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Show Page Five & U. rrtrov U UVS mo n n U ENTERTAINMENT VJsUL Remains a crazy show after 10 years I Chronicle: Your shows have caused' some controversy over obscenity. '.Have you had to tone down your show any? by Ray Carson .; 'v Chronicle staff r 7 ..... 4 v " It's been a long -- entertainment; you know, sex, violence, drugs ... so forth. tWe have had some problems from our shows, we were picketed by "Mothers For Decency" in St. Paul and we've been .mentioned on Jerry FalwelPs radio show as a prime example of pornography in rock music. Our main emphasis though, is blending rock and theatre into a fun, humorous show. We're not out to corrupt the country's morals. Chronicle: Your shows are pretty elaborate. How big is your cast, and how expensive are the productions? Waybill: They are very expensive and very difficult. Without radio airplay it's been very difficult to turn a profit. We were in elaborate staging, theatrics and bizzare characterizations attracted attention among local promoters. . In 1974, the band was offered a recording deal with A&M records, which resulted in the release of their first album the following year. The band gained a steady following over the next few years and became a cult favorite in the Bay area. As the crowds grew, the band's routines became more elaborate and controversial. The Tubes opened a Led Zepplin show by tossing fake cocaine at the audience with a shovel. They played at a streaker's ball where anyone who showed up naked could get in free; Fee Waybill continued in the same spirit by singing "A Town Without Pity" in the nude. Despite all this notoriety and resultant popularity, The Tubes were still a cult band. Everyone knew the words to "White Punks On Dope" or knew of Waybill's character named Quay Lewd, but few people knew much about The Tubes or bought their albums. The excessive cost of the shows and the lack of record sales prompted A&M to drop The Tubes after five albums. The band was on the verge of bankruptcy. ; Still members of the band stuck together and eventually signed with Capitol Records: Despite some success with such songs as "Don't Touch Me There", "No Not Again" and "Talk To You Later," radio success remained elusive. Then in 1982, The Tubes released "The Completion Backwards Principle"and they finally broke into the top 10 with "She's A Beauty." The Tubes are touring the nation to promote the album, and Thursday evening The Tubes performed at the Special ' Events Center. The concert was sponsored by ASUU. The following is an interview with singer Fee Waybill on an inside look at The Tubes. the red monetarily for years. During the time, we did everything ourselves to try and save money. We sewed the costumes, built the props, did the promotion and even drove the trucks. Even now, our show is totally self contained. Our cast and crew of 24 has a variety of roles. The backstage crew all have stage roles in our routines and we still design and build our own sets and costumes. Now that we have had some chart success, we can afford to add some more elaborate effects. We've even added an earthquake to our show. Hope the bedrock is solid in your area. of your songs have been fairly well known but have had little chart success. How does it feel to finally break into the top 10? Waybill; Great! Fantastic! It was always very frustrating to know we were being heard but remained unknown to the general public. Not only does the success of "She's A Beauty" give us recognition among a larger audience and our musical peers, but it gives us the money to get out from under the massive debts we've incurred over the past 10 years. Money changes everything. It gives us the chance to work on the more serious things. The petty problems seem to become less important so we can concentrate onthe whole picture. Everything runs smoother. This chart success comes at a good time. We feel really confident about this year's show. Over the years, we've made mistakes in every way possible, but we feel we've ironed out the problems and have a strong show. For one thing, we feel we're more in touch with our audience. Although our characters are still satirical, we've placed more emphasis on haying fun. We're less cynical and offensive. In the of people, past, we've portrayed some pretty obnoxious images nave iun wnnoui oeing but we've learned that people lute to made fun of. We've learned how to reach people by suggestion Chronicle: In the past, Chronicle: Is this the first time you've played Utah? Waybill: Yeah, this is the first time ever for Utah, and we're a little leary of the reaction we'll get from certain elements of theC population. I want to stress though that we're going to do ouif regular show with no changes whatsoever. Provo-base- d coooo Waybill: No, bur show is constantly changing but it is still ipretty risquer We have all the standard elements of great 10 years struggling to see the light at the end a long time out on a musical limb. tunnel a oi monetary members of The Tubes met in Phoenix, Ariz, in seven The 1971 and constructed the concept for a new band. In early 1972, drummer Prairie Prince and synthesizer player Michael Cotten moved to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. Since Phoenix seemed like a musical dead end, the five other members joined them in San Francisco and The Tubes became a reality. With Rick Anderson on bass, Bill Spooner on guitar, Fee Waybill on lead vocals, Vince Welnick on keyboards and Roger Steen on guitar, the newly formed band began playing in the city by the Bay. The band's unusual blend of hard driving rock, , ' some through humorous example rather than condeming them through satire. Fee