The Grave Diggers

Last updated

The Grave Diggers were an American rockabilly, surf, jazz, punk band. They are notable due to their eclectic musical style, their early foreshadowing of subsequent music revival movements, and the musical careers of their members.

The band was established in Southern California in early 1983 by friends and classmates Jason Goodman (vocals/guitar), Wally Hersom (upright bass), Michael "Mick" McCarthy (guitar) and Quinn Millard (drums). [1]

In 1985, they released the self-recorded four-song EP "Monsters At Play" on Bobbette Records. [2] [3] The band played shows around Southern California, opening for and playing with various rockabilly, surf, roots and garage artists including Tav Falco, The Untold Fables, Saddle Sores, Rockin' Rebels, James Intveld, The Red Devils, The Blazers, Eddie Nichols, Russell Scott, The Beguiled, Melvis & the Megatones and Bobbi Brat. [4] [5]

In 1989, they released the full-length LP "Move It" on Crypt Records. [6] "Move It" was recorded at Coyote Studios in Brooklyn, New York, during a one-day session that yielded twenty-five songs, ten of which were never released. [4] [6] The album was produced by British musician Billy Childish and featured album artwork by Cliff Mott. [6] During that trip to New York, the band played two nights at Crypt Record's Bad Music Seminar alongside bands such as Thee Mighty Caesars, The Raunch Hands, The A-Bones and Rat Bastards. [4] The band returned to Southern California and promptly broke up. [4]

Bassist Wally Hersom went on to play with Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys. [7] Guitarist Mick McCarthy and drummer Quinn Millard went on to form the band Medicine Rattle, which released the 1992 album "Unbottled", produced by Billy Zoom of the punk band X, on the label Earth Music. [8] Vocalist Jason Goodman went on to play with The Blazers and the ska band Jump With Joey. [9]

In retrospect, The Grave Diggers' eclectic mix of swing, jazz, trash, garage and punk was ahead of its time, a 1980s precursor to the swing revival and garage rock revival of the late 1990s and early 2000s. More than twenty years after the band's breakup, copies of the Bobbette EP were being sought by collectors [10] [11] despite the songs being legally available on-line. [12]

In 2013, Tim Warren of Crypt Records re-released the "Move It" LP as a double gatefold featuring archival photos of the band, art by guitarist Mick McCarthy, and liner notes by rock critic Chris Morris and Bobbette Records owner Mark Lee Goodale. [13] [14] The ten unreleased songs from the Coyote Studios session remain unreleased.

Related Research Articles

Tiger Army

Tiger Army is an American psychobilly band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 1996 in Berkeley, California, and its only constant member is singer, guitarist, and lead songwriter Nick 13. The band has released six studio albums and four EPs.

Psychobilly is a rock music fusion genre that mixes elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It's been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional countrified rock style known as rockabilly, ramp[ing] up its speed to a sweaty pace, and combin[ing] it with punk rock and imagery lifted from horror films and late-night sci-fi schlock,...[creating a] gritty honky tonk punk rock." Dark imagery is also central to an offshoot of psychobilly known as gothabilly.

<i>The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited</i> 1987 EP by Metallica

The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited is an EP by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on August 21, 1987 by Elektra Records. It consists entirely of covers of late-'70s and early-'80s new wave of British heavy metal bands and punk rock music rehearsed in Lars Ulrich's soundproofed garage and then recorded in Los Angeles over the course of six days. It is the group's first release following the death of bassist Cliff Burton and the first to feature his successor, Jason Newsted.

Deadbolt (band)

Deadbolt is an American rock band from San Diego, California, U.S. They describe themselves as "The Scariest Band in the World." The band often features two or more bass players, who are called "The Wall of Thunder."

Demented Are Go

Demented Are Go are a Welsh psychobilly band that was formed around 1982 in Cardiff, Wales. They were one of the earliest in the initial wave of bands to mix punk rock with rockabilly, and as a result, are considered to be highly influential to the psychobilly scene. The band often claims their name originated from the phrase "Demon teds are go!" as an adaptation of the phrase "Thunderbirds are go!" from the Thunderbirds TV series. Psychobilly is often associated with horror.

The Slickee Boys were a Washington, D.C. area punk-psychedelic-garage rock band whose most-remembered lineup consisted of guitarist Marshall Keith, guitarist Kim Kane, singer Mark Noone and drummer Dan Palenski. The group was named after a GI slang term for the rockabilly-inspired Korean street toughs who sold black market goods to American soldiers.

<i>The State of Art Is on Fire</i> 1995 EP by Rocket from the Crypt

The State of Art is on Fire is an EP by the punk rock band Rocket from the Crypt. It was released in 1995 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album was the band's first release to include trumpet player JC 2000.

Bantam Rooster was an American garage punk band, formed in 1994 in Lansing, Michigan and disbanded in 2003.

The Gories are an American garage rock trio that formed in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in 1986. They were among the first 1980s garage rock bands to incorporate overt blues influences. The band features Mick Collins, Dan Kroha on guitar and vocals, and Peggy O'Neill on drums.

Big John Bates

Big John Bates is a Canadian punk cabaret and metal guitarist and vocalist.

The Gravedigger Five – often shown as Gravedigger V – was an American garage rock revival band, formed in 1984 in San Diego, California, United States. The band was part of the Paisley Underground, a musical movement centered on Los Angeles, California, which referenced 1960s West Coast pop and garage rock. The band's lineup consisted of Leighton Koizumi on vocals and sound effects, Ted Friedman on lead guitar, John Hanrattie on rhythm guitar and backup vocals, Dave "The Animal" Anderson on drums and percussion, and originally Chris Gast, who was replaced on bass and backing vocals by Tom Ward. When the Gravedigger Five broke up, members of the band went on to form The Morlocks and Manual Scan.

