least, we were to learn that the real reason for the recent hiatus in local producer and Grey Ghost empresario John Sears’ stint of weekly releases has been to nail down the details in the licensing of the entire GG back catalog and future use of the name by Merge. Dumbfounded. Dumb. Founded.

We called John this morning to wish him congratulations and ask about the, uh, deal. We’re not allowed to get into the specifics, but suffice to say that Grey Ghost is no longer a break-even hobby for him. Lets get to quoting: “They’re going to take all the recordings from the back catalog of releases, great stuff from people like The Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Hearts of Animals, Cop Warmth, Blades, Young Mammals and Golden Axe, and make a compilation cd or two called NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL GREY GHOST,” said Sears, sounding frighteningly like someone reading from a series of media talking points. When we asked how he had managed to get the ok from so many local artists in our gossipy little scene without the word getting out, he came back with “Whatever. I made most of those recordings anyways, and they knew that it wasn’t a money-making opportunity for them. I am sure they will be ok with it.”

As for the future, Grey Ghost will, sadly, no longer be available for two dollars every week from Domy. Instead, we are informed, it will be done via mail-order direct from Merge, sort of like the Sub Pop Singles club from a few years back. Instead of twelve, the runs (which we guess are still going to be cdr, which is cool – maybe the occasional 7” we are told), are going to be 2,000, but in keeping with the numerical theme of the past, they’ll now cost $12 each(shipping included). Guh. Up first in the new series, due in the mail in two weeks, is the first Grey Ghost by local fuzzbangers A Giant Princess. To subscribe, visit Merge’s website at greyghost.mergerecords.com. Wurd.

THE TRUE HISTORY OF GREY GHOST – PART TWO: THANK YOU PAIN TEENS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU DID FOR US ALL.

Yesterday we begged John Sears for a confectionery treat in the form of his telling of the origins of the Grey Ghost cassingle series. Today, we’re back with part two of the story, the lore and legend of how the we, now in the Cdrsingle era, came to be gifted one again with such a weekly bounty. The Tale unfoldeth:

About a month ago I was talking to Russell (of Domy) at the last Jana Hunter show and he asked me if I still did stuff. I said "Yeah". He said, "You should bring some up to Domy like you used to do at Sound Exchange". I said, "man, that was a lot of work".

Later on I started thinking about it and I said to myself, "john, remember how you got started? Remember the inspiration you got from buying your first Pain Teens cassette tape from Vinal Edge when you were 15? It blew your mind that local bands were writing and recording a putting out their own music. You liked it so much you sent the Pain Teens a fan letter asking them how they recorded. They responded by telling you they started off with a 4-track and then moved up to an 8-track by that time. So you went and bought a four track on your 17th birthday and you never looked back. You should put some recordings of local bands up at Russell's store for two dollars each and maybe some 15 or 16 year old kid in there will buy it and be totally inspired to start their own band. That would be awesome."

After this conversation with myself, I sent Russell an e-mail with my demands. 13 copies. different local bands. color laser copy covers (if the band wants color, punkin pie gave me black and white images). and most importantly, the releases are going to be two dollars each. oh yeah and i only sell them for a week each.

Russell agreed and so I started working. I'm lucky enough to know a lot of local bands, so I just asked them if they wanted to participate. Everybody's being really generous giving me their music and art knowing full well they aren't getting any money out of it. Some of the releases are going to cost more than two dollars a unit to make, but that's how it goes when you are punk.

Our hope is that at least one band will start as a result of this project. That is all. and yes, i picked the number 13 in honor of the garage band Poison 13.

Tremendous. Sears, though he will blush when we say it, is about as crucial a local cat as they come. The recording, the records, the bands he’s been involved with over the years are part of why we’re here in Houston still – it’s certainly part of why we care. And to think - it all came from the Pain Teens. For us, it was the deSchmog Fairy Tale tape – what was yours? While you sift through your memories (and old tapes) to try and pin down what got you locally stoked, we’re gonna drop some surprise on what’s in store for the rest of the current phase of the series, currently planned for another 13 week run of one band a week. We’re told that the next Cdrsingle will be none other than Pasadena WTFpunks Cop Warmth. Also in the pipeline are new releases from Blades, Hearts of Animals, Ben Murphy (Pop Deflation, Lucky Motors) and Dan Smith (Port Vale).

Not enough? Lance of Skyline Network favs Tambersauro just laid down a few tracks with a new band (so new they don’t even have a name yet) that will be coming your way in the s to the h to the o to the r to the t. Hell, there’s even talk that the elusive Black Congress might put something to tape to contribute. No member of this band could be reached at press time. Regardless, be sure your weekly vigil to the Westheimer/Dunlavy confluence includes a stop at Domy to pick up the latest Grey Ghost. Freak Out.

