Biography
Punk pranksters the Meatmen possessed one of the most vile and insulting comedic sensibilities within hardcore, a notable distinction even in that realm. Frontman Tesco Vee, the sole unchanging member across the group's various lineups, embraced political incorrectness long before the phrase gained currency by sustaining an exuberantly foolish and crude demeanor filled with explicit jests about bodily functions that targeted women, minorities, homosexuals, competing punk bands, and handicapped children. The Meatmen's sound stayed rooted in conventional hardcore punk while adding heavy metal touches during later phases, yet their extreme provocativeness formed the genuine foundation of their audience.
Meatmen founder Tesco Vee, born Robert Vermuellen, spent most of his upbringing in Lansing, MI, where exposure to Detroit proto-punk acts such as the MC5 and the Stooges shaped his musical outlook. From his teenage years onward he issued multiple punk fanzines, among them Touch & Go, which documented the Midwestern scene. In 1980 he took the stage name Tesco Vee, drawn from his preferred record store, and joined brothers Rich and Greg Ramsey on bass and guitar to establish the Meatmen. Original drummer Jim Forsey soon yielded to Eliot Rachtman, enabling the band to cultivate a following through stage antics largely unrelated to Vee's daytime role as a fourth-grade teacher.
Later that same year Vee partnered with Necros bassist Corey Rusk to launch Touch & Go Records, which issued the Meatmen's 1982 debut EP Blood Sausage. A second EP, Crippled Children Suck, followed promptly and later appeared in reissued form as part of an LP that added demos and outtakes. By then Rachtman had already been succeeded first by Mr. X and subsequently by ex-Necros drummer Todd Swalla, while Greg Ramsey departed and allowed brother Rich to shift to guitar with Mike Achtenbourg entering on bass. Uninterested in label operations, Vee also relinquished control of Touch & Go to Rusk, who would develop it into one of the decade's most influential indie imprints. The Meatmen's, and Touch & Go's, inaugural full-length LP We're the Meatmen...and You Suck!! surfaced in 1983, incorporating both Blood Sausage tracks and live renditions of Crippled Children material. After its release the original Meatmen configuration disbanded and Vee moved to Washington, D.C.
Assisted by ex-Minor Threat guitarists Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, Vee cut the solo EP Dutch Hercules in 1984. Preslar and Baker then supplied the core of a musically stronger new Meatmen lineup completed by bassist Graham McCulloch and drummer Eric Zelzdor. Departing Touch & Go for Homestead, this roster delivered War of the Superbikes in 1985. Baker next exited to establish the early emo band Dag Nasty and was succeeded by Stuart Casson, who himself departed midway through the recording of 1986's Rock & Roll Juggernaut, now on Caroline, and yielded to James Cooper; when Cooper left in 1987 Casson returned immediately. That year also saw Zelzdor depart in favor of Mark "Gooly" Kermanj. This configuration undertook a farewell tour in 1988 that yielded the live album We're the Meatmen...and You Still Suck!!!
Two years after the Meatmen's dissolution Tesco Vee resurfaced from retirement to assemble the Hate Police, which produced several singles and an album between 1990 and 1993. In the interim Touch & Go assembled all of the Meatmen's label recordings on 1991's evocatively titled Stud Powercock: The Touch and Go Years. In 1993, after the Hate Police split, Vee aligned with a Meatmen-influenced band called True Grit to reconstitute the Meatmen, now featuring guitarist Norman Voss, bassist Mark Davis, and drummer Mark Glass. Vee created his own Meatking label to release the new lineup's initial effort, the limited-edition Toilet Slave, in 1994. The follow-up, 1995's Pope on a Rope, introduced new drummer Rob San Pietro and secured support slots alongside acts such as Gwar and Butt Trumpet. War of the Superbikes, Vol. 2, issued by Go Kart in 1996, contained the complete original album plus newly recorded tracks to complete the CD. A concluding EP, Evil in a League with Satan, appeared in 1997 before the group disbanded once more. A decade afterward the Meatmen reconvened in the studio to commence work on Cover the Earth, released in 2009 and followed by an extensive U.S. tour.
Meatmen founder Tesco Vee, born Robert Vermuellen, spent most of his upbringing in Lansing, MI, where exposure to Detroit proto-punk acts such as the MC5 and the Stooges shaped his musical outlook. From his teenage years onward he issued multiple punk fanzines, among them Touch & Go, which documented the Midwestern scene. In 1980 he took the stage name Tesco Vee, drawn from his preferred record store, and joined brothers Rich and Greg Ramsey on bass and guitar to establish the Meatmen. Original drummer Jim Forsey soon yielded to Eliot Rachtman, enabling the band to cultivate a following through stage antics largely unrelated to Vee's daytime role as a fourth-grade teacher.
Later that same year Vee partnered with Necros bassist Corey Rusk to launch Touch & Go Records, which issued the Meatmen's 1982 debut EP Blood Sausage. A second EP, Crippled Children Suck, followed promptly and later appeared in reissued form as part of an LP that added demos and outtakes. By then Rachtman had already been succeeded first by Mr. X and subsequently by ex-Necros drummer Todd Swalla, while Greg Ramsey departed and allowed brother Rich to shift to guitar with Mike Achtenbourg entering on bass. Uninterested in label operations, Vee also relinquished control of Touch & Go to Rusk, who would develop it into one of the decade's most influential indie imprints. The Meatmen's, and Touch & Go's, inaugural full-length LP We're the Meatmen...and You Suck!! surfaced in 1983, incorporating both Blood Sausage tracks and live renditions of Crippled Children material. After its release the original Meatmen configuration disbanded and Vee moved to Washington, D.C.
Assisted by ex-Minor Threat guitarists Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, Vee cut the solo EP Dutch Hercules in 1984. Preslar and Baker then supplied the core of a musically stronger new Meatmen lineup completed by bassist Graham McCulloch and drummer Eric Zelzdor. Departing Touch & Go for Homestead, this roster delivered War of the Superbikes in 1985. Baker next exited to establish the early emo band Dag Nasty and was succeeded by Stuart Casson, who himself departed midway through the recording of 1986's Rock & Roll Juggernaut, now on Caroline, and yielded to James Cooper; when Cooper left in 1987 Casson returned immediately. That year also saw Zelzdor depart in favor of Mark "Gooly" Kermanj. This configuration undertook a farewell tour in 1988 that yielded the live album We're the Meatmen...and You Still Suck!!!
Two years after the Meatmen's dissolution Tesco Vee resurfaced from retirement to assemble the Hate Police, which produced several singles and an album between 1990 and 1993. In the interim Touch & Go assembled all of the Meatmen's label recordings on 1991's evocatively titled Stud Powercock: The Touch and Go Years. In 1993, after the Hate Police split, Vee aligned with a Meatmen-influenced band called True Grit to reconstitute the Meatmen, now featuring guitarist Norman Voss, bassist Mark Davis, and drummer Mark Glass. Vee created his own Meatking label to release the new lineup's initial effort, the limited-edition Toilet Slave, in 1994. The follow-up, 1995's Pope on a Rope, introduced new drummer Rob San Pietro and secured support slots alongside acts such as Gwar and Butt Trumpet. War of the Superbikes, Vol. 2, issued by Go Kart in 1996, contained the complete original album plus newly recorded tracks to complete the CD. A concluding EP, Evil in a League with Satan, appeared in 1997 before the group disbanded once more. A decade afterward the Meatmen reconvened in the studio to commence work on Cover the Earth, released in 2009 and followed by an extensive U.S. tour.
Albums
