Drama of Exile

Drama of Exile

Cover as it was used by Aura for their 1981 LP release, the album's first. Also used for subsequent CD releases by other labels, except the one from Cleopatra Records (see below).
Studio album by Nico
Released 1981
Recorded April–May 1981 at Music Works Studio, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Genre
Label Aura
Producer Jean-Marc Philippe Quilichini
Nico chronology
The End...
(1974)		 Drama of Exile
(1981)		 Camera Obscura
(1985)
Alternative cover
Cover as it was used by Cleopatra Records for their 1993 CD release.
The Drama of Exile

One of the covers used for the release of the re-recorded version.
Studio album by Nico
Released 1983
Recorded May 1981 at Music Works Studio, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Genre
Label Invisible Records
Producer Jean-Marc Philippe Quilichini
Nico chronology
The End...
(1974)		 Drama of Exile
(1981)		 Camera Obscura
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic (1981 version)[1]
Rolling Stonegenerally favorable[2]

Drama of Exile and The Drama of Exile are the titles of two albums by German musician Nico, recorded in 1981. The album has a complicated release history: the first album, Drama of Exile, was originally recorded in April and May 1981, whilst the second album, The Drama of Exile, is a re-recording of the first one done that same May. The album featured a Middle Eastern rhythm section and was produced by Corsican reggae bassist Philippe Quilichini. This is Nico's first album to feature no input from frequent collaborator John Cale.

Background

After the release of The End... in 1974, Nico's partnership with Island Records ended and she spent the majority of her time in New York City, without a record deal, appearing in a series of Philippe Garrel films.

She did, however, continue to write new songs and perform intermittently. "Purple Lips" featured in her solo sets as early as March 1975, and was also performed on French television in April 1975; its lyrics were recited by Nico in the Philippe Garrel film Le Berceau de Cristal (1976). The earliest recorded performance of "Genghis Khan" dates to August 6, 1975, with non-LP "Procession" and "Henry Hudson" featuring in set lists from February 1977.

By March 1978, with "The Sphinx" also introduced into her set, Nico had settled on the title Drama of Exile and resolved to try a new style at odds with her previous harmonium-based sound. Nico continued to write and by early 1981 had enough songs ready to record a new album.

Recording and release

The original album was plagued by suspicious circumstances. There are different versions of the story, and the truth remains ambiguous.

During the recording a sound engineer stole the unfinished record and sold it to the company Aura which released it immediately. Of course, we sued them. We re-recorded the album but the court trial took forever. I had neither money nor strength to go on. The most commonly sold version of Drama of Exile is unauthorized. We released the original form with Invisible Records but only in a very small edition and so it's more a collector's item.
— Jacques Pasquier[3]
Aura offered to finance one album, to be recorded in London and produced by Philippe Quilichini. Contracts were drawn up, Aura advanced the production costs and recording began almost immediately. Recorded at Gooseberry Studios in Tulse Hill, London, with a band composed of Quilichini, guitarist Mahammad Hadi, drummer Steve Cordonna, Ian Dury's sax player Davey Payne, and Andy Clark, the keyboard player who so sparkled on David Bowie's Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) album. With the album nearly finished, and sounding great, A.S. [Aaron Sixx, head of Aura] received a tip-off from the studio that N. Duget (Nico's unofficial manager) had arranged to steal the master tapes from the studio and sell them, without reimbursing Aura. A.S. scuppered those plans by taking possession of all the tapes. A legal battle ensued, which was to last almost 3 years. Duget claimed Nico had not signed the contract. True, but an agreement was made and Aura had paid out considerable sums in production costs. Ownership therefore rested with Aura. During this period of legal machinations, Nico recorded a single, "Sãeta/Vegas", which emerged on the Flicknife label in 1981. In 1982, Nico, tired of all the legal wranglings, abandoned N.D. and P.Q. and asked Aura to finally release the Drama of Exile album. At that time she also signed over the publishing rights to her original Drama songs to Aura Music. In 1983, having won the legal battle, Aura proceeded to release the album. P.Q. was angry and, taking no notice of the legal restrictions involved, went back to Paris with some tapes he had secretly copied during recording. He remixed those tapes and had an illegal version of the album released in France. Aura quickly put a stop to this album and it was subsequently withdrawn.
— Dave Thompson, liner notes of Nico-Icon CD
Quilichini and his girlfriend also hatched a plan to steal the tapes in a bid to cheat Aura Records and sell them on to another company. Aaron Sixx managed to rescue them with a last minute dash to the studios, but with their plan thwarted the couple severely delayed the release of the album by trying to take him to court. But with the record finally released and lauded by many critics as her best ever, Nico embarked on the usual round of promotional interviews.
— Fraser Massey, liner notes of Drama of Exile, UK CD edition 1996
"It was all really boring, all that quiet stuff," Nico said of her past albums. "And having been a member of The Velvet Underground, rock 'n' roll is something I have to do at some point, even if only for one album"... [Aura label head Aaron] Sixx admitted that Nico "didn't give a shit what happened to the LP, she just wanted the money for drugs." Yet despite these unconventional circumstances, Drama of Exile would see Nico receive some of the best reviews of her career.
— Dave Thompson, Better to Burn Out: The Cult of Death in Rock 'N' Roll[4]

