Limited Control

In the early 1980's, right before he was a member of the Del-Byzanteens (see two posts below), Jim Jarmusch was tangentially involved in another act, called Dark Day, the brainchild of Robin Crutchfield, following his separation with no wave band DNA. By the time of their first album, "Exterminating Angel" (Lust/Unlust, 1980), the group consisted of Crutchfield, Phil Kline, Barry Friar and a revolving lineup of artists which included Steven Brown and Peter Principle of Tuxedomoon, Nina Canal, David Rosenbloom, and Jim Jarmusch:

Our first concert as Dark Day was played at The Mudd Club, with Nina filling in at the last minute on drums. Phil Kline was the guitarist, friend of writer/coworker Luc Sante at the bookstore where I worked. He was also best friends with Jim Jarmusch and was pursuing an interest in film music. David Rosenblum played bass. He was a coworker of mine, interested in pursuing his own musical directions with a band more into jazz-fusion.

Dark Day continued to play a number of gigs locally at CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, Hurrah's, Tier 3, The Mudd Club, and even a gig at Tracks with Jim Jarmusch guesting on synthesizer and Peter Principle (from Tuxedomoon) on bass. Then I became despondent. New songs weren't forthcoming. Phil wanted to continue gigging for the extra income. The only money he and Barry made from Dark Day was what we made doing concerts. I didn't enjoy live gigs and preferred studio work. Phil became involved in his own project, the DelByzanteens, and Barry got more involved in drugs. We drifted apart.

The first Dark Day single, "Hands In The Dark/Invisible Man" on the Lust/Unlust label, featured Crutchfield's singing and modified electric piano backed by Nina Canal (of the Gynecologists and more recently, Ut) and Nancy Arlen (of Mars). Give it a listen: