The Dead Milkmen
is a satirical punk band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band initially consisted of Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"; guitar, vocals), Dave Schulthise ("Dave Blood"; bass), Dean Sabatino ("Dean Clean"; drums), and Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"; vocals, synth). [1]
The band's musical style could be described as jangly, driving punk rock with a steady supply of irreverent humor as evident from the song titles "My Many Smells", "Taking Retards to the Zoo" and "If You Love Someone, Set Them On Fire." Linderman and Genaro both sing with heavy Philadelphia accents often sounding exaggeratedly snotty. [2]
The group recorded eight studio albums, one live record, and a large number of EPs and self-released cassettes before disbanding in 1995. In 2008, after a small handful of reunion shows during their 13 years of inactivity, the group announced its plans to continue performing and work on new material with new bassist Dan Stevens replacing the deceased Schulthise.
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THE DEAD MILKMEN TICKETS
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History
Early years (1983-1987)
The band began as Genaro's bedroom home-recording project. After creating characters and a mythological backstory for the band, Genaro was later joined by his friend Garth in writing and recording early home demos. Linderman (originally the drummer) joined the group in this embryonic home-recording stage prior to Garth's departure to join the
United States Air Force; Schulthise and Sabatino, respectively, joined prior to the band's first public performances. Sabatino was the only member of the group with previous experience in rock groups, having played in the two-piece
new wave band Narthex. The band has claimed that the Dead Milkmen name comes from a character named "Milkman Dead" in
Toni Morrison's book
Song of Solomon
.
[3]
After a few self released cassettes, the first official Dead Milkmen album,
Big Lizard in my Backyard
, was released in 1985 on
Restless Records, a subsidiary of
Enigma Records. Their music received some airplay on college radio stations but was rarely heard on commercial radio. The most successful song from this record was "Bitchin' Camaro," which became a signature tune. Because of its improvised dialogue intro, it is a favorite at live shows.
Their next two LP's,
Eat Your Paisley
(1986) and
Bucky Fellini
(1987), saw the band continue to embrace lyrical humor. ''Eat Your Paisley
s single "The Thing That Only Eats Hippies" was a hit in Australia and got some rotation on the radio, and also became the first Dead Milkmen music video. "Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance to Anything)", from
Bucky Fellini'', was another a successful single; this song attacked the supposedly shallow listeners of
post-punk dance music for their lack of taste in music—done in a stereotypical post-punk dance style.
Commercial success (1987-1995)
In 1987, baseball player
Jim Walewander, a
Detroit Tigers rookie, became a vocal fan of the band; this fact was noted on his baseball card, which described the group as "an obscure punk-rock band"
[4]. Walewander invited the Dead Milkmen 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.
In 1988 came
Beelzebubba
, a comparatively polished record which featured what would become the Dead Milkmen's biggest commercial hit, "Punk Rock Girl." The song's video garnered rotation on
MTV, and was later featured on MTV's
Beavis and Butt-head
show. This was followed by the "Smokin' Banana Peels" single and music video. Their next album, 1990's
Metaphysical Graffiti
failed to receive the same attention as
Beezlebubba
, and its single "Methodist Coloring Book" earned minimal rotation.
In 1991 the band left Enigma and Restless and signed with
Hollywood Records, owned by
Disney. Their next two albums,
Soul Rotation
(1992) and
Not Richard, But Dick
(1993), saw further polishing of their production.
Soul Rotation
featured Linderman on synthesizers and Genaro taking on more vocal responsibility. The resulting record is much more
pop-oriented. Relations between the band and the label quickly soured, and these two records went out of print not long after their initial releases. Afterwards, The Dead Milkmen were unable to feature any of the songs on either
Soul Rotation
or
Not Richard, but Dick
on any of their compilation CDs, although the group was able to smuggle an unlisted version of "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 record. This was due in part to Schulthise, who was suffering from
tendinitis and could not play the bass guitar without intense pain in his hands, as well as the band's increasing frustration with commercial and record label struggles.
Restless Records released what was advertised as their final studio album in 1995,
Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig)
. Since then, several compilations of both hits and rarities have been released.
Post-breakup (1995-2008)
Linderman performed with a
gothic Celtic punk band called
Burn Witch Burn and worked in
journalism and
blogging, including work for the
Philadelphia Weekly. Sabatino played with the Big Mess Orchestra and The Hunger Artists, two sporadic projects, as well as Genaro's post-Milkmen group
Butterfly Joe. Genaro remained the most musically active former 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, and has maintained a
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.
[5] He hoped to contribute to the country’s re-growth and development.
He fled in April 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia. For the next few years he worked as a custodian in Philadelphia. Schulthise committed suicide on
March 10,
2004.
[6] His death was featured in
The New York Times and
Rolling Stone Magazine.
After Schulthise's death, 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 a Serbian monastery that he supported. Dan Stevens of The Low Budgets played bass with the Dead Milkmen for these performances.
Reunion (2008-present)
In 2008, the band announced its plans to play the Fun Fun Fun Fest in
Austin, TX [7], their first performance since the Schulthise memorial shows, with Stevens again on bass
[8]. The band 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, the band decided to continue as an active group, playing regular concerts and working on new material.
[9]
Members
Current members
- Rodney Linderman - vocals, keyboards, tin whistle (1983-1995, 2004, 2008-present)
- Joe Genaro - vocals, guitar, keyboards (1983-1995, 2004, 2008-present)
- Dean Sabatino - drums, percussion, vocals (1983-1995, 2004, 2008-present)
- Dan Stevens - bass guitar (2004, 2008-present)
Former members
- Dave Schulthise (deceased) - bass guitar, vocals (1983-1995)
- Garth - guitar, vocals (1983)
Discography
Full-length studio albums
- Big Lizard in my Backyard
— 1985
- Eat Your Paisley
— 1986
- Bucky Fellini
— 1987
- Beelzebubba
— 1988
- Metaphysical Graffiti
— 1990
- Soul Rotation
— 1992
- Not Richard, But Dick
— 1993
- Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig)
— 1995
Live and compilation albums
- Now We Are 10
— 1993, retrospective
- Chaos Rules - Live at the Trocadero
— 1994
- Death Rides a Pale Cow (The Ultimate Collection)
— 1997, compilation
- Cream of the Crop
— 1998, compilation
- Now We Are 20
— 2003, compilation
- The Dead Milkmen Present: Philadelphia In Love
— 2003, music video compilation
Singles and EPs
- The Thing that Only Eats Hippies
— 1987, Australian single
- Instant Club Hit
— 1987
- Punk Rock Girl (single)
— 1988, 1989
- Smokin' Banana Peels EP
— 1988, 1989
- If I Had a Gun EP
— 1992
Self-released cassettes
- ''Living Death in the Cellar of Sin — 1983
- Funky Farm
— 1983
- ''A Date With The Dead Milkmen — 1983
- Death Rides A Pale Cow
— 1984
- The Dead Milkmen Take The Airwaves
— 1984
- Someone Shot Sunshine
— 1984
References
- The Dead Milkmen Biography - AOL Music
- http://www.deadmilkmen.com/song-lyrics][http://www.deadmilkmen.com/videos
- The Official Dead Milkmen Website » Milkmen FAQ
- The Dead Milkmen/Detroit Tigers connection
- The Official Dead Milkmen Website » Dave Blood
- Dead Milkmen obituary
- Dead Milkmen Free For All:: View topic - Dead Milkmen to play the Fun Fun Fun Festival in Austin TX
- http://www.deadmilkmen.com
- http://www.deadmilkmen.com/dmffa/viewtopic.php?t=5250