Masters Of The Obvious
Encyclopedia
Masters of the Obvious is a New Orleans-based garage punk
band. Formed in 1981 by Paul Caporino, the lineup of the band has seen many changes over the years, with Caporino being the only consistent member. The band has recorded several albums for Chicago-based record label Criminal IQ Records
.
The band, along with Dianogah
, served as opening acts for Coctails
on January 15, 2000 at the Lounge Ax
.
, punk rock
, metal
, soul
, noise music
, garage punk
and new wave
.
in 1981. The original lineup consisted of Mike Tomeny on guitar, his brother Jeff Tomeny on guitars and vocals and Don Ward on drums in addition to Caporino on guitar and vocals. Official recent members include Davey Tiltwheel, Gene Doney (today is his birthday) and Josh Mosh. This edition of the band first performed the songs "Skeletons Need Their Sleep" (composed by Jeff Tomeny) and "Satan Always Calls Collect" (by Tomeny and Caporino), which would reappear on several 7" EPs in later years.
Because M.O.T.O. recorded and performed live somewhat infrequently, Paul Caporino began to record a series of cassette albums without the assistance of the other members of the band. The tapes were originally intended as demos, but Caporino was so satisfied with the results that he decided to distribute them to the public. These tapes included Turn Your Head and Cough, BOLT! (short for "Best of Lent Tape"), Rock, Roll & Dismember and MOTOERECTUS. Caporino wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on the cassettes, layering multiple guitars, bass, lead and harmony vocals over a Mattel Synsonics drum machine. These early tapes feature many songs that would reappear in live shows and studio recordings over the years, including "Midnight at the Guantanamo Room", "Dick About It", "Month of Sundays", and "I'm Infected". The tapes showcased Caporino's offbeat and often vulgar sense of humor along with his extensive knowledge of the popular music of the previous thirty years. To reward the astute listener, the music contained winking references to the Beatles
, the Kinks
, Bob Dylan
, Donovan
, Led Zeppelin
, The Jam
, Black Flag
, Hüsker Dü
, Judas Priest
and many other artists.
The original lineup also made a few recordings as a band, which were collected on the QUASIMOTO cassette. When, in 1987, the original lineup disbanded, Caporino continued M.O.T.O. as a trio backed by Brad Brewster on drums and Greg Fisk on bass. This edition of the band played more live dates than the original lineup, but recorded very little.
, near Boston. There he formed a new version of the band with drummer Beck Dudley which lasted until 1993 and produced a number of 7" EPs, three home-recorded cassettes (Neon Bone!, 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll, and Talk of M.O.T.O.) and a full-length album, compiled from the first two tapes (This Corpse is a Warning). This lineup was the first to regularly record in a professional studio. These recordings were collected in 1994 on the Single File CD, released by Mind Of A Child Records and later re-issued by Criminal IQ Records
in 2004.
The band achieved its greatest notoriety to date as a duo, touring extensively and being featured by legendary BBC DJ John Peel
, who played the song "Rot Rot Rot" from the Hammeroid! EP on his program several times. This lineup could be said to have presaged the later success of the White Stripes
as a guitar/drums, male/female duo.
It was also during this period that both Caporino and Dudley moved from the Boston area to Chicago
.
) on drums. The Chicago lineup continued to evolve, featuring drummers Tim Ford and Ryan "Guitar" Murphy, bassist JJ Champion, and guitarist/bassist Laurence Museum of Death.
2003 saw the release of the band's first full album of all-new recordings, Kill M.O.T.O., which featured studio recordings of songs from Caporino's most recent home-recorded cassettes as well as brand new songs. In 2005, the band released Raw Power, which met with critical acclaim, including being selected as the best Chicago release of 2005 by the Chicago Reader's Bob Mehr.http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheMeter/051223.html
. He planned to continue the band with a new lineup in Providence, but subsequently decided to return to his native New Orleans, where he reunited with original members Jeff and Mike Tomeny. Caporino has also begun to perform acoustic solo sets consisting primarily of M.O.T.O. material.
The band recently completed a new studio album, "No Way Street", which is scheduled to be released on LP by the Criminal IQ label and which is available as a Japanese import CD on Tokyo No Records. M.O.T.O. is embarking on a new US tour in June 2011.
media. Although recent M.O.T.O releases are now available in CD format, most of the earlier band releases were on cassette and LP
. Many of the newer releases are still being released in this form to allow creation of mix tapes. Most of their newer recordings are released through Criminal IQ Records
and Little Teddy Recordings, the latter being home to Daniel Johnston
's recordings.
All of M.O.T.O.'s cassette releases are available directly from Paul Caporino.
Garage punk
Garage punk is a fusion of garage rock and punk rock. It is fast-paced lo-fi music characterized by a dirty, choppy guitar sound—usually played by bands who are on independent record labels or who are unsigned...
band. Formed in 1981 by Paul Caporino, the lineup of the band has seen many changes over the years, with Caporino being the only consistent member. The band has recorded several albums for Chicago-based record label Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, founded by John Babbin and Darius Hurley to facilitate the releases from Chicago's burgeoning underground no-wave/punk scene circa 2003 to present...
