Blowfly (musician)

Blowfly
On stage, circa 2005.
Background information
Birth name	Clarence Reid
Born	(1939-02-14) February 14, 1939
Origin	Cochran, Georgia, United States
Genres	Comedy, Funk, Soul, rap
Occupations	comedian, vocalist, songwriter
Instruments	vocals
Labels	TK Records, Alternative Tentacles

Clarence Henry Reid (born February 14, 1939,^[1] Cochran, Georgia, United States),^[2] is an American musician and songwriter, also known by the stage name and alternate persona Blowfly.^[3][4][5] Reid wrote for many R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex-based parodies of other songs, but also including original sexually explicit songs. His stage name originated from his grandmother, who overheard him as a child singing "Do the Twist" as "Suck My Dick", and said "You is nastier than a blowfly."

Biography

Reid wrote and produced for artists including Betty Wright, Sam & Dave, Gwen McCrae, Jimmy "Bo" Horne, Bobby Byrd, and KC & the Sunshine Band. And he recorded many songs of his own in the '60s and '70s including "Nobody But You Babe".

Reid would also write sexually explicit versions of hit songs for fun but only performed them for his friends at parties or in the studio. In 1971 he along with a band of studio musicians recorded a whole album of dirty songs under the name Blowfly. The album, The Weird World of Blowfly, features Reid dressed as a low-rent supervillain on its cover. Reid created this alter ego to protect his career as a songwriter. Reid continued to perform in bizarre costumes as his Blowfly character and continued to record sexually explicit albums throughout the 70s and 80s. The albums were widely popular as "party records".

Many of Blowfly's songs featured rapping and many consider Blowfly to have been the first dirty rapper. The explicit version of his song "Rapp Dirty" (a.k.a. "Blowfly's Rapp [sic]") helped the album Blowfly's Party reach #26 on Billboard magazine's Black Albums chart and #82 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1980.^{[citation needed]}

Blowfly's profane style earned Reid legal trouble. He was sued by songwriter Stanley Adams, who was ASCAP president at the time, for spoofing "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes". Reid's own compositions have been sampled by dozens of hip hop, R&B, and electronic artists (such as Beyonce, Wu Tang Clan, DJ Quik, DMX, Method Man & Redman, Main Source, DJ Shadow, Eazy-E, RJD2, Jurassic 5, Big Daddy Kane, Mary J. Blige, Brand Nubian, and the Avalanches) but Reid has received almost no money from sampling due to losing most of his copyrights to a loan shark.

Reid's daughter is former WNBA player Tracy Reid.

21st century

After 17 years of sporadic touring and occasional re-recording of his classic raps, Blowfly signed with Jello Biafra's independent record label Alternative Tentacles in 2005. Fahrenheit 69, the first album under the new contract, featured appearances from Slug of Atmosphere, King Coleman, Gravy Train, and Afroman. Other tours have included a headlining appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans and shows with Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Devin The Dude, DJ Frane, and Blueprint.

Blowfly's Punk Rock Party, a 2006 album release from Alternative Tentacles, features several punk rock classics given the Blowfly treatment—including a rewrite of the Dead Kennedys song "Holiday in Cambodia" recast as "R. Kelly in Cambodia", which features Biafra (the song's composer and original singer) playing a trial judge.

Blowfly completed his first tour of Australia in March 2007, and toured Germany with Die Ärzte in 2008. Blowfly performed at the 2010 Big Day Out music festival, held in Australia and New Zealand.

The documentary film The Weird World of Blowfly, directed by Jonathan Furmanski, premiered at South by Southwest in 2010^[3] and received a wider release in September 2011.^[6]

Discography

Albums as Clarence Reid

• Dancin' With Nobody But You Babe (1969)
• Running Water (1973)
• On The Job (1976)

Albums as Blowfly

• Weird World of Blowfly (1971)
• Blowfly on TV (1974)
• Zodiac Blowfly (1975)
• Oldies But Goodies (1976)
• Blowfly's Disco Party (1977)
• At the Movies (1977)
• Porno Freak (1978)
• Zodiac Party (1978)
• Blowfly's Party (1980) #82 US, #26 Black Albums
• Rappin Dancing & Laughin (1981)
• Butterfly (1981)
• Fresh Juice (1983)
• Electronic Banana (1985)
• On Tour 1986 (1986)
• Blowfly and the Temple of Doom (1987)
• Blowfly for President (1988)
• Freak Party (1989)
• Twisted World of Blowfly (1991)
• 2001: A Sex Odyssey (1996)
• Analthology: The Best of Blowfly (1996)
• Blowfly Does XXX-Mas (1999)
• Fahrenheit 69 (2005)
• Blowfly's Punk Rock Party (2006)
• Live At the Platypussery (2008)
• Black in the Sack (2012)

7" Singles as Clarence Reid

• "Push A Little Harder"/"Like White On Rice" (1963)
• "There'll Come A Day"/"I Got My Share" (1964)
• "I'm Your Yes Man"/"Your Love Is All The Help I Need"
• "I Refuse To Give Up"/"Somebody Will" (1965)
• "Gimmie A Try"/"Part Of Your Love" (1966)
• "I'm Sorry Baby"/"Let Those Soul Sounds Play" (1967)
• "Along Came A Woman"/"Something Special About My Baby" (1968)
• "Nobody But You Babe"/"Send Me Back My Money" (1969)
• "Part Time Lover"/"Fools Are Not Born (They Are Made)" (1969)
• "Master Piece"/"Down The Road Of Love" (1970)
• "Chicken Hawk"/"That's How It Is" (1970)
• "I'm Gonna Tear You A New Heart"/"I'm A Man Of My Word" (1970)
• "Miss Hot Stuff"/"Mr. Hot Stuff" (1971)
• "Direct Me/You Knock Me Out" (1971)
• "I Get My Kicks"/"Gotta Take It Home To Mother" (1971)
• "You Got To Fight"/"Three Is A Crowd" (1971)
• "Good Old Days"/"Ten Tons Of Dynamite" (1971)
• "I'm Gonna Do Something Good To You"/"A Real Woman" (1972)
• "Till I Get My Share"/"With Friends Like These (Who Needs Enemies)" (1973)
• "Funky Party" (1974)
• "When My Daddy Rode The West/Rockin Chair" (1974)
• "See Through" (1975)
• "Baptize Me In Your Love"/"Whatever It Takes" (1975)
• "Shake Your Butt" (1976)
• "I'm Excited"/"Just Another Guy In The Band" (1977)
• "You Get Me Up" (1979)
• "Funny Money"/"Little Girl Rap"
• "Primetime"/"Gas Guzzler" (2007)

Singles as Blowfly

• "Rapp Dirty" 12"/7" (1980)
• "Disco Party" 7" (1980)
• "Christmas Party"/"New Year's Party" 12" (1980)
• "Incredible Fulk" (1980)
• "Electronic Pussy Sucker" 12" (1983)
• "Funk You" 12" (1984)
• "Butt Pirate Luv" b/w "F U In The A" (2006)
• "Burning Pussy" b/w "Destructo Cock" - Split single with ANTiSEEN (2008)
• "Hole Man/Hold On It's Running"/"Movie Maniac Medley" (2008)

References

External links

• Wax Poetics interview by DJ Frane
• in this recent interview (2011) Blowfly has a special message to Tech N9ne
• MusicFilmWeb.com interview with Jonathan Furmanski, director of the documentary The Weird World of Blowfly
• Rapp Dirty