Datapanik in the Year Zero

Datapanik in the Year Zero is a 1996 box set by Pere Ubu, which catalogues their initial phase of existence up to their 1982 break-up (which later turned out to be merely a hiatus). The title was first used by the band for a 1978 EP which compiled their first singles; the name was "recycled" for this release. The name references the Cold War film Panic in Year Zero! (1962).^[3]

Datapanik in the Year Zero
Box set by Pere Ubu
Released	1996
Recorded	1975–1982
Genre	Post-punk, experimental rock, avant-garde music
Label	DGC (original release) Cooking Vinyl (reissue)
Pere Ubu chronology
Ray Gun Suitcase (1995) Datapanik in the Year Zero (1996) Pennsylvania (1998)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

This box set compiles the original EP of the same name, their first five albums (which were out of print at the time this set was released), along with a disc of live material, and another of related rarities. It omits "Use of a Dog" from Song of the Bailing Man, "Humor Me", "Not Happy" and "Lonesome Cowboy Dave" from Terminal Tower and the vocal version of "Arabia" from The Art of Walking. Since, according to David Thomas, Pere Ubu do not produce outtakes or alternate versions (aside from a few anomalies related to an early version of The Art of Walking^[4]), the rarities disc is unique in that it features groups that were sometimes only tangentially related to Ubu, in an effort to present an overview of the mercurial Cleveland scene out of which they grew.

In 2009, Cooking Vinyl released a remastered version of the box set. It restores "Use of a Dog" but omits the fourth disc of live recordings.^[5]

Track listing

All tracks by Pere Ubu

Disc 1: 1975-1977

1. "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" – 6:21
2. "Heart of Darkness" – 4:44
3. "Final Solution" – 4:58
4. "Cloud 149" – 2:37
5. "Untitled" – 3:32
6. "My Dark Ages" – 4:00
7. "Heaven" – 3:04
8. "Nonalignment Pact" – 3:18
9. "The Modern Dance" – 3:28 (album mix)
10. "Laughing" – 4:35
11. "Street Waves" – 3:04
12. "Chinese Radiation" – 3:27
13. "Life Stinks" – 1:52
14. "Real World" – 4:00
15. "Over My Head" – 3:49
16. "Sentimental Journey" – 6:06
17. "Humor Me" – 2:43
18. "The Book Is on the Table" – 4:02

Disc 2: 1978-1979

1. "Navvy" – 2:40
2. "On the Surface" – 2:35
3. "Dub Housing" – 3:40
4. "Caligari's Mirror" – 3:49
5. "Thriller!" – 4:36
6. "I, Will Wait" – 1:46
7. "Drinking Wine Spodyody" – 2:44
8. "Ubu Dance Party" – 4:46
9. "Blow Daddy O" – 3:38
10. "Codex" – 4:54
11. "The Fabulous Sequel (Have Shoes, Will Walk)" – 3:07
12. "49 Guitars & One Girl" – 2:51
13. "A Small Dark Cloud" – 5:49
14. "Small Was Fast" – 3:30
15. "All the Dogs Are Barking" – 3:02
16. "One Less Worry" – 3:46
17. "Make Hay" – 4:02
18. "Goodbye" – 5:17
19. "Voice of the Sand" – 1:27
20. "Jehovah's Kingdom Comes" – 3:15

Disc 3: 1980-1982

1. "Go" – 3:35
2. "Rhapsody in Pink" – 3:34
3. "Arabia" – 4:59
4. "Young Miles in the Basement" – 4:20
5. "Misery Goats" – 2:38
6. "Loop" – 3:15
7. "Rounder" – 3:24
8. "Birdies" – 2:27
9. "Lost in Art" – 5:12
10. "Horses" – 2:35
11. "Crush This Horn" – 3:00
12. "The Long Walk Home" – 2:35
13. "Petrified" – 2:16
14. "Stormy Weather" – 3:18
15. "West Side Story" – 2:46
16. "Thoughts That Go by Steam" – 3:47
17. "Big Ed's Used Farms" – 2:24
18. "A Day Such as This" – 7:16
19. "The Vulgar Boatman Bird" – 2:49
20. "My Hat" – 1:19
21. "Horns Are a Dilemma" – 4:21

