#d generation

D Generation 1996

scanned from 35mm slide

📸: John Falls

Gyda Gash: "60 Milligrams" / "Ghost Boyfriend" (2009)

I didn't intentionally purchase this 7-inch; it was tossed into a Discogs shipment along with whatever I actually ordered by a generous (or possibly desperate) retailer who possibly couldn't give it away!

So who the heck is Gyda Gash?

Well, if the name didn't give it away already, Gash was a bit player in New York City's late '70s punk rock scene, quoted and pictured in the classic oral history, Please Kill Me, and seen here with her then-boyfriend, Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome, attending an episode of Saturday Night Live's third season, at the invitation of their pal, John Belushi!

Fast-forward to the '80s and '90s, Gyda taught herself bass and played with several underground bands, including Mother Superior, Tomboys NYC, Maria Ex Communikata, Transisters, and SheWolves, while nursing and then overcoming a nasty heroin habit.

Gash next became the touring bassist for guitarist Tom Five's post-White Zombie project, Angel Rot, and today she splits her time with The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Sabbath Warlock, and Judas Priest tribute band Judas Priestess.

Phew!

Amidst all this, 15 years ago, Gyda recorded the single you see here under her own name, backed by guitarist Bingo Sanatra (if you know his real name, I'm all ears) and one-time D Generation drummer Michael Wildwood.

The A-Side, "60 Milligrams," is a rather traditional doom grinder topped by Gash's operatic growl and dedicated to legendary Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling, though I do believe Gash underestimated Bobby's drug intake by a factor of one million!

Hey, at least she's adopted the metric system!

And the B-side, "Ghost Boyfriend," which I could not find online in its studio guise, gives off horror punk vibes à la The Cramps, and can at least be sampled as performed with the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.

So, in conclusion, while I certainly wasn't looking for this curiosity, that online retailer wasn't wrong in guessing it would fit in with much of my record collection, and that I wouldn't resist telling Gyda Gash's story, though you can read read it in her own words here.