
In the early 90's I was an obsessive Butthole Surfers fan. At the time they seemed so obscure to me (*see grew up in a small town in northern Michigan) I was hungry for whatever I could get my hands on photos, bootlegs, etc..Long story short I came across the compilation entitled "A Texas Trip" It was compilation of Texas chromosome damage (BHS, Daniel Johnson, Fitch, etc..) The one band that really grabbed me off this comp was Stickmen With Ray Guns.
(SMWRG) formed in Dallas, Texas, in the spring of 1981 with me, Clarke Blacker on guitar (ex-Nervebreakers & Bag of Wire), Bobby Soxx on vocals (ex-Teenage Queers & the Enemy) and Ft. Worth drummer Scott Elam, Quad Pi bassist Mark Ridlen lent his services, playing the first shows until a permanent bass player could be found.
The first public appearance was opening for Black Flag at Zero’s in Fort Worth in the late spring of 1981. Also on the bill was a two-person noise band, Hole. Hole bassist Bob Beeman had co-produced the Bobby Soxx single earlier that year. Bob joined soon after that show. The lineup now complete, by the summer of 1981 SMWRG was busy creating havoc on the Texas club scene.
Finally, not only did Bobby have a band that could hold its own with him on stage, but presented him with a deafening sonic palette of unbelievable power, violence and hostility. Something like putting your head in a threshing machine.
Bobby’s on-stage antics, combined with the openly antagonistic, chaotic and aggressive live sound, made SMWRG a difficult band to follow.
SMWRG took its name from Stick Man with Ray Gun Comics. The Stick Man was a crazed racist vigilante who wore a baseball cap and carried a big ray gun. He walked the streets of his neighborhood blowing away anyone who offended his insane sense of order, politics, or racial purity.
Although Bobby was well known for abusing drugs, after 1987 alcohol seemed to take over and began to do untold damage. Bobby died in Dallas of liver failure on October 22, 2000.
(The above paragraphs taken from the SMWRG site)
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