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Mucky Pup

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Mucky Pup was a hardcore band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey in 1985, when brothers John (drums) and Chris (vocals) Milnes joined up with Dan Nastasi (guitar) and former Hades member, Scott LePage (bass). The band went through various incarnations and gained success in both the USA and Europe. Arguably, their US breakthrough moment occurred when Berke Breathed picked their contest entry for release with a 1987 Bloom County comic book compilation. However, their later European success, based on a strong tour and charting for the 1989 A Boy in a Man's World album, eclipsed the fame they had previously achieved in their home country.

Early years

The band recorded two demos which sold a combined amount of over 1200 copies. The band would also play "Battle-of-the-Bands" competitions in and around New Jersey. It was during one such event in 1986, at the Paramus, New Jersey roller rink with the band Trixter, that a representative from Torrid Records first saw the band. Weeks later, the band signed their first record deal with the independent label.

Torrid Records

Signing with Torrid brought a distribution deal in Europe with Roadrunner Records' sister label, Roadracer Records. The band's first album, Can't You Take a Joke?, was released in 1987. Around the same time, the band also won a song writing contest for the Bloom County comic strip. Entrants to the contest were to come up with a song for the fictional band Billy and the Boingers. Their winning song, "U-Stink-But-I-♥-U," was included as a flexi-disc in the Bloom County book, Billy and the Boingers Bootleg (ISBN 0316107298).

In 1989, the band released their second album, A Boy In A Man's World. The album featured a re-recorded version of "U-Stink-But-I-Love-U", for which the band shot their first music video. MTV played the video two times. A Boy In A Man's World also featured cover art by future DC and Marvel comic book artist Nelson DeCastro. DeCastro had previously done t-shirt art for the band as well.

Before the recording of A Boy In A Man's World, LePage, who had never been considered an official member of the band, left due to touring conflicts. Dave Neabore was brought in to replace him on bass. Once the album was released, Nastasi left the band, and helped form the band Non-Fiction with former members of Hades. Nastasi stayed with Non-Fiction for a short time, before joining Murphy's Law. When Nastasi left Mucky Pup, he was replaced by band friend Sean Kilkenny. The band began touring Europe after this album's release. Although Mucky Pup never had a hit in the U.S., their European distribution deal, combined with this tour, helped the band attain success in Europe.

By the time their third album, Now, was released in 1990, Neabore and Kilkenny had left to form the band Dog Eat Dog. Nastasi returned to Mucky Pup, while simultaneously joining Dog Eat Dog as well. Now featured new bass player Marc DeBacker in the lineup, and also featured guest appearances by Evan Seinfeld and Billy Graziadei of the band Biohazard, whom Mucky Pup had befriended and regularly used as an opening act. Various clubs had refused to let Biohazard play, thinking the shows would lead to violence, but Mucky Pup would sneak them on stage for a few songs before their own set. Ultimately, Biohazard and their singer/bass player Evan Seinfeld gained larger mainstream attention than Mucky Pup were able to attain. The band shot a second video, "Hippies Hate Water," which MTV never played.

The band started playing shows with bands such as Primus, GWAR, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Murphy's Law, Bad Brains, 24-7 Spyz, and Scatterbrain. While Nastasi had returned to record Now with the band, he no longer toured with the band, as he was playing live shows with Dog Eat Dog at the same time Mucky Pup was touring. As a result, new guitarist Splatter performed live with them. He only played a brief time with the band, before being replaced by Terry, who would remain their live guitarist until 1992.

After the release of Now, Mucky Pup ended their association with Torrid and Roadrunner Records.

Century Media

In 1991, the band signed with Century Media Records and released Act Of Faith. Once more the lineup shuffled, with DeBacker leaving and being replaced by Junior. They also added Kevin Powers as a keyboard player. Powers had previously played in smaller local bands such as Articulate Violence. Videos were shot for the songs "Freakin' at the Peepshow" and "Mr. Hand", which only received airplay in Europe. Once again, the band toured Europe, appearing many times with Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, with whom the band became good friends.

Shortly after the recording of the album, Nastasi stepped down from both Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog, to focus on running a family business and to start a family of his own. It wasn't long though before he joined the original lineup of Non-Fiction, renamed #9. The project was broken up when Nastasi accepted a solo record deal and formed the band Nastasee, which featured members of both Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog. Nastasee recorded two albums and toured Europe numerous times. Trim The Fat and Ule Tide were only intended for European release, but before Ule Tide could be released, Nastasee was dropped from the label and the album was never released, outside of promotional and mail order copies.

1992 saw the band take a turn away from humorous pop songs to focus on more aggressive, emotional and angry songs with their fifth release, Lemonade. The album brought another lineup change, as John Milnes moved to guitar and Kevin Powers took the drummer's position. It also saw the return of Marc DeBacker on bass. DeBacker had taken Nastasi's guitar spot on Dog Eat Dog's second full length album, Play Games.

