Blowfly (artist)
Encyclopedia
Blowfly is the stage name
and alternate persona
of Clarence Reid (born February 14, 1939 or 1945, (sources differ) in Cochran, Georgia
), who was a songwriter
for many hit R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex
-based parodies
of other songs, as well as original rap
s themed around sex. His stage name originated from his grandmother, who overheard him as a child singing "Do the Twist
" as "Suck My Dick", and said "You is nastier than a blowfly." An alternate spelling used for his name on some of his early recordings is Blow Fly.
, Sam & Dave
, Gwen McCrae
, and KC & the Sunshine Band. He also recorded many songs of his own in the '60s and '70s including "Nobody But You Babe".
Reid would write sexually explicit versions of hit songs for fun but only performed them for his friends at parties or in the studio
. In 1971 he along with a band of studio musicians recorded a whole album of "dirty" songs under the name "Blowfly". Back then, no record label would release profane material so he distributed the records himself on his own independent record label
, Weird World.
The album, The Weird World of Blowfly, features Reid dressed as a low-rent supervillain
on its cover. Reid created this alter ego
to protect his career as a songwriter. Reid continued to perform in increasingly bizarre costumes as his Blowfly character. The albums were widely popular as "party records" in the '70s.
Many of Blowfly's songs featured his style of talking in rhyme which can be considered a primitive form of rapping
. After rap music hit the mainstream with Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight
", Reid recorded a profane version of "Rapp Dirty" titled "Blowfly's Rapp [sic]". The song was a hit and helped the album, Blowfly's Party, reach #26 on Billboard magazine's Black Albums chart and #82 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1980. "Rapp Dirty" was sampled by The Avalanches
on the song "Electricity" from their 2000 album Since I Left You
, and is among Blowfly's songs to have been sampled
in numerous hip hop
and electronic songs.
Blowfly's profane style earned Reid legal trouble. He was sued by songwriter Stanley Adams
, who was ASCAP president at the time, for spoofing "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes".
's independent Alternative Tentacles
label in 2005. His first album for Alternative Tentacles, Fahrenheit 69 (2005), featured appearances from Slug
of Atmosphere
, King Coleman
, Gravy Train, and Afroman
. Other recent tours have included a headlining appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans and shows with Rudy Ray Moore
(Dolemite), Devin The Dude
, and Blueprint
. In March 2007, Blowfly completed his first tour of Australia
.
Blowfly's second Alternative Tentacles release is Blowfly's Punk Rock Party
. The album features several punk classics given the Blowfly treatment, including a rewrite of the Dead Kennedys
song "Holiday in Cambodia
" recast as "R. Kelly
in Cambodia
", that features Biafra (the song's composer and original singer) playing a trial judge.
In 2008 Blowfly toured Germany
with Die Ärzte
.
Blowfly performed at the Big Day Out
2010, a music festival held in Australia and New Zealand every January.
A documentary about Blowfly, The Weird World of Blowfly, directed by Jonathan Furmanski, premiered at the 2010 South by Southwest
film festival. It was released in theaters and on DVD in September 2011.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
and alternate persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
of Clarence Reid (born February 14, 1939 or 1945, (sources differ) in Cochran, Georgia
Cochran, Georgia
Cochran is a city in Bleckley County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,150. The city is the county seat of Bleckley County.- History :...
), who was a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
for many hit R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
-based parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of other songs, as well as original rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
s themed around sex. His stage name originated from his grandmother, who overheard him as a child singing "Do the Twist
The Twist (song)
"The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" as "Suck My Dick", and said "You is nastier than a blowfly." An alternate spelling used for his name on some of his early recordings is Blow Fly.
Biography
Reid started off writing songs for artists including Betty WrightBetty Wright
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name, Betty Wright , is a Grammy winning Miami-based soul and R&B singer-songwriter, who won fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night"...
, Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
, Gwen McCrae
Gwen McCrae
Gwen McCrae is an American R&B singer, best known for her March, 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair".-Career:...
