The Frogs (band)

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The Frogs are an American rock music band founded in 1980, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The group is known for writing songs about controversial issues such as race, religion, and sexuality with a strong satirical and comedic style. A history of controversy has dogged the band, although a devoted fan base that includes many well-known musicians has supported the group.

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[edit] Early years: 1980-1989

The Frogs began around brothers Jimmy Flemion and Dennis Flemion, guitarist and drummer respectively, who added bassist Jay Tiller in 1983. That same year, Jimmy began wearing what was to become his trademark stage gimmick, a pair of six-foot bat wings. Although in their early days, the Frogs played mostly in coffeehouses, they soon developed a larger following, due mostly to their fan-friendly shows. In 1988, the Frogs self-released their first album in limited quantities. In that same year, Brian Hill joined the group as bassist.

Meanwhile, a tape of the Frogs improvised home-made recordings reached Gerard Cosloy in 1989, then head of Homestead Records, who released a collection of 14 tracks under the title It's Only Right and Natural. A number of tracks on the LP dealt with homosexuality and sexual fetishes, often mixed with religious overtones. The label additionally announced that The Frogs were leaders in a new gay supremacy movement. The album was received with mixed reactions; listeners were generally ecstatic, although others, who either disliked the subject matter or misunderstood the concept, were not as enthusiastic. It's Only Right and Natural was even denounced by a number of conservative religious organizations as proof of Satan's control over the entertainment industry. [1].

[edit] Grunge and Success: 1990-1999

In 1991, the Frogs produced a new album called Racially Yours, and the brothers began performing the new material in whiteface and blackface. With pseudo-racially-charged songs, their label was unwilling to release it (although it was distributed freely by fans, and was finally released on CD in 2000). The Frogs' further plans for a live album went unfulfilled, as labels they pursued all seemed to be suffering through bankruptcy and management problems. Jay Tiller left the band in 1992, to be replaced by Damian Strigens, although there were several substitutes in the meantime, including such notables as Eddie Roeser from Urge Overkill and Kelley Deal from The Breeders.

The Frogs, through their unique sense of humour, have gained a small but very devoted fanbase. Although critics have attacked the Frogs for poor taste, bands seen normally as politically correct have come to their defense. In 1993, Billy Corgan saw the band at a small club in Madison, Wisconsin, and invited them to open for the Smashing Pumpkins. The Frogs were soon opening for Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Urge Overkill, and other fans of the group, to mixed reactions. After meeting a fan named Kurt Cobain in 1993, they wrote two songs about him and also made him a videotape called Toy Porno. Sadly, Kurt wouldn't live to hear the songs, but the videotape became constant viewing material on the Nirvana tour bus.

In the summer of 1994, The Frogs played the second stage at Lollapolooza, with Billy Corgan joining them at their final stop on the tour. The Smashing Pumpkins continued to support and promote the Frogs by putting a short film about them, "Meet the Frogs," on their 1994 Vieuphoria video compilation.

The Frogs followed Gerard Cosloy to his new label, Matador Records, releasing two singles in 1994. In 1996, Matador released an album of old improvised material called My Daughter the Broad, which quickly became a fan favorite. In 1997, their Starjob EP, produced by Billy Corgan in 1994, was finally released by the Scratchie label, but it almost immediately went out of print.

From August 1996 to February 1997, Dennis Flemion replaced deceased keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin for the Smashing Pumpkins' Infinite Sadness Tour. Jimmy Flemion performed 1979 with the Smashing Pumpkins nightly during the encores, as well as selecting audience members to dance on stage during the song. The Flemion brothers also appeared on The Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight" single, and sang backing vocals on 1998's Adore.

In 1997, Jimmy Flemion joined Sebastian Bach's touring band. Rather than stripping Jimmy of his trademark bat wings, the whole band adopted costumes as well. Jimmy also recorded a side project called The Last Hard Men with Bach, Kelley Deal and Jimmy Chamberlin. Bach also performed a partial rendition of "Lord Grunge" with the band on an infamous MTV appearance on Oddworld that resulted in The Frogs being banned from MTV.

In the meantime, another LP of old improvised material called Bananimals was released in 1999 on the Four Alarm label, and the unreleased Racially Yours album soon followed in 2000. To support these two releases, the Frogs played in Canada for the first time. However, they were stopped at Canadian customs and customs officials seized all of their merchandise, declaring it "pornographic". The Frogs had to go ahead and play their shows without any merchandise to sell.

[edit] 2000-present

The Frogs latest studio effort, Hopscotch Lollipop Sunday Surprise, was released by Scratchie in 2001, however, the label was less than enthusiastic and the album went out of print shortly thereafter.

After Damien Strigens exited the band in 1998, past bassists such as Brian Hill and Jay Tiller returned for some appearances, while some new bassists began performing with the band, including Josh Silverman, David Geschke, and John W. Busher. Ben Lee made a special guest appearance on bass in New York City on September 28, 2001.

In 2004, R.T. Rybak, then (and currently) mayor of Minneapolis, crowd-surfed at a Frogs concert at First Avenue, an extremely popular nightclub in the Twin Cities, fulfilling a promise made earlier in the summer when the club temporarily closed due to financial difficulties.

[edit] Albums and lyrics

[edit] External links

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