Little Blue Crunchy Things
Encyclopedia
Little Blue Crunchy Things was an American
rock
/jazz
group from the Milwaukee, WI
area. During their decade-long performance career (from the late 1980s to about 2000), LBCT were a hit among audiences and the local press due to their unique mix of jazz, rock, blues
, funk
, and hip hop music
.
LBCT formed in the late 1980s, but began gaining popularity with the arrival of vocalist Noah Tabakin in 1991. Tabakin, who quickly became a fan favorite and the de facto band leader, demonstrated even in the band's earliest work the breadth of his performance ability, as the vocalist singing, rapping
, and beatboxing
, but in addition playing the saxophone
and increasingly in later work, DJing. Featured prominently in shows was Tabakin's freestyling
, often drawing lyrical content from audience participation and other events of the concert.
The band's first album, Rhetoric, was released in 1994. The lineup at this time was Bill Backes on drums
, Cara Davis on percussion
/vocals, Rick Eells on bass
, Douglas Haynes on saxophone, Brandon Mason on trumpet
/trombone
, Noah Tabakin on lead vocals/saxophone, and Michael Wengler on guitar
. Independently produced, this first album's recording quality was mediocre, and the band would release new recorded versions of a few of these songs on later albums.
Between the first and second albums, Eels, Mason, and Haynes left the band. Eels was replaced by Ken Fitzsimmons, and Haynes by Bryan Elliot, but LBCT was left without a trumpet/trombone player. The result was a temporary shift away from blues to a focus on funk guitar rhythms and increasing influence from hardcore
. The second album, Owner's Manual, is a recording of a live show at Shank Hall in Milwaukee in 1996, and features some audience favorites, notably the partly tongue-in-cheek love ballad, "Florence", and the fast-paced "Freak On The Floor", featuring some interesting improvizations by Tabakin. Davis, who was featured as a vocalist on only one song ("Brown Bear"), left the band shortly after Owner's Manual. Percussionist Jamie Ryan, and childhood friend of Ken Fitzsimmons, joined the group around this time.
The blues influence would return in full force on the band's third album, Swarm. Compared to their first studio album, the recording and production of Swarm were of higher quality, and sales catapulted forward. The band gained national recognition with appearances on the nationally syndicated Jenny Jones Show
. In 1999, they released their fourth album, Babies, a largely experimental work. Babies notably included as a secret track an alternative version of "Florence", jokingly referred to by fans as "Florence Goes to Hell", that the band had been performing at Halloween
night shows for the past few years.
In early 2000, the band announced that they would be breaking up, and performed what was reportedly their last show that spring. However, the band got together for what was billed as a reunion tour a few months later. This tour included Shank Hall and a performance at Summerfest
. A show at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, WI (April 15, 2000) was recorded and released as their final album, In Loving Memory Of....
Since the breakup, the members have gone on to work on their own projects. Noah Tabakin's first group after LBCT was the short lived All Fours. He currently fronts "TABAKIN" a funk, soul, hip-hop conglomeration and plays Bari sax in the 23 piece circus punk marching band "Mucca Pazza". All of Noah's new groups are located in Chicago, IL.,his home since 2000. Ken Fitzimmons currently fronts the Irish Rock band The Kissers (of which Jamie Ryan, Bryan Elliot, and Bill Backes are also a former members). Michael Wengler is currently living in NYC and playing with his band Cobalt. Bryan Elliot lives in Madison and was most recently playing in the Latin band Prole, and has also played in The Bradachs and Smokin' With Superman (again on sax). Bill Backes currently lives in Milwaukee and was most recently with the band The Cocksmiths after a long stint with the Milwaukee rock group, "The Lovelies". Jamie Ryan currently lives in Madison is playing with many bands including El Clan Destino and the Tim Whalen Nonet.
Still beloved by their local fanbase, for the past several years the band has performed annually at reunion shows in Milwaukee and/or Madison.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
group from the Milwaukee, WI
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
area. During their decade-long performance career (from the late 1980s to about 2000), LBCT were a hit among audiences and the local press due to their unique mix of jazz, rock, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, and hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
LBCT formed in the late 1980s, but began gaining popularity with the arrival of vocalist Noah Tabakin in 1991. Tabakin, who quickly became a fan favorite and the de facto band leader, demonstrated even in the band's earliest work the breadth of his performance ability, as the vocalist singing, rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, and beatboxing
Beatboxing
Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, and the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments...
