Destroy All Monsters was an influential Detroitrock band existing from 1973 to 1985, with sporadic performances since. Their music touched on elements of punk rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal and noise rock with a heavy dose of performance art. Their music was described by Lester Bangs as "anti-rock". They earned a measure of notoriety due to members of The Stooges and MC5 joining the band, and Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore compiling a three compact disc set of the group's music in 1994.
Formed in 1973, the first edition of Destroy All Monsters was formed by University of Michigan art students Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Niagara, and filmmaker Cary Loren. They performed in the Ann Arbor area from 1973–1976, and their only release was a one-hour cassette of their recordings available only through Lightworks magazine. Their early music was influenced by Sun Ra, Velvet Underground, ESP-Disk, monster movies, beat culture and futurism. Their sound was experimental, abrasive, psychedelic, darkly humorous and droning.[2]
On New Year's Eve of 1973, the first Destroy All Monsters concert was held at a comic book convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At the time the instruments were two guitars with an echoplex and fuzz box, a drum kit played by Mission of Burma's Roger Miller, tape loops, a violin, a sax, a vacuum cleaner and a coffee can. They performed a demented version of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and were asked to leave after ten minutes. The group performed "guerilla style", setting up free at parties and playing for food along Ann Arbor's frat row. They used modified instruments, a drum machine, tape loops, toys, cheap keyboards and broken electronic devices. Aside from the comic convention, the group's only formal gig in this era was at the Halloween Ball at the University of Michigan art school in 1976.
Kelley and Shaw left the band during the summer of 1976 to attend graduate school at CalArts in Los Angeles, California. Both have gone on to lead successful solo careers in the art world. Their work is held in major collections around the world.
New personnel
Niagara, Ron Asheton, and Platehead drummer, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Spring of 1982
In 1977, Niagara and Loren recruited guitarist Larry Miller and saxophonist Ben Miller; both had been in the short-lived Sproton Layer (as drummer and guitarist respectively) with their brother Roger Miller (who later went on to co-found Mission of Burma). They invited Mike (Jett) Powers on bass but he soon left for Harvard University. Not long after, members of two important Detroit-based groups signed on: guitarist Ron Asheton, earlier of The Stooges, and bass guitarist Michael Davis of the MC5. Their presence garnered the group more attention than ever before. Shortly thereafter, Ron asked drummer Rob King to join the band (replacing Roger Miller, who had filled the spot on a temp basis).
In 1978, Destroy All Monsters were preparing to release "Bored", their first official recording, when the group began to really accelerate. Niagara by then ended her relationship with Loren in favor of a new relationship with Asheton; Loren quickly was fired from the group. Soon after the Miller brothers also left after the DAM's Halloween show at Eastern Michigan University, in 1978. The "Bored"/"You’re Gonna Die" single earned major attention in the UK music press, and a major 35 gig tour of the U.K. followed[3] and the band was able to capitalize on the notoriety.
Later developments and reunion
Niagara and Ron Asheton continued touring and recording with Michael Davis releasing a total of four 7" singles on the IDBI label. Between 1982 and 1984, Destroy All Monsters toured nationally. Personnel: Rob King on drums, Mike Davis on bass, Ron Asheton on guitar, and Niagara on vocals. DAM made friends with the Ramones and Dead Boys during this period. The three bands would take turns opening for each other in New York, Detroit and Philadelphia shows. DAM became the house band for Second Chance (Ann Arbor) and Bookies (Detroit) during these early Punk times. In May 1983, the band recorded and videotaped a song called "Make Mine Japanese." Released in December 1983, this video can now be seen on-line. The Monsters broke up in 1985. The DAM singles were released by Cherry Red Records on CD.
In 1994, Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Byron Coley and Thurston Moore compiled a three-CD boxed set of DAM music, artwork and extensive liner notes as Destroy All Monsters: 1974–1976 on Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label.
The original lineup (Kelley, Loren, Niagara and Shaw) reformed for reunion shows in 1995 at the Magic Bag in Detroit, Spaceland in Los Angeles, and Bodies in San Diego. Six issues of Destroy All Monsters Magazine (1976–1979) were edited by Cary Loren and published with added DAM student artwork, flexi disc and history in the book Destroy All Monsters: Geisha This (1995). Four VHS tapes of DAM films directed by Loren were also issued between 1995-1996; Grow Live Monsters, Clear Day, Shake a LIzard Tail or Rust Belt Rump and Strange Früt: Rock Apochrypha. An exhibition of DAM artwork was shown in 1995 at the Book Beat gallery. A live CD, Silver Wedding Anniversary, resulted from the reunion concerts and was released in 1996 on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label and included performance highlights from the reunion shows.
