I heard about the ‘Peace Eagle’ line at a house show on Glenn. I nearly lost it.
We were all standing around outside having, like, a glory days contest. Oh yeah man, there was that one show. Oh yeah, that was that Van Pelt show. Dude, Jonathan Fireeater?
And then someone… it was probably Jaime… points over to Cheetah standing by himself, trucker hat, glasses, like a professor watching the class on a field trip
‘Go ask Chet about Bjork playin’.”
I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.
Auburn’s almost-famous rock’n’roll luminary – that’s what he wanted me to call him when I wrote about this five years ago – stared straight ahead, smiled, then nodded.
“Yes, the stories are true.”
It was a free concert sponsored by UPC, October, 1988, the second year in a row MTV had deemed Auburn worthy of its New Music College Tour.
Originally just Living Colour and The Godfathers were on the bill.
And then UPC coordinator John Burgess got a phone call. It was MTV network execs. They wanted to see if the Student Activities Building could facilitate the additional sound, lighting and film equipment necessary for a television special celebrating the first U.S. tour of a third band that was riding a wave of college radio success.
Burgess said sure.
The band, from Iceland – Bjork’s band – was The Sugarcubes.
They had played “Saturday Night Live” the Saturday before the show, chillaxing with a cast that included the great Victoria Jackson, who had told the Auburn Plainsman two days prior “I love Auburn. The only fun experiences I had in college were at Auburn.” (So it stands to reason that two of my favorite women in the world discussed Auburn together).
Auburn actually beat out several schools for the gig, including Rutgers and South Carolina, based on its reputation from the previous year and, I’m assuming, MTV’s awareness of the compelling juxtaposition of Icelanders rocking the Deep South.
The Sugarcubes played last. Chet was there.
“I was a freshman that night,” he said. “Young. Fresh. Exciting. Eager.”
Auburn bohemia knew what to expect. “Birthday” and “Motorcrash” had been playing on MTV a lot.
“VJs compared them to the Jefferson Airplane because of the male-female vocals,” Chet said.
The show starts. The cameras roll. Then this 22-year-old absolute Nordic siren tries to summon the English that will in her mind reverse our consecrated, misunderstood battle cry and save the earth.
“Between songs, Bjork said, ‘I hear you say War Eagle. But I say ‘Peace Eagle,’ with her two finger peace sign held high,” Chet said. “Bjork stood still while she sang and spoke with a strong accent. The other singer was a drag.”
The following week’s Plainsman had similar reviews; Bjork – hypnotic, Einar – dork.
“Some concert goers called Einar a ‘distraction’ with his hardcore-like attitudes and vocals. Comments like, ‘I’m a peace chicken not a war eagle’ were not uncommon from Einar.”
The concert special, “Live from Auburn, Alabama: The Sugarcubes,” debuted on MTV’s “120 Minutes” and continued to air for several years afterward; it begins with – I’m fairly certain – a black and white, slow-motion pan up the west side of College Street in front of what, within a year’s time, would be Brand X Pizza (RIP).
In 2005, I stayed up all night and downloaded it from this specialized peer-to-peer file sharing network run by insomniac Bjork nerds, a scene that defines my 20’s more than I care to admit. I’m not proud of it.
Well, I’m a little bit proud of it.
Because if not for that night and the obsession that drove it, than no screen caps of Bjork inside 1988 Jordan-Hare. No knowing that she drank from an Auburn cup on stage. No wondering whatever happened to the promo drops she recorded for WEGL wearing tight black pants and a NASA jacket. No hearing about her dancing to country music in the lobby of whatever Opelika hotel they were at. No stories from old Auburn punk rockers about spotting her the morning after buying certain items from Toomer’s.
So you’re welcome.
Peace Eagle.
Related: Bjork Damn Eagle II—Bjork’s Auburn Cup.
…
Keep Reading:
* Rev. Barrett Trotter
* First Auburn National Championship Shirt Ever
* Fantastic photos of Bjork inside Jordan-Hare Stadium
* Willie Nelson’s Auburn shirt
* Pat Dye builds a fence
* Auburn BCS Bus rescues youth group
Seeing this is too dang funny….
