Was it really twenty two years ago this month that the Meat Puppets found themselves on a 6-week cross country tour with Black Flag and the Nig Heist? To Flag it was nothing: just another in a seemingly endless series of punishing promotional marathons. But to us, it was staggering. Nothing in our previous four years had prepared us for a month and a half of car trouble, violent crowds, hostile promotors, arrests, interminable drives, horrendous food, blizzards, and all with only two days off for the whole thing. In other words, it was a typical Black Flag tour. Fortunately, the Nig Heist opened every show, which was both both the high point and the low point of the trip, depending on my mood.
Each night, the Nig Heist would bait the hardcore audiences with a simplistic but effective style of confrontational performance art. Donning long hair wigs and heavy metal regalia, they would taunt the crowd with a crude Van Halen approximation. Every song dealt with what was known in Flag circles as “scamming broads.” In between the songs, the singer would invite the women in the audience to meet him backstage to “get happening” with what he called his “two inches of dangling death.” Some nights, the audience ignored it, some nights the shtick was boring. But on rare occasions the crowd would freak out, inspiring the band to ever greater heights of provocation. They even managed to get themselves arrested once.
Holding down the bottom end was super sweetie Tom Troccoli, self styled hippie and America’s formost nude bass player. I think he was also in charge of the merch, but I can no longer remember for sure. He and I got along from the start. We both liked a lot of the same shit, like comic books and Elvis. The Nig Heist was a lark for him, and shortly afterwards, he got his own band together. He explores his musical history in depth on his Web site, where you’ll not only find a generous helping of his own recollections, but if you look close enough, you’ll find some rare Meat Puppets content.
One only wishes that he’d give up whatever page authoring tool he’s using and move his whole mess over to wordpress.org or Blogger, where the templates are more legible.
I guess it’s been 22 years since I’ve been a Meat Puppets fan, too, cuz that tour was the first time I saw you guys play. The show was at the Longmarch in Philadelphia. A manic and inspired performance from what I recall, but what I remember most was Curt’s waving mop of lime green hair. That show also marked the introduction of Henry’s transformation from a bearded and bandaged madman from the Damaged tour into some sort of Manson/Morrison punk rock cult figure/rock star. Regarding Troccoli’s naked bass playing, the term “two inches of dangling death†could apply to him as well – and I’ve got pix from the show to prove it! Your future soundman was the drummer too, right?
Left by PRK on April 6th, 2006
Yup!
Left by Derrick Bostrom on April 6th, 2006
Is there an RSS feed for this page that I just can’t find? If not, could you please add one?
I am a fan and did a blog about you guys and then I found this blog and botsworld. Botsworld has RSS, but this site does not and it would be cool if it had it.
Oh, you can read my Meat Puppets post here if you want.
Felton Jam House: The official blog of feltonjamhouse.com: The Meat Puppets rock and so does the internet.
Greg.
Left by Greg on April 6th, 2006
I added a RSS link to the navigation bar at the top.
Hopefully, it’s correct!
Left by Derrick Bostrom on April 6th, 2006
Yep, it seems to work great. Thanks for that.
Left by Greg on April 10th, 2006
yea, Baryy Fey’s a dick.
still is, even in his old age.
he’s thankfully retired now.
Todd/Colorado Springs.
Left by Todd Grow on April 11th, 2006
BOSTROM –
you know, i met Curt here in Arlington, Va when he was swingin’ thru in Jan. playin’ his solo stuff. When he was playin’, i told my buddy, “i’m gonna meet Curt tonight” My buddy was like, “oh yeah? SURE!”
So anyway, after Curt was done, HE DISAPEARED (Curt ski-daddled)…the crowd thinned…THEN i saw Curt come back in…HE STAYED AND DRANK SOME BEERS with me! apparently, he was hanging with an old buddy of his (?) who was there too, but it was like 5 or 6 people just chillin’…
ANYWAYS, i got to sit and yap with Curt for like an hour…i kept talking to him about “Huevos” which is sort of my fav. Pups album as well as sunsets and mountains and confusion and all the stuff that attracts me to Pup’s music
He was very nice to a little puke like me (although our band’s music IS pretty good…i’m just sayin’…you know…i’m a hack of the tallest order, but i don’t slack off, i study and work hard and smoke pot every day…i listen to the masters, such as the Pups) it was kind of a highlight of my …uh…year??? IF NOT more?
