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99-447: "Their roots sound's supercharged with energy and an overdose of irreverence, delivered with crunchy swagger," Creative Loafing wrote. Guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist Bill Davis formed Dash Rip Rock as a three-piece band during the summer of 1984. Davis was influenced by the early 1980s American roots rock revival, embodied by such acts as Rank and File , The LeRoi Brothers , The Beat Farmers , The Stray Cats , and Jason &

198-461: A San Antonio night club, The Bonham Exchange, in 1981; at that time, they had not yet settled on the band name "Butthole Surfers". By 1982, the band was backed by the sibling rhythm section composed of bassist Quinn Mathews and his brother, drummer Scott Mathews. The band did not gain a following in San Antonio, and purchased a van to return to California later that summer. During a brief concert at

297-460: A bargain rate, and their visual equipment soon took up more space than their instruments. Smoke machines were later added. Equally memorable was the band's propensity for projecting a variety of films behind them as they played, beginning with one 16-millimeter projector, before adding others. This set-up allowed them to play a number of overlapping movies at the same time which were often strangely angled, upside down or played in reverse. Combined with

396-414: A friend of the band, and Trevor Malcolm, a young Canadian musician recommended by Touch and Go, replaced him on bass. Word was spreading about the band's bizarre stage show by the time they hit the road again, resulting in ever-larger audiences at their concerts. Not long after Malcolm's arrival, the band recorded their act for posterity by filming two concerts at Detroit's Traxx club. Some of this footage

495-616: A group of investors to purchase a controlling interest in the entire Creative Loafing chain, and subsequently brought the Planet papers into the fold. After a false start during which the May 31, 2006, edition of Tampa's Planet was prematurely published with a Creative Loafing banner, the Tampa paper officially reverted to its former name and the Sarasota paper became Creative Loafing Sarasota . Shortly after

594-722: A half in Atlanta, the Easons established new Creative Loafing weeklies in March 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in 1988 in Tampa, Florida . Other expansions or acquisitions included newspapers in Greenville, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia . The company also expanded its footprint in the Atlanta area, starting two community weeklies, Gwinnett Loaf and Topside Loaf , covering

693-485: A limited edition double album released on vinyl and cassette in 1989, and on CD the following year. This was the first release on the band's Latino Buggerveil label. Although the album, as of spring 2007, is out of print, its songs are available as free MP3 downloads on the band's official website. Issued in response to widespread, for-profit bootlegging of their live shows, it contained performances of songs from all of their previous studio albums and EPs. Double Live

792-584: A mallet. As previously mentioned he would sing through almost anything that would alter his voice, including toilet paper rolls and megaphones early on, which eventually evolved into "Gibby's kit", a.k.a. "Gibbytronix", a rack of vocal effects stacked as high as he could reach, before which he would often stand for the majority of the show in later performances. He also often utilized various foot switches which would be used to activate certain vocal effects, and when thought to be dancing during some performances he would actually be stepping on his various pedals. Adding to

891-736: A mini-empire with four papers in three states and purchased two heralded alt-weeklies— the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper —and The Straight Dope , a longtime Reader-syndicated column by Cecil Adams. Ben Eason, son of Deborah and Elton, purchased the Tampa paper from his parents in 1994 and changed its name to the Weekly Planet . In 1998 he expanded the paper and launched a second Weekly Planet in Sarasota, Florida. Two years later, in September 2000, he and his two sisters led

990-597: A more straightforward rock approach at Jones's insistence. This paid off for Butthole Surfers, giving them their first minor radio hit, " Who Was in My Room Last Night? ". It reached number 24 on Billboard ' s Modern Rock Tracks singles chart, while the album peaked at number 124 on the Billboard 200 . Two of the new songs were featured on episodes of MTV 's Beavis and Butt-head . Guitarist and huge influence on Butthole Surfers, Helios Creed played guitar on two of

1089-601: A number of drummers participated. The last of these, King Coffey (born Jeffrey Coffey), is still with the band to this day. Released on Alternative Tentacles in July 1983, the resulting EP, Butthole Surfers (also known as Brown Reason to Live and Pee Pee the Sailor ), offered songs with provocatively absurd titles like "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave" and "Bar-B-Q Pope", alternately sung by Haynes and Leary. (Haynes would become

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1188-459: A number of grinding, slower-paced songs, arguably making it an early precursor of grunge . Around the time of Locust Abortion Technician' s debut, the group bought a home in Driftwood, Texas , approximately 30 miles (48 km) outside Austin. It was a ranch house built into the side of a hill, with 5 acres (20,000 m ) of surrounding property. As with the rental home near Athens, the compound

1287-615: A part of the alternative weekly newspapers association in the United States. Creative Loafing began as a family-owned business in 1972 by Deborah and Chick Eason, expanding to other cities in the Southern United States in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 2007 it doubled its circulation with the purchase of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper ; the $ 40 million debt it incurred, along with an economic recession , forced