, and KC & the Sunshine Band. He also recorded many songs of his own in the '60s and '70s including "Nobody But You Babe".
Reid would write sexually explicit versions of hit songs for fun but only performed them for his friends at parties or in the studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. In 1971 he along with a band of studio musicians recorded a whole album of "dirty" songs under the name "Blowfly". Back then, no record label would release profane material so he distributed the records himself on his own independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, Weird World.
The album, The Weird World of Blowfly, features Reid dressed as a low-rent supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
on its cover. Reid created this alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
to protect his career as a songwriter. Reid continued to perform in increasingly bizarre costumes as his Blowfly character. The albums were widely popular as "party records" in the '70s.
Many of Blowfly's songs featured his style of talking in rhyme which can be considered a primitive form of rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. After rap music hit the mainstream with Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight
Rapper's Delight
"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song's opening lyric "I said a hip hop, a...
", Reid recorded a profane version of "Rapp Dirty" titled "Blowfly's Rapp [sic]". The song was a hit and helped the album, Blowfly's Party, reach #26 on Billboard magazine's Black Albums chart and #82 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1980. "Rapp Dirty" was sampled by The Avalanches
The Avalanches
The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in 1997 with mainstays Robbie Chater on keyboards, Tony Diblasi on keyboards, bass and backing vocals, and Darren Seltmann on vocals and keyboards. They are known for their live DJ sets and their debut album Since I Left You , which was...
on the song "Electricity" from their 2000 album Since I Left You
Since I Left You
Since I Left You is the debut studio album by Australian music group The Avalanches released on 27 November 2000. Produced by Avalanches members Robbie Chater and Darren Seltmann, it was released on Modular Recordings. The album was created in two separate near-identical studios by Chater and...
, and is among Blowfly's songs to have been sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
in numerous hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and electronic songs.
Blowfly's profane style earned Reid legal trouble. He was sued by songwriter Stanley Adams
Stanley Adams (singer)
Stanley Adams was an American lyricist and songwriter. He wrote the English lyrics for the song "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" and the English lyrics for "La Cucaracha"...
, who was ASCAP president at the time, for spoofing "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes".
21st century
After 17 years of sporadic touring and occasional re-recording of his classic raps, Blowfly signed with Jello BiafraJello Biafra
Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...
's independent Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
label in 2005. His first album for Alternative Tentacles, Fahrenheit 69 (2005), featured appearances from Slug
Slug (rapper)
Sean Michael Daley, better known by his stage name Slug or "'Sep Seven'", is an American rapper. He is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Slug is best known as one fourth of the hip hop group Atmosphere, which he founded with Derek Turner...
of Atmosphere
Atmosphere (music group)
Atmosphere is an American hip hop group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is composed of rapper Slug and DJ/Producer Ant...
, King Coleman
King Coleman
Carlton "King" Coleman was an American rhythm and blues singer and musician, known for providing the vocals for the 1959 hit single, " Mashed Potatoes", recorded with James Brown's band...
, Gravy Train, and Afroman
Afroman
Joseph Edgar Foreman , better known by his stage name Afroman, is an American rapper who came to prominence with his singles "Because I Got High" and "Crazy Rap". "Because I Got High" circulated around the Internet before becoming a hit worldwide...
. Other recent tours have included a headlining appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans and shows with Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore
Rudy Ray Moore was an American comedian, musician, singer, film actor, and film producer. He was perhaps best known as Dolemite , the uniquely articulate pimp from the 1975 film Dolemite, and its sequel, The Human Tornado...
(Dolemite), Devin The Dude
Devin the Dude
Devin Copeland , better known by his stage name, Devin the Dude, is a Houston hip hop artist, and rapper. He is best known for his unique rapping style, his long career signed to Rap-A-Lot Records, and his 2002 song, "Lacville '79"....
