Trent Reznor, Uncle Al, and the Revolting Cocks

[TheBang]

So, I've been doing lots of reading and research into the early NIN years (1988-1991) recently, and I just wanted to collate a few interesting things (and photos that I found) about the Hate/RevCo period, specifically regarding Trent's hair and the recording of Get Down, Make Love.

So, in this AltPress interview (the whole interview is great), conducted in May 1990 before they head out on their headlining Hate tour, Trent talks about mixing "Get Down, Make Love" in the future at Al's Chicago Trax studio for the Sin single (released Oct. 10, 1990). So, as of May 1990, GDML hasn't been laid down properly yet, even though they've been playing it live since late 1989:

Jourgensen could have a prominent role in the picture. Reznor's already recruited him and Ministry's Paul Barker to produce a cover of Queen's "Get Down Make Love," a song NIN have been performing in concert. It will be the B-side of the new "Sin" single, which will be produced by Adrian Sherwood.

"I'll record it here and then mix it up there [Chicago] and we'll just destroy it," Reznor laughs.

Trent's hair, meanwhile, is long and dreadlock-y throughout the end of the Hate tour, as confirmed by , conducted on the last date of the Hate tour, Aug. 4, 1990, in Cleveland.

Al Jourgensen, meanwhile, has related an anecdote several times over the years, in detail, about how he shaved Trent's (and Chris Vrenna's) head during that studio session for GDML (here and here):

I roofied [Trent] when we were in the studio and shaved his head while he was passed out. I was actually gonna shave his eyebrows off as well, but he came to after I had only finished one eyebrow.

Now, Trent joined the RevCo tour (already in progress) right after the end of the Hate tour, with his first date being Aug. 6, 1990, in Cleveland. And here's where the pictures come in:

Aug 15, 1990 - Houston, TX, Numbers:


Aug 19, 1990 - Austin, TX, Liberty Lunch (yes, that's Jeff Ward on drums):


Aug 22, 1990 - San Francisco, CA, The Stone (I think, might be Los Angeles):


So, the thing I can't figure out is that Trent's head was clearly shaved sometime between Aug. 4 and Aug. 15, but I have no idea when that could have happened in the studio, if Al's story is to be believed. Here are the RevCo tour dates. It's solid touring during that period; no time to take a few days off for mixing GDML in the Chicago studio.

The only thing I can figure is that Al's story is BS. Maybe because it sounds cooler if he says he roofied Trent in the studio, rather than just doing it when he passed out on the tour? I dunno.

If you ever wondered why Trent's hair is short on the Sin and Lollapalooza tours and the Sin music video (Nov. 1990), this is why. End of post.

[bobbie solo]