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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Flipper|image = Flipper_930club.jpg|caption = Flipper at the 9:30 Club, Washington, DC, 1984|image_size =|background = group_or_band|origin = San Francisco, California|San Francisco , California , United States |years_active = 1979–1987 1990–1995 2005–present|genre = Punk rock , noise rock |label = Subterranean Records ROIR American Recordings (US)|American Recordings |associated_acts =|website = http://www.flipperrules.com/ flipperrules.com|current_members = Bruce Loose Ted Falconi Steve DePace Rachel Thoele|past_members = Ricky Williams Will Shatter Bruno DeSmartas John Dougerty Krist Novoselic Flipper is a punk rock|punk band formed in San Francisco, California|San Francisco , California in 1979, continuing in often erratic fashion until the mid-1990s, then reuniting in 2005. The band influenced a number of grunge , http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-06-25/music/my-life-into-and-inside-flipper Seattle Weekly (author: Nirvana's bassist), http://austinist.com/2008/09/24/funx3_fest_addendum_flipper_cancels.php The Austinist punk rock and noise rock bands. Their slowed-down, bass-driven, and heavily distorted style of punk is also considered a key forerunner to sludge metal and bands such as The Melvins .
History
Early years (1979-1989)
Flipper was founded from former members of the Sleepers and Negative Trend . Founding member and original vocalist Ricky Williams (musician)|Ricky Williams , who is credited for naming the band, was fired from the band before any recordings. Bruce Loose and Will Shatter then went on to frequently swap vocal and bass duties, both holding a bass onstage. Vietnam war veteran Ted Falconi played a uniquely distorted style of guitar, and Steve DePace played drums.
Flipper made their first recordings available in late 1979 via the SF Underground 7" compilation series released through the newly-formed Subterranean Records .
Listen|filename=Ha Ha Ha Flipper short.ogg |title="Ha Ha Ha" |description=Sample of the 1981 Flipper single "Ha Ha Ha." Characteristic of the band, the heavy bass and vocals primarily carry the melody. Also exemplified is Ted Falconi's unique style of distorted guitar playing. |format= Ogg In 1981, a 7" comprising "Love Canal/Ha Ha Ha" followed. The original lineup released their first full album s on Subterranean, 1982's the now classic punk-rock album Generic Flipper .
The band regularly performed in the San Francisco area, attracting a following. Simultaneously, their uniquely slowed-down and raucous approach to punk managed to infuriate other members in local punk scene, especially with the burgeoning popularity of faster-paced hardcore punk . Mark Arm claims in the 2003 documentary American Hardcore (film)|American Hardcore 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. The band promoted themselves partly by spray painting "Flipper Rules" around San Francisco, as well as word-of-mouth.
Two more singles on Subterranean followed Generic Flipper , including "Brainwash"/"Sex Bomb" and "Old Lady That Swallowed The Fly"/"Get Away." They became well-known within the punk community for the single "Sex Bomb," a seven minute track with only one lyric, "She's a sex bomb, my baby, yeah." The original release of the "Sex Bomb" single featured individually hand-made covers.
Flipper entitled their 1986 double live album, Public Flipper Ltd. The album unfolded into a board game with a cutout spinner and game cards with Subterranean once again providing extra covers through mail order.
The original lineup began splintering after a period of touring, and singer and core member Will Shatter died on December 9, 1987 of a drug overdose after forming A3I. Subterranean packaged the band's singles and some rarities into a collection entitled "Sex Bomb Baby" released in 1987. The cassette edition and later CD rereleased featured three bonus tracks.
After Will Shatter (1990-1999)
By the early 1990s, the band resurfaced with a new single on Subterranean called "Someday"/"Distant Illusion" and began performing again. Nürnberg Fish Trials was released in 1991. The band's new lineup released an all-new studio album in 1992, American Grafishy on Rick Rubin 's American Recordings (US)|Def American imprint, which veered into a somewhat new style and wasn't as well-received as their previous work. After the album, was released, replacement bass player John Dougherty died of a drug overdose. Loose once commented to SF Weekly on the band's history as "like Spinal Tap (band)|Spinal Tap , except the bass player keeps dying".Citation needed|date=January 2010 Rick Rubin also re-released Album Generic Flipper and the singles compilation Sex Bomb Baby on his Infinite Zero label. By 1997, Flipper's music went largely out of print, with Rubin still holding onto the rights, though tentative plans had been made for the band's catalogue to be re-released on Rubin's American Recordings (US)|American Recordings in 2007. As part of a legal settlement, Subterranean Records was awarded the right to reissue its Flipper records on vinyl in the United States.
Reformations (2002-present)
In 2002 Bruce Loose, using a cane to get around, returned for a one off gig at Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street space as "Not Flipper". 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 August 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 recorded and released in 2007.
In December 2006, DeSmartass was replaced by Krist Novoselic of grunge band Nirvana (band)|Nirvana on bass for a tour of the UK and Ireland, as well as several US shows.Jasmin, Ernest. " http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/ej/? title=krist_novoselic_to_play_with_flipper& more=1& c=1& tb=1& pb=1 Krist Novoselic to play with Flipper". TheNewsTribune.com. September 25, 2006.Verify credibility|date=January 2010 The song " Scentless Apprentice ", which the band recorded (without Novoselic) for a 2000 Nirvana tribute album, was added to the band's setlist.
