The Murder Junkies

Last updated

The Murder Junkies
Murder Junkies in Germany, 2008.jpg
Murder Junkies in 2008
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1990–1999
  • 2003–present
Members Merle Allin
Dino Sex
Duane Rollick
Brandon Fergus
Past membersGG Allin
Chicken John
William Weber
Dee Dee Ramone
Mike Denied
Mike Hudson
Jeff Clayton
J. B. Beverley
Scotty Wood
Benjamin "FC Murder" Bunny
Harold "PP Duvay" Rogers

The Murder Junkies are an American punk rock band, best known for having been GG Allin's final backing band before his death. They perform songs from Allin's back catalog as well as their own original material. They are the third GG Allin backing band to bear the name.

Contents

Earlier bands bearing the name

The original Murder Junkies was a Texas band formed independently of Allin which performed as his backing band for several live dates in the late 1980s.

The second Murder Junkies was a studio band including Allin's friend Mark Sheehan on guitar which recorded the Watch Me Kill six-track EP, released on Fuckin' A/Stomach Ache Records in 1991. [1]

Formation and career with Allin (1990–1993)

The third Murder Junkies lineup was formed in 1990 as Allin's new backing band and rehearsed while he concluded his prison sentence. The original line-up consisted of guitarist "Chicken" John Rinaldi (later a 2007 San Francisco mayoral candidate), GG's elder brother Merle Allin on bass, and drummer Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs.

Rinaldi left the band later in 1991, and voiced negative opinions about the experience in Todd Phillips's documentary Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies . He was replaced by William Weber. Dee Dee Ramone was also recruited to play guitar at the same time as Weber, but quit shortly thereafter, without playing any live dates with the band.

GG Allin and the Murder Junkies recorded their sole studio album, Brutality and Bloodshed for All , for Alive Records in April 1993. Their subsequent tour, shortly followed by Allin's death from a drug overdose on June 28, was chronicled by roadie Evan Cohen in the book I Was A Murder Junkie: The Last Days Of GG Allin.

Activity after Allin's death; breakup (1993–1999)

Dino, Merle, and Weber decided to continue the band, and recruited new singer Mike Denied, former bassist with New York City band The Denied. They released a mini-album Feed My Sleaze in 1995. "The Right To Remain Violent", a 7" single, appeared the following year.

The Murder Junkies toured throughout the 1990s and went through several more vocalists, including Mike Hudson, formerly of the Pagans (he only lasted for two shows in 1994), Jeff Clayton of Antiseen, and J. B. Beverley, a musician from the Washington, D.C. area. They broke up in 1999.

Reformation, subsequent activity (2003–present)

The band reformed with Clayton singing for a tour in June 2003, the 10th anniversary of GG Allin's death. They performed alongside a version of Allin's first band, The Jabbers, for several shows. [2]

In 2005, the band completed a tour of continental Europe. In 2006, they appeared at two shows supporting CKY, and toured as the opening act for Hank Williams III.

The band released the album Road Killers in 2011, followed by A Killing Tradition in 2013 and Killing For Christ Sakes the following year. The lineup currently features Merle Allin, Dino Sex, guitarist Duane Rollick, and vocalist Brandon Fergus. [3]

Discography

Studio albums

as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies
YearAlbumLabelFormat
1993 Brutality and Bloodshed for All Alive RecordsLP
as The Murder Junkies
YearAlbumLabelFormat
2011Road KillerMVD AudioCD
2013A Killing TraditionMVD AudioCD
2014Killing For Christ SakesMVD AudioCD

Live albums

as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies
YearAlbumLabelFormat
1996Terror in AmericaAlive RecordsCD

Extended Plays

as The Murder Junkies
YearAlbumLabelFormat
1995Feed My SleazeAlive Records10"
1996The Right to Remain ViolentVital Music7"
2014Gut PitMVD Audio7"

Singles

as GG Allin & The Murder Junkies
YearAlbumLabelFormat
1993"Kill Thy Father, Rape Thy Mother"Sympathy For The Record Industry7"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dee Dee Ramone</span> American bassist (1951–2002)

Douglas Glenn Colvin, better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist and a founding member of the punk rock band the Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he was the most prolific lyricist and composer, writing many of their best-known songs, such as "53rd & 3rd", "Chinese Rock", "Commando", "Wart Hog", "Rockaway Beach", "Poison Heart" and "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg". The latter won the New York Music Award for best independent single of the year in 1986, while Animal Boy, which the song is from, won for best album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fear Factory</span> American metal band

Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Guitarist Dino Cazares is the only original member still in the band. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sponge (band)</span> American rock band

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 ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lemonheads</span> American alternative rock band

The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an independent/college rock band in the late 1980s, the Lemonheads' popularity with a mass audience grew in 1992 with the major label album It's a Shame about Ray, which was produced, engineered, and mixed by The Robb Brothers. This was followed by a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", which eventually became one of the band's most successful singles. The Lemonheads were active until 1997 before going on hiatus, but reformed with a new lineup in 2005 and released The Lemonheads the following year. The band released its latest album, Varshons 2, in February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GG Allin</span> American punk rock musician (1956–1993)

Kevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock musician who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. His live performances often featured transgressive acts, including self-mutilation, defecating on stage, and assaulting audience members, for which he was arrested and imprisoned on multiple occasions. AllMusic called him "the most spectacular degenerate in rock n' roll history", while G4TV's That's Tough labelled him the "toughest rock star in the world".

