Blog Archives
Mojo Nixon
We’re kind of late to the party on this one, but as most of his fans probably know by now, Mojo muthaufuckin Nixon is back, baby! Mr. Bo-Day-Shuss hisself got some attention a few weeks ago when he announced that he’s be making his entire catalog available for free download on Amazon.com, and even more attention this week when it was revealed that Amazon users have downloaded over one million Mojo Nixon songs. So suck it, Radiohead!
Obviously, this is all great news, because Mojo Nixon is without doubt one of the great underated artists of the eighties…or any era, for that matter. His loopy rockabilly songs celebrate and poke well-deserved fun at all the pop culture trash that makes America great, everything from MTV VJs (“Stuffin Marthas Muffin”) to Elvis (“Elvis Is Everywhere”) to the Eagles (“Don Henley Must Die”) to Debbie Gibson (“Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child”). He’s even got a new album out called Whiskey Rebellion that goes after Dr. Laura and Judge Judy. Clearly, this man has a television and he’s not afraid to use it.
Musically, Nixon isn’t all that weird…he’s just a satirist with an Elvis fixation…but the decision to make his entire catalog available for free makes him deserving of a shout-out on TWBITW, we think. Here’s what the man himself said about his million downloads feat:
“Great googley moogley. I’m almost speechless. A million Mojo songs stirring up trouble across this great land. I’m a cult artist and apparently I’ve grown the cult and made the cult happy. A little blast of joy in these dark and desperate times. A retired lunatic with no Facebook, no Twitter, no MySpace or tour. Not even an e-mail list. Never underestimate the power of the Mojosity. The true sound of the American nutjob is forever. You can’t kill rock ‘n roll. The question is–did I lose a million dollars or gain a million fans?”
The free download part is supposedly gonna end any day now, so get your ass over to Amazon.com and start downloading. Meanwhile, here’s a little reminder of why it’s Mojo Nixon’s world, we just live in it. (And yes, that’s Winona Ryder.)
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Beatallica
Let’s face it, most cover bands suck. Why would I pay money to see a bunch of no-name dudes pretending to be The Doors or Creedence Clearwater Revival? Oh, wait, Eddie tells me that those are actually the current incarnations of The Doors and CCR. But you get the idea…cover bands are basically just something like Creedence Clearwater Revisted, but with a thick extra layer of suck owing to the fact that no one in the band ever even met John Fogerty, let alone got a cease & desist letter from his lawyers. It’s just kareoke with instruments.
Still, a fair number of cover bands out there manage to liven things up by being, say, a bunch of hot chicks playing cock rock, or sticking a fat Elvis impersonator out front for no apparent reason. Then there’s Beatallica, who manage the neat trick of being two cover bands for the price of one. Yes, Beatallica is a Metallica/Beatles mashup cover band. I shit you not.
Beatallica would be awesome enough just on the basis of song and album titles like “Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice” and Sgt. Hetfield’s Motorbreath Pub Band. But the kicker is that they’re actually kind of good. Check on the clip below for “All You Need Is Blood” and tell me it doesn’t make you want to bang your head…or at least laugh your ass off.
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Barnes and Barnes
We have a first today on TWBITW: our first-ever reader-submitted weird band! Okay, actually, it was suggested by a friend of ours at the bar the other night, but he does read the blog. Or at least he claims to.
Anyway, we were a little skeptical at first when our friend/alleged reader brought up the old novelty act Barnes & Barnes, they of “Fish Heads” fame. (“Eat them up, yum!”) After all, if we nominated every novelty act that’s ever come down the pike for TWBITW status, this blog would quickly turn into “Dr. Demento.” And no one wants that.
But we started doing a little digging into B&B’s music and their long, checkered history, and we had to admit–even for a so-called novelty act, these guy are pretty freakin’ weird. Started as early as 1970 but not really doing anything of consequence until the late ’70s, when “Fish Heads” blew up, the duo brought a distinctly surrealist sensibility to their spazzy, New Wave-inspired comedy rock. And they were dark: Weird Al may have a twisted sense of humor, but he would never record a song called “Boogie Woogie Amputee.” Or name an album Sicks. Or, for that matter, sing a song about how when they took their fish head to the movies, they didn’t have to buy it a ticket. You get the idea.
The real names of Art Barnes and Artie Barnes are Bill Mumy and Robert Haimer. Haimer you’ve probably never heard of, unless you’re already a hardcore B&B fan; but if Mumy’s name rings a bell, it’s probably because he played Will Robinson on “Lost in Space.” Rumor has it that to this day, if you walk up to him and go, “Danger, Will Robinson!”, he will punch you in the face, but we can’t confirm that.
Random factoid: the actor Bill Paxton was buds with Mumy and Haimer and directed and co-starred in most of their early videos, including the clip for “Fish Heads.”
Even more random factoid: after an 18-year hiatus, Barnes and Barnes returned just this year with a new album, Opbopachop. The album addresses themes of entering middle age in such thoughtful tunes as “Life Is What You Do in Between Orgasms” and “Our Dead Dads.” Sounds like they haven’t lost it!
Since the whole universe is pretty well-acquainted with “Fish Heads,” we’ll leave you with a video for another B&B classic, the delightfully absurd and more than a little creepy “Pizza Face.” It’s sort of like Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” but with a thinner crust and extra cheese. See if you can spot Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and actor Miguel Ferrer.
P.S. Is it just us, or does Robert Haimer kind of look like Jon Stewart’s mildly retarded older brother?
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