Also at the end of 2008, Flipper albums were reissued in a variety of formats. Water Records reissued four albums on compact disc: Album – Generic Flipper , Gone Fishin ', Public Flipper Limited , and Sex Bomb Baby! Their reissue on vinyl was set for 2009 by the label 4 Men With Beards an imprint of the Runt label. Lastly, on January 6, 2009, those four albums were released digitally."About Flipper," http://www.myspace.com/flipper Flipper MySpace page, Retrieved on January 6, 2009 In the United Kingdom , the Flipper reissues were released by Domino Records . http://dominorecordco.com/artists/flipper/
Influence on other musicians
Along with Black Flag (band)|Black Flag 's My War (1984), their slowed-down, bass-driven, and heavily distorted style of punk is also considered a key forerunner to sludge metal and bands such as The Melvins .cn|date=September 2011Kurt Cobain wore a self-made Flipper t-shirt seen in the booklet pictures of Nirvana (band)|Nirvana's In Utero (album)|In Utero http://www.sfweekly.com/1999-02-10/music/flipper-redux/ Flipper Redux By Mark Athitakis. SF Weekly. February 10, 1999. and on the band's first performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992, and also for the music video for " Come as You Are (Nirvana song)|Come as You Are ." Cobain and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic cited Flipper as one of the punk bands in the early to mid 1980s that was influential on their band.cn|date=September 2011 In the documentary American Hardcore (film)|American Hardcore , Moby stated that he fronted for Flipper for two days while singer Will Shatter was in jail because he "knew all of their songs". The band denies this however.cn|date=September 2011 Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction has said that Flipper's rolling rhythms and repetitive riffs were an influence on Jane's early sound.cn|date=September 2011 In Get in the Van , his memoir of the early '80s punk rock scene, Henry Rollins of Black Flag (band)|Black Flag described the Flipper experience: "They were just heavy. Heavier than you. Heavier than anything...When they played they were amazing."cn|date=September 2011
Covers
The Melvins covered their song "Sacrifice" on their Lysol (album)|Lysol album. They have also covered "Way of the World" which appears on the Singles 1-12 compilation.cn|date=September 2011 Belgian Electronica/Industrial band Lords Of Acid covered Flipper's song "Sex Bomb" and released a live version on the Do What You Wanna Do CD, Maxi-Single, Digipak released in 1995. The track starts by Praga Khan giving credit to Flipper, stating it was a cover. It was later reinterpreted into the Lords typical style on the album Farstucker from 2000 and is a staple of their live shows.cn|date=September 2011
Members
Current members
Bruce Loose – vocals, bass (1979–present)
Ted Falconi – guitar (1979–present)
Steve DePace – drums (1979–present)
Rachel Thoele – bass (2009–present)
Former members
Ricky Williams (musician)|Ricky Williams – vocals (1979)
Will Shatter – bass, vocals (1979–1987)
Bruno DeSmartass- bass (1982, 2005–2006)
John Dougherty – bass (1992–1997)
Krist Novoselic – bass (2006–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Title
Year
Label
Album – Generic Flipper
1982
Subterranean Records , reissued on Water Records in 2008
Gone Fishin'
1984
Subterranean Records , reissued on Water Records in 2008
'' Sex Bomb (remix)/ Falconi's Horn Concerto In D-Fault (live)
1993
Teen Sensation Records/ Def American
Compilations
Title
Year
Label
Sex Bomb Baby
1988
American Recordings in 1995, reissued on Water Records in 2008
DVDs
Title
Year
Label
Flipper Live: Target Video 1980-81
February 19, 2008
Music Video Distributors
Other appearances
"Earthworm" on SF Underground (1979)
"Falling", "Lowrider" and "End the Game" on Live At Target (1981)
"Ha Ha Ha" on Let Them Eat Jellybeans (1981)
"Sacrifice" on Not So Quiet on the Western Front (album)|Not So Quiet on the Western Front (1982)
"Life" on Rat Music for Rat People (1982)
"Ever" on Eastern Front (album)|Eastern Front (1983)
"Ever" and "Sex Bomb" on The Wanna-Be-An-Indie-But-Got-Too-Much-$ Sampler (1992)
"Some Day" on SXSW (1993)
"Love Canal" and "Get Away" on Infinite Zero Promotional CD#2 (1994)
"Ha Ha Ha" on Old School Punk (1998)
" Scentless Apprentice " ( Nirvana (band)|Nirvana cover) on Smells Like Bleach: A Punk Tribute to Nirvana (2000)
"Sad But True" on " A Punk tribute to Metallica " (2001)
"Ha Ha Ha" on " American Hardcore's Official Movie Soundtrack " (2006)
"Hash Pipe" (Weezer cover) on " http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZXZ1K/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3? pf_rd_p=486539851& pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1& pf_rd_t=201& pf_rd_i=B00005YNI4& pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER& pf_rd_r=0CDKGZXA5KQM11KQQ3VD A Punk Tribute to Weezer " (2006)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.flipperrules.com/ Official Website
http://www.myspace.com/flipper Myspace page
http://web.archive.org/web/20080122140508/ http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Towers/5752/flip-chrono.html Flipper/Negative Trend Concert Chronology (archived at Archive.org )
http://punkcast.com/1023/ PUNKCAST#1023 live @ North Six NYC, Aug 24 2006. ( RealPlayer , mp4 )
FlipperRicky WilliamsDEFAULTSORT:Flipper Category:American noise rock music groups Category:American punk rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1979 Category:Musical groups from San Francisco, California Category:Reachout International Records recording artists
