Massacre Guys were born from boredom and despair in the summer pf 1979. Having been sentenced to paint cinderblock walls in the pounding Arizona heat, the brothers Jon and James Shuman, aka J.D. Slaughter and El Cid Lust invented a fanzine called the Leisure Cambodian. It was full of fake reviews of fictional bands with retarded names. One of the bands mentioned was the Massacre Guys. The Leisure Cambodian also favorably reviewed the efforts of the Manly Tomatoes and the Modfathers.
Eventually, the brutalizing heat of the Arizona sun drove JD and El Cid insane so in 1980 they moved to Utah. They soon met Stephan Egerton O'Reilly, aka Richie Spazz, or "Steve-O" and James Owens, aka Jimmy Germ Warfare. They recorded a handful of songs with JD on piano and guitar, Stephen on drums, and Germ and Cid singing. The songs included Ronald Reagan, Parade, Reg the Veg, Fucked Up, and Kill Kill Kill, which appeared as the "bonus" track on the Rider ep.
A few weeks passed and Jon and Stephen met again at a party. They found a guitar, went into a back bedroom and wrote half a dozen songs in twenty minutes. (Yes, they actually wrote the songs faster than it took to play them.) They enlisted bass player Paul Maritsas of Angle, aka Paul Bearer, and began playing house parties with Jon and Stephen switching off between guitar and drums.
Soon the Massacre Guys built up a following in SLC and began promoting shows. Their friend, Karl Alvarez, drew the flyers. They released two cassettes in 1980-81, Bloody Baggage and Bad Medicine. (Both are out of print, in fact, WE don't even have copies of them). Bad Medicine was recorded by Steve McAllister who would later become the sound man at CBGB. It included the songs Shovelhead, Fast Death, Cops are Cool, Eight Tons, electric versions of Fucked Up and Ronald Reagan and about ten other songs. Basically, they would set up and record until the tape and/or money ran out.
At about this time, Paul Maritsas left the band to go to college. He later founded the Speedway Cafe, a legendary concert venue in SLC. When Paul Maritsas left, the band was able to purloin a bass and enlist their best friend and graphic designer, Karl Alvarez, aka Karl Snarl, to play it. Meanwhile, by 1983, the band had also added ubermensch Paul Krowas, aka Paul Maul, on rhythm guitar and Phil Miller of 004 began playing saxaphone with them at concerts.
With the addition of Karl and Paul Krowas, the band began writing more ambitious music and touring with their pals TSOL, Dead Kennedys, JFA, and the Faction. In 1982 they recorded about twenty more songs in a hippy's cedar-paneled basement on the east bench of Salt Lake County. Six of the songs would later be released as the Behind the Eight Ball ep on the Toxic Shock label. Those songs have been reissued a couple different times on various labels. The song Cold Storage appeared on the Barricaded Suspects compilation. Let's Forget was supposed to be on the Flipside compilation but somehow Al got the tapes mixed up so the actual song is Cold Storage, although the jacket lists Let's Forget on the track listing. The song Scapegoat was also released on a cassette compilation in Canada. In 1984 they went to a tiny studio in Provo, Utah and recorded the songs that would later be released on the the "Rider" ep on Unclean Records. Those sessions included an early version of Schizophrenia, a song that would later be recorded by the Descendents.
All things must end and in 1985 Paul Krowas moved to Kansas and Stephen moved to Virginia. Jon, James, and Karl played a couple shows with Wanda from 004 and Four Non-Blondes on drums. Our friend Jonathan Clark from the Potatoheads also filled in on drums for a few gigs. He did a great job but by that time we were all getting a little burned-out. Stephen returned to play a final show with Black Flack at the Salt Lake Community Center before the MGs went on their current indefinite hiatus. Jon moved to Los Angeles where he played in a band called Boxer Rebellion with Scott Reynolds and Tony Lombardo. Of course, Stephen and Karl also ended up in southern California as members of the Descendants and ALL. Stephen currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he operates a recording studio between music gigs. Karl lives in Fort Collins, Colorado and plays in several bands. Jon and James continue to play in various bands in Salt Lake City. Paul Krowas lives in Kansas City and plays guitar in the Throttlers.
There's hours of tape of Massacre Guys songs that have never been released. We'll rotate them on the myspace page from time to time. We've also discussed getting together to re-record some songs or remix our existing tapes for a compilation so you never know. Meanwhile, enjoy this slice of nostalgia.
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