As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, music observers and post-punk observers briefly pinned hopes on Akron, Ohio, as the unlikely source of an emerging alternative movement. The city, already known as the birthplace of Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde and the longtime headquarters of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, earned the nickname Rubber City after exporting several intriguing late-1970s acts, among them Devo, the Rubber City Rebels, and Tin Huey. Fronted by Chris Butler, Tin Huey consisted of post-punk devotees of Zappa and Beefheart who fused arty punk-pop with passages of free-form jazz and a strain of eclectic irreverence. Warner Bros. signed the group amid a surge of regional excitement, banking on an upbeat, radio-ready reading of the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.” That track, driven by sharp guitars and melodic singing and cut without any hint of irony, stood apart from the remainder of the band’s sole album. Numbers such as “I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts” and “Chinese Circus” aligned Tin Huey more closely with the Dadaist art-rock sensibility of Frank Zappa and the playful eccentricity of Pere Ubu than with the Monkees’ style of pop. Predictably, the album moved few copies, and the members disbanded roughly twelve months after the band had ranked as Akron’s second-most-notable export behind Devo. Two prominent alumni, Butler and saxophonist Ralph Carney, each pursued distinctive paths afterward: Butler first with the Waitresses, whose signature song “I Know What Boys Like” became a hit, and later as a solo artist; Carney through membership in Swollen Monkeys and frequent appearances on Tom Waits recordings. The Collectables label finally issued the band’s only studio album, Contents Dislodged During Shipment, on CD in 2003, while Before Obscurity: Bushflow Tapes appeared in 2009.