, but in addition playing the saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and increasingly in later work, DJing. Featured prominently in shows was Tabakin's freestyling
Freestyle music
Freestyle or Latin freestyle, sometimes referred to as Latin hip hop, is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1980s. Mostly popular during the mid 80s to the early 90s...
, often drawing lyrical content from audience participation and other events of the concert.
The band's first album, Rhetoric, was released in 1994. The lineup at this time was Bill Backes on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, Cara Davis on percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
/vocals, Rick Eells on bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Douglas Haynes on saxophone, Brandon Mason on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
/trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, Noah Tabakin on lead vocals/saxophone, and Michael Wengler on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. Independently produced, this first album's recording quality was mediocre, and the band would release new recorded versions of a few of these songs on later albums.
Between the first and second albums, Eels, Mason, and Haynes left the band. Eels was replaced by Ken Fitzsimmons, and Haynes by Bryan Elliot, but LBCT was left without a trumpet/trombone player. The result was a temporary shift away from blues to a focus on funk guitar rhythms and increasing influence from hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
. The second album, Owner's Manual, is a recording of a live show at Shank Hall in Milwaukee in 1996, and features some audience favorites, notably the partly tongue-in-cheek love ballad, "Florence", and the fast-paced "Freak On The Floor", featuring some interesting improvizations by Tabakin. Davis, who was featured as a vocalist on only one song ("Brown Bear"), left the band shortly after Owner's Manual. Percussionist Jamie Ryan, and childhood friend of Ken Fitzsimmons, joined the group around this time.
The blues influence would return in full force on the band's third album, Swarm. Compared to their first studio album, the recording and production of Swarm were of higher quality, and sales catapulted forward. The band gained national recognition with appearances on the nationally syndicated Jenny Jones Show
Jenny Jones (presenter)
Jenny Jones is a former Canadian American stand-up comedian and talk show host. She hosted The Jenny Jones Show from 1991 to 2003.-Life and career:...
. In 1999, they released their fourth album, Babies, a largely experimental work. Babies notably included as a secret track an alternative version of "Florence", jokingly referred to by fans as "Florence Goes to Hell", that the band had been performing at Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
night shows for the past few years.
In early 2000, the band announced that they would be breaking up, and performed what was reportedly their last show that spring. However, the band got together for what was billed as a reunion tour a few months later. This tour included Shank Hall and a performance at Summerfest
Summerfest
Summerfest is a yearly music festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of 11 stages with performances from over 700 bands, and since the mid-1970s has run from late June through early July, usually...
. A show at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, WI (April 15, 2000) was recorded and released as their final album, In Loving Memory Of....
Since the breakup, the members have gone on to work on their own projects. Noah Tabakin's first group after LBCT was the short lived All Fours. He currently fronts "TABAKIN" a funk, soul, hip-hop conglomeration and plays Bari sax in the 23 piece circus punk marching band "Mucca Pazza". All of Noah's new groups are located in Chicago, IL.,his home since 2000. Ken Fitzimmons currently fronts the Irish Rock band The Kissers (of which Jamie Ryan, Bryan Elliot, and Bill Backes are also a former members). Michael Wengler is currently living in NYC and playing with his band Cobalt. Bryan Elliot lives in Madison and was most recently playing in the Latin band Prole, and has also played in The Bradachs and Smokin' With Superman (again on sax). Bill Backes currently lives in Milwaukee and was most recently with the band The Cocksmiths after a long stint with the Milwaukee rock group, "The Lovelies". Jamie Ryan currently lives in Madison is playing with many bands including El Clan Destino and the Tim Whalen Nonet.
Still beloved by their local fanbase, for the past several years the band has performed annually at reunion shows in Milwaukee and/or Madison.
Members
- Bill Backes - DrumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Bryan Elliott - SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Ken Fitzsimmons - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Jamie Ryan - percussion
- Noah Tabakin - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846... - Michael Wengler - GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
Former members
- Cara Davis - percussion/vocals
- Paul Jonas - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1999/2000, after the temporary departure of Fitzsimmons following the 'Babies' sessions; performs on 2000's 'In Loving Memory Of...'
Discography
- Rhetoric (1994)
- Owner's Manual (1996)
- Swarm (1997)
- Babies (1999)
- In Loving Memory Of... (album) (2000)