Universal Thought
The long-awaited collection of archived recordings from Universal Thought, the legendary and little-known experimental studio theater group from 1982 to 1987, featuring the work of Tad Baker, Lee Howard and the mad poet, L. Robuis, is now available!
Universal Thought was perhaps the most outrageous, offensive and courageous experimental studio theater/performance art project emerging from California in the 1980's. Combining absurd and powerfully-personal poetics with dynamic musicianship and studio-concrete tape-loop autonomous rhythm ambiences, Universal Thought's amazing collection of recordings -most of which have never been heard even to this day- mark what many believe to be the high-water mark in terms of pure and free creativity emanating from the United States.
The critic, Mark Montaigne, says this about Universal Thought:
"...And since here in the States, we have so little tradition with the absurd let alone poetic philosophical performance work, Universal Thought stood alone -and still does!- as one of the only performing absurdity ensembles in Amercia, and certainly must be considered one of our best...For my money, no one compares in terms of the range of free thought, subject matter and the risks they took in nearly every recording, recordings which are virtually impossible to perform in today's tightly-controlled politically-correct environment...Universal Thought, people, are NOT racists and homophobes, they PERFORM racism and homophobia, for example, to the extreme and by exaggerating the underlying thoughts and principles to show us what lies at the edges of our many of our emotional states...These guys had the testicles of Hercules, and they are sorely missed today..."
The recordings were made on ¼ inch tape at Chico State University's recording studio and with a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder and several Shure 57's in the Universal Thought studio from 1982 to 1987. These recordings capture Universal Thought's unbridled enthusiasm and pioneering poetic thought experiments. They are not for the politically-correct or faint-hearted.
There are 5 Universal Thought Compilations comprising their entire body of work which you can access below. Should you choose to listen to individual recordings of each piece, please visit Uncle Tad's YouTube channel by going here.
Universal Thought Compilation #1:
The Night I fell in Love with Lisa
Prelude/Nepal
Please Forgive Me
Unity of Prism
Supathesh
Slanty Pussy
The Whirling Fandango
Shy
Guilt
Winners
No Personal Problems
Darius Northwood
Fruition
Om Noma Shiva
C-Claw
Universal Thought Compilation #2:
Each of the Following Rights
David Kennedy
How do you plead?
Alpha
They
Peace/Piece of Mind
Hardly a day goes by
Plastic People/See you in Thailand
4 more years
Gnq4
Beirut
Death of the Soul
Universal Thought Compilation #3:
We must not fear Death
Mountain of Jehovah
Closet
I'm a fool/Beingengengulousness
Cleanup Team
Tones
I don't want to work
I'm tuning
The Risk
Paul Bradshaw: A Direction
Competing Chatter
Craig Hines: Montage of Thought (Attention Illuminati; Blood Red Lust; A Bottle into the Sea)
Universal Thought Compilation #4:
She has left me
I'm glowing/Lies
What is it I'm feeling?
The Artist
Without Him Now
Do you understand/Doesn't really matter
Change the Terms
The family is changing/The Plan
Death-die/Pregnant Man (Father-Mother)/Red Sky
Lenny Bias/John Law
Milque-toast Society
Mama Mama/Patriotism
Stop laughing at me!
Prey to God/Fuck You!
Kyrnva/Execution/Tunafish Cunny/Army-Navy
Zip-lock bags
Disobey
No Pressure
Universal Thought Compilation #5:
Smelly Pussy
HTLV-13
Giardia (instrumental)/Pataphysics
What is drug testing?
The Surface of God/Hepatits B/Miami 48/The Warrior
The Unintelligible Language of Truth
Vivid/Claims/La Vertu
Panel on Expertise
The Paul Bradshaw Poetic Montage
The Mess/Productive-Consumptive
The Standard Bearer/The Pawhe/Did Jesus ever say 'fuck you'?
The work...of Morgan Leach
How often will I be here?
#1 Party School
I love you, Baby, let's dance!
Bozo
Here are a few individual sample recordings of some of Universal Thought's body of work:
Guilt
How do you plead?
Disobey
Winners
We must not fear Death
No Pressure
4 More Years!
Tones
Panel on Expertise