The signature on my copy of On Record Yes, it's signed. Peter Huttinger managed to get me a copy of On Record and had John sign it. It must have been strange for him to sign an album some 17 years after releasing it, but there you go.
No, I will not sell. I just show it here to annoy the rest of you all ;-)
Here are some quotes from emails and other info I received about John Bender. A lot of this stuff will end up in the FAQ, but that's still under construction. Please be patient. I've recently been contacted by people who know JB personally, and for a start I can assure you the usual JB Rumours are just that. Rumours. The man is alive and kicking, has not gone crazy and didn't OD either. So far so good. 
I was a member of the collaborative team that created the "Johnny
Vortex" series of audio, video, performance and installation in the mid-eighties
My primary focus was photograhic, John Bender's was (naturally) sound and audio and Kate Gallion's was performance. "Johnny Vortex" explored urban archetype, doomed romance and twisted emotion in a noir-inspired setting.
Aspects of the project were developed at Real Art Ways, Hartford CT and Yellow Springs Institute for Contemporary Studies and the Arts, Chester Springs, PA artist residencies. It was performed in Chester Springs, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Chicago.
It was a great experience -- John's approach was very intuitive,
incorporating both created and found/appropriated material.
For the "Vortex" project, we created a small edition of boxes that
contained "crime scene" photo cards, bloody money, a ransom note
and THE CASSETTE. I haven't spoken to John in 10 years.
Jason Tannen
Hello,
I was surprised to see your John Bender page. I am a musician
from Cincinnati, I am an acquantance of John's. To answer your
question on the page, the missing Record Sluts record is a Velvet Underground
bootleg LP called '1966'. It says only RS on its' cover. It is a great
record, was recorded by a friend of John's, Bernd, in Nov
1966, heavily processed by Ron Hamad who made it much more listenable
than the master tape, though still a poor quality recording; I believe
they made 500 copies. I'm not sure what John's involvement was with the Velvet Underground
record, he may have just allowed the RS name to be used because it was an
existing imprint, when his friend was putting out the record. I have seen tapes of John's music, some of which
were collaborations, that had the Record Sluts name on them; the ones I am familiar with were from after his records came out.
(...) John always seemed to remember his days of more active music
production fondly. He still has a studio at home, and the last time I
talked to him he was hinting about possibly doing more recording and
collaborations.
Hope this interests you.
Mark Milano
"Plaster Falling" went into a second
printing -- it was dipped in latex paint with a spray painted stencil
cover. also, the cover of the first pressing of "plaster falling" was
designed by the artist C. V. Mansoor. these were hand dipped in plaster
and various different items (xerox art, photographs, etc.) were inserted
into the album jackets. Mansoor also did the cover for "on record" a
compilation 12" lp published by c.a.g.e.
Peter
I used to talk to John but that's been eons ago. I'd see him on occasion at the local record shop handing the proprietor a new batch of his products to sell on consignment.
I remember everytime I'd buy one of his album the owner of the store would say "You know, John's gonna be happy to hear that someone ACTUALLY bought one of his albums." John, along with the band dEMENTIA pRECOX, were the first artists to bring to Ohio (of all places!) the avante guarde and I don't believe they will soon be forgotten.
I seem to recall that I Don't Remember Now was released in 1978. As far as a 4th Bender album, I don't believe there was such an animal. He did have a couple tracks on a various artists compilation from Cincinnati called C.C.G./C.A.G.E, which was a compilation from an avante/experimental coalition called C.A.G.E. that John was apart of.
(...)
I find it hard to believe that John would be ashamed of his
old works. As far as I can tell he was and always will be
"dada man" (...) ".
Dan Hastings
Joseph Powell wrote:
(...) IN MY SEARCH FOR MORE INFO I FOUND A BOOK THAT LISTED JOHN,
YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW THIS.
IN "INTERNATIONAL DISCOGRAPHY OF THE NEW WAVE, VOLUME 1982/83", PLASTER IS
FALLING- RECORD SLUTS 003 WITH WHITE PLASTER ON PLAIN SLEEVE, LATER ONES
HAD TITLE, CO. AND NO# WRITTEN IN PENCIL ON THE PLASTER.
THEY ALSO SAY JOHN IS EX " BARBI & KEN"
(...)
Barbi & Ken ? Barbi & Ken ? Who the hell..... Anybody any clues ?
Andrew Cimino writes:
I can verify the second pressing of Plaster Falling, as I have it on the table here. Dipped in gray latex, with Plaster Falling RS003
painted in maroon. Doesn't look like a stencil to me, though... Cover also stamped "Sealed in Latex For Your Protection". Was sealed with tape - you had to pull a string to break the tape and open the record.
Runoff groove is the same, credits differ as
"John Bender: Voice,
Electrics, W & M, Prod
Vicki Mansoor: Label and Line"
Enjoy my tape of Pop Surgery now and again. I still have Wayside Music catalogs from the early 80's listing all of the LPs for under 10 dollars US apiece(ahhh, lost opportunity)..
Another email I got was very amusing, although I'm afraid the guy is serious. Here it is:
I am a research analyst with a hedge fund based in Chicago. A few years
back we came across a talented hedge fund manager by the name of John
Bender. After weeks of due diligence and background checks, it came to our
attention that this fellow was an adult film star prior to entering the
money management business. Unfortunately, this (along with a short
investment record) was enough to exclude him from investment by our firm.
Recently his name resurfaced as the performance of his fund has been rather
respectable. One thing that eluded our expert research department,
however, was the title of the films of which Mr. Bender stared (sic) in. This is
how I stumbled on to your page. The funky titles of some of these albums
that you collect along with the artist's unwillingness to associate himself
with these recordings, lead me to believe that our John Benders may be one
in the same. Let me know if you have any insight into this matter. Thanks.
Yeah right.
On the Web I found an interview with Edward Ka-Spel from the Legendary Pink Dots. He seems to be able to get his Bender albums cheap...
Permission Magazine issue four
interview by Jayson Elliot
P = Permission magazine
E = Edward Ka-Spel
P: What did you bring back from the record store?
E: Let's see...Syd Barrett bootleg, Miles Davis, and a much neglected but
brilliant man named John Bender - a real genuis from Cincinatti, from the
start of the 80's. Wonderful, but nobody knows him - this cost me like,
$2.99. He's very personal electronic. Electronic but with soul.
The complete interview used to be here, but appears to have been taken down. There were no other quotes about John Bender in it, BTW.
Finally, Nils-Inge Graven (electronils@hotmail.com) writes:
I am a Norwegian fan and collector of electronic music. In my collection
there is an LP by this guy called John Bender called "Pop surgery". I
have also recorded on tape a few of his other songs. I have been offered
a complete Bender-collection (2 other LPīs+V/A), but for prices almost
astronomical.
I think this music is pretty cool (in lack of a better expression), and
I donīt think there are many other 22 year-olds out there who has even
heard about this guy.
If you've got some scraps of info or questions, mail them to [no longer supported].
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