Tuesday, September 1, 2009

"It's a Wonderful Life" / Fishbone

I wondered how long it would take for a Fishbone song to make its way in. I have 86 songs of theirs on itunes, covering seven albums in all. I will say that at one point in the early / mid 90's, they were a top five band of mine. Though some of that passion has cooled, and they have not just fallen off the proverbial map but careened off the chart, I still dig their stuff. Plus, how can you not love one of the greatest, most iconic logos in rock history?


This is one of those instances when I can very well recall the moment I first heard and liked a band. In 1991, fresh out of high school, my friend Marty and I went to Georgia State University in Atlanta to see Primus (one of our big bands of the time) and Fishbone play. We watched Primus and had a great time moshing around to "Tommy the Cat" and the like, then we decided to stick around to see what Fishbone was all about.

So, they begin the show with "Party at Ground Zero", and let me tell you, when they hit the meat of that song with Angelo's scream after the long into buildup (:13 on the video here), the explosion both on stage and on the gymnasium floor was chaotic. I had never, ever seen anything like it, and as I was swept up in the pandemonium of the churning crowd, I caught a glimpse of Marty and imagined I wore the game bug-eyed grin that he did.

Indeed, a fan was made at that very moment. Another funny thing I remember about that show was Angelo crowd surfing to the back of the gym where people were actually sitting in seats and getting into an argument with a girl who said the song they were performing at that moment was "sexist" (The song? A sweet little ditty called "Lyin' Ass Bitch"). Dude lit into her big time, saying something along the lines of, "If this was Michel fuckin' Stipe singing this, you wouldn't be saying that, would you?"

Not long after this show, I was reading Spin or Rolling Stone and read an interview with Scott Ian of Anthrax in which he name-checked Fishbone's newly released album The Reality of My Surroundings, at which point I went out and bought it (yeah, Scott Ian had that kind of pull with me back then. Still might, actually). To this day, that sprawling, brilliant album remains solidly in my top 25 albums of all time.

The great thing about that album is what's great about Fishbone overall - no adherence to any genre, a refusal to be musically pigeonholed, and a unbelievable sonic curiosity. It's easier to list the types of music they don't play than what they do (though they do get most of their hype as a ska band). Reality indeed has ska, but also pop, metal, rock, and funk. I bought all of their available CDs after that, and while they had their moments, none reached the height of Reality of My Surroundings.

Of course, as I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm nothing if not a loyal music fan, and through the 90's I continued to support the 'Bone, until the disaster of 1996's Chim Chim's Badass Revenge, which aside from the single Alcoholic, was a hot mess. I gave them another chance with The Psychotic Friends Nuttworx, a final, sad stab at mainstream relevance with Gwen Stephani appearances and Sly Stone covers, but it was over. Since, the band has had an ever rotating lineup of members (still faithfully fronted by Moore, though) and bizarre tales of kidnapping and brainwashing. It's sad now to see what was one of the most potent live bands ever, as well as one of the most respected underground acts of the 80's and 90's limp along as they do.

So here's "It's a Wonderful Life", a strange little single based on the movie of the same name. It was released a part of a Christmas EP (WTF?) that's now out of print. In a way, it's Fishbone to a T - brazen, unexpected, silly, skillfully executed, all in one tune.
How about the first verse, setting up George Bailey's rescue of his brother -
The ice was freezin'
My brother almost drowned
I jumped in to save him
On his way, way down
Then it went black and I went in


And so on and so forth. It's given the typical Fishbone treatment, a fast-paced, two minute ska romp with some horn accents thrown in on the chorus (and I love the "be-de-du-dip" Angelo sings during it). My favorite part is the little bridge in the middle, though (1:08 on the video)

Angel made me numb
The angel made me void
Got thrown out of the bar
Then I wrecked my car
Got socked in the jaw
Cussed out by my mama
Someone stole my money
Screamed at by my honey
Things was gettin' worse
Things was gettin' worse
Things was gettin' worse
Things was gettin' worse


The juxtaposition of scenes from the Jimmy Stewart classic (and one of my favorite movies, actually) with the incredible presence of Angelo Moore is pretty funny. Fishbone is almost better seen, either live or on video, than heard, just so you can get the full on , hyper-assed, manic Angelo effect. I have to get me another one of those Fishbone logo T-shirts, man.

7 comments:

y'shua said...

Ahh, Fishbone. Iconic logo, check. Great name, check. Who the fuck names a band Fishbone? Chickenbone is stupid. T-bone . . . well, that one's good. But Fishbone. Great. (I know it's hard to tell even when I'm there in person, but there was no sarcasm in the previous assertion. All respect.)

I almost liked Fishbone. They came into my consciousness when I started to get heavier into heavier music. I started to notice how white and male the pictures were on the foldouts for my cassette tapes and went looking. I found Fishbone, but unfortunately passed them over for the harder but less talented 24-7 Spyz.
I have since become aware of their Primus connection and have been impressed. Whamola (with Fish Fisher of Fishbone) found on the Les Claypool release, Purple Onion is great. Oddly, another of my favorite Claypool songs is also a "duet" with some guy named Eugene Hutz. "Take a Bite out of Life" on the Of Fungi and Foes CD. Uuuahahauauuuahahhhahhuuuauuuauau

But Fishbone. Wish I'd listened to them more when I was younger. They had fun, or at least looked like it while they were playing. See that guy hop-marching in place playing the trombone. Dangerous.

And that's no fauxhawk. It's a mohawk. The real deal.

Ralph Dilliard said...

I tried to dig Fishbone but it never really took. I think I found them to be some sort of quasi-ska version of P-Funk and they never really popped for me. I saw them at Legion Field back in '89 with the Slammin' Watussis opening up. They put on an energetic live show and I got my mosh on but that's about as far as it went. I enjoyed scrawling their logo on stuff fwiw.

y'shua said...

They do lend themselves to graffiti quite nicely.

Ralph Dilliard said...

Almost forgot their performance in the awful movie "Back to the Beach". I think this might be where I chose not to get on the boat. OUCH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIaREvEjUkM

B. Mo said...

Great call on "Jamaica Ska". I found that when digging up stuff here and about died. Truly horrible.

Josh, I think the "Fish" in Fishbone comes form bassist Norwood Fisher. And I saw 24-7 Spyz in 1993 at the 40 Watt, and I might have been one of fifty people there.

Anyhoo, something about these guys really connected with me. Honestly one of my favorite bands from 1992 to maybe 1997.

THE MERKIN MAN said...

24-7 Spyz.

That's a blast from the past.

I got one of their tapes for free by sending in a coupon out of Metal Edge magazine.

LagniappeWorkshop said...

I was at that show at GSU in 1991. And it was exactly as you said!! It was the best live show I've ever been to.