| The Tubes | |
|---|---|
The Tubes in Oslo, Norway in 1977 Photo: Helge Øverås |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Genres | Rock, Hard rock, New Wave |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | A&M, Capitol |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Roger Steen Prairie Prince Rick Anderson Fee Waybill David Medd |
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| Past members | |
| Vince Welnick Bill Spooner Michael Cotten Bob Mcintosh Re Styles Mingo Lewis Jane Dornacker David Killingsworth Gary Cambra |
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The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band, whose 1975 debut album included the hit single, "White Punks on Dope". During its first fifteen years or so, the band's live performances combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism, and politics. They are perhaps best-remembered for their 1983 single "She's a Beauty," a top 10 U.S. hit with a frequently-played music video in the early days of MTV.
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The Tubes started as a group of high school friends from Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. Two Phoenix bands, the Beans and The Red, White and Blues Band, both relocated to San Francisco in 1969 and eventually merged. The new band's core 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]
Show business excess was a common theme of the band's early work, with Waybill sometimes assuming the onstage persona of "Quay Lewd" (a pun on Quaalude), a drunk, drugged out, barely coherent lead singer, wearing flashing glasses and stilt-like tall platform shoes.
The Tubes' first, self-titled album was produced by Al Kooper. The track "White Punks On Dope" was an "absurd anthem of wretched excess" and a tribute to their rich, white teenage fan base in San Francisco. "White Punks On Dope" has been covered by Mötley Crüe. The German rock musician Nina Hagen took the tune and set new lyrics to it (not a translation of the original lyrics), titled her work TV-Glotzer ("Couch Potato"), and used this song as the opening track of her own debut album Nina Hagen Band, released 1978 on CBS/Germany records. The album track "What Do You Want From Life?", which became another of the Tubes' signature songs, satirizes consumerism and celebrity culture and climaxes in a "hard-sell" monologue by Waybill which name-checks celebrities such as Bob Dylan, Paul Williams and Randolph Mantooth and well-known products of the period including the Dynagym exercise machine and a host of American vehicles including the Winnebago and the Mercury Montclair.
The Tubes' second album, Young and Rich on A&M Records, was produced by Ken Scott. It featured the hit "Don't Touch Me There", a suggestive duet between Waybill and Re Styles, which was arranged in classic "Wall of Sound" style by Jack Nitzsche and featured Laramy Smith, who with Larry Lee arranged and performed the backing vocals. The song was co-written by Ron Nagle and Tubes dancer/vocalist Jane Dornacker, who died in a helicopter crash in 1986.
The Tubes' third album gave way to thematic experimentation with Now and after the live record What Do You Want From Live, (recorded during their record breaking run at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England) 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 shows a baby watching Hollywood Squares in a specially made "Vidi-Trainer".
One critic opined that with their media savvy and theatrical skills, The Tubes were born to create rock video, but arrived several years too early.[2] However, the band did produce at least one collection of music videos, which were issued on the 1982 Pioneer Artists laserdisc "The Tubes Video." This videodisc contained versions of twelve of the band's hits, including "White Punks On Dope," "Mondo Bondage," "Talk To Ya Later," and several others from "The Completion Backwards Principle" album, in slickly produced music videos based on the group's stage shows.
The Tubes put their creativity and art skills mainly 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 live act featured dozens of other performers, including tap dancers and acrobats. The Tubes' stage productions were choreographed by Kenny Ortega and featured cast members Jane Dornacker, LeRoy Jones, Michael Holman, Michael Springer, Edwin Heaven, Cindi Osborn, Heline Gouax, and Mary Niland from 1975-1977. From 1978-1979, the cast included Sharon Collins, Caty Bevan, and Loryanna Catalano. The Completion Backward tour featured Shelly Pang, Cheryl Hangland, and Cynthia Rhodes. From 1983-1985, Michelle Gray (who later married Rundgren) and Cheryl Hangland were principal dancers. Several crew members — including Tour Manager Steve "Chopper" Borges, Lee Collins, and Gail Lowe — made frequent appearances on stage in various roles as well.
