JANUARY 2008
New Claudia page added with recently recorded song clips. New songs recorded in 2007 posted at the Certain General myspace page or listen to them here!



OCTOBER 2007


SEPTEMBER 2007
CERTAIN GENERAL: NEW YORK'S INVISIBLE BAND RELEASE RETROSPECTIVE
For more info and to order visit the Easy Action Certain General page.

CERTAIN GENERAL, one of the most overlooked and under-rated groups to emerge from the New York City post-punk era, release a retrospective compilation called Certain General: Invisible New York on Easy Action in September.

The group, who have been called 'the missing link between Television and Sonic Youth' while attracting comparisons with the Doors, Velvet Underground and Birthday Party, were formed in the East Village in 1979 by singer-guitarist Parker DuLany and guitarist Phil Gammage. Their brand of ravishing psychedelic mayhem stoked a large following at clubs of the day like CBGBs, Hurrah, Peppermint Lounge, the Mudd and the legendary Danceteria, where they were almost house band. CG also supported visiting groups like R.E.M., New Order and The Cure.

Albums appeared on several labels, including some in France where they became popular after touring Europe in the mid-80s. But bad luck, tragedy and wrong career moves dogged their promising career into near-obscurity before they reformed temporarily in 2003 precipitating a new phase of activity which included a track on the second volume of Soul Jazz's New York Noise series.

The 2-CD set features over 40 tracks charting the group's career from their earliest 1981 demos and 82's Holiday Of Love EP, through album tracks including live and alternative versions plus live material from the original lineup when it reunited in 2003 to play a gig at NY's Public Theatre. There's also some toxic collaborations with David Lynch chanteuse Julee Cruise, including a defiant post-9/11 version of 'New York New York' with Patti Smith's guitarist Lenny Kaye.

The set is dedicated to Certain General's former manager Ruth Polsky, the booking agent who nurtured the post-punk movement and can be credited with kickstarting the US careers of UK groups including New Order, The Smiths, Birthday Party and Echo and the Bunnymen. Ruth was horrifically killed by a runaway yellow taxi outside the Limelight Club in September 1986 while greeting arrivals at a Certain General show. Poleaxing the group's spirit and momentum.

Parker DuLany and Phil Gammage have been recording again and hope to play a few UK dates in the summer. Hopefully, invisible no more.

MARCH 2006
After much deliberation and angst I have decided to direct our webmaster to shut down my other music projects web sites and migrate their content to this one. The idea behind this is that it makes sense to have everything in one place. Therefore you'll notice alot of new content on this site.

Also look for a new Sourmashusa.com site to arise soon. In an effort to carry on the work and vision of our late friend Stephen Graziano many of the original Sourmash artists are organizing this new version of the website.

Songs of mine continue to pop up on TV. Listen carefully the next time you watch "The Gastineau Girls" in particular.

MARCH 2006
The definitive Corvairs collection Unsafe At Any Speed now on one CD. 22-song compilation from one of the top garage rock bands of the 80s. Includes cuts from their debut 1984 Temple Fire EP, Sad Hotel 12" 45 Rio Blanco LP, Hitchhiker LP, and their legendary unreleased CD recorded in 1990. now available as a limited edition CDR at our online store.

JANUARY 2006
The Certain General song "Back Downtown" (originally on the Labor Records 1981 EP) appears on the Soul Jazz Records compliation CD New York Noise Vol. 2.

AUGUST 2005
Read the July '05 Certain General article "The Invisible band of NY" from trakmarx.com (U.K.). Written by music journalist Kris Needs this fascinating article reviews the intriguing history of the band and it's music. Includes CD recommendations by the author.

MARCH 2005
GAMMAGE COMPOSITIONS ON TV

Several Phil Gammage compositions continue to be placed on several network TV shows. These networks include:

• USA Network
• A&E (Arts and Entertainment)
• Discovery Channel

NOVEMBER 2003

I am pleased to announce that the new PreFab International website has been launched to the world. The creation of this site is the direct result of requests by fans and music enthusiasts to have access to more information about my work as well as have the opportunity to purchase some of my various CD releases.

For years information about my projects has available been online at various websites. Those websites are still there (see the artists pages), but for the first time much of the information has been consolidated at one place...the place you're at right now!

The staff at PreFab has and will continue to work hard to provide you with a meaningful and exhilarating web experience. If you have any suggestions or ideas about this site you can get ahold of us at the Contact Us page.

In the coming months watch for news updates and more interesting archival material to be added to the site. I've recently been added to the roster of fine songwriters at Helene Blue Musique, so look out for new developments with that in the near future.

Always yours,