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Biography
about|the band|their eponymous sixth album|King Missile (album)Infobox musical artist| name = King Missile| image =| caption =| background = group_or_band| origin = New York City , United States|USA | genre = Experimental rock , Spoken word , Surreal humor , Avant-garde jazz , Anti-folk , Neo-Psychedelia , Alternative rock , Pop rock , Dark ambient | years_active = 1986 in music|1986 -present| label = Shimmy Disc Atlantic Records Instinct Records Important Records| associated_acts = John S. Hall Dogbowl Mark Kramer|Kramer Bongwater (band)|Bongwater Hypnolovewheel | website = http://www.myspace.com/kingmissile King Missile MySpace| current_members = SashaForte John S. Hall Bradford Reed | past_members = Dogbowl Alex DeLaszlo R.B. Korbet George O'Malley (musician)|George O'Malley Steve Dansiger Dave Rick Chris Xefos David Ramirez Roger Murdock (musician)|Roger Murdock Charles Curtis (musician)|Charles Curtis Jane Scarpantoni King Missile is an American experimental music|avant-garde band (music)|band that has been led in various disparate incarnations by poet / singer John S. Hall since 1986 in music|1986 .
History
King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)
In 1985 in music|1985 , writer John S. Hall began presenting his work at open mike poetry reading s. After three shows, Hall became a "featured" poet at the Backfence, a performance venue in Manhattan 's Greenwich Village, Manhattan|Greenwich Village .cite web | last = Prindle | first = Mark | title = Interview with John S. Hall | publisher = Prindle Rock and Roll Record Review Site | year = 2003 | url = http://www.markprindle.com/hall-i.htm | accessdate = 2008-05-21 In 1986 in music|1986 , feeling that "20 minute#Time|minutes of me reading poetry would be totally boredom|boring ,"Hall, John S. (2004). Album notes. In Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump CD booklet. New York City : Shimmy Disc. Hall asked his guitarist friend Dogbowl to augment his performances with original music. Dogbowl agreed, and with the addition of bassist Alex DeLaszlo , drummer R.B. Korbet , and xylophone|xylophonist George O'Malley (musician)|George O'Malley , King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) was born.
In 1987 in music|1987 , the band went to the Noise New York recording studio|studio and in just ten hours recorded and mixed its debut album, Fluting on the Hump . The record producer|producer / audio engineering|engineer , Mark Kramer|Kramer , released the album on his then-fledgling record label|label , Shimmy Disc . The label sent the album to every college radio station that reported to College Media Journal , and the album subsequently performed well on the College_Music_Journal#CMJ_New_Music_Report|CMJ charts .
In 1988 in music|1988 , Hall and Dogbowl, along with cello|cellist Charles Curtis (musician)|Charles Curtis and new drummer Steve Dansiger , recorded the second King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) album, the longer, more experimental, less "jokey" They (album)|They . Like its predecessor, the album was produced by Kramer and released on Shimmy Disc. According to Hall, "the album wasn't well received. Dogbowl was itching to make his own records, so we went our separate ways." Dogbowl went on to record Shimmy Disc discography|several albums for Shimmy Disc .
King Missile
After Dogbowl's departure, Hall asked Bongwater (band)|Bongwater guitarist Dave Rick to help him put together a new band. Rick recruited multi-instrumentalist Chris Xefos , and Hall retained Dansiger on drums. Hall dubbed the new lineup King Missile, dropping the parenthetical "Dog Fly Religion" subtitle "since that was Dogbowl's idea." In late 1989 in music|1989 and early 1990 in music|1990 , the band recorded the album Mystical Shit , and in 1990 released it on Shimmy Disc. On the strength of the single (music)|single " Jesus Was Way Cool ," the album hit #1 on the CMJ charts, and the band was signed by a Record_label#Major_vs._independent_record_labels|major label , Atlantic Records . This series of events led Hall to make a habit of joke|joking , "'Jesus' got me signed to Atlantic Records." Around this time, King Missile was featured in the 1990 documentary Paul Devlin (filmmaker)| CutTime which chronicled the East Village music scene of 1990.CutTime on DevlinPix http://www.devlinpix.com/blog/2011-11-06/cuttime-king-missle-life-2-10
Another lineup change occurred before the recording of King Missile's major-label debut, as Dansiger left the band and was replaced on drums by Hypnolovewheel member David Ramirez . The subsequent album, The Way to Salvation , was released on April 16, 1991, and reached #2 on the CMJ charts. Atlantic promoted the album with the release of a single, " My Heart Is a Flower ," and accompanying music video|video .
