External links
- Flipside Interview – The FUs interview from 1984
- Maximumrocknroll Interview – The FUs interview from 1983
- Reflex/Wolfpack Records page on Discogs
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The FUs | |
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| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | Hardcore punk |
| Years active | 1982–1985 2010–present |
| Labels | Xclaim, Restless, Taang!, Reflex/Wolfpack Records |
| Past members | John Sox Steve Grimes Bob Furapples Wayne Maestri Steve Martin Bones Mick Stunt Rockin' Bob Cenci |
The FUs are a hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They formed in 1981 as a three-piece band, released three records and appeared on the compilation This Is Boston, Not LA before changing their name to Straw Dogs in 1986 to market themselves as a heavy metal act. In 2010 The FUs reformed under their original moniker. [1]
The FUs formed as a hardcore punk band in Boston late in 1981. The band initially consisted of John Sox on bass and lead vocals, Bob Furapples on drums, and Steve Grimes on guitar. This line-up recorded a four-song demo which received airplay on the numerous college radio stations in the Boston area.
The FUs started out playing fast, thrashy hardcore punk. In 1982 Wayne Maestri was recruited to take over bass guitar, and this four-piece line-up recorded tracks for the Modern Method compilation, This Is Boston, Not LA , [2] which also featured tracks by Gang Green, Jerry's Kids and The Freeze. A companion 7-inch EP, Unsafe at Any Speed, included another FUs' track.
Later the same year, FUs‘ debut album, Kill For Christ, was released on Xclaim Records, featuring cover artwork by Septic Death frontman Brian 'Pushead' Schroeder, depicting Jesus with a machine gun. [2] Their second album for Xclaim, My America, came out in 1983, and the band's final album as The FUs, Do We Really Want To Hurt You? followed in 1984, on Gasatanka/Enigma.
During the heyday of political hardcore punk of the early 1980s, The FUs ran afoul of Tim Yohannan, founder and editor of Maximum Rocknroll . Yohannan and others found the patriotic lyrics and artwork on My America to be emblems of right wing nationalism. [3] Drummer and songwriter Bob Furapples noted that MRR's negative publicity had adversely impacted the band's record sales, particularly in Europe. [3] Satirical punk band The Dead Milkmen poked fun at the band's supposed right-wing views on their song "Tiny Town" on the album Big Lizard in My Backyard .
FUs lyricist Jon Sox has said in writing "My America," He "wanted to get a reaction." Sox writes: "On our first tour I encountered lots of young kids who had their entire lives in front of them. A lot of them had turned to hard drugs. I was looking for a shocking way to say, 'Yeah, America has its problems but destroying yourself isn't helping.' It had to be high impact because I saw a crisis looming."
After the release of the third FUs album, the band had begun to take a more aggressive rock direction, favoring "punk" without the label of "hardcore." The changes were taken further when the band changed its name to Straw Dogs, with guitarist Steve Martin and drummer Chris "Bones" Jones added to the line-up. [4] As Straw Dogs, the band released an EP followed by two albums. [4] Drummer Jones died in a car crash the day after the debut Straw Dogs LP was released. [4] The EP and first LP, Straw Dogs and We Are Not Amused, respectively, were released on the Restless/Enigma label. The third album Your Own Worst Nightmare was released by Lone Wolf Records, an independent label from Toronto. European re-releases came from German label, Lost and Found Records, some of which were authorised by the band.
The FUs material was re-released on Classy Records and then on Taang! Records. In 2002 Reflex/Wolfpack Records re-released both Kill For Christ and My America on one LP.
