The Squids
Encyclopedia
The Squids are a Chicago-based punk band that was created by Chicago born singer/songwriter Joey Spatafora and William LaTour also known as LaTour
. The Squids appeared to break up recently though it is never clear when they will resurface. The Squids toured and recorded from 1990 to 2002. They were the break out band at the 6th Annual Chicago FreeFest.
Spatafora, LaTour
and The Squids bass player Emery Joe Yost went back into LaTour's studio Chateau LaTour in 2005 to record a batch of Squid songs which have not yet been released.
Other band members included Bolander Davis on guitar (Davis passed in 1996 from liver cancer. He was replaced in the line-up by Robert Fesus), Judy Johnson on bass, and Jimmy Vass on drums. The bands more noted line-up changes include the addition of Yost on bass in 1994, Dave Hunt on drums in 1996, and keyboard player Scot Bahry who would sit in for LaTour
when he was on tour to promote the LaTour
albums.
after LaTour
and Joey Spatafora attended a concert at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago (now known as Metro Chicago
). They went to see the The Dead Milkmen open up for The Ramones. Immediately that night they decided to re-record the entire catalog of demo-songs they were working on with their group Shock Radio (which included future Squids bass player Emery Yost) in a Ramones/Shaggs like punk style that they jokingly referred to as Squid Music.
Happy Birthday to Joey Spatafora 2011!
They removed the drum machine which they used in their previous band and opted to enlist drummer Jimmy Vass who lived next door to the LaTour
household on Montrose Avenue. Right before the bands first public performance (April 1, 1990 at The Sanctuary on Rush Street in Chicago) they chose to name the band The Squids as they thought it was a name that would represent homage to The Shaggs
, and would be as memorable as The Beatles
. The Squids were soon after invited to play on the stage of The Cabaret Metro September 26, 1990, and played there regularly. The band auditioned hundreds of musicians in the spring of 1990 before tapping former Barbie Army bassist Judy Johnson and Bonk Nobles bassist Bolander Davis to play guitar for The Squids. This was the line-up that recorded the bands first release Bingo City.
The Squids first rehearsal hall was Dress Rehearsals at 1610 W. Wood Street in Chicago in the early 90's, and they would go over new material in the studio across from another famous Chicago band named Styx who were popular in Chicago in the late 70's. While Styx was preparing for a comeback in the early 90's, The Squids would yell at them to turn it down from the studio next door, especially when they would play Mr. Roboto. Joey Spatafora in 2010 now credits Styx as being one of his favorite bands of all time.
In 1995, the very first annual North by Northeast
Music Festival and Conference (NXNE) in Toronto Canada, selected The Squids and heavy metal band Cutlass, to represent Chicago that first year of the still going event. The Squids performed on the closing night of the festival in the Cabana Room at the historical Spadina Hotel
on Saturday June 17, 1995.
has been credited for leading the musical direction of the band, and both LaTour
and Spatafora grew up listening to Top-40 radio giving them a knack for composing original radio friendly songs, and then trashing them into a punk style recording and performance. Both credit The Shaggs
, The Ramones, The Cars
, Spinal Tap
, and "Weird Al" Yankovic
as main influences for the development of The Squids. Spatafora's very first inkling to sing in a rock and roll band started when he received the first self titled album by the hard rock group Kiss
on his 9th birthday in 1974. The gift was from his mother's best girlfriend in an effort to inspire, but with rumors circulating of Kiss being a negative influence on youth, Joey's mother quickly threw the album in the trash can after just a few days of observing him emulating Kiss vocalist Paul Stanley
performing an entire Kiss concert in his bedroom mirror for hours. Joey quickly and effortlessly committed the lyrics to memorization while shouting out the vocals using a hair brush as a microphone, and a plastic whiffle ball bat for a guitar. The Squids re-inacted the defining childhood memory in 2005 with the bands final recording entitled "Weeeee!! A KISS Concert!!".
The Squids are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
ballot in 2015.
Musician Lineup changes through the band history include:
Production Assistants - Hector Segovia, Tasha Barkes Gilley, Peter Miezio, Patrice Peters, Christina Zuninga.
EP Release:
CD Release:
CD Compilation
YouTube Only Exclusive Single Releases
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
. The Squids appeared to break up recently though it is never clear when they will resurface. The Squids toured and recorded from 1990 to 2002. They were the break out band at the 6th Annual Chicago FreeFest.
Spatafora, LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
and The Squids bass player Emery Joe Yost went back into LaTour's studio Chateau LaTour in 2005 to record a batch of Squid songs which have not yet been released.
Other band members included Bolander Davis on guitar (Davis passed in 1996 from liver cancer. He was replaced in the line-up by Robert Fesus), Judy Johnson on bass, and Jimmy Vass on drums. The bands more noted line-up changes include the addition of Yost on bass in 1994, Dave Hunt on drums in 1996, and keyboard player Scot Bahry who would sit in for LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
when he was on tour to promote the LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
albums.
History
The Squids were created by accident in 1989 in the Chicago basement of LaTourLaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
after LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
and Joey Spatafora attended a concert at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago (now known as Metro Chicago
Metro Chicago
This page is about the concert hall; for the metro region surrounding Chicago, see Chicago metropolitan area.Metro is a concert hall at 3730 N. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in...
). They went to see the The Dead Milkmen open up for The Ramones. Immediately that night they decided to re-record the entire catalog of demo-songs they were working on with their group Shock Radio (which included future Squids bass player Emery Yost) in a Ramones/Shaggs like punk style that they jokingly referred to as Squid Music.
