Celebrity Skin

Celebrity Skin was a post-punk, glam-influenced hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. They were active from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s. Following the death of singer Darby Crash and the subsequent breakup of the band Germs in 1980, Germs guitarist Pat Smear formed the band Vagina Dentata with Crash's former girlfriend Michelle Bell on vocals, Tim Ferris on bass, and Gary Jacoby on drums. Vagina Dentata recorded a version of the song "Golden Boys", one of the last songs co-written by Darby Crash before his death. After the breakup of Vagina Dentata in 1985, Ferris and Jacoby recruited guitarist Robert Haas to form Celebrity Skin. Their first gig was reputedly a backyard performance for some graduating Caltech students and was characterized by multiple costume changes and drum solos to flesh out their 15-minute set. At this point, Celebrity Skin did not have a regular drummer and instead went through a number of drummers (supposedly 27) including the "Little Matador" and Cujo. Jazz fusion guitarist John Goodsall of the progressive rock bands Atomic Rooster and Brand X was also briefly a member. Due to their raucous, prop- and costume-filled live shows, they were eventually banned from every club in Hollywood and subsequently relocated to San Francisco, at which point former Verbal Abuse guitarist Jason Shapiro joined as second lead guitarist. They experienced similar difficulties in San Francisco, where they again were banned from clubs due to their outrageous stage shows. One infamous show took place at the V.I.S. Club on Divisadero Street a week before Christmas.[when?] Photographer and artist Tony Millionaire created a mechanical sleigh pulled by four skinned goat heads. The sleigh had a bull's penis in it and the heads rocked back and forth feigning motion. The show was shut down prematurely by the owner, and the animal parts were callously thrown into the street. The next day the penis and heads were discovered off Hayes Street. Shortly thereafter the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story of "possible ritual animal sacrifice". After Cujo left the band, former Germs drummer Don Bolles took his place. Bolles had also played with Vox Pop and 45 Grave following the breakup of the Germs. At this point, Celebrity Skin focused on the music and costumes and toned down the more sensational aspects of their stage act. In 1988, they recorded a cover of "SOS" by ABBA for the SST Records compilation The Melting Plot. Stories about the band appeared in the Los Angeles Times and in the hardcore magazine Flipside. In 1989, the band began negotiations with the German record label LSD Records, which had recently signed the LA retro-alternative bands Thee Fourgiven and the Miracle Workers, to go to Berlin and record an album. Negotiations fell through, however, when the band discovered that the record label had only purchased them one-way plane tickets. Around the same time, they were evicted from their apartments and forced to live in "The Celebrity Suites", a suite of offices above a dance studio overlooking Hollywood Boulevard and adjacent to the offices of Rock City News. However, in April 1989 they were evicted and forced to find other accommodations. In late 1989/early 1990, Celebrity Skin signed with LA-based record company Triple X Records, with the hope of attracting a larger label. Triple X Records, founded in 1986 by Dean Naleway and Peter Heur, had developed a reputation for signing first wave hardcore bands like D.I. and Rhino 39, and had recently achieved success by releasing Jane's Addiction's first album. Celebrity Skin joined a stable of other popular LA live acts, including Liquid Jesus, Inland Empires Funky Junkies, Pigmy Love Circus, the Ultras (formerly the Ultraviolets), on the Triple X label, and they would often perform with these bands. In early 1990, Celebrity Skin recorded a four-song self-titled EP which was produced by former Sparks guitarist Earle Mankey, who had previously produced albums by The Runaways, The Dickies, and The Three O'Clock. The EP was recorded in Mankey's Thousand Oaks house and was released in April 1990. Throughout 1990, the band played a number of gigs at the Roxy Theatre (West Hollywood) and the Whisky a Go Go with bands including Liquid Jesus, L.A.P.D. (aka KORN), the Ultraviolets, Haunted Garage, Tender Fury, the Miracle Workers, Thelonious Monster, Steel Pole Bath Tub, and Babes In Toyland. Celebrity Skin toured the US in 1990 as the opening band for Psychic TV. In early 1991, the band recorded their first full-length album Good Clean Fun in Hollywood, and it was released in April 1991. The album was produced by long-time punk producer Geza X who had produced albums by the Germs, the Weirdos, Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys. The album showcased the band's move into a pop direction but didn't sell well. In 1990, Celebrity Skin was playing in New York while touring with former 45 Grave bassist Rob Graves; Graves was discovered dead of an overdose in the back of the tour van. Throughout 1991, Celebrity Skin continued to play local gigs in support of their album, playing at clubs including the following: Club Lingerie, Gazzarri's, and the Roxy in Los Angeles; the Kennel Club in San Francisco; and Bogart's in Long Beach. Supporting acts during this timeframe included Tad, L7, Helmet, Tiny Tim, Green Jello, the Dickies, Theater Carnivale, Ethyl Meatplow, Shonen Knife, Permanent Green Light, the Muffs, and the Ultras. On August 24, 1991, Celebrity Skin performed at the Splattering of Tribes Festival in the desert outside Indio, California, with acts including Lead Corpse, the Rails, Liquid Jesus, Sort of Quartet, Pigmy Love Circus, Haunted Garage, the Stains, DC3, Suplex Slam, Porno Sponges, and Dead Corpse. In October 1991, Celebrity Skin did a tour of the United States opening for the glam metal band L.A. Guns. Chuck Mosley from Faith No More traveled with them, helping out on the road. On December 4, 1991, Celebrity Skin played a show at the Shark Club in Hollywood with Pigmy Love Circus and the Saddletramps, ten days after the death of Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury. The gig would turn out to be their final one, and the next week the band's breakup due to internal tensions were announced in the LA Weekly. Despite their enormous popularity in the LA alternative club scene, Celebrity Skin never managed to achieve mainstream success. Their glam, '70s-influenced look, melodic hooks, and feel-good lyrics set them apart from the then-popular grunge movement, which emphasized stripped-down attire (typically jeans and flannel shirts), heavy and frequently atonal music, and angry lyrics. In addition, because of their glam look and sound, they were frequently lumped in with 80s glam metal bands such as Poison and Warrant despite having little musically in common with these acts. A description of their travails can be found on the web site Sleazegrinder: The mullets of the fly-over states were manifestly unprepared to cope with the 'Skins. These poor saps automatically all had to buy every record they saw s'long as the doods on the cover were rank lookin' longhairs with nose rings and they all bought the e.p. only to feel infuriated, ashamed, and ripped-off by how un-macho Celebrity Skin was—and their Geza X-produced full-length on Triple X records confused the heartland's bleached denim-wearers even more. These were the days when Jane's Addiction still elicited violent reactions from the farm towns, and Celebrity Skin's waggish and whimsical art-trash was just well beyond the Def Leppard and Bon Jovi weened, sheltered, programmed, milk-fed frames of reference. The Celebrity's still unforgivable androgyny and bizarre sense of humor was even lost on many of my own stonewashed bros from way out, who just never fully appreciated that whole whacky, zany, west coast silly joke-rock vibe, a la the Dickies. A lot of people don't need their rock to be funny. Especially not rural Metal Church enthusiasts. Following