Johnny Socko was an American

third wave ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walk ...

band formed in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside ...

, United States, in 1990. It was founded by

Dylan Wissing Dylan Wissing is an American drummer, percussionist and composer. Biography Wissing is best known for playing the "big drums" on Alicia Keys' Grammy Award-winning Number One Hit " Girl on Fire. Besides recording records with artists such as D ...

. Originally signed to BiB Records and later

Asian Man Records Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, they later started their own record label, Triple R Records. They were known as a band that toured heavily, having performed over 2,000 shows since their inception, but are currently not working. One of their songs, "Full Trucker Effect", is used in its entirety as part of the introduction to the ''

Bubba The Love Sponge Bubba the Love Sponge Clem (born Todd Alan Clem, April 23, 1966) is an American radio personality who hosts ''The Bubba the Love Sponge Show'' on the radio station WWBA in Tampa, Florida, and the subscription service Bubba Army Radio. He can al ...

'' show on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

. The band takes its name from ''

Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot , also known as ''Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot'' in the United States, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to Yokoyama's ''Tetsujin 28-go'' (known as '' Gigantor'' in the U.S.), but ''Giant Robo'' has ...

'', a 1960s

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese action

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

. Michael "Trout" Wiltrout, the group's former vocalist, has since formed The Leisure Kings with Sean Baker, as well as providing lead vocals for the bands Mr. Sparkle and The Impalas. Joey Welch, the group's former guitarist, has since formed the Born Again Floozies (Formerly including Charlie Krone as well) and continues to work with the Las Vegas Body Snatchers. Chris Smail, Charlie Krone, Josh Silbert, and Matt Wilson now play as a punk/powerpop band called Coolidge. Saxophonist Josh Silbert also plays in the Impalas with Wiltrout and Wilson and fronts the electronic/experimental band ESW. Eric Evans was the original trumpet player and toured and recorded with the band for the first four years. Before that, he toured internationally with Ringling Brother's Barnum Bailey Circus and on cruise ships. Evans plays with a number of projects including funk/soul band The Hollywood Getdown and fronts his funk/jazz group, The Raoul Duke Jazz All-Stars. The original line-up of the band reunited for one night to open the 2009

Broad Ripple Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to: People * A slang term for a woman. * Broad (surname), a surname Places * Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth * The Broads, a network of mostly nav ...

Music Fest on October 16, 2009. The performance was very well received and received the top honor in ''

The Indianapolis Star ''The Indianapolis Star'' (also known as ''IndyStar'') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianap ...

s Metromix readers' poll.

Influence

Johnny Socko was influenced by the American rock band

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

whose musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as

Fishbone Fishbone is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1979, that plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late ' ...

, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Bovaquarium'' (1994, B.I.B.) *''Oh I Do Hope It's Roast Beef'' (1996, B.I.B.) *''Full Trucker Effect'' (1997,

) *''Quatro'' (1999, Scarab) *''Johnny Socko'' (2002, Triple R)

Live albums

*''Double Live'' (2001, Scarab)

Current members

*Joshua Silbert (saxophone, vocals) *

(drums) *Matt Wilson (bass guitar, vocals) *Chris Smail (guitar, vocals) *Demian Hostetter (trumpet, vocals)

Past and occasional members

*Joe Welch (guitars) *Michael Wiltrout (vocals) *Charlie Krone (trombone) *Steve Mascari (bass guitar) *Rob Henson (bass guitar) *Eric Lenington (trombone & bass guitar) *Nils Fredland (trombone) *Eric Evans (trumpet) *Jeremy Radway (bass guitar) *Philip Williams (bass guitar)

Related projects

*Born Again Floozies *Coolidge *ESW *Hush *Las Vegas Body Snatchers *The Leisure Kings

References

External links

Johnny Socko's Myspace pageJohnny Socko
on

VH1.com VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

American ska musical groups Asian Man Records artists {{US-band-stub