Vic Ruggiero
Encyclopedia
Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, (also known as Bad Vic,Ruggarroo or Lord Sluggo) is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City
who has played in many ska
bands, such as The Slackers
, Stubborn All-Stars
, SKAndalous All Stars, Crazy Baldhead and The Silencers (not to be confused with the Scottish
rock band The Silencers
). He has also performed with punk rock
band Rancid
, both live and in the studio. He has released three solo acoustic
albums, and has accompanied acoustic ska musician and singer Chris Murray.
Ruggiero's voice has a distinct Bronx accent that has a hard, guttural quality. His lyrics usually follow several themes, including the apocalypse
, dark humor, political distrust, paranoia
, murder
, love
and loss
. His songs have ranged from narrative ballad
s to nonsense songs inspired by Beat generation
poets and songwriters, such as Jack Kerouac
and John Lennon
respectively. He is primarily an organist
, although he also plays piano
, bass
, banjo
, guitar
, harmonica
and percussion.
Ruggiero has also worked as the producer behind a number of releases. His own New York-based record label Special Potatoe Records is the outlet for many of these projects, especially those in which members and alumni of The Slackers
are involved. His production style in these and his own projects is distinctively raw: by not erasing sounds that would traditionally be unwanted in a recording, such as doors closing or musicians cuing each other, his productions usually capture the live-band atmosphere more closely. Ruggiero has also been responsible for the production of releases from European ska artists, including Mr T Bone and The Moon Invaders.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who has played in many ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
bands, such as The Slackers
The Slackers
The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Brooklyn in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz...
, Stubborn All-Stars
Stubborn All-Stars
Stubborn All-Stars are a New York City ska band led by King Django, front man of Skinnerbox and owner of Stubborn Records.By early 1994, Django's original ska roots began to tug at him, and he assembled Stubborn All-Stars for a studio session which resulted in the 4-song Old's Cool 7" EP...
, SKAndalous All Stars, Crazy Baldhead and The Silencers (not to be confused with the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
rock band The Silencers
The Silencers (band)
The Silencers are a Scottish rock band formed in London in 1986 by two ex-members of the post-punk outfit Fingerprintz. Their music is characterized by a melodic blend of pop, folk and traditional Celtic influences...
). He has also performed with 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...
band Rancid
Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...
, both live and in the studio. He has released three solo 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...
albums, and has accompanied acoustic ska musician and singer Chris Murray.
Ruggiero's voice has a distinct Bronx accent that has a hard, guttural quality. His lyrics usually follow several themes, including the apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
, dark humor, political distrust, paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
and loss
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
. His songs have ranged from narrative ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s to nonsense songs inspired by Beat generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poets and songwriters, such as Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
respectively. He is primarily an organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, although he also plays piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, guitar
Guitar
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...
, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and percussion.
Ruggiero has also worked as the producer behind a number of releases. His own New York-based record label Special Potatoe Records is the outlet for many of these projects, especially those in which members and alumni of The Slackers
The Slackers
The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Brooklyn in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz...
are involved. His production style in these and his own projects is distinctively raw: by not erasing sounds that would traditionally be unwanted in a recording, such as doors closing or musicians cuing each other, his productions usually capture the live-band atmosphere more closely. Ruggiero has also been responsible for the production of releases from European ska artists, including Mr T Bone and The Moon Invaders.
Solo Albums
- Understanding New Jersey & Living in SinUnderstanding New Jersey & Living in SinUnderstanding New Jersey & Living in Sin is the first solo, acoustic album from The Slackers' keyboardist/lead singer Vic Ruggiero. It was released in the US in 2001. In 2006 it was released in Germany/Europe by Moanin'...
- 2001 - Alive at the Ladybug HouseAlive at the Ladybug HouseAlive at the Ladybug House is the second solo, acoustic album from The Slackers' keyboardist/lead singer, Vic Ruggiero. It was released in 2004.- Track listing :# "Mean + Nasty" # "Vic's Lament" # "'Til the Early Morning"...
- 2004 (Thought•Squad) - Mean & Nasty / Yes It's True (7" Single) (2005) (Ska In The World)
- Top Secret Bountry and Clues - 2006 (Also known as "Blues and Clues," and "Bounty and Clues".)
- HamburguruHamburguruHamburguru, is the third solo CD by The Slackers' organist and lead singer, Vic Ruggiero. The album has been released on February 23, 2007. It has only been released in Japan by the Japanese label "Ska In The World". Several songs on the album have been previously released on Vic Ruggiero's demo...
- 2007 (Ska In The World) - Something In My BlindspotSomething In My BlindspotSomething In My Blindspot is the fourth solo album by The Slackers' organist and lead singer, Vic Ruggiero. It has been released on February 15, 2008 by the label moanin', based in Berlin ....
- 2008 (Moanin' Music) - On The Ragtime (7" EP Version) (2009) - (Silver Sprocket / Thought•Squad)
- Meatball And Sushi Party (2009) (split EP with The Zoot16 G・B Version) (Ska In The World)
- On The Ragtime (LP Version) (2009) - (Silver Sprocket / Thought•Squad)
- Songs For Clandestine Lovers (2009) (Ska In The World)
- The New Dark Ages - 2009 (split EP with Kepi Ghoulie) (Asian Man RecordsAsian Man RecordsAsian Man Records is a small, DIY record label run by Mike Park in Monte Sereno, California. Park started a record label and began releasing music in 1989 under the name Dill Records, with the Asian Man label established May 1996.-Artists:...
