The Screamers were a punk rock group active in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1970s. Screamers gig poster with Gary Panter image, 1978 This work is copyrighted. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Area    - City 1,290. ...

Included among the first wave of LA's punk rockers, the label "techno-punk" was applied to the band by the Los Angeles Times in 1978. The Screamers are widely cited as the pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk," and might also be classifeid as art punk. The Screamers were notable for their unusual instrumentation, featuring electronic keyboard and synthesizer, while omitting guitars. Additional musicians, including violinists and a female vocalist, were occasionally incorporated into their performances. The California punk scene is a regional punk rock music scene that started in the late 1970’s and still exists today. ... The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. ... Defining characteristics of synthpunk (also known as synth-punk) bands include being founded at the same time (late 1970s) and place (California) as many US punk bands, performing with those same punk bands, in those same punk clubs, with records released on those same punk labels, preferring electronic instruments such... Art Punk is a term given to punk bands with an artistic, experimental, or progressive edge. ... An electronic keyboard is a keyboard instrument which uses electricity to produce or amplify its sound. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, or phase distortion. ...

The group featured a highly developed theatrical presentation that centered around a manic lead vocalist, Tomata du Plenty, whose stage persona one early commentator described as "a psychotic Mickey Rooney." Tomata du Plenty (1948 – August 21, 2000) was the stage name of David Xavier Harrigan, the singer of the late 1970s synthpunk band, the Screamers. ... Mickey Rooney, 1940s. ...

Though they developed a substantial following and generated considerable press coverage, the Screamers never released a record. Singer Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys once declared the Screamers to be "the best unrecorded band in the history of rock and roll." Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ... The Dead Kennedys (often known by their initials DK, as in decay) are a hardcore punk band from San Francisco, California. ...

History

Du Plenty (born David Xavier Harrigan in 1948, died 2000), a veteran of the theatrical drag troupe "The Cockettes," first collaborated with the Screamers' principal songwriter Tommy Gear (then using the name "Melba Toast") in Seattle in 1975, as "The Tupperwares." After legal threats from the "Tupperware" trademark owners, Gear and du Plenty changed their band's name to the Screamers and migrated to Los Angeles, where in early 1977 they added David Brown (who largely shaped their characteristic drums-synthesizer-electric piano sound) and drummer K.K. Barrett. Brown soon left to found the seminal punk label Dangerhouse records; he was replaced by Paul Roessler. The Screamers created a visual presence in the press before they ever played live. Studio photos of the band—their hair greased into spikes, Tomata's rubbery face contorted by turns into a demonic grin or a mask of anguish—began to appear in magazines even before a full band had been assembled. Artist Gary Panter's logo for the band, a stylized cartoon of a screaming head with spiked hair, became one of the most recognizable images to emerge from Punk Rock. The Cockettes were a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 60s, combining intricate LSD-influenced choreography, set design, costumes and their own versions of showtunes. ... Tupperware logo Tupperware is the brand name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for kitchen and home. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, or phase distortion. ... An electric piano (e-piano) is an electric musical instrument whose popularity was at its greatest during the 1960s and 1970s. ... Keith K.K. Barrett is a production designer known for his work on critically acclaimed feature films by Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola. ... Dangerhouse Records was a punk music production company in Los Angeles, California. ... Gary Panter (born 1950 in Oklahoma), known to many as the father of punk comics, is a fine artist and a luminary of the post-underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of Arcade: The Comics Revue and the initiation of RAW. Overview As an early participant... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

From 1977 through 1979, the Screamers became a sensation in Los Angeles rock clubs, selling out multiple-night engagements at the Whisky a Go Go. They were the first band without a recording contract ever permitted to headline at the prestigious Roxy on Sunset Boulevard. Their performances highlighted extreme psychological states, and their lyrics veered between jocular engagement with pop culture ("I'm Going Steady With Twiggy") and quasi-fascist commands to the citizens of the future ("Punish or Be Damned," "In a Better World, Everybody Must Be Made to Feel Important"). The music combined pop melodies, droning synthesizer, propulsive drumming, and vocals that were literally screamed. The Whisky A Go-Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. ... The Roxy Theatre (sometimes just The Roxy) is a famous nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. ...

Describing a July, 1979, performance, music critic Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times focused on "Du Plenty's extraordinary power on stage." According to Hilburn, "Du Plenty's hair was greased to stand straight up, giving him the look of a man who had just stuck his finger into an electric socket. His performance reflected the nervous, relentless anxiety of someone whose troubles are even deeper... By the end of the 40-minute set, du Plenty has gone through the same disintegration of the human will that we associate with such books as 1984. Eventually, the tuxedo jacket, shirt and tie are ripped off, leaving him symbolically naked in his attempt to maintain some dignity and individuality. As if suddenly put in another man's body, he asks in horror: 'Who am I?'"^[1] 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Remarkably, the Screamers made no records. (Several bootleg recordings have since appeared, comprised of rehersals or live recordings.) At one point, the group determined they would release their debut album only in video form (this was a very unusual appraoach at the time, before MTV existed), and they devoted time and resources to constructing a small movie studio. Despite some fitful efforts in the early 80s, the band had effectively dissolved before their video plans were realized. Roessler joined L.A.'s other "synthpunk" band, Nervous Gender. The other band members pursued non-musical careers, though Barrett reunited with Roessler to perform several Screamers songs in 2000, in tribute to Tomata du Plenty, who had recently died in San Francisco. A bootleg recording is a musical recording, distributed for profit or other financial compensation, that was not officially released by the artist (or their associated management or production companies), or under other legal authority. ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ... Defining characteristics of synthpunk (also known as synth-punk) bands include being founded at the same time (late 1970s) and place (California) as many US punk bands, performing with those same punk bands, in those same punk clubs, with records released on those same punk labels, preferring electronic instruments such... Nervous Gender was a punk band founded in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa. ...

Recordings

In 2004, Target Video released a DVD of a Screamers concert from 1978, filmed at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco and appended several early Screamers music videos shot at the Target studio around the same time. Unauthorized live recordings and demo tapes of the Screamers circulate as bootlegs. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This San Francisco-based studio archived hardcore punk bands such as Black Flag, Flipper, and the Crucifucks in the early 1980s. ... DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Mabuhay Gardens (aka The Fab Mab) was a San Francisco nightclub located at 443 Broadway, on the Broadway strip of North Beach, an area best known for its strip clubs. ...

Notes

1. ^ Robert Hilburn, "The L.A. Rock Scene: A Dramatic Resurgence," 'Los Angeles Times,' July 24, 1979

External links

• An extensive web site devoted to the Screamers
• An obituary for Tomata du Plenty by V.Vale of Research publications