Black Randy and the Metrosquad was an American
punk rock band from the late 1970s and early 1980s in the
Los Angeles punk scene. They gained notoriety not only for their surreal and smutty sense of humor, but also for their amalgamation of
proto-punk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...
, 1970s
porn, pop, and
avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...
.
History
The band formed in Los Angeles in 1977 with Black Randy (born John Morris, January 5, 1952) as frontman, David Brown on keyboards, and other members, including Pat Garrett, on guitar.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 13-14] However, the band had a rotating line-up, which even included live back-up singers known as the Blackettes which often included
Exene Cervenka,
Alice Bag
Alicia "Alice" Armendariz (born November 7, 1958) is an American punk rock singer better known as Alice Bag. She is the lead vocalist and co-founder of the Bags, one of the first punk bands to form in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. Her first bo ...
,
Lorna Doom,
Belinda Carlisle,
Jane Wiedlin, and featured several members of The Eyes.
[Uncle Dave Lewis " Black Randy & The Metrosquad Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2010-10-24]
Black Randy's lyrics gave him a reputation for being as witty as he was offensive with songs about porn,
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
, and
Idi Amin.
[Henderson, Alex " ''Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'' Review, Allmusic, retrieved 2010-10-24] Their first single, "Trouble at the Cup", advocated fighting the police, describing a fantasy wherein the Hollywood Blvd. street hustlers would rise up and take violent revenge for the frequent police harassment they experienced. He also covered
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
's "
Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". The band also covered various porn music themes from the 70s.
They released many vinyl singles and cassette tapes from 1977 onwards which were later
compiled on an album called, ''
Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'', which had sophisticated and even innovative musical arrangements that had more in common with
post-punk than
hardcore bands like
Black Flag. This album led to the band being the most represented act on
Dangerhouse Records, the label established by Brown and Garrett. This was the label's only album release, though this was not due to
nepotism
Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
, but rather to bands with major-label aspirations worrying that being associated with Black Randy's offensive songs could jeopardize their chances of being signed. The band appeared in
Lou Adler's 1981 satirical
punk rock film ''
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains'', performing "I Slept in an Arcade".
[Robbins, Ira]
Black Randy and the Metrosquad
, '' Trouser Press'', retrieved 2010-10-24 ''Pass the Dust...'' was reissued in 2004 by
Sympathy for the Record Industry, and as a double LP by Vinyl Countdown Records in 2009, including the original album, the Dangerhouse singles, demos, live material, and a Black Randy phone call.
Frontier Records reissued the album in 2016 on transparent pink vinyl, including a digital download with the non-LP Dangerhouse singles as bonus tracks, with a limited cassette edition co-released with
Burger Records.
The band imploded in mid-1982, when their frontman succumbed to drug and alcohol problems, which were evident in chaotic live shows, where songs were hardly sung and Brown tried, to no avail, to salvage the show. Black Randy died on November 11, 1988, of complications from
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.
He was portrayed by
Chris Pontius
Chris Pontius (born July 16, 1974) is an American stunt performer and television personality. He is best known as a cast member of the reality comedy show '' Jackass'' and co-host of its spinoff ''Wildboyz'' with fellow cast member Steve-O.
...
in the film ''
What We Do Is Secret'', a
biopic
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
of
Darby Crash.
Discography
Albums
*''
Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie'' (1979),
Dangerhouse – reissued (2004),
Sympathy for the Record Industry, (2009),
Dangerhouse, Elective Affinities Corp. (cassette) 2015, Vinyl Countdown, (2016), Frontier Records, (2016), Burger/Frontier (cassette).
Singles
*"Trouble at the Cup" (1977), Dangerhouse.
*''Idi Amin'' EP (1978), Dangerhouse – as Black Randy & his Elite Metrosquad.
*"I Slept in an Arcade" (1979), Dangerhouse.
Various artists compilation appearances
* "Down at the Laundrymat", on ''
Yes L.A.'' (1979), Dangerhouse.
References
External links
Black Randy crank callsReview of ''Pass the Dust, I Think I’m Bowie''
at '' Crawdaddy!''.
Profile of the band
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Los Angeles
American new wave musical groups
American post-punk music groups
Punk rock groups from California
Dangerhouse Records artists