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Flipper is an influential punk/noise band from San Francisco , California , formed in 1979 , continuing on in often erratic fashion until the mid-1990's, then reuniting in 2005. Its founding members included former members of the Sleepers and Negative Trend . MEMBERS Core members
Current members
INITIAL IMPACT The band made their first recordings available in late 1979 via the ''SF Underground'' 7" compilation series released through Steve Tupper 's newly-formed Subterranean Records . In 1981 , a 7" comprising "Love Canal/Ha Ha Ha" followed, and the original lineup made two full-length studio Album s on Subterranean, 1982's ''Generic'' and a 1984 followup ''Gone Fishin Flipper's music was very shambolic and noisy, and often considered "slow" for a punk band of the time. In many early shows, the band had half the audience onstage with them singing backup vocals, and encouraged horn players to join them for their anthem, "Sex Bomb"; the crowding onstage usually knocked the stringed instruments out of tune. Guitarist Ted Falconi installed spikes in the head of his guitar to help prevent this, but blaring, out-of-tune dissonance became part of the band's signature sound. Flipper was often as strongly in league with conceptual art and Atonal music as with rock or punk. They were originally known in San Francisco as a band that 'everybody hated,' and who bombarded the city with graffiti far more than they actually played. Years after the band's demise, its spray-painted dead fish logos were still visible in San Francisco (although signs on the city's Clipper Street have since been reverted from "Flipper Street"). (Other notable places to find their fish logo include the Berlin Wall , the Eiffel Tower , the Great Wall Of China , and the bathrooms of the Vatican in Rome and Habersham Central High School .) Some say that Flipper's charm as a band lies in their ability to upset audiences, while attracting their undivided attention and curiosity at the same time. Their first single, "Love Canal"/"Ha Ha Ha", was widely derided, not only for its offensive cover art, but its bizarre sound, and yet sold many copies in the underground. "Ha Ha Ha" was also considered by some to be derivative of "Lifetime Problems," the b-side of the Dicks' single "Dicks Hate the Police," which had caused a big stir the previous year. This, in brief, was the band's concept: ''to be bad in ways that no band had ever been bad before''. However, in true Flipper fashion, they even failed to fail, and their audience continued to grow as their outlandish approach appealed to those seeking something different. Two more singles on Subterranean followed, "Brainwash"/"Sex Bomb Baby" and "Old Lady That Swallowed The Fly"/"Get Away" before ''Album'' (also known as ''Generic Flipper''). Their debut LP sees the drone and blare molded into startlingly effective songs, with a lyrically bleak outlook, but humane vulnerability in the vocals, and flashes of genuine musicianship. It is widely considered a classic album of this era. The mayhem contained on the disc is infectious as Will Shatter repeats "Life! Life! Life is the only thing worth living for!" Similarly, "Sex Bomb Baby" is a seven minute track with only one lyric, "She's a sex bomb, my baby, yeah.", intertwined with a raucous yet melodic musical interplay. The follow-up studio album in 1984, ''Gone Fishin'', was even darker and artier than the first LP. It featured the disorientating opening track "The Lights, The Sound, The Rhythm, The Noise", the haunting "Survivors of the Plague" and the decrying of the war machine in the song "Sacrifice". The multi-colored delivery step van pictured on the cover was also where Ted Falconi lived when the group was not on the road. The van, along with figures representing the band and their equipment could be cut out and folded with Subterranean offering extra covers through a small mail order fee. In 1984 , the ROIR cassette label released a live Flipper document of a CBGB 's performance entitled "Blow'n Chunks" that became available on CD in 1990 , and goes in and out of print. A 2001 reissue includes four outtakes from the live sessions. John Lydon 's Public Image Ltd was widely accused in the US of stealing the cover art and concept of Flipper's album, ''Album''. Consequently, Flipper entitled their 1986 double live album, ''Public Flipper Ltd.'' The album unfolded into a board game complete with a cutout spinner and game cards with Subterranean once again providing extra covers through mail order. The original lineup began splintering after a long debauched period of touring, and singer and core member Will Shatter eventually died in 1987 of a Drug Overdose after forming A3I (Any Three Initials, a punk outfit whose title mocked the prevalence of acronymic band names). Subterranean packaged the band's most popular recordings in a greatest hits collection titled "Sex Bomb Baby" released in 1987. The initial release featured several different hand drawn covers and the cassette edition and later CD rerelease featured three bonus tracks. AFTER WILL SHATTER By the early 1990s, the band resurfaced with a new single on Subterranean called "Someday"/"Distant Illusion" and began performing again. Bruce Loose had become a Heroin addict by this point. After Loose allegedly stole the band's master tapes from Subterranean's warehouse, he and DePace brokered a deal with powerful Los Angeles-based music industry figure Rick Rubin . Rubin used his attorneys to quash Subterranean's claim to the music and soon re-released ''Album Generic Flipper'' and the singles compilation ''Sex Bomb Baby'' on his Infinite Zero label. Even with Henry Rollins onboard as the latter label's A&R , the label soon went defunct. By 1997 , Flipper's groundbreaking music went largely out of print, with Rubin still holding onto the rights, though tentative plans have been made for the band's catalogue to be re-released on Rubin's American Recordings in 2007. As part of the legal settlement Subterranean Records was awarded the right to reissue its Flipper records on vinyl in the United States. The band continued playing from 1990 to 1995, pursuing a more straightforward rock sound and attempt to cash in on their notoriety. In 1992, the new lineup released "American Grafishy" on Rick Rubin 's Def American imprint; this is their only recording that is still consistently (legally) available. Their demise was again forthcoming due to another death by heroin overdose, this time that of replacement bass player John Dougherty. Loose once commented to '' SF Weekly '' on the band's history as "like Spinal Tap , except the ''bass'' player keeps dying". In 2002 Bruce Loose, father of a teenager, using a cane to get around (following a horrific car accident), resurfaced with a one off gig at Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street space as "Not Flipper". Falconi is somewhat reclusive. DePace is reportedly shopping Flipper stories to potential publishers. He lives in the L.A. area and works in the animation industry. The original members of Flipper, barring the late Will Shatter (with Bruno DeSmartass replacing Shatter once again as he had done for a 1982 tour), reunited to support CBGB on August 22 and 28 , 2005 . Singer Bruce Loose appeared on stage with a cane. This line-up of Flipper then continued to play live again beginning in 2006, with plans for a new album to be released and recorded in 2007. In December 2006, DeSmartass was replaced by ", which the band recorded (without Novoselic) for a 2000 Nirvana tribute album, was added to the band's setlist. In May 2007, Novoselic announced in an interview with Mike Watt that a new Flipper album is expected for release in fall of 2007. The album is recorded by Jack Endino , the famous sound engineer who recorded Nirvana 's debut album Bleach . DISCOGRAPHY Studio Albums Live albums Singles Other appearances
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