1386-591: A reportedly generous one-album deal. Prior to the new LP's debut, Rough Trade talked the band into first releasing 1990's The Hurdy Gurdy Man , which previewed material from the coming release. The same year, Rough Trade issued Digital Dump by The Jackofficers , Haynes and Pinkus's psychedelic house music side project. piouhgd (pronounced "p.o.-ed", as in "pissed off") was the band's fifth full-length studio album, and their first for Rough Trade. Released in April 1991, it featured more electronic instrumentation, but

1485-538: A reporter for the Village Voice that Butthole Surfers (along with Killing Joke and The Black Lips ) would never play the festival again. The reunited 1986-1989 "classic" lineup continued to tour into 2009, with stops in the United States and Canada. In Austin, Texas , during their last scheduled show for the North American/Canada 2008–2009 tour on October 31, 2009, Haynes said "We played our first show as

1584-445: A screwdriver to vandalize the club's speakers. This came after only five songs, during which time Haynes had started a small fire. Butthole Surfers began to take the collection of visual equipment seriously following Coffey's recruitment in 1983, when he added a clear plastic drum fitted with a strobe light to their show. Shortly afterwards, the band purchased what was reported as several thousand dollars worth of stolen strobe lights at

1683-498: A short Super 8 mm film movie directed by Alex Winter , who is best known as "Bill S. Preston, Esq." from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure . Bar-B-Que Movie is a spoof of 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , and the film ends with a music video-style performance of the song "Fast" (a.k.a. "Fart Song"), featuring Haynes, Leary, Coffey, Nervosa, and Jeff Pinkus , as well as dancer Kathleen Lynch . The track displayed many of

1782-519: A skirt made of an American flag and a large '60s torpedo-style stuffed bra. At other times he would hide condoms full of stage blood in his clothes and repeatedly fall to the floor, appearing to bleed profusely. Some of Haynes' other favorite tricks involved throwing handfuls of photocopied cockroach images into the crowd, rolls and rolls of toilet paper tossed across the audience, as well as filling an inverted cymbal with lighter fluid, setting it (and sometimes his hand) on fire, and repeatedly hitting it with

1881-695: A song of that title, possibly an early version of 1984's "Butthole Surfer". This changed at their first paid concert, when an announcer forgot what the band was called and used the song title for the group's name. They decided to keep the moniker, and have largely been billed as such ever since. Prior to that, Butthole Surfers performed under a different name at every live show. Early aliases included The Dick Clark Five, Nine cm Worm Makes Own Food, The Vodka Family Winstons, Ashtray Babyheads, Ed Asner Is Gay, Fred Astaire 's Asshole, The Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, Zipgun, and many others. The name has long been

1980-460: A source of trouble for the band. Many clubs, newspapers, radio, and TV stations refuse to print or mention their full name, and instead opt to use "B.H. Surfers" or other abbreviations. In a 1996 Rolling Stone interview, when asked if he could go back and choose a more culturally acceptable name for the band, Haynes replied, "I would name the band: I'm Going to Shit in Your Mother's Vagina." In

2079-622: A tour of the East Coast and Europe in Summer 2008 with the Paul Green School of Rock All Stars. It was the first time the reunited line up played together since 1989. The group performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival curated by Melvins and Mike Patton of Faith No More . The group's appearance at All Tomorrow's Parties led to a dispute with ATP founder and organizer Barry Hogan, who told

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2178-707: A track on a forthcoming Black Oak Arkansas tribute album with Greg Ginn of Black Flag , Paul Leary and Jeff Pinkus of Butthole Surfers , Shooter Jennings, and others. Mutants of the Monster: A Tribute to Black Oak Arkansas was released by Saustex Records in 2016. In 2023, Dash Rip Rock released the album Cowpunk . It was produced and engineered by Dave Catching at Rancho de La Luna recording studio in Joshua Tree, California. In February 2024, Dash Rip Rock's Bill Davis lost his friend, mentor, former touring partner, and former Otis bandmate Otis , Mojo Nixon, while Dash Rip Rock

2277-403: A tribute album to Billy Joe Shaver that was released in 2013 on Whiskey Bayou Records. It was produced by Tab Benoit . In 2013 Dash Rip Rock played back-up for a one-time only show with southern rock pioneers Jim "Dandy" Mangum and Rickey Lee “Risky” Reynolds of Black Oak Arkansas . In 2014 Punk News announced that Bill Davis of Dash Rip Rock would be appearing on lead guitar and lead vocals on

2376-518: A variety of bass players, most notably Jeff Pinkus . Emerging from the 1980s hardcore punk scene, Butthole Surfers quickly became known for their chaotic live shows, black comedy , and a sound that incorporated elements of psychedelia , noise rock , and punk as well as their use of sound manipulation and tape editing. Although they were respected by their peers and attracted a devoted fanbase, Butthole Surfers had little commercial success until 1996's Electriclarryland . The album contained

