A benefit compilation for the Benefits Program of the Vietnam Veterans of America. Subsequent proceeds following the first few thousand have also been extended to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of the War through IAVA
Following is an essay Bonnie, one of Exotic Fever's co-founders, included in the original liner notes.
This compilation was created to serve two purposes. The first was to place before some of our favorite musicians the task of reinventing music from the classic rock era, namely, the Vietnam era, which spanned the early 1960s to the mid-1970s. Although very instrumental in developing what music was then and what it is today, classic rock, I believed, gets recognized less in the punk/indie community. With this project in mind, I wanted to see how a hybrid of the two would change the dynamics of both the songs the bands picked to work on, and the bands' writing styles. The second reason fit hand in hand with the first - since working for the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), I've learned a tremendous amount about veterans and their lives. I believe that this compilation would be a great way to advocate on behalf of a voice that is barely heard. Since the war in Vietnam and thereafter, veterans have been dehumanized, not just by their fellow American people, but by the very government that sent them there. The Vietnam Veterans of America's Benefits Program along with the Government Relations department are the main veins of the organization that help to speak for the men and women who have been left to heal themselves from their time in service. Since its inception in 1979, the VVA has continually been at the forefront of veterans issues in America, many times taking on heated problems that other more traditional veterans organizations failed to grasp. From revealing the damaging effects of agent-orange herbicides to women veterans' issues to incarcerated veterans to vigorously advocating on behalf of Gulf War veterans beset with undiagnosed illnesses, VVA is a progressive trail blazer. The benefits program, which this compilation is benefiting, provides free legal representation for veterans in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs, assisting them in getting the compensation they need and deserve from disabilities incurred in service. Veterans are our fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, as well as husbands and wives...Human Beings. We are all affected by their lives.
Thank you graciously for your support! Proceeds will be donated to the Vietnam Veterans of America's Veterans Benefits Program.
-Bonnie Schlegel Frasure of Exotic Fever Records
released March 1, 2003
Mastering: Alan Douches at West West Side in Tenafly, NJ
wwsm@aol.com
Pressing and manufacturing: Furnace Manufacturing
info@furnacecd.com
Graphic Design: Jason Farrell and Brent Eyestone
Photograph: Marine Waiting for Flight
"Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace."
-Donald Barnhouse
Endless thanks and affection to: Eric Astor, Chad Clark, Kim Coletta, John Davis, Tony Dolvin, Alan Douches, Elizabeth Elmore, Jason Farrell, Brent Eyestone, William Frasure, Bud & Brian Galvin, Tom Hall, Sara Klemm, Ted Leo, T.J. Lipple & ULF Magnet, Katy Otto, Heidi Glenn, J. Robbins, Leigh Sabol and her crew from the Assistant and Tasharrah, JJ Skolnik, Sean Nelson, Erik Denno, Ryan Nelson, Ann Jager, Jason Hutto, Jimmy Askew, Clark Sabine, Chris Walla, Mollie Karpman, Len Selfon & The Veterans Benefits Department, The Vietnam Veterans of America, The Schlegel Family, The Frasure Family, Ian MacKaye and Dischord Records, Enon, Panoply Academy Legionnaires, The Reputation, Big Heavy Stuff, Atom Bomb Pocket Knife, Death Cab for Cutie, Q and Not U, The Cable Car Theory, The Caribbean, The Dorian Wood Guilt Trip, Beauty Pill, John Guilt, Cash Audio and Rob Lowe, The Gooses, Dame Fate, All little babies, and God.
This project is dedicated to my darling, Hannah and dearest Bill.
"The Good Stars met in your horoscope, made you of spirit & fire & dew."
-Browning