Automatic Pilot
Encyclopedia
Automatic Pilot was a San Francisco, California
band. Created in 1980 by members of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
, they were described by The Advocate
as "a non-official offshoot" of SFGMC along with three official subgroups. Automatic Pilot soon came into their own as an independent force, creating a niche at the fringe of the nascent gay musical movement and a new musical style.
They achieved notoriety early on with songs such as "Sit On My Face" and "Killer Purses" performed at benefits for the SFGMC, Theatre Rhinoceros
, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
. They derived their name from psychiatric testimony
at Dan White
's trial for killing Mayor George Moscone
and Supervisor Harvey Milk
.
.
With an acoustic parody of punk rock
as a starting point, writers Brown and McQueen incorporated elements of jazz, classical, theater and the avant-garde
into somewhat twisted song structures that are both interesting and accessible. Their sound, dubbed "erotic jazz wave" has been compared to cartoon music, klezmer
, and Frank Zappa
. Automatic Pilot anticipated the queercore
bands by a decade. The post-punk
genre fits best due to the time period, punk influence and experimental bent.
Automatic Pilot continued to perform in San Francisco at various venues including the Castro Street Fair, the On Broadway Theater and the Valencia Rose gay performance space, venturing as far as the Chute II Bar in Reno.
Automatic Pilot was covered regularly by local media including the San Francisco Chronicle
. The Bay Area Reporter
published four full length articles on the band between 1982 and 1985. Their music was featured on regional radio shows including KPFA
's Fruit Punch. Nationally, they appeared in the New York Native
and The Advocate, which singled them out along with the band Orquestra Sabrosita as vibrant independent artists in contrast to "the financial concerns and artistic reserve of the larger gay cultural institutions" of San Francisco in 1982. They were played on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento
radio show.
In 1983, vocalist Tony Kramedas set out to produce an album for major label release. These recordings, done over time as budget permitted, had a more electric 80's sound with guitars, synthesizers and drum machines. The project came to a halt when Kramedas became ill; he died in 1985, as have several other band members. During Automatic Pilot's final months, Brown and McQueen became involved in writing and performing music for the original 1984 Theatre Rhinoceros production of The AIDS Show
.
The master tapes sat on a shelf until 2002 when the Automatic Pilot website was launched, with many complete recordings in mp3
and ogg
format of live performances and studio works, and a detailed history. The site also features music from The AIDS Show and newly rediscovered video (in both H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
and MPEG-1
format) from Automatic Pilot's December 1982 performance at the Valencia Rose. The CDs were released in 2005.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
band. Created in 1980 by members of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus is the world's first openly gay chorus, one of its largest and the group most often credited with creating the LGBT choral movement....
, they were described by The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
as "a non-official offshoot" of SFGMC along with three official subgroups. Automatic Pilot soon came into their own as an independent force, creating a niche at the fringe of the nascent gay musical movement and a new musical style.
They achieved notoriety early on with songs such as "Sit On My Face" and "Killer Purses" performed at benefits for the SFGMC, Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros
Theatre Rhinoceros or Theatre Rhino is a gay and lesbian theatre based in San Francisco. It was founded in the spring of 1977 by Lanny Baugniet and his partner Allan B. Estes, Jr....
, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence , also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence in Australia and elsewhere, is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and Catholic imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirize issues of gender and morality...
. They derived their name from psychiatric testimony
Twinkie defense
"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catchall term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor...
at Dan White
Dan White
Daniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall...
's trial for killing Mayor George Moscone
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
and Supervisor Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
.
History
The ensemble consisted of up to four part vocals led by Matthew McQueen, backed by pianist Karl Brown, with violin, flute/sax, and a string bassist and drummer from the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom BandSan Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band
The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is a community-based concert and marching band in San Francisco. It is the official band of San Francisco. Founded in 1978, it was the first gay-oriented musical organization in the world. The band promotes visibility and musical education for the Bay...
.
With an acoustic parody of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
as a starting point, writers Brown and McQueen incorporated elements of jazz, classical, theater and the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
into somewhat twisted song structures that are both interesting and accessible. Their sound, dubbed "erotic jazz wave" has been compared to cartoon music, klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
, and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. Automatic Pilot anticipated the queercore
Queercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
bands by a decade. The post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
genre fits best due to the time period, punk influence and experimental bent.
Automatic Pilot continued to perform in San Francisco at various venues including the Castro Street Fair, the On Broadway Theater and the Valencia Rose gay performance space, venturing as far as the Chute II Bar in Reno.
Automatic Pilot was covered regularly by local media including the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. The Bay Area Reporter
Bay Area Reporter
The Bay Area Reporter is a free weekly newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities in the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the oldest-continuously published, and one of the largest LGBT newspapers in the United States....
published four full length articles on the band between 1982 and 1985. Their music was featured on regional radio shows including KPFA
KPFA
KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
's Fruit Punch. Nationally, they appeared in the New York Native
New York Native
The New York Native was a fortnightly Pre-Immunization Revolution newspaper published in New York City from December 1980 until January 13, 1997. It was the only paper in New York City during the early part, and pioneered the notion of cancer in combination with AIDS, when most others ignored it...
and The Advocate, which singled them out along with the band Orquestra Sabrosita as vibrant independent artists in contrast to "the financial concerns and artistic reserve of the larger gay cultural institutions" of San Francisco in 1982. They were played on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
radio show.
In 1983, vocalist Tony Kramedas set out to produce an album for major label release. These recordings, done over time as budget permitted, had a more electric 80's sound with guitars, synthesizers and drum machines. The project came to a halt when Kramedas became ill; he died in 1985, as have several other band members. During Automatic Pilot's final months, Brown and McQueen became involved in writing and performing music for the original 1984 Theatre Rhinoceros production of The AIDS Show
The AIDS Show
The AIDS Show is a collaboratively written theater piece about AIDS, and a documentary video about the making of the stage show.-1984 production:...
.
The master tapes sat on a shelf until 2002 when the Automatic Pilot website was launched, with many complete recordings in mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
and ogg
Ogg
Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
format of live performances and studio works, and a detailed history. The site also features music from The AIDS Show and newly rediscovered video (in both H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
and MPEG-1
MPEG-1
MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting possible.Today, MPEG-1 has become...
format) from Automatic Pilot's December 1982 performance at the Valencia Rose. The CDs were released in 2005.
Discography
- Back from the Dead (Studio works from 1981 to 1985)
- Live On Broadway (Recorded at San Francisco's On Broadway Theater, September 1, 1982)