The Murder Junkies
Encyclopedia
The Murder Junkies are a GG Allin tribute band, most known for being the actual backing band of deceased punk rock performer GG Allin. They are the third GG Allin backing band to bear the name.
The original Murder Junkies was a Texas band - formed independently of Allin - which performed as his backing band for several live dates in the late 1980s. (See Allin's unfinished autobiography for further brief details).
The second Murder Junkies was a studio band (including Allin's friend Mark Sheehan on guitar) which recorded the "Watch Me Kill" 6 track e.p., released on Fuckin' A/Stomach Ache Records in 1991.
Murder Junkies mark III - the subject of this article and a distinct entity from the other two bands of the same name - was formed in 1991 as GG Allin's new backing band, and rehearsed while he concluded his then-current prison sentence. The original line-up consisted of guitarist "Chicken" John Rinaldi (San Francisco mayoral candidate in 2007), GG's elder brother Merle "Pinky" Allin on bass, and drummer Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs.
Rinaldi left the band later in 1991, and voiced negative opinions about the experience in the documentary Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies, directed by Todd Phillips. He was replaced on guitar by William Weber. Dee Dee Ramone was recruited at the same time as Weber, but quit shortly thereafter, having never played any live dates with the band.
GG Allin & the Murder Junkies recorded their sole studio album, "Brutality and Bloodshed for All", for Alive Records in the spring of 1993. Their subsequent tour - shortly succeeded by Allin's death from an apparent drug overdose on June 28 of the same year - was chronicled by roadie Evan Cohen in the slim volume I Was A Murder Junkie: The Last Days Of GG Allin.
Sachs, Pinky, and Weber decided to continue the band, and recruited a new singer, Michael [last name unknown] ("Mike Denied"), singer with New York City band The Denied. They released a mini-album "Feed My Sleaze" in 1995. A 7" single "The Right To Remain Violent" appeared the following year.
Murder Junkies [III] toured as a GG Allin tribute band throughout the 1990s and went through several more vocalists, including Michael ("Mike") Hudson, formerly of Pagans, Jeffrey ("Jeff") Clayton of Antiseen, and J.B. Beverley, a musician from the Washington, D.C. area.
Murder Junkies [III] broke up in 1999. They reformed (with Clayton singing) for a tour in the spring of 2003: the 10th anniversary of GG Allin's death. They performed alongside a version of GG's first band, The Jabbers, for several shows.
In 2005, they completed a tour of continental Europe. In 2006, they appeared at two shows supporting CKY, and toured as the opening act for Hank Williams III. In 2011, they headlined one show that featured such greats as The Pier Six Brawlers, and the Vaginas.
The band currently features Merle "Pinky" Allin, Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs, Benjamin "FC Murder" Bunny (formerly "Sonny" Harlan), and new singer Harold "PG Duvay" Rogers. This line-up released an album "Road Killers" in 2011.
The original Murder Junkies was a Texas band - formed independently of Allin - which performed as his backing band for several live dates in the late 1980s. (See Allin's unfinished autobiography for further brief details).
The second Murder Junkies was a studio band (including Allin's friend Mark Sheehan on guitar) which recorded the "Watch Me Kill" 6 track e.p., released on Fuckin' A/Stomach Ache Records in 1991.
Murder Junkies mark III - the subject of this article and a distinct entity from the other two bands of the same name - was formed in 1991 as GG Allin's new backing band, and rehearsed while he concluded his then-current prison sentence. The original line-up consisted of guitarist "Chicken" John Rinaldi (San Francisco mayoral candidate in 2007), GG's elder brother Merle "Pinky" Allin on bass, and drummer Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs.
Rinaldi left the band later in 1991, and voiced negative opinions about the experience in the documentary Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies, directed by Todd Phillips. He was replaced on guitar by William Weber. Dee Dee Ramone was recruited at the same time as Weber, but quit shortly thereafter, having never played any live dates with the band.
GG Allin & the Murder Junkies recorded their sole studio album, "Brutality and Bloodshed for All", for Alive Records in the spring of 1993. Their subsequent tour - shortly succeeded by Allin's death from an apparent drug overdose on June 28 of the same year - was chronicled by roadie Evan Cohen in the slim volume I Was A Murder Junkie: The Last Days Of GG Allin.
Sachs, Pinky, and Weber decided to continue the band, and recruited a new singer, Michael [last name unknown] ("Mike Denied"), singer with New York City band The Denied. They released a mini-album "Feed My Sleaze" in 1995. A 7" single "The Right To Remain Violent" appeared the following year.
Murder Junkies [III] toured as a GG Allin tribute band throughout the 1990s and went through several more vocalists, including Michael ("Mike") Hudson, formerly of Pagans, Jeffrey ("Jeff") Clayton of Antiseen, and J.B. Beverley, a musician from the Washington, D.C. area.
Murder Junkies [III] broke up in 1999. They reformed (with Clayton singing) for a tour in the spring of 2003: the 10th anniversary of GG Allin's death. They performed alongside a version of GG's first band, The Jabbers, for several shows.
In 2005, they completed a tour of continental Europe. In 2006, they appeared at two shows supporting CKY, and toured as the opening act for Hank Williams III. In 2011, they headlined one show that featured such greats as The Pier Six Brawlers, and the Vaginas.
The band currently features Merle "Pinky" Allin, Donald "Dino Sex" Sachs, Benjamin "FC Murder" Bunny (formerly "Sonny" Harlan), and new singer Harold "PG Duvay" Rogers. This line-up released an album "Road Killers" in 2011.
Discography
- Brutality and Bloodshed for AllBrutality and Bloodshed for AllBrutality and Bloodshed for All is the final studio album by GG Allin. Released in 1993, all of the songs on this album were written while Allin was in Jackson State Prison. Backing band was the Murder Junkies.-Style:...
(with GG AllinGG AllinKevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock singer-songwriter, who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. GG Allin is perhaps best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts, including coprophagia, self-mutilation, and...
) (LP/1993) - Terror in America - Live in the U.S.A. 1993 (with GG AllinGG AllinKevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock singer-songwriter, who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. GG Allin is perhaps best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts, including coprophagia, self-mutilation, and...
) (LP/1993) - Hated: Soundtrack (LP/1993)
- Hated: GG Allin and the Murder JunkiesHated: GG Allin and the Murder JunkiesHated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies is a 1994 documentary directed by Todd Phillips about the life of GG Allin, a punk rock musician who died from a heroin overdose in 1993...
(Documentary/1994) - Feed My Sleaze (10" mini-album, later released with bonus tracks as LP/1995)
- The Right to Remain Violent (7" EP/1995)
- The Sons and Daughters of this Savage Land (V/A featuring the Murder Junkies) (LP/1996)
- European Invasion 2005 (DVD/2006)
- Road Killers (LP/2011)