| VOM | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Genres | Punk rock, garage rock |
| Years active | 1976–1978 |
| Associated acts | Angry Samoans, Metal Mike, The Mooseheart Faith Stellar Groove Band, The Mistaken, The Blood-Drained Cows |
| Past members | |
| Richard Meltzer, Gregg Turner, Mike Saunders, Dave Guzman | |
VOM was conceived in 1976, a self-described beat combo featuring the renowned writer and critic Richard Meltzer on vocals, with Gregg Turner on 2nd vocals and "Metal" Mike Saunders on drums under the pseudonym "Ted Klusewski". The band also featured Dave Guzman on 'tuneless rhythm guitar', Lisa Brenneis ('Gurl') on bass guitar, and Phil Koehn on lead guitar. The name Vom is short for 'vomit', as their early live act is said by Meltzer and Turner to have included throwing various 'viscera', cow parts and food substances at the audience to provoke reaction.
Both Meltzer and Saunders had already contributed to music as a whole in very distinct conduits. Richard Meltzer had written The Aesthetics of Rock (written in '68 but published in '70) which was certainly the 'first serious' discussion of rock music in long format as an art form. Mike Saunders is credited for coining the term 'heavy metal' as a sub-genre, while writing for Rolling Stone. In 1970 he wrote: "Here [Humble Pie] were a noisy, unmelodic, heavy metal-leaden shit-rock band, with the loud and noisy parts beyond doubt," in a review of As Safe As Yesterday Is. "This album," he continues, "more of the same 27th-rate heavy metal crap, is worse than the first two put together, though I know that sounds incredible." Though Saunders himself states that the title is "right there" in Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" ("heavy metal thunder...") and the term predates even this in William S. Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys, Metal Mike was the first to lend it to the new hard rock of Led Zeppelin, Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath, of which Sabbath was being termed 'downer' rock.
Besides 'I'm In Love With Your Mom' and 'Too Animalistic', which were later incorporated into the Angry Samoans catalog, Vom were notorious for a song called 'Electrocute Your Cock', which began with Saunders Ramones-like tom tom beat and Meltzer's cries of "Electrocute your cock, electrocute your cock / Looking for a handjob? Stick It in a clock!". Despite its profane audacity it had the pop catchiness and wit to be somewhat of a hit for the band. Other songs included 'Broads Are Equal' and 'I Am (the Son of Sam)'.
Videos for 'I'm In Love With Your Mom' and 'Electrocute Your Cock' were produced, which has to be a very early example of the art form as a DIY method long before bands really became required to do this. Richard Casey (who went on to direct videos for Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma and Romeo Void) directed the two - 'I'm In Love' shot as the band performed on the beach, with Meltzer wearing briefs on his head. The more visually interesting video is certainly 'Electrocute', with some humorous moments, including a side-shot of Meltzer in a chair screaming the lyrics and sprawling comedically backwards, and Meltzer in a bathtub being electrocuted. Both videos can be found in the Angry Samoans video entitled True Documentary, also featuring work by Richard Casey (including the Angry Samoans video for the Chambers Brothers 'Time Has Come Today', which actually got late-night air-play on MTV). This video also features live footage, interviews with Meltzer, Saunders and Turner, and the Samoans classic Kenji Shibuya skits. Meltzer, according to Turner, "threw in the Vom towel" in 1977, which left Turner and Saunders to pave the way for the Angry Samoans.