| The Screamers | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Tupperwares |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington |
| Genres | Punk rock Synthpunk |
| Years active | 1975–1981 |
| Labels | Dangerhouse Records |
| Associated acts | Ze Whiz Kidz, The Mentors, Girls, Nervous Gender |
| Past members | |
| Tomata du Plenty Tommy Gear Rio de Janeiro Pam Lillig Ben Witz Bill Rieflin Eldon Hoke K. K. Barrett David Brown Paul Roessler |
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The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. The Screamers were pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and can also be classified as art punk.
The Screamers were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978.[1] In the documentary Punk: Attitude (2005), the Dead Kennedys cite the Screamers as a key influence on their group and as one of the great unrecorded groups in rock history.
The Screamers were noted for unusual instrumentation, featuring electric piano and synthesizer while omitting guitars. Additional musicians, including violinists and a female vocalist, were occasionally incorporated into their performances. The group featured a highly developed theatrical presentation that centered around a manic lead vocalist, Tomata du Plenty. DuPlenty and Tommy Gear, a keyboard player and vocalist, were the band's principal songwriters.
Although the Screamers developed a substantial following and generated considerable press coverage, they never released a record.
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The Screamers' founders Tomata du Plenty (born David Xavier Harrigan 1948, died 2000) and Tommy Gear first collaborated in Seattle in 1975, where they formed The Tupperwares. The original lineup of the Tupperwares included Tommy Gear (at the time, using the name "Melba Toast"), Tomata du Plenty, and Rio de Janeiro on vocals, backed by Pam Lillig and Ben witz (later of Girls), as well as Bill Rieflin (later of The Blackouts and Ministry)[2] and a teenage Eldon Hoke (later known as "El Duce" of The Mentors). Tomata du Plenty and Rio De Janeiro were veterans of the theatrical troupe Ze Whiz Kidz, and du Plenty had also worked with the drag troupe The Cockettes.
In late 1976, after legal threats from Tupperware trademark owners, the band's name was changed to the Screamers. The trio Tomata, Tommy, Rio migrated to Los Angeles, leaving the other band members behind. Shortly after arriving In Los Angeles Rio De Janeiro left the band due to creative differences and they added David Brown and drummer K. K. Barrett. Brown soon left to found the seminal punk label Dangerhouse Records; he was replaced by Paul Roessler.
The Screamers created a visual presence in the press before they ever played live. Studio photos of the band—their hair greased into spikes, Tomata's rubbery face contorted by turns into a demonic grin or a mask of anguish—began to appear in magazines even before a full band had been assembled. Artist Gary Panter's logo for the band, a stylized cartoon of a screaming head with spiked hair, became one of the most recognizable images to emerge from punk rock.[2]
From 1977 through 1979, the Screamers became a sensation in Los Angeles rock clubs, selling out multiple-night engagements at the Whisky a Go Go. They were the first band without a recording contract to headline the prestigious Roxy on Sunset Boulevard. These performances highlighted extreme psychological states. Their lyrics veered between jocular engagement with pop culture ("I'm Going Steady With Twiggy") and quasi-fascist commands to the citizens of the future ("Punish or Be Damned," "In a Better World, Everybody Must Be Made to Feel Important"). The music combined pop melodies, droning synthesizer, propulsive drumming, and vocals that were screamed.
Describing a July, 1979 performance, music critic Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times focused on "Tomata's extraordinary power on stage." According to Hilburn, "Tomata's hair was greased to stand straight up, giving him the look of a man who had just stuck his finger into an electric socket. His performance reflected the nervous, relentless anxiety of a soceity [sic?]... By the end of the 40-minute set, Tomata had gone through the same disintegration of the human-will that we associate with such books as 1984. Eventually, the tuxedo jacket, shirt and tie are ripped off, leaving him "symbolically"(not literally) naked in his attempt to maintain some dignity and individuality. As if suddenly put in another man's body, he asks in horror: 'Who am I?'"[3]
The Screamers never released a single official recording of any kind, although several bootleg recordings have since appeared, composed of rehearsals or live tapes. At one point, the group determined they would release their debut album only in video form (this was a very unusual approach at the time, before MTV existed), and they devoted time and resources to constructing a small movie studio. Despite some fitful efforts in the early 80s, the band had effectively dissolved before their video plans were realized. Roessler joined L.A.'s other "synthpunk" band, Nervous Gender. The other band members pursued non-musical careers, though K.K. Barrett reunited with Roessler to perform several Screamers songs live in late 2000, in tribute to Tomata du Plenty, who had recently died in San Francisco in August 2000.[4]
The song '122 Hours of Fear' by The Screamers recorded in 1978 was inspired by the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181.
In 2004, Target Video released a DVD of a Screamers concert from 1978, filmed at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco and appended several early Screamers music videos shot at the Target studio around the same time. Unauthorized live recordings and demo tapes of the Screamers circulate as bootlegs.
Three of their songs feature on the 2010 compilation Black Hole: Jon Savage Presents/California Punk 1977-1980.
Tomata du Plenty starred in the 1986 punk rock musical Population: 1. The October 2008 release of Population: 1 on DVD features a bonus disc of rare Screamers concert footage.
A poster advertising a Screamers show is featured in the hallway (along with many other band's posters) of the house in the film Laurel Canyon.