The Screamers
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Du Plenty (born David Xavier Harrigan in 1948, died 2000) and principal songwriter Tommy Gear (then using the name "Melba Toast") first collaborated in Seattle in 1975, as "The Tupperwares." After legal threats from the "Tupperware" trademark owners, Gear and du Plenty changed their name to the Screamers and migrated to Los Angeles, where in early 1977 they added David Brown (who largely shaped their characteristic drums-sythesiser-electric piano sound) and drummer K.K. Barrett. Brown soon left to found the seminal punk label Dangerhouse records; he was ultimately replaced by keyboardist Paul Roessler.
The Screamers created a memorable visual presence in the press before they ever played live. Studio photos of the band—their hair greased into spikes, Tomata's rubbery face contorted by turns into a demonic grin or a mask of anguish—began to appear in magazines even before a full band had been assembled. Artist Gary Panter's logo for the band, a stylized cartoon of the screaming head of Tomata with spiked hair, became one of the most recognizable images to emerge from Punk Rock. (Indeed, the image is likely better known than the band that inspired it.)
From 1977 through 1979, the Screamers became a sensation in Los Angeles clubs, selling out multiple-night engagements at the Whisky-a-Go-Go and the prestigious Roxy, where they were the first band without a recording contract ever permitted to headline. Their performances highlighted extreme psychological states, and their lyrics veered between goofy engagement with pop culture ("I'm Going Steady With Twiggy," "You Don't Love Me, You Love Magazines") and quasi-fascist commands to the citizens of the future ("Punish or Be Damned," "In a Better World, Everybody Must Be Made to Feel Important"). The music combined manic pop melodies, droning synthesizer, propulsive drumming, and vocals that were literally screamed. Their expressionistic performance style evoked an ominous, neurotic world.
Remarkably, the Screamers made no records. (Unauthorized live and demo tapes of the Screamers do exist, however, many of which circulate as bootlegs.) At one point, this forward-looking group determined they would release their debut album only in video form (this is before MTV existed), and they devoted time and resources to constructing a small movie studio. Despite some fitful efforts in the early 80s, the band had effectively dissolved before any of their video plans were accomplished. Paul Roessler left to join L.A.'s other "synthpunk" band, Nervous Gender. The other band members pursued non-musical careers, though Barrett reunited with Roessler to perform several Screamers songs in 2000, in tribute to Tomata du Plenty, who had recently died in San Francisco.
In 2004, Target Video released a DVD of a Screamers concert from 1978, filmed at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco and previously available only as a rate VHS tape, and appended with several early Screamers music videos shot at the Target studio around the same time.
Jello Biafra, leader of the Dead Kennedys, once declared the Screamers to be "the best unrecorded band in the history of rock'n'roll." This quote appears on the front cover of the Target DVD.
External links
- An extensive web site devoted to the Screamers (http://www.synthpunk.org/screamers/)
- An obituary for Tomata du Plenty by V.Vale of REsearch publications (http://www.researchpubs.com/latest/tomatafeat.shtml)