All Apologies

I’m going to take a break from the music for today and repost a few things that I put up back when the readership of this blog was about one fifth of what it is now. I’ll get back to the pop music tomorrow, so don’t worry.

The Apology Line (side a)

The Apology Line (side b)

The Apology Line (1-212-255-7714) was an art project created in 1980 by an anonymous man going by the name of Mr. A. The idea of the line was to give people a non-religious outlet for confession and public apologies. The line received hundreds of calls daily from 1980 up through the mid-90s, but the numbers for the Apology Line are no longer in service or have been reassigned since Mr. A died as a victim of a freak hit-and-run boating accident.

I recorded these mp3s from a tape that The Apology Line created and circulated titled The Apology Line: Uncut Gems From Year Zero (1980-1981), which is now out of print. I didn’t bother breaking up the individual confessions into separate mp3s, because it was just easier to offer each 22 minute side of the tape as its own track.

Please bear in mind that many of these confessions are extremely upsetting, and some of the callers seem to be genuinely disturbed individuals. This is not easy listening. However, there are some lighter moments here and there, and other parts which are just bizarre. The tape is an amazing document, and an often fascinating peek into the minds of total strangers.

Artist Unknown “The More You Sell” – This is a selection from the WFMU compilation tape The Happy Listener’s Guide To Mind Control. According to the liner notes, this is from an in-store motivational tape intended for the sales staff of some NYC boutique dating back to the mid-to-late ’80s. Basically, this is a recording of the most evil sounding voiceover man who ever lived intoning creepy self-help/sales jargon over generic 80s dance pop music. It’s pretty terrifying stuff – I have no idea why anyone would ever make a motivational tape sound so incredibly malevolent.