Once upon a time, in a not particularly magical place called Cochran, Georgia, there was a little boy named Clarence Reid who loved two things very much music and saying dirty words. And he was skilled in combining the two in order to parody popular songs of the day (Do the Twist became Suck my Dick, and so on) Although these early efforts were not very clever, it did earn the attention (and ire) of his grandmother, who unwittingly gave him a career path when she admonished him by saying, You is nasty as a blowfly.
Reid eventually grew up to be a much-respected producer, talent scout and songwriter for such soul and R&B acts as Betty Wright (Clean Up Woman) and Gwen McRae (Rockin Chair) and a popular act in his own right with Top 10 singles in the late 60s and 70s (he was also instrumental in forging the sound of KC and the Sunshine Band). But he never forgot his love of the filthy, and in 1965, he donned a funky-ass cape and mask and, as Blowfly, recorded Rap Dirty, which is credited in some circles as one of the earliest hip-hop records (it was later re-recorded for disco legends TK Records). A full album, The Weird World of Blowfly, released on his own label (Weird World) preceded a staggering amount of singles and LPs that poked foul-mouthed but undeniably funky fun at the current soul hits (Shittin on the Dock of the Bay, Hole Man and so on). He also attracted his share of controversy a store owner was busted for selling his 1981 record Porno Freak, and ASCAP president Stanley Adams sued him over What a Difference A Lay Makes, which tweaked Adams What a Difference a Day Makes.
A Blowfly renaissance was launched in the early 90s when crate-diggers everywhere began unearthing his vintage records for hip-hop tracks, and samples of his tunes turned up on tracks by Jurassic 5, Ice Cube and Atmosphere. Reid once again donned the cape and mask to perform and record with a rotating group of musicians culled from punk-funk outfits like Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose own smutty attitudes owned much to Blowflys dirty-old-man-from-outer-space act. In 2003, he formed a new band with Miami-based writer/musician Tom Bowker, which resulted in Fahrenheit 69, his first full-length since 1988. Alternative Tentacles picked up the album for release in 2005, which put him front and center on bills with the likes of RJD2, the Ravonettes, Yo La Tengo and Kool Keith, one of many rappers who can count Blowfly as a direct influence.
Blowflys latest studio-based assault on the senses of music buyers is Blowflys Punk Rock Party, also on Alternative Tentacles, and featuring re-imaginings of Black Flags T.V. Party (as V.D. Party, natch), the Stooges I Wanna Be Your Dog (I Wanna Fuck Your Dog) and the Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated (I Wanna Be a Sex Toy). He even brought AT head Jello Biafra into the studio to lend his vocal to a bizarre take on Holiday in Cambodia called R. Kellys in Cambodia. Blowfly took time from his busy schedule of being the nastiest motherfucker on earth to answer these questions via e-mail.
Paul Gaita: Youve run for the highest office in the land twice you nominated yourself on Blowfly for President and later on Fahrenheit 69. And while you said it with humor, it now looks like were actually on the cusp of a black President of the United States. So if Barack Obama gave you a pick of any position on his cabinet, which would it be and why?
Blowfly: In 1988 I wrote a song called The First Black President for Blowfly for President. I promised everyone chitlins in every pot, birth control pills in every purse, and an orgy on every motherfucking weekend! So you see, Obama is just another motherfucker who owes me money. He didnt just sample shit and not pay for it, he stole my oral office so I am writing in Hillarys name on the ballot!
PG: Clearly, the R. Kelly case has you up in arms. Were you at all surprised by the recent court decision?
Blowfly: The worst thing that could happen to that bastard is mans law getting him off. Because now GODs law is going to take over and R. Kelly is going to roast in hell with Michael Jackson.
PG: Well, fingers crossed on that one. You've played with punk-influenced outfits in the past like Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as part of Trulio Disgracias, and you've recently completed a tour with Antiseen. Did that have any influence on your recording a full CD of punk parodies?
