Pere Ubu (band)
Encyclopedia
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock
music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio
, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas
is the only constant. The group is named after Père Ubu ("father Ubu"), the protagonist
of Ubu Roi
("Ubu, the King"), a play by French writer Alfred Jarry
.
While Pere Ubu have never been widely popular—usually categorized as "underground rock"—they have a devoted following
and are an influential and critically acclaimed band.
Critical opinions of Pere Ubu include, "the most original and important of the new wave
bands", "the world's only expressionist Rock 'n' Roll band", and "Pere Ubu will be looked back on as the most important group to have come out of America in the last decade and a half. Either that or they will be entirely forgotten".
Pere Ubu have compiled a list of guidelines for touring, live performances and the like: "Lighting should be theatrical
rather than rockist. We are interested in atmosphere, mood
, drama
, energy, subtlety, imagination
—not rock cliché." The Danish Broadcasting Corporation
is one of the few organizations they trust to record live performances, "solely on the basis of the King of Denmark's defense of the Jews
in WWII
".
To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term avant-garage to reflect interest in both experimental avant-garde
music (especially Musique concrète
) and raw, direct blues
-influenced garage rock
. Thomas has stated the term is "a joke
invented to have something to give journalist
s when they yelp for a neat sound bite or pigeonhole
".
was a Cleveland-based group that eventually fragmented: some members formed The Dead Boys
, while David Thomas
and guitar
ist Peter Laughner
joined with guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitar
ist Tim Wright
, drummer
Scott Krauss and synthesist
Allen Ravenstine to form Pere Ubu in 1975. At the time the band formed, Herman, Krauss, and Ravenstine lived in a house owned by Ravenstine.
Pere Ubu's debut single (their first four records were singles on their own "Hearthan" label) was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (inspired by the "Doolittle Raid
" and named after a film depicting the raid), backed with "Heart of Darkness"; followed by "Final Solution" in 1976. One review noted that "30 Seconds" "was clearly the work of a garage band
, yet its arty dissonance and weird experimentalism
were startlingly unique."
run down in the decaying rust belt
of America, and unlike the British punks who were looking around England the same year, seeing no future, and hating what they saw, Ubu reveled in it."
The teenage-wasteland theme of the song has nothing to do with the Nazi
use of "final solution
": Indeed, Pere Ubu has consistently denounced Nazism and neo-Nazi movements, and praised resistance to Nazism and rescues of Jews in WWII. Pere Ubu stopped playing "Final Solution" for many years to avoid association with Nazism.
ic pulse was similar to Krautrock
, but Thomas's yelping, howling, desperate singing was and still is peculiar when compared to most other rock and roll singers.
In their songs, Pere Ubu imagined 1950s and 1960s garage rock
and surf music
archetypes as seen in a distorting funhouse mirror, emphasising the music's angst
, loneliness and lyrical
paranoia
. Sometimes sounding like a demented nursery rhyme
sing-along, this already bizarre blend was overlaid with Ravenstine's ominous EML synthesizer effects and tape loop
ed sounds of mundane conversation, ringing telephone
s or steam whistles.
.
Laughner left the group after their first two singles, and died soon afterwards after a struggle with drug addiction. Tony Maimone
signed on as bassist after Tim Wright left to join DNA
.
Their debut album, The Modern Dance
(1978), contained a remix of "The Modern Dance" and the original mix of "Street Waves", sold poorly, but has proven influential. Musicians of many types, including progressive rock
, punk rock
, post punk and New Wave
, were influenced by the dark, abstract record. With the song "Sentimental Journey," the debut also introduced the practice of re-appropriating titles from well-known popular songs: Pere Ubu's "Sentimental Journey" has no obvious relation to the Doris Day
hit song of the same name
; "Drinking Wine Spodyody" has no apparent connection to the Sticks McGhee song (later revived by Jerry Lee Lewis
). This practice has continued through 2006's Why I Hate Women
, which has a song called "Blue Velvet" (again, no relation to the 1963 hit song
by Bobby Vinton
).
Special note should be made of Ravenstine's contributions to Pere Ubu. While most synthesizer players tended to play the instrument as they would a piano
or organ
, Ravenstine generally opted instead to make sounds that were reminiscent of spooky sound effects from 1950s science fiction
films, or perhaps electronic music
and musique concrète
. One critic writes that Ravenstine "may be one of the all-time great synth players" and his playing has been called "utterly original".
