LINEUP HISTORY
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UBANGIS #1, 1990 to 1991 ("pre-Ubangis"): UBANGIS #2, 1991 to 1994 UBANGIS #3, 1994 to 1999 UBANGIS #4, 1999 UBANGIS #5, 2000 to 2001 UBANGIS #6, 2002 to 2003 UBANGIS #7, 2003 to 2004 UBANGIS #8, 2004 to 2007 UBANGIS #8 (or technically #3 again!),
2008 to present Also a few guests we've had join us are Rudy Ray Moore on vocals, Kim Kane on rhythm guitar and bongos, and Carl Merson on backup vocals. |
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHAT IT WAS Around 1990 Brian D. Horrorwitz, then drummer (now singer) for (ex-Slickee Boys) Kim Kane's Date Bait, was bitching an' whining with other local garage rock losers about the poor state of the local music "scene". Punk had become as boring and generic as a long ride on an elevator, and pretty much all of the local rockers had either retired, moved, died, or worse, formed contemporary country music bands. (Insert barfing sound here.) There was a pretty decent rockabilly scene at the time, but somewhat clique-ish these particular weekend ducktailers were. Maybe out of desperation, probably out of jealousy, Horrorwitz got the idea to create "The Ultimate Rock-N-Roll Band" to show these posers how to really rock-out and that it was all about soul an' spirit, and not about fashion and trying to sound "retro". What was the point in trying to imitate a Johnny Burnette song note for note, mimicking his sound? ‘Cause you just AIN'T GONNA BE ABLE TO DO IT! (Horrorwitz was always frustrated that he couldn't make a cool rockabilly hair-do with his mop, which he couldn't, ‘cause he said his hair was "too Jewish" and "wavy like the Red Sea", which it is.) Horrorwitz made a bet with several of his aging garage-band buddies that he could come up with a "fake" band, book a show, and, after only practicing once, blow the headlining snob-abilly wimps off the stage. The plan was not to even spend any time writing songs, but just lift them from whatever old 45's and vintage trash-rock compilations that were available at the time. After phoning local D.C. underground hot-spot D.C. Space, the show was booked. The Ubangis, the original lineup, spent a whopping 2 hours rehearsing which went something like: Horrorwitz'd play an off-speed tape recording of one of these scratchy records, the guitar player would figure out the basic chords, then they'd play the song once, maybe twice. And that was it. One week and a few hours later they left the stage in a sweaty smgema-like coating of dog food, spilled beer, and chicken feathers. (Don't ask.) The once-jaded audience stood agape like a bewildered German Shepard. Much to their surprise they started getting calls from other clubs in the area! The Ubangis' (pronounced "you- bang-eez") blending of late 50's / early 60's rock-n-roll with over-the-top "punk burlesque"stood out in the politically correct D.C. music scene like Jayne Mansfield in a convent! Was it their 6 song chicken medley, complete with rubber chickens, chicken puppets, and chicken g-strings? Or their insistence on covering / destroying at least 3 Andre Williams songs and 5 Link Wray tunes per gig? Or could it have been Horrorwitz's freaky dog food eating geek-show appeal? Okay, it was the last thing. The bars were mostly either yuppie and pre-yuppie pick-up disco's that payed pretty good, or alternative-rock shitholes that were more fun to play but paid terrible. At least the chicks at the latter didn't wear business suits! Things got so busy in fact that the other original Ubangis couldn't hack it (what with their other bands an' such) and bailed. So there was Horrorwitz getting tons of gig offers but with no band. One day he had the good luck to walk into Saucy Randy. Picking himself off the ground, he asked Randy if he'd had anything better to do for the next decade or so, and was he interested in becoming a Ubangi. With stars in his eyes he screamed "Hell, yeah!" and off they went. Saucy agreed with Brian that their main goal was to provide no-holds-barred primitive rock-n-roll, the way the good lord planned it, and not be "in it for the money". (Also ‘cause there was none!) A short time later they were introduced to Eric "U.M.F." Tavela, a man of mystery. No one really knows from whence he came, or, less pretentiously, where he comes from. He had a bass. He had an amp. He had a car. ‘nuff said, he was in. And now, after releasing a handful of singles, with years in the making, the boys pull all of their musical prowess together and are proud to have produced "Drop Another Coin", their debut full-length release. Today Wheaton, MD, tomorrow the world! --- Dr. Penis |