RFI- Brian Briggs c/d s/d?

Yeah, those are the two LPs I have, too. His closest thing to a hit (college radio level I guess) in the States, I think, was "Nervous Breakdown" off of *Brain Damage*, which I THINK was a sort of new wave technobilfieid version of an old rockabilly song (and yeah, looks like the publisher was "Elvid Presley Music Inc" -- an Elvis song, then, I dunno?) (By almost a "hit" I may just mean I heard it once or twice on a Sunday night new wave show, who knows.) I've got "On The Spot" and the title track marked with stars as the best songs on *Combat Zone*; apparently the "Crosstown Traffic" cover was next in line. No idea who he WAS (I was assuming British but on one album cover it says his fan club is in NYC), but I vaguely remember one of those new wave guides (which I don't have handy) saying he was somehow connected with some better known new wave band, though I totally forget who.

ElviS Presley Music (in case you're taking notes), not Elvid

Yeah, he sounds British, and Brian Damage is definitely the better of the two albums. I picked 'em up because he's shown with a bank of synths and weird electronics on the back, which I expected to hear more of (someone had written 'disco' next to three or four of the tracks). Some of BD is pretty decent, though Combat Zone weirdly seems to drop the synths for more of a roots rock/John Cougar Melloncamp thing that doesn't really work. Kinda MOR. The final couple tracks on side one of Brian Damage are pretty good too.
Google has been no help in tracking him down...

I've been looking for Brian Damage for years, since somebody permanently borrowed my copy. Recently I've found Brian Briggs is John Holbrook out of the Woodstock area of upstate New York (the part that isn't the megalopolis).

He was an engineer with Bearsville Studio/Label, which put out albums under their own label through Warner Bros. until about the mid-80s. This studio/label released albums from The Band, Todd Rundgren, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Bobby Charles, Paul Butterfield. Don't know if Briggs is originally from elsewhere, but he had what struck me as a very Aussie twang. A Mel Gibson fan?

Over here on the US eastern seaboard, the main college and progressive airplay cuts off Brian Damage were "See You on the Other Side" (a nice little spoken story with chorus about cooler-than-thou Frankie who goes for a game of chicken with another scooter jockey and ends up under a locomotive); "A.E.O. Parts 1 and 2" (a pleasant and rather Eno-ish atmosphere cut); and "I Think I'm Goin' Out of My Head" (a tribute to Diana Ross done at full-Dickies speed).

A respectable private link: http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/label.html

funny, i just heard my first Briggs song yesterday. over at http://www.lovefingers.org/ who sorta do a weirdo disco/cosmic/funk mp3 type of thing. pretty cool track.

Dave Marsh in the 1983 edition of the Rolling Stone record guide:

"Genuine pop eccentric. Under his real name, John Hillbrooks, Briggs has worked as an engineer, producer (of Bearsville stablemate Randy Van Warmer) and synthesizer sideman. On his own, he makes his music from straight pop, synthesizer art-rock, Clint Eastwood soundtracks, flutes, possibly some Jamaican rhythm here and there. None of it really adds up to more than high-tech easy listening, but it's intelligent high-tech easy listening. As far as I can tell."

Only because there really is almost nothing about him on the net: found a 7" Brian Briggs single today with Nervous Breakdown/Lifer "Produced by John Holbrook and Ian Kimmet" on Bearsville, 1979. Cool cover. Nervous Breakdown credited to M. Roccuzzo. Lifer credited to John Holbrook. Oddly, the sleeve says C and P 1979, while the label says 1980. Photos by Sydna Spancake...cool name.