You're A Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary of Dial-A-Poem (1968-1983)

[Various Artists]

You're A Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary of Dial-A-Poem (1968-1983)

New York City, USA: Giorno Poetry Systems, 1983

12” vinyl record

Edition size unknown

A collection of authors, poets, musicians and composers collected to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Dial-A-Poem project, and the (tenth, eleventh?) anniversary of the record label. 

Side One

1. John Giorno: (Last Night) I Gambled with My Anger and Lost (Greene Street Recording, New York, August 1983)

2. William S. Burroughs: “Old Man Bickford” from The Place of Dead Roads (Kabuki Theater, San Francisco, February 25, 1983)

3.  Laurie Anderson: Song from America on the Move (The Nova Convention, New York, April 29, 1977)

4. Philip Glass: A Secret Solo (Big Apple Studios, New York, April 29, 1977)

Side Two

1. Lenny Kaye: No Jestering (The Place, Eugene, Oregon, May 9, 1978)

2. Patti Smith: “7 Ways Of Going” from The Histories of the World (New York, January 1, 1975) / Fire of Unknown Origin (The Nova Convention, New York, December 1978)

3. Jim Carroll: From The Basketball Diaries (Giorno Poetry Systems, New York, March 30, 1969)

4. Frank Zappa:  The Talking Asshole (The Nova Convention, New York, December 2, 1978)

5. Allen Ginsberg: Father Death Blues (ZBS Media, Fort Edward, New York, February 28-March 1, 1981, courtesy of Hammon Music Enterprises

"In 1961 I was a young poet who hung out with young artists like Andy Warhol, Bob Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, as well as with members of the Judson Dance Theatre. The use of modern mass media and technologies by these artists made me realize that poetry was 75 years behind painting and sculpture, dance and music. And I thought, if they can do it, why can't I do it for poetry. Why not try to connect with an audience using all the entertainments of ordinary life: television, the telephone, record albums, etc? It was the poet's job to invent new venues and make fresh contact with the audience. This inspiration gave rise to Giorno Poetry Systems” 

- John Giorno