Biography
Fee Waybill, born John Waldo in Omaha, Nebraska, first gained attention as a roadie before stepping forward as the lead singer of San Francisco provocateurs the Tubes. He devised flamboyant alter egos such as the drug-addled rock idol Quay Lude and the wheelchair-bound Nazi persona Dr. Strangekiss. Waybill connected with core Tubes members Rick Anderson, Bill Spooner, and Vince Welnick after the group relocated from an Arizona art school to build a devoted California audience in 1972. Their wildly theatrical live shows leaned on provocative staging and burlesque elements, while their Al Kooper-produced debut featured the instantly memorable track “White Punks on Dope.” Despite the band’s growing cult status, A&M dropped them following their fifth album, Remote Control, which also underperformed commercially. Much like other visually driven 1970s acts including Alice Cooper and Kiss, the Tubes found themselves nearly sidelined by the rise of the music-video era. They abandoned their earlier soft-core imagery, recast themselves as a conventional rock outfit, and moved to a fresh label. To chase mainstream success they collaborated with producer David Foster on The Completion Backward Principle and Outside Inside; both releases generated chart activity, yet 1985’s Love Bomb stalled and prompted the group’s initial breakup. Waybill issued two solo albums and made a cameo appearance in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He later rejoined the Tubes during the 1990s, maintained an ongoing partnership with Richard Marx, and contributed songwriting and production work to Vixen, Gorky Park, and additional artists.
Albums