Tin Huey
Encyclopedia
Tin Huey is an experimental rock
and New Wave
band
from Akron, Ohio
that formed in the mid/late 1970s.
, Aylward played bass
, and Austin (then known as Napoleon Lemens) played drums
. Harvey Gold
became the fourth member to join on organ
.
When Price left the band, the remaining members switched to acoustic
music
before hiring electric guitarist Arthur Baranoff and bassist Wayne Swickley.
When they left, Price rejoined and became the bassist, while Aylward took on electric guitar, and Gold alternated between electric guitar and keyboards
; they briefly added saxophonist Lochi MacIntosh to the lineup before replacing him with Ralph Carney
. Chris Butler
(who was the bassist for 15-60-75 (The Numbers Band), was the last to join, also on guitar. Tin Huey was part of the influx of bands emerging from the Akron/Cleveland music scene, others including Devo
, Pere Ubu
, Chi-Pig
, the Electric Eels
, the Bizarros and the Rubber City Rebels
.
, Frank Zappa
, The Stooges
and the Soft Machine
, Tin Huey signed with Warner Bros. Records
, recorded, and then released their debut album Contents Dislodged During Shipment
in 1979 (later issued for the first time on CD by Collector's Choice Music in 2003). It wasn't a commercial success, however. Ralph Legnini (a.k.a. Ralph E.) played with the band for several early '80s shows before they went their separate ways. It would be two decades before they released any new material.
Their follow-up second album, Disinformation
, was released in 1999 by Butler's Future Fossil Records
. Since then, they have played shows both in Ohio
and in the greater New York City area. Most recently, they assembled recordings from the mid-70s for their third album, Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes
. The album is a combination of studio recordings and live performances from JB's in Kent, Ohio
, where they regularly played. They've also been gathering new material for their fourth album, New Stuff: Obscure Deluxe. Obscurity was released on November 17, 2009 , on the Smog Veil label, becoming their first new album in over a decade. New Stuff' s exact release date is yet to be substantiated.
In 2003, Tin Huey were among the Midwestern/Akronite bands that were featured in the PBS documentary
"It's Everything, And Then It's Gone
, which covered the mostly overlooked stories about the bands who hailed from the Ohio music scene and developed the "Akron Sound".
That same year, Tin Huey played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland.
Tin Huey briefly became a septet after adding newcomer Bob Ethington, formerly of Unit 5. Price died after a four-year battle with colon cancer on November 6, 2008 at the age of 56. Following his death, Tin Huey as a band stopped performing. A spin-off band, Half Cleveland, was formed in 2007 featuring Gold, Butler, Ethington, and former Chi-Pig
bassist Debbie Smith. They have played occasional shows in the Akron/Cleveland area, including opening a show at the Akron Civic Theater for Chrissie Hynde
of the Pretenders.
Since Price's death, there have been a couple live 'events', one a jam loosely dedicated to Mark involving all the surviving members of the Hueys, bass handled by Gold, Smith, and Kristoffer Carter (The KC Show). The second was an Arts Program benefit billed as "A Gaggle of Hueys and a Houseguest" featuring original Hueys Gold, Aylward and Austin, along with Dave Rich of Houseguest. Recently, Gold and Aylward have also been playing improvisational guitar duets at local art galleries.
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
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...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
from Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
that formed in the mid/late 1970s.
Original lineups
The band was originally known as Rags and started out with three members: Mark Price, Michael Aylward, and Stuart Austin. Later, the band decided to rename themselves after Aylward's younger brother. When the trio were Rags, Price (then known as Wesley the Stash) played guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Aylward played bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and Austin (then known as Napoleon Lemens) played drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. Harvey Gold
Harvey Gold
Harvey Gold , born in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., is an American guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist for the avant-rock/New Wave band Tin Huey. When the band members first went their separate waysin 1982, he also became a film and video producer...
became the fourth member to join on organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
When Price left the band, the remaining members switched to acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
before hiring electric guitarist Arthur Baranoff and bassist Wayne Swickley.
When they left, Price rejoined and became the bassist, while Aylward took on electric guitar, and Gold alternated between electric guitar and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
; they briefly added saxophonist Lochi MacIntosh to the lineup before replacing him with Ralph Carney
Ralph Carney
Ralph Carney is an American musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophones and clarinets, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones....
. Chris Butler
Chris Butler (musician)
Chris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...
(who was the bassist for 15-60-75 (The Numbers Band), was the last to join, also on guitar. Tin Huey was part of the influx of bands emerging from the Akron/Cleveland music scene, others including Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
, Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
, Chi-Pig
Chi-Pig
Chi-Pig was a New Wave power trio hailing from Akron, Ohio. During the 1960s and 1970s, Susan Schmidt and Deborah Smith were active in several area bands, notably The Poor Girls, Cinderella's Revenge, and Friction...
, the Electric Eels
Electric Eels (band)
The electric eels were a protopunk band active between 1972 and 1975. They formed in Cleveland, Ohio....
, the Bizarros and the Rubber City Rebels
Rubber City Rebels
The Rubber City Rebels are an American protopunk band from Akron, Ohio, that formed in 1976.-Early years:The original line-up of the band consisted of Rod Firestone , Buzz Clic , Donny Damage , Stix Pelton and Pete Sake .In their early years, the Rebels were fans of fellow Greater Cleveland-area...
.
Career
Inspired by Captain BeefheartCaptain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, The Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
and the Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
, Tin Huey signed with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, recorded, and then released their debut album Contents Dislodged During Shipment
Contents Dislodged During Shipment
Contents Dislodged During Shipment is a mostly experimental rock album released by Tin Huey and Warner Bros. Records originally in 1979-Track listing:#"I'm a Believer" 3:16#"The Revelations of Dr...
in 1979 (later issued for the first time on CD by Collector's Choice Music in 2003). It wasn't a commercial success, however. Ralph Legnini (a.k.a. Ralph E.) played with the band for several early '80s shows before they went their separate ways. It would be two decades before they released any new material.
