It was an album produced and supervised by the former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. In 1993 they released Independent Worm Saloon. Capitol signing the band in 1992 may have seemed like the biggest gamble imaginable, but it paid off quickly.
Even more strange, these labels seemed undeterred by the group’s antics. For the most part, they used their newly found chops to play bizzaro covers that warranted a chuckle.īut, by the early 1990s, legitimate big record labels were paying attention to the band. However, while busy being outrageous, they had secretly also developed their musical skills. Who Was in My Room Last Night?īutthole Surfers may have served as an inside joke for those looking for the most offensive kind of rock music being made. Before the days of Bandcamp and DYI recordings, it must have truly felt like a shock that record label employees would have signed off on releasing such a dizzyingly confusing record. For many years, this album lived in a world of zaniness reserved for the likes of Captain Beefheart or the Residents. Those who would like to get a glimpse into the early music of the band need to look no further than Lotion Abortion Technique. From Ministry’s Al Jourgensen, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor or Jello Biafra, musicians seemed to love the Surfers, or at least be amused by their antics. The shows usually featured fire-breathing routines, naked dancing routines, and bizarre projections.Įarning a reputation as one of the most fearless groups of music maniacs that American live music could offer, naturally, they garnered the admiration of many of their peers. These, in part, showed that the group members may have been unhinged, but not unprepared. Barely had their careers began before many had already labeled them as acid casualties somehow allowed to make records. The early music was a mixture of punk, Southern rock, and avant-garde nonsense.
Their setlist included titles like Bar-B-Q Pope, The Revenge of Anus Presley and The Sha Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave. Legend has it that realizing it would be nearly impossible for this moniker to be uttered on TV, radio, or any other place where bands typically promote themselves, singer Gibby Haynes decided that Butthole Surfers would be a perfectly suited name for the group.įrom the very beginning, Haynes and the group were confrontation seekers. Their name was in fact the title of an early song. The offensively titled group, like many featured on our site, began life as an abrasive punk band. Locust Abortion Technician and other ditties None were as consistently weird and, seemingly, at odds with their listeners as Butthole Surfers.
#PEPPER BUTTHOLE SURFERS TV#
And, even chemical pioneers like Primal Scream and the Happy Mondays, got their chances to get on TV and sell records. Beck and the Flaming Lips scored DYI hits that seemed to arrive out of leftfield. Pixies and Violent Femmes were college radio darlings in the U.S. And, on the rare occasion when it suited them, they could pen a rock song that could get on the radio.īutthole Surfers weren’t the only weird band to achieve some degree of success. They were also road dogs earning their support through their numerous and exciting live shows. Still, this was a band disciplined enough to release 8 albums throughout a 15-year recording career. Butthole Surfers resembled rock band roadies after a night out guided by a particularly potent mix of chemicals. Here was the moment where the carefully groomed glam metal bands that had dominated the previous decade, were forced to acknowledge commercial defeat to musicians who looked like their roadies. The success of Butthole Surfers could only have occurred in the early 1990s. With benefit of hindsight, it all sorta makes sense. Here is the brief story of Pepper by Butthole Surfers. Their often camouflaged musical abilities did provide them with a couple of bonafide hit singles, as well as the admiration of many. Butthole Surfers were troublemakers determined to undermine expectations rather than meet them.
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