I was at that show in 1988. A friend literally dragged me there. She kept going on and on about this great band from Iceland called the Sugercubes…. I wasn’t much into the alternative music scene (even though I had hung out and worked at WEGL as a freshman) at the time but what the heck a free concert and MTV and all.
The Godfathers opened up and they were solid, BIRTH, SCHOOL, WORK, DEATH and all… but then a band I’d never even heard of came out.
Living Colour was introduced and their lead singer is wearing this neon green body suit and has braids down to his butt. I was like huh? and then they started to play….. HOLY SH*$ these guys are melting our faces off with some kick butt rock! I was expecting more college alternative but not these guys. The bassist (Muzz Skillings) was just AUsome. These guys were damn fine musicians. That was the first time I heard their single Cult of Personality and they just rocked the house. In fact I’ve heard that the black and white footage from their MTV video was taken from that show in Auburn…. could be wrong.
After their performance, I couldn’t wait to see the headliners… The Sugarcubes… So they come out and start to play. After hearing Living Colour these guys sounded like a highschool garage band. Yeah Bjork was kinda cute and all but dang…. no comparison. Funniest part of their performance was this song where they were trying to get the crowd involved. Not sure of the name but the chorus was “CAT CAT CAT” and they wanted us all to make little cat ears with our hands, (kinda like air quotes). Needless to say that didn’t go over so well. Bjork did well by going solo.
All and all a great night and a great memory. Thanks for taken me back Jeremy.
Check out the second video clip to see the CAT CAT CAT song….nuff said
Thanks for the memories Jeremy,
That was my freshman year (though I grew up in Auburn). I was about five rows back stage right, and vividly remember Vernon wailing on his guitar.The Hoodoo Gurus show the year before, at the Lamba Chi house I believe, was my first concert and was a blast. Guadalcanal Diary played on campus at one of the houses that year or the year after. REM and the Cult played (separate) shows in Beard-Eaves. Oh….the good ole days!
Thanks for everything – helps me keep me in touch with everything Auburn from Japan. War Eagle!
Living Colour actually opened that show; the “Vivid” album (and “Cult of Personality” single) hadn’t hit yet, and I think it’s safe to say that they were complete unknowns at that time. Had the crowd in the palms of their hands by the third song. Just a phenomenal set (X, they used the footage from that concert for their “Broken Hearts” video–and I’m in it).
The Godfathers were (understandably) pissed at having been bumped from the headlining slot by Rolling Stone’s flavor-of-the-month, and played a pretty aggressive set. Still didn’t lay a hand on Vernon and Company, though.
As I said the last time this show came up on here, the Sugarcubes were and still are the worst excuse for a live act I’ve ever seen in my life. Absolutely atrocious. The “Act” was 90% empty by their third song, and 99% empty by the end (my ride stayed for the whole thing, so unfortunately, so did I). Bjork was cute, though.
Will,
Why is it you always have a much clearer memory of these events? on second thought, don’t answer that… no surprise but it was Emily E. that drug me to the show. 🙂
I didn’t make this one, but did make the REM and Cult concerts. I’m pretty sure Lenny Kravitz opened for the Cult. I actually camped out to get REM tickets. I think we ended up 3rd row or so.
Actually, it is possible that I may have been there to see Living Color. That sounds vaguely familiar. Some memories are pretty fuzzy from those days.
I hereby request a story about Adrian Belew and the Bears playing the Miss AU Tan contest in ’88.
With pictures, of course…
“no surprise but it was Emily E. that drug me to the show. ”
Yes, I know. We all went together, you senile doofus…
I had the misfortune of having to work during and after the show and missed it…….the good part is that I bartended at the relatively new Auburn Hotel and Conference Center in Ivy’s Pub, which is where all three bands came in to hang out after the show. I had a blast talking to Bjork and her bandmates as well as the guys from Living Color. We closed and locked the doors shortly after they got there and stayed open late to accommodate them. What an awesome night.
oh….and to be noted Living Color didn’t imbibe the whole night and the sugar cubes only drank beer……the Godfathers didn’t talk to anyone outside their own little group and drank most anything and everything. Bjord and her boyfriend and bandmate were very nice and sat at the bar for most of the night talking to me.
Aha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8DyU3b7QEU
Uh, never mind.
Ah, much better:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=62810D8A76FEAFAE
Hi the best place in the world is this. finest in world.I’ve no words for my country.. i like bollywood moviesI\’ve lived in Indian Cities.
