The Tubes

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This article is about the band, The Tubes. For the location, see The Tubes (place).

The Tubes
The Tubes in 1976
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genre(s)	Rock Arena rock Hard rock
Years active	1973 - 1986, 1996 - present
Label(s)	A&M, Capitol
Website	Official website
Members
Fee Waybill Bill "Sputnik" Spooner Roger Steen Michael Cotten Vince Welnick Rick Anderson Prairie Prince
Former members
Re Styles Mingo Lewis

The Tubes are a San Francisco-based theatre rock band, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, known for their live performances that combined lewd quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism and politics.

1 History of the band
- 1.1 Career Highlights
2 Albums
3 Singles
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History of the band

The Tubes are a collection of high school friends from Phoenix, Arizona. The Beans and The Red, White and Blues Band eventually merged after relocating to San Francisco in 1969. The core band membership remained largely intact for more than a decade: Fee Waybill (real name John Waldo Waybill) (vocals), Bill "Sputnik" Spooner (guitar, vocals), Roger Steen (guitar), Prairie Prince (real name Charles L. Prince) (drums), Michael Cotten (synthesizer), Vince Welnick (piano), and Rick Anderson (bass). Singer Re Styles (born Shirley Marie MacLeod) (vocals) and ex-Santana percussionist Mingo Lewis were also fixtures for much of the band's early history. ^[1]

Showbiz excess was a common theme of the band's early work, with Waybill sometimes assuming the onstage persona of Quay Lewd, a drunk, drugged-out, barely coherent lead singer, decked out with flashing glasses and impossibly tall platform shoes. "White Punks on Dope," from their debut album, was an absurd anthem of wretched excess, and a tribute to their rich, white teenage fanbase in San Francisco. The song was covered as "TV Glotzer" by Nina Hagen as the opening track of her band's first album. ("TV Glotzer," pronunced "Tay-Fow Glohtzah" essentially means "couch potato" and is literally translated from German as "one who stares at television".)

The Tubes first album was produced by Al Kooper. The second album for A&M Records, Young and Rich was produced by Ken Scott and features the hit "Don't Touch Me There" (arranged by Jack Nitzsche). The Tubes third album gave way to thematic experimentation with Now and after the classic live record What Do You Want From Live, (recorded during their record breaking run at the Hammersmith Odeon) their fourth for A&M Remote Control was a concept album produced by Todd Rundgren about a television-addicted idiot savant. The cover of Remote Control is also a classic, showing a baby watching Hollywood Squares in a specially made "Vidi-Trainer."

One critic noted that with their media savvy and theatrical skills, The Tubes were born to create rock video, but arrived several years too early. ^[2] Instead, they put their creativity and art skills into their live performances, in which songs could be full-fledged production numbers, from a beach movie parody for "Sushi Girl," to leather-clad S&M hijinks in "Mondo Bondage," to the game show antics of "What Do You Want From Life?" At their peak, their act featured dozens of other performers, including tap dancers and acrobats.

These shows were expensive to produce, however, and while they earned the band a reputation for being one of the most entertaining live acts of all time, by the early 1980s they found themselves short of money. Their proposed fifth album, the self-produced Suffer for Sound, was rejected by A&M Records, who dumped the band instead, finishing out its contract with the oddities collection T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rareties and Smash Hits). ^[3]

The band then signed to Capitol Records, scaling back the live shows and repositioning itself as a strait-laced rock band, teaming with producer David Foster. The Completion Backward Principle, another concept album, positioned itself as a motivational business document, complete with shocking pictures of the band members cleaned up and wearing suits. Outside Inside followed a few years later, and these two albums produced a few hits, including the classic rock staples, "Talk To Ya Later" and the number 10 hit "She's A Beauty." The band also had their first top 40 hit in the United States in 1981 with a serious ballad, "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" (recorded almost entirely by Spooner, without Waybill's participation).

