• Revenge of the Nurds (3:50)
• The Captain Beefheart Ceremonial Shuffle (3:50)

All composed by D. Bailey, released on Finger Mobile Records FM 82982 © 1982

Musicians: Dawayne Bailey: guitars, piano, vocals, Janis Liebhart: vocals, Craig Steward: harmonica, David Hinman: clarinet, Curt Sharkey: bass; Phil Bloch: drums, triangle

Dawayne contacted the Radar Station and told us a bit more about the background to this song:-

"I've always been deep into the world of Zappa and Beefheart. When I moved from Wichita, KS to Los Angeles in 1980, I had been playing in a band with Craig Steward. At that time, Craig was flying to LA from Wichita to record with Zappa. He and I both moved to LA at the same time. I had also been given Jimmy Carl Black's phone number in Albuqurque. I called him to see if he would sign my Mothers albums on my way to LA. He said yes and asked why I was moving. I explained that I was a songwriter/musician and wanted to give LA another chance after two previous attempts. Jimmy explained that he had moved from Wichita to LA right before joining The Mothers. He asked me to write a song for his upcoming JCB solo record. On the drive there, I wrote Jimmy a song (that he ended up recording and releasing on the A-side of a 45) called Albuqurque Bound. This began a songwriting partnership between Jimmy and me. And yes, he signed all my Mothers albums. He would send me lyrics and I would write the music. Some of these have been recorded by JCB as well as The Grandmothers.

During this time, I wrote the words and music to a song called The Captain Beefheart Ceremonial Shuffle, which I sent to Jimmy for possible release on a Grandmothers album. It was a tribute song to Beefheart-in 3 parts. Jimmy never got around to doing anything with the song, so I did.

In 1981, I had become close friends with an employee of Zappa named Gerald Fialka. He became my manager and in 1982, he proposed we release a Dawayne Bailey solo 45. I wrote a song called Revenge Of The Nurds, long before the 1984 movie of the same name. We decided to use Nurds as the A-side and the Beefheart tribute song as the B-side. I asked Craig Steward to play harmonica on the Beefheart song. I also asked him to be on the cover of the record. We dressed Craig up as "the Nurd" on the left, holding my dog's leash as I'm wearing my dog's collar on the right. All of it inspired by people like Bill Gates controlling everything in the future.

Right after the 45 was released, I was hired to tour and record with Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. During this same time, an LA newspaper, The Herald Examiner, did a story on the record and even had the picture sleeve featured in the article. Two years later, 20th Century Fox released a movie called Revenge Of The Nerds. We printed up only 500 copies of the record and 20 years later, it's a serious rarity."

Another day in--another day out
The captain's getting older
The sunlight of his yesterday
Today seems a little less colder

Words arrive at his front door
Painting his conversation
Rising from his desert floor
He shapes his congregation

The ocean of his destiny
Where the past is always flowing
The man who denies his poetry
Is a man afraid of growing

l'm going down--that lonely highway
l'm going down--that lonesome road
Beside the man--who does it the hard way
To help him bear--his heavy load

There is a country--who understands me
There is a lady--who saves the day
Five hundred thousand--the true believers
That's all you need--to stay away

He smokes a leaf from a rancid blend
The streets are dark and choking
Old gasoline pills in his ancient, circular belly
Accepts the occasional gift of ceiling gravel on a swollen chin

Kettle feet from too much pinching
Frozen corns and veins and poison blisters
Bloodshot eyeballs squint like tired oysters
His heart aches like a wet, empty old basement

He screams, "DON'T TAKE ME AWAY,
I KNOW WHAT A BEAR'S TOOTH LOOKS LIKE!"
He leaves the room vacant like an empty stomach
A child of the television generation

Too much formula and too much radiation
Too many forceps and barbed wire fences
Back seat strategy and lipstick sincerity
The old dealer's doom was his conception

© Dawayne Bailey 1982

Many thanks to Martin Brosch for providing the scans and lyrics.

As Dawayne says, this single is now a serious rarity. There's only about 3 or 4 (unplayed and mint) of the original vinyl 45s of Revenge Of The Nurds/Captain Beefheart Ceremonial Shuffle left and they go for $100.00, which includes shipping.

If anyone is interested in buying one, contact Dawayne through his official websites

http://users.ev1.net/~slatten/dawayne/
http://www.dawaynebailey.com

Information correct as of December 2002

If anyone is able to complete or update any of the information above, then please do get in touch.