Dave Tompkins on T La Rock and the lost memories of Def Jam’s first rapper - GrantlandBefore Rick and Russell, there was Russell and The Guy Who Made “Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Here Comes Santa in His Space Suit.” In 1982, Simmons’ ear for new sounds had led him to synth innovator Bruce Haack, a “Christmas fanatic” from Nordegg, Canada who claimed his only friends were farm animals. Haack made electronic dance records for children (“Fantastic Skullastic”) and Satan (“Mean Old Devil”). It was an improbable union: Haack, the reticent analogue genius who guested on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Simmons, the mouth about town who sipped vodka-cranberries with Prince Vince Gallo. (After registering the wall of human skulls in Haack’s home studio in West Chester, Pa., Simmons suggested they record elsewhere.) The result was “Party Machine,” a lo-fi, Kraftwerk jalopy that asked, “Is it hard to think of life without sex?”
It stands to reason that if you’re onstage with a giant, inflatable dong and girls in cages, probably not.
