Geeky Kids With Garage Band #4,767

May 27, 2002 11:19 AM

Geeky Kids With Garage Band #4,767 Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway, Vince Furnier, Neal Smith and Michael Bruce are not exactly household names. Little more than typical high school rock geeks in the early seventies, they went on to become one of the most influential rock acts ever. At the peak of popularity, the band members went thier own ways and left Vince to milk the fat cow on his own for another 25 years, yet the survivors remain good friends today.
posted by quonsar (8 comments total)

I saw them (Billion Dollar Babies tour)...I've seen a lot of concerts and NOTHING COMES CLOSE. NOTHING.
posted by Mack Twain at 12:00 PM on May 27, 2002

I agree with Bob Dylan: one of the most underrated of songwriters, not to mention a talent that has been misappreciated by the mainstream. Then again, there is Welcome to my Nightmare, which everybody loves.
posted by ashbury at 12:25 PM on May 27, 2002

mack twain:i saw them many times in the pre-fame detroit-based days. there was nothing like it - nothing. venues like the 44th street armory and the kentwood roller rink in grand rapids turned into feathered wastelands. bedsheets, fire extinguishers and pillows, and the damndest, ass-kickingest music!
"Sun Arise, early in the morning...
Sun Arise, late in the evening..."
posted by quonsar at 1:44 PM on May 27, 2002

30 years ago my older sister brought home "Love it to Death." My life changed.
posted by davebush at 2:00 PM on May 27, 2002

As a young Chicago suburban freak, I saw them at the field house of a nearby high school (Wheeling), just as "Eighteen" was hitting the charts.

Sun Arise! I think they opened with that song. Everyone was already standing, in a frenzy, and the band had just started playing. Then you heard this BANGing to the music. It was Vince banging on the mike stand with a hammer or something, finally everyone in the place could see him as he dragged himself up off the floor. The place went crazy.

Yes, definitely an underrated songwriting talent. People couldn't get past the over-the-top showmanship, I guess. Too bad for them.

(Anyother 70's vintage Chicagoans out there that remember Dex Card & the Wild Goose?)
posted by groundhog at 2:03 PM on May 27, 2002

Veterans of Hunter's Sick Things mailing list will tell you that "good friends" is a bit of a distortion. While they may remain friendly on a personal level, professionally they all carry enough baggage to make a reunion unlikely.
posted by mischief at 2:34 PM on May 27, 2002

Their last good song was "Mister and Miss Demeanor". After that... well, whom did they influence? They swiped their mime makeup from The Hello People, their ghoulie-whoulie act from Screaming Jay Hawkins, etc. I'll say this much for them, they were really, really femme when they first came out. They quickly ditched that, though, for the horror theatrics, and the calculated teen alienation songs.
posted by Faze at 7:54 AM on May 28, 2002

i saw them many times circa 1970, and there was no mime makeup (you must be thinking Kiss) only a bit of mascara. so called 'ghoulie-whoulie' didn't start until Vince was a solo act, the only horror theatrics at the time were the gallows hangings on the Killer tours. calling them really, really femme when they first came out is just ignorant and probably based on having seen the album cover for Easy Action and jumping to a conclusion. oh, and calculated teen angst is what drives the rock and roll industry. hadn't you noticed? :-) all that said, mr. and miss demeanor IS a classic!
posted by quonsar at 12:28 PM on May 28, 2002