Fishbone

Fishbone emerged from Los Angeles by fusing equal shares of deep funk, high-energy punk, and frantic ska, becoming one of the most singular and wide-ranging alternative rock acts of the late 1980s. The group’s restless stylistic mix, playful wit, and pointed social observations earned them a devoted cult following throughout those years, although commercial radio acceptance stayed out of reach.

Vocalist and saxophonist Angelo Moore guided the band, which came together in 1979 while its members were still attending junior high school. The original roster included Moore along with Chris Dowd, Kendall Jones, Walter Kibby II, and John Norwood Fisher. After local club appearances in the early 1980s, the quintet joined Columbia Records in the mid-1980s and issued a self-titled EP in 1985. Their debut full-length album, In Your Face, followed in 1986; despite somewhat glossy production, the raw force of the performances cut through the sheen. In 1987 Fishbone delivered the holiday EP It’s a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time).

The 1988 album Truth and Soul found the band at peak ambition, swinging between heavy metal and funk while inserting an acoustic track and a version of Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddie’s Dead.” That release broadened their reach and reached number 153 on the charts. Three years passed before another studio album appeared. During the interval the band issued the EPs Ma and Pa in 1989 and Bonin’ in the Boneyard in 1990, collections that largely gathered B-sides. Guitarist John Bigham joined prior to the 1991 album The Reality of My Surroundings, which refined rather than abandoned the group’s unpredictable eclecticism, climbing to number 49 and drawing favorable notices. Still, mainstream success did not follow, nor did it arrive with 1993’s Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe, even after the band performed at the third Lollapalooza.

When the third-wave ska revival gained traction in 1996, Fishbone remained overlooked. Their first Arista album, Chim Chim’s Bad Ass Revenge, drew little attention that year, as did the double-disc anthology Fishbone 101: Nuttasaurusmeg Fossil Fuelin. Live shows continued to draw crowds despite modest sales, leading to the all-star set Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx in spring 2000. Hollywood Records offered scant promotion, however, and the record vanished after a few weak months; the label dropped the band the following summer. Side projects occupied the members during this lull. An EP titled Friendliest Psychosis of All, featuring a twenty-minute collaboration with Primus, surfaced on the group’s own imprint in spring 2002, followed that summer by the live album Live at the Temple Bar and More, which contained several new songs. Still Stuck in Your Throat reached Europe in 2006 and the United States the next April.