After Ramirez left the group and was replaced by yet another drummer, Roger Murdock (musician)|Roger Murdock , the band recorded its second major-label album, Happy Hour (King Missile album)|Happy Hour , released on December 15, 1992. The album debuted at #1 on the CMJ charts, and its accompanying first single, " Detachable Penis ," became a modest hit single|hit , reaching #25 on the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks|Modern Rock Tracks chart.cite web | last = | first = | title = King Missile Singles Peak Chart Positions | publisher = Allmusic | date = | url = Allmusic|class=artist|id=p13412|pure_url=yes| accessdate = 2008-05-21 Atlantic released videos for "Detachable Penis" and the subsequent singles " (Why Are We) Trapped? " and " Martin Scorsese (song)|Martin Scorsese ," but neither follow-up single achieved the chart success of "Detachable." According to Hall, the band realized that its hit song had drawn in many casual fan (person)|fans who didn't care about the rest of the group's material; thus, the band began to play the song "early in the concert|set , so that the people who didn't like us could leave, and we could play for the people who cared. That worked out well. People did leave."
The band's third and final album for Atlantic was the eponymous King Missile (album)|King Missile , released April 19, 1994. Neither the album nor its lead single, " Love Is... (song)|Love Is... ," was a commercial success; consequently, the band was dropped from Atlantic, and broke up shortly thereafter because, according to Hall, "there was no reason to stay together."cite web | last = | first = | title = Interview w/ John | publisher = Farmboy's King Missile | date = | url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile | accessdate = 2008-05-21
King Missile III
After the collapse of the second incarnation of King Missile, Hall decided to attend law school . He graduation|graduated Latin_honors#Types|cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan,cite web | last = | first = | title = Bios | publisher = Heraty Law | date = | url = http://www.heratylaw.com/bios | accessdate = 2008-05-22 and after graduation co-founded Heraty Hall, a law firm|firm specializing in entertainment law .
In 1996 in music|1996 , Hall released a " solo album ," The Body Has a Head , on the Germany|German label Manifatture Criminali . The album featured considerable input from multi-instrumentalists SashaForte , Bradford Reed , and Jane Scarpantoni . With these musicians, as well as They cellist Curtis, Hall formed a new band, King Missile III. On September 15, 1998, the new lineup released its "debut" album, Failure (King Missile album)|Failure , on Shimmy Disc.
Curtis and Scarpantoni left the band after the release of Failure, and King Missile III continued as a trio, releasing two more albums: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (album)|The Psychopathology of Everyday Life ( Instinct Records , January 21, 2003) and Royal Lunch (Important Records, September 21, 2004).
King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) reunion
On March 18, 2010, Hall reunited with Dogbowl as King Missile (Dog-Fly Religion) for a one-time performance at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Multi-instrumentalist John Kruth, bassist Dave Dreiwitz of Ween , and drummer Billy Ficca of Television (band)|Television joined the duo to round out the lineup.
Musical styles
The various King Missile lineups have performed many disparate musical styles. King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)'s sound, driven by acoustic guitar and harmonica , was widely dubbed " anti-folk ." In King Missile, electric guitar s and keyboard instrument|keyboards were more prominent, and the music contained elements of psychedelic rock , alternative rock , and pop rock . King Missile III's sound is broadly experimental, and features a wide array of musical instrument|instruments , including violin , synthesizer s, and the pencilina , a string instrument designed by Reed himself.
The central element of each group's sound has been Hall's lyrics, which vary in format from straightforward narrative to abstract, disjointed free verse . Hall's performance style is also eclectic, his delivery ranging from a deadpan monotone to melody|melodic tenor singing to overwrought screaming .
http://www.songmeanings.net/artist.php? aid=9200 King Missile lyrics database at SongMeanings
King Missile Category:American experimental musical groups Category:Musical groups from New York Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 1986 Category:New York City performance art
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