Killdozer (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Killdozer


Img_capt = Cover of "Intellectuals are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite"
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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Genre = Noise rock, sludge metal, nu metal, black metal
Years_active = 1983 - 1996
Label = Touch and Go Records
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = [http://www.akingump.com/mgerald/ Michael Gerald]
[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0387756/ Bill Hobson]
Dan Hobson
Past_members = Paul Zagoras
Jeff Ditzenberger
Tom Hazelmyer
[http://www.expatica.com/nl/life_in/feature/eat-at-jos-171.html Erik Tunison]
[http://www.orangerecordings.com/cashaudio.html Scott Giampino]
Notable_instruments =

Killdozer was the name of a noise rock/sludge metal band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1983, with members Bill Hobson, Dan Hobson and Michael Gerald. They took their name from the 1974 TV movie, directed by Jerry London, itself based on a Theodore Sturgeon short story. They released their first album, "Intellectuals are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite", in the same year. The band split in 1990 but reformed in 1993, losing guitarist Bill Hobson and gaining Paul Zagoras, and continued until they split up in 1996. Their farewell tour was officially titled "Fuck You, We Quit!", and included Erik Tunison of Die Kreuzen in place of Dan Hobson on drums and Jeff Ditzenberger on additional guitar. The band released nine albums, including a post-breakup live CD, "The Last Waltz".

Killdozer was notable for its slow, grinding song structures and blackly humorous lyrics, growled ominously by singer/guitarist Michael Gerald at the top of his lungs. Many of their songs were disturbing narratives of small-town life gone awry, and later had a jaded, left wing political perspective. Killdozer is regarded by many to have set the foundation for grunge music, despite that genre's association with the city of Seattle. [ [http://www.markprindle.com/gerald-i.htm Mark Prindle's preface to a 2003 interview with Michael Gerald]
[http://www.freemusiclink.com/articles/grunge.htm FreeMusicLink.com's explanation of grunge music]
See also Wikipedia entry on Grunge music]

The band also became famous for its uproarious cover songs, a memorable example being Don McLean's "American Pie". A version exists on their 1989 all-covers album "For Ladies Only". Gerald also did a memorable cover of Jessi Colter's "I'm Not Lisa" for the band's 1986 EP "Burl", dedicated "in loving memory of" the still-living-at-the-time Burl Ives. The EP in its entirety can be found on the CD version of their 1994 album "Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat".

History

The band recorded under the Touch and Go Records label during the 1980s and 90s and they often toured with or played alongside label mates such as Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid and Big Black. The band frequently recorded with producer and fellow Madisonian Butch Vig. Steve Albini, who recorded Killdozer's 1995 album "God Hears Pleas of the Innocent", has on many occasions cited Killdozer as a band who reach his exacting standards.Fact|date=June 2007 "Twelve Point Buck" was the album that brought Butch Vig to the attention of Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan. [ [http://www.izotope.com/artists/butch_vig.asp Izotope's Butch Vig Interview] ]

Killdozer played with all original members at Touch and Go Records' 25th anniversary celebration in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 2006. [Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records web site, [http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/band.php?id=93 25th Anniversary page] ] To promote the event, flyers declared "Fuck You, We Reunite!", harkening back to the name of their farewell tour ("Fuck You, We Quit!"). Subsequently, in response to the audience at the concert "pleading for more Killdozer", [Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records web site, [http://www.tgrec.com/news/detail.php?id=393 News, 06/05/08] ] Touch and Go announced a handful of U.S. tour dates for the fall of 2008. [Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records web site, [http://www.tgrec.com/news/detail.php?id=417 News, 09/04/08] ]

Meanwhile, drummer Dan Hobson has remained active in the Madison music scene, playing in several bands, including [http://www.myspace.com/cementpond Cement Pond] with Tim Sullivan (of Drug Induced Nightmare #4) on guitar, Steve Burke (of The Gomers) on guitar and vocals, and Gordon Ranney (also of The Gomers) on bass and vocals. [ [http://www.maximumink.com/articles.php?articleId=946 Maximum Ink Cover Story by Mike Huberty] ] The group has released one full-length album entitled "Vanilla Guerilla" on the independent Corporate Hell Inc. record label in 2005. Michael Gerald is an attorney in Los Angeles, California. In 2007, he lent his voice to the New Jersey band Hunchback, for their cover of the Christina Aguilera hit "Beautiful", released on their album "Pray For Scars" (Don Giovanni Records, 2008). Bill Hobson is a grip in the Los Angeles area.

Discography

Albums

* "The Last Waltz" (1997 on the Man's Ruin Records label, re-released in 2006 on the Crustacean Records label)
* "God Hears The Pleas Of The Innocent" (1995)
* "Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" (1994)
* "Twelve Point Buck" (1989)
* "For Ladies Only" (1988)
* "Little Baby Buntin'" (1988)
* "Burl" EP (1986)
* "Snake Boy" (1985)
* "Intellectuals are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite" (1984)

ingles

* "Go Big Red" ("Sonnet '96" b/w "I Saw The Light") (1996 on [http://www.ismista.com/home/index.php -ismist Recordings] )
* "Michael Gerald's Party Machine Presents!" Collaboration with Alice Donut (1996)
* "We Will Crush You" 10" Collaboration with Ritual Device (1995 on Man's Ruin Records label)
* "The Pig Was Cool" b/w "Unbelievable" (1993)
* "Her Mother's Sorrow" b/w "Short Eyes" (1989 on the Amphetamine Reptile Records label)
* "Yow!" ("Lupus" b/w "Nasty") (1989)

External links

* [http://www.southern.com/southern/band/KILLD/ Southern Records Killdozer site] , including [http://www.southern.com/southern/band/KILLD/disc.html discography]
* [http://www.geocities.com/renaldo_larue/killdozer/ Renaldo Larue's Killdozer site] , includes complete discography
* [http://www.markprindle.com/killdoza.htm Mark Prindle's Killdozer record review site] , a critical look back at all of Killdozer's releases
* [http://www.myspace.com/killdozerpage Myspace page devoted to Killdozer]
* [http://www.myspace.com/hunchback Michael Gerald takes vocal duties here on a Christina Aguilera cover]
* [http://www.touchandgorecords.com/bands/album.php?id=434 Live 2006 performance] at Touch & Go Record's 25th Anniversary
* [http://www.yourfleshmag.com/artman/publish/article_1018.shtml Killdozer's 1988 European Tour Diary] originally published in Your Flesh Magazine

Notes