Pere Ubu's second and third albums, Dub Housing
and New Picnic Time
, followed with much the same reaction.
The group briefly disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterwards with Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson
(of Red Krayola
).
(1980) featured Red Krayola
's Mayo Thompson
on guitar. For the next original album, Song of the Bailing Man
(1982), Krauss was replaced by Anton Fier
.
The group disbanded again soon afterwards; Krauss and Maimone formed Home and Garden, while Thomas worked on a solo career, notably with Richard Thompson and with members of Henry Cow
.
By the late 1980s, one of Thomas's solo projects eventually featured much of Pere Ubu. The band was reformed again in 1987, with Jim Jones
and Chris Cutler
joining for the release of The Tenement Year
(1988), a far more pop-oriented album than ever before. The following year, "Waiting for Mary" (off Cloudland
) appeared on MTV
briefly. After the recording of Cloudland
, Ravenstine left the group (although he made a guest appearance on Worlds in Collision
) and later became an airline pilot. Eric Drew Feldman
joined the band in time for the Cloudland tour and the recording of Worlds in Collision but left afterwards, joining Frank Black
.
(1993) was released on Imago Records; Maimone left (once again) to join They Might Be Giants
, and Michele Temple and Garo Yellin joined the band for the Story of My Life
tour and feature on Ubu's 1995 album, Ray Gun Suitcase
. Robert Wheeler has played synthesizer
and theremin
with Pere Ubu since 1994. Krauss left the band during the Ray Gun Suitcase
sessions. For the Ray Gun Suitcase
tour, guitarist Jim Jones departed as a touring member (although he continued to contribute to recordings), founding guitarist Tom Herman replaced him for the tour.
Concurrent with the 1996 release of the Datapanik in Year Zero
box set, Jim Jones retired due to health problems. Tom Herman returned to the band after a twenty year absence to tour with the band in 1995, and went on to record Pennsylvania
(1998) and St. Arkansas
in 2002. Jim Jones contributed guitar tracks to each album as well, and guitarist Wayne Kramer
of MC5
fame joined the band for their 1998 summer tour. Herman left again in 2005, being replaced by Keith Moliné
, of David Thomas's "solo" group Two Pale Boys. The new lineup completed an album entitled Why I Hate Women
, which was released on 19 September 2006.
On 18 February 2008, Jim Jones died at his Cleveland residence.
On 24 April 2008 the Ether festival at the South Bank Centre
(London, England) hosted the world premiere of Bring Me The Head of Ubu Roi. This adaptation by David Thomas
of Alfred Jarry
's play Ubu Roi
was accompanied by animations by the Brothers Quay
. The production featured David Thomas
as Pere Ubu and Sarah Jane Morris
as Mere Ubu.
In 2010 Pere Ubu played a series of theatrical shows in the UK including a set at the Classic Grand in Glasgow's Jamaica Street.
+ This single version of "The Modern Dance" is not the same mix as the subsequent album and all reissues of the track (with the railroad spike). This makes this single (with the doll squeak) the only place to find the original mix.
Albums:
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, in 1975. Despite many long-term band members, singer David Thomas
David Thomas (musician)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...
is the only constant. The group is named after Père Ubu ("father Ubu"), the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
("Ubu, the King"), a play by French writer Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
.
While Pere Ubu have never been widely popular—usually categorized as "underground rock"—they have a devoted following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and are an influential and critically acclaimed band.
Critical opinions of Pere Ubu include, "the most original and important of the new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bands", "the world's only expressionist Rock 'n' Roll band", and "Pere Ubu will be looked back on as the most important group to have come out of America in the last decade and a half. Either that or they will be entirely forgotten".
Pere Ubu have compiled a list of guidelines for touring, live performances and the like: "Lighting should be theatrical
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
rather than rockist. We are interested in atmosphere, mood
Mood (psychology)
A mood is a relatively long lasting emotional state. Moods differ from emotions in that they are less specific, less intense, and less likely to be triggered by a particular stimulus or event....
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, energy, subtlety, imagination
Imagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
—not rock cliché." The Danish Broadcasting Corporation
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...
is one of the few organizations they trust to record live performances, "solely on the basis of the King of Denmark's defense of the Jews
Rescue of the Danish Jews
The rescue of the Danish Jews occurred during Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark during World War II. On October 1st 1943 Nazi leader Adolf Hitler ordered Danish Jews to be arrested and deported...
in WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
".