ANYWAYS i didn’t have the heart to ask him about his BRO, but i found out that Cris is out of THE POKE and you know, i also didn’t have the heart to ask if the Pups would get back together, AND I WON’T ASK YOU EITHER!!!
you sent me an email a summer ago and i told Curt about that, but i didn’t press him on anything, i was glad he was just into hanging and talking about stuff…i didn’t want to jinx ANYTHING THAT MIGHT happen (?!?!?!?!)
so i will just say this, dear Derrick…i certainly hope you guys can get back together and play some music…your library of songs is unlimited and outstanding…
i have my fingers crossed, but i also know how hard it is to keep a band together…geezus god, do i…
my stupid advice would be this: EVERYONE likes the Meat Puppets…you got to tap into that jam band scene, they would appreciate you guys! FUCK THE ALT. / PUNK SCENE and the POSEURS that worship the alter of alt. punk!!! fuck that!!! they don’t come out and support anybody that’s not like FRANZ FERDINAND and that shit
you know, you guy’s album’s are really the shit…for me, it’s Zeppelin, then the Puppets…i’m not saying EVERYONe thinks like that, but, you know, I DO!!!
i love you guys
MIGUEL
Left by Miguel on April 13th, 2006
My first live introduction to the “indie” scene was an April 1984 show in Syracuse, NY with the Nig-Heist/Puppets/Black Flag. Looking back I am not quite sure if the Heist was good or bad but they did leave quite an impression on me. I do recall Troccoli getting naked and Mugger (?) remarking that the girls in attendance likely had big fat beer p*ssies but they were going to play Tight Little P*ssy anyway. The highlight of the evening may have been when a girl standing next to me started sobbing and demanded that her date take her home immediately. Antics aside, I felt the Heist had some hooky material.
In May of 1985, the Puppets returned to this most shitty club (the Lost Horizon) on the Up On the Sun tour and played to myself and 14 other people. The set ended with what appeared to be an improvisational number with one lyric about how Curt hoped that the first nuclear bomb fell on Syracuse. The brothers appeared rather buzzed that evening as I recall.
I apologize 21 years later for the lame ass Syracuse crowds. My friends and I loved the MP’s, still do.
PN
Left by Peter N. on April 26th, 2006
That’s a great highlight, Peter! Apology accepted — none required however.
Left by Derrick Bostrom on April 27th, 2006
Yeah, but what HE’S not telling you is how night after night we would be attacked and pelted with everything from lit cigs, to hard coins. At the end of our set, YOU were the one picking up the coins to buy yer din-din with!
Sweetie INDEED! In the world,. there has never been a sweeter guy, and (mostly, er, at times) a better friend could one could never have. A fine upstanding American too.
I love you forever you old human metronome.
No remakes or reunions for you, eh? I’m proud of you!
All my best big fella!
Tom
Left by Tom Troccoli on May 4th, 2006
If you guys hadn’t been so busy fleeing the pigs, it might have occured to you to make a deal with me for a cut of the take!
Left by Derrick Bostrom on May 4th, 2006
The way YOU eat, you have some nerve calling ANYONE a pig, SWINE!
And comapred to a bunch of freaks I know from Phoenix/Tempe, those cops were downright polite!
Okay, for real, in public and on YOUR page. The only SST band I ever loved even more than The Minutemen were The Pups.
I am proud (somewhat) that mine was the first Pup tattoo in history.
In actuality, I have tried writing a long essay regarding my love for things Meat Puppet but with the way things have turned out in the last decade, I just get depressed.
I loved your bass player terribly. We used to wear one anothers clothes just for fun. When I would visit Temoe, he would slide smut rags under the guest room door to assist with my masturbatory fantasies. We peed off Niagra Falls together. I loved him better than my own family, yet like Boon, I can’t help but think of him as a casualty as well, and it hurts and burns deeply when I think of what he became.
The absolute truth is that the Pups were so deeply special to me, I actually stopped riding with The Minutemen to ride in YOUR van. I have mighty deep and special memories of that time, and while you’ve always ribbed me about my being overly sentimental, those felings were real.
