People ask about the origin of the band name, this blog post answers that, sort of. This blog post is a list of my (Sam’s) syntheseizers. Back in 2002 David Lynch wrote that he was a fan of Black Tape For A Blue Girl!
Within These Walls — An Interview with Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape For a Blue Girl
We had the chance to catch up with Sam Rosenthal, head of Projekt Records and mastermind behind Black Tape For A Blue Girl about the band’s forty-year career, the label, and cat purring. At Post-punk.com
Q: Sam, I have to ask, what synthesizer do you use?
A: Here’s a list of the synths, with a guess at when I got them, and a weblink for more info on each of them:
1982 Realistic Moog Concertmate MG-1
1983 Korg Poly-61
1986 Ensoniq ESQ-1
1991(?) E-mu Emax I (no longer use), replaced with Emax II (no longer use), replaced with E-mu ESI-4000 (I have three of these, only one still works, I think.
2013(?) Waldorf Streichfett, recommended by Steve Roach.
2020 Droneo iPad app, recommended by Jarguna.
I still have all of them (except for the Emax I + II). These days I probably use the Streichfett the most, it’s all over the Thanatos: Portland album.
Sam from BlackTape here, asking for your pledge at Kickstarter to help create a special 40th anniversary edition of our debut, The Rope!
Back in the spring of 1986 I moved to California for college. I was 20 years old, feeling isolated, lonely, missing friends in Florida. In my dorm room I started recording music with lyrics and melodies. Writing words for Oscar Herrera to sing within my ethereal and ambient music helped me explore those angsty and tangled feelings.
It was 40 years ago this summer that I released The Rope. Now I need your help to make this special edition possible!
Pledge at Kickstarter
If we reach the $12,000 goal the release will contain two complete versions of the album. There’s the 1986 mix remastered, and I did a 2026 mix using modern studio technology to make The Rope sound the way I’ve always wanted to hear it. I know many people love the charm of the original while I have a desire to remix to make the tracks sound “better” — this limited collector edition satisfies both of those aims.
After just 24 hours, we’re already 25% to the goal. This campaign is all or nothing, every pledge at Kickstarter gets us closer to making this reissue possible. Thanks so much,
Sam
your one wish [2002]
You might recall that I digitized a bunch of video last year during the Islands Kickstarter. One of the tapes is a VHS of Blacktape's set at Projektfest'02 in Philadelphia. It's shot with a camera on the balcony, and a roving camera in the audience. I plan to edit the whole show soon(ish). For you today: "your one wish" performed by Elysabeth and I. I've never shared a video with my singing before, this song always went over well at our shows.
projektfest’02 • May 25, 2002 • Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Theatre
sam rosenthal • vocals & electronics
elysabeth grant • viola
john wadsworth • videographer
sam • video edit
the rope [1986 – 2026]
Me in my California dorm room in 1986 during the recording of The Rope. People seem to primarily want to comment on my hair! 🫠 Join them at Instagram or Facebook. That's my Korg Poly-61 and the school's Fostex Portastudio which I long-term borrowed to record the album. Read about my plans for the 40th anniversary of The Rope in this blog.
Fall 2026 is the 40th for our debut, The Rope, and I have plans! In April (approximately), I’ll Kickstart a special new edition. It will be a 2LP and 2CD release. LP1 will be the original 1986 mix, remastered by Martin Bowes of Attrition. LP2 will be an entirely new 2026 mix, mastered by Martin.
The Rope was recorded on a cassette Portastudio in the spring of 1986 when I was in college in Orange, California. I mixed the album that summer when I was back in Florida. Wild to believe: I mixed the entire thing in about three hours at a studio in Miami. This is unheard of. These days, it might take me 10 to 20 hours to mix a track. I really had no idea what I was doing! To my ears, the 1986 mix is a mess, but I know it has a certain charm that many people really love. Some of you have told me that The Rope is your favorite of our albums; the 1986 mix has been the definitive version that we’ve all listened to for 40 years.
