Timeline: 1980
University of Guelph disaster gig
A January 18 show at University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, is cut short due to sound problems and general brouhaha.
They walked off stage after playing a handful of songs, only return later for a rather bizarre second helping.
"(...) the band is out there cookin'. Sounding great to us. But Cale looks disturbed. He keeps pointing to his ear. Constantly distracted, looking at the sound people, trying to communicate with them while playing. It was definitely taking away from what sounded like a killer set to us. But Cale just looked like he was fit to be tied. Approximately 20-30 minutes into the set, Cale just walks off stage looking like he was muttering to himself, all pissed off. So the rest of the band follows, and apparently the show is over. House lights come on and the whole bit."
Mercenaries single
Single containing two tracks: Mercenaries (Ready For War) and Rosegarden Funeral of Sores.
Note: this studio version of Mercenaries was never officially released on an album. The mastertape is lost. A live version can be found on the Sabotage/Live album.
Bauhaus covers "Rosegarden Funeral of Sores"
English gothic rock band Bauhaus are quick to record a cover of Rosegarden Funeral of Sores on their Telegram Sam EP.
It can also be found on the expanded CD reissue of their In The Flat Field album.
Producing Modern Guy
Produces and plays clavecimbel, grand organ and percussion on Une Nouvelle Vie, an album by French New Wave group Modern Guy.
The Nine Lives Of Gordon Liddy
Performs the song cycle The Nine Lives Of Gordon Liddy at the Squat Theatre in New York on May 24 and 25.
Gordon Liddy was one of the Watergate burglars, a crew of five men who made the way into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in 1972. It became a major scandal and it led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
The cycle combines older songs - Only Time Will Tell (Sabotage/Live), later to be released songs like Thoughtless Kind (Music For A New Society), Streets of Laredo (Honi Soit) coupled with Cable Hogue (Helen Of Troy), and unreleased pieces: Cold Country Comfort and Coming Around Again. Never recorded as a whole.
"Temper" Troublemakers
Temper, an outtake from the recording sessions for The Academy In Peril, is released on the promotional 2LP compilation Warner Bros. Records Troublemakers as as part of the label's mail order only promotional Loss Leaders series. The instrumental is also released on the Seducing Down The Door compilation. It is also released on the expanded and remastered verson of The Academy In Peril album in 2024.
Producing Snatch
Produces three tracks - Shopping For Clothes, Joey and Red Army - for Snatch, an experimental punk rock duo formed by Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin. The former sang backup on The Man Who Couldn't Afford To Orgy and the Even Cowgirls Get The Blues album. Cale is not credited as a producer on the 12". Shopping For Clothes and Joey can also be found on the duo's self-titled compilation album, which is released in 1983.