Blowfly: We were in Austin, Texas and I started singing I Believe My Dick Can Fly (from Fahrenheit 69) without the keyboards - the guys wanted me to play keyboards on that tour, and that interferes with my pussy-fucking fingernails! Uncle Tom (Bowker) hates when I do that, so he called out the punk version of Suck and Fuck Train (a poke at the OJays Love Train) which we had never played live before. And all the crackers in the audience loved that shit. So he came to me in the van and said, Look at that shit. Were playing to punk rock fuckers every night. Were on a punk rock label, so lets make them a punk rock party record. So we called Jello and pitched it to him and he said All right Ill do the record but only if you do Now I Wanna Fuck Your Dog.
Can you believe that shit? A record label owner telling Blowfly to write a song about dog fucking! I mean, Im disgusting, but up until that point, I only had a dog licking a nutsack in Mammy Told Me Not to Cum on Blowfly on TV. So we said fuck it, and Uncle Tom had me fucking the whole Bush family until I got to Missus Beasley Ws miniature schnauzer.
Also, if you look on the back of the Dancing With Nobody But You Babe LP youll notice that my drummer was Jerry Murcia, who was the first drummer for the New York Dolls.
PG: Can you talk about recording "R. Kelly in Cambodia" with Jello?
Blowfly: Jello started that shit at our first gig with him in Berkeley. He was begging me to do I Believe My Dick Can Fly, which was the first song I had about putting R. Kelly on trial. But my voice was shot. So then he said, Okay, but I was going to introduce you as R. Kelly. And then I said, okay, you win. So most of that shit he said on R. Kelly in Cambodia came out onstage that night. Not that Jello remembers doing that shit! Fortunately, Uncle Tom doesnt forget a goddamn thing, and he coached him on it.
PG: I understand you recently invaded the SuicideGirls offices in Los Angeles. How did that come about?
Blowfly: We got this brand new, 24-foot-long, pimped-out Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter van for our West Coast dates. We had picked it up the night before our show at the Knitting Factory, and the air conditioning broke as we were on the way to pick up our bassist for the night. We hadnt even put five miles on the odometer yet and it was 100 degrees outside! So we got directions to the garage, and when we got there, we looked up and saw the SuicideGirls logo on the building across the street
It was so fucking hot, we couldnt even go straight there. We went to the Mexican restaurant next door and drank a gallon of soda before we made our invasion - right when the postman cumeth! Uncle Tom grabbed the door and we burst in there with Jonathan, who is making a movie about us, and scared the piss outta all the ladies but one, who seemed like she was turned on! So I sat down, told my dirty rhymes and we left. Jonathan thought wed never make it in Suicide Girls after that but it looks like he was wrong, now dont it!
PG: It was meant to be. So what is your songwriting process? Do you start with the parody of an existing song and build from there? Or do you come up with an idea and look for a tune that will support it?
Blowfly: Usually it starts with the song. Something fucked up will pop up in my head and then we take it from there. Other times, Tom will bring me a whole parody of some shit Ive never heard before, but hes so fucking nasty, it always works. You see, I am supposed to be the most fucked up person on earth. But there are two people in this world who are worse than me, and thats Uncle Tom and Texas Bitch, a fan who used to be a Nazi skinhead. He grew up in the Newark projects singing my shit with the kids in the hood!
PG: Have you penned songs or come up with ideas that you would consider just too weird or shocking to release? I can't imagine it, but it's worth asking
Blowfly: I havent, but Tom wouldnt let me write a song I wrote about my mothers pussy. He told me that was even too disgusting for Blowfly. And he might be right!
PG: I know that labels wouldn't touch you in the early '70s, which forced you to launch Weird World. But as cultural attitudes continue to embrace once-taboo subjects like explicit language on network television and hardcore pornography, do you think that the world is finally catching up to the Blowfly aesthetic?
Blowfly: The world is full of fake freaks, like Paris Hilton. She is celebrated for sucking dick badly, and being an unfunny anorexic bitch just because her daddys rich and owns some Ho-Tels. So just because any 13-year-old can dial her bad quality porno video, dont mean the world has caught up to me.