The Tubes' live shows in the late 1970s and early 1980s were rife with allusions to mainstream film (Dr. Strangelove, Rollerball, Saturday Night Fever, Grease), then-forgotten B-movies (Wild Women of Wongo, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), music (Tom Jones, punk rock, a medley of Nelson Riddle television themes), contemporary pop culture (Patty Hearst, the Viking program), television (Let's Make a Deal, Fernwood 2Nite, the anime Raideen), and literature (Nelson Algren's A Walk on the Wild Side), presaging the subcultural reverence and over-the-top theatricality of later groups like The World/Inferno Friendship Society.
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 Rarities and Smash Hits).[3]
The band was signed to Capitol Records by Bruce Garfield and Bobby Colomby, scaling back the live shows and redesigning itself as a straight laced rock band, teaming with producer David Foster. The Completion Backward Principle, another concept album, featuring the classic rock staple "Talk to Ya Later", presented itself as a motivational business document, complete with shocking pictures of the band members cleaned up and wearing suits. The band also had their first Top 40 hit in the United States in 1981 with a tongue-in-cheek ballad imploring a woman to have sex, "Don't Want to Wait Anymore" (recorded almost entirely by Spooner, without Waybill's participation). Also in 1981, they had a song, "Gonna Get It Next Time", in the movie Modern Problems (starring Chevy Chase); this song was not released on an album. Outside Inside followed a few years later and yielded a few hits, including the number 10 (USA) hit "She's a Beauty".
In 1985, the band teamed up with Rundgren once again for Love Bomb. With Bruce Garfield and Bobby Colomby no longer with Capitol, The Tubes were dropped just as they were going on a national 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 had already released an unsuccessful solo album (Read My Lips, on Capitol Records) in 1984. He left the band in 1986 ("Fee broke up", one band member said). During this time, Waybill also happily enjoyed a fruitful writing partnership with Capitol Records label mate, Richard Marx, their most popular and well known collaboration being "Edge of a Broken Heart", recorded by the female band Vixen.
In 1986 The Tubes took on a longtime friend from Phoenix, Arizona, David Killingsworth, as lead vocalist, he was the singer in Red, White Blues Band with Prairie and Roger. Michael Cotten relocated to New York to pursue a career based on his artwork, stage design and production. Today he is one of the world's top production designers. In the fall of 1988, Bill Spooner made his final tour with the band and left in early 1989. Vince Welnick departed as well to take to the road with Todd Rundgren in 1989 and then joined the Grateful Dead in 1990. Gary Cambra joined on keyboards and guitar in 1989. He and Roger Steen took over most the lead vocal duties after Killingsworth left in early 1990.
In 1993, Waybill rejoined the band. This lineup toured Europe and released two CDs, a compilation and the 1996 Genius of America. David Medd joined in 1996 to play keyboards alongside Cambra. In 2001, the band released a live CD, The Tubes World Tour 2001, and continued to tour. On April 22, 2005 a reunion show took place at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, CA, with Waybill, Steen, Anderson, Spooner, Welnick and Cotten. 2005 also saw the release of their live album "Wild in London".
Michael Cotten started "The Tubes Project" in 2005, to save and digitize the band's reel to reel and video tape archive. The collection had been kept in the closet of Tubes fan club president Marylin Wood's son after being discarded in the late 80s. Included in the vault are full color shows taped for TV at Bimbos in San Francisco, 1975 and VARA TV from the 1977 European tour. Over 70 interviews were conducted with band members, crew, managers, cast and friends such as Re Styles, Todd Rundgren, Al Kooper, Devo and David Foster. Hundreds of photos were scanned and compiled from band members and fan collections for use in the hour and half documentary which was edited and shopped for further financial backing, gaining interest until the economic crash of 2008.
Welnick, who long suffered from depression, committed suicide on June 2, 2006.
Cambra left the band in 2006 leaving David Medd as their sole keyboardist.
