A german saying goes: If you never were a Marxist when you were still young, you ain’t got no heart. If you’re still a Marxist, you ain’t got no brains.
Let me say: If you never loved KLEENEX, you ain’t got neither, not now and not in the future.
Four young women coming together in the boiling but not yet errupting Zurich of the late 1970s, releasing 2 7″s (well, sort of 3), before being forced to change the band name due to copyright issues. Then the gals named themselves LILIPUT, another great band name, released 3 more 7″s (one of them is to be found on this very blog), two LP’s before calling it a day. And you know what? The band was as original, fresh and untamed in the end as it was in the beginning.
This debut 7″ was released in Switzerland first, before London’s “Rough Trade” picked it up and re-released it with two songs left out and a b&w cover. Here’s the full glory for you. One of the few moments in musical history that might change your life, if it hasn’t already.
Beri-Beri.mp3
Ain’t you.mp3
Hedi’s Head.mp3
Nice.mp3
18 Comments
I luv you
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never knew there was this version. so great!!!!!!
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This is an amazing EP and maybe the best early Punk I ever heard. Great post!!!
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Apparemtly there different versions of the sleeve, as the one that can be seen at this great German language speaking countries punk & NDW source at http://www.punk-disco.com (Swiss section) has the same background (the records and the letters in the same colours) but different pics of the girls.
The Rough Trade 45 (RT 009, 1/79) had only Aint you / Hedi’s head. It was highly championed by the late John Peel.
Anybody knows what’s (or who’s) “Hedi’s head” about?
Fernando
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This EP sucks!!!
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This EP rocks!
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So do you!!!!!!
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A cutie pie
.
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Kurz und bündig die Grösse von Kleenex auf den Punkt gebracht. Merci für dieses schöne und angmessene Textli.
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Great, great single!
As for that “German saying”, it’s always expressed in English as “if you’re not a socialist at 20 you have no heart, if you’re not a conservative at 40 you have no brain”, and usually (wrongly) attributed to Winston Churchill, although it predates him.
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the english version of the saying is wimpy and has not half of the wit of ther german one. maybe you were wrong with it.
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Hi. Haven’t heard these songs before. However, I’m quite convinced that titles of ‘Beri-beri’ and ‘Nice’ are mixed up. Am I wrong?
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THIS BAND FUCKING SUCKS!!!
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OK I really want to punch a few people in the face for saying this album sucks. Kleenex / Liliput was an amazing band, later taking a similar road that the Bad Brains took, only Bohemian rather than reggae. If you like this record, you had better own “Cut” by The Slits, and The AVENGERS.
I’m sure the faggots who don’t like this album are sitting in their mother’s basement right now clutching a NOFX CD. Eat a dick, poseurs.
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When I heard this record on John Peel, I rushed out and bought it. It doesn’t sound quite as good as it did when I was 14 but it still sounds good. I wish I still had those young ears. The ones I have now need replacing.
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honestly i can say anyone who doesn’t like this band can never be my friend. this rocks. it simply rocks. switzerland had the best punk no question. and then they had the best grindcore hahaha. these girls could play punk no question.
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The more I listen to them, the more I become convinced they were just the greatest band of all time. Amid the yelps, whistles and “Hoop-lah!”s I think it’s easy to lose sight of just how stunning their music was, and to me it’s as fresh as ever – maybe better. It took me a while to get into the later stuff, but the perfect pop of In a Mess or the ethereality of Boatsong stand up against anything created then or since. Truly one of the greats, and I’d rate the 2-CD retrospective the most essential release of this or any other millennium.
btw Fernando, the story I heard is that Hedi’s Head is named from the song’s German note sequence – H, E, D is, H, E, A, D (H=B, is=sharp), but you’ll have to ask a German musician for confirmation. So “Hedi’s head is so dread [full of dread? Or rasta, or dreadlocked?], Hedi is oh so sad”. And er, that’s what it’s about! Who could ask for more?
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Hi! Thanks for this! Btw, just in case someone is interested, Kleenex s/t 7″ will be reissued by Rough Trade soon. You can check it for yourself here:
http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=338693
Thought that you would like to know…
Cheers and thanks again!
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2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] out the first KLEENEX 7″ here. Here’s what happened to KLEENEX after they had to change the band [...]
[...] of KLEENEX / LILIPUT’s discography. You can hear the first and truly epochal KLEENEX 7″ here. More KLEENEX here and LILIPUT here (that’s the name they picked after they forced to change [...]
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