2475-513: Is a compilation of studio outtakes, while 2003's Butthole Surfers/Live PCPPEP , combines their first two Alternative Tentacles EPs. In 2004, Haynes formed Gibby Haynes and His Problem, who released an eponymous album on Surfdog Records later that year. While promoting the side project, Haynes indicated that another Butthole Surfers studio album was likely, and remarked that it would be "noisy". However, no release date has been announced. The band reunited with Jeff Pinkus and Teresa Nervosa for

2574-501: Is a whole lot of fun, but the other 23 hours off stage just fucking suck." They performed at the Day for Night music festival in Houston, Texas, which ran December 17–18, 2016. In an interview with The Quietus in March 2017, Leary talked about the group possibly making a new album, their first in 16 years: "We've all been busy with our own separate things, and I've done a lot of producing in

2673-587: Is to a digital magazine with a focus on events, culture, local artists, bands, neighborhoods and local news. Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas , by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second drummer from 1983 to 1985, 1986 to 1989, and 2009. The band has also employed

2772-566: The Alternative Tentacles label, followed in 2007 by Dash's first concept album , a punk rock opera based on Dante's Inferno , Hee Haw Hell . August 1, 2008 saw the release of a new studio album, Country Girlfriend. In 2010, the Houston Press deemed DRR one of the "Top 10 Louisiana Bands of All Time." Bill Davis was also featured in the documentary, Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW . In 2010, Dash Rip Rock's song "Johnny Ace"

2871-613: The Chicago Reader was sold to Wrapports, publisher of the competing Chicago Sun-Times , in a deal reported at $ 3 million. Two months later, on July 3, Creative Loafing Atlanta and the Washington City Paper were sold to SouthComm, for an undisclosed sum, and CL Inc. ceased to exist. In 2016, the Charlotte Creative Loafing was sold to Womack Publishing of North Carolina. In 2018, the Charlotte Creative Loafing

2970-584: The Cream Corn... EP's B-side. Following the European tour, Butthole Surfers experienced more upheaval when Nervosa left around Christmas 1985, as she was tired of the living conditions associated with constant touring and had a desire to be with family. She was replaced by another female drummer, Kytha Gernatt, who was dubbed Cabbage Gomez Jr. in the press soon after joining the band. Cabbage had previously performed with Kathleen Lynch (a.k.a. Kathleen, a.k.a. Ta-Da

3069-506: The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired as recently as 1995. Butthole Surfers did not seek to replace her at the time, and opted to continue as a quartet. Following a final EP for Touch and Go—1989's Widowermaker —the band left their longtime recording partners to sign with longtime supporter Terry Tolkin at Rough Trade Records who had also brought them to Touch and Go , for

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3168-643: The Tool and Die club in San Francisco , Dead Kennedys frontman and Alternative Tentacles overseer Jello Biafra witnessed their performance and became a fervent fan. Biafra invited the group to open for Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L. at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles , and soon made an offer that would launch their recording career; if they could get someone to lend them studio time, Alternative Tentacles would reimburse

3267-559: The tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits , produced by Ralph Sall for MCA . Later that year, Haynes's side project, P, issued an eponymous LP on Capitol, while Coffey's Trance Syndicate label released the first Butthole Surfers compilation album. Titled The Hole Truth... and Nothing Butt , it was mostly live tracks recorded at different venues from 1985 to 1991. In December, Butthole Surfers initiated what would become an extended legal battle with Touch and Go. At first, they were seeking to increase their profits from

3366-564: The "songs are practically incidental to the spectacle" after seeing them perform along with psychedelic band Lumerians in Brooklyn . The line-up of Haynes, Leary, Pinkus, and Coffey did a 12-show tour of mostly western U.S. states and one appearance in Canada from August 26, 2011, to September 11, 2011. As of 2016, the group are on hiatus, with Leary saying: "I just don't want to play live anymore. It's not fun, I don't like touring. That hour on stage

3465-407: The 1980s, Butthole Surfers earned a reputation for their disturbing live performances that were both decadent and violent. As a result, they began to attract a wide range of curiosity seekers within a few years of their debut, in addition to traditional fans of punk rock who had supported them from the beginning. A staged reproduction of the band's live show was filmed for 1988's Bar-B-Que Movie ,

3564-518: The 1990s, Dash Rip Rock's song "Let's Go Smoke Some Pot", a parody of Danny and the Juniors ' " At the Hop " became a tongue-in-cheek staple of the band's live shows and a nationwide radio hit that has since been covered by many bands. The parody has been adopted by some as a pro-marijuana song. Its popularity soars on April 20 every year In 2005 Jello Biafra released Dash Rip Rock's retrospective CD Recyclone on