On September 23, 2007, the remaining members of the Tubes reunited in Phoenix for their induction into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame.
On November 10, 2009, "Mondo Birthmark" a CD of previously unreleased rarities was released through Fuel 2000. The package was designed by Michael Cotten and Prairie Prince with rare photos and interviews of the group. The demos also feature former member Bob Macintosh on drums.
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 for two weeks of shows at David Allen's nightclub The 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[5]
1976: Held residency at Bimbos in San Francisco for one month, Prairie Prince dubbed "The One, The Only" by columnist 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. On April 3, The Tubes performed live with Dolly Parton on Cher... Special, in the "Musical Battle to Save Cher's Soul Medley". As the title would imply, the performance was a duel between the forces of good and evil to determine where Cher would spend her eternal destiny. Dolly Parton was dressed in white and, with a team of brightly clad singers, portrayed an angelic host while The Tubes, dressed in black leather and performing "Mondo Bondage", battled to send Cher's soul into eternal damnation.
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 singing the rock portion of the cross-genre song "Dancin'" opposite a big band.
1981: Record Grammy nominated "The Tubes Video" at Shepperton Studios, one of the first long form video discs.
1981: Sang "Sushi Girl" and "Talk to Ya Later" on the television sketch comedy program SCTV, Episode #86 airing July 24.
1981: Appeared and sang, "Sushi Girl", on late night talk show,"Tomorrow", with Tom Snyder.
1981: Compose the song "Road Map of My Tears" for the film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, in which Waybill and Welnick appear, among other musicians, as the fictional rock group The Metal Corpses.
1982: Appeared in a commercial for Activision's video game Megamania
1983: Opened several dates for David Bowie on the Serious Moonlight tour and on this tour, among other highlights, they were the first artists to ever play the newly opened Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. At the end of the Bowie tour, they played a few shows featuring their classic no-holds-barred theatrics in Portland, Oregon, and other west-coast cities.
1985: Tour with Todd Rundgren's Utopia, play Radio City Music Hall.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | |||||||||
| 1975 | The Tubes
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113 | — | |||||||
| 1976 | Young and Rich
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46 | — | |||||||
| 1977 | Now
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122 | — | |||||||
| 1978 | What Do You Want from Live
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82 | 38 | |||||||
| 1979 | Remote Control
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46 | 40 | |||||||
| 1981 | T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits)
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— | — | |||||||
The Completion Backward Principle
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36 | — | CAN: Gold[6] | |||||||
| 1983 | Outside Inside
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18 | — | |||||||
| 1985 | Love Bomb
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87 | — | |||||||
| 1992 | The Best of the Tubes
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— | — | |||||||
| 1993 | Outside Inside
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— | — | |||||||
| 1996 | Genius of America
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— | — | |||||||
| 2000 | Millennium Collection: The Tubes
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— | — | |||||||
| 2001 | The Tubes World Tour 2001 (live)
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— | — | |||||||
| 2002 | Hoods from Outer Space
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— | — | |||||||
| 2003 | White Punks on Dope
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— | — | |||||||
| 2005 | Wild In London
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— | — | |||||||
| 2006 | Alive in America
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— | — | |||||||
| 2007 | Alive in America
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— | — | |||||||
| 2008 | Goin' Down the Tubes
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— | — | |||||||
| 2009 | Mondo Birthmark
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— | — | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Main. Rock |
UK [7] |
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| 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 | |||||
| "Talk to Ya Later" | 101 | 7 | — | |||||||
| "Gonna Get it Next Time" | — | — | — | Sports Fans | ||||||
| 1983 | "She's a Beauty" | 10 | 1 | 79 | Outside Inside | |||||
| "Tip of My Tongue" | 52 | — | — | |||||||
| "The Monkey Time" | 68 | 16 | — | |||||||
| 1985 | "Piece by Piece" | 87 | 25 | — | Love Bomb | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||
| Year | Video details |
|---|---|
| 1981 | The Tubes Video
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| 1982 | The Tubes: Live at the Greek
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