Fish Karma | |
---|---|
Birth name | Terry Owen |
Born | 1959 (age 63–64) |
Origin | Tucson, Arizona, United States |
Genres | Punk rock, folk rock, comedy rock |
Years active | 1980s–present |
Labels | Addled, Triple X, San Jacinto, Deep Shag, Alternative Tentacles |
Fish Karma (real name Terry Owen, [1] born 1959) is an American punk rock/comedy rock/folk rock musician from Tucson, Arizona, United States. [2]
![]() | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: tone.(December 2022) |
Fish Karma has also described as "one of the worst vocalists ever to have the gall to step in front of a mic, his voice falling somewhere between Neil Young after a swift boot to the naughty bits and the dying screech of a depleted air horn". [3] His career in creative antagonism began at the University of Arizona where Fish worked with a student run comedy troupe. [4] An early incarnation of Owen's stage persona featured Karma garbed in elf shoes and a full-length burlap gown (purchased at a Tucson thrift store) festooned with bottle caps. [5]
While performing at a club called Tequila Mockingbird, Karma so offended musician Al Perry (who was employed as a bartender at the club) with his perverse renderings of Delta blues that Perry intentionally disrupted Karma's performances by running an electric drink mixer during his songs. [6] This early antagonism led fortuitously to a musical collaboration lasting more than two decades. Recording on only the cheapest and most inferior equipment, Perry, like a revolted yet somewhat intrigued biographer, began capturing Fish's songs on tape. Karma's concerts made him a cult figure. Byron Coley of The Village Voice said "Fish is a great entertainer. Live, he strums along at whatever tempo he wants & rants & raves the funniest observations this side of George Carlin." Karma worked with Al Perry & The Cattle, Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra who says "Fish's music is your basic FUGS-style electric grunge folk, and his lyrics feature some of the meanest put-downs of American consumer culture I've heard in years." [4] The songs "Should I Shop Or Should I Die" and "Grenada" aim their sights squarely at America's obsession with materialism and the need to police the world.
After a few self-released albums, Fish got a record deal and put out two CDs: Teddy In The Sky With Magnets (1991) and Sunnyslope (1993). His trademark song "God Is A Groovy Guy" is about the ferocious and anal retentive Jehovah of the Old Testament that says "You are all doomed - especially you!". After years of touring, Fish took a break in 1995; only popping up in 1998 to collaborate with Andy Young on the children's record, The Dangerous Playground.
The Tucson Weekly said "He's hilarious, irreverent, disgusting and thoroughly insightful. He's sort of a cross between Frank Zappa in the Freak Out days and early Bob Dylan ramblings." Fish is well known for his wry wit and humor, as well as an insatiable need to spit on all things conventional. He says "Part of my problem is that the first record I ever heard was "My Ding-A-Ling" by Chuck Berry. I have been struggling to overcome that disability ever since." Fish Karma's music is a tortured testament of his laughter in the face of oblivion. He is an eternally befuddled spokesperson for important social issues of which he has only a vague understanding.
Eric Reed Boucher, known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.
Frankenchrist is the third album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys, released in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.
Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf, John McBain (guitar) and Tim Cronin ; they have since gone through several lineup changes, leaving Wyndorf as the only constant member. Monster Magnet has released ten studio albums to date, and they are best known for their 1990s hits "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and "Space Lord". The band has also been credited for developing and popularizing the stoner rock genre, along with Masters of Reality, Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Sleep.
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, they released records for other bands as well. Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra formed Alternative Tentacles, but Biafra became the sole owner in the mid-1980s. Alternative Tentacles no longer owns the rights to Dead Kennedys recordings after a 2000 lawsuit.
Alternative rock is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial rock or pop music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to musicians influenced by the musical style or independent, DIY ethos of late-1970s punk rock.
Butthole Surfers is an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second drummer from 1983 to 1985, 1986 to 1989, and 2009. The band has also employed a variety of bass players, most notably Jeff Pinkus.
Wesley Lawrence Willis was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. Willis' songs are typically partially spoken in an MC style, and partially sung in a nasal and out-of-tune manner reminiscent of punk rock vocals. They feature bizarre, humorous and sometimes obscene or absurd lyrics sung over backing created by using the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard. His songs cover a wide variety of topics, with mental illness and consumerism being the most prominent themes.
Alvis Edgar Owens Jr., known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart. He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens's adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call "American music".
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of Choking Victim. The band is currently signed to Tankcrimes for CD releases, and Alternative Tentacles for vinyl releases. Leftöver Crack spans several different music genres including hardcore punk, ska, and crust punk. They write mostly political lyrics of a radical leftist nature, opposing religion, capitalism, and authority. Members of Leftöver Crack reside in the C-Squat on 155 Avenue C in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Natives of New York City, band members have a well-documented history of back-and-forth conflict with the NYPD which precedes the band's formation. The name "Leftöver Crack" is explained by Stza as being "an oxymoron", based on the idea that crack cocaine addicts are known for vigorous use and are unlikely to have any "leftover" crack.
"Instant Karma!" is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions are immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime. The single was credited to "Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band", apart from in the US, where the credit was "John Ono Lennon". The song reached the top five in the British and American charts, competing with the Beatles' "Let It Be" in the US, where it became the first solo single by a member of the band to sell a million copies.
"Karma Police" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 25 August 1997, as the second single from their third studio album, OK Computer (1997). It reached number one in Iceland and number eight on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it peaked at number 14 on the US Alternative Songs chart. It was included on Radiohead: The Best Of (2008). The music video, directed by Jonathan Glazer, sees singer Thom Yorke in the back of a car pursuing a man. In 2021, Rolling Stone placed "Karma Police" at position 279 on its ranking of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Deep Shag Records is an American record label started in 2000 by Michael Reed. The label is known for the On the Road With Ellison series of releases by Harlan Ellison and for re-issuing rare 1980's modern rock, new wave, comedy, and spoken word albums which were previously unavailable on CD.
Released in 2001 on Deep Shag Records, Lunch with the Devil is the sixth studio album from American artist Fish Karma. The album includes the songs "Poodlecide", as well as a tribute to 1980s metal icon Ronnie James Dio, and a ballad of lust. The album marks the first official release of "Woke Up Dis Mornin'", which had been featured previously on the Dr. Demento Radio Show. The album includes many genres, such as cowpunk and freakout folk and is known for its comedic edge mixed with social or political commentary.
Linda Perry is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced hit songs for several other artists. They include: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera; "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani; and "Get the Party Started" by Pink. Perry has also contributed to albums by Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love, as well as signing and distributing James Blunt in the United States. Perry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
"Negasonic Teenage Warhead" is the second track on Monster Magnet's 1995 album, Dopes to Infinity. It became the band's first successful single.
Really Red was one of Houston, Texas' first punk bands and existed from 1978 through 1985.
Judith Owen is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her first North American album, Emotions on a Postcard, was released in 1996 and has been followed by several additional albums. She is co-founder of Twanky Records with her husband, Harry Shearer.
Shaunna Elizabeth Hall is an American composer and musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. As guitarist, she was a founding member of the band 4 Non Blondes and is currently a member of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic.
That's So Gay is an album by the American queercore band Pansy Division. It was released on March 31, 2009, by Alternative Tentacles.
Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983-1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published. Burning Image celebrates 39 years as a band, in 2021, with a new album.