3663-401: The 1990s. Best-selling author and American humorist Hollis Gillespie by debuting her weekly column "Moodswing," which first appeared in 2001 and ran for eight years. Jill Hannity, the wife of Sean Hannity , was the managing editor of the newspaper 1993–1996 until their move to New York City, which commenced Sean Hannity's television career. Mara Shaloup won a Clarion Award for her work breaking

3762-739: The Astronaut' s songs for Weird Revolution , on the Hollywood Records / Surfdog Records imprint. The album was released in August 2001, and reached number 130 on the Billboard 200. It was their most electronic album to date and had a hip hop sound. The single "The Shame of Life" peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Since then, the group has released two compilations on Latino Buggerveil: 2002's Humpty Dumpty LSD

3861-573: The Black Mafia story in 2006. Investigative report and CL Editor CB Hackworth's piece on racial segregation brought Oprah Winfrey to Forsyth County to confront overt racism in 1987. Creative Loafing, LLC is the name of the Publishing Company that owns Creative Loafing. Creative Loafing, LLC purchased the assets of Creative Loafing Atlanta from SouthComm in February 2017, which put the paper back into

3960-604: The Butthole Surfers in Austin. And this may be our last." Haynes has not yet clarified this statement. Recently, Paul Leary and King Coffey have both stated that the band will tour again if they can pull off another album. Butthole Surfers played two shows in Austin at Scoot Inn during Halloween 2010. A report in The New York Times suggested that, even though Butthole Surfers had not released an album of new material since 2001,

4059-530: The Eason Family's hands. Other newspapers the company published over its 40-year history included: Deborah Eason, a photographer for Delta Air Lines, and Elton "Chick" Eason, a math professor at Georgia State University , founded Creative Loafing Atlanta in 1972 after the couple attended a 25-attendee Georgia State University lecture by a visiting Russian scholar. This, and other poorly attended events, convinced them to start Creative Loafing Atlanta to inform

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4158-495: The Easons and Creative Loafing board members voted to censure the two Cox executives for unethical conduct, and by June 2004 both companies agreed to allow the chain to repurchase its shares from Cox. On July 24, 2007, Creative Loafing announced the purchase of the Washington City Paper and the Chicago Reader , along with the Reader 's properties The Straight Dope and the SDMB,

4257-620: The Laura Jane Grace & the Mississippi Medicals song "Razor Blade Blues." [2] Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta -based publisher of an arts and culture news and events newspaper/magazine. The company historically published a weekly publication that once had a 160,000 weekly circulation. While Creative Loafing is no longer publishing a newspaper, it continues to be Atlanta's primary calendar of cultural events. Currently The company has historically been

4356-517: The Scorchers . The other two original members were bassist Ned "Hoaky" Hickel and F. Clarke Martty on drums. All three were veterans of the post-punk scene. Originally, the band focused on revved up country and rockabilly , with Martty playing a simple stand-up drum kit and members sporting cowboy shirts, and bolo ties . "No one can replace Bill Davis," the Austin Chronicle wrote in 2008. "He’s

4455-462: The Shit Lady) in the band Easturn Stars; Lynch gained fame as Butthole Surfers' infamous naked dancer from 1986 to 1989. Kramer also left during this period and was replaced by Jeff Pinkus , who gave the band's bass position its longest period of stability by staying until 1994. Their second LP was finally issued as Rembrandt Pussyhorse on Touch and Go in April 1986. Coming out some two years after

4554-477: The Texas' Fort Worth and Austin areas. She and Coffey would drum in unison on separate, stand-up kits, adding to the spectacle of Surfers' ever-evolving stage show. Though Nervosa and Coffey repeatedly referred to themselves, and were referred to, as siblings, it has since been revealed that the two only presented themselves as such due to their similar appearances, and are not actually related. With her arrival,

4653-504: The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found otherwise. With the case resolved, the band reissued Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac , Rembrandt Pussyhorse (with the Cream Corn... EP), Locust Abortion Technician , and Hairway to Steven on their Latino Buggerveil label. In 2000, the band hired Nathan Calhoun as bassist. Having resolved their dispute with Capitol, Butthole Surfers re-recorded most of After

4752-445: The Way to Suck Eggs . Rough Trade filed for bankruptcy in 1991, but not before releasing Leary's solo project, The History of Dogs . The following year, Butthole Surfers shocked many fans and critics by signing with the major label Capitol Records . In 2017, Paul Leary reflected: "I grew up listening to The Beatles and Grand Funk Railroad and Dean Martin , and the thought of being on

4851-406: The accounting firm and moved to Southern California. Leary, at the time one semester shy of his degree, dropped out of college and followed Haynes. After a brief period spent selling homemade clothes and linens emblazoned with Lee Harvey Oswald 's image, the pair returned to San Antonio, and launched the band that would eventually become Butthole Surfers. Haynes and Leary played their debut show at