To define their music, Pere Ubu coined the term avant-garage to reflect interest in both experimental 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....
music (especially Musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
) and raw, direct 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...
-influenced garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
. Thomas has stated the term is "a joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
invented to have something to give journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s when they yelp for a neat sound bite or pigeonhole
Pigeonhole
Pigeonhole may refer to:*Pigeonholes, nesting spaces formed in a dovecote *Pigeonhole, one of the boxes in a pigeon coop...
".
1970s
Rocket from the TombsRocket From The Tombs
Rocket From the Tombs is an American rock music band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio.Heralded as an important protopunk group, they were little known during their lifetime, though various members later achieved renown in Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys...
was a Cleveland-based group that eventually fragmented: some members formed The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Among the first wave of early punk bands, the Dead Boys were initially active from 1976 to 1979, briefly reuniting in 1987, 2004 and 2005.-Formation and 1970s punk rock era:...
, while David Thomas
David Thomas (musician)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...
and 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...
ist Peter Laughner
Peter Laughner
Peter Laughner was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer.A native of Bay Village, Ohio, Laughner remains a rather little known figure; nonetheless, Richie Unterberger described him as "probably the single biggest catalyst in the birth of Cleveland's alternative rock scene in the mid...
joined with guitarist Tom Herman, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist Tim Wright
Tim Wright (bassist)
Tim Wright is an American bassist. He was the original bassist with Pere Ubu, but left in 1978 to join Arto Lindsay in the no wave band DNA. He stayed with them until they split in 1982.- References :...
, drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Scott Krauss and synthesist
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
Allen Ravenstine to form Pere Ubu in 1975. At the time the band formed, Herman, Krauss, and Ravenstine lived in a house owned by Ravenstine.
Pere Ubu's debut single (their first four records were singles on their own "Hearthan" label) was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (inspired by the "Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
" and named after a film depicting the raid), backed with "Heart of Darkness"; followed by "Final Solution" in 1976. One review noted that "30 Seconds" "was clearly the work of a garage band
Garage band
The term garage band can refer to:* A band that performs garage rock* GarageBand, audio production software published by Apple Inc.* GarageBand.com, a website that helps publicize emerging bands...
, yet its arty dissonance and weird experimentalism
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
were startlingly unique."
Final Solution
Of their second single, "Final Solution" (backed with "Cloud 149"), one scribe writes that Ubu's "call for a 'final solution' was the cry of teen angstAngst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...
run down in the decaying rust belt
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
of America, and unlike the British punks who were looking around England the same year, seeing no future, and hating what they saw, Ubu reveled in it."
The teenage-wasteland theme of the song has nothing to do with the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
use of "final solution
Final Solution
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
": Indeed, Pere Ubu has consistently denounced Nazism and neo-Nazi movements, and praised resistance to Nazism and rescues of Jews in WWII. Pere Ubu stopped playing "Final Solution" for many years to avoid association with Nazism.
Sound
From these first recordings, Pere Ubu sounded like little else. Their propulsive rhythmRhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ic pulse was similar to Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
, but Thomas's yelping, howling, desperate singing was and still is peculiar when compared to most other rock and roll singers.
In their songs, Pere Ubu imagined 1950s and 1960s garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
and surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
archetypes as seen in a distorting funhouse mirror, emphasising the music's angst
Angst
Angst is an English, German, Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word for fear or anxiety . It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil...
, loneliness and lyrical
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
. Sometimes sounding like a demented nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
sing-along, this already bizarre blend was overlaid with Ravenstine's ominous EML synthesizer effects and tape loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
ed sounds of mundane conversation, ringing telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s or steam whistles.
Other recordings of the 1970s
"Street Waves" b/w "My Dark Ages (I Don't Get Around)" was their third single, and after their fourth single, "The Modern Dance" b/w 'Heaven" (which was pressed in very small quantities and contained a completely different version of "Dance"), Pere Ubu signed to Blank Records, a short-lived imprint of Mercury RecordsMercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.