Yet, there’s much that was buried in the rush in the studio. So, I digitized the old cassette multi-track tapes and spent my Xmas ’25 break remixing it here in my studio, getting all the levels right. It was fun. In the 2026 mix I hear synth parts that had been missing all these years, and resolved places where Oscar’s vocals were a bit low. Part of the issue was that back in 1986 the Portastudio only gave me four tracks to work with, in places I had to ping-pong three instruments down to one track to make room for bandmembers’ parts. Synths often got buried in those ping-pong mixdowns. Working on the computer on the new mixes I could do something about that with unlimited tracks to make subtle improvements. For example, in “We Return” I replayed some of the synth parts that were hard to hear. Fortunately, I still have my old Poly-61 from the 80s, and my rough notes on the chords I played. I could recreate my synth parts and fatten up the sound. I didn’t add new ideas, just fixed up old things; like touching up paint that had been worn away over the years.
As I said, many people love the charm of the original. What better way to respect that — and also respect my desire to “fix it” — then by creating a release containing both versions? There will be two albums at digital; the physical 2LP / 2CD versions will be limited collector editions. Down the road, there’ll only be a one-album version for retail. Getting in on the Kickstarter guarantees you get your copy of the special edition.
More on all of this soon enough!
— Sam
Watch at YouTube: 12 minutes, 5 songs (2 are excerpts)
Show #134 | Saturday September 4, 2010 ~ Atlanta, GA
Sam Rosenthal • electronics & backing vocals
Athan Maroulis • vocals
Nicki Jaine • guitar & backing vocals
Jack Rabid’s Picks. 2025’s 150 Best Old Recordings & Reissues. #67 Black Tape For a Blue Girl – As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire — & — Live at the Middle East Boston, July 21, 1998 — & — Remnants of a Deeper Purity (Projekt)
at Bandcamp $25.
Watch at YouTube
Show #8 | Saturday August 30 1997, Batcave @ Downtime, New York City, NY
The first live video I’ve posted with Oscar on vocals! It’s a brilliantly dramatic performance.
oscar herrera • vocals & guitar
lucian casselman • vocals
lisa feuer • flute
mera roberts • cello
sam rosenthal • electronics
12″ felt turntable slipmat back in stock at Bandcamp.
It was 40 years ago this month that I released Islands on cassette, back when I was in college in Florida. 1985→2025 ! It's very appropriate that November is when all formats of this remixed reissue become available. Back when I was 20, I never would have imagined this release would still be listened to so far into the future… nor that it would sound so good!
Get your limited edition LP, Cassette + MiniDisc at the Blacktape Bandcamp. This deluxe release was sponsored by 140 amazing supporters at Kickstarter.
Oh, "What is Islands?" you ask? It's the electronic, minimalist, synthwave album I created right before I started Black Tape For A Blue Girl. Oscar sings on two tracks and Lara (violinist on The Rope) is on a bunch of them. 40 years! Can you believe it?! So much has happened in that time. Thank you for caring about the music I created all those years ago!
Islands is Name-Your-Price at Bandcamp; it includes "Disc 4" that's not at Spotify or the other streaming sites.
Islands press information:
Genres: Electronic, Minimal Wave, Synthwave, Minimal Synth.
For Fans Of: Philip Glass, early-70s Kraftwerk, mid-70s Tangerine Dream.
This is the 40th anniversary edition of Black Tape For A Blue Girl founder Sam Rosenthal's early electronic cassette. Pulsing minimal synths emerge from this time capsule of the era's vintage sound. Released in 1985, Rosenthal's 8th album was the first to include tracks sung by future BlackTape vocalist Oscar Herrera as well as contributions from other guest musicians. Rosenthal remixed Islands from new transfers of the original ¼-inch 4-track tapes. "I was 19 when I recorded this,” he reflects, “releasing it around my 20th birthday. Nearly 40 years later, what surprises me is how good the recordings sound considering it was recorded with two synths and some shoddy microphones through a cheap Radio Shack mixer to the 4-track. They sound great in this new mix. It was nice to come back to it and enjoy what past-Sam envisioned."