Disc 4: 390 Degrees of Simulated Stereo, Volume 2

1. "Vocal Liner Notes" 0:56
2. "Theatre 140, 5/5/78" 0:07
3. "Real World" – 4:32
4. "Laughing" – 5:19
5. "Street Waves" – 4:30
6. "Humor Me" – 3:08
7. "Over My Head" – 5:00
8. "Sentimental Journey" – 8:49
9. "Life Stinks" – 3:13
10. "My Dark Ages" – 5:30
11. "C. Teatro Medica, 3/3/81" 0:11
12. "The Modern Dance" – 3:40
13. "Codex" – 3:24
14. "Ubu Dance Party" – 3:57
15. "Big Ed's Used Farms" – 3:27
16. "Real World" – 2:46
17. "Birdies" – 2:15

Disc 5: Terminal Drive (Ubu-related rarities)

1. Foreign Bodies: "The Incredible Truth" – 2:35
2. 15-60-75: "It's in Imagination" – 4:43
3. Syd's Dance Band: "Never Again" – 2:20
4. Carney & Thomas: "Sunset in the Antipodes" – 2:26
5. Home & Garden: "(please) FIX MY HORN (my brakes don't work)" – 3:24
6. Neptune's Car: "Baking Bread" – 2:13
7. David Thomas: "Atom Mind" – 2:29
8. Tripod Jimmie: "Autumn Leaves" – 4:17
9. Friction: "Dear Richard" – 5:56
10. Pressler-Morgan: "You're Gonna Watch Me" – 1:40
11. Rocket from the Tombs: "Amphetamine" – 5:32
12. Mirrors: "She Smiled Wild" – 3:57
13. Electric Eels: "Jaguar Ride" – 1:46
14. Tom Herman: "Steve Canyon Blues" – 4:17
15. Allen Ravenstine: "Home Life" – 6:47
16. Rocket from the Tombs: "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" – 7:00
17. Proto Ubu: "Heart of Darkness" – 8:47
18. Pere Ubu: "Pushin' Too Hard" – 3:54

Personnel

• Michael Aylward – Guitar
• Scott Benedict – Drums
• Cindy Black – Moog Synthesizer
• Lenny Bove – Bass
• Ralph Carney – Keyboards, Saxophone
• Brian Cox – Bass
• Jim Crook – Bass
• Chris Cutler – Drums
• Albert Dennis – Bowed Bass
• The Electric Eels – Performer
• Eric Drew Feldman – Keyboards
• Anton Fier – Drums
• John Freskos – Guitar
• Friction – Performer
• Alan Greenblatt – Guitar
• Kenneth Hamann – Producer
• Paul Hamann – Bass, Producer, Digital Transfers
• Tom Herman – Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
• Home and Garden – Producer
• John Hume – Photography
• Terry Hynde – Alto Saxophone
• Bart Johnson – Bass
• Jim Jones – Bass, Producer, Compilation Producer
• Bob Kidney – Guitar, Vocals
• Jack Kidney – Tenor Saxophone
• Adam Kidron – Producer
• Jamie Klimek – Guitar, Vocals
• Scott Krauss – Organ, Drums, Tape
• Peter Laughner – Guitar, Vocals
• Tony Maimone – Synthesizer, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
• Paul Marotta – Producer
• Brian McMahon – Guitar
• Morgan – Performer
• Douglas Morgan – Guitar, Harp, Vocals, Producer
• Pat Morgan – Guitar
• John Morton – Guitar
• Pere Ubu – Producer
• Mark Price – Bass
• Allen Ravenstine – Synthesizer, Tape, Performer
• Dave Robinson – Drums
• Rocket from the Tombs – Performer
• Pat Ryan – Producer
• Susan Schmidt – Guitar
• Tom Simon – Photography
• Michael Stacey – Guitar
• Michele Temple – Bass
• David Thomas – Organ, Harmonica, Saxophone, Vocals, Producer, Performer, Digital Transfers, Compilation Producer
• John Thompson – Design, Photography
• Mayo Thompson – Guitar
• Tripod Jimmie – Performer
• Michael J. Weldon – Drums
• Robert Wheeler – Synthesizer, Theremin
• Tim Wright – Bass, Guitar

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Rolling Stone review
3. "Frequently Asked Questions concerning: Reissues". ubuprojex.com. February 27, 2017. The inspiration for the title was a movie, a sci-fi vision of a dysfunctional future called Panic In The Year Zero. In 1978 Johnny & I were intrigued by the notion of Too Much Information. We felt that information had become a sedative, an info-sedative. That deprived of their info-sedative people become restless and unhappy. Info-sedative is painless and requires nothing of the user. Strangely prophetic in light of the internet today.
4. "Ubu Projex Bug Report". ubuprojex.com. February 27, 2017.
5. "Datapanik In The Year Zero". ubuprojex.com.

External links

• Datapanik In The Year Zero: The Box Set - original release description