4950-422: The album "Pee Pee the Sailor" by Butthole Surfers as one of the fifty most influential albums for Nirvana's sound. Cobain would later meet his wife, Courtney Love of Hole , at a Butthole Surfers/ L7 concert in 1991. Soon after the release of Butthole Surfers , the band recruited a second drummer, Teresa Nervosa (born Teresa Taylor), who had played with Coffey in a number of high school marching bands in

5049-428: The album over the next year, including a very successful tour of Europe (helped in part by the influence of new UK distributor Blast First ). Like their studio recordings, their live shows were beginning to lose much of their earlier chaos. While touring during the winter of 1988, Butthole Surfers used a portable DAT recorder to tape various concerts. The strongest of these recordings were packaged as Double Live ,

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5148-413: The albums released by the label, because the label chose a strategy of non-promotion. The case quickly became a fight for all ownership rights that dragged on for more than three years. In 1996, Capitol released Butthole Surfers' Electriclarryland , which climbed to number 31 on the Billboard 200; the single " Pepper " topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Their songs started appearing on

5247-433: The associated Internet message board. In order to accomplish the acquisitions, the company borrowed $ 40 million. The ensuing economic slump hurt ad sales, and CL Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 29, 2008. In a bankruptcy auction on August 25, 2009, Atalaya Capital Management of New York City, emerged as the new owner, paying $ 5 million (it was also CL's largest creditor, owed $ 30 million before

5346-426: The band had been performing most of the material for years. The band opted to follow this album's blueprint on future projects. In contrast, songs on their earlier recordings had undergone far more in-studio development and experimentation. Pinkus has expressed the opinion that the later, better-organized sessions stifled much of the spontaneous creativity that had propelled their earlier releases. Hairway to Steven

5445-520: The band's core "classic lineup"—Haynes, Leary, Coffey, and Nervosa—was in place. With the exception of a number of different bass players and Nervosa's brief sabbatical from late 1985 to 1986, it remained largely unchanged until her final departure in 1989. In 2008, she returned to the band—their website announced 2009 tour dates including "Teresa Taylor". In 1984, the band returned to BOSS Studios to record enough material for two full-length albums. Both were originally offered to Alternative Tentacles, with

5544-504: The band's primary singer by the time of their first LP .) The album cover, like the many bizarre illustrations that would accompany Surfers' succeeding work, was designed by the band itself. Teeming with humor, Butthole Surfers laid the foundation for what was to come. It influenced at least one future superstar in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain , who listed it as one of his ten favorite albums in his Journals . Cobain later went on to list

5643-468: The band's stage gimmicks, such as the burning cymbal, strobe lights, films, and smoke. By the time Lynch left in 1989, Butthole Surfers' stage show had become more predictable, with previously random shockers being done at the same point in each night's performance. Teresa Nervosa quit for good around the same time, and King Coffey became the band's sole percussionist. Strobe lights, smoke machines, and even Gibby Haynes ' burning cymbal are still part of

5742-462: The bankruptcy). The Easons had put in a bid of $ 2.3 million, and with the change in ownership, Ben Eason was removed as CEO. Over the next two years, 2010–2011, Atalaya sold Creative Loafing's remaining mid-market papers. The first to be sold was Creative Loafing Sarasota , which was shuttered in December 2010, with its brand sold for an undisclosed sum to The New York Times Company , then-publisher of

5841-522: The brains behind Dash’s brawn, a barroom poet with a wicked sense of humor and a shameless knack for a good lick. He doesn't mind taking good-natured potshots at New Orleans icons like Aaron Neville but he’s capable of writing memorable heartbreakers like “Endeavor.” Dash Rip Rock released a self-titled debut album in 1986 on 688 Records . In 1988 the band recorded its second album, Ace of Clubs , on Mammoth Records . Dash Rip Rock toured with The Cramps , The Reverend Horton Heat , The dB's and others. In

5940-533: The company into bankruptcy one year later. The parent company, Creative Loafing, Inc. was dissolved and Atalaya sold off the Chicago Reader . In 2012, SouthComm purchased all of the properties and then sold off each of the papers to other publishers in 2018. The Atlanta Creative Loafing launched the career of many writers and has been an institution in Atlanta's cultural scene. The Parrotheads of Jimmy Buffett fame were launched from an ad in Creative Loafing in

6039-570: The competing Sarasota Herald-Tribune . The Herald-Tribune published its own free weekly product under the Creative Loafing name for some time after the sale. In October 2011, Creative Loafing Charlotte and Creative Loafing Tampa were sold to SouthComm Inc., a publisher of alternative weeklies based in Nashville, Tennessee. Creative Loafing 's three largest newspapers continued under Atalaya's ownership for one more year. In May 2012,

