A GOAT . . . YOU GEEK
Even by punk rock standards, the bandmembers’ names in the Gynecologists were inventive: bandleader and chief songwriter Tommy Afterbirth (lead vocals), John Wilkes Booth (keyboard player turned guitarist), Simon Scrotum (bass guitar – he was also an insurance salesman), and Milburn Drysdale (drums). Milburn Drysdale (played by Raymond Bailey) was the banker who lived next door to The Beverly Hillbillies family; in this classic sitcom that was filled to the brim with colorful characters, he was probably my favorite of them all. By the time that their 1984 release, A Goat . . . You Geek came out, the new bass guitarist named Kid Death (who is from Oregon) had improved their sound as a “a much more straight forward kick ass punk rock band”, as John Barge put it.
The most comprehensive compilation album of the Gynecologists, a CD called Hoosier Psychopaths on Gulcher Records, has 30 songs, including each of their recordings in order; besides the two I have already discussed, they include two cassette-only releases, A Goat . . . You Geek (1984) and Auto-Erotica Asphyxia & Various Moldy Turds (1994). According to John Barge, their latter album included a host of other guest musicians and characters: Dave Death, Bob Tangleweed, Lumpy Repellant, Kevin Drake, Buster Hyman, and Frankie Camaro. (The Bukkake Hit Parade liner notes have several other “special guests” in their list: Ricky Retardo, Mrs. Food, Bejhan Mirhadi, and Tina Chang). There are also a half-dozen unreleased rarities on Hoosier Psychopaths; three show two titles, so there might be nine actually.
(June 2016)
