Skafish
Encyclopedia
Skafish is a Chicago
punk
band, fronted by Jim Skafish, cousin of Chicago area DJ Bobby Skafish
. The band was formed in 1976 and had their first performance that November.
In 1977, Billboard
magazine printed a review of the band's performance as the opening act for Sha Na Na
at Chicago's Arie Crown Theater
. Finding Skafish to be a "peculiar appetizer for the straight, conservative crowd" that Sha Na Na attracted, the reviewer stated that "[l]arge numbers retreated to the lobby halfway through Skafish's set, while others approached the stage, threatening with missiles, gestures and denunciations." Jim Skafish himself was described as "a 20-year-old musician from Gary, Ind., who appears to be in transition between man and woman ... dressed androgynously, hair in a pageboy," who at one point in the show "strips down to a woman's bathing suit and nervously applies lipstick to the face." While describing the band's music as "strange, inward-directed lyrics [set] to a repetitious and often dissonant accompaniment", the reviewer noted that Skafish "gave the impression that he had something to tell the audience about itself. ... Yet it remains to be seen whether Skafish has something to say and to whom."
, Skafish, was recorded during the summer of 1979 in South Chicago's PS studios, a facility more widely known for soul, funk and pop music. Personnel on the album consisted of Jim Skafish on keys and vocals, Barbie Goodrich on vocals, Ken Bronowski on guitars and vocals, Larry Mysliwiec on drums, Larry Mazalan on bass guitar and Javier Cruz on keyboards. The sessions dragged on through the summer of 1979, eventually going wildly over the shoestring budget production style that was the I.R.S., Miles Copeland trademark so successful for projects like early The Police
and Wishbone Ash
albums. Release of Skafish was delayed for many months under financial constraints, and the project was eventually mixed on low budget and released by IRS just before the band left for an extended European tour with The Police, XTC
, English Beat, UB40
, Steel Pulse
and other post punk, ska and reggae bands. Public acceptance of the album was marginal, mostly due to the sub-standard mix that heavily diminished the album's power and originality.
In 1980, Rolling Stone magazine published a review of a concert where more column space was devoted to the opening act Skafish than to the headliner, The Stranglers
.
While on this tour, the band filmed their segment for the Copeland/Lorimar production of Urgh! A Music War
. The segment, shot at a Roman theater in Frejus France, featured the controversial song "Sign of the Cross." The band lineup for the movie was the same as the album, with the exception of Chicago bassist Lee Gatlin taking the place of Mazalan.
After Europe, the band did a few short U.S. tours, headlining and opening for acts such as Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Stranglers and others. In 1983, they recorded a second IRS album, Conversation, at Pumpkin studios owned and operated by Gary Loizzo
(two-time Grammy-nominated singer for The American Breed and producer for Chicago
, Styx
, Survivor
and REO Speedwagon
. Personnel were Skafish vocals and keys, Ken Bronowski guitar, Barbie Goodrich vocals, Javier Cruz keys, Lee Gatlin on bass and Larry Mysliwiec (who was currently touring drummer for Iggy Pop) on drums. Conversation, co-produced by Copeland, Skafish and Loizzo, broke from the post punk style of Skafish toward a beat-based dance style, and was not well accepted, commercially.
Following Conversation, the band did a few West Coast tours, and called it quits in 1985. Jim Skafish continued to perform as Skafish for a few years with a string of pickup musicians, eventually going solo.
. Goodrich died on 10 June 1995 after a long battle with cancer. Javier Cruz currently works in the IT department of Jane Addams Elementary School in Chicago Illinois, and from time to time performs with the South Chicago cover band Life (of which Jim Skafish was a member for a time during the early 1980s) which is considered to be one of the best cover bands to come out of South Chicago. Additionally, Javier Cruz records from time to time.
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...
punk
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...
band, fronted by Jim Skafish, cousin of Chicago area DJ Bobby Skafish
Bobby Skafish
Bobby Skafish is a longtime radio personality in the Chicago area.-Career:* 1976-1983 WXRT* 1983-1993 WLUP* 1993-1994 WKQX* 1994-2006 WXRT* 2007- WDRV-Background:...
. The band was formed in 1976 and had their first performance that November.
In 1977, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine printed a review of the band's performance as the opening act for Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....
at Chicago's Arie Crown Theater
Arie Crown Theater
The Arie Crown Theater was named after Lithuanian immigrant Arie Crown, who was the father of Henry Crown, the American industrialist and philanthropist. The theater is situated on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. It opened in 1960, with seating for 5,000 people, one of the largest seating capacities in...
