Worm Quartet
Encyclopedia
Worm Quartet is a one-man (Timothy F. Crist, A.K.A. -=ShoEboX=-) Comedy Synth Punk band portrayed on album covers as a group of four worms. The "band" has a growing cult following thanks to exposure on the Dr. Demento
show. Worm Quartet's music, all written by Crist, is characterized by wild logorrhea, taking words that might never have been in the same sentence before and forming odd images that flash past the listener's ears but remain imprinted on their engrams. His sophomoric sense of humor is occasionally tempered by outrage. Worm Quartet had the #1 Most Requested Song of the Year on the Dr. Demento
Show in 2004 (Great Idea For A Song) and 2005 (Inner Voice with Sudden Death
). He has additionally collaborated with Rob Balder
under the name "Baldbox" to release one CD ("The Dumb Album") and several followup songs, which have also been played frequently by Dr. Demento and other terrestrial radio shows.
While Puking And Pissing On Lobsters.
A short while later Celia, the only female worm, was replaced with fan favorite Chutney, mostly due to the very sophomoric senses of humor of Frankie who would invariably find a way to insert a drawing of a penis near her mouth.
Later still Chutney fell victim to an accident (reportedly involving a jackhammer, a 747, and a giant robotic dog) which both mutilated his body and drove him insane. This would be the cause of the later "Chutney songs".
It was also around this time that Tim got his first (1200 baud) modem
for his Atari
130XE computer and christened himself on various bulletin boards as "Shoebox", citing a somewhat obscure line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
spoken by Trillian
(He wasn't so much a leopard, more a sort of... well, you know... shoebox.). This in turn turned into ShoEboX and eventually -=ShoEboX=-, which when read in only lowercase reads "hobo" and only uppercase reads SEX". The former is unintentional, but the latter was described by ShoEboX as describing (at the time he created the alliteration) that which he would never have.
Portastudio 424 and went to recording the first official Worm Quartet tape, "Urine Sampler".
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....
show. Worm Quartet's music, all written by Crist, is characterized by wild logorrhea, taking words that might never have been in the same sentence before and forming odd images that flash past the listener's ears but remain imprinted on their engrams. His sophomoric sense of humor is occasionally tempered by outrage. Worm Quartet had the #1 Most Requested Song of the Year on the 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....
Show in 2004 (Great Idea For A Song) and 2005 (Inner Voice with Sudden Death
Sudden Death (music)
Sudden Death is a comedy rap trio from Hardyston, New Jersey consisting of members Tom Rockwell , Steve Fernino , and Thom Uliasz .They formed in 1986 and started releasing their music in 1991....
). He has additionally collaborated with Rob Balder
Rob Balder
Robert T. Balder is a professional cartoonist, singer/songwriter, game designer and web entrepreneur. He graduated from Roanoke College with a major in English in 1993, and after a variety of jobs, entered a seven year career in IT, starting as a Manager of Database Development, which he left for...
under the name "Baldbox" to release one CD ("The Dumb Album") and several followup songs, which have also been played frequently by Dr. Demento and other terrestrial radio shows.
Pre-Music
The four worms (then Bob, Leon, Rodney, and Celia) were first created by Tim during a high school science class period in an attempt to alleviate boredom and amuse a friend named Frankie. The original four worms were depicted at various times singing songs with 'unbelievably dumb' lyrics or on mock record covers for such classic as Worm Quartet Sings The Songs Of Barry ManilowBarry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
While Puking And Pissing On Lobsters.
Line Up Changes
The first of the two line up changes to bring about the worms we know today was nothing but a slip up on the part of the creator, when he accidentally christened Rodney as Elroy.A short while later Celia, the only female worm, was replaced with fan favorite Chutney, mostly due to the very sophomoric senses of humor of Frankie who would invariably find a way to insert a drawing of a penis near her mouth.
Later still Chutney fell victim to an accident (reportedly involving a jackhammer, a 747, and a giant robotic dog) which both mutilated his body and drove him insane. This would be the cause of the later "Chutney songs".
We Are The Music Makers
Around 1991 Tim decided that, since Worm Quartet was after all a band, they should put out a tape. With nothing but a Yamaha PSR-6 Keyboard and some recording equipment Tim went to work on "Pass the Potatoes", the Worm Quartets debut album. Though it admittedly suffered from low production values Tim decided to keep going, eventually recording 10 more tapes of Worm Quartets very different style of music. (Tim denies any knowledge of all music prior to the original recording of Urine Sampler.)It was also around this time that Tim got his first (1200 baud) modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
for his Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
130XE computer and christened himself on various bulletin boards as "Shoebox", citing a somewhat obscure line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
spoken by Trillian
Trillian (character)
Tricia McMillan, also known as Trillian Astra, is a fictional character from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-like". According to the...
(He wasn't so much a leopard, more a sort of... well, you know... shoebox.). This in turn turned into ShoEboX and eventually -=ShoEboX=-, which when read in only lowercase reads "hobo" and only uppercase reads SEX". The former is unintentional, but the latter was described by ShoEboX as describing (at the time he created the alliteration) that which he would never have.
A Three Man Quartet
In 1993, upon graduating High School and entering College, -=ShoEboX=- drafted two friends into the single man Quartet. Tony "Coffee" Roche on guitar and Kevin Morgan on drums filled out the WQ sound. The now Three Man Quartet eventually took Tim's DIY spirit to heart and got around to recording the No Talent Implied semi-demo in Tony's Garage and Tim's bedroom. This tape was accidentally left at someone's house one night, which led to copying and distribution around the Southbridge, MA area.The first Yamaha
When Tony left the band (with no hard feelings) Kevin moved up to guitar and something that would eventually go on to shape the future sound of the music happened, -=ShoEboX=- purchased a Drum Machine. After polishing some of the older songs and writing some new ones the band drafted the help of Mr. Ben Dean and his TascamTASCAM
TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Montebello, California. Tascam is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first cassette-based multi-track home studio recorders. Tascam also introduced the first low-cost mass produced multitrack recorders...
Portastudio 424 and went to recording the first official Worm Quartet tape, "Urine Sampler".
Studio albums
- SumoPhobia (1999)
- Stupid Video Game Music (2001)
- Faster Than A Speeding Mullet (2004)
- Mental Notes (2007)