PG: If you had to choose a song that still satisfies you today, which would it be? And this can be from both the Blowfly and Clarence Reid catalogs.
Blowfly: Rap Dirty will always be my favorite Blowfly song, because it defines who I am the master of class, who is here to sock some soul to your ass. And as were about to leave right to Europe, right after this interview today my favorite Clarence Reid song is Masterpiece (from 1972), because its funky as all hell and the title is self explanatory!
PG: Speaking of Clarence Reid, Im wondering if we could talk to him for a second you've penned some great soul and R&B tunes. What's your take on the current state of R&B? Is there life in the genre, or has it run its course? And are there any current acts that appeal to you?
Blowfly: Look here, boy! Blowfly and Clarence Reid do not get along! So if you want to interview Clarence, ask that goody two shoes motherfucker to do his own interview!
But Blowfly does endorse one R&B band, Pretty Dick, which is fronted by my keyboard player, Mr. Lock, who used to sing for The Reddings, which featured Otis Reddings kids back in the '80s. If you like Blowfly, you should go check out Pretty Dick.
PG: Blowfly, some of the fellas reading this interview might not possess the same skills with women as you. Can you please impart upon them some advice on how they might be able to score with girls as fine as the ones on the cover of your new album?
Blowfly: The first thing guys need to do is make friends with some lesbians and learn how to eat pussy. Then give one of them $100 to tell all their curious friends how she got drunk last night, and you ate her pussy better than any bitch has before, but that shes gay and cant do that shit again. Then when you hook up with the first bisexual friend, put on one of my records while you eat her out. My new record, Live At The Platypussery, would be perfect for this occasion. Theyll be beating on the door before the first bitch busts her nut during Suck It Till Youre Satisfied!
PG: Blowfly has outlasted many of the musicians and comedians who came up in the late '60s and early '70s on the party record circuit. To what do you attribute the longevity of the character? And do you ever foresee a time when you would consider hanging up the cape and mask?
Blowfly: Well, for one thing, except for my dear friend Rudy Ray Moore, all the rest of the people who made party records are dead! Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor fucked with drugs and their asses are dead. If they didnt do more coke than Keith Richards vacuum cleaner, they might still be here.
But people will always fuck thats how we all got here. And music and laughter helps people loosen up and get chicks to spread their legs. Its universal. I make the best music for fucking thats ever been made, so I will always have an audience. And hell no, I aint hanging it up. I turn 70 years old next year, and I have two albums in production. I aint hanging up shit, except my costume on a coat hanger at the end of the gig every night!
PG: Give us a rundown on the further exploits of Blowfly. I understand there's an arena tour in Europe
Blowfly: Tomorrow, we begin the Live At The Platypussery tour by going to Germany to do an Arena tour with Die Arzte, who are big punk rock superstars over there. You see, in America hip-hop stars like Snoop Dogg talk big shit about Blowfly and give me props and will say they want to work with me, but just cant find me. Those niggers know exactly where I am, but either they dont want to get their asses rocked off or they are just too busy smoking weed and playing XBox 360 to do anything about it.
It aint like that in Europe. Its the only place we go where music still is means something to people. In Europe, they still buy vinyl. In Europe, the record collectors still go to concerts. In America, the fat nerd asses just sit in front of the computer and jack off their two-inch dicks in the record holes.
After that, were gonna finish the Blow and Otto Show album were making with Otto Von Schirach, who is another electronic pussy sucker from Miami who also wears a mask and a cape. Our album is called Invasion of the Booty Snatchers, and we got all sorts of guest stars coming up on it like Too $hort and Lady Miss Kier from Dee-Lite. Then we go back to Europe at the end of August and debut The Blow and Otto in front of 50,000 Germans at the Open Source Festival in Dusseldorf and the Nu Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway. By the time we get back to the States, people are going to be begging for that shit, so were gonna give it to them when I headline the city of Miamis official birthday party AND do a east coast tour with Otto after XXX-mas. So HO! HO! HO! Blowfly will see you all real soon!