. Finding Skafish to be a "peculiar appetizer for the straight, conservative crowd" that Sha Na Na attracted, the reviewer stated that "[l]arge numbers retreated to the lobby halfway through Skafish's set, while others approached the stage, threatening with missiles, gestures and denunciations." Jim Skafish himself was described as "a 20-year-old musician from Gary, Ind., who appears to be in transition between man and woman ... dressed androgynously, hair in a pageboy," who at one point in the show "strips down to a woman's bathing suit and nervously applies lipstick to the face." While describing the band's music as "strange, inward-directed lyrics [set] to a repetitious and often dissonant accompaniment", the reviewer noted that Skafish "gave the impression that he had something to tell the audience about itself. ... Yet it remains to be seen whether Skafish has something to say and to whom."
First album
The band's first album on I.R.S. RecordsI.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...
, Skafish, was recorded during the summer of 1979 in South Chicago's PS studios, a facility more widely known for soul, funk and pop music. Personnel on the album consisted of Jim Skafish on keys and vocals, Barbie Goodrich on vocals, Ken Bronowski on guitars and vocals, Larry Mysliwiec on drums, Larry Mazalan on bass guitar and Javier Cruz on keyboards. The sessions dragged on through the summer of 1979, eventually going wildly over the shoestring budget production style that was the I.R.S., Miles Copeland trademark so successful for projects like early The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
and Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
albums. Release of Skafish was delayed for many months under financial constraints, and the project was eventually mixed on low budget and released by IRS just before the band left for an extended European tour with The Police, XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
, English Beat, UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
, Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...
and other post punk, ska and reggae bands. Public acceptance of the album was marginal, mostly due to the sub-standard mix that heavily diminished the album's power and originality.
In 1980, Rolling Stone magazine published a review of a concert where more column space was devoted to the opening act Skafish than to the headliner, The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
.
While on this tour, the band filmed their segment for the Copeland/Lorimar production of Urgh! A Music War
Urgh! A Music War
Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, New Wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Magazine, The Go-Go's, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead...
. The segment, shot at a Roman theater in Frejus France, featured the controversial song "Sign of the Cross." The band lineup for the movie was the same as the album, with the exception of Chicago bassist Lee Gatlin taking the place of Mazalan.
After Europe, the band did a few short U.S. tours, headlining and opening for acts such as Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Stranglers and others. In 1983, they recorded a second IRS album, Conversation, at Pumpkin studios owned and operated by Gary Loizzo
Gary Loizzo
Gary Loizzo is an American guitarist, singer, recording engineer, and record producer. He is best known for being the lead singer with The American Breed.-Biography:...
(two-time Grammy-nominated singer for The American Breed and producer for Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
, Survivor
Survivor (band)
Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its AOR sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme...
and REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
. Personnel were Skafish vocals and keys, Ken Bronowski guitar, Barbie Goodrich vocals, Javier Cruz keys, Lee Gatlin on bass and Larry Mysliwiec (who was currently touring drummer for Iggy Pop) on drums. Conversation, co-produced by Copeland, Skafish and Loizzo, broke from the post punk style of Skafish toward a beat-based dance style, and was not well accepted, commercially.
Following Conversation, the band did a few West Coast tours, and called it quits in 1985. Jim Skafish continued to perform as Skafish for a few years with a string of pickup musicians, eventually going solo.
Later activities
Jim Skafish still records and performs in the Midwest. He has recently produced a jazz style Christmas album, and he promotes and distributes Skafish product to a small but loyal cult fan base. Mysliwiec is currently a Midwest policeman, Bronowski still performs, records and is currently a professor of AV production and art at Purdue UniversityPurdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
. Goodrich died on 10 June 1995 after a long battle with cancer. Javier Cruz currently works in the IT department of Jane Addams Elementary School in Chicago Illinois, and from time to time performs with the South Chicago cover band Life (of which Jim Skafish was a member for a time during the early 1980s) which is considered to be one of the best cover bands to come out of South Chicago. Additionally, Javier Cruz records from time to time.
Albums
- Skafish IRS SP 008, I.R.S. Records (1980)
- Conversation IRS SP 70038, I.R.S. Records (1983)
Singles
- "Obsessions of You"/"Sink or Swim" IRS IR9011, I.R.S. Records (1980)
- "Wild Night Tonight"/"Secret Lover & Lover In Masquerade" IRS SP 70967 (1983)
Compilations & Soundtracks
- IRS Greatest Hits Vols 2 & 3 (SP 70800): features "Disgracing The Family Name"
- Urgh! A Music WarUrgh! A Music WarUrgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, New Wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Magazine, The Go-Go's, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead...
(A&M SP6019): features "Sign Of The Cross (Live)" - These People Are Nuts (IRS 82010): also features "Sign Of The Cross (Live)"