Anyway i generally prefer to develop muscle for my chest.
I was at that Sugarcubes-Godfathers-Living Colour show, too. My roommate and I drove down from Birmingham-Southern. Went to the show with a guy we knew in Auburn, then drove back to to B’ham and tried to watch the Dodgers win the World Series (we’d taped the game) but both fell asleep and had to finish watching the game the next morning.
I remember a guy in front of us with premature male-pattern baldness and a frisbee that he continually clapped over his head.
I was there that night too. I remember also that she came by WEGL before the show and recorded a drop that said “WEGL: the station with courage” that sounded so cool in her voice.
The Living Color show was excellent indeed.
I wonder if there is a recording of the interview Bjork did on WEGL. I remember her saying, when asked about writing songs, something to the effect that at times writing a song is like taking a bad shit because it just doesn’t come to you so easily. Does anyone else remember that?
If someone from the War Eagle Reader would like to contact me, I can provide more information about this event & pictures. I helped that night at the concert and attend the wrap party as well as the next day when they did the stadium shots. They stayed at the ‘new’ Auburn Conference Center across from the library. It was HEY DAY the day after the concert & I picked up a bunch of name tags from Haley Center Concourse on the way to meeting them at the hotel to head over to the stadium. If you look closely you can see the HEY DAY stickers on them in some of the stadium shots.
I was the music director at WEGL and got to interview Bjork. I may have a tape in my basement, I’ll need to look. Her English was not that polished at the time. A couple of memories. She did compare songwriting to taking a bad sxxx. Also, the Sugarcubes had eaten at James Brown restaurant and loved it., especially the catfish. I asked her if she had ever had “catfish” before, and she told me that the band was from Iceland, which was an Island, and fish were everywhere.
I also interviewed a couple of guys from The Godfathers on WEGL. It was funny, during the interview they criticized unnamed bands that were “posers” and more concerned with popularity than music. Off the air they told me they were referring to the Sugarcubes. Bjork, funnily, made very similar comments. Maybe she had heard the earlier interview.
“Birth School, Work, Death” was popular on WEGL and the Godfathers put on a good show. The timeless albums in 1988, however were “Vivid” and “Life’s Too Good.” Living Colour did a great job and connected with the crowd. The Sugarcubes did their own thing and half the crowd probably ended up leaving before the end of the concert. But, there is a reason that the headlilne of this article wasn’t about the time Living Color came to Auburn. Bjork and the Sugarcubes were the stars of the night.
The timeless album for me that year, was
I was the music director at WEGL and got to interview Bjork. I may have a tape in my basement, I’ll need to look. Her English was not that polished at the time. A couple of memories. She did compare songwriting to taking a bad sxxx. Also, the Sugarcubes had eaten at James Brown restaurant and loved it., especially the catfish. I asked her if she had ever had “catfish” before, and she told me that the band was from Iceland, which was an Island, and fish were everywhere.
I also interviewed a couple of guys from The Godfathers on WEGL. It was funny, during the interview they criticized unnamed bands that were “posers” and more concerned with popularity than music. Off the air they told me they were referring to the Sugarcubes. Bjork, funnily, made very similar comments. Maybe she had heard the earlier interview.
“Birth School, Work, Death” was popular on WEGL and the Godfathers put on a good show. The timeless albums in 1988, however were “Vivid” and “Life’s Too Good.” Living Colour did a great job and connected with the crowd. The Sugarcubes did their own thing and half the crowd probably ended up leaving before the end of the concert. But, there is a reason that the headlilne of this article wasn’t about the time Living Color came to Auburn. Bjork and the Sugarcubes were the stars of the night.
That was an amazing show and very cool interviews. Sean, I was in the engineering booth with Eric Hutchings (R.I.P.) while you interviewed, that was really good stuff. Bjork was a HOOT! I think I still have a poster she “sketched” on and autographed for me. It was an X-rated sketch no less!
The Godfathers were totally cool to talk to while they were waiting to interview. They just wanted to hang out and smoke American cigarettes. Made me laugh. A few of us tracked down some American smokes for them and they were like kids in a candy store.
Having Living Colour “warm you up” was like Mother’s Finest warming up ARS in the Coliseum.