Happy Birthday to Joey Spatafora 2011!
They removed the drum machine which they used in their previous band and opted to enlist drummer Jimmy Vass who lived next door to the LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
household on Montrose Avenue. Right before the bands first public performance (April 1, 1990 at The Sanctuary on Rush Street in Chicago) they chose to name the band The Squids as they thought it was a name that would represent homage to The Shaggs
The Shaggs
The Shaggs were an American all-female rock group formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin , Betty Wiggin , Helen Wiggin , and later Rachel Wiggin ....
, and would be as memorable as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The Squids were soon after invited to play on the stage of The Cabaret Metro September 26, 1990, and played there regularly. The band auditioned hundreds of musicians in the spring of 1990 before tapping former Barbie Army bassist Judy Johnson and Bonk Nobles bassist Bolander Davis to play guitar for The Squids. This was the line-up that recorded the bands first release Bingo City.
The Squids first rehearsal hall was Dress Rehearsals at 1610 W. Wood Street in Chicago in the early 90's, and they would go over new material in the studio across from another famous Chicago band named Styx who were popular in Chicago in the late 70's. While Styx was preparing for a comeback in the early 90's, The Squids would yell at them to turn it down from the studio next door, especially when they would play Mr. Roboto. Joey Spatafora in 2010 now credits Styx as being one of his favorite bands of all time.
In 1995, the very first annual North by Northeast
North by Northeast
North by Northeast is an annual five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held each June....
Music Festival and Conference (NXNE) in Toronto Canada, selected The Squids and heavy metal band Cutlass, to represent Chicago that first year of the still going event. The Squids performed on the closing night of the festival in the Cabana Room at the historical Spadina Hotel
Spadina Hotel
The Spadina Hotel is youth hostel located at Spadina Avenue and King Street, just south of Chinatown in Toronto.Built in the late 1873, the three storey Victorian building features a small clock on the east facade. In the early 1900s it was the Hotel Falconer and shared the corner with another...
on Saturday June 17, 1995.
Musical Style and Influences
LaTourLaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
has been credited for leading the musical direction of the band, and both LaTour
LaTour
William LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
and Spatafora grew up listening to Top-40 radio giving them a knack for composing original radio friendly songs, and then trashing them into a punk style recording and performance. Both credit The Shaggs
The Shaggs
The Shaggs were an American all-female rock group formed in Fremont, New Hampshire in 1968. The band was composed of sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin , Betty Wiggin , Helen Wiggin , and later Rachel Wiggin ....
, The Ramones, The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
, Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap (band)
Spinal Tap is a parody heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner...
, and "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
as main influences for the development of The Squids. Spatafora's very first inkling to sing in a rock and roll band started when he received the first self titled album by the hard rock group Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
on his 9th birthday in 1974. The gift was from his mother's best girlfriend in an effort to inspire, but with rumors circulating of Kiss being a negative influence on youth, Joey's mother quickly threw the album in the trash can after just a few days of observing him emulating Kiss vocalist Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
performing an entire Kiss concert in his bedroom mirror for hours. Joey quickly and effortlessly committed the lyrics to memorization while shouting out the vocals using a hair brush as a microphone, and a plastic whiffle ball bat for a guitar. The Squids re-inacted the defining childhood memory in 2005 with the bands final recording entitled "Weeeee!! A KISS Concert!!".
Humor
Joey Spatafora was the lyricist and satirist for all of The Squids recordings that are lyrically comedic punk rock humor. He also designed the art work for all of the bands releases. Although The Squids lean towards a comedic style, the band once turned down a recording contract with Sony Records when Sony wanted to promote The Squids as the new The Village People of punk.The Squids are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
ballot in 2015.
The Squids Band Members
The Original Lineup was:- Joey Spatafora - Lead Vocals (1990–2005)
- William LaTourLaTourWilliam LaTour, better known by his stage name LaTour and also known as "Bud" Latour, is an American singer, songwriter, and voice over artist...
- Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals (1990–2005) - Bolander Davis - Guitar, Vocals (1990–1996)
- Judy Johnson - Bass (1990–1992)
- Jimmy Vass - Drums (1990–1995)
Musician Lineup changes through the band history include:
- Keyboards - Scot Bahry.....
- Guitar - Robert Fesus, Skip Pederson, Guy Dominick, Paul William, Dave Kamuldulski, Peter Alexakos.....
- Bass - Emery Joe Yost, Greg McDaniel, Pat Burns, Nick Panowko......
- Drums - Dave Hunt, Guy Giusto, John Yost.
Production Assistants - Hector Segovia, Tasha Barkes Gilley, Peter Miezio, Patrice Peters, Christina Zuninga.
Discography
Cassette Releases:- 1990: "Bingo City"
- 1991: "Smooth Down There"
- 1992: "The C Word"
- 1993: "Lesbian Slumber Party"
- 1994: "Bloody Eye Of Satan"
EP Release:
- 1995: "RUSH 2112" from Squids Productions
CD Release:
- 2000: "4 Floors Of Whores - The Squids Collection" from Hot Dog Water Records
CD Compilation
- 1995: "The 6th Annual Free Fest Chicago Compilation CD" - "15 Seconds Doesn't Count" by The Squids (disc 1, cut 9)
YouTube Only Exclusive Single Releases
- 2005: "Weeeee!! A KISS Concert!!"
- 2005: "Weekend In A Mexican Prison"