Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Line-Up - Part 2 - Electric Boogerloo

When we last left off, our heros had kicked out Cabbage and were on their way to NYC, then off to Europe...

16) April 1986 - July 1986
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums

first show: 4/19/86 Irving Plaza, NYC
last known show: 5/24/86 Graystone Hall, Detroit, MI
The band plays one show in NYC as a four piece, than heads to the UK with King doing solo duty on drums...He is still standing, opting fer no kick drum even as he's playing the parts of 2 drummers. Truly, TRULY amazing to witness. With Teresa in the band, King can play the skeleton of the beat, while she adds the meat to the bones, here, he is constantly in motion. Baffling stuff.
Anywho, The trip to Europe is plagued by a series mix ups. They are kicked out of the UK fer lack of proper working permits at the beginning of the tour, then, detained and held at gunpoint by Belgian police after an odd rape allegation.
It seems some language discrepancy between the female promoter and the police lead to the trouble. It turns out, she felt she got jipped outta money, not raped, and the band was able to proceed back to the good old U.S.S.A without having an episode of "Locked-Up Abroad" dedicated to them.
They return home to play a show in Detroit, before heading to back to TX, not Georgia, to settle down a bit.





The four piece band enjoying themselves

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17) July 1986 - March 1987
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums, Teresa - drums first known show: 7/14/86 - South Bank, Austin, TX
By the grace of YHWH, Teresa decides to return to the band. Here we have the beginning of what many consider to be the prime era of the band...well...what I consider to be the prime era of the band. March 1987?...ending point fer this line-up??...bear with me, here....



Teresa back where she belongs

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18) March 1987 - Sept. 1988
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums, Teresa - Drums, Kathleen Lynch - dancer

first show: 3/28/87 - The Ritz, Austin, TX
last known show: 9/27/88 - The Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
That's right, I said it! Kathleen was a band member! She was not just some girl jumping around onstage. Although other girls occassionally filled in during Kathleen's tenure, NO ONE could take her place. She was a true artist, and embodied all the sexiness and horror in the music and stage presentation the band was conveying. Kathleen danced on occassion(s) prior to this time, and after this too, but was more or less a full-time member here.
Gibby once said (back in 1984!) the Butthole Surfers were not a "political band', but were more political than most of the "so-called" political bands around. He was RIGHT, and this line-up proved it one-hundred fold. The band, and their fans at the shows, became a completely separate society. A cult of freaks and weirdos operating apart from the so-called normal man. That's politics folks!
Along with Kathleen, I could also put Bill Daniel, who began the whole film setup, but let's leave it to the onstage performers. It doesn't get much betther than this!


Kathleen dancing in NYC



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19) October 1988 - July 1989
Gibby - vox, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums, Teresa - Drums
first show: 10/21/88 - Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles, CA
last show: 7/4/89 - NORML Rally, Lafayette Park, Washington, DC
Kathleen stops dancing full-time after the summer 1988 European tour, leaving the 5-piece band solidly intact. By this point, the Butthole Surfers have become the highest grossing indie band on the road, commanding anywhere from 10,000-$15,000 per performance, and almost immediately selling out every show they play. It's a great time fer the band. They pull out a national tour in the fall of 1988, and a few select dates through the spring of 1989. Again fer unknown reasons, Teresa decides to pack it in and leave the band after a performance at the N.O.R.M.L rally in DC, and just before the 5th excursion to Europe.




Towards the end of Teresa's tenure...again

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20) August 1989 - January 1994
Gibby - vox, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums
first show: 8/23/89 - Subterrania, London, UK
Last show: 1/8/94 - Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA
Stripped back down to a four-piece, the band hones its sound to less of a sprawling psychedelic band to a more rock centered unit...with a substancial amount of psychedelic undertones...;)..
King takes a seat and the typical 25 song sets are blazed through in 70-80 mins. They see their first commerical success, first with "Hurdy Gurdy Man", and then with "Who Was in My Room Last Night". The Lollapalooza festival broadens the band's horizons, and eventually sign with Capitol records, as indie acts are snatched up by majors hoping to cash in on the post-Nirvana success. A tour with STP begins to further expand the fan-base, though it's partially at the expense of losing some older fans. The end of 1993, beginning of 1994 sees the band on a huge stadium mini-tour with none other than Nirvana. All seems like the band is headed fer real success, then Jeff abruptly quits. It's a sad end to his tenure and the band is truly in flux. Not to mention Gibby's heroin addiction. The band as we know it takes a hiatus to regroup, get clean, and write material



and then there was 4


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21) February 1994-May 1996
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, King - drums
no shows
Not much going on through 1994 and 1995. Other than some minor compilation appearances and 7" record, the band lays low. Gibby does the P project, King continues to run his label, and play guitar sporatically in his band, Drain. Paul has success producing Meat Puppets and Sublime, among others. They recruit some pals to help out on bass through the recording of Electric Larryland, including Andrew Weiss of the Rollins Band (and unofficially, Ween), but with no shows, they don't settle on anyone to join officially...no need.



