Gwar

War Party was supported in fall 2004 by the Mock the Vote tour. Scheduled for release in 2005 is the DVD Rick James: Rockpalast Live, which features a 1982 concert performance from Essen, Germany. Dave Brockie has said "...basically GWAR pledges support to the powers who support the war, and we make such a right-wing statement that the right wing would be ashamed to have us." GWAR still has more gratuitous violent imagery in "Womb With a View" and "Bonesnapper" and retains some trademark silliness in the Beefcake hollered french punk song "The Bonus Plan". Although he was married previously (and later divorced), he leaves behind three children, Tazman, Ty, and Rick James, Jr.; and granddaughters Jasmine and Charisma. War Party is the most political GWAR album since America Must Be Destroyed tackling such subject matter as the 2004 american election and the war in Iraq in such songs as "Bring Back the Bomb", "The Krosstika", "War Party", "The Reaganator" and "Can't Kill Terror". At the time of his death, he was working on an autobiography, Confessions Of A Superfreak, as well as a new album. War Party continues the decidedly more metal focus reintroduced in Violence Has Arrived. Rick James was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Their new album is called War Party and was released October 26, 2004. A coroner's report released September 16, 2004 officially ruled his death as accidental, reporting nine drugs found in James' bloodstream:. After Violence Has Arrived, Gwar switched labels from Metal Blade to DRT Entertainment. James had died from pulmonary and cardiac failure with his various health conditions of diabetes, stroke, and a pacemaker being listed as attributing factors. Gwar takes on more "medieval" themes this time around, such as torture ("The Wheel") and conjures up some truly ugly imagery in songs such as "Licksore", "Beauteous Rot", and "The Apes of Wrath". On August 6, 2004, Rick James was found dead in his Los Angeles home by his caretaker. Violence Has Arrived (2001), re-attains the brutal focus of their earlier albums. It is similar to Scumdogs, in that Brockie is now the dominant voice of the band again, and the theme is centered on generalized carnage. Rick James' last public performance was at the 2004 BET Music Awards on June 29, 2004. Part of the on-stage routine involved a crowd-pleasing recital of the Chappelle's Show catch phrase by the real James himself.

This album is mostly a collection of gruesomely funny jokes ("Fucking an Animal" and "Nitro Burning Funny Bong"), and contains a bit less brutality than their previous works. The sketch was one of the most famous to come from the show, returning James to the public spotlight and making "I'm Rick James, bitch!" a popular catch phrase. "Short History of the End of the World" and "Jagermonsta" are excellent examples of thrash-punk, while Mike Derks lends his vocals to the almost sensitive ballad, "Mary Anne". The young James, played by Chappelle, was depicted as an egotistical, misogynistic cocaine addict who picked upon Murphy and constantly reminded people "I'm Rick James, bitch!" Charlie Murphy played himself in both the flashback sequences (complete with Jheri curl) and mock interview segments, which are contrasted with mock interview footage of the real James, who refutes some of Murphy's recollections while acknowledging his own problems at the same time. Footage where James uses the expression "Cocaine's a hell of a drug" is edited into the skit a number of times to sum up his alleged behavior. The band once again offers the funny ("Fishfuck") the gross ("Babyraper"), and the weird ("Penile Drip", in which Oderus does his best Brak impression). The three-part skit was a fictional E! True Hollywood Story-style retrospective of the supposed love-and-hate friendship between James and Eddie Murphy's older brother Charlie Murphy during James' early-1980s peak. As detailed within the liner notes, Gwar meets a new alien warrior, Scroda Moon (Hunter Jackson) who has to find the pieces of a broken tablet which, when put together, will allow them access to a Portal Potty (or a giant, magical toilet) that can warp them off Earth for good. On February 11, 2004, Dave Chappelle aired a Rick James-parodying skit called "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories" on his sketch comedy television program, Chappelle's Show.

