X-Cops was a side project composed of members from the heavy metal band

Gwar Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...

and their extended "family" of musicians. Each member of X-Cops performed in a police uniform and had their own character. They released the album '' You Have The Right To Remain Silent...'' on

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

in 1995. The album included a cover of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

's " Highway Star" (with different lyrics, to reflect the theme of the album). In addition, they released a 7" single of the songs "Junkie" (featuring the first released vocal performance of Gwar/X-Cops guitarist Michael Derks) and "Beat You Down" on

Man's Ruin Records Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label owned and founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record ''Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6'' Kozik worked with artists whom ...

in 1996.

History

Peter Lee started this band after being shot in a failed car jacking attempt. The idea sparked while filming a commercial segment for Gwar's ''

Skulhedface ''Skulhedface'' is a 1994 movie that was directed by Melanie Mandl. It is yet another story in Gwar's grand storyline (about the ne'er-do-well Scumdogs of the Universe), and the third to be released on video. Story ''Skulhedface'' being the movi ...

''. Lee and

Dave Brockie David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician, who was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus. He performed as a bassist and lead singer in the b ...

were dressed as police officers and Lee pondered, "What would be cooler than a bunch of cops playing kick-ass rock and roll?" This led to Lee, Brockie and Gwar's drum technician, Mike Dunn, starting X-Cops as a three-piece band. By the time they played their first show, their ranks had grown considerably. X-Cops opened for Gwar on some dates of their 1994 tour, essentially opening for themselves as every musician in Gwar either played an instrument or sang in X-Cops. They also did a headlining tour in 1995, and some select dates in 1996. There are two additional songs that X-Cops performed live, but never officially recorded: "Nurture My Pig" (originally a song by The Loco Gringo's ), and "Conflict Management" (sung by Zipper Pig). According to bootleg videos, Casey Orr (Tubb Tucker) played bass for "Conflict Management", taking the bass from Dave Brockie (Cobb Knobbler), who sang back-up. X-Cops played their final show in 1996 and Orr, Dunn, Lee, and Musel have since left both X-Cops and Gwar.

Dave Brockie Experience The Dave Brockie Experience or DBX was a rock band formed of three of the then-current members of Heavy metal band Gwar. The band was composed of David "Oderus Urungus" Brockie (vocals/bass), Brad " Jizmak Da Gusha" Roberts (drums), and Mike "Bal ...

has since been known to cover X-Cops songs during live shows. X-Cops reunited for one show only at the 4th annual Gwar-B-Q in Richmond, VA, on August 17, 2013.

Band members

Main

* Michael Derks as Lt. Louie Scrapinetti (guitar) * Mike Dunn as Cadet Billy Club (drums) * Dave Brockie as Patrolman Cobb Knobbler (bass) * Pete Lee as Sgt. Al Depantsia (guitar) * Casey Orr as Sheriff Tubb Tucker (vocals)

Auxiliary

* Brad Roberts as Mountain Bike Officer Biff Buff (vocals) * Bob Gorman as Sgt. Zypygski aka Zipper Pig (vocals) * Dave Musel as Detective Phillip McRevis (samples)

References

American hardcore punk groups Bands with fictional stage personas Gwar {{US-metal-band-stub