Waybill, lead singer of The Tubes, portrays the aristocratic Quay Louie as The Tubes sing "White Punks on Dope." A concert crowd of thousands dance and sing along. Chronicle: Where Waybill: From our own demented minds. On this tour, we've added some new characters. Besides Quay Lewd we've added a character named Quay Louie, who's sort of a 13th century gay Frencv aristocrat. He's very rococo. There is also Poindexter the bor' vorm and a variety of other characters. Chronicle: Now that you are getting airplay and seeing some of the benefits of success, what are the future plans for The Tubes? Waybill: There are tons of things we want to do. At this point, the biggest problem is finding the time for all our projects. We just finished filming and producing a one and a half hour Tubes show that should be on cable TV soon. We also just finished a new video for MTV. We are also doing a new album when we find the time to record and we're branching out into movies, including one with Eric Idle. The Tubes are going to be around for a long time. We've got enough ideas to keep us busy into the next century. of diversity, and of not remaining static in their music or their show. They learned to work with other bands and how to respond to their audience. They learned the importance of Audio Visions studio and recorded "I Told You So." Although it was a rough demo cut, FM 107 gave it airplay. After playing the tape, the station was inundated with requests for the song. Less than seven months after the band's formation, their first original was a hit. treating others with respect. Most importantly, they learned how to work together. The band tries to settle its disputes with logic rather than emotion. Everyone in The Klick has equal standing. Each member contributes to a song each composition is a group effort. Over the past few months, the band has its goals. The members quit copying tunes and are concentrating on writing original compositions. This fall, The Klick will release an E.P. of seven original songs including "I Told You So" and "Dancing." An E.P. is an extended play record which is smaller than a regular album and usually contains five to seven songs.) According to the band's booking agent, Richard Rcece, there has been some interest in the E.P. by major record labels. The band also has been working on a video of "I Told You So," which they are referring to as a concept video rather than just a visual representation of the song. The video will be aired on the "Weekday" program on KSTU Channel 20 on Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. The Klick now opens concerts for major bands. Last July, they backed up The Producers at the Union Ballroom. On Sept. 29, they opened for The Tubes at the Special Events Center. As a headline act, The Klick also draws large audiences. On Sept. 24, they played in Orem before a crowd of more than 1,500 rx ot't. The band learned valuable lessons from their predecessors. Influenced by local bands such as 004 and The Nerve, The Klick learned successes and failures from their music. They watched these bands closely and evaluated their good and bad points. The musicians learned the value o i The Clique. It was Timpview's clique that inspired the name. The group decided to change the spelling to The Click. However, when an artist friend drew their first flier, she misspelled it The Klick. The band liked it, and the name stuck. wave Originally, The Klick was the only new band in Provo and jobs were scarce. However, 107 introduced new wave music to Provo. The station sponsored new wave dances at the The Klick was n.rm in Prnin TT7..e w w, and TV UIUVU 9 VJJ IU hired to play. The band performed for crowds. I increasingly larger r for your characters come from? new wave band finally starting to Klick Soon the band had a steady following and by Ray Carson steady work. Their exposure landed them jobs Chronicle staff at high school dances in Salt Lake and Provo and areas. They became known as a hot dance band What do you do if you're young, bored among high school students. living in Provo? For the five musicians in The KHck, there was When the opportunity to play the "Lakefest" from the break to solution: one away only concert at Lake Powell came up, The Klick was BYU of the conventional lifestyle for radio commercials. a placid, ' asked to supply tape traditional of the out and step inspired city Since the band had only been together five hard-roc- k formula of other local bands. months, they didn't have a tape of any original Guitarist Steve Adams, drummer Dan Jarvis material. However, the group had just finished and vocalist Dave Rice had worked in a an original composition. The band rushed to Provo-base- d rock band called Anthem. They were interested in the new wave sound, and after recruiting Lance Perry, a guitarist they knew in high school, the four musicians began practicing in December 1982. However, the band lacked a bass player. One Vic Wiess day, Perry remembered his cousin a move to played bass. Wiess was planning became and California, but changed his plans the final member of the band. The group next faced the problem of finding a catchy name for their new band. First, they decided on ICU (Intensive Care Unit), but while reminiscing about times at Timpview a better name: High School, they came up with about that time, radio station FM do the ideas D0 ....d ' A J- ... - nii lanrla. ....ivi-iivt.niwrv.i- a Klick performance at a Halloween dance on Oct. Dave Rice, band, The Klick it comprised of (left to right) Lance Perry, Provo-base- . Upcoming concerts include wj v.. 31 at 8 p.m. at the March of Dimes Haunted House, 1200 So. 700 West. n Lf. 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