, and Blueprint
Blueprint (rapper)
Blueprint is an American rapper and hip hop producer from Columbus, Ohio. He is the founder and owner of Weightless Recordings and is also signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment...
. In March 2007, Blowfly completed his first tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Blowfly's second Alternative Tentacles release is Blowfly's Punk Rock Party
Blowfly's Punk Rock Party
Blowfly's Punk Rock Party is the 2006 album by Blowfly and his second release for Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles. On this album numerous classics of the punk rock genre by artists such as The Ramones and The Dead Kennedys are given the trademark Blowfly sex parody treatment, as well as...
. The album features several punk classics given the Blowfly treatment, including a rewrite of the Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
song "Holiday in Cambodia
Holiday in Cambodia
"Holiday in Cambodia" was the second single by the American punk band Dead Kennedys. The record was released in May 1980 on Alternative Tentacles with "Police Truck" as the b-side...
" recast as "R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
", that features Biafra (the song's composer and original singer) playing a trial judge.
In 2008 Blowfly toured Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
with Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte is a punk band from Berlin. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German punk rock bands and have released over 20 albums. The band consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B. and bass player Rodrigo González...
.
Blowfly performed at the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
2010, a music festival held in Australia and New Zealand every January.
A documentary about Blowfly, The Weird World of Blowfly, directed by Jonathan Furmanski, premiered at the 2010 South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
film festival. It was released in theaters and on DVD in September 2011.
Albums
- Dancin' With Nobody But You Babe (as Clarence Reid) (1969)
- Weird World of Blowfly (1971)
- Blowfly on TV (1974)
- Zodiac Blowfly (1975)
- Oldies But Goodies (1976)
- Blowfly's Disco Party (1977)
- At the Movies (1977)
- Porno Freak (1978)
- Zodiac Party (1978)
- Blowfly's Party (1980) #82 US, #26 Black Albums
- Rappin Dancing & Laughin (1981)
- Butterfly (1981)
- Fresh Juice (1983)
- Electric Banana (1985)
- On Tour 1986 (1986)
- Blowfly and the Temple of Doom (1987)
- Blowfly for President (1988)
- Freak Party (1989)
- Twisted World of Blowfly (1991)
- 2001: A Sex Odyssey (1996)
- Analthology: The Best of Blowfly (1996)
- Blowfly Does XXX-Mas (1999)
- Fahrenheit 69 (2005)
- Blowfly's Punk Rock PartyBlowfly's Punk Rock PartyBlowfly's Punk Rock Party is the 2006 album by Blowfly and his second release for Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles. On this album numerous classics of the punk rock genre by artists such as The Ramones and The Dead Kennedys are given the trademark Blowfly sex parody treatment, as well as...
(2006) - Live At the Platypussery (2008)
Singles
- "Rapp Dirty" 12"/7" (1980)
- "Disco Party" 7" (1980)
- "Christmas Party/New Year's Party" 12" (1980)
- "Incredible Fulk" (1980)
- "Electronic Pussy Sucker" 12" (1983)
- "Funk You" 12" (1984)
- "Butt Pirate Luv" b/w "F U In The A" (2006) (Cheerleader vocals by Shannon Thier aka "Sheigh Zam" & Amy Pomerant)
- "Burning Pussy" b/w "Destructo Cock" - Split single with ANTiSEEN (2008)
- "Hole Man/ Hold On It's Running b/w Movie Maniac Medley (2008)
External links
- His MySpace Page
- Blowfly Video Interview with Mixery Raw Deluxe.TV
- in this recent interview (2011) Blowfly has a special message to Tech N9neTech N9neAaron Dontez Yates , better known by his stage name Tech N9ne , is an American rapper from Kansas City, Missouri. In 1999, Yates and Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. Throughout his career, Yates has sold over one million albums and has had his music featured in film,...
- MusicFilmWeb.com interview with Jonathan Furmanski, director of the documentary The Weird World of Blowfly
- Rapp Dirty