| The Dead Milkmen | |
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The reunited Dead Milkmen perform in Philadelphia in 2010 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Years active | 1983–1995, 2004, 2008–present |
| Labels | Restless Records, Hollywood Records |
| Associated acts | The Low Budgets, Burn Witch Burn, Butterfly Joe |
| Website | www.deadmilkmen.com |
| Members | |
| Joe Genaro Rodney Linderman Dean Sabatino Dan Stevens |
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| Past members | |
| Dave Schulthise | |
The Dead Milkmen is an American satirical punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist Dave Schulthise ("Dave Blood") and drummer Dean Sabatino ("Dean Clean").[1]
Beginning within the local underground hardcore scene of the early 1980s, the band established their jangly punk sound, which they coupled with prominent humor delivered in heavy Philadelphia accents. After garnering an underground following through extensive touring and college radio attention, they enjoyed international success on the strength of 1988's "Punk Rock Girl", a single from their Beelzebubba album which entered into MTV rotation.[2] Health problems and an ill-fated stint with the major label Hollywood Records in the wake of their success led to the group's 1995 breakup. In total, they issued eight studio albums, one live record, and numerous peripheral releases before disbanding.
In 2008, the group reunited and began working on new material, with new bassist Dan Stevens replacing the deceased Schulthise. They released The King in Yellow in 2011, their first studio album in 16 years.
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Conceptually, the group began in 1979 as the bedroom home-recording project of Genaro, who was then based in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He and a high school friend named Garth created an imaginary band called the Dead Milkmen and its mythological back-story, and the two recorded home cassette recordings in keeping with their fictional characters.[3] Genaro later revealed that the band's moniker came from a character named "Milkman Dead" in Toni Morrison's book Song of Solomon.[4] Linderman later participated in this embryonic home-recording stage of the group prior to its inactivity following Garth's departure to join the United States Air Force and Genaro's relocation to the dormitories of Philadelphia's Temple University.[3]
While in Philadelphia, Genaro met Schulthise and Sabatino through mutual friends and began loose rehearsals in 1981. Sabatino was the only member with previous experience in rock groups, having played in the two-piece new wave band Narthex. Linderman collaborated sporadically with the three during this period, and completed the lineup as lead vocalist in 1983, in time for their first public performance.
The band played frequently in Philadelphia's punk rock circuit, and eventually began touring nationally. After several self-released cassettes, the group's debut LP, Big Lizard in My Backyard, was issued in 1985 on Restless Records, a subsidiary of Enigma Records. The album received college radio attention, most notably surrounding the song "Bitchin' Camaro". Because of its improvised dialogue intro, the song remained a favorite at live shows.
Eat Your Paisley, their second album, was released the following year. "The Thing That Only Eats Hippies" became the band's first proper single and music video, and was a hit in Australia in addition to receiving domestic attention. 1987's Bucky Fellini followed, yielding the single "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)", a genre spoof of electronic dance music.
As the band toured extensively behind their records, they began to accrue increasing attention, which often came through unconventional routes. In 1987, Major League Baseball player Jim Walewander, a Detroit Tigers rookie, became a vocal fan of the band; this was noted on his baseball card, which described the group as "an obscure punk-rock band".[5] Walewander invited the band to Tiger Stadium to see a game in which he hit his first and only major league home run, and the Milkmen had a short conversation with Tigers manager Sparky Anderson.
1988 saw the release of Beelzebubba, a comparatively polished record that yielded their most successful single. "Punk Rock Girl", a track that featured Genaro on lead vocals, saw extensive rotation on MTV and propelled the album to number 101 on Billboard's Top 200.[6] They later released the "Smokin' Banana Peels" single and music video from this album. Beelzebubba's followup, 1990's Metaphysical Graffiti, did not yield a hit, but also charted[6] and assured that the group remained a mainstay in the independent rock scene.
In 1991, the band left Restless and signed with The Walt Disney Company-owned Hollywood Records. Soul Rotation, their Hollywood debut released the following year, focused more heavily on Genaro's singing and songwriting, with Linderman used predominantly as a keyboardist. The resulting record was much more pop-oriented than the group's previous efforts, but failed to produce a hit single. Not Richard, But Dick was issued in 1993, and did not fare any better than its predecessor. Relations between the band and label soured, and the two albums went out of print shortly after their initial releases. The band was later unable to feature any of the songs from either of the Hollywood albums on retrospective or compilation CDs, although the group did smuggle an unlisted version of Soul Rotation's "If I Had a Gun" onto their 1994 live album Chaos Rules: Live at the Trocadero.
Later in 1994, the Dead Milkmen announced their decision to break up following a final tour and album. This was due in part to the tendinitis Schulthise began to suffer in his hands, which made performing intensely painful, as well as the band's increasing frustration with commercial and industry struggles. Restless Records released what was planned to be their final studio album in 1995, Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig). Several compilations of both hits and rarities were later released.[1]
The band then took a 13-year hiatus. During this time, Linderman performed with the gothic, Celtic punk band Burn Witch Burn and worked in journalism and blogging, including writing for the Philadelphia Weekly. Sabatino played with the Big Mess Orchestra and The Hunger Artists, two sporadically active projects, as well as Genaro's post-Milkmen group Butterfly Joe. Genaro remained the most musically active member of the band during its split, consistently recording original music and performing live with groups such as Butterfly Joe, Touch Me Zoo, the Town Managers and The Low Budgets, while also maintaining a low-key solo career.
Schulthise attended Indiana University to study Serbo-Croatian language, literature, history, and culture. In 1998 he moved to Novi Sad, Serbia, where he taught English. His writing was published several times in Svetigora, the magazine of the Serbian Orthodox Church.[7] He hoped to contribute to the country’s regrowth and development,[7] but fled in April 1999 when NATO bombed the country.
In 2003, the band issued Now We Are 20, a repackaging of their self-released Now We Are 10 retrospective CD from 1993. They also collected their music video output and released it on the Philadelphia In Love DVD. Talks of reunion shows briefly emerged, but ended when Schulthise committed suicide on March 10, 2004.[8] His death was featured in The New York Times and Rolling Stone Magazine.
The surviving Dead Milkmen reunited for two consecutive shows in November 2004 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. The shows were intended to pay tribute to Schulthise, and proceeds were donated to a variety of mental health organizations and to Studenica, a Serbian monastery that he supported. Dan Stevens of The Low Budgets played bass for these performances.
In late 2008, the band announced its plans to play the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas,[9] their first performance since the Schulthise memorial shows, with Stevens again on bass. They played two back-to-back warm-up shows in Philadelphia shortly before this festival, including one billed under the pseudonym Les Enfants Du Prague.
Following their success in the Austin and Philadelphia performances, they decided to continue as an active group. They spent the following two years playing occasional concerts and composing new material before entering the recording studio late in 2010.[10] On March 19, 2011, a new album, The King in Yellow,[11] was released in digital form on the band's website, with a self-released CD following shortly thereafter.[12]
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