After releasing two albums in two years with Century Media, Mucky Pup ended their association with the label.

Mucky Records / SPV Music

In 1994, the band released the album Alive & Well under their own imprint, Mucky Records, through SPV Music. The album was a collection of live tracks and studio cover songs. The live songs were recorded during their 1993 tour of Europe. New additions to the lineup were Eric Van Steenburg and Glenn Cummings, both on guitar. Cummings had been previously been a member of both Ludichrist and Scatterbrain. Alive & Well was the only Mucky Pup album available exclusively in Europe.

The band's final album, Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage, was released in 1996. The final lineup saw John Milnes return to the drums, and also featured the additions of Hinge (aka Jack Pitzer) on guitar, and Joe Mama on bass. Marc DeBacker had left the band a second time to return to Belgium and form the band 10,000 Woman Man. Bass player Bill Bergmann appeared on two of the songs, and was shown on the album cover. He remained the bass player until the band broke up soon after.

Post-Mucky Pup

After the final album, the band members continued to collaborate on different bands and projects. Members of the final lineup became tour managers and road crews for artists such as The Bloodhound Gang, the Genitorturers, Monster Magnet, Liz Phair and Tracy Bonham.

In 1998, Chris and John Milnes formed Bully with Bill Bergmann & Kevin Powers. It was an attempt to continue recording together without the Mucky Pup name, which they felt had run its course. The band recorded many songs and demos, but never actually released any albums.

Also in 1998, Dan Nastasi & John Milnes joined forces with former Mucky Pup and Dog Eat Dog bandmates Dave Neabore & Sean Kilkenny to become All Boro Kings. All Boro Kings released one album, Just For The Fun Of It, in Europe. The band played most of their shows in and around New Jersey before embarking on one European tour. After six years or so, the All Boro Kings project ended as well.

In 2000, Chris & John Milnes would once again join Dan Nastasi and Bill Bergmann to form The Hasbeens, a cover band that would perform popular songs of the 80's & 90's in local New Jersey bars.

Dog Eat Dog continues to record and tour Europe, but of the original two Mucky Pup members who helped found the band, only Dave Neabore remains.

Since their breakup in 1996, Mucky Pup has been known to play occasional reunion shows, featuring different incarnations & combinations of the lineup. Most notable are shows that occurred in 1999, 2000 & 2002. Despite not being a full-time band, they continue to maintain an archive website, where visitors can listen to the albums as well as contact some of the band members.

Chris Milnes now owns the website development company, True9. John Milnes and Hinge also work for the compnay. The company has been instrumental in the development and maintenance of websites for actor Joe Pantoliano and musical group NSYNC.

Members

  • Chris Milnes (vocals) (all seven releases)
  • John Milnes (drums, guitars) (all seven releases)
  • Dan Nastasi (guitars) (Can't You Take A Joke? - Act Of Faith)
  • Scott LePage (bass (Can't You Take A Joke)
  • Dave Neabore (bass) (A Boy In A Man's World)
  • Sean Kilkenny (guitars) (live during the A Boy In A Man's World tour)
  • Marc DeBacker (bass) (Now and Lemonade)
  • Junior (bass) (Act Of Faith)
  • Kevin Powers (keyboards) (Act Of Faith - Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
  • Glenn Cummings (guitars) (Alive & Well)
  • Eric Van Steenburg (guitars) (Alive & Well)
  • Joe Mama (bass) (Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
  • Bill Bergmann (bass) (live after Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
  • Jack Pitzer (aka Hinge) (guitars) (Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage)
  • Splatter (guitars) (live during the Now tour)
  • Terry (guitars) (live during the Now and Act Of Faith tours)

Discography

Albums

  • Can't You Take A Joke? (1987)
  • A Boy In A Man's World (1989)
  • Now (1991)
  • Act Of Faith (1992)
  • Lemonade (1993)
  • Alive & Well (1994)
  • Five Guys In A Really Hot Garage (1996)

Cassettes

  • Live And Mucky (demo)
  • Greatest Hits (demo)

Related Bands (and shared members)

  • Dog Eat Dog (Dan Nastasi, Sean Kilkenny and Dave Neabore)
  • Murphy's Law (Dan Nastasi and Sean Kilkenny)
  • Bully (Chris Milnes, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Kevin Powers)
  • The Hasbeens (Chris Milnes, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Dan Nastasi)
  • Nastasee (Dan Nastasi, John Milnes, Bill Bergmann and Sean Kilkenny)
  • All Boro Kings (Dave Neabore, John Milnes, Dan Nastasi and Sean Kilkenny)
  • Non-Fiction and #9 (Dan Nastasi)
  • Candypants (Bill Bergmann and Kevin Powers)
  • Ludichrist and Scatterbrain (Glen Cummings)
  • Articulate Violence (Kevin Powers)

External links

References

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