Bringin’ the Crazy: John Cale in the 1970s

By Emily Carney

John Cale’s musical career has encompassed many genres—rock and classical notwithstanding—and at present time he still shows no sign of letting up. He also notably produced many other artists’ albums; it’s impossible to imagine Nico’s The Marble Index and Patti Smith’s Horses without his dark sonic influence. Cale’s own 1970s solo albums—particularly his Island Records trilogy of Fear, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy—have also dated remarkably well.

John Cale © 1971 Ronn Spencer

However, John Cale became infamous in the 1970s not just for his immense talents, but also for his taste in overindulgence and his own propensity for sheer madness in his onstage performances. His general insanity dripped over into his professional and personal relationships as well. Here is a (probably incomplete) synopsis of some of John Cale’s greatest “I’m a sociopath; look at me” moments/phases from the 1970s.

John Cale vs. Squeeze’s Felt-tip Markers

In the late 1970s John Cale produced Squeeze’s first album, which possessed a more experimental sound than the remainder of their catalogue. In an anecdote from Chris Difford, part of the band’s rehearsal time was spent attempting (and failing) to wake up John Cale. In Difford’s words:

“Our manager, Miles Copeland, had got John in to produce us and he fell asleep at one of our rehearsals. We tied him to the chair and tried to wake him up by playing louder and louder.”

When the band’s sonic assault failed to rouse John, Jools Holland wrote “I’m a Cunt” on his forehead. Difford also reported that Cale “. . . came down the next day to rehearsals with it still on, which shows he obviously didn’t wash himself.” Adding further insult was Cale’s suggestion of an album title to the band: Gay Guys. (1)

The Album Helen of Troy, 1975

Helen of Troy was released without Cale’s consent; Cale considered this album to actually be a collection of demos and was not happy with the tracks on it. The cover is unusual: Cale is seen sitting tortuously twisted up in a chair, wearing leather pants, and encased in a straitjacket, staring intensely at a heavily made-up girl (man?) who is preening in a mirror. He has a “bowl cut,” and looks like a nightmarish version of Prince Valiant.

This album and its cover definitely offer some insight into Cale’s mind-set during 1975, particularly the song “Leaving It Up to You.” A lyric sheet reading does not do justice to this song, so here’s my transcription to what this nervous breakdown on vinyl sounds like.

The beginning of the song sounds plaintive and “normal” enough until the part which goes: “. . . And if you gave me half a chance, I’d do it now, I’d do it now right now, YOU FASCIST! I know we could all feel safe like Sharon Tate, we could give it all up, we could give give give it ALLLLL AIGGGGGHHH!!!!!”

The general “I’m losing my shit completely” vibe extends to the end of the song in which John starts freaking out over tanks (yes, tanks) crawling over a hill “. . . LIKE RATTLESNAKES IN THE DESERT SUN!” It sounds like John he thought gigantic tarantulas were crawling out of his eyeballs by this point in the song.

“Leaving It Up To You” offended Island Records executives because of its reference to slain actress Sharon Tate, so it was replaced in further vinyl pressings. This didn’t endear Island Records to Cale, and he departed with the label.

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