The Screamers Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Screamers were a late-1970s Los Angeles band, among the most artistically ambitious acts to emerge in the first-wave of LA punk rock. The label "techno-punk" was applied to the band by the Los Angeles Times in 1978. The Screamers were notable for their use of synthesizers in place of guitars, and for a highly developed theatrical presentation that centered around a manic lead vocalist, Tomata du Plenty, whose stage persona one early commentator described as "a psychotic Mickey Rooney."Du Plenty (born David Xavier Harrigan in 1948, died 2000) and principal songwriter Tommy Gear started in Seattle as The Tupperwares (then with a 15 year old drummer Eldon Hoake, who would later become El Duce of The Mentors). After legal threats about their name from the "Tupperware" trademark owners, Gear and du Plenty changed their name to the Screamers and migrated to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, they added David Brown (who largely shaped their characteristic drums-sythesiser-electric piano sound) and drummer K.K. Barrett. Brown soon left to found the seminal punk label Dangerhouse records; he was ultimately replaced by keyboardist Paul Roessler.
The Screamers created a memorable visual presence in the press before they ever played live. Studio photos of the band, their hair greased into spikes, Tomata's rubbery face contorted by turns into a demonic grin or a mask of anguish, began to appear in magazines even before a full band had been assembled. Artist Gary Panter's logo for the band, a stylized cartoon of the screaming head of Tomata with spiked hair, became one of the most recognizable images to emerge from Punk Rock. (Indeed, the image is likely better known than the band that inspired it.)
From 1977 through 1979, the Screamers were enormously popular in local clubs, selling out multiple-night engagements. Their performance highlighted extreme psychological states, and their lyrics veered between a goofy engagement with pop culture ("I'm Going Steady With Twiggy," "You Don't Love Me, You Love Magazines") and quasi-fascist commands to the citizens of the future ("Punish or Be Damned," "In a Better World, Everybody Must Be Made to Feel Important"). Whatever the lyrical content, the music, lighting and performance style suggested an ominous, neurotic world.
Remarkably, the Screamers made no records. At one point, this forward-looking group determined they would release their album only in video form (this is before MTV existed), and they devoted time and resources to constructing a small movie studio. Despite some fitful efforts in the early 80s, the band had effectively dissolved before any of their video plans were accomplished.
Jello Biafra, leader of the Dead Kennedys, once claimed the Screamers to be "The best unrecorded band in the history of rock'n'roll."