Batmobile (band)

Batmobile is a Dutch psychobilly band from Rotterdam and Breda, formed in 1983. They were the first band not from the United Kingdom to perform at the influential psychobilly club, Klub Foot and are considered the seminal Dutch psychobilly band.

The Young Werewolves

The Young Werewolves are a Philadelphia rock band formed in 2002. The trio have been labeled rockabilly, psychobilly, punk, garage, and surf by publications such as Allmusic, Fangoria, The Village Voice, Maximum RocknRoll, assorted Horror, Tattoo, Hot Rod magazines, several alternative weeklies and international fanzines. The band is distributed through Cargo Music.

Zombina and the Skeletones

Zombina and the Skeletones are a horror punk band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1998 around the nucleus of vocalist Zombina and songwriter Doc Horror. As of 2021, their last recording was a self-released EP in 2017, and their official website is dismantled.

Nitkie

Nitkie[ˈnitki] is a psychobilly band from Republic of Belarus, now based in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. The band is first and only psychobilly band in Republic of Belarus, and it is one of the most known psychobilly bands of the post-Soviet space.

Demons are a punk rock/garage punk band from Sweden. The band includes quotation marks in their name to differentiate themselves from other bands with a similar name. Their music has been described as "punk 'n' roll", but the band claims it should only be described as high-energy rock. Their musical style relies heavily on the energy derived from punk rock. Influences include 1960s garage rock bands such as The Sonics, The Standells and Shadows of Knight, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and New York Dolls; and punk rock bands such as The Damned, The Heartbreakers and The Saints; and early hardcore punk bands such as Black Flag, Bad Brains and Dead Kennedys. "Demons" has often been compared to contemporary groups like New Bomb Turks, The Hellacopters and Electric Frankenstein.

Calamitiez

Calamitiez is a Spanish psychobilly band from Barcelona, Spain.

Corrupted Ideals

Corrupted Ideals is a punk rock band from Long Beach, California formed in 1988. The band's early line-up, which appeared on their first full-length LP, Join the Resistance, included Paul Kelly and Mike Nigro, on vocals and guitar, respectively. They wrote most of the material together, with Mike writing most of the music, and Paul contributing most of the lyrics. The band's second release, Anti-Generation, came with a lineup change, including Pete "Action Man" Archer on bass, and Anthony Guarino on drums. Nicky Garratt also played guitar on portions of Anti-Generation, including the CI cover of the UK Subs, "Telephone Numbers." Pete and Anthony played in another band together in the mid-1980s, called Violent Outrage (a band that played with Corrupted Ideals regularly in the mid-late 1980s. This line up changed slightly a week before touring the Western US, with Pete moving to bass in the Stitches, and Anthony moving to bass, as the band was able to recruit celebrated punk rock drummer Sean Antillon to play drums. Sean is known best for playing drums for the Weirdos, but also has played for the Gears, the Stains, the Skulls, and many other early LA bands who reformed. Currently, Corrupted Ideals lineup includes Steve Swailes of the Hitchhikers playing guitar, Paul Kelly on vocals, Anthony Guarino playing bass, and Sean Antillon on drums.

The Sting-Rays were a British Garage Rock and Psychobilly band from Greater London which recorded on Ace Records' garage and psychedelic subsidiary Big Beat and Joe Foster's Kaleidoscope Sound in the 1980s.

Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns is a series compilation albums of 1960s garage rock created and compiled by Tim Warren and released by Crypt Records in 2015 and 2016. The series consists of a total of eight LP's and four CD's which each combine each of the corresponding LP's onto one compact disc. Like Crypt Records' Back from the Grave series, the Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns entries include the raw and aggressive numbers characterized by the use of fuzztone-distorted guitars and rough vocals, yet the songs tend to be more melodic and inclusive of the diversity of the genre. As indicated on the front sleeves, most of the songs were recorded by American groups, between 1965-1967. The series tends to follow the packaging format established by the Back from the Grave series in that each volume includes detailed liner notes that include basic information about each song and group, such as origin and recording date. The albums also include photographs of included groups, and cover artwork reflects the mid-1960s style graphic presentation popular on record sleeves of the time.

References

  1. ↑ "The Grave Diggers" Archived 2014-04-27 at the Wayback Machine . Psychobilly66, 5 October 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Grave Diggers, The* – Monsters At Play". Discogs. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "The Grave Diggers - Monsters at Play ep". down underground, 7 November 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kaiser, Michael. Transcript of Interview with Jason Goodman. Popsike. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Podcast guest Jason Goodman. RadiOblivion, 17 September 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "Gravediggers, The (2) – Move It!". Discogs. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Boehm, Mike. "Fresh Out of the '50s, They Do Fly-Rite : Pop music: Robert (Big Sandy) Williams' band sounds less like rehashers of past music than discoverers of some eternal wellspring of high spirits." Los Angeles Times, 30 April 1994. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Medicine Rattle - Unbottled CD". cdUniverse. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "J. Goody Goodman + Gator Queen". Open Studio. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Big Sandy KBD psychobilly Grave Diggers EP w/ Wally!". Collectors Frenzy. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "THE GRAVE DIGGERS". Bricks of Gold, 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Monsters at Play. Myspace. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Crypt Records. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "GRAVEDIGGERS - Move It! LP" Archived 2014-04-27 at the Wayback Machine . Crazy Love Records. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
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.