The Good Missionaries
Perry has cheerfully and naively disregarded the slightest imitation of rock ‘n’ pop frameworks and become totally intrigued by noise, space and improvisation. Paul Morley, 31.3.79, NME
Though the above was referencing the last gasps of ATV, it perfectly sums up the band/Perry morphing into the Good Missionaries and cutting the last strings to that past musical life. Reaction to Perry’s more left field Vibing Up The Senile Man wasn’t positive because audience expectations were for his punk persona.
Mark Perry The audience knew ATV from How Much Longer and Action Time Vision and suddenly we’re onstage with a hippie girl singer, me scratching away on a violin, playing xylophones and that, and they hated us . We used to get things thrown at us….anyway I got knocked out onstage in Derby … I had a bottle thrown at me…
Lost In A Room, Richard Johnson
One album and single would be issued (mixed acclaim -poor sales) before the band finished and Perry went solo with Snappy Turns on the downward spiral to dropping out of music for a time.
Mark Perry Mind you I’ve got it easy, I am free from pressure of commercial success. If my records bomb out I can always do another one. Even so, I still like mucking people about so maybe they’ll consider less obvious firms of music. NME, 13.05.79
Manchester University Live 19/5/79
Heard The One About The Good Missionaries
The Pop Group/Dambala/The Good Missionaries – London Empire Ballroom
Opening the proceedings, The Good Missionaries were just ridiculously good. The wise addition of Henry Badowski on drums/percussion has lent an all-important binding factor to the sound; where at Greenwich, the sound was perhaps too de-centralised, now the output is far more solid, far more tangible, most importantly, this Empire Ballroom performance demonstrated perfectly adequately that Mark Perry has the proverbial finger on the button: so much so that “people”” just can’t come to terms with the fact. Alternative TV were bound and gagged by “image” and “reputation” none of which was of their own making. Now in ‘The Good Missionary’, he sings “Smash Alternative Television” and he does just that.
Instruments are literally raffled and swapped throughout, between Perry himself and Dave George, whose role within The Good Missionaries is becoming progressively more functional and active: his incensed contribution to ‘The Force Is Blind’ is nothing less than crucial . . . . and the following rocker ‘Lost In Room’, allows him space to concoct simplistic, cutting guitar lines. It climaxes chaotically.
‘Release The Natives’ is stark, more aggressive than on the album; there’s also a stripped down ‘Nasty Little Lonely’ which stems into improvised areas, fixing and astounding.
And finally the masterstroke. For ‘The Good Missionary’, Sam, Mandy and Simon from the Transmitters stroll onto the stage, as does Genesis P-Orridge, who takes over the drum seat. Drums, sax three guitars, two basses, keyboards . . . the sound is massively stirring and dense. Destroying his own “heritage”, Perry guides the unit through self-destruct re-vamps of ‘Action Time Vision’, ‘How Much Longer’. ‘Action time Banana . . . and the onstage glee is automatically injected into the crowd.
The Good Missionaries project is steadily becoming more self-assured, more positive, more radical. Gradually the name Perry is becoming less synonymous with The Good Missionaries: the frontiers are being broken down step by step, This was some performance, That’s beyond contention.
Chris Westwood, Record Mirror, 19.5.79
Mark P would have been overjoyed with that review. But the review was in the minority.
TalkPunk
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