Were you ever in a band? If so, what was it's name?

[many a good man]

Back in college I was the lead singer and percussionist for an avant garde jazz SLASH disco SLASH heavy metal SLASH classic rock SLASH punk eclectic band that played at public campus gigs dozens of times. Our main fans were 1) extremely drunk or stoned people; and 2) people with no musical taste whatsoever.

The name of our band was TSMF. We got the name half through our first gig when we overheard some obnoxious frat boys walking past and one of them said "Who are Those Stupid Motherfuckers?" Thus the classy name TSMF was born. After our second year the gigs dried up so we re-christened ourselves "Tone Doggerel."

[Orsino]

1. Padre & the Agnostics

We were three teachers at a private Christian academy. "Padre" was a Baptist minister and school chaplain, with a fairly convincing blues wail. I and the other teacher played crude, lousy guitar.

Our best piece was either our "Wild Thing/Love Stinks/Louie, Louie" medley, or our big finisher "Free Bird," complete with extended trombone solo by the Padre. We were awesome.

[old mark]

2. I played in several bands over a period of about 15 years. Some of them

were: The Gallos. This was a band I was in late in high school and right afterwards, in 1965. We had a great guitarist, a very good Fender piano player/singer, and a great drummer - I played bass and sang backup. I believe that the drummer and me are the only ones still alive. I really liked this band.
In my first semester of college, I started to lay bass and sing lead with a group called The Gothic, doing an odd mix of music, with 2 guitars ,bass and drums, all very good musicians and good people. We had a new second guitarist and became a blues band and changed the name to the Wright Brothers Band (the drummer and lead guitar were brothers). We played a lot in the Philly area till around 1976. (this is the band that breifly called itself the Fucking Shits)

I played a few gigs with a pickup band in San Francisco in the mid 70's, but I don't recall we ever had a name...we played in North Beach somewhere in '75.

Pretty much it for names - I played a few jobe here and there, and a studio job on a commercial (I never will do that again), but nothing where I was a real member of a band.

mark

[mitchum]

6. "The Gallos" was a really good name for a band from that period

I like that

[old mark]

20. Named after the cheap wine, but with a noose on the drum head.

We did a lot of Kinks and R&B stuff. I'd love to be able to play with those guys again.


mark

[TZ]

3. I was in a string quartet in High School...

Does that count?:P
(for the record, I played viola)

[MilesColtrane]

4. I've played in many bands, but only been a member of a few.

This is not counting bands I was in as part of college classes.

Transformation (Fusion and Rock), J.O.P. (Dance, Top 40), Heads Up (Jazz then Top 40), Friends of Fish (Fusion), Popular Science (Fusion), Brouhaha (Avant Guard/Noise Jazz), The Collection (Big Band Jazz)

[mitchum]

5. Roger Mudd & The Witches...

was a very early one
There have been quite a few more since then

[arbusto_baboso]

7. Raw Sewage.

I "played" bass (and that's being charitable.

We were a punk-ish band in the early 80s. Our signature tunes were a punk version of "Convoy" and a little ditty we called "Crumb Cakes and Milk" which basically just consisted of us screaming/mumbling words like our mouths were stuffed full of crumb cakes.

[Symarip]

8. Starting in 1996

The Skylarkers - my friends in the San Diego 'scene' asked me to start playing trombone. I hadn't touched the beast since getting out of high school. We sucked but played in TJ a lot. Can't argue with free beer given the fact I was underage. Good times, but we sucked. We had like 14 members in the band at some point. All the horns played in unison. It sounded like a middle school band attempting to play Ska. I stopped playing after we dissolved, mostly because I was in the Navy and when you're in the military, the military comes first. No exceptions.

The Hi-Lites - I was getting out of the military in 2005 and a pair of guys my age hit me up about playing trombone... Again. I hadn't touched the beast since the late 90s and I didn't see picking it back up as feasible. They had seen me play in the previous band. Despite that, they were willing to give me a chance. So I bought a busted up horn from the early 1900s and started teaching myself scales, reading music, and all that good business. I eventually got a lot better, as did the band. Over the next year or two, we went from rehearsal in the back of a record shop to playing in front of thousands of people and a complete tour of the Southwest. Too bad our leadsinger/bass player destroyed us: he was more interested in his bandmembers kissing his ass regardless of their musical ability (my trumpet player was HORRIBLE). He also had a tendency to take all the credit for others hard work. He's a great guy, just ask him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CftDsVOc2vs

The Amalgamated - When the last band split from out leadsinger, we started this instrumental ensemble. We brought in a few new players, diversified our songs and genres, and started gigging out immediately. Note to musicians: don't ever start an instrumental band if you want to be taken seriously. I eventually had to move to DC for work, leaving these guys behind. I'm pleased to report this band is still active and sounds better than ever. I fly out to play with them for special events on occasion.
http://www.myspace.com/theamalgated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Nh2EyohbA (I'm not in this one)

