The Rhythm Pigs were an American
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band, originally from
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, United States, later relocated to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. Their first two albums were among the first to be released by the influential independent
Mordam Records
Mordam Records ("More Damn Records") was a California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz (one of the original co-editors of ...
label. Their first 7-inch EP is a classic example of early hardcore, welding driving rock and roll with broad melodies and varied tempos and hooks. Their first two studio albums showed more "big tent" punk, with varied musical styles (such as the foray into rap in "Break or We'll Break Your Face" on their self-titled LP) happily shoehorned into melodic punk songs.
Touring extensively throughout Europe and North America throughout the mid-1980s, the Rhythm Pigs were one of the most sophisticated and musically diverse hardcore bands, and remained so throughout the 1980s as hardcore became more and more musically conservative. That the wistful and melodic power-ballads of ''El Paso'' would not be considered punk by most adherents has as much to do with the shifting definition of punk as it does with the mellowing of the band's sound. ''Baby Falcon Getaway'' saw a return to a more raw, fast-paced hard rock sound (the three out-and-out hardcore songs on ''El Paso'' are collected into a single track titled "The Fast Three") combined with the more humorous tone seen on the first album. ''Baby Falcon Getaway'' included a hardcore cover of the
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...
classic "
Sundown" and a furiously paced rendition of
Charles Mingus's "Boogie Stop Shuffle," which recalled the ''Peanuts'' theme (
Vince Guaraldi
Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series includ ...
's
Linus and Lucy
"Linus and Lucy" is a popular instrumental jazz standard written by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, appearing in many ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Named for the two fictional siblings Linus and Lucy van Pelt, it was originally released o ...
) from the first album.
Personnel
*1st LP: Jay Smith, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey
*2nd LP: Kenny Craun, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey (Don Holmes, "Main Man", LP engineered by Spot)
*''I'm Not Crazy, I'm an Airplane'' Billy Atwell from
th' Inbred replaces Kenny on drums(engineered by Jeroen Visser).
* ''El Paso'': Jay Smith, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey
* ''Baby Falcon Getaway'' Schmeckie, Jay Smith, Ed Ivey
* 'Construction' EP Ed Ivey, Schmeckie, Jay Smith
Ed Ivey currently plays sousaphone in San Francisco's North Beach Brass Band. Ed and Billy Atwell appear as themselves in the documentary "A Texas Tale of Treason" about the making of
Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday, a
Repo Man sequel film
Billy Atwell is a composer/producer for hire in the NYC metro area. Jay Smith has played in Bay Area bands: Tragic Mullato, GDKs, Cinnamon Girls, Sonic Brain Jam and Gone to Ground.
Discography
* ''An American Activity'' 1984. 6 song 7-inch EP unclean records (cat# ur 004)
* ''War Between the States: South'', 1985 cassette compilation. 2 songs; "Arson" and "Van Halen Hater" (cat# TPOS 042)
* ''The Rhythm Pigs'', 1986 LP
Mordam Records
Mordam Records ("More Damn Records") was a California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz (one of the original co-editors of ...
(cat # 2)
* ''Choke on This'', 1987 LP
Mordam Records
Mordam Records ("More Damn Records") was a California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz (one of the original co-editors of ...
(cat # 4)
* ''I'm Not Crazy, I'm an Airplane''. 1988 LP Konkurrel (cat # 001-107) Recorded live at Donkiesjot (Don Quixote) Sittard Holland Nov 1987)
* ''El Paso'' 1994. CD Westworld Enterprises (cat# 13)
* ''Construction''. 1995 Konkurrent
* ''Baby Falcon Getaway''. 1996 CD Cool Beans Records (cat# 4)
See also
Beefeater (band)
Beefeater was an American post-hardcore band from late 1984 until late 1986.Kellman, Andy"Beefeater: Artist Biography by Andy Kellman" ''AllMusic''. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
External links
Ed Ivey's websiteFan site on Myspace.comBilly Atwell's website
*
{{Authority control
Punk rock groups from Texas