We got here yesterday, we're here now, and I can't wait to leave tomorra

December 11, 2019 12:39 PM

Groundbreaking NY Poet and performer John Giorno -- creator of Dial-A-Poem (call now: [phone]!) and Giorno Poetry Systems, landlord to Wm. S. Burroughs, star of Andy Warhol's Sleep -- died in October, aged 82. Thanx for Nothing.

UbuWeb archive
Eating the Sky (my favorite of his performances)

posted by dobbs (10 comments total)

Giorno Poetry Systems audio on Ubuweb.

Shocked by prices for used copies of his book You Got To Burn To Shine. Guess I should treasure my copy.
posted by larrybob at 1:00 PM on December 11, 2019

Laurie Anderson "For Electronic Dogs / Structuralist Film Making / Drums"

from You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With

posted by otherchaz at 1:13 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

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posted by robotmachine at 1:15 PM on December 11, 2019

I remember exactly where I was when I discovered John Giorno.

I was in high school, sitting in my parents' basement watching Imprint, which used to air on TV Ontario. I can't seem to locate the segment he was on, but it ended with him doing a reading.

My first thought was "WHERE CAN I FIND MORE OF THIS," and eventually I'd find myself in an alternative bookstore in a city that had one, and was able to get a copy of of You Got to Burn To Shine.

All of this is to say thanks for everything, John.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:31 PM on December 11, 2019 [5 favorites]

☎️
posted by clavdivs at 1:58 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

Those Giorno Poetry Systems compilations are amazing. I found out about so many great and weird artists through them.
Thanks, John.

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posted by chbrooks at 4:12 PM on December 11, 2019

Eating the Sky
posted by Flashman at 4:15 PM on December 11, 2019

Giorno VHS compilation: It's Clean It Just Looks Dirty (1987)
1 Cabaret Voltaire - Trust In The Lord
2 Hüsker Dü - Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill / Powerline
3 Diamanda Galás - Two Excerpts From "Eyes Without Blood"
4 Einstürzende Neubauten - Sand
5 Robert Frank (3) / Rudy Wurlitzer / Gary Hill (2) Energy And How To Get It (Edited)
6 John Giorno Band - Scum & Slime
7 David Johansen - Heard The News
8 Robert Wilson And The Civil warS
9 Swans - A Screw
10 Psychic TV - Unclean
11 John Waters - No Smoking In This Theater
Cover image at discogs
posted by larrybob at 6:16 PM on December 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

Gang Of Souls - Giorno Poetry Pak: William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Faithfull, Jim Carroll, John Giorno, Henry Rollins, Lydia Lunch, Ed Sanders, etc. (1988)
posted by larrybob at 6:28 PM on December 11, 2019

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posted by Kattullus at 2:38 PM on December 12, 2019