Now is the third album released by The Tubes

The Tubes

The Tubes are a San Francisco-based rock band, whose 1975 debut album included the hit single, "White Punks on Dope". During its first fifteen years or so, the band's live performances combined quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism, and politics...

. It was partially produced by John Anthony. John Anthony left the project after a drug-induced breakdown, Bill Spooner

Bill Spooner

William "Sputnik" Spooner is a musician, guitarist, and songwriter, and the founder of The Tubes, a theatrical rock band. His songwriting is known for its use of humor and satire. He has released three solo albums: First Chud , Mall to Mars , and Demo-licious...

 took over and completed the project with the help of engineer Don Wood.

Now features a cover version of Captain Beefheart

Captain Beefheart

Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...

's "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains" and Captain Beefheart also played saxophone on "Cathy's Clone". The project was intended to be a double album but delays lead to cutting several songs including a version of Gene Pitney

Gene Pitney

Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...

's "Town Without Pity" complete with horn arrangement by Bay-area comedian/musician, Dick Bright. The cover of Now was drawn by Tubes drummer, Prairie Prince

Prairie Prince

Prairie Prince is a rock drummer. He was a member of The Tubes and a founding member of Journey...

 entitled "Tubes Descending a Staircase", and was inspired by a similar drawing in Time magazine of The Ramones. In an A&M leaflet they described the album as "This outrageous and zany band have developed musically and visually since their inception in San Francisco and their previous albums.

Track listing

1. "Smoke (La Vie en Fumér)" (Bill Spooner, Michael Cotten, Vince Welnick)
2. "Hit Parade" (Bill Spooner, Vince Welnick)
3. "Strung Out on Strings" (Bill Spooner, Roger Steen, Michael Evans)
4. "Golden Boy" (Bill Spooner, Michael Evans)
5. "My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains" (Captain Beefheart
   Captain Beefheart
   Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
   
   )
6. "God-Bird-Change" (Mingo Lewis)
7. "I'm Just a Mess" (Bill Spooner, Roger Steen)
8. "Cathy's Clone" (The Tubes)
9. "This Town" (Lee Hazelwood)
10. "Pound of Flesh" (Ron Nagle, Scott Mathews)
11. "You're No Fun" (Michael Cotten, Vince Welnick)

Personnel

• Fee Waybill - vocals
• Bill Spooner - guitar, vocals
• Michael Cotten - synthesizer
• Mingo Lewis - drums, percussion
• Prairie Prince - drums
• Roger Steen - guitar, vocals
• Re Styles - vocals
• Vince Welnick - keyboards
• Rick Anderson - bass

Additional personnel

• Bud Scoppa - voices