Contribute to Butthole Surfers thread

[swag]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butthole_Surfers

Butthole Surfers are an American punk band, founded by lead vocalist Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas, in 1981. Displaying a thick vein of black humor, they were one of the first bands to mix punk rock and psychedelia. They have further incorporated elements of heavy metal, noise rock, electronica, and other genres into their music, which makes extensive use of sound manipulation and, on their studio recordings, tape editing.<1> The Surfers are also known for their once-chaotic live shows (see section) and their legendary appetite for recreational drugs, particularly psychedelics, which would in turn often influence their performances and albums.<2>

The band has been through numerous personnel changes, but the core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey (born Jeffrey Coffey) has been together since 1983. Additionally, Teresa Nervosa (born Teresa Taylor) served as one of two drummers from 1983-1985 and 1986-1989. They have employed a variety of bass players, most notably Bill Jolly (1982-1984) and Jeff Pinkus (1986-1994).<3>

While they were respected by their peers, influenced future grunge stars, and attracted a devoted fan base, the Butthole Surfers didn’t enjoy any great commercial success until 1996’s Electriclarryland, their only gold record to date.<4> The album also contained the hit single “Pepper,” which climbed to #1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart that year.<5>

The Butthole Surfers had their genesis at San Antonio, Texas’ Trinity University in the late 1970s, when students Gibson “Gibby” Haynes and Paul Leary Walthall (later just Paul Leary) met for the first time.<6> Though it was their overall strangeness and shared taste in non-mainstream music that caused them to become fast friends, both appeared to be headed for very average lives. Haynes, who was captain of Trinity's basketball team and was named the school's “Accountant of the Year," would soon graduate and take a job with a respected Texas accounting firm, while Leary remained in college working towards an MBA.<7>

In 1981, Haynes and Leary were publishing Strange V.D., a fanzine featuring photos of disgusting medical ailments coupled with fictitious, humorous explanations of the diseases.<8> After being caught with one of these pictures at work, Haynes left his accounting firm and moved to Southern California. Leary, who was one semester shy of his degree, subsequently dropped out of college and followed. After a brief period spent selling homemade clothes and linens emblazoned with Lee Harvey Oswald's image, they returned to San Antonio and launched the band that would eventually become the Butthole Surfers.<9>

Original cover to 1983's Butthole Surfers.Playing their debut show at a San Antonio art gallery in 1981, lead vocalist/saxophonist Haynes and guitarist Leary's new band performed under a number of aliases before settling on the Butthole Surfers (see “Name’’ section). By 1982, they were backed by the sibling rhythm section of bassist Quinn Matthews and his brother, drummer Scott Matthews. Gaining no traction in San Antonio, the quartet purchased a van and headed back to California that summer.<10>

much more . . .

[mark414]

1. ,,,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIQmuW5Hv8

[Initech]

2. Their song is extremely difficult to play on Guitar Hero

[enigmatic]

3. Since I can't find "The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey's Grave"..

Here's an interview in bed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEuKiqnnOPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s65uGF6aog0

"I smoke Elvis Presley's toenails when I want to get high!"

[asthmaticeog]

15. Holy SHIT, I haven't seen that in years!

Great find!

L L L L L S S S S S D D D D D

[graywarrior]

4. God, I love them!

:headbang:

[Strawman]

5. Oh and by the way, if you see your mom this weekend....

would you be sure and tell her....

[Patsy Stone]

6. I went to this show:

They were amazing.

http://www.jasonramke.com/bhs/show.php?era=80&year=1985&id=31

[Forkboy]

7. Now THAT'S a fucking show!

[Patsy Stone]

8. $7

Was a lot to me at the time, too. But it was totally worth it. :)

[swag]

9. I lived at 428 Ridge St. NW then (5th & M)

Whereabouts were you?

[Patsy Stone]

12. Park Road

just off the corner at Mt. Pleasant. 1983-1985. But I lived on campus at Mount Vernon for a little over a year before that also. Ah... Good times, good times.

[swag]

14. Lived at 3449 Holmead Pl NW (near 14th & Irving), 1983

Saw Black Flag, NigHeist, & Govt Issue at Wilson Center in 83 or so. Minor Threat at Ontario Theatre with the Damned and the Anti-Nowhere League, 06/15/83, etc. MDC, Crucifucks, Dead Kennedys, 07/04/1983. You can top me no problem, but

coked up on Laundry day over on 13th:

[Patsy Stone]

16. I so wish

I could find the picture of me the day after my friend decided he needed to cut all of my hair verrrrry short and just leave the bangs long -- which he dyed blonde. Oy.

I love your picture. Love it.

Do you remember 9353?

[swag]

18. Yes. I loved 9353.

I have "To Whom it May Consume" on LP and a later CD reissue of some songs.

I loved seeing them perform. Did you know them?

I only knew Bruce briefly (via Gordon, who used to bartend at Food for Thought) in the early days of Dante's.

What a great band. And great posters everywhere.

[Patsy Stone]

20. I have all the flyers. :)

I did know them. People in the house were friends with them and one of my friends dated Bruce later, after the whole thing. But I lost touch with both of them a long time ago. The last picture I received from them they were in Iowa, I think, and he had a really long beard and very long hair.

One of the most vivd memories was one Halloween night, after 9353 opened for PIL, and there was a party at the house. All the DC Hardcore regulars showed up and took the place over. Much to our dismay. Lots of weirdness that night.