3 members means more money!



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22) May 1996 - January 1997
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Kyle Ellison - guitar, Owen McMahon - bass, King - drums
They recruit Kyle Ellison, who helped the Meat Puppets out during the "No Joke" tour, to play 2nd guitar and get King's Drain cohort, Owen McMahon to play bass on the ELL tour. After the tour ends in Nov., they get back together to perform on the 'Larry Sanders Show', in January of 1997.



on the set of the 'Larry Sanders Show' 1997


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23) January 1997-August 2001
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, King - drums
no shows
The core band remains a trio. I am here listing touring bands, but it's really just these guys the whole time. They begin to record the follow-up to ELL, After the Astronaut, and Capitol wants no part of it. It is an electronica, psychedelic effort that once again proves the Butthole Surfers cannot be pigeon-holed and confined to a "bag". Of course, because it is their best effort since "Hairway to Steven", Capitol drags it's feet, and eventually drops them from the label, leaving ATA to gather dust in their vaults fer 3 years. With other stuff on their plates, it seems the band is content to let it lie, and not bother to sue fer its release, or re-record it. They eventually DO remix many of the tracks on it, as well as record some new ones, that get released as the disappointing "Weird Revolution". The band then recruits some new members to tour.



Enjoying the fruits of their labor


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24) October 2001 - November 2001
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Josh Klinghoffer - guitar, drums, Nathan Calhoun - bass, King - drums
first show: 10/10/01 - The Metro, Sydney, Australia
last show: 11/17/01 - La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
Weird Revolution tour band. Nathan is full time bassist now, and gets to be in the promo picture...



with Nathan

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25) July 2002 - September 2002
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jason Morales - drums, Nathan Calhoun - bass, King - drums
first show: 7/12/02 - Tipitina's New Orleans, LA
last show: 9/7/02 - Deep Elum, Dallas, TX
The 2002 mini-tour sees the band in better form than they had been in a while. It ain't the old days, but they are busting out some older tunes and pulling some surprises




>coming soon<



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26) September 2002 - March 2008
Gibby, Paul, King

The tours end, the band stops. It seems like it could be over. Rumors of Gibby and Paul not getting along are more or less confirmed as some dirty laundry gets aired publicly. For much of this time, it seems like we will never hear from them again. They are brothers, after all, and will never say the band is broken up, per se, but fer all intensive purposes, it is.
Then, in a surprise move, Paul Green asks Gibby to front the School of Rock Kids fer a tour saluting the Butthole Surfers. Gibby's respect fer Paul Green contributes to him saying YES...and fans get some really fun performances, with Gibby seeming to enjoy himself onstage fer the first time in ages.
The success of the Gibby\SoR All-Stars shows lead to talk of a Butthole Surfers\SoR tour. King, Jeff, and Teresa sign on board, with Paul still holding out. Finally, we hear he'll play Europe, but no shows in the U.S., then we hear perhaps he'll play the NYC show.Up until about a week before the gigs are scheduled, it is unclear where, when or IF Paul is on board. Finally, it is confirmed! Paul signs on fer the whole tour!!...
my god, I'm getting teary-eyed....!


no, it's not Grand Funk Railroad

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27) June 2008 - Present
Gibby - vox, sax, guitar, Paul - guitar, vox, Jeff - bass, King - drums, Teresa - drums

first show: 6/24/08 - Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ
Reunited, and it feels so good!!


They're back!! Catch them soon in a town near you!!







































5 comments:

  1. Super appreciated, thanks.

    "Intents and purposes".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice job here. Very informative.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a fantastic Blog. Love the t-shirts. Didn't know there were so many designs. What they had a their last show for sale was the typical fair. Jack Officer T is way too much. The one with the tug-boat really nice. Synopsis on band is very interesting. Made me want more more more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a great site. Thanks for rounding it all up. I love the t-shirts.

    ReplyDelete