Laughner left the group after their first two singles, and died soon afterwards after a struggle with drug addiction. Tony Maimone
Tony Maimone
Tony Maimone is a bass player, producer, and engineer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.He was a member of Pere Ubu from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, often playing with drummer Scott Krauss...
signed on as bassist after Tim Wright left to join DNA
DNA (band)
DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...
.
Their debut album, The Modern Dance
The Modern Dance
The Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu, released in 1978.- Overview :"Street Waves" is exactly the same as their 3rd single...
(1978), contained a remix of "The Modern Dance" and the original mix of "Street Waves", sold poorly, but has proven influential. Musicians of many types, including progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop 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...
, post punk and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, were influenced by the dark, abstract record. With the song "Sentimental Journey," the debut also introduced the practice of re-appropriating titles from well-known popular songs: Pere Ubu's "Sentimental Journey" has no obvious relation to the Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
hit song of the same name
Sentimental Journey (song)
"Sentimental Journey" is a popular song, published in 1944. The music was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, and the lyrics were written by Arthur Green.-History:...
; "Drinking Wine Spodyody" has no apparent connection to the Sticks McGhee song (later revived by Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
). This practice has continued through 2006's Why I Hate Women
Why I Hate Women
Why I Hate Women is Pere Ubu's thirteenth album. It finds Keith Moliné stepping in for departing longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders , either as members or as guests...
, which has a song called "Blue Velvet" (again, no relation to the 1963 hit song
Blue Velvet (song)
"Blue Velvet" is a 1950 popular song, written by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris. It has been recorded by several artists, most notably Tony Bennett and Bobby Vinton, and has inspired a film of the same name.-History of recordings:...
by Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
).
Special note should be made of Ravenstine's contributions to Pere Ubu. While most synthesizer players tended to play the instrument as they would a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
or organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, Ravenstine generally opted instead to make sounds that were reminiscent of spooky sound effects from 1950s science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
films, or perhaps electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
. One critic writes that Ravenstine "may be one of the all-time great synth players" and his playing has been called "utterly original".
Pere Ubu's second and third albums, Dub Housing
Dub Housing
Dub Housing is the second album by American experimental rock group Pere Ubu. Released in 1978, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."...
and New Picnic Time
New Picnic Time
New Picnic Time is the third full-length album by Pere Ubu. Reportedly the album sessions were stressful and contentious, and after touring, the group disbanded. They would reform a matter of months later with Mayo Thompson replacing founding guitarist Tom Herman...
, followed with much the same reaction.
The group briefly disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterwards with Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola .-1960s:...
(of Red Krayola
Red Krayola
Red Krayola was a psychedelic, avant-garde rock band from Houston, Texas, formed by art students at the University of St. Thomas in 1966. The band was led by singer/guitarist and visual artist Mayo Thompson, along with drummer Frederick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham...
).
1980s
The Art of WalkingThe Art of Walking
The Art of Walking is the fourth Pere Ubu full-length. Mayo Thompson of The Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album, and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated. The group would...
(1980) featured Red Krayola
Red Krayola
Red Krayola was a psychedelic, avant-garde rock band from Houston, Texas, formed by art students at the University of St. Thomas in 1966. The band was led by singer/guitarist and visual artist Mayo Thompson, along with drummer Frederick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham...
's Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola .-1960s:...
on guitar. For the next original album, Song of the Bailing Man
Song of the Bailing Man
Song of the Bailing Man is the fifth Pere Ubu album, and their final work before disbanding for the first extended period. Anton Fier replaced Scott Krauss on drums for this album; his only appearance with Pere Ubu...
(1982), Krauss was replaced by Anton Fier
Anton Fier
Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
.
The group disbanded again soon afterwards; Krauss and Maimone formed Home and Garden, while Thomas worked on a solo career, notably with Richard Thompson and with members of Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
.
By the late 1980s, one of Thomas's solo projects eventually featured much of Pere Ubu. The band was reformed again in 1987, with Jim Jones
Jim Jones (guitarist)
James E. Jones, known as Jim Jones, was an experimental music artist, producer, and guitarist in the rock band Pere Ubu. Jones was a founding member of many experimental rock bands of the 70s and 80s including: Easter Monkeys, Foreign Bodies, Mirrors, The Styrenes, Home And Garden, and Terminal...
and Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
joining for the release of The Tenement Year
The Tenement Year
The Tenement Year is Pere Ubu's first album after reuniting , and sixth overall. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame...
