Masters of the Obvious

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Masters Of The Obvious
M.O.T.O. press photo, circa 2003. From left to right: Lawrence Museum of Death, Paul Caporino, JJ Champion and Tim Ford.
Background information
Origin	New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre(s)	Garage punk, Pop punk, Indie rock
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active	1981 – present
Label(s)	Criminal IQ Records
Associated acts	Kill Hannah
Website	Official Site

Masters Of The Obvious (more commonly known as M.O.T.O. or MOTO), is a garage punk band based in Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1981 by Paul Caporino, the lineup of the band has seen many changes over the years, with Caporino being the only consistent member. The band has recorded several albums for Chicago-based record label Criminal IQ Records.

The band, along with Dianogah, served as opening acts for Coctails on January 15, 2000 at the Lounge Ax.

[edit] History

As of 2007, M.O.T.O. has existed in some form for 26 years. Over that time, the band has undergone numerous lineup changes, but it has always functioned primarily as a platform for Paul Caporino's songwriting, a repertoire that includes hundreds of songs in a variety of genres such as pop, punk rock, metal, soul, noise music, garage punk and new wave.

[edit] Original lineup

M.O.T.O. was formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1981. The original lineup consisted of Mike Tomeny on guitar, his brother Jeff Tomeny on guitars and vocals and Don Ward on drums in addition to Caporino on guitar and vocals. This edition of the band first performed the songs "Skeletons Need Their Sleep" (composed by Jeff Tomeny) and "Satan Always Calls Collect" (by Tomeny and Caporino), which would reappear on several 7" EPs in later years.

Because M.O.T.O. recorded and performed live somewhat infrequently, Paul Caporino began to record a series of cassette albums without the assistance of the other members of the band. The tapes were originally intended as demos, but Caporino was so satisfied with the results that he decided to distribute them to the public. These tapes included Turn Your Head and Cough, BOLT! (short for "Best of Lent Tape"), Rock, Roll & Dismember and MOTOERECTUS. Caporino wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on the cassettes, layering multiple guitars, bass, lead and harmony vocals over a Mattel Synsonics drum machine. These early tapes feature many songs that would reappear in live shows and studio recordings over the years, including "Midnight at the Guantanamo Room", "Dick About It", "Month of Sundays", and "I'm Infected". The tapes showcased Caporino's offbeat and often vulgar sense of humor along with his extensive knowledge of the popular music of the previous thirty years. To reward the astute listener, the music contained winking references to the Beatles, the Kinks, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Led Zeppelin, The Jam, Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Judas Priest and many other artists.

The original lineup also made a few recordings as a band, which were collected on the QUASIMOTO cassette. When, in 1987, the original lineup disbanded, Caporino continued M.O.T.O. as a trio backed by Brad Brewster on drums and Greg Fisk on bass. This edition of the band played more live dates than the original lineup, but recorded very little.

[edit] M.O.T.O. as a duo

Shortly thereafter, Caporino moved to West Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston. There he formed a new version of the band with drummer Beck Dudley which lasted until 1993 and produced a number of 7" EPs, three home-recorded cassettes (Neon Bone!, 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll, and Talk of M.O.T.O.) and a full-length album, compiled from the first two tapes (This Corpse is a Warning). This lineup was the first to regularly record in a professional studio. These recordings were collected in 1994 on the Single File CD, released by Mind Of A Child Records and later re-issued by Criminal IQ Records in 2004.

The band achieved its greatest notoriety to date as a duo, touring extensively and being featured by legendary BBC DJ John Peel, who played the song "Rot Rot Rot" from the Hammeroid! EP on his program several times. This lineup could be said to have presaged the later success of the White Stripes as a guitar/drums, male/female duo.

It was also during this period that both Caporino and Dudley moved from the Boston area to Chicago, where Caporino still resides.

