The Elvis Hitler band is from Detroit, and was first active in the late 1980s to early 90s. They reunited in 2003 and have played occasional shows ever since. The band consists of singer Jim Leedy (a.k.a. "Elvis Hitler"), guitarist John Defever, bassist Warren Defever, and drummer Damian Lang. Their punkabilly mix of fast rockabilly, horror imagery and lowbrow humor have led to them having a cult following.
The first Elvis Hitler album, Disgraceland, was recorded at Len Puch's Garageland Studios, and initially released on his Wang Head records in 1987 (WH004). Early copies came in a handmade sleeve formed from corrugated cardboard with a black-and-white sheet pasted to the front and back. The band managed to put out three CDs on Restless Records. They then disappeared from the public spotlight for the first time.
Warren Defever would go on to front the dramatically-different sounding His Name Is Alive, and work as a record producer for underground bands.
According to RU-vid commenter, YourTubeSteak, the Elvis Hitler band reformed in 1998. This time it featured Pasadena on Bass (he was a former guitarist for The Mutants - see videos of The Mutants on this RU-vid Channel) and his teenage son, Jeff on drums.
Then the original Elvis Hitler lineup reunited in 2003 at The Magic Stick club in Detroit. There are fun details of that lineup and the 2003 reunion show, at the Nestor-In-Detroit website: www.nestorindet...
Elvis Hitler played another concert at that club on September 4, 2004. Then after a 9-year break, the original band reunited again for a 2013 show at Small's club in Hamtramck, a city inside Detroit.
Their "hit" song "Green Haze" consisted of the lyrics from the successful TV show Green Acres sung to the tune of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze".
Due to the resistance of having a band with the name Hitler in the title, regardless of its intent, the band released one album under the name "Splatter".
Elvis Hitler predicted the current interest in horror and the "Living Dead" TV series and movies. The band and their song "Green Haze" are mentioned in Thomas Pynchon's 2013 novel Bleeding Edge (pg. 177).
Discography:
Disgraceland (1988)
"Cool Daddy In A Cadillac"
"Live Fast, Die Young"
"Hot Rod To Hell"
"Rocking Over Russia"
"Berlin To Memphis"
"Elvis' Ripoff Theme"
"Battle Cry Of 1000 Men"
"Green Haze (Parts I & II)"
"I Love Your Guts"
"Ten Wheels For Jesus"
"Black Babies Dancing On Fire"
"Crush Your Skull"
"Disgraceland"
Hellbilly (1989)
"Showdown"
"Hellbilly"
"Ballad Of The Green Berets"
"Teenage Surf Slave"
"Booze Party"
"Gear Jammin' Hero"
"Revolving Blues Of Death"
"Crush, Kill, Destroy"
"Ghouls (Looking For Food)"
"Hang 'Em High"
"Don't Blame Me If You Die Tonight"
"Black Death On A White Horse"
"Dance Of The Living Dead"
"Misanthropes"
Text adapted from Wikipedia and commenter, YourTubeSteak. The "Elvis Hitler" episode was shown in July, 1988, on Cable-TV systems across Wayne and Oakland Counties in the Detroit area. This episode was Directed, Photographed, Produced & Edited by Bryan Fox and George Lees. BanDin Detroit was created by George Lees. This factual work is available on RU-vid for educational purposes.
29 авг 2024
