Mojo Nixon (born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr.; August 2, 1957) is an American musician and actor best known for his humorous, irreverent

Novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

"Elvis Is Everywhere" which was an

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

staple on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. His style can generally be defined as

psychobilly Psychobilly is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It's been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional countrified rock style known as rockabilly, ram ...

, a musical genre which blends

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and b ...

with punk rock. Nixon has largely retired from playing live and recording, and currently hosts the "Loon In The Afternoon" radio show on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

Early career

Nixon was born in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ...

. He paired with

Skid Roper Skid Roper (born Richard Banke, October 19, 1954, in National City, California, United States) is an American musician, most active in the 1980s and early 1990s. He has recorded with several groups including the surf band The Evasions, but is be ...

in the early 1980s in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. Roper mostly provided instrumental backup to Nixon's lyrics. Nixon and Roper released their first album in 1985 on

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/ ...

, '' Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper''. The song "Jesus at McDonald's" from that album was the duo's first single. Nixon and Roper's third album, 1987's ''

Bo-Day-Shus!!! ''Bo-Day-Shus!!!'' is the third album by Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper, released in 1987. It contains the song "Elvis is Everywhere," which became an MTV hit. The album peaked at #189 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Production Skid Roper wrote and sang t ...

'' featured the song "Elvis is Everywhere," a deification of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, which is his best known song (Nixon later declared his personal religious trinity was Presley,

Foghorn Leghorn Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...

and

Otis Campbell Otis Campbell is the fictional " town drunk" in Mayberry on the American TV sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show.'' Otis was played by Hal Smith and made frequent appearances on the show from 1960 to 1967 but stopped appearing toward the end of the ...

). Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper were also recorded in San Francisco during these early years by producer Sylvia Massy at

CD Presents David Ferguson was an American international outsider-culture impresario, activist, music producer and concert promoter. Over his career, most of which has been spent on the West Coast, he worked with musical acts such as the Avengers, John Ly ...

for the ''Rat Music For Rat People'' compilation album. Throughout the late 1980s, Nixon and Roper produced several satirical pieces lampooning contemporary celebrities, such as

Martha Quinn Martha Conrad Quinn (born May 11, 1959) is an American actress and radio and television personality, best known as one of the original video jockeys on MTV (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and J. J. Jackson). Early life ...

, in "Stuffin' Martha's Muffin," and

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song " Ne ...

and Deborah Gibson, in " Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child". Nixon appeared in several promotional spots for MTV during this period, but the network's decision not to air the video for "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant ..." prompted him to sever ties with the network. Meanwhile, Nixon and Roper also lampooned contemporary American culture and social issues in songs such as "I Hate Banks," "Burn Down the Malls," and "The Amazing Bigfoot Diet." Nixon and Roper parted ways late in 1989. The following year Nixon recorded a solo album on Enigma called ''

Otis Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (''The Walking Dead''), in the Image Comics ...

''. On this album, Nixon continued his assault on pop culture, as in the song "

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as " Witchy Woman", "Des ...

Must Die", which caused a fresh round of controversy, even to the point of Nixon's record company begging radio stations ''not'' to play it. (Henley himself was unfazed; on July 31, 1992, at The Hole in the Wall in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, the former Eagle jumped onstage and performed the song with Nixon, causing Nixon to praise Henley as having "balls as big as church bells.")

Later career

Shortly after ''Otis'' was released, Enigma Records went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, which left much of Nixon's early catalog in legal limbo. In the 1990s Nixon released a handful of albums on several labels with a backup band known as the Toadliquors. These later albums included songs such as "You Can't Kill Me," " Orenthal James (Was A Mighty Bad Man)," and the controversial "Bring Me the Head of

David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American business magnate, producer and film studio executive. He co-created Asylum Records in 1971 with Elliot Roberts, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in ...

," which was ultimately released on a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

collection due to pressure from album distributors. Also among his later work was " Tie My Pecker To My Leg," which featured lyrics about bestiality,

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

, and

coprophilia Coprophilia (from Greek κόπρος, ''kópros'' 'excrement' and φιλία, ''philía'' 'liking, fondness'), also called scatophilia or scat (Greek: σκατά, ''skatá'' 'feces'), is the paraphilia involving sexual arousal and pleasure from ...

