Editing Plasmatics (section)

=== ''Coup d'Etat'' (1982–1983) ===
By the spring of 1982, a worldwide deal was signed with Capitol Records, and Dan Hartman offered to produce a demo of the album for Capitol with Swenson at [[Electric Lady Studios]], [[Jimi Hendrix]]'s old studio, in New York. The whole album was arranged, recorded and mixed within a week. [[Dieter Dierks]], who had just come off a number one album with [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]], also expressed interest in producing.

''[[Coup d'etat (Plasmatics album)|Coup d'Etat]]'' was a breakthrough album that began to blend the punk and metal genres, something that would later be done by bands such as [[Stormtroopers of Death|S.O.D.]], [[Anthrax (American band)|Anthrax]], and the [[Cro-Mags]] by the end of the 1980s. Williams also broke ground for her unique singing style. She pushed her voice so hard she had to make trips into Cologne, Germany, where the album was being recorded, each day for treatments to avoid permanent damage to her vocal cords.

The Hartman demo was released 20 years later under the name ''[[Coup de Grace (Plasmatics album)|Coup de Grace]]''. The rawer version of ''[[Coup d'Etat (Plasmatics album)|Coup d'Etat]]'', which took less than a tenth of the time and a fraction of the budget, is hailed by many fans{{who|date=March 2021}} as the true version of the album.

The video Swenson produced and directed of "The Damned" featured Williams driving a school bus through a wall of TVs, climbing onto the roof of a moving bus which had been loaded with explosives, and then singing from the roof and jumping off a few moments before the bus goes through the second wall of TVs and then blows sky high.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR_YMRJo1uA The Plasmatics – "The Damned" video], YouTube, retrieved March 30, 2010</ref>

As touring began, it became clear that Capitol was beginning to turn away from the group in favor of groups such as [[Duran Duran]], who could generate ten times the sales with none of the political liability and fallout. Soon after the album was released, Capitol Records dropped the Plasmatics.<ref name="Williams" />

In 1982, [[Lemmy]] of Motörhead was approached by his label to do a follow-up to his successful [[Headgirl|Motörhead/Girlschool collaboration]], ''[[St. Valentine's Day Massacre (EP)|St. Valentine's Day Massacre]]'' EP and Motörhead's manager Doug Smith got in touch with Rod Swenson in the States and proposed a duet of the country classic "[[Stand by Your Man]]" by Williams and Lemmy. 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 Williams and Lemmy in a duet of the title track of the EP.<ref name="Gimarc650">Gimarc, p. 650</ref>

Tracked at a Canadian recording studio, the ''[[Stand by Your Man (EP)|Stand by Your Man]]'' sessions proved to be tumultuous as guitarist Eddie Clarke (who was producing the tracks, but not playing on them) quit Motörhead in the middle of the project. Rod Swenson and Dan Hartman, who had finished demoing the Plasmatics ''Coup d'Etat'' album together, were called upon to finish the rough and raw project in the mix which they did at Electric Lady Studios in New York. Swenson then shot the cover with Lemmy and Williams on it and the raw project was put out by Bronze records.