For more about Blowfly go to www.blowflymusic.com
Reid eventually grew up to be a much-respected producer, talent scout and songwriter for such soul and R&B acts as Betty Wright (Clean Up Woman) and Gwen McRae (Rockin Chair) and a popular act in his own right with Top 10 singles in the late 60s and 70s (he was also instrumental in forging the sound of KC and the Sunshine Band). But he never forgot his love of the filthy, and in 1965, he donned a funky-ass cape and mask and, as Blowfly, recorded Rap Dirty, which is credited in some circles as one of the earliest hip-hop records (it was later re-recorded for disco legends TK Records). A full album, The Weird World of Blowfly, released on his own label (Weird World) preceded a staggering amount of singles and LPs that poked foul-mouthed but undeniably funky fun at the current soul hits (Shittin on the Dock of the Bay, Hole Man and so on). He also attracted his share of controversy a store owner was busted for selling his 1981 record Porno Freak, and ASCAP president Stanley Adams sued him over What a Difference A Lay Makes, which tweaked Adams What a Difference a Day Makes.
A Blowfly renaissance was launched in the early 90s when crate-diggers everywhere began unearthing his vintage records for hip-hop tracks, and samples of his tunes turned up on tracks by Jurassic 5, Ice Cube and Atmosphere. Reid once again donned the cape and mask to perform and record with a rotating group of musicians culled from punk-funk outfits like Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose own smutty attitudes owned much to Blowflys dirty-old-man-from-outer-space act. In 2003, he formed a new band with Miami-based writer/musician Tom Bowker, which resulted in Fahrenheit 69, his first full-length since 1988. Alternative Tentacles picked up the album for release in 2005, which put him front and center on bills with the likes of RJD2, the Ravonettes, Yo La Tengo and Kool Keith, one of many rappers who can count Blowfly as a direct influence.
Blowflys latest studio-based assault on the senses of music buyers is Blowflys Punk Rock Party, also on Alternative Tentacles, and featuring re-imaginings of Black Flags T.V. Party (as V.D. Party, natch), the Stooges I Wanna Be Your Dog (I Wanna Fuck Your Dog) and the Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated (I Wanna Be a Sex Toy). He even brought AT head Jello Biafra into the studio to lend his vocal to a bizarre take on Holiday in Cambodia called R. Kellys in Cambodia. Blowfly took time from his busy schedule of being the nastiest motherfucker on earth to answer these questions via e-mail.
Paul Gaita: Youve run for the highest office in the land twice you nominated yourself on Blowfly for President and later on Fahrenheit 69. And while you said it with humor, it now looks like were actually on the cusp of a black President of the United States. So if Barack Obama gave you a pick of any position on his cabinet, which would it be and why?
Blowfly: In 1988 I wrote a song called The First Black President for Blowfly for President. I promised everyone chitlins in every pot, birth control pills in every purse, and an orgy on every motherfucking weekend! So you see, Obama is just another motherfucker who owes me money. He didnt just sample shit and not pay for it, he stole my oral office so I am writing in Hillarys name on the ballot!
PG: Clearly, the R. Kelly case has you up in arms. Were you at all surprised by the recent court decision?
Blowfly: The worst thing that could happen to that bastard is mans law getting him off. Because now GODs law is going to take over and R. Kelly is going to roast in hell with Michael Jackson.
PG: Well, fingers crossed on that one. You've played with punk-influenced outfits in the past like Fishbone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as part of Trulio Disgracias, and you've recently completed a tour with Antiseen. Did that have any influence on your recording a full CD of punk parodies?