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6138-441: The early days, including sideways mohawks, dreadlocks, unnaturally colored hair, and the like. Known for taking the stage at early concerts with hundreds of clothespins attached to his hair and clothes, Haynes would often strip throughout a show until he was down to his underwear, or less, by the end. Other attire included flasher-style trench coats over his nakedness, ridiculously home-styled wigs and cross-dressing; often employing

6237-515: The end of the tour, and without a place to live, the band collectively decided to move to Winterville (a small town outside Athens, Georgia), where they admittedly made a hobby of stalking members of R.E.M. They purportedly planned to leave a van parked in front of Michael Stipe 's house, with "Michael Stipe/Despite the Hype/I Still Wanna Suck/Your Big Long Pipe" painted on the side. Smart quit after falling in love with

6336-632: The first being Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac . Before either album could be released, though, Alternative Tentacles had to acquire the master tapes from Bob O'Neill, BOSS Studios' namesake and owner. He refused to release them until he'd been reimbursed for the sessions, and Alternative Tentacles couldn't immediately afford to pay. After months of waiting, the band issued the concert recording Live PCPPEP on Alternative Tentacles out of financial desperation in September 1984. Mostly made up of live performances of songs from their debut, it prompted some critics and fans to joke that they had released

6435-538: The hit single " Pepper ", which climbed to number one on Billboard ' s Modern Rock Tracks chart that year. Butthole Surfers formed at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas during the late 1970s, when students Gibson "Gibby" Haynes and Paul Leary Walthall (later just Paul Leary) met for the first time. Though it was their shared taste in non-mainstream music that caused them to become friends, both appeared to be headed for very conventional careers. Haynes, as captain of Trinity's basketball team, as well as

6534-431: The increasing number of strobe lights, the effect created a visually disorienting atmosphere, which occasionally caused epileptic seizures in audience members. The films' subject matter were often as disturbing as the manner in which they were played; with images of accidents, nuclear explosions, meat processing, spiders and scorpions stalking prey, gory driver's education films, and penis reconstruction surgery. Not all of

6633-491: The label delayed a decision for about a year before ultimately refusing to publish it. While waiting, the band released the four-song Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis EP on Touch and Go in late 1985. Once Alternative Tentacles finally declined, the group went back into Kramer's Noise New York studio to record two new tracks to replace "To Parter" and "Tornadoes", which were originally intended for Rembrandt... before appearing on

6732-405: The living and dining rooms of the Easons' Morningside home; the darkroom was in the basement. The print run of the first edition—all of eight pages—was 12,000 copies. Creative Loafing was not the first alternative weekly Atlanta had seen, but over the years, its size and ambitions crowded out competitors— The Great Speckled Bird; Poets, Artists & Madmen; The Sunday Paper . After a decade and

6831-485: The night the actor River Phoenix died of a drug overdose. Meanwhile, Leary was building a reputation as a skilled music producer, while Coffey set up his own record label Trance Syndicate . According to Leary and industry insiders, Haynes was increasingly dependent on hard drugs at this time, although Haynes has downplayed their concerns. In 1995, the band contributed a cover of the Underdog theme song to be included on

6930-470: The original sessions, it featured a different mix and song selection than Alternative Tentacles' unreleased version. Best known for its minimalist reworking of The Guess Who 's " American Woman ", it is one of the most experimental albums in Butthole Surfers' heavily experimental career. Following a particularly out-of-control tour, even by Butthole Surfers' standards, the band semi-settled in Winterville in

7029-440: The outcome, several of Butthole Surfers' peers in the alternative music community, including Fugazi and Minor Threat lead singer Ian MacKaye , criticized them for having pursued the lawsuit. Haynes and others said they wouldn't have initiated the proceedings if they felt Rusk's dealings had been honorable. Rusk provided the band with indecipherable accounting statements. Rusk continued to insist his actions were honest even though

7128-530: The past few years, and I've got to the point now where I feel like I've done doing that for a while, so it's time to make a new Butthole Surfers album. Especially now that Trump is president, jeez! If there was ever a time for a Butthole Surfers album it's fucking now. It just doesn't get any weirder than that." In March 2019, the band released a visual history coffee table book, Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? , with author Aaron Tanner . The band did not begin as Butthole Surfers, although they did have

7227-436: The presentation, but the chaotic spontaneity of their 1980s performances is no longer on display. Lead vocalist and saxophonist Haynes (who sometimes sang through a bullhorn ), guitarist Paul Leary, dual drummers Coffey and Nervosa (the latter briefly replaced by Cabbage), and whichever bassist happened to be filling in at the time, had a visual aspect. As with their music, their appearance was exceptionally non-conventional in

7326-526: The process, Cox executives filled two seats on Creative Loafing's eight-member board. An uneasy four-year relationship between the two companies followed, as Cox also owned Atlanta's only daily, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , as well as television and radio outlets in the Atlanta area. After the Journal-Constitution in April 2003 quietly launched its own free entertainment weekly named Access Atlanta , in direct competition with Creative Loafing ,