You all did it!! 140 backers brought Islands to 113% of the goal. Thank you, thank you.
It’s satisfying reaching the end of another successful campaign knowing you’re encouraged to support my fantastical ideas of keeping physical formats alive in 2025.
I know there’s lots of chaos in the world, stress about finances, and all the horribleness. I had concern about doing a campaign at this time but you showed me that music still matters. Some tell me art is a solace from all that. I’m glad music is there for you and that I can be part of that. Whether with my own creations or the great Projekt artists I get to work with. I really appreciate all of you making this life possible for me.
LPs, MD, & cassette will be available at the Black Tape For A Blue Girl Bandcamp in early fall.
That photo is me at 19! 40 years ago I set up my gear in my parents’ South Florida living room for a photo shoot.
Today I’m Kickstarting a remixed re-release of my electronic music cassette from November 1985 when I lived in Florida, Islands. My 8th album was the first to include guest musicians. It’s proto-BlackTape: Oscar sings on two tracks, Lara plays processed violins on a number of tracks, and Kim sings backing on one. Along with my electronics, right there you have the core of the band from The Rope debut, released 8 months after Islands.
Read the full story and pledge for the physical editions at Kickstarter. If we reach the $6000 goal, it’ll be available in 3 formats: 140-gram color vinyl (two color options), MiniDisc, & cassette.
A three-release Black Tape For A Blue Girl review in the 45th anniversary issue of The Big Takeover Magazine, by Marcel Feldmar.
Order your magazine today from their website
black tape for a blue girl
as one aflame laid bare by desire
live at the middle east boston july 21 1998
remnants of a deeper purity
(Projekt)
Three selections from a band that has been at the crest of the darkwaved waters since 1986, remastered and revitalized. 1996’s Remnants is an album of solid heartbreak beauty from a band already six releases into their discography, full of lush poetic waves, orchestrated ache, ambient shadows, medieval echoes, and Lucian Casselman’s hypnotic and ethereal vocals. Then out of 1999 flies As One Aflame, still floating in dark beauty. This shifts between a stripped-down Dead Can Dance spiral and a This Mortal Coiled melancholy, as Julianna Towns adds mesmerizingly solid vocals while the music drifts and dreams through it all. Mainman/label head Sam Rosenthal creates an atmosphere imbued with his vision, in sound and visual vibrations, in performance and poetry, music and mood. Lastly, coming from only a few months before As One Aflame, the superb live Boston gig showcases a dynamic young band fueled with desire and passion. Performed by the trio of Rosenthal, Towns, and Lisa Feuer, this amazing sonic snapshot reverberates with a romantic darkness. Mixing a couple songs from the upcoming As One Aflame alongside selections from earlier offerings, the trio creates their own world and thankfully allows us to sink deep into it, aching and ecstatic.
 Uncut Magazine’s Ultimate Record Collection: 200 Greatest Goth Albums # 169 black tape for a blue girl: the rope, projekt, 1986 The vehicle for the more electronic songwriting of Projekt Records’ founder Sam Rosenthal, brought to life by singer Oscar Herrera’s arch delivery. BTFABG spun a unique thread of ambient darkwave, neoclassical exoticism and dark cabaret on their relatively bare-boned and lo-fi debut album. If you’d like to share, repost my post at Facebook, Twitter, or BSKY. The 25th anniversary 2CD edition of the rope is $12 at our Bandcamp page. There’s also the LP in handmade cover. Read the notes on the page: it’s old stock. I have to glue more photos onto sleeves, however it’s cold here in Portland so it might take me a little bit to get to them. Can’t use that spray mount in the house, or everything will be sticky and coated with cat fur! : ) ★ NAME-YOUR-PRICE DOWNLOAD ★ Various Artists: Purr24  Last call on the Name-Your-Price download of my charity collection, Purr24, at the Projekt Bandcamp page. Purr24 includes the newest track from my Nova Cat Purring Sounds collaboration. I’ve already sent $1800 to senior cat charity from this one! shoegazekeith wrote: “I bought this to donate to charity but the music on this album is high quality ambient soundscapes. Played most days since purchase and helping my broken heart since my 19-year old cat passed away this week. Thank you.”  BlackTape Pride & Trans Pride Stickers $1 for a set of 2 at our Bandcamp., If you can’t afford that message me and I’ll send you one for free. If you want to share, repost my posts at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and BSKY (and/or like the posts to increase their visability.) Stay Safe, Sam |
I didn’t make this video at youTube, a random fan did. It’s interesting to see what stock footage mood others conceive for a Black Tape For A Blue Girl video. Footage by Cottonbro Studio, Pexels.
