Pere Ubu

Avant-garde rock group Pere Ubu were formed in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1970s and became a critically acclaimed, art-punk band that has carried on working in various forms, albeit with some breaks, to the present day. The name comes from Ubu Roi, a play by Alfred Jarry. David Thomas, Peter Laughner, Tom Herman, Tim Wright, Scott Krauss and Allen Ravenstine formed in 1975 after the demise of Rocket From the Tombs, a local band founded by Thomas and Laughner. The debut single was "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", followed by "Final Solution" in 1976.

Laughner left the group that year, and died soon afterwards after a long struggle with drug addiction. Tony Maimone signed on as bassist after Tim Wright left to join DNA. After "Street Waves", their third single, Per Ubu signed to Blank Records, an imprint of Mercury Records created just for the band. The debut album was The Modern Dance (1978) and sold poorly, though well among strategic groups. Musicians of all types, including prog rock, punk rock, post punk and New Wave were influenced by the dark, abstract record. Dub Housing and New Picnic Time followed, with much the same reaction. The group disbanded in 1979, but reformed soon afterwards with Herman replaced by Mayo Thompson (of Red Krayola).

The Art of Walking (1980) showed a movement towards a pop audience. For the next original album, Song of the Bailing Man (1982), Krauss was replaced by Anton Fier. The group disbanded again soon afterwards; Krauss and Maimone formed Home & Garden, while Thomas worked on a solo career, occasionally working with former members of Pere Ubu. The band was reformed again in 1988, with Jim Jones and Chris Cutler joining for the release of The Tenement Year (1988), a far more pop-oriented album than ever before. The following year, "Waiting for Mary" (off Cloudland) appeared on MTV briefly. Eric Drew Feldman joined in time for Worlds in Collision but left afterwards, joining Frank Black. Story of my Life (1993) was released on Imago; Maimone left once again, and Michele Temple and Garo Yellin joined for the 1995 album, Raygun Suitcase. After a 1996 box set, Thomas reunited with Tom Herman to record Pennsylvania (1998) and St. Arkansas in 2002.

Pere Ubu had an interesting way of combining musicians: From the start the Ubu methodology was almost, just about, nearly, definable:

'Don't ever audition.'
'Don't look for someone.'
'Don't seek success.'
'Choose the first person you hear about.'
'Take the first idea you get.'
'Put unique people together. Unique people will play uniquely whether or not they know how to play.'
'Delay Centrifugal Destruct Factors for as long as possible then push the button.'

External Links

Official Site: http://www.projex.demon.co.uk/