Dead Milkmen
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The Dead Milkmen (sometimes just Dead Milkmen) was a satirical punk band that formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Joe Jack Talcum (Joe Genaro; guitar, vocals), Dave Blood (Dave Schulthise; bass), Dean Clean (Dean Sabatino; drums), and Rodney Anonymous (Rodney Linderman; vocals, synth).
There are several stories about how they got their name. "The Dead Milkmen" apparently existed as Joe's concept before the band became a reality. The band has claimed the name comes from a character in Toni Morrison's book Song of Solomon ("Milkman Dead"), or from one of Genaro's high school projects. In the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth nations, there was a persistent rumour that the band's name was derived from the first episode of the sitcom Filthy, Rich and Catflap, in which Rik Mayall's character "accidentally" kills several milkmen - this can't be true since the show was not made until after the band had existed for several years. The most appropriate explanation is that the name, like the band's songs, is satire: a reference to the punk band Dead Kennedys. This joke is manifest because the Milkmen adopted absurd stage names much like the Kennedys' Jello Biafra, Klaus Flouride, etc.
The band's musical style could be described, in general, as punk with a large dose of comedy. For the most part, irreverence, high spirits and humor were more important than musical complexity or technical proficiency. For example, there are songs called "Bitchin' Camaro," "Smokin' Banana Peels," "My Many Smells" and the borderline offensive "Taking Retards to the Zoo." Anonymous and Talcum both sang with Philadelphia accents and often sounded exaggeratedly snotty.
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[edit] History
After some self-releases, their first official album was Big Lizard in my Backyard (1985). Their music got some airplay on college radio but was rarely heard on commercial stations. The best-known song from their debut was "Bitchin' Camaro," which virtually became their signature tune, and—with improvised dialogue in its intro—became a favorite in live shows. (Both the album and song were mentioned on the TV Show Midnight Caller in a scene featuring lead actor Gary Cole and guest star Robert Klein.)
Their next two full-length works were Eat Your Paisley (1986) and Bucky Fellini (1987). The latter featured a song that had some success, "Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance to Anything)," which was both dance music and a parody of dance music. (Around this time, Jim Walewander, a rookie on the Detroit Tigers baseball team, became notorious for being a fan. This fact was even noted on his baseball card, which described the group as "an obscure punk-rock band". Walewander invited the Dead Milkmen to Tiger Stadium to see a game in which he hit his first, and only, major league home run.)
In 1988 came Beelzebubba, which featured what would become the Dead Milkmen's best-known song, "Punk Rock Girl." The song's video won rotation on MTV, and was later trashed by Beavis and Butthead on their show. While their music was still lively, some saw this album as more musically sophisticated than previous work. Following in this vein, in 1990, came Metaphysical Graffiti.
Metaphysical Graffiti had a strange twist to it which had not been heard since "Tugena" (Big Lizard in my Backyard). After the big hit with Beelzebubba, Metaphysical Graffiti put some new listeners off due to its more bizarre antics.
Up to this point, the band had been recording for Enigma Records and its subsidiary Restless Records. They signed with Hollywood Records, owned by Disney, and their music arguably changed. Their next two albums, Soul Rotation (1992) and Not Richard, But Dick (1993), featured what many fans felt was more subtle and "mainstream" music.
By the time Restless Records released their final original album in 1995, Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig), the Dead Milkmen had broken up. Since then, compilations of both hits and rarities have been made available.
Genaro and Sabatino formed a new band, Butterfly Joe. Sabatino was also in the punk rock bands Narthex, Big Mess Orchestra, and Hunger Artists. Genaro was in a band called Touch Me Zoo. Linderman was in a band called Burn Witch Burn. Schulthise left music after the breakup only to commit suicide on March 10, 2004.
Joe Jack Talcum is currently in Philadelphia punk band The Low Budgets and The Cheesies
The Dead Milkmen took the stage again for two consecutive nights in November 2004 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia to play a show in memory of Dave Schulthise. Proceeds were donated to a variety of mental health organizations and to a Serbian monastery that Schulthise supported.
The song "Bitchin' Camaro" was once used on the Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel With Dave DeSpain in the "Eye Candy" segment which featured the previous weekend's racing action.
The song "Punk Rock Girl" is featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 console video game Tony Hawk's Project 8.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Full length studio albums
- Big Lizard in my Backyard — 1985
- Eat Your Paisley — 1986
- Bucky Fellini — 1987
- Beelzebubba — 1988
- Metaphysical Graffiti — 1990
- Soul Rotation — 1992
- Not Richard, But Dick — 1993
- Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig) — 1995
[edit] Other releases
- Various self-released cassettes before 1985
- The Thing that Only Eats Hippies — 1987, Australian single
- Instant Club Hit — 1987
- Punk Rock Girl (single) — 1988, 1989
- Smokin' Banana Peels EP — 1988, 1989
- If I Had a Gun EP — 1992
- Now We Are 10 — 1993, retrospective
- Chaos Rules - Live at the Trocadero — 1994
- Death Rides a Pale Cow (The Ultimate Collection) — 1997, compilation
- Cream of the Crop — 1998, compilation
- Now We Are 20 — 2003, compilation