THE TRUE HISTORY OF GREY GHOST – PART ONE: ORIGINS

One of the best revivals this summer, and please oh please if you think the second half of this sentence is going to be about Hairspray, is the return of John Sears’ Grey Ghost series. Basically, every week, they’ll be a new CDr single at Domy featuring tracks from a local great of times past or times present (and maybe even times future). But if you pick up the latest installment (currently a two-track explosion by Punkin Pie), you may notice “wait – this number if far too high for it to be the beginning of the series!” Where did this come from? What are the earlier recordings? How did this happen? WELL, these were questions we too were dying to know, and rightly so since our memory in this town is certainly not the most sage. So we got in touch with Mr Robuck and Company himself to get the skinny. John was more than accommodating in our thirsty thirst for the Sparky knowledge, and so, we are pleased to present to you PART ONE of THE TRUE HISTORY OF GREY GOST – ORIGINS as told to us by John Sears:

somewhere around 1996, i decided it was time to go to college. i had spent the past five years playing in some very polvo/slint/sonic youth inspired bands (i used at least three different guitars at a show to accommodate all of the alternate tunings) and working cool kid jobs at brother's coffee (now diedrich's), amy's ice creams, and a really cool used guitar store that only scenesters knew about. something was missing, a true punk would try and make the world a better place, not just hang out at bars looking cool. so school it was.

anyway, i relocated to Trinity Texas (pop. about 2000) and went to school in Huntsville. It was a culture shock to move out there, so I came to Houston every weekend and worked shifts at Amy's. During the school week there was no night life, so I recorded on my 4-track a lot. Songs to try and pick up girls, songs about books I was reading, songs based on stories by Truman Capote and Flannery O'Conner, songs about getting your heart broke, songs about not taking your easy life for granted. I also visited my friend Dan Smith at his radio shift at KTRU. Dan had started his underground pop radio show with Will Adams (The Ka-Nives) and they called it "the Fantastic Cat Show" after a song of that title by Japanese songsters, Takako Minekawa.

One night at the radio show, Dan challenged me to make a cassingle a week of the 4 track music I was making in Trinity.

Two weeks later, I brought Dan my first cassingle. I called the "band" Sears, as I called all of my solo stuff that. I packaged it with a full color laser copy cover. I named my label "grey ghost" in honor of my dad. Back in the seventies we had a "Dove Grey" Ford Econoline van equipped with a CB radio. My dad liked to talk to the truckers when we were driving on road trips. You know, to look out for smokey and all that jazz. Rent the movie Convoy and it will all make sense. So every CB radio operator has a "handle". That's the name you go by when you are talking to everyone else. Our handle was the "Grey Ghost" because our van was grey and like a ghost we could spirit through smokey's radar detectors thus eluding a dreaded speeding ticket.

Dan played both sides of the cassingle on his radio show and I took 13 copies of the cassingle up to Sound Exchange. I only made 13 copies of each single because I was always depressed by the thought of seeing multiple copies of my local release sitting gathering dust at Sound Exchange. This was when Sound Exchange was in the strip center next to Empire Cafe on Westhiemer. Oh yeah, Sound Exchange and I decided that two dollars was an appropriate price for the cassingle.

I decided to make 13 Cassingles, one a week for the next 13 weeks. Every week, Dan would play the whole cassingle on his radio show (he had the 11PM to 1AM shift at KTRU). Every week I would take 13 copies up to Sound Exchange. When I was at Sound Exchange, I would take back all copies left of the previous week's cassingle. I think my worst week I only sold 8 copies, so I took 5 home. I sold all 13 copies maybe 3 times.

After releasing the first 13 copies, I decided to take a break from putting out my music. I don't remember what grey ghost #14 was, but I do know that grey ghost #15 was the first non-demo release of the Fatal Flying Guilloteens. i made 100 of the fatal flying tapes all on clear red cassettes. i am still very proud of the packaging for this release. The band lost over 50 of the tapes on a road trip to austin. good luck finding one of the remaining 50. Maybe Shawn Adolf has one still.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? HOW DID IT ALL GET STARTED AGAIN? Check back tomorrow when we’ll bring you up to the present, with Sears’ retelling the tale of why he’s back in the CdrSingle business. Plus, we’ll give you the word up on some of the bands that are slated for release in the near future. In the meantime, head on over to Domy and pick up this week’s Grey Ghost installment, which still clocks in at a measly $2. Don’t blow it.