Plasmatics "Coup d'Etat"

Coup d'Etat is the third studio album released by punk rock band The Plasmatics in 1982.

In 1982, a deal was inked with Capitol Records and Dan Hartman offered to produce a demo of the album for Capitol with Rod at Electric Lady Studios, Jimi Hendrix's old studio, in New York. A demo was arranged, recorded and mixed within a week, but not released. It would be released only 20 years later as Coup de Grace.

The album was recorded at Dierks Studios, near Cologne, Germany and was produced by Dieter Dierks, who had just come off a number one album with the Scorpions.

Coup d'Etat was a breakthrough album that began to blend the punk and heavy metal genres, something that would later be done time and time again by bands such as S.O.D., Anthrax, and the Cro-Mags by the end of the 1980s. Singer Wendy O. Williams also broke ground for her unique singing style; she pushed her vocals so hard she had to travel into Cologne each day for treatment to avoid permanent damage to her vocal cords.

Despite the band's rise in fame, the band was dropped by Capitol Records shortly after the album's release.

In 2005, Rock Candy Records re-released the album with expanded liner notes, bonus tracks, and a re-master of the entire original album.

In early 1983, as a part of the support for the album and an attempt to continue their transition toward a metal audience, the band opened for Kiss on their Creatures of the Night tour. It was during this time that Gene Simmons approached manager Rod Swenson about producing the next Plasmatics album (ultimately becoming the initial Wendy O. Williams solo offering, WOW).

In 1982, Lemmy of Motörhead was approached by his label to do a follow-up to his successful Motörhead/Girlschool collaboration, St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP and Motörhead's manager Doug Smith got in touch with Rod Swenson in the States and proposed a Wendy and Lemmy duet of the country classic "Stand by Your Man". The B side would have two tracks, the Plasmatics "Masterplan" sung by Lemmy and Motörhead's "No Class" sung by Williams. The A-side would have Wendy and Lemmy do a duet of the title track of the EP.

The song "The Damned" was covered by German thrash metal band Destruction on the Mad Butcher EP in 1987. During the 1990s, the music video was shown on Beavis & Butt-Head, in which the duo praised the song, the appearance of Williams, and the action stunts. The electro band Japanese Car Crash would perform "The Damned" live on their tours from 2007-2013. They replaced the guitar solo with a theremin solo.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Put Your Love in Me" Richie Stotts, Rod Swenson 3:55
2. "Stop" Wes Beech, Swenson 4:40
3. "Rock 'n' Roll" Stotts, Swenson 4:23
4. "Lightning Breaks" Beech, Swenson 3:58
5. "No Class" Eddie Clarke, Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Taylor 2:36

Side two

1. "Mistress of Taboo" Stotts, Swenson 3:16
2. "Country Fairs" Beech, Swenson 3:37
3. "Path of Glory" Stotts, Swenson 4:45
4. "Just Like on TV" Beech, Swenson 3:17
5. "The Damned" Junior Romanelli, Swenson 4:21

2005 CD re-issue bonus tracks

1. "Uniformed Guards (work-in-progress)" Stotts, Swenson 4:07
2. "Put Your Love in Me (demo)" Stotts, Swenson 4:13
3. "Stop (demo)" Beech, Swenson 4:35
4. "Coup D'Etat Radio Ad (previously unheard)" 1:00

Re-released on cassette only by Capitol in 1987, as Mistress of Taboo, but excluding the track "Lightning Breaks".

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Dierks Studios 1, Köln, West Germany.