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The Imports (1979-1980) - Repertoire

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The Imports: Joe Strell, Ben Krug, and Tom Krug at Jamie's Elsewhere - Photo by Peter Strell

Table of Contents

• Punk Reperoire
• Post Punk Repertoire

Punk Repertoire

The Imports repertoire by the time they played Ruts on June 14, 1980, consited of approximately sixty punk originals, all of which would be summarily discarded when the Imports decided to embrace minimalism as their core musical philosophy. Although the complete inventory of these early titles is lost to posterity, the following list provides a partial glimpse into the extent of their prolific songwriting:

• "And To Hell with You" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Babble On" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Bulletin" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Come Down" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "Dead Head" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Decisions" music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Detestable Commuications" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Don't Run Away" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Empty Meaningless Existence" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Eulogy (for Wilbur)" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Geoff" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Go Without Me" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Happy Medium" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "He's Just Spastic" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Hey You" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug and Ben Krug
• "Hurting Myself" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "I Can't Take It" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "I Hate It" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "I'm Locked Up, Having a Great Time, and I Wish You Were Here" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "It All Leads to Heroin" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "It's Not My Life" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "Justicide (White Rabbit)" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Leading Lady" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Leave Us Alone" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Lost and Gone Away" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Make Me Numb" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Microwave Lover" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Mirrors" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Persuasion" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Quite Conforming" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug and Joe Strell
• "Razor's Edge" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Rules" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Salutations" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Security" - music and words © 1980 Ben Krug
• "Sexual Frustration" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "See Yourself" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Shouting at a Blank Wall" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Social Blunder" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Sufficient Delusions" music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Taking Apart Chicago" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "Treading Water" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Wanted" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "What Do They Want?" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "What's the Use?" - music and words © 1980 Tom Krug
• "White Gloves" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell
• "Wilting Rose" - music and words © 1980 Joe Strell

Post Punk Repertoire

The Imports: Tom Krug, Tom Wall, Ben Krug, and Joe Strell at Tuts; photo by Mike Tappin

After their switch to minimalism, the Imports' songs stretched to lengths ranging from four to seven minutes. The foundation of these new compositions consisted of a repetive, dub-influenced baseline and drums, over which the guitar would alternate between the repetition of two or three different melodic phrases. On top of this dark and coarsely woven tapestry, the vocals would embroider the song with lyrics born of ultimate frustration and despair. The body of new material, collaboratively wrought by the group in daily rehearsal sessions, eventually comprised the following (Click on the links to see the lyrics!):

• "Chords and Words" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Courting Disaster" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Joe Strell
• "Darkness of Light" (aka "Side Two") - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Faded Wods and Clear Intentions" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Inbred Mechanics" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Instrumental A" - music © 1980 by the Imports
• "Instrumental B" - music © 1980 by the Imports
• "Justice" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Lying" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Joe Strell
• "Meeting the Multitude" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "The Original" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Pendulum" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Red is Black" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Residues" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "A Second Face" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "A Sinking Struggle" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Suffering Happiness" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Values of Their Words" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Visions of Reality" (aka "Side One") - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "Weight on My Chest" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug
• "You Can Be Bought" - music © 1980 by the Imports, words by Ben Krug

For the purpose of authorship of all other compositions in the second list above, the Imports comprised Ben Krug, Tom Krug, Joe Strell, and Tom Wall , except for "Darkness of Light" and "Visions of Reality", where the Imports consisted of Ben Krug, Tom Krug, Joe Strell, and Alec Dale.

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