SPOILERS: They end up in a threesome! 😜
You all are amazing! On Monday we blew past the $12,500 goal, and things kept growing! There were pledges coming in in the last hour, even a pledge in the last two minutes skating in just under the wire. Wow, wow Wow! I so appreciate all of you for this.
Now I’ve got work getting it all into production. I’m adding an extra panel to the 3-CD and will print something additional to go into your packages. All formats will be available for preOrder soon at the BlackTape Bandcamp Page.
Tonight, lots of gratefulness and love!
Cheers, Sam
Over at Instagram I posted some photos of my Marcel Duchamp books, as well as images of the Philadelphia Museum’s 2009 catalog for Étant Donnés. BlackTape’s Aflame was included in the “Duchamp’s Legacy” section of the 448-page catalog, right below photos from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet!
Inspired by the ideas and art of French Cubist / Futurist / Conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp, As one aflame laid bare by desire explores the construct of desire and eroticism. Duchamp spoke of this metaphorically within his 1912 painting “The passage from virgin to bride.” His work was concept-driven, he said that his “Bride” could be read as a diagram for the mechanism of desire. This connected with ideas I had: finding oneself swept away by the passion and intensity of desire. Let’s call it “Desire as a catalyst.” Duchamp’s idea of desire as a mechanism inspired the machine that the character encounters in the final track on the album, “The passage.” I liked this idea that desire could be charted, could be plotted on an imaginary graph — I think I looked at love in that manner for years. I was very excited to find an artist who was also submerged in these same themes in his work.
Dr. Michael R. Taylor
Marcel Duchamp: Étant Donnés catalog
(available from Amazon)
In his cover letter, Dr Taylor wrote, “P.S. Your music was inspirational to me as I wrote this book, which I very much hope you will enjoy.”
The mention:
Musicians and composers also have been drawn to Étant Donnés. The American avant-garde composer and multi-instrumentalist John Zorn recorded Étant Donnés (69 Paroxyms For Marcel Duchamp) … /snip/ … Like Zorn, Sam Rosenthal, the creative force behind the band Black Tape for a Blue Girl, was inspired by Duchamp’s challenge to aesthetic norms in Étant Donnés, a work that defies categorization to this day. The band’s 1999 album, As one aflame laid bare by desire, was dedicated to Duchamp and includes the song “Given (1. The Waterfall 2. The Illuminating Gas).” Its lyrics are written from the point of view of the mannequin in Étant Donnés as she contemplates her passage from Virgin to Bride:
I want to stop thinking of love,
dreaming of love, defining love
I want to feel the earth below me… ravish me.
Given: the waterfall, the illuminating gas.
The bachelors: suitors at my call.
I used to dream of love as a machine; myself as the motor, erotic energy.
I’m ready to experience this love,
to look beyond this glass, leave concept for reality.
I want to feel the water immerse me…consuming me.
I want to leave behind this lauded virginity,
to experience love, to be taken by love.
I want to feel the sunlight upon me… overpower me.
Given: the waterfall, the illuminating gas.
The cinematic blossoming: halo of the bride.
I used to diagram love as a machine; myself as the motor, erotic energy.