Alcatrazz is a heavy metal band formed in 1983 by Graham Bonnet, Jimmy Waldo, and Gary Shea. They are best known for their songs "Island in the Sun", "Hiroshima Mon Amour", and "God Blessed Video". They are also notable for featuring a previously-unknown Yngwie Malmsteen as their lead guitarist for a year, who was then replaced by Steve Vai, with whom they recorded one album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merle Allin</span> American bassist

Merle Colby Allin Jr. is an American bass guitarist. He is the elder brother of the late punk rock vocalist GG Allin.

The Jabbers are an American punk rock band. Perhaps best known for having GG Allin as the frontman at the beginning of his career in the late 1970s to early 1980s, many of his most well-known songs were recorded with the band, such as "Don't Talk to Me" and "Bored to Death".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heathen (band)</span> American thrash metal band

Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and they have gone through several lineup changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus as the only constant member. To date, Heathen has released four studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991), The Evolution of Chaos (2009) and Empire of the Blind (2020).

<i>Freaks, Faggots, Drunks & Junkies</i> 1988 studio album by GG Allin

Freaks, Faggots, Drunks & Junkies is the fifth studio album by American punk rock musician GG Allin. A collaboration with backing band Bulge, the LP was first released by Homestead Records in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicious Rumors</span> American power metal band

Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder and guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their full-length recording debut in 1985. The band is signed to the Germany-based label SPV/Steamhammer.

<i>Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies</i> 1993 American film

Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies is a 1993 documentary film directed by Todd Phillips. The film is about the life of GG Allin, a punk rock musician who was infamous for extreme behavior and his stage shows becoming confrontational events involving indecent exposure, onstage defecation and coprophagia, physical assault, and obscene language. The filmmakers shot additional material on his death for inclusion in the film. The film is Phillips' directorial debut, who was a junior at New York University during production.

Antiseen is an American punk rock band formed in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Jeff Clayton and Joe Young in 1983. The name "Antiseen" serves as a deliberate deviation of the phrase "anti-scene" – the group not wishing to adhere to standard perceptions of punk rock in specific and rock music in general. Musically, Antiseen is influenced by groups such as the Ramones and Stooges, employing short, heavily distorted power chord-driven songs largely free of guitar solos or advanced musicianship. The band has a catalogue of over 100 LPs, EPs, CDs and DVDs recorded with various line-ups and have performed all over the world.

<i>Brutality and Bloodshed for All</i> 1993 studio album by GG Allin

Brutality and Bloodshed for All is the eighth and final studio album by American punk rock musician GG Allin, recorded with his backing band the Murder Junkies. Released after his death in 1993, the first recording on Alive Records. All songs were written while GG Allin was in Michigan State Prison. Copies of the album come with a photograph of GG Allin from his viewing, alongside a copy of his birth and death certificates.

<i>Murder Junkies</i> 1991 studio album by GG Allin & Antiseen

Murder Junkies is the seventh studio album released by American punk rock musician GG Allin, recorded with Antiseen as his backing band. The album consists of spoken word by Allin, interspersed with musical tracks featuring Allin on vocals backed by Antiseen.

Thomas O'Keefe is a North Carolina musician and author, best known for his work with Antiseen, Whiskeytown and Train.

William ('Bill') Gilmore Weber III is an American electric guitar player. Weber has made records, videos and films with a variety of bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicken John</span>

"Chicken" John Joseph James Rinaldi is a musician, showman, activist, and author living in San Francisco, California. He is involved with the San Francisco arts community as well as the Burning Man community. In what he referred to as "an experiment", he was a candidate in the 2007 San Francisco mayoral election, during which he wore fake mustaches, debated a puppet, and arranged costumed flash mobs to occur at campaign events, in an effort to be as flippant a candidate as possible.

The Chrome Cranks are an American punk-styled blues band based in New York City. They were originally formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1988. The core membership consists of singer-guitarist Peter Aaron, guitarist William Gilmore Weber III, drummer Bob Bert, and bassist Jerry Teel.

References

  1. thecarouseruk (August 31, 2014). "He Was Your Enemy: Part II". Thecarouser.com. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  2. "GG Allin 10 Year Memorial Tour". Bostongroupienews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  3. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02kVNLRUWedTPngxTXSBPyajLTtgNFQswMFKyEndACjiWeeopt3KycGE8UxpVhEYK2l&id=585345590&mibextid=qC1gEa