. In the mid-1990s, Nixon collaborated on albums with

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

('' Prairie Home Invasion''),

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...

, and members of the

Beat Farmers Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

, including Buddy "Blue" Seigal (''Live in Las Vegas'' by the Pleasure Barons).

Country Dick Montana Daniel Monte McLain (May 11, 1955 – November 8, 1995), known by the stage name Country Dick Montana, was an American musician best known as a member of The Beat Farmers. He was born in Carmel, California. In 1995, It was reported that Montana ...

of the Beat Farmers, who was a close friend of Nixon's, was eulogized on Nixon's 1999 album, ''The Real Sock Ray Blue'', after his 1995 death onstage of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. Before his death the two enjoyed poking fun at each other such as Country Dick saying on stage that he'd been "fucking Mojo's Mama" which led to Nixon to retort: "Country Dick can keep on fucking my mama, as long as he keeps on sucking my dick". Nixon retired from the music business in 2004, playing his last live show on March 20 of that year at the Continental Club in

. He still occasionally performs at special events, as he did to support fellow musician

Kinky Friedman Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (born November 1, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and former columnist for ''Texas Monthly'' who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mar ...

's candidacy for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

governor.

Acting

Nixon made his acting debut as drummer James Van Eaton in the 1989

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

biographical film '' Great Balls of Fire!''. The film starred

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

and

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

, the latter of whom appeared in Nixon's video for " Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child". The B-side to the "Debbie Gibson" song, which was also the subject of a video, was "(619) 239-KING", a follow-up to "Elvis is Everywhere" in which Nixon, responding to then-active rumors that Presley was still alive, invited the singer to call and leave a message on what was, at the time of release, a legitimate telephone number. The 1990s also saw Nixon appear in a further five films including ''

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...

'' (1993) and ''

Car 54, Where Are You? ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1961 to April 1963. Filmed in black and white, the series starred Joe E. Ross as Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne as Francis Muldoon, two mismatched New York City p ...

'' (1994). In 1997, Nixon voiced the character of Sheriff Lester T. Hobbes, a recurring enemy in the computer game '' Redneck Rampage''. The game's licensed psychobilly soundtrack also features two of his songs.

DJing and other media

In the late 1990s Nixon worked as a radio DJ in San Diego (on KGB-FM) and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

(on WEBN-FM). In 1998 he had a short run as an

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

ist with "Life Fixin' with Mojo Nixon". Only two columns were authored, and both ran in the short-lived ''Peterbelly Magazine''. That year he was also the honorary captain of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

luge team at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

. In response to this, Nixon invited members of the men's doubles squad to work on a song for the Games: "Luge Team U.S.A.". The song was recorded by Nixon along with members of the Beat Farmers and luger Gordon Sheer playing drums under the band name The Arctic Evel Kneievels. In 2008, he was hosting three shows 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, Sirius was officially lau ...

: ''The Loon in the Afternoon'' on Outlaw Country (channel 60), the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

-themed ''Mojo Nixon's Manifold Destiny'' on SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio (channel 90) and the politically themed ''Lyin' Cocksuckers'' on Raw Dog Comedy (channel 99). In October 2005, Nixon began appearing on the Sirius Howard 100 channel as the "General Manager." On November 8, 2016, Nixon did his final "Lying Cocksuckers" show, saying he would be back next year with another show on RawDog Comedy on Sirius/XM. Nixon currently hosts a weekday program on

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandoli ...

’s Outlaw Country channel on SiriusXM.

"Unretired"

His first comeback was in 2006 when he came out of retirement in support of

's bid to become governor of

. As Nixon said at the time, "If supporting Kinky for Governor is what it takes to drag my ass out of retirement, consider my ass dragged." In October 2009, he announced his "unretirement" on his website with the release of his album ''Whiskey Rebellion'', a collection of previously unreleased tracks he claims he had found in "an old shoe box full of cassette tapes" under his front porch.Wolgamott, Kent L
"Get Mojo Nixon's new album for free"
Journalstar.com. October 8, 2009 To promote the CD, he announced the temporary free downloads of the CD tracks and several of his solo albums (and albums with Skid Roper) on Amazon.com, along with a tour of several Texas locations. In a press release, he stated,

''The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon''

In 2013, Freedom Records & Films announced that they were producing a documentary film, ''The Mojo Manifesto'', to be released in 2014. The film was scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2020 South By Southwest festival.

