There are some dialogue excerpts on the Silencers’ albums; at the beginning of “13” is a long conversation about “The Man” – probably from Easy Rider (1969) – and there is an occasional mention of the song title on the album, as on “Spaceman” and “Woof Woof” on The Silencers (and “Return of the Son of Woof Woof” on their second album, Cyclerific Sounds).
The second album by the Silencers, Cyclerific Sounds came out in 1999; by then the band had a different drummer, Eric Faas. Guest musician Jim Diamond plays Farfisa Organ on one track, “Big Ragu”.
Richie Unterberger in Allmusic says that the Silencers are trying too hard to set the mood on their second album, Cyclerific Sounds. While the music doesn’t feel that way to me, it certainly is true of many of the song titles on this record, which include “Devil’s Angel’s Theme”, “Sonny’s Theme”, and “The Man from F.U.Z.Z.”.
I was amused to see that one of the song titles on the Silencers album Cyclerific Sounds is “Abracapocus”, a scramble of “Abracadabra” and “Hocus Pocus” that is taken from a memorable Bugs Bunny cartoon, Transylvania 6-5000. This 1963 cartoon – which features a vampire named Count Blood Count – is notable as the final Bugs Bunny short made by Chuck Jones in his 30-plus year career at Warner Bros. Studios before leaving to form his own animation company. (In earlier years, he was credited as Charles M. Jones). The title is adapted from a Glenn Miller hit, “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, and a comedy/horror movie called Transylvania 6-5000 came out in 1985.
After the Gories broke up in 1993, Mick Collins was in what Wikipedia calls a “basic garage rock band” called Blacktop from 1994 to 1996. His next band, the Dirtbombs was founded in 1995 and is still active; they started out as a more eclectic side project while he was in Blacktop. Wikipedia says that the Dirtbombs are “notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and soul while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum, and guitar lineup” – in contrast to the Gories who didn’t have any bass guitarists. The Dirtbombs have featured a variety of Detroit area musicians over the years; they include Jim Diamond, who played bass guitar for the band and appears as a guest musician on the Silencers album Cyclerific Sounds.
(December 2014)