(1988), a far more pop-oriented album than ever before. The following year, "Waiting for Mary" (off Cloudland
Cloudland (album)
Cloudland is Pere Ubu's seventh album. As indicated by the presence of Stephen Hague in the producer's chair, this album is among the most straightforwardly pop efforts in the Ubu canon. The album is rife with glossy surfaces and bubbly synth pads, but the poetic vision of David Thomas roots the...
) appeared on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
briefly. After the recording of Cloudland
Cloudland (album)
Cloudland is Pere Ubu's seventh album. As indicated by the presence of Stephen Hague in the producer's chair, this album is among the most straightforwardly pop efforts in the Ubu canon. The album is rife with glossy surfaces and bubbly synth pads, but the poetic vision of David Thomas roots the...
, Ravenstine left the group (although he made a guest appearance on Worlds in Collision
Worlds in Collision (album)
Worlds in Collision is Pere Ubu's eighth studio album. The album continues in the glossy pop mold found on their previous studio album, Cloudland...
) and later became an airline pilot. Eric Drew Feldman
Eric Drew Feldman
Eric Drew Feldman is an American keyboard and bass guitar player. Feldman has worked with Captain Beefheart, Fear, Snakefinger, The Residents, Pere Ubu, Pixies, dEUS, Katell Keineg, Frank Black, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Reid Paley, Charlotte Hatherley, Custard, and PJ Harvey.He was...
joined the band in time for the Cloudland tour and the recording of Worlds in Collision but left afterwards, joining Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
.
1990s and beyond
Story of My LifeStory of My Life (album)
Story of My Life is Pere Ubu's ninth studio album. Eric Drew Feldman left the band prior to recording, reducing Ubu to a quartet. Prior to touring on this album Tony Maimone left as well...
(1993) was released on Imago Records; Maimone left (once again) to join They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
, and Michele Temple and Garo Yellin joined the band for the Story of My Life
Story of My Life (album)
Story of My Life is Pere Ubu's ninth studio album. Eric Drew Feldman left the band prior to recording, reducing Ubu to a quartet. Prior to touring on this album Tony Maimone left as well...
tour and feature on Ubu's 1995 album, Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase is Pere Ubu's tenth studio album, which finds them returning both to indie labels, and, after a string of slickly produced, pop-oriented albums, the darker, more complex sonic landscape associated with their earlier work.-Director's Cut:...
. Robert Wheeler has played synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
and theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
with Pere Ubu since 1994. Krauss left the band during the Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase is Pere Ubu's tenth studio album, which finds them returning both to indie labels, and, after a string of slickly produced, pop-oriented albums, the darker, more complex sonic landscape associated with their earlier work.-Director's Cut:...
sessions. For the Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase
Ray Gun Suitcase is Pere Ubu's tenth studio album, which finds them returning both to indie labels, and, after a string of slickly produced, pop-oriented albums, the darker, more complex sonic landscape associated with their earlier work.-Director's Cut:...
tour, guitarist Jim Jones departed as a touring member (although he continued to contribute to recordings), founding guitarist Tom Herman replaced him for the tour.
Concurrent with the 1996 release of the Datapanik in Year Zero
Datapanik in Year Zero
Datapanik in Year Zero is a 1996 box set by Pere Ubu, which catalogues their initial phase of existence up to their 1982 break-up . The title was first used by the band for a 1978 EP which compiled their first singles; the name was "recycled" for this release...
box set, Jim Jones retired due to health problems. Tom Herman returned to the band after a twenty year absence to tour with the band in 1995, and went on to record Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (album)
Pennsylvania is Pere Ubu's eleventh studio album. The album marks Tom Herman's return to Pere Ubu's studio work after a twenty-year absence.-Director's Cut:...
(1998) and St. Arkansas
St. Arkansas
St. Arkansas is the twelfth Pere Ubu album, and is often regarded as one of the darkest in the band's catalog.-Track listing:#"The Fevered Dream of Hernando DeSoto" – 2:45#"Slow Walking Daddy" – 4:52#"Michele" – 3:11#"333" – 3:59#"Hell" – 5:12...
in 2002. Jim Jones contributed guitar tracks to each album as well, and guitarist Wayne Kramer
Wayne Kramer (guitarist)
Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and film and television scorer....
of MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
fame joined the band for their 1998 summer tour. Herman left again in 2005, being replaced by Keith Moliné
Keith Moliné
Keith Moliné is currently the guitarist for Pere Ubu. He has also performed with David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, Infidel, and They Came from the Stars I Saw Them. He uses a unique midi-guitar setup that allows him to produce numerous overlapping instrument voicings within the context of "live"...
