Blotto was a rock band from
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
which mixed music and humor. They were formed in 1979 out of the remains of the Star Spangled Washboard Band, a "post-hippie" comedy jugband. Blotto music was a sort of combination of
New WaveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
and
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/R&B, but with comical songs. It began as basically a tavern band. Their songs were played on the
Dr. DementoDr. Demento is the professional name of Barry Hansen , a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present.He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles...
Show and they appeared on television's
Uncle Floyd Show.
Blotto was a rock band from
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
which mixed music and humor. They were formed in 1979 out of the remains of the Star Spangled Washboard Band, a "post-hippie" comedy jugband. Blotto music was a sort of combination of
New WaveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
and
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/R&B, but with comical songs. It began as basically a tavern band. Their songs were played on the
Dr. DementoDr. Demento is the professional name of Barry Hansen , a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present.He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles...
Show and they appeared on television's
Uncle Floyd Show. They toured frequently and were popular primarily in the northeastern United States, especially among college students.
The main singer, known as "Sergeant Blotto", had also been the main singer of the Star Spangled Washboard Band.
After releasing two EP records by their own Blotto Records, they produced a video (an early example) for their song "I Wanna Be A
LifeguardA lifeguard is a person responsible for overseeing the safety of the users of a body of water and its environs, such as a swimming pool, a water park, or a beach. This differentiates them from life savers who partake in similar activities as a sport or practical life skill...
", working with video production students at
University at Albany, The State University of New YorkThe State University of New York at Albany, commonly known as the University at Albany, SUNY Albany, and UAlbany, is a public university located in the capital of New York State, and is the senior campus of the State University of New York system...
. The video was played on the very first day
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
was broadcast and continued being played frequently due to its catchy tune and humorous appeal. This exposure helped them produce their album
Combo Akimbo, which was released with assistance from Peter Pan Records, and a "Video 45" on VHS from Sony with three videos of their songs that also received wide exposure on MTV (including the heavily-rotated "Metalhead"). Blotto worked with producer
Bob ClearmountainBob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He has worked with many prominent names in music including Bruce Springsteen , The Rolling Stones , Bryan Adams , Robbie Williams Bob Clearmountain is an award-winning American music engineer, mixer and producer. He...
on one of the songs on their album.
The group was eventually disestablished during 1984, with the players continuing with more profitable interests. Drummer Lee Harvey Blotto graduated from
Albany Law SchoolAlbany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1851 by Robert H. Pruyn and others, Albany Law School is the oldest independent law school in the United States....
, became an attorney with a specialty in intellectual property law, and continued to play with the band as "F. Lee Harvey Blotto" (a pun on famous lawyer F. Lee Bailey and assassin
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three United States government investigations, the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas....
). Bassist "Cheese Blotto" (Keith Stephenson) died suddenly in October 1999 of cardiomyopathy brought on by a liver condition.
http://elvispelvis.com/cheeseblotto.htm
All the group's studio recorded material, excepting the song "Bud ... Is After Us", has been reissued on a compact disc titled
Collected Works. They have also released a second CD,
Then More Than Ever featuring mostly unreleased and hard to find songs.
The band in its current incarnation (Broadway, Bowtie, Sarge, F. Lee Harvey, Clyde and Hammerhead) are still active, and still reunite occasionally for concerts in their home area of Albany, most recently the 2008 4th of July celebration at the Empire State Plaza.
In 2005, the group released a DVD assembled by Bert Blotto containing all the video material in their vaults. Included are appearances on
The Mike Douglas ShowThe Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982.-Format and production: A former big band singer, Douglas moved to television in the 1950s...
(as The Star Spangled Washboard Band),
The Uncle Floyd Show, MTV with VJ Martha Quinn,
The Joe Franklin Show, and
Carmine's Table, among others.
Members
Group members took on pseudonyms for their performances.
The members of the classic crew were:
- Bowtie Blotto (guitar, vocals). Born in Detroit, Michigan.
- Broadway Blotto (guitar, vocals). Born 1950.
- Keith "Cheese Blotto" Stephenson (bass guitar) 1956–1999.
- Lee Harvey Blotto (drums). Born June 13, 1955 in Batavia (NY state).
- Sergeant Blotto ("Sarge") (vocals, percussion). Main singer.
Other members
- Bert Blotto - (Webmaster for Blotto.net, Merch Guy, Keeper Of All Things Blotto-present)
- Johnny Blotten (drums; 1978-1979)
- Bluto Blotto (sax; 1978)
- Scott Blott (sax; 1978-1979)
- Chevrolet Blotto (vocals and keyboards; 1980-1981)
- Blanche Blotto (vocals and keyboards; 1978-1980)
- Clyde Blotto (bass; 2000-present)
- Hammerhead Blotto (keyboards; 1988-present)
- Ink Blotto (roadie; 1980-1982)
- Juan Pablo Blotto (1990-1995)
–
Discography
- Hello, My Name is Blotto, What's Yours (EP, Blotto Records) (1980)
- Across and Down (EP, Blotto Records) (1981)
- When the Second Feature Starts (Single, Blotto Records) (1981)
- Metalhead (Sony Video 45, VHS) (1982)
- Combo Akimbo (LP, Blotto Records) (1983)
- Blotto (compilation) (LP, Attic Records of Canada) (1984)
- I Wanna Be A Lifeguard (PVC Records) (1988)
- Collected Works* (CD, One Way Records) (1992)
- Then More Than Ever (CD, One Way Records) (1999) (previously unreleased tracks)
- Blotto - Play Something Good! The Definitive Video History (2005)
The group also had a cover of
Lou ChristieLugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s, including his 1965 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes."-Biography:...
's "Lightning Strikes" which appears on the compilation LP
Hudson Rock and their
Collected Works. "Metalhead" appears on the compilation LP
Metal For Breakfast.
External links