.
The band, along with Dianogah
Dianogah
Dianogah is a Chicago, Illinois based indie rock outfit formed in 1995, noted for their use of two bass guitars. Members include Kip McCabe, Jay Ryan and Jason Harvey. Dianogah's first full-length album, As Seen From Above, was recorded by Steve Albini, who also produced their second full-length...
, served as opening acts for Coctails
Coctails
The Coctails were a Chicago music quartet, which formed while its members were attending the Kansas City Art Institute. The band was active from about 1988 to 1995 The Coctails were a Chicago music quartet, which formed while its members were attending the Kansas City Art Institute. The band was...
on January 15, 2000 at the Lounge Ax
Lounge Ax
The Lounge Ax was a music venue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. It was an important venue for live rock music -- especially indie rock. The club was opened in 1987 by Jennifer Fischer and Julia Adams, who were joined around September 1989 by Sue Miller, previously the booker at...
.
History
As of 2009, M.O.T.O. has existed in some form for 28 years. Over that time, the band has undergone numerous lineup changes, but it has always functioned primarily as a platform for Paul Caporino's songwriting, a repertoire that includes hundreds of songs in a variety of genres such as popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, noise music
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, garage punk
Garage punk
Garage punk is a fusion of garage rock and punk rock. It is fast-paced lo-fi music characterized by a dirty, choppy guitar sound—usually played by bands who are on independent record labels or who are unsigned...
and new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
.
Original lineup
M.O.T.O. was formed in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
in 1981. The original lineup consisted of Mike Tomeny on guitar, his brother Jeff Tomeny on guitars and vocals and Don Ward on drums in addition to Caporino on guitar and vocals. Official recent members include Davey Tiltwheel, Gene Doney (today is his birthday) and Josh Mosh. This edition of the band first performed the songs "Skeletons Need Their Sleep" (composed by Jeff Tomeny) and "Satan Always Calls Collect" (by Tomeny and Caporino), which would reappear on several 7" EPs in later years.
Because M.O.T.O. recorded and performed live somewhat infrequently, Paul Caporino began to record a series of cassette albums without the assistance of the other members of the band. The tapes were originally intended as demos, but Caporino was so satisfied with the results that he decided to distribute them to the public. These tapes included Turn Your Head and Cough, BOLT! (short for "Best of Lent Tape"), Rock, Roll & Dismember and MOTOERECTUS. Caporino wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on the cassettes, layering multiple guitars, bass, lead and harmony vocals over a Mattel Synsonics drum machine. These early tapes feature many songs that would reappear in live shows and studio recordings over the years, including "Midnight at the Guantanamo Room", "Dick About It", "Month of Sundays", and "I'm Infected". The tapes showcased Caporino's offbeat and often vulgar sense of humor along with his extensive knowledge of the popular music of the previous thirty years. To reward the astute listener, the music contained winking references to the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, the Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
, Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
and many other artists.
The original lineup also made a few recordings as a band, which were collected on the QUASIMOTO cassette. When, in 1987, the original lineup disbanded, Caporino continued M.O.T.O. as a trio backed by Brad Brewster on drums and Greg Fisk on bass. This edition of the band played more live dates than the original lineup, but recorded very little.
M.O.T.O. as a duo
Shortly thereafter, Caporino moved to West Somerville, MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, near Boston. There he formed a new version of the band with drummer Beck Dudley which lasted until 1993 and produced a number of 7" EPs, three home-recorded cassettes (Neon Bone!, 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll, and Talk of M.O.T.O.) and a full-length album, compiled from the first two tapes (This Corpse is a Warning). This lineup was the first to regularly record in a professional studio. These recordings were collected in 1994 on the Single File CD, released by Mind Of A Child Records and later re-issued by Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, founded by John Babbin and Darius Hurley to facilitate the releases from Chicago's burgeoning underground no-wave/punk scene circa 2003 to present...
in 2004.
The band achieved its greatest notoriety to date as a duo, touring extensively and being featured by legendary BBC DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, who played the song "Rot Rot Rot" from the Hammeroid! EP on his program several times. This lineup could be said to have presaged the later success of the White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
as a guitar/drums, male/female duo.
It was also during this period that both Caporino and Dudley moved from the Boston area to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Post-Beck era
Dudley left the band in 1993 to pursue a Master's Degree in architecture. Though the band experienced a fall-off in popularity, Caporino continued to home-record cassettes at a highly productive rate, releasing seven cassettes between 1993 and 1998. The band also performed live with new members Dennis Spaag on bass and Garret Hammond (a future member of Kill HannahKill Hannah
Kill Hannah is a rock band formed in 1993 in Chicago. The band has released six studio albums, seven EPs, and two compilation albums as well as three DVDs.-History:...
) on drums. The Chicago lineup continued to evolve, featuring drummers Tim Ford and Ryan "Guitar" Murphy, bassist JJ Champion, and guitarist/bassist Laurence Museum of Death.
