Biography
Following the breakup of the pioneering Los Angeles punk outfit Vagina Dentata, bassist Tim Ferris and Gary Jacoby—who had moved from behind the drum kit to front the band—launched a new group expressly to showcase their eccentric temperaments. They added Bob Hoss, late of Endless Banana, on guitar and cycled through an astonishing 27 drummers, one of them named Cujo, a tally that rivaled Spinal Tap’s misfortunes. Their rowdy, unrestrained performances quickly earned the band bans from virtually every rock venue in Los Angeles; one club owner even branded them a disgrace to rock & roll. Taking the rebuff as an omen, the musicians headed north to San Francisco. Arriving at Hoss’s girlfriend’s apartment, they found her in bed with Jason Shapiro, who, within a week, joined as second guitarist—an arrangement that promptly ended that romance.
Over the next twelve months Celebrity Skin took over the city’s club circuit, regularly selling out rooms such as the Ivy. The following year the quartet returned to Los Angeles. Shortly after settling back in town, they played a benefit for Rock City News at the Whisky a Go Go; to their astonishment the Sunset Strip crowd embraced their manic glam-punk stage antics. That night proved decisive: each subsequent show drew larger audiences, eventually filling the very venues that had once barred them. At one such concert, ex-Germs/45 Grave drummer Don Bolles reviewed the performance for the L.A. Weekly and wrote favorably. The band visited Bolles at his apartment to offer him the drum chair; when the invitation was extended, his pet rat convulsed and died. Interpreting the event as a sign, Bolles accepted and became the group’s permanent drummer.
Celebrity Skin soon signed with the Los Angeles independent label Triple X Records and issued a three-song self-titled EP that included their glam-styled reading of ABBA’s “S.O.S.” Multiple American and European tours followed, with the band’s flamboyant look and over-the-top live spectacle repeatedly catching audiences off guard. Their only full-length album, Good Clean Fun, produced by legendary punk producer Geza X, appeared in 1991. While supporting the record with even more extensive U.S. dates, the group dissolved on the eve of a planned European tour amid personal conflicts.
After the split, Gary Jacoby performed as Gary Celebrity and released the solo LP Diary of a Monster on Triple X Records. Jason Shapiro formed 3-Way. Don Bolles hosted the long-running All Night Truck Drivers Show on Mars FM and the Arturo Batman program on Los Angeles’ KPFK while also playing with the local band Three Day Stubble. In the mid-’90s Tim Ferris started the twisted punk-pop outfit Big Baby and later joined psychobilly trailblazers the Cramps.
Over the next twelve months Celebrity Skin took over the city’s club circuit, regularly selling out rooms such as the Ivy. The following year the quartet returned to Los Angeles. Shortly after settling back in town, they played a benefit for Rock City News at the Whisky a Go Go; to their astonishment the Sunset Strip crowd embraced their manic glam-punk stage antics. That night proved decisive: each subsequent show drew larger audiences, eventually filling the very venues that had once barred them. At one such concert, ex-Germs/45 Grave drummer Don Bolles reviewed the performance for the L.A. Weekly and wrote favorably. The band visited Bolles at his apartment to offer him the drum chair; when the invitation was extended, his pet rat convulsed and died. Interpreting the event as a sign, Bolles accepted and became the group’s permanent drummer.
Celebrity Skin soon signed with the Los Angeles independent label Triple X Records and issued a three-song self-titled EP that included their glam-styled reading of ABBA’s “S.O.S.” Multiple American and European tours followed, with the band’s flamboyant look and over-the-top live spectacle repeatedly catching audiences off guard. Their only full-length album, Good Clean Fun, produced by legendary punk producer Geza X, appeared in 1991. While supporting the record with even more extensive U.S. dates, the group dissolved on the eve of a planned European tour amid personal conflicts.
After the split, Gary Jacoby performed as Gary Celebrity and released the solo LP Diary of a Monster on Triple X Records. Jason Shapiro formed 3-Way. Don Bolles hosted the long-running All Night Truck Drivers Show on Mars FM and the Arturo Batman program on Los Angeles’ KPFK while also playing with the local band Three Day Stubble. In the mid-’90s Tim Ferris started the twisted punk-pop outfit Big Baby and later joined psychobilly trailblazers the Cramps.
Albums