, of David Thomas's "solo" group Two Pale Boys. The new lineup completed an album entitled Why I Hate Women
Why I Hate Women
Why I Hate Women is Pere Ubu's thirteenth album. It finds Keith Moliné stepping in for departing longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders , either as members or as guests...
, which was released on 19 September 2006.
On 18 February 2008, Jim Jones died at his Cleveland residence.
On 24 April 2008 the Ether festival at the South Bank Centre
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, UK, on the South Bank of the River Thames between County Hall and Waterloo Bridge. It comprises three main buildings , and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracts more than three million visitors annually...
(London, England) hosted the world premiere of Bring Me The Head of Ubu Roi. This adaptation by David Thomas
David Thomas (musician)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...
of Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
's play Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
was accompanied by animations by the Brothers Quay
Brothers Quay
Stephen and Timothy Quay are American identical twin brothers better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They are influential stop-motion animators...
. The production featured David Thomas
David Thomas (musician)
David Lynn Thomas is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs , where he went by the name of Crocus Behemoth, and of punk group Pere Ubu . He has also released several solo albums...
as Pere Ubu and Sarah Jane Morris
Sarah Jane Morris (singer)
Sarah Jane Morris , is a pop music, jazz, rock and R&B singer and songwriter.In 1982, Morris joined The Republic as lead singer. A London-based Afro-Caribbean-Latin band with leftish tendencies, they received enormous publicity from the music press including cover stories with NME and City Limits...
as Mere Ubu.
In 2010 Pere Ubu played a series of theatrical shows in the UK including a set at the Classic Grand in Glasgow's Jamaica Street.
Quotes
- "Pere Ubu is not now nor has it ever been a viable commercial venture. We won't sleep on floors, we won't tour endlessly and we're embarrassed by self-promotion. Add to that a laissez-faireLaissez-faireIn economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
attitude to the mechanics of career advancement and a demanding artistic agenda and you've got a recipe for real failure. That has been our one significant success to this date: we are the longest-lasting, most disastrous commercial outfit to ever appear in rock 'n' roll. No one can come close to matching our loss to longevity ratio." – David Thomas
- "Rock music is mostly about moving big black boxesInstrument amplifierAn instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal from musical instruments such as an electric guitar, an electric bass, or an electric keyboard into an electronic signal capable of driving a loudspeaker that can be heard by the...
from one side of town to the other in the back of your carAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
."
Discography
- (1975) 30 Seconds Over Tokyo/Heart of Darkness
- (1976) Final Solution/Cloud 149
- (1976) Street Waves/My Dark Ages (I Don't Get Around)
- (1977) The Modern Dance+/Heaven
+ This single version of "The Modern Dance" is not the same mix as the subsequent album and all reissues of the track (with the railroad spike). This makes this single (with the doll squeak) the only place to find the original mix.
Albums:
- (1978) The Modern DanceThe Modern DanceThe Modern Dance is the debut album by American rock band Pere Ubu, released in 1978.- Overview :"Street Waves" is exactly the same as their 3rd single...
- (1978) Dub HousingDub HousingDub Housing is the second album by American experimental rock group Pere Ubu. Released in 1978, the album is now regarded as one of their best, described by Trouser Press as "simply one of the most important post-punk recordings."...
- (1979) New Picnic TimeNew Picnic TimeNew Picnic Time is the third full-length album by Pere Ubu. Reportedly the album sessions were stressful and contentious, and after touring, the group disbanded. They would reform a matter of months later with Mayo Thompson replacing founding guitarist Tom Herman...
- (1980) The Art of WalkingThe Art of WalkingThe Art of Walking is the fourth Pere Ubu full-length. Mayo Thompson of The Red Krayola joined as guitarist for this album, and slanted the proceedings further towards deconstruction and abstraction, and away from the primal rock that former guitarist Tom Herman had facilitated. The group would...
- (1981) 390° of Simulated Stereo390° of Simulated Stereo390° of Simulated Stereo is a live album featuring recordings from Pere Ubu's first few years of existence. In general, the recordings featured are lo-fi in nature...