2003 saw the release of the band's first full album of all-new recordings, Kill M.O.T.O., which featured studio recordings of songs from Caporino's most recent home-recorded cassettes as well as brand new songs. In 2005, the band released Raw Power, which met with critical acclaim, including being selected as the best Chicago release of 2005 by the Chicago Reader's Bob Mehr.http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheMeter/051223.html
Move to Providence and Return to New Orleans
In September, 2009, Caporino briefly moved to Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. He planned to continue the band with a new lineup in Providence, but subsequently decided to return to his native New Orleans, where he reunited with original members Jeff and Mike Tomeny. Caporino has also begun to perform acoustic solo sets consisting primarily of M.O.T.O. material.
The band recently completed a new studio album, "No Way Street", which is scheduled to be released on LP by the Criminal IQ label and which is available as a Japanese import CD on Tokyo No Records. M.O.T.O. is embarking on a new US tour in June 2011.
Discography
In the early years of the band, Caporino expressed disdain for compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
media. Although recent M.O.T.O releases are now available in CD format, most of the earlier band releases were on cassette and LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
. Many of the newer releases are still being released in this form to allow creation of mix tapes. Most of their newer recordings are released through Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records
Criminal IQ Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, founded by John Babbin and Darius Hurley to facilitate the releases from Chicago's burgeoning underground no-wave/punk scene circa 2003 to present...
and Little Teddy Recordings, the latter being home to Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
's recordings.
All of M.O.T.O.'s cassette releases are available directly from Paul Caporino.
Longplayers (LP)
- No Way Street (Release by Criminal IQ - to be released/CD release by Tokyo No Records)
- Raw Power (2005 release by Criminal IQ, also on CD)
- Single File CD (2004 re-issue by Criminal IQ in the USA)
- Kill MOTO! (2002 vinyl LP release by Little Teddy Recordings in Germany; 2003 CD release by Criminal IQ in USA)
- Single File CD (28-song collection of single tracks 1988-1994; 1997 release by Mind Of A Child in USA)
- E Pluribus MOTO LP (1996 release by Teenage KicksTeenage Kicks"Teenage Kicks" is a 1978 song originally recorded by Northern Irish punk rock group The Undertones. Composed by the band's principal songwriter, John O'Neill, it was championed by DJ John Peel, and was his all-time favourite song.-John Peel:...
in Germany) - Bolt LP (1996 release by Little Teddy Recordings in Germany)
- This Corpse is a Warning CD/LP/CS (1990 Netherlands release by Resonance RecordsResonance RecordsResonance Records is an independent Jazz Record Label established in 2008 as the centerpiece of the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to preserving the art and legacy of Jazz. The label is based in Los Angeles, California and is devoted to preserving Jazz and...
)
Singles & EPs
- No Way Street EP - 300 on black wax, 150 on clear purple, 50 on clear blue (Surfin'Ki Records Records / Italy / 2008)
- European Tour EP (P Trash Records / Germany / 20.3.2007)
- What's Words Worth? EP (Rehab Records / USA / 2006)
- El Stop b/w She's Gone Nuts (Baby Killer Records / USA / 2006)
- Spiral Souch EP (Shit Sandwich / USA / 2003)
- Eternal Standby (MOC / USA / 1998)
- 4PAC (MOC / USA / 1997)
- Jacuzzi For the Dead EP (Little Teddy Recordings / Germany / 1996)
- Wee Beasties EP (Little Teddy Recordings / Germany / 1995)
- Midnight at the Guantanamo Room b/w Skinny Head (Mind Of A Child / USA / 1994)
- Street Where Love Lives b/w Coming Down All Day and Night (Hi-Ball / USA / 1993)
- Places We Used to Go / Love Back / Skeletons Need Their Sleep (Rockville / USA / 1992)
- Magic Words b/w Ghosts (Jetpac / Canada / 1992)
- I Am the Cheese b/w I Can't Stop It (Feel Good All Over / USA / 1991)
- She's Not Ready b/w Badger & Germ Inside (Feel Good All Over / USA / 1990)
- I Shot My Load and I'm Ready for the Grave EP (Tulpa / USA / 1989)
- Hammeroid! EP (Tulpa / USA / 1988)
Cassettes
- AMNFM (1999)
- TERRAMOTO (1998)
- Gangway for Miracles (1997)
- Wall of Phlegm (1997)
- Ampeg Stud (1996)
- Bandit 65 (1996)
- Fletcher Henderson (1995)
- E Pluribus M.O.T.O. (1993)
- Talk of M.O.T.O. (1991)
- M.O.T.O. Machine Music (a.k.a. RADIO BJ) (1990)
- 1000 Years of Rock'N'Roll (1989)
- Neon Bone! (1988)
- MOTOERECTUS (1987)
- QUASIMOTO (1987)
- Rock, Roll & Dismember (1986)
- BOLT! (1986)
- Turn Your Head and Cough (1985)
External links
- CD Baby page
- MySpace page
- Facebook page
- iLike.com page with free MP3s
- Little Teddy Recordings
- Criminal IQ Records
- Interview of Paul Caporino - 2008
- There is another "Masters of the Obvious," a comedy podcast by Marcia Pelletiere and friends, found at http://www.mastersoftheobvious.com