DISSIDENT ARTS: CDs/Books

Released March 2007, the second CD by the Flames of Discontent, 'Revenge of the Atom Spies' was heard on the airwaves of WBAI-FM (NYC), WDST-FM (Woodstock NY) WKZE-FM (Red Hook NY), WVKR-FM (Poughkeepsie NY)and WJFF-FM (Catskill Mountain area) as well as KDHX-FM (St. Louis, MO), WSUR-FM (Eau Claire, WI), KAOS (Olympia, WA) and KIAK-FM (Fairbanks AL). Two of its selections were chosen to be a part of Neil Young's website 'LIVING WITH WAR TODAY...

"Revenge of the Atom Spies" was recorded in the cold reality of upstate New York in January, 2007. Even with the peripheral knowledge of a new Congress in place, our immediate view was confronted by an endless illegal war waged by an illegitimate president. The promise of the New Year--one without a right-wing stranglehold of Washington--continues, yet both the butcher's bill and the deficit continue to swell. Civil liberties, labor laws, women's rights, environmental protections, and immigrants' rights have been strip-mined. Suspicion of other continues, even as our loyalty is questioned. Today we live in a frightening reflection of the infamous Red Scare periods in US history: the first one was in 1919 in response to waves of labor revolts and European communist revolutions, the second was in the 1930s as the right fought against the social reforms of the Roosevelt Administration, and the third, which began in 1947 and boiled over in the 50s, only seemed to fade by the late 1970s. That last red scare was accompanied by the McCarthy witch-hunt and was designed by the corporate and military powers that had been waiting in the wings since the right-wing lost power in 1932. Their long-term plan to fully dismantle the New Deal continues to this day. But where there once was duck-and-cover we now have duct tape and Anne Coulter ; the reign of western empire has now morphed into cowboy capitalism. Nothing's changed but "who" and "when". Plant the fear and start again....

1) Stung Right (Joe Hill)

2) Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis)

3) September's Divide(Pietaro/Towers)

4) I Cannot and Will Not Cut My Conscience To Fit This Year's Fashions: Lillian Hellman's Letter to HUAC

5) Contrasts (Pietaro/Towers)

6) Revenge of the Atom Spies (Pietaro/Towers)

7) Who's To Blame? (Pietaro/Towers/Figueroa)

8) Ballad of the Big Wind (Pietaro/Towers)

9) Walls (Figueroa/Towers

10) Joe Hill (Alfred Hayes/Earl Robinson)

11) Song of the Translucent Liberal (Pietaro/Towers)

12) You Are the UnAmericans and You Should Be Ashamed of Yourselves: Paul Robeson Stands Up To HUAC

13) Injustice (Pietaro/Towers)

14) Viva La Quince Brigade (Bart Van Der Schelling; based on a traditional tune)


JOHN PIETARO: vocals, electric 5-string banjo, acoustic 5-string banjo, spoken word, xylophone, drumkit, acoustic guitar

LAURIE TOWERS: lead electric bass guitar (fretted, fretless), background vocals, spoken word

-with- RAFAEL FIGUEROA: congas, bongos, snare drum/cymbals, vocals, small percussion

-and- LARRY TOWERS: electric guitar (track 9 only)

PRODUCED BY JOHN PIETARO

ENGINEERED BY LARRY TOWERS

LINER NOTES BY PAUL BUHLE

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY DONNA BLISS

INNER BOOKLET PHOTOGRAPHY BY ECONOSMITH

"John Pietaro, Laurie Towers and company have recreated the mood of the 1950s Witchhunt...and just in time for the latest waves of intended repression. While a large swath of liberal opinion, a half century or so ago, joined the Cold War crusade, eager to grab a share of the swag that would be handed out to cooperative intellectuals and artists, a larger number of dedicated artistic activists held to their positions and took the blows, determined not to give the McCarthyites the satisfaction of wiping out dissent entirely. Pietaro and Towers recall the fight-back that looked ahead to the revival of social movements during the 1960s. Likewise now, with musical verve and lively lyrics, the Flames of Discontent call us to the colors of the future...in the hopes that they will be Red"
- Paul Buhle, historian/author, January 2007


"Riffs sharp enough to cut the US deficit" - Whisperin and Hollerin (UK indie music website) 2007

"Lou Reed meets Elvis Presley in black-and-white Cold War melodrama" - CD Reviews.com 2007

2005 CD commemorating the centenary of the Industrial Workers of the World. Conceived by John Pietaro and noted historian and writer Paul Buhle ('Wobbles! A Graphic History', 'Radical Hollywood', dozens more) and co-produced by guitarist Cliff Murphy, this album combines lesser-known Wobbly songs with more common-place ones and several spoken word selections in order to offer a commentary on IWW history concurrently with a profile on Labor's struggle at the present time. Credited to "John Pietaro and the Flames of Discontent", this disc features a large studio band featuring John Pietaro's voice, banjo, nylon string guitar and piano and Laurie Towers' electric bass.

The group was gathered in a Providence, Rhode Island studio over one harried winter weekend to create this album deemed, "kick-ass music for the masses...a noble and timely work", by Chronogram magazine. The line-up includes the fiddles of Emily Miller and James Ruchala, the trombone of Jim Costanza, the baritone saxophone of Emily Nemens, the electric and acoustic guitars of Cliff Murphy, the drumset of Tim Nylander and the spoken word selections of Sarah Goldstein, Sarah Bowman and Steven Levenson.


Selections have been aired on Oscar Brand's noted radio program on WNYC (NY,NY) as well as on WBAI-FM (NY,NY), WVKR-FM (Poughkeepsie, NY), WDST-FM (Woodstock, NY) , WSUR-FM (Eau Claire, WI), KAOS (Olympia WA), KDHX-FM (St. Louis, MO), and others including London's 'Radio Labourstart' internet broadcasts. The CD was officially released in New York City at 'The 100th Anniversary of the Wobblies: A NYC IWW Centenary', CUNY Graduate Center, NYC, September, 2005. It was also a part of Buhle's "Traveling Wobbly Show", which toured the USA and many other parts of the globe. "I Dreamed I Heard Joe Hill Last Night" is available via the IWW, where we encourage you to purchase it from as all of the proceeds stay with the Wobblies -- http://store.iww.org/i-dreamed-i-heard-joe-hill-last-night.html -- or at the following stores: Revolution Books (New York City), Half Moon Books (Kingston, NY), and Vox Pop (Brooklyn, NY), The Howland Cultural Center (Beacon, NY). The production/engineering team of Jon Nolan, Altay Guvench, Damon Baker and Cliff Murphy helped to create this collection. And the cover and interior art by Leslie Friedman completes the package, one that honors the IWW's radical songs and mission.

This book is a graphic history of Students for a Democratic Society, published in 2007 by Hill and Wang. While the book was largely written by noted underground comic writer Harvy Pekar and illustrated by Gary Dumm, several guest writers and artists were brought into this project by editor Paul Buhle. John Pietaro wrote and provided the lay-oput for one chapter, 'I Aint Marchin' Anymore: SDS, Phil Ochs and the Protest Song'. Getting into Phil Ochs head while writing this chapter was a powerful experience; being asked to write it by Buhle was an honor. We are proud to be associated with this excellent visual history of this radical youth organization.

Though available in all major bookstores, we urge you to consider purchasing it either online via Powell's (a union shop!) or through an independent bookstore.