Blowfly: We were in Austin, Texas and I started singing I Believe My Dick Can Fly (from Fahrenheit 69) without the keyboards - the guys wanted me to play keyboards on that tour, and that interferes with my pussy-fucking fingernails! Uncle Tom (Bowker) hates when I do that, so he called out the punk version of Suck and Fuck Train (a poke at the OJays Love Train) which we had never played live before. And all the crackers in the audience loved that shit. So he came to me in the van and said, Look at that shit. Were playing to punk rock fuckers every night. Were on a punk rock label, so lets make them a punk rock party record. So we called Jello and pitched it to him and he said All right Ill do the record but only if you do Now I Wanna Fuck Your Dog.
Can you believe that shit? A record label owner telling Blowfly to write a song about dog fucking! I mean, Im disgusting, but up until that point, I only had a dog licking a nutsack in Mammy Told Me Not to Cum on Blowfly on TV. So we said fuck it, and Uncle Tom had me fucking the whole Bush family until I got to Missus Beasley Ws miniature schnauzer.
Also, if you look on the back of the Dancing With Nobody But You Babe LP youll notice that my drummer was Jerry Murcia, who was the first drummer for the New York Dolls.
PG: Can you talk about recording "R. Kelly in Cambodia" with Jello?
Blowfly: Jello started that shit at our first gig with him in Berkeley. He was begging me to do I Believe My Dick Can Fly, which was the first song I had about putting R. Kelly on trial. But my voice was shot. So then he said, Okay, but I was going to introduce you as R. Kelly. And then I said, okay, you win. So most of that shit he said on R. Kelly in Cambodia came out onstage that night. Not that Jello remembers doing that shit! Fortunately, Uncle Tom doesnt forget a goddamn thing, and he coached him on it.
PG: I understand you recently invaded the SuicideGirls offices in Los Angeles. How did that come about?
Blowfly: We got this brand new, 24-foot-long, pimped-out Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter van for our West Coast dates. We had picked it up the night before our show at the Knitting Factory, and the air conditioning broke as we were on the way to pick up our bassist for the night. We hadnt even put five miles on the odometer yet and it was 100 degrees outside! So we got directions to the garage, and when we got there, we looked up and saw the SuicideGirls logo on the building across the street
It was so fucking hot, we couldnt even go straight there. We went to the Mexican restaurant next door and drank a gallon of soda before we made our invasion - right when the postman cumeth! Uncle Tom grabbed the door and we burst in there with Jonathan, who is making a movie about us, and scared the piss outta all the ladies but one, who seemed like she was turned on! So I sat down, told my dirty rhymes and we left. Jonathan thought wed never make it in Suicide Girls after that but it looks like he was wrong, now dont it!
PG: It was meant to be. So what is your songwriting process? Do you start with the parody of an existing song and build from there? Or do you come up with an idea and look for a tune that will support it?
Blowfly: Usually it starts with the song. Something fucked up will pop up in my head and then we take it from there. Other times, Tom will bring me a whole parody of some shit Ive never heard before, but hes so fucking nasty, it always works. You see, I am supposed to be the most fucked up person on earth. But there are two people in this world who are worse than me, and thats Uncle Tom and Texas Bitch, a fan who used to be a Nazi skinhead. He grew up in the Newark projects singing my shit with the kids in the hood!
PG: Have you penned songs or come up with ideas that you would consider just too weird or shocking to release? I can't imagine it, but it's worth asking
Blowfly: I havent, but Tom wouldnt let me write a song I wrote about my mothers pussy. He told me that was even too disgusting for Blowfly. And he might be right!
PG: I know that labels wouldn't touch you in the early '70s, which forced you to launch Weird World. But as cultural attitudes continue to embrace once-taboo subjects like explicit language on network television and hardcore pornography, do you think that the world is finally catching up to the Blowfly aesthetic?
Blowfly: The world is full of fake freaks, like Paris Hilton. She is celebrated for sucking dick badly, and being an unfunny anorexic bitch just because her daddys rich and owns some Ho-Tels. So just because any 13-year-old can dial her bad quality porno video, dont mean the world has caught up to me.
PG: If you had to choose a song that still satisfies you today, which would it be? And this can be from both the Blowfly and Clarence Reid catalogs.