7425-498: The public about all of the city's cultural happenings—festivals, concerts, Wicca meetings. They originally began publishing it from the basement of their home in the Morningside neighborhood of Atlanta. After a trial run of a monthly magazine called P-s-s-t . . . A Guide to Creative Loafing in Atlanta , the Easons decided to launch a weekly free publication titled simply Creative Loafing. The four-person editorial staff operated out of

7524-429: The sale, Debby Eason purchased Creative Loafing 's Greenville and Savannah properties back from her children. The Greenville paper was renamed MetroBEAT , while Creative Loafing Savannah was merged into Connect Savannah . To help finance the 2000 deal transferring ownership to Ben Eason's group, media conglomerate Cox Enterprises purchased a 25% minority share of the company for approximately US$ 5 million. In

7623-472: The same album twice. Meanwhile, Bob O'Neill was preparing to release Psychic... on his own Ward 9 label to recoup his expenses. With some members working as dishwashers, the group was unhappy about the album being released on Ward 9. Terry Tolkin , a friend and their East Coast booking agent, signed the band to Corey Rusk's then-nascent Touch and Go Records in Detroit. Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac

7722-408: The same record label that they were on was too fucking weird, really weird. A lot of people gave us grief for doing that, but fuck: I wasn't going to turn that down." Capitol immediately reissued piouhgd and paired the band with their first big-name producer, John Paul Jones , best known as the bassist for Led Zeppelin . The fruit of their partnership, 1993's Independent Worm Saloon , featured

7821-471: The school's " Accountant of the Year", soon graduated to a position with a respected Texas accounting firm, while Leary remained in school working on his MBA degree. In 1981, Haynes and Leary published the magazine Strange V.D. , which featured photos of abnormal medical ailments, coupled with fictitious, humorous explanations for the diseases. After being caught with one of these pictures at work, Haynes left

7920-463: The songs from the record, "The Annoying Song" and "Clean It Up". When Pinkus left in 1994, the remaining members enlisted a series of fill-in musicians, and continued to tour sporadically, even as all three pursued side projects. Haynes was working with Johnny Depp , Bill Carter , Sal Jenco, Flea , and others in a new group, P . In 1993, Haynes played with this band in Los Angeles' Viper Room , on

8019-464: The soundtracks of major Hollywood movies, including Baz Luhrmann 's Romeo + Juliet and John Carpenter 's Escape from L.A. Despite improved sales with their second Capitol album, the group's relationship with the label was increasingly troubled. A planned 1998 project, After the Astronaut , was scrapped and Butthole Surfers acrimoniously split with their manager, Tom Bunch. In 1999, Butthole Surfers won their lawsuit against Touch and Go. Despite

8118-412: The spectacle were Coffey and Nervosa, who played in unison on stand-up drum kits; behind which they would collapse onto the floor and out of eyeshot, to collect their breath and strength before rising just in time to play the next song. Finally, the whole band would often tear apart stuffed animals while on stage, throwing the stuffing through the air, creating a rather disturbing throbbing effect, caused by

8217-735: The stroboscopes that were always on. In 1986, they first met Lynch (a.k.a. Kathleen, a.k.a. Ta-Da the Shit Lady), who was then working at a strip club called Sex World in New York City. Though never an official member, she became Butthole Surfers' famous "naked dancer", performing intermittently with them through 1989. One show in Washington, D.C., with GWAR saw Kathleen take the stage to dance in nothing but gold body paint and antique wooden snow shoes. At another particularly wild concert in 1986, Haynes and Lynch, by now completely bald, reportedly engaged in sexual intercourse while on stage, as Leary used

8316-525: The studio when the album was complete. The band then returned to San Antonio to record at BOSS Studios (a.k.a. Bob O'Neill's Sound Studios, a.k.a. the Boss). However, the Mathews brothers did not enter the studio with Haynes and Leary; the two had quit following a physical altercation between Scott Mathews and Haynes. The bass position was taken over by Bill Jolly, who would play on Butthole Surfers' next two releases, and

8415-532: The suburbs north of the city in Cobb, Gwinnett, southern Forsyth and northern Fulton counties. Bowing to reader complaints about racy advertisements in Creative Loafing Atlanta , the Easons established a separate Atlanta publication, The Scene , for nightlife listings. These three Atlanta-area publications would later be folded back into Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2001. By July 2007, Creative Loafing became

8514-522: The summer of 1986. Nervosa rejoined them (Cabbage having been fired months earlier), and they went to work on crafting their first home studio in a rental house on the outskirts of Athens . Before long, they started a leisurely recording session for their third full-length project. Released in March 1987, Locust Abortion Technician is one of the heaviest Butthole Surfers albums, and it is often considered their finest to date. Harnessing aspects of punk, heavy metal, and psychedelia, its unique sound produced

