Spring Break
Legendary punk band The Queers to play in Urbana
Jason Duarte / Assistant Verge Editor
Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: The Verge
The first known usage of the term "punk rock" was in the Chicago Tribune on March 22, 1970 in an article about a New York band called The Fugs, where lead singer Ed Sanders described his solo material as "punk rock - redneck sentimentality."
Punk was not just about making a different style of music for the hell of it, which is a common misunderstanding. Punk seemed to be a necessary step taken in the 1970s by those across the globe who didn't agree with the pompousness and sentiment of the era's rock 'n' roll bands and society.
"Punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock 'n' roll, when to me and other fans, rock 'n' roll meant this wild and rebellious music," said John Holmstrom, founder of "Punk Magazine."
By 1977, the punk movement was in full swing. England had The Clash and The Sex Pistols. The U.S.'s punk scene stretched from The Germs in California all the way to The Ramones in New York. Australia had The Saints.
While it had a tendency to spawn in urban areas, punk was not just found in big cities. Many obscure towns birthed some of the longest-living and most influential punk bands of the era. One such place was in Portsmouth, N.H.
In 1977, then-vocalist John Hayes (also known as Wimpy Rutherford) was practicing with guitarist and current vocalist Joe King when his friend, Kevin came running in saying, "Come out to the car, come out to the car, you gotta hear this tape I got,' Hayes said.
"So we went out to his car and we sat in his car and we listened to 'You're a Loudmouth, Baby' and 'PT Boat On the Way to Havana' and I've never heard The Ramones or anything like that before and that was the day - that was the actual day - that we just stopped doing all the s--- we were doing and went down a whole other road. Once I heard the energy of that kind of thing, that just sent me right down the road."
"We were just inspired by The Ramones and Black Flag and we kind of just wanted to start a band," said King. "We were fooling around with our instruments and then we just said, 'Let's start a band.' And that was really it, to just have a legal reason as it were, to drink and try to pick up girls and stuff like that," said King.
At this time, Hayes and King (also known as Joe Queer) played in a local punk band called The Bugs and another called The Falling Spikes. Then in 1981, Hayes, King and their friend Tulu declared themselves "The Queers."
"Joe and I were both just sick of the crap of the '70s, the music that was out and what people listened to, like f---ing Steely Dan and The Eagles and all that kind of crap, and we just wanted to be anti-all of that," Hayes said.
King and Hayes just wanted a name people would remember that was provocative and also pissed off the art community.
"We just wanted a name that we could spray paint around our town to piss 'em off, so that's kind of where it came from and it stuck with us," King said.
When The Queers started out, punk was just punk. There was no "this type and that type" like there is today.
"You were nasty and snotty and played power chords with no beats and it was really, everything was kind of similar," Hayes said. "The only dissimilar things you had was, you had the east coast American and west coast American and then the English."
But after releasing two 45s in 1982 and 1984, the bandmates went their separate ways.
King got into the restaurant business, and owned a two-story bar/café in New Hampshire at the time that had burgers, nachos and things of the sort.
"It's creative and there's a good energy," King said. "A lot of people complain about the restaurant business, but it doesn't have to suck, you know, it could be really fun if you get a good crew in there."
Hayes and original drummer Tulu went to Boston.
"We were just doing our separate things until 1990" when King put out the first record with bassist Greg Urbatis, drummer Hugh O'Neill and guitarist "Young" Sean Rowley.
The Queers' 1990 release, "Grow Up," was the band's first and, undergoing numerous lineup changes over the years, The Queers today have more than 15 releases between full-length albums and 45s.
The band's 2007 release, "Munki Brain," deviates from straight punk and into bubblegum pop and surf.
It's rare that a punk band outlives The Ramones' 22-year career, but The Queers have done it and are still traveling the world.
"Once I started doing music, I realized it was all about punk rock to me, and music was about being the better person and learning about life and becoming a better person through it," King said. "People think it's just about playing a gig to a bunch of drunken people, but its so much more. It's like a journey; if you don't learn anything from the journey, then I should've just stayed in the restaurant."
To King, musicians are lucky to take on the job of going out and touring and playing music to lots of people.
"Not many people get to do a job where they cheer, you know? And say 'MORE MORE MORE.' That doesn't happen when you're flippin' burgers or writing for the paper or whatever, right? You know, if you don't learn from this lucky trip that you're on right here, then you might as well go manage a f------ Taco Bell 'cause you're a f------- a------ and you haven't learned anything."
The Queers will roll through Urbana, stopping to play a show at 7 p.m. Sunday at The IMC, 202 S. Broadway, with The Independents, Roberta Sparrow and Dizzy Chair Time. Admission is $10.
Jason Duarte can be reached at 581-7942 or at jaduarte@eiu.edu.