The band teamed up with Rundgren once again for 1985's Love Bomb, a flop that led Capitol to drop the band just as it was going on tour in support of the album, a tour that would leave the band a half million dollars in debt, forcing them to play low-budget gigs for a year to pay off their debts. ^[4] Waybill released an unsuccessful solo album (Read My Lips, on Capitol Records) earlier in the year, and soon left the band ("Fee broke up", one band member said). An abortive attempt with a new lead singer led to a few appearances before the band split up. During this time, Waybill also enjoyed a fruitful writing partnership with Capitol Records labelmate, Richard Marx.

Waybill eventually returned as the Tubes regrouped for 1996's Genius of America, minus Welnick (who had joined the Grateful Dead), Cotten, and Spooner, and the band continues to tour and release new music on independent labels.

Welnick, who long suffered from cancer, died on June 2, 2006. In the aftermath, local Phoenix media (The Arizona Republic) quoted Waybill as saying a newly regrouped Tubes, featuring all original members, was being planned at the time of Welnick's demise.

[edit] Career Highlights

1972: Tubes appear in Mitchell brothers film Resurrection of Eve as Jesus Bongo and the Millionaires

1973: Opened for the New York Dolls at the Matrix, Iggy Pop at Bimbos and Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco

1974: Tubes shoot "video demo" at California Hall which lands a record deal at A&M Records, Cotten/Prince paint "Flying Record" mural on A&M sound stage

1975: Tubes play 2 weeks at David Allen's Boarding House in San Francisco, several sell-out dates at The Roxy in Los Angeles and The Bottom Line in New York. Dec, 31- Headline and sell out Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom

1976: Held residency at Bimbos in San Francisco for one month, Prairie Prince dubbed "The One, The Only" by columist Herb Caen. Tubes hold "Talent Hunt" at the Boarding House hosted by Martin Mull, Robin Williams is contestant but loses

1977: Held residency at The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco for one month, The Whisky a-Go-Go in Los Angeles for two shows a night for one month and Hammersmith Odeon in London for a week

1978: Headlined the Knebworth Festival with Frank Zappa and Peter Gabriel

1979: Tubes play Japan; Cotten/Welnick/Prince/Styles appear on Japanese soap opera. Tubes appear in Andy Warhol's Interview magazine

1980: Appear in the film, Xanadu

1981: Record Grammy nominated "The Tubes Video" at Shepperton Studios, one of the first long form video discs

1983: Opened several dates for David Bowie on the Serious Moonlight tour

1985: Tour with Todd Rundgren's Utopia, play Radio City Music Hall

[edit] Albums

The Tubes (1975) #113 U.S.
Young and Rich (1976) #46 U.S.
Now (1977) #122 U.S.
What Do You Want From Live (1978) #82 U.S.
Remote Control (1979) #46 U.S.
The Completion Backward Principle (1981) #36 U.S.
Outside Inside (1983) #18 U.S.
Love Bomb (1985) #87 U.S.
Genius of America (1996)

[edit] Singles

Year	Song	US Hot 100	US M.S.R.	UK singles	Album
1976	"Don't Touch Me There"	61	-	-	Young And Rich
1977	"White Punks On Dope"	-	-	28	The Tubes
1979	"Prime Time"	-	-	34	Remote Control
1981	"Don't Want To Wait Anymore"	35	22	60	The Completion Backward Principle
1981	"Talk To Ya Later"	-	7	-	The Completion Backward Principle
1983	"She's A Beauty"	10	1	79	Outside Inside
1983	"Tip Of My Tongue"	52	-	-	Outside Inside
1983	"The Monkey Time"	68	16	-	Outside Inside
1985	"Piece By Piece"	87	25	-	Love Bomb

[edit] Trivia

The Tubes songs "Mondo Bondage" and "Smoke (La Vie en Fumer)" were once performed by Cher Bono and Fee Waybill on a Cher television special, with the full choreography from the Tubes live shows.

[edit] References

^ Cult Rockers, Wayne Jancik and Tad Lathrop
^ MTV Who's Who in Rock Video, Maxim Jakubowski and John Tobler
^ Kimberlye Gold interview with Fee Waybill, "He'll Talk to Ya Now!", accessed 15 March 2007
^ Kimberlye Gold interview, op cit