Okay, this is going to take a little bit of explanation.
Way back when, you might remember a couple of posts here about a character named Brian “Damage” Keats. Brian was sort of a pivotal figure in my nascent appreciation of all things Punk Rock. Sadly, Brian is no longer with us, having passed away from cancer in 2010. In any case, after I’d finally found that fabled postcard emblazoned with Brian’s eyeliner-smeared visage, I wanted to see if I could track down anything from his early years in his first band, that being the indelicately named Genocide. Periodically, I’d scour the internet for images or videos, but usually only found latter incarnations of Genocide, after they’d morphed into more of a sort of cartoony metal band. Eventually, however, I happened upon an early clip of the Brian Damage-era Genocide (when they were still sort of a cartoony punk band) from about 1981. That clip is below.
Actually, before you click “play,” you should probably note that – by even as late as 1981 -- it still might have seemed pronouncedly “punk raaaawwwwk, maaaaaan!” to select folks to be pointedly nihilistic and belligerent in the arguably grand tradition of the then-still-relatively-newly-dead Sid Vicious. While latter eras of punk and hardcore kids were usually a bit more enlightened and -- at least marginally -- politically correct (in the actual sense of the term, i.e. considerate, aware and inclusive), there were still individuals who took the Sid idiocy to its extremes. As such, you were still bound to find die-hards sporting the odd swastika (as the bassist does below). That said, even coupled with the band’s named – Genocide – I don’t believe these guys were actually neo-Nazis or white supremacists. I know Brian wasn’t like that, at least. I think they were just trying to be shocking, as quaint as that sounds.
Anyway, here’s Genocide performing “Chill Factor.”
So, yeah, that is indeed Brian “Damage” Keats playing the drums, … or at least until Genocide’s excitable lead singer Bobby Ebz does a graceless swan dive into the kit in a somewhat awkward, preening homage to Stiv Bator aping Iggy Pop. It’s all a bit Spinal Tap, but a lovely period piece, all the same.
Anyway, at some point after this, Brian left the ranks of Genocide, fleetingly to join the Misfits and then various other bands. Genocide, however, kept going under the singular vision of Bobby Ebz, evolving from relatively nondescript punk rockers into a very visually stylized ensemble of spiky, leather-clad nogoodnicks with more of a metal sound. See below.
Despite that development, Genocide never really “made it big.” In later years, Ebz inhabited the messy orbit of fellow extreme Stiv/Iggy disciple, GG Allin (I believe it’s Ebz who accompanies GG out of the East Village in the fabled video of Allin’s last day alive in 1993). As I wrote not too long back, Ebz is spotted in the throng in that video of GG Allin performing at the Lismar Lounge in 1988.
As I understand it, Bobby Ebz also passed away, from Hepatitis C. Sometime prior to that untimely demise, however, Ebz tried his hand at acting – albeit in an strenuously low-budget/low-impact sorta way. That project was “Funkybutt.”
Here’s the official description….
The camp classic saga of a washed-up, one-hit wonder rollerdisco queen. Starring Candace Corelli, Fred Rothbell-Mista (aka Rocco Primavera), Leni the Genie, Bobby Ebz, Ax, Sadi, William Tucker (aka DJ Honky Slaughter), Mark Coisneau, John Alot, Roy Frumkes, and the Funkybutt Dancers, will an awe-inspiring dance solo by Todd Idol. Shot entirely in NYC 1989-1990. 16mm color, 20 mins.
Incidentally, yes – that’s the same William Tucker who worked at the Princeton Record Exchange that later played with Pigface and Ministry. He, too, passed away, taking his own life in 1999.
The plot of “Funkybutt” – such as it is – is pretty forgettable, but there are some lovely, period-specific shots of the East Village environs, including some lovely street art, a fleeting shot of the toy tower on Avenue B, and a shot of the old Tompkins Square bandshell.
Today, Brian "Damage Keats, Bobby Ebz, William Tucker and GG Allin are all dead. The Lismar Lounge is long gone. The Tompkins Square bandshell was razed. Most of Chico's murals have been scrubbed away and painted over. No clue what happened to Candace "Funkybutt" Corelli.
Put on your dancing pants, and enjoy the trip back to 1989…..
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