Their follow-up second album, Disinformation
Disinformation (album)
Disinformation is an experimental rock and New Wave album released by Tin Huey in 1999 through Future Fossil Records.-Track listing:# "Cheap Mechanics" – 5:00# "The Tin Huey Story, Part 2" – 3:12...
, was released in 1999 by Butler's Future Fossil Records
Future Fossil Records
Future Fossil Records is an independent record label that Chris Butler owns and runs in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. It has been there since the late 1990s. Albums released through that label include his own solo material, such as The Museum of Me....
. Since then, they have played shows both in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and in the greater New York City area. Most recently, they assembled recordings from the mid-70s for their third album, Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes
Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes
Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes is a 2009 album/CD by the Ohioan experimental rock band music Tin Huey. It was released by the independent record label Smog Veil Records and consists of previously unreleased partly studio, partly live material that date between 1974 and 1979...
. The album is a combination of studio recordings and live performances from JB's in Kent, Ohio
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeastern Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census...
, where they regularly played. They've also been gathering new material for their fourth album, New Stuff: Obscure Deluxe. Obscurity was released on November 17, 2009 , on the Smog Veil label, becoming their first new album in over a decade. New Stuff
In 2003, Tin Huey were among the Midwestern/Akronite bands that were featured in the PBS documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
"It's Everything, And Then It's Gone
It's Everything, And Then It's Gone
It's Everything, And Then It's Gone is a 2003 PBS rock music documentary. It is a Western Reserve Public Media/ PBS production, executive produced by Don Freeman and written/directed by Phil Hoffman, and was followed by the sequel, If You're Not Dead, Play....
, which covered the mostly overlooked stories about the bands who hailed from the Ohio music scene and developed the "Akron Sound".
That same year, Tin Huey played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland.
Tin Huey briefly became a septet after adding newcomer Bob Ethington, formerly of Unit 5. Price died after a four-year battle with colon cancer on November 6, 2008 at the age of 56. Following his death, Tin Huey as a band stopped performing. A spin-off band, Half Cleveland, was formed in 2007 featuring Gold, Butler, Ethington, and former Chi-Pig
Chi-Pig
Chi-Pig was a New Wave power trio hailing from Akron, Ohio. During the 1960s and 1970s, Susan Schmidt and Deborah Smith were active in several area bands, notably The Poor Girls, Cinderella's Revenge, and Friction...
bassist Debbie Smith. They have played occasional shows in the Akron/Cleveland area, including opening a show at the Akron Civic Theater for Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
of the Pretenders.
Since Price's death, there have been a couple live 'events', one a jam loosely dedicated to Mark involving all the surviving members of the Hueys, bass handled by Gold, Smith, and Kristoffer Carter (The KC Show). The second was an Arts Program benefit billed as "A Gaggle of Hueys and a Houseguest" featuring original Hueys Gold, Aylward and Austin, along with Dave Rich of Houseguest. Recently, Gold and Aylward have also been playing improvisational guitar duets at local art galleries.
Current line-up of Tin Huey
- Michael Aylward (Guitar, Vocals)
- Stuart Austin (Drums, Percussion)
- Chris ButlerChris Butler (musician)Chris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...
(Guitar, Vocals) - Ralph CarneyRalph CarneyRalph Carney is an American musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophones and clarinets, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones....
(Horns) - Harvey GoldHarvey GoldHarvey Gold , born in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A., is an American guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist for the avant-rock/New Wave band Tin Huey. When the band members first went their separate waysin 1982, he also became a film and video producer...
(Keyboards, Bass, Guitar, Vocals) - Mark Price (Tin Huey member) (Bass, Vocals) (deceased)
- "Bongo" Bob Ethington (???)
Former members of the Rags/Tin Huey
- Arthur Baranoff (Electric Guitar)
- Wayne Swickley (Bass)
- Lochi MacIntosh (Horns)
- Ralph Legnini (Guitar)
Discography
- Tin Huey (EP) EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(1977) (Clone Records) - Breakfast With The Hueys EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(1978) (Clone Records) - Contents Dislodged During ShipmentContents Dislodged During ShipmentContents Dislodged During Shipment is a mostly experimental rock album released by Tin Huey and Warner Bros. Records originally in 1979-Track listing:#"I'm a Believer" 3:16#"The Revelations of Dr...
(1979) (Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
) - English Kids (1980) EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(Clone Records) - DisinformationDisinformation (album)Disinformation is an experimental rock and New Wave album released by Tin Huey in 1999 through Future Fossil Records.-Track listing:# "Cheap Mechanics" – 5:00# "The Tin Huey Story, Part 2" – 3:12...
(1999) (Future Fossil RecordsFuture Fossil RecordsFuture Fossil Records is an independent record label that Chris Butler owns and runs in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. It has been there since the late 1990s. Albums released through that label include his own solo material, such as The Museum of Me....
) - Sneak Peek: The Obscurity Series (200?)
- Before Obscurity: The Bushflow TapesBefore Obscurity: The Bushflow TapesBefore Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes is a 2009 album/CD by the Ohioan experimental rock band music Tin Huey. It was released by the independent record label Smog Veil Records and consists of previously unreleased partly studio, partly live material that date between 1974 and 1979...
(2009) (Smog Veil RecordsSmog Veil RecordsSmog Veil Records is a Chicago, IL based independent record label. In addition to standard CD, DVD, and vinyl distribution, Smog Veil all distributes its media via the digital channels, including Napster and iTunes.-Label Information:...
) - New Stuff: Obscurity Deluxe (TBC)