In 1996, the group performed in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. A display of DAM artwork was held at the Deep Gallery in Tokyo. DAM soon began work on the installation and film known as Strange Früt: Rock Apochrypha, an investigation of Detroit culture. This exhibition was first shown at "I Rip You, You Rip Me" festival, a series of exhibitions, performances, symposiums, and workshops examining the radical subculture and music scene of Detroit in the late sixties and early seventies, and was held at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and Nighttown, curated by artists Ben Schot and Ronald Cornelissen. Strange Früt: Rock Apochrypha was exhibited at and completed in 2000 at COCA (Center on Contemporary Art) in Seattle, WA., and at Artists Take On Detroit (2001) exhibition held at the Detroit Institute of Arts. This work was also selected for inclusion in the 2002 Whitney Biennial of Art in NYC.
In 2006, the Strange Früt exhibition and the band's archives traveled to the Magasin Center for Contemporary Art in Grenoble, France. DAM performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties festivals in Los Angeles as guest artists of Sonic Youth, and in London, UK as guest artists selected by Dino and Jake Chapman. A selection of the band's archives was on exhibition as part of the Theater Without Theater show at MACBA in Barcelona, Spain opening May 25, 2007. The exhibit traveled to Lisbon, Portugal in the fall of that year.
Since 1995, the band has released five full-length CDs on their own label(s) [The End is Here]: Radio Teardrop (1996), Backyard Monster Tube and Pig (1998), Swamp Gas (2001), and on [Compound Annex]: Detroit Oratorio (2003), Destroy All Monsters: Live in Tokyo (2003).
A reprint of the first six issues of DAM Magazine, with added band artwork, history, poster and a flexi disc was published by Book Beat and DAP Artbooks in 1995 as Destroy All Monsters: Geisha This, and reprinted in three different editions. A DVD of selected DAM films was released in 2007 by MVD video as: Grow Live Monsters featuring early 8mm and 16mm films directed by Cary Loren from 1971–1976.
Ron Asheton died on January 1, 2009, aged 60, of an apparent heart attack.
In 2009 the Printed Matter bookstore in NYC mounted the Destroy All Monsters exhibit Hungry for Death curated by James Hoff and Cary Loren featuring the group's collected work.[4] The exhibition toured to White Flag Projects in St Louis, 0047 in Oslo, SPACE Gallery in London, The American Academy in Rome, Italy, Galerie 1m3 in Lausanne, Switzerland, AMP Gallery in Athens, Greece (2010), galerie du jour agnès b in Paris, France (2011) and the Boston University Art Gallery (2011). To coincide with the Hungry for Death exhibition Printed Matter released a 1975 recording Double Sextet as a vinyl album. The band also re-released the Destroy All Monsters: 1974–1976 compilation on CD, without booklet, in a limited edition of 1000. In 2011, the Boston University Art Gallery released the catalog Hungry for Death: Destroy All Monsters, with essays by Byron Coley and Branden Joseph. This catalog included a detailed discography and a CD titled Get Out of My Bedroom of unreleased DAM music spanning over thirty years of band history.[5]
A facsimile reprint of the Destroy All Monsters Magazine 1976–1979 was published by Primary Information in May, 2011.[6]
An exhibition curated by Mike Kelley and Dan Nadel titled Return of the Repressed: Destroy All Monsters 1973-1977 showing work by Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Cary Loren and Niagara opened at PRISM in Los Angeles on November 19, 2011 and ran through January 7, 2012. Accompanying the exhibition was a catalog published by PRISM and PictureBox, edited by Mike Kelley and Dan Nadel with an essay by Nicole Rudick.
Mike Kelley was found dead in South Pasadena, California, on February 1, 2012, aged 57, having committed suicide.[7] Sixteen days later, on February 17, 2012, Michael Davis died of liver failure, aged 68.[8]
Rob King died on November 4, 2023 in Ann Arbor of pneumonia at age 68.[citation needed]
Discography
Albums
1975 – Greatest Hits (cassette only)
1995 – Destroy All Monsters 1974–1976
1996 – Radio Teardrop
1996 – Silver Wedding Anniversary
1998 – Pig or Backyard Monster Tube
2001 – Swamp Gas
2002 – Detroit Oratorio
2003 – Live in Tokyo
2009 – Sextet (1975, vinyl only)
2009 – Destroy all Monsters 1974–1976 (triple album reissue)
2011 – Get Out of My Bedroom!
Live albums
2002 – The Detroit Oratorio (live)
2003 – Live in Tokyo & Osaka
Videos
1996 – Shake a Lizard Tail or Rust Belt Rump (VHS)
1996 – Clear Day: DAM Live (VHS)
1998 – Strange Fruit (VHS)
2007 – Grow Live Monsters (DVD reissue from 1995 VHS)
Singles
1978 – "Bored"/"You’re Gonna Die"
1978 – Days of Diamonds EP
1979 – "Nov. 22"/"Meet The Creeper"
1979 – "What Do I Get?"/"Nobody Knows"
1995 – "My Cowboy Hero/ I'm Bored/ Calling All Girls" (1974)
1996 – "Killing Me Softly/ Detroit Rock City"
1997 – "Attack of the Chiggers/ Typical Girl" (1974)
1998 – "Paranoid of Blonds / Take Me With You"
Related Research Articles
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, and also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
Sponge is an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1992 by vocalist Vinnie Dombroski, guitarist Mike Cross, bassist Tim Cross, drummer Jimmy Paluzzi, and guitarist Joey Mazzola. Dombroski and the Cross brothers were previously in the hard rock band Loudhouse, with Mazzola joining later before the end of the band's tenure. Sponge's discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums, and several charting singles. They are best known for their 1994 hit "Plowed", their 1995 hit "Molly ", and their 1996 hit "Wax Ecstatic ".