Bostrom, I still have some pretty cool Polaroids ( you DO remember the Polaroid…) of you guys on the Spring 1984 Tour. I would simply post them on my own website for you to download, but my understanding is that SST swipes EVERYTHING from the web and adds their own copyrights to these materials. I don’t want them to have them. You have an FTP site? I’ll be happy to scan and upload them your way. Drop me a line if you care to. You know where I am!
Hope you are healthy AND happy!
Tom
PS to the group, you simply have not LIVED until you have seen Bostrom do his ‘Fat Elvis’ impression for you!
And they say Unitarians have no sense of humor…
Left by Tom Troccoli on May 5th, 2006
To PRK,
Do you have a place where I can see your Philly pix? I still have the big poster from the gig as well as many Flag and Pups pix I took on stage that night.
And what about my 2 inches of dangling death? What dya expect? I’m Italian! You ever see any Michaelangelo or Da Vinci nudes where the guys look like John Holmes?
I can tell you mine wasn’t the smallest out there, just the smallest one VISIBLE!
And as an aside on the same topic, it was no mistake we used to refer to Curt Kirkwood as ‘The Cheif Of Relief!”
Left by Tom Troccoli on May 5th, 2006
Wanted to mention amongst all this anniversary reverie, today May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) is the 22nd anniversary of the FINAL gig of the 1984 Flag/Pups/Heist tour. It was at Perkins Palace in Pasadena California.
Not known to the general public is that the gig was professsionaly recorded and rejected (Flag went for the Aug 16 1984 Stone gig for the ‘Live ’84′ vid and cassette), but I have always wondered what happened to the Pups multi-track masters from that evening. Do you have a copy Bostrom?
Travis has a hand held from the balcony version on home video. That was one HELL of a Polk Salad Annie too!
Left by Tom Troccoli on May 5th, 2006
Tom –
1. Whaddyou mean SST swipes everthing off the web and puts their own copywrite on it?? You better watch who you’re libelling!
2. I’m pretty sure I have Perkins Palace somewhere, though it’s probably straight off the board, and not mixed. As I recall, it was as typically shabby as everything else wedid on that tour. Furthermore, knowing me, I only saved my favorite highlights, not the whole show.
Left by Derrick Bostrom on May 5th, 2006
Hi Derrick
I discovered your Meat puppets site today…. When I downloaded the Raw Meat compilation I was immidiately transported back to the early 80′s… (since they have nothing better to pay me for at work than reveling in the past.) In doing so I am having punk rock flahbacks to the basement of 7th street entry in Minneapolis where Mike Etoll drew a portrait of your band before the set…(minimalist stick figures of coarse!!)
And then I read your posts of Tom Troccolli.. but the link doesn’t work… Does he still have website? I would love to drop in and say hi….
Miss Jane/Duck Kicking Vulture/Yanomamos
Left by Mary Jane Mansfield on February 6th, 2008
Yep — Looks like Tom’s gone and vanished again.
That’s okay; you can still get ahold of the content that really matters to him: the Vida Collection at archive.org:
http://www.archive.org/details/Vida
Left by Derrick Bostrom on February 6th, 2008
Hello Derrick!
Long time, no see. I hope all is well with you.
If my memory serves me correctly, the picture that I drew in the Entry basement was of Tom Troccoli’s Dog. I still have a bunch of artwork that you guys sent me during the 80′s
Hello Mary Jane.
Mike Etoll
Left by Mike Etoll on March 25th, 2008
I was wondering what happened to Troccoli myself? His site was awesome. I used to spend hours on there looking at and reading all the cool shit. It’s weird, up until about 2007 he was all over the internet, posting on tons of site (this one included), then…BAM! He and his site disappear. Like a mystery. Too bad because Tom seems like a really cool dude. I always wanted to email him and ask him questions about SST, his music (hey, I like the Dog! and October Faction!), and the like , but never got about to it. Wonder if he’ll ever pop up again?
Derrick, any idea what happened to him?
Left by Brandon Hendrix on February 17th, 2010
I don’t. Tom has always been a mercurial, elemental entity. He’s the wind, baby. (And I’m not just saying that to build up his mystique…)
Left by Derrick Bostrom on February 18th, 2010
DUDE i love the guitarist squeeling NIGHEIST IS THE MODA FUCKIN SHIT
Left by DUCK MY SICK on May 29th, 2010