[edit] Post-Beck era

Dudley left the band in 1993 to pursue a Master's Degree in architecture. Though the band experienced a fall-off in popularity, Caporino continued to home-record cassettes at a highly productive rate, releasing seven cassettes between 1993 and 1998. The band also performed live with new members Dennis Spaag on bass and Garret Hammond (a future member of Kill Hannah) on drums. The lineup has continued to evolve, featuring drummers Tim Ford (2001-2003) and Ryan "Guitar" Murphy (2004-present), bassist JJ Champion (2003-present), and guitarist/bassist Laurence Museum of Death (2001-present).

2003 saw the release of the band's first full album of all-new recordings, Kill M.O.T.O., which featured studio recordings of songs from Caporino's most recent home-recorded cassettes as well as brand new songs. In 2005, the band released Raw Power, which met with critical acclaim, including being selected as the best Chicago release of 2005 by the Chicago Reader's Bob Mehr.[1]

[edit] Discography

Caporino has expressed disdain for compact disc media. Although recent M.O.T.O releases are now available in CD format, most of the earlier band releases were on cassette and LP. Many of the newer releases are still being released in this form to allow creation of mix tapes. Most of their newer recordings are released through Criminal IQ Records and Little Teddy Recordings, the latter being home to Daniel Johnston's recordings.

All of M.O.T.O.'s cassette releases are available directly from Paul Caporino.

[edit] Longplayers (LP)

• Raw Power (2005 release by Criminal IQ, also on CD)
• Single File CD (2004 re-issue by Criminal IQ in the USA)
• Kill MOTO! (2002 vinyl LP release by Little Teddy Recordings in Germany; 2003 CD release by Criminal IQ in USA)
• Single File CD (28-song collection of single tracks 1988-1994; 1997 release by Mind Of A Child in USA)
• E Pluribus MOTO LP (1996 release by Teenage Kicks in Germany)
• Bolt LP (1996 release by Little Teddy Recordings in Germany)
• This Corpse is a Warning CD/LP/CS (1990 Netherlands release by Resonance Records)

[edit] Singles & EPs

• European Tour EP (P Trash Records / Germany / 20.3.2007)
• What's Words Worth? EP (Rehab Records / USA / 2006)
• El Stop b/w She's Gone Nuts (Baby Killer Records / USA / 2006)
• Spiral Souch EP (Shit Sandwich / USA / 2003)
• Eternal Standby (MOC / USA / 1998)
• 4PAC (MOC / USA / 1997)
• Jacuzzi For the Dead EP (Little Teddy Recordings / Germany / 1996)
• Wee Beasties EP (Little Teddy Recordings / Germany / 1995)
• Midnight at the Guantanamo Room b/w Skinny Head (Mind Of A Child / USA / 1994)
• Street Where Love Lives b/w Coming Down All Day and Night (Hi-Ball / USA / 1993)
• Places We Used to Go / Love Back / Skeletons Need Their Sleep (Rockville / USA / 1992)
• Magic Words b/w Ghosts (Jetpac / Canada / 1992)
• I Am the Cheese b/w I Can't Stop It (Feel Good All Over / USA / 1991)
• She's Not Ready b/w Badger & Germ Inside (Feel Good All Over / USA / 1990)
• I Shot My Load and I'm Ready for the Grave EP (Tulpa / USA / 1989)
• Hammeroid! EP (Tulpa / USA / 1988)

[edit] Cassettes

• AMNFM (1999)
• TERRAMOTO (1998)
• Gangway for Miracles (1997)
• Wall of Phlegm (1997)
• Ampeg Stud (1996)
• Bandit 65 (1996)
• Fletcher Henderson (1995)
• E Pluribus M.O.T.O. (1993)
• Talk of M.O.T.O. (1991)
• M.O.T.O. Machine Music (a.k.a. RADIO BJ) (1990)
• 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll (1989)
• Neon Bone! (1988)
• MOTOERECTUS (1987)
• QUASIMOTO (1987)
• Rock, Roll & Dismember (1986)
• BOLT! (1986)
• Turn Your Head and Cough (1985)

[edit] External links

• Official Site (contains artist contact information)
• MySpace page
• Little Teddy Recordings
• Criminal IQ Records
• Masters Of The Obvious at Allmusic