The music of Michigan is composed of many different genres. The city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for the past 50 years, whether in Michigan or anywhere else in the United States. Impressively, for 48 straight years (1959–2007) a greater Michigan-area artist has produced a chart-topping recording. Michigan is perhaps best known for three developments: early punk rock, Motown, and techno.
Ronald Franklin Asheton was an American musician, who was best known as the guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter for the rock band the Stooges. He formed the Stooges along with Iggy Pop and his brother, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Asheton, once ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, is currently ranked at number 60.
Michael Kelley was an American artist. His work involved found objects, textile banners, drawings, assemblage, collage, performance and video. He often worked collaboratively and had produced projects with artists Paul McCarthy, Tony Oursler, and John Miller. Writing in The New York Times, in 2012, Holland Cotter described the artist as "one of the most influential American artists of the past quarter century and a pungent commentator on American class, popular culture and youthful rebellion."
Sonic's Rendezvous Band was an American rock and roll band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, forming in 1974, featuring veterans of the 1960s Detroit rock scene.
Metallic K.O. is a live recording by American hard rock band The Stooges. In its original form, the album was purported to contain the last half of a performance at the Michigan Palace in Detroit, on February 9, 1974—the band's final live performance until their reformation in 2003. The performance was notable for the level of audience hostility, with the band being constantly pelted with pieces of ice, eggs, beer bottles and jelly beans, among other things, in response to Iggy Pop's audience-baiting.
Niagara, born Lynn Rovner in Detroit, Michigan in 1955, is a painter and musician. She was the lead vocalist of the proto-punk rock bands Destroy All Monsters (DAM) and Dark Carnival. Her painting derives principally from the Lowbrow art movement.
Scott Benzel is an American visual artist, musician, performance artist, and composer. Benzel is a member of the faculty of the School of Art at California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA.
Pearl Thompson is an English musician and artist. Thompson is best known as a member of the English alternative rock band The Cure from 1983–1994 and 2006–2010, credited as Porl Thompson and playing mainly guitar with occasional keyboards and saxophone. During and after The Cure, Thompson was active with a few other bands and projects but has since retired from music and turned to painting.
The Go is an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1996, the group released seven studio albums before their indefinite hiatus in 2013.
The Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) is a loose underground collective of experimental avant-rock artist-musicians formed in 1973. Described as a "lightning rod for art-damage, weird-music lovers everywhere," LAFMS was formed by Chip Chapman, Joe Potts, Rick Potts and Tom Recchion. in addition to performing in various configurations, LAFMS produced records, organized concerts, and produced a magazine titled Light Bulb.
... as much a dada and LSD-inspired piss-take on the high seriousness of experimental music as a shaggy-dog extension of the Zappa/Beefheart/Wildman Fischer axis of dissonance that defined the fringes of "rock" music.
Gary Grimshaw was an American graphic artist active in Detroit and San Francisco who specialized in designing rock concert posters. He was also a radical political activist with the White Panther Party and related organizations.
Laughing Hyenas was an American post-hardcore band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, that existed from 1985 to 1995, fronted by Negative Approach vocalist John Brannon. According to AllMusic, "At first, the band specialized in dirges overlaid with the tortuous, throat-shredding vocals of frontman John Brannon. As time passed, their blues connections became more and more explicit". Though they played with many of the era's most notable acts, including Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth the band failed to achieve any level of commercial success, breaking up in the mid-90s due to personal issues.
Stanley George Miller, better known as Mouse or Stanley Mouse, is an American artist who is notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and album covers for the Grateful Dead, Journey, and other bands.
Live in Detroit a 2004 DVD release of a live performance by the band The Stooges. The surviving original members of the Stooges reunited in 2003—nearly thirty years after they had disbanded—and scheduled a handful of live shows, including an August 14 concert in their hometown of Detroit. The gig was postponed due to a widespread North America blackout, but the band played at the DTE Energy Music Theatre eleven days later. The performance was released on DVD in March 2004.
Michael Davis was an American bass guitarist, singer, songwriter and music producer, best known as a member of the MC5.
Scott Morgan is an American rock and roll and soul musician, most known for his work with the Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Rationals, The Solution as well as his solo work.
Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.
Magdalene "Leni" Sinclair is an American photographer and radical political activist. She has photographed rock and jazz musicians since the early 1960s. She was the co-founder of the White Panther Party along with John Sinclair and Pun Plamondon. She was also Minister of Education of the party. She lives in Detroit.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
