Biography
The U-Men stood among the earliest acts, joined by Limp Richerds and Mr. Epp & the Calculations, that helped spark and shape the grunge movement that later defined Seattle. Over a seven-year span the band crisscrossed multiple regions of the United States, rotated through four successive bassists, and received a tribute song from the Butthole Surfers titled “The O-Men” on the album Locust Abortion Technician. Early in 1981, Seattle guitarist Tom Price, who performed as the Prune, and his drummer friend Charlie Ryan, known as Chaz, chose to assemble an original hard-rock group. Vocalist John Bigley and bassist Robin Buchan were added to complete the first lineup. Buchan soon tired of the ensemble and its persistent lack of funds, so he departed for England.
In the years that followed, the U-Men continued performing with replacement bassist Jim Tillman and eventually cut their self-titled four-song debut EP for Bombshelter Records in 1984. The following year they appeared on the C/Z Records compilation Deep Six alongside Green River, Soundgarden, Malfunkshun featuring Andy Wood, and Skin Yard. A separate agreement with Homestead Records, the same label that had issued Green River’s Come on Down EP, led to the release of the U-Men’s second EP, Stop Spinning, also in 1985. After the 1987 single Solid Action on Black Label Records and a lengthy tour, Tillman concluded that the band’s shows and recordings were not generating sufficient income and left the group. Around the same time Price and Ryan accepted an invitation from former Girl Trouble singer and U-Men roadie David E. Duet to join his new project, Cat Butt, with Price switching to bass and Ryan to drums. By summer’s end, however, the pair had persuaded Amphetamine Reptile Records founder Tom Hazelmyer to take over on bass for the U-Men, prompting both musicians to exit Cat Butt and resume full-time commitment to their original band.
The refreshed lineup immediately began tracking material for the group’s first proper full-length album. Because Hazelmyer owned Amphetamine Reptile, he issued the LP, titled Step on a Bug the Red Toad Speaks, which reached independent-store shelves in 1988 and remained the band’s sole long-form release. Hazelmyer put out one final U-Men single, Freezebomb, and included the group on an Amphetamine Reptile compilation before handing bass duties to Tony Ransom, known as Tone Deaf, midway through the year owing to his own label obligations. The band nevertheless dissolved at that point. No one informed Price of the breakup, so he arrived at an empty rehearsal space on three separate occasions before grasping that the U-Men had ended.
Afterward Price took a job at Seattle’s Fallout Records and formed the Kings of Rock with colleague Tim Hayes. Once that project concluded, Price joined Gas Huffer and the Monkeywrench. Bigley and Ryan formed the Crows, which recorded for Amphetamine Reptile until Ryan departed in 1994 to link up with Duet in Bottle of Smoke. Ransom eventually relocated to Alaska. In 1997 the U-Men resurfaced on a Sub Pop compilation supporting the Seattle music documentary Hype!, where the track “Dig It a Hole,” originally from the Solid Action single, was featured. Several years later Mike Stein of Chuckie-Boy Records contacted the band about a CD retrospective; the members consented, and Stein issued the collection Solid Action, named after the earlier single. In 2017 Sub Pop Records released an even broader anthology simply titled U-Men, containing the band’s complete studio recordings freshly remastered by Jack Endino, five previously unreleased tracks, extensive interviews with the original members, and archival photographs.
In the years that followed, the U-Men continued performing with replacement bassist Jim Tillman and eventually cut their self-titled four-song debut EP for Bombshelter Records in 1984. The following year they appeared on the C/Z Records compilation Deep Six alongside Green River, Soundgarden, Malfunkshun featuring Andy Wood, and Skin Yard. A separate agreement with Homestead Records, the same label that had issued Green River’s Come on Down EP, led to the release of the U-Men’s second EP, Stop Spinning, also in 1985. After the 1987 single Solid Action on Black Label Records and a lengthy tour, Tillman concluded that the band’s shows and recordings were not generating sufficient income and left the group. Around the same time Price and Ryan accepted an invitation from former Girl Trouble singer and U-Men roadie David E. Duet to join his new project, Cat Butt, with Price switching to bass and Ryan to drums. By summer’s end, however, the pair had persuaded Amphetamine Reptile Records founder Tom Hazelmyer to take over on bass for the U-Men, prompting both musicians to exit Cat Butt and resume full-time commitment to their original band.
The refreshed lineup immediately began tracking material for the group’s first proper full-length album. Because Hazelmyer owned Amphetamine Reptile, he issued the LP, titled Step on a Bug the Red Toad Speaks, which reached independent-store shelves in 1988 and remained the band’s sole long-form release. Hazelmyer put out one final U-Men single, Freezebomb, and included the group on an Amphetamine Reptile compilation before handing bass duties to Tony Ransom, known as Tone Deaf, midway through the year owing to his own label obligations. The band nevertheless dissolved at that point. No one informed Price of the breakup, so he arrived at an empty rehearsal space on three separate occasions before grasping that the U-Men had ended.
Afterward Price took a job at Seattle’s Fallout Records and formed the Kings of Rock with colleague Tim Hayes. Once that project concluded, Price joined Gas Huffer and the Monkeywrench. Bigley and Ryan formed the Crows, which recorded for Amphetamine Reptile until Ryan departed in 1994 to link up with Duet in Bottle of Smoke. Ransom eventually relocated to Alaska. In 1997 the U-Men resurfaced on a Sub Pop compilation supporting the Seattle music documentary Hype!, where the track “Dig It a Hole,” originally from the Solid Action single, was featured. Several years later Mike Stein of Chuckie-Boy Records contacted the band about a CD retrospective; the members consented, and Stein issued the collection Solid Action, named after the earlier single. In 2017 Sub Pop Records released an even broader anthology simply titled U-Men, containing the band’s complete studio recordings freshly remastered by Jack Endino, five previously unreleased tracks, extensive interviews with the original members, and archival photographs.
Albums
Singles