8613-464: Was eventually packaged as Blind Eye Sees All , their only official video release to date. They purchased their first 8-track recorder at this time, and used it to record two songs later used on the A-side of Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis . Reportedly unhappy with life in the band, Malcolm quit in mid-1985. A friend of the band's from Athens, Juan Molina, was brought in for a brief U.S. tour, but

8712-591: Was featured in the video game Rock Band . In 2011, Bill Davis also joined Jello Biafra to form Jello Biafra and the New Orleans Raunch & Soul All-Stars. After selecting songs and recruiting musicians, DRR's Bill Davis and this one-time-only band of mostly-Louisiana rockers played a special show in New Orleans. The band featured Jello Biafra , Bill Davis (Dash Rip Rock), Pepper Keenan ( DOWN and Corrosion of Conformity ), and others. In 2012, Dash Rip Rock

8811-587: Was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. In November 2012, Alternative Tentacles Dash Rip Rock released DRR's new album Black Liquor. It was recorded at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana, and produced by Ben Mumphrey . Bill Davis of Dash Rip Rock also cut the track "Rock 'N' Roll Clown" for an album by The Vibrators that was released on Cleopatra Records in 2013. Dash Rip Rock also recorded

8910-520: Was issued in April and marked a midway point between the band's experimental roots and the more accessible recordings that would follow. While half of the material is as extreme sounding as their earlier work, other songs are more conventional. This was the first Butthole Surfers album to make extensive use of acoustic guitar. Hairway to Steven did not have song titles when first released and instead represented each track with an absurdist, often scatological , cartoon. The band traveled widely in support of

9009-432: Was largely viewed as a disappointment in comparison to past recordings. Both Haynes and Leary have since expressed displeasure with the album. Regardless, the band was invited to be part of that summer's inaugural Lollapalooza tour. Around this time, Haynes collaborated with Ministry , contributing vocals on their 1991 single " Jesus Built My Hotrod ", which was later included on 1992's Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and

9108-405: Was not interested in becoming a full-time member. Without a permanent bassist and a quickly approaching European tour looming—the band's first—they contacted Kramer , who quickly agreed to join. Meanwhile, their second LP, which had been submitted to Alternative Tentacles as Rembrandt Pussy Horse , was still in limbo. The reasons for Alternative Tentacles' actions are unclear, but it is known that

9207-564: Was on this outing that they truly established a national presence, starting at Touch and Go's early headquarters in Detroit before heading to New York City, where they impressed members of Sonic Youth , as well as Shockabilly member (and future Butthole Surfers bassist) Kramer . They then crisscrossed the country for several months, including a show in Seattle, that made a fan of future Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil . While in San Francisco at

9306-649: Was performing on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country Cruise. In August 2024, Dash Rip Rock recorded six songs for a forthcoming vinyl EP at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, Mississippi. The session was produced by Bobby Matt Patton, bassist for the Drive-By Truckers and owner of Dial Back Sound Studio. Patton has also played with Laura Jane Grace & the Mississippi Medicals, the Dexateens , and Model Citizen. In 2024, Dash Rip Rock's Bill Davis contributed lead guitar tracks for

9405-440: Was released in 1984. Building on their first EP, the band made psychedelia a much bigger part of their sound on this release, which made full use of the tape editing, non-traditional instrumentation, and sound modulation that came to define their studio recordings. Just before the release of Psychic... , and with new bassist Terence Smart in tow (the first of many through 1986), the band commenced their first nationwide tour. It

9504-426: Was sold again and ceased publishing a print version. In February, 2017, Ben Eason re-purchased Creative Loafing in Atlanta and took the publication from a weekly to a monthly as part of a plan to take the company in a direction more compatible to the new digital publishing economy and bringing the content back to its roots publishing a comprehensive listing of Atlanta events. The Creative Loafing in Tampa, Florida ,

9603-408: Was sold to a group from Ohio in 2018. In 2019, Creative Loafing contributed its archives to Georgia State University as part of a plan to digitize all the print editions going back its initial publication in 1972. In 2022, Creative Loafing published its last print edition - its 50th Anniversary edition. While the company has not ruled out doing special newspaper editions in the future, its commitment

9702-459: Was to be the last Butthole Surfers album to feature Nervosa, who left early in 1989. Shortly after leaving, she was diagnosed with an aneurysm, and was forced to undergo brain surgery. She further began to suffer from strobe light-induced seizures. In 1991, Nervosa (who has gone by Teresa Taylor since her retirement) had a small role in Richard Linklater 's film Slacker . She was employed at

9801-428: Was turned into a de facto recording studio. They did not live together in the new house for long, though, with Coffey being the first to move out and get his own place. They all had separate residences by 1991. In early 1988, Butthole Surfers were ready to record a new album and wanted to use a modern studio for the first time, choosing a state-of-the-art facility in Texas. The following sessions took only one week, as

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