| Black Randy and the Metrosquad | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | punk rock |
| Years active | 1977–-1980 |
| Labels | Dangerhouse |
| Associated acts | The Eyes |
| Past members | |
| Black Randy David Brown Bob Deadwyler Pat Garrett KK Barrett Joe Ramirez Tom Hughes Joe Nanini |
|
Black Randy and the Metrosquad was a punk rock act from the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Los Angeles punk scene. They gained notoriety not only for their surreal and smutty sense of humour, but also for their amalgamation of proto-punk, 1970s soul, pop, and avant-garde music.
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The band formed in Los Angeles in 1977 with Black Randy (born John Morris) as front man, David Brown on keyboards, and other members including Pat Garrett on guitar, who later joined The Dils.[1] However, the band had a rotating line-up, which even included live back-up singers known as the Blackettes [2] which often included Alice Bag, Exene Cervenka, Lorna Doom, Jane Wiedlin, Belinda Carlisle and featured several members of The Eyes.[3]
Black Randy's lyrics gave him a reputation for being as witty as he was offensive with songs about gay prostitution, Marlon Brando, and Idi Amin.[4] Their first single, "Trouble at the Cup", advocated fighting the police, though this (like all their material) was as tongue in cheek as his cover of James Brown's classic "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". Some saw this cover as an offensive reinterpretation of the song as a mocking attack on black pride (considering that Black Randy was white); others saw it as irreverent, ironic, and humorous. The band also covered the theme from the cult Blaxploitation film Shaft, by Isaac Hayes, in the same irreverent manner.
These songs were compiled onto their only album, Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie, which had sophisticated and even innovative musical arrangements that had more in common with post-punk than hardcore bands like Black Flag. This album led to the band being the most represented act on Dangerhouse Records, the label established by Brown and Garrett. This was the label's only album release, though this was not due to nepotism, but rather to bands with major-label aspirations worrying that being associated with Black Randy's offensive songs could jeopardize their chances of being signed. The band appeared in Lou Adler's 1981 satirical punk rock film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, performing "I Slept in an Arcade".[5] Pass the Dust... was reissued in 2004 by Sympathy for the Record Industry, and as a double LP by Vinyl Countdown Records in 2009, include the original album, the Dangerhouse singles, demos, live material, and a Black Randy phone call.
The band imploded early in 1980 when their frontman succumbed to drug and alcohol problems, which were evident in chaotic live shows, where songs were hardly sung and Brown tried, to no avail, to salvage the show. Black Randy died on November 11th, 1988.[3] He was portrayed by Chris Pontius in the film What We Do Is Secret, a biopic of Darby Crash.