This a whimsical album full of punkish potboilers, taking a note from Primus in its surrealistic goofiness. Rick James attempted a comeback with a new album and tour in 1997, but suffered a mild stroke during a concert in Denver, Colorado, effectively ending his musical career. Gwar returned in 1999 with We Kill Everything, which hearkens back to their hardcore roots. He was released in 1995, and during interviews for a segment of the VH1 series Behind The Music, he spoke openly about his life and his battle with drugs for the first time. A few more jokes ("Scallop Boat", "Gonna Kill U", "I Suck on My Thumb"), round out the album. Serving two years in Folsom Prison did not stop him from writing new songs, even if he did it behind bars. "In Her Fear" is Oderus's swan song, and Beefcake the Mighty gives a memorable ballad in "Hate Love Songs". In 1993, James was convicted of assaulting two women, with the first assault during one of his cocaine binges.

which is worthy of mention. He was a recreational drug user, addicted mainly to cocaine. Hunter Jackson also returns in "The Private Pain of Techno Destructo", and there is an odd ballad about the rotting corpse of Sammy Davis Jr. As the 1980s segued into the 1990s, the dark side of James' life began to overpower his music. It is perhaps most notable as their longest album, and also as the album that contains Stampe's solo number: "Don't Need a Man". During this period, he also helped launch the careers of Caucasian R&B singer Teena Marie and the Mary Jane Girls as well as producing actor Eddie Murphy's one-hit wonder "Party All The Time.". There are likely more styles experimented with here than on any other album. The stream of hits continued into the mid-1980s with "Teardrops", "Cold Blooded", "17", "You Turn Me On" and "Glow", which was his last R&B hit in 1985.

It can be best described as Gwar's bid for musical expansion. Other hits from Street Songs included "Give it to Me Baby", "Fire & Desire" with protege Teena Marie and "Ghetto Life". Bungle. "Super Freak", which features guest vocals from The Temptations, was sampled for MC Hammer's 1990 Grammy award-winning song "U Can't Touch This". The band on Carnival of Chaos (1997) seems to be influenced even more by Faith No More and Mr. The 1981 release included "Super Freak", James biggest hit. Finally, the instrumental "Surf of Syn" shows the technical side of the band in full force. After 1980's lackluster Garden Of Love album, he then recorded a concept album entitled Street Songs.

In the closer, for once, Gwar actually shows a serious side in detailing their problems with protestors (the ballad, "None But the Brave"). The latter included hits such as the title track and "Spacey Love" a ballad dedicated to singer Patti Labelle. in "Think You Oughta Know This", and there is an energetic duet between Oderus and Slymenstra in "Fire in the Loins". 1979 saw James release two albums: Bustin' Out Of L Seven, in January, and Fire It Up that fall. In other news, Drakulich does a mock-rapping bit as Sleazy P. The album also featured his ode to marijuana, "Mary Jane". The highlights of the album include "Dirty, Filthy" (a rousing comedy anthem), the title track, and "Meat Sandwich". James' breakthrough single was "You And I", an eight-minute magnum opus from his 1978 debut album Come Get It.

As it could be supposed, the concept is about the ridicule of Christianity (especially in the song, "Martyr Dumb"). He soon began recording for Motown's Gordy label, first with the Hot Lips and then with a new version of the Stone City Band. But Syn is drawn to Slymenstra's alien baby, for a reason that is left for the listener to uncover.. In 1977, he returned to Motown as a songwriter/producer. Syn is representing the Warrior Pope, who is demanding that all bow down to him and obey his insane whims. James signed to A&M Records the following year and issued a single entitled "My Mama". However, it turns out that the comet is actually Cardinal Syn, a robotic agent of harsh Catholic dogma. An album's worth of material was recorded in mid-1973 but was never released.

An AIDS-like plague has crippled the masses, who await the meteor's arrival and their subsequent death. At the end of 1972, James and Roth formed the first version of the Stone City Band with Peter Hodgson (bass), Danny Marks (guitar) and Malcolm Tomlinson (drums/vocals). Meanwhile, a comet hurdling towards planet earth is inciting the populace to revolt, and anarchy has set in all over the globe. The group recorded an album for Lion Records in Los Angeles in March 1972, but by that summer they had disbanded. The story involves Oderus and his alien sister Slymenstra being forcibly mated with the aid of rogue space aliens. In 1971, James and Roth recorded two singles in Toronto for RCA Records with Heaven and Earth, a band that also featured guitarist Stan Endersby, bass player Denny Gerrard, and drummer Pat Little. James left Heaven and Earth later that year; he, Roth, and Gerrard formed a new group called Great White Cane with horn players Bob Doughty and Ian Kojima, drummer Norman Wellbanks, guitarist Nick Balkou, and keyboard player John Cleveland Hughes. While This Toilet Earth was highly eclectic in instrumentation, RagNaRok (1995) contains the most varied vocal stylings, as the majority of the band lends their lungs to the tracklist. RagNaRok is essentially a heavy metal album and it is spiced with a story about the end of the world. The group recorded a demo for Atlantic Records, and played at the Fillmore West with Jethro Tull.

