Heard The One About The Good
Missionaries Opening the proceedings, The Good Missionaries were just ridiculously good. The wise addition of Henry Badowski on drums / percussion has lent an all-important binding factor to the sound; where at Greenwich, the sound was perhaps too de-centralised, now the output is far more solid, far more tangible, most importantly, this Empire Ballroom performance demonstrated perfectly adequately that Mark Perry has the proverbial finger on the button: so much so that "people"" just can't come to terms with the fact. Alternative TV were bound and gagged by "image" and "reputation" none of which was of their own making. Now in 'The Good Missionary', he sings "Smash Alternative Television" and he does just that. Instruments are literally raffled and swapped throughout, between Perry himself and Dave George, whose role within The Good Missionaries is becoming progressively more functional and active: his incensed contribution to 'The Force Is Blind' is nothing less than crucial . . . . and the following rocker 'Lost In Room', allows him space to concoct simplistic, cutting guitar lines. It climaxes chaotically. Also present . . . Dennis Burns, seated, creating rumbling bass undercurrents, striving to fold himself into the background . . . and Gillian, occasional vocals, she stands with hands thrust into pockets and appears somewhat unsure, though she had only "joined" a matter of days previously. 'Release The Natives' is stark, more aggressive than on the album; there's also a stripped down 'Nasty Little Lonely' which stems into improvised areas, fixing and astounding. And finally the masterstroke. For 'The Good Missionary', Sam, Mandy and Simon from the Transmitters stroll onto the stage, as does Genesis P-Orridge, who takes over the drum seat. Drums, sax three guitars, two basses, keyboards . . . the sound is massively stirring and dense. Destroying his own "heritage", Perry guides the unit through self-destruct re-vamps of 'Action Time Vision', 'How Much Longer'. 'Action time Banana . . . and the onstage glee is automatically injected into the crowd. The Good Missionaries project is steadily becoming more self-assured, more positive, more radical. Gradually the name Perry is becoming less synonymous with The Good Missionaries: the frontiers are being broken down step by step, This was some performance, That's beyond contention. Chris Westwood, Record Mirror, 19.5.79
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