Green Jelly

A theatrical comedy rock outfit known for its elaborate costumes, Green Jelly scored an unexpected Top 40 success in 1993 thanks to the single “Three Little Pigs” and its claymation video. The track anchored the band’s second album to reach the Billboard charts, Cereal Killer Soundtrack. Fronted by vocalist Bill Manspeaker, the only member to remain throughout its existence, the group first surfaced in 1989, entered a lengthy break following the 1994 album 333, reassembled with its original lineup in 2009 to issue Musick to Insult Your Intelligence By, and delivered its fifth studio album, Garbage Band Kids, in 2021.

Originally formed in New York in 1981 under the name Green Jellö, the collective selected that moniker both to express distaste for green-flavored gelatin and to signal the perceived caliber of its own output. Rather than striving for musical proficiency, the members chose to “disguise their lack of ability with stupid props,” according to their liner notes. Early exposure arrived via an appearance on The Gong Show, where they billed themselves the world’s worst band; a pivotal shift occurred in 1988 after they encountered GWAR and acquired techniques for constructing props and costumes from latex, papier-mâché, chicken wire, and couch cushions. Their outlandish, cartoonish aesthetic drew a modest but intrigued audience, leading to a video-only deal with Zoo Records.

Having already issued several EPs and the 1989 album Triple Live Möther Gööse at Budokan, Green Jellö unveiled Cereal Killer on Zoo as a “video album” whose every track was accompanied by a visual. The project’s absurd costumes and bubblegum metal songs gained traction once MTV began airing the clay-animation clip for “Three Little Pigs,” prompting an audio counterpart, Cereal Killer Soundtrack, in 1993.

Commercial attention also triggered legal action. Kraft Foods successfully sued over trademark concerns, compelling the band to adopt the name Green Jelly; an edited rendition of “Cereal Killer” was likewise required on the soundtrack because the targeted cereal mascots proved objectionable to their corporate owners. Industry support persisted, however, enabling BMG to help fund Green Jellÿ Studios, an audio-visual facility that opened in 1994 on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. That year the group also produced the inaugural video-game soundtrack, for Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage, based on the Marvel Comics characters. A final 1995 single paired a cover of Gary Glitter’s “I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am)” with Hulk Hogan on vocals before the act disbanded.

After a decade apart, Green Jelly reconvened in 2008. Subsequent touring and a reissue of Cereal Killer Soundtrack preceded the 2009 release of Musick to Insult Your Intelligence By. Several quiet years followed until the 2017 single “Fr3tö F33t” and the 2019 SpongeBob SquarePants theme parody “Silence of the Sponge.” In 2021 the band returned with Garbage Band Kids, its first studio album in twelve years.