Politics

Nixon is an outspoken supporter of free

file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...

of recordings in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

and other formats. In July 2000, he publicly declared his support because he said that he is "not an asshole like Metallica."Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors 2000-07-07 Denver CO

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. (accessed 4 November 2014) In October 2009, several of his albums were available free on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

in MP3 format for a limited time as part of a promotion for his CD ''Whiskey Rebellion''. Nixon is a self-described "libertarian cynicalist anarchist" and has supported the Democratic Party. He was also a member of the

Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubG ...

In popular culture

Mojo Nixon is mentioned in at least seven songs: * The 1988 Dead Milkmen song "

Punk Rock Girl "Punk Rock Girl" is a song by American rock band the Dead Milkmen. It was the first single released from the band's fourth album '' Beelzebubba'' (1988). Released in December 1988, the track was primarily composed by guitarist and vocalist Joe ...

" * The 1992 The Dick Nixons song "MTV" * The 1994 Beck song "Piss on the Door" * The 1996

Wesley Willis Wesley Lawrence Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. Wil ...

song "Mojo Nixon" * The 2002

Todd Snider Todd Daniel Snider (born October 11, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk. Early career Todd Snider was born in Portland, Oregon, but was raised in nearby Beave ...

song "Vinyl Records" * The 2016 GAR GAR song "Walleyed" * The 2019 The Paranoid Style song "Turpitude" In the final episode of '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'', Mike Nelson has a suitcase monogrammed with the initials M.N., which he says he bought at Nixon's garage sale.

Discography

With

* '' Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper'' (1985) * '' Get Out of My Way!'' (1986) * ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squa ...

'' (1986) * ''

'' (1987) * '' Root Hog or Die'' (1989) * '' Unlimited Everything'' (1990) Solo * ''

'' (1990) * '' Whereabouts Unknown'' (1995) * ''Gadzooks!!! The Homemade Bootleg'' (1997) * ''Mojo Nixon Live at The Casbah 12/28/2003'' (2003) * ''Whiskey Rebellion'' (2009) Mojo Nixon and the Toadliquors * '' Horny Holidays!'' (1992) * '' Prairie Home Invasion'' (with

) (1994) * ''

The Real Sock Ray Blue! ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1999) Other * '' Live in Las Vegas (Pleasure Barons)'' (with the Pleasure Barons) (1994) * '' Redneck Rampage'' Video Game Soundtrack ( Interplay/

Xatrix Entertainment Gray Matter Interactive Studios, Inc. (Gray Matter Studios; formerly Xatrix Entertainment, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. History Drew Markham and his business partner Barry Dempsey founded Xatrix Entertain ...

) (1997)

Singles

Filmography

* '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989) – James Van Eaton * ''

Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever ''Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever'' is a 1991 musical comedy film and sequel to the 1979 film ''Rock 'n' Roll High School''. The film stars Corey Feldman, Mary Woronov, and Sarah Buxton. Plot The movie begins on May 14, also known as ''Rock ...

'' (1990) – Spirit of Rock n' Roll * ''

'' (1993) –

Toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

* ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' (1994) – Sidewalk Preacher * ''Raney'' (1997) – Sneeds Perry * ''Die Wholesale'' (1998) * ''Buttcrack'' (1998) – Preacher Man Bob * ''A Four Course Meal'' (2006) – Bartender

References

External links

* *
Mojo Nixon’s Sirius XM Radio show

* Allmusic bio page
Interview in ''Modern Drunkard Magazine''

Mojo Nixon collection
at the

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Mojo 1957 births Living people American SubGenii People from Danville, Virginia American male musicians Miami University alumni American libertarians Virginia Democrats Cowpunk musicians Psychobilly musicians Musicians from San Diego