Blowfly: Rap Dirty will always be my favorite Blowfly song, because it defines who I am the master of class, who is here to sock some soul to your ass. And as were about to leave right to Europe, right after this interview today my favorite Clarence Reid song is Masterpiece (from 1972), because its funky as all hell and the title is self explanatory!
PG: Speaking of Clarence Reid, Im wondering if we could talk to him for a second you've penned some great soul and R&B tunes. What's your take on the current state of R&B? Is there life in the genre, or has it run its course? And are there any current acts that appeal to you?
Blowfly: Look here, boy! Blowfly and Clarence Reid do not get along! So if you want to interview Clarence, ask that goody two shoes motherfucker to do his own interview!
But Blowfly does endorse one R&B band, Pretty Dick, which is fronted by my keyboard player, Mr. Lock, who used to sing for The Reddings, which featured Otis Reddings kids back in the '80s. If you like Blowfly, you should go check out Pretty Dick.
PG: Blowfly, some of the fellas reading this interview might not possess the same skills with women as you. Can you please impart upon them some advice on how they might be able to score with girls as fine as the ones on the cover of your new album?
Blowfly: The first thing guys need to do is make friends with some lesbians and learn how to eat pussy. Then give one of them $100 to tell all their curious friends how she got drunk last night, and you ate her pussy better than any bitch has before, but that shes gay and cant do that shit again. Then when you hook up with the first bisexual friend, put on one of my records while you eat her out. My new record, Live At The Platypussery, would be perfect for this occasion. Theyll be beating on the door before the first bitch busts her nut during Suck It Till Youre Satisfied!
PG: Blowfly has outlasted many of the musicians and comedians who came up in the late '60s and early '70s on the party record circuit. To what do you attribute the longevity of the character? And do you ever foresee a time when you would consider hanging up the cape and mask?
Blowfly: Well, for one thing, except for my dear friend Rudy Ray Moore, all the rest of the people who made party records are dead! Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor fucked with drugs and their asses are dead. If they didnt do more coke than Keith Richards vacuum cleaner, they might still be here.
But people will always fuck thats how we all got here. And music and laughter helps people loosen up and get chicks to spread their legs. Its universal. I make the best music for fucking thats ever been made, so I will always have an audience. And hell no, I aint hanging it up. I turn 70 years old next year, and I have two albums in production. I aint hanging up shit, except my costume on a coat hanger at the end of the gig every night!
PG: Give us a rundown on the further exploits of Blowfly. I understand there's an arena tour in Europe
Blowfly: Tomorrow, we begin the Live At The Platypussery tour by going to Germany to do an Arena tour with Die Arzte, who are big punk rock superstars over there. You see, in America hip-hop stars like Snoop Dogg talk big shit about Blowfly and give me props and will say they want to work with me, but just cant find me. Those niggers know exactly where I am, but either they dont want to get their asses rocked off or they are just too busy smoking weed and playing XBox 360 to do anything about it.
It aint like that in Europe. Its the only place we go where music still is means something to people. In Europe, they still buy vinyl. In Europe, the record collectors still go to concerts. In America, the fat nerd asses just sit in front of the computer and jack off their two-inch dicks in the record holes.
After that, were gonna finish the Blow and Otto Show album were making with Otto Von Schirach, who is another electronic pussy sucker from Miami who also wears a mask and a cape. Our album is called Invasion of the Booty Snatchers, and we got all sorts of guest stars coming up on it like Too $hort and Lady Miss Kier from Dee-Lite. Then we go back to Europe at the end of August and debut The Blow and Otto in front of 50,000 Germans at the Open Source Festival in Dusseldorf and the Nu Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway. By the time we get back to the States, people are going to be begging for that shit, so were gonna give it to them when I headline the city of Miamis official birthday party AND do a east coast tour with Otto after XXX-mas. So HO! HO! HO! Blowfly will see you all real soon!
For more about Blowfly go to www.blowflymusic.com
VIEW 9 of 9 COMMENTS
it was a good night for sure.