"Jack the World" was also featured in the Beavis and Butthead video game for the Sega Genesis. Former Buffalo Springfield roadie Chris Sarns played bass for a while, before Ron Johnson from Kaleidoscope stepped in the following year. Skulhedface was the movie released to document this album. In the summer of 1969, he moved to Los Angeles, California and formed a band called Salt 'N' Pepper with Canadians Ed Roth (keyboards), Dave Burt (guitar), and Coffi Hall (drums). It is a blend of chaotic styles that is reminiscent of Faith No More and Frank Zappa. He soon returned to Motown and became a songwriter and producer at Motown, working with Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers and The Spinners. As for the music, it is varied and ranges from poppy ("Jack the World") to gruesome ("Sonderkommando") to goofy ("Pepperoni") and to the unmentionable ("B.D.F."). James spent a year in the Brooklyn Brig, after which he returned to briefly returned to Toronto.

must regain their Jizz and catch the maggot in time. Motown told him to give himself up to the FBI, and the Mynah Birds' album was shelved. Skulhedface disguises herself as an evil executive for the Glomco corporation, and uses propaganda to turn Gwar into sickeningly cuddly cartoon characters. Meanwhile, Gwar discovers that the World Maggot is their only opportunity to escape Earth, but Skullhedface stands in their way. Oderus & Co. The band fired their manager, who in turn told the label that James was AWOL. Her midget slave Flopsy and she then create a creature made up of the melded parts of evil historical figures (such as Hitler) called the Flesh Column. With Young on board, the Mynah Birds returned to Motown to record an album, but their manager pocketed the advance money the label had given the band. In retaliation, she travels to Antarctica, encounters Gwar while they are hibernating, and steals their Jizmoglobin, or life force. Morgan was unhappy with the label's attitude towards the musicians and left, with Neil Young taking his place.

Storywise, the enemy is now Skulhedface, an alien queen who was deformed in a Synnite Warrior raid on her planet centuries before. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit, Michigan. The music and artwork is almost cartoonish when compared to the previous albums, and the instrumentation has expanded to include horns (in the opener, "Saddam a Go-Go") that reinforce the goofiness. Shortly afterwards, James and Palmer formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and John Taylor, and drummer Rickman Mason. In 1994, Gwar released what was to be one of their oddest and most bittersweet albums. It was the first album to be censored, due to their gain in popularity as a result of MTV exposure. Nicholas left the band and was replaced by Bruce Palmer. The single "S.F.W." (a staple of their live shows) was supposedly released on this album as a bonus track, but this has been discounted by the band. In early 1965, St.

This album was followed by The Road Behind, an EP that contained that single and a riveting live version of "Have You Seen Me?" (which contained a notorious Ween sample at the end). By the end of 1964, the group had evolved into The Mynah Birds and recorded a single for the Canadian arm of Columbia Records. A video, Phallus in Wonderland, was released as a supplement to the album's storyline. Nicholas. Musically, it is a mix of rock and roll and blistering sludge metal, and it is even harsher-sounding than the previous album. His first band was called The Sailor Boys, which also featured future Steppenwolf member Nick St. Other songs of interest include "Have You Seen Me?", "Poor Ole Tom", and "The Road Behind". Fleeing north to Toronto, Canada in the summer of 1964, James continued his musical career.

Gwar marches out to battle, and you can take the story from there. He began missing weekend training because it interfered with his musical career and was reported AWOL. Meanwhile, the Morality Squad has enlisted the help of Father Bohab (a Catholic priest) to crucify Gwar in the media. Naval Reserve. The story then shifts to Gwar headquarters in Antarctica, where Oderus's slaves are ordered to shoot up a dinosaur egg with crack. The result is the mighty Gor Gor, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that wreaks havoc on America. At age 15, James joined the U.S. The opening song, "Ham on the Bone" (which has a nod to grindcore) explains this robbery. His uncle was Melvin Franklin, the bass vocalist of The Temptations.