Self Made Men - a small project started on the side with the greatest song writer and musician I've ever met: John Roy. Another band still active and killing it.
http://www.myspace.com/selfmademenband

The Fortune Tellers - I floated around DC for a year playing the oddball open mic nights with other Reggae/Ska musicians. Nothing was really happening. The Fortune Tellers, who play mostly motownish soul sort of, asked me to fill in for their departing trombone player late last year. I was never into the music but I helped rewrite some horn lines and got them going with recording. My leadsinger departed in April (she recently was on Opie and Anthony) to go solo. I decided to leave when she did. I really didn't see their sound going places. I appreciate their drive, though, and a constant band to practice is better than no band at all. Usually.
http://www.myspace.com/thefortunetellersdc


The Moderators - My newest band about 3 months old. We kick ass. This is by far the best project I've been in. The drive these kids have cannot be measured with standard metrics. We write songs together which is interesting, hard, and a lot of fun all at the same time. Still need a leadsinger and sax player, though.
http://www.myspace.com/themoderatorsdc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXoadhwv9kg (our first show at 5 weeks)

So there you have it.

[Kali]

16. Hi-Lites sounds very familiar

did you record anything or possibly do a live appearance at a small community radio station in Tucson?

[Symarip]

19. We did a radio show

But I can't remember if it was in Tucson or Houston. We played in Arizona, though. My back went out a month before tour so during the travel times, I was hopped on (prescription) meds.

[SteppingRazor]

9. I was in a couple in high school.

JAR (short for Just Another Revolution) and The Bismarcks. I was also in a group in college, but we never really settled on a name.

[southpaw]

10. I played bass in a few bands

Aeon was the first. We started out trying to do prog covers, but we were all really new to our instruments so we sounded really pathetic. Eventually we switched over to hair-metal covers and some 80's top 40. We were still pretty bad, just not as far out of our league.

The Trip came later. Late 80's thereabout. Mostly top 40 with some Journey/Heart/Benatar from the earlier part of the decade. Female singer.

In the mid 90's I joined an electric blues outfit called Smoke and Mirrors. The guitarist/singer was a young Stevie Ray fanatic who could also pull off a decent Hendrix. We covered a couple of Allman Brothers tunes as well. We even worked up a reggae version of Free Bird, just to be able to honor the inevitable request.

That's about it for gigging bands, though I have participated in several informal assemblages of music dudes who just wanted to get together and jam... most recently playing drums for a group of guys who loved covering Alice in Chains and other grungy 90's stuff.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

11. I've been in a couple

I played bass in a one-off band in grad school called Blue Light Special. We played a school rugby party and it was great fun. Our highlight was playing the main riff to "Enter Sandman" while the drunk audience crowded around the mikes and sang. :silly:

After graduating and coming back to Italy, I joined the band of some friends of mine called FTF. After the singer left me and the other guitar player took over and we renamed the band Zona Zero (we read it on a package of frozen goods, that in the store had to be kept in the area that was set a 0° Celsius).

Then I tried starting my own hard rock band called Envy with limited results, only to rename it Day-Glo Buffalo after I found too many Envys on myspace.

Now I'm looking for members for my industrial rock project called Chaos unLtd. Anyone interested can check it out at http://www.myspace.ciom/chaosunltd
(shameless plug)

[bif]

12. The Enablers

Actually, it was my brother's band. They played in Ann Arbor about 10 years ago.

[Tikki]

13. Yes....P. O. A.

:)


Tikki

[Heidi]

14. Yes. We were called The Marching Tigers.

I wielded my clarinet with pride.

[tigereye]

15. the first one was called Toxic Shock (showing my age now)

[Dr. Strange]

17. Spinal Capricorn

We were huge. We toured the world and elsewhere.

[Kali]

18. no, I have no musical talent whatsoever, but I have been a groupie/friend/fan of a few

St James - three guys from high school that all had the same middle name (guess!)

Gin Blossoms - (yes, them) Jesse V. played piano for my wedding (his sister was my best friend in college/maid of honor)

Dashboard Mary - exSO of my sister who also went on to be in Pig Iron, Chicken, the Hakkenkaufs, Liver Eatin' Johnson, the Butcher Class Hogs

[XNASA]

21. Solar Radio

nt

[TrogL]

22. Plus One

I was a white keyboard player in an all-Jamaican reggae band

[BlueJazz]

23. Too Many. Was also Studio Musician for CBS for 8 years.

:)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

24. The Texas Turkeys.

Four guitarists and me on the fiddle at our local Unitarian Church. Circa 1980-81.

We had T-shirts that said "Texas Turkey" on them with a picture of an armadillo.

[cherish44]

25. Wicked Pickle

That was one of my brother's bands. I always thought was a cool name.

[enigmatic]

26. Yom Kippour and The Circumcisons

Hardcore punk, of course:D

Too many others over the years to name; it became a blur after awhile...