) - Don't Feed The Cats In Iraq (collaboration with Phil Nerges) (2010) (Asian Man Records)
- Vic & Friends, Volume 1 - 2010 (Whatevski Records digital release)
- Vic Ruggiero & Maddie Ruthless / The Forthrights - Ska is Dead Club 7" ([Asbestos Records] / Underground Communique)
With The Slackers
- The SlackersThe Slackers (album)The Slackers was a cassette-only 1993 album by The Slackers. Although self-released, Moon Records assisted in distribution of the release.-Track listing:# "Ray Gun Sally"# "Rude Boy"# "Sister Sister"# "Red Onions"# "Tarantula"# "Rain Is Falling"...
— 1993 - Better Late Than Never — 1996
- Redlight — 1997
- The Question — 1998
- Before There Were Slackers There Were... (The Nods) - 1999
- Live at Ernesto's [Live] — 2000
- Wasted DaysWasted DaysWasted Days is an album by the ska/reggae band The Slackers, released on February 21, 2001 on Hell-Cat Records. Unlike other releases by the Slackers, the songs on the vinyl LP version of the album differ significantly from their counterparts on the CD release; additionally, there are several...
— 2001 - The Slackers and Friends — 2002
- Close My Eyes — 2003
- International War Criminal [EP] — 2004
- Upsettin' Ernesto's [Live] — 2004
- The Slackers/Pulley SplitThe Slackers/Pulley SplitThe Slackers/Pulley Split is a split EP by The Slackers, a New York ska band, and Pulley, a punk rock band. It was released in 2004. The Track "Sarah", by The Slackers, is an alternate version to that which appears on their debut album Better Late Than Never.The Track "I Shall Be Released" is a...
— 2004 - An Afternoon in Dub — 2005
- Slack in Japan [Live] — 2005
- PeculiarPeculiar (album)Peculiar is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Hellcat Records in 2006.-Track listing:# "86 the Mayo" – 4:23# "Peculiar" – 4:08# "Propaganda" – 4:31...
— 2006 - The Boss Harmony SessionsThe Boss Harmony SessionsThe Boss Harmony Sessions is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Special Potato in 2007 .-Track listing:# "Boss Harmony Speaks" - 0:33# "Robots" - 4:41...
- 2007 - Self MedicationSelf MedicationSelf Medication is an album by the New York City ska band The Slackers. It was released on Indication Records in 2008 .-Track listing:# "Every Day Is Sunday" – 2:35# "Don't You Want a Man" – 3:30...
- 2008 - Lost and FoundLost and FoundLost and Found is the third full-length album by Mudvayne. The album was released on April 12, 2005 through Epic Records. The album had major success in the U.S., debuting at number #2 and being certified Gold by the RIAA shortly afterward. It has sold about 800,000 copies as of August 2006...
- 2009 - The Great Rocksteady SwindleThe Great Rocksteady Swindle-Side one:#"Cheated"#"Because"#"A Long Way Off"#"The Same Everyday"#"Mr. Tragedy "-Side two:#"Bo Evil"#"Tool Shed"#"Don't Look Back"#"How It Feels"#"Ain't No Sunshine"#"Thank You"-Players:* Ara Babajian - drums* Marcus Geard - bass...
- 2010
With the SKAndalous All-Stars
- Hit Me - 1997
- Punk Steady - 1998
- Age of Insects - 1999
With the Stubborn All-Stars
- Open Season - 1995
- Back With a New Batch - 1997
- Nex Music - 1999
- At Version City - 1999
With Rancid
- Life Won't WaitLife Won't WaitLife Won't Wait is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid. It was released on June 30, 1998 through Epitaph Records. It was released as the follow-up to ...And Out Come the Wolves .-Musical style and lyrics:...
- 1998
- Writing credits for tracks 5, 8 and 18
- Hammond B3 Organ on tracks 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18 and 21
- Piano on tracks 5, 9, 12, 14, 18 and 21
- Percussion on tracks 5 and 18
- Guitar on track 12
- Indestructible - 2003
- Keyboards
- Let the Dominoes FallLet the Dominoes FallLet the Dominoes Fall is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid. It was released on June 2, 2009 through Hellcat Records...
-2009
- Keyboards
With The Transplants
- TransplantsTransplants (album)Transplants is debut eponymous album by Transplants' released in 2002.-Track listing:All songs written by Tim Armstrong and Rob Aston unless noted.# "Romper Stomper" – 3:18# "Tall Cans in the Air" – 3:43# "D.J...
- 2002
- Hammond B3 Organ on tracks 2, 6, and 7
- Hammond B3 Organ/Piano on tracks 9, 10, and 12
- Haunted CitiesHaunted CitiesHaunted Cities is the second album and major label debut by the Transplants. It was released on June 21, 2005 and includes the radio hit "Gangsters & Thugs". The album sold close to 34,000 copies in its first week and came in at #28 on the Billboard 200...
- 2005
- Haunted Cities
- Wurlitzer, Farfisa on track 6
With P.O. Box
- InBetweenTheLines - 2009
- Keyboards and Additional Guitars on track 7:Skinocracy