Brockie was revolted by this attack on his rights and so he created a concept album revolving around an elite "Morality Squad" that attacked the members of Gwar and stole Oderus's penile attachment (aka Cuttlefish of Ctulu, a phallic hellbeast that normally dangles from his crotch). Born in Buffalo, New York, James was the third of eight children; his father was an autoworker and his mother a former dancer. The controversy revolved around Brockie's rubbery penis adornment. One of the most popular artists on Motown during the late 1970s and early 1980s, James was famous for his wild brand of funk music and his trademark locks, sporting them well before the style was popularized by actress Bo Derek. Their second major-label recording in 1992 was inspired by Dave Brockie's fight with police officers while touring. Rick James (James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.) (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an African-American funk and soul musician, who worked as a singer, keyboardist, bassist, record producer, arranger, and composer during his long career. This album is viewed by many as their ultimate masterpiece. Anthology (2002).

The rest of the album is centered around twisted jokes about insane medical practices/sexual perversion. Urban Rapsody (1997). Other references include history ("Vlad the Impaler") and mythology ("Horrors of Yig"). Bustin' Out: The Very Best of Rick James (1994). As well, "Black and Huge" is basically a love song by a sterotypically well-endowed African-American expressing his lustful intentions towards a white girl in the line "You know I'm just a limp Mega-Prick, I'm looking for a stupid white chick". Wonderful (1988). Examples include "Slaughterama" (which involves Gwar killing hippies and skinheads) and the opening track, "Salaminizer", which was inspired by/based off a song by the breakthrough rap group NWA. The Flag (1986).

The songs are more socially relevant in this album as well. Glow (1985). in the song, "Maggots"). Reflections (1984). Gwar began to experiment with samples to some degree (e.g. Cold Blooded (1983). The production is very refined compared to the independent first attempt. Throwin' Down (1982).

As the title implies, it is a concept album about the Scumdogs' reign of terror on planet Earth. Street Songs (1981; deluxe edition released 2001). Gwar's first album on Metal Blade Records was released in 1990. Garden of Love (1980). (In another reference, the liner art does a stab at Picasso's Guernica, which is renamed Gwarnica.). Fire It Up (1979). Jacques-Yves Cousteau makes a bizarre cameo as well, in a song that could possibly be influenced by Dadaism. Bustin' Out of L Seven (1979).

The famous "Gwar Theme" is a memorable car-eating anthem. Come Get It (1978). Hunter Jackson makes his first appearance in "Techno's Song" and "I'm in Love (With a Dead Dog)" showcased a tender episode in canine-alien relations. Gwar's angle is that of a morbid punk band (a la The Mentors), with songs deriding the USA (such as "Americanized" and "Ollie North") as well as those of general grotesqueness ("Slutman City", "Bone Meal"). In 1988, their first album, Hell-O (Shimmy Records) was released.

Gwar fans are known as Bohabs. Gwar was/is primarily a band of former art students, and this is reflected in the obscure references made in some of their songs. Band members and associates often have cookouts at their house, dubbed "Gwar-BQ's." The video for "Saddam a Go-Go" from This Toilet Earth appeared in the hit movie Empire Records. Gwar were banned from performing in their home city due to their raucous stage performances; since then they have appeared under the pseudonym Rawg.

Simpson to your garden-variety redneck. Another hallmark of Gwar's live show is their mock executions of media icons, ranging from O.J. Their costumes are generally made of foam latex, and they further the gimmick in concerts by dousing blood and gore on their audiences. Entitled Scumdogs of the Universe, it featured a plot involving intergalactic barbarians. Jackson and Brockie combined these ideas, and since then the gimmick used by Brockie's band (re-dubbed Gwar) has been dressing up as alien warriors.

Jackson was working on a movie at the time the two met. The band was the result of the linkup between Hunter Jackson and Dave Brockie, the singer for a punk band called Death Piggy. Gwar are probably best known for their elaborate fantasy and horror inspired stage shows which have sometimes run afoul of obscenity statutes. Gwar is a novelty rock/heavy metal/punk band that was formed in 1985-1986 in Richmond, Virginia.

Armstrong. Kepone. Death Piggy. X-Cops.

DBX. Nippleus Erectus (old drummer character-???). Techno-Destructo (GWAR Enemy - Hunter Jackson). Musel (keyboards - Dave Musel).

Sexecutioner (vocals - Chuck Varga). Martini (manager - Don Drakulich). Sleazy P. Slymenstra Hymen (GWAR Woman, vocalist - Danyelle Stampe).