(live) - (1982) Song of the Bailing ManSong of the Bailing ManSong of the Bailing Man is the fifth Pere Ubu album, and their final work before disbanding for the first extended period. Anton Fier replaced Scott Krauss on drums for this album; his only appearance with Pere Ubu...
- (1985) Terminal TowerTerminal Tower (album)Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection is a compilation of Pere Ubu's early singles and b-sides. It includes the Hearpen singles that were initially compiled on the Datapanik in Year Zero EP, and continues through later sides recorded with Mayo Thompson.-Track listing:#"Heart of Darkness" –...
(collection of singles and b-sidesB-SidesB-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...
) - (1988) The Tenement YearThe Tenement YearThe Tenement Year is Pere Ubu's first album after reuniting , and sixth overall. 'Classic lineup' members Tony Maimone and Allen Ravenstine, along with fellow Cleveland scenester Jim Jones and Henry Cow percussionist Chris Cutler found themselves playing with David Thomas for his 1987 album Blame...
- (1989) CloudlandCloudland (album)Cloudland is Pere Ubu's seventh album. As indicated by the presence of Stephen Hague in the producer's chair, this album is among the most straightforwardly pop efforts in the Ubu canon. The album is rife with glossy surfaces and bubbly synth pads, but the poetic vision of David Thomas roots the...
- (1989) One Man Drives While the Other Man ScreamsOne Man Drives While the Other Man ScreamsOne Man Drives While the Other Man Screams is Pere Ubu's second live album, covering the years 1978-1981...
(live) - (1991) Worlds in CollisionWorlds in Collision (album)Worlds in Collision is Pere Ubu's eighth studio album. The album continues in the glossy pop mold found on their previous studio album, Cloudland...
- (1993) Story of My LifeStory of My Life (album)Story of My Life is Pere Ubu's ninth studio album. Eric Drew Feldman left the band prior to recording, reducing Ubu to a quartet. Prior to touring on this album Tony Maimone left as well...
- (1995) Ray Gun SuitcaseRay Gun SuitcaseRay Gun Suitcase is Pere Ubu's tenth studio album, which finds them returning both to indie labels, and, after a string of slickly produced, pop-oriented albums, the darker, more complex sonic landscape associated with their earlier work.-Director's Cut:...
- (1996) Folly of Youth (enhanced EP)
- (1996) B Each B Oys See Dee Plus (enhanced EP)
- (1996) Datapanik in Year ZeroDatapanik in Year ZeroDatapanik in Year Zero is a 1996 box set by Pere Ubu, which catalogues their initial phase of existence up to their 1982 break-up . The title was first used by the band for a 1978 EP which compiled their first singles; the name was "recycled" for this release...
(boxed set) - (1998) PennsylvaniaPennsylvania (album)Pennsylvania is Pere Ubu's eleventh studio album. The album marks Tom Herman's return to Pere Ubu's studio work after a twenty-year absence.-Director's Cut:...
- (1999) Apocalypse NowApocalypse Now (album)Apocalypse Now is Pere Ubu's third live album, and first to document a single performance. The show in question, recorded on December 7, 1991 at Schubas Tavern in Chicago, was performed semi-acoustically, with synth-man Eric Drew Feldman instead handling an upright piano, and Jim Jones playing an...
(live) - (2000) The Shape of ThingsThe Shape of Things (album)The Shape of Things is Pere Ubu's fourth live album. It documents a performance within the band's first few months of existence, from the brief period in which Peter Laughner was a member...
(live) - (2002) St. ArkansasSt. ArkansasSt. Arkansas is the twelfth Pere Ubu album, and is often regarded as one of the darkest in the band's catalog.-Track listing:#"The Fevered Dream of Hernando DeSoto" – 2:45#"Slow Walking Daddy" – 4:52#"Michele" – 3:11#"333" – 3:59#"Hell" – 5:12...
- (2006) Why I Hate WomenWhy I Hate WomenWhy I Hate Women is Pere Ubu's thirteenth album. It finds Keith Moliné stepping in for departing longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders , either as members or as guests...
- (2009) "Long Live Père Ubu!"
- (2009) London Texas (live)
Charting singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1989 | "Waiting for Mary" | - | 6 | - | - | Cloudland |
| "Love Love Love" | - | - | - | 88 | ||