Punk was not just about making a different style of music for the hell of it, which is a common misunderstanding. Punk seemed to be a necessary step taken in the 1970s by those across the globe who didn't agree with the pompousness and sentiment of the era's rock 'n' roll bands and society.
"Punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock 'n' roll, when to me and other fans, rock 'n' roll meant this wild and rebellious music," said John Holmstrom, founder of "Punk Magazine."
By 1977, the punk movement was in full swing. England had The Clash and The Sex Pistols. The U.S.'s punk scene stretched from The Germs in California all the way to The Ramones in New York. Australia had The Saints.
While it had a tendency to spawn in urban areas, punk was not just found in big cities. Many obscure towns birthed some of the longest-living and most influential punk bands of the era. One such place was in Portsmouth, N.H.
In 1977, then-vocalist John Hayes (also known as Wimpy Rutherford) was practicing with guitarist and current vocalist Joe King when his friend, Kevin came running in saying, "Come out to the car, come out to the car, you gotta hear this tape I got,' Hayes said.
"So we went out to his car and we sat in his car and we listened to 'You're a Loudmouth, Baby' and 'PT Boat On the Way to Havana' and I've never heard The Ramones or anything like that before and that was the day - that was the actual day - that we just stopped doing all the s--- we were doing and went down a whole other road. Once I heard the energy of that kind of thing, that just sent me right down the road."
"We were just inspired by The Ramones and Black Flag and we kind of just wanted to start a band," said King. "We were fooling around with our instruments and then we just said, 'Let's start a band.' And that was really it, to just have a legal reason as it were, to drink and try to pick up girls and stuff like that," said King.
At this time, Hayes and King (also known as Joe Queer) played in a local punk band called The Bugs and another called The Falling Spikes. Then in 1981, Hayes, King and their friend Tulu declared themselves "The Queers."
"Joe and I were both just sick of the crap of the '70s, the music that was out and what people listened to, like f---ing Steely Dan and The Eagles and all that kind of crap, and we just wanted to be anti-all of that," Hayes said.
King and Hayes just wanted a name people would remember that was provocative and also pissed off the art community.
"We just wanted a name that we could spray paint around our town to piss 'em off, so that's kind of where it came from and it stuck with us," King said.
When The Queers started out, punk was just punk. There was no "this type and that type" like there is today.
"You were nasty and snotty and played power chords with no beats and it was really, everything was kind of similar," Hayes said. "The only dissimilar things you had was, you had the east coast American and west coast American and then the English."
But after releasing two 45s in 1982 and 1984, the bandmates went their separate ways.
King got into the restaurant business, and owned a two-story bar/café in New Hampshire at the time that had burgers, nachos and things of the sort.
"It's creative and there's a good energy," King said. "A lot of people complain about the restaurant business, but it doesn't have to suck, you know, it could be really fun if you get a good crew in there."
Hayes and original drummer Tulu went to Boston.
"We were just doing our separate things until 1990" when King put out the first record with bassist Greg Urbatis, drummer Hugh O'Neill and guitarist "Young" Sean Rowley.
The Queers' 1990 release, "Grow Up," was the band's first and, undergoing numerous lineup changes over the years, The Queers today have more than 15 releases between full-length albums and 45s.
The band's 2007 release, "Munki Brain," deviates from straight punk and into bubblegum pop and surf.
It's rare that a punk band outlives The Ramones' 22-year career, but The Queers have done it and are still traveling the world.
"Once I started doing music, I realized it was all about punk rock to me, and music was about being the better person and learning about life and becoming a better person through it," King said. "People think it's just about playing a gig to a bunch of drunken people, but its so much more. It's like a journey; if you don't learn anything from the journey, then I should've just stayed in the restaurant."
To King, musicians are lucky to take on the job of going out and touring and playing music to lots of people.
"Not many people get to do a job where they cheer, you know? And say 'MORE MORE MORE.' That doesn't happen when you're flippin' burgers or writing for the paper or whatever, right? You know, if you don't learn from this lucky trip that you're on right here, then you might as well go manage a f------ Taco Bell 'cause you're a f------- a------ and you haven't learned anything."
The Queers will roll through Urbana, stopping to play a show at 7 p.m. Sunday at The IMC, 202 S. Broadway, with The Independents, Roberta Sparrow and Dizzy Chair Time. Admission is $10.
Jason Duarte can be reached at 581-7942 or at jaduarte@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jim McKay, Chicago
posted 10/03/08 @ 1:50 PM CST
Hayes writes:
"Joe and I were both just sick of the crap of the '70s, the music that was out and what people listened to, like f---ing Steely Dan and The Eagles and all that kind of crap, and we just wanted to be anti-all of that," Hayes said. (Continued…)
Post a Comment