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Deadbolt | |
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Background information | |
Origin | San Diego, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels |
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Members | Harley Davidson Gary "Third Degree" Burns Tank Johnson |
Past members | Les Vegas The Phantom Badtime Charlie Claymore Mines The Coroner Coffin Boy Moose Cutter R.A. McLean The Voodellas |
Deadbolt is an American rock band from San Diego, California. Fusing rockabilly and surf music with tongue-in-cheek horror-themed lyrics, Deadbolt has called itself the "scariest band in the world", classifying their musical style as "voodoobilly".
The band originally formed in 1988 as a trio, featuring guitarist and vocalist Harley Davidson, bassist and vocalist Robert "RA" MacLean and drummer Les Vegas. Both Vegas and MacLean have since left the band. Vegas' departure is chronicled in the song "Po' Boy" on the album Hobo Babylon. The other current members of the band are bassist Gary "3rd Degree" Burns (part of the band's "Wall Of Thunder") and drummer Tank Johnson. Tank Johnson died on January 11, 2015. Former members of the band include The PhanTom (bass and guitar), Claymore Mines (bass), The Coroner (bass), Coffin Boy (bass), Moose Cutter (bass), and Mark Davidson (Harley's brother) aka Lord Von Crappo who still occasionally plays with the band. Vocalist/guitarist Diana Death occasionally contributes.
Three members of the band were also in a short-lived offshoot group called Strangers 1800, which performed music from Spaghetti Western films and TV westerns and released one EP, When Men Were Men and the Sheep Were Scared and one split record with Deadbolt on Goldenrod Records.
Bassist Gary Burns described the band's music as "voodoobilly—the darker side of the rockabilly family." [1] The band's music fuses surf music and rockabilly with horror-themed lyrics. [2] Vocalist Harley Davidson performs spoken vocals. [3] Ian Trumbull, writing for AllMusic, compared the band's music to "the Ventures playing spooky surf music behind a dry, Dragnet style narrative". [4] The band has called itself the "scariest band in the world" as part of its tongue-in-cheek humor. [2] The band uses power tools during their live performances, showering their audiences with sparks. [2]
Albums
Singles
Videos
Compilation albums featuring Deadbolt tracks
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