The two versions had slightly different personnel and instrumentation. A version of the original LP recordings was released in 1981 by Aura Records[5] in the Netherlands and Sweden only, several months after the debacle with the masters. The re-make was held up for two years, and was finally released in 1983 by Invisible Records. The original version of the LP was released on CD for the first time in Germany by Line Records in 1988, in the United States by Cleopatra Records in 1993 and in England by Great Expectations Records in 1989.

Musical style

Drama of Exile has been described as "a tentative foray into post-punk".[6] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, the author writes "Drama of Exile pairs [Nico] with a thin new wave band that wouldn't have sounded out-of-place on, say, Rough Trade."[2] Nico and the album were covered in Dave Thompson's book on gothic rock, The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock.[7]

Track listing

Drama of Exile (1981)

All songs written and composed by Nico, except where noted. 

Side A
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Genghis Khan"     3:52
2. "Purple Lips"     4:10
3. "One More Chance"     5:38
4. "Henry Hudson"     3:54
5. "I'm Waiting for the Man"  Lou ReedReed 4:13
Side B
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Sixty/Forty"     4:50
2. "The Sphinx"     3:30
3. "Orly Flight"     3:55
4. "Heroes"  David BowieBowie, Brian Eno 6:06

The Drama of Exile (1983)

All songs written and composed by Nico, except where noted. 

Side A
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "One More Chance"     4:13
2. "The Sphinx"     4:00
3. "Sãeta"     3:40
4. "Genghis Khan"     3:34
5. "Heroes"  BowieBowie, Eno 5:41
Side B
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Henry Hudson"     3:46
2. "60/40"     4:35
3. "Orly Flight"     2:48
4. "Vegas"     3:30
5. "I'm Waiting for My Man"  ReedReed 4:14

Personnel

Drama of Exile
The Drama of Exile

For the remake, the lineup was the same but without Davey Payne, and with additional help from:

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Dave. "Drama of Exile – Nico | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 December 2014. delete character in |title= at position 27 (help)
  2. 1 2 Brackett, Nathan; David Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 586. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Interview with Jacques Pasquier". rakosrecords.cz. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008.
  4. ↑ Thompson, David (1998). Better to Burn Out: The Cult of Death in Rock 'N' Roll. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-56025-190-3.
  5. ↑ See this page from a fansite, which displays information of all releases of the original version.
  6. ↑ Goddard, Simon (24 April 2012). Mozipedia: The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and The Smiths. Random House. p. 296. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Thompson, Dave (1 November 2002). The Dark Reign of Gothic Rock. Helter Skelter. p. 109. Retrieved 3 December 2014.

External links

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