Anton Fier conceived the Golden Palominos not as a conventional band but as a constantly shifting vehicle for his work as drummer, programmer, and creative director. Born on June 20, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, he first attracted notice playing drums on the Feelies’ landmark 1980 album Crazy Rhythms. After departing that group he joined the Lounge Lizards, then returned to Cleveland and was invited by Pere Ubu to appear on Song of the Bailing Man. Once that association ended, Fier settled once more in downtown New York City and assembled the initial Golden Palominos lineup in 1981. Its principal performing edition functioned as an avant-funk supergroup featuring Fier alongside second drummer David Moss, saxophonist John Zorn, guitarist Arto Lindsay, and bassists Bill Laswell and Jamaaladeen Tacuma; the self-titled 1983 debut also incorporated contributions from Fred Frith, Nicky Skopelitis, and Mark Miller.
In subsequent years Fier steered the project away from the debut’s experimental textures toward more conventional song forms while replacing most of the original personnel with an ever-evolving roster of punk veterans, post-punk figures, emerging artists, and New York scene regulars. After securing co-writing assistance from former Raybeats guitarist Jody Harris, he brought in vocalists that included R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Cream’s Jack Bruce, PIL’s John Lydon, and newcomer Syd Straw. Additional musicians such as ex-dB Chris Stamey, guitarists Richard Thompson and Henry Kaiser, and P-Funk alumni Bernie Worrell and Mike Hampton helped the refreshed ensemble reach an early high point on the 1985 album Visions of Excess, a stylistically varied yet cohesive set anchored by a cover of Moby Grape’s “Omaha” and the original “Boy (Go).”
The 1986 release Blast of Silence introduced country and folk inflections; although Stipe and Lydon did not participate, many musicians from the previous record returned, now joined by guitarist T-Bone Burnett, Numbers Band vocalist Robert Kidney, artist and producer Don Dixon, singer-songwriter Peter Blegvad, Matthew Sweet, and former Flying Burrito Brother Sneaky Pete Kleinow. On the atmospheric 1989 album A Dead Horse, Fier stabilized the core around Laswell, Skopelitis, Kidney, and ex-Information Society singer Amanda Kramer while adding a few guests that included ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor.
Drunk with Passion, issued in 1991, restored the guest-heavy approach and welcomed back Stipe and Thompson along with new participant Bob Mould of Sugar. The following year’s This Is How It Feels presented a conceptually unified song cycle drawing on Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Road; alongside returning principals Laswell, Skopelitis, Worrell, and Kramer, the record highlighted vocalists Lori Carson and Lydia Kavanaugh plus bassist Bootsy Collins. Many of the same central players appeared on 1994’s Pure, after which 1996’s Dead Inside—essentially the work of a trio consisting of Fier, ex-Psychedelic Furs guitarist Knox Chandler, and vocalist-lyricist Nicole Blackman—moved into electronic and ambient territory. No further studio albums followed, only compilations, and Anton Fier died on September 21, 2022 at the age of 66.