John Sox reintroduced the music of FUs and Straw Dogs by forming the band Payload! in 2006 with Richie Rich, Bobby Frankenheim (who later joined the reunited DYS), Jack Snyder currently of Wrought Iron Hex, and Mick Stunt, currently of the West Coast band, The Stuntmen. When approached by Katie Goldman of Gallery East to participate in an upcoming documentary called xxx ALL AGES xxx Sox decided to reunite all of the original members with members of Payload! to form the first hardcore supergroup for lack of a better term. Sharing the stage for a live show (as mentioned in the press release) at Club Lido in Revere were, Sox, Grimes, Furapples, Maestri, Rich, and Stunt. [5]
The FUs performed a reunion show in the Boston area on August 29, 2010, along with fellow Boston pioneer hardcore punk bands DYS, Jerry's Kids, and Gang Green as well as New York City's Antidote. The show was in support of xxx ALL AGES xxx, a documentary about the original hardcore punk scene in Boston in the early 1980s, being produced in association with Stone Films NYC. [6]
The reunited band has followed the Club Lido show with gigs in New England, and returned to the studio to record a song for a compilation called Cashing in on Christmas Vol. III for Black Hole Records.
The reborn FUs continue to play extensively in New England and have completed tours to Europe including the festivals Rebellion and Bloodstains in the UK and Ieper Hardcore Fest in Belgium, and in the US to the mid-atlantic states and the West Coast including an appearance in the Punk Rock Bowling Festival, held annually in Las Vegas.
The current line-up is John Sox, vocals, Steve Grimes, lead guitar, backup vocals, Ian King, second guitar, backup vocals, Jimmy Foul, bass, backup vocals, and Bob Furapples, drums. [5]
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Taang! Records is an independent record label with a roster of hardcore punk, punk rock, Oi!, power pop, ska, indie rock, psychedelic, and ambient artists and bands founded by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusetts in 1983.
45 Grave is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1979. The original group broke up in 1985, but vocalist Dinah Cancer subsequently revived the band.
Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre.
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The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman, guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro, bassist Dave Schulthise and drummer Dean Sabatino.
DYS is an American straight edge hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, who were part of the "Boston Crew" in the 1980s, along with contemporaries such as SSD and Negative FX. The group later expanded their sound, becoming one of the first hardcore bands to veer into heavy metal.
7 Seconds is an American hardcore punk band from Reno, Nevada, that was formed in 1980 by two sets of brothers. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes over the subsequent years, with only Kevin Seconds, Steve Youth and Bobby Adams remaining constant members.
Negative FX was a hardcore punk band from Boston, formed in 1981. Though the band lasted only a short time, playing a total of five shows, the band was well known for their involvement in the local straight edge scene of the early 1980s. Along with members of the bands DYS and SS Decontrol (SSD), Negative FX was part of the "Boston Crew", a group of social friends who traveled around the country with SSD and other Boston hardcore bands.
T.S.O.L. is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, art punk, horror punk, other varieties of punk music, and hard rock.
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Kraut was a New York City punk rock/hardcore punk band formed by Doug Holland, in 1981 The original members were Davy Gunner (vocals), Doug Holland (guitar/vocals) Don Cowan (bass/vocals), and Johnny Feedback (drums/vocals).
The Freeze is an American punk rock band from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States, formed by a group of teenagers in 1978. They released the first single, "I Hate Tourists" in 1980 and contributed eight songs, including the title track to the 1982 hardcore punk compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A.
Jonathan Anastas is an American gaming, entertainment, media, marketing and sports executive, and a musician who co-founded a number of Boston hardcore punk bands.
Rick Barton is an American musician and producer from Boston, MA, who is currently the singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Continental. Barton was previously a founding member and guitarist of the rock band, The Outlets and a founding member and guitarist for the punk band Dropkick Murphys.
Duke Decter is an American entertainment producer, former 1980s American hardcore punk guitarist and current producer of the No Uncertain Terms podcast for the non-profit organization U.S. Term Limits.
M.I.A. is an American 1980s punk rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The band's sound is generally hardcore and thrash, though they produced more melodic and progressive sounds in their later albums. AllMusic called the band "one of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the great early-'80s second wave explosion."
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Tales of Terror was the first and only full-length self-titled album released by Californian hardcore punk band Tales of Terror on September 1, 1984 on the label CD Presents.