John Stabb from GI and a few other band members used to hand out at the house too. I loved Food for Thought. Dante (if you're talking about the guy with the pink hair) lived around the corner from Mount Vernon in the early days of these recollections.

9353 rocked.

[swag]

22. Was that the PiL show at the Ontario Theater?

Gee, Patsy Stone, you were dialed in.

Next you'll tell me that you're the one who jumped up onstage and kissed John Lydon on the cheek.

[Patsy Stone]

36. I was not.

But I did get a safety pin which fell off his pajamas. Do you know Melaney?

As for dialed in, it was a fortuitous confluence of events which led me to that house and into that scene. Although I was never was a true punk, I did manage to end up in the right spot at the right time. Who knew it was the heyday of a "scene"?

[swag]

37. I did not know Melaney.

I knew quite a few people, but not her.

Oddly, a few of the people I knew back there and then now live in my neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.

[swag]

23. It's amazing that you have all the flyers.

They would make a great book.

[HughBeaumont]

24. You saw Black Flag and NigHeist?

I hate Ohio. Good shows never come here.

Of course, I was only 14 in 1983, so if it came here, transportation to such a show from Vermilion to Cleveland would have been impossible.

[swag]

25. Yeah, Black Flag and Nig Heist (and Government Issue) played

this place called the Wilson Center, which I think was a Unitarian Church or something. Maybe Patsy Stone remembers what exactly it was. Anyway, it was where this was shot about five years later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJFWirQ3ks

I always preferred the balcony.

[Forkboy]

11. What's cool is that most of the music I like is so unpopular that they still cost $7.

And I love the MST3K pic! Very fitting for DU sometimes :)

[Patsy Stone]

13. LOL

I still see lots of small shows. It's more satisfying, and not so devastating if they're bad.

This place is a walking MST3K.

[Forkboy]

17. This place is a walking MST3K.

You got that right...and my job is to be Crow!

[swag]

19. Oh, hey, wasn't Reptile House an early band of Danny Higgs,

the Lungfish guy from Baltimore?

[Patsy Stone]

21. Okay.

You've totally lost me on the Lungfish guy. :)

[vi5]

28. Yes, that was his earlier band.

Great band, as is/was Lungfish.

[vi5]

30. Hmm..has anybody mentioned them dicking over Corey Rusk?

.....and Touch and Go records? Since this thread seems to be a Butthole Surfers lovefest I don't mean to shit in the punch bowl, but I will. I'm sure I'll have to hear about how there's two sides to the story and blah, blah, blah.

They wrote and recorded some great music though, and their live shows in the 80's were mind blowing. But they forever tainted their legacy for me with that move.

[swag]

32. I did not know that they dicked over T&G.

That is unfortunate, indeed.

[vi5]

33. Yeah, it was a pretty big case...

I mean Corey Rusk has always operated on handshakes and kept all his bands albums in print regardless of sales and even bands who jump ship for greener major label pastures always praise the guys business ethics and allow him to keep pressing their albums since he always pays royalties on time and the 50/50 split is as fair a deal as any label major or minor. But it apparently wasn't good enough for the Butthole Surfers so they reneged on their handshake deal with him and sued him for their old albums. Legally they had ground to stand on since it was a handshake indie label deal. But ethically from a punk rock/indie label band perspective it was a shitty thing to do.

[swag]

34. Oh, okay,

well, I finally read about the lawsuit.

Hm.

[asthmaticeog]

10. DAMN, THAT'S GOOD MEAT! I MUST FIND MY SON!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNAHoOKxok

[NewWaveChick1981]

26. Their cover of the theme song to Underdog makes me laugh hysterically...

:rofl: They're one of the most original bands ever. :patriot: I love them!

[swag]

27. A live "Cherub" with an interesting video introduction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9lCXVLpiY

[dolo amber]

29. swag, we must be having some sort of delayed-reaction mind meld or something

:o :tinfoilhat:

I almost posted the "LLLSSSDDD" thing, plus the "home movie" PLUS the "Cherub" vid on another forum I post on with many like-minded folk just a few weeks ago.

I saw them more times than I can count (8? 15? 437? :shrug:) but 2 shows stand out: The time in Ann Arbor when about 20 min into the show the crowd parted and some people who had (accidentally one assumes) beheadded a deer with their car on the way to the show came through...and being Surfers fans they did the only sensible thing and brough the head to the front of the stage and presented it at Gibby's feet. He of course never missed a beat and started doing all this crazy Shaman dancing and Leary just went insane.

Then when they played at the club I worked at in Cincinnati, I was lucky enough to be able to sort of wander around out back pre-show. Everyone was kind of off wandering the strip, getting food or shopping or whatever, but Gibby came back and stood next to the stage door eating chicken wings. We just sorta stood there, staring at each other. Me, 2 friends, and Gibby. Just looking at each other about 10 feet apart while he ate his wings. It probably doesn't sound all that exciting or weird but it was both. And hilarious! There were these tiny holes in the brick wall, and he was stuffing the bones into them. After doing this a few times he stated "chicken catacombs."

GOD I LOVE THEM!!!

[swag]

31. The chicken wing story is fantastic, as is the deer head story.

I wish YouTube had a copy of that Richard Kern film song that uses "Cherub" as the soundtrack.

Mind meld: you and I meet nightly on an astral plane, I'm sure.

[MissMillie]

35. I'm not sick but I'm not well

:shrug: